The Pilgrim - Lyrics

Intro (Instrumental)

Sometimes The Pleasure's Worth The Pain

 Written by Marty Stuart and Gary Nicholson
I give my heart and soul to you
That's all I really know to do
If it's a crying shame, there's just myself to blame
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain

You cut me deep with that first kiss
Your sweet taste I could not resist
You were too wild to tame
I loved you just the same
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain

And though love burns and burns
I never seem to learn
I'll walk right back into the flames
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain

So here I am back at your door
I can't help coming back for more
This love's a hurtin' thing
One that I can't explain
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain
Sometimes the pleasure's worth the pain

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)
Gary Nicholson Music (adm. by MRBI) (ASCAP)

The Pilgrim (Act 1) (sung by Emmylou Harris)

 Written by Marty Stuart
I am a lonesome Pilgrim, far from home
And what a journey I have known
I might be tired and weary, but I'm strong
'Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone

© 1996 Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Harlan County (sung by Ralph Stanley)

 Written by Marty Stuart
Way down in Harlan County
On a cold and lonesome night
A tormented man with a gun in his hand
Went searching for his wife

When he found her in another's arms
She began to scream and cry
As he put the gun to his own head,
Said it's time for me to die

Her lover begged forgiveness
From that woman's man
I swear to you, she never wore
A ring upon her hand

Her husband took a letter
From his canvas overcoat
Then before their eyes he killed himself
And here is what he wrote

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Reasons

 Written by Marty Stuart
It was the perfect excuse to get drunk
As if lately I've needed one
It Was the perfect excuse to buy bullets
For the barrel of my favorite gun
It was the perfect way to show you
How it feels inside of me
And the perfect way to find out
How it feels to set me free

Reasons
I keep looking for reasons
I thought that I had loved you
I did the best I could
Reasons
I keep looking for reasons
I lost the reason for me living
And that just ain't no good

I know that three's a crowded room
But really, this won't take long
I want to meet the man, help him to understand
What he did when he broke up our home
And I'll be going now to a place I know
That's deep, dark and quiet
Away from pain and the undying shame
Of me and my unfaithful wife

Reasons
I keep looking for reasons
I thought that I had loved you
I did the best I could
Reasons
I keep looking for reasons
I lost the reason for me living
And that just ain't no good
I lost the reason for me living
And that just ain't no good

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Love Can Go To .....

 Written by Marty Stuart
I didn't know that she was married
That part she didn't tell
Forget this town, ain't hangin' around
Love can go to .......

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Red, Red Wine and Cheatin' Songs

 Written by Marty Stuart
Red, red wine and cheatin' songs
Lately this bar room's where I call my home
Somewhere, somehow, my baby went wrong
Now it's red, red wine and cheatin' songs

For ten long years, not one single drop
Twelve months later, well I haven't stopped
I'm covering the misery of a good love grown cold
And losing what's left of my mind and soul to that

Red, red wine and cheatin' songs
Lately this bar room's where I call my home
Somewhere, somehow, my baby went wrong
Now it's red, red wine and cheatin' songs

Cigarette smoke, powder and pain
Can't make up for what is and what ain't
When the truth starts to rumble and it starts to roar
Then I ask the barmaid to pour me some more of that

Red, red wine and cheatin' songs
Lately this bar room's where I call my home
Somewhere, somehow, my baby went wrong
Now it's red, red wine and cheatin' songs
Somewhere, somehow, my baby went wrong
Now it's red, red wine and cheatin' songs

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Truckstop (sung by George Jones and Emmylou Harris)

 Written by Marty Stuart
At a red hot truck stop with a dirt floor parking lot
A waitress named Shirley
Poured him some coffee and she said
"Hello stranger where're you going?
I see the dust of where you've been
Seems like the fire of trouble
Claims you like the next of kin
You look as new as tomorrow
And the old as where you're from
If I've got it right and I think I might
I believe that you're a Pilgrim"

