It's a Sin to Tell a Lie (Live) [05/10/69 The Wise Owl Coffeehouse, Cincinnati, OH] Songtext
von John Denver

Be sure it′s true when you say, "I love you"
It's a sin to tell a lie
Millions of hearts have been broken
Just because these words were spoken

I love you, yes I do, I love you
If you break my heart I′ll die
So be sure it's true when you say, "I love you"
It's a sin to tell a lie
Sing it, fella

Cross my heart, I hope to die
I′ll never, never, never tell another white lie
Took a little girl out on a date last night
Next to her, gramma Gerty would have looked alright

Now I′m between the devil and the deep blue sea
'Cause I said, "Baby, you look good to me"
I told her I loved her and oh, how I lied
Now she getting set to be my blushing bride


If she leads me to the altar, I′m sunk
'Cause I cannot tell the preacher I was drunk
So Lord, have mercy on a no account sinner
One more chance to let another guy win her

Cross my heart, I hope to die
I′ll never, never, never, tell her one more time
I'll never tell another white lie

I love to sing that song, man
When I was about 13 years old, I was just starting to play the guitar
And that was my mom′s favorite song in the world
I mean, she was like all my teenage friends
She used to call radio stations all the time, request that song
It's by a group called Somethin' Smith and the Redheads

And I was just starting to play the guitar at the time
And I made a little promise to myself
That when I get real good on the guitar, I was gonna learn how to do that song
So that I could do it for my mother
You know how things go, those little promises you make when you′re a kid
You never really live up to them
And I didn′t live up to that one either, until about six years ago


I did a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City
And I invited my folks, flew him up from Denver, Colorado
To see the concert and had him sitting own here in the front, you know
One point in that, proceedings I introduced him to the audience, had him stand up
They put the spotlight on him
Embarrassed him to death, man
Did that song and dedicated it to my mom
Freaked her out