Lost At Seaflower Cove

Oh the dirty wordless fingers come again
Where the mermaid singers
Oh when I need them
Oh how I need them

Pretty words doled up on silver platters
Chanting sea shanties the words that matter
Oh how they shatter me

Tattooed sailor man pull that net from the sea
Is there something good inside there for me
Something for me
No more rusty strings not these deadened things

Bedroom Eyes

Been traveling all too long this bear-cat trail
But the love in me's grown stronger than this steel rail
That I ride back to your bedroom eyes

Been gone so long baby I wrote you this love song
My heart the engineer now she's running strong
Taking me back to your bedroom eyes

Bedroom eyes, bedroom eyes
Brighter than this starlit summer sky

My cheek against this blackened boxcar dear
It's dirty and it's cold but the coast is clear
I'm coming home back to your bedroom eyes

Bedroom eyes, bedroom eyes
Brighter than this starlit summer sky

The Ballad Of John Vogelin

I survived the desperate toll dark depression takes
I may not break even but babe I'll never break
Golden coins and smiles no they cannot tip my scales
Cuz this land, this love will never be for sale

Brass hats and soldier boys whiskey on your breath
Drop your holy missiles you can take my body dead
Send me all your lightning storms your thunderheads and hail
Cuz this land, this love will never be for sale

(Yodeling)

Wild eyes they watch on me through the velvet night
Fire on the mountain you can burn me where I lie
Even though I'm dead now as an old and rusty nail
This land, this love will never be for sale

Song My Friends Taught Me

Struggling like a fly against the glass
It's not clear why I can't blast
Straight through

Behind all the brightest smiles
Twist the tortured, tortured souls who
I'll never, never know
Who I'll try and try to know

You show me smoke and mirror eyes
And behind a shining lamp hides
A shining lamp hides

Cannon Fodder

I will not have a child, I will be wild
And not produce meat for your slaughter
No more cannon fodder

Company whip cracks at the break of dawn
Back break work the whole day long
They're coming for my daughter
Innocent cannon fodder

Every war is brutal, stupid, expensive and mean
If you take her, you also take me
Hiding by the water
Innocent cannon fodder

Tiger Tattoos

I see you there, your purple hair
And the rosy cheeks that I adore
Tiger tattoos, my how they suit you
I hope you'll let me see a little more

Will you come down, down to the river
And take a swim, a swim with me
Will you come down, down and deliver
And let me wash those earthly burdens free

Sweet baby blues and steel-toed black shoes
The breeze is blowing through the door
The time has come, let's have some real fun
I hope you'll let me see a little more

Will you come down, down to the river
And take a swim, a swim with me
Will you come down, down and deliver
And let me wash those earthly burdens free

Ohio Clouds

Roll Ohio clouds oh roll on in
Wash the cigarettes the smell from grandma's skin
Clear the dank and dusty kitchenettes
The bourbon bottles resting empty on the chest
Empty on the chest

Grandpa's on the outside of the fence
He's calling to his son again he's on the outside never in
So roll Ohio clouds oh roll on by
We gotsta get rid of that guy
He's gonna blacken up the sky

Daddy's old transistor radio
Is crackling by the window I just can't make it out
Stories passing through I know they're mine
American treasure find
I just can't make them out
What they're all about…

Devil's Hootenanny

I was walking through the snow
When I saw a distant glow
Of a farmhouse nestled down beneath the trees
With a guitar on my back
I thought it sure can't hurt to ask
If I could stay the night
And sing a pretty song for free

I walked up to the house
And then I knocked hard on the door
That old dark piece of wood
She fell right in there on the floor
And as she did a fire burst out on all sides
I wondered what the hell was going on inside

Then the music that I heard
It was bizarre, it was absurd
Like no banjo fiddle bass I'd ever seen
I stepped into a room of flames
Shook my head and looked again
It was the kind of company to make you scream

It was a devil's hootenanny
An old-time fire band
A drunken whiskey choir singing
Round me you understand
And then they said, "We've been searching near and far
For a thing like you to sing and play guitar"

Well I opened up my case
And all the blood rushed to my face
I sang a fragile note, picked a minor tune
Well those devils yelled and clapped
And all their asses they did slap
Before too long we were arm and arm beneath the moon

Cuz that old house burnt on down
There were cinders on the ground
I snuggled up inside, closed my eyes
I was sleeping sound
And I dreamt of summer nights down by the sea
With a devil's banjo playing on my knee

Midnight Singer

Oh midnight singer
Outside my window
Oh how your songs
Come in strange and low
And in my bed I lay silent
Hoping you'd stay
Hoping you'd go

Oh midnight singer
Just outside my door
Oh how your song
Waves on the shore
Making a sound oh then silent
Making a sound once more

Oh midnight singer
Sing inside my heart
Oh mysterious like no other song
And in my bed I lay silent
Hearing a rhythm then gone

Ether Sings

My wooden vibrating mouth
Sing me your lover’s song
Come with me we’ll head up north
Where the rivers run icy and strong

The empty theater is lying cold
In the shadows of the past
A church group enters to touch the molding
With a burst of song and a simple repast

Guitars can’t help but sing
Can’t help but ring

A tiny little flute is whistling in the lips
Of a stranger on the corner
A tiny little girl ties flowers to her wrists
And the bees come round to adorn her

All the time spent dreaming is never lost
Dreams come back through the bells of trumpeting horns
Souls lost into the ether of death
Come back wise in the eyes and the arms of newborns

Hearts can’t help but sing
Can’t help but ring