Nanci Griffith

I've heard enough from pundits, I've heard our leaders speak
I tell you now I'd rather talk to the people in the streets
'Cause you don't know someone until you've looked them in the eye
And that gave me a purpose and every reason why

I drove myself across America from sea to shining sea
From the rocky coast of Maine to the mighty redwood trees
From the plains of North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico
It's good to know that hope's alive again across America

I spoke to folks in New Orleans with hammers in their hands
There's a waitress in Missouri who wants her own health plan
And to the workers up in Michigan in all the auto plants
There were working men and women saying yes, we can

Your checks and stocks and banks can't take our hope away
You can't foreclose on hope, nobody has to pay

I drove myself across America from sea to shining sea
From the rocky coast of Maine to the mighty redwood trees
From the plains of North Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico
It's good to know that hope's alive again across America
It's good to know that hope's alive again across America

If I came back to the land of cotton,
Would you love just me?
Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten:
That's the way it's supposed to be.

Are you short or are you long?
Are you easy to see?
Are you weak or are you strong?
Makes no never to me.

All the ballerina sees when her world's on fire,
Is where she puts her feet.
If she burns her toes, she'll just jump higher,
Never skip a beat.

I've been good most of the time,
Since you last saw me.
You come 'cross my mind from time to time,
Now look at me.

I'm standing at your door with my heart in your hands.
Ain't you gonna ask me in?
If you say: "No", I'll understand, dear,
And never come south again.

If I came back to the land of cotton,
Would you love just me?
Old loves lost are ne'er forgotten:
That's the way it's s'posed to be.

In the rush of the river and the roar of the crowd
You can't hear the silence calling
When it's merely the whisper of a cloud
In a crazy storm, that pulls you on

Take a pill or you might take a loss
And the vicious circle tightens
But compromise comes with a cost
Maybe you can't see, but it's clear to me
Money changes everything
It changes everything

Make a little and it make's your day
And the heavens smile upon you
Make a bundle and you're blown away
to a different game, then the rules all change

Leave a husband or trade a wife
You've made the bigger picture now
take a country or take a life
If it's moolah's will, there's gold in them hills
Money changes everything
It changes everything

If you think it makes your world go round
It makes your world go round

Money changes everything
It changes everything

What the hell was I doing there in that fast food parking lot?
They say I robbed the restaurant and a Memphis cop got shot
I was trying to feed my habit, I was scared and I was high
It was never my intention that anyone should die

And just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
My name is Philip Workman and I'm not innocent enough

It's not a long walk from a trailer park to a Tennessee cell block
But I got saved behind these bars, soon I'll give my soul to God
Reverend Joe is praying for me and the family left behind
They say my bullet took his life but that bullet was not mine

Oh, just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
My name is Philip Workman and I'm not innocent enough

I had no money for a lawyer to fight the system from within
There's no justice for the poor from the witness they brought in
Circumstance and random chance, I never meant to do no harm
Now that cop and I, we've both died from that needle in my arm

And there where those who called for mercy in those final days
Even the officer's daughter cried to grant me stay
But I'm not innocent enough, I'm not innocent enough
I'm not innocent enough, I'm not innocent enough

And just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
Just how many of us are innocent enough?
My name was Philip Workman, I was not innocent enough

We walk along the Hudson when it snows here in Manhattan
Seems we've lived our lives so out of place
You touch my cheek and I do wonder how this happened
That two young lovers could pack their dreams and move from the Texas Plains

[Chorus:]
Oh, I'm gonna take us back where we belong
Where you can see it in the stars that the weather's comin' on
One of these days

Now, our Daddy's grew cotton, spittin' dust of a mornin'
We met on a school bus rollin' thru the Autumn fields our Daddy's raised
Beneath a hot August sky, our Mothers waved goodbye
My Daddy tipped his hat with a tear in his eye
When we left for the city where the sun rarely shines
It was a hundred and two in the shade

[Chorus]

Hey, do you wanna take a cab uptown?
Watch the skaters go
'round and around
We could talk about leavin' this town some other day
And I suppose we look like natives here, this middle aged couple with silver hair
And on cold winter nights this love we share is still a hundred and two
In the shade

She was a party girl
Now the party's over
she was a beauty
And that's changing too
Now she's barefoot and having babies
She was a party girl
Now the party's over

Now her husband watches TV
After working hard all day
And she's crying into her pillow
'cause it's night time
and she want's to play

She was a party girl
Now the party's over
she was a beauty
And that's changing too
Now she's barefoot and having babies
She was a party girl
Now the party's over

She can't cry to mama
She can't go home to daddy any more
They both tried to warn her
she was throwing away her sweet young life
When she walked out that door

She was a party girl
Now the party's over
she was a beauty
And that's changing too
Now she's barefoot and having babies
She was a party girl
Now the party's over

Pour me a drink
Light me a cigarette
Help me forget
The things that I've done
Pour me a drink
Then pour me another one
To keep out this cold wind
That blows through my soul

Look at my life
Here in these photographs
Look at these faces
What a story they tell
There was a time
When I knew how to laugh
I'd drink to forget
But I remember it well

Pour me a drink
Light me a cigarette
Help me forget
The things that I've done
Pour me a drink
Then pour me another one
To keep out this cold wind
That blows through my soul

So many promises
So many daydreams and plans
So many chances
That I let slip through my hands

Pour me a drink
Light me a cigarette
Help me forget
The things that I've done
Pour me a drink
Then pour me another one
To keep out this cold wind
That blows through my soul

I heard the music long ago, songs that rent the air
Fading in and out at night while I was lying there
Voices soft and lonely and later rock and roll
Flying across the Rio Grande, straight into my soul

Trying to find a reason, trying to find that rhyme
Rolling with the river trying to keep time
And in the end I wouldn't change a thing, I'd sing

Music is the life in me, it's the melody I breathe
It gives me strength in harder times and reason to believe
Endless miles of highway, every step hard earned
It seems like it was all mapped out, all the twists and turns

Still trying to find a reason, trying to find that rhyme
Still rolling with the river trying to keep time
And in the end I wouldn't change a thing, I'd sing
And in the end I wouldn't change a thing, I'd sing

You walked the line
All your life
You never thought you'd have to change it
You're always there to give advice
You never thought you'd have to take it

It's still life, but it's broken
It's still life, when it's torn
It's still life that you're walking
On and on and on and on and on

You need to change
You don't know how
Your life could use a reformation
If you could see you
As I see you now
I know you'd change the situation

It's still life, but it's broken
It's still life, when it's torn
It's still life that you're walking
On and on and on and on and on

It's always someone else's fault
You're always right, you're never wrong
You think that life's a game
But this is real
You think you can just walk away
And leave destruction in your wake
But you're not walking anywhere near

Is still life if you are drowning
Is there still life when you fall
Is it still life when you can't carry
on and on and on and on and on

It's still life, but it's broken
It's still life, when you're torn
It's still life when you're walking
On and on and on and on and on

Tequila after midnight drives loneliness away
Makes strangers all around you look familiar
And tequila after midnight makes you feel so warm
Makes you think you feel good when you don't

It's the same sad familiar story
Not a thing about it is new
Just about someone who loved and lost
And it's still hurting through and through

They say it drives you crazy, well I could hardly care
For quite some time now that's just where I've been
And they say tequila kills you if you drink too much
Lord, I hope they make tequila long enough

It's the same sad familiar story
Not a damn thing about it is new
Just about someone who loved and lost
And it's still hurting through and through

Oh, they say it drives you crazy, well I could hardly care
For quite some time now that's just where I've been
And they say tequila kills you if you drink too much
Lord, I hope they make tequila long enough
Lord, I hope they make tequila long enough

You can cuss the daylights out of this pale winter moon
And we can ponder every reason why your true love was untrue
You can cry your eyes out, I've got a shoulder here for you
And every day your broken heart's gonna turn a lighter shade of blue

[Chorus:]
Cause anyone can be somebody's fool
Oh look at me, I once was a fool for you
So you know it's true
Anyone can be somebody's fool

Down in this lonely town there's a lovely silver frost
So we can stop and have another round for the true love that you've lost
It's gonna take a little time before your emptiness grows old
And underneath that silver frost you've still got a heart of gold
Maybe when this winter's over
You're gonna walk knee deep in clover
And your heartache around the corner
You're gonna feel brand new

Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street
So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need
And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep
And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street

[Chorus:]
And here I am again
I'm in the company of strangers
It's a cold winter wind that sings a song
You say your love is lost
I'm not the kind who lingers on
So it's farewell to your heart
Cause when the love is gone, it's gone.

