Songs
Instant Paradise
We went down to the river
kicked off our shoes
she was all birds, no bees
no don’ts, all do’s
Little fish were swimming in
our hearts and the wine
Oh, baby, it’s just a classic case
of instant paradise.
I’m Around
Well, I’m around and I’m alright
Got a heart for you
But not for Saturday night
I could probably pass the quiz
Depending on what the question is
And I’m around and it’s alright
I’m off the rails, but least they’re in sight
I don’t know where this train’s headed to
Or whether that’s up to me or you
Wherever the Mail Goes
Well, I’m her man for now, so I should know
That she goes wherever the mail goes
I can’t stop her wanderin’ to and fro
She goes wherever the mail goes
My friends seen her out as far as Indrio
She goes wherever the mail goes
Damn the rain, damn the sleet, damn the fog and damn the snow
She goes wherever the mail goes
Estrellita
Estrellita
Come on and rise
My ship adrift on
A river of sighs
Estrellita
Impatient I
Waste the day
Awaiting the night
When I Met Jenny Lindsay
When I met Jenny Lindsay,
We were morning, noon and night.
When I met Jenny Lindsay,
We would never fuss and fight
Never fuss and…
When I met Jenny Lindsay,
When I met Jenny Lindsay
Unchained Melody/Sweet Business on Nueces
Well, I got me a woman to answer my phone
But now when we start in loving, baby
Ain’t nobody home
There ain’t nobody home
And I got such sweet business on Nueces
Such sweet business on Nueces
Talking Since Leaving
(formerly: Dreaming in Crinoline)
Well, me and Ernie and Grover
got to talking it over
and we’re headed down the block
on the next steamroller
we don’t care where we go
joking with the Chicanos
and trying to avoid flattening children
Symphony in C Regular
Cousins got the truck out raising the fence
And the dog is barking and it makes more sense
than the 6 on the dash, 4 on the floor
And if we get pissed that’s what the pistol’s for.
And it seem to me
it’s got to be
a Symphony in C Regular.
Sleepy Little Industries
Well, the leaves just can’t stay on the trees
They’ve been blowing around for centuries
It kinda sound like you and me
It’s my favorite kind of catastrophe.
Ain’t no reason about it.
Ain’t no reason about it.
Ain’t no reason about it.
Ain’t no reason about it.
Silvia’s Waltz
And you sing Silvia’s Waltz like the Tennessee Waltz
But you throw in a little twist or two
My best friend was working late one night
Silvie didn’t know what to do.
She called me up on the phone.
Said I don’t want to go to no ballet alone
And I guess that I wouldn’t much mind going with you.
Sailing the House Down River
It starts out just like Fitzcarraldo in
the summer’s end.
Daddy set about hiring
the hired man.
Clear the trees and cut a path down to
the river’s bend.
Oh child, oh children.
Nothing left to do but fade away.
Nothing left to do but fade away.
Nothing left to do but fade away.
My Drunk Chauffeur
Could you kindly drop me home?
Could we finally say good night?
On its way for years, it suddenly appeared
In my eyes, like traveling light.
Why must it be like this?
Baby, why you drink like that?
I’ll have to take the fifth
And go ’round back.
Walnut Bites the Devil (plus bonus lines)
Well, the devil took Mopac to Wells Branch
lookin’ for a soul to steal
Saw Tracy Miller, standin’ around
She was lookin’ to make a deal
You gotta pump up the bass
cause she’s nothin’ but treble
when Walnut bites the devil
Keep My Baby While I’m Away
Take her to church functions
And the women’s club luncheon
Develop her natural talent for macrame
Make her memorize the stars
But don’t lend her the car
And keep my baby out the bars while I’m away
Keep my baby company
And keep my baby lonely
And keep my baby warm, yeah
Arrange to Stay
Tell me that you can’t explain it
Tell me that it’s just that way
Tell me I should send my things down
Run my family right away, right away, right away
Arrange, arrange to stay
Arrange, arrange to stay
From Sunday On
Hey look at there what the rain done brung out
Here come little Lily with her hands all wrung out
There she goes chasing after the swans
goin’ in swimmin’ with her church clothes on
Everybody thinks she’s really somethin’
You oughta seen those
catfish jumpin’, catfish jumpin’, catfish jumpin’
Seven Sisters
Seven sisters, seven sisters
You’ll think you’ve died and gone to Heaven,
Mister, when you’re travelin’
down south Georgia way
You got Myreen, Loreen, sweet Albertha, too
Leona, Ruth Ann and Essie Mae
Yeah, when you’re travelin’
down south Georgia way
Gospel Daddy
Singin’ ‘cause I kiss alright
you got to know it, baby,
almost every night
I say now come to me
I’m your gospel daddy
I’ll stay on your scene
you got to know it
like a skinny, white Al Green
singin’ come to me
I’m your gospel daddy
Pastoral Insomnia
(Previously titled: Broken Lullaby)
Where on Earth is
my little sheep-counter now?
