KT Tunstall/Billy Bragg: "This Wheel's On Fire"

and after every plan had failed
and there was nothing more to tell
you knew that we would meet again
if your memory served you well

Peter Rowan: "Tumbleweed"

10/20/08
La Roche Sur Foron, France

Molly Tuttle: "White Freightliner"

I'm going out on the highway
Gonna listen to them big trucks wind
White Freightliner won't you steal away my mind

Jerry Jeff Walker: "Gettin' By"

1991

just getting by
by getting by
is my stock and trade
living it day to day
picking up the pieces
wherever they fall
just letting it roll
letting the high times
carry the low
just living my life
easy come easy go

Cowboy Junkies: "Mining For Gold"

can't you feel the rock dust in your lungs?
it'll cut down a miner when he is still young
two years and the silicosis takes hold
and i feel like i'm dying from mining for gold

Christmas In Washington

Joan Baez
Highline Ballroom, New York City
7/27/09

it's Christmastime in Washington
the Democrats rehearse
getting into gear for four more years
with things not getting worse
the Republicans drink whiskey neat
and thank their lucky stars
they said, "he cannot seek another term
there will be no more FDRs"
i sat home in Tennessee
staring at the screen
with an uneasy feeling in my chest
and i'm wondering what it means
so come back Woody Guthrie
come back to us now
tear your eyes from paradise
and rise again somehow
if you run into Jesus
maybe he can help you out
come back Woody Guthrie to us now
--Steve Earle (from "Christmas In Washington")

Tom Waits: "The Long Way Home"

let's go out past the party lights
where we can finally be alone
come with me and we can take the long way home

Jerry Garcia Band: "Mission In The Rain"

Berkeley, Ca.
7/8/76

someone called my name
you know, i turned around to see
it was midnight in the Mission
and the bells were not for me
--robert hunter/jerry garcia (from "mission in the rain ")

John Renbourn: "The South Wind/Blarney Pilgrim"

1998

Johnny Rivers: "Secret Agent Man"

1966

they've given you a number
and taken away your name

Liam Clancy: "Pegasus"

My soul was an old horse
Offered for sale in twenty fairs
I offered him to the Church--the buyers
Were little men who feared his unusual airs.
One said: "Let him remain unbid
In the wind and rain and hunger
Of sin and we will get him--
With the winkers thrown in for nothing."

Then the men of the State looked at
What I'd brought for sale.
One minister, wondering if
Another horse body would fit the tail
That he'd kept for sentiment--
The relic of his own soul--
Said, "I will graze him in lieu of his labor."
I lent him for a week or more
And he came back a bundle of bones,
Starved, overworked, in dispair.
I nursed him on the roadside grass
To shape him for another fair.

I lowered my price. I stood him where
The broken-winded, spavined stand
And crooked shopkeepers said that he
Might do a season in the land--
But not for high paid work in towns.
He'd do a tinker, possibly.
I begged, "O make some offer now,
A soul is a poor man's tragedy.
He'll draw your dungiest cart," I said,
"Show you short cuts to Mass,
Teach weather lore, at night collect
Bad debts from poor men's grass."
And they would not.

Where the tinkers quarrel I went down
With my horse, my soul.
I cried, "Who will bid me half a crown?"
From their rowdy bargaining
Not one turned. "Soul," I prayed,
"I have hawked you through the world
Of Church and State and meanest trade.
But this evening halter off,
Never again will it go on.
On the south side of ditches
There is grazing of the sun.
No more haggling with the world..."

As I said these words he grew
Wings upon his back. Now I may ride him
Every land my imagination knew.

