Townes Van Zandt - Marie Lyrics

I just discovered this legend.

this is without any doubt the best protest song I have ever heard.

“Well Marie, she didn’t wake up this morning. She didn’t even try...” always gets me

this song has a deep bitter Grief inside...makes Silence for long.

This is BEAUTIFUL. As Always

No lie....A friend who is an alcoholic pointed out a young couple to me recently as we drove around. He said they were good people, but addicts, living outdoors. I was surprised because they looked very neat and healthy....from a distance. I discovered this song a few days later, and was moved, and couldn't help but think of the young couple. I thought of them a few times in the last few weeks, and always this song at the same time. I went to see my friend tonight...he's going into de-tox again tomorrow. He and another addict friend were sad, because the body of the young woman had been found in a creek. Her man had been arrested and sent back to another state for an outstanding warrant...he is now on suicide watch. They say she left two kids behind...31 years old.....a few hours after she was found, a guy drove into the same shallow creek and drowned, his car turned upside down...His dog and another passenger escaped unharmed. Strange day.....

This is a song that explains abject poverty and the cruelty inflicted upon them by others who think they are better.
They refuse to help those in need of everything but willingly help the rich get richer.

Perfect...

Grand artiste, belle voix et très belle sensibilité. Vraiment j'aime énormément.

If you think you're strong enough, this goes well with Tom Waits' song 'Ruby's Arms'.

I only listen to Marie once in awhile but the song is always with me. One can't look at the world with open eyes and not think of Marie.

The saddest song ever written. And if Townes was still here, what would he have written now?

I love this. My all time favorite song......absolutely haunting and beautiful. 💕

If I wasn't depressed before I sure am suicidal now... fuck it's morose

r/vagabond

If you cant picture in your mind what towns is saying this is not the music for you. Not for the masses.

This might be the greatest song ever written

A true poet of folk...a real poet...one of my favorites. No Deeper Blue was the first Townes record I ever purchased. Gorgeous

My girlfriend of more'n 3 years left me; and it's my fault. Listening to Townes not to cheer me up, but to remind me I'm the dirt mistake maker my heart knows that I am. I'll find redemption or death but I'll go somewhere real.

Ow, my heart.

Sadly I understand this all too well.

Perhaps the most devastating song ever written. Sad, and tragic because many parts mirror Townes' own life.

This kind of deep connection to the darkness of the soul has to be from God Townes is what I believe to be a Singing Poet of the LORD

Nice I feel the same. A sinners voice at it's most desperate.

That man understands the blues like 100% pure

He’s the best story teller makes Dylan look ok ya I said it

Want to hear a bleak song? Listen to Dylan's The Ballad of Hollis Brown. Nina Simone's version is sensational...online.....

I only discovered this man's music two days ago. It's so.... pure. I'm listening to this with goose bumps. What a discovery.

Go down the rabbit hole, but honor the music by not burning yourself out on it too fast. Memorise your favorites and discover new ones down the road. Let the gifts he left us keep giving.

The best. Check out Blaze Foley. One of Towne's songwriting pals from Austin. Was shot and killed sticking up for an old guy he would hand out and drink with.

@Sim Simma Wow, I hadn't even connected the two, just discovered them seperately. Thanks for the info!

"she didn't wake up this morning, she didn't even try. She just rolled over and went to heaven, my lil boy safe inside"..............

Probably the saddest song I've ever heard. What a story teller.

legend!!

Thank you for posting!! Love you Townes!

"stood in line and left my name, took about hours or so, the man just grinned like it was all a game, said they'd let me know" that's writing

"Well Marie she didn't wake up this morning, she didn't even try. She just rolled over and went to heaven, her little boy safe inside" Is he trying to say she was still pregnant with her child and died with it, or the kid was safe inside the house? Either way its tragic, you don't get hopelessness like this from anyone else. I love Townes

She died with the baby inside her.

Paulo Victor well, shit.

Yea, he was hoping to upgrade to a burned out van but had to settle for the bridge (again) .

If you look closely you can see that sadness consists of joy

Excellent , hopeless

This is the voice of poverty,
hopeless and alone.
trying to make it another day
Seeking a place called home.

Few if any realize
That many live like this
They'll work hard if they have the chance
Contempt is all they get.

Where's the feelings.Where's the love
For those who are the least, Ignored by pulpit preachers
Did you read the words but miss the meaning
Of the one that we call, teacher?

It's not just the poverty...it's the drugs that make everything so difficult.......

I think Old Townes went back in time to Young Townes to give us Townes.

