Discography

Great Plains

Beneath a tree on a sticky summer night
Keeping dry from the pouring July rain
When the rain died, I stood and watched the fireflies
Rising up across the fields of hay

Waning like a harvest moon
Slipping slowly across the sky
Fading like a shooting star
That’s bleeding all it’s light
Bleeding light

Somewhere on the ocean
There’s a sailor lost at sea
Some things drift forever,
Never reach their destiny
Somewhere on the Great Plains
A cowboy makes his bed
Some things lie forever,
Some things stay unsaid

There’s no people here just the deer in the fields and the wind
A few places to hide under stormy skies
But nowhere to escape your sins
There was this girl there
who’s hair was the color of a wild rose
She was mine for a time until we died
Ah, but that’s the way it goes

Fading like a dream at dawn
She vanished with the night
With the light

Somewhere on the ocean
There’s a sailor lost at sea
Some things drift forever,
Never reach their destiny

Somewhere on the Great Plains
A cowboy makes his bed
Some things lie forever,
Some things stay unsaid

Somewhere on the ocean
Somewhere on the Great Plains
Somewhere on the ocean
Somewhere on the Great Plains

Black Guitar

Got a black guitar
Got a black coat
Got a black hole
In my soul

I wear black boots
& I wear a black hat
Everywhere I go,I see the same black cat

Black is the color that I choose
Yeah it’s my favorite hue
‘Cause it looks good with my blues

I’ve been blackmailed
& I’ve been black-balled
I’ve played blackjack & Lost it all

I drive in my black truck
With my black dog
Yeah I’m a black sheep, In the eyes of God

Black is the color that I choose
Yeah it’s my favorite hue
‘Cause it looks good with my blues

She had coal black hair
& painted black nails
I sang her the song
About a long black veil

She believed my white lies
Until she found my black book
Then I got a black eye
From her mean right hook

The Ballad of Biggie Smalls

He was a young boy, living on streets of pain
Bed-Stuy Brooklyn — he grew up selling crack cocaine
And like an outlaw, he went by several names
‘Til he turned from the running to the word

It didn’t take long for the word to get around
The ladies loved him — they loved to hear the fat man lay it down
He wore a Homburg and a pound of gold chain
Drivin’ by in his black Range Rover
Flyin’ high on his fame

Tupac’s tattoos told the story of a family torn
In his mama’s womb, he was in jail before he was born
The Shakur legend made him a wanted man
So he learned to stand his ground and not back down

It didn’t take long for the word to get around
He turned it to money and he headed for tinsletown
Suge Knight showed him where his fortune could be found
& Compton blood mixed with the flowing green
Together they were kings of the California scene

(solo and modulation)

Biggie knew him — they had met once or twice
They both liked egg crèmes & hated Vanilla Ice
Tupac told him “Fame is a sacrifice”
They were bad boys strollin’ down death row

When Tupac bought it, Biggie knew he was next in line
He told his homies “Hey G — it’s closing time”
He took a stab at a few final words
Then he stepped off the soul train into the L.A. night
Shots were fired and he lay there dyin’He cried “Carry me back to Bed Stuy”

December Dawn

She gave me a sideways smile
I held her hand for a while
In the 5:00 a.m. booth
At the Diner

It was as simple as that
She laughed and she put on my hat
The night I met her
Man, she was shining

When I’m old and gray
And my mind wanders
She’ll be there with me
In that December dawn

She rubbed the chain around her neck
The waiter laid down the check
She slid by & I walked out
Behind her

The air was cold, the sky was clear
We stood and talked of the coming year
& all I wanted was to stay
Right beside her

Now I’m old and gray
And my mind wanders
To where she’s there with me
In that December dawn

I gave her a sideways smile
She held my hand for a while
In the 5:00 a.m. booth
At the Diner

River of Sin

She is like a dream I had when I was fifteen
And no longer too young to know
You might think that I am old enough now
To know better than to lose control
But I saw her standing down by the waterfront
& I heard her laughter teasing like the breeze

River of sin, it’s pulling me in
Baptized by the devil’s own hands
River of sin that I’m drifting in
Clutching on to nothing, holding on to nothing but sand

She is etched on the ancient part of my brain
Like the drawings on the walls of a cave
And I’m too deep in it now to ever see the light
Too far down to ever be saved
‘Cause I smelled her hair as we walked across the bridge last night
& I felt her touch but it wasn’t enough

River of sin, it’s pulling me in
Baptized by the devil’s own hands
River of sin that I’m drifting in
Clutching on to nothing, holding on to nothing but sand

She is like a dream I had when I was fifteen
And no longer too young to know

Elaine

Elaine I think it’s time we talked things over
You know we can’t let our love pass
Hoping that time will make things better
But the sand is slowly slipping through the hourglass

You’re still the g–d danged prettiest woman I’ve ever seen
Still the only one girl who comes to me in my dreams

Elaine, Elaine…
Elaine, Elaine…

Elaine, I can recall when I first met you
Sometimes it seems like just yesterday
Sometimes it seems like a thousand years, girl
Sometimes you feel that far away

You’re still the g–d danged truest woman I’ve ever known
Still the only one girl who can make me feel alone

Elaine, Elaine…
Elaine, Elaine…

Bad Luck Grows

This morning I woke up
& I broke my favorite coffee cup
I just stood there shattered
In the morning light

I pulled myself from sleep’s clutch
& Dreams I don’t remember much
But I had this feeling that something
Wasn’t right

So I go whistling through graveyards
& I ignore Tarot cards
& I wish I had
A blind man’s sight

But I step on all the cracks
& break every mother’s backThen I knock on woodBut it does no good
I know
Bad luck grows

Many mirrors I’ve shattered
I’ve walked beneath countless ladders
I don’t see how it matters
Any more

No there’s nothing that I can
Do to change the way I am
I guess that I’m just
High, dry and damned

But I knock on wood
‘Cause they say that I should
Still I spill the salt & everything’s my fault

Well I rub my rabbit’s foot
But my trouble stays put I know
Bad luck grows

Oak Hill, West Virginia (the true story)

Fred he gave us $200 bucks to drive Hank to Ohio
He said “I don’t care how you go, boys, just get him there for the show:
It was snowing hard by Knoxville so we stopped there for the night
& Hank said “Boys, since it’s New Year’s Eve, come on in my room & we’ll do it up right”

Is he awake, where are we anyway?
Man I need a break from this ride
Tomorrow we’ll drive
On through Oak Hill, West Virginia

Hank stumbled out next morning, he slipped and his hat fell off
Jimmy helped him up and Hank said thanks and started to cough
We pulled out in the freezing rain, Hank was sleeping as we left
But I caught his face in the rear view mirror and man you know well he looked like death

Is he awake, where are we anyway?
I need a break from this ride
60 miles outside
of Oak Hill, West Virginia

Jim turned on the radio and they were playing cold cold heart
He lit a smoke as the rain came down and I hummed along with the steel guitar
When the song was over, Jim said “Hank, man you sure can sing”
But Hank he never heard him ‘cause he was long gone lost in his dream

Is he awake, it doesn’t matter anyway
He needs a break from this life
Right outside of Oak Hill, West Virginia