How long how long will this go on
As cold as the sky is deep
How old how old will your garden grow
As the birds pick at you while you sleep
How far how far will you find that you are
just as small as a speck of dust
How deep how deep will you shiver in your sleep
As the birds try to sing you awake
Ahhh
How long how long will this go on
As the birds try to sing you awake
COLD RIVER BLUES (V. Esway)
You told me once
That you’d be mine
And you’d stay with me
Till the end of time
But time goes on
And you my love are long gone
I lost your heart
So I’m gonna go down
To the river and drown
Now the water is cold
And the river is deep
Your love was not
For me to keep
I lost your heart
So I’m gonna go down
I’m gonna go down down down
To the river and drown
*
I’ll visit you
From the other side
When you feel lonely
Late at night
And like my love
My cries will linger on
Till you wanna go down down down
To the river and drown
You’re gonna go down down down
To the river and drown
COMPANY (V. Esway & A. Fellows-Mannion)
All I wanted to do
Was catch a glimpse of you
You gave me one but I wanted two
Two more glimpses of you
All I wanted to see
Was what was underneath
Your skin and bones
and head and toes
And everything in between
All I wanted to do
Was catch a glimpse of you
All I wanted to breathe
Was your company
All I wanted to do
Was catch a glimpse of you
You gave me two
But I wanted four
And I still wanted more
Chorus
*
And I still live to see
You smiling back at me
But you’ve moved on
All hope is gone
And you’re still a mystery to me
Chorus
CURVE OF THE WORLD (A. Fellows-Mannion)
Head back looking at the stars
Exploding into technicolor shards
Fireworks burst above our heads
Showering sparks down yellow & blue & green & red
Was it so many summer nights ago
Or is this regret I don't know
But thoughts of you spin around my head
& a shower of sparks pour down on my solitary bed
& I can see you over the curve of the world
A shadow in the eyes of a solitary girl
& here is just one more impossibility
Look up at the same stars be with me
Well I wish I maybe wish I might
Have the wish I wish tonight
But there will be no reunion day
Shifted to the red we've gone very far away
But I can see you over the curve of the world... (etc)
*
'Cause I can see you over the curve of the world
A shadow in the stars in the eyes of a solitary girl
FATHER GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN (words by A. Fellows-Mannion, music by P. McNees & AFM)
(Grandfather Mountain is located in western North Carolina...)
Father Grandfather Mountain, mountain so old
Once lived a sweet thing in the valley down below
The mountain her only father & she his only child
Her only mother the river, tumbling green & wild
Then one day came a stranger & he called her by her name
Called her his sweet thing & soon he had his way
& to hear the girl cry ay ay ay
A shiver & sigh ay ay ay
A seed so planted in springtime grows tall
& so she grew through the summer & on into the fall
Hard at the end of winter in the middle of a heavy snow
The river broke right through her to her father she did go
& as the night closed in & the wind howled wild
She pulled from herself a baby, a little girl child
& to hear the girl cry ay ay ay
A shiver & sigh ay ay ay
*
In time the neighbors went looking, but not a soul they found
Just a trail a-bleeding in the snow upon the ground
& from the woods around them a high & keening sound
& to hear the girl cry ay ay ay
A shiver & sigh ay ay ay
& when the wind is high ay ay ay
They can hear her cry ay ay ay
HARLINGEN, TEXAS (A. Fellows-Mannion)
Harlingen, Texas is not where I'm from
But it's where you were headed when your work was done
Goodbye at the airport I took it like a man
Your telephone number crumpled in my hand
You say that you know what your looking for
Turning your back on the beckoning doors
Having seen what's out there, do you still stay
Tethered to Texas & down Harlingen way
& I remember Texas
& how it takes all of a day to drive through
Yeah I remember Texas
What else is as big & as wide & as blue
As the sky over Texas & I'm thinking of calling you
& there's more things than not to keep us apart
& I try not to follow the trouble I start
But I still can't believe you settling down
Safe in the arms of your south texas town
*
Headin' to New Orleans on Interstate 10
How I would love to see you again
It would be so easy...
