Dark & Drifting Eyes

walking home alone again 

it's not even midnight 

there's an emptiness upon my breath 

a candle to the light 

i just spent my last bill

on some feeling for my eyes 

and I've never felt better 

that's just what the people say 

just another form of talking 

just to pass the time away 

the sidewalks filled with lonely cracks, none got there themselves 

they had that restless neighbor 

who was pushing them to hell 

and I feel my body warming 

with every feeling that could rise 

just another feeling pulling 

on my dark and drifting eyes 

oh but nothing is forgiven 

at least that’s what i tell myself 

helps me sit and drink my coffee 

without wandering who i’ll tell 

about the numbness eating 

up my parted mind

all about my ghostless stories 

that never should be refined 

oh I’m sick of country ballads 

that make you feel like you’re the one 

who threw away your lovely

raised your finger to the sun 

i’m just a dreamer 

got my own blues all bogged down fine 

something cracking down the walls of my tattered mind 

i’ve played the part of happy

fulfilled all with ease 

speaking to the rhythm 

of something i should believe 

but I’ve given that all up 

left it behind 

stuck my finger out the window 

of a dissonant time

left everyone who knew me 

wishing for themselves 

playing the part of romeo 

on somebody shelf 

sitting at the table 

hoping to win on my last dime 

trying not to fall into 

my/them dark and drifting eyes 

just another hopeless dreamer 

with the dark and drifting eyes 

Saskatoon

little sally went down to bama

and ate up an apple tree

and sang all bright and pretty

and forgot about you and me

oh how she sang so goddamn pretty

better than all of us combined

but how she felt so very lovely

we could've all not let her shine

oh how she was a little baby

all bright and happy new

until she met a little rambler

and ran away to saskatoon

oh how he played his harp so dearly

made her warm and gladly smile

till he ran off with another

and left her and the baby wild

she made him smile so nearly often

all around in summertime

but come winter it got colder

and for him she didn't feel right

at the tavern he'd drink so lonely

one more shot of liquor too

he’d drink em down and get up dancin

to the band playin so smooth

now that time has passed so slowly

he takes another and thinks of her

and the baby he left so lonely

and how much his old soul hurts

just another song of heartbreak

like so often heard before

how they held each other dearly

until the pain of two was sore

From The Window of Some Far Away Hotel

hey can i say hello

would that be alright with you

maybe it can wait

you know it's not too late for the truth

and oh my song has told

me other things about you

i hope it's not too long

better to write things out

before they go wrong

spend what you can think

on the money that'll get you through

stop, but don't you repeat

everything before your next move

i hope it all goes well for you

you won't see me coming

and i won't see you come through

it's too close this time for me to tell

from the window of some far away hotel

smoke gathers on the big glass pane

i can't see outside but i feel it's starting to rain

thoughts thrown across the floor

start to bring me back to what i was before

patience is the key

but it's stored so far away

i can't find my coat

it's dark outside

and i can't think of what to say

and when the big man rings that big ole bell

i'll be staring out the window of some far away hotel

waiting for you all the time in some far away hotel

Honolulu Baby

sheʼs waiting for me

i love her you see

when iʼm down in the land of honolu-hoo

sheʼs my baby to be

iʼll just forget tennessee

to be with my honolulu baby

my honolulu

honolulu

my honolulu baby to be

sheʼs crying for me

i love her you see

and ill never leave my honolulu baby

when i hopped on the plane

her memory wraps round my brain

and i never feel love like honolulu

it’s the best in the land

itʼs something more than grand

and ill never leave my honolulu baby

so when Iʼm out in the bay

of californ- i - a

ill be dreaming of my honolulu baby

oh the sweet dreams to be

who needs prosperity

when youʼve got a little honolulu baby

Burnt Out Believer

I wish it would storm 

All over my day

I'd feel better 

I wouldn't even mind the rain 

I wish it would pour down the dirty drain 

Wash me clean, get rid of all my pain 

‘Cause I need help 

From someone 

I need a burnt out believer 

Who won't ever let me run 

I need faith all up in my skin 

I need a woman at the door who will sometimes let me in 

I need trust 

Somewhere down the line 

I need a subway ticket 

And a half opened bottle of wine

A New York City afternoon 

Climbing on the boss man's latter 

While at me he's yelling "buffoon" 

