Country Queens at the BBC

# Don't be cruel to a heart that's true

# I don't want no other love

# Baby it's just you I'm thinking of. #

APPLAUSE

# It was the third of June

# Another sleepy, dusty delta day

# I was out chopping cotton

# And my brother was bailing hay

# And at dinner time we stopped

# And walked back to the house to eat

# And Mama hollered out the back door

# "Y'all remember to wipe your feet"

# And then she said

# "I got some news this morning from Choctaw Ridge

# "Today Billie Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

# Papa said to Mama

# As he passed around the black-eyed peas

# "Well, Billie Joe never had a lick of sense

# "Pass the biscuits, please

# "There's five more acres in the lower forty

# "I've got to plough"

# And Mama said it was a shame

# About Billie Joe anyhow

# Seems like nothing ever comes to no good

# Up on Choctaw Ridge

# And now Billie Joe McAllister's

# Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

# Brother said he recollected

# When he and Tom and Billie Joe

# Put a frog down my back

# At the Carroll County picture show

# And wasn't I talking to him

# After church last Sunday night

# I'll have another piece of apple pie

# You know, it don't seem right

# I saw him at the sawmill yesterday

# Up on Choctaw Ridge

# And now you tell me Billie Joe's

# Jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge

# Mama said to me

# "Child, what's happened to your appetite?

# "I've been cooking all morning

# "And you haven't touched a single bite

# "That nice young preacher Brother Taylor

# "Dropped by today

# "Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday

# "By the way

# "He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you

# "Up on Choctaw Ridge

# "And she and Billie Joe was throwing something

# "Off the Tallahatchie Bridge"

# A year has come and gone

# Since we heard the news about Billie Joe

# Brother married Becky Thompson

# They bought a store in Tupelo

# There was a virus going round

# Papa caught it and he died last spring

# And now Mama doesn't seem to want to do much of anything

# And me, I spend a lot of time

# Picking flowers up on Choctaw Ridge

# And drop them into the muddy water

# Off the Tallahatchie Bridge. #

APPLAUSE

# Country roads

# Take me home

# To the place

# I belong

# West Virginia

# Mountain mamma

# Take me home

# Country roads

# Almost heaven

# West Virginia

# Blue Ridge Mountain

# Shenandoah River

# Life is old there

# Older than the trees

# Younger than the mountains

# Growing like a breeze

# Country roads

# Take me home

# To the place

# I belong

# West Virginia

# Mountain mamma

# Take me home

# Country roads

# All my memories

# Gather round her

# Miner's lady

# Stranger to blue water

# Dark and dusty

# Painted on the sky

# Misty taste of moonshine

# Teardrop in my eye

# Country roads

# Take me home

# To the place

# I belong

# West Virginia

# Mountain mamma

# Take me home

# Country roads

# I hear her voice

# In the morning hour she calls me

# The radio reminds me of my home far away

# Driving down the road I get a feeling

# That I should have been home yesterday

# Yesterday

# Country roads

# Take me home

# To the place

# I belong

# West Virginia

# Mountain mamma

# Take me home

# Country roads

# Country roads

# Take me home

# To the place

# I belong

# West Virginia

# Mountain mamma

# Take me home

# Country roads

# Take me home

# Country roads

# Take me home

# Country roads. #

APPLAUSE

Yes, and here she is. Our sister, Marie Osmond.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

