They been meltin steel into star spangled dreams

since I was born, Oh since before

down in the place where Camden Yards sits

clear to the harbor shore

Now those stoves are all gone

guess we run out of hope to burn

So now they’re cooking down despair

So easy that a child can learn

they burn the hopelessness

They bought on the corner store

And cut the copper from their hearts.

in Baltimore

You can’t go shoppin in Cherry Hill

Not one place you can go

But the corner got what you need

if only for an hour or so

and old men of thirty

Drinking down any joy they ever felt

While kids spill their immortality

Into pools on the asphalt

They burn the hopelessness

They bought on the corner store

And cut the copper from their hearts.

in Baltimore

spinnin lights on the lampposts

and everyone the same future to tell

it’s 12 feet wide and made of brick

and hot as hell

we burn the hopelessness

we bought on the corner store

we cut the copper from our heart

the copper from our heart

the copper from our heart

in Baltimore

I 

There’s a line of cabs, sitting at the curb

I hang up your call, without a word

The concourse shuts down as the world goes to sleep

with the ghosts of travelers, tired out and flyin East

Chorus

Make sure your seatbelts are tightly fastened

Underneath a dome of inky dark

Mask will drop from the ceiling

And photo albums will come apart

There’s a coupla cabs, still hangin around

As I’m searchin for commitment in the, lost and found

In so many ways, we’re  still ok

But there’s so few reasons, left for me to stay

Chorus

Press the button and wait for assistance

Adjust the pillow, request your drink

Pull the shade against the sun’s insistence

This long flight, is makin me think

Bridge

Am I flying home? 

Can you find a way to say.

Am I flying home, or just away?

There’s noone out at the curb no more

First class is loading, through the door

We don’t agree but we no longer fight

Looks like  noone’s getting outta here, tonight.

Chorus
Please return your seat to its full upright position

And remember that your baggage, might well have shifted

We all push to the aisle to improve our condition

While debris from the crash is so carefully sifted.

Outtro

We say our lines with complete conviction

These parts we were born to play

Am I flying home

Am I flying home

Am I flying home

Or just away?tem description

Indian River

2 dollars for a pitcher, leave your money up on the bar

Jukebox in the corner is stained with nicotine tar

The boys playin pool swear they hate country songs

But if you play Charlie Daniels, they’re all gonna sing along

Chorus

Can you see to the bottom Of the Indian river

Are you goin by Theresa Can you look today

In that cold black water truth like a brother

That’s why most folks just look away

In the winter you go fishin in the fall you hunt for deer

Wear orange in the woods so the hunters can see you clear

Catch a fish and jim hunter’ll cut it up for you nice

and calmy wash his hands in a hole in the ice

Chorus

Now Mackie had a vet, on the hood was a picture of a girl

When I was 8 years old that was the coolest car in the world

As I float along these rivers of my memory

Do I seek to change things or do they seek to change me

Is the hilltop of my memory still there?

Is there anyone in Jefferson county that still cares

See ya’s over to the middle restaurant for a beer

Cause I can still hear their voices and see their faces clear

Oh clear

Chorus x2

I been in love with you since school in Alabama

But lately I’m thinkin, what a long time ago

And there we are standin in that, snapshot in Mobile

two young lovers I used to know

Chorus:

Now I’m, stuck somewhere between, forever and leavin

I got one hand letting go, and the other one keepin

Hold of the best thing, that ever come along

But how can I stay now, now that Alabama’s gone

The smell of your skin, warmed by the ocean

Now That I remember, though I cannot recall

The last time we stayed in, and sang all the old songs

And missed all the parties, but didn’t miss them at all

Chorus

The concrete’s so gray and the sun don’t seem to shine

And you no longer talk, about things on your mind

Are you tired of the city? some guy who looks like me?

Are you longin for some old jeans and the girl you used to be?

Are you stuck somewhere between, forever and leavin

You got one hand letting go, but are you still believin

I’m still the boy, who knows those old songs

Please just stay now, And tell me, Alabama’s not gone.

