Made us late for a drive to Tucson because this came to me all at once. I was going to write a song on the 2 1/2 hour drive. Ha. Now I’ll write another one on the drive.
Lyrics
I’m tired, but I don’t want to sleep
One more thing I need to do
Almost done
It’s something for someone
Only take a minute or two
I’m tired but I don’t think I can sleep
Rather play with my friends than shut my eyes
It’s just a song
It won’t take long
We’ll sing a while and then say our goodbyes
I’m so tired, might be time to go
There’s one more thing I have to say
I look at you
You’re tired too
So I love you, now I’ll be on my way
At last night’s living room concert I gave everyone slips of paper and had them contribute song ideas: people, places, things, moods. The suggestions were
pensive
dark ages
Costa Rica
Aunt Jemima
old motorcycles
siblings
a cowboy who doesn’t like horses or cows
It pretty much wrote itself. I performed it 15 minutes after I pulled the ideas from the hat.
Lyrics
what do you do when you’re in the wrong place
in the wrong place in the wrong time?
thinking like that can ruin your breakfast
looking for reason and rhyme
roping and riding and drivin’ ’em in
is driving me out of my mind
so I’m moving on
next week I’ll be gone
the week after that I’ll fine
my sister just doesn’t get it
she doesn’t have to, she knows I’m okay
her Harley will get me to LAX
I’m flying south today
chorus
I’m off on a plane to the tropics
heading south as fast as I can
get away from those horses and smelly old cows
in Costa Rica I could work on my tan
chorus
no more bacon and eggs in the morning
Aunt Jemima’s got nothing on me
that medieval torture of saddle tramp days
is washing away in the sea
(Copying some FAWM songs here so I have them all in one place.)
Guess you’ve been gone
Long enough
Cause I’m alright
Only two times that miss you
One’s day, the other’s night
Sunshine reminds me of your hair
In the dark, I almost think you’re there
Think it’s time I sat down and had me
A good old manly cry
Fixed you breakfast
Just this morning
Like I used to do
Perfect bacon and fried potatoes
Scrambled eggs for two
I must have left it there half the day
Then I got mad and threw it all away
Think it’s time I sat down and had me
A good old manly cry
Think it’s time I sat down and told myself
You’re really gone
Think it’s time I sat down and realized
That from now on
Won’t be cooking for two
But I’ll be wondering
What do I do?
Think it’s time I sat down and had me
A good old manly cry
Took a sick day Last week
The boss wondered what was wrong
Whatever it was I mumbled sounded like something
From a whiny country song
I spent
The whole day
Looking out the window at the dust the settled as you drove away
Think it’s time I sat down and had me
A good old manly cry
Think it’s time I sat down and told myself
You’re really gone
Think it’s time I sat down and realized
That from now on
Won’t be cooking for two
But I’ll be wondering
What do I do?
Think it’s time I sat down and had me
A good old manly cry
Guess you’ve been gone
Long enough
Cause I’m alright
young folks seem to have a mind
to fall in love and find the kind
of love that young folks think is heaven sent
but after they’re no longer blind
they wake up to a frame of mind
wondering where on earth their heaven went
he looks at her and wonders if maybe this thing is busted
she looks at him and wonders if he couldn’t be adjusted
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
we’ve seen it one too many times
in cowboy songs and poet’s rhymes
how men and women don’t see things the same
he suspects she’s keeping score
and she suspects he’s keeping more
in the locker room than he’s bringing to the game
she calls it encouragement for him to do his best
he calls it something else and wishes she’d give it a rest
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
the moral of the story is
(you knew there’d be one; always is)
young love isn’t always on its toes
she thinks he’ll change; he hopes she don’t
she always does; you know he won’t
and how they’re gonna make it, heaven knows
a boy and girl in love will surely do all that they can
but it seems to work out better with a woman and a man
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
I thought we had a good thing going
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Better leave well enough alone
Why don’t you leave well enough alone?
I suggest you just leave well enough alone
performance notes
tenor guitar
capo 2
play in G
prechorus goes to A
not Am
I’d been noodling on my tenor guitar a month ago, and woke up last night realizing that this was a banjo song. Expanded and extended and made good use of the pouring rain on the lake to add color.
A friend offered to learn this if I’d provide the notes. This is what I’ve got. I don’t really do music notation.
cdc gag de
cdc gag de
g d
g d
g d d d e d c a g
cdc gag de
cdc gag de
g d
g d
g d d d e d c a c
c a
a c d e d c a g
g a c d c a c d
g a c d c a c c
Only piece of bad advice my father ever gave me was that I couldn’t make a living playing with computers. “They call it work for a reason,” he said.
I find it interesting that the world is slowly realizing that you can do something you love and still pay the bills.
he took a job at the mill and worked all his life
because he had to take care of his kids and his wife
he never told ’em about the dreams he didn’t pursue
put in fifty years in a place that he hated
he never complained of the time that he’d waited
to finish the things that he’d always wanted to do
he took a factory job and worked all his days
it pays the bills all right but at night he prays
for a better life for the son who doesn’t fit in
he wanted to travel and see the whole world
but he stays at the job for his boy and his girl
and a wife who just wishes that he knew how to begin
some folks will never care what you do
but then it’s not their job to believe in you
you’ve got to do what you do
for the joy of getting it done
they say the tall poppy gets cut down to size
you’ll never get far believing those lies
it takes a tall poppy
to show the short poppies the sun
“we worked all our lives, and you’ll do the same
they call it work for a reason, it isn’t a game”
that’s what his father said the day his grandfather died
but he couldn’t fit into the box that they’d made
he wanted more than they’d earned for the dues that they’d paid
and he just couldn’t imagine a life where he never tried
some folks will never like what you do
but then it’s not their job to believe in you
you’ve got to do what you do
for the joy of getting it done
they say the tall poppy gets cut down to size
I lived my whole life believing those lies
it takes a tall poppy
to show the short poppies the sun
