For the ones holdin’ on

It’s bound to get better
for the ones holdin’ on
but I’ll never forget
all the ones dead and gone
on the road with a letter
folded up in my jeans
tellin’ me it gets better
on the roads yet to be

and it’s bound to get better
there’s a God up above
askin’ me when’s the time
I’ll start showin’ more love
on the road with a letter
tellin’ me to remember
that its bound to get better
for the ones holdin’ on

and it’s bound to get better
for the ones holdin’ on
to the folded up letters
with the words of a song
and our voices together
we can sing it forever
and it’s bound to get better
for the ones holdin’ on©

The Blue Collar Dies

34 years I’ve been walking a dream
down the roads and the highways
all the places I’ve seen
don’t prepare me for nothing
say the robots online
between me and employment
stands a sign of the times

ask me “how am I doing”
and I’ll say “doin’ fine”
without work or a home
you can see that I’m lyin’
just an American worker
trampled on by the plans
of the rich in the times
that make mice out of men

and the rich just get richer
while the blue collar dies
on the streets with a pitcher
beggin’ quarters and dimes
while the pigs have a feast
on the profits and plans
of the hopes and the dreams
of the blue collar man

and you tell me keep lookin’
without using your eyes
see the only things cookin’
more political lies
it’s control alt delete
and the babies are cryin’
with no shoes on our feet
it’s a sign of the times©

 

No eyes to the man

5

The street lights are shattered
and the lights don’t turn on
and the sun never comes
to the earth at the dawn
where the sisters and brothers
walk along hand in hand
in the dark of the shadows
and no eyes to the man

It’s a place just as empty
of the hate and the scorn
as the Kentucky coal mines
without any plans
you can sing welcome home
to every baby that’s born
with no black and no white
and no blood on their hands

And no daddies or mommies
to give what they got
and all brothers and sisters
can walk hand in hand
without all the colors
that daddy was taught
at the school in the fear
of the Panthers and the Klan

It’s a world where the brothers
help the sisters feel strong 
where the sun never comes
through the windows at dawn
where the street lights are shattered
and the eyes never see
all the kids can hold hands
as they walk down the streets ©

“He Needs Jesus bra”

By a look at his face outta place
like a windmill in a storm
frozen un turning
steering wheel took a straight
but un narrow not learning
the yearning & crying
I can see his forlorn
taste a hurt from the eyes
that’s watched babies be born

and you say” he needs Jesus”
I agree that its true
but I wont let you play yourself
he needed me and you

Does time heal our heartaches
do sutures get sewn
are deep cuts & abrasions
healed by walking alone?

Far from home he’s been crawling
right in front of your stare
do you think had you answered
he would know Jesus cared?

So you tell me don’t bother
that it’s not worth the time
if yours is so valued
mines not worth a dime

Compared to a brother
who needs me
you know?

Audience keeps the change
when his life is their show ©

This warm and pretty day

Well I’m out here
I could tell you
bout a thousand from my home
I could tell you I’ve been troubled
and I’m out here on my own
where the miles keep
the bottles empty
and the worry washed away
but the truth is
what’s the use when
I’m lookin’ out on
a pretty day

and the money
ain’t what it used to
be and many
are feelin’ down
and our dreams are
down the tubes while
there isn’t anyone around
I could tell you
bout the nights
without the lights
just lie awake
but the truth is
what’s the use when
the Lord has made us
a pretty day

I’ll pretend I’m goin’ fishin’
instead of wishin’ I was gone
and my friends you’re always welcome
to pack a bag and come along
we could talk about
the good times
set beside me
wash away
with a cold one
in the sunshine
of this warm and pretty day ©

Ode to the road

In the eyes of my mother
packed a trunk and I went
cause I heard from my dreams
there’s a road I was meant
like a song that was written
for a drifter like me
where harmonicas play
and a man can walk free

