Big Steam Wheel

I was raised beneath a silver sun down in western Tennessee
Now my home is on the water where God meant for it to be
I never really settled down I never found the reasons why
I just kept my feet moving Mississippi on my mind
I guess I should be proud cause I live in such an age
Where mankind rules the world and does everything his way
Are we really in control when we’ve forgotten how to feel
It’s just a few more turns on the big steam wheel

I had a girl down in Nashville had another in Detroit
My conscious told me it was wrong I never listened to that voice
It took me years to forgive myself It’ll take me longer to forget
I wish i was like that river rushing on without regrets
But like the water on the levee the years are damned inside my head
Sometimes the devil tells me I’d be better off dead
Oh Living just gets harder death is such a lousy deal
I’ll take a few more turns on the big steam wheel

Its mostly quiet on the water it helps a restless mind to think
That’s what keeps me going that’s why I stay with her til she sinks
But tonight the city echoes with celebrations on the street
The soldiers have returned and victory’s their marching beat
I guess i’ll never know that feeling of returning home at last
I’ll never have a crowd rejoicing or roses lining up my path
I’ll just live a simple life and pray before my meals
I’ll take a few more turns on the big steam wheel

It don’t take a four walled prison to make a person feel alone
For many live in chains on the wide and open roads
If an angel visits you at night you better welcome her to stay
She’ll help you treasure all that living and send your soul away
I know it won’t be long until my judgement comes
It’s on every faded moon and on every sinking sun
Death is on the hunt like a hound dog at our heels
It’s just a few more turns on the big steam wheel

Carry on Down the Road

There was a man who lived in the city
Society told him he had to make money
He worked in an office on 4th & Main,
A mighty fine place for going insane
One day he got on the wrong commute
It took him to the country still wearing his suit
Now he works the road as a hitchhiking man
Singing this song all across the land

I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road
I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road

There was another man with a broken heart
He spent a lot of time down in the dark
Couldn’t wake him up with his mama’s own shout
Couldn’t use a crane to pull him out
One day a pretty woman passed him by
So good looking that he opened his eyes
To all his troubles he said so long
Chased her up the road just singing this song

I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road
I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road

There was a young man who went to jail
He didn’t have a friend to pay his bail
Serving for a crime that he didn’t mean to do
Made a few mistakes like me and you
He finally got out but the world hadn’t changed
Still full of hate, still full of blame
He learned his lesson it was plain to see
It’s one-in-a-million who really is free

I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road
I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road

There was a skinny kid who was good at math
Always got picked on after class
They stuffed in a locker with a sign that said
”You can’t solve every problem using your head”
Five years later he’s taking a trip
Flying over Earth in a rocket ship
He looked out the window and he said with a smile
”So long suckers i’m leaving in style”

I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road
I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road

If you’re one of those people who don’t belong
I’m here to give ya you’re very own song
Oldest song in history, saved a lot of people from their misery
You can sing it of you’re high, you can sing it if you’re low
Sing it in the still, sing it on the go
If you’re broken and you wanna be fixed
Remember these words and they go like this

I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road
I got to go, I got to go, I got to carry on down the road

Country Preacher

He was raised in Memphis, an orphan boy
A southern family’s adopted joy
He found Jesus at an altar call
The singers sang I Surrender All

He got married and they moved out West
To preach the gospel in their Sunday best
He loaded his pickup truck with revival tents
And the Good News followed them wherever they went

He’s a country preacher, knows his bible well
His sermons shake the very walls of hell
You will not find him on your T.V.
He follows Jesus most humbly

No fancy building, just an old grange hall
And an upright piano bouncing off the walls
The folks would gather from all over town
Singing “I once was lost, but now I’m found”

He’s a country preacher, knows his bible well
His sermons shake the very walls of hell
You will not find him on your T.V.
He follows Jesus most humbly

The crowds were small but he knew all their names
And when he preached, well some of them got saved
Now when he’s taken to his home on high
There’s a small town crowd waiting on the other side

He’s a country preacher, knows his bible well
His sermons shake the very walls of hell
You will not find him on your T.V.
He follows Jesus most humbly

Bad Timing Blues

I met her on a Sunday morning the sun was coming over the hill
I didn’t have much to offer then but she was looking at me still
But love had already shown her things she never wanted to know
She spent a lot of time with me just learning to let go

She was busy looking backwards, had better things to do
Left me with a cold-hearted case of those bad timing blues

She was on a train to San Francisco, left me at the Seattle station
I was trying to believe that she never left that her mind was a’busy changin’
But that trains on a one-way track and it’s always making perfect time
I guess I’m finished wasting hers if she is finished wasting mine

She was busy looking backwards, had better things to do
Left me with a cold-hearted case of those bad timing blues

I left her in the August rain outside a cafe in Vancouver
She cried “this would be the last goodbye” and this time i believed her
Well many days have passed and gone and oh how the times barely changed
Cept I heard she’s living in Michigan and she is looking for a different name

She was busy looking backwards, had better things to do
Left me with a cold-hearted case of those bad timing blues

Maybe down the road somewhere if the fates do allow
Our shadows will meet in some alley way on the wrong side of town
But this ain’t some old time movie there’s no red curtain resolve
No it’s just a terrible mistake that neither of us could ever solve

She was busy looking backwards, had better things to do
Left me with a cold-hearted case of those bad timing blues

The past is like a salesman who comes knockin’ at my door
I gave him everything I got but he still comes back for more
I spend a lot of time alone but I walk those busy streets
I see the same lonesome look on every face I meet

She was busy looking backwards, had better things to do
Left me with a cold-hearted case of those bad timing blues

Eliza (Saint of Flower Mountain)