I never did feel lonely till I looked in the mirror and all I could see
Was a little bit of you in the corner of an eye in need of a good night's sleep
And all I need is to close my eyes to find my dreams
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street

[Chorus]

Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street
So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need
And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep
And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street

And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
Bid farewell to a lonely heart on Beacon Street

Where are you going there?
With your suitcase by the back porch stairs
With my heart in your hand
In this cold December wind again
The cafes and bars are closed
The Christmas lights are veiled in snow
Tell me, where are you going?
My brave companion of the road

[Chorus:]
It seems to me that you are lonelier
Than I've ever seen you be
Oh, it's plain to see
That you've gone crazier
Than you ever thought you'd be
When the lights go down
And the dance floor is empty
And the crowd is going home
I will be waiting
For my brave companion of the road

Some days come up roses
Some days just come and go
Some nights are so ruthless
That you can't recall the day before
This love has seen better days
Than home for these holidays
Cause this love has miles for sense of place
Oh, my brave companion of the road

[Chorus]

Tell me, where are you going?
My brave companion of the road

My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs
I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here
And I came by here just to tell you good-by
I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why

I made up my mind late last night
That I would leave your city behind
Oh, and love is not in question
When you're holding the answer
In your cold heart and your closed mind
You've got a cold heart and a closed mind

Out in these streets these people are angry
Well, they push and shove one another aside
Well, I worked from the heart and you worked for the money
But I paid the price for your will to survive

I made up my mind late last night
That I would leave your city behind
Oh, and love is not in question
When you're holding the answer
In your cold heart and your closed mind
You've got a cold heart and a closed mind

Chicago roars like a midwest hurricane
I see that storm in your eyes
One of these mornings when you're making your way
Just gonna wash you out with the tide

My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs
I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here
And I came by here just to tell you good-by
I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why

I made up my mind late last night
That I would leave your city behind
Oh, and love is not in question
When you're holding the answer
In your cold heart and your closed mind
You've got a cold heart and a closed mind

I once was a lot like you
We share a dream I couldn't make come true
I was a child who wrote my name
Across a frosted window pane

And there are jobs that I might hold
If they'd just let me through the door
Without a shower and new clothes
That I can ill afford

[Chorus:]
Can you spare the time?
Can you spare a dime?
Can you look me in the eye?
I'm down 'n' out
And I am lonely
Do you ever think of me on
Sunday?
No. I don't live
Across the water
Hey, I live right here
On this corner
Just a bank account away from
America

I won't hurt your family
I don't want a house there on your street
And I know you think that I'm
As lazy as a hobo's sigh
Now, you call me down 'n' outer
If there's a way out
I've not found 'er
I only want to earn my piece of America

[Chorus]

I'm just a bank account away from
America

Sister had a crystal voice
She played a Silverstone from Montgomery Ward
Baez songs and Monroe hair
She sure could turn the boys heads to stare
Swimwear saunter, tan and haunt them
Was all she learned in school
Books were for the other girls
And the other girls were fools
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Father waltzed her down the aisle
Cause college didn't suit her style
The sad truth was she could barely read
But if you told dear father, well he wouldn't believe you
The telephone rang and drove mother insane
From all the hearts left on the shelf
Sisters gone and she won't be home
Cause she didn't take care of herself
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Where is she now
The backseat queen of fraternity
Where is she now
She's heavy on thigh
And light on integrity
Someone should have told her
When beauty's all you offer
How soon the world discovers
That your beauty's gone
Its gone

Mother can't you hear your daughter crying
Father wake up her youth is dying
The kids are gone
Husbands gone away
And its a shame cause she had such a lovely face
Can't you see she needed more than
"Oh what a pretty child"
You never taught her truth from lie
All you told her was to smile
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Where is she now
The backseat queen of fraternity
Where is she now
She's heavy on thigh
And light on integrity
Someone should have told her
When beauty's all you offer
How soon the world discovers
That your beauty's gone
Its gone

Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights.

I am fragile in the morning
I grow stronger in the day
I can sprint like a new spring doe
By the fall of the night
Love has chased me down
Through the cities and the towns
Until I stood beside the road
And let it pass me by
Like a fool I've missed the rain
Cause I was crying

[Chorus:]
Then you are calling
Call my heart awake from years of slumber
And then I'm falling
Like a child head over heel
In fields of summer
Can you hold me?
Though I am inclined to
Leave my home and wander
Can you keep me,
Like a child head over heel
In fields of summer?
Fields of summer
Fields of summer
I am falling
Like a child head over heel
In fields of summer

Now that you have caught me
Are you sure you really want me?
Though I'm fragile as December
On your shoulder in the dawn
And when the day has made me stronger,
Can you satisfy my hunger?
When the night has come and I would race the moon
Across the sky,
Would you chase me through
Those open fields of summer

[Chorus]

Can you hold me?
Hold me?
Hold me?
Because I'm falling,
Like a child head over heel
In fields of summer

She drove west from Salt Lake City to the California coastline.
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing sixty miles an hour.
She had a husband on her bumper, she had five restless children.
And she was singing as sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline.

And she's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

Her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rambler,
And he built a golden cage around his silver-throated wife.
So many nights he left her crying with his cheating and his lying,
But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline.

She's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

She's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

Now she sings her songs around this country from Seattle to Montgomery,
Those kids are grown and that rounder knows you cannot cage your wife.
Along the back roads of our nation, she's become a living legend,
She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline.

She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline

From a distance the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white
From a distance the ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight
From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land

It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace
It's the voice of every man
From a distance we all have enough
And no one is in need
There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases
No hungry mouths to feed
From a distance we are instruments
Marching in a common band

Playing songs of home, playing songs of peace
They're the songs of every man
God is watching us, God is watching us
God is watching us from a distance
From a distance you look like my friend
Even though we are at war
From a distance I can't comprehend
What all this war is for

From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves
It's the heart of every man
It's the hope of hopes, It's the love of loves
It's the song of every man

I think I'll go to Heaven
There I will lay me down
Leave all the pain behind me
I'll bury it in the ground
Maybe they'll talk about me
I pray it won't be lies
I think I'll go to heaven
Heaven is in your eyes

I think I'll go to Heaven
I heard it's peaceful there
They don't allow your troubles
Everyone's had their share
And if I can be someone who
Never needs a disguise
Then maybe I'll go to Heaven
Heaven is in your eyes

People in Heaven never look back
Higher and higher
The past fades to black

I think I'll go to heaven
I'll sail on into the night
I'll watch as I set my soul free
Watch as my heart takes flight
Maybe I am too simple
Maybe I am too wise
And maybe I'll go to Heaven
Heaven is in your eyes

Everybody packs their goals
And sails away for better shores
I have seen times
My sails have held a brilliant shine
I hear tell that dreams come true
Along these crowded avenues
But, my peace of mind
Is a place I go when I close my eyes

[Chorus:]
I need a hometown street where the boys are pretty
And a friend is still a friend
I need a hometown street where the love you're given
Surely comes back 'round again
Hometown streets are paved in gold

With faces that you've always known
But, you'll never see them
Until you pack your dreams and leave them
The one I loved has moved away
It's hot in this city
Hey, it's always late
Here in this place
Love doesn't get the time of day

[Chorus:]

I can't remember
What I came here for
I'm gonna pull up my anchor
And sail for shore

[Chorus:]

(Nanci Griffith - James Hooker)

I don't wanna talk about love
'cause I've heard it before ...
And it talks too loud
You can hear it in a disco midnight ...
Shouting
I don't wanna think about it
Think about it
It comes dressed in its summer clothes
When you're traveling through the heart of the winter's cold

I don't wanna talk about changes
Changes come of their own free will
And if you wanna talk about leavin'
Well, you've always walked ...
And, you always will
Everytime you talk about love
You talk about your yesterdays
Yesterday's washing away with this morning's rain

I don't wanna talk about it
'cause love has a voice of its own
If all we do is try to out shout it
... then the love is gone

Chorus
I don't wanna talk about love now
I don't wanna talk about love now
I don't wanna talk about love now
I don;t wanna talk about love now ...

Can't you hear the voice in my heart
It calls your name in the middle of the night
It's always been a qyiet voice when it's breaking
I don't wanna talk about this love
This love was my saving grace
So, can't I just say that I love you ...
And we'll call it a day?

Chorus

I knew love
When it still meant forever
When a feeling shared didn't always have to hurt
And a promise that was made would go unbroken
I knew love
When it was more than just a word

I knew a time
When hope was all you needed
And if you cared you found a way to make things work
When life was what two people shared together
Oh, I knew love
When it was more than just a word

[Chorus:]
I knew love
When I could still believe
It was the greatest power in the world
I knew love
When it was more than just a word

I knew hearts
When they made it all so easy
And sad goodbyes were seldom ever heard
When I wouldn't have to read this note that says you're leaving
I knew love
When it was more than just a word

[Chorus]

I knew love when it was more than just a word

Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here
Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears

Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me
I want to find that love of 22 here at 33
I've got a heart on my right and one on my left
And neither suits my needs

No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me
I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains
I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name
I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in
Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine

When your heart's rolling home in the wind

You never liked this place where we'd been living all along
So, you packed up your things and bought a one-way ticket home
Leaving never hurt as much as being left behind

[Chorus:]
I would change my life
I would make it right
I would change my life
If you would only change your mind

I have spent my hours on some misbegotten dream
I have spent my money on some foolish hearted things
I have spent my memories on old embittered wine

[Chorus]

I wish that I could find the words to make you come back home
I wish that I could say the things you needed for so long
I wish that you could see me now, maybe then you'd find

[Chorus]

I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you
I wish I had Angels
Who sang in my dreams

If wishes were changes
We'd all live in roses
And there wouldn't be children
Who cried in their sleep

He wishes I loved him
The way that I love you
If wishes were changes
I'd dry all his tears

If wishes were changes
I'd make him my anchor
He'd be my Angel
Who sang through the years

[Chorus]
So long to the blue days of wishing
If wishes were changes
There'd be no goodbyes
So long to the heart I have given

'Cause wishing won't bring back
The love in your eyes
I wish that I had your
Wings of desire

I wish I had seen you
As I see you now
I wouldn't feel sorrow
You've left here inside me

But, wishing won't change
Right from wrong for you now

[Chorus]

I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you
I wish I had Angels
Who sang in my dreams

I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road
The man at the wheel's name is Seamus
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says, "Now, what chance has that
Kid got?"
And I say from the back, "I don't know."
He says, "There's barbed wire at all of these exits
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid
To go."