Do anybody know the text for this

"Marie, she didn't wake up this morning ... she didn't even try." Most powerful line in this totally devastating and hopeless story.

Anybody else feel like putting a copper jack through their temple?

fuckin a

Many times

Haven't listened to this song in a while until tonight because a polish girl at work was singing along to Johnny Cash on the radio and asked me if I liked Johnny Cash and I said no and she asked me why not so I wrote down Townes Van Zant:Marie Waiting around to die Kathleen.I hope she doesn't stop at Marie because "Blues is Happy music".

My mates just linked me to this guy. I'm hooked already.

He does that to people.

by Townes Van Zandt

I stood in line and left my name
took about six hours or so
Well, the man just grinned like it was all a game
said they'd let me know
I put in my time till the Pocono line
shut down two years ago
I was staying at the mission till I met Marie
now I can't stay there no more


Fella 'cross town said he's lookin' for a man
to move some old cars around
maybe me and Marie could find a burned-out
van and do a little settlin' down
Aw, but I'm just dreamin', I ain't got no ride
and the junkyard's a pretty good ways
that job's about a half week old besides
it'd be gone now anyway


Unemployment said I got no more checks
and they showed me to the hall
my brother died in Georgia some time ago
I got no one left to call
Summer wasn't bad below the bridge
a little short on food that's all
Now I gotta get Marie some kind of coat
we're headed down into fall


I used to play the mouth harp pretty good
hustled up a little dough
but I got drunk and I woke up rolled
a couple of months ago
they got my harp and they got my dollar
them low life so and so's
harps cost money and I ain't got it
it's my own fault I suppose


The Pocono's down but the Chesapeak's runnin'
two freights everyday
if it was just me I'd be headed south
but Marie can't catch no train
She's got some pain and she thinks it's a baby,
says we gotta wait and see
in my heart I know it's a little boy
hope he don't end up like me


Well, the man's still grinnin' says he lost my file
I gotta stand in line again
I want to kill him but I just say no
I had enough of that line my friend
I head back to the bridge, its getting kinda cold
I'm feelin' too low down to lie
I guess I'll just tell Marie the truth
hope she don't break down and cry


Marie she didn't wake up this morning
she didn't even try
she just rolled over and went to heaven
my little boy safe inside
I laid them in the sun where somebody'd find them
caught a Chesapeak on the fly
Marie will know I'm headed south
so's to meet me by and by


Marie will know I'm headed south
so to meet me by and by

Devastating.

Where is this recording from? It's not the version from No Deeper Blue.

Townes Van Zandt - Last Rights: The Life & Times

Thank you. And thanks for sharing. Beautiful song.

this one is from CD titled Documentary

I thought at first it might possibly be the live version from 'Absolute Nothing' without the spoke introduction. But I have just played that, and it is not.

idubbbz brought me here.

eduppps brought me here

im gonna bet a lot of people are here bc of idubbbz vid

You are too. That's why you commented an hour ago, like every other idubbbz fan..

I'm here because of idubbbz

Tyler Eastburn which video?

Man if this song doesn't touch you ......you can honestly say you're stone cold... What a  great song ! ....thankful I ran across it while  surfin .....I hadn't heard it in a long time.... This would be a good one to breath some new life into ..... some of us don't have the gift of gab.....Cant create great songs like this.... If only I could..   God rest your soul Townes Van Zandt ..You had a gift most of us can only dream of....

Such a heartwrecking song and it took me so long to find it.

some people can play a tune

That's not just a song...this is a fathomless living expression passed down to mere words. Only Townes could have done that with justice, as far as i can know and i know nothing when it comes to Townes van Zandt.

I cry liked a baby every time I hear this.

Brutal...
What a story teller.

I play this song almost every single day, either in my head, my dreams or actually playing it on the ukelele... Haunting and addictive... Beautiful...

I can only listen to this one about once or twice a year. Anyone with a heart, a pulse... it hits 'em hard. The best songwriters always tell stories, and wow, this one... just, wow.

Agreed. A very hard song to listen to. Wow

I should probably only listen to this once or twice a year... Every other day for years now. TVZ is worse than drugs

What's more horrible than this song is the reality of the men and women living this narrative.

HQ sound? Really?
Gotta say the quality is awful...constant feedback "shhhhhhhhh"

Fucking great song though.

The C&O is the Chesapeake & Ohio RR.  "...caught a Chesapeake on the sly."  Townes also sang the Carter Family's song, "The Wreck On The C&O", also called "Engine 143" or "The FFV" (Fast Flying Vestibule)

As Guy would say, "A cheerful little ditty".

work it or ride the rails? sound like you know, is all a Tom Joad, "Ramblin' Man... dark side of the American dream and yet not; still to be free to wander. i know what to eat in the woods. also know how to get on the planes, hah. Yes, "a cheerful little ditty", Katie bar the door

One of the saddest and most beautiful songs ever written, or sung. Townes' incredible cracked voice and heartfelt words break my heart every time I hear them.

I cry every time I play the song. Saddest, it's gotten worse out there. The rich get richer and the poor suffer more.

It's not sad, its hopeless.

The crazy thing is Townes was kind of a rich kid growing up. Almost makes his talent that much more amazing. He was a soul from somewhere else.

"Well, many of my songs, they aren't sad, they're hopeless." - Townes Van Zandt

the_beer_hunter. Life is miserable. I believe he said miserable but maybe we heard different interviews.

My father used to tell me that 'the worst thing about Hell is not the flames, it's the hopelessness'

he actually said he wrote many sad songs, while few of them are hopeless. I saw this interview, it was video'd

oh my god...

I Tried they didn't have it .

+Chris Hoyle you learn more if you learn songs by ear. sounds like somewhere around Em Am and Bm to me though. he plays with his fingers so there's probably some surprices.

Thanks man , that's what I'm trying to do , sometimes the pitch throws me off - thanks I'll try it - thanks again .

+Chris Hoyle
Chords, per each stanza (Capo 2):

Am Am(G)Am
Am Am(G)Am
Dm Dm(Em)Dm
Am Am(G)Am

And repeat!

Could I ask what's the Chords of this song. ? like your Version , there's one by the Rhonda Harris Project which is electrified . Want to play this song plze share the chords with me thanks and Godbless .....

send your version to me and I'll post it where it counts, love this song, versions, some really deep... please.

one of his hardest

Jesus Christ...

The Chesapeake is a rail line for whomever asked. one of the greatest use of words ever compiled in my opinion.

+matt jenks heartworn highways?

not sure, some +1h long vid there is atleas 

and thanks (Y) a whole lot. 

For me this is the most real song I have ever heard. The antithesis of cliche driven, one emotional note, jingoistic, exaggerated Southern accent, formulaic modern country.

I'm 100% sure the accent is not exaggerated...If you ever heard Townes Van Zandt talk he talked with a southern accent.. just like he sang.....     But I agree 100% with the rest of your comment...No 110% ... Definitely a REAL song if I ever heard one ! ...Love it !

atma wasn't saying Townes' accent was exaggerated but that the shit modern country music musicians accents are

This song gets harder and harder to listen to the more I hear it. Rips at the heart.

....agreed

Marie is really a masterpiece!!. Townes at his best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
For all you Townes fans out there, check out Rake. another great piece of work!!.

+EnglishResurrection Good point. Maybe what I should have said was "For all you folks out there that like Marie, check out Rake another great piece of work by Townes"!!!.

+matt jenks I don't know exactly what albums they held back but Kevin Eggers (Townes's Manager), didn't release The Nashville Sessions album for 20 years. He claims to have had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He should have released that album and paid for other albums I've heard he didn't pay for, and they were just put back into the tape pool. If he had Townes's best interests at heart then he should have had more faith in what Townes was doing instead of thinking oh I've got a bad feeling about this , I'm not going to release this album . That kind of shit wasn't a help to Townes, just the opposite!. So I don't have any respect for Kevin Eggers!!, for doing that to a genius that is Townes Van Zandt.

+matt jenks I watched it ( Steve Earle on Q TV.) and I have heard Earle say those things about Townes before on different DVDs or footage elsewhere. The cult that Earle claims to be a member of is also known to me and I am also a member of that TVZ cult, proudly wearing a mark tattooed on the inside of my left wrist (TOWNES).. Heroin and Booze has also played a major part in my life so I can relate to Townes on that subject, but his songs cause a certain reaction in me that nobody else can make .. Townes, a much misunderstood man whom I think is growing in status but I'm not sure whether that's a good thing . Him being kinda known as a cult figure might be better than him being well known.As there are people out there that don't deserve or are not worthy of listening to such great songs and just even knowing about Townes Van Zandt!!!....(Just my Opinion)...

Can anyone tell me what cheasepeak means?

railroad line, to be more precise.

+dude er  thanks!

This should be compulsory listening for every Idol/The Voice/Got Talent entrant...

imagine that...it might bring forth more than a karaoke contest

"Caught a Chesapeake on the fly"... The imagery of that line pulls this horribly sad story together.

What does "to catch a Chesapeake" mean?

Means he hopped a train and left town.

