THE HARDER STUFF
Figure 8's
I’ll buy a pair of roller skates after I pay next month's rent
I've still got a couple weeks & I’m saving every cent
The first of the month comes so fast I can’t even catch my breath
The money never even lasts until I cash my cheque
When I get my skates I’ll skate away a smile on my face
Headed for lost summer days to that carefree place
Figure 8’s around the driveway Mama tying up my laces
& the good times they ain’t gone for good
The kids are acting badly throwing train tracks at each other
Mary looks just like her daddy when she hits her little brother
I don’t mind clipping some coupons or doing this alone
But those poor sweet little ones this is all they’ve ever known
When I get my skates I’ll skate away a smile on my face
Headed for lost summer days to that carefree place
Figure 8’s around the driveway Mama tying up my laces
& the good times they ain’t gone for good
A little taste of freedom is as close as I will get
The good times I can see em they just haven’t got here yet
When I get my skates I’ll skate away a smile on my face
Headed for lost summer days to that carefree place
Figure 8’s around the driveway Mama tying up my laces
& the good times they ain’t gone for good
No the good times they ain’t gone for good
There's No Music in Music City
A guitar case in the corner covered thick with dust
The country’s singers voice is turning red with rust
There’s a big & empty tip jar sitting high up on a shelf
One penny in the bottom feeling sorry for itself
The neon lights have gone dark the honky tonk’s have shut their doors
There’s no music in music city there’s no music anymore
The jukebox has lost it’s smile a broken heart I reckon
The cowboy boots are crying there ain’t been no two stepping
The pearl snap shirts are sickly the belt buckles are blue
The pedal steels are lonesome without their lonesome tunes
The neon lights have gone dark the honky tonk’s have shut their doors
There’s no music in music city there’s no music anymore
Broadway’s quiet & deserted you could almost hear a mouse
Blowing a little blues harp in the walls of this mad house
No one’s singing at The Opry the Ryman’s head is warm
& the wind moans like Hank Willam’s bringing one hell of a storm
The neon lights have gone dark the honky tonk’s have shut their doors
There’s no music in music city there’s no music anymore
There’s no music in music city there’s no music anymore
Little Kid
They tore down my school & built a little park
I saw it last time I passed by
Young boys & girls playing on old memories
Unaware how time flies by
I’d get off the bus & take off my boots
Hang my back back up with the rest
I’d grab my binder and Velcro my shoes
And I'd go & sit at my desk
I find it harder and harder
To remember all the things that I did
As I get farther and farther
Away from that little kid
On the blackboard in chalk it said Mrs Butt
We laughed and squirmed in ours seats
But on the first day of school she wasn’t too keen
In turning the other cheek
We learned how to read & we learned how to write
We learned one plus one equals two
I’d take my homework and study at night
But I still couldn’t tie up my shoes
I find it harder and harder
To remember all the things that I did
As I get farther and farther
Away from that little kid
The bell rang at recess out to the monkey bars
We spun around in the sky
Sticks and stones wouldn't break my bones
I know you are but what am I?
I find it harder and harder
To remember all the things that I did
They get smaller and smaller
The little moments there in my head
I find it harder and harder
To remember all the things that I did
As I get farther and farther
Away from that little kid
Away from that little kid
The Rio Grande On Christmas Eve
Threatened by gangs and the police
Scared to walk alone down the street
He paid men with mouths full of Texas
More money then he’d ever seen
Into Mexico up through Oaxaca
Past checkpoints and shakedowns and bribes
By car by bus by foot by train
Through the sun scorched countryside
Migra we run through the desert
La Migra it’s a hundred degrees
Feliz navidad he says to himself
The Rio Grande on Christmas Eve
The journey stretched through December
Hard and bloody and full of mosquitos
Another hole punched into his leather belt
His shoes fell apart in Tampico
He's Up before dawn & he washes his face
Puts a dab of gel in his hair
Humming a song bout Mary & Joseph
Looking for a room anywhere
Migra we run through the desert
La Migra it’s a hundred degrees
Feliz navidad he says to himself
The Rio Grande on Christmas Eve
He wades in & crosses the river
A truck a flashing of lights
A mad dash to the wall here goes nothing
Merry Christmas to all and goodnight
Migra we run through the desert
La Migra it’s a hundred degrees
Feliz navidad he says to himself
The Rio Grande on Christmas Eve
Feliz navidad he says to himself
The Rio Grande on Christmas Eve
The Piece That Fits
Jenny joined a cult it wasn’t all her fault
The heavenly father was better than none
But when salvation cost her her life savings
She hit the road and stuck out her thumb
We met at Lou’s Diner tears in her eyeliner
I said “Do you mind if I sit here?”
