pack up the plantation lyrics

So you want to be a rock 'n' roll star?
Well listen now, hear what I say
Just get an electric guitar
Take some time
And learn how to play

Well then it's time to go downtown
To the agent man won't let you down
Sell your soul to some company
Who are waiting there to sell plastic ware
And in a week or two if you make the charts
The girls will tear you apart

It's the price you pay for your riches and fame,
Was it all a strange game?
You're a little insane
The money that came, and the public acclaim,
Don't forget what you are,
You're a rock 'n' roll star

I saw her today, I saw her face
It was a face I loved and I knew
I had to run away
And get down on my knees and pray
That there'd come a day
And still it begins, needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I've got to hide

Oh, I thought I was smart
I'll hold her heart
Didn't think I'd do
But know I see
She's worse to him than me
Let her go ahead, and take his love instead
And one day she will see

Just how to say please
And get down on her knees
Yeah that's how it begins
Needles and pins
I know, I know

Why can't I stop and tell myself I'm wrong,
I'm wrong, so wrong
Why can't I stand up
And tell myself I'm strong?

Because I saw her today, I saw her face
It was a face I loved and I knew
I had to run away
And get down on my knees and pray
Let there come a day
And still it begins, needles and pins
Because of all my pride
The tears I've got to hide
Oh, like needles and pins
Needles and pins
Needles and pins

Oh baby don't it feel like heaven right now
Don't it feel like somethin' from a dream
Yeah I've never known nothing quite like this
Don't it feel like tonight might never be again
We know better than to try and pretend
Baby no one could have ever told me 'bout this

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Well Yeah I might have chased a couple of women around
All it ever got me was down
Then there were those that made me feel good
But never as good as I feel right now
Baby you're the only one that's ever known how
To make me wanna live like I wanna live now

The waiting is the hardest part
Every day you see one more card
You take it on faith, you take it to the heart
The waiting is the hardest part

Don't let it kill you baby, don't let it get to you
Don't let 'em kill you baby, don't let 'em get to you
I'll be your breathin' heart, I'll be your cryin' fool
Don't let this go to far, don't let it get to you

It's all right if you love me
It's all right if you don't
I'm not afraid of you runnin' away
Honey, I get the feelin' you won't

There is no sense in pretendin'
Your eyes give you give away
Something inside you is feelin' like I do
We've said all there is to say

Baby, Breakdown, go ahead give it to me
Breakdown, honey take me through the night
Breakdown, I'm standing here, can you see?
Breakdown, it's all right
It's all right
It's all right

Breakdown, go ahead give it to me
Breakdown, honey take me through the night
Breakdown, I'm standing here, can you see?
Breakdown, it's all right
It's all right
It's all right

Well she was an American girl
Raised on promises
She couldn't help thinkin that there
Was a little more to life
Somewhere else
After all it was a great big world
With lots of places to run to
Yeah, and if she had to die
Tryin' she had one little promise
She was gonna keep

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy baby
Make it last all night
She was an American girl

It was kind of cold that night
She stood alone on her balcony
She could the cars roll by
Out on 441
Like waves crashin' in the beach
And for one desperate moment there
He crept back in her memory
God it's so painful
Something that's so close
And still so far out of reach

Oh yeah, all right
Take it easy baby
Make it last all night
She was an American girl

We got a man on the moon (it ain't nothin' to me)
We got more comin' soon (it ain't nothin' to me)
Got natives in New Guinea with gold in their teeth
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me

But when you dance I can go right with you
Yeah when you dance I just go right with you

We got smilin' politicians
Got songs from rich musicians
Called Tokyo long distance and the queen came for tea
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me

I got a dog on my leg
I'm walking on eggs
Missionaries walking backwards
Touch 'em and they bleed
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me

Everyone has a message
For avoiding the wreckage
Gypsies at home watching Jerry Falwell on TV
Might mean somethin' to you
It ain't nothin' to me

You've got a dangerous background
And everything you've dreamed of
Yeah you're the Dark Angel
It don't show when you break up
And I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one left in the dust
Yeah I'm the broken hearted fool
Who was never quite enough

I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider

It's a circle of deception
It's a hall of strangers
It's a cage without a key
You can feel the danger
I'm the one who oughta know
I'm the one you couldn't trust
Yeah I'm the lonely silent one
I'm the one left in the dust

I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars
I'm an insider

I'll bet you're his masterpiece
I'll bet you're his self-control
Yeah you'll become his legacy
His quiet world of white and gold
And I'm the one who ought to know
I'm the one you left to rust
Not one of your twisted friends
I'm the one you couldn't love

I'm an insider, I been burned by the fire
And I've had to live with some hard promises
I've crawled through the briars--I'm an insider