‘Cause I need help 

From someone 

I need a burnt out believer 

Who won't ever let me run 

I need faith all up in my skin 

I need a woman at the door who will sometimes let me in 

There's love for the broken 

Sickness for the poor 

There's a dead man knocking 

But no one will answer the door 

So he'll just sleep 

On the dirty stairs 

Not a blanket from the family 

Not a one seems to care 

Cause I need help 

From someone 

I need a burnt out believer 

Who won't ever let me run 

I need faith all up in my skin 

I need a woman at the door who will sometimes let me in 

It's a long beginning 

A good ways to run 

I made a deal with a dealer 

But he left me short and done 

There's a higher mountain 

A deeper sea 

You can pray all you want 

But won't somebody just

help me 

because I need help 

From someone 

I need a burnt out believer 

Who won't ever let me run 

I need faith all up in my skin 

I need a woman at the door who will sometimes let me in 

Dime Novel

like a dime novel, short and sweet

gotta read something with my bite to eat

pick up something to pass the time

get a dime novel, it’s only a dime

stories they range in such

substance some just as much

about as deep as the sea

if you're wadin’ only 3 feet deep

like a dime novel, short and sweet

gotta read something with my bite to eat

pick up something to pass the time

get a dime novel, it’s only a dime

smokin on the patio

not enough money to see the show

now i've got plenty of time

to read my dime novel, so sublime

like a dime novel, short and sweet

gotta read something with my bite to eat

pick up something to pass the time

get a dime novel, it’s only a dime

a dime novel to ease the pain

sit and read about falling rain

on the corner grocery store

patio by the door

like a dime novel, short and sweet

gotta read something with my bite to eat

pick up something to pass the time

get a dime novel, it’s only a dime

Spending All My Money In The Rain

i’d sit out on the river and watch the sun go down

and just think about how life’s going by

i guess they’re still my younger days, whatever it is i’m in

because i haven't reached the time to give up trying

i don’t know too many people, but the few that i do

seem to know too much about me than i’d care

but that’s just how it goes when you tell them your real name

and if i could go back i wouldn't dare

spending all my money in the rain

buying a ticket to the west

no one cares if i ever show again

i’m sure they didn't even like me best

couldn't get no one to stay that didn't drive me mad

i guess I'm just easy to get to

whoever thinks my head is gone just hasn't heard me speak

about something i said i’m getting to

days of past have come and gone, there’s nothing i can do

about something i said that i don't like

and peace is just a metaphor for losing to the truth

to tell me off you gotta wait cuz there’s a line

spending all my money in the rain

buying a ticket to the west

no one cares if i ever show again

i’m sure they didn't even like me best

Thinkin' Too Much

I got in a little too late last night

my head was feeling woozy my feet just right

so i got down, guess i got a feel for the room

my hands were shaking, my eyes felt numb

i was wondering just what in the hell i’d done

so i laughed, fell down and picked up the phone

I heard a voice screaming through my ear

I said hush now honey, what’s the matter dear

she said don't you feel a little bit bad

for all the screaming and a fighting and the words that we had

I said ease up honey, cuz it won’t bite

you've been thinking too much but you'll be alright

i felt like my brain had rattled the floor

I had a ten year headache, doc prescribed a little more

i said you cant say , a word to another soul

she smiled a little bit and then she laughed

i said what’s so funny that you're smirking at

its been too long since i seen someone that way

she kicked me right back on the floor

said get ahold off yourself don't come back no more

so i sat up, ran to the corner book store

i could see the dust gathering on the page

that’s when i knew it was my darkest day and id got caught

guess there’s none for me no more

I heard a voice screaming through my ears

saying you look familiar have i seen you here

i just shrugged my shoulders, said maybe so

but i don't like talking so could you go

she ran out the door looking real mad

but when i saw her leave it didn't make me sad

I've been thinking too much and its driving me mad

i’ve been thinking too much and its making me mad

That Ole Hen In The Cuckoo Barn

That ole hen in the cuckoo barn , she lays pretty eggs

when i go to see her she’s cacklin’ again

when i get up close to her, she flutters away

she’s just like them pretty ole girls who you can’t pay to stay

they always run away

well she’s real ole lazy bird, sits around all day sits around long enough just

to run away

it’s always when i come her way

well this old hen in the cuckoo barn is pretty as a chick can be

but when i step into the barn, she makes like a tree and leaves

just like a wife to be, she’s as crazy as can be

That ole hen in the cuckoo barn , she lays pretty eggs

when i go to see her she’s cacklin’ again

Waiting Around on You

Mama don't cry when I say goodbye I'm gonna be back someday

I left here alone

Someone throw me a bone

And something for fair pay

Put out like a fire that had just been burning

Started like a scene from a film

Sweatin like a girl on prom night nervous

Trying to get away from the world

c//

I wake up every morning

Sometimes afternoon

I can't stop thinking

Can't start sleeping

My mind just wanders the room

The days go by like someone's gonna cry

And I'm waitin around on you

Need a cigarette to calm my nerves

Need a song to calm my mind

I guess I need a number of things

But they're not so easy to find

I can't take enough to get me goin

Got too much to do instead

My minds on the brink

My hearts with a shrink

And I'm livin in Kansas instead

c//

I wake up every morning

Sometimes afternoon

I can't stop thinking

Can't start sleeping

My mind just wanders the room

The days go by like someone's gonna cry

And I'm waitin around on you

And I'm waitin around on you

The days go by like someone's gonna cry

And I'm waitin around on you

Cry For Freedom

I’ve got a number to my name 

I’ve got a whole lot of letters bursting at the seams

i’m walking like glory, shining from above 

i’m a let loose loser and a walking talking kind of son 

so i’ll wait for the evening 

to get up 

i’ll scream like moses 

at my coffee cup 

just screaming for freedom, a kind of love 

screaming for a light at the door and a secondhanded baseball glove 

i talk too much, about myself

i don’t leave enough room for somebody else on my shelf 

but i just got a busy, burning kind of mind 

i got a runway tickin and a old watch rollin kind

oh conductor, won’t ya save my soul 

would ya lend me a hand, my plow hand’s getting old 

I’m waiting for the doctor, to conduce my pain 

i wish he’d just throw me the bottle and let me on my way 

a cry for freedom, a cry for love