The Music

Song Lyrics

Willing to Worse

Once upon a time in the Wild West I met a girl from the South
I couldn’t handle her poetry I used to wonder what the words were about
But, oh, that green dress! I learned it chapter and verse
And in the summer in spite of me, she went from willing to worse

Time would surrender to fantasy and I would foolishly vow
To find my face in the stratosphere while she embraced the here and now
But, oh, that green dress! She used to wear it with a rabbit skin purse
I needed someone to lie to me, she went from willing to worse

Maybe she meant everything she said, maybe she was cleansing the dirt
Maybe there’s a valuable lesson here: a little love never hurt
But, oh, that green dress! This memory ain’t no curse
So says the spirit inside of me, going from willing to worse

I heard she’s working on Market Street sharing love with the world
I know she got what she sought to find she was that kind of a girl
But, oh, that green dress! I know I wasn’t her first
And, though she rather excited me, she went from willing to worse

She went from willing to worse (Willing to worse)
She went from willing to worse (She went from willing to worse)
She went from willing to worse (Willing to worse)

Sally Goes To Rio

Sally goes to Rio
She dances in the streets
Spic and span sparklers and sugary sweets
Put them in the ground put them in there quick
Lead lined coffin, cement seven inches thick

Sally goes to Rio

“Sing we for love and idleness,
Naught else is worth the having.
Though I have been in many a land,
There is naught else in living.
And I would rather have my sweet,
Though rose-leaves die of grieving,
Than do high deeds in Hungary
To pass all men’s believing.”*
Sally goes to Rio
She dances in the street
Spic and span sparklers and sugary sweets
Put them in the ground put them in quick
Lead lined coffin, cement seven inches thick

Sally goes to Rio…

Cesium 137

*An Immorality, Ezra Pound 1917

Blues in My Eye

It’s a long and easy road out of Memphis
Next station is a few good miles
I could maybe drive through the darkness
But lately I been failing at trials
With seven billion people to socialize
Who could be a lonely guy?
Ma, take the wheel, I got some blues in my eye

Worshipping a Goddess is easy
But that alone don’t make you a man
Rising from your knees is required
If you’re gonna follow through with the plan
You’re living like you got no tomorrow
And then they tell you gotta die
Ma, take the wheel, I got some blues in my eye

I got some blues in my eye
It’s not surprising that the sight of the sun
Has left a permanent line in my brow that couldn’t fool anyone
And once again the tears have begun

Dancing in the nude like a monkey
I don’t need no man for a boss
It’s funny when you’re searching for sunshine
You find a lot of wonder you lost
Oh, but every time I hear the Pretenders
It’s just another reason to cry
Ma, take the wheel, I got some blues in my eye

I got some blues in my eye
It’s not surprising that the sight of the sun
Has left a permanent line in my brow that couldn’t fool anyone
I’m feeling under the gun

I got some blues in my eye
It’s not surprising that the sight of the sun
Has left a permanent line in my brow that couldn’t fool anyone
And are we still having fun?

Did You See Me?

Did you see me in the back row at the wedding? Did I change your mind?
Did you see me in my new clothes in my childhood? Did I show the sign?
Did you see me in the shadows in my bed? Did I make you mine?

I saw you in the morning
I saw you in the morning
I loved you in the moment
And then you walked away

Did you see me at the crossroads, cold and hungry? Did I play for time?
Did you see me dealing card games at the library? Did I share the wine?
Did you see me running full speed up the mountain? Did I rob you blind?

I saw you in the morning
I saw you in the morning
I reached for you in the moment
And then you walked away

Did you even read the love note on the dresser? Did I make you cry?
Did you promise me the best part of forever? Did you have to lie?
Did you see me in the back row at the wedding? Did I change your mind?

I saw you in the morning
I saw you in the morning
I loved only you in the moment
And then you walked away

Did you see me in the back row?

New Dawn

You lie next to me as I lust for the day
With no love on your mind you’ve got something to say
You want the street at your feet and your hand on a horn.
Well, people been leaving me since before I was born

I know it ain’t like you to stand in the rain
Clumsily fumbling your pocket of pain
The debts in your nets were ours I could have sworn
People been leaving me since before I was born

Silent stars stalking the sinister skies
I stand bravely till embering twilight’s demise
On a patternless backdrop of dead and reborn
People been leaving me since before I was born

No more will my lips lap the Rubicon wave
And I can’t still your seas, I’ve got soldiers to save
But some things more than others are easily torn
People been leaving me since before I was born

I can look for a life on my New Morning flight
I can deal with the wronging wind, wishing for right
I can look for a rose in a thicket of thorn
People been leaving me since before I was born

Johnny Don't Cry

Johnny got in trouble in the third grade
He made love in the seventh and the eighth
He’s doing time in the third world now
Johnny got it made. Hey, hey, hey.

Well, I bet you seven dollars he could shoot you
Through the hi-fi level of his gun
Just in time for a miracle mile
Johnny he’s the one. He’s the one.

