Lyrics

Let It Not Be Lost

  • Yeah, I’ve been working in the back of these barrooms just for a pot where I can take me a piss

    They told me this life wouldn’t be easy but they ain’t never lived like this

    Hard times hard times

    If you’re feeling the way I’m feeling tell me now. If you’re felling the way I’m feeling show me how

    Cause sometimes these feelings are all that we get.

    Yeah, I took out my rock bottom and I replaced it with rubber floors

    Now I hit it all the time and I just bounce right back for more

    Hard times hard times

    If you’re feeling the way I’m feeling tell me now. If you’re felling these blues I’m stealing show me how

    Cause sometimes these feelings are all that we get.

    Yeah I swear if this old Oldsmobile starts I’m gonna leave and just drive until it don’t

    Cause I can fall asleep believing she’d follow me and wake up realizing she won’t

    If anything else goes wrong here believe me you’ll be the first to know

    This music is medicine and these boys are my doctors and they’re prescribing one more show

    Sometimes these feelings are all that we get

    Gonna live in these moments till there’s just nothing left

    and I ain’t showing signs of stopping its early yet

  • My momma dropped me off at the gate, I’d saved up for almost a year

    The inside pocket of my jean jacket holding my stolen beer

    BB machine guns and paper stars Joie Chitwood is crashing cars

    It’s Friday night all week at the county fair.

    Well, the rides are put together by meth head’s but we don’t seem to mind

    They’re blaring out Rock You Like a Hurricane and the ride seems to rattle in time

    There’s magic in the air and the flashing lights and the half-shirts that we had on

    Yeah, I fell in love for the first time when she held my hand on the Gravitron.

    Yeah, I’m wandering through the 4H barns, I’m trying to tell a bull from a steer

    Throwing little plastic darts at the colored balloons trying to win a Guns n Roses mirror

    But I’ll use my luck hoping we get stuck on the top of the Ferris Wheel

    It’s Friday night all week at the county fair.

    Well, the rides are put together by meth heads but we don’t seem to mind

    They’re blaring out Rock You Like a Hurricane and that Sweet Child O’ Mine

    There’s magic in the air and the flashing lights and these half-shirts that we had on

    I fell in love for the first time when we held hands on the Gravitron.

    Tonight, they put the best of us up against the wall, up against the wall

    round and round we go, round and round we go

    then, all at once, it vanishes gone without a trace, where’d it go?

    All that’s left for me is trash and memories

  • The air is getting colder, the golden rod is earning its name.

    This jacket feels good on my shoulders, turning leaves, the smell of grapes

    We know the snow is coming, but I ain’t a bit afraid

    The woodpile’s high and the stove is running

    Seasons are meant to change

    Cozy up. Come and sit with me by the fire tonight

    And hold my hand like you did when we were young

    Let the flames in the fireplace do the dancing tonight

    And let Willie sing the songs that are needin’ sung

    You and I like crocuses pushing up through frozen ground

    There’s no way it can keep on snowin’. Your smile melts me, keeps me knowin’ there’s better days comin’ ‘round

    Let the mercury fall down

    Let the mercury fall

  • Look at that Norway spruce it must be 30 feet high

    They say my daddy planted it when he was just 5

    Look at that magnolia you remember planting it with me?

    How’d it get so fast from a sapling to a tree?

    This back yard used to be my whole world

    Now it’s just something that I have to mow

    Where does the time go?

    Where does the time go?

    Where does the time go?

    When you’re not looking

    Would you look at him on that stage when did he become a man?

    18 years in a heartbeat was never part of the plan

    And look at that smile, boy he reminds me of you

    Holding on for dear life was the only thing we could do

    This baby used to be my whole world

    Now it’s just someone that I barely know

    My Nanie used to tell me

    You can always count on family

    Then I wake up one day and see

    My whole family’s now counting on me

  • He said grandmas they’re like dogs

    You love them and you need them then they’re gone

    And these feelings they ain’t your friends

    Because you don’t get to decide whether, or not you feel them

    But I choose love, unabashedly and desperately choose love

    And when all is said and done, I’ll leave this world with everything I need

    He said

    I wanna live like a peasant, be adored just like a King

    Then go to bed believing they’re the same damn thing

    I’ll know just where I’m going when I get there, I suppose

    I’d trade all of my victories just to have a few less foes

    He said lovers, they come and go. And they write their names in blood across your soul

    And they’ll take you for a ride. And you’ll know the ride is through when they rip out your insides

    But I choose love, unabashedly and desperately choose love

    And when all is said and done, I’ll leave this world with everything I need

    I never saw him again

    But my future began to hang on every word that he said

    His voice stumbled around in the hallways of my head when he said

    “boy if you ain’t alive, you’re dead!” You’re dead!

  • Well, I was young, dumb, and full of coconut rum

    Breath smelling like suntan oil in the red, hot sun

    Mistakes were coming faster than I could regret ‘em

    So I just let ‘em come

    If I didn’t know better I’d say hindsight’s crystal clear

    If I didn’t know better I might rather be there than here

    If I didn’t know better I’d say those skies were all permanent blue

    If I didn’t know better, but I do

    They say that youth is wasted on the young

    I wasted my time looking for lovers instead of love

    And the girls were leaving me faster than I could regret ‘em

    So I just let ‘em go

    If I didn’t know better I’d just live on these memories

    If I didn’t know better they would be enough for me

    If I didn’t know better lies we tell ourselves would be true

    If I didn’t know better but I do

    I do accept the fate that I’ve been handed, and I do appreciate the wisdom I’ve gained

    And I do believe the life we lead is a product of the past we leave behind us

    If I didn’t know better I’d say we got plenty of time

    If I didn’t know better we’d turn that hourglass on its side

    If I didn’t know better this would be easy to do

    If I didn’t know better but see, I do

  • You say “liquor on your breath” like it’s a bad thing.