[Chorus:]
It's a hard life
It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for
These kids to go

(Chicago)

(This world)
A cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
He's the only trash here I see
And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
In the night when his children should sleep
But, they slip to their window and they see him
And they think that white hood's all they need

[Chorus]

I was a child in the sixties
Dreams could be held through TV
With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther
Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed
Now, I am the backseat driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I am guilty, I am war, I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road

[Chorus]

The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
And I pull the bed clothes higher
Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light?
I'm afraid of these shadows here
Cause my past is truly frightening
And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down
Of a feathered heart in flight

[Chorus:]
It's just another morning here (it's morning)
It's just another morning here
It's just another morning here (it's morning)
And it's a miracle that it comes around
Every day of the year

The neighbors scream and their baby cries
I'm hiding in the corner
I won't be them, pray I won't be them one day
Maybe it's just the breath of August
So hot upon my shoulder
Or an open window for a winged heart
To fly away

[Chorus]

The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
I pull the bed clothes higher
Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light?
I'm afraid of these shadows here
Cause my past is truly frightening
And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down
Of a feathered heart in flight

[Chorus: x2]

You pace the pool and talk about it
I read my book and think about it
You've walked on water
As I'm turning the page
You say, What's the intrigue here,
In reading when the sky is clear?
You are in the sun
And I am always in the shade

[Chorus:]
It's too late to leave you
You know that I will never leave you
It's too late to know you
You don't like to be known
You would never hold me
I don't like to be held
I will always love you
In spite of myself

I can feel the weather changing
The leaves are tired and turned with anger
They fall around us like a veil
Of golden tears
You have never needed me
And I'm not good at being needed
This season will be leaving us
But we will still be here

[Chorus]

Do you miss me when I'm far away?
Do you save me for your rainy days?
Is my picture on the mantle
Or is it in the fire?
It's odd the way the years fly by
They leave us standing side by side
You have been my mystery
And I've been your desire

[Chorus]

I'm working on a morning flight to anywhere but here
I'm watching this evening fire burn away my tears
All my life I've left my troubles by the door
Leavin' is all I've ever known before

[Chorus:]
It's not the way you hold me
when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me
stranded on the ground
It's not the way you say you hear my heart
when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again
It's not the way you say you hear my heart
when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again

And maybe you were thinkin'
that you thought you knew me well
But, no one ever knows the heart of anyone else
I feel like Garbo in this late night grande hotel
Cause living alone is all I've ever done well

[Chorus: x2]

When you are leaving the harbor
Do you cry out to the shore?
Do you bless the wave of the ocean
Do you call your vessel home?

As you leave the safest harbor
Do you wonder where you'll go?
When you feel your bough is breaking
Do you call that harbor home?

When you sing the lullaby
Do you sing it for the song?
Or do you love the way it slides
Like velvet 'cross your tongue?

And as you sing the lullaby
Do you savor every line?
Or do they flow as one with your heartbeat
With your voice and your mind?

If you turn the light out in the hallway
Will your shadow lose its way?
Or do we share these shadows in the darkness
And they move from place to place?

We could share a shadow in the darkness
As shadows have no face
But should you sell our soul to the darkness
Can you face the light of day?

When you are leaving the harbor
Do you cry out to the shore
Oh, do you bless the wave of the ocean?
Do you call your vessel home?
Oh, do you bless the wave of the ocean?
Do you call your vessel home?

There's a star in Heaven's sky
Always shining bright
It's just a tear in an Angel's eye
A gentle guiding light

Let it shine on me
Let it show the way
Let it always be
Let it always stay

Let it flood my soul
Let it hold the key
Let it all unfold
Let it shine on me

When the way seems so dark
Let it shine on me
Bringing home within my heart
A reason to believe

Let it shine on me
Let it show the way
Let it always be
Let it always stay

Let it flood my soul
Let it hold the key
Let it all unfold
Let it shine on me

Let it shine on me
Let it show the way
Let it always be
Let it always stay

Let it flood my soul
Let it hold the key
Let it all unfold
Let it shine on me

I am leaving Mississippi in the evening rain
These Delta towns wear satin gowns
In a high beamed frame
Loretta Lynn guides my hands through the radio
Where would I be in times like these
Without the songs Loretta wrote?

[Chorus:]
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
Radio, listen to the radio
Radio, listen to the radio

I left a handsome two stepped good ole boy in Tennessee
Now, he's sittin' on the sofa, lookin' for his supper,
Wonderin' what's become of me
I've got a double-o-eighteen Martin guitar in the
Back seat of the car
Hey, I'm leaving Mississippi,
With the radio on

[Chorus]

There's a moon across the border in the Louisiana sky
I smell the Pontchartrain, I hear Silver Wings
Then, away Merle Haggard flies
That good ole boy will find a Band of Gold
On the stereo
Hey, then my Mama's gonna call and say,
"Where's she gone?"
He'll say, "Down the road with the radio on."

When I wake in the night and find
That I'm dreaming
You're the first thought in mind
Love's a fair weather friend when
You're lonely
You are my summer state of mind

Does it sing to you nightly?
Does it lay down beside you?
Does it make you hear songs
On the radio?

It once was my shadow, grown
Weary of travel
Till you gave it home
What makes the love grow, when
The seasons change?
What makes the love grow?
It's simple, it comes, and it grows on
It's own

Does it sing to you nightly?
Does it lay down beside you?
Does it make you hear songs
On the radio?

Your phone call took my by surprise
Gee, it's been a long, long time
Since those hot and humid Texas nights
When we went swimm'n in the tide

Corpus Christi seems so far away
And I'm not talk'n 'bout the miles
And there ain't much I wouldn't give today
Just to see one of your smiles

[Chorus:]
But here I sit alone in Denver
Sipp'n the California wine
And I've got all night to remember you
I'm in a lone star state of mind

I just saw John Wayne on the Late, Late Show
Save the girl and ride away
And I was hoping as the credits rolled
He'd make it back to her someday

[Chorus]

It's a thousand miles or more
From here to your front door
I'd be there tomorrow if I left today
And I'd just pack up my guitar
You know it's really not that far
When you called you said I'd have a place to stay

She sleeps alone in the warm nights of Memphis
Where the Peabody Hotel meets the velveteen sky
She sings like the waves in the cool Mississippi
That brought her from St. Paul in '75
And men come to court her with roses and sweet wine
Where hands cross the ivories from six until nine
She sings away sorrow each night when she leaves him
She goes home alone,
She's not the marrying kind

[Chorus:]
Love is a memory that she'll always hold
Cause love in a memory never grows old
Why she did leave him, well nobody knows
Love in a memory never grows old

Now he works the toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike
The ring on his finger grows cold to the bone
His sons were all dreamers who cheat on their own wives
He still dreams of St. Paul when he's cheating alone

[Chorus]

He owned a hotel on Jersey shore
She made her living seeing the sailors door to door
He was a small Hawaiian with a crooked smile
But he made her eyes light up like the heavens on the Fourth of July
She ran the numbers, they say she ran them clean
Those porcelain hands keep a ledger even in her sleeves
While he worked the See-Bees in the Philippines
They say she made more money than you and I will ever see

[Chorus:]
Cause love was a magnet on the Jersey shore
If you were looking for love boys, you could have found it in '44
Cause love wore a halo back before the war
When the men loved the women
And the women knew what men were for

It was in the winter when he came home
And he had to hold those porcelain hands just to keep her warm
So they had a daughter, her name was Stephanie Anne
They sent her off to Vasser to find herself a family man
She sold the hotel, it belongs to me
And I watch those sailors come and go by the waves in the sea
From the poor chaps in the honeymoon suite
And I hear them fishing their lives away in the Florida Keys

You say you're heading out to
California
You've heard the grapes are falling
From the vine
I was hoping you might have the
Urge to write me
But, I don't believe you will

So never mind
I was talking to a man down at Genesco
He said they might be hiring any time
I'm so tired of going any way the
Wind blows
And I thought that me and you

