A later song from Will, written after he left Austin to retreat to a West Texas ranch house near San Angelo for a little while.
In the video performance, shot at a backyard house concert in Austin, he introduces this song as “my latest iPhone release” — one of a dozen tunes he shared with a few folks via email.
(Editor’s note: Will’s lyrics can be difficult to decipher. There’s a line in this song’s 1st verse that is unclear to me despite repeatedly listening to both the original iPhone track and this video version. The questionable line is italicized and I would welcome any clarifications.)
I looked around and I was 40,
Surprised to be alive.
With friends and family
Scattered through winters I’d survived.
And I was a fixer-upper
For a woman of the red —
She’d get tough, see, I’d kiss her
And sing her into bed.
And Austin knew my name
Just for lashes of rhyme.
My girl knew I was insane
But she showed me a good time.
And the dogs left me alone —
Lord, the pictures they saw.
Those were wounded, growing years
For my repertoire.
And I don’t know how I slipped away.
Like a tumbleweed beside the highway.
Ghostly, rolling, dirty, dark, blonde —
A little bit of a heartbreaker,
Always a little bit gone.
Well, I woke up (landed) on a ranch
And just like a morning dove,
I called to an old flame
To come and make love.
Well, we drank and smoked and travelled
Like free love from the Sixties —
All aphrodisiac,
She was sad and said she’d miss me.
And I don’t know how I slipped away.
Like a tumbleweed beside the highway.
Ghostly, rolling, dirty, dark, blonde —
A little bit of a heartbreaker,
Always a little bit gone.
Well, I remember when Mama died
I hadn’t seen her for so long
I was homeless in Seattle —
I just never belonged.
At general delivery
I got a grand that went, too,
I bought a guitar for Texas
And I never cried for her…
And I don’t know how I slipped away.
Like a tumbleweed beside the highway.
Ghostly, rolling, dirty, dark, blonde —
A little bit of a heartbreaker,
Always a little bit gone.
A bit of a heartbreaker,
Always a little bit gone.
Buller's back porch 