Lyrics

On and On

Forty miles, or more to go
Caught a rainstorm coming down slow
Miss you now, more than ever
Come back Babe and I will deliver
Hope and Trust, Here me now
Forged with Honesty and Love somehow
It's an endless plain, a winding river
A Dogwood fire and an Aspen winter

These days go on and on
Shimmering like the dew at dawn
Worn a groove in the road to town
And I'll be working till the sun goes down

Twenty miles, to the show
Lock the doors on the El Dorado
Miss you now, more than ever
I'll come back Babe and I will deliver
A strong mind, a will to survive
A dedication to the preservation of pride
Build a monument, sew a brand new flag
Fix my rations in an old kit bag

Journey Man

Journey man, stashed inside the barn
A full speed alarm in a dead heat race
Keep the pace, don't try to save face
Make a special place in the rafters of the barn
Your remarks, you only caught a glimpse
Lovely girls and pimps, and a hellfire preacher
You're quite the reacher, behind the bleachers
In your dreams sir, you're walking on the moon

By the way I found it today
Locked away on an overnight stay
Giving up on a one way track
Silent attack as a matter of fact
Couldn't be no it couldn't be
Couldn't be no it couldn't be me

I must admit, It really struck a nerve
You through us all a curve, caught by surprise
Those evil eyes, compartmentalized
The truth or lies and what's hidden under water
Journeyman, You are before your time
Down at the five and dime you gotta know when to hold ‘em
Know when to fold ‘em, split hairs and roll ‘em
You're the bold one, with vision in the way

In 1948, A mud splattered rattle trap
Woke you up at last and gave us quite a scare
You head down the stairs, bypass the glares
You're in the airs of a wicked revolution
Mold and musk, folded pages
Faded ages and trouble in July
You dream to fly, a clear blue sky
You're the wise guy who's never satisfied

Pieces

Pieces, you may never know how far
How far you've changed the world
For things still left to come
And things still left undone
While the folks down at the mill
Talk about you on the Hill
And they must've been so amused
Putting on their walking shoes
Taking punches as they fly
While the people just drive on by by by….

And here we are, Like a setting sun
Fade away, when the day is done
And here we are, Like a blown fuse
Burning out, and born to lose
Take it away, Take it away

Pieces, Left here from our lives
Wrapped inside, inside, inside
A bag inside a bag
A box inside a box
Time to think outside the box
Before everything is lost
Put up another home
while some are left alone, alone, alone…

Pieces, how could you come so far
so far across the world
to burn inside our homes
to fill up on our own
with the flick of a switch
to run off in a ditch
and wash away to sea
I guess we'll all just wait and see, and see and see… 

Meteor

Rolling back
Rolling back in the season of your youth
And you never felt so good before
Laying back
in an old saloon on a bleached road near the truth
And it never looked so full and pure
And I Never saw your heart Meteor, Meteor

Lessons learned
lessons learned on the dark side of the road
And I suppose it's touch and go
An easy climb
An easy climb is all you got to show
You crossed that bridge so long ago
And I Never saw your heart Meteor, Meteor

Beartown Blues

I got a four leaf clover and a rattlesnake charm
40 acres and I sold the farm
I was looking for a way, A way that I couldn't lose
With a shotgun wedding and a burned out fuse
And I loaded up the truck and hit the Beartown Blues

He fixed your car in the dead of the night
Got you back to treating you alright
The dim lights, the lonely shade
Kept you up all night on a payday
But you don't mind paying your dues
Heading up the country with the beartown blues

Well you're miles away from where your're from
A sharp shooter and a son of a gun
Your looking fancy, You got your perm
Drinking tequila all except for the worm
Well you don't mind paying your dues
Heading up the country with the Beartown blues

I got my back against the woods, my head in the city
Stepping back in to the old nitty gritty
I was looking for a way, a way that I couldn't lose
I was mixing up the medicine and missing the cues
So I loaded up the truck and hit the beartown blues