But never mind

[Chorus:]
Never mind, never mind
I'm just talkin' through the wine
And you know that drinkin' always
Makes me sad
But before this night is through

I better say I love you
Or I'm gonna always wish that
I had
I first saw you pickin' oranges
In Orlando
All day you kept your ladder close
To mine
We froze in Georgia, burned up

In Chicago
And I always thought that we,
But never mind
Did you know today my baby called
You daddy?
Sometimes I've wished that she was
Yours and mine
I could call my brother Milt in Cincinnati
And ask him for a loan,
But never mind

[Chorus]

A little girl dreamer
Ribbons and long curls
Reflections of yesterdays past
Headlines and footlights
Wee hours and long nights
Keep everything moving so fast

It's taken a long time
And she's walked a fine line
For fortune and fame have arrived
She kept on striving
And half-way surviving
Till part of those dreams came alive

[Chorus:]
Now she wishes she looked like they tell her she looks all the time
What she'd give just to feel like she tells them she's feelin' just fine
All that money she makes every night ain't as much as it seems
Cause it's a dollar a wrinkle and less than a nickel a dream

Well, her heart may be breaking
But she keeps on taking what she thought she wanted back then
It's too late to change her,
There's always a stranger to tell her she's someone again

[Chorus]

You honk the horn on your Mercedes Benz
I've rolled up my window so you're honkin' again
Your stereo could drive the devil out
Hey, you drink too much and you talk too loud
But you think you got it made
Think you got it made
Think you got it made
When you're one blade shy of a sharp edge

Republican is the way you vote
You've got a sticker on your bumper that's how I know
And you think true love is around this bend
You've been around the bend since the age of ten
But you think you've got it made
Think you've got it made
Think you've got it made
When you're one blade shy of a sharp edge

Now, I'm a little too old for your toupee curls
I'm a full grown woman and you're lookin' for girls
Hey, it's Saturday night so go on down the road
I'll cancel you out when I go to the polls
But you think you got it made
Think you got it made
Think you got it made
When you're one blade shy of a sharp edge

I don't wanna be standing here
With this ticket for this outbound plane
Oh, I've been here before
Somehow this doesn't feel the same
Talk is cheap
So we could talk all night long
And we may never figure out just
Where your love went wrong

[Chorus:]
'Cause I don't wanna be standin' here
Don't wanna be talkin' here
And I don't really care who's to blame
'Cause if love won't fly on it's own
Free will
It's gonna catch that outbound plane

The old folks say
That love's not forever anymore
Because these young people walk
Away from love alone
To pace the floor
Young or old I say that love is still the same
You may walk away from love but
You'll fall head and heels again

[Chorus]

Two lonely hearts in this airport
Knowing
Neither cares where that other
Heart is going
But, if love won't fly on it's own
Free will, it's gonna catch that
Outbound plane

That frown you're wearing's
Just you're halo turned upside down
Where is the laughter we once
Shared back in the lost and found?
These broken wings are gonna leave
Me here to stand my ground
You can have this ticket for that
Lonely plane that's flying out

[Chorus]

We all said you'd never make it
Cause you had that fragile heart
And you were odd within the ways of the social
You through a caution to us all
And now when the late night drinkers gather for their falls
Someone says they've seen you out there laughing at us all

You mourned the cause of discontent with those who couldn't lose the dark
From the broad of daylight to half spent stars just waiting dusk to fall
Tell me, what the hell were you saying?
Was there a point at to it all?
Oh, and did they really see you out there laughing at us all

[Chorus:]
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody out there?
Oh, were you really out there laughing at us all?

The midnight boy from Minnesota shut you down and stole the show
They say that you bitter in your anguish
Cause it was you they ought to hold
You wore your causes on your sleeve like a beacon wears the dark
It's only right you should be out there laughing at us all

Now you are only dust for art
You're a shadow to recall
For all those late night drinkers in their ragged lonely bars
And we all said you'd never make it cuz you had that fragile heart
Now, all our hearts you held are wasted
You're out there laughing at us all

[Chorus: x2]

I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light
I never saw my hometown 'til I'd stayed away too long
I never heard the melody until I needed the song

I never saw the white line until I was leavin' you behind
I never knew I needed you until I was caught up in a bind
I never spoke "I love you," until I'd cursed you in vain
I never felt my heart strings 'til I nearly went insane

I never saw the east coast until I'd moved to the west
I never saw the moonlight until it shone off of your breast
I never saw your heart until someone tried to steal it away
I never saw your tears 'til they rolled down your face

I never saw the morning 'til I stayed up all night
I never saw the sunshine 'til you turned out the light baby
I never saw my hometown until I'd stayed away too long
I never heard the melody until I needed the song

Summer Sunday evening, around the old home place
Well, I would play my guitar and sister sang along
Sister's smile would always light up my Daddy's face
And when they'd get to dancing, well they'd dance all night till dawn

[Chorus:]
And I would sing one for sister
Play one for Papa, moan one for mama
Then I'd cry one for you.

Mama liked the slow ones and she'd shuffle 'cross the floor
Sister liked the fast ones, Lord she could step so high
And I'd see my Daddy dancing, till he could dance no more
And when I'd play a sad song, well he would start to cry

[Chorus]

Now it's just me and this old guitar
I've no place to call my own
Mamma and Papa have passed away and sister has settled down
Now you ran off and left me to live here all alone
So I will sing these sad old songs as I am leaving town

My daddy sent me on to Baton Rouge in 1969
He said our love was like a forest fire and he'd end it with a mind
So you rode with us to Temple, Texas where I did catch the train
And I remember waving back at you from a silted window pane

[Chorus:]
And I said fare thee well true love of mine
And I said fare thee well sweet lips of wine
And you said fare thee well my Texas rose
And then you blew a kiss of innocence as the trains began to roll
So long ago

You'd gone off to fight the war when I returned from school
And I traded in my innocence when the springtime came in bloom
And I married for my family; one night I dreamed of you
And you were running from me in the rain down on Congress Avenue
Now I saw you once in a crowded bar and it was Christmas time
I was frightened by the thunder of our hearts in '69
Because I live my life in whispers now and I choose to live alone
So I slipped back to the avenue and flipped my collar to the cold

As quiet as a street lamp
This is some kinda town
Whiskey go easy
When the sun goes down
My best to the midnight . . .
God, look at the moon
There's enough for two shadows
There's only one in the room
there's only one in the room

There's a storm out on the water
Oh, bless the ships at sea
There's a storm down in my lover's heart
Oh, God bless me

I wanna be blown by the wind of his
breathing
Shown by lightening flashing
Oh, I've never been afraid of the thunder
I wonder
Will he rain on me?
Is loneliness contagious?
Another damn song about a waitress
It's the only hotel here
. . . and the engine's gotta cool
I'm a bad hand at solitaire
You lie to yourself and no one cares
While the wall paper fades . . .
The sun takes the moon
There should be two to a room

There's a storm out on the water
Oh, bless the ships at sea
There's a storm down in my lover's heart
Oh, God bless me

Nobody seems to care about you
With your tool case by the roadside
There beneath the power lines
Or the pallor of your skin
Paled beneath fluorescent lights
In a Greyhound station's cruel midnight
Where you can't afford the ride

Oh, the power lines
They go from sea to sea
They carry voices
Love from him to me
The power lines you fall beneath
Are the rainbows you can't climb
And you will not climb the power lines
'Cause you are lost beneath the power lines

There's no place that you haven't been
And no place that you call your home
There's no place that you cannot go
With the gift within your hands
And the tools to build another's dream
That connects them to the power lines
You do not feel you need

Oh, the power lines
They go from sea to sea
They carry voices
Love from him to me
The power lines you fall beneath
Are the rainbows you can't climb
And you will not climb the power lines
'Cause you are lost beneath the power lines

Oh, the power lines
They go from sea to sea
They carry voices
Love from him to me
The power lines you fall beneath
Are the rainbows you can't climb
And you will not climb the power lines
'Cause you are lost beneath the power lines

There's a light beyond these woods, Mary Margaret.
Do you think that we will go there,
And see what makes it shine, Mary Margaret?
It's almost morning, and we've talked all night,
You know we've made big plans for ten-year-olds,
You and I.

Have you met my new boy friend, Margaret?
His name is John, and he rides my bus to school,
And he holds my hand.
He's fourteen, he's my older man.
But we'll still be the best of friends,
The three of us, Margaret, John, and I.

Let's go to New York City, Margaret!
We'll hide out in the subways
And drink the poets' wine, oh,
But I had John, so you went and I stayed behind.
But you were home in time for the senior prom,
When we lost John.

The fantasies we plan, I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang when we knew how,
Well, they haven't changed.
There's never been two friends like you and me,
Mary Margaret.

It's nice to see you family growing, Margaret.
Your daughter and your husband there,
They really treat you right,
But we've talked all night
And what about the light, that glowed beyond
Our woods when we were ten?
You were the rambler then.

