Ballad of the Devil's Backbone Tavern
Old Miss Virgy tended bar at this shack out in the hills
It never made her any money boys but paid off all her bills
Now she must have been 80 years old but her heart was warm
And her beer was cold
She gave away more than she ever sold
Smiling all the time
I used to sing off in the corner every Friday night
To a loud crowd of cowboys, bikers and bar room fights
They were drinking beer, carrying on, not a one of them listening to one of my songs
But old Miss Virgy sang along
She said she knew 'em all by heart
And then one night after closing she poured me another beer
She said "Come on over and sit down you little sh**
I got something you need to hear"
She said "Life ain't easy getting through everybody's gonna make things tough on you
But I can tell you right now if you dig what you do, they will never get you down"
She said life's too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
Too short not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate
I meet a lot of men who haggle and finagle all the time
Trying to save a nickel maybe make a dime
Not me, no sireee, I ain't got the time
Now I ain't seen Ol' Virgy in must have been about fifteen years
I've been bumming around this country singing my songs for tips and beers
Now the nights are long
The driving's tough
Hotels are weird, and the pay sucks
But I can't dig what I do enough, so it never gets be down
I say life's too short to worry
Life's too long to wait
Too short not to love everybody
Life's too long to hate
I meet a lot of men who haggle and finagle all the time
Trying to save a nickel maybe make a dime
Not me, no sireee, I ain't got the time
I think I have probably blogged about Todd Snider before. We first saw him in Chicago when he opened up for Yonder Mountain String Band. I think it was in 2003 or 2004 and we've been hooked since. N and I have traveled a lot for music, and in February of 2006 we traveled to Reno to see Todd play 2 nights at a casino. It was around Valentine's Day and I started to get a feeling like the big question would come sometime soon. A few months earlier, my mother had given me a beautiful diamond ring that was my great grandmother's, but I never wore it because I wanted to save it to have as my engagement ring. I kept it in my jewelry box and thought that maybe N was going to pop the question while in Reno, so I peeked into my jewelry drawer to see if the ring was still there, and it was. I know, I know, I tried to ruin the surprise, but I couldn't help myself. But the ring was there, so I honestly put it out of my mind and figured it wouldn't be this weekend.
So we went to Reno and to the Friday night show, which was awesome! We took a cab back to the casino where we were staying. When the cab dropped us off N turned to me and said he wanted someone to take our picture in front of this statue. I looked around and tried to make eye contact with someone to ask to take the picture, but no one did. I said we should just go up to the room and get the picture tomorrow, and he tried to say no, but I kind of insisted. When we got to the room N pulled the ring out of his pocket, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! I was so excited and said yes and all of that good stuff, then I realized that I totaly ruined his plan! Oh well, we are pretty private people anyway, and I kind of like the idea that it was just us in our pretty hotel room in Reno, after the Todd Snider show.
This was in the airport when we landed, which we thought was pretty cool.
Here we are newly engaged! See that ring on my finger!!!
During our stay in Reno we also drove up to Lake Tahoe and snapped these. It was an amazing trip!
