UP TO NO GOOD

 

Little girl's not laughing now, wonderin' where her mama’s been

I tell her you’re out buying a plow, I tell her you’re with your brother Dan

Little girl’s not crying now, gave her little bread and jam

Almost start to miss you somehow, though I know you’re with your other man

 

He got a rumblin’ Harley, a boat down in Mexico

He and his old buddy Charley, they’re always on the go

They’re always up to no good, you know

 

We look at piglets down the road, the leaves are turning brown

She says they’re cute, can we get one, why’d mother go to town

We take a little piglet home, he rides shotgun in the van

He won’t be ‘round forever though, kinda like you and your other man

 

He got a rumblin’ Harley, a boat down in Mexico

He and his old buddy Charley, they’re always on the go

They’re always up to no good, you know

 

Bet you’ve got no big regrets, seen you even cut your hair

He’s smoking those clove cigarettes, they leave their scent everywhere

It’s time to clear the air in here, turn on that electric fan

Then we’ll know which way you’ll blow, either back to me or to your other man

 

He got a rumblin’ Harley, a boat down in Mexico

He and his old buddy Charley, they’re always on the go

They’re always up to no good, you know

 

 

MARSWATER

 

They say nothing's as elusive as water on Mars

Though it must have flowed a long time ago

Rusted riverbeds and surface scars 

Not a drop left now you know

Not a cottonwood tree, not a shining sea

No angry god of war, no no no

You're just as elusive as water on Mars

But I knew you a long time ago

 

Now won’t you bring me some water from Mars 

Bring a little water now

Won’t you bring me some Marswater 

All your well will allow

 

They say nothing’s as elusive as water on Mars 

No mountain streams there running clear

They say you keep stardust sealed in mason jars

You should shake it on this battlefield here 

Maybe Atlas has to practice with this planet of ours 

Before shouldering it too many more years

But you're just as elusive as water on Mars 

So I’m just going to wait for you here

 

Now won’t you bring me some water from Mars 

Bring a little water now

Won’t you bring me some Marswater 

All your well will allow

​

​

DOWN TO THE END

 

Old man approaches me on the boulevard

He’s been running and he’s breathing hard

He says, Where can I hide from my life my friend

Would you just point out the way, and then I say

Go all the way down to the end

You can turn around once but can’t come back again

All the way down, all the way down

All the way down to the end

 

Woman approaches me in a country lane

I’m feeling wary, she looks like she’s insane

She says, Listen to the birds and the wind in the leaves

Follow your heart to wherever it leads today

Go all the way down to the end

You can turn around once but can’t come back again

All the way down, all the way down

All the way down to the end

 

So if someone approaches you when you’re out on the town

Just point out the way should they ask for the sacred ground

They’ll say, Thank you and bless you and stay safe and warm

Gather yourself in the face of the storm and the fray

Go all the way down to the end

You can turn around once but can’t come back again

All the way down, all the way down

All the way down to the end

​

​

ROMANTIC RESTAURANT

 

They just brought the menu darling, the man is very kind

I’m scratching out this note to you while making up my mind

There’s a couple in the corner quarreling while I’m trying to unwind

And I can’t get what I want in this romantic restaurant

 

I believe we fell in love here when it wasn’t just for show

I remember this is where the fiddles played low

We’d just come in from the rain with nowhere else to go

And I can't get what I want in this romantic restaurant

 

Here’s where I gave you the diamond I’d crushed from a chunk of coal

I remember how the room fell silent when we lost control

Maitre d’, I think he recognizes me, a heart without a soul

And I can't get what I want in this romantic restaurant

 

Once I had an appetite for anything you might name

Women, wine and all that’s wrong, my fingers in the flame

Truth is, my love, since you’ve gone everything tastes the same!

Now the bread is stale, the wine’s gone bad, it’s nearly vinegar

This elegant entrée is lacking something, maybe sugar

I know you won’t write me back, you always were a looker

And I can't get what I want in this romantic restaurant

And I’ll never get what I want in this romantic restaurant

​

​

LUCKY

 

Goin’ where the wind can’t follow me

Saddle my pony, set me free

Known you forever, two kids on a farm

With the chickens and mud, that country charm

 

When I first saw you, you were at your ease

Pickin’ green beans in the Summer breeze

Willow cried in Spring, bonfires in Fall

Billy goat in the kitchen, dogs in the hall

 

Hear the clippity-clip of the horses

In the valley where the river flowed

Horizon line in the distance

Down the weathered trails we rode

The years went by

Weren’t we lucky, you and I

Wish I still had that old horse of mine

 

Goin’ where the wind can’t follow me

Saddle my pony, set me free

Have you ever thought about right and wrong

Didja ever wonder how we got along

 

Hear the clippity-clip of the horses

In the valley where the river flowed

Horizon line in the distance

Down the weathered trails we rode

The years went by

Weren’t we lucky, you and I

Wish I still had that old horse of mine

Wish I still had that old horse of mine

​

​

SWEET CREEK COUNTY JAIL

 

I been living in the penthouse suite, Sweet Creek County Jail

Sweet Creek County Jail is home away from home

Sign hanging over the guardrail says

Better than being alone

 

Here I'm laying on a little cot, got a pillow and a poster for lust

Thinking of all I haven't got, starin’ at the ceiling rust

Can't remember how they got me here, was my crime against someone’s heart?