The fantasies we planned, well, Maggie,
I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang, oh, we damn sure knew
How, but I haven't changed.
There'll never be two friends like you and me,
Maggie, can't you see?

There's a light beyond your woods, Mary Margaret.

Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain

Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow

[Chorus:]
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love, here in these troubled fields

There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder

[Chorus]

You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love, here in these troubled fields

Your late night conversation
Telephone call and an inspiration
For a heart to recall, had a tumble and fall

And my friends all say I'm lazy
Clumsy at love and I'm middle age crazy
I stumble along with a tumble and fall

Or maybe I'll come to my senses
Or come back to you when the fences are mended
Maybe love is a quiet whisper after all

Maybe love is a heart that heals you
Harmony when you can't recall the melody to the song
You're just singin' along, yes, you now sing along to the tumble and fall

I remember the sensuous cold
The chill of the month through an open window
And a beat of of your heart to a tumble and fall

You see I'm a little something you always needed
Your tried and true and I should believe in the strength of your arms
When I tumble and fall

So, maybe I'll come to my senses
Or come back to you when the fences are mended
Maybe love is a quiet whisper after all

Maybe love is a heart that heals you
Harmony when you can't recall the melody to the song
You just singin' along, yes, you now sing along to the tumble and fall
Oh, I'll sing along to the tumble and fall

Can't you see
I love you
Please don't break my heart in two
That's not hard to do
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart
And if you say goodbye
Then I know that I would cry
Maybe I would die
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart
There's no strings upon this love of mine
It was always you from the start
Treat me nice
Treat me good
Treat me like you really should
'Cause I'm not made of wood
And I don't have a wooden heart

Muss i denn, muss i denn
Zum Stadtele hinaus
Stadtele hinaus
Und du, mein Schatz, bleibst hier?

There's no strings upon this love of mine
It was always you from the start
Sei mir gut
Sei mir gut
Sei mir wie du wirklich sollst
Wie du wirklich sollst
'Cause I don't have a wooden heart

What've you got to say for yourself now, baby, now that I am leaving you,
What have you got to lose?
The truth you tried to keep from me,
Well, it nearly drove me crazy,
And I have grown weary from sleepless nights of you.

Is that a broken heart in the corner of your eye,
Something to remind you?
You made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.
There are those who can't love right. I just can't love wrong.
When you are lonely in the night,
how I hope you will recall you made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.

No, I will not forgive you betraying trust between us,
Though I will always care for you.
I have loved you half my life, and when I give my heart again,
I know that I'll remember love is but a fragile flame and trust just fuels the fire.

When I think of all the years your love has taken from me,
I can't believe I'm leaving you.
You made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.
There are those who can't love right.
I just can't love wrong.

When you are lonely in the night,
How I hope you will recall you made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.
You made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.
There are those who can't love right. I just can't love wrong.
When you are lonely in the night,
How I hope you will recall you made this love a teardrop waiting to fall.

Oh I'm sailing away, my own true love
I'm sailing away in the morning
Is there something I can send you from across the sea?
From the place where I'll be landing?

There's nothing you can send me, my own true love
There's nothing I'm wishing to be owning
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
From across that lonesome ocean

Oh, but I just thought you might want something fine
Maybe silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona

If I had the stars of the darkest night
And the diamonds from the deepest ocean
I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss
That's all I wish to be owning

Oh, I might be gone a long ol' time
And it's only that I'm asking
Is there something I can send you to remember me by?
To make your time more easy passing?

How can, how can you ask me again?
Well it only brings me sorrow
Oh, the same thing I would want today
I would want again tomorrow

Oh, I got a letter on a lonesome day
It was from his ship a-sailing
Saying, I don't know when I'll be coming back again
It depends on how I'm feeling

If you, my love, must think that away
I'm sure your mind is a-roaming
I'm sure your thoughts are not with me
But with the country where you're going

So take heed, take heed of the western wind
Take heed of stormy weather
And yes, there is something you can send back to me
Spanish boots of Spanish leather

My mother came to America
Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams
Back in the Thirties
With the streets paved in gold
And the sky laced with moonbeams

Mothers and daughters, fathers and sons
Here in the free world, we're the lucky ones

All of my yearning
All of my hunger
Maybe I'm learning
Sometimes I wonder
Good night, New York

Before the Kennedys
Before the Beatles
Before the Vietnam War
Back to a time when anything was possible
Having less meant knowing more

Brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts
Here in the free world, for that second chance

All of my yearning
All of my hunger
Maybe I'm learning
Sometimes I wonder
Good night, New York

My mother came to America
Sailed through the harbor of hopes and of dreams
And here in the future
I hope I've not failed her
Cause nothing's the way that it seems

All of my yearning
All of my hunger
Maybe I'm learning
Sometimes I wonder
Good night, New York

(James Hooker - Nanci Griffith - Danny Flowers)

Gulf Coast Highway
He worked the rails
He worked the rice fields
With their cool dark wells
He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico
The only thing we've ever owned
Is this old house here by the road
And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then he will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

She walked through springtime
When I was home
The days were sweet
The nights were warm
The seasons change the jobs would come the flowers fade
This old house felt so alone
When the work took me away
And when she dies she says; she'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then she will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

Highway 90
The jobs are gone
We tend our garden
We set the sun
This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow
Once a year they come and go
At this old house here by the road
And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

And when we die we'll catch some blackbird's wing
We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring

Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here
Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears

Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me
I want to find that love of 22 here at 33
I've got a heart on my right and one on my left
And neither suits my needs

No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me
I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains
I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name
I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in
Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine

When your heart's rolling home in the wind

By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Was the last song on your mind the day you left
You woke up in Nogales
With Tequila with her name across your chest

You've stumbled through the morning
In these border tourists' dusty avenues
Singing Everyday's The Hurting Kind
And everyday you live, you're Born to Lose.

[Chorus]
You missed the last train home
The whistle blew and now she's gone
West Texas dust beneath your nails
You're hammered down the heartbreak trail
And you've missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone

Now, you're wandering El Paso
Searching for your broken heart and truth
She was all you ever had
And the only thing you ever had to lose

With a juke box playing Charlie Rich
You're lining up your shots at half past noon
You threw your ring across the bar
And sang along to Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues

[Chorus]

Now don't go to Tulsa where she's bound
You'll end up six feet underground
Your ex-friend, Charlie's there abouts
He never missed the last train out

You missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone
You missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone

I am leaving Mississippi in the evening rain
These Delta towns wear satin gowns
In a high beamed frame
Loretta Lynn guides my hands through the radio
Where would I be in times like these
Without the songs Loretta wrote?

[Chorus:]
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
Radio, listen to the radio
Radio, listen to the radio

I left a handsome two stepped good ole boy in Tennessee
Now, he's sittin' on the sofa, lookin' for his supper,
Wonderin' what's become of me
I've got a double-o-eighteen Martin guitar in the
Back seat of the car
Hey, I'm leaving Mississippi,
With the radio on

[Chorus]

There's a moon across the border in the Louisiana sky
I smell the Pontchartrain, I hear Silver Wings
Then, away Merle Haggard flies
That good ole boy will find a Band of Gold
On the stereo
Hey, then my Mama's gonna call and say,
"Where's she gone?"
He'll say, "Down the road with the radio on."

You come home late
And you come home early
You come on big
When you're feelin' small
You come home straight
And you home curly
Sometimes you just don't come home at all

So what in the world's come over you?
What in heaven's name have you done?
You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You're out there runnin'
Just to be on the run

Well, I got a heart that burns with a fever
And I got a worried and jealous mind
Well how can a love
That will last forever
Get left so far behind?

So what in the world's come over you?
What in heaven's name have you done?
You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness
You're out there runnin'
Just to be on the run

He was a flyer for the Air Force
On a plane from San Antonio
I was traveling to London
He was going off to Buffalo
Changing planes in Pittsburgh
We got grounded in a storm
Now, I would give anything
To be on that flyer's arm

We played cards, mostly blackjack
As we sat out on the tarmac
We sang songs we knew in Spanish
As we both loved songs of language
He'd heard me on the radio
I'd seen the flyers on San Antone
Now, I would give anything
To have that flyer for my own

God bless the flyer
Who would be flying home tonight
I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight

He said he'd never married
Cuz, his heart was in the clouds
And I said I was too clumsy
That I broke the wings of the loves I found
He shouted out his name to me
As I ran to make my flight
Now, I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight

One year I watched a war in London
In the airport leaving London
And I wondered if I'd know him
If I saw his wings in motion
Did I leave my heart in Pittsburgh...
In the lightening of that flight?
I wish that you could tell me now
Will he be flyin' home tonight?

God bless the flyer
Who would be flying home tonight
I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight

God bless the flyer
Who would be flying home tonight
I would give anything
To see that flyer, flyin' tonight

There's a light beyond these woods, Mary Margaret.
Do you think that we will go there,
And see what makes it shine, Mary Margaret?
It's almost morning, and we've talked all night,
You know we've made big plans for ten-year-olds,
You and I.

