Angeline

Angeline, Angeline, darker nights I've never seen I don't love these East Texas pines Where I can't find my sleep in the shadows so deep And dark as the doubts in my mind Freight train on the trestle rolling east towards the Natchez Like the one I got off of so long ago Outside of a small town where I didn't mean to settle down Not knowing the seeds I would sow Barefoot in the autumn weeds, cotton dress hanging to your knees To the eyes of a stranger you offered a smile Took a job in your daddy's fields, didn't seem like such a bad deal At least it would do for a while We were both young and unabashed, we took what life offered While your folks were distracted or too tired to care As the cold gripped the land the fates forced our hand Your dresses fit tighter with the spring in the air Now I watch the trains rattle on from the seat of the tractor Your daddy's old harness still hangs in the barn And your mama don't like it that our children all scattered She swears it's my blood, it was not meant to farm And you and I don't talk a lot, we don't really have to We've spent many a year reading each other's minds We gave up the lightning, now we don't bother fighting These things will happen in time Angeline, Angeline, darker nights I've never seen I don't love these East Texas pines Where I can't find my sleep in the shadows so deep And dark as the doubts in my mind