I'll rest my head upon this dead end road I'll break my trail in the early light of 'morn But for now I must rest upon this dead end road Got the man on my tail, and the breeze is getting cold
Well I'll take my chances here and there I've been nearly everywhere I've been nearly everywhere but home
Well beans make a feast when you've lost all of your dimes And it's hard to make a fist with your courage tossed aside And before I die and throw my spirit down I'll spend my time wondering what this crazy world's about
And I'll take my chances here and there I've been nearly everywhere I've been nearly everywhere but home
So I'll button down my shirt and flip my collar up And walk into the mist as the sun is coming up And I'll take my chances here and there I've been nearly everywhere I've been nearly everywhere but home
Conversations With A Wounded Man
He said I'll kick your ass up and down the block And I don't care what happens And if you die, I'll dance on your grave And just spin all around laughing
Well, I replied, I think it cannot be done And I'm really not afraid It seems that you've got a thorn in your paw From a life swelled up with rage
And you're one sorry son to the highest degree With a chip on your shoulder, and steel toes on your feet I know daddy rang your neck when you were seventeen I know we all got problems, but don't spill yours on me
Conversations with a wounded man Conversations with a wounded man
Though I'm one-fifty wet, and about five-foot-eleven I've got a strong mind and a strong soul And you're two-fifty-five and about six-foot-seven One day Karma will swallow you whole
And you're one sorry son to the highest degree With a chip on your shoulder, and steel toes on your feet I know daddy rang your neck when you were seventeen I know we all got problems, but don't spill yours on me
Conversations with a wounded man I know they're hard to understand Conversations with a wounded man
Well we tossed a few back, and laughed like old soldiers Who just got home from the war And at the end of the night, we both decided There's no need in fighting no more
Samantha's Buick
I guess she smoked too many cigarettes Last night outside the bar And when she left She could barely get herself to the car
She almost hit an old man On the way back to the house He didn't get clipped But the shock made his weathered heart give out
Samantha never knew She just kept on driving And parked her Buick sideways on the lawn All these years of drinking And barely getting home It's quite surprising that she isn't gone
She's just blowing off steam, she said And spending half of her check On hundred dollar bar tabs And menthol cigarettes
And I wonder when she goes Will she go easy Or burdened by her regrets
Hotel Sheets
Hotel sheets, they aren't smooth They're stiffer than a board And they're making me feel So far from you
They've had their share of tears And their share of whores And that's why tonight They shall not be used
I brought my homeward pillow And unrolled my sleeping bag And stared at the ceiling for a while I'm stuck right in the middle of feeling good and feeling bad This time, I've stopped counting the miles
I'll be home pretty soon, but soon ain't soon enough And I'm waiting on your voice and your sleepy smile In a fifty dollar room where they air is full of dust It's my temporary home for a while
Hotel sheets, they aren't smooth They're stiffer than a board And they're making me feel So far from you
21 Windows
Drove all the way to Houston In a VW bus With a headlight out and three bald tires And a bumper made of rust
And it used to be alright, a long time ago And the timing wasn't tight Back where the North winds moan They did moan
And along the road to Jackson They picked up a ragged man With a tee shirt like an oil slick And a fiddle in his hand
Well, he sawed that thing for hours And when they reached No Man's Land He got out and said "So long," and they watched him in the mirror Soon enough he disappeared and the road was getting clearer
And it used to be alright, a long time ago And the timing wasn't tight Back where the North winds moan They did moan
Somewhere outside of Denver that VW bus broke down in the rain They had to just leave it there and hitch and catch a train Well they fell asleep in each other's arms and woke up in Spokane Kicked off their boots, set down some roots That was forty-some-odd years ago today
The Place
When you get to the place, walk don't run When you get to the place, walk don't run This ain't no race, this ain't for fun Just do what has to be done
Oh, the old woodshed that I used to go Well, I bumped my head walking through the door When I opened my eyes, guess what I saw A map to phe place where the pines grow tall
I grabbed my hat, put on my coat My tire was flat, I stuck my thumb out on the road Got picked up by a stolen car I didn't ask questions and they brought me as far As three miles out from The Place
And on mile number one, I think I saw a ghost In the heat of the day, I was beginning to roast I wiped my brow, and loosened my shirt It was high, high noon when my feet began to hurt
And on mile number two, my pace slowed down I walked with a strut past the burying ground Where folks are dying to get in And living to stay out
