WINDING DOWN THE ROAD MUD RECORDS APRIL 2012

Whiskey Sings Like Angels

Late at night whiskey sings like angels

Sings like shadows seems like something

Might need forgiving maybe never needed

Nothing like it come the light of day



I’m stumbling down my car get in it don’t get far

In that hot Virginia morning I’m still drunk It’s how I am

I pull off a mountain mile or so some Church parking lot and smile

Cause maybe I already know and I’ve known it for awhile

Just how this song’s going to end Before long I’ll be gone



Late at night whiskey sings like angels

Sings like shadows seems like something

Might need forgiving maybe never needed

Nothing like it come the light of day



And the words they find their own tongue

I make them up I go along don’t matter much to me I swear

I get it right I get it wrong The last hours I can hang in there the last verse of the song

Hear them angel voices swelling Sounds so good Sounds so strong

That last moment like a testament somehow feel like I belong



And I don’t need Nashville now to tell me what it ain’t never really known

Ain’t no gospel entertainment bred so deep down in the bone

Some fear or dark despair austere this mess my life I can’t repair

But I can carry on and if there’s one more song in my heart boys

I’m ready let it start I’ll know my place I’ll know my part

And when that chorus come around again you can be sure I’ll be joining in



Late at night whiskey sings like angels

Sings like shadows seems like something

Might need forgiving maybe never needed

Nothing like it come the light of day

Someone’s Digging In The Underground

 Where did we go from arguing nowhere still the faucet’s leak

Was like a nervous metronome I tapped my foot I did not speak

I held my breath outside the rain drummed its fingers on the windowpane

You turned to glare at the sweating glass You clinched your fist let the feeling pass

And silence most ungratefully returned its silence hatefully

Seemed to me I heard the sound like someone’s digging in the underground





I stared into my own reflection curtains parting with the wind

Moments we sliced into sections breaking but they never bend

You start yourself you lose the phrase You catch a glimpse of your own gaze

You want to move you want to speak Your anger wild your manner meek

And all that’s left of yesterday is time to move get out of the way

Seemed to me I heard a song that we just left unsung too long





Now sometimes when the rain falls slow long and lazy in the night

I think on things I ought to know things that time just won’t make right

I should have held you tight and grown given something let you known

That love can live beyond its duties Comforts giving way as beauty’s

Silence like an evil spell giving way to wish you well seems to me I heard the sound

As if someone’s digging in the underground Someone’s digging in the underground

Someone’s digging in the underground

 
Pappy Closed The Book On Miss Lucy






Pappy closed the book on Miss Lucy

She’s dead now and he ain’t talking

Stood there at her door for an hour or more

Then he turned around and took off walking

That tear on his cheek make him feel weak he can’t help it

After awhile he relax and smile be like he felt nothing at all



Now tell them all about that cocaine deal

She was black and trying to pass for white

Tell them how the deal fell through account of you

You’re the heat on a cold cold night

You stood there shiver he pulled that trigger you know you

Good as killed her that’s what everybody’s saying about you man

They cut her down clean caught her out there between them without you



She say “oh sweet Daddy what it’s doing to my head

I’m alive like tomorrow ain’t ever got to get going

And I ain’t going to pretend I’m good for any one man

But oh sweet Pappy when can I see you again?”

And Pappy he looked so happy got them handcuffs on her

Backseat that squad car somewhere out there Dickerson Road

Touching her rubbing her any old way he want to

And he got all that sweet white powder she be wanting it too



Now tell them how it ended last Friday night

You and her stood face to face

3 in the morning lower Broad and the porn

And the honky tonks closing everybody knows

There’s places to go keep it crazy just don’t show your ass down here

Keep your mouth and your money to yourself now Honey

Talking bout a ticket a ticket and a tear she make it pretty damn clear

Eyes see ears hear she used up her fun now she’s gone gone gone



And she’s laying there in a heap looking like she’s asleep

So peaceful and all except for the blood

And her lips so full and pretty and pink

And Pappy he don’t know what to feel what to think

She’s a junkie and a whore maybe a little bit more

“What is it these people? so many nights you know

I gave it up for her tried to help her maybe show

her something different He’s thinking to himself it’s just too bad

You know she might have been the best the best I ever had



Now Pappy closed the book on Miss Lucy

She’s dead now and he ain’t talking

He stood there at her door for an hour or so

Then he turned around and took off walking

That tear on his cheek make him feel weak he can’t help it

After awhile he relax and smile be like he felt nothing at all

Your Postal Card

 Now I read what you said your postal card

And I’m staring at it and trying hard

To figure out what you’re going through

But I just can’t see what you’re trying to do



And I want to be eager I want to be quick

I want to say love like I know what it means

But it all goes by like the hum and the click

Of a world keep changing like some cold machine



I’m reaching in my pocket I would almost pay

But I’ve given that part of me away

To support my habit and it’s plain to me

That the love you can offer it should at least be free



And I’ve chained my brain to the blinking lights

And it never rains on Saturday nights

And if Sundays find me feeling low

That’s hard luck Buddy and I ought to know

You handle em easy and you handle em slow

And them Sundays they just come and go



And I can’t forget we’ve already tried

All the compromises we played for pride

In that final hour so sorry and sour

And the prodigal never knew the power



He exercised simply being wrong

Being welcomed home and strung along

Such a pitiful beast such a horrible joke

To think how love can end such a final stroke



And I’m reaching in my pocket I would almost pay

But I’ve given that part of me away

To support my habit and it’s plain to me

That the love you can offer should at least be free



And I’ve chained my brain to the blinking lights

And it never rains on Saturday nights

And if Sundays find me feeling low

That’s hard luck Buddy and I ought to know

That you handle them easy you handle em slow

And Them Sundays they just come and go

 
Paradox With Suitcase


I can not alter`history

Nor deny a changing cadence

My muscles weak and warm this anger

And only glass to shatter

(Your voice over a wire

Intimate with details

Forgetting for a second)

We are everywhere we have ever been

We are too many different places now

The book too thick

The rattle of the snare

Like a hammer in my head

Dialing tones and returning change

Baling wire to bind a promise

Like a folded photograph or clipping

I pull you out for scavengers

Who care to share some romance

I am shameless

A dog barks all night in Dallas

A woman flexes her wiles come Spring

You are a rose through all the nonsense

A myth I helped to cultivate but now must worship

Like distances shovels and the wind

 
Jessie Jessie






Jessie Jessie come look and see what these blues have done to me

This ain’t stardust in my hand It’s a one-way ticket to the promised land



And I ain’t crazy but I don’t know Even now what it’s all about

Still it makes no sense to me To walk that tightrope with any doubt



Love it sure can change your mind Tell me something I don’t know

Took me half a head of high To figure it out she was bound to go



But you don’t see no tears in my eyes Life’s too short to carry on

And I can live with most of my lies I’m on my own man I’m on my own



Now that moon is rising on its last good legs That straight and narrow gonna have to stray

And I don’t own no suit no tie But you know I can pay my way OK



What the hell’s it really matter now I’m so far gone

Like a blue bloody bone hanging on hear me moan



Loaded like the barrel some shotgun carol Gonna sing my song sing it hard and fast

Gonna stomp my foot gonna raise my glass Sing it what you think with a wink and a nod



Cause by God ain’t none of this really supposed to last And when I’m gone ya’ll down in the ground

When I’m gone ya’ll and no longer around It’s a toss It’s a loss and a piss and a past



Tell em all Boss they can haul off They can stick it where they want to and kiss my ass



Jessie Jessie come look and see What these blues have meant to me

This ain’t stardust in my hand It’s a one way ticket to a promised land

A one way ticket to some promised land…

 
Willie McBroom.






