It’s Hard To Be An Executive – (Rooster Chronicles)

He touched on the north side of the alley

He was flying extra low today

In a black BMW with vanity plates

He slept the rest of his birthday away

Sometimes it’s hard to be an executive

Them purple shades don’t fit him like they should

That whiskey was surely 90 proof

But that cocaine wasn’t any good

Sugar plum ladies and sales quotas

Took 99 percent of his attention

There used to be a good dad looking back from the mirror

Now a party boy owned that reflection

Sometimes it’s hard to be an executive

Them purple shades don’t fit him like they should

That whiskey was surely 90 proof

But that cocaine wasn’t any good

Sharon please come out and wake him gently

Tell him if he goes to treatment you might let him come back home

Sometimes it’s hard to be an executive

Them purple shades don’t fit him like they should

So Tell Me Father – (Rooster Chronicles)

I saw a bright light while sleeping

My eyes were closed tight

But we only see 5 percent

Of all available light

So tell me Father

When you see your Son

Are you sometimes amazed
At the things that he’s done?

Of course I was crying

Slight crystalline tears

We don't know where we come from

Before the traveled light years

So tell me Father

When you see your Son

Are you somehow amazed
At the things that he’s done?

Look yonder those candles

There forever burn the sky

They’re gone brothers and sisters

Of both you and I

I’ll ride forever

When my blaze is spent

I’ll gather in darkness

And retrieve where I went

So tell me Father

When you see your Son

Are you sometimes amazed
At the things that he’s done?

What I was feelin’

I’ve tried hard to explain

Something electric

Stepped inside of my brain

Let me rephrase this

I know as a father

We retrieve where we’ve went

And I'll ride forever

When my blaze is spent

So tell me Father

When you see your Son

Are you sometimes amazed
At the things that he’s done?

She’s Purple – (Rooster Chronicles)

I’m certain that she’s hurtin’

I hear what she won’t talk

I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

She envies how the yellow finches fly

She feeds them as she walks

I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

Give her a rainbow

Drive the clouds away

Give her a rainbow

I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

Heat waves rise near the water

She’s brown from the sun

I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

Give her a rainbow

Drive the clouds away

Give her a rainbow

Hell I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

Hell I’m color blind but from what I see

She’s purple

Ben Had A Bad Morning – (Rooster Chronicles)

It’s a blue sky and a blue day

Sometimes we all get swept away

He was getting ready with his bloody Stein

We all thought that he was doing fine

Ready to do his time

But Ben he had a bad morning

Ben he had a bad morning

Ben had a bad morning

So he went home

He went home

He went home

His husky had one grey eye and one that’s blue

That dog can sleep the whole day through

For a man that seems too long to rest

Some days we’re just not at our best

When we get put to the test

And Ben he had a bad morning

Ben he had a bad morning

Yes Ben had a bad morning

So he went home

He went home

He went home

Yes Ben he had a bad morning

Ben he had a bad morning

Ben had a bad morning

So he went home

Morning in a Minor Key – (Rooster Chronicles)

Diesel smoke from a backhoe

The tin sounds from a dobro

And a barking dog

Up the street

They all compete

With the south wind

This morning

This morning

In a minor key

And there’s business emails

That don’t mean much

Blame the people that have lost their human touch

And a barking dog

Down the street

They all compete

With the south wind

This morning

This morning

Is in a minor key

I’ve been distracted

By noise

In my ears

Between my ears

But this morning

I hear it clear

I hear it clear in a minor key

This morning

This morning

Is in a minor key

Joey’s Drunk But . . . – (Rooster Chronicles)

From the missions and soup kitchens

To the alleys down the street

Someone is laughing while someone is getting beat

And it don’t take much to get ‘em high anymore

There’s always someone preaching and there’s always someone bent

There’s always a single mother that’s hooking to pay the rent

And it don’t take much to get ‘em high anymore

Joey’s drunk but he thinks he sees an angel

Who am I to argue with that man?

He’s on his knees in a makeshift alley altar

He says he’s part of the good Lord’s master plan

The drunk tanks and holding cells are full beyond relief

There’s weekend johns and pedophiles and a couple of common thieves

And it don’t take much to get ‘em high anymore

There’s a God for the homeless and a God for the drunks

God for the junkies and God for the punks

And it don’t take much to get ‘em high anymore

Hey Joey’s drunk but he thinks he sees an angel

Who am I to argue with that man?