Century

A Century and a little bit more
A gold hammer and hardware store
How could we ask for much more
Than a Century and a little bit more

Born in the summer of 1903
Ten miles from Charles City
Took a train to the great North West
Looking for work as father knows best

Settled down in The Dalles, Oregon
Could see Mount Adams clear up in Washington
That was from the front porch, and out the back
Mound Hood stood with its proud white cap

1906 was the big Earthquake
600 miles and they could still feel it shake
Back to South Dakota on the River James
They waited all day for the Circus Trains to go by

My Grandpa was a traveling man
Saw his first airplane in 1910
They spent all summer in a covered wagon
When one horse died they took the train again

Ezra Meeker, Clyde Beatty and President Taft
Visions of a childhood that were made to last
Started on a shoestring and a worn one at that
Fascinations by the railroad track.

The Gambling Life

Well my fondest memories were playing marbles, jacks and dice
While the other kids played whiffle ball and flying home made kites
We soon started trading cards and betting on the games
We'd make wagers in the lunch room and we'd all put in the same
Well things kept progressing until we started holding fights
We'd pick a place and set a time and we'd duke it out that night
I was just a scrawny kid and couldn't fight a lick
But I knew about percentages and I knew a couple tricks
I became a small time bookie by the time I was thirteen
I'd collect all the money and distribute equally
All but a little bit for me

Well the gambling life ain't easy but it's the only one I know
I've maxed my credit cards and I've bummed a little dough
I've had trouble down in Charlestown and worse in Pimlico.
Well Nine to five don't suit me like the aces in a row.

You see college came easy, I picked up a free ride
I was gifted crunching numbers and betting on the side
Well even on my honey moon my little bride complained
About my reckless way of life and how a man could change
Darling oh Darling why don't you try it out
I'll lend you ten dollars to see what it's about
That night in Miccosukee down in the everglades
Popped that money in a slot machine and won it back in spades
We took that hundred dollars, bought us dinner by the bay
She never had a scornful word about statistics since that day
And now I'm on my way.

The next few years I'd hold a job as a broker selling stocks
I'd earn an honest living but now and then I'd lose a lot
I'd put them in the high risk and I lost that job in May
I decide to get back in the game with a baby on the way
I kept my same routine, while she didn't have a clue
I'd hit the track and gambling shacks for a poker game or two
I'd take my business trips to Las Vegas and A.C.
I even had a few accounts opened over seas.
It worked out pretty good for about ten years I'd say
But I bet it all and watched it fall and then I walked away
But until my dying day.

Mono

Mono you never told me
Mono you would not dare
Mono is not like stereo
Mono is all I know

Your eyes are like the willows
Hanging low down over me
If I could Change directions
Sycamore would be more likely

But now you've taken my senses
Cut by one hundred eighty degrees
My eyes see two dimensions
All I taste are these bitter leaves

Spellbound and swept away by a smile
Corroded but only just for a while
Broke down and the parts are out of style
Missed the bus that would take you the extra mile

Dumb down and treated like a clown
Perception is only where you want to be found
Might as well be stranded under ground
Lost for words I will not hold you down

Give me your wisdom and your sentimentality
Find the key to open up reality
Might as well keep an open mentality
Lost for words I hope you find your Galilee

Echoes of a Lifetime

Justice came like a railroad train
Loaded down and it looked the same
Every morning at half passed four
Like a wounded veteran from a foreign war
It was half past four, like I said before
He grabbed the gun, headed for the door

Martha and Clyde they were running late
Got loaded down in Cashtown and they took the bait
Worn out and weary, strung out from the road
This story took place nearly 50 years ago
It was a rainy night, on the Lincoln Highway
They killed a man, lying down on the scenic byway

Jerry Johnson walked a crooked line
Bearded grey and wanted more in life
He couldn't have it so he gave his away
Lost in love and his heart decayed
He had a plan, wait until the fog came rolling in
Lay face down, wearing black upon the pavement

Clyde jumped out and looked all around
Thought he felt something and saw Jerry on the ground
Martha went crazy, popping pills and dumping weed
Said “lets get moving babe before the cops come by and see”
Johnson was breathing, but he wouldn't be for long
Pushed him to the shoulder, hoping no one would come along.

News hit the papers it was the following day
A trooper saw blood and decided to investigate
Found poor Johnson only half alive
He cried “please mister, please, please just let me die”
He died in his arms, right beside Martha's stash
They got it all wrong, Said that Johnson was know for selling hash.

Rumors and Speculations walk a crooked line
When one mans burden echoes down a lifetime
I've been warned and I've been told, your word ain't worth a dime
When one mans burden echoes down a lifetime

Over the years Martha went insane
Paranoia in her soul she had Clyde there to blame
They never said a word and the case was closed
Johnson was a loner and no one was opposed
Still every morning at the moment it went down
He would awake to that same old pounding sound

Justice came like a railroad train
Loaded down and it looked the same
Every morning at half passed four
Like a wounded veteran from a foreign war
It was half past four, like I said before
He grabbed the gun, headed for the door

Cold Hardwood Floor

I'm afraid to walk these country roads
Living life like a caged animal
Before you left I was awake and amazed
Now I'm living here in my darkest days

Alone
Alone ain't cutting it no more
And this freedom rings
But I don't hear you sing
And you're gone
And this old cold hardwood floor
Is groaning again like you were here before

Half my life I spent working for your old man
Cutting wood and moving it around this God forsaken land
Took five long years to wake up from a self inflicted state
And all the while sitting on the fence hoping you'd appreciate

Stand in the Current

Show me your light babe
Show me your light
Shine through the depths of the sea
Stand in the current babe
Stand in the current
Locked in electricity

And I'd like to be your bandit babe
And I'd like to be your child
Don't want to be on a hilltop smiling
Reflecting or waving goodbye
Reflecting or waving goodbye

Show me a river babe
Show me a river
Show me a river of love
Stand in the current babe
Stand in the current
Baptized and rising above

Live for today babe
Live for today
Live for eternity
Stand in the Current babe
Stand in the Current
Wake up today and be free

The next one down

All that remains are the chains
And a burning electric wire
Chasing paper down a one-way street

All of our days and our ways
Only make us slow and tired
Catching rides to town on falling leaves

All that you see and believe
Balanced by needs and desire
Cleansed by sundown circling seven seas

I'm okay here waiting
Lights are only fading
No one here's debating
Over the next one down

All that you make and you take
Captured in a silver fire
Caught by shadows cast upon the streets

All of the towns that surround
The nucleus of this empire
Choke back, cut down, repeating history

See That my Children Have a Home

(based on See That My Grave Is Kept Clean
by Blind Lemon Jefferson)

One kind favor I ask of you
One kind favor I ask of you
There's one kind favor I ask of you
Won't you see that my children have a Home?

Well I'm old enough for letting go
Well I'm old enough for letting go
Well I'm old enough for letting go
When the river of life cease to flow

My mind is going my hands are cold
My mind is going my hands are cold
When my mind is gone and my blood runs cold
It's long what the good book, bible told.

There's one low light that's on that road
There's one low light on that road
Honey one low light on down that road
I'm going where the western winds don't blow

Well I feel like I'm headed home
Well I feel like I'm headed home
Lord I feel like I'm headed home
And I long for the day to be reborn

Have you ever heard a freight train moan?
Have you ever heard a freight train moan?
Have you ever heard a freight train moan?
So far I can't tell which way it's going

Oh hand my keys to my first one
Oh hand my keys to my first one
Won't you hand my keys to my eldest son?
And show him the house were I was born

all songs and lyrics written by Jon Ingels and composed by Big Whiskey with the exception of "Have a Home" which is based on the original (public domain). Big Whiskey 2009