Stranger To You

 

 

I'm just a stranger to you

That sure seems strange to me

I'm just here passing through

Seems like you've got something to prove

 

But it might be hard to sing along

When all you wanna do is sing your song

 

Is that your girlfriend

Making eyes at me

Maybe she don't wanna be

Treated like your property

 

Now she's looking in my eyes

And her hand's on my thigh

You're bound to lose

What you hold on to to tight

 

Hey man be cool

A heart of green will make you blue

As sure as one and one make two

 

I'm just a stranger to you

That sure seems strange to me

You talking 'bout I me mine

I'm singing us and we

 

And so I'll say goodbye

And to you I'll tip my hat

But just before I go

I feel obliged to remind you that

 

It might be hard to sing along

When all you wanna do is sing your song

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Crossing The River

 

 

He woke up and spoke up

His truth to the youthful day

His comfortless restless

And deafening questions went away

 

Cause it turns out that burned out

Candles cast shadows all the same

So faithfully he gave thanks

To the flame of yesterday

 

Loved a girl in San Antone

She said honey your heart is my home

I was to take her hand in Las Cruces

But the wedding band was useless

Boy she'd gone

 

So he went down to the steamboat men

With a photograph in his hand and said

 

Did you see Mara crossing the river

Did you see Mara crossing the river

 

He broke down and woke up

In a poolroom off Highway 69

Then one day a man came

Who pulled a train on the SP Line

 

They talked on the old days

Of people and places they knew

Turns out the story of one man

Can sometimes become that of two

 

Loved the girl with the curly hair

And the careless smile said the engineer

I was to take her hand in Dixieland

But she went back across the Rio Grande

Shapeless and changing like rain or a gray sky

Fate is frost it is sunshine

 

They sang did you see Mara crossing the river

Did you see Mara crossing the river

 

An old man looked at me

Steamboat gray in his eyes

The memory fades

But the question never dies

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For My Windowsill

 

 

Throw the ocean down the well

There's a raven on my windowsill

On my windowsill

 

Say the kindest words you know

In these sounds we wear a crown called home

We wear a crown called home

 

The bird that wings without direction

For the wind has true affection

But for my windowsill

It's space to fill

Rain to spill

Sing if you will

 

Swim in the soil and sapphire world

Fill the pages with the mages words

Waiting for your turn

 

Til then the song goes round again

Voices join us for the chorus

 

The bird that wings without direction

For the wind has true affection

But for my windowsill

It's space to fill

Rain to spill

Sing if you will

 

I opened my window

I opened my door

I opened my window

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Ruby Takes A Picture

 

 

Ruby's camera is wild

She photographs the fire

Ruby takes a picture right through me

Ruby holds my picture in her hands

 

And when she frames the flame the way

She wants 'em to be she tells me

How is soothes me to see water

But it's beautiful to her flame

 

She holds me in black in white

Moves me any way any way she likes

Ruby takes a picture right through me

Ruby holds my picture in her hands

 

A little sweetness for our sleeplessness

If you know what I mean

Tired of the same bed

Liar down in my head

And see how she likes my dreams

 

Kiss me Ruby whisper to the beehive

But smoke 'em out so you don't get stung

 

Feeling like I wanna try

To fly this flag a little higher do you

Or maybe that old potion

That you put your pictures into

Runs through you

 

Ruby calls me on the phone

I'm on the other end

Of a thirty five millimeter lens

She holds still

And drinks her fill of my light

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Neptune's Sorry Daughter

 

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You jumped into the water

And now you can't breathe

You can't stand the salt

But you love the sea

 

Life with the fishes

Must be fun

But the rest of us are thirsty

Chained to the sun

 

Life is nice under the water

Are you Neptune's sorry daughter

 

But what did you expect

When you jumped off the deck

And did you think

Your big heart wouldn't let you sink

 

I've been pulling on the main line

Raising up the sail

The salt spray is making

A mess of my hair

 

I reached into the water

But for what

You don't wanna sink

But you won't swim up

 

The days are playful under the waves

You won't feel the wind that'll blow me away

Do you breathe the air or the water

Are you Neptune's sorry daughter

 

But what did you expect

When you jumped off the deck

And did you think

Your big heart wouldn't let you sink

 

We take our pain down to the lake

And burn the driftwood for the sake of all

The times you did swim

Why don't you swim again

 

 

You jumped into the water

And now you can't breathe

You can't stand the salt

But you love the sea

But what did you expect

When you jumped off the deck

And did you think

Your big heart wouldn't let you sink

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There's Always A Map

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Handful of roses she gave you an answer

Are you listening to the music or watching the dancer

Who's spinning around you someone's finally found you

Standing against the wall in the hall

 

And when you leave you walk down the street

Believing this feeling is really a child you must feed

But you're watering weeds and you're down on your knees

Stretching the seams of your dreams like fabric

 

Gotta have it don't you?

