Dave Alvin - Ashgrove lyrics

(Blue Horn Toad Music, BMI)

Well when I was a young boy

I used to slip away

Down to the ashgrove

To hear the old blues men play

There was Big Joe and Lightnin'

And Reverend Gary too

Well I'd sit and stare and dream

Of doin' what they could do.

Well it's been thirty years since the ashgrove burned down

And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town

Tryin' to make a livin'

Tryin' to pay the rent

Tryin' to figure out where my life went.

I wanna go back to the ashgrove

That's where I come from

I wanna go back to the ashgrove

That's where I belong.

Well you don't have to go searchin'

Pretend to put on airs

‘Cause the blues are gonna find you someday, somewhere

Now my mother's gone

Now my father's gone

And all the old blues men have all passed on

And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town

Settin' up my gear and then I'm tearin' it down

Turnin' up my guitar

Standin' on the stage

I'm just tryin' to raise the ghosts up out of their graves.

I wanna go back to the ashgrove

That's where I come from

Yeah I wanna go back to the ashgrove

That's where I belong.

Well I can't say I been all sinner

Can't say I been all saint

I've done some good deeds and I've made big mistakes

I been in and out of love

Said words I regret

I been drunk, been sober

Smoked too many cigarettes

And I'm out on this highway travelin' town to town

And the news on the radio just brings me down

Intolerance and fear

Ignorance and lies

It's the same old same old I heard a million times

And I'm thinkin' of friends and lovers

And how they come and go

Like look-alike houses on the side of the road

Full of everyday people tryin' to get ahead

Tryin' to find a reason just to get out of bed

‘Cause we all need somethin' just to get us through

Well I'm gonna play the blues tonight man

‘Cause that's what I do.

I'm goin' back to the Ashgrove

That's where I come from

I'm goin' back to the Ashgrove

That's where I belong.