1. |
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Shuffle round
In this empty old room
Buckle down
Ignore the gloom and doom.
Not one sound
Nut the echo of my steps
Tv turned down
That's as lonely as it gets.
And the mailman's timid knock
Unwanted errand
Another threat in an envelope
Like a bomb with a stamp.
Have you got change?
Change for the Blues?
Can't wear
My smile on the outside
I swear
I still got it
But it’s mighty hard to find.
I'll tear
Anything that gets too close
It's rare
I make a move that's far too bold.
And the liquor store clerk
And her smart ass comments
Yeah, I'm drinking again today
And it's time well spent.
Have you got change
Change for the Blues?
Stop sending me your letters
No return address
And I throw ‘em in the trash
Put the garbage on top.
Don’t wanna be harassed
Wanna make it thru the day the best I can.
Walking in flip flops
In my dirty white socks.
Can’t be
Anybody but me
You and he
Drag around those upbeat personalities.
You lead
I run the other way
You feed
On the people who will brighten up your way.
And the police knock
Asking if I’m okay
I give ‘em 2 thumbs up
I pretend I’m gonna shave today.
Have you got change?
Change for the Blues?
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2. |
Corner
03:43
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Everybody lies
And everybody cries
And everybody gets high
At the corner bar.
Everybody groans
At your same old jokes
That you done told
You're no tv star.
Everybody stays
Nobody goes away
They'll all be back again today
Hanging on to half a life.
Nowhere else to go
Everybody that you know
Is sitting next to you
Hiding from the light.
You don't love
You just need.
I know you're real sad
Cause everybody's mad
At the choices that you made.
It started out so good.
But your life fell short
There were big mistakes of course
And the drinking ...
Change it if you could.
They called you a regular
But you're really just a beggar
For one free shot
Nothing funny 'bout a drunk.
Who lives to drink
And drinks to live
Too afraid to go home
Unlucky in love.
But there was that one girl
You'da handed her the whole world
Lost in a cloud
Too many years ago.
But you talk like she's still home
Sitting by the phone
Listening to the dial tone
Making sure it ain't broke.
But you never moved a muscle
You just sat there and guzzled
Down one last beer
Making love to your own bar stool.
Turns out you aren't that smart
You're terrified of a little broken heart
Oh man, she knew.
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3. |
Just A Prayer
05:06
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Everybody’s got secrets
And places they hide
Something we’re all ashamed of
When you drag around too many lies.
I had the taste in my mouth
And the smell on my hands
Afraid of tomorrow
Ignoring the past
Avoiding all of your eyes.
I'm just a prayer
I'm just a prayer
Of things unforseen
And hopes for me
And people I'll probably never be.
I fell
By my own hand
I choked
When it mattered the most
Right at the end.
I believed
I was under control
I was dragged under again recklessly
Visiting old ghosts
New days
Wasted like wine
On a drunkard who's already drunk
And knows he's got so little time.
Old ways
Threaten my change
Flying by the seat of my pants
Searching for fortune and fame.
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4. |
Hard, Hard Woman
03:48
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Got your hair pulled back
Not many women can get away with that
And still be cute
Oh, I’ve seen you in your birthday suit.
You can still turn a man’s head
Make him stutter all the words he’s said.
And mix him all up
While he’s staring at your black high heel pumps.
Most gals your age
Try to cover up the years in their face
But you let it all go
And that’s your beauty and your charm you know.
But there’s something real strict
About the way you go handling all your business.
That waves a red flag
Tells men, you’re looking for another punching bag.
You’re a hard, hard woman to love
Some might say you’re still pretty hot stuff
Hard, hard woman to love
But you’re a real hard woman to live with, rough, rough.
Hard woman to love
Take it from me cause honey I been there
Hard, hard woman to love
To say you’re a sweetheart just wouldn’t be fair.
I did my time
Running errands, red roses and bottles of fancy French wine
And I was your lover
And a fixit man and mediocre plumber.
And then came the sex
On the nights when you turned down the bed.
And the real work began
Oh, baby, how many men d’ya think I am?
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5. |
Too Much Blood
04:25
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And when I heard the news
I run right after you
She lay in the ground
No head there to be found
A lifeless corpse there laid
2 bodies in one grave
A mother and her child
Dumped on the mountainside.
The sheriff turned beat red
At such a senseless death
Too much blood this crime
Oh, she was still alive.
When they sawed her neck
And took away her head
Oh where, oh where it went
Is anybody’s guess.
In those woods
Where she was slain
No face and no name
On the grave
A cross of sticks
A gruesome deed
That they had did
(They traced her shoes,
all right
And put a name
to the face
Of Pearl Bryan.)