Now my name is Willie McBroom Folks round here pay me no mind

I walk the streets day and night and I live on what I find

And I came here long ago from my native Caroline

And I place no store on nothing I ain't seen with my own eyes



Now I grew up kind of figuring I'd work that Erwin cotton mill

Like everybody else I knew now I guess I never will

Cause there's a hunger deep inside me would never let me rest

Like some fever in my heart some crazy pounding in my chest



CHORUS:

Catch a ride see where it goes I had nothing left to lose

The time is now and no one knows the hour or the day

Of our deliverance what's the difference make no sense to me and you

Just that poor and pitiful Piedmont hungry hard and blue



Now I stopped off awhile in Asheville Worked some back roads in Black Mountain

I's in Knoxville near a year 'til I headed on to Nashville

Played them hard luck bars downtown Hell everybody knows

You get to feeding on that bottom after awhile it starts to show

That need'n feeling starts to grow



Now I chased this girl up Johnson City She loved them drugs She sure was pretty

We laid there spent one night sometimes so hard to even guess the cost

I let her slip that needle in and my whole world begin to spin

It's like I'se hers I swear there's just a good ten years that I lost



CHORUS



Now I came to one night in Bristol I stood there masked I held a pistol

Some college kid working some bullshit money next to nothing

And he did everything she told him He emptied out the till

And she just drifted off to nowhere pulled that trigger and she killed him



And it weren't her and it weren't him Was this world I'd been a-swimming

Against the fog and fool confusion we make our way and don't know nothing

She was stoned and stood there staring no home anywhere for caring

I could not stop I could not stay I quit that's what I told her raised that gun blew her away



I walked away that night and threw that gun right into the hell

The hole some deep dark well I walked some twisting two-lane up to Roanoke

Took me a month or so I slept the ground under neath the stars

Feeling stronger all the time that new blood coursing through my veins

And no idea really yet all these years and time remains



CHORUS

People Will Take To A Love Song

People they take to a love song

If they’re young it’s all their hopes and dreams

And their blood beats strong

But even as the years move on

And they treat you right or they treat you wrong

Still people will take to a love song



It’s a memory maybe or something you’re born

From the very start

That holding on

Something down deep in your heart

No matter what and you can’t let it go

And maybe you just don’t know

Or maybe you just never really could show it



Though you’re feeling it inside you can’t describe it

Like taking a bribe what you’ll feel how you’ll deal with

The world as it all comes unraveled

Just takes too long

Still people will cling to a love song



And more often than not

All we are all we’ve got reflects what comes next

Before we’re even aware

How hard it can be sometimes just to care

Something I had to share was so important just then

I don’t remember just when I was so lost in that wind

Just in time it was love it was love brought it home to me

Love it was love brought it all back again and



People will take to a love song

If they’re young it’s all their hopes and dreams

And their blood beats strong

But even as the years move on

And they treat you right or they treat you wrong

Still people will cling to a love song


A Gradual Awakening

Now there’s a gradual awakening my eyes


I ain’t quite sure it’s salvation

But that ain’t really what I’m looking

Just time to time everything and like it was before



Become different all these changes

Things that mattered just don’t seem to anymore

I’ve studied hard and kept it clean

No truth standing pure the end

Life is faith in something more my friend



Something out there maybe in-between

I’ve sat so many nights staring numb

Off into that dark makes no demands

What is and what it’s mean

None of us understands



When you’re clinging some lost faith

Some wreathe some waif some symbol

You can bow your neck some yoke

Sometimes the world’s just a joke



Sometimes this world’s for dreamers

I’m awake now I’m not laughing

I can take or I can give

It’s my choice now how I’ll live



There is this if nothing more

This moment mine and true

I helped some I met along the way as best I could

And maybe that is all we’re really here to do I don’t know



Some of these thoughts they just seem to come and go

Ride the flow Enjoy the show

It’s only lately I’ve come to realize

There’s a gradual awakening my eyes…

 
Jericho




When I die When I wake If it ain’t all been some mistake

Close the curtain on my show I’ll meet you down in Jericho



Makes no difference where you been What you done who you know

You got no choice but to go Make your peace with Jericho



You think you something somehow so special Think you something so unique

You’re mind can’t let go Come a time Ain’t no answers what you seek



That light so dark That wind so cold The stars and mysteries so old

It don’t mean nothing No matter who say so Listen to that high hard wind blow

4 AM in Jericho



In the name of god the name of Allah Jesus our lord and all who follow

And how much of all this shit can you still swallow them use religion terrorize control



Ain’t that much difference either side The gods them late night desert throes

Fears suck your souls all reason goes lost to the dark that mad dog’s fate

I can’t make faith or justify all of this fate



And Jericho when the walls come down And you stand naked next to me

And we can all just look around and what makes sense and matters most



Is obvious in the swirling dust the debris our trust what we built it on

Seems mighty weak mighty bleak I meant to rise above



When I die when I wake If it ain’t all been some mistake

Close the curtain on my show I’ll meet you down in Jericho

I’ll meet you down in Jericho

 

     Winding Down The Road

 When people started dying I walked out to the edge

I stood there on the ledge I looked down far below

And I almost made my mind up them wide empty spaces

Where we dream it right or say goodnight to all and on our way

And we all carry that load I been time away too long

I been time away Winding down that road



When the darkness start to set in When the stars they shed their tears

And the milky way and all they say like scales before my eyes

Come true the years they fall away and everything revealed

We make of it what we can and lean into the wind

And only late to contemplate the road the way we came

And we all carry that load I been time away too long

I been time away Winding down that road



Time away and winding down winding down winding down

There’s a howling in my head I can’t trace I can’t turn back

Them I loved and them I cared for old memories we shared

Some of these things I have faced who we were and how it was

Crumbling in my hands Something no one understands

You can miss what’s gone but still go on Come a time it’s all that’s left



When people started dying I walked out to the edge

I stood there on the ledge I looked down far below

And I almost made my mind up them wide empty spaces

Where we dream it right or say goodnight to all and on our way

And we carry that load I been time away too long

I been time away Winding down that road

Mary She's The One - Tom House

THAT DARK CALLING CATATAMOUNT RECORDS 2004 LYRICS & OTHER INFORMATION

Old Man.

Old man old man your wooden cane
In the spotlight on the stage
Is it true your fears are from your youth
Is your wisdom from your age
Old man old man say the word
Could you please enlighten me
It’s all these hungry people you see
The way they frighten me
　
The balloons they burst the clowns they collapse
The calliope it screams
Who cares about your position now
Who cares about your dreams
Wipe the colors from across your face
Pull the ribbons from your hair
I met my lady at a carnival
And I loved her on a dare
　
You can hate me if you have to
I could love you if you’d go
I know how long I’ve waited
It’s the only thing I know
I’ve come to invite you to the wedding
Of an old man to his soul
He’s exchanged his rings his vows he sings
But now he’s feeling cold old man…
　
All Fall Down.　

Everybody wanting more Can’t nobody do with less
Can’t nobody do with less Let it all fall down
Everybody taking out Ain’t nobody putting back
Ain’t nobody putting back Let it all fall down
Ain’t no stinking wonder That this world is going under
How much more can it take The camel’s back got to break
It’s that compromise of little lies Indignities you down to size
You get this straight You ain’t the prize That supersonic eagle flies
Ain’t nobody big enough Can’t nobody live up to it
Can’t nobody live up to it Let it all fall down
Was a time but now it’s gone Nothing mattered but the song
Soul and spirit you could hear it Celebrate and sing along
But now it’s all about stars and hits and who sold most and who’s got tits
And none of it means two shakes of shit Let it all fall down
Ain’t no stinking wonder That this world is going under
How much more can it take The camel’s back got to break
It’s that compromise of little lies Indignities you down to size
You get this straight you ain’t the prize That supersonic eagle flies
Everybody taking out Ain’t nobody putting back
Ain’t nobody putting back Gonna all fall down

Hey Tom Where You Walking.

