Sailor's Song

G Dm7 C79 G

1.Sailors sing their songs of seas

G Dm7 C79 G

Miners dwell in darkened deeps

G Dm7 C79 G

They both sing songs in major keys

G Dm7 C79 G

The miners keep what the sailors leave

2.Sometimes I feel my homes a boat

I had a miner’s gal but I never wrote

A message to my love not even a note

But I told when I left to never give up hope

Chorus:

Em F#dim C G

The last three days I’ve been asleep

Em F#dim C G

Drunk or dreaming for half a week

Em F#dimm C G

I’ve gone distance too far to speak

Em C G

And I’m praying to the lord

C F#dim G

My soul, my soul to keep

3.I gave my girl a carnival ring

She said that it turned her finger green

Next time I know that I’ve got to bring

The best that the world is offering

4.Cause if misfortune drags me down

My boat may sink and I might drown

Check my pockets when I’m found

There’s no telling what I’m bringing round

Bridge/outro:

G B

Ocean shores and reservoirs

Am G Em

One half dozen apple cores

D B Em

Windmill mountains and valley floors

A7 D7

Truck stop shops and liquor stores

Santa Cruz

Baby, lets go down to Santa Cruz
We’ve got nothing to gain, so much to lose
The valley is so hot, we’ve been caught all summer here
Its no mistake we must escape to Santa Cruz

There’s a beach I know called Bonny Dune
We don’t have to wear our swimming suits
We’ll jump into the ocean without a stitch of clothing
Skinny dipping in the sea at Santa Cruz
Lets go down to Santa Cruz

Old Highway Nine
Taking our time
Over Skyline
Through those redwood ruins
We’ll roll right though ‘em
To Santa Cruz

We can use my Grandma’s camper van
We’ll drive that old machine onto the sand
And if we should get stuck there I don’t care I’m in a rut here
I need to get clear to Santa Cruz
Lets go down to Santa Cruz

We can watch the sunset in the wave
Or the rising moon if we should stay
We’ll light a fire, drink some wine, write messages no one will find
In bottles re-corked and cast away
I wouldn’t want it any other way

Baby, lets go down
Baby, lets go down
Baby, lets go down
To Santa Cruz

Save Us (Dreams of Orestes)

I am so heavy
Covered in dust
I broke down the levee
Disappeared and rusted

I followed desire
Followed rivers of fire
But they only lead down ward
And never retire

We waited so long
For some one to come
And save us
There never was
Anyone

Dreams of Orestes
Break down, rebuild
But there's miles of silos
With missiles ready to spill

Into the night, we all fade
Collapse, decay
And we're taken away
At the end of the day

But we waited so long
For some one to come
And save us
There never was anyone

Saw Your Mama

Saw your mama
Saw your daughter
In the village
Village square
Selling flowers
And homemade ales
That they claimed could put the wind back in your sails

Take a hit
Let it drip, drip, drip
Let it slip on deep into your soul

Saw your mama
Saw your daughter
In the forest
On Halloween
They were dancing
They were singing
Which told me the condition they were in

Take a hit. . .

I saw the man
At the fruit stand
Asked him
Could you catapult me to the moon
He said brother
With this at least
I’ll shoot you to the rising east.

Take a hit. . .

Sea Monkey

Sea monkeys
Where did you come from
I got you on the pond scum
On the reservoir
Sea money
You’re my favorite creature
My favorite little creature
In the whole wide world

You used to have some duck weed
But then it died
You’ve got no place to run to
And no place to hide

Microscopic
Packages of love
Monkey boots and bolo ties
All lodged beneath the mud
Handfuls of house holds
Swimming in the mire
Beside that old spare tire
Left there many years ago

People come
And people go
Sea monkey’s are always there
And if you’re watching them
You just might see a show

Seventh Story

C7
1. Seventh story heaven’s window
C7
There’s a shadow that’s been spread
C7
And her eyes are looking downward
C7
Catching the last rays of sunshine
F
The nights are getting cold here
C7
And her quilt is only patchwork
F
Not much against this winter’s chill
C7
And the darkness that is
tacet
Those screaming midnight coyotes
Am
Are getting closer every night
She’s at the top of her tower
G C7 (G7)
Trapped seven stories up

Bridge:

E
If you can’t take it
If you can’t make it back home
The power of love is only a shadow
Hold while you’re sleeping wake up screaming
Wanting it more

2. With the wind for her reason
And sunlight for a clock
She’s been pulling electrical wires
Didn’t pay the bill so she wouldn’t get shocked
‘Cause she can’t let her hair down
She’s been weaving electric wires
Until someone comes to save her
She’ll be weaving electrical wires
All day long until she’s tires
Up there at the top of her tower
Trapped seven stories up

