Birmingham Lyrics - O' Be Joyful - Shovels & Rope

Delta Mama and a Nickajack Man 

Raised their Cumberland daughters in a Tennessee band 

Played Springwater at Station Inn 

Couldn't play fast, couldn't fit in 

Caught a '66 Dodge in Caroline 

Got her education on her mama's dime 

She was singing in a bar called Comatose 

Halfway rusted on the salty coast 

Rock of Ages, cleave for me 

Let me hide myself in Thee 

Buried in the sand 

Five hundred miles from Birmingham 

Rockamount Cowboy in a rock and roll band 

Plugged his amplifier in all across the land 

Athens, Georgia on a Friday night 

Saw that little girl, she could sing alright 

Spent five years going from town to town 

Waiting on that little girl to come around 

Caught in the arms of New York City 

To lose that gal seemed terrible pity 

Rock of Ages, cleave for me 

Let my heart forget a beat 

Why do you demand 

Calling me from Birmingham 

Pulled her covered wagon off the BQE 

Said this'll be the last you'll ever see of me 

Well the cowboy laughed said I know it's not true 

Cause there's nothing I could do to get loose from you 

Made a little money playing in the bars 

With two beat up drums and two old guitars 

From the Crescent City to the Great Salt Lake 

It ain't what you got, it's what you make 

When the road got rough and the wheels all broke 

Couldn't take more then we could tow 

Making something out of nothing with a scratcher and our hope 

With two old guitars like a shovel and a rope 

Rock of Ages, cleave for me 

Let me hide myself in Thee 

Now I understand 

On better terms since Birmingham