You can make a hero out of the sunshine
You can make the rain come falling from the sky
You can make every man say, “I don’t care”
But you’ve got to know the reason why.
Johnny don’t cry
Johnny don’t cry

Funny Johnny had a little woman
She said, “Hey Johnny, come with me
I’ll show you something make your blood run cold
I call it entropy. Hee hee hee!” (Hee hee hee)

You can make the sun shine bright in the subway
You can make a tear come fallin’ from your eye
You can make a lifetime out of an hour of love
But you gotta know enough to try
Johnny don’t cry
Johnny don’t cry

Johnny don’t cry
Johnny don’t cry
Johnny don’t cry
Johnny don’t cry

Figure the Rules

I pay too much for my memories
I never harbor the bargains
I waited long in the wrong line
Don’t speak the internet jargon
And though it’s rather expensive
I never cheat on my taxes
It makes me kinda frustrated
And then I over react (and say)
It always ends the same
You finally figure the rules and they say
It’s time to change the game

I been working forever
For just a piece of the puzzle
And for a lot of that time I
Faced a force with a muzzle
I ain’t standing opposed to
The thought of climbing a ladder
It’s just that doing your job well
Should be the ultimate matter
But it always ends the same
You finally figure the rules and they say
It’s time to change the game

And when I sat with the cool kids
I never felt like a brother
I just want a woman to say to me
“You make a hell of a lover”
I finally learned to make peace with
A glass of wine and a flower
And try to settle my sweet sweet soul
Atop a tumbling tower
But it always ends the same
You finally figure the rules and they say
It’s time to change the game

As I’m building my castle
I’m looking over my shoulder
I feel the brick in my hand say,
“You look a little bit older.”
It’s just a trick of the twilight
I guess it’s ashes to ashes
But I’ll still try to make sense of
A world of flickering flashes

But it always ends the same
You finally figure the rules and they say
It’s time to change the game

Oh yeah, it always ends the same
You finally figure the rules and they say
It’s time to change the game

Baby Got A Fever

Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
My baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!

It takes a man to honor what is right.
And whether on or off her it’s a fight
So I’m leaving like a shot because right now my baby’s hot
My baby got a fever in the night
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

I’d love to stick around and bring a change
The power structure needs to rearrange
The ones that got the nurses and the lawyers and the churches
And the economic factors of exchange
But Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

When she’s cold she’s frozen to the core
Like a chicken in the freezer at the store
Yeah, but when my baby’s steaming, yeah, there’s gonna be some screaming
And Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

I know I lead a complicated life
If we were Mormon you could be my second wife
But since I’m no believer, and my baby got a fever, I believe I better bounce into the night
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

When she’s cold she’s frozen to the core
Like a chicken in the freezer at the store
Oh, but when my baby’s steaming, there’s gonna be some screaming
And Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
Baby got a fever gotta go!
I love your invitation but I got an obligation and my baby got a fever gotta go!

Fly My Daddy Home (for Julius Erving)

Punch your brow, shake that pain
Get thee back to your pilgrim’s game
Grabbed a hairlip horse and a prostitute
The silo’s deep and piled with roots
Fly my daddy home

Fly my daddy home
Fly my daddy home
Daddy, where you been so long?
Fly my daddy home

Got a brain full of chain ‘cause the poles attract
And there’s more for your door when that cat gets back
With a mound from his town- super style salt stack
Shoot a fist full of blues for the shoes they lack
Fly my daddy home

Fly my daddy home
Fly my daddy home
Daddy where you been so long?
Fly my daddy home

No time now for that sweet feet song
Legs too wide and a fish too long
Black widow slept in a bed too wrong
Pass me the cash in the stash and I’m gone
Fly my daddy home

Fly my daddy home
Fly my daddy home
Daddy where you been so long?
Fly my daddy home

Daddy where you been so long?
Fly my daddy home

Slow This Train Wreck Down

I’m sitting here in the ashes of a few bad decisions I‘ve made
I lost my face being in the wrong place I remained when I shouldn’t have stayed
So help me to help you to help me and stop all this fooling around
It would be mentally healthy to slow this train wreck down

Slow this train wreck down
Slow this train wreck down
Through the steam and the smoke of the trust that I broke I can see trouble abound
Now there just ain’t no way we can stop this, you can’t turn locomotives around I don’t wanna die so I think we should try to slow this train wreck down.

I’ve been aboard some disasters; I’ve had my share of bad news
I’m just a man who can just barely stand a reasonable share of abuse
Now, I know it’s late in the evening and you look so fine in that gown
But tequila has taught me on several occasions to slow this train wreck down

Slow this train wreck down
Slow this train wreck down
Through the steam and the smoke of the trust that I broke I can see trouble abound
Now there just ain’t no way we can stop this, you can’t turn locomotives around
I think I love you so the best we can do is slow this train wreck down.

So bartender pour me another and two more before the last call
I might be sick but compared to this chick, I’m hardly drinking at all
And it’s too late to blame it on bad luck so cover your ears from the sound
Of the deafening cacophonous din of the pile up, slow this train wreck down

Slow this train wreck down
Slow this train wreck down
Through the steam and the smoke of the trust that I broke I can see trouble abound
Now there just ain’t no way we can stop this, you can’t turn locomotives around
I made a mistake now I’m pumpin’ my brakes to slow this train wreck down.
I made a mistake now I’m pumpin’ my brakes to slow this train wreck down.

Sugar Pine

Jackie come down to the Sugar Pine
Mama’s got something on the fishing line
Bring your bottle of bread and your loaf of wine
We’ll send you rolling back to Maggie on the 809

Someone come a-knockin’ on my new front door
Wantin’ love and blood and money and a baseball score
I told him Jesus fed his cousins when his uncle was poor
And then I sent him down to mama on the Sugar Pine shore

Sugar Pine rises like a woman in the field
Warms you in the winter with a sugar summer shield
Feed the children in the morning such a sweet sugar yield
Sugar Pine the sweetest line the world was ever reeled

I can hear Malindy singing through the water and the brine
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the ending of the line
Speaking of the devil well I see he’s doing fine
Dancing on the waters of the lovely Sugar Pine

Flood and fire and famine like all hungry men take
More life from the bread line than the life they make
Take my money from my pockets but for Christ’s sake
Take your children in the morning to the Sugar Pine Lake