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Where I Come From

Me and my baby, walking in the moonlight,
Truck’s run out of gas but everything is alright
Lengths that I would go to get the girl alone
Nah, she ain’t no dummy, we’re taking the slow way home.
Listen to the bullfrog, singing to his girlie.
Stars are disappearing as late turns to early.
There’s all kind of wonders under God’s sun,
This one is where I come from.
Its a miracle I made it, through my adolescence.
A little more evidence of some divine presence.
Waiting by the carryout fro some college kid to buy us beer,
There’s a weak jazz station we got to drive the ridge tops to hear.
Anatomy classes at the drive-in movie,
I’m a straight A student, the professor’s name is Susie.
There’s all kind of wonders under God’s sun,
This one is where I come from.
Dirt road dust, katydid scream, pickup truck rust, Saturday night dream,
Hound’s asleep in the shadows, air’s thick as mud,
River moving so slow like my appalachian blood.
I was drivin’ up 101 somewhere south of Montecito,
Mountains rising on my right, sun setting on the ocean below.
White mercedes in my mirror, about as big as some old albatross,
Wavin’ as they fly by, its Sam Elliot and Katherine Ross.
All that I could think of was my Ohio home,
There’s really no place sweeter beneath heaven’s dome.
There’s all kind of wonders under God’s sun,
This one is where I come from.

Untitled

I rise in the morning, lay down at night,
Weep in the shadows, dance in the light,
I have little command of whats wrong and whats right,
So leave me now and hold me tight,
So I can rise in the morning and lay down at night.
I take what I need and I ;leave the rest,
Ponder this puzzle, make the good guess,
Leave my boots on the table, I do not mind the mess,
Take my girl to the dance in her new party dress,
I take just what I need and I leave the rest.
So rock me in my sorrow, bathe me in delight,
Don’t deny tomorrow with tonight.
Just as everything old is once again new,
What I have believed seems no longer true,
And as effortless as this yellow day goes blue,
You will slip from my life and fade from my view.

The Stuff of Dreams

I was waiting on my order at the local pizza parlor,
Perusing the fliers papering the wall
The chinese auction, the marching band concert,
the missing teenager made my heart start to fall.
But in the reflection of a humming pop cooler
A familiar shape stepping out of a car.
The same easy grace, the same trim figure,
All the miles and years later, my god, here you are.
Darlene, you are the stuff of a young man’s dream,
Darlene, I’m not quite as old as I might seem.
You used to sell those bagels out at the stand on the corner
And I would drive around the block, repeatedly.
The last time I saw you, you were ten months pregnant,
I thought the glow of your face would sunburn me.
Darlene, you are the stuff of a young man’s dream.
Darlene, tonight I feel seventeen.
Oh I know there spouses, kids and complicated lives,
But just for a moment...
I am working on the problem, doing the research,
How to harness the power from the light of a smile.
Hey Mr. Nobel, in case you’re not certain
She could light up Stockholm for quite a while.
Darlene, you are the stuff of a young man’s dream.
Darlene, tell what does this dream means.
Darlene, you’re still the stuff of a young man’s dream.
Darlene, I may see you next time I sleep.

A Little Prayer

Stars disappear without warning.
The sound in my ear, the first bird of morning.
As the fog clears. A new day is forming.
Be with me now.
I open my eyes, draw back the curtain
To watch the sun rise on a world hurtin’
Cause one rule applies, nothing is certain.
Be with me now.
My strangled plea, this stifled tear,
Are the proof that I need, the truth is here.
For the faith I will see when nothing is clear,
Be with me now.
I will turn from the fight I been looking for.
The hard refuge of night, I will seek no more,
But look to sunlight outside my door.
Be with me now.
I will lift up my voice, open my heart
‘Cause this joyful noise is the better part
Of love’s simple choice, to end or to start.
Be with me now.

She Moves Me

I have lived here a long time now.
Leaves they rustle all around my feet.
I may dream of exotic places and
Ladies shrouded in mystery.
But she moves me,
She shakes me to the bone.
I won’t be no Marco Polo,
In spite of the roots I have grown,
She moves me.
Friends rally round emotional banners,
They got all that motivational righteous indignity.
And I can admire political passion
But they whisper, “Tsk, tsk, what will his cause be?”
I and I say,
She moves me, she shakes me to the bone
I don’t really know where it is that I go
But two go better than one
And she moves me.
Sunshine in a blue sky,
What’s this raindrop here in my eye?
He looks up and says,”Man, you look weary.
Where is that heart of which I have heard?
How do you stand between love and complacency?”
And I say son,”Love seems too limited a word.
Your momma moves me.
She shakes me to the bone.”
I don’t understand everything that I feel,
But one thing I have known,
Is she moves me.

