From: Andrew Lyon <Andrew@lyonap.force9.co.uk>
Date: Sunday, May 31, 1998 6:07 AM
Subject: "Levelland" by Robert Earl Keen


Levelland
Written by: James McMurtry
CD: Robert Earl Keen - Picnic
From: Andrew@lyonap.force9.co.uk

Intro: E A E C#m A

E
Flatter than a tabletop
A
Makes you wonder why they stopped here
E               C#m                  A
Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one
E
On the great migration west
A
Separated from the rest
E                      C#m
Though they might have tried their best
     A
They never caught the sun

        B
So they sunk some roots down in the dirt
   A
To keep from blowin' off the earth
B
Built a town around here
             A                B
And when the dust had all but cleared
               E              A              B
They called it Levelland, the pride of man
   E           A    B
In Levelland

E
Granddad grew the dryland wheat
A
Stood on his own two feet
E            C#m                 A
His mind got incomplete and they put in the home
E
Daddy's cotton grows so high
A
Sucks the water table dry
E                  C#m
Rolling sprinklers circle round
A
Bleedin' it to the bone
      B
And I won't be here when it comes a day
   A
It all dries up and blows away
    B
I'd hang around just to see
         A              B             E
But they never had much use for me in Levelland
           A          B         E          A     B
They don't understand me out in Levelland

      A                      C#m             B             E
And I watch those jet trails carving up that big blue sky
A        C#m                     B
Coast to coasters watch 'em go
      A                     C#m
And I never would blame 'em one damn bit
        B                    E
If they never looked down on this
A        C#m               B
Not much here they'd wanna know
     E
Just Levelland
               A                 B
Far as you can point your hand
            E          A   B
Nothin' but Levelland

(Solo)  A C#m B E A C#m B A C#m B E A C#m B

E
Mama used to roll her hair
A
Back before the central air
E           C#m                A
We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night
E
She'd tell me to make a wish
A
I'd wish we both could fly
E                 C#m
Don't think she's seen the sky
A
Since we got the satellite dish and
E
I can hear the marching band
A
Doin' the best they can
                 E            C#m      A
They're playing "Smoke on the Water", "Joy to the World"
E
I've paid off all my debts
A
Got some change left over yet and I'm
E            C#m
Gettin' on a whisper jet
          A                   B
I'm gonna fly as far as I can get from
E                    A            B
Levelland, doin' the best I can
       E                   A      B
Out in Levelland - imagine that

{E    A  B}x4

C#m A B E