--Patrick Kananaugh (1904--1967)

Train Leaves Here This Morning

Roger McGuinn and Gene Clark
The Bottom Line, New York City
10/19/77

Richard Thompson: "Sunset Song"

with you or without you love i must be moving
never meant to linger here so long
with you or without you know it breaks my heart
to hear the sunset song
to hear the sunset song

wasn't that a time we had and bless you for it
but i'm a stranger here i don't belong
the band's down on the jetty if you cup your ear
you'll hear the sunset song
you'll hear the sunset song

early morning that's the time for faretheewells
slip out of the warm sheets and go
but i want to hear it as i walk away
to hear the sunset song
to hear the sunset song

in your waking in your dreams i'll not be martyred
on that cross where some say i belong
opinions are coffins i'll just trust my feet
to find the sunset song
to find the sunset song

with you or without you love i must be moving
never meant to linger here so long
with you or without you know it breaks my heart
to hear the sunset song
to hear the sunset song

Joni Mitchell: "A Case Of You"

you are in my blood
you're my holy wine
you taste so bitter, darlin'
and so sweet
i could drink a case of you
and still i'd be on my feet

(Quicksilver Daydreams Of) Maria

Townes Van Zandt
University of Minnesota
November 1973

a diamond fades quickly
when matched to the face of Maria
all the harps sound empty
when she lifts her lips to the sky
the brown of her skin
makes her hair seem a soft golden rainfall
that spills from the mountains
to the bottomless depths of her eyes

she stands all around me
her hands slowly sifting the sunshine
all the laughter that lingers
down deep beneath her smiling is free
it spins and it twirls
like a hummingbird lost in the morning
then caresses the south wind
and silently sails to the sea

the sculptor stands stricken
the artist throws away his brushes
when her image comes dancing
the sun turns sullen with shame
the birds go silent
and the wind stops his sad mournful singing
when the trees of the forest
start gently to whispering her name

--Townes Van Zandt (from "(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria)")

Queen Jane Approximately

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
Hampton, New Hampshire
8/4/09

now when all the bandits that you turned your other cheek to
lay down their bandanas and complain
and you want somebody you don't have to speak to
won't you come see me, Queen Jane?
--bob dylan

Sandy Denny: "3:10 To Yuma"

Sandy Denny from 1967

there is a lonely train called the 3:10 to Yuma
and it's the only train left for me to ride on
i'll catch that lonely train called the 3:10 to Yuma
i'll get my ticket now for my last time

they say the life of man is made up of four seasons
and springtime finds him young and planting his grain
and then the summer comes bringing warm rains of reason
and time to reap his crop of heartache and pain

the winter comes, finds him snow-cropped and laden
he has been humbled now, walking into the rain
but the rains of death never fall
from the cloudless skies of Yuma
time stand still for those on that 3:10 train

there is a lonely train called the 3:10 to Yuma
and it's the only train left for me to ride on
i'll catch that lonely train called the 3:10 to Yuma
i'll get my ticket now for my last time

Tread Softly

Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark
Of night and light and the half light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
--William Butler Yeats ("He Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven")

Pentangle: "Hunting Song"

As I did travel all on a journey over the wayside and under a dark moon hanging above a mountain...
--from "Hunting Song "

Ernest Tubb: "Driftwood On The River"

i'm just driftwood on the river floating down the tide
i don't care where this old river carries me
i keep drifting just because my heart is broken inside
and i'm tired of wishing for what cannot be
i may meet some bit of driftwood lost the same as i
share a handshake and a tender tear or two
but it's always good luck now we've got to say goodbye
i must wander on to keep my rendezvous

though i drift through town and city i can never stay
for i find no place to call my home sweet home
i don't ask for help or pity i just go my way
all i'm praying for is peace to dream alone
in my heart i don't feel bitter over what has been
i feel sorry for the one i must forget
and instead of being someone with the world to win
i'm just driftwood on the river of regret

Tuttle Kids: "Diamond Joe"

Molly(14), Michael(10) and Sullivan(12) Tuttle with unidentified dog.

now there's a man you'll hear about
most anywhere you go
his holdings are in Texas
and his name is Diamond Joe
he carries all his money
in a diamond-studded jar
he never was much bothered
by the process of the law

i hired out to Diamond Joe, boys
i did offer him my hand
and he gave me a string of horses
so weak they could not stand
i nearly starved to death, boys
he did mistreat me so
and i never saved a dollar
in the pay of Diamond Joe

his bread it was corn dodger
and his meat you couldn't chaw
and he nearly drove me crazy
with the wagging of his jaw
the telling of his stories
i mean to let you know
there never was a rounder
that could lie like Diamond Joe

i tried three times to quit him
but he did argue so
now i'm still punching cattle
in the pay of Diamond Joe
and when i'm called up yonder
and it comes my time to go
give my blankets to my buddies
give the fleas to Diamond Joe

Becky Hobbs: "Cowgirl's Heart"

The Beckeroo live in Poland. Who knew?

