Dryland Sailor – Birdcages and Bad
Rivers
I have sailed across these plains
I have listened to the wind
The music of your voice remains
You’re in the silence of my nights
Oh soft places where I dream
This dryland, this dryland sailor only sails
For the love of his
dryland queen
If I should ever become shipwrecked among
cornfields
Where that lost row lies between
Just remember this dryland sailor only sails
For the love of his dryland queen
Just remember this dryland sailor always sails
For the love of his dryland queen
Had the whiskey sweats from the night before
I heard a train and remembered putting pennies on
a track
Make a necklace for you
just in case that you come back
Well it’s just too hot to think about you today
It’s just too hot to think about you today
We’ll it’s still too hot to think about you tonight
Still too hot to think
about you tonight
I can’t seem to cry watching too much John Wayne
Maybe I should just step in front of that train
Sweating like a grave digger been shoveling all day
You might return so I’ve
got to stay
It’s just too hot to think about you today
It’s just too hot to think about you today
Still too hot to think about you tonight
Still too hot to think
about you tonight
Shadows and dreams are the color of smoke in the
rainbow
And
a chain of failure and fear just won’t let me go
A moth on the lampshade with burned wings still
wants the light
But it’s still too hot
to think about you tonight
It’s just too hot to think about you today
Well it’s just too hot to think about you today
It’s still too hot to think about you tonight
Still too hot to think
about you tonight
Just too hot to think about you today
It’s just too hot to think about you today
And it’s still too hot
to think about you tonight
Thunder lightening and rain
Somehow I smile
Still too hot to think
about you tonight
If this is our last song every word will be true
On this cracked and weathered wood
I will let my feelings
show
These ain’t the first tears on this guitar from
Mexico
I bought it in Reynosa
From an old man on the street
He had two young
children begging at his feet
Music mixed with tears he sang sweet, sad and low
So I gave him all my
dollars for this guitar from Mexico
On this guitar from Mexico
I’m begging you please don’t go
Please don’t go
Down at the pawnshop
It ain’t worth anything
But the old man said teardrops make the angels
hear us sing
Well he must have seen my future cause he let this
old thing go
These ain’t the first
tears on this guitar from Mexico
Don’t you hear the angels telling you not to go
These ain’t the first tears on this guitar from
Mexico
No these ain’t the first tears on this guitar from Mexico
Devils Tower Waltz –
Birdcages and Bad Rivers
It’s more than a memory the old kitchen table
Where we poured out our hearts and our souls
In a face that becomes you a place you can come to
When the world is
spinning out of control
And the stories refine us the stories define us
And they teach us to let ourselves go
We can try to deny it we can say I don’t buy it
But it’s the sweetest
psychiatry I know
Those old war stories those wolf at the door
stories
You’ve got your stories to tell
And I know the heartache you can make use of
You won’t let it poison your well
But somewhere in back of the dreams you gave up on
Is the sound of a cracked old church bell
And I’ll be the singer
selling those secrets you haven’t the heart to tell
Now many’s the highway we have set off on they go
out like spokes on a wheel
Then we re-enter return to the center and all that
we know that is real
And the stories remind us the stories define us
Beneath all the weakness we can reveal
Love’s still the answer
now’s still the question your heart still yearns to reveal
Those old love stories those touched from above
stories
You’ve got your stories so well
And I know the mystery runs through your history
And echoes in the old wishing well and somewhere
in back of
The dreams you took up with is a silence of a
season in Hell
I’ll be the singer
selling those secrets you haven’t the heart to tell
A clown laughing out his fears
The bosses lock you outside their circus
Waiting for you to
disappear
They say that your tears are hideous
And your smile needs a new coat of paint
As you buy Big Macs like cotton candy
And hand them out under
the bridge like a drunken saint
The pigeons don’t fly in your presence
They seem to welcome you to their roost
They see that you’re a crying clown
Or an Indian warrior
with no modern use
Clowns paint their smiles but the color it runs in
the rain
That’s why you have those little umbrellas
And feather buckets cause it’s a game
Outside clowns melt in
the rain
You ran out of money for Big Macs
So they sent you home on a plane
Now you’re looking for a rodeo or a circus
Just trying to stay out
of the rain
Clowns paint their smile but the paint always runs
in the rain
That’s why you have those little umbrellas
And feather buckets and it’s a game
Outside clowns melt in
the rain
Clowns paint their smile but the color it runs in
the rain
That’s why you have those little umbrellas
And buckets for feathers cause it’s a game
Outside clowns melt in the rain
Stay out of the rain
I speak a language I don’t understand
I spend all my time
crossing the prairie
Abandoned places you can see the bones
Corporate farms nobody’s home that’s the way it is
now
Crossing the prairie
The white man comes and the Indians go
The tourists roll by just to see the show
