Bad Apartment

And to think we complained about the rent
For a place we haven’t stopped talking ‘bout since
There ain’t a day that goes by, no binding lease I wouldn’t sign
For a moment in that yellow kitchen with you

Can you believe, we complained about the drive
To the bars but we were never going out that night?
Buck naked and a bottle of wine, warm by the fire eating cold fried rice
Rain or snow, we were shaking all the time

An apartment on a back street in a small town.
Tread lightly, love quietly, don’t make a sound.
Because the man downstairs smoking cigarettes
Will have the landlord knocking in five.
A bad apartment, better times.

Do you remember when I got lit with the boys at the River’s Inn?
Too gone to drive, forgot to call, night was leaving when I stumbled in.
Three words turn into one, a bed becomes a couch when the whiskey has won.
I love you, I am sorry, mean the same.

An apartment on a back street in a small town.
Tread lightly, love quietly, don’t make a sound.
Because the man downstairs smoking cigarettes
Will have the landlord knocking in five.
A bad apartment, better times.

I had a dream where I couldn’t find you
Learning to live without lying right next to you.
There ain’t a day that goes by, no binding lease I wouldn’t sign
For a moment in that yellow kitchen with you
Just a moment in that yellow kitchen with you.

The Winemaker's Daughter

Tomorrow’s just another day
Forget their advice for it’s the only thing
We’re supposed to do once but you know people they’ll say
Just about anything

My suit is wool, Your dress is white
We chose Fall it chose to lie
Can’t plan for the heat, can’t plan for the rain
But I plan to make you mine

Baby bring on the rains, baby bring on the thunder
Gonna make you my wife, one day you might be a mother
Time may change a few things, we’re heading for open water.
Oh it’s just Me and You babe, the Winemaker’s Daughter.

Red, white, and muscadine,
Your father’s not a fan of mine.
But all good things they take some time
I will treat you like he treats his wine.

Fine, fine wine. Sweet Virginia summertime
Good God she’s mine. Seventeen, gasoline, whispering

Baby bring on the rains, baby bring on the thunder.
Gonna make you my wife, one day you might be a mother
Time may change a few things. We’re heading for open water.
Oh it’s just Me and You babe, the Winemaker’s Daughter.
Ohhh, it’s just Me and You babe, the Winemaker’s Daughter.

Something to Hold

She’s the morning
She’s the first light of day
Shining through my window
Prying me awake

She's the shirt that is mine
She’s my attention that is hers
When she’s reaching for the covers
Don’t confuse her for a girl

She’s the body that I hold
When she’s standing at the stove
Her head and her shoulders
frame my favorite window

She is the valley down her back
Her spine a river my hand a man
Searching hard for something beautiful
For she is the promised land

**She gives me something
She gives me something I can hold onto
She gives me love, gives me love love love
Like a summer afternoon

I give her something
I give her something she can hold onto
I give her love, give her love love love
It’s all she needs to make it through**

She’s a dreamer
Wide awake with hesitation
College tried fit to be tied
An outlier in an aggregation

Now she’s waiting
Waiting tables at the Steak and Shakin’
But if she could see what she means to me
Then she’d have no reservations

**She gives me something
She gives me something I can hold onto
She gives me love, gives me love love love
Like a summer afternoon

I give her something
I give her something she can hold onto
I give her love, give her love love love
Love I give her love, whoa
Love I give her love
I give her something she can hold onto

Living Wage

Waking up as she walks away
A promise is a lie without a plan
Left me with the dog and a cold cup of coffee made
And all day to think on ways I could be a better man

Christmas on credit, rent’s a week late
Can’t afford to buy beer but I’m drinking champagne

It’s time to shut up, time to show out
I got a real good heart and the know how
Time to piece it all together,
Find out from what I’m made

It’s time to get up, time to get straight
Time to show that woman I mean what I say
I put a ring on her finger, I’m already halfway
If I could live on love her smile would be my living wage

She is the song I hum when I’m afraid
Adrian when Rocky gets beat
She gave me her heart, then she gave me her soul and
everything between
And asked for nothing. Said, “Follow your dreams.”