Elvis Costello: "The Color Of The Blues"

with The Attractions

up above me are the skies
like the twinkle in your eyes
blue must be the color of the blues
in the mail your letters came
the ink and paper look the same
blue must be the color of the blues

the bluebird singing in the trees
seems to sympathize with me
but he's not singing like he used to do
pretty waters in the sea
feel as cold as you left me
blue must be the color of the blues

blue days come and blue days go
the way i feel nobody knows
life is mighty empty without you
there's a blue note in each song
that i sing since you've been gone
blue must be the color of the blues

If I Had A Hammer

The immaculately coiffed Debbie Reynolds and friends enjoy a haute couture hootenanny.

well i've got a hammer
and i've got a bell
and i've got a song to sing
all over this land
it's the hammer of justice
it's the bell of freedom
it's the song about love
between my brothers and my sisters
all over this land
--pete seeger/lee hays

Wall Of Voodoo: "Lost Weekend"

driving out of Vegas in their automobile
she was in the back seat while he was at the wheel
with the windows wide open
all the money from the store they'd gambled away
he said "the best laid plans often go astray"
she took the page of a book and turned it down
she lit a cigarette she didn't make a sound
"and i know, if we'd had just one more chance," he said
"i know, we'd finally hit the big one at last", she said
instead of another lost weekend
lost weekend

"pull over soon," she said, "it's no big deal
you can take any exit that you happen to feel
is the right one"
as she slowly blew her smoke out the rear wind vent
she thought back on all the letters she'd sent
for a contest to be on a quiz game show
"maybe i should of stayed in school," he said
"yeah, i know, start your own business
cleaning swimming pools," she said
instead of another lost weekend
lost weekend

she leaned over the front seat
and twiddled with the radio dial
she looked out the window, saw a sign
and both of them began to smile
"there's a place we can stay at
it's up another mile."

--stan ridgeway

Steve Earle: "Fort Worth Blues"

for Townes van Zandt
with Kelly Joe Phelps on slide guitar

you used to say the highway was your home
but we both know that ain't true
it's just the only place a man can go
when he don't know where he's traveling to

Bob Marley: "Natural Mystic"

there's a natural mystic blowing through the air
if you listen very carefully you will hear
this could be the final trumpet
might as well be the last
many more will have to suffer
many more will have to die
don't ask me why

Jimmy Buffett: "A Pirate Looks At Forty"

mother, mother ocean
i have heard you call
wanted to sail upon your waters
since i was three feet tall
you've seen it all
you've seen it all

watched the men who rode you
switch from sail to steam
in your belly you hold more treasures
than few have ever seen
most of them dreams
most of them dreams

yes, i am a pirate
two hundred years too late
the cannons don't thunder
there's nothing to plunder
i'm an over-forty victim of fate
arriving too late
arriving too late

i've done a bit of smuggling
i've run my share of grass
made enough money to buy Miami
but i pissed it away so fast
never meant to last
never meant to last

i have been drunk now
for over two weeks,
passed out and i rallied
and i sprung a few leaks
but i've got to stop wishing
got to go fishing
i'm down to rock bottom again
just a few friends
just a few friends

now i go for younger women
lived with several awhile
though i ran them away
they'd come back one day
and still could manage a smile
it just takes a while
it just takes a while

mother, mother ocean
after all these years i have found
my occupational hazard being
my occupation's just not around
feel like i've drowned
gonna head uptown
feel like i've drowned
gonna head uptown