    And you say “out all night” like it’s wrong.

    Now it’s too late for regrettin’

    You should have known what you were gettin’

    When you found me used and bought me for a song.

    You can’t say I didn’t warn you. You can’t tell me there were no red flags.

    You can’t say that you never saw yourself saying’ “baby pack your bags!”

    There’s no way you could have not known I would tear your little world apart

    You can’t say that you never saw this all ending in a broken heart.

    You say that everyone in town’s is talking.

    You say that my little secret’s out.

    Well, it’s too late for regretting’

    You should have known what you were gettin’

    Back when she didn’t know you and I were running ‘round

    You’d say “liquor on your breath” like it’s a bad thing

    And you’d say “out all night” like it’s wrong!

    I can’t say you didn’t warn me. I can’t tell you there were no red flags.

    I can’t say that I never saw you saying’ “baby, pack your bags!”

    There’s no way I could have not known you would tear my little world apart

    We can’t say that we never saw this all ending in a broken heart.

    A broken heart

  • It’s all over again, it’s all over again, every time I turn around, it’s all over again.

    Déjà vu. Guess it happens more to me than it happens to you. Déjà vu.

    Days gone by. Yeah, they go by just like minutes

    You don’t realize while you’re in it

    That you wasted most of a year. Days gone by.

    We were all alone couldn’t change the record we could only pass the time.

    On our way back home running with the Devil to the Cattaragus line.

    Broke down shit

    Now the boys are laughing about the guy that told us to pay the ship

    Broke down shit

    Sell my soul for an outside chance that maybe

    The whole world or my ex old lady

    Might stream that soul for free. Sell my soul.

    We were all alone couldn’t change the record we could only sing along

    On our way back home when you’re running with these devils you’ll never run alone.

    All over again, all over again, every time I turn around it’s all over again

  • I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

    She puts up with all of my crazy without showing me the door

    I come home drunk, she makes me a bed with the dog on the mudroom floor

    I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

    She lets me fish all night down under the bridge

    She lets me keep my nightcrawlers in the fridge

    I guess this is just about as good as it gets

    I know she loves me cause she ain’t left me yet

    I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

    She don’t take kind to you ladies comin’ knockin’ on my back door

    There ain’t no doubt, when she finds out you’ll be scraping yourself off the floor

    I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

    Well, she’s sometimes there for me when I need help

    Yeah, she’s probably not sleeping with someone else

    She lets me watch the kids while she goes out

    I know she loves me ‘cause I still own my house

    I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

    She says it’s me that’s crazy and I don’t argue with her anymore

    She nags at me so graciously I almost can’t take it no more

    I got the best old lady she’s a hell of a lot better than yours

Easy Ways to Here

  • Remember that night in the gravel pit when I told you all I could handle it

    Then I threw-up all over myself what a mess

    Remember that night when the streetlight broke and all of us hooligans standing below

    then the neighbors they called up your mama, we had to confess

    I don’t drink to forget, I can do that on my own

    I drink to remember all the good times that have come and gone

    bring all you got and we’ll throw it all in a blender

    And drink to remember

    Remember that night on the Sunset beach, sleeping under the stars with the sand in our teeth

    There’s no alarm clock quite like the boots of the local police

    Remember that night in the Caddy back seat all of us naked from our heads to our feet

    But we didn’t make love we just ran out into the streets

    Remember that night at the honky tonk show

    We drank and we danced and we started to know

    That we’re all gonna be ok. We’re all gonna be ok

    We’re ok

    We don’t drink to forget we can do that on our own

    We drink to remember all the good friends that have come and gone

    And, one drink per memory I say we go on a bender And drink to remember

  • I don’t remember if it was raining, if it was cold or if was hot

    But I’ll never forget the way I felt as I packed that Charger up

    I was keeping eyes wide open, slow and steady wins the race

    Just trying to keep that old Dodge between the mustard and mayonnaise

    So far away. So far away. Come on

    Well, the light on the dash told me I was low on dinosaurs

    And the Vegas lights told me I was 300 miles short

    So I pawned off everything I had for the gas that I’d need

    But when I got there L.A. didn’t look like it did on my TV

    So far away. So far away.

