Lyrics I Wish I Had Written

Sometimes you just go, how did they do that? Where did that come from? 

For me, here's just a sampling:

Too cool to be forgotten

House rules, no exceptions

No bad language, no gambling, no fighting

Sorry, no credit, don't ask

Bathroom wall reads: Is God the answer? Yes.

Ninety-nine and a half just won't do.

Outside my window, I can hear the radio,

And I know that motor wagon is ready to fly,

'cause it's almost Saturday night.

So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains

And we never even know we have the key.

I wanna watch the ocean bend

the edges of the sun then

I wanna get swallowed up in

An ocean of love

I've lost count of the times I've given up on you

But you make such a beautiful wreck, you do

Ya, you make such a beautiful wreck, you do

You make such a beautiful wreck, you do

At the dark end of this bar

What a beautiful wreck you are.

It's better to burn out than it is to rust.

She said her name was Billie Jean and she was fresh in town.

I didn’t know a stage line ran from hell.

And feelin' good was easy, Lord, when he sang the blues

  You know, feelin' good was good enough for me

I wished I was in Austin

In the Chili Parlor Bar

Drinking Mad Dog margaritas.

Won't you share a common disaster?

Some people ain't no damn good

You can't trust 'em, you can't love 'em

No good deed goes unpunished.

Desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

You been out ridin' fences for so long now

Oh, you're a hard one

I know that you got your reasons

These things that are pleasin' you

Can hurt you somehow

Desperado, oh, you ain't gettin' no younger

Your pain and your hunger, they're drivin' you home

And freedom, oh freedom well, that's just some people talkin'

Your prison is walking through this world all alone

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys.

Don't let 'em pick guitars or drive them old trucks.

Let 'em be doctors and lawyers and such.

Don't think twice

It's all right.

Why'd you let go of your guitar

Why'd you ever let it go that far

Drunken Angel

Everyday is a winding road

I get a little bit closer

Everyday is a faded sign

I get a little bit closer to feeling fine.

Got two reasons why I cry away each lonely night,

The first one's named sweet Anne Marie and she's my heart's delight.

The second one is prison, babe, the sheriff's on my trail,

And if he catches up with me, I'll spend my life in jail.

Georgia, Georgia, no peace I find.

Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind.

Even God must get the blues.

God must hate me

He cursed me for eternity

God must hate me

Maybe you should pray for me

Did she make you cry

Make you break down

Shatter your illusions of love

Is it over now- do you know how

Pick up the pieces and go home.

Oh good shepherd

Feed my sheep

So I bought a guitar and I practiced real hard

I wasn't much good, but I was willin'

Till to my chagrin, my girlfriend came in

And she said, "Can you sing any Dylan?"

Out all night playing in a band

looking for a fight

with a guitar in your hand

with a GUITAR in your hand

We all got holes to fill

and them holes are all that's real

some fall on you like a storm

sometimes you dig your own.

I am just a poor boy

Work’s my middle name

If money was the reason

Well I would not be the same.

I love this town... like an unmade bed

I need a love to keep my happy.

It's a long way to Texas... it's a long way back home

It's a three hour flight on the plane when I go

... away from this snow from Boston to South Shore where the

Dreams roll and tumble... and bring the prose to the wheel...

If you're goin' through hell,

Keep on goin'.

Don't slow down:

If you're scared don't show it.

You might get out,

'Fore the devil even knows you're there.

It ain't wise to need someone

As much as I depended on you.

It's goodbye to all my friends.

It's time to go again.

Now that we come showin' up

Rumors bouncin' off of that truck

Just a let 'em stare at her and me

'Cause I don't care about anything but us

And there's nothing wrong with me

This is how I'm supposed to be

In a land of make believe

That don't believe in me

And when you said I scared you,

Well I guess you scared me too.

If I had possession of Judgement Day

I wouldn't have no right to pray.

Now I'm leaving Normal and heading towards Who Knows Where.

I've finally learned that there's good and bad

And that a guy can do some choosin',

Of that I'm glad cause this heart and face

Won't take any more bruisin'.

And the next time I fall in another's arms

There's one thing I'll be certain,

That she can bear the weight of the love I give

Without considering it a burden.

Living Life #9.

When you can't find a friend

You've still got the radio.

Livin' on refried dreams.

Guess I've got that old travlin' bone, 'cause this feelin' won't leave me alone.

But I won't, won't be losin' my way, no, no

long as I can see the light.

All I ask

Don't tell anybody the secrets

I told you.

I said "Mama, he's crazy and he scares me

But I want him by my side

though he's wild and he's bad

and sometimes just plain mad

I need him to keep me satisfied"

My Give A Damn's Busted

I got no friends 'cause they read the papers

They can't be seen with me and I'm getting shot down

And I'm feeling mean.

 I'm old enough to know better, but still too young to care.

Why is there one in every crowd, and why do I attract them?

