For fans who want a peek at the lyrics. Printed with permission of the authors. I'll add them all over time.
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It's two in the afternoon and I have nothing to say
The kids will be home real soon and this moment will fade
Put down my guitar and pick up my kids
Trade this dream in just like I did yesterday
I'm living my life in three quarter time
Three quarters theirs and none of it mine
I ain't sorry for the woman who I grew up to be - that's fine
But I wish I had a little more time
It's two in the morning now and I have too much to say
The sun will be up real soon and this moment will fade
Put my kids down for the last time tonight
Pick up my guitar and try to write one more line
(Chorus)
I'm writing a song about writing a song
Reflecting on everything I'm doin' wrong.
Am I doin' wrong?
(Chorus)
Wish i had a little more
Wish i had a little more time
A LITTLE WISER
TC Smythe
©2000
It's a bitter cup of coffee that she's sippin' on this mornin'
It's bittersweet - she'd never noticed it before
And this used to be her office but now it's full of boxes
Filled with memories her binders and awards
And you could say that she's well accounted for
And it's a different time of day than she's used to drivin
home
Oh the rain comes down in a blessing and a curse
But it hides the angry tears she's been savin all these years
In the privacy of her four door universe
And this is hard but you know it could be worse
And she can see better days ahead
"I'll be better off" she said
"And if you see me lookin back over my shoulder
Don't be surprised if I look a little older
And a little wiser"
"This day is not the end It's the beginning
I'm leavin' all my doubts and fears behind
This race is nearly over and I'm winning
At least the chance is mine
Everything'll be just fine"
And it's a sweeter cup of coffee that she's sippin' on this
morning
In her brand new life a thousand miles away
And she has no angry tears for all her best and wasted years
They were part of the dues she had to pay
And she's stronger for the pain she gave away
And she can see better days ahead
"I am better off"she said
"And if you see me lookin' back over my shoulder
Don't be surprised f I look a little older
And a little wiser"
A Place In
My Heart
© 1999 T. C. Smythe
There's a place in my heart where you live
And 'cause you're there I've got so much to give
And I'd never have known it was there
You opened these eyes with your patience and care
So when I'm lonely I look to my heart
And I'm no longer sad even though we're apart
It's the strangest emotion to feel
Happy and sad for you knowing that we'll meet again one day
But I won't waste a day of my life thinking bout
how the world has done me so wrong
If I do then my life's all but over and the angels will come to
carry me home
You were a teacher but more than you knew
And your lessons go with me and I pass them on too
And as long as your memory lives on
It'll be like you never were gone
And when I see again you can tell me
About the times when you looked down and laughed
And then I can tell you about how you were missed
And the day that my heart broke in half - It broke right in half.
American Lullaby
©2000 Gary Taylor
Chasing a Memory
©1999 TC Smythe
I'm chasing a memory my grandfathers left
oh their spirits won't rest till it's told
I'm searching from Tulsa to Ireland's shores
cause the tale is 200 years old
and their trail is a hundred years cold
Four bonny brothers set out for the sea
to find a land that was bought with the blood of the free
Their ancestral home was no longer their own
so they planted the family tree
on the shores of a nation to be
They remembered the heather and the mist in the vale
and a morning four brothers unfurled a white sail
arm in arm with each other, with their hopes and their dreams
they could sever the branch but it never falls far from the tree.
Their first day ashore was the start of their war
when the protestant church took one in
the old ways he knew left him wanting for more
so he committed the gravest of sins
turned his back pon his faith and his kin
and they never saw him or his family again
he abandoned the heather of the mist and the vale
and the morning four brothers unfurled a white sail
arm in arm with each other, with their hopes and their dreams
he could sever the branch but it never falls far from the tree.
Till I met a man with my grandfather's face
and I asked him from where he did hail
we exchanged stories and traded some names
till we found ourselves cousins that day
we were distant relations of Cork County Vale.
and he told me of heather and a mist in the vale
and the morning four brothers unfurled a white sail
arm in arm with each other, with their hopes and their dreams
he could sever the branch but it never falls far from the tree.