    This ain’t paradise, it’s just shitty

    The grass ain’t green and the girls I’ve seen are just war paint pretty

    Take me home, take me home. Take me back home where the stars I’ll see are hanging right there in the sky for me

    I got a job driving nails in the California heat

    And my only gig was an empty guitar case out on the street

    But my mind kept drifting back to the way the snow smells when it thaws

    This homesick hillbilly needs to hear the Redwing call

    So far away. So far away

  • Billy wants a job with a name on his shirt He’s come in from the country and he’s looking for work

    No, he don’t want a dime more than the world thinks he worth

    Billy wants a job with a name on his shirt

    Debby’s got a job where she’s working for tips Handing out eggs and fake compliments

    And, if she smiles real pretty, she just might make rent

    Debby’s got a job where she’s working for tips

    They ain’t trying to set the world on fire. Ain’t trying to be something they’re not

    They found, it seems, the American dream That everyone else here forgot

    Next thing you know Billy’s stopping on by Trying to smile clever and catching her eye and, the coffee gets cold but he doesn’t seem to mind

    Debby’s been noticing Billy stopping on by

    Billy finally got up the courage to ask

    A couple weeks of pay just to say this ain’t glass and, the ring won’t matter once Debby says yes

    Billy finally got up the courage to ask

    They ain’t trying to set their hearts on fire Just trying to find love in this world

    They found, it seems, the American dream Boy meets girl

    Life’s not as hard as we make it. The answers just might be winking at you

    If someone offers you love you should take it. Cause sometimes one and one adds up to way more than two

    Now there’s a baby with a Daddy with a name on his shirt

    They’ll never be rich but they’ll always find work.

    And Billy’s gonna teach that boy just what it’s worth to love someone more than anything else on this earth

    Billy wants a job with a name on his shirt

  • If the corn’s knee high by the 4 th of July

    We’ll be sitting pretty when it’s harvest time

    If the corn’s knee high by the 4 th of July

    We’ll be sittin pretty high

    Park your truck on the farm road so no one will see

    You gotta know Moe is done spraying for weeds

    Go 33 rows east and 10 paces north

    You better write this down, son you’ll forget for sure

    We go out at night as to not disturb them

    What the farmers don’t know wont hurt ‘em

    Spread your crops out those choppers got eyes

    Try not to visit ‘less it gets real dry

    Miracle Grow, a can of beer for the snails

    Don’t bend the corn, son. Don’t leave a trail

    By Halloween there’s a skunk in every barn

    Where I grew up this is how we farm

    My cell phone was buzzin

    My heart started pumpin

    I had Squirrel on the line

    Screaming out his mind

    Sayin, the combines are coming! The combines are coming!

    We’ll be gettin’ real high

  • I could hear the bus running

    I guess it’s time to go

    This time you ain’t coming

    I guess we both kind of know

    That this life ain’t your style

    Still not sure why it’s mine

    But I could hear the bus running

    Running out of time

    I wish there was a way I could explain me to you

    Help you to see why I do what I do

    Ain’t fair to leave you alone, ain’t fair to drag you along

    Gone, needing to be home. Home, needing to be gone

    We could close up the circus

    Bring the whole big top down

    It won’t make your life perfect

    Cause I’ll still be the clown

    So, baby just love me

    And come along for the ride

    I can hear the bus running

    Come with me this time

  • All your Ex’s don’t live in Texas, but the list is a country mile

    Like all those old songs that you loved on, now they come on and you smile

    What would life be without bad decisions?

    What would I be without all my mistakes?

    Anything is better than lost in indecision

    All I got to show for it is what it takes

    All your road trips and your tongue slips all the lessons, bitter pills

    All your worship in purple churches all your rolled-up dollar bills

    And if I hurt you, I never meant to. I was young and so naive

    I can’t change what I did but, I’m sorry please believe me

    Just taking chances on late night dances all your “pounding head in the morning sun”s

    All your standin' up to the man and all your “I fought the law and the law wons"

  • Steve, he was my best friend, or a guy I went to school with.

    Yeah it’s hard to know the difference when you’re running and you’re young

    Yeah Steve and I we spent some time back when we was dumb

    The day I met Her, Steve became a third wheel.

    Her and I, we fell in love fast, tripping though the tall grass

    And, Steve he tagged along and it seemed to kinda fit, yeah every couple superheroes deserves a

    sidekick we ran off to Texas like 3 Musketeers

    Well, if I get back to Texas, I’ll look you up first thing. But don’t you hold your breath it’s way too hot down there for me

    I’ll head on back North, where I’ll have them all believe That none of this is my fault, I’ll blame it all on

    Her and Steve

    Whoa, then I took to gamblin chasing down the big win

    I left her home with Steve, figured she was in good hands

    Well that turned out to be a little truer than I’d planned

    I couldn’t see the cards, they were coming up betrayal

    I came home early one night to surprise her with a good time

    They had made the blanket monster and it was easy to see

    That one of them looked like her and the other looked like Steve

    I walked in on a 2 for 1 broken heart sale

    So, the night before I left them I did some breakin n enterin.

    I stashed all the stolen loot in the back of Steven’s truck

    An anonymous tip? The police couldn’t believe their luck Now they’re taking Her and Steve in for questioning

    The evidence was crystal clear. And that good ol’ boy judge didn’t want to hear

    All these crazy stories about this alleged Uncle Ben

    Who they was claimin’ was framing them in the name of revenge

    The judge ‘bout threw out his arm throwing the book at them

  • They say home is where the heart is, well, mine beats in my chest

    Faster when I’m running and slower when I rest

    Goin’s been my go to, that’s why you’ll find me gone

    Home would be a Godsend this road’s so fucking long

    Virginia keeps on callin’ but I can’t pick up the phone

    I can’t bear to see her but I don’t want to be alone

    Guess we’re all just travelers, ah but some on different roads

    Oh Virginia keeps on callin’ but nobody’s ever home

    Half my friends keep talkin’ talkin’ ‘bout the good ol’ days

    The other half keep telling me I gotta change my ways

    But I’m out on this freeway, oh in some ways I feel free

    Just couldn’t end up being who she needed me to be

    They say home is where the heart is and mines sewn here on my sleave

    Faster when I’m runnin running out of places to leave.