She pays the bills I take out the trash
It’s not a fair trade but it’s where we’re at

It’s time to shut up, time to show out
I got a real good heart and the know how
Time to piece it all together,
Find out from what I’m made

It’s time to get up, time to get straight
Time to show that woman I mean what I say
I put a ring on her finger, I’m already halfway
If I could live on love her smile would be my living wage

Living on the road my friend’ll keep you free and clean
Sang Van Zandt, with a needle in his vein

(So I’m) Gonna take my dreams in stride with the coming rain
And know what I’m working for is so much greater than
anything I could ever sing

It’s time I shut up, time I showed out
I got a real good heart baby I’m trying to know how
I gotta get up, I gotta get straight
I gotta show that woman I mean what I say
I put a ring on her finger I’m already half way
I put a ring on her finger I’m already half way
If I could live on love her smile would be my living wage

Marine Street

Tear stains on my t-shirt
I’ve got a thousand things to say
But with your head on my chest all I could suggest
Was everything’ll be ok

Ritter said, “I got a girl in the war.”
I’d equate mine just the same
My baby’s fighting a battle of her own
I’m just here to keep the wolves at bay

Babe I don’t know
If there’s a god where the hell is he
Babe I don’t know It’s god damn hard to believe

When I was young my daddy told me son
When there’s tension on the end of a line
You gotta give a little bit and dance with a fish
But you won’t catch ‘em every time

I’m hardly old but older than I was
And my daddy lives across the state
Many lessons I’ve learned and respect I’ve earned
But I’m a child again today

Babe I don’t know
If there’s a god where the hell is he
Babe I don’t know
It’s god damn hard to believe

Babe I don’t know
If there’s a god where the hell is he
Babe I don’t know
It’s god damn hard to believe

There ain’t no “Cancer for Dummies”
Life ain’t a plot from Nancy Drew
There’s no right way to deal with the wrong
To get past you gotta go right through
To get past you gotta go right through
To get past

Elwood

Tecate and a shot, make it crown
Save me the bag won’t ya babe?
I keep my strings in there.

It loosens me up, it helps me to sing
At least that’s what I tell my friends
When they ask why I’m drinking

Once I’m feeling good I’ll crawl back to my corner
To sing songs I don’t want to sing

My hands don’t shake cause I’m nervous
My mouth don’t mumble because I’m scared
My legs don’t buckle cause I’ve been running
You can’t run from nothing when you’re stuck in place, in my
Faded glory days

In ’75 I was young and alive
Weren’t a bar at the beach didn’t know my name
Weren’t a tab I ever paid

A bump in a stall and I blew it all
The girls on the street got to know my name
I don’t remember a thing

Now I’m all messed up strumming a Gibson SJ
I pawned all but one to pay for yesterday

My hands don’t shake cause I’m nervous
My mouth don’t mumble because I’m scared
My legs don’t buckle cause I’ve been running
You can’t run from nothing when you’re stuck in place, in my
Faded glory days

Don’t you know I don’t wanna ride on a DUI bike going 35 in a
55, my guitar on my back spending weekends in jail for a vice I
can’t crack

Dear Dianna I’m so sorry
For the hell I put you through
You were my best and I was your worst

We couldn’t make it work but we make a beautiful boy
I called him Harrison
Because he brought the sun

Now it’s time to go out like my mother
To a place where I’m no longer a slave
You may say I’m giving up, or giving out But to you I say, “It’s better to burn out, than to fade away.”
It’s better to burn than to fade.

My hands don’t shake cause I’m nervous
My mouth don’t mumble because I’m scared
My legs don’t buckle cause I’ve been running
You can’t run from nothing when you’re stuck in place, in my
Faded glory days

Little Things

Give it one more scoop
That’s gonna get me through
Coffeetime in the morning light
The best part of waking is you

She takes it black
She’s simple like that
Our dog between her blanketed knees
He’s always liked you more than me
He must see what I see

I see you, I see me
Underneath the white oak tree
And I’ll make time, when you need mine
Of all you do and say, babe it’s the little things

And I can give you romance
But darling I don’t dance
The way you move is gaberdine smooth
And I’m a Goodwill pair of sweatpants

And when we’re done with our chores
We’ll have a beer on the porch
Let’s start each day and end it the same
With each other and nothing more
Is there anything more?