He’s on his knees in a makeshift alley altar

He says he’s part of the good Lord’s master plan

She Did Cartwheels – (Rooster Chronicles)

As a young girl she did cartwheels

Now she’s ready for high heels

But she’s worried she’ll grow too tall

She used to wonder

When she was younger

At the birds flying south in the fall

One cold winter day

She froze her fingers

Oh how that memory lingers

As a young girl she did cartwheels

Now she knows how mom feels

Cause she’s held babies close to her breast

When she was younger

She used to wonder

What good can come from algebra tests?

One cold winter day

She froze her fingers

Oh how those memories linger

As a young girl she did cartwheels

Now she’s ready for high heels

As a young girl she did cartwheels

Now she’s ready for high heels

Big Rooster – (Rooster Chronicles)

You don’t know that you’re ragged

Or know that you’re haggard ‘til it hits you

And if you slow down some reaper or a clown will get you

And the red in the sky and red in your eye means danger

Hey Tonto split and you’re running like some crazy Lone Ranger

You’ve circled a wagon and burned up all your provisions

You smoked a peace pipe and you had you some pretty good visions

Tell me big rooster why is it you’re still clucking

I think buckshot is headed your way and you should be ducking

So tell me big rooster why is it you’re still clucking

I think buckshot’s headed your way and you should be ducking

Tell me big rooster why is it you’re still clucking

I think buckshot’s headed your way and you should be ducking

New Compromise – (Rooster Chronicles)

The grey settled in on a new compromise

Took all the color from a sad girl’s eyes

A train passing by crumbled all the sound

Took all the music from the merry-go-round

Brought a new compromise

To a sad girl’s eyes

She fed a stray cat

She scratched behind his ears

Loaded up her clothes and counted out her fears

A crack of moonlight put some yellow in the grey

A small reprieve at the end of her dark day

Brought a new compromise

To a sad girl’s eyes

There’s a new compromise

In a sad girl’s eyes

Wedding By The Water – (Rooster Chronicles)

For this wedding by the water

We gathered this fine day

We come as sons and daughters

To give our love away

For this wedding by the water

We pray for lasting love

May this wedding by the water

Be blessed from above

And we’ll dance

We might even cry

We’ll call our angels down

From the sky

For this wedding by the water

We gather this fine day

We call his sons and daughters

To give our love away

For this wedding by the water

We pray for lasting love

May this wedding by the water

Be blessed from above

A Little Beer And . . . – (Rooster Chronicles)

Well I’m a self-medicated

Slightly over rated

Guitar man

And my ambition

Is to do more fishing

I’m a river man

I’m an old ballplayer

And my knees

Hell they’re shot

So I drink a little beer

And I smoke a little pot

I love family ladies

Kittens and babies

And big sunsets

And I don’t say never

I believe in forever

And few regrets

I’m grateful as hell

But I’ve earned what I got

So I drink a little beer

And I smoke a little pot

Now I’m slow go-getter

But a damn good babysitter

I don’t like liars

That’s one thing I’m not

So I drink a little beer

And I smoke a little pot

So I drink a little beer

Smoke a little pot

I learned that from Roger Miller

Rain Was Comin’ – (Rooster Chronicles)

That rain was comin’

I could almost hear it

The rain was comin’

And I needed it

The rain was comin’

To wash away regret

Rain was comin’

Let’s tie off across the river

In those great grey cottonwoods

That have been standing

Standing with their toes up in high water

That rain was comin’

The swallows took flight

Rain was comin’

Weightless clouds could no longer hold what dropped all night

Rain was comin’

I could feel it

Wash away regret

Rain was comin’

To Get Me Through – (Rooster Chronicles)

This week has been kinda long

Sitting here strummin’ on a song to get me through

Song to get me through

My toes should be in the sand

My bosslady wouldn’t understand

If I went south

If I went south

I’m just watching the sun go down

Sitting here grooving to my guitar sound

Today went by just a little too fast

So I’ll just sit and smoke a little grass

To get me through

To get me through

To get me through

To get me through

Tomorrow morning I’m gonna be all right

I’ll be up and at ‘em at first morning light

I’ll be clucking like that big rooster

Clucking like that big rooster I am

I’m just watching the sun go down

Sitting here grooving to my guitar sound

Today went by just a little too fast

So I’ll just sit and smoke a little grass

To get me through

To get me through

I said I’m just watching that old sun go down

Sitting here grooving to my guitar sound

Today went by just a little too fast

So I’ll just sit and smoke a little grass

To get me through

To get me through

What else am I gonna do

To get me through

We Can Heal Ourselves – (Rooster Chronicles)

You were there

And you were hurtin’

I was flying

But I felt so certain

That we could heal ourselves

We held hands

Faces I don’t recall

We were certain

That we could heal ourselves

I said come on in

I’ve had my sleep

In this dusty life

Where I retreat

I know that we can heal ourselves

I know I’ve learned that we can heal ourselves