    Nobody’s ever home

  • Gettin’ hillbilly silly, red necked wrecked, crazy as shit house rats

    Get in all kind of trouble, put to bed with a shovel, then do it all over again. Yay!

    No, it don’t take much, just standing ‘round a thirty on a loggin’ road in the campfire light

    Just a rowdy bunch, ain’t afraid to get dirty so go get your boots we’re gonna get loose it’s a Tuesday night

    Gettin’ hillbilly silly, red necked wrecked, crazy as shit house rats

    Get in all kind of trouble, put to bed with a shovel, then do it all over again

    We’re just Catt. County hilljacks loving this life we get

    And gettin’ hillbilly silly, red necked wrecked, crazy as shit house rats

    You can’t waste your life, workin every minute sometimes you gotta just kick on back and watch the grapes grow

    There’s a swimming hole, were about to dive in it, but if you’re bringin’ the cooler down the waterfall, take it slow.

    Gettin’ so crazy

    There’s a rope swing hanging from a tree above that swimming hole

    And just like life it’s a hell of a ride if you know when to hold on and when to let go

  • Sleeping in a Walmart parking lot take my shower in the bathroom sink

    Find the next venue on Google maps try to wait til the evening to drink

    I gotta love this life cause it’s the life I chose

    For better or worse, no worse for the ware and it shows

    Broke down under the overpass downtown Buffalo

    A soul-patched man with a really loud van pushed us where we needed to go

    I rely on the kindness of strangers and strange kinds of friends

    The rubber hit down hard on the pavement the night she said,

    she said, “my way or the highway”, now I’m out here on this road

    writing songs about being lonely, and singing them for lonely folks

    they tell me that they love me, but I’m pretty sure they don’t

    she said, “my way or the highway” and I chose the road

    Trading blows with the lake effect snow learning how to know when I’m beat

    This all feels a little like a whiskey on a stick hanging out in front of me

    I knew I’d miss her but I soon came to see

    I could never miss her as much as I’d miss me

    she said, “my way or the highway”, so I’m out here on this road

    writing songs about being lonely, and sharing them with lovely folks

    I chose the road less traveled and the difference here is hope

    “my way or the highway” and I chose the road

  • Packing what’s left of me in a guitar case, Holding onto hope that you show your face

    But no one looks like you

    Bartender says it’s gonna be a good night, I see familiar faces as they’re starting to line up

    But no one here looks like you

    It’s been almost a year since we took that walk, crying in the street, and making neighbors talk

    There ain’t too many easy ways to hear, “I don’t love you anymore”

    Fake smiling in between every note, wishing that I’d never heard these songs I wrote

    The first set is almost done

    The people drink and dance and try to forget, rubbing up against who they’re gonna regret

    And my whiskey is almost gone

    Called her on the phone for a month or so, tried to act sober but she’d always know

    There ain’t too many easy ways to hear, “Please don’t call me anymore”

    Loadin up to go now it’s quarter to four. The boys are drinking Whiskeys like they won the war

    But I still feel like throwing the fight

    I wish you were still waiting up for me at the end of this ride like you used to be

    With a sleepy-eyed kiss goodnight

    Trying so hard not to learn his name, but talk in a small town is hard to tame

    There ain’t too many easy ways to hear, “you’re not with her anymore”

    Home now, I sneak into the bedroom to see, my beautiful babies lying sound asleep, and think, maybe

    I’m ok

    Lay there and for the first time think, they say time heals everything and my heart fills with maybe I’m ok

    It’s been almost a year since we took that walk, crying in the street, and making neighbors talk

    There ain’t too many easy ways to here, where I don’t love you anymore

The Things that Bring You Back

  • I’m gonna get as drunk as this beer lets me

    I’m gonna get as high as a guitar squeal

    I’m gonna get as far as this gas gets me

    Cause I let go but Jesus never took the wheel

    All my friends got one foot in the grave

    And to get there they beg and they borrow and steal

    Crawling on their knees for what they crave

    Yeah they let go but Jesus never took the wheel

    It’s never a waste when we get wasted

    There’s never a time that we aint spent

    We’re libel to chase what don’t need chasin’

    We aint broke we’re just bent

    I’m out on the road with these four heathens

    And I know they got my back when the deal goes down

    When you ask me what it is that I believe in

    Well I believe I’ll have one more round

    It’s hard not to feel a bit deceived

    When everyone is swearin that their god is real

    I’ve asked and asked and asked and never received

    Yeah I let go but Jesus never took the wheel

  • You pray for angels and I’ll call for ambulances and we’ll be saved and vindicated when they arrive

    You thank the lord above and I’ll thank my lucky stars and we’ll live together side by side

