Category: acoustic

She Was Gone

Posted on by Joel D Canfield
1-5-4 in D
D
one day she was crawling on the floor
A
in a pale green onesie
G D A
everything she found straight in her mouth or up her nose
G A
one day she was crawling on the floor
G A D
and the next day I looked down and she was gone

one day she was riding her tricycle
backwards around the yard
getting madder by the minute ’cause it didn’t work
one day she was riding her trike
and the next day I looked out and she was gone

one day she was painting her nails
in alternating polka dots
foreseeable fuchsia and lavender different each hand
one day she was painting her nails
and the next day I looked in and she was gone

A
every time I turn away
G
five years gone like yesterday
A
and every time I look at you
G D
my little girl’s gone and turned into someone new

D
one day she walked down the aisle
A
I wanted to cry but I managed to smile
G D A
we had a dance and some cake and champagne, all of us together
G A G A
one minute she was there and the next, I looked back…

The Way You Do

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

G tenor capo 1 play in C

C    G    F    G    • F    C    F    G
0230 0023 2333 0023   2333 0230 2333 0023

You know everything I think and everything I do
Every word I speak before it’s spoken
Back when I was small You could see it all
You could see the ways that I was broken

You can see inside me See the things I’m not
See the things I want to try to be
I don’t understand It’s beyond my reach
How it is that you can really see me
F C G F
No matter where I go Up above or down below
Even in the darkest night You’re the brightest light

All the ways you love me All the ways you care
Like trying to count the grains of sand
You know when I’m anxious When I lie awake
I feel the gentle comfort of your hand

You know I mean no harm I try to do what’s right
I slip and fall and hurt myself, and you
But I know you still see How very hard I try
In everything I think and say and do
F C G F
No matter where I go Up above or down below
Even in the darkest night You’re the brightest light

Back when I was small You could see it all
I was broken but you could see right through
You know that I’ll keep trying For as long as I may live
Someday I’ll see myself the way you do

Everything Every Day

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

capo 1 play notes F (on the E string) C (on the A string)
clouds darken the sky
then the rain falls, so that’s okay
soaks the dirt, runs off down the street
work done, the clouds drift away

switch to E chord
and then we get the sun
warm and dry and bright
even days when it’s too hot
always darken to night

A E • B7 E
everything every day comes along and it goes away
good or bad, it’s what you make it
how you think is how you take it
paint the clouds, dance in the rain
not much to lose, whole lot to gain
love it all, find a way everything every day

E A • B7 E
a million years ago when I was young
so many things I wasn’t allowed to do
these days, a million years old
I’d rather not if it’s all the same to you
chorus

it’s my nature to grumble some
even when I know I’ve got it good
but I try to recognize how good I’ve got it
be thankful for it all, like I should
chorus

What Will I Do with These Gifts?

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

notes
C sun glowing gold on the tree in the yard in the
F morning when I first wake up
the toast and the tea and the butter and jam
as I have a slice and a cup
↓ guitar starts on C
over the meadow a hawk soars and glides
the sun on his wings as he drifts
splashes of blue in among all the clouds
I watch and I ask myself what will I do with these gifts?

Birds sing the reddening sun to bed
Warbling for all that they’re worth
Then it’s grey in the morning with no hint of blue
Raindrops splatter the earth
But the storm blows away leaving the rainbow
That’s there every time that it lifts
Every color that I’ve ever seen
Within, and I ask myself what will I do with these gifts?

You’re here with me and I look in your eyes
And see them reflecting love
The sun and the storm and the colors and birds
And life are all gifts from above
The more I reflect on the things I’ve been given
The more my attitude shifts
Every day every night every moment
It’s right that I ask myself what will I do with these gifts?

Biochemystery

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

I gave up coffee and chocolate and tea
to see if it might help me get well
10 days of headaches, kitten weak
there wasn’t any difference I could tell

so I had a cup of pricey Irish tea
it tasted like cardboard in a cup
eased my way into a pot of decaf
the icepick in my head wouldn’t give up

you think it’s logical and simple
like tuning up the engine in a car
start messing with the biochemystery
it’s glad to show you just how wrong you are

the cocktail of meds I take each day
warn about mixing them with drinking
the effects, they say, might be amplified
and yes, I know exactly what you’re thinking

make your heart rejoice with half a glass of red
but what really happens isn’t much fun
without overindulgence or waiting till the morning
take my hangover to bed, ’cause I’m done

you think it’s logical and simple
like tuning up the engine in a car
start messing with the biochemystery
it’s glad to show you just how wrong you are

when I was a kid I was skinny as a stick
distance runner, and played baseball
bought my graduation suit from the children’s section
wasn’t long until I outgrew it all

half a century I’ve been trying to eat right
I don’t drink soda; rarely touch red meat
big old salad is my favorite lunch
but biochemistry has me beat

you think it’s logical and simple
like tuning up the engine in a car
start messing with the biochemystery
it’s glad to show you just how wrong you are

