1. |
Quoddy Point
04:11
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1. It’s dawn here at Quoddy Point
From my lighthouse keeper’s chair
Through this window I can see the rocks
Two figures sitting there
Young lovers, that would be my guess
Perhaps they spent the night
Out here on Quoddy Point
To be the first to see the light
Chorus:
The first sliver cracks the morning open
And there’s all the promise of the day
Two long shadows form behind them
While two young lovers look the other way
2. I bought my Sarah to this place
When both of us were young
She turned and kissed me on those rocks
In the first light rays of the sun
I had a picture of that morn
She’s wrapped up in my coat
I finally had to take it down
There comes a time you just let go
Chorus
3. I don’t know why I kept this job
When she left me here alone
But loneliness befriended me
And this remains my home
It’s true the day begins right here
But just as true the night
So good luck to you young lovers
So says the keeper of the light
Chorus
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2. |
A Father and a Daughter
03:14
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1. The book is on my lap/ I am in my rocking chair
I am reading you a story/ as I’ve done so many years
You’re sketching as you listen/ at times I glance your way
My daughter now in college, come home for this brief stay
Chorus:
Tonight I wish that time was like this rocker
Moving back and forth, not moving on
I know that every story has an ending
I miss you even now, before you’ve gone
3. Your harp is in the next room/ I can glimpse it as I rock
So many times it’s filled the house/ with Pachelbel and Bach
That seldom happens now/ it mostly stands alone
The harp makes gorgeous music/ but only when you’re home
Chorus
4. Tomorrow, early morning/ you will go out for your run
I’ll have the batter ready/ for our pancakes when you’re done
We may linger at the kitchen table/ for whatever time remains
Then I’ll drive you to the station/ and watch you board the train
Chorus:
I may wish that time was like this rocker
But I know that, like the train, it’s moving on
And maybe moving on is how it should be
Doesn’t mean that I won’t miss you when you’re gone
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3. |
Appointment in Samarra
02:56
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I am a Bagdad merchant with a strange tale to relate
Today I sent my trusted servant to buy supplies in the market place
He soon came back, trembling, his face as white as ash
He gripped my hand in his hands speaking as he held that grasp
Master, just now in the market/ I was jostled from behind
I turned, Death stood before me/ arms raised, eyes fixed on mine
Before Death’s arms could reach me I fled back in the crowd
I need your help, dear Master, lend me your horse right now
I’ll ride north from the city, reach Samarra by tonight
Death will not find me up there, no time to lose, I must take flight
I helped my servant mount up, he dug his spurs and off he rode
I walked down to the market/ Spotted Death in his dark robe
Tell me why you’ve done this, threatened my servant as you did
Why’d you raise your arms up as though he’d no more time to live?
Death regarded me a moment, when he spoke his voice was calm
“It’s true I raised my arms up, but with no intent to harm
It’s surprise that caused that gesture, such an unexpected sight
For my appointment with your servant is In Samarra for tonight”
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4. |
Slow Night in My Cab
04:36
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1. Cold night in Ann Arbor, slow night in my cab
I’m idling here on Main Street, cup of coffee warms my hands
Nixon’s in the White House, dreams are hard to hold
I’m waiting for the dispatcher to tell me where to go
Chorus:
Looking through my windshield
There aren’t many folks out there on the street
The bars are still open, some guy’s gonna need
Me to drive, it’s just a matter of time
2. I’m thinking ‘bout a poster, white dove on a guitar neck
“Three Days of Peace and Music” that’s how the poster read
It’s been two years since Woodstock, I did not feel the pull
I wish the chance would come again, I think it never will
Chorus:
Giving rides to strangers
I like driving cab, but I loved hitching rides
The stories I heard as the country rolled by
Now folks don’t stop as much, there’s a lot more mistrust
3. Hannah’s a good woman who doesn’t know her worth
We got to spend some time today before I came to work
We’re friends again, that’s where we should have stayed
I’m a bad risk as a lover, I’m the one who pulls away
Instrumental
4. The night they held the lottery for the draft a year ago
James and I sat listening beside a radio
I was spared hard choices, that wasn’t true for James
He’s now up in Canada, his life forever changed
Chorus:
Cab 29, do you read me?