    I know you think that I’m wrong and you know you’re right

    And we both have our reasons to keep our minds locked up tight

    It’s ok that you believe the words the ancient prophets wrote

    Just be careful not to drown me in whatever floats your boat

    I know you mean well and you’re afraid of Hell

    And I know you think you’re only trying to save me from myself

    But try to see that some of us sheep are destined to be goats

    And careful not to drown me in whatever floats your boat

  • He and the Mrs. Shoved off near Misery Bay

    Sailed around Presque Isle and out into the open lake

    That’s when he introduced his wife to the gun that would take her life

    He said “sorry baby ”, pulled that trigger, and he tied her tight

    How much weight does it take? God damn that shallow lake

    He could have lived anywhere but no he lived here

    I place can look big until you’re hiding bodies. Now there’s no denying

    Even this lake ain't great enough to make her disappear

    He told the police the story like he’d rehearsed

    Like the weather on the lake it changed quick from bad to worse

    When she floated up in Chadwick Bay

    And ruined a fisherman’s day

    The gun was hid under his mattress like dirty magazine

    Now his alibi is thinner than November ice

    He pleading not guilty but he’s hoping that his cellmate’s nice

    He’s gonna rot in jail forever

    with just one thing to remember

    Erie keeps her secrets like a teenage girl

  • Look at all them d bags in diesel trucks

    Out there clogging all them suburbs up

    I think they’re making up for something that they lack

    Just look at them truck nuts hanging off the back

    You got your chrome tips and your mossy oak trim

    The only thing you ever haul is your rachet ass girlfriend

    Mommy bought you a diesel just to hear it rattle

    You’re all hat and no cattle

    Those brand new work boots aint never worked

    And I bet that carhart aint never seen the dirt

    Your belt buckle’s probably bigger than your penis

    You’re about as country as Jason Aldean is

    Got that Nickelback country writing your script

    You better put another dip in that dipshit lip

    Your ass aint never smelled like saddle

    You’re all hat and no cattle

  • I don’t struggle with the bottle it works for me every time

    I’m gonna work on(out) all my issues as soon as I get time

    You say that you love me but so need me to change

    That’s just one more thing that I can’t understand these days

    I come from a long line of fighters Fists up and ready to brawl

    A long line of fighters wonder if they ever got tired of it all, wonder if they ever got tired

    My Papa was a boxer on the LST 655

    He had a left hand hit you like a truck hard as any man alive

    But my Naney(grandma) didn’t like the violence she put her foot down and said you’re through

    I guess grandma was a bit of a fighter too

    You know you can’t change me

    And I know I can’t change you

    Remember back in the day when neither of us wanted to

  • Your love don’t leave a good taste in my mouth but whiskey does

    And on Friday your love don’t go 2 for 1 but whiskey does

    Oh when your loves gone I cant go out and buy another one

    But when this bottle’s empty who’s got more where that came from?

    The whiskey does The whiskey does

    I’ve done everything that I’ve done because

    The whiskey does The whiskey does

    Sometimes I don’t know who it is I really love but The whiskey does

    Talking about you with my mother doesn’t help but the whiskey does

    And you’ll never understand that night I fell but The whiskey does

    You say no one wants to see me cry or hear me sing the blues

    This time girl you’re wrong, honey, have I got news for you

    \Oh you don’t understand those other girls you don’t wanna give this another whirl in a world that just sees oysters who sees pearls?

    The whiskey does

  • “Look out liver baby here I come” said the liquor, as it grabbed me by the fingers and the thumb

    Poured itself in my mouth burned me all the way down

    I was too busy didn’t notice the assault now I’m all wrecked up and it aint my fault

    I got a show to do. Kind of liking this déjà vu.

    With a Freckled Beaver and a Jazz Cigarette head full of ideas no room for regret

    Take the Uncle off of my name and relax in the bus roof’s shade

    The crowd was so crazy man do they like to sing and they all know the words with this internet thing

    Some nights I even get paid who’s to say I aint got it made

    When I forget the song in my heart my friends help me remember the words

    With a little help from my friends I’ll turn this empty room into a scene

    With a little help from my friends give me the people’s key and I’ll show you what I mean

    With this beat-up old guitar and feet for us to stomp

    and a floor that resonates the very soul that we all got

    there aint nothing in this world that could ever make us stop

    with a little help from my friends

  • Nothing dawns on you like a dawn

    Nothing tell you you were wrong

    Like the morning sun shining in on a head full of booze

    Nothing hurts more than the sound of everyone else up and around heading out to win while you lie here and lose

  • This life is so heavy, god damn is it ever

    But she carries it on her shoulders and always delivers

    And I’d give you all my old Band records if you could take a little weight off of Fannie

    Cause she tries so hard, she tries so hard

    So come on, come on girl smile for me

    Light up a room like I’ve seen you do

    Come on, come on girl smile for me

    Light up a room like I’ve seen you do

    So many times before

    Girl, life is way too short

    So if this is the rat race, why do I still feel so human?

    I always thought when I got this age, I’d just somehow know what I was doin

    And I give you all my old good memories to guarantee that these three have good ones

    Cause I try so hard, I try so hard

  • The lights come up, the bartender yells

    And these neon masks we’re wearing slowly begin to melt

    And I see you in the corner fumbling with your keys You don’t know me, but I said maybe, you and I should get some sleep

    in my truck. Don’t get me wrong

    I got a front seat and a back seat and I’ll stay where I belong

    I just don’t think you should trade jailhouse crocs for those pretty shoes And your face is way too perfect for the morning news

    If we’re both so bent out of shape

    Maybe we can twist around each other and make it look like we are straight

    If I hold you up, will you hold me down?

