RECORD PLAYING DAYS
Do you remember Those record playing days?
White wash and Spanish moss Vanish in the haze
Listening to love songs With the summer passing by
Needle drops, vinyl pops
There’s fire in the sky
Cussing and a crossing, trying to find my grove
Skip ahead to what you said
that night you made your move
You said lay me down slow
Let me down easy
Take me on them back roads
Sing me something sweetly
Take me to some higher ground
Then let me go freely
But before we’re gone . . . put another record on
First notes of autumn’s air Echo in my mind
Walk the street of our old beat Stealing back the time
Now I’m sitting in the silence In the gap between the tracks
Could I have just one last song
‘Cause you ain’t coming back
Cussing and a crossing, trying to find my cue
Skip ahead to what you said
that night we paid our dues
You said lay me down slow
Let me down easy
Take me on them back roads
Sing me something sweetly
Take me to some higher ground
Then let me go freely
But before we’re gone . . . put another record on
Hazy days and measured nights
Spinning truth and telling lies
Going back to where we used to be
I see you there, can you hear me?
Cussing and a crossing, trying to find my place
Skip ahead to what you said
that night of saving grace
You said lay me down slow
Let me down easy
Take me on them back roads
Sing me something sweetly
Take me to some higher ground
Then let me go freely
Even though you’re gone . . . one more song
Even though you’re gone . . . I’ll put another record on
MOUNTAIN SONG
I was born in a mountain town Settin’ fires all around
Cut coal from hills of clay Drank my demons all away
And I’ve been trying – oh-oh-oh
But everyone around here moves to slow
And I’ve been dying – oh-oh-oh
Well I cross my heart, cross my heart and hope to go
Help me on my way
Feel the weight
Feel the light
Help me on my way
Here today
Here alive
I’m tried and true as dirt Workin’ in my daddy’s shirt
I’m not the one to fill his shoes
But I’ll take the tales of what he’s been through
And I’ll keep trying – oh-oh-oh
Still everyone around here moves to slow
And I’ve been dying – oh-oh-oh
Well I cross my heart, cross my heart and feel the pain
Pack up all that I have stained
Gonna find my way to the refrain
Help me on my way
Feel the weight
Feel the light
Help me on my way
Here today
Here alive
Well I’ve been trying all my time
To pick up all the pieces of this life
I’ve been trying all my time
Feel the weight
Feel the light
I’m here today
Here alive
Help me on my way
PENNSYLVANIA
Smoke came seeping in up to the rafters
We gathered what we could of our old home
But what we really left was a disaster
What we really left was not our own
It’s a long, long way back to where we came from
I’m not sure we’ll ever be at peace
With the way we left and what we did to get there
Freezing cold and soaked down to our feet
O Pennsylvania, heavy on my soul
Those misty mountain mornings are now stranger
My heart has turned to coal in Pennsylvania
Tried to leave to get the fire behind me
Headed south so I still could feel the heat
Desire won’t be shut out with all my shiverin’
Find me some new company to keep
But the train derailed in Northern Alabama
Left a place somewhere in Tennessee
A half a day until we reach Atlanta
Maybe I’ll find true love close to me
O Pennsylvania, heavy on my soul
Those misty mountain mornings are now stranger
My heart has turned to coal in Pennsylvania
I went looking for the miner’s daughter
But I only found the handprint of her son
Those misty mountain mornings have come and gone
The ties that used to bind me have come undone
O Pennsylvania, I hear the roll
Of thunder and the roar of Susquehanna
And my heart has turned to coal
My heart has turned to coal
My heart has turned to coal
And my heart has turned to coal in Pennsylvania
ENOUGH
I’m on borrowed time I thought the road would be less harrowed
The path not so narrow to the other side And I can’t find the line
The one I need to walk on To follow to tomorrow and the end of time
I found myself in this parade Waving my banner high
You caught my waist, led me away
Through marching bands and crowded lines
Move over, Lonely! Move over, Luck!
History will call it
When we’ve been through enough
Now I’m calling enough
The wind blows strong in guarded time Now here comes the cold front chorus
Though melodies of frozen lines I raised my voice to say goodbye
Move over, Lonely! Move over, Luck!
History will call it
When we’ve been through enough
Now I’m calling enough
Well I set my heart on campfire dreams
Keeping warm by the fire, oh!
Keep thinking back to where I been
And watch the flame grow higher
Move over, Lonely! Move over, Luck!
History will call it
When we’ve been through enough
Now I’m calling enough
I’m calling enough
MIRACLE
Walking sideways, rolling my way
I know there’s something beautiful
Something more impossible than free
Passing headlights, keeping up nights
This is more than what I bargained for
More than what I’ve given away
It’s a miracle I’m standing
A miracle I fall
It’s a miracle I can breathe at all
Running the heat’s on
Oh I can’t take a seat, son
I’ll finish what I’ve started now
Even if I go it alone
It’s a miracle I’m standing
A miracle I fall
It’s a miracle I can breathe at all
Been knocked down to my knees before
But now I’ll call a brand new play
I’ll put away the gloves for now
This is what I bargained for
This is what I’ve given away
Laughing all night now
‘Cause I’m feeling all right now
This is what I bargained for
This is what I’m getting to know
This is what I bargained for
This is what I’m getting to know
This is what I bargained for
This is what I’m getting to know
NO SURRENDER (Bruce Springsteen)
Well, we busted out of class had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three-minute record, baby, than we ever learned in school
Tonight I hear the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you're tired and you just want to close your eyes and follow your dreams down
Well, we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
And now young faces grow sad and old
And hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind
Now I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home
Across the open yards
Well maybe we could cut someplace of our own
With these drums and these guitars
'Cause we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim
The walls of my room are closing in
There's a war outside still raging
You say it ain't ours anymore to win
I wanna sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover's bed
With a wide-open country in my eyes
And these romantic dreams in my head
'Cause we made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat, baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat, baby, no surrender
No retreat, baby, no surrender
EUGENE
Goddam Eugene, we never heard you scream
When you pulled all the thorns from your rosebush dream
Rose colored glasses won’t help you see
‘Cause the thorn in your side won’t let you
Won’t let you be
You razed the old homestead when you raised the stakes
Flames crowded in behind your poker face
Cards face down on the table were the only trace
Of the gamble that you took when you fell
Fell from grace
Willow, oh Willow have you heard him weep
Has he gone across the county, is he six feet deep
In the Valley of the Broken, under Hard Luck’s Creek?
O Willow have you heard him weep?
Oh, Eugene…
There’s something in the shadows of a windless night
That keeps us up a’prayin’ through to broad daylight
Whistle keeps a’blowin’ on that freight train ride
But the silence keeps him covered in the long meantime
Willow, oh Willow have you heard him weep
Has he gone across the county, is he six feet deep
In the Valley of the Broken, under Hard Luck’s Creek?
O Willow have you heard him weep?
Oh, Eugene…
Lately in the twilight we can hear the distant sigh
Come from Lexington County, Gibson Pond by and by
Freight train rolls unsteady as we look to the pines
For the long, lean man with the gun-smoke eyes
Willow, oh Willow have you heard him weep
Has he gone across the county, is he six feet deep
In the Valley of the Broken, under Hard Luck’s Creek?
O Willow have you heard him weep?
O Willow have you heard him weep?
O Willow have you heard him weep?
Oh, Eugene…
ROCK STAR WAY
My baby’s got a rock star way I know she’s got something to say
Try to track her down She’s walking on hallowed ground
Don’t suffer fools or play by the rules
Gives it all away
‘Cause my baby’s got a rock star way
She fights the good fight Stays out all night
Tried and true Knows just what to do
‘Cause everybody take you down in this rotten ass rock n’ roll town
And the canyons are on fire, but the bodies will never be found
Walk on by Someday I’ll try
My baby’s got a rock star way He’s always got a different take
Walking outside the line Keepin’ his own sweet time
Speaks the truth He knows a thing or two
Never looks away ‘Cause my baby’s got a rock star way
Burns the candle at both ends Does what it takes to win
He’s got a scar or two Yeah, he’s paid his dues
‘Cause everybody take you down in this rotten ass rock n’ roll town
And the canyons are on fire, but the bodies will never be found
Walk on by
Someday I’ll try
Took a shot in old LA Rode sunset to PCH
Hit the sand Left behind the land
Tried to part the sea To set ourselves free
But we’re gonna stay
‘Cause my baby’s got a rock star way
The path to glory Sells the story
Bought and sold Still can’t be told
‘Cause everybody take you down in this rotten ass rock n’ roll town
And the canyons are on fire, but the bodies will never be found
Night and day
We try to say
Amen!
BALLAD OF THE PAST
It’s too late Has it come to this
Walking in circles Trying to get out of this mess
All those secrets You keep close to your vest
Stop making me wonder Stop making me guess
You bring the whiskey
I’ll bring the wine
Tie up the horses and we’ll swallow up the time
Thrown the baby out with the bath
We’re still living with the ballad of the past
We lick our lips Don’t let the words run dry
Take a walk through the shadows
Crawl to the corners of our minds
You found a reason I found another lie
Turn the volume up to the voices in the sky
You bring the whiskey
I’ll bring the wine
Tie up the horses and we’ll swallow up the time
Thrown the baby out with the bath
We’re returning to the ballad of the past
We have to wonder
Have love and war been fair
Listen up hear the voices in the air
Sit up straight now, we’ll settle fair and square
Fair and square
You brought the whiskey
I brought the wine
Tie the horses up, turn the pages on our pride
Blow out the candle, put down the good old book
Give me your hands now and give me that good old look
Though we threw the baby out with the bath
We’ll keep singing to the ballad of the past