Oh you can sever the branch but it never falls far from the tree
Come What May
©2008 Gary Taylor
They might promise you a fine tomorrow
But don't trade in your today
No one really knows your future
It's just come what may
It's just come what may
Come what may
Come what may
Might meet again on another day
It's just come what may
Saw a friend just the other day
He said I'll see you soon
But I read the sad, sad news in the paper today
It's just come what may
(Chorus)
Some say the future is black and white
I see infinite shades of gray
So I'll live and love and laugh today
(Instrumental Chorus)
Pay attention to the here and now
It's only gonna slip away
So live, love and laugh today
(chorus)
Devil's Ridge
©2008 Gary Taylor
Done Getting
Down
©2005 TC Smythe
I've been angry with you and I never spoke up
I've been bitin' my tongue till it bleeds
I can't let this slide - I can't hold it inside
I've decided it's my turn to leave
You were holdin me down when I needed to rise
So oonstricted that I couldn't breathe
And I hung around like a battered cliché
But I'm done getting down on my knees
I was born naked but not yesterday
And I'm still shakin' but no longer ashamed
Each tear that I cry burns away at a lie I believed
And I'm done getting down on my knees.
'Cause now here I am starting over again
There's no one but myself to please
I finally learned 'to thine own self be true
and I swear I'm done getting down on my knees
I've left you behind and I'm not lookin back
Lookin back is what I used to do
The next time I'm feelin ashamed for my faults
I'll remember what I learned from you
(Chorus)
Heaven's Not
the Great Beyond
©2008 Gary Taylor
Ran 'cross Jesus Christ today, glancing through a windowpane
He was nursing a cup of coffee at Jack's on Third and Main
The fogged up diner window was all there was to keep the cold
away
I sat down at his table, I could tell he had some things to say
I said "I thought you rose to something better when they
nailed you to that pine"
He said "Ah that's just a little parlor trick to keep the
flock in line
But I thought I'd better try again, this world's way out of whack
And there's a bunch of people speaking for me that are really
off the track"
"'Cause heaven's not the great beyond, you can be there
every day
Could be talking to some stranger in some coffee shop café
And Hell is not some place below, it's more a state of mind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind"
"But you know religion it's a perfect game, like rollin'
out all sevens
People trade their Sunday money to buy their piece of heaven
Promise people eternity, who knows if you've lied
No one's gonna sue you when they're gone, if there is no other
side"
'Cause heaven's not the great beyond, you can be there every
day
Could be talking to a stranger in some coffee shop café
And Hell is not some place below, it's more a state of mind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind"
Cause heaven's not the great beyond, you can be there every
day
Could be talking to a stranger in some coffee shop café
And Hell is not some place below, it's more a state of mind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind
It's a sad or lost or wasted day or a friend you've left behind
Hit the Road
Again (D-18)
©2005 Gary Taylor
I was handmade in Nazareth the one that's in PA.