    And we could stand right here together when the pain comes back around.

    We’ll laugh it down

    The sun came up the truck got hot And we opened up our eyes to see an empty parking lot

    I said “grease?” you said “why not” And we hit the local diner to treat our hangovers with slop

    And we laughed, fell in love, almost forgot that we were broke Then we helped each other sneak out of the bathroom window

    We tore out of that place and when I ground through the gears You slid over next to me and you’ve been riding there for years

    There’s more than one way sleeping off a drunk can save your life

    Cause she saved mine that night

    Now the years they’ve ravaged on

    And I worry about what life will be like when one of us is gone

    So I treat each day I have with you like it is a gift

    Twisted, straight, or bent I’d never trade this life we lived

  • Woke up early in the afternoon

    Not sure what city but it’s cold as a tomb

    Through the rain on the windshield the wipers curl

    It ain’t a lot of water but it’s drowning my world

    Oh God I don’t know how I’ll ever keep this dirty van on the road

    Do I still got a reason to go home

    “Oh my dear, I think it’s time to go”

    Said the woman that I love above a puddle on the floor

    I don’t know why I’m crying I’ve spilt milk many times

    It aint a lot of water but it changing my life

    Oh God I don’t know how I’ll ever keep this speeding van on the road

    Now i got a reason to go home

    Alone on a front porch she waits for me

    But I stuck on a roadside in Tennessee

    A tear in the eyes of a pretty little girl

    It aint a lot of water but it’s drowning my world

    Oh God I don’t know how I’ll ever keep this broken van on the road

    Hope I still got a reason to go home

  • OSB is all that I could afford

    She said “whoa is me I think it looks worse than it did before”

    Then I kiss her lips and she smiles

    And like so many times before we fall into a pile

    And we love our way through this

    No matter what it is I know we’ll get through it

    When we love our way through this

    All we need is trust things work out for us

    LSD found left over in a drawer

    She said “Whoa is me I don’t think we’re in college anymore”

    Then I take her hand and we start

    Finding new ways to make each other see the stars

    DVD of our wedding day

    She said “whoa is me I just can’t get this thing to play”

    I hold her and look into her eyes

    And say I don’t need no f-in tape to remember that night

  • I put on my black jacket, and we walked down to the grave we celebrated the thin line between stupid and brave

    and the sun beat down so hot that day on a hundred broken souls.

    I put on my black jacket but I'm still cold.

    She said "Ben I've always loved you and I guess I always will.

    We're changing and there's places in my heart you just can't fill."

    She promises to stay in touch and whispers "you're a good man"

    well I whispered just not good enough for you, I guess

    you don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

    You don't get to say NOT ME

    You just get to say NOT YET

    Your time is coming, it's just the way life is. You don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

    Yeah I loosen my black jacket as we walk into the bar

    and we talk about the good times and redress our open scars

    and the whiskey and the old songs might keep me warm tonight

    and I'll hang up my black jacket, till the next time.

    you don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

    You don't get to say NOT ME

    You just get to say NOT YET

    Your time is coming, it's just the way life is. You don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

    you don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

    You don't get to say NOT ME

    You just get to say NOT YET

    Your time is coming, it's just the way life is. You don't get what you deserve, you just get what you get.

Not Far From the Tree

  • Go get yer boots we’re going up back

    Gonna find our way where there ain’t no tracks

    Pull up a stump get yer guitar out

    There’s a fire in the field tonight.

    There’s a fire in the field and you all know what that means

    The time is right again tonight to live inside our dreams

    See the good old boys and girls sucking hope through aluminum cans

    We’re all high and hiding where we can

    Don’t need no book for these faces we leave the tweeting up to the birds

    And if we got something to say we open our mouth and use our words

    There’s something about the way the fire dances on your face

    It just carries this hillbilly away

    We’re living by the seat of our pants taking every chance to just get out there and dance

    Whoa everything’s gonna be alright, I think I can see the light, there’s a fire in the field tonight

  • You take her out you doll her up

    When she says treat me right she means buy me stuff

    Prove your love with yer credit card

    And thinks she loves you just the way you are

    But when the money ran out so did she

    Well it took me a while to see past her smile and tight blue jeans

    That she like money money money more than me

    I was thinking to have and hold

    And she was thinking bout digging for some gold

    But the joke's on her ain’t it a shame

    in’t got no penny to my name

    And when the money ran out so did she

  • Had me a pair of sunglasses, had ‘em right here on my head

    I don’t know whatever became of those sunglasses I had

    Had me a good women, had her right here in my bed

    I don’ know what ever became of that good women I had

    And things will come and things will go

    There are things I wonder about and there are things I know

    Sometimes there’s time enough for thinkin and honey sometimes there’s just not, I cut my losses and focus on what I got

