Twenty-Nine and Gone
I see a shadow coming down the road
December 31st into January One
Somewhere out of Bristol this side of Oak Hill
Like a black locomotive coming full tilt
They say we fought to our very last nerve
And loved too much, way too much
Damn that whiskey every master it serves
Gimme something stronger for all this pain
Twenty-nine and gone, twenty-nine and gone
There’s a voice that’s calling this black sheep son
I can see the moon coming over the hill
And hear that song about the whippoorwill
Can’t help but cry for a lonesome son
Don’t wipe your tears I’m twenty-nine and gone
I couldn’t have loved you more
Sometimes I hold on too tight
It wasn’t so pretty our honkytonk dream
Lord that whiskey and sweet morphine
Twenty-nine and gone, twenty-nine and gone
There’s a voice that’s calling this black sheep son
I can see the moon coming over the hill
And hear that song about the whippoorwill
Can’t help but cry for this lonesome son
Don’t wipe your tears I’m twenty-nine and gone
All that pain and all that sorrow
Sweet sad songs and no tomorrows
All the money, cars and clothes
Just don’t change that lonesome road
It’s late gotta make it to the next show
Lord knows this ain’t my first rodeo
Blue Cadillac gimme one last shot
A good long sleep is ‘bout all I got
Twenty-nine and gone, twenty-nine and gone
There’s a voice that’s calling this black sheep son
I can see the moon coming over the hill
And hear that song about the whippoorwill
Can’t help but cry for a lonesome son
Don’t wipe your tears I’m twenty-nine and gone
I see a shadow coming down the road
December 31st or January One
Somewhere out of Bristol before Oak Hill
Like a black locomotive coming full tilt
Twenty-nine and gone, twenty-nine and gone
Twenty-nine and gone
Radio Darling
He had a song that played on the radio, I heard a hundred times and every time
I turned it louder, to hear it better, it was speaking to me
If there was a last kiss must have been a first, I don’t remember either,
just the shape of his mouth, it was wide and asymmetrical, and it was speaking to me
Radio darling
I have never been able to love halfway, he loved everything all at once, all of the time
Drinking whisky like it’s water and I’m not even kidding, we crossed every line
Faraway, love, take me with you far away, we spent half the day teaching a stray
to do that trick with a bone on her nose, and throwing a stick
Radio darling
The band so loud I can’t hear his voice
I can only see the shape of his words
And he is listening to everything at once
I don’t know how to make myself heard
So I’ll stay behind in this tiny town, I can’t speak the tongue and everyone
is a stranger, nothing lasts forever and a day I’ll take the fall
and he’s high and wired, feeling everything, all at once, all the time, but in the end
feeling everything all of the time is no different from feeling nothing at all
Radio darling
One-Stop
Twenty-dollar bill in my pocket
Twenty is all I got
Put it in the box to make things right
For all the things I did (said) last night
My words came out like bullets
Devil got hold of my tongue
No excuse and not making none
Was like a too tight leash on a junkyard dog
They say life ain’t much in this one-stop
Ten miles down the blacktop
What I’d give to get out of this place
I’d give ten times more to see mama’s face
And this good red (clay) mud is like blood to me
I pulled my brother off Fourteenth
With somebody doin’ something where he shouldn’t have been
Mama holds onto his high school ring
All us kids sure love to sing
Me I work for every dime
Paycheck to paycheck, sweating on the line
But a junkyard dog will even bite the hand
That feeds it, wish I could be more of a man
They say life ain’t much in this one-stop
Ten miles down the blacktop
What I’d give to get out of this place
I’d give ten times more to see mama’s face
This good red mud is like blood to me
I forgot to remember to forget
Me and Janey talking on the porch for hours
Now she’s with Ted, has a couple of kids
And all I got is grease stains on my trousers
How in hell did I find myself
Stuck in the mud like everybody else
I’m gonna take this twenty-dollar bill
Hope it buys forgiveness
Hope it speaks louder than my mean mouth did
And what it says is kindness
They say life ain’t much in this one-stop
Ten miles down the blacktop
What I’d give to get out of this place
I’d give a hundred times more to see mama’s face
This good red mud is like blood to me
Fight the Devil
She wore her hair in a long blonde braid
So you thought she’s be easy to understand
You couldn’t have been more wrong but you didn’t know it
Till you saw her hair loose and fanned
Across your pillow, and then it was too late
You were woven in her web of masquerading
In a way you would be unraveling forever