The sky’s as gray as gray can be
There surely must be something wrong with me
Cause here I go like I don’t care
And my destination ain’t nowhere
Hey Tom where you walking?
Hey Tom where you walking?
Bless my soul I just don’t know
But I can’t sit still I got to go
This place is too crowded I can’t feel free
This small talk don’t do nothing for me
And feeling restless ain’t no crime
I’ll be back here some other time
Hey tom where you walking…?
I hung around the house all day
Picking this guitar just trying to play it
I drank everything in the refrigerator
I’m leaving now I’ll come back later
Hey Tom where you walking…?
Time I catch up to my brain
I’m standing downtown in a driving rain
Bus driver say “man you ready to go?”
got to look him in the eye and tell him “no”
Hey Tom where you walking…?
Got to go Got to get out of here
(One foot in the front of the
One foot in the front of the
One foot in the front of the other and go..
One foot in the front of the
One foot in the front of the
One foot in the front of the other and go..)
Now when my walking days are through
I tell you what I’m gonna do
Gonna walk me out where there’s no one around
And lay my body in the ground
Hey Tom where you walking…?

Jimmy Teal.

Jimmy Teal pointed a gun
At his wife his daughter and son
Said I’m sorry but there’s no other way
I’m a man and a killer today
Now drinking ain’t no way to go
Drinking’s just dying real slow
No money for the working you know
So it’s off to the devil I go
It’s happy in heaven they say
Hold hands meet your maker today
The angels will sing soft and low
But it’s off to the devil I go
No time to bury his dead
Jimmy Teal he turned tail and fled
He said I’ve done wrong but I was always no good
And I turned out like they all said I would
Now hanging ain’t no way to go
Twisting and turning real slow
And he’d run as long as he could
And they caught up with him back in them woods
No fight was left in him they said
For he was still mourning his dead
They beat him and cuffed him and took him to jail
He ain’t talking there ain’t nothing to tell
Now hanging ain’t no way to go
Twisting and turning real slow
But for Jimmy there’s no other way
He’s dying a killer today
It’s happy in heaven they say
Tie my hands I’ll meet my maker today
The angels will sing soft and low
But it’s off to the devil I go

(written by Tomi Lunsford & Warren Denney)

Bake My Beans.

Mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Gonna butter them buns taste so sweet sop a little gravy gonna cut a little meat
Gonna pop it in the pan gonna fry it in the heat ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Now sister coming home from the midnight shift lawd lawd lawd
Sister coming home caught herself a lift say lawd lawd lawd
Now she ain’t all that swift but she do got the gift
And she had that sucker sitting up there stiff
She was singing his song if you’re getting my drift say lawd lawd lawd
Now mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Gonna butter them buns taste so sweet gonna sop a little gravy cut a little meat
Pop it in the pan fry it in the heat say ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Now papa he ain’t much to talk about but they do do do
Papa he ain’t much to talk about but they do do do
They talk about this they talk about that they sat there talking til their jaws got fat
At least my papa know better than that yes he do do do
Mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Mama gonna bake my beans in the morning ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll
Gonna butter them buns taste so sweet sop a little gravy gonna cut a little meat
Gonna pop it in the pan gonna fry it in the heat ya’ll ya’ll ya’ll

I Am An Exile.

I am an exile and I can not deny
Been awhile since I even had one thought at all
Of that place where I come from so long ago
Them that loved me then and all I used to know
Now I was 18 in love with the whole world
One girl in particular but you know how that goes
Her daddy never cared much for me
And he blocked me at her door
I took a knife to that man’s throat
He won’t talk to me that way no more
And of course I had to run and of course she wouldn’t come
And the cops they caught up to me down in Lexington
And I killed a man or two that day I was determined to myself
I would not go down that way was a high wind and a hot fire
Someone started I can’t say
I am an exile and I can not deny
Been awhile since I even had one thought at all
Of that place where I come from so long ago
Them that loved me then and all I used to know
Now I was up and down Kentucky, Illinois and Ohio
I was headed north to Canada but I just can’t take that snow
So I turned myself around my life became what it became
How I found myself in Texas one town’s just about like the last
To me they’re all pretty much the same
And there were women simple pleasures private moments celebrations
There were dark nights here and there torments tearing at my heart
How much others might know or care maybe mostly in my mind
That don’t mean it won’t real to me sometimes all I could feel or find
Fighting fears some dark corners I drank myself dumb and blind
Come a reckless disregard most others of my kind
And the years blew through my bones
And the sun bleached my hair white
And my eyes dried and wrinkled
People came to look right through me
I’m some ghost I never hear my name called or see a face
Familiar to me now as I move from place to place
I am an exile and I can not deny
Been awhile since I even had one thought at all
Of the place where I came from so long ago
Them that loved me then and all I used to know
Now I stand out there on the shoulder maybe a mile or two the border
And the semi’s sit lined up idling ain’t much moving here today
And I can’t really speak the language no one hears a word I say
But it don’t matter much what I got on my mind anyway
And there’s a man stands there staring hard draws his gun and taking aim
Reflections who or where I am everything I ever done
All reason my heart pounding the logic and the luck
Led me here and I can’t fathom was I blessed or was I cursed
Sure I always been alone but some have had it a lot worse
I look around my final chance to see or celebrate this world
So long nothing’s more than nowhere and this highway’s where I’ve waited
And I watched it all unwind someone say a prayer my soul
You got nothing else to do there was no faith I could find
Even felt remotely true I could lay half a claim as mine
I am an exile and I can not deny
Been awhile since I even had one thought at all
Of that place where I came from so long ago
Them that loved me then and all I used to know

He Got Too Close To God.
　
Brother Michael was found stumbling around
Leaves in his hair dirt caked he was naked
And mumbling and shivering some tried to make sense
His quivering lips “it’s providence”
Sister Rachel intoned as he twisted and moaned
“Oh Father oh Father” and they all stood aback
His congregation they’d come looking they’d seen him walk out
Some thought he’d gone crazy others had their doubts
Some saw him as holy wanted some of that fire
“What do you believe brother ? Do you believe it in your heart?
What do you believe sister? Do you believe it in your heart?
Well maybe that’s a start”
And he got too close to God and his eyes were touched with light
And he could not hide his nakedness not in the darkest night
And his troubles had touched him deep he said “My whole life I’ve been asleep
These situations are so superficial I can’t live my life this way”
And he walked off into the woods and he laid down in the grass
And he let the wind flow over him and he watched the seasons pass
(They go round and round and they go round and round so fast)
And he stared into the sun ‘til his mind dissolved it all starts to run
One thought into another and he can’t get a grip
Gone before he got like a gear start to slip
And he don’t get to feel it and he don’t get to touch
Like a wash or a tide and it’s all too much
Like a bird that’s flown or a wind that’s blown
Since the dawn of time over sand and stone
This world ain’t mine and it’s all there is
In all its grandeur and it’s emptiness
It was all so perfect it was all so clear
Just that half a second then it disappeared
All the lies and the lust desires and trust
A world that was returns to dust
All the pettiness the prejudice the hate and fear
Rolling down his cheek one final tear
And he got too close to God and his eyes were touched with light
And he could not hide his nakedness not in the darkest night

Hankering For You.