# I realise the way

# Your eyes deceived me

# With tender looks

# That I mistook for love

# So take away the flowers

# That you gave me

# And send the kind

# That you remind me of

# Paper roses

# Paper roses

# Oh, how real those roses seem to be

# But they're only imitation

# Like your imitation love for me

# I thought that you would be a perfect lover

# You seemed so full of sweetness

# At the start

# But like a big red rose

# That's made of paper

# There isn't any sweetness

# In your heart

# Paper roses

# Paper roses

# Oh, how real those roses seem to be

# But they're only imitation

# Like your imitation love

# For me. #

APPLAUSE

# Beneath this snowy mantle cold and clean

# The unborn grass lies waiting

# For its coat to turn to green

# The snowbird sings the song he always sings

# And speaks to me of flowers

# That will bloom again in spring

# When I was young my heart was young then too

# Anything that it would tell me

# That's the thing that I would do

# But now I feel such emptiness within

# For the thing that I want most in life's

# The thing that I can't win

# Spread your tiny wings and fly away

# And take the snow back with you

# Where it came from on that day

# The one I love forever is untrue

# And if I could You know that I would

# Fly away with you

# The breeze along the river seems to say

# That he'll only break my heart again

# Should I decide to stay

# So little snowbird

# Take me with you when you go

# To that land of gentle breezes

# Where the peaceful waters flow

# Spread your tiny wings and fly away

# And take the snow back with you

# Where it came from on that day

# The one I love forever is untrue

# And if I could You know that I would

# Fly away with you

# Yeah, if I could You know that I would

# Fly

# Away with you. #

APPLAUSE

# I don't want your lonely mansion

# With a tear in every room

# All I want's the love you promised

# Beneath the haloed moon

# But you think I should be happy

# With your money and your name

# And hide myself in sorrow

# While you play your cheating game

# Silver threads and golden needles

# Cannot mend this heart of mine

# And I dare not drown my sorrows

# In the warm glow of your wine

# You can't buy my love with money

# Cos I never was that kind

# Silver threads and golden needles

# Cannot mend this heart of mine

# Silver threads and golden needles

# Cannot mend this heart of mine

# And I dare not drown my sorrows

# In the warm glow of your wine

# You can't buy my love with money

# Cos I never was that kind

# Silver threads and golden needles

# Cannot mend this heart of mine

# Silver threads and golden needles

# Cannot mend

# This heart of mine. #

APPLAUSE

# Making believe

# That you still love me

# It's leaving me

# Alone and so blue

# Still I'll always dream

# But I'll never own you

# Making believe

# It's all I can do

# I can't hold you close

# When you're not with me

# You're somebody's love

# You'll never be mine

# Making believe

# I'll spend my lifetime

# Loving you

# And making believe

# Making believe

# I never lost you

# But my happy hours

# I find are so few

# My plans for the future

# Will never come true

# Making believe

# What else can I do

# Making believe

# I'll spend my lifetime

# Loving you

# And making believe

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

# Ah-ah-ah-ah

# Oh-oh-oh-oh-oh. #

APPLAUSE

# I was so excited

# When you asked if I could go

# But Mom said I'd have to ask my Daddy

# I met him at the front door

# So afraid that he'd say no

# But he smiled and said

# "Let Mamma get you ready"

# In your cotton shirt and faded jeans

# You came for me

# And the gingham dress

# Was all I had to wear

# With a dollar in your pocket

# And a borrowed car

# You picked a yellow daisy for my hair

# That's the way it could have been

# Oh, that's the way it should have been

# If I had met you way back then

# That's the way it would have been

# I put away my gingham for a pretty dress of white

# And you wore a suit instead of faded jeans

# Our wedding day was perfect and we loved away the night

# Life for us was filled with lots of dreams

# We bought a house upon a hill outside of town

# And two young people finally settled in

# And you just won't believe the little children runnin' round

# And they pick yellow daisies now and then

# And that's the way it could have been

# Oh, that's the way it should have been

# If I had met you way back then

# That's the way it would have been

# That's the way it could have

# Been. #

APPLAUSE

Country music is more popular in America, its home, than ever before,

with several major radio stations, like KHJ in Los Angeles,

switching their formats from rock or jazz to 100% country.

And the news that Carlene Carter, the step-daughter of the legendary

Man in Black Johnny Cash, has cut a country record

with one of Britain's major rockers, Dave Edmunds,

won't harm the music in England one little bit.

Here's Carlene and Dave with Baby, Ride Easy.

