By townes van zandt
Well, the clouds didn't look like cotton
they didn't even look like clouds
i was underneath the weather
my friends looked a crowd
the swimmin' hole was full of rum
i tried to find out why
all i learned was this my friend
you got to swim before you fly

i got two girls
one's in heaven and one's below
oh, one i love with all my heart
and one i do not know.

two lonesome dudes on an ugly horse
passed by not long ago
they asked me where the action was
i said i did not know
as they disappeared into the brush
i heard the driver say
he's a little slow between the ears
he's always been that way.

jolly jane just lays around
and listens with her mouth
she's had about a dozen husbands
but the last one pulled out
now, who's gonna bring her dinner
through the weary years ahead
all she'll get from me is sympathy
got no time to see she's fed.

it's cold down on the bayou
they say it's in your mind
but the moccasins are treadin' ice
and leavin strange designs
cajuns say the last time
that this happend they weren't here
all beaumont's full of penguins
and i'm a-playin' it by ear.