I got a hankering for you
I got a feeling for you
And aching down here in my soul
Now we could run for the sun
It might even be fun
Just to love it on out of control
Love it on out of control
Now I don’t promise no peace
I don’t promise no plan
I don’t promise anything I ain’t got
I don’t care if you’re pure
Immature insecure
I been thinking about you a lot
Thinking about you a lot
I got a hankering for you
Got a feeling for you
Got an aching down here in my soul
Now we could run for the sun
It might even be fun
Just to love it on out of control
Love it on out of control
Now am I making this all clear
Take my heart to your ear
I don’t echo just to light on no lie
I ain’t got it down pat
But I know where I’m at
I’m standing right here
And I’m willing to give it a try
Standing here willing
To give it a try
I’ve got a hankering for you
Got a feeling for you
Way down here in my soul
Now we could run for the sun
Hell it might even be fun
Just to love it on out of control
Love it on out of control
Love it love it
Love it on out of control

Little Shot Of Something Blue.

This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue
How it started where it went what it all turned into
Finally coming down hard late last night right between me and you
This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue
Laying in the dark there ain’t nothing left to be said
I can feel you tense every breath I take and dread
Anything I say you clinch your teeth
Like I’m long ago so far beneath
Anything worth going through
Putting up with it’s all it is to you
And just what does that say
‘bout what we’ve sunken to
This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue
How it started where it went what it all turned into
Finally coming down hard late last night right between me and you
This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue
And you’re home from Missouri in the middle of the night
Got your clothes in the washer don’t turn on the light
I come in there upon you on the sofa in the dark
Ain’t no stink or smell gonna wash away
Make right where we stand right here right now
I done my wondering where you been all weekend
And that bottle of Evan been my last good friend
I bought me this here gun and I don’t know why
I never been the kind of man who thought he owned
His woman or told her how she had to do
But I been less than you been needing for awhile I guess
Draining down to empty what I feel inside
I pull my hand from my pocket and my mind’s in such a wind
And I know it’s never gonna be right again
I can’t hear I can’t breathe and I can’t think
And your eyes so cold and hard don’t blink
And my knees are trembling and my hand shaking too
Right here right now what remains
How it’s supposed to go what I got to do
Don’t you think that I’ve been hurting too
This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue
How it started where it went what it all turned into
Finally coming down hard late last night right between me and you
This ain’t nothing but a little shot of something blue

Susan"s Song.

And if you see her before I can
Auburn hair shining in the sun
You can tell her for me there were things left unsaid
You can tell her there were things we left undone
You can tell her that I’m on my way home now
The sun in the south shines so bright
That I’m weary now and I’m thinking of her
And I never sleep in the night
Now I been down to Golgotha where he hung from the cross
And I looked to the ground where he’d bled
They were rolling for his robe in the shadow of the cross
In the shadow of the words that he’d said
And I waited for the thunder and the lightning to storm
To drive strong men to the ground
And I had that lonesome forsaken feeling
Like I been staring out to sea
No one else miles around
Now I believed in her magic I believed in her God
Now mostly I believe what I see
If you can’t hold it near if you can’t see it clear
Then you can’t prove a thing by me
And if you should see her before I can
Auburn hair shining in the sun
You can tell her for me there were things left unsaid
You can tell her there were things we left undone
You can tell her that I’m standing with the moon in my eyes
I’m raving like a man gone insane
But I can’t get these feelings from out of my heart
Or these thoughts from out of my brain

That Dark Calling.

In dire need and desperation my poor imagination
Inadequate and stunted stood there at the desert’s edge
As the sun turned its blank eye to the horizon slowly blinked
All reason to that rage I never took the time to think
Was a story needed telling no need embellishing or dwelling
On the details served no design beyond shock and titillation
As the wind howled and my skin peeled something vital to the nerve
Stripped to the bone and I’m revealed something brittle like some riddle
I can’t solve it I must serve
And that wind blows so hot and that wind blows so hard and dry
My face become like me all beaten mean and scarred
And I been studying my life some reason ain’t been there
I was damned somehow the start I’m so angry and don’t care
It’s that dark calling in my blood that dark calling in my bone
That dark calling’s all I hear standing out there all alone
I don’t know what I don’t know why but it’s all I’ve ever known
That dark calling me down that dark calling me home
I signed my name I swore an oath to God or Satan maybe both
I sucked the blood of many men I’d visit ruin where I’d ride
And there were women I can’t name them or remember or much blame them
I was someone else each morning they searched for something wasn’t there
I smeared the sunrise ‘cross the sky I breathed the slow stench in the air
When there’s nothing left that matters come that deep well of despair
Let the pilgrim name his passion he ain’t got that long left to go
Let him scream it from the bowels his soul sing it soft and low
And that wind blows so hot and that wind blows so hard and dry
My face become like me all beaten mean and scarred
And I’ve been studying my life some reason ain’t been there
I was damned somehow the start I’m so angry and don’t care
It’s that dark calling in my blood that dark calling in my bone
That dark calling’s all I hear standing out there all alone
I don’t know what I don’t know why but it’s all I’ve ever known
That dark calling me down that dark calling me home
That dark calling me down that dark calling me home

All I Know.

This is no gala this is no show
No entertainment extravaganza
I’ll sing my song it won’t take long
There’ll be no encore when the curtain falls
The show is over that is all I know
All I know
Now the room’s nigh empty it’s the final set
The stage is dark the shadows stand so stark in silhouette
And I can’t see beyond the footlights
And long ago I came to feel
This weariness and rage is real and right
And all I know
Oh some nights it seems a thousand miles
And back ain’t where I been
And some night’s seems like tomorrow’s
Just a dream that slips away
A final tantalizing glimpse
A world that never was attempts
To pull me back into make me believe
This is how it is and has to be
It always was eternity’s
A world we worship on our knees
And the darkness builds ‘til it fills my head
Like the road disappearing behind me that’s led
Me to this moment I stand poised
This precipice of peace and bliss
All the panic and the noise and this
Is all I know
There’s some sadness locked me deep inside
An emptiness I can’t abide
I can’t deny now nor control
In its absence or its hold
I stare across that great expanse
That leap of faith and final chance
To bow my head recant repent
But that would somehow mean it all just meant
Nothing and I can not make myself believe
That it’s nothing open up my soul receive
What would be nothing nothing to me
This is no gala this is no show
No entertainment extravaganza
I’ll sing my song it won’t take long
There’ll be no encore when the curtain falls
The show is over that is all I know
All I know　

Been There & Gone CD 2010 info & lyrics

BEEN THERE AND GONE new CD 12 of 14 songs recorded Aug 5 2010 at Sound Vortex Studio in Nashville TN engineer Derek Garten. Tom House & Guitar. "Jesus Christ is Born" recorded same studio 2004 background vocals Karren Pell. "Sawbones" recorded same studio 2003 shakers percussion Scott Chase. Both songs engineered by Robb Earls.
All songs written by Tom House (Tom House Songs & Octus Orbus Publishers BMI) "Carol Lee" & "When I Was Young" co-writer, Dave Isaacs; "Never Knew Why" co-writer, Olav Larsen.
The Songs:

Boatrock Boulevard.

Everyone that I know knows everything that they do
Has been left up to them and it’s the same way to you
You can pile your dreams into a passenger car
You can ride them right back to right here where you are
And the losers lay there beaten and scarred
It all came too easy they just took it too hard
And they each one will tell you they’re the last one who starred
In this re-run of Rome on Boatrock Boulevard
Now I ain’t seeking no favors I ain’t looking advice
You can get what you want all you got is your price
You can go for the throat you can hope you can pray
You can sign your own name to the end of the day
And the years they fly like the blink of an eye
You can join the parade you can watch it go by
Let it go shut it down you got nothing to guard
But the back door to Rome on Boatrock Boulevard
You go out smiling all night see how you feel the next day
It’s a who did I meet it’s a what did I say
It’s that crazy inside you walks on when it wants to
Leaves you footing the bill it’s your life you can pay
And the losers just lay there they ain’t having no fun
Anything they can think of it’s already been done
And they reach for their wallets inspiration comes cheap
When the middle of the road’s where you’re choosing to sleep
And the losers lay there beaten and scarred
It all came so easy they just took it so hard
And they each one will tell you they’re the last one that starred
In this re-run of Rome on Boatrock Boulevard
This re-run of Rome on Boatrock Boulevard


The Bone Man.