# If I drove a truck

# And I were a waitress

# And I ordered coffee

# And I poured you some

# Then you'd stop by on your way sometime later

# And if we arm-wrestled

# I'd say that you'd won

# Ai-eee my baby, ride easy

# Ride high in the saddle all day

# If your lovin' is good

# And your cookin' ain't greasy

# Hitch up the chuck wagon

# And we'll ride away

# If I were a winsome pale senorita

# And I a bullfighter down in the sand

# While the band kept on playing that Old Paso Doble

# I'd throw you a flower

# Would you take my hand?

# Ai-eee, my baby, ride easy

# Ride high in the saddle all day

# If your lovin' is good

# And your cookin' ain't greasy

# Hitch up your chuck wagon and we'll ride away

# If I ran the country

# Yeah, I'd be your first lady

# And fix up the White House

# While you were away

# Waitin' while I'm passing time with world leaders

# And later together alone we might lay

# Ai-eee, my baby, ride easy

# Ride high in the saddle all day

# If your lovin' is good

# And your cookin' ain't greasy

# Hitch up the chuck wagon and we'll ride away

# Ai-eee, my baby, ride easy

# Ride high in the saddle all day

# If your lovin' is good

# And your cookin' ain't greasy

# Hitch up the chuck wagon and we'll ride away

# Hitch up the chuck wagon and we'll ride away

# Hitch up the chuck wagon

# Hitch up the chuck wagon

# Hitch up the chuck wagon and we'll ride away. #

APPLAUSE

# Come and look out through the window

# That big ol' moon is shinin' down

# Tell me now Don't it remind you

# Of a blanket on the ground?

# Remember back when love first found us

# We'd go slippin' out of town

# And we'd love beneath the moonlight

# On the blanket on the ground

# I'll get the blanket from the bedroom

# We'll go walkin' once again

# To that spot down by the river

# Where our sweet love first began

# Just because we are married

# Don't mean we can't slip around

# So let's walk out through the moonlight

# And lay the blanket on the ground

# Oh, remember how excited

# We used to get when love was young

# That old moon was our best buddy

# We couldn't wait for night to come

# Now you now you still excite me

# I know you love me like I am

# Just once more I wish you'd love me

# On the blanket on the ground

# I'll get the blanket from the bedroom

# We'll go walkin' once again

# To that spot down by the river

# Where our sweet love first began

# Just because we are married

# Don't mean we can't slip around

# So let's walk out through the moonlight

# And lay the blanket on the ground

# Doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo-doo-doo

# Doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo-doo

# So let's walk out through the moonlight

# And lay the blanket on the ground. #

APPLAUSE

# Three o'clock in the mornin'

# And it looks like it's gonna be

# Another sleepless night

# I've been listenin' to your dreams

# And getting' very low

# Wonderin' what I can do

# Maybe I'm bein' foolish

# Cos I haven't heard you mention

# Anybody's name at all

# How I wish I could be sure

# It's me that turns you on

# Each time you close your eyes

# I've heard it said that dreamers never lie

# You've been talkin' in your sleep

# Sleepin' in your dreams

# With some sweet lover

# Holdin' on so tight

# Lovin' her the way

# You used to love me

# Talkin' in your sleep

# With lovin' on your mind

# Maybe I'm bein' foolish

# Cos I haven't heard you mention

# Anybody's name at all

# How I wish I could be sure

# It's me that turns you on

# Each time you close your eyes

# I've heard it said that dreamers never lie

# You've been talkin' in your sleep

# Sleepin' in your dreams

# With some sweet lover

# Holdin' on so tight

# Lovin' her the way

# You used to love me

# Talkin' in your sleep

# With lovin' on your mind

# You've been talkin' in your sleep. #

APPLAUSE

She's small, but dynamic and wonderful, and she's Dolly Parton.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# I tumble outta bed and I stumble to the kitchen