Alabama’s not gone

Chorus

When you get to Heaven would you leave the door open

If your bound for glory won’t you give me a ride

They say the holy have no worries

Must be a sinner cause I’m afraid to die

It was miracle when I found you

And you said that love had burned you clean

Well that fire don’t make you no devil

And a miracle will make no s

Chorus

My heart is heavy and it finds no purchase

On the rocky shores of the river side

Is there a boatman to carry me over

The current strong and the water wide

Chorus

When you get to Heaven would you leave the door open

If your bound for glory won’t you give me a ride

They say the holy have no worries

Must be a sinner cause I’m afraid to die

Chorus

When you get to Heaven would you leave the door open

If your bound for glory wont you give me a ride

But If I never come to join you

Give my regards, to those on the other side

There once was a town, and a river running through

a hundred year canal, not much of a view

there once were boys, who swam in the deep

But no longer do they, splash, jump, or leap.

There are still boys, still boys who swim

who don’t peer to the bottom, before divin in

But not in that lock, not from that edge,

Do they dangle bare feet from a concrete ledge

CHORUS

like it never was, no it’s not there

a town with a name, a boy without care

if it never happened, noone’s to blame

and if they were, what would it change

There once was a room, a sign-in book and vase

Handshakes and hugs, an 8 year old’s face

There’d be other rooms, this was the first

what one should say, all carefully rehearsed

CHORUS

like it never was, no it’s not true

What does it matter, brown eyes or blue

How could it happen, boys learn to swim

And laugh and shout, when friends pull them in.

CHORUS

like it never was, no it’s not there

cause If it was, how could that be fair

why would it happen, what lesson could you learn?

Weighed down with a guilt, he had yet to earn

With a guilt he had yet to earn.

He had yet to earn

Grampa gave dad a piece a land, nobody wanted

Wilcox signed the note, cause the bank knew he was bonded

So with 500 down, on a cosigned mortgage loan

Mom picked the color, her very own trailer home

Chorus

It was Double Wide, they’d watch us kids laugh and holler

Double Wide, held us dear as a poor mans dollar

We learned life is hard it’ll toss ya side to side

The years went by all wrapped in aluminum pride, and we lived it double wide

Mom got the oxygen, wh’ they still, called it emphysema

She said now you and Dad, gotta fix what come between ya

So we spent 4 beers splittin, a green cord of wood

That man got through to me, best anybody ever could

Chorus

Bridge

He said give ‘em your laughter as soon as you get it

Spend all your kisses and when you can, borrow more on credit

Get in early, get it done, and get in line

do without, and you pay for Christmas, with the overtime

live alone in a big house now, when I’m not on tour

cause the roads a burnin fever, without a cure

Fast friends I don’t know, no place where I belong

But then I step on stage, home’s right there, when I sing this song

Double wide, I see my mother and father

Double wide hold ‘em dear as a poor man’s dollar

Life aint broke me as it tossed me side to side

They gave me a heart that’s strong and wrapped in aluminum pride

And I live it Double wide, Double wide, Double wide

My name is Alice Mooney and I been gone for 15 years,

But I sat High up in the trains my husband ran, out of Syracuse New York

I was Mrs. Walter Barnes longer than ever Alice Mooney

I was a widow longer than I was a married wife

And the marks that I made, are mostly all gone

Except some letters that I used to write and those hearin this strange song

Chorus:

I did not conquer, I did not fight,

I bore up under the strain of the awesomeness of life

I didn’t give up, I never let down

Taught my children, be strong and stubborn

Caused damned if I didn’t know how

Well I moved East with my Walter, and we built and poured those dreams

Had a champagne breakfast to see us off, into that soft unknown.

Walter was son to Honora Mungovin, who is less known than I

We courted but he would not come for me until Honora had died.

And the marks that I made, are mostly all gone

Except some letters that I used to write and those hearin this strange song

Chorus

The last day Walter drove home, the biggest strength in him had gone

But the kids kept growin, the wind kept blowin, we had to get on

So I walked and spoke for two, took a hold a what was handed out

I gave my girl to marry, six weeks after I laid Walter down

And the marks that I made, are mostly all gone

Except these children that I made, and those hearin this strange song

Chorus

My name is Alice Mooney, there is not much to tell

I lived my life as close to right, as a stubborn girl could go.

