Bread Take a little bread, you put it in the oven Wait a little while give it lots of lovin’ It’ll rise, and open up some too It’s not an act of faith my dear, it’s true But you never learn what you’ve been told You have to dive to find that gold And down below the surface you construe In the deepest waters is the most beautiful view Oh you could fly You got those wings You tie them down with earthly things And treat them like they don’t belong on you Oh we’ve all learned to hide them well The secret that we never tell Is usually the one that makes us blue, all the way through You can’t pretend that this is small The path to joy leads down this hall The world outside ain’t as grim as you assume But it’s dinnertime and you’re still locked in your room Oh you could fly You got those wings You hold them down with heavy things And ancient thoughts you string together too Oh we’ve all learned to hide them well Those secrets that we never tell Are usually the ones that makes us blue, all the way through BRIDGE But that darkness doesn’t hold If you let the world unfold In its own time Relax you anxious will Just a crack of light could fill Your weary mind And then rest your head down on these words Let your tired heart rest assured Certain rules are never gonna let you lose C’mon baby, ain’t you heard the news Chorus
Marie (Rob Lutes/Monique Riedel) Marie is leaving town On a long holiday She won’t be coming ‘round She won’t answer to that name Marie is heading out She’s taking just a box or two Leaving everything behind Except her books and her perfume Marie is on her way To somewhere where no one’s seen How she was a mess How she made it look so clean Well it’s time for her to move on Try to find the big romance Change that dress, put new shoes on Take herself to the dance Where she can just let go Of what the walls conceal Only her memory really knows How good that could feel Back before she was singing “Is this all there is?” but thinking she was lucky to have it like this She kept looking for an answer or a sign she could not miss Now she’s rolling through the rain Slowly giving up that ghost She’ll clear her mind like a drain ’Til she finds the other coast Tonight she’ll tip back a little wine But it won’t tickle out no tears Cause she’s burnt that bottom line And it’s finally disappeared Who knows what she might do Beneath a brand new sun Let the days gently slide through Maybe have some fun And go out after dark Just to hear the music whirl Or fly off for a lark To somewhere across the world Oh Marie is leaving town On a long holiday She won’t be coming ‘round She won’t answer to that name
The Only Soul Down at the edge of the bottom There’s the cold black river where you caught ’em You’d like to but you just can’t let them go They roll inside like breathin’ When you’re in that lonely season Oh, the blues is the only soul that you know Babies don’t need teaching If you recall that awful screeching The moment they arrive they seem to know Strangers at the waiting And endless world that unabating And the blues is the only soul that they know Bread can be broken Loving words can be spoken But the blues is the only soul that they know But there is pleasure in those waters They’re as old as the stove That heated up the mountains When there was darkness upon the road I’ve been to the palace I’ve been left for dead in Dallas Flown around as lonesome as a crow Found love in many people From the barroom to the steeple But the blues is the only soul that I know And when I’m in my final hours You’ll come around to bring me flowers But the blues’ll be the only soul that I know
Slips Away (Rob Lutes/Dale Boyle) This drive-in’s sure seen better days But they still take my eight bucks to see that late movie play The storylines always stay the same The second I reach for something it slips away With a six-pack hidden down on the floor And you right there beside me, I never needed anything more That plot’s not supposed to go astray But the second I reach for something it slips away BRIDGE The unlikely guy, he gets the girl The lost puppy comes home and the hero saves the world Romantic people want to believe it’s that way But when the credits roll so many hearts fade to grey I’ll take nothing from your final scene Snapped your gum, looked at him, and then you walked off my screen My life is an upside down Hollywood cliché The second I reach for something it slips away
If the Blues Don’t Shake You They gather as the moon appears You tremble as you grind the gears If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead They catch you when your guard is down You almost made it out of town But the blues made you turn around instead So you led them on with alcohol Tried to leave them at the final call But the blues followed you to bed So you take them out again Just to smooth things round the bend You talk real nice, take bad advice But the blues don’t want to be your friend They’d rather hide down underneath your skin To get to where your blood begins And then circulate right up inside your head Oh don’t you try to getaway There’s no key to that highway ’Cause wherever you go, well there you are That could be funny, but it's not today Cause you’re wearing that old sorry face Don’t you know they leave trace Two tracks leading out behind the shed So when the blue skies turn gray Wink your eye and just say hey Don’t you mumble on until the dawn You’re just gonna feel all wrong for one more day Did I mention I’ve been on that train? It stops and then it starts again If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead The breeze blows, the baby wakes There’s just some rules that never break If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead
Interstate Does it hold you down Can you turn it around Can you stop it like a car on the interstate Does it pull too strong Can you lose it in a song Do you wonder why you choose to hesitate Has it seen too much Has it lost its touch Does it feel much of anything these days Does is run its mouth Does it drag you south Does it pull you into dark alleyways Does it know some peace Does it fast or feast When you get together on the holidays Does it hit the road Just to maintain control Is it taking you somewhere or running away BRIDGE Oh when your roots are feeling rotten There’s no growth on the vine When your life feels forgotten Forget the words me and mine Those trees down by the water, they just stand in place You’ve got to gear down ’til you’ve found the state of grace So let it rest tonight Let it lose this fight And just smile, you know you’ve come a long, long way Watch the darkness fall Hear those crickets call That’s the mercy of the evening saying hey Don’t grab the wheel Just let it go on feel It’s alright for tonight, anyway
The Autumn Light Now you’re driving back through the autumn night Two bills to bank against the cold Long ago you could’ve left this life If you’d’ve hit the brakes when you lost control All those nights that you’ve played these towns Trying to write the wrongs in rhyme Now the words have a hollow sound But they still hit home from time to time When you think you’ve lost what you need the most The bone that used to be your spine Will haunt you like your father’s ghost And wake you just to drink the wine To the passing of another night Upon the flat boards long and hard Between the leaves of the autumn light The heart cannot feel disregard You can hold it there for a minute’s gaze Then it’s gone again and you’re looking down You keep running but the moment stays And you never gain back any ground But it’s only clear on the way back home Where you’ve hidden, how you’ve cloaked the light And it’s too late then to cast that stone So you turn it up and you let it ride Chorus Now you’re rolling in and the best is done And the birds are squawking on the wire And the rest is just a rising sun Before the moment you retire And you wonder now why it meant so much For all the time that it requires Living takes a gentle touch Like fingers setting strings on fire Chorus
Down to You She put it all in her heart and she pulled it together The truth don’t depend on what kind of weather When she was alone she could feel that traction She could only kill doubt if she took that action She hit the road about half past midnight It was a six-hour drive ’til the world cracked daylight Stuffed in her vest, tucked inside her head Emotion and steel; pain and lead Don’t the pain that comes alive Bring blazes to your eyes When they’re opened to What comes down to you He made them believe he was pure and holy He used to try any line just to sell that story And they hated that room, there were flies drawn to it But he wasn’t shy about making them do it Now he was back in that cold room cellar And he didn’t need no fortune teller The years of disguise had filled him with shame Once he was gone they would all curse his name Don’t the pain that comes alive Feel well earned and justified When your eyes open too What comes down to you Down to you She opened the door and the dust glowed heavy Like the stream of light broke a desperate levee Alone in the dark was the soul of the man Whispering lies to the gun in his hand She turned him down with his back to heaven Then she turned around and left town by seven Her only regret was to feel the same After staring him down and taking such dead aim Oh but the pain that comes alive Will not save you from your eyes When they’re opened too What’s come down to you Oh no the pain that comes alive Is not going to save your from your eyes Once they’re opened too What comes down to you |