Have you met my new boy friend, Margaret?
His name is John, and he rides my bus to school,
And he holds my hand.
He's fourteen, he's my older man.
But we'll still be the best of friends,
The three of us, Margaret, John, and I.

Let's go to New York City, Margaret!
We'll hide out in the subways
And drink the poets' wine, oh,
But I had John, so you went and I stayed behind.
But you were home in time for the senior prom,
When we lost John.

The fantasies we plan, I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang when we knew how,
Well, they haven't changed.
There's never been two friends like you and me,
Mary Margaret.

It's nice to see you family growing, Margaret.
Your daughter and your husband there,
They really treat you right,
But we've talked all night
And what about the light, that glowed beyond
Our woods when we were ten?
You were the rambler then.

The fantasies we planned, well, Maggie,
I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang, oh, we damn sure knew
How, but I haven't changed.
There'll never be two friends like you and me,
Maggie, can't you see?

There's a light beyond your woods, Mary Margaret.

(Nanci Griffith)

Nothing that I've ever seen
Now means much of anything
In traveling through this part of you
And the Vietnam that I had dreamed
The place you wore your life "fatigued"
I'm traveling through this part of you

Chorus
Where are you amongst this madness
On the streets of Saigon?
Where were you in 1969?
When I was but a youth
Oh, here were you
You were traveling through this part of you

I'll make my way now on my own
Back to my home to live alone
I have traveled through this part of you
Yet, I will save this time and place
For the time when I can say
I traveled truth this part of you

Repeat Chorus

You were an American boy
Whose innocence was lost here in the wat
And I wear your scars
While traveling through this part of you

Nothing that I've ever seen
Now means much of anything
In traveling through this part of you
And the Vietnam that I had dreameed
The place you wore your life "fatigued"
I'm traveling through this part of you
I'm traveling through this part of you
I'm traveling through this part of you

(Nanci Griffith)

Out of the blue horizon
Stretched a band of gold
From the straits of Juan de Fuca
To the east of Portland, Maine
You held my hand
As we raced along the buffalo bayou
Chasing the tail of this globe
You say one day, babe we're bound to
'cause it takes two for the road

Chorus
We're two of a kind heart
Closing in the distances
Now here comes our twilight part
And we've had the best light of our days
We're two rails that never crossed in anger
Voices never raised
Two of a kind heart
Two for the road

We have been blessed with dreaming
You had Georgia's New Mexico
And while your hands worked in China
It was from Ireland I wrote
Moving out from America
From those buffalo bayou trails
Now, didn't you tell me, babe, we'll have this globe
By it's tail
'cause it takes two for the road

Chorus

And we can be anywhere and never leave home
With your hand to hold ... we are two for the road
Two of a kind heart ... two for the road

What is that sound ringing in my ears
I've heard that sound before
What's that I hear ringing in my ears
I hear it more and more
It's the sound of freedom calling
Ringing up to the sky
It's the sound of the old ways falling
You can hear it if you try
You can hear it if you try

What's that I see shining in my eyes
I've seen that light before
What's that I see shining in my eyes
I see it more and more
It's the light of freedom shining
Shining up to the sky
It's the light of the old ways falling
You can see it if you try
You can see it if you try

What's that I feel now beating in my heart
I've felt that beat before
What's that I feel beating in my heart
I feel it more and more
It's the rumble of freedom calling
Climbing up to the sky
It's the rumble of the old ways falling
You can feel it if you try
You can feel it if you try

It's the sound of freedom calling
You can hear it if you try

I'm headed out on that highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
I'm headed out on that highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
White Freight Liner
Won't you steal away my mind

New Mexico ain't bad Lord
People there they treat you fine
New Mexico ain't bad Lord
People there they treat you fine
That old White Freight Liner
Gonna steal away my mind

If you see Miss Caroline
Won't you tell her that I'm doin' fine
If you see Miss Caroline
Won't you tell her that I'm doin' fine
That old White Freight Liner
Can't haul away my mind

I got bad news from Houston
Half my friends have died
I got bad news from Houston
Half my friends have died
White Freight Liner
Gonna steal away my mind

Lord I'm gonna ramble
'til I get back from where I came
Lord I'm gonna ramble
‘til I get back from where I came
That old White Freight Liner
Gonna haul away my brain

I'm headed out on the highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
Headed out on the highway
Listenin' to them big trucks whine
White Freight Liner
Steal away my mind

The touch of your hand will let me know
You take me in and let me go
If not for love why would we meet
How is it done two into one so easily

We're lifted up by angels
Higher than the world
Strong enough to leave it
Bound to learn the secrets
Angels never heard
Close enough to heaven
Above the rain
Darkness cannot reach us
Let the angels teach us
Only love remains
We're lifted up by angels

You understand yet never say
How every plan would fade away
If not for love where would you be
Ashes to dust water to rust away from me

We're lifted up by angels
Higher than the world
Strong enough to leave it
Bound to learn the secrets
Angels never heard
Close enough to heaven
Above the rain
Darkness cannot reach us
Let the angels teach us
Only love remains
We're lifted up by angels

We're lifted up by angels
Given wings to fly
Leave the night behind us
Trust the light to find us
Even as we rise
We're lifted up by angels

Close enough to heaven
Above the rain
Darkness cannot reach us
Let the angels teach us
Only love remains
We're lifted up by angels
Higher than the world
Strong enough to leave it
Bound to learn the secrets
Angels never heard
We're lifted up by angels

They both wrote poetry
In fact, that was how they met
He was a Yorkshire man in Cambridge
She was from Massachusetts

They spoke and they fell in love
They kissed and picked daffodils
She came across the ocean
Just to bid her heart goodbye

The hawk next to his goddess
They were glorious to see
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

Close friends disapproved
Said they ought to wait
They did not care with all that said
And married none the less

They traveled and they taught
A life of academia
Typewriters and cocktails
Angry verses and sad pleas

Dutiful wife and mother
The poet behind her man
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

The tempests that were howling
And tearing them apart
Were forces that had been in place
To wreck them from the start

So she stayed home with the kids
Collecting poems in a jar
He had his lectures and soon a mistress
And left her all alone

Why did she end it all?
Was he just to blame?
There's only two that know for sure
And neither one remain

I don't need an answer
I prefer to read between the lines
Back when Ted loved Sylvia
Back when Ted loved Sylvia

Here's a photograph of you in Woody Hermann's band
It was 1952, you were such a handsome man
One of you at a memorial with all of Hoagy's clan
And then you and my mother, walking hand in hand

And she was beautiful and you played the piano
You were beautiful upon the keys
The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing
Beautiful to me

You took a photograph of us, your ladies liberty
My hair was in the breeze then I played Carnegie
Grandmother read the sonnet of Emma Lazarus
She's only halfway in this picture, you took of all of us

And she was beautiful and you played the piano
You were beautiful upon the keys
The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing
Beautiful to me

You were a father to this lonely child though we are not related
You taught me how to write these notes upon a page
You were a soldier for your country in two of our wars
You played piano all your life and you are beautiful

And she was beautiful and you played the piano
You were beautiful upon the keys
The world was beautiful when the two of you were dancing
Beautiful to me
And you are beautiful to me

Beautiful
Beautiful
Beautiful
...

I dreamed of Louisiana
And a night in Lafayette
We had breakfast with Susanna
We were young and wild and left

What's different here
Than in that dream and in reality
Is we weren't afraid to fail in love
And we all believed in the dream
Before, before

I dreamed of Manhattan
In a time before this war
It was snowing down on Bleeker Street
It was before you were a star

What's different here
Than in that dream and in reality
Is we weren't afraid to fail in love
And we all believed in the dream
Before, before

Now everything is twilight
It's a time too dark to see
It's fear of being what we were
And pondering the dream

Then I dreamed of Texas
And the Gulf Coast shores
I dreamed of who we used to be
And the hope we had before

What's different here
Than in that dream and in reality
Is we weren't afraid to fail in love
And we all believed in the dream
Before, before

In 1914, this ball was at war
It went from Belgium on through Ireland
The Congo, then back home

This big blue ball of war spun on it's own
Spinning history in lines of blood
When many souls fell off

And we all ride on, this big blue ball of war
Souls with tickets through the veil, we all ride on
And we all ride on, this big blue ball of war
We choose to spin around and ride
This big blue ball of war

Almost a century the blood has flowed
We've killed our men of peace around this ball
And refused to hear their ghosts

We spend our destinies in deeds of hate
Humanity upon this ball
Is just a bloody fall from grace

And we all ride on
(We all ride)
This big blue ball of war
Souls with tickets through the veil
We all ride on, and we all ride on
(We all ride)
This big blue ball of war
We choose to spin around and ride
This big blue ball of war

A reformation just might save us all
A voice of harmony and open heart
Where the women teach the song

These men of evil deed can be proven wrong
If we join hand to hand with Abraham
So not a soul falls off

