Lyrics
Under the Moon
UNDER THE MOON
There’s a blue August moon
Under the stars tonight
The trees’ melodies
Ride on the summer breeze
You’re in my arms tonight
Night birds sing the songs
Crickets sing along
As we swing and we sway
Under the moon tonight
An owl calls to the wind
From the crooked tree tonight
He calls, the sound falls
Through the empty wooded hall
He’s all alone tonight
Across midnight’s stream
He joins us in this dream
As we sway away the day
Under the moon tonight
The stars of the night
Flickering light
When the moon goes so low
It’s a footlight on the show
Sunflowers bow their heads
To the darkness of night
Though the roses have closed
A sweet scent finds the nose
On the breeze tonight
A touch of summer skin
‘round and ‘round we spin
As I swing in your arms
Under the moon tonight
Where else would we go
Where time moves so slow
Where else would we be
But under the crooked tree
Night birds sing the songs
Crickets sing along
As we swing and we sway
Under the moon tonight
As I swing in your arms
Under the moon tonight
EVERYTHING
I’ll give you everything, that money can’t buy
The shining sun
The moon in the sky
The birds and bees
And butterflies
Love you can’t deny
I’ll play the ponies when I get one spare dime
I bet you’ll be there
At the finish line
My prize will be
So sublime
When you say you’ll be mine
If I had the midas touch
I’d surround you with gold
And if I owned I diamond mine
You’d have many riches to hold
It seems that I just work all day to makes
end meet
A crumbling home and bills to pay
On this dead end street
But I don’t really care
Your love is so sweet
And I give you my heart for free
My heart for free
Don’t cost no money
Cause its for free
“Somewhere in my past, somewhere down the road, something will remind me of things I already know”
—Happy For Awhile
“Near the shelter we have made, in the shadows and the shade, clear water in the well, let the music play”
— Lost Time
WHEN YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES AT NIGHT
He worked fields then wandered
Across the Promised Land
Singing songs he learned in childhood
Old guitar in hand
He said he was from Birmingham
Taught me all his songs
We worked all day, played all night
All the workers sang along
We rode the rails through the countries
Stopped to see the sights
Sang cowboy songs to strangers
In hotel rooms at night
Climbed to see the sun rise
On the Adriatic Sea
Failed to find a place to rest
On a train to Italy
He said that,
Questions look for answers
Drunks hide out in bars
Morning follows singing birds
Moonlight hides the
stars
The arrow always points you North
Where you will find the shimmering lights
That flicker through the darkness
When you close your eyes at night
He went to the Green Mountains
With his old guitar and books
Got stuck on brambles
Learned how to free the crooks
Played every song he knew
At both bars in that town
Where the farmers and the lawyers
Bought each other rounds
He sang...
Questions look for answers
Drunks hide out in bars
Morning follows singing birds
Moonlight hides the
stars
The arrow always points you North
Where you will find the shimmering lights
That flicker through the darkness
When you close your eyes at night
After all his years of ramblin’
I heard he settled in
Playing his songs for an old sheep dog
On a mandolin
A river runs through his backyard
It carries all the songs
And takes him back to the Promised Land
Where everyone just sings along
They sing that
Questions look for answers
Drunks hide out in bars
Morning follows singing birds
Moonlight hides the
stars
The arrow always points you North
Where you will find the shimmering lights
That flicker through the darkness
When you close your eyes at night
That flicker through the darkness
When you close your eyes at night
Oh, they flicker through the darkness
When you close your eyes at night
CARDBOARD & CLAY
It all began somewhere in Rockaway
I broke a date to be with you
Some coffee beans and a cowboy show
Drank Fantasia, talked ‘til 2
The Red Lion is where we’ll meet I said
Then I realized my mistake
I really meant to say the Lion’s Head
But you found me anyway
The wheel turns, I hold onto you
The wheel turns around each day
The wheel turns, we fall in the fire
Side by side cardboard and clay
The soles of our feet touched together
Souls together in the room
I walked you home, light as a feather
Beneath the light of a gibbus moon
The wheel turns, I hold onto you
The wheel turns around each day
The wheel turns, we fall in the fire
Side by side cardboard and clay
One world is made with cardboard
The other, water and earth
Extraordinary things in everyday life
Mud and paper, two hearts at work
The wheel turns, I hold onto you
The wheel turns around each day
The wheel turns, we fall in the fire
Side by side cardboard and clay
HAPPY FOR AWHILE
I can’t seem to find,
the front room closet key
There’s something that I’ve hidden there
That I long to see
In a tattered box,
That used to hold those shoes
I wore most every day
‘Til the soles were worn clear through
And I know, You’ll always be
The one to make me smile
And I know, You’re the one
That kept me happy for a while
I tied it tight with string
And slipped it on the shelf
Thinking I’d forget
A piece of my old self
The pictures and the prose
Were just a piece of time
From when I thought that I
Could live on bread and wine
And I know, You’ll always be
The one to make me smile
And I know, You’re the one
That kept me happy for a while
Somewhere in my past
Somewhere down the road
mething will remind me
Of things I already know
Now it’s out of reach
Clearly out of sight
I wonder what I’d find
If I bring it to light
Will it crumble into dust
Get picked up on a breeze
Will those scattered memories
Be all that’s left for me
And I know, You’ll always be
The one to make me smile
And I know, You’re the one
That kept me happy for a while
GOOD YEARS
Like trains with two destinations
We crossed like the rushing of wind
The space between us grew wider
The sound of your whistle grew dim
The glow from your headlight was
fading
The sound of your wheels disappeared
I longed for the call of the brakeman
To stop us from forgetting good years
When good years roll away
To new destinations
Down the tracks, roll away
Roll away
The trestle I was on appeared solid
Then I realized the gorge was too wide
I knew it would keep me from finding
The view from the other side
I needed to back off the throttle
To see the mountains and fields
Stop racing to the end of line
Hearing only rails and wheels
When good years roll away
To new destinations
Down the tracks, roll away
Roll away.
