Outside the Nashville City Limits-Joan Baez

[00:00.69](Words and Music by Joan Baez) [00:01.56]Outside the Nashville city limits [00:03.60]a friend and I did drive, [00:06.18]on a day in early winter [00:08.28]I was glad to be alive. [00:11.25]We went to see some friends of his [00:13.71]who lived upon a farm. [00:17.61]Strange and gentle country folk [00:20.01]who would wish nobody harm. [00:23.88]Fresh-cut sixty acres, [00:26.46]eight cows in the barn. [00:29.85]But the thing that I remember [00:33.09]on that cold day in December [00:38.16]was that my eyes they did brim over [00:49.59]as we talked. [00:49.83]In the slowest drawl I had ever heard [00:52.29]the man said "Come with me [00:55.29]if y'all wanna see the prettiest place [00:57.27]in all of Tennesee." [00:59.82]He poured us each a glass of wine [01:02.28]and a-walking we did go, [01:05.73]along fallen leaves and crackling ice [01:08.34]where a tiny brook did flow. [01:12.48]He knew every inch of the land [01:14.49]and Lord he loved it so. [01:18.09]But the thing that I remember [01:21.36]on that cold day in December [01:29.43]was that my eyes were brimming over [01:32.67]as we walked. [01:37.86]He set my down upon a stone [01:40.41]beside a running spring. [01:42.93]He talked in a voice so soft and clear [01:45.15]like the waters I heard sing. [01:47.91]He said "We searched quite a time [01:50.07]for a place to call our own. [01:53.94]There was just me and Mary John [01:56.31]and now I guess we're home." [01:59.94]I looked at the ground and wondered [02:01.86]how many years they each had roamed. [02:03.66]And Lord I do remember [02:09.12]on that day in late December [02:15.42]how my eyes kept brimming over [02:18.69]as we talked. [02:18.93]As we walked. [02:30.39]And standing there with outstretched arms [02:33.00]he said to me "You know, [02:35.52]I can't wait till the heavy storms [02:38.04]cover the ground with snow, [02:40.41]and there on the pond the watercress [02:42.69]is all that don't turn white. [02:46.23]When the sun is high you squint your eyes [02:48.87]and look at the hills so bright." [02:52.56]And nodding his head my friend said, [02:54.78]"And it seems like overnight [02:58.50]that the leaves come out so tender [03:05.49]at the turning of the winter..." [03:07.71]I thought the skies they would brim over [03:11.76]as we talked. [03:12.00]© 1970, 1971 Chandos Music (ASCAP)