    Had me an old guitar considered it my best friend

    I don’t know what ever became of that guitar that I lent

    Had me a good buddy went off and got himself wed

    I don’t know what ever became of those good friends that I had

    Had me some real good reasons for getting myself upset

    I don’t know whatever became of those reasons that I had

    I had all the time in the world to worry bout useless shit

    I don’t know whatever became of that endless time I had

  • Heard that you finally quit the circuit

    When even cocaine couldn’t keep you awake

    But I remember how you used to work it

    Times the one thing that no one can save

    Remember when we used to be so pretty

    Remember when we used to turn the heads

    And just because we made um don’t make it easy

    to fall asleep in these beds

    Heard you’re still trying to play that guitar

    The one I bought for you on our anniversary

    And I heard the girls that come and scream for you

    Ain’t as young nowadays as they used to be

    This drive-thru life is scratching at my brain

    And these “no one else out” nights are almost more than I can take

  • Well the old apple tree in the orchard it lives in my memory

    It reminds me of my pappy he was handsome young and happy

    when he planted the old apple tree

    Say Goodbye say goodbye say goodbye oh say goodbye to the old apple tree if my pappy had have know’d it he never would have grow’d it for he died in the old apple tree

    Well one night pappy took widow Norton out on a jamboree

    When he brought her home at sun up brother Norton raised his gun up

    And he chased pappy up in the tree

    When the neighbors came after my pappy up in a tree was he

    So they took a rope and strung him by the neck and then they hung him

    From a branch of the old apple tree

    Now my poor pappy lies in the orchard

    He’s out of his misery

    They put the apples in a basket chopped the tree down for a casket

    Now my poor pappy’s gone with the tree

  • What you gonna do with your money come Sunday

    What you can’t get done here on Friday night

    Cause saving money’s or bankers and family men

    And Tuesday the banker ran off with my wife

    I tried to drink her off my worried mind

    By drinking me a whiskey drink or two

    But nothing seemed to do the trick till I met this nasty old hick

    He said “son I got just the thing or you”

    God damn you bootlegger where you goin with my pay

    All I can do is stagger while hard earned money walks away

    God damn you bootlegger I swear it’s all your fault

    For a man like me shine that clean was bound to clear me out

    “You should know better” my mama always told me

    Everybody pays for the way they play

    But it numbed my brain like it numbed my lips

    And my good sense left with every sip

    Now I’m on the floor with debts to pay

  • I’m sitting in this hotel bar counting my mistakes

    I got money enough for another round but do I got what it takes

    To realize I can’t afford to waste away the day

    I gotta pick up my whole life from her new boyfriends it her visitation day

    She’s gone back to blackrock and left me here with this beautiful mess

    She’s gone back to blackrock and left me here with this beautiful mess

    I hate that she left me but I love what she left me with

    Lily’s only ten years old with a smile as big as the world

    Oh she thinks that she knows everything I hope she knows that she’s my little girl

    And young David is a fireball and I hold on for all I got

    Yeah he thinks his dad is superman but his daddy knows he’s not

    She said she needed time alone and now that’s all that she’s got left

    You gotta watch out what you wish for cause sometimes it’s exactly what you get

  • The sky is speaking volumes to me tonight

    I’m not sure i I’m on the water or touching the light

    I don’t know where it comes from but it sure feels right

    The stars are coming down and touching the lake

    I’m sitting on this dock with you you’re touching my leg

    And I know or the first time it’s not too late oh no

    It’s gonna be alright it’s gonna be okay

    Always knew that it could work out for you and me someday

    And for the first time I believe there’s nothing or you and me

    To wait for

    The loon is not the only one who stands accused

    laughing like he’s cray when he’s out here with you

    I wonder if he sees the beauty that I see in you

    h tomorrow never comes we’ve already won

    please tell me you believe there’s nothing or you and me

    To wait for

  • I went out to Hollywood to be a big music star

    I had my voice down tight and I could pick a little bit of guitar

    I sent my songs out early and they all thought it was cool

    But the dollar signs ran from their eyes when I walked into that room

    They said “son you’ve got a face for the radio”

    “and were sorry but that media died years ago”

    I’m too dumb for New York and too ugly for LA

    I’m too rude for the great white north and too fat for Tampa Bay

    I’m too much hell for the Bible belt so where am I gonna stay

    I’m too dumb for New York and too ugly for LA

    Found myself in New York City looking for a honky tonk scene

    I wound up in a village that didn’t look much like a village to me

    I was hired and set-up in the corner of this swanky little swig and jig

    And I played there every Friday night till the new owner came and cancelled the gig

    He said “son here in the city we have a more sophisticated taste”

    I said “well why do folks scream and stomp their feet every time we play this place”

  • When the water’s deep you see your reflection you’re left wondering is that really me

    Well the water flows downhill, takes the easy way out so sure enough that’s me without a doubt

    Zoar Valley Zoar Valley what it must have took to cut you so deep

    But you stand there with all your scars and how beautiful you are

    I think I’m seeing some of those scars in me

    Drive on down to the fortys bridge walk on up to the Devil’s Hole

    Then the Cattaragus calls you behind the waterfalls

    Sure enough you can see inside your soul

    Even the biggest stone is gonna roll when it rains

    The change gets ugly but the spirit still remains

Yesterday’s Clothes

  • I got my pedal to the metal, heel to the steel

    I got my foot up in the carburetor, hell on my heels

    I’m driving like the devil’s riding shotgun and handing me lines

    Cd case in my face, steering with my knee, and not afraid to die

    I will tell you a story sorry if I ramble on,

    I been playin in the hooker sugar, up since yesterday dawn

    My baby left me with nothing but freedom and that freedom’s so sweet

    I’m gonna run this raged til this wreck runs out of gasoline

    You’ve got to know your enemy and I know mine is booze

    You’ve got to know your enemy and I know mine is booze

    I keep my friends close and my enemies closer yet

    Now me and booze got a common enemy we’re tryin to forget

    I got a fear down in my belly I can feel it all the way to my feet

    Cuz I got red lights in my mirror and I don’t know how much dope I can eat

    I said “Im sorry mr officer but this dope here it don’t belong to me”