She moved her suitcase wiped the lines from her face
& held up her spoon like a mirror
Nowhere warm to go through the ice & snow
All our bridges busted and burned
Birds of a feather we came together
Comparing every scar that we’d earned
When you’re broken out in the open
Busted and you can’t be fixed
When you’re scattered completely shattered
You gotta find the piece that fits
That night the town was ours neons and whiskey sours
She glowed like lightning in a bottle
Drinking up her eyes and those skin tight Levis
The plot thickened like some romance novel
“I never had a chance” she said as we danced
I said "Jenny life is what you make it"
She said "You’re cute and pretty dumb to boot
If you want something you’ve got to go and take it"
Up on the church roof in my cowboy boots
So close and so far from heaven
Through the skylight in the dead of night
Pockets bursting with the days collections
When you’re broken out in the open
Busted and you can’t be fixed
When you’re scattered completely shattered
You gotta find the piece that fits
It didn’t take too long to hear that siren song
The boys in blue flashing through the night
I said "Jenny go I’ll lead em down this road"
She said "I'll go but I won't leave us behind
I won't leave us behind"
If anyone asks who’s in my photographs
I always reply without fail
"She’s sweet she’s kind and she’s on the outside
Waiting for me to get out of this jail"
Someday Is Too Far Away
I can’t do this anymore someday is just a dream
Got me pacing the floor wearing holes in the concrete
For love I was so humble when you asked me to wait
Nothing could burst my bubble I had the patience of a saint
Tomorrow came and went hope turned cold and gray
It’s hard to ignore I can’t wait anymore
& someday is too faraway
I thought I was so lucky when I stood half a chance
But I was just the understudy waiting backstage for romance
I guess that’s how it happens most every single day
Some lovers are assassins you can’t trust a word they say
Tomorrow came and went hope turned cold and gray
It’s hard to ignore I can’t wait anymore
& someday is too faraway
It’s hard to ignore I can’t wait anymore
& someday is too faraway
& someday is too faraway
& someday is too faraway
All The Love That You Need
I always thought I’d get out thought I’d be free
Leave my dust over old Mapleburg
Until I fell in the net of your red summer dress
Your belly grew & I found work
The mobile spun as she tucked in our son
Her eyes rolled til they fell on the floor
She said “Stop your complaining its so fucking draining
Do you know how lucky you are?
We’ve all got scars we cut and we bleed
The days can get dark too dark to see
Don’t you take it so hard you’ve got all the love
All the love that you need"
I could go out for some milk & never come back
Send a postcard on every birthday
She said "You better go soon cuz when I leave this room
You're a dead man either way
We’ve all got scars we cut and we bleed
The days can get dark too dark to see
Don’t you take it so hard you’ve got all the love
All the love that you need"
She shut the door with a sigh put her small hand in mine
Said “Anyway where would you go?
I'm a pretty good kisser & I think I would miss you
Plus you said you'd fix the sink weeks ago
We’ve all got scars we cut and we bleed
We’ve all got scars we cut and we bleed
The days can get dark too dark to see
Don’t you take it so hard you’ve got all the love
Don’t you take it so hard you’ve got all the love
All the love that you need"
The Harder Stuff
The avocados are spoiled
There’s mold on the bread
My wallet is empty
Another gray hair on my head
Love has turned sour
Life can drive you so mad
But the thing about whiskey
It never goes bad
Friends they come & friends they go
Like years money & falling snow
Another inch of dust another ring around the tree
When things get bad when things get tough
I reach for the harder stuff
It may not work for some
Some days it works for me
The water is rising
We're just kicking the can
I hope we don’t drown in
Our best laid plans
I turn off the TV
The headlines so sad
But the thing about whiskey
It never goes bad
Friends they come & friends they go
Like years money & falling snow
Another inch of dust another ring around the tree
When things get bad when things get tough
I reach for the harder stuff
It may not work for some
Some days it works for me
Friends they come & friends they go
Like years money & falling snow
Another inch of dust another ring around the tree
When things get bad when things get tough
I reach for the harder stuff
It may not work for some
Some days it works for me
The Skin Of Our teeth
If you see the folks back home tell em we’re doing ok
Her belly’s getting big there’s a baby on the way
Tell em not to worry we’ve got everything we need
Hanging by the skin of our teeth
Our cup it runneth over our cheeks rosy and flush
I always walk to work I've never liked the bus
Im bringing home the bacon & we’ve got enough to eat
Hanging by the skin of our teeth
That’s someone else’s building on the six o’clock news
Bullets don’t break windows on sunny afternoons
We don’t lock the door behind us or walk quickly down the street
Hanging by the skin of our teeth
The old ladies on the stoop say we should go on home
I say those days are gone & better left alone
It’s the lucky ones that get the life they want to lead
Hanging by the skin of our teeth
Sometimes we dress up she puts on some nice perfume
We pretend we’re on the town in our little living room
I feel the baby kick & I know we’ll always be
Hanging by the skin of our teeth