I heard the bone man I heard him howl
Out in the dark night out in the wild
It’s all been building so many years
No reason left in him to stem them tears
No way now Hear the bone man howl like some orphan child
I heard the bone man I heard him moan
I saw him trembling out there so lost and all alone
Everything he ever was everything he’s ever known
Stripped him now and gone hear him sing his sad song
And he don’t know like the wind that blows which way to go
And I read them poems that he wrote heard his song note by note\
She was everything and all he ever needed how he saw it
That sweet spell she cast ain’t no love like that can last
Unless it changes and he knew come a time it would all have to
And now he stands like time demands dreams his own hands
He wrapped that wind around him tight embraced that pain
Stood there naked in the night in a hard driving rain
And there ain’t nothing but that need nothing left to explain
That storm that rages hear the roar here on out forever more
The moon and stars some things so cold and clear he sees
It all such clarity and insanity’s his way free where he soars for all to see
Let the red wine flow and the poetry the poetry his eyes burning
Turning in on himself now so let him be
I heard the bone man I heard him howl
Out in the dark night out in the wild
It’s all been building so many years
No reason left in him to stem them tears
No way now Hear the Bone Man howl

Carol Lee.

Our intentions were the best ones but that hardly goes to explain
How the sun just went in on us left us standing in the rain
I go walking by the river and the wind calls out your name
Look around me no one behind me and time moves with me like in a dream
Carol Lee gone again coming back she don’t say when
I sit here waiting as the evening’s coming on
And all these images I find bits and pieces in my mind
All these reasons all these signs pointing nowhere
And why we do it why we cared Who we were and what we shared
Some improbable incredible moments could have meant the world
And it’s like we weren’t even there like we weren’t even there
And that darkness just keeps coming on and on and on
　
By my window light a candle and I sit there in the cold night air
Times her perfume fills the whole room and I can feel her presence everywhere
Carol Lee gone again coming back she don’t say when
I sit here waiting as the evening’s coming on
And all these images I find bits and pieces in my mind
All these reasons all these signs pointing nowhere
And why we do it why we cared who we were and what we shared
Some improbably incredible moments could have meant everything
And it’s like we weren’t even there like everything now it’s all gone
And I just sit here hanging onto all that darkness and it just goes on and on
and on… nowhere
Our intentions were the best one but that hardly goes to explain
How the sun just went in on us left us standing in the rain

From Here On Out.

And when I look on her sweet face a different time a different place
I’m a different person now and no doubt
A lost become so much so real so dark and deep it’s all I feel
And I fear it’s all I’ll feel from here on out
From here on out the road grows narrow and my step is hard to find
And that voice inside reminds me who I am and where I stand
It’s all gone from me forever everything there was never
Mine to call on to call out ever again
That connection to what always was the vector and the reason
Everything made anything make sense all we were or ever been
And it plays tricks inside my mind that past I thought I left it all behind
Like a mirror I remember some 8 millimeter movie
It was snowing Christmas morning some long ago December
From here on out I sit and wait my turn think about it all to keep it straight
From here on out the sun goes down just where it will
And spills its secrets my heart cries I am formed and fixed defined them eyes
It was her faith kept me strong and I could do no wrong
And I am not so shy nor so ashamed to say just how I feel
I think I’ll just sit here awhile lost the memory that smile
And when it’s time to get up and move on I’m sure enough I will
I’m sure enough I’ll have the strength I know I will
And when I look on her sweet face a different time a different place
I’m a different person now and no doubt
A loss become so much so real so dark and deep it’s all I feel
And I fear it’s all I’ll feel from here on out
Yes I fear it’s all I’ll feel from here on out

Hands Down Lucille.

Hands down Lucille now here’s the deal
No one has to know how’s it really feel
When Jake he died she cried and cried
Til there was nothing left of her inside
Now her mother came The preacher too
But there was nothing really they could do
Most thought they knew her well it’s true
But there’s so many ways the days our lives can lead us to
Somewhere there ain’t nothing left at all
Find our way home once we’ve fallen
So far it’s like echoes way off calling
Lucille she ain’t answering to no one from that night on
Hands down Lucille now here’s the deal
No one has to know how’s it really feel
When Jake he died she cried and cried
Til there was nothing left of her inside
Now a woman’s lips can be so soft and her touch how often
Lucille dreamed them arms around her whispers say it all so sweet
And she can’t fight it she ain’t free To be who she wants to be
And it’s all been lies and deceit so long she’s been offering him
And it’s that sin can’t call its name
Late that night he came in on them
He can‘t believe it this ain‘t right
“It’s in the Bible’s” all he could say
And words and blood ran hot then red
Twenty years like death and dying
Lucille hit him hard his head
They jumped him, beating on him pounding
Held him down and smothered him
Wrapped him tight they covered him
Blinking back hard that last tear
He was fighting struggling his way clear
He looked her right dead in the eye
Then he quit trying he just didn’t care
She was lost and swimming her eyes
Way off out there somewhere
Hands down Lucille now here’s the deal
No one has to know how’s it really feel
When Jake he died she cried and cried
Til there was nothing left of her inside
Now there’s rumors just what happened
Ain’t no way to prove a thing
They found Lucille screaming crying and laughing
No one dare imagine different
And ol’ Doc Johnson and his wife Flo
They took Lucille in and don’t you know
It’s a pity and a shame she sits so quiet and so still
All them shots and all them pills
So she don’t have to deal what’s real or ever have to feel
Nothing at all now and she probably never will
Tell the truth you go to jail Say a prayer and go to hell
And there’s a horror hers from here on out she knows too well
Hands down Lucille now here’s the deal
No one has to know how’s it really feel
When Jake he died she cried and cried
Til there was nothing left of her inside

Jesus Christ Is Born.

Jesus Christ is born
On the radio
Songs of joy hymns of praise
Christmas music’s played for days
But I can’t find it in my soul
(Jesus Christ is born…)
Now the snow swirls in my face
The streetlights sparkle their own grace
This perfect pain this melancholy
All remains inside me holy
It’s like my soul’s to silence sworn
Jesus Christ is born
Now I walk the sidewalks into the stores
Up and down the aisles looking
I don’t know what for
All the smiling happy faces
In a hurry they got places
To be and someone waiting
Christmas gifts anticipating
All the world is celebrating
Jesus Christ is born
I walk down Church Street
Watch the lights
Go out one by one o holy night
There’s a thick hushed quiet
Somehow feels right
And the cold I hold close
My step’s light
And the only sound
I hear is the clicking
Of the sleet on the street
And the snow is sticking
And I take pause stare to the sky
As the wind rips shivers through my spine
I’ve searched and searched and I can’t find
It in this old heart of mine
What they all feel and swear is real
The truth the light the word the way
Is born in Bethlehem this day
Angels we have heard on high
That’s just the wind that’s all I know
A tear drop tries to form my eye
That’s just the wind I know
La la la la la la la
Jesus Christ is born

Love Lay Softly.

