• City of New Orleans

    Riding on the City of New Orleans,
    Illinois Central Monday morning rail
    Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
    Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
    All along the southbound odyssey
    The train pulls out at Kankakee
    Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
    Passin’ trains that have no names,
    Freight yards full of old black men
    And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

    Good morning America how are you?
    Don’t you know me I’m your native son,
    I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
    I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

    Dealin’ card games with the old men in the club car.
    Penny a point ain’t no one keepin’ score.
    Pass the paper bag that holds the bottle
    Feel the wheels rumblin’ ‘neath the floor.
    And the sons of pullman porters
    And the sons of engineers
    Ride their father’s magic carpets made of steel.
    Mothers with their babes asleep,
    Are rockin’ to the gentle beat
    And the rhythm of the rails is all they feel.

    Nighttime on The City of New Orleans,
    Changing cars in Memphis, Tennessee.
    Half way home, we’ll be there by morning
    Through the Mississippi darkness
    Rolling down to the sea.
    And all the towns and people seem
    To fade into a bad dream
    And the steel rails still ain’t heard the news.
    The conductor sings his song again,
    The passengers will please refrain
    This train’s got the disappearing railroad blues.

    Good night, America, how are you?
    Don’t you know me I’m your native son,
    I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
    I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

  • Ring of Fire

    Love is a burning thing
    And It Makes A fiery Ring
    Bound By Wild Desire
    I Fell Into A Ring Of Fire

    I Fell Into A Burning ring of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring of Fire

    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher
    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    The Taste Of Love Is Sweet
    When Hearts Like Ours Meet
    I Fell For You Like A Child
    Oh, But The Fire Went Wild

    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

    I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire
    I Went Down, Down, Down
    And The Flames Went Higher

    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire
    And It Burns, Burns, Burns
    The Ring Of Fire
    The Ring Of Fire

  • Let It Be Me

    I bless the day I found you
    I want to stay around you
    And so I beg you, let it be me
    Don’t take this heaven from one
    if you must cling to someone
    Now and forever, let it be me

    When I’m with your love
    I find complete love
    Without your sweet love
    What would life be?

    So never leave me lonely
    Say that you love me only
    And that you’ll always
    let it be me
    let it be me

    When I’m with your love
    I find complete love
    Without your sweet love
    What would life be?

    So never leave me lonely
    tell me you’ll love me only
    And that you’ll always, let it be me
    let it be me
    let it be me

  • Lay Lady Lay

    Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
    Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
    Whatever colors you have in your mind
    I’ll show them to you and you’ll see them shine

    Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
    Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
    Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
    His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
    And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen

    Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
    Why wait any longer for the world to begin
    You can have your cake and eat it too
    Why wait any longer for the one you love
    When he’s standing in front of you

    Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
    Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
    I long to see you in the morning light
    I long to reach for you in the night
    Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead

  • Crazy

    Crazy…I’m crazy for feelin’ so lonely
    I’m crazy…crazy for feelin’ so blue
    I knew you’d love me as long as you wanted
    And then someday, you’d leave me for somebody new

    Worry…why do I let myself worry ?
    Wonderin’…what in the world did I do ?
    Oh, crazy…for thinkin’ that my love could hold you
    I’m crazy for tryin’, and crazy for cryin’
    And I’m crazy for lovin’you

    Crazy…for thinkin’ that my love could hold you
    I’m crazy for tryin’, and crazy for cryin’
    And I’m crazy for lovin’you

  • Suspicious Mind

    We’re caught in a trap
    I can’t walk out
    Because I love you too much baby

    Why can’t you see
    What you’re doing to me
    When you don’t believe a word I say?

    We can’t go on together
    With suspicious minds
    And we can’t build our dreams
    On suspicious minds

    So, if an old friend I know
    Drops by to say hello
    Would I still see suspicious in your eyes ?

    Here we go again
    Asking where I’ve been
    You can’t see these tears are real
    I’m crying

    We can’t go on together
    With suspicious minds
    And we can’t build our dreams
    On suspicious minds

    Oh let our love survive
    Or dry the tears from your eyes
    Let’s don’t a good thing die

    Honey, you know I’ve never lied to you

    We’re caught in a trap
    I can’t walk out
    Because I love you too much baby

    Why can’t you see
    What you’re doing to me
    When you don’t believe a word I say?