Built of polished wood and steel in early '48
They packed me in a guitar case and put me on a train
Just another shiny face into the springtime rain
I was bought by a man in Memphis for his baby's lullaby
He was pretty new at this but you know so was I
So we grew up together till I got traded off for rent
But I was glad to help out 'cause the money'd all been spent
I've been in every pawn shop all around this town
Watching hoping everyday like a dog inside a pound
Spent nights dark and silent 'til the right person comes in
Then it's pay the man tune me up and hit the road again
Then it's pay the man tune me up and hit the road again
Well we almost made the big time, Nashville Tennessee
Came close on that record deal old Jimmy Lee and me
And this crack I got that very day when he got into the fight
Bet he drank a quart of whisky and we sang George Jones all night
I traded hands three times one night in an all night poker
game
Then we drifted down to Richmond town no longer seeking fame
My path has taken twists and turns could have gone another way
But it seems that dreams don't burn out fast they just sort of
drift… away
And my spruce top it has yellowed from the smoke inside these
bars
My sound you know has mellowed I'm just a beat up road guitar
All the songs I seem to play get slower every day
and the crowds are growing smaller everyplace we play
Repeat chorus
Then one day through that pawn shop door a kind old man came
in
He said "I'm searching for a guitar that I knew as a kid
My father'd play me lullabies before he passed away
Those songs of love he sang have made me what I am today"
Alt Chorus w/twist
Hope
©2008 Gary Taylor
I said, "Hello there pretty lady, can I buy you your next
drink
No strings attached, if I sit alone, it gives me too much time
to think
But, I couldn't help but notice that you looked a little sad
Maybe I can offer up some hope, maybe things just aren't that
bad"
She said, "Here's a picture of my husband, he's a soldier
in the war
He's proud to serve his country and to settle up that score
And I hope that he'll come home soon, my soul would then be free
Thanks for the drink, I gotta go, I hope he will be calling me"
Hope can give you comfort hope can give you rest
Hope can find a way back home when you're out there on a quest
And hope can frame a future when you're running from the past
But when the hourglass of hope runs dry, it'll slip right through
your grasp
He said, "Yes I see her here most every night as I work
behind the bar
She pretty much keeps to herself, her gaze is always far
And her husband was taken hostage while on patrol last May
She ain't heard nothing from him, was a year ago, this very day"
Hope can give you comfort and hope can give you rest
Hope can find a way back home when you're out there on a quest
hope can frame a future when you're running from the past
But when the hourglass of hope runs dry, it'll slip right through
your grasp
When the dark blue car pulled to her house, with two soldiers
from the corps
Her heart was racing faster than the knock upon the door
Hope can give you comfort hope can give you rest
Hope can find a way back home when you're out there on a quest
Hope can frame a future when you're running from the past
But when the hourglass of hope runs dry, it'll slip right through
your grasp
shatter like a glass..shatter like a glass
I Feel The
Rain
© 2005 Smythe and Taylor
Storm sweeping in, from across the plain,
and the mesa to the west
I'll be soaked in five, it reminds me I'm alive,
it's a time I like the best
Then it hit me in the face, can't remember any case,
Where there was day without the night
Without the storm, without the wind,
without the thunder and the rain
the sun wouldn't seem so bright
I feel the rain, coming down a mountain pass
I feel the rain, it ain't gonna last
I feel the rain, wait here and hold fast
Just before the sun, I feel the rain
So when the struggle and the strife
that's in everybody's life, is draggin' you on down
It's just a little mist, we need it to exist,
you ain't gonna drown
like passing of the storm, night before the morn,
and the dark before the day
Don't blame others when you fall,
you can change it all, there's brightness in the gray
Repeat Chorus
Instr break
Repeat Chorus
I got you
I got you
I got you (to see me through)
You got me, too
Everybody needs a good example
and not another lame excuse
Everybody needs someone to listen
And to tell you the truth
(CHORUS)
I'm Takin
It With Me When I Go
©2005 Gary Taylor
One day not many years from now I'll take that final trip
Float on into heaven give gravity the slip
All my earthly duties will be tied up in a bow
But I'm takin' it with me when I go
I'm takin' it with me when I go
Look behind my hearse you'll see a trailer rollin' slow
Well I spent all my lifetime collecting all that stuff
So I'm takin' it with me when I go
I'll ride on into heaven in my caddy coupe de ville
The angels at the pearly gates they should get quite a thrill
St Pete will say to me "son hey that is one sweet ride
And it goes well with that blonde that's sittin' by your side"
Chorus
Well I'll have a case of Heineken right there in the trunk
I spent my whole life in these bars, I ain't some kind of monk.
And when they see me roll it out they all will sing and dance
Well there must be beer I heaven they all will sing and dance
Well there must be beer in heaven but hey why take the chance?