I haven’t slept
in countless hours.
She said, “Now, one, two
baby, for you, and
three, four,
here comes a couple more.”
P-Farm Girl
Saw an angel in an orange vest
on the shoulder of the road
her diamond eyes they sparkled
and her raven hair it flowed
I went on up to tell her
though I knew she prob’ly knowed
“You’re the prettiest thing
that I have seen between here
and Pritchard Road”
Rosebud Matches
Gonna tell you one time, pretty baby
Just so you c’ain’t say you ain’t been told
Coming through your room just like Boo Radley
Bustin’ up your chifforobe
You keep coming back to me in pretty little flashes
I’m just Phillip’s kerosene and
You are a box of rosebud matches
Retablo
Thursday last I was down
in the bottom of a well
in a faithless town, face down
I had a 40 foot head start
on gettin’ to hell
but you were there, I could tell
Middle Distance
All the stream that pulls me in is there and gone again
All the plans to make you mine, the unrest all down the line
Least I’m consistent
Is there something out there in the middle distance
Can’t Do Nuthin’ ‘Bout That Now (Let’s Get Tore Up) (The Walmart Song )
Well your daddy he won’t own you
And he’s cast you out to wander ‘neath the stars
It all may be comin’ back to haunt you
And you’ve already swum among the bars
And you cain’t do nothin’ ‘bout that now
You Got Somebody
You got somebody
Washing your forks and your spoons
You got somebody curlin’ them curls
You’re just like $10,000 laying out on a plate
And I’m just a poor little boy from down the state
And I’m just a poor little boy from down the state
Southern Amusement
Had a girl the name of Evelyn Newman
Her house was strict but her camellias
Was steady blooming, Georgia blooming
She had me dying, but I was trying not to look it
My breath went willingly, as she took it,
As she took it
Bachelor’s Showplace
Well the note read, “you’re leaving town
You’ll be sleeping at your momma’s
When the sun goes down”
And the right words were all she chose
They were just some simple thoughts
But they were so profound
Dixie Lanehart
Well I was thinking about giving up on folk art
And smoking smokes like Humphrey Bogart
I thought about putting my French in Action
On a more manageable attraction
But Dixie Laneheart I can’t help myself
Dixie Laneheart, it’s you and it’s no one else
Ducking Francine
Some dinner plates broke
the sun awoke
a waitress in a flowered apron
walked into the scene
She was spoken for
I held the door,
the radio played
Charles Aznavour
It was surreal
not serene
Run What You Brung
(a.k.a. Old Mrs. Jones)
Old Mrs. Jones she wished
she’d had a daughter
but, she had two sons
they wouldn’t do nothin’ for her
her man said he loved her
the last time he saw her
30th Birthday Song
Well, now six months without a drink
And my thoughts have turned to thinking
How I’d trade in all my chips
For just one day of 29
Momma check your math
While I draw my birthday bath
The wheat’s off the chaff
‘cause I’m thiry years old today
Rosebud Matches
Gonna tell you one time, pretty baby
Just so you c’ain’t say you ain’t been told
Coming through your room just like Boo Radley
Bustin’ up your chifforobe
You keep coming back to me in pretty little flashes
I’m just Phillip’s kerosene and
You are a box a Rosebud matches
Your Heart’s a Jumble
Your heart’s a jumble, baby, now
You got me figgrin’ it out
I don’t know why I pray for Sunday
Hopin’ I’ll get some peace
‘Round this house
Bring Your Girl a Tangerine
Get your ass out in the yard
might not last long
or get you far
reach a ladder into the green
bring your girl a tangerine
French in Action
Well you’re prettier than Murielle
I’m more rugged than Robert
You’re on your 28th Galoises
I’m down to my last Flaubert
I spent the whole last semester
With my heart in emotional traction
Your Heart’s a Jumble
Your heart’s a jumble, baby, now.
You got me figgrin’ it out.
I don’t know why I pray for Sunday
hoping I’ll get some peace
’round this house.
Little Walnut
Well, little Walnut sure is big on lookin’ around
Much more so than the dogs down at the pound.
Well, she used to live out near Pflugerville,
that town won’t light up like Austin will
and little Walnut sure is big on lookin’ around.
Ain’t Happened Yet
I’d squander my fortune baby,
I’d fall into debt
just to kiss you in some stairwell
and other things I’d regret.
It ain’t happened yet.
Ain’t happened yet.
Ain’t happened yet.