Wondrous Potions - Lyrics
A number of folks have asked me for the lyrics of the songs on my new album, Wondrous Potions. So, I'd thought I'd write my first blog on the subject! Words and phrases seem to have their own inherent melody, and they are the building blocks of my songs. When I first run into a new song, it's always a phrase and it's natural musicality which holds my hand while I try to figure out the rest of the song.
Waiting
Waiting for someone, I'm waiting for you,.
waiting for that light to come shine on through.
I'm waiting for that life I've got pictured in my mind.
I'm waiting, but the days just keep rolling by.
In the winter I shiver, in the summer I dream,
in the fall I am flooded by memories,
in the spring I want love under the sky so blue
and everyday I'm waiting for you.
Cause I'm waiting for a reason, I'm waiting for you,
waiting for that light to come shine on through.
I'm waiting for that life I've got pictured in my mind.
I'm waiting, but the days just keep rolling by.
And the brids are singing, singing, singing.
The birds are singing all for you.
And you don't know how loved you are.
No, you don't know how loved you are.
Cause I'm waiting for something, I'm waiting for you.
waiting for that light to come shine on through.
I'm waiting for that life I've got pictured in my mind.
I'm waiting, but the days just keep rolling by.
In a rut, stuck in the shallows of the sea,
the world keeps on moving and I've got to break free.
Yeah, I've put on this life, I'm wearing it thin.
When I think that I'm finished, it's time to begin.
Cause I'm waiting for someone, I'm waiting for you.
waiting for that light to come shine on through.
I'm waiting for that life I've got pictured in my mind.
I'm waiting, but the days just keep rolling by.
Yeah, I'm waiting for a reason, I'm waiting for you,
waiting for that light to come shine on through.
Angry Ghost
I'm running through the fog like and angry ghost
let my life slip away the one I love the most
is gone baby gone baby gone, gone away
I feel my brain is broken and my thoughts are few
I can't recollect my life before you
and it's gone baby gone baby gone, gone to stay
I had an agenda rolling though my head
I didn't believe the words you said
I'm gone baby gone baby gone, gone today
running through the fog like and angry ghost
let my life slip away the one I love the most
is gone baby gone baby gone, gone away
What good is my heart? What good are my hands?
What good is my skin? What good are my plans?
What good are my legs? What good is my chest?
What good is my mouth, now that you've left?
Oh take my teeth, take my toes,
take my house, take my clothes.
Take my food, take my pulse,
Take my mind, Take everything else,
cause your gone baby gone baby gone, gone away
I'm running through the fog like and angry ghost
let my life slip away the one I love the most
is gone baby gone baby gone, gone away
Sing to Me
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
Dim the lights, won't you sonny-boy.
Dim the lights, I'm so cold.
Dim the lights, I feel I'm slippin',
Oh, dim the lights, I''ve lost my hold, Oh,
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
It seems like I heard that trigger.
It seems like I dropped that gun.
It seems like the world turned crystal.
It seems like nobody won, Oh,
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
I hear them in the background talking.
I hear them and their worried notes.
I hear them, but their words are fading.
I hear them and I'm all alone, Oh,
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
Sing to me in your mothers' voices.
Sing to me that old time song.
SIng to me so I can follow
Sing to me, the road is long, Oh,
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
Didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, didilee-da-dra-cha, da-da-da
Garden Wine
Oh pour me a glass of that garden wine.
We'll sit right here while summertime
unwinds around us and we will find
that everything, everything, everything happens
in its own time.
Well, I've know you since you were a boy.
We ran through the shadows, we buried our toys,
and the day finds us here under warm sunshine
and everything, everything, everything happens
in its own time.
In my grandma's garden, have I ever told,
you of her zinnias and those marigolds,
and the smell of tomatoes growing on her vines,
and everything, everything, everything happens
in its own time.
The voices of those no longer here
still linger in my mind, their faces unclear.
So, pour me a glass of that garden wine
and we'll toast the day, we won't mind
that everything, everything, everything happens
in its own time.
All I Really Need to Know
I've known you now for many years
and I've been silenced by my fears.
The day is new and your in sight,
time for me to set things right.
Have I told you that you haunt me?
Can I hold you, do you want me?
That's all I really need to know
Do you think that you could like me?
Cause I love you, won't you try me?
That's all I really need to know.
That's all I really care to know.
And all this time I've felt the same,
your visage puts the moon to shame.
And in my dreams it's always you
by my side the whole night through
Have I told you that you haunt me?
Can I hold you, do you want me?
That's all I really need to know
Do you think that you could like me?