This is a story of love from where I now stand

He got the love of his life, but not one he’d planned

Left home at the age of 16

and then the Marines

Taught him to fight and to fly through the air

The wounds they said had healed but I guess they were always there

Chorus

By then he had found the love of his life

Closer to him than children and wife

She came along and she picked up the slack

Uncle Paul loved the bottle but it never loved him back

All around the states he went but never alone

Tellin us stories of his exotic homes

He’d call from Joplin Missouri

or Reno Nevada

It seemed a glamorous life a desirable fate

He’d send knives from Alaska, postcards from the Golden State

Chorus

I don’t remember him young but he couldn’t have been that old

A hard life of livin surely taken it’s toll

The ashtray, beer and whiskey they gave him a rhythm

But man he was no victim, he’d say

careful the fingers your pointin and the names you call

Life comes along to make hypocrites of us all

Now we all loved Harvey but it won’t change the fact

That Uncle Paul loved the bottle but it never loved him back

I want you to know,

No matter where you go

I’ll spread the word

About you, what I heard.

As you look out through your disguise

The mirror never lies

She’s got Lips, smile and that walk

Do you like her soul?

Cause it can be bought

She likes Up under the lights

Hates the days

But she loves the night.

I’m not the guy,

You want me to be

You pay, I go for free

CHORUS

You’re a climber

You say I’m an anchor

Your leaver, I’m a keeper

I don’t care anymore

Cause walking away, I can truly see

The one you truly hate isn’t me

So see you later little girl

Thank god it’s a big big world

You’re better off without me,

All the people you will be.

I’m not the guy

You want me to be

You laugh, but I don’t see

Chorus

No I hope you’ll do well

Even though I went through hell

But you can’t say you were wrong

Because

chorus

This streak of luck now lasting 18 weeks

as I look around and see

nothing more a man like me could want

But sometimes out of the corner of my eye,

I think that I might truly spy,

something in this world that seems to elude me

But my friends all shout accolades,

shower me in tickertape parades,

slap me on the back and yell, oh mike Hurray

They say you’ve Got the girl with pearls round her neck,

and the banker handing you blank checks,

the house, the job, the kid, the dog, the life

And the buildings and me

(We stand our ground)

Oh the buildings and me

(and listen for the sound

The happiness and truth, and the wounds that they soothe

(of the rush of truth and the happy man that we sometimes see across a crowded)

Lost in the buildings and me

(room in the buildings and me)

Now I’m collecting subscriptions to magazines,

to get me ahead in the rat race scene,

from all the nice people I’m trying to destroy

But once in a while I stop to consider,

the light of star as it slowly flickers,

and I doubt this bill of goods we’ve all been sold

Chorus

And they say run fast, jump high, don’t stop to think,

as you climb to the top and society sinks,

pay the bank, shrink, doctor, visa, and your exwife

Cause happiness is in the black,

Out the door, in a three piece suit,

with girl on your right nothing left to live for kind of life.

Now early in the morning

Before the shadows come from the place where they rest

People wake up drinkin sleepy cups of coffee

And I ponder which denial is the best

chorus

The Limo

Back in the days of Old City Hall

Crazy Larry made all the shows

Cause Water St. had the best bands

From Bucklands grill to the first turn inn

He’d say

Boys now pay attention

And lay your bottles down

What your about to see only comes once around

Chris Ellard is the name

Of that guitar up on the stage

smooth like Clapton, raw like Vaughn

They say he’s channelin Robert Johnson

Chrous

There’s a limo comin

There are agents waiting to call

The man on the street’s gonna love him

There’s a limo comin to fetch him around.

