Lyrics James McMurtry

James McMurtry

Levelland

Flatter than a tabletop

Makes you wonder why they stopped here

Wagon must have lost a wheel or they lacked ambition one

On the great migration west

Separated from the rest

Though they might have tried their best

They never caught the sun

So they sunk some roots down in the dirt

To keep from blowin' off the earth

Built a town around here

And when the dust had all but cleared

They called it Levelland, the pride of man

In Levelland

Granddad grew the dryland wheat

Stood on his own two feet

His mind got incomplete and they put in the home

Daddy's cotton grows so high

Sucks the water table dry

Rolling sprinklers circle round

Bleedin' it to the bone

And I won't be here when it comes a day

It all dries up and blows away

I'd hang around just to see

But they never had much use for me in Levelland

They don't understand me out in Levelland

And I watch those jet trails carving up that big blue sky

Coast to coasters watch 'em go

And I never would blame 'em one damn bit

If they never looked down on this

Not much here they'd wanna know

Just Levelland

Far as you can point your hand

Nothin' but Levelland

Mama used to roll her hair

Back before the central air

We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night

She'd tell me to make a wish

I'd wish we both could fly

Don't think she's seen the sky

Since we got the satellite dish and

I can hear the marching band

Doin' the best they can

They're playing "Smoke on the Water", "Joy to the World"

I've paid off all my debts

Got some change left over yet and I'm

Gettin' on a whisper jet

I'm gonna fly as far as I can get from

Levelland, doin' the best I can

Out in Levelland - imagine that