LONE STAR STATE OF MIND



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Lone Star State Of Mind

 (Fred Koller, Patrick Alger, Gene Levine)


Your phone call took my by surprise
Gee, it's been a long, long time
Since those hot and humid Texas nights
When we went swimm'n in the tide

Corpus Christi seems so far away
And I'm not talk'n 'bout the miles
And there ain't much I wouldn't give today
Just to see one of your smiles

(chorus)
But here I sit alone in Denver
Sipp'n the California wine
And I've got all night to remember you
I'm in a lone star state of mind
I just saw John Wayne on the Late, Late Show
Save the girl and ride away
And I was hoping as the credits rolled
He'd make it back to her someday

(repeat chorus)

It's a thousand miles or more
From here to your front door
I'd be there tomorrow if I left today
And I'd just pack up my guitar
You know it's really not that far
When you called you said I'd have a place to stay

(repeat chorus)

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Cold Hearts/Closed Minds

 (Nanci Griffith)


My bags are waiting in a cab downstairs
I've got a ticket in my pocket says I'll make it out of here
And I came by here just to tell you good-by
I can see it in your face, you don't want to know why

(chorus)
I made up my mind late last night
That I would leave your city behind
Oh, and love is not in question
When you're holding the answer
In your cold heart and your closed mind
You've got a cold heart and a closed mind
Out in these streets these people are angry
Well, they push and shove one another aside
Well, I worked from the heart and you worked for the money
But I paid the price for your will to survive

(repeat chorus) Chicago roars like a midwest hurricane
I see that storm in your eyes
One of these mornings when you're making your way
Just gonna wash you out with the tide

(repeat first verse)

(repeat chorus)

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From A Distance

 (Julie Gold)


From a distance the world looks blue and green
And the snow-capped mountains white
From a distance the ocean meets the stream
And the eagle takes to flight

From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the voice of hope, it's the voice of peace
It's the voice of every man

From a distance we all have enough
And no one is in need
There are no guns, no bombs, no diseases
No hungry mouths to feed

From a distance we are instruments
Marching in a common band
Playing songs of home, playing songs of peace
They're the songs of every man
God is watching us, God is watching us
God is watching us from a distance

From a distance you look like my friend
Even though we are at war
From a distance I can't comprehend
What all this war is for

From a distance there is harmony
And it echoes through the land
It's the hope of hopes, it's the love of loves
It's the heart of every man

It's the hope of hopes, It's the love of loves
It's the song of every man

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Beacon Street

 (Nanci Griffith)


Gonna wake up crazy to the cry of the trains on Beacon Street
So far from home, so far from love, so far from a friend in need
And all I need is a heart to hold and a good night's sleep
And all I have is the cry of the trains as they bid farewell on Beacon Street

(chorus>
And here I am again
I'm in the company of strangers
It's a cold winter wind that sings a song
You say your love is lost
I'm not the kind who lingers on
So it's farewell to your heart
Cuz when the love is gone, it's gone.
I never did feel lonely till I looked in the mirror and all I could see
Was a little bit of you in the corner of an eye in need of a good night's sleep
And all I need is to close my eyes to find my dreams
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street

(repeat chorus)

(repeat first verse)

And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
And all I had was the cry of the trains as we bid farewell on Beacon Street
Bid farewell to a lonely heart on Beacon Street

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Nickel Dreams

 (Mac McAnally, Don Lowery)


A little girl dreamer
Ribbons and long curls
Reflections of yesterdays past
Headlines and footlights
Wee hours and long nights
Keep everything moving so fast

It's taken a long time
And she's walked a fine line
For fortune and fame have arrived
She kept on striving
And half-way surviving
Till part of those dreams came alive

(chorus)
Now she wishes she looked like they tell her she looks all the time
What she'd give just to feel like she tells them she's feelin' just fine
All that money she makes every night ain't as much as it seems
Cuz it's a dollar a wrinkle and less than a nickel a dream
Well, her heart may be breaking
But she keeps on taking what she thought she wanted back then
It's too late to change her,
There's always a stranger to tell her she's someone again

(repeat chorus)

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Sing One For Sister

 (Robert Earl Keen, Jr.)