I see you, I see me
Underneath the white oak tree
And I’ll make time, when you need mine
Of all you do and say, babe it’s the little things

Always thought I’d be the guy who likes to live alone
On the road, at the bar, just a rolling stone
I’ve known others and I’m grateful for the love they’ve shown
Cause they’re the names of the streets I took when I went home

Now I’m writing at the table that we eat upon.
Little phrases bout the wayses that you turn me on
I see it now I’m learning how to finally focus on
Little things like making coffee when the morning comes

I see you, I see me
Underneath the white oak tree
And I’ll make time, when you need mine
Of all you do and say, babe it’s the little things

She takes it black
She’s simple like that

Traveler's Promise

Surrender is a broken down bus
With a driver who smokes
And a toilet full of mud

And trust, is riding on the night train
A bedroom full of strangers
can drive you insane

Patience, is a raincoat in Dublin
Best pack it and not need it
Than get caught in the rain

Commitment, is a traveler’s trade
A life of so little
Can be so much weight

I wouldn’t cross this world
With no other girl
I hope you know these things I’m learning
I’m bringing back home

Loving is what we were doing
We drank Buckfast in Belfast
And all the wine from Tuscany to Rome

But loving, comes natural when you’re sinning
It’s when you slow down and you dry out
When you find out how much It’s gonna take

Faith, was St. Vitus in Prague
But every ancient thing from pubs to kings
Older than my country left me small

I wouldn’t cross this world
With no other girl
I hope you know these things I’m learning
I’m bringing back home

Every statue of Jesus
Every rock and roll band
All the weed and the wine in Amsterdam
Couldn’t give me more
Than what I got from you
If we’re talking faith
Mine’s in you

Miss California

You were sitting on Lincoln, I was sitting on Main
Story of my life running five minutes late
LA traffic’s no excuse but it’s hard to take

You were halfway through a glass of chardonnay
I said, “I’m sorry”. You said, “That’s ok
I got an appetizer coming, tell me about your day.”

That’s when I saw it, the rapture in your eyes.
Sat down just long enough to realize...

The sky was fallin’, I was calling you darlin’
Stars are colliding I say they’re aligning
I was meant to die in your arms

Venice Beach October
never thought I’d be over
in California again
Miss California here I am.

I was thinking bout the early days before
You were sick and everything was more
Look at this and let’s do that
The Golden State was smiling back

Jiffy Pop and PBR on the PCH
Love is simple when you’re underage

The sky was fallin’, I was calling you darlin’
Stars are colliding I say they’re aligning
I was meant to die in your arms

Venice Beach October
never thought I’d be over
in California again
Miss California here I am.

City of Angels, city of devils
Went through hell in paradise.
But darling I’d do it all over
If it gets you here alive.
Let’s drink to this, “Miss California you’re alright.”

Crossroads

I moved out of the city
To a farm outside of town
At night I can’t hear a sound

It’s just me and my woman
She grows tomatoes in our front yard
Her love, my roots, they’re strong and hard

But for the past few years
I been stuck inside my head
The few hours that I got became the only thing we did in our bed

I let my years grow shorter
And my hair grow long
But when the days outlast the years boy you know you’re doing something wrong

I’m at a crossroads
I’m not supposed to know where to go
At a crossroads
The road ahead is long
And there ain’t no sense in beating the light
At the crossroads of your life, no

I was hustling to do it all
Wanted my name in the blinking lights
All before I turned 21 but a kid can’t outrun time.

If my life was a river
And my success was measured in height
My aspirations for myself were the watermarks left by the flood of 99

I’m at a crossroads
I’m not supposed to know where to go
At a crossroads
The road ahead is long
And there ain’t no sense in beating the light
At the crossroads of your life, no

I made mistakes, I pumped the breaks
I learned a few things
But how a woman’s love can bring you back to earth well that remains unseen

I’m at a crossroads
I’m not supposed to know where to go
At a crossroads
The road ahead is long
And there ain’t no sense in beating the light
At the crossroads of your life, no

Marriage Museum

Sepia tone soldier
A picture on a wall
Artifacts from the in-laws
Best put ‘em where they’re saw