# Pour myself a cup of ambition

# Yawn and stretch and try to come to life

# And I jump in the shower and the blood starts pumpin'

# Out on the street the traffic starts jumpin'

# With folks like me on the job from 9 to 5

# Workin' 9 to 5

# What a way to make a livin'

# Barely gettin' by

# It's all takin' and no givin'

# They'll just use your mind But they'll never give you credit

# It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it

# 9 to 5

# For service and devotion

# You would think that I would deserve a fair promotion

# Want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let me

# I swear sometimes that man is out to get me

# But they let you dream just to watch 'em shatter

# You're just a step on the boss-man's ladder

# But you got dreams he'll never take away

# You're in the same boat with a lotta your friends

# Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in

# The tide's gonna turn and it's all gonna roll your way

# I just know it!

# Workin' 9 to 5 What a way to make a livin'

# Barely gettin' by It's all takin' and no givin'

# They'll just use your mind but they'll never give you credit

# It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it

# 9 to 5, yeah

# For service and devotion

# You would think that I would deserve a fair promotion

# I want to move ahead but the boss won't seem to let me

# I swear sometimes that man is out to get me

# 9 to 5, yeah

# They got you where they want you

# There's a better life

# And you dream about that, don't you?

# It's a rich man's game

# I don't care what they call it

# And you spend your life puttin' money in his wallet

# 9 to 5

# Workin' 9 to 5

# Just workin' 9 to 5

# You're workin' 9 to 5

# Workin' 9 to 5. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# I don't want no other love

# Baby, it's just you I'm thinking of

# Well, you know I can be found

# Sitting home all alone

# If you can't come around

# Well, at least please telephone

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# Baby, if I made you mad

# For something I might have said

# Please let's forget the past

# Cos the future looks bright ahead

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# I don't want no other love

# Baby, it's just you I'm thinking of

# Well, don't stop thinking of me

# Don't make me feel this way

# Come on over here and love me

# You know what I want to say

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# Why should we be apart?

# I really, really love you, baby Cross my heart

# Well, let's walk up to the preacher

# And let us say I do

# And then you'll know you have me

# And I'll know I'll have you too

# Don't be cruel

# To a heart that's true

# I don't want no other love

# Baby, it's just you I'm thinking of

# Don't be cruel

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# To a heart that's true

# Don't be cruel

# Ooh-ooh-ooh

# To a heart that's true

# I don't want no other love

# Baby, it's just you I'm thinking of. #

# You act like you were just born tonight

# Face down in a memory but feeling all right

# So who does your past belong to today?

# Baby, you don't say nothing when you're feeling this way

# The girls in the bars thinking "Who is this guy?"

# But they don't think nothing when they're telling you lies

# You look so careless when they're shooting that bull

# Do you know heartaches are heroes when their pockets are full

# Tell me you're trying to cure the seven-year ache

# See what else your old heart can take

# The boys say, "When is he gonna give us some room?"

# The girls say "God, I hope he comes back soon."

# Everybody's talking but you don't hear a thing

# You're still uptown on your downhill swing

# The boulevard's empty Why don't you come around?

# Baby, what is so great about sleeping downtown?

# There's plenty of dives to be someone you're not

# Just say you're looking for something you might've forgot

# Don't bother calling to say you're leaving alone

# There's a fool on every corner when you're trying to get home

# Just tell 'em you're trying to cure a seven-year ache

# See what else your old heart can take

# The boys say, "When is he gonna give us some room?"

# The girls say, "God, I hope he comes back soon."

# Tell me you're trying to cure a seven-year ache

# See what else your old heart can take

# The boys say, "When is he gonna give us some room?"

# The girls say, "God, I hope he comes back soon. #

APPLAUSE

# See what you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# What you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# The breath from your own lips

# The touch of fingertips

# A sweet and tender kiss

# The sound of a midnight train

# Wearing someone's ring

# Someone calling your name

# Somebody so warm cradled in your arms

# Didn't you think you were worth anything?

# See what you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# What you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# Millions of us in love

# Promises made good

# Your own flesh and blood

# Looking for some truth

# Dancing with no shoes

# The beat, the rhythm, the blues

# The pounding of your heart's drum

# Together with another one

# Didn't you think anyone loved you?

# See what you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# What you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# See what you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world