  • You Never Can Tell

    It was a teenage wedding, and the old folks wished them well
    You could see that Pierre did truly love the madamoiselle
    And now the young monsieur and madame have rung the chapel bell,
    “C’est la vie”, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

    They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale
    The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale,
    But when Pierre found work, the little money comin’ worked out well
    “C’est la vie”, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

    They had a hi-fi phono, boy, did they let it blast
    Seven hundred little records, all rock, rhythm and jazz
    But when the sun went down, the rapid tempo of the music fell
    “C’est la vie”, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

    They bought a souped-up jitney, ’twas a cherry red ’53,
    They drove it down to Orleans to celebrate the anniversary
    It was there that Pierre was married to the lovely madamoiselle
    “C’est la vie”, say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell

  • And I Love You So

    And I love you so
    The people ask me how
    How I’ve lived till now
    I tell them I don’t know

    I guess they understand
    How lonely life has been
    But life began again
    The day you took my hand

    And, yes, I know how lonely life can be
    The shadows follow me, and the night won’t set me free
    But I don’t let the evening get me down
    Now that you’re around me

    And you love me, too
    Your thoughts are just for me
    You set my spirit free
    I’m happy that you do
    The book of life is brief
    And once a page is read
    All but love is dead
    That is my belief

    And, yes, I know how loveless life can be
    The shadows follow me, and the night won’t set me free

    But I don’t let the evening bring me down
    Now that you’re around me

    And I love you so
    The people ask me how
    How I’ve lived till now
    I tell them, I don’t know

  • Always On My Mind

    Maybe I didn’t treat you
    Quite as good as I should have
    Maybe I didn’t love you
    Quite as often as I could have
    Little things I should have said and done
    I just never took the time

    You were always on my mind
    You were always on my mind

    Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died
    Give me, give me one more chance
    To keep you satisfied, satisfied

    Maybe I didn’t hold you
    All those lonely, lonely times
    And I guess I never told you
    I’m so happy that you’re mine
    If I made you feel second best
    Girl I’m so sorry I was blind

    You were always on my mind
    You were always on my mind

    Tell me, tell me that your sweet love hasn’t died
    Give me, give me one more chance

    To keep you satisfied, satisfied

    Little things I should have said and done
    I just never took the time

    You were always on my mind
    You were always on my mind
    You were always on my mind

  • Ode to Billy Joe

    It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day
    I was out choppin’ cotton and my brother was balin’ hay
    And at dinner time we stopped and we walked back to the house to eat
    And mama hollered at the back door “y’all remember to wipe your feet”
    And then she said she got some news this mornin’ from Choctaw Ridge
    Today Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

    Papa said to mama as he passed around the blackeyed peas
    “Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please”
    “There’s five more acres in the lower forty I’ve got to plow”
    Mama said it was shame about Billie Joe, anyhow
    Seems like nothin’ ever comes to no good up on Choctaw Ridge
    And now Billie Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

    And brother said he recollected when he and Tom and Billie Joe
    Put a frog down my back at the Carroll County picture show
    And wasn’t I talkin’ to him after church last Sunday night?
    “I’ll have another piece of apple pie, you know it just don’t seem right”
    “I saw him at the sawmill yesterday on Choctaw Ridge”
    “And now you tell me Billie Joe’s jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge”

    Mama said to me “Child, what’s happened to your appetite?”
    “I’ve been cookin’ all morning and you haven’t touched a single bite”
    “That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today”
    “Said he’d be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way”
    “He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you up on Choctaw Ridge”
    “And she and Billie Joe was throwing somethin’ off the Tallahatchie Bridge”

    A year has come ‘n’ gone since we heard the news ’bout Billie Joe
    Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelo
    There was a virus going ’round, papa caught it and he died last Spring
    And now mama doesn’t seem to wanna do much of anything
    And me, I spend a lot of time pickin’ flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

    And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahatchie Bridge

  • I Will Always Love You

    If I should stay
    I would only be in your way
    So I’ll go but I know
    I’ll think of you every step of the way

    And I will always love you
    I will always love you

    You, you, my darling you

    Bittersweet memories
    That is all I’m taking with me
    So goodbye Please don’t cry
    We both know I’m not what you
    You need

    I hope life treats you kind
    And I hope you have all you dreamed of
    And I wish to you joy and happiness
    But above all this, I wish to you love

    I will always love you

  • City of New Orleans / Salut les amoureux

    Riding on the City of New Orleans,
    Illinois Central Monday morning rail
    Fifteen cars and fifteen restless riders,
    Three conductors and twenty-five sacks of mail.
    All along the southbound odyssey
    The train pulls out at Kankakee
    Rolls along past houses, farms and fields.
    Passin’ trains that have no names,
    Freight yards full of old black men
    And the graveyards of the rusted automobiles.