There’s pretty farm girls but before they know
Just how hard that cold wind blows they marry
We all dream of crossing
the prairie
I
learned a bit it seems I can’t teach
The coyotes eat all that they can reach
They leave me hungry crossing the prairie
When the twinkle stars are my campfire
And me and the Chief can’t get no higher
You’ll see us crossing
the prairie
The white man comes and the Indians go
The tourists roll by just to see the show
There’s pretty farm girls but before they know
Just how hard that cold wind blows they marry
We all dream of crossing the prairie
We all dream of crossing the prairie
We all dream of crossing
the prairie
Knock on the back door in the morning
Any time after 7:00
Cause if you’re feeling like hell
He’ll sell you a shot of heaven
Listen for his shaking hand
As he unlocks the door
He’ll tell you strange secrets
As he runs a mop across the floor
Back door man feeds a stray dog
Last night's steak bones
And he’ll serve you a cold one
For that thirst that don’t leave you alone
Knock on the back door
Harrold are you in there?
He’ll tell you of ladies lost
And the memories they carry
But the only one that interests you
Is that one called Bloody Mary
Back door man feeds a stray dog
Last night's steak bones
He’ll serve you a cold one
For that thirst that don’t leave you alone
Knock on the back door
Knock on the back door
He ain’t pretty in the morning light
His face is cracked like worn leather
He’ll let you sleep in the corner booth
If you’ve been fightin’ off the weather
Back door man feeds a stray dog
Last night's steak bones
He’ll serve you a cold one
For that thirst that don’t leave you alone
Knock on the back door
Another Thing that Bothers Me –
Birdcages and Bad Rivers
Light will filter different; birds will find
another place to perch
But I don’t believe that stained glass will look
the same facing east
Well that’s another thing that bothers me the most
That should bother me
the least
Angels in the colored light they whisper sunshine
Cool colors of forever on the sale of time
Well I don’t believe that stained glass can really
tame the beast
Well that’s another thing that bothers me the most
That should bother me
the least
Taking stained glass windows out of an old church
Light will filter different; birds will find
another place to perch
But I don’t believe that stained glass will look
the same facing east
Well that’s another thing that bothers me the most
That should bother me the least
Well that’s another thing that bothers me the most
That should bother me
the least
Give me back my colors
I won’t draw on the walls
Disconnect the answer box
And I will take my calls
Show me something close to love
And I’ll try to believe
Give me back my colors
And I won’t have to leave
Give me back my colors
Let’s break the blue in half
I’ll try to crack the funnies
If I remember how to laugh
The clock inside my soul says
Its 5 to the end
Give me back my colors
And I’ll count you as a friend
Give me back my colors
I’ll stay inside the lines
I’ll draw cartoon characters and pretty Valentines
Show me something close to love
And I’ll try to believe
Give me back my colors
And I won’t have to leave
Give me back my colors
And I won’t have to leave
If Crazy Horse Died – Birdcages and
Bad Rivers
Wind is fanning the flames
Spirits ride in the darkness
All across these plains
Some cowboys will tell you
Of horses that nearly killed ‘em for the ride
Go ahead and ask them if
Crazy Horse died
Winds of the Missouri
The August sun was burning up the grass
And the coyotes he’s still calling
And wait for the cottontails to pass
And rattlesnake circles around you
And comes up on your back side
Don’t that cause you to
wonder if Crazy Horse died
They never had no photographs
Now we’re carving him in stone
Uncle Sam would like a piece of that
They keep chipping all alone
Now the campfires burn smokeless
Into eternity they ride
When you see that mountain
You wonder if Crazy Horse died
When you see that statue
You wonder if Crazy Horse died
When you see that mountain
When you see that mountain
Oh Crazy Horse
No Sunlight
– Birdcages and Bad Rivers
When the sheriff comes looking for me
Cry and say that I’m low down
There ain’t no sunlight
When you’re living underground
Like a horse with no stable
And a glue factory fate
I run when I’m able
Shake this hitch in my gate
I’ve been running so long
Been given the runaround
There ain’t no sunlight
When you’re living underground
I rode through youth searching for beauty
Wild cactus can’t hardly pierce my tongue
Call it misguided duty
This learning how to run
I’ve been running so long
Been given the runaround
There ain’t no sunlight
When you’re living underground
Tell the man you walk the dog of indecision
But in the end I made the choice
When I said that I was leaving
I could have sworn it was your voice
So here’s a shot of money
Don’t ask where it comes from
Well I strapped on a holster
I just need to find me a gun
I’ve been running so long
Been given the runaround
There ain’t no sunlight
When you’re living underground
There ain’t no sunlight
Throw a Lasso – Birdcages and Bad
Rivers
Slipping through his fingers on the day that he
died
And the wind masters sent the rain and on and on
it fell
‘Til it matched the tears that she cried
Then a ghost told me in a language I could understand
About things beyond our
control
Said throw a lasso from Deadwood to El Paso
Cause that’s the size of
a human soul.
We’ve seen a face in the planets and the stars
We’ve felt the heat of the pulse
I’ve seen the wisp of smoke of promised
resurrection
But it’s only flown so close
And a scarecrow explains about the garden
And why a rabbit digs a
hole
Said throw a lasso from Deadwood to El Paso
Cause that’s the size of
a human soul.
Deadwood Bill Hickock died holding aces and eights
In poker that’s a deadman’s hand
Well Eddie from El Paso fell to his death
Holding a woman’s love
he could not understand
Said throw a lasso from Deadwood to El Paso
Cause that’s the size of a human soul.
Said throw a lasso from Deadwood to El Paso
Cause that’s the size of a human soul.
Throw a lasso from
Deadwood to El Paso
I make my own choices
I answer distant voices
Keep the present with the past
I gamble on my impulse
I’ve won the right to hold you close
The only luck that I’ve made last
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Is it AM or FM
The Wizard of Oz or Auntie Em
I don’t know but I can hear it
When it’s coming through
It’s telling me to hold on to you
Well the full moon brings out lunacy
It’s done that at times to me
I’ve barked all night to hear the sound
You must have known there was a stage
And someday I would act my age
And get my feet back on the ground
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Is it AM or FM
The Wizard of Oz or Auntie Em
I don’t know but I can hear it
When it’s coming through
It’s telling me to hold on to you
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Is it AM or FM
The Wizard of Oz or Auntie Em
I don’t know but I can hear it
When it’s coming through
It’s telling me to hold on to you
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Is it divine guidance or cosmic interference
Frequent Flyer Miles
– Birdcages and Bad Rivers
That last time I saw her
She was salty as the ocean
That framed her in a blue silhouette
I should not have told him cause he’d been flying low
Searching for ways to forget
Cause when he talks about her he trembles as he smiles
He’s been picking up those frequent flyer miles
The way a swimsuit fits against a woman when she’s wet
Dances through my lonely dreams at night
And only lines of misery waltz across his forehead
As her memory came back in to sight
Cause when he talks about her he trembles as he smiles
He’s been picking up those frequent flyer miles
He’s flying at those same parties
Where she led him away
Put a rainbow in his life
Now his flying colors are mostly blues and grey
I do believe he’ll put his landing gear down
When he tires of flying so low
As he nears touch down we’ll see his true colors
And identify the guy we used to know
When he talks about her he trembles as he smiles
He’s been picking up those frequent flyer miles
He’s been picking up those frequent flyer miles
Footprints in the Snow –
Birdcages and Bad Rivers
Pulling into Sarasota barely time to unload
Well I heard him tell somebody about somebody who
really played guitar
And I hung on every word
like you do rubbing elbows with the stars
Nashville and Broadway are a long way from the
Oklahoma hills
Through the cracks in his voice I heard the ghosts
of the whiskey and the pills
Well he left those ghosts behind him whistling
down the huckleberry wind
Singing dang me all
those little green apples that’ll never taste that way again
Now you might be a player son and sometimes the
play is just for show
With a tailwind of applause and always one more
place to go
Well you may be a player son there’s one thing a
player may not know
You can dazzle all the
players and never leave no footprints in the snow
The huckleberry wind blew cold and I felt an early
winter coming on
Well an old friend stopped by and I was told old
Roger Miller’s gone
Well I sung along with all those crazy songs
Drove that stagecoach anywhere he’d go
Now the winter wind is blowing strong
I’m looking for those
footprints in the snow
Now you might be a player son and sometimes the
play is just for show
With a tailwind of applause and always one more
place to go
You may be a player son here’s one thing a player
may not know
You can dazzle all the players and never leave no
footprints in the snow
You can dazzle all the young cats never leave no
footprints in the snow
You can dazzle all the young