When there's not an answer

There's always a map

Gotta have it don't you?

When there's not an answer

There's always a map

 

Handful of roses I know she loves you

But your decisions made visions of rainclouds above you

It's raining in my house even when you're not around

My hallway is a river the sea of my many melodies

 

Handful of roses bring your rain to the fields

There's plowhorses pulling on broken-spoke wheels

Feels dry in the hollow where rain falls love follows

Your swallows won't come back from Capistrano

 

So water your plants

Walk home from the dance

Your chance for friendship

Is built like a casket

 

Gotta have it don't you?

When there's not an answer

There's always a map

Gotta have it don't you?

When there's not an answer

There's always a map

 

There's no going back

But there's always a map

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Frankie, Dear

 

She's gonna travel the states sea to sea

Sometimes singing a song for me

Pockets empty but drinks are free

My old Frankie dear

 

Sing in England sing in France

Make them bartenders dance

I'm gonna take my chance on

My old Frankie dear

 

I can't figure it out

Maybe some day we'll talk about it

I can't figure it out

My old Frankie dear

 

Hold the reins steer the wheel

I'm a gonna sleep right here

And when I wake tell me how you feel

My old Frankie dear

 

So sing it once sing it twice

Sing it loud a thousand times

I don't mind roll the dice

My old Frankie dear

 

I can't figure it out

Maybe some day we'll talk about it

I can't figure it out

My old...

 

My old Frankie dear

Here we're so near

And the radio's raining

But the song was clear moments ago

 

So when you've left for the West

Where the sun shines the best

My deft hands will not rest

 

And you'll row the boat stay afloat

Play it slow note by note

Some day I'll hang my hat and coat

My old Frankie dear

 

My old...

Here we're so near

And the radio's raining

But the song was clear moments ago

I can't figure it out

Maybe some day we'll talk about it

I can't figure it out

My old Frankie dear

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                               //

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And When I Sing

 

Tried holding on to the hand of a loving friend

Tried holding my honey

But sometimes it just gets hard to pretend

 

Cause all I really wanna hold

Is my fiddle and my bow

All I really wanna hold

Is my fiddle and my bow

 

I tried feeling at home everywhere I go

Tried to feel kin with everything I've ever known

 

But all I really wanna feel

Are my hands upon the wheel

All I really wanna feel

Are my hands upon

 

Where the clover grows I'll be

And when I sing it's for me

 

I tried thinking 'bout all the things I could've done

Tried to decide if I should grow wings or run

 

But all I wanna think about

Is how to make a sweet song shout

All I wanna think about

 

I tried bringing home roses sweet and red

Tried bringing just a little

But I brought it all instead

 

Cause all I really wanna bring

Is the song my ghost will sing

All I really wanna bring

Is the song my ghost

 

Where the clover grows I'll be

And when I sing it's for me

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Right On Time

 

 

How can you say I don't care

How can you look at me and say I'm not there

You sure would like to give me piece of your mind

How do I keep from being unkind

While leaving the past behind

 

I don't have to defend

The way I hold my friends when I need them

Who can hold me when I shine

How do I keep from being unkind

While leaving the past behind

 

There's nothing I can say or do

To keep the thorns from growing round your shoes

I've got a house with a flowery vine

How do I keep from being unkind

While leaving the past behind

 

Find a word that rhymes with expectation

And I will tattoo my mistakes on a song

You might just listen with misgivings

'Bout decisions you've been living

Then jealously say no one is wrong

 

How can you say I don't hear

You shout at me when I lend you my ear

I'm not opposed but I'm disinclined

How do I keep from being unkind

While leaving the past behind

 

I'm leaving on a train tonight

I'll be in the country before the morning light

I've always liked to be right on time

How do I keep from being unkind

While leaving the past behind

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