Can't remember, was it tax evasion, was I the only one got caught?

 

Sweet Creek County Jail is home away from home

Sign hanging over the guardrail says

Better than being alone

 

Got a job serving up grub to guys, it's better than workin' the mop

Listening to the warden's lies, shoveling up that slop

Got the java brewin’ at the break of day, oatmeal in the bowl

Got the Bible open but the Ancient of Days ain’t worried about my soul

 

Sweet Creek County Jail is home away from home

Sign hanging over the guardrail says

Better than being alone

 

They say Jonah landed on his feet, deep in the gut of the whale

I been living in the penthouse suite, Sweet Creek County Jail 

 

Sweet Creek County Jail is home away from home

Sign hanging over the guardrail says

Better than being alone

Better than being alone

​

​

HOLIDAY

 

Scooter pulled out into the road with his radio hat rolled down

And swung around a puddle of oil that was seeping into the ground

Picked up a gal named Holiday he’d seen hangin’ around

And they started to fall in love and then their heads began to spin

And their hearts began to beat again, as if they’d never been broken 

 

Holiday was a natural hitcher, it was something in her eyes

All she wanted was a cold pitcher and please no long goodbyes

Caught a ride with Scooter under early evening skies

And they started to fall in love and then their heads began to spin

And their hearts began to beat again, as if they’d never been broken

 

Ninety miles from Nevada when their motor sputtered and died

Scooter checked out the engine 'neath an aspen by the roadside

Then Holiday herself got under the hood, after a minute cried "Try it doll!"

Scooter turned the key and that car came alive like it'd never broke down at all

 

You don’t need blood tests in Las Vegas, that brilliant neon town

Holiday wore a bright white lacey wedding gown

Scooter returned his tux and then they turned the car around

And they started to fall in love and then their heads began to spin

And their hearts began to beat again, as if they’d never been broken

 

 

COLD AND TIRED

 

Cold and tired and running scared, penniless without a friend

I feel like an old dead man abandoned to the wind

Battleship clouds are loaded with hail

I'm reduced to begging at the graveyard rail

I need to be repaired

Cold, tired and running scared

 

Cold and tired and running scared when I stole that forty-four

It wasn't even loaded but no one cared 

The night I hit the drugstore

Can't forget the look in that woman's eyes

A little bit of fear and a little surprise

I had to get out of there

Cold, tired and running scared     

 

Cold and tired and running scared, I'm my own best company

The good old days have been declared ancient history

I wish I'd awake in the goddess's lap

Smell of cookin’ bacon, coffee on tap

The sweetest kiss ever shared

Cold, tired and running scared

​

​

WENT OUT WALKING

 

I went out walking, I was hungry for a glimpse of the sun

I went out walking, I was wondering when the world was begun

I went out walking through the brush and trees

I smelled the grapevines on the rushing breeze

I went out walking, I was hungry for a glimpse of the sun

 

I went out walking, I was restless and I had to get away

I went out walking out to nothing, I had nothing left to say

I walked the byways from the dusk to the dawn

I wondered if she'd even noticed I’d gone

I went out walking, I was restless and I had to get away

 

I went out walking, I was talking to myself like a fool

I went out walking, I was challenging myself to a duel

I stopped and stood beside the cemetery wall

I thought my family wouldn’t miss me at all

I went out walking, I was talking to myself like a fool

 

I went out walking, knocking, calling to my love let me in

I went out walking, disbelieving what I’d seen where I’d been

I’d seen a willow creeping over a grave

Some soldier’s mother weeping there for the brave

I went out walking, knocking, calling to my love let me in

 

 

ALL THE ANSWERS

 

When the darkening night comes rolling, blackness on the land

And those woodsmoke smells come fragrant through the pines

I always remember you, my long-time friend

I remember conversations, long-ago good times    

 

Hey man, you had all the answers way back when

Now tomorrows come and go with no questions

 

When a quarter moon goes rising, clouds scuttlin' by

And my screen-door slamming echoes down the road

I find myself thinking back, not so surprising

Remembering dumb things we did, and the fearlessness we showed

 

Hey man, bad to think I won’t see you again

You had all the answers way back when

 

When a morning rain comes tapping on my dirty windowpane

And I’m up and out of bed long before dawn

I'm not exactly happy then but at least I'm looking ahead

I feel I'm walking a long road and I’ve gotta get a move on

 

Hey man, you had all the answers way back when

Now tomorrows come and go with no questions

Hey man, bad to think I won’t see you again

You had all the answers way back when

You had all the answers way back when