Oh

There's dogs calling awfully out here
There's cows with their mouths filled with tears
And there's black water curling all around where we lay
And I have been sad now too many days
And she would harness my heart if it harnessed that way.
So babe, I am going, iam going away.

The men are all gorgeous down here.
Long and brown like deer.
And she's always arriving in her dark river skirt.
Winding holes through the valley.
Bending bones in the dirt.
Hiding poems I had tossed under blankets of sand.
Babe, I am sorry. I'm sorry I am.

It never gets cold way down here.
I can live off of watermelons and beer.
And I'll never go hungry; I will never go home.
Never call to my lover, "lover, leave me alone."
Never harden my heart like some prude in the snow.
Oh, babe I know this. I noticed. I'm no one.


Lyrics submitted by drawrof, edited by jodallas, JimS, kmeffer

South (Of America) Lyrics as written by Matthew Houck

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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South (Of America) song meanings
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3 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    saddest song. end of story.

    thuglifeforevson February 09, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Restless. Humid. Southern Gothic. Great.

    prollydajalopyon July 30, 2007   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    What a master songwriter. I'm just continually amazed at the deep meanings of his songs. This song is about sadness and depression. He knows he cannot give her his heart the way she needs it, so to spare her the pain, he leaves. This is reinforced in the last stanza, but the sadness and remorse are now joined at the end with a feeling of uselessness, of a greater depression. Very sad song, but as a long-time sufferer of depression myself, I can't help but wonder if Houck has ever suffered from depression or been close to someone who has, because it is not an easy disease to understand, and I don't think this song could be written by anyone who didn't understand it. Beautifully dark.

    JimSon October 12, 2014   Link

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