A big band came a callin

And they gave the guitar the nod

They were goin places till he couldn’t face it

And he left them

Cause the guitar don’t need a band

The guitar’s not gonna waste his time

in the future if you want to see him

Your gonna have to stand in line

Chorus

Well I guess that it’s a long way

For the machine to come

The guitar got close til they moved to the coast,

But He still plays the same old notes

Pride and competition,

Fear and fearlessness

I don’t know if there is destiny,

But I surely do know this

There’s a new sound in the Hall

They call him the kid, from Eastside way.

Smooth like Clapton

Raw like Vaughn,

He’s Never heard of Robert Johnson

Put your ear down to the payement

you can almost hear that sound

of the limo comin to fetch him around

With this box a wood, recorded or played live

I ply my trade, tween the 4 and the 5

Change the world, with a turn of phrase

And Strum the chords in the barroom haze

14 lines is all we get

Carved melody, And rhymes that let

The truth in, til all see it shines

Diamond bright in 14 lines

Prospecting in the key of G

Panning gold no one can see

Tappin truth in the common timethey nod their heads as it reminds

they nod their head cause it reminds

14 lines is all we get

Carved melody, and rhymes that let

The truth in, till all see it shines

Diamond bright in 14 lines

Change things up ‘fore they spin the dial

Keepin’ company down the lonely mile

14 lines is all they’ll hear

Of all the pain in all your years

If the chorus rings, they’ll sing along

14 lines, when you’re dead and gone

Item description

In The leatherstocking region, out past Utica

where the thruway towns, lean into the wind

She was lookin for a somebody, with her sharp eye and a pretty face

When he got down from his truck, and walked into the place

Well their first dance it was nice, But it didn’t melt the ice,

She knew his story, Book chapter and verse

He’s just a nobody drivin 10 days on and 4 days off

The love of a girl, the only thing he’d ever need

Well tonights gotta see him safely past Cleveland

Comin out of Springfield, by way of Albany

It was a couple weeks later, just as she forgot

He met her with flowers halfway, across the parkin lot

And 2 times every month, she grew warm to the touch

Of hands so hard, that held her tenderly

And she hoped he would stay, for more than just a day

But he would leave, and to her he’d say.

I’m just a nobody drivin 10 days on and 4 days off

But out on my road, you’re the only future I can see

tonights gotta see me safely past Cleveland

Coming out of Springfield, by way of Albany

he pulled in for her today, just before noon

And With the ring in his hand, he knocked,on the door to her room

She was gone, cept for a note, so he read what she wrote

Then climbed back up put it in gear and rolled away

and he didn’t want to smile, but then after a while

He had to laugh at what she had to say

Are you just a nobody drivin 10 days on and 4 days off?

Long distance love, just don’t work for a girl like me.

Love aint just a stop when you’re haulin freight past Cleveland

Coming out of Springfield by way of Albany

Well he’s just a nobody drivin 10 days on and days off

Out on the road no more future for him to see

Cause she left for good while he was bound for Cleveland

And Broke his heart by way of Albany

Item description

Aint got no red dirt roads to speak of

Don’t drink sweet tea, in our deer skin gloves

Up here it’s coffee all the time

You best dress warm and dry and suited

Cause there’s tough and then there’s stupid

The winter don’t care your name or what’s on your mind

They say the river never really thaws out in the summertime

Just flows north keeps the secret and tugs your line

Puttin more on, up to the northern tier

Wind and the cold got their way, of makin things clear

Keep the girls warm, stoke the embers, and get your bro a beer

Putting more on up to the northern tier

We loved rock n roll til they stopped makin it

Now we got Country it’s like a long sip

Of cold whiskey that warms you up down deep inside

Outsiders say it’s hard to talk to the locals

That might be true we’re not too vocal

But there’s northern kindness if you read between the lines

They say the river never really thaws out in the summertime

Just flows north keeps the secret and tugs your line

Long ago, I left it though, now I’m breathin city air

But January blows I can smell the snow, I guess part of me’s still there

Putting more on up to northern tier

When the ice cracks it’ll remind you, of things that are truly dear

You hug the kids close and when they cry, time stops as you dry those tears

See you’s all up to northern tier, I’ll see you’s all up to northern tier

Item description