And we'll all ride on
(We all ride)
This big blue ball of war
Souls with tickets through the veil
We'll all ride on, and we'll all ride on
(We all ride)
This big blue ball of war
We'll choose to spin around and ride
This big blue ball of war

We'll choose to spin around and ride
This big blue ball of war

I am on a Riverboat on the Saigon River
Where the music's too loud
While I try to have my dinner
Stories I've been told of 1954

When the bodies washed ashore from that distant war
My friend Michael came in '68
The bodies still floating with the dinner boats sailing
Beside all those souls of the American war

Oh, deliver me to the river of souls
In the heart of Indochina
Deliver me to a River at Peace
In this twenty-first century

All those souls that floated free
In these dark war's waters
All the souls now swim together
The French the Viet Minn

Those American boys
The souls of the Saigon River
At peace in Indochina

I am in a caffe in Ho Chi Minn City
My friend Bobby Muller is sitting with me
This traffic is maddening
In his wheelchair he's napping

I wonder at times, does he walk in his dreams?
Later I walked all the way from Tu Do Street
To the banks of the river with the dinner boats sailing
Beside all of the souls, of a River in Peace

Oh, deliver me to the river of souls
In the heart of Indochina
Deliver me to a River at Peace
In this twenty-first century

All those souls that floated free
In these dark war's waters
All the souls now swim together
The French the Viet Minn

Those American boys
The souls of the Saigon River
At peace in Indochina

Hoa binh, hoa binh
(Peace in Vietnamese)
Peace in the heart of Indochina

I love this town like an unmade bed
I love this town of the living dead
I love this town gonna paint it red
If I can spare a minute

I love this town where curtains twitch
Where this door scratches next door's itch
It's a pantomime at fever pitch
And we can all be in it

People here are large as life
They know the whole world and his wife
From a razor's edge to a kitchen knife
They'll be glad to help you

I love this town of hidden charms
Where no one means you any harm
And if you sleep through false alarms
No one here would blame you

I love this town on the beaten track
Where nothing slips between the cracks
Her rent's arrears his heart attack
Now isn't that a shame

Everyone's friendly to your face
And everybody knows their place
As long as you respect their space
You won't have to worry

The town hall clock is calling out
It's rush hour on the roundabout
Now I know without a doubt
It's the place for me

I love this town the dirty streets
It's a merry-go-round with broken seats
Where silk and lace and satin sheets
Are only dirty washing

I love this town down on its knees
It's going under by degrees
Still we can do just as we please
As long as no one's watching

I love this town, I love this town
I love this town, I love this town

By the Time I Get to Phoenix
Was the last song on your mind the day you left
You woke up in Nogales
With Tequila with her name across your chest

You've stumbled through the morning
In these border tourists' dusty avenues
Singing Everyday's The Hurting Kind
And everyday you live, you're Born to Lose.

[Chorus]
You missed the last train home
The whistle blew and now she's gone
West Texas dust beneath your nails
You're hammered down the heartbreak trail
And you've missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone

Now, you're wandering El Paso
Searching for your broken heart and truth
She was all you ever had
And the only thing you ever had to lose

With a juke box playing Charlie Rich
You're lining up your shots at half past noon
You threw your ring across the bar
And sang along to Good Time Charlie's Got the Blues

[Chorus]

Now don't go to Tulsa where she's bound
You'll end up six feet underground
Your ex-friend, Charlie's there abouts
He never missed the last train out

You missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone
You missed the last train home
That whistle blew... she's solid gone

She's a brown skin girl from El Paso City
He's a sweet tempered soldier from Fort Bliss
They ran off one July evening
All concerned said this one is anyone's guess

Love conquers all
Love conquers all
And to all concerned you'll survive that fall
'Cause love conquers all

She's a rest home bride up in New Jersey
It's her first trip down the aisle, and it's his second time around
All concerned said she looked so pretty
Dressed in white though she's wheel chair bound

Love conquers all
Love conquers all
And to all concerned you'll survive that fall
'Cause love conquers all

Whether you're young or old
Near or far, down the road of life
Your chances are to all concerned
Love conquers all

She's a Muslim girl from Motor City
He's an uptight Irish Catholic boy
They found their love in a class on history
And the bells of Ann Arbor rang with joy

Love conquers all
Love conquers all
And to all concerned you'll survive that fall
'Cause love conquers all

And it's love, love, love.
Love conquers all
Yes, it's love, love, love
Love conquers all

Easy come, easy go
Anything but easy창?짝though
You were here, now you're gone
That's the only thing I know

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow창?짝steep

What you see, the new me
Changing right before your eyes
Like a leaf on a tree
Letting go before she flies

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow창?짝steep

Mountain of sorrow
How high the top
Must I climb, must I climb
Ever blue
Mountain of sorrow
When I can I stop
And be fine
Knowing I'm over you?

Easy come, easy go
Anything but easy창?짝though
Said goodbye, knowing I
Would have rather said hello

And it's just one more sorrow
To throw upon the heap
Mountain of sorrow창?짝steep
Mountain of sorrow창?짝steep

Where are all the Satchel Boys
Selling books outside the Metripole?
Books to read in English, books of light and sorrows
Of this foreign land and they are gone and they've flown away

Where are all the cyclos
With their drivers pedaling grace?
Crowded out by motorbike, confined to lesser space
In old Hanoi and they grew wings and they've flown away

And in the words of Graham Greene
Like the Quiet American
Who's searching these sacred streets
For old Hanoi

And in all of these sacred things
That I've been blessed in life to see
I believe I'm in someone's dream
In history

Where is the eloquence
Of the ladies on their bicycles?
Dressed in their au dias in the lotus flowered nights
Of Indochine and they rode to progress and they've flown away

And in the words of Graham Greene
Like the Quiet American
Who's searching these sacred streets
For old Hanoi, old Hanoi, old Hanoi
Searching for Indochine, the old Hanoi
Cherchant l' Indochine, in old Hanoi, in old Hanoi

(Nanci Griffith - Keith Carradine)

We don't live on easy street, but it's home
Looking out on the open road, where you'll go it alone
To the last of our simple days, we'll wave good-bye
Down this road we're grown
It's Our Very Own

This is not a one-horse town, we're not alone
It's somewhere off the beaten track, we're loyal to the bone
Everybody's got their place, and got their role to play
We should never change our rules
'Cause it's our very own

Youth is but a breath in time
A cruise around the square
You swore you'd never be your folks
And suddenly you're there
You think you'll choose a different road
Than the one that you've been shown
But in the end we're in the square
And it's our very own

We don't live on easy street, but it's home
Looking out on the open road, where you'll go it alone
To the last of our simple days, we'll wave goodbye
Down this road we've grown
It's Our Very Own

Come December
Come what may
We'll recall our simple days
And we'll always know
They were our very own

I'll never fall in love again
It's such a contradiction
To lose all control and common sense
And even intuition
You came along, with a strange new song
And the sweetest innovation
And you said, "One should never fall in love
But rise to the occasion"
To have loved and lost, I know the cost
I fell and almost drowned
If not for you, I'd have missed this view
From higher ground
Now we can touch the sky above
At the Angel's invitation
And we don't even have to fall in love
Just rise to the occasion
Love should be pure and free
A smiling inspiration
And one should never fall in love
But rise to the occasion

[Chorus:]
I want a simple life
Like my mother
One true love for my older years
I don't want your wars
To take my children
I want a simple life... while I'm here

The sun and moon walk hand in hand together
Trading places shining on the truth
The moon moves the bottoms of the oceans
So, the sun can bring a farmer's hands to you

[Chorus:]

We all seek comfort in the light of day
And our tears can wash off in the rain
Everything we need is all around us
In simple time and simple ways
Mother nature talks
Whispering her thoughts
So the paths we choose to cross
Walk one more day

[Chorus:]

Well, the good times scratched a laugh
from the lungs of the young men
In a Deadwood saloon, South Dakota afternoon
And the old ones by the door
with their heads on their chests,
they told lies about whiskey on a womans breath

Yes, and some tell the story of young Mickey Free
Who lost an eye to a buck deer in the Tongue River Valley
Oh and some tell the story of California Joe
Who sent word through the Black Hills
there was a mountain of gold

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
for the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases

Some flat-shoed fool from the East comes a-runnin'
With some news that he'd read in some St. Joseph paper
And it was "Drinks all around" cause the news he was tellin'
was the one they called Crazy
has been caught and been dealt with

And the Easterner he read the news from the paper
And the old ones moved closer so's they could hear better
"Well it says here that Crazy Horse
was killed while trying to escape,
and that was some time last September,
it don't give the exact date"

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
for the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases

Where the white man does as he pleases

Then the talk turned back to whiskey and women
And cold nights on the plains, Lord
and fightin' them indians
And the Easterner he says he'll have one more
'fore he goes
He gives the paper to the Crow boy
who sweeps up the floor

And the gold she lay cold in their pockets
And the sun she sets down on the trees
And they thank the Lord
for the land that they live in
Where the white man does as he pleases

Where the white man does as he pleases
Where the white man does as he pleases
As he wants to, as he pleases

Sister had a crystal voice
She played a Silverstone from Montgomery Ward
Baez songs and Monroe hair
She sure could turn the boys heads to stare
Swimwear saunter, tan and haunt them
Was all she learned in school
Books were for the other girls
And the other girls were fools
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Father waltzed her down the aisle
Cause college didn't suit her style
The sad truth was she could barely read
But if you told dear father, well he wouldn't believe you
The telephone rang and drove mother insane
From all the hearts left on the shelf
Sisters gone and she won't be home
Cause she didn't take care of herself
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Where is she now
The backseat queen of fraternity
Where is she now
She's heavy on thigh
And light on integrity
Someone should have told her
When beauty's all you offer
How soon the world discovers
That your beauty's gone
Its gone

Mother can't you hear your daughter crying
Father wake up her youth is dying
The kids are gone
Husbands gone away
And its a shame cause she had such a lovely face
Can't you see she needed more than
"Oh what a pretty child"
You never taught her truth from lie
All you told her was to smile
Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights

Where is she now
The backseat queen of fraternity
Where is she now
She's heavy on thigh
And light on integrity
Someone should have told her
When beauty's all you offer
How soon the world discovers
That your beauty's gone
Its gone

Texas back in '69 was drive in movies and dashboard lights.

