Red Dirt Girl

Me and my best friend Lillian
And her blue tick hound dog Gideon
Sittin' on the front porch coolin' in the shade
Singin' every song the radio playedWaitin' for the Alabama sun to go down
Two red dirt girls in a red dirt town
Me and LillianJust across the line
And a little southeast of MeridianShe loved her brother I remember back when
He was fixin' up a '49 Indian
He told her, Little sister, gonna ride the wind
Up around the moon and back again"He never got farther than Vietnam
I was standin' there with her
When the telegram come for LillianNow he's lyin' somewhere
About a million miles from MeridianShe said, There's not much hope for a red dirt girl
Somewhere out there is a great big world
That's where I'm bound""And the stars might fall on Alabama
But one of these days I'm gonna swing
My hammer down"Away from this red dirt town
I'm gonna make a joyful soundShe grew up tall and she grew up thin
Buried that old dog Gideon
By a crepe myrtle bush in the back of the yard
Her daddy turned mean and her mama leaned hardGot in trouble with a boy from town
Figured that she might as well settle down
So she dug right inAcross a red dirt line
Just a little south east of MeridianYes, she tried hard to love him
But it never did take
Just another way for the heart to break
So she learned to bendOne thing they don't tell you about the blues
When you got 'em
You keep on fallin' 'cause there ain't no bottom
An' there ain't no end, least not for LillianNobody knows when she started her skid
She was only 27 and she had five kids
Could-a been the whiskey, could-a been the pills
Could-a been the dream she was tryin' to killBut there won't be a mention in the news of the world
About the life and the death of a red dirt girl
Named LillianWho never got any farther
Across the line than MeridianNow the stars still fall on Alabama
Tonight she finally laid
That hammer down without a sound
In the red dirt ground