    (Hallelua) I’m a changed man and it belongs to the man I used to be

    I got my pedal to the metal, heel to the steel

    I got my foot up in the carburetor, spinning my wheels

    I’m driving like the devil’s riding shotgun and handing me lines

    Cd case in my face, steering with my knee, and not afraid to die

  • I’m ok with fightin it’s just the way I’s raised

    But I’ve been doin more than my share of fightin these days

    And I’ve been known to see my limits and “lines in the sand”

    Clearly in my rear view mirror every now and then

    So you can talk till your face matches those beautiful blue eyes

    But I can save you a bucket of time girl, cause I won’t change my mind

    Cause this thing I do is who I am, and frankly girl I don’t give a damn

    If this puts a monkey wrench in your plans, you married a music man

    Do you need me to tell you that I’m ok

    Do you need me to lie to you when you ask for honesty

    Do you need me to break for you so you got something to fix

    I got good news for you, I’m as broke as it gets

    Tall trees ain’t fallin down, somehow I woke up alive

    I got bruises to prove the boozes work again last night

    I wrote 16 songs and what did I get

    Another day older and deeper in debt

    Sweet mama don’t you call me cause I can’t come home

    I owe my soul to this rock n roll show

  • She said, This town ain’t even got a Micky Ds, this town just way too little for me can’t even steal a kiss without ‘em makin a fuss this town can eat my dust

    She said, There’s a whole wide world out there waiting for me, there’s a big bad world I’m needin to see, I’m meant for much more than campfires and beer. I can’t be stickin ‘round here.

    Well I’ll be right here waiting for you when you get back from Solla Sollew however long it takes for you to realize that the grass is always greener where you fertilize

    And I’ve been layin down the good shit here at home waiting so patiently til you see that your Solla Sollew is right here with me.

    She got to the city it was big as could be, she was a pretty little fish in a big old sea, the sharks teeth were sharper than they were back home, and she felt all kinds of alone

    So she called me up on the telephone said hey Uncle Ben what’s been happenin’ home? I said girl you know nothing ever happens on Pleasure street, she said that sounds so good to me.

    Come home, baby come home

    Cause now I got a big bat and baby you can trust:

    Our troubles are gonna have trouble with us

    Come home

  • My friend Squirrel lived up on a hill

    He had endless ways to satisfy his will

    He found room in his garage to build a still

    He asked all the old men round and he read the books

    And started keeping company with crooks

    Soon old Squirrel’s still began to cook

    Oh it’s hard not to see it as a mistake

    That the Lord would leave us in charge of our fate

    Lookin In the shine it becomes clear

    There’re little devils in here

    Soon the shine it fell behind demand

    Old squirrel needed him an extra pair of hands

    Welcome to the story, Mr Deputy Franze

    An old police car with a trunk of shine

    And sawed off Deer Slayers by their sides

    Two blind hillbillies plum out their minds

    Every man must reap just what he sows

    Now the wife and kids they live with gramma Rose

    Ol Squirrel wakes up in yesterday’s clothes

  • All hail the drinking man kinda hard to understand but he keeps this bar a float

    It ain't always easy leaving things behind, it ain't always cheap having you two ex-wives

    It ain't always what you think that’s been bringing him round here

    It ain't always fair but he’s always there

    All hail the drinking man kinda hard to understand but he keeps this bar a float

    All hail the drinking man hair hanging like rubber bands and a beard like a billy goat

    So let’s all stand up and raise our glasses high and drink a social to the drinkin man

    There ain't nothing better than a glass to fall into

    there ain't nothing wrong with a heart that’s broke in two

    It ain't his to decide if he deserves this less than perfect lot

    It ain't his to judge but it’s all he’s got

    Sometimes the quiet burns like a morning gin

    sometimes the noise can’t change what you did

    And some day he’ll rest his head on the breast of sweet relief

    But till then he drinks till then we drink

    All hail the drinking man kinda hard to understand but he keeps this bar a float

    All hail the drinking man rollin' his Torrino Grand with a frog living in his throat So let’s all

    stand up and raise our glasses high and drink a social to the drinkin' man

  • I drank Gibson’s with a splash of Coke in Northern Ontario

    I drank Straight Bourbon Whiskey in the great state of Kentucky

    I sipped Manhattans on an island between New Jersey and Queens

    I drank wine from the grapes of the Finger Lakes I drank a Genny on the Genesee

    Here’s to you and here’s to me may we never disagree

    And if we do to Hell with you here’s to me

    I got the Best of Milwaukee drank Extra Gold in a Golden town

    I drank 33 shots of Rolling Rock but I couldn’t keep ‘em down

    I put my brain in a Hurricane while I watched New Orleans sink

    And I can’t see when I’m in Tennessee so I’m really not sure what I drank

    Mas cerveza en Mexico in Brussels Stella Artois

    J'ai bu tout le vin à Coopeville bier in der Hofbrauhaus

    I drank Red Stripe mon in the Lion’s Den outside of Montego Bay

    Screamed Viva Saprissa Futbol pura vida San Jose