All These Walls

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

People spend a lot of time fussing and fuming about things they can’t change. Like I used to. This isn’t about what’s in the news, it’s about what’s in my head.

capo 3 A E G D [keyboard C G Bb F] tenor G D F C G F

C           G
  all these walls
Bb          F
  beat your head
            C
  till they fall
C           G      G
  all these walls

beat the drum
till they come
beat your head
all these walls

take your time
don’t take mine
beat the drum
all these walls

climb up high
touch the sky
till they fall
all these walls

all these walls
beat your head
till they fall
all these walls

climb up high
touch the sky
till they fall
all these walls (x3)

You Gave Me the Sun

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Intro D Dmaj7, then loop
Em G A D [Dmaj7]

Wearily climbing the hill
in the dark
in the cold
in the rain

Walking alone
empty heart
empty soul
empty life

Living alone
so many years
so much pain
so little love

Then you gave me the sun
no more dark
no more cold
no more rain

You gave me your hand
and filled my heart
and filled my soul
and filled my life

For eternity
so much love
so much love
so much love

I Didn’t Ask

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

Twenty-fifth reunion
I’d put on a little weight
She hadn’t changed in all those years
Still looked great
She caught me watching her across the room
Smiled over her glass
I wanted to dance with her right there and then
But I didn’t ask

I had a hard time back in school
Never did fit in
I didn’t know a thing about talkin’ to girls
Or know where to begin
We walked home down the same dirt road
Every day after class
I wanted to carry her books, or her
But I didn’t ask

No I didn’t ask her and now I regret it
All the time that’s passed
I would have given her the world if she’d wanted
But I didn’t ask

She married a hero
On the football team
Had two little kids and a perfect life
Least that’s how it seemed
When her world fell apart and she was on her own
Her life shattered like glass
I wanted to know if her heart had survived
But I didn’t ask

chorus

So there she was, across the room
Still givin’ me that smile
The handful of yards betweens
Felt like a mile
Well, give me a mile and I’ll take an inch
Somethin’ about my reach and my grasp
I wanted to know if she’d share my life
But I didn’t ask.

chorus, then
I would have given her the world if she’d wanted
But I didn’t ask

Into Town

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

A
Think I’ll go into town, pick up some things
Piece of screen for the bathroom window
Hook for the front door so it don’t bang
When the wind blows
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots, head into town

Guess I’ll go into town, pick up some things
Laundry soap maybe a dish pan
Extra fork for when the kids come
Do what I can
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots
Get outta this rocker, and offa this porch, head into town

Ought to go into town, pick up some things
Few pairs of socks when I got somewhere to go
Maybe a few tapes I could play
Or a tube for the radio
Set down this coffee, slip on my outside boots
Get outta this rocker, and offa this porch
Then I’ll get to the shed, and fire up the truck, head into town

Time to head into town, pick up some things

This started creeping into my head and I couldn’t slow it down.

Doesn’t Mean Lonely

Posted on by Joel D Canfield

capo 3 Am Em
crackling fire in the corner
roasted Arabica mingled with spice
room full of people but I’m all alone
was a time when I wouldn’t thing twice

but the patter of rain on the window beside me
the rustle of pages in someone’s Moliere
the smell of somebody’s raspberry creamer
the shuffle of jeans on an old leather chair

D G
alone doesn’t mean lonely (x2)

no blood on my hands as far as I know
no blood blood blood blood just like Lady Macbeth
that car was a wreck and I’m glad that it’s gone
and who needs a boss with onion-laced breath

Marvelous Toy on XM radio
the city’s a washing machine, so Jordan says
I’m stuck in the rinse as I wait for the fire
burning my ships on the shore like Cortez

chorus

another hot cup full of cow and of cane juice
the news coming off on my fingers and hands
another dead tree smearing smudges around
another dead life full of no-man’s lands

my pen can’t compete with the barb of your words
the Gordian knot in my head is undone
you broke the window and I paid the damage
when you gave your word it was some other tongue

chorus

D G
maybe it means no more thinking about you
D A D
sometimes alone means better without you