Kris Kristofferson - Silver Tongued Devil

 

I took myself down to the Tally Ho Tavern to buy me a bottle of beer

And I sat me down by a tender young maiden who's eyes were as dark as her hair

And as I was searching from bottle to bottle for something un-foolish to say

That silver tongued devil just slipped from the shadows and smilingly stole her away.

I said: "Hey, little girl, don't you know he's the devil, he's everything that I ain't

Hiding intentions of evil under the smile of a saint

All he's good for is getting in trouble and shiftin' his share of the blame

And some people swear he's my double: and some even say we're the same"

But the silver-tongued devil's got nothing to lose I'll only live 'til I die

We take our own chances and pay our own dues the silver tongued devil and I.

Like all the fair maidens who've laid down beside him she knew in her heart that he'd lied

Nothin' that I could have said could have saved her no matter how hard that she tried

'Cos she'll offer her charms to the darkness and danger of somethin' that she's never known

And open her arms at the smile of a stranger who'll love her and leave her alone

And you know, he's the devil he's everything that I ain't

Hiding intentions of evil under the smile of a saint

All he's good for is getting in trouble and shiftin' his share of the blame

And some people swear he's my double: and some even say we're the same

But the silver-tongued devil's got nothing to lose I'll only live 'til I die

We take our own chances and pay our own dues ah ha ha ha

The silver tongued devil and I.

      Kris died today, 1st Oct 2024, another death of a ladies' man. This song is set in Tally-Ho Tavern, a Music Row bar where Kristofferson worked earlier as a bartender; the patrons included songwriters. Kristofferson describes a man drinking in a bar; he is too shy to talk to a woman. As the character gets drunk, he tries to warn the woman of "The Silver Tongued Devil" that alcohol brings out in him and how it controls him, inevitably seducing women.