Love lay softly there beside me then she died
There was nothing left for her to hold onto
Just some skeletal remains bits and pieces and it pains me
To recall all I put her through
And it was just some pride justified
What I can’t face then I must hide and she knew
In them last lonely hours before the dawn
Love lay softly there beside me but she was gone
How can someone live their whole life so afraid
Like it’s all some horrible mistake once made
Can never be forgiven forgotten or denied
And I cried and I tried to find the words to say
But no matter how I felt that need I pushed her just that hard away
Come that rush of recognition where it all become so clear
Love lay softly there beside me but there’s no way she could stay here
And I’m clinging to some romance dancing right beyond my dreams
Where the madness gives me meaning silence seems the same as screams
And there’s a world that draws the lines so precisely and defines
Who we are or ever could be on our journey from the start
That light that shines so bright so briefly in the confines of my heart
And no apologies left in me now no way to make amends
Looking myself right dead in the eyes saying ok here’s how it ends
Come a murmur through the treetops like a secret must be told
And a hint of light the edges of a day dawn grey and cold
As the shadows swirl around her face and her dark eyes brim with tears
And my heart’s a twisted fist a-pounding that balance held so perfectly all these many years
And how close were we really ever I guess I’ll never know
Love lay softly there beside me the rain is falling and that far wind I lay listening to it blow
Let her go let her go…
And I’m clinging to some romance dancing right beyond all dreams
Where the madness gives me meaning silence sounds the same as screams
And there’s a world that draws the lines so precisely it defines
Who we are or ever could be on our journey from the start
That light that shines so bright so briefly in the confines of my heart
And no apologies left in me now and no way to make amends
Looking myself right dead in the eyes saying ok here’s how it ends
…Love lay softly there beside me then she died…

Mary She's The One.　

Mary don’t want to talk about it
So I don’t talk about it
Mary don’t want to think about it
So I don’t think about it
Mary sits and stares nowhere
I take her hand but she don’t care
She’s so beyond so unaware
That Mary’s she the one
Now Mary don’t remember much
And she don’t much like being touched
Mary she don’t want to dream
So she don’t sleep and she don’t scream
Mary I tell her let it go
But she don’t blink and she don’t show
Any emotion she might know
And Mary’s she the one
Mary she’s the one she’s the center of my world
Anything and everything is what I’d do
Mary I’m feeling so left out here and abandoned
Mary how do I ever get back to you
Now Mary’s shattered little pieces
So I’m shattered little pieces
Mary’s mind tortures her taunting her and teases
She’s so little she’s so small
Close her eyes she can’t recall
Why she ever cared at all
And Mary she’s the one
Now she’s right there at the true conception
Right there at the death
Anything that’s human disappearing right before her eyes
Cause if one man can then any man is capable and able
And her whole world just can’t exist if this is how it really is
And I hold her and when I hold her
I don’t breathe and I don’t move
Like my whole life’s lost what I am
I’m a man and I can’t prove
Any difference any balance
Take a chance she’s too far gone
And Mary she don’t remember she’s the one
Now Mary she’s the one she’s the center of my world
Anything and everything is what I’d do
Mary I’m feeling so left out here and abandoned
Mary how do I ever get back to you
Mary how do I ever get back to you

Never Knew Why.

Never knew why you came back Never knew why you cried
Never knew why you bothered at all
Out there in the rain Bareheaded and plainly Lost in your own misery
　
And you couldn’t recall All the reasons you ran
That anger that finally broke free
And I never knew why No I never knew why
All that anger was directed at me
　
Like an old tin can The dreams of a man
Can be stomped on crushed and kicked to the side
And time after time when I needed you most
You disappeared Found you someplace to hide
And I never knew why Though I’d sure like to hear it
I’d sure like to hear it from you
Why it never was real It never was true
You couldn’t conceal What it meant to you
And I never knew why
No I never knew why

(The lyrics the following song differ than the ones on the CD in places. It portrays an extreme dialogue between the Devil and a healer. Inappropriate for children or radio.)

Sawbones.

Devil say to the Doctor Say Sawbones Say old Sawbones
Say Sawbones Say old Sawbones
Devil say to the Doctor Say Sawbones cure my fever
Make my spirit whole
Doctor say to the Devil Say you leave me be
Why you play with me I’m a God-fearing man
Doctor say to the Devil I’m a God-fearing man you leave me be
You lowdown son of filth and misery
Devil say to the Doctor Say Sawbones Say old Sawbones
Say Sawbones Say old Sawbones
Devil say to the Doctor Goddamn your soul from this night on (and on and on)
I’ll break your will I’ll make you feel what I feel
The desire and the doubt and the doing without
The having it all and still wanting more
That day to day the slow decay
All your dreams and your life they’re slipping away
You’re reaching in the breach that sand beneath your feet
All before be gone you swore was divine
And in that moment of weakness you will be mine
Doctor say to the Devil my faith is strong
My faith is strong in the name of the Father
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Ghost I’m strong
I’m strong I’m strong I’m strong
I’ll stand up my faith show you just how wrong you can be
You sitting down there You fucking with me
I’ll show you how wrong I’ll show you you’ll see
Devil say to the Doctor say Sawbones old Sawbones
Sawbones old Sawbones
Devil say to the Doctor alright you win I’ll concede
But that’s just right now my friend later on I’ll feed that need
To you right out of my hand I’ll tell you now you sow you understand
You’ll be sucking that shit and crud right out of my hand
Devil say to the Doctor Say Sawbones Old Sawbones
Sawbones Old Sawbones
Devil Say to the Doctor Say Sawbones cure my fever
Make my spirit whole

Some Women.

I think there are some women who should not have children
And I suppose my mother was one of them
I don’t think she was an evil person sure she tried sometimes
I just don’t think she cared all that much
She had a life her own she was young there were men
Sometimes she came home eight or nine or ten
From work stopped off at the bar for a beer or two
Sometimes it was later it’s tv and cereal hey what you gonna do
What you gonna do who you gonna blame
Seen it early enough it’s my life it’s the same
If I sit here screaming or dreaming or pissed
This or that I might have missed
Come a time it’s only me got to answer for who I am or what
And maybe I’m a little like her Gonna have to fight my way clear
Some of this confusion I’ll do better than she did and if I ever decide to have a kid
I’ll make damn sure I’ll make damn sure I really wanted that kid
I think there are moments we understand as more than the promise and the circumstance
She never had a plan and she loved to dance and every chance she took some romance
She learned it on the radio living it hard and ready to go
My mom she’s a world of fun 20 years into her cups
And my mama she don’t care if the sun comes up
And mama I appreciate what you came to give just a little late some things I’ll never understand
You just seemed so nervous all the time somehow removed talking to you sometimes like
Screaming underwater like it’s all slow motion you ain’t listening you ain’t there
And I just can’t wait cause I don’t ever feel like I fit in anywhere
And I dreamed last night I saw a tear in your eye I was all dressed up and I looked like you
My lips were pink and my eyes were blue but I just couldn’t cry I didn’t know what to do
I was locked in the mirror like a lie come true you maybe seen now what it all come down to
I looked so damn hot mama I looked just like you struck a pose I suppose now everybody knows
Everybody knows mama everybody knows
What you gonna do who you gonna blame seen it early enough it’s my life it’s the same
If I sit here screaming or dreaming or pissed this or that I might have missed
Come a time it’s only me got to answer for who or what I am
And maybe I’m a little like her Gonna have to fight my way clear
Some of this confusion I’ll do better than she did and if I ever decide to have that kid
I’ll make damn sure I’ll make damn sure I’ll make damn sure I really wanted that kid

When A Child Closes A Door.

When a child closes a door
And locks himself inside
Won’t answer anymore
What there was out there before
He sits there in the dark
He can’t hear a thing
Don’t matter to him now
He’s bent there on his knees
He can hear the angels sing
But he ain’t keeping score no more
You know it could be anything
When a child closes a door
When that child just turns away
Anything you got to say
He won’t answer anymore
It don’t matter anyway
No one listens no one hears
Close his eyes he disappears
Drifting slowly through the night
The shadows wrapped around him tight
When it all becomes too hard the pain
There’s nothing left he can explain
Or that much now truly remains
He pulls himself across the floor
And at long length with his last strength
Pulls himself up on his knees
Turns the keys and locks the door
　
So don’t bother shed no tear
It’s too late when he still cared
There was never no one here
Just the way it all went down
And you can’t take back what you never were
And I can’t change the way I am
You can’t pretend now what there never was
Like either of us gave a damn
And there’s a world out there I’m well aware
Might as well be fantasy
I live on this side of the door now
And there’s nobody here but me
Nothing for you to see
So why don’t you just leave me be
Why don’t you all just leave me be
When a child closes a door
And locks himself inside
Won’t answer anymore
All there was out there before
He sits there in the dark
He can’t hear a thing
Don’t matter to him now
He’s bent there on his knees
He can hear the angels sing
But he ain’t keeping score no more
You know it could be anything
When a child closes a door

When I Was Young.