Some rich men came and raped the land,

Nobody caught 'em

Put up a bunch of ugly boxes, and Jesus,

People bought 'em

And they called it Paradise

The place to be

They watched the hazy sun, sinking in the sea

You’re one of a dying breed who only takes what they need

And leaves the rest to the feast of the fools

When someone else along the way asks you to stop and stay

And tell them a story or two

Tell them the one about this old man from Blue River, Arizona

Who is tall and handsome in spite of his lazy eye

Never found no gold on the trail of old Coronado

Spent half of his life waiting on that quittin’ time whistle to blow

Is it too much to demand

I want a full house and a rock and roll band

Pens that won't run out of ink

And cool quiet and time to think.

Hung a sign up in our town
"If you live it up, you won't live it down"
So she left Monte Rio, son
Just like a bullet leaves a gun

With her charcoal eyes and Monroe hips
She went and took that California trip
Oh, the moon was gold, her hair like wind
Said, 'Don't look back, just come on, Jim'

When you said you’d never heard of John Prine
Well I knew right away you weren’t worth my time

And the moral of this story

Is I guess it's easier said than done

To look at what you've been through

And to see what you've become.

Quivers down my backbone

I got the shakes in the knee bones

Shivers down my thigh bones

Like I'm

Shakin' all over

I dont claim a thing
Not a two bit clue
But somebody whispered
War kills the truth

  

You wait in the car on the side of the road
Lemme go and stand awhile, I wanna know you're there but I wanna be alone
If only for a minute or two
I wanna see what it feels like to be without you

Sometimes I get upset

When people treat me bad

Don’t have time to think

So I get real mad

And you can send me dead flowers every morning
Send me dead flowers by the mail
Send me dead flowers to my wedding
And I won't forget to put roses on your grave

An old county road runs by my house and ends on the river bank

In '73 they shut the ferry down

Back up the road there's a church and a store with a bench full of lying old men

In the middle of a wide spot they call a town 

I'm just a young man living to make me old plowing these fields by the river road 

Where hopes dreams and my granddaddy lived and died 

They go as far as my eyes can see but they ain't far enough for me 

When I drive to the river and I look at the other side

I've heard that into every life

a little rain must fall.

If there's any truth to the saying,

Lord, let it be a southern rain.

Blow up your TV throw away your paper

Go to the country, build you a home

Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches

Try an find Jesus on your own.

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive

For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve.

So what in the world's come over you?

What in heaven's name have you done?

You've broken the speed of the sound of loneliness

You're out there runnin'

Just to be on the run.

I'm the PATRON SAINT of the denial with an ANGEL FACE and a taste for suicidal.

I recall once upon a time,

Livin' was so easy and I felt so fine.

But, my, my, my right before my very eyes,

Satan came with fire to burn me,

Wouldn't listen when they warned me.

A dagger in my back while she's calling me honey,

Wouldn't stand back, for neither love nor money.

The hotter it is you know the hotter it gets.

Every Friday, well, that's when I get paid.

Don't take me on Friday, Lord, 'cause that's when I get paid.

Let me die on Saturday night, ooh, before Sunday gets my head.

Why don't you cash in your chips

Why don't you call it a loss

Not such a big loss

Chalk it up to better luck

This old guitar ain't mine to keep

It's mine to play for a while

To live is to fly, low and high

So shake the dust off of your wings

And the sleep out of your eyes.

Well I been drinkin' again

And I know it's a sin

But I just can't refuse an old friend

Cause life is gettin' me down

And I been two times around

And there ain't nothing but pain around the bend.

Is there anything a man don’t stand to lose,

When the devil wants to take it all away?

Clouds of myst’ry pourin’ confusion on the ground.

Good men through the ages, tryin’ to find the sun;

And I wonder, still I wonder, who’ll stop the rain.

Well you stole it 'cause I needed the cash

And you killed it 'cause I wanted revenge

Well you lied to me 'cause I asked you to

Baby, can we still be friends

  

And I been from Tucson to Tucancary, Tahathapi to Tanapall

Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made

Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed.

And if you give me weed, whites, and wine

And you show me a sign

Then I'll be willing

To be moving.

I'd rather look around me -- compose a better song

'cos that's the honest measure of my worth.

In your pomp and all your glory you're a poorer man than me

as you lick the boots of death born out of fear.

May the wind take your troubles away
May the wind take your troubles away
Both feet on the floor, two hands on the wheel
May the wind take your troubles away

You took my joy   

I want it back.

I don't know what it means when he takes my pulse
And says that I'm a lot like him

Walking down Main Street getting to know the concrete
Looking for a purpose from a neon sign
I would meet you anywhere, western sun meets the air
We'll hit the road, never looking behind

Say that you were stranded on a desert island
What books you gonna bring what friends would tag along
Say you had a month and you knew you were dying
How would you spend your time
What goodbyes would take too long

Every lunatic must be well intentioned
Sets himself apart he's an instrument of God
Took her from the playground to the farmhouse cellar
Kissed her while he killed her like a good Samaritan
They finally found her body many Autumns after
Interviewed her mother who said "she'd now be 21
And although we lost her young
I know the good lord has a plan for all of us"

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over it won't be long, he won't be around
I love my father, he could use some mercy now

Drag queens in limousines
Nuns in blue jeans
Dreamers with big dreams
All took me in

Sam Stone was alone when he played his last request
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair