Sweet Annie

1. Another late night and I’ve been on the road
And all I can think of, is making it home
Been movin’ all day, from a place far away
And I know now that you are the one

R I’ve been in the sun and I’ve been in the rain
Hitchin’ a ride, or riding the trains
One thing’s for sure. My movin’s all done
Back to sweet Annie again.

2 My brother and I, we parted today
It’s no way to live. Back home I will stay.
We can build our own dreams by that cabin’s tall trees
And I know now that you are the one.

R I don’t want to talk or go over old ground
No more will I ride after treasures unfound
Just back to her heart, and holding her near
Back to sweet Annie again

Repeat 1
Repeat R

Home Cooked Music

1. As the singer screamed, and the music roared
The lead man winced his trademark glare.
His face all painted in powder blue.
The bass’s thump. The shrieking snares
Parchment letters, tab and scale
Poets, players and their rambling tales.

R1 Pop is fine, and rock’s okay
A world of pain and grand clichés
But if you want to hear some stompin’ good
If you like a sound that’ll pull & tug
Give me some good old Earl Scruggs
Or a fiddler’s whine. Or the Martin sound
Home cooked music, tales worthwhile
Of the Cajun, blues or country style

2. Muddy’s blues, a life gone by.
From a dusty Mississippi town
The Wabash, Blossom, or Number Nine
A lover’s world turned upside down.
Parchment letters, tab and scale
Poets, players and rambling tales.

3. It goes way back to another day
A soldier’s soul. His way to tell
The battle’s sound. The winter cold
His lonely tale of war and hell.
Parchment letters, tab and scale
Poets, players and their rambling tales.

R2 Pop is fine, and rock’s okay
A world of pain and grand clichés
But if you want to hear some stompin’ good
If you want a sound that will pull & tug
Give me some good old Earl Scruggs
Or a fiddler’s whine. Or the Martin sound
Home cooked music, tales worthwhile
Of the Cajun, blues or country style

Repeat R2

When You’re Away

1. Late yesterday, as I went walkin’ alone
Down in the park where that Mount batten grows
I thought of my life and those troubles that seem
So all-consuming they take over our dreams

2. When you’re away, my head comes so clear
If I take you for granted, when you are here
Please understand if my distractions might cause
A reason to doubt us, to give you some pause

3. You are my sun, my gift. And my all
When you’re away, things are empty and small
No part of our life would I ever undo
Don’t mean to be maudlin, but that’s just the truth

R When you’re away, I come back to these walls
And they just don’t give any comfort at all
Don’t give any comfort, at all.

4. It got me to wondering just where you are now
What you are doing, are you out with the crowd ..
I know where it is things are sunny and bright
It follows you honey like the day follows night

5. When you come home, I promise you this
Remember that place on the day we first kissed
We’ll pack a big lunch, and together we’ll go
Down in the park where that Mount batten grows

Repeat 5


Wind Is Comin’

1. Looks like a wind is comin’
Looks like she’ll really blow.
So I will follow your invisible trail
I will take it as it goes.

R Will you take me to the east
Into my sweetheart’s loving arms?
Or to the west and through the trails
And to the mountain’s magic charms?

2. Softly to a brave new place
Gusts my world has never seen
I will follow your windy trail
Dancing, clacking like a ragged tin.

Repeat R

3. Some would curse your sudden swell
Idiot wind, in rhyme and song
Your gentle breeze and forceful way
Will take me back where I belong

Repeat R
Repeat 1

Scattered

1. The car door locked at the very time.
I saw the keys on a seat inside.
Oh …. I’ve blanked again
The memory’s shot. I can’t recall
Where I’m supposed to be right now
Oh … that fog again.

R1 I’m scattered.
Scattered.
I run in all directions at one time.
I’m scattered.
Scattered.
Up each day to work from 9 til 9

2. The plans I made are in a mess
Up at dawn, no time to rest
Oh …. that clock again
Missed my turn on the drive today
My mind was drifting far away
Oh … I missed again.

R2 I’m scattered.
Scattered.
I run in all directions at one time.
Scattered.
Scattered.
Up each day to work from 9 til 9

Repeat R2

3. Rushing through an endless day,
A job I’ve done in disarray
Oh …. I’ll start again
Oh, to be in the countryside
With just the sun and the rising tide

4. Out the door for a dinner date,
At 8 o’clock, but forgot the place
Oh … “I’m dead again.
The memory’s shot, I can’t recall
Where I’m supposed to be right now
Oh … that fog again.

Repeat R2

Little Black Stove

1. At the end of the gray and bone-chilling day
There’s only one place to be
Down on the floor by the little black stove
Awash in it’s warm remedy

R. Little black stove with your crackle and roar
Pour your essence on me
I’ll curl myself up, by your window tonight
And watch as I fall asleep

3. My eyes are drawn by that little bright flame
As it draws me into a trance
A window in time to Zeus’s revenge
Or merry old London’s street lamps

4. Like movin’ up close to a woman’s hot touch
And hoping for love in return
Closer and closer to a forbidden dream
But careful not to get burned

R. Little black stove with your crackle and roar
Pour your essence on me
I’ll curl myself up, by your window tonight
And watch as I fall asleep

5. Rising from ashes embers and smoke
Ancient myths, stories and times.
Staring out from the little black stove
And your fire’s beckoning eyes.

Repeat R
Repeat 1
Repeat R

Who’s That Knockin?

1. His eyes were fixed way up high. He nodded in dismay.
Here he was a man of God but now he felt betrayed.
This Chapel was to be a rock
In the tiny frontier town of Santa Fe.

2. Sister Celia said to him. “We’ll look for help on high.
The tradesmen say there’s no repair for this ill design
But if we pray and pray some more
Just maybe He’ll see fit to send a sign.”

R1 Out of time and out of hope
Loretto Chapel stands
No way to use this troubled place
As it rots there in the sand

3. A knockin’ noise was heard one night down at the Chapel door.
There he stood in a beggar’s way, his clothes all old and torn
He told the priest he’d build some stairs.
So the flock could pray each Sunday morn.

R2 Who’s that knockin’ on the door
A toolbag he has none
He came to help one summer night
Then vanished once he’d done.

4. He set to workin’ hard each day. No visits he’d allow.
Each day he’d ply his mystery trade with bended wood and boughs
So quiet was his manner that
When all done he slipped away somehow

5. It’s been about a hundred years now the mystery man’s been gone
And what he did inside that church, it’s secrets still remain.
Without a nail or a craftsman’s tool.
Something modern laws cannot explain.

Repeat R2

Jumpin’ Joe

1. There’s a banjo man that I once knew
He jumped and danced as he plays a tune
He plays a storm with his 5-string sound
He breaks and moves, up and down
His name is Jumpin’ Joe

2. Joe would play all day and night
He can pick and dance to the crowd’s delight,
Smiles and taps as he jumps around
Breaks and moves, up and down
Where it’s going no one knows
He can go real fast or make things slow,
Mix things up and let ‘em go
His name is Jumpin’ Joe

3 Jumpin’ Joe
Jumpin’ Joe

Must Be Sunday Morning

1. Bells are ringin’ at the Church
The sun peeks through the door
Noise in the kitchen, coffee’s on
A squeak comes from the floor
Streets all quiet, all is calm
Just a lonesome sparrow’s call
And the stirring sound of slippers down the hall

2. One eye open, the other half closed
An early fog is fading
Can’t recall if that alarm did go
It doesn’t matter now
Streets all quiet, all is calm
Just a lonesome sparrow’s call
And the soft cascade of slippers down the hall

R Think I’ll take it slow today
And read the morning news
Or pay a visit to the shops downtown
Or sit down by the pool
Not a worry, no plans for me
Just let the day unfold
No disguising, it must be Sunday morning

3. No phones abuzz. No dinner plans
Tomorrow comes so soon
For now just let things unfold
The way they’re supposed to do
Streets all quiet, all is calm
Just a lonesome sparrow’s call
And the stirring sound of slippers down the hall
Repeat R
Repeat 1
Repeat R

I Was There

1. I was there with Leonardo, when he sketched the Vitruvian Man
With siblings there in Kitty Hawk, when their wheels left the sand.
You would not recognize me. For I move along through time.
I was there before the wheel, at the seed of humankind.

2. If you lend some time to a page from Whitman’s pen.
Or marvel at the climber, as he makes a quick ascent.
The honesty’s unmistakable. Like a sunny afternoon.
You once were hiding in a cave, and now you walk the moon.

R I am hope and passion. I am a young man’s dream.
I am like eternal truth, an innocent would seek.

3. It’s been said that Einstein was far beyond his time.
His spark it came at a lightening speed, when all his stars aligned
He pulled his dream up to a place that only he could see
Frustration’s child his vision’s birth, unlocked great mysteries.

4. Should you choose to take to flight or tug a monster’s tail.
One thing’s sure-a timid hand, this road will not regale.
But if you take your dream to a place only you can do.
I’ll be like a raging fire to help it all come true.

Repeat R
Repeat R
Pause
Repeat 1

Young Man’s Lament

1. There in the dark, he sat frozen so still.
So weary of fighting his life’s lonely chill.
Too drunk to confront the demons that dwelled
Within his poor heart, as they cast their dark spell.

2. So many nights with his TV and beer.
He was an island. No one got near.
But his eyes came alive, when he thought of her smile
But he’d never approached her, staying mute and beguiled.

R What could he do, to set his heart free?
So many things he could do with such ease.
But he had to make changes. Would he finally take flight?
He longed for a love...so perfect, so right.

3. Tomorrow’d be different. He’d follow his heart.
No small talk this time. No shallow remarks.
She’d be waiting on tables at a place down the street.
He thought to himself “will I wilt in her heat?”

4. At daybreak’s new light, to no special acclaim
He vowed to approach this long-secret flame.
Would she turn a cold shoulder if he stepped up tonight?
Would he turn back again, downcast and contrite?

5. He felt his heart thumping as she flashed her bright smile
He awkwardly nodded, then sat for a while.
When she came by, his meal he declined,
Then asked if she’d join him for a coffee sometime.

6. This wish finally out, he turned his eyes down
Assuming these words had revealed a sad clown
To his surprise, “of course” she replied
His problems dissolved as the demons went quiet.

Repeat R

That’s My Sadie

1. There she stands, across the room
A crooked smile and strong perfume.
On the prowl, she’s talkin’ up a storm
On the prowl, she’s talkin’ up a storm.

2. One by one the young men blush
Then when Sadie’s had enough
She moves along and fades away from view.

R She’s a midnight girl. And she’s no lady.
Street-smart swagger, that’s my Sadie
Driving young men crazy with her charms

3. Sometimes when I’m feeling blue
Sadie’s there to help me through
Her warming ways can soothe a troubled soul.
Her warming ways can soothe a troubled soul.

4. Saucy Sadie once explained
A life alone and self-contained
Seeking Mr. Right, at every turn

Repeat R

5. There she goes with her smile & pearls
One day soon I’ll ask that girl
If she’ll maybe fade away with me.

Repeat R
Repeat 5

Fountainhead

1. Tell me your story, said a friend of mine.
Did you find a heart that’s true, a flame that never dies?
And do you walk along a path that helps you make it through
That place we know where darkness brews?
Upon my winding answer, he raised a furrowed brow
He set his gaze outside the door, to a place that did allow
His heart to rise, and chest to swell, from a life lived all those years
His memories, aches and tears.

R Now I sit by the water’s edge, and watch the kids at play
I see them hide and laugh and run, on a summer day
Don’t want to turn back the clock and ask what might have been.
I’ve turned to the Fountainhead. I’ll turn to it again.

2. As we sat there face to face, his hand clamped on a wheel
It moved his chair as he explained a world all to real
Aloud I wondered of his strength, what secrets he did know
What mysteries he did hold.
You can’t imagine what it’s like to have lost your own so young.
Or have your days turned upside down when a moment’s fury comes
Those times are like a mountain’s weight. It stays inside your bones
That anchor’s tug, won’t leave you alone.

3. But through it all, these problems, they pale when I see
Those there in the other room, who mean so much to me
When a card I play turns aces high, or sitting by my tree
Or Quinte’s easy breeze.
It’s not about those things you face, my old friend then would add
It’s about your choice- a requiem or some upbeat southern jazz
It’s about what I call fountainhead. My source of hope each day
He smiled, and turned away

Repeat R

Rise Again

1. Like a cruel turn, it took you by surprise.
You had it in your hands, and now it’s gone
Striking like a hammer’s heavy blow
Tore into a soft and gentle soul.
Tore into a soft and gentle soul.

R As you lay down your head to go to sleep
And soar above all your troubles deep.
Spring a path renewed, new hope begun.
To rise again like a morning sun.

2. It’s true that life’s not always what it seems.
But emptiness and loss will father dreams
Your sweet bright smile and heart of gold,
Will travel to a place of joys untold
Will travel to a place of joys untold

Repeat R
Repeat 2

Dark River

1. We left behind that prison stall,
Got on board at the Vicksburg wall
My legs were weak, I forced a smile.
Bailey winked as he played some cards.
The steamer chugged past flooded ground.
Headed up river to Memphis-town
To leave behind war’s endless drone.
Lookin’ for freedom. Lookin’ toward home.

2. They came aboard in two’s and four’s.
The Union’s cursed, 2 thousand boys.
Shoreline fading in the fog.
All eyes were bright, black memories gone.
Then it came, a blast below
As fire consumed Sultana’s bow.
Bailey yells “let’s move, let’s go!”
The heat tore up the deck, below.

R As the flames engulfed that riverboat
It was a night of screams and ghosts
Tortured souls jumped in prayer.
Into the dark water’s freezing lair.

3. We jumped into the angry deep
Among the corpses, flames and weeds.
“We’ve gotta swim”. I was terrified
To stay afloat midst the flames and cries.
As I made my peace with life and God
“I see a tree” Bailey’s voice grew strong
Through dark water’s numbing bite
We caught a branch and held on tight

4. As we dragged ourselves onto the shore
A backward glance, life’s metaphor
Years of fighting had not such fright
As the 1700 who died that night
As the steamer’s hulk went sinking down
It’s final sigh, a hissing sound.
Could there ever be such pain & wrath
As Dark River’s epitaph?

Repeat R