01 These Old Boys
02 Beauregard Avenue
03 Seven Times a Day
04 Long John
05 Hit the Ground Running
06 Dog a Bone
07 Mitch's Kitchen
09 All the Pretty Little Horses
10 Further On
11 Mockingbird
12 Signed Sealed Delivered

THESE OLD BOYS
Adult male
Moving Sale
Hitting a hard and a dusty trail
And just like Arthur and the Holy grail
Well I’m all fired up
Goodbye Joe I got to go
Turned up the volume on the radio
Heard that song from long ago and I’m all stirred up
It brought me back when I was just a kid
Nothing moved me like the music did
Melodies all through my head and it’s all
And it’s all because of

These Old Boys
You know they got my number
It’s an echo to the heart
Attacking me right between the eyes
I’m talking about these old boys
You know they got my number
Aw, come on

Get a real job for crying out loud
You’ll never get far with your head in the clouds

Baby James can take the blame
things ain’t never gonna be the same
Since you stepped into the old ball game
and you walked me down a country road
Oh and what’s the deal with brother Neil
Singing out like a squeaky wheel
And it ain’t nothing if it ain’t real
And it sure was real to me

These Old Boys
You know they got my number
It’s an echo to the heart
Attacking me right between the eyes
I’m talking about these old boys
You know they got my number
Aw, come on

Listen to the man with the radio voice
telling you to make another lifestyle choice

I’m playing it back on 16 tracks
I’m in the middle of something can I call you back
Caue the tape is rolling and the red light’s on
I’m running out of money and Honey I ain’t got
Time for nothing but the new release
I’ll be the squeaky wheel I’m gonna get the grease
And just like Jason and the Golden Fleece
well I’m over the wall and I’m blaming it all on

These Old Boys
You know they got my number
It’s an echo to the heart
Attacking me right between the eyes
I’m talking about these old boys
You know they got my number
Talking ‘bout

Listen to the man with the radio voice
telling you to make another lifestyle choice

Everybody line up single file
everybody put on a great big smile

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BEAUREGARD AVENUE
God hides in heaven, where we can’t see
don’t know what he’s doing, he ain’t talking to me.
If he’s talking to you - maybe you could ask him why
All the little ones stumble blind until the day we die

Just like Daniel the artist, Daniel the fool
he buried his treasure,he pawned all his tools
spends the whole day walking - don’t know who he’s talking to.
And he lives in the shelter on Beauregard Avenue

All the fatherless children,
All the orphans and the beggars on the street
All the jailhouse muscle boys living on the trick or treat.
Every little accident, every little victimless crime takes its toll on you
And it’s a far cry from heaven on Beauregard Avenue.

Here’s a story ‘bout Howard,
Bought himself some new shoes
spent the rest of his money on wild times and booze
He did not make it home, in fact he passed out cold
with his head in the gutter and his legs on the road

Early next morning, along come a drover
said get your legs off the road before I run ‘em both over
Howard lifted his head, seen them shiny new shoes up there on the street.
Said you can drive on drover
those ain’t my feet.

All the fatherless children,
All the orphans and the beggars on the street
All the jailbait acrobats living off the skin of their teeth.
Every little accident, every little victimless crime takes a toll on you
And it’s a far cry from heaven on Beauregard Avenue.

God hides in Heaven and I don’t know
But these miracles follow me wherever I go
If he’s looking for me maybe I’m hiding too
We’re just hidin’ and seeking on Beauregard avenue

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SEVEN TIMES A DAY
Willie Johnson lost his eyes
When he was only a boy
Learned how to play that jackknife slide
Played it with a gospel joy

He said the Good Lord gives
And He taketh away
And a good man sins
Seven times a day

Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Lee
Each chose a different road
When Jimmy took a tumble from a lofty height
there was a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on

because the Good Lord gives
And He taketh away
And a good man sins
Seven times a day

The only enemy I ever had
who gave me any trouble at all
Lives in the shadow of the great divide
That cuts right through my soul

“If I had my way I’d tear that building down”
With a voice that rumbled and cried
In every little main street Texas town
Where Willie testified

he said the Good Lord gives
And He taketh away
And a good man sins
Seven times a day