    Refrain :
    Good morning America how are you?
    Don’t you know me I’m your native son,
    I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
    I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

    Les matins se suivent et se ressemblent,
    Quand l’amour fait place au quotidien.
    On n’était pas fait pour vivre ensemble,
    Ca ne suffit pas de toujours s’aimer bien.
    C’est trop lumière ou sans lumière
    Et c’est à peine si on trouvait les mots pour se parler du mauvais du temps
    Et maintenant qu’il faut partir on a cent mille choses à dire
    Qui tiennent trop à c?ur pour si peu d’temps

    On s’est aimé comme on se quitte
    Tout simplement sans penser à demain
    A demain qui vient toujours un peu trop vite
    Aux adieux qui quelque fois se passe un peu trop bien

    On s’est aimé comme on se quitte
    Tout simplement sans penser à demain
    A demain qui vient toujours un peu trop vite
    Aux adieux qui quelque fois se passe un peu trop bien
    I’m the train they call The City of New Orleans,
    I’ll be gone five hundred miles when the day is done.

  • Let It Be Me / Je t’appartiens

    I bless the day I found you
    I want to stay around you
    And so I beg you, let it be me
    Don’t take this heaven from one
    If you must cling to someone
    Now and forever, let it be me

    When I’m with your love
    I find complete love
    Without you sweet love
    What would life be?

    De tout mon être
    Tu es le seul maître
    Je dois me soumettre
    Je t’appartiens
    Je t’appartiens

    Si tu condamnes
    Si tu me damnes
    Voici mon âme
    Voici mes mains

    Avec les peines, l’amour et la haine
    Coulant dans mes veines
    Je t’appartiens
    Let it be me
    Let it be me

  • Ode to Billy Joe / La Marie Jeanne

    C’était le quatre juin, le soleil tapait depuis le matin
    Je m’occupais de la vigne et mon frère chargeait le foin
    Et l’heure du déjeuner venue, on est retourné à la maison
    Et notre mère a crié de la cuisine “Essuyez vos pieds sur l’ paillasson”
    Puis elle nous dit qu’elle avait des nouvelles de Bourg-les-Essonnes
    Ce matin, Marie-Jeanne Guillaume s’est jetée du pont de la Garonne

    Et mon père dit à ma mère en nous passant le plat de gratin
    “La Marie-Jeanne, elle n’était pas très maligne, passe-moi donc le pain.
    Y a bien encore deux hectares à labourer dans le champ de la canne”
    Et maman dit “Tu vois, quand j’y pense, c’est quand même bête pour cette pauvre Marie-Jeanne
    On dirait qu’il n’arrive jamais rien de bon à Bourg-les-Essonnes
    Et voilà qu’ Marie-Jeanne Guillaume va s’ jeter du pont de la Garonne”

    Et mon frère dit qu’il se souvenait quand lui et moi et le grand Nicolas
    On avait mis une grenouille dans le dos de Marie-Jeanne, un soir au cinéma
    Et il me dit “Tu te rappelles, tu lui parlais ce dimanche près de l’église
    Donne-moi encore un peu de vin, c’est bien injuste la vie
    Dire que j’ l’ai vue à la scierie hier à Bourg-les-Essonnes
    Et qu’aujourd’hui Marie-Jeanne s’est jetée du pont de la Garonne”

    Maman m’a dit enfin “Mon grand, tu n’as pas beaucoup d’appétit
    J’ai cuisiné tout ce matin et tu n’as rien touché, tu n’as rien pris
    Dis-moi, la sœur de ce jeune curé est passée en auto
    Elle m’a dit qu’elle viendrait dimanche à dîner… Oh ! et à propos
    Elle dit qu’elle a vu un garçon qui t’ ressemblait à Bourg-les-Essonnes
    Et lui et Marie-Jeanne jetaient quelque chose du pont de la Garonne”

    Toute une année est passée, on ne parle plus du tout de Marie-Jeanne
    Mon frère qui s’est marié a pris un magasin avec sa femme
    La grippe est venue par chez nous et mon père en est mort en janvier
    Depuis, maman n’a plus envie de faire grand-chose, elle est toujours fatiguée
    Et moi, de temps en temps j’ vais ramasser quelques fleurs du côté des Essonnes
    Et je les jette dans les eaux boueuses du haut du pont de la Garonne

  • Credits

    STUDIOS: Blackbird Studio et Sound Emporium, Nashville TN
    RÉALISATEURS: Nathan Chapman et Chad Carlson
    (sauf pour City Of New Orleans and I Love You So Nathan Chapman)
    Ingénieur enregistrement et mixage: Chad Carlson
    Assistants: Gordon Hammond, Mark Petaccia
    Mastering audio: Hank Williams
    Mastermix Studios Management: Pierre Charbonneau
    PHOTOS: OSA Images, Sandrine Corsi, Roch Voisine
    DESIGN: SDE.ca