When I was young and trusted easy
miracles were common-place
I stood toe to toe with angels
sang their praises felt their grace
All along the roads I traveled
Such delights my eyes did see
All them mysteries unraveled
Laid it out there clear for me
All that was and meant to be
Come a time full of wonder
Take me to the other side
Hold my hand I’m going under
I bow my head I will abide
My faith and feelings and my pride
I had miles yet and dreams I would
Not let them be denied
When I was young the air was clear
The water clean my throat sang pure
I walked the mountains and the prairies
That high wind and the holy ghost
Forever and I will endure
I made my way them long hot days
Sat there shivering through the night
Searching for some higher purpose
Waiting on that one true light
Sing me now some sweet salvation
I need something I can’t find
I need something I can keep
Something true I can hold onto
Remind me all them things I knew
I stood there staring myths and shadows
I fell to my knees I don’t know why
Or how much any of this really matters
I got no home no destination
Waiting me when I get there
Come a time all reason fails
And gospels all like fairy tales
Simple truths might have been
Never mine to hold again
When I was young and trusted easy
Miracles were common place
I stood toe to toe with angels
Sang their praises felt their grace
　　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　
　

JESUS DOESN"T LIVE HERE ANYMORE: Song Lyrics

JESUS DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE LYRICS
　
　
Making My Peace.

I ain’t no cold turkey
On a hot hot date
Things are bound to get better
Me I’m willing to wait
My turn and I’m willing
To let it all ride
On a little shot of something
Keep me satisfied

Chorus: And I’m tying up my britches
Got my big boots on
Moon’s on the rise
Got a brand new song
Called feeling at ease
Getting along
Called making my peace
Before I’m too far gone

Now I had me a woman
She was good for the show
Kept everybody guessing
Took her years to go
And I don’t mind saying
I’m a happy man
And I can mean it ‘bout as much
As anybody else can

Chorus:

Now it’s a big bad world
And a pitiful shame
I can’t find nobody
But myself to blame
Now I’m stating my case
Taking my place
At the head of the line
Getting out of this race

Chorus:
　
　
Child Of God.

He’s a child of God
No more no less
And I can’t tell you why he took it
Where he did but if pressed
I’d have to say
There was something missing something wrong
Something deep down inside him
And he knew it all along

Now there were signs some say
Looking back today
He ran these hills alone
His parents gone
One dead one beat down
He answered to no one
His the driest eyes in town
But that don’t measure how he sees it all
When there’s no one else around
And that moon shines
Tiny corners he finds them
And the wind blowing circles
In and out his mind
Is that him crying
Outside some window silhouette
It’s blood and noise and
His heart’s poison from the start

First Verse Repeats:

Now there’s nothing moving
In that dark deserted night
He lays face down in the weeds
And his eyes clinched tight
And his ears hear all everything
The shadows call he hears them sing
Converging right here
Urging him and his fears
They carry him along

And they found her down
In a culvert bound
She was beaten she was bruised
She was dead and he had used her
And even the strongest
Had to turn their face away
Their stomachs buckle
Things unthinkable
Too horrible to say

And the good sheriff smiled
As he jerked that chain
And the newspapers and photographers
They described and glorified it
All so well in such detail
He can’t explain it or remain
It just means nothing to him now

He’s a child of God
Tell me what that means
All the empty and the angry
Left out in between encompassing
All I ever was or been
Nothing in the eyes of God
Nothing in the eyes of men

Repeat First Verse:
　

Dark Night Of The Soul.

Come a crippled time a man
Lose the purpose in his way
What’s the reason left to go on
What's the reason left to stay
What’s the reason you suppose he asks
In hanging on ain’t nothing lasts
Nothing now left to me
Of who I was ain’t charity

As he pours another round
It’s so easy going down
And his logic starts to swim
As it slips away from him
In the fire and fury of his hate
His judge and jury just can’t ait
The verdict’s in guilty as sin
Returned and turned and turned again

And there’s a dark night of the soul
Just beyond a man’s control
Where he’s staring scared and trying so hard
Not to let it show
And he’s talking grace of God
He’s talking free at last
He’s talking nowhere to go in this world
He’s talking nowhere to go

Now he’s staring out the door
As the rain starts to pour
And the light’s have all grown dim
One by one ‘til it’s just him
In this dark deserted place
Staring at the haunted face
A reflection in the glass
All that never came to be

And there ain’t no mama ain’t no papa
Ain’t no family or friends
Just the cold edge of the morning
Slowly twisting in the wind
And he’s talking grace of God
He’s talking free at last
He’s talking nowhere too go in this world
He’s talking nowhere to go


Isadora’s Dancing Tonight.

And the lights twirl and twist
‘Round her swirling her fist
Is held high in the air
Clinched in the light
And her hair’s cold and red
Swirling curls ‘round her head
Isadora’s dancing tonight

And the orchestra plays
And the orchestra rests
And the young men in tails
Attend to her needs
This one here’s so polite
This one here idolizes
The ground that she walks on
And she just despises

The music that holds her
So tightly and owns her
‘Til she’s out on the floor
Can forget all the rest
All the ordinary needs
As the world breathes and bleeds
She can soar she wants more
Wants them all on their knees

And the lights twirl and twist
‘Round her swirling her fist
Is held high in the air
Clinched in the light
And her hair’s cold and red
Swirling curls round her head
Isadora’s dancing tonight
Isadora’s dancing tonight　　
　

Papa’s Dancing With His Daughter.

There’s a high step and a low step
And a stepping in-between
How he told it to Tom Potter
‘bout that incident last week
There ain’t hardly nothing to it
I’ll get back to you about it
Don’t you worry Buddy
We can work it out
It’ll be alright

And she’s laughing and she’s pushing him
And telling him to go
On out there on the dance floor
She can’t hardly hold her grin in
He’s just like he’s always been
Going on and on some nothing
Don’t half matter way he does
He always has it’s the way he is

Chorus: Papa’s dancing with his daughter
Up and down the doissy-do
To your left to your right
To your partner bowing low
Then he’ll take her in his arms
And he’ll twirl her ‘round real slow
Then hand in hand they’ll promenade on home

And that fiddle make a screech
And a man will make a speech
About the graduation Friday
And the summer coming on
It all just seems like yesterday
Yeh but that’s what they all say
It’s true too soon you’re wondering
Just where it’s all gone

He remembers she was younger
She was sitting on his knee
He was bouncing her hugging her
He told himself earlier
He ain’t going to do this she’s been
His heart’s one full pride and joy
But them tears are welling up inside him
Now oh boy

Chorus:

And she puts her hand in his
And she whispers in his ear
Some old silly secret endearment
He used to whisper it to her
As he tucked her in her bed
It all runs together in his head
She’s smiling blushing so full
All her dreams tonight

And the room seems to freeze
There’s a weakness in his knees
As he’s looking all around
Feelings coming into play
‘Cause there’ll come a time he knows
When he’ll have to let her go
When he’ll have to stand
And watch her dance away

Chorus:


Daddy’s Dark Eyes.