Chorus
Well I'll pack up this old Gibson for my trip up to the stars
I've had that guitar all my life from Spain to Zanzibar
I'll be a saviour in the sky with that earthly souvenir
Y'know harp music, it must get old after a thousand years
Chorus
At the reading of my will you know a few tears will be shed
And it will be both short and sweet just two lines will be read
"I hope you will not hold your breath as I decompose
Cause I'm takin' it with me when I go"
In Each Other's
Arms
©2005 TC Smythe
The rain is fallin softly on the edges of my dream
And the thunder seems a thousand miles away
Can't tell if i'm sleeping
Or floating somewhere in between
The night is fading slowly into day
Don't wanna wake you
From the slumber that you're in
The rise and fall of your breathing matches mine
The giving and taking
Of passionate love making
Has led us to a sunday spending time
In each other's arms
The rain is fallin softly on my kitchen windowsill
And the hours ahead are less than those behind
I don't wanna leave
But this cruel reality
Won't let us spend another hour's time
I don't wanna wake up
And i wish i could pretend
The clock on the wall ain't markin time
The giving and taking
Of our passionate lovemakeing
Has led us to this love we've fallen in
In each other's arms
In each others arms
"Keep
the World Out Today"
©2008 Gary Taylor
Frost on the window, and the snow's covered the gate
Those errands we'd planned on, will just have to wait
Put some logs on the fire, it'll color the grey
keep the world out today
Power went out - but that's ok
Slow is the speed, we're moving today
We've got these covers, to blanket the chill
Let the world do what it will
I've been feeling so stressful, but you made me so restful
The storm's slowed this town to a crawl
If it was fate, well, I'm gonna be grateful
There's just the two of us here and that's enough for me dear
So pour me a coffee, with a sugar or two
Don't need no game plan, don't want nothing but you
Light a few candles, and the shadows can stay
Just keep the world out today
Instrumental (Verse)
I've been feeling so stressful, but you made me so restful
The storm's slowed this town to a crawl
If it was fate, well, I'm gonna be grateful
There's just the two of us here and that's enough for me dear
So pour me a coffee, with a sugar or two
Don't need no game plan, don't want nothing but you
Light a few candles, and the shadows can stay
Just keep the world out today
Tag
Keep the world out today X3
Killing Me
Softly
©2000 Gary Taylor Original Copyright 1972 by Charles Fox
and Norman Gimble
I heard they had some good songs, there at the open mic.
And since its price was free, I thought I'd go that night.
And there he was like Dylan, except his voice was worse.
Drumming my face with my fingers, watching the clock on the
wall.
Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly with his song.
Wasting my evening with his song.
Killing me softly with his song.
He'd changed his strings last evening, of course they wouldn't
tune.
The G-string flat, the high E halfway to the moon.
But then he cranked it louder, feedback echoed through the room.
Plugging my ears with my fingers, watching the dust on the
floor.
Killing me softly with his songs, killing me softly with his songs.
Wasting my evening with his song.
Killing me softly with his song.
His voice was strange, it wavered, more than a little flat
Successful synthezation of the sound of strangling cats
But then it hardly mattered, with rhymes so scattered
Drumming my face with my fingers, watching the clock on the
wall
Killing me softly with his song, killing me softly with his song.
Wasting my evening with his song.
Killing me softly with his song.