Together we can warm by the fire
Start building up steam
Ride the rails forever
Just you and me
But, when good years, roll away
To new destinations
Down the tracks, roll away, roll away
Lights of life rushing by looking for
new station
When good years roll away, they’ve
gone away
“He calls, the sound falls through the empty wooded hall. He’s all alone tonight.”
— Under the Moon
“The pictures and the prose were just a piece of time from when I thought that I could live on bread and wine”
-Happy For Awhile
ALL THE SAME
You can wake me from my sleeping
Touch my hand and say my name
You can wake me from my dreamin’
I dream of you its all the same
If someone calls me in the morning
Just let the phone ring for sometime
We’ll be sitting drinking coffee
Don’t really care who’s on the line
Cause every day my time is filled up
With things that I should never keep
If I can just discard the build up
Spend my day like this with you
Not just in my sleep
I’ll cut your bread for you at noon
At 3 o’clock I’ll pour you tea
Make you anything you like
Just sit down and eat with me
At 10 o’clock I’ll turn the bed down
Shadows dance to candle light
You can lie right next to me now
A day like this would seem so right
Cause every day my time is filled up
With things that I should never keep
If I can just discard the build up
Spend my day like this with you
Not just in my sleep
You can wake me from my sleeping
You can wake me from my sleeping
Touch my hand and say my name
You can wake me from my dreamin’
I dream of you its all the same
50 MILES FROM MANHATTAN
The light in your eyes
This cold winter morning
Reflects the rising sun
Put your head on my shoulder
We look out the window
And watch as the people all run
Run to see every strange thing that happens
Try to run from their fears
I run to you 50 miles from Manhattan
With love that will last through the years
The cool April wind
The last breath of winter
Chilly bones will soon warm to the sun
You take off your hat, we sit on the front step
And watch how the people all run
Run to see every strange thing that happens
Try to run from their fears
I run to you 50 miles from Manhattan
With love that will last through the years
When the summer turns to fall
When the colors leave the trees
When wicked winter winds call
Will you will run to me
The dogwood tree that is outside your window
Announces that spring has begun
White petals fall
They look like snow on the sidewalk
and get brushed away by people who run
Run to see every strange thing that happens
Try to run from their fears
I run to you 50 miles from Manhattan
With love that will last through the year
RUBY
I’d find Ruby in the kitchen
Waiting up for me
She’d beg for my attention
When I would sip my tea
Every whim and whisper
Each request and cry
I’d give in to Ruby
Just to see her smile
In the summer by the ocean
She would run on the sand
I would dive in big wave
She’d watch from the land
With every move and motion
Every duck and every dive
She’d make a commotion
’til she was at my side
Now I said goodbye to Ruby
So sad to see you go
Said goodbye Ruby
Ruby I miss you so
Yes Ruby craved attention
She’d always let me know
When it was time for dinner
Time to get up and go
Whenever things were out of place
Or just a little askew
I would always be amazed
How she could tell me what to do
Now I said goodbye to Ruby
So sad to see you go
Said goodbye Ruby
Ruby I miss you so
Sweet girl I miss you
Ruby I miss you so
LOST TIME
The music fades for now
The road the only sound
The signs we try to follow
Takes us back round
From the bench inside the bar
To the back seat of your car
We stop at railroad crossings
Listen for guitars
Making up for lost time
Always trying to satisfy
What they wanted you to do
Making up for lost time
Then you start to realize
You’re just passing through
It’s an extra heavy load
When you ride a rutted road
And the roadmap never tells you
Which way you ought to go
Making up for lost time
Always trying to satisfy
What they wanted you to do
Making up for lost time
Then you start to realize
You’re just passing through
Near the shelter we have made
In the shadows and the shade
Clear water in the well
Let the music play
“Near the shelter we have made in the shadows and the shade clear water in the well. Let the music play.”
— Under the Moon