Summer Sunday evening, around the old home place
Well, I would play my guitar and sister sang along
Sister's smile would always light up my Daddy's face
And when they'd get to dancing, well they'd dance all night till dawn

(chorus)
And I would sing one for sister
Play one for Papa, moan one for mama
Then I'd cry one for you.
Mama liked the slow ones and she'd shuffle 'cross the floor
Sister liked the fast ones, Lord she could step so high
And I'd see my Daddy dancing, till he could dance no more
And when I'd play a sad song, well he would start to cry

(repeat chorus)

Now it's just me and this old guitar
I've no place to call my own
Mamma and Papa have passed away and sister has settled down
Now you ran off and left me to live here all alone
So I will sing these sad old songs as I am leaving town

(repeat chorus twice)

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Ford Econoline

 (Nanci Griffith)


She drove west from Salt Lake City to the California coastline
She hit the San Diego Freeway doing sixty miles an hour
She had a husband on her bumper
She had five restless children
She was singing sweet as a mockingbird in that Ford Econoline

(chorus )
She's the salt of the earth
Straight from the bosom of the Mormon church
With a voice like wine
Cruising along in that Ford Econoline
Now her husband was a gambler, he was a Salt Lake City rambler
He built a golden cage around his silver-throated wife
Too many nights he left her crying with his cheating and his lying
But his big mistake was him buying her that Ford Econoline

(repeat chorus twice)

Now she sings her songs around this country
From Seattle to Montgomery
Those kids are grown and that rounder knows
You cannot cage your wife
Along the back roads of our nation, she's become a living legend
She drives a Coupe DeVille but her heart rides still
In that Ford Econoline
She drives a Coup DeVille but her heart rides still
In that Ford Econoline

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Trouble In The Fields

 (Nanci Griffith/Rick West)


Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust out there turning away our yield
The trains roll by our silos, silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothing
But our dreams and the golden grain

Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buying their ticket out and talking the great depression
Our parents had their hard times fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields in dust as deep as snow

(chorus)
And all this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall, these wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
But if we sell that new John Deere
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields
There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Now our children live in the city and they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall or the weather to get colder

(repeat chorus)

You'll be the mule I'll be the plow
Come harvest time we'll work it out
There's still a lotta love, here in these troubled fields

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Love In A Memory

 (Nanci Griffith)


She sleeps alone in the warm nights of Memphis
Where the Peabody Hotel meets the velveteen sky
She sings like the waves in the cool Mississippi
That brought her from St. Paul in '75
And men come to court her with roses and sweet wine
Where hands cross the ivories from six until nine
She sings away sorrow each night when she leaves him
She goes home alone,
She's not the marrying kind

(chorus)
Love is a memory that she'll always hold
Cuz love in a memory never grows old
Why she did leave him, well nobody knows
Love in a memory never grows old
Now he works the toll booth on the New Jersey Turnpike
The ring on his finger grows cold to the bone
His sons were all dreamers who cheat on their own wives
He still dreams of St. Paul when he's cheating alone
Love is a memory that he'll always hold
Cause love in a memory never grows old
Why she did leave him, well, nobody knows
Cuz love in a memory never grows old

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Let It Shine On Me

 (Paul Kennerly)


There's a star in heaven's sky
Always shining bright
It's just a tear in an angel's eye
A gentle guiding light

(chorus)
Let it shine on me
Let it show the way
Let it always be
Let it always stay
Let it flood my soul
Let it hold the key
Let it all unfold
Let it shine on me
When the way seems so dark
Let it shine on me
Bringing home within my heart
A reason to believe

(repeat chorus twice)

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There's A Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)

 (Nanci Griffith)


There's a light beyond these woods, Mary Margaret.
Do you think that we will go there,
and see what makes it shine, Mary Margaret?
It's almost morning, and we've talked all night,
You know we've made big plans for ten-year-olds,
you and I.

Have you met my new boy friend, Margaret?
His name is John, and he rides my bus to school,
and he holds my hand.
He's fourteen, he's my older man.
But we'll still be the best of friends,
the three of us, Margaret, John, and I.

Let's go to New York City, Margaret!
We'll hide out in the subways
and drink the poets' wine, oh,
But I had John, so you went and I stayed behind.
But you were home in time for the senior prom,
when we lost John.

The fantasies we plan, I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang when we knew how,
well, they haven't changed.
There's never been two friends like you and me,
Mary Margaret.

It's nice to see you family growing, Margaret.
Your daughter and your husband there,
they really treat you right . . .
but we've talked all night
And what about the light, that glowed beyond
our woods when we were ten?
You were the rambler then.

The fantasies we planned, well, Maggie,
I'm living them now.
All the dreams we sang, oh, we damn sure knew
how . . . but I haven't changed.
There'll never be two friends like you and me,
Maggie, can't you see?

There's a light beyond your woods, Mary Margaret.

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