As I drove home that evening, I thought about that night
I vowed to not return to hear the open mic
You get just what you pay for, when they play for free
Chorus
Maybe It's
Because I'm Missing You
©2005 Gary Taylor
The midnight docks are icy after frozen afternoons
I pull my coat around me like a poorly spun cocoon
Maybe it's the wind blown all the way from Saskatoon
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
We sailed out of Cleveland headed north to silver bay
Tonight the cold's my only friend and the water's steely gray
Maybe it just sunk in that my home's so far away
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
As we left the Cuyahoga when I shipped out they did say
Well there's nothing quite as cold as Lake Superior in May
And I begin to think they might be right but anyway
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
Maybe it's the time of day when your mind plays tricks on you
Its funny how these gales get through the bottoms of my shoes
Maybe it's the darkness in that sliver of a moon
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
chorus
instr break
So another lonely night has passed on lake superior
Soon the rising morning fog unveils the rocky shore
And the reason for this melancholy I don't know no more
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
Chorus
Maybe it's the wind blown all the way from Saskatoon
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
Maybe it the darkness in that sliver of a moon
Maybe it's because I'm missing you
THE SUN COMES UP A BELL IS RINGIN'
THE DAY BEGINS WITH HIS MOMMA SINGIN'
A MORNIN' TUNE TO MAKE HIM SMILE
IT'LL WAKE HIM UP IN A LITTLE WHILE
chorus
AND HIS DREAMS WILL FADE AWAY
TO RETURN ANOTHER DAY
BUT FOR NOW HE'LL MAKE HIS BED SO HE CAN PLAY
I REMEMBER WAY BACK WHEN,
THE WORLD WAS SIMPLE THEN
AND I REMEMBER HOW MY MOMMA DID THE SAME
WHEN SHE SANG A SONG TO ME EVERYDAY
"WAKE UP, WAKE UP YOU SLEEPY HEAD
GET UP GET UP GET OUT OF BED.
IT'S A BRAND NEW DAY ON GOD'S GREEN EARTH
SO PLAY FOR ALL YOU'RE WORTH.
LIKE YOU HAVE EVERY DAY SINCE YOUR BIRTH."
Chorus
Tag
THE SUN COMES UP A BELL IS RINGIN'
THE DAY BEGINS WITH HIS MOMMA SINGIN'
My Real Hometown
© 2000 T. C. Smythe
I'm missin' a place that you'd never dream of
The desert is callin to my heart
A desperate town only a native could love
And it's just ten hours away if i start
Two weeks from water and five feet from hell
Between the jackrabbits and the rusty oil wells
The wind won't stop and the rain won't come down
Midland, Texas is my real hometown
Prospectin' stories and old broken hearts
They're as common as sand where I'm from
I wanted to leave there for the big city lights
I should'a known there was no place to run
Repeat Chorus
I miss the wind blowin' my hair
The purple and gold in the Friday night air
I wish you could see what this place means to me
What am i waiting for?
I'm leaving my job and I'm packin' my car
Driving all night following a western star
The middle of nowhere is somewhere to me
And I'm tired but I'm happy to be
Repeat Chorus
Bought an suv back in 93
It was the perfect transportation for my family
It has great big doors and great big tires
And if we had a wreck at least the kids would survive
It gets 19 miles to a gallon of gas
Four thousand pounds of steel won't let it go very fast
From point a to point b is nothing short of a blast
And i can see -out the window for miles in my suv-
It used to be pretty clean
But ten years of hard road makes it look pretty mean
The other soccer moms keep their distance
When my kids arrive at school
When we're on our way to the soccer game
The other moms stop laughing and they start changing lanes
They're hanging up their cell phones and they call me dirty names
But i can see where they're coming from in my suv
When i'm on the road it's my hotel room
It's my rollin sanctuary with a view of the moon
Can you see the moon?
Some folks today don't like em 'cause they tear up the road
But they don't have 800 pounds so gear to unload
They think that i'm a terrorist or i hate the trees
But how many of their cars run on electricity?
It aint a truck - it aint a car
It's a mutant ninja camper that eats gravel and tar
It's a quart of oil for breakfast that ends up in the yard
I don't wanna see - the bill for the repair on my suv
Oh David it's so cold outside, but I think that it's colder
within -
If you can't get yourself out won't you please let somebody in..