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Hobo's Prayer

 Written by Marty Stuart
Under bridges, beneath trestles in the boxcars of dead trains
Livin' to beat the cold of the pouring driving rain
A silent society moves out in the night
Ragged rebels, homeless hobos and those like me
Who've lost the light

St. Peter is a prophet to all the hobo world
An expert on everything From caviar to girls
I met him west of Memphis on the 8th of July
He handed me a can of beans and a rusty knife

And he said "everything out here ain't what it seems
And when you're down to nothing
Just go ahead and dream
Face the fact that you're circle in a world full of squares
Trading sorrows for tomorrows, now that's the hobo's prayer"

Mother Mary is a lady from down in New Orleans
She's seen a lot of living since she was 17
She said, "I'm bona fide and worldly wise, with original parts
'cept for what set me to traveling, I'm talking about my heart"

She said, "I can spot a broken heart from 20 miles away
So are you passing through or have you come to stay
You're running from a woman," she said with a grin
"So what've you got to say" and I said
I am a pilgrim

Where everything out here ain't what it seems
When I'm down to nothing, I just go ahead and dream
And face the fact that I'm a circle in a world full of squares
Trading sorrows for tomorrows, that's the hobo's prayer
Trading sorrows for tomorrows, that's the hobo's prayer

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Goin' Nowhere Fast

 Written by Marty Stuart
There's just too much confusion, to get what's really going on
The truth is lying out there, and it's covered up in stone
I get a funny feeling that's been rolling 'round in me
I think it's time to tell you that it's time for me to leave
It's been fun, it has been a gas
But it's goin' nowhere fast

Somebody call my number and get me on the phone
Lately I've been talking to myself, when I had me all alone
Thinking I should start a fire and burn a bridge back into town
It must be time to go back home
'Cause I miss having me around
It's almost real, it could've been a blast
But it's goin' nowhere fast

I'm on a roll so I'll keep rolling
Gaining ground on my control
While I need someone to lean on, a tender hand to hold
As I scramble cross the beckon call of my own heart's command
I'll fade and disappear into a sea of sinking sand
Like a dark horse running from the past
I'm goin' nowhere fast
I'm a dark horse running through the past
I'm goin' nowhere fast

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

The Observations Of A Crow

 Written by Marty Stuart
Newspaper boy making his rounds
Spreading the word all over town
Driving his car just as fast as it will go
There's papers in the driveway, papers in the yard
Paper broke a window, he didn't throw it that hard
But it shattered like a dream, down in the valley below

Hey quarter moon, well how was your night
Yeah well, any minute now God's gonna hit them brights
So if you stick around don't say that you weren't told
Well, take it from me, you better grab your shades
And if he looks at you, well try not to look so afraid
Just do the best that you can, but don't think that he won't know

Creosote's dripping from the high line poles
Fast as you can count 'em, 12 in a row
Blessed accommodations, for the daily observations of a crow

Well, that cat down there, yeah, well he's Louie the Flea
He's married to a waitress by the name of Lora Lee
When they scream and they holler, man they put on a show
He's a protected witness from a Detroit job
Turned his best friend in, his name is Bob
I know who got the time, but who do you think got the dough

Take a look at that pilgrim, passing by
He's looking for love, I can see it in his eyes
He's running 'round in circles, you can take it from me
His shadow begs for mercy of every lost and found
In city after city, town after town
Tortured by the memory of a love he thought was supposed to be

Creosote's dripping from the high line poles
Fast as you can count 'em, 12 in a row
Blessed accommodations, for the daily observations of a crow

I'm a genuine scoopologist, the name is Crow
Sitting up here, watching the show
In this one horse, drive-thru, forsaken, dried up piece of the world
Well, it ain't much but it's my kingdom, it's my home
Even had a queen till that parakeet came along
Fast talking, loud squawking, green feathered scrak took my girl.....
Later