# What you lost when you left this world

# This sweet old world. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# How do I

# Get through one night without you?

# If I had to live without you

# What kind of life would that be?

# Oh, I...

# Need you in my arms Need you to hold

# You're my world, my heart, my soul

# If you ever leave

# Baby, you would take away everything good in my life

# And tell me now

# How do I live without you?

# I want to know

# How do I breathe without you?

# If you ever go

# How do I ever, ever survive?

# How do I, how do I

# Oh, how do I live?

# Without you

# There'd be no sun in my sky

# There would be no love in my life

# Be no world left for me

# And I...

# Baby, I don't know what I would do

# I'd be lost if I lost you

# If you ever leave

# Baby, you would take away everything real in my life

# And tell me now

# How do I live without you?

# I want to know

# How do I breathe without you?

# If you ever go

# How do I ever, ever survive?

# How do I, how do I

# Oh, how do I live?

# Please tell me, baby

# How do I go on?

# If you ever leave

# Baby, you would take away everything

# I need you with me

# Baby, don't you know that you're everything good in my life?

# And tell me now

# How do I live without you?

# I want to know

# How do I breathe without you?

# If you ever go

# How do I ever, ever survive?

# How do I, how do I

# Oh, how do I live?

# How do I live without you?

# How do I live without you, baby? #

APPLAUSE

# You take a deep breath and you walk through the doors

# It's the morning of your very first day

# You say hi to your friends you ain't seen in a while

# Try and stay out of everybody's way

# It's your freshman year and you're gonna be here

# For the next four years in this town

# Hoping one of those senior boys will wink at you and say

# You know, I haven't seen you around before

# Cos when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

# You're gonna believe them

# And when you're fifteen

# Feeling like there's nothing to figure out

# Well, count to ten, take it in

# This is life before you know who you're gonna be

# At fifteen

# You sit in class next to red-headed Abigail

# And soon enough you're best friends

# Laughing at the other girls who think they're so cool

# We'll be out of here as soon as we can

# And then you're on your very first date and he's got a car

# And you're feeling like flying

# And your mamma's waiting up

# And you're thinking he's the one

# And you're dancing round your room when the night ends

# When the night ends

# Cos when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

# You're gonna believe them

# When you're fifteen

# And your first kiss makes your head spin around

# In your life you'll do things

# Greater than dating the boy on the football team

# I didn't know it at fifteen

# When all you wanted was to be wanted

# Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now

# Back then I swore I was gonna marry him someday

# But I realised some bigger dreams of mine

# And Abigail gave everything she had

# To a boy who changed his mind

# We both cried

# Cos when you're fifteen and somebody tells you they love you

# You're gonna believe them

# And when you're fifteen

# Don't forget to look before you fall

# But I've found time can heal most anything

# And you just might find who you're supposed to be

# I didn't know who I was supposed to be

# At fifteen. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

# Jesus loves me

# This I know

# For the Bible tells me so

# Little ones to him belong

# We are weak but he is strong

# Yes, Jesus loves me

# Yes, Jesus loves me

# Yes, Jesus loves me

# The Bible tells me so. #

APPLAUSE

# Take me and love me if you want me

# Don't ever treat me unkind

# Because I had that trouble already

# And it left me with a dark turn of mind

# I see the bones in the river

# And I feel the wind through the pine

# And I hear the shadows a-calling

# To a girl with a dark turn of mind

# But, oh, ain't the night-time so lovely to see?

# And don't all the night birds sing sweetly?

# You'll never know

# How happy I'll be

# When the sun's going down

# So leave me if I'm feeling too lonely

# Full as the fruit on the vine

# You know some girls are bright as the morning

# And some have a dark turn of mind

# Ooh

# Ooh

# You know some girls are bright as the morning

# And some girls are blessed

# With a dark turn of mind. #

APPLAUSE

# It's feelin' longer now than it ever has before

# Another memory is another slammin' door

# It's gettin' too dark now to see

# Every photograph is another lesson learned

# Every sleepless night is another page I've turned

# I wake up to fallin' dreams

# And the petals start to fade by the picket fences

# Just another shade of miles and miles to go

# If I had a chance I must've missed it long ago

# If I could run away I wouldn't have to let you go

# This angel's bound to stray

# Like an hourglass I'm a soul to sinkin' sand

# You try to hold my heart and I will slip right through your hands

# Time just blows away

# And the petals start to fade by the picket fences

# Just another shade of miles and miles to go

# And the tears forever flow

# And the petals start to fade by the picket fences

# Just another shade of miles and miles to go

# This angel's bound to stray

# It's another shade of miles and miles to go. #

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING