(2017)
“Memphis Bound“
I’m leaving in the morning
For someplace I’ve never seen before
And taking all the things
I’ve tried so hard to let go of and ignore
It takes my breath through the long goodbyes
With no rest, no wants, no pride
This boy is Memphis Bound
I’m watching through the cage
Of a love that has never been free
And ‘if wishes were changes’
Then none of this would have to be
It takes my breath through the long goodbyes
With no rest, no wants, no pride
This boy is Memphis Bound
September comes and goes
On a wind that sings a sweet lullaby
With windows frozen closed
Years ago by the wanting inside
It takes my breath through the long goodbyes
With no rest, no wants, no pride
This boy is Memphis Bound.
“To The End Of The Night“
I’ve been a lost boy
Out on the road for days
Where the streetlights dark and low
Are calling me back home
And I hear your voice again
Heavy like a hurricane
Pulls the distance back down
Until the silence comes around
If I could find my way back to you
I would hold on
I’d never leave, I’d never let go
Til the end of the night.
I was born to run
A bullet from the loneliest gun
Splits the night like a Burlington train
Til it comes back around again
Then I hear your voice, it seems
I’d never felt so alone
In the night when the streets are dark
And my insides coming apart
If I could find my way back to you
I would hold on
I’d never leave, I’d never let go
Til the end of the night.
Only the lonely will know
Only the lonely will know
If I could find my way back to you
I would hold on
I’d never leave, I’d never let go
Til the end of the night.
Til the end of the night.
“Winding River“
A woman loves and still
Six black horses cross the land
Another sun across the sky
Another cold morning wind.
I woke up in a dream
Buck deer thrashing in a creek
Miles from where you are tonight
The Houston sky is empty.
Make me a Winding River through
Flowing to my snowy home
And when I get there let it be
That I should never be again alone.
In the high frozen drifts
I hummed a song of your name
The winds carried it low
For the Spring to come again and claim
Make me a Winding River through
Flowing to my snowy home
And when I get there let it be
That I should never be again alone.
“Barn Burning“
There’s a red sky blazing
Send water down the line
It’s miles out in the country
And she ain’t helping anything this time
I wasn’t looking for a rescue
And I don’t mind saying I was young
Barn Burning on a summer night
Barn Burning against the stars
You might think the world could end tonight
But it’s a start, it’s a start, it’s a start.
The morning brings changes
Red embers on the ground
The harvest is scattered
The tin roof all torn down
I wasn’t looking for a rescue
And I don’t mind saying I was young
Barn Burning on a summer night
Barn Burning against the stars
You might think the world could end tonight
But it’s a start, it’s a start, it’s a start.
“Mockingbirds“
The mockingbird she wakes me and calls me out by my name
The mockingbird she wakes me and calls me out by my name
She tells me she’s the desert
And my arms are waterfalls of rain.
She sleeps beneath my window where her ladies they lie in wait
The stars that watch her sleeping are silent and still for their sake
The winter wind she whistles
And wonders alone through my gate.
She brings to me an apple and leaves it alone by my door
She brings to me an apple and leaves it alone by my door
She tells me to abandon
And dream of her no more.
The mockingbird she wakes me and calls me out by my name
The mockingbird she wakes me and calls me out by my name
She tells me she’s the desert
And my arms are waterfalls of rain.
“Snake Song“
You can’t hold me, I’m too slippery
I do no sleeping, I’m so lonely
You can touch me if you want to
But I got poison, I just might bite you.
I lie in circles on the sunlight
I shine like diamonds on a dark night
Ain’t no mercy in my smiling
Only fangs and sweet beguiling.
Well the future, he don’t try to find me
The skin I’ve been through dies behind me
A solid hollow, wrapped in hatred
Not a drop of venom wasted.
You can slip in, try to find me
Hold your breath and flat deny me
It makes no difference to my thinking
‘Cause I’ll be here when you start sinking.
“Ballad Of Thomas Henry“
If you’re ever in Harlan town
If you’re ever here in Harlan town
Just pass on through, don’t you mess around.
The kettle train, it brought me here
The kettle train, it brought me here
And it’s been my home about thirty years.
They got a hole in the ground, goes straight to hell
They got a hole in the ground, goes straight to hell
Stays dark as night at the morning bell.
This here bird, she can’t sing no more
This here bird, she don’t sing no more
Won’t tell nobody who we’re dying for.
This wooden coin, it don’t go too far
This wooden coin, it don’t go too far
Buy two good shells at the company store.
Sit down Mabry, let me talk to you
Sit here Mabry, let me talk to you
This ain’t no world to bring a child into.
Come sit out here by the clothesline
Come sit out here by the clothesline
By the time they find us, it’ll be quittin’ time.
Will they throw our ashes down in Wallin’s Cave?
Will they throw our ashes down in Wallin’s Cave?
‘Cause the churchyard costs too much these days.
When the morning bell cuts through town
When the morning bell cuts through town
There’s another soul on its way back down.
At the end of the day, it’s all I know
At the end of the day, it’s all I know
It’s the same above as it is below.
I’ve got a dark mind that’s black as coal
I’ve got a dark mind, it’s black as coal
With nothing left to worry for.
At night I lay in my crooked sleep
I pray the devil my soul to keep
‘Cause my days are dark as the mine is deep.
“How I Got To Memphis“
If you love somebody enough
You’ll follow wherever they go
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
If you love somebody enough
You’ll go where your heart wants to go
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
I know if you’d seen her you’d tell me ’cause you are my friend
I’ve got to find her and find out the trouble she’s in
If you tell me that she’s not here
I’ll follow the trail of her tears
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
She would get mad and she used to say
That she’d come back to Memphis someday
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
I haven’t eaten a bite
Or slept for three days and nights
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
I’ve got to find her and tell her that I love her so
I’ll never rest ’til I find out why she had to go
Thank you for your precious time
Forgive me if I start to cryin’
That’s how I got to Memphis
That’s how I got to Memphis