Like her soft wild stands of hair unbraiding
Those hot endless August nights
When you knew for certain she was gone
You sat in your attic room; you were sleepless and burning
With a pain as fierce and raw
As a razor, as a tearing at your skin
You were crazy with the pain, crazy with the heat
A sort of fever dream floating on
The sounds drifting up from the street
If you loved me, you would bring me roses
You would lie for me, steal for me
Fight the devil
You would call me angel, forget your own name
You would lie awake all night, lie awake all night
How trusting you were, how unafraid
Of falling, or surrender, of the devil, of the dark
When you called her name it was singing in your veins
But it seems when she called you sweetheart
It was just a title you vied for and won
And then lost in the next round to a worthy foe
Who met your standard and raised it
And you were powerless then but to let it go
If you loved me, you would bring me roses
You would lie for me, steal for me
Fight the devil
You would call me angel, forget your own name
You would lie awake all night, lie awake all night
If you loved me, you would bring me roses
You would lie for me, steal for me
Fight the devil
You would call me angel, forget your own name
You would lie awake all night, lie awake all night
If you loved me, you would bring me roses
You would lie for me, steal for me
Fight the devil
You would call me angel, forget your own name
You would lie awake all night, lie awake all night
If you loved me, you would bring me roses
You would lie for me, steal for me
Fight the devil
You would call me angel, forget your own name
You would lie awake all night, lie awake all night,
Lie awake all night, lie awake all night
The Record Skipped
His fourth wife was an actor, it’s in the public record
The media attacked her. They said her past was checkered
And yes, she dressed in tattersall and a houndstooth jacket
I have so much to say, I have so much to say
But nobody can hear my voice above the racket
Jack says I’m a black hole, George says I’m a deep well
Joe says I’m a lost soul, Jake says I can go to hell
Whatever, If I fell it’s such a long way down it doesn’t matter
So much to say, have so much to say
But nobody can hear my voice above the clatter
You bought the house, and everything above is your possession
you own the air, you own the stars, you own a slice of heaven
And you own the land it stands on, to the planet’s molten core
Nobody can hear my voice above the roar
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped the record skipped
No one can hear my voice
All that I’ll inherit is plasma and stardust
I planted peas and carrots, then moved on before the harvest
Is anybody out there? Are you listenin’?
I have so much to say. I have so much to say
But nobody can hear my voice above the din
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped. The record skipped
The record skipped the record skipped
No one can hear my voice
A Lot of Try
You and your dad would drive I-65
Past Mobile towards Pascagoula
The Gulf tore things up real good that time
When a ten-foot break rolled in from Cuba
Home is home no matter what they say
But the Good Lord giveth and taketh away
A crystal palace or a one-room shack
There’s nothing you can do that’s a fact
You’re tough you’ve got a lot of try
That’s what your mama said when your daddy died
You loved that man he hung the stars and moon
The worst he’d done was left too soon
You and that boy were like cats and dogs
But you loved each other since you were small
Pants rolled up digging in sand
Or on daddy’s boat hauling nets in the wind
Then that boy went down to Gulfport one night
Said he had to go see a guy
When he got back he turned away from the light
Holding a six-inch hole in his side
You’re tough you’ve got a lot of try
That’s what your mama said the next morning when he died
You loved that boy he hung the stars and moon
The worst he’d done was left too soon
Well this world will throw you everything it’s got
And all you can do is take your best shot
There’s times you’ll shake your fist at the sky
Till there’s nothing left to do but cry
Well you and that boy made a son
Best thing to happen after that boy was gone
You named him Bo and with all your strength
You love him so in his father’s name
And somewhere off I-65
Past Mobile by the Alabama wilds
It’s late afternoon the Gulf is calm
With love in my eyes I see Bo and his mom
You’re tough you’ve got a lot of try
That’s what your mama said when she said goodbye
You loved them all they hung the stars and moon
The worst they’d done was left too soon
But there’s a little boy, his mom, and I’m the lucky one
And we’ll carry on, carry on
The Light Beyond the Streetlights
The light beyond the streetlights