Bridge (alt):

Sometimes you take it
Sometimes you break it
Sometimes you make it
All the way home
But the power of loving is only a shadow
Cast by a fortress
And ruined by war
If you don’t get it or some how forget it
I’ll hold out by sleeping
And wake wanting more

Shelter

Everyone needs shelter
From the wind or hot sun
A place to sleep while darkness
Screeches like a barn owl

Or when the sky is fed up
Wants to wash away our wicked ways
Everyone needs shelter
A little place to hide away

Where your worries are ignored
Leave your boots outside the door
And your baby’s arms are warm

No one asked to be born
No one’s given any choice
You may have a silver spoon
Or be singing with a golden voice

But there are places in the world
Where the luck’s already gone
What good is luck if you don’t have
Anything to bet it on

Where your worries never cease
You’re burdened like a beast
And you don’t know what it means
To get what you need

The tyranny of stupid man
Have cut the hearts from countless calls
The rest of us will cheer and swear
There was nothing really there at all

But if you join a caravan
Cross the desert, free yourself
Who can blame the weary hands
That break the chains that hold them down

You set your worries down
finally homeward bound
And your baby’s love is found
Where your worries are ignored…

Ships

Fm7
1. My loves like a rusty razor
C7
Shaving the belly of a drunken sailor
Ab7 Bb7
Lucky he’s not walking down the plank

2. Shanghied down in guatamala
Suckled on the breast of dark skinned mama
Oh that milk that no man should ever drink

3. Half way on a ferry boat crossing
Waters wide churning and tossing
At a loss for land on either side

4. Side-ways stabbing safe house cracking
Seiging the town before its sacking
Carrying off the spoils of war

Chorus:

Fm Ab Bb Gm Bb Cm

Ab Eb
loose lips
Fm Cm
and tight hips
Ab Eb Fm Cm Bb Ab
Sink ships that won’t float right
Ab Eb
I’m hit
Fm Cm
Believe it
Ab Eb Fm Cm Bb Ab
Two ships pass in the night

5. My love is a rusty razor
Feel like I’m sitting in the belly of a whale
Pondering the morale of the fable

6. Told to me by a church mouse squeeking
About how the roof has been leaking
And asked me how the missus has been

7. My girls a pitch fork weilding
Thunnder on the back of a chestnut gelding
But sometimes she takes too hard

8. Feeling like a rusty razor
Cutting through the belly of a hump back whale
The salty air is turning me on

Loose lips
And tight hips
Sink ships like mine each night
I’m hit
Believe it
My ship just won’t float right

Simple Yes or No

Hold on honey I love ya
It's easy to say don’t cost anything
This is serious please
We don’t have much time

For pretty words or love songs
Promises are cheap
No one really knows how long we’ve got
I don’t need you to tell me I’m wrong
It's the only thing that you got right

There’s a shadow upon me
Taller than oak trees
Taller than the pines
I’m not afraid of those carpenter birds
Beating down my old side board
They want it straight from the gut

A simple yes or no
Theres’ no further we can go
If you need convincing I don’t think it will work
There’s a new day I can feel it
But I can’t explain it
Any explanation is no substitute for truth

It was a summer of fuck ups
Another saddle to cinch up
I tried to keep the horse from biting me
Is that smoke on the rise
Or just a little taste of what the future holds

Pointless inventions
Obsolescent intentions
That fall like dew before the dawn
We’re peering over the edge
Trying to find a safe way down
Lets get down to what counts

A simple yes or no
Are we broken or are we whole
Are we wicked are we kind
Are we ready for the light
There’s a new day I can feel it
There’s no way to explain it
Any explanation is no better than a lie

Feeling aweful useless
Tangled up in a loose mess
Holding back the blowing sand slowly filling up this hole
I’ve been digging it special for you
A place where we can hide our broken hearts

I’m terrified of the morning
Like a lover or old man won’t know
What the wicked wind’s blown onto the glass
My windshield is covered in dust
I traced a lazy circle round the foot print of a little bird

A simple yes or no
It's a hallow hope I know
Maybe someone’s watching over all of us with love
But I can’t believe it
I don’t know how to explain it
How would you explain the setting sun to the night.

Slept Through Sunday

We’ve had bright nights
And dark-eyed mornings
Restless urges
Tied back and then set free

Slept through Sunday
I saw God last Saturday night
Don’t ask me about these bruises I’ve got
This halo sure does shine

Scratches and spit
Bruises belly aches
First page burning down
But the book has not been read

Slept through Sunday
I found Jesus last Saturday night
Don’t ask me about these bruises I’ve got
St. Peter I’m still in line

I hope and I pray
Almost everyday
but there’s something in the way
In the way

Slip Away

There is an old lady
She lives by the sea
She brings her laundry out each day
She sees how all the mussels and the cockles on the seashore
In the waves slip away

Slip away slip away
Like the mussels and the cockles on the seashore
In the waves are gonna slip away

There is a tired hobo
Resting in the sand dune
Behind the lady’s shack
He sees how all her bed sheets and her dressed and her panties
On the clothes line in the wind are billowing

Slip away, slip away
Like the bed sheets and the dresses and the panties on the clothes line
In the wind slip away

The old lady was dying
Her heart was tired of tring
To keep the ocean out
One day the waves will come and wash away her home
And then she’ll swim on out

Slip away, slip away
One day the waves will come and wash away her home
And she’ll slip away

The dress was first to be set loose
Followed by the bed sheets
And the panties too they flew
The old lady was struck down
By the coldness of her heart
She never saw or turned around

Slip away, slip away
Struck down by the coldness of her heart she never turned or saw them
Slip away

There is a tired hobo
Dressed in bed sheets and old lady’s panties
Walking with the wind
The old lady is standing naked
By the ocean waiting
For the waves to take her in

Slip away, slip away
Standing naked by the ocean waiting for the waves to come and
Slip away

Sober as a Judge

I love you when you're drunk
You're an awful lot of fun
I've known a lot of gals
Who can only bring me down
But you can bring me up
And I will drive you home
I haven't drunk a drop
I'm sober as a judge
And we will not get stopped

All the cops around here are dicks
They know all your drunk driving tricks
And they're looking out for chicks just like you
Well, I am too

That's all right with me
Go ahead, have another shot
Just give me your keys
I'll be right here until you drop
I will drive you home
This I swear to do
I'm sober as a judge
And I'm still in love with you

All the cops are dicks around here
Especially if you've had a couple beers
You've had more than that, it's clear my dear
It's clear my dear I'm gonna drive you home

I have had my share
Of wild and reckless nights
Throwing back a bottle and stepping on the throttle
It's a wonder I'm alive
I don't know how I made it to my bed
The judge is way too drunk
The jury was never read

All the cops are dicks around here
Especially if you've had a couple beers
Yes you can always count upon the cops
I know that they are dicks, but that is just their job

Oh baby I wanna drive you home tonight
I'm sober as a judge
Yes, I'm sober as a judge
And I'm driving you home tonight

Someday

Someday I’m gonna catch a breakt hey say but is it true?
My heart is full of blood, my feet covered in mud and I can’t get through

To you though I try so hard I knew I’d never get this far
So why am I still here? At the end of another year that’s three hundred and sixty-five bad days

I’ve been let down, kicked around and wrecked
What did you expect from living large?

I’m gonna light the fuse, shoot it for the moon
We got nothing to loose but our minds

I tried and tried to break my fall
I nearly died and I lost control

My head was full of lead as I fell into your bed
And dreamed that we might just have a chance

As we laid down, wrestled ‘round and ‘round
Tangled up I found that we are free

I’m gonna light the fuse, shoot it for the moon
We got nothing to loose but our minds

And I finally found when the fever break
The limited time we have is just a joke
And all we can hope is to dream big dreams
I finally found what I’m looking for
Light at the end of a corridor
Cannon ball breaking down my door

Someday I’m gonna catch a break
They say but I don’t care

My legs are made of steel, put the breaks on and hear them squeal
The rails have failed to hold me down tonight

I’ve been let down, kicked around and wrecked
What did you expect from living large?
I’m gonna light the fuse,shoot for the moon
We’ve got nothing to loose but our minds.

Standing Still

Time’s in decline, standing in line
The highway’s abandoned, my mind is expanding
Heaven and earth are out of communion
Days are numbered and filled with confusion
Dark power within, Light power without
History’s tricks won’t fool me now

What’s it gonna take to get home in one piece?
When we’re all just standing still
What’s it gonna take when all the world is sleeping
And we all are standing still

A storm in the distance gives us resistance
The wind is insistent we should get gone
The light is declining the highway inviting
The coyote crying every dog gets his bone
Dark power within light power without
The sun sees your sins the moon hears your howl

What’s it gonna take to get home in one piece
When we are all standing still
What’s it gonna take when all the world is sleeping
And we all are standing still

A man from the east riding a beast
Sells honey bees of honey he speaks
Offers a ride on the back of his wagon
His wagon’s alive and it purrs like a dragon
Light power within dark power without
One sting and you’re dead or you’re living without

What’s it gonna take…

I am still standing, still…