TRY AGAIN TOMORROW

​

I went down to the coffee shop

To buy something sweet for my honey

I walked in but I forgot

I was all out of money

 

Turned around to walk back home

There on the ground I found a dollar

I had one, everything cost two

Maybe I'll try again tomorrow

 

​

//

 

 

BLUE PLATE SPECIAL 

​

It’s bread and butter for you

Cold potatoes for me

We’re all getting the blues

 

But you got it under control

You got it, let everyone know

You got it but you’re falling apart

You can get it done with an aching heart

 

Ain’t had a job in a while

I’m not dressing in style

I’m not having fun

I don’t remember the sun

 

But I got it under control

I got it, let everyone know

I got it but I’m falling apart

I can get it done with an aching heart

 

It’s bread and butter for you

Rye whiskey for me

We’re all getting the blues

 

But you got it under control

You got it, let everyone know

You got it but you’re falling apart

You can get it done with an aching heart

​

​

//

 

 

AS GOOD AS HAVING 

​

Sing something I know

Said a voice behind a screen aglow

The waitress claimed we once

Made love in New Mexico

I wanted to get up and go

But I did not so I painted 

The walls of my mind real slow

Stepped out on the street

Looking for answers

Tried to move my feet

With the conviction of a dancer

 

And we all just wanna know

Is pining as good as having

Am I more present with the pining 

Than with what I’ve got

 

Moments of passing bliss

Crashing waves, a wink, a kiss

Why think about that

When you can think about this?

 

Oh, a gift! For you something I made

Like a roadside child selling lemonade

Sweet and cold, no not gold,

More like a feeling out on parole

 

And we all just wanna know

Is pining as good as having

Am I more present with the pining 

Than with what I’ve got

 

Sing something we all know

The one about the king 

On the old dirt road

Singing with the band 

As he finds his way back home

 

We all just wanna know

Is pining as good as having

Am I more present with the pining 

Than with what I’ve got

​

​

//

 

 

NEVER YOU

​

The coffee's on the table

The cat killed a bird

The sight of my phone 

Is so absurd

 

Still I hope it rings, 

But if it does

It’s Probably just some debt collector 

Calling me up

 

It's never you

Just some number like mine

A pre-recorded health insurance

Salesman on the line

 

It's never you 

When I want it be

Yet you said you've been

Trying to get a hold of me

 

Waiting for the weekend
I've got no plans

Probably just go to the bar

And listen to the band

 

I like the way they sing

But if you called

I'd leave there in a heartbeat

And go to where you are

 

It's never you

Thought it might be this time

So I'll just watch the band

Standing, swaying in time

 

It's never you 

When I want it be

Yet you said you've been

Trying to get a hold of me

 

That cat's on the table 

The coffee's getting cold

The rain just started falling

Cause the clouds got too old

 

And all these little things 

I'm gonna say 

The next time someone calls

To sell me something today

 

It's never you

Who calls when you're on my mind

My phone is probably ringing

As I'm singing you this line

 

It's never you 

When I want it be

Yet you said you've been

Trying to get a hold of me

 

 

//

​

 

SLOW DOWN YOU HUMMINGBIRD

​

She drives fifty-five on the highway

She only dances when the band plays slow

She's in bed by nine on Friday

With a book and glass of Bordeaux

 

She takes it easy, she likes it slow

She makes me wait when it's time to go

 

She doesn't pick up the phone on Sundays

If you wanna talk knock on her door

She lives on a dead end one way

I've been there before

 

She takes it easy, she likes it slow

She makes me wait when it's time to go

 

She talks as slow as a painting

Makes you hang on every word

And with every stroke she's saying

Slow down you hummingbird

 

​

//

 

​

LOOKING FOR A MAN

​

I heard you're looking for a man

Well you're in the wrong town

I heard you're looking for a man

If I were you I'd turn around

 

You hear ‘em talking ‘bout

The walk they’re walking

Everybody seems in the know

But if you’re fixing to test conviction

See how he acts when you say no

 

I heard you're looking for a man

Well you're in the wrong town

I heard you're looking for a man

If I were you I'd turn around

 

You’ve had your suspicions

At last his admission

There’s someone else 

He’s loving on the side

 

Then as cold as the ocean 

He explains devotion

And tells you that you’re

Out of your mind

 

You go out on the town

When the sun’s going down

Come home when it begins to rise

You find less than nothing, just lust,

You can tell by the look in their eye

​

​

//

 

 

GIMME SOME TRUTH (JOHN LENNON)

​

I'm sick and tired of hearing things

From uptight, short-sighted, 

Narrow-minded hypocritics

All I want is the truth

Just gimme some truth

 

Ive had enough of reading things

By neurotic, psychotic, 

Pig-headed politicians

All I want is the truth

Just gimme some truth

 

No short-haired, yellow-bellied, 

Son of tricky dicky

Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me

With just a pocketful of hope

Money for dope

Money for rope

 

I'm sick to death of seeing things

From tight-lipped condescending 

Mama’s little chauvinists

All I want is the truth

Just gimme some truth now

 

I've had enough of watching scenes

Of schizophrenic ego-centric

Paranoid, prima-donnas

All I want is the truth 

Just gimme some truth

 