Is where we used to live
When the sun goes down you can barely see
Joe and Jenny carved into the tree
A house a fire a candle glow
The light at the end of the streetlights
When I close my eyes that’s where I go
You said love ruins everything but itself
There’s a darkness in us all
Maybe the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit
But now I’m staring at a motel wall
The light beyond the streetlights
Is where we used to live
When the sun goes down you can barely see
Joe and Jenny carved into the tree
A house a fire a candle glow
The light at the end of the streetlights
Is all I hold onto
On this job I can’t catch my breath
It’s like I’m running in place
Am I alive or dead or something else
Let the sparrow hawk carry me away
You felt lost you said where the hell was I
In a high plains drift, we both cried
You can’t come I said and waved goodbye
And now you’re all I think about
A few more months I’m outta this place
Bill he’s got my back
Time for you to go home he says
I’m not gonna get dragged into that
The light beyond the streetlights
Is where we used to live
When the sun goes down you can barely see
Joe and Jenny carved into the tree
A house a fire a candle glow
The light beyond the streetlights
Is where I’ll find you, it’s what I hold onto
I’ll close my eyes drift off and go
Winning Hand
When I got to Memphis – it was already too late, oh well
The scene had gone south, or west, or straight to hell
And there you were, at the center of nothing, what did I know
I thought you were the last man standing, and I was just a girl from Ohio
Yes, we were at a crossroads. That’s where I learned to sing
And where you took the guitar from my hands, played hard and broke the strings
Did you think it was going to kill you to say something kind?
Well, maybe it will, but there’s no way in hell we’re ever going to get to find out
You don’t have a prayer, you told me,
I had the winning hand but folded
Holding power and choosing
to throw it away
Like I could win by losing
When you turned my poem into a paper airplane, flew it in the trash
I wrote a song about love and peace and learned to keep my rage unspoken
Thing is and was you broke everything you touched
Except maybe me, only because I was already broken
Never had a prayer, you told me,
I had the winning hand but folded
Holding power and choosing
to throw it away
So I could win by losing
I played to win by losing
Pilot Light
I went to the doctor the doctor said son
Look me in the eye, stick out your tongue
He tapped my chest, tapped my back
Said take a deep breath and hold it
His long white coat was clean and bright
He shook his head, tipped it to the side
Said son I hate to say it but your heart’s not right
No matter where I look I just can’t find
A pilot light that burns hot and slow
With a true-blue flame and a steady glow
And though the headwinds puff and the tempests blow
They cannot snuff your pilot light (no)
The doc reached for his pad and pen
Said, a dose of love can make you right again
He scribbled his notes in an illegible scrawl
Said, when you know you just know
Cause a pilot light burns hot and slow
With a true-blue flame and a steady glow
And though the headwinds puff and the tempests blow
They cannot snuff your pilot light (no)
I said thank you Doc for your good advice
You’re not going to have to tell me twice
Yes, I lost that glow and I lost that spark
Now I know what to do to get right in my heart
I went to the doctor, doctor said son
I don’t have to tell you you’re a man reborn
He tapped my chest, said I see it now
Behind your eyes and your noble brow
A pilot light that burns hot and slow
With a true-blue flame and a steady glow
And though the headwinds puff and the tempests blow
They’ll never snuff your pilot light (no)
And nothing is ever going to stop you, so
Let your pilot light burn bright
Carry You Now
Easy into the good night
We help you go
The sweet dreams you dream
Carry you now
Who saved who we are not sure
Through the time we shared
Made better for you here
In your innocence a good life
In innocence a good life, good night
Easy into the good night
We help you go
The sweet dreams you dream
Carry you now
We clipped a lock of cinnamon hair
From behind your ear
We remember you now
Sacred until we are all of us
We are all of us gone from this place
Easy into the good night
We help you go
The sweet dreams you dream
Carry you now
In the eleventh hour
You were lost then found
As now you rest
Comes the hour again
The eleventh bell is tolling
Sounding amen, amen
Easy into the good night
We help you go
The sweet dreams you dream
Carry you now
Yes, the time will come for each and all
Let us ease you into the long, good night
The sweet dreams you dream
Will carry you now
Carry you now