She drove west from Salt Lake City to the California coastline.
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing sixty miles an hour.
She had a husband on her bumper, she had five restless children.
And she was singing as sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline.

And she's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

Her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rambler,
And he built a golden cage around his silver-throated wife.
So many nights he left her crying with his cheating and his lying,
But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline.

She's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

She's the salt of the earth,
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church,
With a voice like wine,
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline.

Now she sings her songs around this country from Seattle to Montgomery,
Those kids are grown and that rounder knows you cannot cage your wife.
Along the back roads of our nation, she's become a living legend,
She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline.

She drives a Coupe De Ville but her heart rides still in that Ford Econoline

From a distance the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white
From a distance the ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight
From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land

It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace
It's the voice of every man
From a distance we all have enough
And no one is in need
There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases
No hungry mouths to feed
From a distance we are instruments
Marching in a common band

Playing songs of home, playing songs of peace
They're the songs of every man
God is watching us, God is watching us
God is watching us from a distance
From a distance you look like my friend
Even though we are at war
From a distance I can't comprehend
What all this war is for

From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves
It's the heart of every man
It's the hope of hopes, It's the love of loves
It's the song of every man

(James Hooker - Nanci Griffith - Danny Flowers)

Gulf Coast Highway
He worked the rails
He worked the rice fields
With their cool dark wells
He worked the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico
The only thing we've ever owned
Is this old house here by the road
And when he dies he says he'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then he will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

She walked through springtime
When I was home
The days were sweet
The nights were warm
The seasons change the jobs would come the flowers fade
This old house felt so alone
When the work took me away
And when she dies she says; she'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then she will fly away to Heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

Highway 90
The jobs are gone
We tend our garden
We set the sun
This is the only place on earth blue bonnets grow
Once a year they come and go
At this old house here by the road
And when we die we say we'll catch some blackbird's wing
Then we will fly away to heaven come some sweet blue bonnet spring

And when we die we'll catch some blackbird's wing
We will fly away together come some sweet blue bonnet spring

Oh I wish it would rain and wash my face clean
I want to find some dark cloud to hide in here
Oh love and a memory sparkle like diamonds
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears
When the diamonds fall they burn like tears

Once I had a love from the Georgia Pans who only cared for me
I want to find that love of 22 here at 33
I've got a heart on my right and one on my left
And neither suits my needs

No the one I love is way out west and he never will need me
I'm gonna pack up my two-step shoes and head for the Gulf Coast plains
I want to walk the streets of my own home town where everybody knows my name
I want to ride a ways down to Galveston when the hurricanes blow in
Cause that Gulf Coast water tastes as sweet as wine

When your heart's rolling home in the wind

I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you
I wish I had Angels
Who sang in my dreams

If wishes were changes
We'd all live in roses
And there wouldn't be children
Who cried in their sleep

He wishes I loved him
The way that I love you
If wishes were changes
I'd dry all his tears

If wishes were changes
I'd make him my anchor
He'd be my Angel
Who sang through the years

[Chorus]
So long to the blue days of wishing
If wishes were changes
There'd be no goodbyes
So long to the heart I have given

'Cause wishing won't bring back
The love in your eyes
I wish that I had your
Wings of desire

I wish I had seen you
As I see you now
I wouldn't feel sorrow
You've left here inside me

But, wishing won't change
Right from wrong for you now

[Chorus]

I wish that you loved me
The way that I love you
I wish I had Angels
Who sang in my dreams

I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road
The man at the wheel's name is Seamus
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says, "Now, what chance has that
Kid got?"
And I say from the back, "I don't know."
He says, "There's barbed wire at all of these exits
And there ain't no place in Belfast for that kid
To go."

[Chorus:]
It's a hard life
It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in (Belfast) for
These kids to go

(Chicago)

(This world)
A cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
He's the only trash here I see
And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
In the night when his children should sleep
But, they slip to their window and they see him
And they think that white hood's all they need

[Chorus]

I was a child in the sixties
Dreams could be held through TV
With Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther
Oh, I believed, I believed, I believed
Now, I am the backseat driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I am guilty, I am war, I am the root of all evil
Lord, and I can't drive on the left side of the road

[Chorus]

The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
And I pull the bed clothes higher
Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light?
I'm afraid of these shadows here
Cause my past is truly frightening
And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down
Of a feathered heart in flight

[Chorus:]
It's just another morning here (it's morning)
It's just another morning here
It's just another morning here (it's morning)
And it's a miracle that it comes around
Every day of the year

The neighbors scream and their baby cries
I'm hiding in the corner
I won't be them, pray I won't be them one day
Maybe it's just the breath of August
So hot upon my shoulder
Or an open window for a winged heart
To fly away

[Chorus]

The telephone is ringin' in the middle of the night
I pull the bed clothes higher
Will it stop calling out if I turn on the light?
I'm afraid of these shadows here
Cause my past is truly frightening
And I'm afraid of the warmth in the down
Of a feathered heart in flight

[Chorus: x2]

I'm working on a morning flight to anywhere but here
I'm watching this evening fire burn away my tears
All my life I've left my troubles by the door
'Cos leaving is all I've ever known before

It's not the way you hold me when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me stranded on the ground
It's not the way you'll say you'll hear my heart when the music ends
No... I am just learning how to fly away again

It's not the way you say you'll hear my heart when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again

And maybe you were thinking that you thought you knew me well
But no-one ever knows the heart of anyone else
I feel like Garbo in this Late Night Grande Hotel
'Cos living alone is all I've ever done well

It's not the way you hold me when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me stranded on the ground
It's not the way you'll say you'll hear my heart when the music ends
No... I am just learning how to fly away again

It's not the way you hold me when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me stranded on the ground
It's not the way you'll say you'll hear my heart when the music ends
No... I am just learning how to fly away again

It's not the way you'll say you'll hear my heart when the music ends
No... I am just learning how to fly away again

I am leaving Mississippi in the evening rain
These Delta towns wear satin gowns
In a high beamed frame
Loretta Lynn guides my hands through the radio
Where would I be in times like these
Without the songs Loretta wrote?

[Chorus:]
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
When you can't find a friend
You've still got the radio
Radio, listen to the radio
Radio, listen to the radio

I left a handsome two stepped good ole boy in Tennessee
Now, he's sittin' on the sofa, lookin' for his supper,
Wonderin' what's become of me
I've got a double-o-eighteen Martin guitar in the
Back seat of the car
Hey, I'm leaving Mississippi,
With the radio on

[Chorus]

There's a moon across the border in the Louisiana sky
I smell the Pontchartrain, I hear Silver Wings
Then, away Merle Haggard flies
That good ole boy will find a Band of Gold
On the stereo
Hey, then my Mama's gonna call and say,
"Where's she gone?"
He'll say, "Down the road with the radio on."

Love at the Five and Dime

Rita was sixteen years
Hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She made the Woolworth counter shine

And Eddie was a sweet romancer
And a darn good dancer
And they waltzed the aisles of the five and dime



And they'd sing
Dance a little closer to me
Hey, dance a little closer now
Dance a little closer tonight

Dance a little closer to me
Hey, it's closing time
And love's on sale
Tonight at this five and dime

verse:

Eddie played the steel guitar
And his mama cried 'cause he played in the bars
And he kept young Rita out late at night

Soon they married up in Abelene
Lost a child in Tennessee
But still that love survived




One of the boys in Eddie's band
Took a shine to Rita's hand
So , Eddie ran off with the bass man's wife

Oh, but he was back by June
Singin' a different tune
Sporting Miss Rita back by his side




Eddie played in the barroom band
'Til arthritis took his hands
Now he sells insurance on the side

And Rita's got her house to keep
She sells dime store novels with a love so sweet
And they dance to the radio late at night and still sing