No short-haired yellow-bellied

Son of tricky dicky

Is gonna mother hubbard soft soap me

With just a pocketful of soap

Its money for dope

Money for rope

 

Ah, I'm sick and tired of hearing things

From uptight short-sighted narrow-minded hypocrites

All I want is the truth

Just gimme some truth

 

Ive had enough of reading things

By neurotic psychotic pig-headed politicians

All I want is the truth 

Just gimme some truth

​

​

//

 

 

PRETTY THINGS

​

If the world was made of pretty things

Glass roses and bells that ring

Who would listen to the bird that sings

About a broken wing

 

Wash your hands in a river of sand

As the forest melts the gold

Sacrifice miles of ice

Act surprised at the rising of the coast

 

If the world was made of sweet dreams

Crystal boats floating down the stream

Who would listen to the bird that sings

About a broken wing

 

Rest your head in the ashes of the bed

Where one day you'll lay down your child 

Why shine the brass ring the golden hour is passing

As the wilderness grows less wild

 

If the world was made of pretty things

 

If the world was made of pretty things

Glass roses and bells that ring

Who would listen to the bird that sings

About a broken wing

​

​

//

​

 

I DON'T LIKE STEVE

​

I know a guy named Steve

Half the things he says I don't believe

When he walks into the room 

I wanna leave

I just plain don't like Steve

 

Whenever we're talking 

He's always looking round

Waiting for his chance to talk

He came over for dinner uninvited

And drank all the wine I bought

 

I like to give the benefit of the doubt

But all the women say he creeps them out

He's probably a serial killer or a thief

I just plain don't like Steve

 

He's always asking everyone around

What they think about this or that

Then he'll tell you his opinion 

Halfway through your sentence

And then says thanks for the chat

 

I'm a patient kind of guy

My door is always open

But when my friends come over

I'm always hoping

I won't have to share the air he breathes

I just plain don't like Steve

 

Twenty years from now when I'm out fishing

He'll probably be a politician (in prison)

As long as he's nowhere near me

I just plain don't like Steve

 

I just plain don't like Steve

Half the things he says I don't believe

When he walks into the room 

I wanna leave

​

​

//

​

 

MEANT TO SAY

​

Maybe someday when the clouds pass away

You and I will sit down at the cafe 

Maybe someday before I'm old and gray

I'll say all the things I meant to say

 

For now I sit at home

Turn off the telephone

Take a book down from the shelf

Hum a little melody to myself

 

But there will come a day

‘Cause I've got thoughts like debts to pay

I'll say all the things I meant to say

 

Some long nights wish I could stand the neon lights

When all my friends go out to see the sights

Instead I stay, tell them all I'm okay

Just thinking of all the things I meant to say

 

They dance til their feet get sore

I stay home and walk the floor

Take a book down from the shelf

Hum a little melody to myself

 

But there will come a day

Cause I've got thoughts like debts to pay

I'll say all the things I meant to say

 

 

//

​

 

EVERYBODY'S GOT A RIGHT TO CRY

​

Who's the fool who said dry your eyes

You gotta feel low if you wanna feel high

If it's been a while give it a try

Pay no mind to what you might look like

Whether you're a child or a big tough guy

Everybody's got a right to cry 

 

Don't let sadness pass you by

Treat it like a friend who you would wine and dine

Start the conversation by taking a sigh

Tears might come in the by and by

Whether you're a dancer or a Samurai

Everybody's got a right to cry 

 

If you’re feeling your feelings are tangled and tied

Cut an onion and let yourself try

Tears are like rain there's an endless supply

When the clouds roll in go ahead don't be shy

Whether you're seven or seventy five

Everybody's got a right to cry 

 

Whether you're seven or seventy five

Everybody's got a right to cry 

 

 

 

VALLEY OF THE HEART

​

I found this old western novel

Paperback free-bin kind of thing

The title was cool but the cover was not

And the person who owned it before me 

Marked their page with a piece of string

 

The cover's this busty cowgirl 

Riding fast on a horse

And a cowboy chasing right behind her of course

I never read it but I hope she got away

Looked like she had a pretty good head start

Anyway, the book was called 

Down in the valley of the heart 

 

Down in the valley of my heart 

It had been a while since the rain

There's always some birds 

Waiting to pick the bones of some 

Practice I couldn't maintain

It's alright it's all part of the food chain

 

But there's a lot of blooming flowers

A lot of plants I couldn't name

Some have spikes like spokes of bikes

And some have petals the color of an old flame

 

There's some I pick to brew in boiling water

I like the way the smell fills my house

Covers up the smell of my dog 

Who just got sprayed by a skunk 

Right in the mouth

 

Down in the valley of my heart 

There's plenty of time to talk

And much to do

There's this little stream full of brook trout

Not for fishing but for walking along

With someone like you

 

Sometimes a dust cloud 

Will blow through the valley

And you get dirt in your mouth 

But you just wind up laughing

Cause what else you gonna do?

Get mad and chase some buxom cowgirl

Cause it's easier to chase something new

Than it is to face something true?

Not in the valley of my heart, buckaroo

 

Down in the valley of my heart 

There's just one thing I wanna do

I wanna be a fire you can warm your hands at

And in that way I'd stay warm to

 

Down in the valley of my heart

Every snake and stinging bee plays its part

Where the water runs clear

And you can see the stars

Down in the valley of my heart