The Morning Turn

Wisteria hanging round my door,
The catbird I've not seen before,
Sinking in the marsh grass to my knees,
The hemlock grove, the sycamore,
The path that leads to your front door.
Honeysuckle on the breeze.
All upon one hearts gamble,
All on a May mornings ramble.
The rolling stream she sings to me
Of all I hope will come to be
And the brook trout moving silent in her breast.
The redbud and the dogwood spring,
The purple martin circling,
The disappearing night deep in the west.
All upon one hearts gamble,
All on a May mornings ramble.
The movement from the corner of my eye,
The redtail rolling round the sky,
Dew drips from the leaves this morning late,
The lilac hanging in the mist,
Trembling like a boy once kissed
I am breathless at the promise of your gate.
All upon one hearts gamble,
All on a May mornings ramble.

I Only Want What I cannot Have

The night is cold but my head is hot.
I got these chills down where I should not.
I gave you water, you gave me wine,
I didn't want you till you were leavin' me behind.
Just one thing make me feel so bad,
I only want what I cannot have.
You say you love me and I say who cares.
You say forever, thats when I get scared.
You say why, I say because,
You say bye now a cold wind blows
Down your cool, blue highway, my troubled path.
I only want what I cannot have.
You fly so high while I crash and burn,
I could live forever and never learn.
But the grass is green and the well's run dry,
Bridges are burnin', got this log in my eye,
Laid my head on an angel's thigh,
I didn't want you till you said bye bye.
I can't be honest, I can't behave,
I only want what I cannot have.

Philosophy of Light

Make me a morning, fresh with dew,
Paint it with promise by the hand of you.
Place it easily by the roadside
That all may witness and wonder why
These things are easy, these things are hard,
More questions than answers growing in my backyard.
If I had one prayer for the strength to know how
To wrest the sorrow from your brow.
If I had one gift for the sleepless tonight
To stand a moment in your light.
These things are easy, these things are hard.
More questions than answers growing in my back yard.
For a new life you have gone away,
The most selfish heart couldn't ask you to stay.
Its also the measure of your grace
To shine that light on the world's face.
These things are easy, these things are hard.
More questions than answers growing in my backyard.
I may wander this wide world over,
All I've put together may fall apart,
I've but to look and I would discover you
Resting safely in my heart.
These things are easy, these things are hard.
More questions than answers growing in my backyard
These thing are easy, these things are not easy,
An answer is waking inside of me.

After Hours

Must be one in the morning, I've done another show.
Closed another joint down and I am alone.
The rest of the world seems to have someplace to go
In the bright lights of this town.
I am going home.
Its the same closing ritual, got to wrap those cables,
take down the mics, don't answer that phone.
Count up my tips, pay that bar bill,
Finally kill these lights
And go home.
Its such a strange game, trying to make people feel.
They can charge up a room, they can melt a stone.
Yet when they're gone, the stillness is real,
Silence will fill the gloom.
I will go home.
There's all kind of deadly ways
With which to lose my head,
But the one I'm addicted to
Lies asleep in my bed.
This night was made for the young and the dumb,
The wonderful and wild, the bad to the bone.
Years up here have left me with one rule of thumb:
Give it all up, and with a smile.
And then go home.

Bozo Blues

I'm going to Chicago, be on the Bozo Show.
I'm going to Chicago, be on the Bozo Show.
I don't know where Chicago is
But Mom I just gotta go.
My Daddy says up in Chicago, they really sing the blues.
My Daddy says up in Chicago, they can really sing the blues.
All I know is in Chicago, they where these really big red shoes.
Now Woody Woodpecker don't move me,
Freddy Flintstone's a chump,
If its abstract humor I'm looking for
Its clowns that make me jump.
I'm going to Chicago....
I went down to the crossroad, fell down on my knees.
I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees.
My Momma says I won't go nowhere, till I eat my peas.
I'm going to Chicago...

Late November

The porch swing sways, though no ones in it
But a few wet leaves, and memories.
The sky is white, the fields are silent
But for a squeaky swing in the chilly north breeze.
In late November, in late November.
Seven crows up on the highline
Even they are silent and sad.
They must stay and face the season
As if their sorrow was all they had.
In late November, in late November.
I no longer see the joy in changing
And desperately cling to that which is gone.
I will wrap up tighter and face the wind,
And make the effort to begin again.
Lost in the cold, whats a poor boy to do
But find my way back to a warm bed and you.
In late November, in late November.

Sorrows of Late Day

Come and sit with me awhile.
Slow the spinning of my head.
Watch the day die gently
In its burning bed.
Won't you sit with me a while.
Won't you shine that light on me.
Drive the darkness from my words.
Let the evening's musics be heard.
Come and shine your light on me.
Put your hand upon my chest,
Promise me I'm still alive.
Lay my fears to rest,
Let my faith survive.
Put your hand upon my chest.
So it is all that I will do,
To be in this place with you.
There will still be hope
When this day is through.
Won't you sit with me a while.