Cause I love you, won't you try me?
That's all I really need to know.
That's all I really want to know.
I know I'm asking for a lot
but I'll give all I've got.
I'm sorry that I've worn this mask,
now it's time for me to ask,
Have I told you that you haunt me?
Can I hold you, do you want me?
That's all I really need to know
Do you think that you could like me?
Cause I love you, won't you try me?
That's all I really need to know.
That's all I really want to know.
Have I told you that you haunt me?
Can I hold you, do you want me?
That's all I really want to know
Do you think that you could like me?
Cause I love you, won't you try me?
That's all I really want to know.
That's all I really care to know.
That's all I really need to know.
Back In The Race
Lean my head out the window.
Feel the wind my my face.
Think the thoughts I won't remember, no,
when I'm back in the race.
I had a map, I had a pencil,
but I just could not trace,
that winding road on which I rambled led
me back to the race.
And how the sun was burning,
I could not keep your pace.
Your firey love left me in ashes now,
I'm back in the race
Back there in the race, Oh baby, back in the race.
Bewildered by your body
and blinded by your grace,
I stumbled backwards into darkness now,
I'm back in the race.
Foolish and forsaken
and unable to replace
that ardent flame that was taken from me now
I'm back in the race
So, Lean my head out the window.
Feel the wind my my face.
Think the thoughts I won't remember, no,
when I'm back in the race.
Back there in the race, Oh baby, back in the race.
I am Here
All those thoughts are in your mind,
and all your worries just serving time,
oh my dear, my sweetest dear, I am here.
If you ever lose your way,
I'll hold your hand and I will say,
over here, my darling dear, I am here.
One by one the games we've played
will turn in to the life we've made
Oh my dear, I'll be right here.
It's like we found what we forgot
cause were alone until we're not
oh my dear, my sweetest dear, I am here.
You rolled right into my heart
and you formed the strongest part
of me dear, my darling dear, I am here.
One by one the games we've played
will turn in to the life we've made
Oh my dear, I'll be right here.
It's like we found what we forgot
cause were alone until we're not
oh my dear, my sweetest dear, I be right here.
Bootless Cowboys
Bootless cowboys, barbed wire fences, the false fronts of this city life
have worn down all of my senses. I've grown as mean as a rusty knife.
Nights are spent in barrooms, in bottles and dances where my morning hopes waltz away.
I'm going to shake myself lose of these trances, ride out of town, start a brand new day.
Oh, the sound of those tall pine trees
when the wind whispers through their leaves.
I'll sleep by the river, wake covered in dew.
Just one more round, Lady Luck please see me through.
Cause I'm riding on, I'll leave this city life to you.
Worried fingers, worn out wages, the lost cause of this lonely life,
loosing our reason like birds caught in cages, growing used to the bars and forgetting how to fly.
With these walls along the road way, walls around our vision, walls around our heart, walls around our home,
catch us in the shadows of cold division and hide us from the fact that we're not so alone.
Oh, the sound of those tall pine trees
when the wind whispers through their leaves.
I'll sleep by the river, wake covered in dew.
Just one more round, Lady Luck please see me through.
Cause I'm riding on, I'll leave this city life to you.
The high stakes and the hard road may lead a man to gamble, tricked by the house, I'll play my hand.
Then I'll saddle up my horse and homeward I'll ramble. Oh how my heart aches for that verdant land.
Oh, the sound of those tall pine trees
when the wind whispers through their leaves.
I'll sleep by the river, wake covered in dew.
Just one more round, Lady Luck will see me through.
Cause I'm riding on, I'll leave this lonely life to you.
Yes, I'm heading out, I'll leave this city life to you
Snake Oil Man
Look out here comes the snake oil man
with wondrous potions in my caravan.
Swamp root bitters or vermafuge,
I must have something you can use.
So raise your hands, raise your hands, raise your hands to the sky.
Raise your hands, I will take you, raise your hands, for a ride.
Raise your hands, raise your hands, for the vision so clear,
Raise your hands for the bottle, raise your hands, have no fear
Would you believe that all your ills
could be cured if you take my pills?
Cause I'm your man, I won't let you down.
You'll have no worries long as I am in town.
And raise your hands, raise your hands, raise your hands to the sky.
Raise your hands, I will take you, raise your hands, for a ride.
Raise your hands, raise your hands, for the vision so clear,
Raise your hands for the bottle, raise your hands, have no fear
That tiny war raging in your mind
could be calmed if you drink my wine.
If winter's scorn has left you cold and thin,
try my elixer, it's not a sin.
And raise your hands, raise your hands, raise your hands to the sky.
Raise your hands, I will take you, raise your hands, for a ride.
Raise your hands, raise your hands, for the vision so clear,
Raise your hands for the bottle, raise your hands, have no fear
And who among you, man or boy,
has seen the Swamp Witch drunk with joy?
Come hear the colors and see the sounds
of the spring waking up the ground.
And raise your hands, raise your hands, raise your hands to the sky.
Raise your hands, I will take you, raise your hands, for a ride.
Raise your hands, raise your hands, for the vision so clear,
Raise your hands for the bottle, raise your hands, have no fear.
Tiny World
Ain't it something how you never seem to say what you mean?
And there's your real life and your dream life and your hiding in between.
Well baby, here is my heart.
Right from the start,
it's been a tiny world with you.
I'm living in a tiny, tiny world with you
Take that leash off of the beast that keeps you occupied.
The burdened cost of love you've lost bites and tears at your pride.
And baby, here is my heart.
Right from the start,
it's been a tiny world with you.
I'm living in a tiny, tiny world with you
Now and then the moon can pull the edges off your soul,
tonight I'm here and maybe I can pull you out of this hole.
And baby, here is my heart.
Right from the start,
it's been a tiny world with you.
I'm living in a tiny, tiny world with you
Well you know, I'll always try when I chance to find
a certain word, a certain way of a kindred mind.
And baby, here is my heart.
Right from the start,
it's been a tiny world with you.
I'm living in a tiny, tiny world with you
Oh it's tiny, tiny world with you.
Rough Around the Edges
I'm rough around the edges. You're as shiney as a pearl,
and the space in between us is a magnetizing swirl
of thoughts unspoken and longings understood.
I wouldn't tear myself away, even if I could.
And we turn off the t.v., that old time thief,
and you turn me on and I tremble like a leaf,
in a summer storm when the downdraft blows
and the lightning cracks, green grass glows.
Opened my eyes years ago
followed love down many roads
I would have gone faster if I knew
my path would lead me to you, you
lead me to you, you,
lead me to you.
I'm rough around the edges. You're as wild as the sky
and our love burning when our bodies die.
Someday, somewhere, someone will here this song,
waiting for love to come along.
Cause love keeps going though it changes forms
like the sun and the sea and the thunderstorms,
like the lightnin' bugs blinking though the night,
leading us on with their firey light.
Tricked by hearts that have learned to bluff,
I've been cut down and I've grown tough.
My rough and tumble life is through,
I'll spend my days loving you, you,
in love with you, you
in love with you.
I'm rough around the edges. You're my crazy june bug
and everytime I see you, I want a little hug.
Cause your love is a shiney pearl
deep in the heart of this country girl.
Cypress Vine
Cypress vine, cypress vine, I can not see the light.
Cypress vine, cypress vine, try as I might.
My sweet baby left me. I'm a martyr to my loss.
Oh, cypress vine, show me how to climb down this cross.
Cypress vine, cypress vine, winding through the leaves,
Cypress vine, cypress vine, you do as you please.
You wear your bright red flowers through the brambles and the shade.
Oh, cypress vine, show me how to live this life I've made.
Cypress vine, cypress vine, I know that time is dear.
Cypress vine, cypress vine, my path is not so clear.
The days they come, the days they go. I lie lonely though the night.
Oh, cypress vine, show me how to seek out the light.
Cypress vine, cypress vine, when summer's sun is lost,
Cypress vine, cypress vine, you'll feel winter's frost.
You do not let that worry your ramblings today.
Oh cypress vine, help me not to tarry on my way.
I know that I must not tarry on my way.
I know that I can not tarry on my way.
Promised Land
Your words uncurl like a little fern, a fiddle head in the leaves.
I hear them rise, unwind and turn back to us on our knees, on our knees, on our knees.
I've heard beauty wounds the heart, and I think it might be true.
Now that I have seen a tiny part of the beauty that's in you, inside you, that's in you.
Well I don't need answers but I want to understand,
how I lost myself in this promised land.
Falling back into long summer days, that slowly slip into night,
trees pulse with cicadas, as they sing away the light, away the light, away the light
You are here and the stars are bright and I can smell the sea.
I am here but I think I've lost all of my bounderies, bounderies, bounderies.
Well I don't need answers when you take me by my hand,
and I find myself in this promised land.
Venus in the eastern sky, shining cool, shining blue,
You are here at the edge of dawn, I'll keep my sights set on you, set on you, set on you.
Well I don't need answers but I want to understand,
how I lost myself in this promised land.