The nights get longer in the wintertime, and sometimes the
darkness gets you down
'Cause the sun's always shining on someone somewhere else like
your turn will never come 'round
Lift your head up and take a good look outside at the lights
so pretty downtown
it's the darkness that makes them shine- They're fading away -
but I'll be around
Chorus
The days get longer in the summertime And sometimes you'd like
to sit in the shade
the breeze is always blowing on someone somewhere else And it
never seems to blow your way
And the things that you want seem so far away But they're closer
than they might appear
your troubles found you one at a time and one by one they will
disappear
Instr over chorus
You could hide from the sun you could run from the wind and
look away from the gaze of the moon
But You can't be all things to all people on earth and nobody's
asking you to.
Chorus
Soft Place
To Land
©1999 TC Smythe
I surrender to the wind the precious memories of a friend
To tell the truth I cannot bear to let him go
but there's nothing I can do I'll have to find my own way through
the bitterness and broken pieces of my soul
Gathered here to say goodbye commit your spirit to the sky
so jealous of angels' company
One day we'll meet again reunite as long lost friends
but that day won't get here soon enough for me
So well loved you always gave a little more
So well missed that it cuts me to the core
In my heart you're still holding my hand
You gave the hard times a soft place to land
Repeat Chorus
Southbound
Train
©2005 Gary Taylor
I was standing by the window when the Warsaw order came
Just a suitcase to the station Got on board the southbound train
A hundred people in a boxcar as it swung into the night
Past the snowfilled fields a-hiding springtime's flowers from
our sight
Someone softly started hummin' and we joined in the refrain
As the rails clicked out the rhythm sliding south upon that train
So they took all our possessions they took my glasses and my
ring
But I could still see very clearly that we would ever see another
spring
So I pray that death comes quickly deep inside these concrete
walls
Take my body back to the country just before the next snowfall
I will miss the field of summer and I will miss the flowers
of spring.
And I will miss the love you gave me long before the southbound
train
So keep my picture in a locket and keep my love inside your
heart
And tell my boy I died thinking of him and that we will never
really part
So keep well my little darlin' Don't long dwell upon the pain
Cause I will meet you up in heaven where there'll be no southbound
train
(Instr Break into outro of "Will The Circle Be Unbroken")
A Spirit All
Her Own
C 1999 TC Smythe
It's hard to believe she's turning four years old today
When a babe in arms is all I've ever known
Seems like I was changing diapers only yesterday
Oh how she's grown
I believe she's come into her own
She's runnin' hard to catch up with her brother
She wants to be just like him 'cause he's five
Slowly gaining ground taking one step then another
Until she was the fastest thing alive
And when she blew right by him he was slack-jawed in surprise
He was slack-jawed in surprise.
When I look at her I'm really lookin' back at me
Remembering the child I used to know
The differences are many but the similarities
Are hittin' pretty close to home
A neighbor down the street called up to tell me
That a child her age should have more self control
I'd be wealthy if I got a penny everytime I'd catch her
Shuckin' off her drawers and flyin' jaybird down the road
No shame at all for what she had to show
She had a spirit all her own
The Only Lonely
One
©2005 Gary Taylor
I am the lonely one here among these trees
And I am the only one, as far as I can see
No one has felt the emptiness of this self-made refugee
Am I the only lonely one?
Night here on this mountain, two days from my car
The world's as far away from me as these hundred million stars
I wonder what you're doing now, I wonder where you are
Am the only lonely one?
I'm the only lonely one, here in evening's chill
There's a hollowness inside me now, no one but you can fill
It hit me hard, quite by surprise, as I rest above these hills
Am I the only lonely one?
My parting words were not quite right, you've forgotten them
by now
But with every step along this path, they shadow me somehow
If I could take them back, I would, wouldn't matter anyhow
If I'm the only lonely one
(chorus)
(chorus)
For a thousand years before me to a thousand years from now
No one will ever feel exactly what I'm feeling now
The air is still and silent, these wandering thoughts allow
Am the only lonely one?
I'm the only lonely one, here in evening's chill
There's a hollowness inside me now, no one but you can fill
It hit me hard, quite by surprise, as I rest above these hills
Am I the only lonely one?
There's a hollowness inside me now, no one but you can fill
Am I the only lonely one?