That’s the dispatcher’s voice breaking into my thoughts
So many times I find myself lost
In the past, ‘til he’s called me back
There aren’t many folks out there on the street
The bars are now closing and some guy needs
Me to drive, was just a matter of time
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5. |
You're Home Now
04:05
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1. Together we climbed the steps to the home where I was raised
The old Wisconsin farmhouse I’d hardly seen the past decade
Five years I’d stayed away, ‘til Mama nearly died from flu
After that I came back at times, but only now did I bring Sue
2. My parents’ faith is strong, the Bible’s word is truth
There’s a path we all must follow, I’d learned that in my youth
I got married to a good man, sixteen years I strove to love
Then Sue entered my life, and I found what loving was
3. The phone calls from my folks were battles for my soul
Their sick and sinful daughter must come back to the fold
I held on to a dream, someday we’d reconcile
But I never was alone, Sue was with me all the while
4. Through the years our love was steady, I think my folks were moved
Perhaps the changing times influenced them too
Shifts were taking place, they spoke of Sue by name
She nursed me through pneumonia, Dad called and offered thanks
5. Now we’re standing at my folk’s door ten years after we’d first met
I hadn’t asked if Sue could come, I’d announced it as a fact
Hope may spring eternal, but hope misleads at times
I rang the bell and waited, Sue slipped her hand in mine
6. The farmhouse door was opened, Mama met me with a hug
Then turned and did the same to Sue as Dad smiled on us
It took three whispered words to lay the painful past to rest
Holding Sue in both her arms, “You’re home now” Mama said
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6. |
County Clare
03:42
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Chorus:
Katie O’Connor you have my heart
Know it will always be here
A year may well pass but I will come back
To you and County Clare
1. This lock of raven hair
Will cross the Irish Sea
When I’m loading boats in Liverpool
I’ll still have you with me
What I earn I’ll save
Help hold the family’s land
I’ll speak with your father when I return
Then ask you for your hand
Chorus
2. I know there are others
Who have lain upon this hill
Above the Shannon river
This field all to themselves
I gaze into your eyes
Your head rests on my arm
Can it be those others
Have felt a love this strong?
Chorus
Katie O’Connor when I’m alone
I’ll have more than this lock of your hair
I’ll just close my eyes, you’ll be by my side
Back here in County Clare
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7. |
My Mother Is Religious
03:42
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1. My mother is religious, she just doesn’t believe in God
Faith in the unproven proved to be too hard
What she believes in‘s not hard to tell
Love thy neighbor as thyself
2. There are teachings in this world that see my mother damned
She hasn’t sought salvation, gripped the good Lord’s hand
What she’s embraced in countless deeds
Are friends and family and those in need
Chorus:
Are our beliefs the words we say
Are they the choices we make each day
The care bestowed on those we know
And those we don’t
My mother may stumble, as do we all
But there’s her kindness to break her fall
She seeks no praise, to be engaged
Is what‘s worthwhile
3. There are folks who have the answers, sure they know the Truth
Who walk some straight and narrow they feel the world should choose
My mother’s slow to give advice
About how others should lead their lives
4. To her there is no heaven, to her there is no hell
To her what really matters is right here where we dwell
If there’s a life once we depart
It’s what lives on in others’ hearts
Chorus
My mother is religious
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8. |
Parting as Friends
03:27
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1. I watched her tail lights disappear in the night
Like embers fading to ash
I climbed back up the steps to this house she had left
Wondering why so little lasts
Chorus:
The moon’s shining in through my window
But Annie’s not here in its light
Parting as friends is a good way to end
But ending is not what I’d like
2. I have my guitar, I’m in my chair
I reach out and turn off the light
Familiar old tunes in this half-empty room
Help me make it through the night
Chorus
3. I loved our love, seemed easy and endless
For Annie, turns out it was not
Her love was the rose that gently unfolds
And unfolds ‘til each petal has dropped
4. A quiet dark street is the view from this seat
As I finger-pick “Deep River Blues”
Two headlights approach, I give in to hope
But it’s just one more car passing through
Chorus
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9. |
Marianna
03:57
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1. From the window of a plane
The world below may seem unchanged
Rows of houses, lawns and trees, streams of traffic
The worries and the woes
Of those who dwell below
Cannot be seen from the plane as it passes
Chorus:
It’s hard times on the land
Marianna, take my hand
There are so few things it seems we can be sure of
In a world that’s gone astray
Who can safely say
That what we have is sure to last
2. From the two sides of our bed
So little’s being said
It’s tense to be this close and far apart
The future has you scared
A feeling I don’t share
Words of comfort are no comfort in the dark
Chorus:
It’s hard times on the land
Marianna, take my hand
To have and to hold was our vow
Vows are merely words
What we have is of real worth
Love we’ve shared for all these years
3. I’ve looked up at the sky
At planes as they’ve flown by
And wondered where the folks up there were heading
I’ve had my share of flights
And the ones that I most liked
Were the ones that flew me home where you were waiting
Chorus:
It’s hard times on the land
Marianna, take my hand
Touch can say so much without a word
It can say, “Don’t be afraid,
Though we may have lost our way
This too shall pass, love will last”
Far below a distant plane
This world may well have changed
I don’t want us to do the same, Marianna
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10. |
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1. I have met the Devil
Didn’t know it at the time
By the railing on a steamboat
With his dog and gracious smile
He produced a deck of cards
And when we’d finished play
He had my money in his suitcase
And that boat had sailed away
Chorus:
Steamboat on the river
You can see that black smoke rising in the sky
Folks along the river side
Wave “Hello/Good-bye”
2. I trudged up from the river
“Miss Hattie’s Tavern” read this sign
Nothing to lose but my bad luck
I took a chance and stepped inside
Miss Hattie saw me enter
She came and took my hand
You look like you’ve seen the Devil
You can talk, I’ll understand
Chorus
3. I now work in Hattie’s tavern
At night we go upstairs
It’s new to me, this living
With somebody who cares
Sometimes we’ll put on music
In the parlor after work
And do a little dancing
Holding on to what has worth
4. The Devil’s been down to Vicksburg
And he’s been to Tennessee
I want to thank the Devil
For coming to see me
It’s true he took my money
But what I got’s a steal
Sweet Hattie with her heart of gold
I got the better deal
Chorus:
Steamboat whistle blows
She rounds a bend to wend her way to New Orleans
Carrying off some dreamer’s dreams
Paddle wheel turning round and round
Whistle’s just a fading sound
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11. |
The Gambler
03:39
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1. In my life the first person to desert me
Was my father I’ve never seen
Momma once told me he wore a vest
No tin star pinned to his chest
Momma took up with a gambling man
Left me and Luke on Grandma’s hands
I held out hope for about a year
She didn’t come back, I shed no tears
2. I was swimming in the quarry, Luke jumped from the top
It’d been done many times, but he hit a rock
I couldn’t keep from crying when they filled his grave
Spent the night in the barn, then slipped away
I’d heard ‘bout a river with towns along side
I walked to that river, it took three days’ time
Got a job running errands for child’s pay
Empty shed by the river, that’s where I stayed
3. I fell in with a man on a fine river boat
Wore a black vest, a well-cut waistcoat
He taught me cards and so much else
I learned that luck could be given some help
Then came the morning I woke up to find
He’d left the boat and me far behind
The coins and bills that I’d amassed
Where they had gone no need to ask
Bridge:
The river is safer than here on dry land
I wear my hat low but it’s hard to blend in
My dog by my side, I study the street
There’s folks with long memories it’s best not to meet
4. I don’t think I’ve had a child I’ve never had a wife
My dog is named Jack, all I need in life
Befriend a dog he won’t bite your hand
That’s the difference, they say, ‘tween a dog and a man
I move through this life with my cards and my dog
Sometimes I wonder what I’m living for
But then there’s a question I come round to ask
If I was gone who’d be here for Jack?
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12. |
Miss Hattie's Story
04:20
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1. There is a picture in this tavern
Of a woman I don’t know
My mother had me, then she left me
For the place we all must go
My father raised me, his sweet Hattie
In this tavern, by his side
The world we shared was safe and loving
Safe and loving, but not real wide
Chorus:
Plate glass window, tall gold letters
“Miss Hattie’s Tavern”
The words announce
I’ve stood countless hours by this window
On the inside, looking out
2. I lost my father to influenza
And found my thoughts begin to stray
I’d serve the meals, pour the drinks
And be thinking of sailing away
There were suitors, I had no interest
They talked mostly ‘bout themselves
I’d go to bed above the tavern
With no dreams of someone else
Chorus
I had a dim view of the future
Then James showed me the light
I remember watching from this window
As he walked into my life
He asked me questions, he is a listener
Unaware of his sweet charms
Now when we’re dancing above the tavern
The world I want is no wider than his arms
Chorus
Plate glass window, tall gold letters
“Miss Hattie’s Tavern”
The words announce
Now I don’t spend much time by this window
On the inside, looking out
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13. |
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I was seated safe in jail, on an old Monopoly board
Engaged in conversation with my dearest friend, the dog
“Scotty” I’d inquired, “is there something on your mind?
Since the change they made in tokens you seem preoccupied
Are you upset about the iron, the way they tossed her from the box
That for all her years of service she didn’t even get a watch?
Or that we had no say in who would take her place
That they went and took a vote somewhere out in cyberspace”
”But here’s my best guess, Scotty, as to what’s disturbing you
It’s the token that’s been chosen, she’s not the one you’d choose
Your peaceful former life has been shattered by this fact
Now you’re stuck with living in close quarters with a cat
Scotty’s smile was rueful “Top Hat, you’ve missed the mark
Logic has no place in matters of the heart
The fact is that Miss Kitty and I are much in love
The problem with our quarters is that they’re not close enough
I was drawn to Miss Kitty from her first Monopoly game
From our talk out on the Boardwalk, turns out she felt the same
This isn’t puppy love, my paws are on the ground
Kitty’s funny, kind and wise, and makes such fetching purring sounds
So here is our conundrum, where to find some private space
We’ve been to all the hotels, from Baltic to Park Place
The sorry truth is this, we’ve had to face the fact
No one has a room if it’s for a dog and cat
I was glad that Scotty’d spoken, I could offer him good news
“Scotty, the Short Line sleeping cars are greatly underused
The brakeman is a friend of mine, he once wore me to a wake
I’m sure he’d have no problem finding you and Kitty space”
Some days later on a stoop out on St. Charles Avenue
I was checking out the windows on a train as it passed through
I filled up to the brim with pleasure at this sight
Two familiar furry paws waving to me from inside
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