I met lovers and fighters
and people they know
talkin’ bout goin places
they weren’t supposed to go
and I asked what they meant
in the land of the free
and they told me the places
kept a secret from me

there’s a country club out there
with walls you can’t climb
and a white house with fences
they keep locked all the time
where they make all their honey
by the work of the bees
and they keep all their money
from the ones with the need

so I walked down the highway
tween night and the day
thinkin’ bout Woody Guthrie
and the songs he would play
bout a homeland with fightin’
keeping out its own blood
and the children heard cryin’
left to die in the mud

I remember big brothers
used to hold out their hand
by the fireside listenin’
to my dear uncle Sam
as he’d talk about fishin’
and he talked about times
when the same words were written
on both sides of the signs

now my big brothers watchin’
but he won’t hold my hand
and my uncle builds fences
keepin’ me from my land
and my mama she needs me
but my uncles at home
and he lives off expenses
while the poor die alone©

How does it feel?

It’s about 7:30
and the sun ain’t come down
and my clothes are too dirty
to be runnin’ around
heard a song on the radio
with all but my name
bout somebody who’s livin’
his life just the same

Now my tank is on empty
my hearts full of sin
and the rate that they pay
hardly covers my gin
askin’ question’s with answers
you can find in the eyes
of the man in my mirror
that I can’t recognize

And I’m out on my own
with no place to call mine
and directions back home
Lord I can’t seem to find
and that tune playin’ loud
cuts me down to the bone
askin’ “how does it feel
to be completely unknown?”

Cause I hear my old radio
keep playin’ that song
asking “how does it feel
to be scrapin’ along?”
On my own with no face
in this unfriendly scene
like a stone that keeps rollin’
now I know what you mean ©

 

I won’t tell you take a load off

I won’t tell you to take a load off
cause I’m afraid what’s got ya down
is the only thing you need me for
and why I’m still around
it probably ain’t the wrinkles
I doubt that its my smell
is the reason I’m in heaven
cause you’re goin’ through some hell

I ain’t never met a tear drop
runnin’ down your pretty face
that I wouldn’t try to catch before
your lips could ever taste
and I’m guilty of the pleasure
knowing many suns will set
while holding you till morning
hoping that you won’t forget

I needed you to need me
and darlin’ maybe it ain’t right
but there’s an emptiness that feeds me
keepin’ you with me tonight
like an outlaw needs his freedom
like the moth that needs the light
honey don’t ya take a load off
just cuddle up with me tonight ©

Outside the walls of Camp Lejeune

Tonight he watched her dance along
into the skies of amber June
a daddies eyes are never wrong
the strings of heart are perfect tuned
he softly whispered “don’t forget me”
the lights were on in every room
the winds were blowing through the hickory
outside the walls of camp Lejeune

a wise man knows no better wisdom
than the kind he’s never sold
sometimes the lips that used to kiss him
conceal the lies he once was told
and things go on beyond the history
that don’t get written down as soon
like the wells beneath the hickory
outside the walls of Camp Lejeune

a contribution to his country
a glass of water by his bed
the nights of love beneath old glory
six weeks of hell and war ahead
and semper fi is more than soldiers
he watched her die in that empty room
from the wells beneath the hickory
outside the walls of Camp Lejeune ©

On the corner of salvation, two blocks away from raisin’ hell

You know that I’ve looked in on you
since the day that you were born
trouble seems to be about the only name
your mama calls me every morn’
like the rose outside your window pane
she’s the peddles and I’m the thorn
every time I drive away the rain
she gives you shelter from the storm

And it ain’t easy being lonely
to know I gave you a broken home
my little angel whispers softly
praying her daddy’s not alone
in her heart there’s no relation
between the peddles and the smell
and the thorns outside salvation
two blocks away from raisin’ hell

Darlin’ love will find us a better way
I see the weather in your eyes
the storm that’s blowin’ down your fences
ain’t supposed to be what makes you cry
you can see that I’m unshaven
and where I live don’t treat me well
on the corner of salvation
two blocks away from raisin’ hell  ©