Worn, leather smoking chair
His throne now mine
Parts smooth parts torn apart
Like love over time

I hear them whispering behind closed doors
They’re opening now, but I’m not ready for

Welcome to the Marriage Museum
Don’t touch a thing, he ain’t coming back here again
Stuck behind a rope like a guest in my home
A passenger on a ship that can’t go back from where it’s come.
Welcome
Welcome

Just a board and some nails
Are all that remain
Of a house in a tree
In the yard where we played

I hear them whispering behind closed doors
But I’m screaming out, I’m not ready for

Welcome to the Marriage Museum
Don’t touch a thing, he ain’t coming back here again
Stuck behind a rope like a guest in my home
A passenger on a ship that can’t go back from where it’s come.
Welcome
Welcome

A voice on the answering machine
A half forgotten dream
Step right up and ask yourself
If this the dream?

Supernova

Brother why you looking at me
Like I love to see you bleed
I only want what’s best
I only want you to succeed

Sister why you looking at me
Like I love to see you grieve
I’m only asking for change
Cause I know you can’t live that way
Cause you’ll die if you live that way

I tried so hard, so you can shine like stars
You’re your own worst demon, volatile, absent of reason
You’re gonna implode
Like a supernova
Like a supernova

Now you both hopped the same train
Non-stop towards a place of no pain
You can drown your sorrows in a bottle of Jack
But they’ll always keep coming back
Yeah they’ll always keep coming back

Well you say I’m the one to blame
And what I said was out of place
Well you’re a grown man, boy, you can do what you what
But don’t deny it just to save some face
Yeah don’t deny it just to save some face

I tried so hard, so you can shine like stars
You’re your own worst demon, volatile, absent of reason
You’re gonna implode,
Like a supernova
Like a supernova

You Are Your Own

So tell me Sarah, did you just want to play?
Or did you raise the stakes, to feel something I never gave?

I guess what’s the worst thing, is there are so many worse things.
But this was the one thing, I told you I couldn’t take.

Oh this loving, it takes so much understanding
But all I’m understanding, is that to give you gotta take.

I can’t control you, but sometimes I wish I could
No I can’t control you, but sometimes I wish you would.

You are your own, you are your own
And there is nothing I can do to change you.

Honey I’ll set the table, if you’ll clear the plates
You know this habitation, it takes some delegation, it’s how you make something great.

But if you need more, if the lines are too taught.
Well I’d rather you cut them, than to tow me along.

You are your own, you are your own
And there is nothing I can do to change you.

Maybe baby it’s me who’s been stringing you along
Maybe I’m the one who’s confusing right from wrong
I tried to stop change, but there are better ways, I’m just scared you’re getting gone.
But now I know, that to grow, you gotta move on.

Decatur

An open sign, a closed blind
Neon flashing “Miller Time”
It looks like Sally’s here,
I can tell by the car

An ’87 Chevy with two spare tires,
The front bumper’s missing from a strong backfire
On the back a sticker
for a cause she forgot about

Time here matches the flow
Of the Tennessee River running right through her soul
Oh Decatur, you gotta save her, you gotta show her there’s more
To life than Christ and a 4X4

Through the smoke in the bar,
she couldn’t tell I was there
She was too busy drinking, playing Solitaire
The glow from screen wasn’t kind to the lines on her face

You should have seen her back in ’85
she was the Queen of the County, kept me up at night
But promise turns to ash in an urn,
when you stay where the battle flag’s flying high

Time here matches the flow
Of the Tennessee River running right through her soul
Oh Decatur, you gotta save her, you gotta show her there’s more
To life than Christ and a 4X4

With some courage from a can
I thought it’d be wise
I tapped her on the shoulder, told Sally, “Hi”
Then it occurred to me hello is just a coward’s goodbye

Well she gave me a smile, we relived some times
When her brother was clean and gas a few dimes
She gave me a kiss, I tipped my hat
We were both born here, nothing more than that

Time here matches the flow
Of the Tennessee River running right through her soul
Oh Decatur, you gotta save her, you gotta show her there’s more
To life than Christ and a 4X4
There’s more to life
Than Christ and a 4X4