The Pocono was down, but the Chesapeake was still runnin.

In my mind it means he stood on the tracks and let a train hit him, and hes going to hell for it

Anyone know what album this version is from? The best! Thanks.

I don't know what album this particular version is from but check out,
Legend "The best of " Townes and you'll find a duet of Marie with Townes an Willie Nelson,
You won't find it on Youtube but you'll get it in music stores if you look for it, or ASK..!

+Gustaf Renström Hey Gustaf did you think you were funny?
DON'T take the piss out of my hero you C..T !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great live version on the Be Here To Love Me "soundtrack" too

TownesJames # 1 fan I think Gustaf was talking about this

http://www.allmusic.com/album/last-rights-the-life-times-of-townes-van-zandt-mw0000600550

not sure though.. the sample on the allmusic.com site isnt as clear as this one but that might just be what they stream it at

It's from Austin DJ Larry Munroe's interview with Townes that got released in 1997 called "Documentary; Townes Van Zandt"

https://www.amazon.com/Documentary-Townes-Van-Zandt/dp/B00001WRMZ

Yeah I didn't want to be happy anyway

Townes Van Zandt's saddest song. Man this packs a punch. He truly was a master of the story-song genre, this is loaded with great imagery and real characterizations. He was nothing short of a legend.

Maxwell Medley

Yes! Couldn’t agree more.. This and ‘waitin around to die’ get me every time

It's up there with Rake for sure. In fact I'd say I agree with you. Rake is a depressing but honest look at one's self where this song is simply tragic while attempting to blow it off as 'just the way it is'. It's pure honesty.

@Dr Sleuth Don't forget Tecumseh Valley tho.

@Blake T that's my favorite

This song kicks ass.

written on blaze foleys guitar...true story

Treadsoftly14 blaze didn’t own a guitar, supposedly.

yeah so the story goes blaze never owned a guitar he just stole them/scammed them all the time so who knows who’s guitar it really was lol

@Brendan At his funeral, Foley's casket was coated with duct tape by his friends. Townes Van Zandt told a story where he and his musicians went to Foley's grave to dig up his body because they wanted the pawn ticket that Foley had for Townes's guitar.

Aaron Clark yep blaze was a fuckin crazy duct tape guy like the original crazy guy he made pants and clothes outta duct tape hahah. i love these stories TvZ is my biggest inspiration for songwriting

Love this song!!!!!!!

this song hit me inside , ive been down out all bullshit aside . left in the cold with no money and a women by myside .... have never heard a song that is this personal before and it made me cry .

+Theophilus sitting in front of a computer trolling the net ..Bologna ...

damn.....

God damn...

A little short on food thats all.

and going down into fall.     no words. 

It,s actually Headin Down into Fall...Don't mess with a Townes aficionado...OK.

He says "dats all"

No biggie.

Our world will never know another singer/songwriter like him!!!

No, no one will ever listen to such honest songs any more because music in the 2020s will be all reproduced garbage with no heart or organic soul.

Our world will never know another singer/songwriter like him!!!

absolutely

Here I come.

Who would "thumbs down" this song? It's perfect.

summer waSNT BAD BELOW  the bridge,...real

listen to john hutchinson talk to me

makes your brain spin around like that colorful beach ball thing--lost--love--sadness

Such a masterpiece!

@***** This is the first semi sober version I heard. Thanks for heads up!

@***** I know you could play this great!

The voice of authenticity,which is as scarce as rocking horse shit these days!

thats probably the best expression ive ever heard in my life

it's as scarce as an honest man in Washington right now.

Shivers! OMG, what powerfully evocative lyrics, even for TVZ.  "Well Marie she didn't wake up this mornin'...  she didn't even try, she just rolled over and went to heaven, my little boy still inside.

This is real country/folk music. Not like today's music. This guy was really deep.

Townes was never destined for radio fame and all that, his music is mainly just too stark. Like much of Nick Drake's stuff. I couldn't have even imagined early MTV: "this is JJ Jackson, next up this hour we have the new one from Twisted Sister, Billy Squier, and Townes Van Zandt singing the grimmest song I've heard in 25 years...."

killer song!

that's cuntry

Heartbreaking and genuine. The polar opposite of 99% of modern country, which is clichéd drivel, love songs for stupid people.

They don't have a button to say "stunned and speechless."

hopeless...absolutely hopeless. such is life.

brilliant there was a version with willy nelson aslo stunning was on old uncut free cd

I think sadder songs have been written... but they were probably by Townes too. I love listening too his music, but imagine how depressing it'd be to know the guy, he's like the robot in A Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy!