I Know You Rider

I know you rider gonna miss me when I’m gone

I know you rider gonna miss me when I’m gone

Gonna miss your daddy from rolling in your arms

I laid down last night but I could not get no rest

Yea I laid down last night but I could not get no rest

My mind was wandering like the wild geese in the west

Now loving you honey was easier then rolling off a log

I say that loving you was easier then rolling off a log

I want to be your lover babe, I sure won’t be your dog

Well, the sun’s gonna shine in my back door someday

You know the sun’s gonna shine in my back door someday

A March wind gonna blow all my troubles away

I wish I was a headlight on a southbound train

I wish I was a headlight on a southbound train

I’d shine my light through the cool Carolina rain

I know you rider gonna miss me when I’m gone

I say I know you rider gonna miss me when I’m gone

Gonna miss your daddy from rolling in your arms

Gonna miss your daddy from rolling in your arms

Gonna miss your daddy from rolling in your arms

}{Back to the top}{

Crossroads Avenue

(CROSSROADS REVISITED)

If you go down / see that hoodoo man

Son, you’d be wise / you bring along a mojo hand

Yea he’s still living down there / on Crossroads Avenue

And he’s got a deal / custom made for you

Crossroads Avenue

Crossroads Avenue

You go down there around midnight

He’ll give you what you need

When you wake up in the morning

You got the power of a wild steed

When he pulls up / there’ll be dust flying all around

He’ll have his pen in hand / you’ll hear them barking hellhounds

Sitting in the back / of his long black Cadillac

You cut your deal / but there’s no turning back

From Crossroads Avenue

Crossroads Avenue

Yea he’ll give you fortune / he’ll give you the fame

All you got to do / is sign your name

He’ll put fire in your fingers / he’ll put fire in your voice

He’ll light a fire under you, child

Like a thousand miles of burning forest

Crossroads Avenue

Crossroads Avenue

But now once you sign / there on that dotted line

You’re gonna need a good watch / cause you’ll be running out of time

See there’s no turning back / and there’s nothing you can do

Cause there’s no running away / from Crossroads Avenue

There’s no place you can hide / and there’s no changing your mind

There’s nothing you can say / cause there’s no running away

From Crossroads Avenue

Crossroads Avenue

}{Back to the top}{

New Season

Sharpen your boot heels the devil is in disguise

The wall has been torn down the door is open wide

This is a new day you know the time has come

Nowhere you can hide  nowhere you can run

Everything is gone inside out

Everything is gone upside down

Now there is no rhyme or reason

This is a new season

Today as yesterday you know you’re vulnerable

Nowhere that you can hide we're all susceptible

As you are standing there the bolts are getting loose

The boiler is about to blow gonna come raining down on you

Everything is gone inside out

Everything is gone upside down

Now there is no rhyme or reason

This is a new season

As you are standing there yea the bolts are getting loose

Them horsemen have saddled up about to rendezvous

Dark gate is open wide step out or step inside

The choice is yours to make, long shadow is moving in, the hour is getting late

Everything is gone inside out

Everything is gone upside down

These Colors Don’t Run

(A Good Ol’ Boy's Lament)

You dropped your bomb on my street

Now you’ll be going down in defeat

You got the red, white and blue

Coming after you

Son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

You got the red, white and blue

Coming after you

We stand strong and united

You can try to, but you can’t deny it

Son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

These colors don’t run

Son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

When you and your kind are all dead and gone

The red, white and blue will still be standing strong

Son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

You got the red, white and blue

Coming after you

Well you can hide out in your cave

Someday it will be your grave

Son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

I said son, you don’t know what you done

No, you don’t know what you done

I say son, you don’t know what you done

These colors don’t run

}{Back to the top}{

Honey, I Just Want You

Honey, where you going

Now why do you want to treat me this way, make me look like a fool

You say you don’t love me, when you know you do

Why do you want to be so cruel

It seems everybody’s trying to get something, everybody’s trying to get paid

Everybody’s trying to find someone new, everybody wants to make the grade

Now I don’t know about all that

Honey, I just want you

It seems everybody’s trying to get higher, everybody’s trying to get down

Everybody wants to get it all right now, everybody wants to wear the crown

Now I don’t know about all that

Honey, I just want you

It seems like everybody wants to drive a big car, everybody wants to stand tall

Everybody wants to be on top of the beat, everybody wants to answer the call

Now I don’t know about all that

Honey, I just want you

It seems like everybody’s trying to get higher, everybody’s trying to get down

Everybody wants to get it all right now, everybody wants to wear the crown

Now I don’t know about all that

Honey, I just want you

It seems like everybody’s trying to get something, everybody’s trying to get paid

Everybody wants to find someone, everybody wants it made in the shade

Now I don’t know about all that

Honey, I just want you

Honey, I just want you, yea I just want you

Now why do you want to treat me this way, make me look like a fool

You say you don’t love me, when you know you do

Why do you want to be so cruel

When all I want is you

}{Back to the top}{

The Long Walk Home

Well now here I am

Walking down this old dusty road

In the suitcase in my hand

Is everything I own

It’s been a long time

A long time since I’ve been back home

I wish I had never seen her face

Wish I had the sense to just walk away

I never realized how quickly things could change

With one little twist of fate

So here I am

Walking down this old dusty road

In the suitcase in my hand

Is everything I own

It’s been a long time

A long time since I’ve been back home

My mama died while I was there in that prison

My daddy he run off two years before

My sister Mary she got married and moved away

Now she’s nine years divorced

I wish I had never seen her face

Wish I had the sense to just walk away

I didn’t know how quickly things could change

With one little twist of fate

So now here I am

Walking down this old dusty road

In the suitcase in my hand

Is everything I own

}{Back to the top}{

Oh Kathleen

You said you'd write, I guess your pen's out of ink

You said you'd stop by, guess your car's been on the blink

Cause I ain't seen you now since I can't remember when

But I think of you from time to time every now and then

Oh Kathleen

Oh Kathleen

I think it's such a drag the way time moves so slow

When there's no one to see and there's nowhere to go

Staring out my window just killing time

Next thing I know, well, I've got you on my mind

Oh Kathleen

Oh Kathleen

Do you ever stop and think about me

Late at night when you're all alone

Do you think about me

Way off in the distance I can hear a radio

The D.J.'s saying he's gonna shake my soul

He plays a song from way back when

It starts me thinking about you again

Oh Kathleen

Oh Kathleen

You said you'd write, I guess your pen's out of ink

You said you'd stop by, guess your car's been on the blink

Cause I ain't seen you now since I can't remember when

But I think of you from time to time every now and then

Oh Kathleen

Oh Kathleen

}{Back to the top}{

Looking for a soul searchlight

To help me find my way

These are crazy times we’re living in

Getting crazier and crazier every day

Woke up one morning thought it would be like any other day

By the time I washed my face, well the whole world had changed

As I watched it unfold there on my TV set

An anger began to grow and it ain’t subsided yet

So I’m looking for a soul searchlight to help me find my way

These are crazy times we’re living in, getting crazier and crazier every day

Down in the valley of darkness

An ocean of tears has been cried

Feels like I’m waist deep in a wide muddy river

Now I’m just trying to make it to the other side

So I’m looking for a soul searchlight to help me find my way

These are crazy times we’re living in, getting crazier and crazier every day

Some of my good friends left here

Some in long black Cadillacs

Some got on planes and flew away

They never will come back

So I’m looking for a soul searchlight to help me find my way

These are crazy times we’re living in, getting crazier and crazier every day

Now I keep playing it over in my head

It’s like a freight train hammering down the line

I can hear it loud and I can see it clear

Though I will never understand these crazy times

}{Back to the top}{

Don't wanna die on this highway, I ain't taking my boots off here

It's too cold and dark and too far away, I ain't taking my boots off here

I took this ride just to see what I would find, Well I ain't taking my boots off here

Don't wanna die on this highway, I ain't taking my boots off here

I keep hearing this voice saying you better beware, I ain't taking my boots off here

I don't know what it means, I don't care what it means, I ain't taking my boots off here

Don't wanna die on this highway, I ain't taking my boots off here

Seems out of nowhere this girl appears saying come a little closer, let me look in your eyes

So I get a little closer and then I realize it's not a girl, it's a statue

Then this guy walks up from where I don't know, He says what are you doing here

Then from an eighteen wheeler with eighteen chrome wheels I hear the driver say do you need a ride

But before I could answer yes or no, well that truck turned into a television display window

There's this movie on the screens I know I've seen though I can't remember the name

There must have been 25 of these TV's, all playing the same thing at once, all except for one

Which was a little bit out of sync with all the rest, I was wondering well how could this be, is it them or is it me

Just then the power went dead in the out-of-sync TV as all the others grew legs and ran down the street

I stood there waiting for an alarm clock to ring, but one never did

Don't wanna die on this highway, I ain't taking my boots off here

It's too cold and dark and too far away, I ain't taking my boots off here

I can't remember how I got here I'm not sure I know my way back

Wait a minute, I think I see a doorman standing in the distance whistling for a cab

I walk up to him, say sir can you help me I think I'm lost though I'm not sure

He says with a grin, you're not lost but the sun will be up soon, you better get in

So I hop in the cab and as we drive away I turn around to take one last look

I see that doorman, he's standing in the snow laughing wildly with no shoes on

Don't want to die on this highway, I ain't taking my boots off here

}{Back to the top}{

Last Train Out

( In Memory of Allen Woody)

Last train out, All aboard the conductor’s saying last train out

Last train out, You don’t need no ticket on the last train out

You just go down to the station and you get on board

You leave your baggage on the platform

You won’t need it anymore

On the last train out

Last train out, Well everything is gonna be alright on the last train out

Last train out, Everybody is safe and warm on the last train out

You just go down to the station and you get on board

You leave your baggage on the platform

You won’t need it anymore

On the last train out

Twenty-one coaches long and plush

Every hand you’re dealt is a royal flush

It pulls into the station smooth as silk

Shining like chrome and white as milk

Looking like an ancient statue carved out of stone

You get on board and it will take you home

The last train out

Last train out, Well everything is gonna be alright on the last train out

Last train out, You’re never alone on the last train out

You just go down to the station and you get on board

You leave your baggage on the platform

You won’t need it anymore

On the last train out

}{Back to the top}{

(A Requiem For the New Yorker)