Christine Lavin

Alone on the stage you’re a cowboy in lights

charming the audience night after night

they clap their hands for you

they all wish you well

they go home to families

you go home to hotels

Well there’s cranky bartenders, old chambermaids

young waitresses who are all underpaid

some treat you with contempt

some with respect

their faces stay with you

their names you forget

You’re a rambler

a singer of songs

women don’t understand

and don’t wait for you long

now you gotta keep moving

traveling on

the road’s calling you

and you wish you were gone

Some call you a rambler

some call you a rogue

some think you’re a gambler

some think you’re a joke

if I knew you better

I might not agree

but all I know of you

is what I can see

With guitar in your hands

and the light in your eyes

you come on so strong

you appear to be wise

but when it’s all over

you’ve nothing to do

but sit in some barroom

and down quite a few

You’re a rambler

a singer of songs

women don’t understand

and don’t stay with you long

now you gotta keep moving

traveling on

the road’s calling you

and you wish you were gone . . .

Oh you’re tired of the east coast

you long for the west

where the sun always shines

and the beer tastes the best

but you need what you’re getting

up there on the stage

and you like making more

than a workingman’s wage

So you’re trapped in the music

that you do so well

you’re trapped in the comforts

of fancy hotels

it’s nothing you’ve said

I just think I can tell

if you had you’re way you’d be gone

You’re a rambler

a singer of songs

women don’t understand

and don’t love you for very long

now you gotta keep moving

traveling on

the road’s calling you

and you wish you were gone

You gotta keep moving

traveling on

the road’s calling you

now you’re gone

Christine Lavin: vocal and guitar

Robin Batteau: violin

Amelia Krinke: viola

Brian Bauers: vocal harmony

Ashley Madison Bauers: vocal harmony

Steve Doyle: bass

Daniel Glass: percussion