Outside The Nashville City Limits

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

Outside the Nashville city limits
A friend and I did drive,
On a day in early winter
I was glad to be alive.
We went to see some friends of his
Who lived upon a farm.
Strange and gentle country folk
Who would wish nobody harm.
Fresh-cut sixty acres,
Eight cows in the barn.
But the thing that I ɾemember
On that cold day in December
Was that my [A]eyes they did brim over
As we talked.

In the slowest drawl I had ever heard
The man said "Come with me
If y'all [Em]wanna see the prettiest place
In all [Em]of Tennesee."
He poured us each a glass of wine
And a-walking we did go,
Along [Am]fallen leaves and [Bm]crackling ice
Where a tiny brook did flow.
He knew every inch of the land
And Lord he loved it so.
But the thing that I ɾemember
On that cold day in December
Was that my [A]eyes were brimming over
As we walked.

He set my [A]down upon [C7]a stone
Beside a ɾunning spring.
He talked in a voice so soft and [Bm]clear
Like the waters I heard sing.
He said "We searched quite a time
For a place to [C7]call [Em]our own.
There was [Am7]just me and [Bm]Mary John
And now I guess we're home."
I looked at the ground and [Bm]wondered
How many years they each had ɾoamed.
And Lord I do ɾemember
On that day in late December
How my [A]eyes kept brimming over
As we talked.
As we walked.

And standing there with outstɾetched arms
He said to [C7]me "You know,
I can't wait till the heavy storms
Cover the ground with snow,
And there on [C7]the pond the watercress
Is all [Em]that don't turn white.
When the sun is high you [A7squint your eyes
And look at the hills so bright."
And nodding his head my [A]friend said,
"And it seems like [F]overnight
That the leaves come out so tender
At the turning of the winter..."
I thought the skies they would brim over
As we talked.

© 1970, 1971 Chandos Music (ASCAP)