Download "Levelland"

Levelland by James McMurtry

Release Date
Sun Jan 01 1995
Performed by
James McMurtry
About

“Levelland” by James McMurtry appears on his 1995 album, Where’d You Hide the Body?.

This is a first person story song about a young man who lives in a small Texas town and can’t wait to get out.

Levelland Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Flatter than a table top
Makes you wonder why they stopped here
Wagon must have lost a wheel
Or they lacked ambition one

In 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 this dirt
To keep from blowin' off the earth
Built a town right here
When the dust had all but cleared

[Chorus]
They called it Levelland
Levelland
Levelland

[Verse 2]
Granddad grew dry land wheat
Stood on his own two feet
His mind got incomplete
And they put him in a home

Daddy's cotton grows so high
Sucks the water table dry
His rolling sprinklers circle by
Bleedin' it to the bone

And I won't be here when it comes the day
It all dries up and blows away
I'd hang around just to see
But they never had much use for me

[Chorus]
In Levelland
They don't understand me
In Levelland

[Bridge]
Well I watch those jet trails comin' out that big blue sky
Coast to coasters, watch 'em go
And I don't blame 'em one damn bit
If they never look down on this
Ain't much down here they'd want to know

[Chorus]
Just Levelland
You could wash your hands
In nothin' but Levelland

[Verse 3]
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
I don't think she's seen the sky
Since we got the satellite dishh

[Verse 4]
I can hear the marching band
Doing the best they can to play
'Smoke on the Water'
And 'Joy to the World'

I payed up all my debts
Got some change left over yet
And I'm getting on a whisper jet
Going to fly as far as I can get

[Chorus]
From Levelland
Done the best I can
In Levelland

[Instrumental Outro]

Levelland Q&A

When did James McMurtry release Levelland?

James McMurtry released Levelland on Sun Jan 01 1995.

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