James McMurtry Follow

Flatter than a table top
Makes you wonder why they stopped here
Wagon must have lost a wheel
Or they lacked ambition one

In the great migration west
Separated from the rest
Though they might have tried their best
They never caught the sun

So they sunk some roots down in this dirt
To keep from blowin' off the earth
Built a town right here
When the dust had all but cleared

They called it Levelland
Levelland
Levelland

Grand dad grew the dry land wheat
Stood on his own two feet
His mind got incomplete
And they put him in a home

Daddy's cotton grows so high
Sucks the water table dry
His rolling sprinklers circle back
Bleeding it to the bone

And I won't be here when it comes the day
It all dries up and blows away
I'd hang around just to see
But they never had much use for me

In Levelland
They don't understand me
In Levelland

Well I watch those ships trails comin' out that big blue sky
Coast to coasters, watch 'em go
And I don't blame 'em one damn bit
If they never look down on this
Ain't much down here they'd want to know

Just Levelland
You could wash your hands
In nothin' but Levelland

Mama used to roll her hair
Back before the central air
We'd sit outside and watch the stars at night
She tell me to make a wish
I'd wish we both could fly
I don't think she's seen the sky
Since we got the satellite dish

I can hear the marching band
Doing the best they can to play
Smoke on the water
And joy to the world

I payed up all my debts
Got some change left over yet
I'm getting on a whisper jet
Going to fly as far as I can get

From Levelland
Done the best I can
In Levelland