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LONG JOHN
Another man, another man done gone
From the county farm
You got me running babe,
Singing old long john

Chorus
Long John
God knows I got to go
Yeah you got me running
like a turkey in the corn

Here come old Long John
Jump the prison wall
Run across the field
hear the dogs a comin’
barkin at his heels
Says hurry up gal
Shut that door
Dogs is a comin
I got to go
Gimme just five minutes
Just to catch my wind
2-3 minutes babe
I’m gone again

Chorus

Long John has
has the strangest shoes
Yeah the strangest shoes
that you ever did see
Got a heel in front
Another heel behind
So you never can tell
which way he’s gone

Chorus

Well they crucified Jesus
Hung him on a cross
Sister Mary cried
My child is lost
But the Bible tells
in Ten chap Ten
Any man dies
gonna live again

Chorus

you might see me next summer
Might see me no more
Might see me next summer babe
Down in Baltimore
Give me just 5 minutes
Just to catch my wind
2-3 minutes babe I’m gone again

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HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
My old man was an offshore driller
on the rigs off the southern coast
he worked three weeks on and one week off
on the gulf of Mexico
I don’t remember much about him
because I was still pretty small
The day he cashed in his packet at the credit union
And he never came home at all

Chorus
And he (I) hit the ground running
Like a shot from a loaded gun
Set the cruise control to rock & roll
before the woman even knew he (I) was gone
Can’t get too much of a good thing
and every good thing comes to an end
But too much of nothing ain’t never good enough &
so you hit the ground running again

Better make friends with sorrow
Because the good times never last
And a boy on the street in the southern heat
Grows up a little too fast
I never could trust tomorrow
Something in the blood gone bad
But when my boots hit the gravel
I was bound to travel
The spitting image of my dad

Chorus

Nearly settled down in Gainesville
I was pulling in a decent wage
we were living in a double wide down by the river
it was as good a place as any to stay
we talked about starting a family
I could see the pleasure in her eyes
Next thing I know I’m halfway to Dallas
And I never even said goodbye

Chorus

It was down around Corpus Christi,
When I last saw the man alive
He was talking tough,
And looking pretty rough
Drinking in a beachfront dive
He didn’t even recognize me
When I looked him straight in the eye
But there was nothing to be done
For a father and a son
So I just kept walkin’ on by

Chorus

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DOG A BONE
I chased a tomcat up a tree
To show you I was willing
I chased a tomcat up a tree and kept him there all day

If you look out your window now
you’ll see my tail a wagging
I’ll be doing tricks and chasing sticks
Oh come on darlin’

What’s it gonna take
To melt your heart of stone
And when you gonna throw this dog
Throw this dog a bone
Just a little old stray
That followed you home
Oh honey won’t you please
Throw the little dog a bone

I’ve been down every alley
 From Curtis Street right down to Newton
And I know my way around the darkness on the edge of town
I’ve been feeling like the time is right
To come on out into the light
And you’re the brightest thing in sight
Oh come on darlin’

What’s it gonna take
To melt your heart of stone
And when you gonna throw this dog
Throw this dog a bone
Just a little old stray
That followed you home
Oh honey won’t you please
Throw the little dog a bone

Now I ain’t got no pedigree
And I got no fancy papers
But I’ll chase away your mailman
And I’ll bite your paperboy
Cause that’s the kind of thing I’d do
To illustrate my love for you
If doggy dreams can still come true
Oh come on darlin’

What’s it gonna take
To melt your heart of stone
And when you gonna throw this dog
Throw this dog a bone
Just a little old stray
That followed you home
Oh honey won’t you please
Throw the little dog a bone

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MITCH'S KITCHEN
Underloved and overfed
like generation X, Y, Zed
on promises and dreams and contradictions

Talking heads and technocrats,
with many ways to tell you that
there’s nothing truly sacred except the system

So I tried to be a modern man
An artist with a business plan
I was working hard against my intuition

& when I swallowed back my pride
The only door that opened wide
Was the one that opens into Mitch’s kitchen

Truth is always stranger than the fiction
Danny took that new guitar
And played it till it broke
And Sunday afternoon goes up in smoke

Truth is always stranger than the fiction
I only laugh to hide the fact
I did not get the joke
And Sunday afternoon goes up in smoke

Could someone please explain to me
Why parasite bureaucracy
can undermine the most exalted vision?