And on mile number three I started picking up speed I dropped right down to my knees I couldn't believe I was at the spot This place has all that I haven't got
No Designation
It was one of those nights When you're not quite right in the head, to say the least And every set of headlights in the rearview mirror Looks like the Police
And as you're thinking hard And passing mile marker number forty-nine There's a strange hovering thing Way up there in the sky
And that pedal goes halfway to the floor And you think to yourself, I'm not in my old Hometown anymore No, no, no
And the trees flow by Like a big old blur And you wonder just how much more weirdness will occur
And there will never be another like me No, there will never be another like me
And before you know it, You're where you sort of figured that you'd be And you thank your lucky stars you made it there And not head on to the trees
Man, it's amazing all those times we made it home in one piece We're lucky we didn't end up to be a couple of little white crosses On the side of the street
And there will never be another like me No, there will never be another like me No designation No designation
Bluebird
There's a song on the radio I can't tell if it's horrible Or the most brilliant thing I've heard Well, this time I decided I'd settle For second instead of third
The chorus is angry And the verses are shaming Some old lover from before
There's a bridge in the middle With a little optimism And just a hint of unsettled scores
I don't know who sang it And I don't care to name it Because, Home is where I'm headed for Yes, Home is where I'm headed for
And all of a sudden, all by itself, the dial starts to turn And a voice it starts to rattle, I pulled over to hear it A poem titled Bluebird I didn't take a breath, I just sat and listened To every gravel-road-like word There's one inside us all, dying to get out Just one little innocent bird
And when it was all over, the signal it cleared up And a snare drum crack snapped me back with a stir It was Jack Frost singing "How Does It Feel?" Well Bob, I feel like I've never felt before
There's a song on the radio I can't tell if it's horrible Or the most brilliant thing I've heard
North Dakota Romance
Now, Jeanie was a waitress at a diner Joey was a steam pipe fitter The summers in North Dakota were green And the winter time was bitter
They drove a car that was twenty years old And rode into town together Went to the pictures on Saturday night Had a little house by the river
Now Jeanie was a sweet little thing Joey had a history of anger She had no idea when she said "I do." That he would someday put her in danger
Domestic Silence, means words not spoken Between two people soon to be broken
Many years they flowed by And it appeared that they were alright To their friends and their neighbors Well they must have never heard the fights
Now, Joey wasn't much of a thinker And he threw some punches down But he was a dark and nasty drinker One night he hit poor Jeanie around
He grabbed her by the hair And bent her over a desk So she took a pair of scissors And stabbed him in the neck
You never know what you're looking at Until you find out what happened And sometimes crying Takes the place of laughing
Domestic Silence, means words not spoken Between two people soon to be broken
After The War
After the war, will we be friends Will there be settled scores, wounds on the mend I cried out in the street, when will it end Are we doomed to repeat what we don't intend
Like a wingless bird Or a friendless friend My heart beats with the sound Of discontent
So grab hold of me Don't be scared Don't let go of me When we get there
Head bowed down Or head in hands In old Hometowns Or forgotten lands
I cried out in the street, when will it end Are we doomed to repeat what we don't intend
After the war, will we be friends Will there be settled scores, wounds on the mend I cried out in the street, when will it end Are we doomed to repeat what we don't intend
Gone Gone Highway
Oh, she's sitting in the window looking out upon the day Where she's been, Lord, I don't know But I do know where she stays
Near my heart with my family Near my body and my soul On a gone gone highway Or a path where no one goes
Like a carousel she dances, and she calls out my name I look up, but there is no one Just the place she used to stay Just the place she used to stay, Lord Just the place she used to stay
For she tied a handful on Lord, one dark and twisted night Now she's in the family graveyard With the Earth to hold her tight With Mother Earth to hold her tight
And on some evenings when the mist falls You can see her walk in white When she gets to the stone wall She disappears into the night She disappears into the night
Oh, I loved her like no other I'd give my life for hers today But she gave hers for another So in my thoughts she'll have to stay In my thoughts she'll have to stay, Lord In my thoughts she'll have to stay
Like a carousel she dances, and she calls out my name I look up, but there is no one Just the place she used to stay Just the place she used to stay, Lord Just the place she used to stay
