Levelland

Flatter than a table top Makes you wonder why they stopped here Wagon must have lost a wheel Or they lacked ambition one In the great migration west Separated from the rest Though they might have tried their best They never caught the sun So they sunk some roots down in this dirt To keep from blowin' off the earth Built a town right here When the dust had all but cleared They called it Levelland Levelland Levelland Grand dad grew the dry land wheat Stood on his own two feet His mind got incomplete And they put him in a home Daddy's cotton grows so high Sucks the water table dry His rolling sprinklers circle by Bleeding it to the bone And I won't be here when it comes the day It all dries up and blows away I'd hang around just to see But they never had much use for me In Levelland They don't understand me In Levelland Well I watch those ships trails comin' out that big blue sky Coast to coasters, watch 'em go And I don't blame 'em one damn bit If they never look down on this Ain't much down here they'd want to know Just Levelland You could wash your hands In nothin' but Levelland Moama used to roll her hair Back before the central air We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night She'd tell me to make a wish I'd wish we both could fly I don't think she's seen the sky Since we got the satellite dish I can hear the marching band Doing the best they can to play 'Smoke on the Water' And 'Joy to the World' I payed up all my debts Got some change left over yet And I'm getting on a whisper jet Going to fly as far as I can get From Levelland Done the best I can In Levelland Songwriter: James McMurtry