But revolutions come & go
And Trotsky died in Mexico
& I’m still sitting here in Mitch’s kitchen

Truth is always stranger than the fiction
With crackpot schemes and banjo dreams
for all the travelling folk
On Sunday afternoon...

Truth is always stranger than the fiction
We only laugh
to hide the fact
we still don’t get the joke
And Sunday afternoon goes up in smoke

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ALL THE PRETTY LITTLE HORSES
Hushabye, Don’t you cry
Go to sleep little baby
When you wake
You shall have
all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bay
Dapple and gray
Coach and six a little horses

Way down yonder in the meadow
Lies a poor little lambie
And the bees and the flies
Are packing at his eyes
Poor little thing cries Mammy

Hushabye, Don’t you cry
Go to sleep little baby
When you wake
You shall have
all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bay
Dapple and gray
Coach and six a little horses

And if I had a wooly warm coat
My poor little darling
I’d wrap you tight
Against the cold night
And stay right through till morning

Hushabye, Don’t you cry
Go to sleep little baby
When you wake
You shall have
all the pretty little horses
Blacks and bay
Dapple and gray
Coach and six a little horses


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FURTHER ON
Further on you might be troubled
Further on this rocky road
If you run away from this one
Further on you’ll never know

You were young and oh so beautiful
and afraid to be alone
And he made you feel so special
You’re still special babe
Even so

Further on you might be troubled
Further on this rocky road
If you run away from this one
Further on you’ll never know

You were gone without a warning
In a dust cloud rising off a gravel road
And I could not stop you leaving
And I can’t bring you home

Further on you might be troubled
Further on this rocky road
If you run away from this one
Further on you’ll never know

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MOCKINGBIRD
There’s a time for laughter.
A time for sad songs and other serious things
A time for folding up your wings

I’ve been a lone rambler
And I drank more whiskey than I knew that I should
Didn’t do my flying any good
When I was a bird

I was a Mockingbird (3)
Mocking my way around the world

Oh, Joseph carry me
I can go no further by myself
Oh, Joseph carry me
I wish that I could fly.

& I was born to travel
But I’ll be going home now by a different road
With Joseph shouldering a load

Toward that distant music
And if it sounds like something that you already heard.
It’s a trick of the Mockingbird

I was a Mockingbird (3)
Mocking my way around the world

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SIGNED SEALED DELIVERED
When I was a young man
I left my parents' care
Started down the road less travelled
And I vanished in thin air
Had a plan to be a man of substance and abuse
And I took my pills and drank my fill
Of every kind of monkey juice
I tasted every kind of pleasure
though I do not mean to boast
Cause now I’m signed sealed delivered
By the finger of the Holy Ghost

Temptation Lord Temptation
Dressed up in a shiny suit
And in the summer of 1979
You know I tasted the forbidden fruit
And I picked up a couple of nasty habits
They were dragging me to the ground
And I took to wheelin dealin
Stealing anything that wasn’t nailed down
And I rode that haunted highway
From the mountains to the coast
now I’m signed sealed delivered
By the finger of the Holy Ghost

The night was cool and cloudless
In the city that never sleeps
And as the moon was rising I washarmonizing
With the buskers on Granville street
I met an ex-con from Saskatchewan
he kind of took me under his wing
He said you must come from a happy home
I can tell by the way you sing
we talked about God and the Devil
The things that matter most
And I was signed sealed delivered
By the finger of the Holy Ghost

So I went down to the railway station
Got myself a one way ticket home
Said goodbye to the mountains
From the comfort of the observation dome
The moral of the story
Is as simple as white on black
Cause the Lord helps those
who could not help themselves
Out of a paper sack
So I’ll tie it all up in a plain brown wrapper
And send it to you parcel post
I’ll mark it signed sealed delivered
By the finger of the Holy ghost

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