Real men don't like lawyers
Real men don't like rules
Real men'd rather kick your ass than sue
Real men scare each other
Real men don't complain
Real men shoulder everybody's pain
And real men fight with a flood of their emotions
And they love to watch real women walkin' by
And real men lose their innocence in wars across the ocean
Real men think their fathers never die
No they just can't seem to tell that man goodbye
Real men don't ask directions
so they stand out in the cold
but real men need real women more than gold
and real men don't say nigger
and real men don't say 'die'
and real men love their babies more than Jesus
And real men lay their dreams aside in quiet desperation
and they learn to build a wall around their hearts
Real men long to live their lives in love and contemplation
but they just can't find the place and time to start
And real men cry when their daughters up and marry
And their sons are old enough to be men too
But most ly all alone at night with the burdens that they carry
Cause this world - it just won't let em do
What a real man's gotta do.
The President
Said
©2005 TC Smythe
The president said - we gotta circle up the wagons
the wolves are howlin' at your door and your children are in danger
The president said - you're either with us or against us,
I can't tell you how I know, but trust in me
So we filed into the Walmart stores for plastic bags and matches
taped 'em tight down to the floor - don't breathe the evil air.
safe within our bubbles we battened down the hatches -
Osama was still out there but our boys were well prepared
The president said - I'm gonna need a little money.
87 billion oughta be just fine
The president said - Oooh I underestimated
400 billion more should keep the middle east in line.
So we ponied up our money then we bought magnetic ribbons
so everyone would know whose side we're on
Surrendered every liberty our forefathers had given
and trusted that it wouldn't take too long
The president said - now we've got 'em where we want 'em -
democracy is what I have in mind
The president said - mission accomplished
we'll reach the gates of Baghdad at some point near Christmastime
But the exit plan was doomed to fail because there wasn't one
2000 angels later and it's still a combat zone
and they'll continue doing this as long as we condone
what the president said.
The Yard Man
©1999 T. C. Stiteler/T. C. Smythe
He checks my plumbing and buffs my floors
When it gets hot we open the doors
and let the heat roll out
It doesn't get any better
Ooh I love him when it's sunny
and I love him through stormy weather
CHORUS
Don't'cha know we got the neighbors talkin'
Mr. Smith and me just keep on walkin
I don't care that the neighbors say
I'm gonna make that man mine one day
INSTR
I got a good man
He mows my yard
Sometimes its easy but mostly it's hard ----work
It doesn't get any better
Ooh I love him when it's sunny
and I love him through stormy weather
Tip The Ashes
c TC Smythe 1998
I tipped the ashes from my cigarette and I turned out the light
Another day's gone but sleep didn't come to these tired eyes.
I counted sheep until they fell asleep but it didn't help me none
I had to pretend to hold you again 'til the sunrise
Your memory is still burnin' in my mind
I know I should forget you but I find
(that I) I wonder what you're doin' with your time
I can't let go of you memoy tonight
I tip the bottle to the glass but the whiskey wouldn't last
me
long enough to wash away these tears I cry
Like a waterfall they keep rollin' in a river down my face
to a time and place when we were walkin' down the aisle
repeat chorus
If my eyes had only recognized the tears you cried for me
and if my head had only known the price I'd pay
If my heart believed you'd really leave,
I'd have known the words to say
and you'd fall back in my arms to stay
repeat chorus
Tag
I can't let go of your memory
The past is still haunting me
I can't let go of your memory tonight
The Unholy
Land
© Gary Taylor 2003
Rockets tearing down the Holy Land, light an unholy night
What's stood for several thousand years, destroyed before your
sight
Republican, or Democrat, an Arab, or a Jew.
This just don't make sense to me and it can't make sense to you.