© 1997 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Intermission (Instrumental)

The Greatest Love Of All Time (including Reprise)

 Written by Marty Stuart
I heard the sound of a train out in the distance
That takes me back to you
The only heart I ever met, as pure as it was true
Your kiss is still warm as wild mountain honey
It lays so sweet on my mind
And it helps me forget, the path of regret
And the fool that left you behind

Miles and miles of memories
Flow through me like new scarlet wine
And it's sad but it's true, that girl me and you
Had the greatest love of all time

Miles and miles of memories
Flow through me like new scarlet wine
And it's sad but it's true, that girl me and you
Had the greatest love of all time
Had the greatest love of all time

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Draggin' Around These Chains Of Love

 Written by Marty Stuart and Mike Campbell
Scared, I've been scared, out here on my own
Lost, I've been lost, a million miles from home
Running, tired of running, that's all I seem to do
Nothing, I ain't nothing, baby without you

I'm draggin' around these chains of love
And I think I've had enough
Without you I ain't that tough
Draggin' around these chains of love

Tired, I'm tired, tired of missing you
Lonesome, lonesome, lonesome through and through
Hurt, yeah it hurt, when my heart broke in two
Hope, I keep hoping, that's all I know to do

I'm draggin' around these chains of love
And I think I've had enough
Without you I ain't that tough
Draggin' around these chains of love

I'm draggin' around these chains of love
And I think I've had enough
Without you I ain't that tough
Draggin' around these chains of love

© 1998 Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)
Wild Gator Music (ASCAP)

The Pilgrim (Act II) (sung by Ralph Stanley)

 Written by Marty Stuart
I am a lonesome Pilgrim, far from home
And what a journey I have known
I might be tired and weary, but I'm strong
Pilgrims walk, but not alone

© 1996 Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Redemption

 Written by Marty Stuart
Sometimes the only thing to do is turn around and go back home
When every way there is to turn has vanished and is gone
I've used up every trick that I had hidden up my sleeve
Think it's time I reconcile with what I had to leave

In a little country graveyard, in the middle of the night
I'm kneeling by the memory of the one who gave me life
She always knew me better than I'll ever know myself
I keep hearing her and Jesus say "Surrender son and rest"

Redemption, like the moon tonight, hangs pretty, soft and low
And how it's been up until now don't matter anymore
In the middle of this darkness, I see a light that shines
Like a beacon of forgiveness saying "Pilgrim, all is fine"
There's one more journey left for me, that's all that's left to do
And in the dirt he wrote a simple note that said, "momma I love you"

© 1998 Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

The Pilgrim (Act III)

 Written by Marty Stuart
I am a lonesome pilgrim, far from home
And what a journey I have known
I might be tired and weary, but I am strong
'Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone

There's been a hand to guide me along the way
And it held me up when I went astray
And as I stand before that valley wide
It will lead me to the other side

At the dawn of telling fortunes told
Take my mind, my body, my heart and soul
Wisdom falters not, it's more than gold
Giving ,e sweet rest and peace

I am a lonesome pilgrim, far from home
And what a journey I have known
I might be tired and weary, but I am strong
'Cause pilgrims walk, but not alone
Pilgrims walk, but not alone

© 1996 Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)

Outro (spoken by Johnny Cash)

 Excerpt from "Sir Galahad" written by Alfred Lord Tennyson
Then move the trees, the copses nod,
Wings flutter, voices hover clear.
"O just and faithful knight of God!
Ride on! The prize is near."

So pass I hostel, hall, and grange,
By bridge and ford, by park and pale,
All-arm'd I ride, whate'er betide
Until I find the holy Grail

.....said the lonesome pilgrim far from home

Mr. John Henry, Steel Driving Man (Instrumental)

 Written by Marty Stuart and Earl Scruggs
© 1996 Warner Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Marty Party Music (BMI)
Scruggs Music (BMI)
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