It could be an illusion, but I might as well try, might as well try.
I lit out from Reno, I was trailed by twenty hounds (note a)
Didn't get to sleep that night till the morning came around
Chorus
Set out running but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight I just might get some sleep
Tonight
I ran into the devil babe, he loaned me twenty bills
I spent the night in Utah in a cave up in the hills
[chorus]
I ran down to the levee but the devil caught me there (note b)
He took my twenty dollar bill and vanished in the air
[chorus]
Got two reasons why I cry away each lonely night
The first one's named sweet Anne Marie and she's my heart's delight
Second one is prison baby, sheriff's on my trail (note c)
And if he catches up with me I'll spend my life in jail
Got a wife in Chino babe, and one in Cherokee
First one says she's got my child but it don't look like me
[chorus]
Notes
(a) in very early versions (eg 3 April 1970), Jerry sang "I set out from Reno, I was trailed by thirty hounds.
(b) in some early versions, Jerry sang a different verse:
I went to the levee but the devil caught my scent
So I coughed two hundred bills to pay back what was lent
(c) in early versions (eg 3 April 1970), Jerry sang "sheriff's on my tail" rather than "... on my trail"
-
----
-
In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough,
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff.
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door,
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there before.
Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong.
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
IN THE STRANGEST OF PLACES IF YOU LOOK AT IT RIGHT.
Didn't get to sleep that night till the morning came around
Chorus
Set out running but I take my time
A friend of the devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight I just might get some sleep
Tonight
I ran into the devil babe, he loaned me twenty bills
I spent the night in Utah in a cave up in the hills
[chorus]
I ran down to the levee but the devil caught me there (note b)
He took my twenty dollar bill and vanished in the air
[chorus]
Got two reasons why I cry away each lonely night
The first one's named sweet Anne Marie and she's my heart's delight
Second one is prison baby, sheriff's on my trail (note c)
And if he catches up with me I'll spend my life in jail
Got a wife in Chino babe, and one in Cherokee
First one says she's got my child but it don't look like me
[chorus]
Notes
(a) in very early versions (eg 3 April 1970), Jerry sang "I set out from Reno, I was trailed by thirty hounds.
(b) in some early versions, Jerry sang a different verse:
I went to the levee but the devil caught my scent
So I coughed two hundred bills to pay back what was lent
(c) in early versions (eg 3 April 1970), Jerry sang "sheriff's on my tail" rather than "... on my trail"
-
----
-
In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough,
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff.
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door,
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there before.
Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong.
Seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
IN THE STRANGEST OF PLACES IF YOU LOOK AT IT RIGHT.