Down in St. Augustine F-L-A
I was walking along the beach one day
Sun beating down like a steel drum plays
So bright that you couldn't see far
I was listening to the waves roll in
Humming a tune from I don't know when
Thinking about times that won't come again
And I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
I had a book and a joint and some chunks of bread
For the seagulls wheeling above my head
Elmore Leonard and Panama Red
And the music from a distant bar
I was thinking about a real good friend
Feeling kind of sorry for myself just then
And a whole lot older than I'd ever been
And I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
Whole lot of country, whole lot of blues
Whole lot of sunshine, sand in your shoes
Sound of a player who paid his dues
Put some miles on that Mustang car
Shot of Merle, jigger of Chet
Little bit of Will McLean I bet
Only the wind in the palms and yet
I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
It sang of the snakes and swamps and the vines
Sang of the cypress and the phosphate mines
Nights up late in the whispering pines
Watching for a shooting star
Stony roads and fishing poles
Afternoons at the swimming hole
A mouthbow played by a Seminole
I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
In the old boys picking 'round the front porch stove
Digging for treasure in a pirate's cove
In a coffeehouse down in Coconut Grove
Doesn't matter where you are
Behind Spanish walls in Winter Park
In the smell of jasmine in the dark
Running a speed trap outside Starke
I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
Whole lot of country...
Where the sea breeze blows but there's still the heat
With a sunburned nose and sandspurs in my feet
At my high school sweetheart's in old St. Pete
And her husband's saying "Have a cigar"
Riding south past Manatee
Heading down to the Florida Keys
Getting things straight between Jesus and me
And I thought I heard Gamble's guitar
I want to sleep beside the sea tonight
Hear the crash of waves, see the tops all white
I want to be grateful for what's gone right
I want to wish upon a star
God bless old friends that have gone before
Bless old banjos and old country stores
Bless old Florida forevermore
And God bless Gamble's guitar
Whole lot of country...
God bless Gamble's guitar
Recorded on: Time, Live at Dark Thirty