But Harlingen, Texas is not where I'm bound
I'm headed for a bigger & a dirtier town
Where I'll forget every lesson that I ever learned
Time is a-wasting & the wheels've already turned
Oh but I'll remember Texas
& how it takes all of a goddamn day to drive through
& I'm feeling just a little bit like Texas
Just as flat & as dry & as blue
As the sky over Texas & I'm thinking of calling you
As the sky over Texas & I'm still thinking of calling you
HOLES (V. Esway)
I’m wishing I had something to eat
I’m wishing I had someone to do
Something to fill the void
To save me from thoughts of you
But now all my cupboards are bare
This place is as empty as my heart
And there’s no one on the phone
It might be too late to start
To fill the holes
All the little holes
It won’t fix what’s broke
I’m wishing that someone would call
But wishing won’t make the phone ring
There is no way to fill this hole
Tonight all I can do is sing
But it won’t
Fill the holes
All the little holes
It can’t fix what’s broke
I’m wishing I could turn back the clock
Undo all the wrong that I’ve done
But wishing won’t change anything
Empty is as empty does
LAZY RAY (J. Rut)
So long, lazy Ray
Were you were a crack, you’d be tempting to look through
Were you were a coat on a cold day
I’d lose track of the ways you were worn
And its true
I haven’t got a clue
How to love you
So long, Lazy Ray
Were you the sun you’d be just what you are
Were you to shine you’d shine all day
Were you to fall you would fall like a star
>From the blue
Still I haven’t got a clue
How to love you
And it’s a fact we grow haggard and worn
And surely die just as sure as we’re born
But though you’re leaving I
Swear I don’t want to cry
“Cause as you tumble from the sky
Feels less like leaving, more like
So long, lazy Ray
And as I lay me down to sleep
Somewhere else you’re rising steeply
So long , so long so long lazy Ray
I know we’ll meet again
So long Lazy Ray
Like sunlight dancing on my skin
You’ll still be in my mind
So I’m only gonna say hey hey
So long Lazy Ray
Lazy Ray
So long Lazy Ray
Lazy Ray
LOST AGAIN (A. Fellows-Mannion)
Blew right through the sunrise today
Six hundred miles from yesterday
It was the final round of a knock-down fight
Tore myself in two along with you all night
Stepping out at the top of the pass
Twelve thousand feet the air is sharp as glass
& I'm bleeding all over this postcard
Throw it over the edge let it come to rest wherever you are
& it's true I wanted everything from you
I only took what I could carry & that'll just have to do
Spend another season on my own
Lost again & I'm not coming home
Lost again & I'm not coming home
Following the old track on the other side
Of this river falling off the Great Divide
These are the scars of a hundred & fifty years
Of pushing luck out to the edge of the frontier
& I'm looking for that very same road
Pushing luck & money just to see how far it goes
Spend another season on my own
Lost again & I'm not coming home
Lost again & I'm not coming home
*
Keeping the pitiful angels at bay
Hang onto the demons 'cause it's easier that way
Spend another season on my own
Lost again & I'm not coming home
Lost again & I'm not coming home
OUR DAYS ARE NUMBERED (J. Rut)
Well it’s hard being all alone
Cuz all I do is disappoint myself
Now I’m thinking back on all the loves I’ve known
And I sure miss disappointing someone else
Let’s get together and let each other down
I can stay out late drinking, you can sleep around
When Sunday Morning comes around round round
We’ll thank the lord that our days are numbered
I promise to be frustrated with you
When I’m really just frustrated with my mother
If you promise to take things out on me
Over something that your daddy done
Let’s get together and treat each other bad
Compare each other to the other lovers that we’ve had
I’ll keep looking for my floozy, you look for your sugardad
I thank the lord that my days are numbered
You can play the Kiss and Make up Waltz
I’ll play the No Justice No Peace Rag
You can do the shimmy and the Denial Samba
And we’ll all dance the Bitter Bitter Polka
*
*
You’ll only be a smoker when I’m drinking
And I’ll only be a drinker when I gamble
And since I only gamble when I’m broke
All we’ll ever do is drink and smoke
So let’s get together and not treat each other nice
Be each other’s lawyer, give each other bad advice
Then tear up the contract, wish we’d never thrown the rice
We’ll thank the lord that our days are numbered
We’ll thank the lord that our days are numbered
That last one dragged me pretty far down
Now I'm itchin' to go downtown
I was gonna swear off liquor & men
But tonight I want a temporary friend
'Cause sometimes a girl's not thinking about forever
Right about now is better than never
Sometimes a girl just wants to get in the game
So tell me again, honey, what's your name?
I don't know what I'm gonna remember
Don't know what I'm gonna want to forget
When you take a chance on a little romance
You never know what you're gonna get
So come on & follow me home tonight
& don't you worry your pretty little head
Tomorrow we'll go our separate ways
But tonight you're gonna park yer boots underneath my bed
*
Maybe it's the whiskey but you're lookin' mighty fine
I'm gonna have to make you mine all mine
You're the something special at the bottom of the glass
Especially the way you shake your...
chorus
SEE YOU IN THE TWILIGHT (A. Fellows-Mannion)
The rain is rattling on the roof
It's been coming down all day
& you're in your big blue van
Driving away
You're going back to the desert
'Cause you just can't stand the rain
& the city that used to charm you
Now drives you insane
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
I'll see you in the twilight
When the desert sky is all lavender
& the terrible heat of the day is cooling down
I'll come & visit your new town
But 'til then
It's another goodbye
& it isn't just the weather
That makes this place so cold
When I'm watching all my best friends
Pack up & go
But hey I'm glad you stayed for so long
You stuck it out as long as you could
& sometimes you've just got to go
While the going's still good