girls never leave no footprints in the snow
It’s gone tonight
But that don’t mean it won’t be back again
Come morning time
She had to run
But that don’t mean that you lost a friend
Just give it time
And the feeling is so relentless
And the darkness sublime
It’s gone tonight
But that don’t mean it wont be back again
She’s like a mist
She’s a vapor state
But that don’t mean that you lost a friend
Because you’re not
careless
And the feeling is so relentless
And the darkness sublime
And I don’t need her rising
Means that pink sky will
soon be day
It’s gone tonight
But that don’t mean it won’t be back again
It’s gone tonight
But that don’t mean it won’t be back again
It’s gone tonight
But that don’t mean it won’t
be back again
Another Shade of Blue –
Birdcages and Bad Rivers
Take a good look at me darling
To see if I have changed
See if I’m the man that
you once knew
I still dream about the ocean
When I don’t sleep at night
I’m looking for another shade of blue
That’s another shade of
you
Last night I saw you in white
Yesterday in my dreams
That made me head out
for a few
I still dream about the ocean
When I don’t sleep at night
I’m looking for another shade of blue
That’s another shade of blue
That’s another shade of blue
Oh baby I’m looking for you
That’s another shade of blue
Be Somebody
– Birdcages and Bad Rivers
Well I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
I’m gonna go out and try to have myself some fun
I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
Cause I’m tired of being no one
Rule number 1; if I start crying take me home
Cause this old honky-tonk don’t need another sad soul
I’ve been trying to step over the rainbow
Trying to gather myself up so I can lose control
I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
I’m gonna head out and try to have myself some fun
I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
Cause I’m tired of being no one
Rule number 2; never fall in love after midnight
Cause love and lust seems to get mixed in that late evening air
I’ve been trying to step over the rainbow
Just cause I’m crazy don’t mean I don’t care
Hey I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
I’m gonna go out and have myself a little fun
I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
Cause I’m tired of being no one
So I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
I’m gonna head right out there kick my boots off and have some fun
Well I’m gonna get drunk and be somebody
Cause I’m tired of being no one
Padre –
Birdcages and Bad Rivers
I’ve come with this message
Pounding through my brain
That you can’t decipher
And I can’t explain
Seems I wandered far from my post
Searching for remnants of my Holy Ghost
So kindly padre
Tell me through that screen
When death appears
Does it move in through the dreams
No I never sit down inside of here
But the devil he visits me I fear
Padre I can hear that ringing of the bells
I know for whom they toll
I’ve seen their blood flowing from the lamb
I hear an echo down in my soul
Left that woman way down in Mexico
Skied on out on the early Cali snow
Seen many men crying out your name
Begging for mercy all in vain
The light of night don’t hide his scars
The moon turns red the smog hides the stars
Find the right words give me some grace
But padre please don’t hide your face
Padre I can hear that ringing of the bells
I know for whom they toll
I’ve seen their blood flowing from the lamb
I hear an echo down in my soul
The sky is split I hear the ringing of the bells
I know for whom they toll
I’ve seen their blood flowing from the lamb
I hear an echo down in my soul
I Was a Scarecrow
– Birdcages and Bad Rivers
I was a scarecrow when I had no words
I made friends with the crows
A friendly scarecrow hears the song of the birds
And knows how the melody goes
It takes me to places that I only feel
Like a woman’s hair tickling my face
Now you see why I sleep on the job
And the crows fly all over this place
They go in the barn and they sleep in the hay
And they fly with that lazy old Grace
Now you see why I sleep on the job
And the crows fly all over this place
I was a scarecrow so I had no words
I made friends with the crows
I was a scarecrow so I had no words
I made friends with the crows