Daddy’s dark eyes look away
Searching them shadows no one else can see
And when he comes home to me what can I say
Well that’s between daddy and me

Sometimes the light how it falls
Brings it back like a crack through a wall
A particular sound the wind wraps around
Pull it close to the heart no one else miles around

And I drift in and out I can’t sleep
I can’t fight off these feelings that keep me
A child in my mind in a panic can’t find
Any reason this darkness reaching out and I’m dying and

Repeat First Verse:

And I’m waking haunted some heartbeat gone crazy
Blood burning hot in my brain I can’t tell
It’s that whiskey his breath that reminds me of death
I can feel his rough touch like I’m rushing through hell
I remember so much I remember so well
What I felt how I’m held I can never escape
I can never forgive what was nothing but hate
As night after night I’d just lay there and wait
Know he’s coming soon he’s coming soon

Do you understand what I’m asking you
Do you understand what I’m needing from you
Just some kind of answer I can take it as true
Tell me what did I ever really mean to you
Just what was I ever to you…

Repeat First Verse:


Picking Up And Going.

Ain’t no cause ain’t no cure
We could talk about it sure
But I don’t believe we could change a thing
It’s been coming on too long
Now it’s gotten way too strong
For the answers evening can bring

In the stillborn crackling of a cold dark night
For awhile I thought I had it
For awhile you know I might have
But I let it get right by me I let it slip away
Seems there’s some things I don’t need to know
Some things that I can’t say
And I guess I’ve really always been that way

Chorus: And there’s no way I’ll be believing
There’s any other way of knowing
And the only thing left to leaving now
Is the picking up and going

We don’t need no doctor here
Take a knife to cut a tear
Take more than me or you ever had before
And it hurts to know you mean it
When you’re saying that you seen it all
And that there ain’t no looking anymore

You’ve got seasons and silences sounds of your own
And yes I guess I really always known
That a moment ain’t forever
You and I were never made
Just to sit there like we had to
Like we were getting paid
Like a bad hand of cards
That we played

Chorus:


Everything Changes.

I drove back to Norfolk fully intending
To tell her my mind I was tired of pretending
Something I never was or ever could be
I was sick of that way she kept looking at me
She’s pregnant and pissed and telling me why
She’s drinking beer and smoking said she couldn’t stop
I was never really sure she said I was the father
She could have been lying so I didn’t bother

Chorus: People fall into patterns of deceit
Life’s like an accident waiting to happen
A package tied up with ribbons so neat
I don’t think so the crowd’s stomping and clapping
Now everyone needs everyone uses
Everything changes everyone chooses
And everything comes to a head
Everything comes to a head

Now Brent he’s back from the navy or jail
Or somewhere sometimes it’s hard to tell
She’s leaning up against him talking ‘bout back when
They was hot for each other it could be that way again
She’s all up in his ear making it clear
They’re shooting the whiskey chasing it beer
I love him she shouts out I never did love you
I tell her hell that’s what I been waiting to hear

Chorus:

And the band starts the second or the third set I forget
An old friend comes in we go out blow a number
Later on the band’s cranking she’s all over the place
Way she always was up in my face
And goddamn this old world and the way that it is
The music’s just ugly and pounding and loud
She wants to know why it turned out this way
But I don’t know so I don’t say

And she’s out there dancing so alone and above
Them all she don’t care she’s so crazy and wild
Way she was I first met her I think that’s what I used to love
She was younger and free and had her own style
Now Brent’s back from the dead a thick tongue in his head
I’m gonna kick your ass he slips as he slurs
Like you really could I’m thinking laughing to myself
Cause tonight he ain’t my problem he’s hers

And I swallow a bottle burns all the way down
Got a rage needs a stage but what would it matter
Nothing at all I know that now
Throw that bottle just past his head
Against the wall to hear it shatter

Chorus
　

Jesus Didn’t Die.

And I never said a word to stop him never raised a hand
He’s going off all half-cocked and you’ve got to understand
How people around here feel about that sort of thing
And I sure didn’t want them thinking nothing crazy about me

Now it was all in his head Jimmy talked him into leaving
With the two of us acting like we’s maybe interested
Got him in the truck down the road he started laughing
How you bought a line of shit boy now we’re gonna fuck you up

Hard come a big right fist hard come another
Got a good grip on a baseball bat a free easy swing
Hate was in the air and blood was everywhere
Hell I thought he had some money we was gonna rob him maybe
But Jimmy he ain’t stopping you can see it from a distance
And he ain’t standing no further than from there to here

Chorus: He said Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you
Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you
So shut up and take what’s coming to you
And you’re gonna have to do your own suffering too
Cause Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you

Now Jimmy tied another rope around his neck we left him there
Barely breathing beyond begging a long time ago
Got back in the truck and the wind was picking up
Jimmy’s beating on my dashboard and it’s starting to snow

And we barely a said a word all the way back into town
Jimmy’s breathing crazy snorting hyper-ventilating rushing
Goddamn we showed him didn’t we and he’s laughing and he’s slamming
His fist into my dash again and I wish he’d stop that too

And I don’t know what I’m feeling but it don’t feel right
Jimmy’s talking ‘bout another queer in hell tonight
And I’ve known him all my life and I thought we’s just alike
But I seen something in his eyes tonight something I ain’t never seen
Something empty just like nothing become something sick and mean

And I ain’t saying I’m no angel no I’ve danced my devils too
But I been to that church with mama and you know some of that stuff sticks
And the thought kind of hit me blind and I can’t rightly follow through
But I know what I should have done and what I didn’t do
And I can’t get it out of my mind so maybe I’ll ask you
Can a man be a Christian and a coward too
　
Cause I never said a word to stop him never raised a hand
He’s going off all crazy and you got to understand
How people around here feel about a queer
And I sure wouldn’t want them thinking nothing crazy about me
No I wouldn’t want them thinking nothing at all about me

Chorus: Cause Jesus didn’t die for Faggots like you
Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you
So shut up and take what’s coming to you
And you’re gonna have to do your own suffering too
Cause Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you
My Jesus didn’t die my Jesus didn’t die
My Jesus didn’t die for faggots like you
　　

Toss Your Partner.

If anything is as true
As any other thing to you
Then tell me why you think I’m
Gonna swear by that tear in your eye

Cause I seen it coming it’s been there before
And my pride’s a long time out the door
And I’d give what I got not to still be here
Just shooting the breeze drinking the beer

Waitress leaning on a one-way ticket
Check her face in the window pane
Icy moon on a binge tonight
And no one can explain

Why it took so long just to go so wrong
You don’t get to hide behind your first last name
And the you I knew is a longtime gone
And I figure you could say the same about me
If you wanted you could say the same

Chorus: And hands are reaching under tables in the candlelight
Words are tossed like ashes to the ground
Fingers are dancing to another tune now
Toss your partner around Toss your partner around

If everyone is as free
As you and I are supposed to be
Then tell me why the changing guard
Just stand around and stare so hard

Like they know something maybe I ought to know
Hell I seen it coming hate to see it go
But there ain’t no looking when there ain’t no more
Reasons to be looking for

Waitress gonna give us one last call
And we’re face to face and we’re facing a wall
And it’s too late now to wonder how it’ll feel
Cause when the lights come up you’ve got to settle the bill
That’s right we got to settle the bill

Chorus:


Love Be Gentle.

Chorus: Love be gentle Love be kind
Love be yours and love be mine
Love be more than we’re looking for
And don’t get left behind
Don’t leave your love behind

I called a number I called a name
Took a chance and I fanned a flame
I found myself where I sometime hid
But I weren’t feeling as free as I one time did
And she said…

Chorus:

I stared beyond the campfire’s glow
Where the darkness starts where the shadows grow
And I never raised my eyes to see
That the stars a-shining they were shining on me
And she said…

Chorus:

She moved toward me in the night
My eyes lost sight my mind took flight
She took my hand then she took me in
And the blood was tingling all in my skin
When she said…

Chorus