I hear the lies of governments on both sides of the fence
All the hollow arguments with self serving confidence
Well I hear the lies you tell yourself, you debate with such skill
But there's no footnotes in the bible when it says you should
not kill
But don't murder in the name of Allah, don't murder in the
name of God
You might pray for something better, say "it's really not
my job"
But the answer's right in front of you from the mirror the truth
will tell
I swear if Jesus Christ was here he'd send ya straight to hell
You might pray to the God in heaven, to stop the violence
You might ask him just why he allows such senseless turbulence
But if you really listen to your heart He'd make you understand
The only way to do his work down here is through your hands
Chorus
Maybe Someday in the future a lifetime away from here
We'll all sit down together with no doubt or fear
Cause there is no more new frontier, it's here we make a stand
The world may finally come to be the promised Holy Land
chorus
The Ballad
of Wanda Vista
c 1998 T.C. Smythe
Her daddy worked for the bottle, so when he up and died
Wanda Vista buried him with an empty fifth of rye…
Jerkin' sodas all day long and pullin' nights was longer still
But it taught her how to make a dime and forge an iron will
She wouldn't walk the streets but she could dance on Vaudeville
Wanda Vista wouldn't trade her pride to pay the bills.
"Wanda Vista, Wanda Vista your story's sad but true
Your Daddy's with the spirits and he ain't no use to you
Your dreams will have to keep until your workin' day is through
Wanda Vista don't give up until you see your dreams come true"
Wanda found a husband in the spring of `33
He took her family in and showed them wealth and charity
She married for the money and it broke her heart to lie
To soothe her guilty conscience, she'd take a breath and sigh,
Chorus
And glory hallelujah!! how the years went flyin' past
Their two hearts found each other and they fell in love at last
Her sad and broken childhood faded like the distant past
and to her daddy's memory she raised an empty glass
Alt Chorus
Tag
When Maybelle
Picked the Wildwood Flower
© 2008 Gary Taylor
He said I've played every guitar that there is to hear
I've owned this shop on Broadway for nearly thirty years
I've traded far more instruments than the beach has grains of
sand
I thought I'd seen them all and held them all there in my hand
But today I opened up a case that took my breath away
The note inside confirmed it, back by bill of sale
It's not the wood or vintage age that gives this one its power
This guitar was there when Maybelle wrote the Wildwood Flower
Chorus
When Maybelle picked the Wildwood Flower she played on this guitar
Gave birth to country music 'fore Nashville had its stars
I'll sell those prewar flattops, to some the holy grail
But this simple arch-top wood and steel, well it's just not for
sale
Way back in the twenties she wrote a page of history
When Maybelle and the Carters came to Tennessee
It wasn't just the harmony and those old time gospel songs
It was Maybelle's strumming ringing out, as she played along
Then he gazed at that old guitar and lifted it with pride
Many years of travel were worn into its side
He said "before you go, I'll play a little song for you
I'll pick the Wildwood Flower just like Maybelle used to do
(chorus)
Tag
I'll sell that prewar 45, to some the holy grail
But this simple arch-top wood and steel, well it's just not for
sale
You can have those Martins, Guild and Gretch's, but this one's
not for sale
When You're
Dead
©2008 TC Smythe/Susan Gibson
When you're dead you're not sick
When you're dead you're not angry
When you're dead you're not hungry not lonely or sad
When you're dead you're not homesick
When you're dead you're not restless
When you're dead you're not missin' things you never had
When you're dead you're not dyin'
When you're dead you're not cryin'
When you're dead you're not tryin' to pay off your bills
When you're dead you're not spoke ill of and you're not broken
willed
When you're dead you're not you don't care you were never fulfilled
some folks believe in a glorious end
they'll be made whole and see loved ones again
i hope it's true but if I don't get in
this is me sayin' "I love you, my friend"
When you're dead you're not fighting
When you're dead you're not fussing
When you're dead you're not rushing 'you're not runnin' late
When you're dead you're not muslim
When you're dead you're not christian
When you're dead you're not different because of your faith
we're gonna miss you hanging around
you're free from the gravity that held you down
if you can still hear me through that glittering fog-
Congratulations you lucky dog.