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Dolly Parton
Miscellaneous
These Old Bones
Writer Dolly Parton
These old bones will tell your story
These old bones will never lie
These old bones will tell you surely
What you canât see with your eye
These old bones, I shake and rattle
These old bones, I toss and roll
And itâs all in where they scatter
Tells you what the future holds
Oh, she lived up on the mountain
Eleven miles or so from town
With a one-eyed cat named Wink,
A billy goat and a blue tick hound
Her graying hair was braided
And wrapped around her head
And her dress was long and faded
And her home a rusty shed
In a little pouch of burlap
Tied with a piece of twine
There were bones all shapes and sizes
Gathered through the course of time
Sheâd throw them out before you
She swore that she could see
The present, past and future
She could ready your destiny
Everybody knew about her
Came to get their fortune read
Concerning health and wealth and power
Who to love and when to wed
Well, I just like helpinâ people
Iâm just glad that I could help
Why, I know everybodyâs secrets
But I keep it to myself
These old bones will tell your story
These old bones will never lie
These old bones will tell you surely
What you canât see with your eye
These old bones, I shake and rattle
These old bones, I toss and roll
And itâs all in where they scatter
Tells you what the future holds
Some called her witchy woman
Some said she was insane
Some said she was a prophet
Still everybody came
Just because a bodyâs different
Well, that donât make âem mad
Well, theyâve crucified a many
For the special gifts theyâve had
I had often heard about her,
Dreamed about her now and then
For I, too, was clairvoyant,
Came about when I was ten
I was fascinated with her
And the things Iâd heard about
And I knew some day Iâd meet her,
And one day it came about
Well, I knowâd that you âuz aâcominâ
I could feel it in my bones
These old bones have also told me
That I wonât be here for long
Did you know that you âuz adopted?
Did you know you onceât was mine?
But the county took you from me,
Said I wasnât right in mind
But I just knowâd I had to see you
âFore these bones was laid to rest
So I conjured up a message
It mustâa worked, I guess
This gift runs in the family
I know you also know
And I passed this gift on to you
These old bones, theyâre just for show
These old bones will tell your story
These old bones will never lie
These old bones will tell you surely
How to live and when youâll die
These old bones, I shake and rattle
These old bones, I toss and roll
And itâs all in where they scatter
Tells you what the future holds
I held her hand while she was dyinâ
And with the funeral through
I headed on back up the mountain
For Billy, Wink and Blue
And that little pouch of burlap
With those bones so worn and old
She give me somethinâ special
Now every time I throw
These old bones will tell your story
These old bones will never lie
These old bones will tell you surely
What you canât see with your eye
These old bones, I shake and rattle
These old bones, I toss and roll
And itâs all in how they scatter
Tells you what the future holds
Now I canât tell you what you want to hear
I just tell you what I see
Itâs these old bones aâtalkinâ
Blame it on them; donât pack it on me
Itâs just like that time that there boy died
Up at the sawmill
Well, I knowâd who done it, but I never said
And I knowâd when somebody is a cheatinâ
Or when somebodyâs baby was gonna be born dead
But unless somebody just plain out and asked me
Well, I just figured there ainât no point goinâ around actinâ like you know
everything, just âcause you might.
Ah, you know girl I want you to take these bones
âCause I donât want no youngâun of mine aâgoing around unprepared
You just remember that the magic is inside you
There ainât no crystal ball
- Album:
- Live from Glastonbury 2014
- Pure & Simple
- Blue Smoke
- Better Day
- Dolly Parton
- Miscellaneous
- Together You And I (Single)
- 9 To 5 & Odd Jobs
- Sha-Kon-O-Hey! Land Of Blue Smoke
- Backwoods Barbie
- Vol. 2-essential
- Those Were The Days
- Grass Is Blue
- Superhits
- Super Hits
- Trio Ii
- Vol. 2-super Hits
- 20 Greatest Hits
- Greatest Hits
- Hungry Again