A Hoosier girl in love
Quite lovely just too young
For a man of means
Who took up doctoring.
She told him of her plight
He left that town that night
She followed bag in hand
She found out where he ran.
She pleaded time and time
Marry me or kill this child
That you placed in my womb
Last night in my bedroom.
I will not go back home
I’ll not be left alone
To raise this child real poor
Or be branded a temptress whore.
And in the face of justice
He found an accomplice.
To cut the child from her
But that’s not what occurred.
They mixed the drug with wine
She passed out in no time.
The doctor’s shaky hands
Such incompetence.
The cocaine numbed her up
But it was just too much.
But she was still alive
Heading for the state line.
They had her baggage there
A little clothing wear
They watched the miles roll by
Got off, at the Kentucky line.
They dragged her to the end
Death, sometimes, does pretend
They thought that she had died
Or maybe they just lied.
Now why they had a saw
I do not know at all.
The cut was swift and clean
They promptly left, that bloody scene.
They stopped in town for beer
Gave the barkeep there
A bag to hold for them
Till they come back again.
Before the sun come up
That bag was soaked in blood
One man, death for hire
Burned her head, in a furnace fire.
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6. |
Thin White Line
06:09
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7. |
Triumph
04:11
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Tell her you love her
The minute she wakes
Give her a moment
Out of your day
Don't act too old
Don't wander too far
You know you still love her
Deep down in your heart.
She's still the same girl
You fell in love with
She's still got it
Just older a bit.
She's still got a presence
That stays in the room
She's still got the air
That fills your balloon.
Oh there’s sex
And there’s magic
And passion and lust
There’s things that you do
In the back and the front
There’s science
And romance
Real life and stuff
Let me remind you
Your love is a triumph.
She handles a job
At the supermart
She puts on her makeup
Driving her car.
She smiles all day long
And still has one left
Sometimes you don't see it
Passed out on the bed.
Her perfume is fruity
With just the right scent
Sometimes her breath
Smells like chocolate nougats.
And sometimes her hair
Has wiffs of the ocean
You’re under her spell
This ain’t no love potion.
Oh there’s mystery
And magic
And passion and lust
There’s things that you do
In the back and the front
There’s chemistry
And soul mates
Real life and fluff
Let me remind you
Your love is a triumph.
You fell for her
Quite naturally
The first time you saw her
So lovely
Dark glowing eyes
So confident
You’re so damn lucky
She stayed in your bed.
You both had your moments
Of wicked silence
You had your disputes
That made you see red.
Above it all
There’s now family and blood
How could you doubt
That love would triumph.
It’s good versus bad
And evil don’t win
Well, maybe at first
But not in the end.
For dark becomes light
Mistakes’ll be made right
People will know
You’re both one of a kind.
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8. |
Build Me A Woman
04:31
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Build me a woman
Make her six feet tall
Build me a woman
Like a new Barbie doll.
Take all the parts
Off the supermodel shelf
And make me something
I ain’t never felt.
Build me a woman
That’s in my dreams
Make me a lady
Likes a little dirty deed.
Build me a woman
With a real big hug
Make me a woman
That fits me like a glove.
God gave Adam
What he need
He cooked him up
A little bit of Eve.
Flesh from the dust
For making
Making sweet love.
Build me a woman
Likes to kiss and kiss
Make me a woman
Who never quits.
Build me a woman
Long and lean
Build me a girl
Like Angelina Jolie.
Build me a woman
With a nice back door
Make me a woman
Who likes it on the floor.
Build me a woman
Who moans in my ear
Build me a woman
Want her right now, here.
Build me a woman
Who likes to drive
Make me a woman
Who likes to get high
Build me a woman
That knows how to park
Make me a woman
Like a lemon sweet tart.
So I don’t miss one spot
When I kiss all her parts
From head to toe
To the tip of her arm
She’ll know she’s been loved
Good and hard
Lord, build me a woman
Just don’t make her too dark.
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9. |
Silhouette
03:39
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Part real, part dream
He scuffed both his knees
So out of touch
Can’t bring himself to say
Enough is enough.
Another soul lost in the crowd
He don't know how
Friends could turn their backs
Where are they all now?
He feels the shame and blame
The mark of Cain
Why are you mad?
Why are you downcast?
If evil’s at your door
You must master that
You’re a little bit crazy right now
But you’re not insane.
Living in dirt
Silhouetted by a church
He's a chalk line on red brick
With bloody lip.
Curled up in a snarl
Makes a decent person sick
How could he let himself fall
So fast so quick.
Staring at his shoes
Wondering how to fix them holes
Thinking ‘bout how he got so beat.
Hearing voices in his head
He can't get his pills
He's a damaged mess, a fleshy heap
Wondering what he’s gonna eat.
Mumbling to the skies
No one listens, they walk by
They all assume he wants to get high.
So helpless and alone
At the end of his rope
He's done the best he knows
He loves his Goodwill coat.
Unforgiven and forgotten
He crawls inside the church
To find a rare moment's peace.
He's angry at his God
He starts to scream and cry and hurt inside
Then he's politely asked to leave.
What comes from your lips
Or the things you did
And the schemes that you plotted in the dark.
Won’t matter that much
When you discover the sun
That you hid so deep in your heart.
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10. |
What It Was, Was
04:59
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Forgive and forget
Don't remember what it was
But I know that you still do
You keep it to yourself
That's the wisdom of your love.
The rhythm of our hearts
How it quickens my blood
The only thing that matters
Is you're still here
When it's all been said and done.
But this life come at me fast
All this wear and tear and mud
My excuses never last
What it was, was
The rhythm of our love.
I thought the music was enough
And my hands on this guitar
Would keep me occupied
A strange choice to hide
In this spotlight in the dark.
And those words you never heard
Echo through these lonely crowds
They understand what I mean
When I said you had to leave
You had to put me down.
But this life come at me fast
All this wear and tear and mud
My excuses never last
What it was, was
The rhythm of our love.
It aint' no big secret
That I’ve loved a time or 2
Second hand from what I’d heard
From around that dismal town
So did you.
We found our second bests
They were easy to control
But our love is mad and deep
When I lay me down to sleep
Its really you I want to hold.
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11. |
Without Strings
04:59
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They called her dirty angel
Little rough round the edge
Maybe too much makeup
And diamonds that she dangled
From a chain on her chest
Little silver cross crucifix
That she kissed when she got real stressed
It all seemed to make sense then.
But she knew she was different
And she knew she couldn’t win
When she’d open up her mouth
Try to make a point about why she did
All the weird things
Crisp white shirt and catholic plaid
Was she gonna be good today?
Or did she wanna be real bad ?
And she looked for love
Wherever she could find it
Sharing a sweet hash pipe
With lovers and liars.
She gave away all her soft toys
Which made them happy, bad boys
And she finally felt wanted
But there’s a price to hold onto those small joys.
I saw her on the corner there all used up
Holding nickels in a Starbucks grande cup
And her lip was all swollen
And her eyes, she was floating
On an illegal substance
And she needed a bump
She couldn’t hear or didn’t want to
Passerby’s who called her cunt.
Her sin had taken her farther
Than she’d ever wanted to go
And it kept her there
A lot longer than she wanted to stay.
And when ya reach that high
Everything you need has a price
Nothing comes free
Every breathing day is a luxury.
I kissed the dirty angel
For old times’ sake
She knew my hands
Recognized my face.
But she closed her eyes
Whispering something ‘bout “I don’t need
This to be happening right now
So why not turn around and just leave?”
But her mother and me
Used to make up one family
In a house torn down
In a home that was real loud.
I didn’t promise her a childhood past
I didn’t give her any dreams that would last
I couldn’t tempt her with adolescent things
Didn’t promise her anything but me.
Once again
But without strings
Wherever that leads
What love brings (means)
Without strings.
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12. |
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She had a man with a quick back hand
She felt the sting of his high school ring
Don't know what made him so mad
Pat her on the shoulder, say that man's real bad.
Sporting Ray Bans praying in the church
Asking Jesus why her big love hurt
She run away to the New York state
But he drug her back home like a Negro slave.
Call a cop
Why you waiting on love?
Better not
While you’re waiting on the love.
Maybe he'll stop
Maybe he won't
You're still just a dreaming and you think
About the next best thing.
She loved a high school kid, rough boy
Sneaking outta class, firing up a couple joints.
They had to hide, she was only junior high
Said she's all growed up and she loved the older guys.
Laying on his arm, she tasted that Boone's Farm
Made her feel love in the back of his truck.
He felt her up and she handled his junk
But all the girls did while he finished his business.
She was just a little princess, the apple of his eye
He didn't want her dating any punk ass guys.
You come straight home, don't be hanging round school
You're in my house now and you live by my rules
She lay in bed and razored her flesh
Feeling like a prisoner when she did what her daddy said.
Mom was blind and called her a liar
No big surprise when old daddy caught fire.
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13. |
A Little Something Left
06:49
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You might not deserve
Everything that falls in your lap
And you might want
To do the things that you think you can't.
You’ve got to reach down
Deeper than you've ever known
Find exactly what you need
So you don't feel so alone.
Because fame is a mask
It’s you in black and white
But you got a lot of color
When the gloves come off at night.
And you're punching big holes
Big notes big words
Pointing people toward the signs.
Don't give up now, boy
You've waited for this moment all your life.
You still got a little something left
In you yet.
If you haven’t got your hands
On the things you desire
Then you’re reaching in the wrong places
Those things lack the fire
That you need right now
To put you heads and shoulders above the rest
Cause you’re more than average
Kid, you ain’t even second best.
You forgot why you started
How you found this guitar
How it made you feel
It became your own 2 arms.
And if you think success
Is part of this mysterious process
Then you haven’t learned the first rule
You do this because you have to.
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14. |
My Imaginary Heart
03:22
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Sunshine
And all I feel is rain
Black clouds
Feeling normal again
All the smiles
Coming today
Just fall right in
A secret dark place.
Messy bed
And it stays that way
No company
To judge the disarray
Laundry day
But I Google instead
Cause I need the recipe
For skillet corn bread.
Lovers in the park
And I blow my horn
Naked as the day
That I was born
And the coffee shop is crowded
No single seats left
I'd prefer not to be
Part of a threesome.
What's happened?
What's the matter with my heart?
What's the matter with my heart?
What's taken it apart?
That complex body part
Gorgeous work of art
My Imaginary Heart.
Single and alone
Stuck in this middle age
Married for awhile
Oh, it must've been a phase.
Loved a few ladies
That I wined and dined
They wouldn't make one good one
If they were combined.
Oh, I know I sound harsh
And I might be jaded
But the lovers I've known
Have long since faded.
And the trouble is me
Does this make sense
At the high school age
All the girls were experiments.
But women have needs
Now they're all growed up
And they place a high price
On security, not love.
I don't want a friendship
With benefits
And I do admit now
That I ain’t so perfect.
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15. |
Lonesome and Midnight
04:20
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I felt a rain come down on my poor soul
It was sun shiny outside
Black days have come, darkened my door
I can't wait till falling twilight.
I'm filled with mean, mixed sadness and blue
Got a cruel kind of spirit inside
I sit on this cold log, stare holes in the distance
Knowing you're no longer mine.
At the strike of 12, I unleash my hate
Misery and woe i can't hide
I sit and I drink and I curse my fate
Lonesome and Midnight.
Heart broke, piss poor, a sound with no name
Night whistles scream out from a train
The words from your mouth, a little too late
Letters I found by mistake.
I wished you'd shown me half of that love
The tenderness you wrote with your pen
To someone you loved with that beautiful body
Over and over again.
These chains of self pity, I scream and bemoan
I took steps to keep you in line
As scarce as ant's teeth, or fish with 2 feet
Your love was the hardest to find.
I will deny this, but I pledge my revenge
Retribution for wrongs that you done
It's neither a bullet, a pistol or gun
It's this tree where my lasso is hung.
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16. |
Better Writers
04:48
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I can ignore your dirty looks
Your nose in those mystery books
Renting DVD’s
Lost in a haze.
Your sense of contempt
At my obvious neglect
When you say those things
I act unphased.
Movies aren’t life
It has better writers
You kiss and make up
Forgive and stop fighting.
But this ain't no Hollywood
This is jeans and tee shirts
Those sounds from your mouth
Words hurt.
I'd take a busted arm
To save a broken heart
I'd move right out
So I wouldn't have to hear your mouth.
I'm die-hard romantic
Oh I wish we'd work it out
But it's way past fixing
You can have half your house.
You could smack me in the eye
I could easily make you cry
I don't know when it happened
But I lost her.
I saw “Fatal Attraction”
And our sequel is much worse
But this acting around here
Is worth 2 Oscars.
Movies aren’t life
It has better writers
You kiss and make up
Forgive and stop fighting.
But this ain't no Hollywood
This is jeans and tee shirts
Those sounds from your mouth
Words hurt.
I’d take a busted arm
To save a broken heart
I'd move right out
So I wouldn't have to hear your mouth.
I'm die-hard romantic
Oh I wish we'd work it out
But it's way past fixing
You can have half of your house.
Movies aren’t life
It has better writers
You kiss and make up
Forgive and stop fighting.
But this ain't no Hollywood
This is jeans and tee shirts
Those sounds from your mouth
Words hurt.
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Rand Reynolds Nashville, Tennessee
Rand Reynolds writes authentic Hillbilly Noir, a new music genre he created in 2005 to describe his haunting Edgar Allen Poe- like lyrics accompanied by a stark, rustic Martin guitar sound. The songs reek of the human abyss, danger and disappointment because, in Reynolds' Noir world, hope and desperation go hand in hand -- for his dreams of easy deliverance are empty, two sided and vague. ... more
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