SWEET MELINDA
(Steve Gillette / Mark Mackechnie)

John Denver - 1979
Chesapeake - 1996



Pulled out of Linden, Texas
Two days and nights ago
I've been livin' on pills and burgies
Till the whites of my eyes don't show

Southbound headlights are makin' me blind
I'm too damn tired to blink
My toes are numb and my brains gone numb
And I can just barely think

Sweet Melinda, my wife
The lonesome moan of this eighteen wheeler
Cuts through me like a knife
'Cept for you, sweet Melinda, my wife
I been ridin' on empty
Most all of my life

Two more hours of daylight
It's startin' to rain again
A sign up ahead says "Welcome to Paradise
Population Ten"

Well me and this truck and that old white line
Stumblin' on and on
Like three old drinkin' buddies
Comin' home at dawn

Sweet Melinda, my wife
The lonesome moan of this eighteen wheeler
Cuts through me like a knife
'Cept for you, sweet Melinda, my wife
I been ridin' on empty
Most all of my life


(Contributed by Bill Huntley - October 2006)