From the recording Between the Wars

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Lyrics

Holly ‘n the Drifter
m.litton

In the 1880s in northern Tennessee,
In a coal town Onieda lived my great-grandaddy
And one cold night a drifter shot him down
Since that day my family has roamed
I’d sink a ship for all its gold
I’d sign with the Devil for a home

(chorus): O Holly, I’ve been this way before
I’ve been robbed, shot at ‘n I’ve been poor
So Holly, don’cha follow out the door
Cause I can never marry you
I’m a drifter, a drifter, yeah a drifter
Holly, stand aside ‘n let me pass on through

I met her in a bar, boys, I was twenty-one
She had the eyes of a coyote runnin’ wild from a gun
A French-fan blew back her auburn hair
Her sad tender shadow danced upon the wall
She said she couldn’t sleep when the moon was full
Piano music filled the hall
(chorus)

My night’s they shadow me like the scent of smoke
Ol’ dogs hear me comin’, stir, then watch me go
My heart’s as empty as an early morning town
The memory of Holly clothes the minutes of my day
O’er the river it patterns every wave
Cruel midnight makes me wish I’d have stayed

O Holly, I ‘ve been this way before…