Why feel lonely
Why feel blue
You got me babe
I got you
I can't (hey) stop thinkin' about
Rockin' around with you

I would swear that
You came through
You know no one
Else will do
I can't (hey) stop thinkin' about
Rockin' around with you

We got somethin' we both know it,
We don't talk too much about it
Ain't no real big secret, all the same,
Somehow we get around it

Listen, it don't really matter to me
Baby, you believe what you wanna believe
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee

Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have
Kicked you around some
Tell me why you wanna lay there,
Revel in your abandon

Honey, it don't make no difference to me
Baby, everybody's had to fight to be free
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
No baby, you don't have to live like a refugee

Baby, we ain't the first
I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned
Right now this ain't real to you
It's one of those things you got to feel to be true

Somewhere, somehow, somebody must have
Kicked you around some
Who knows, maybe you were kidnapped,
Tied-up, taken away, and held for ransom

Honey, it don't really matter to me
Baby, everybody's had to fight to be free
You see, you don't have to live like a refugee
No, you don't have to live like a refugee
Baby, you don't have to live like a refugee

There's a southern accent, where I come from
The youngins call it country
The yankees call it dumb
I got my own way of talkin'
But everything is done, with a southern accent
Where I come from

Now that drunk tank in Atlanta's
Just a motel room to me
Think I might go work Orlando
If them orange groves don't freeze
I got my own way of workin'
But everything is run, with a southern accent
Where I come from

For just a minute there I was dreaming
For just a minute it was all so real
For just a minute she was standing there, with me

There's a dream I keep having
Where my mama comes to me
And kneels down over by the window
And says a prayer for me
I got my own way of prayin'
But everyone's begun
With a southern accent
Where I come from

I got my own way of livin'
But everything gets done
With a southern accent
Where I come from

Honey don't walk out I'm too drunk to follow
You know you won't feel this way tomorrow
Well, maybe I'm a little rough around the edges
Inside a little hollow
I get faced with some things sometimes
That are so hard to swallow
Hey hey hey!

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Well she picked me up in the morning
And she paid all my tickets
Yeah she screamed in the car
And threw me out in the thicket
Well I never would've dreamed
That her heart was so wicked
Oh but I keep coming back
Cause it's so hard to kick it

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

Even before my father's fathers
They called us all rebels
Burned our cornfields
And left our cities leveled
I can still see the eyes
Of those blue bellied devils
When I'm walking round tonight
Through the concrete and metal

I was born a rebel
Down in Dixie on a Sunday morning
Yeah with one foot in the grave
And one foot on the pedal
I was born a rebel

When you complain and criticize
I feel like nothing in your eyes
It makes me feel like givin' up
Because my best just ain't good enough
Girl I want to provide for you
And do the things you want me to

But oh, oh no
Don't bring me down
Said darlin', darlin', darlin', darlin'
Oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down

The sacrifices I will make
I'm ready to give as well as take
Something I need is your respect
Something I can't take is your neglect
And more than anything I need your love
Until it's easy to rise above

And oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down
Said darlin', darlin', darlin', don't hurt me
Oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down

When you complain and criticize
I feel like nothing in your eyes
It makes me feel like givin' up
Because my best just ain't good enough
Girl I want to provide for you
Do the things that you want me to

But oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down
Said darlin', darlin', darlin', I'm beggin' you
Oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down
Said darlin', darlin', darlin', darlin'
Oh, please, oh, no
Don't bring me down
Darlin', darlin', stop it, darlin'
Oh, oh, no
Don't bring me down

Talkin' to myself again
Wondering if this travelin' is good
Is there something better we'd be doing if we could
And oh the stories we could tell
And if this all blows up and goes to hell
I can still see us sittin on the bed in some motel
Listenin' to the stories we could tell

Remember that guitar in a museum in Tennessee
And the nameplate on the glass brought back twenty melodies
And the scratches on the face
Told of all the times he fell
Singin' every story he could tell
And oh the stories it could tell
And I bet you it still rings like a bell
And I wish we could sit back on the bed in some motel
And listen to the stories we could tell

So if you're on the road tracking down here every night
And you're singin' for a livin' 'neath the brightly colored lights
And if you ever wonder why you ride this carousel
You did it for the stories you could tell
And oh the stories we could tell
And if this all blows up and goes to hell
I can still see us sittin on the bed in some motel
Listenin' to the stories we could tell
I can still see us sittin on the bed in some motel
Listenin' to the stories we could tell

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers	Damn the Torpedoes	You're Gonna Get It
Hard Promises	Long After Dark	Southern Accents
Pack Up the Plantation	Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)	Full Moon Fever
Into the Great Wide Open	Greatest Hits	Wildflowers
Playback	She's the One	Echo