“There’s a God who loves me”, is what Eliza said
To her parents she left behind with the tears they would shed
She loved them more than ever but knew what must be done
If she didn’t leave right then she would never have gone

“I’ll see you again”, is what Eliza said
To her lover she left alone on his bed
“August comes quickly, I’ll write you letters soon”
But she knew no more comfort would enter that room

Eliza had eyes like the tops of the mountain
You can climb to them and see the other side
Eliza’s hair flowed like the river far below
You can follow her to where you wanna go

“Was this the right choice?”, is what Eliza said
As the boat left the dock and the doubt filled her head
Visions of violence pulled her away
But the promise of peace caused her to stay

“God gave roses thorns”, is what Eliza said
“To protect their stems from danger, to keep them beautiful and red”
The villagers listened with eager humble ears
They heard the mountain wind and knew that God was near

Eliza had eyes like the tops of the mountain
You can climb to them and see the other side
Eliza’s hair flowed like the river far below
You can follow her to where you wanna go

Father forgive them”, is what Eliza said
As the soldiers stormed the village and shot Eliza dead
She looked towards heaven but not up to the sky
She saw the light of God in the poorest persons eyes

“Saint of Flower Mountain”, is what her tombstone says
Forever she is resting with wildflowers round her head
She went off the beaten path where few would ever go
Now she lives in higher places where God’s greatest beauty grows

Eliza had eyes like the tops of the mountain
You can climb to them and see the other side
Eliza’s hair flowed like the river far below
You can follow her to where you wanna go

Waitin’s What We Do

The morning does not wait for tattered dreams to find repair
The sunrise does not sympathize with the ones in cold despair
The day is not distracted by the color of your hair
I’ll wait for you if waitin’s what you’re wanting
I’ll wait for you cause waitin’s what we do

The night’s ten thousand strong and surrounds you where you sleep
Soon they will be tending to the prisoners they keep
When you’re left unwatched won’t you send a call to me
I’ll wait for you if waitin’s what you’re wanting
I’ll wait for you cause waitin’s what we do

The wise men and philosophers are vain beneath the stars
No desperate screaming point could explain away your scars
And it takes more than a lifetime to find out who you are
I’ll wait for you if waitin’s what you’re wanting
I’ll wait for you cause waitin’s what we do

You can call the clock an enemy or else a useful friend
You can blame the passing time for pointing to the end
But time’s got no ears to hear, there’s no mercy in its spin
I’ll wait for you if waitin’s what you’re wanting
I’ll wait for you cause waitin’s what we do

In the castle of your mind your the queen upon the throne
Your advisors all have left you to the bitterness you’ve shown
You once had servants at your feet but now you stand alone
I’ll wait for you if waitin’s what you’re wanting
I’ll wait for you cause waitin’s what we do

Snowy Hills of Washington

The spring rain rides the Kalama river
And floods into the town below
My heart is frozen in that winter
Where I held my love so long ago

If you learn to love another
In a brighter season still to come
Remember me your faded flower
On the snowy hills of Washington

A summer blue surrounds St. Helens
She stands so beautiful today
But just reminds me of my darling
On a different hill so far away

If you learn to love another
In a brighter season still to come
Remember me your faded flower
On the snowy hills of Washington

The autumn winds wrap at my window
But that ain’t why I lie awake
My heart is anxious for the first snow
And the sweet memories it makes

If you learn to love another
In a brighter season still to come
Remember me your faded flower
On the snowy hills of Washington

Another year by winter is covered
The great white pines point to the sky
Where I will one day meet my darling
Nevermore to leave my side

If you learn to love another
In a brighter season still to come
Remember me your faded flower
On the snowy hills of Washington

Sorrows For A Song

The skies have settled gray with worry
The summer winds are in a hurry
Some say they won’t return with empty hands
They’ll bring a rush of new beginnings
Open skies and birds-a-singing
They can lift your broken legs to stand
So hang your hopes on the last horizon
Close to the sun where it comes risin’
Warm winds they’ll soon be blowing strong
They’ll blow across the tears you cry
And whisper as they pass you by
Come and trade your sorrows for a song
Come and trade your sorrows for a song

Love’s a different form of learning
No thinking mind just a heart that’s burning
You never know what’s below it’s burned out coals
Could be the prayers from a thousand mornings
Or one desperate night of trying
To think of ways to fill your emptied soul
January won’t be remembered
Forgotten long before December
A year is just a year and that ain’t long
You’ll find a beauty to see more clearly
A hand that you can hold more dearly
Come and trade your sorrows for a song
Come and trade your sorrows for a song

Your words bow to the lords of language
Their ancient scrolls cant seem to manage
To give you lines that you haven’t heard before
You’ve read a library full of poems
You’re convinced you could’ve wrote them
There’s a secret place inside you where they’re stored
You tried to speak your purest feelings
The world found them too revealing
Now every word you say just comes out wrong
But soon the muse will kiss you softly
Say to you “it’s far too costly”
Come and trade your sorrows for a song
Come and trade your sorrows for a song

You’ve heard rumors of a foreign kingdom
Where other tortured souls found freedom
You’ll never make it there by wind or sail
It’s built upon a will so broken
Surrender is it’s royal welcome
May take you forty years before you fail
Behind your eyes there's a thousand miles
Where you once stood as a child
But you locked the final door into that dawn
You carved the key out of being lonely
But the door will open for one thing only
Come and trade your sorrows for a song
Come and trade your sorrows for a song

Talkin’ Walmart Texas Blues

I’m just another hippie from Portland town
Got my clothes at the thrift stores lost n’ found
I buy local ingredients, I don’t eat cheese
I’ve grown my hair all the way down to my knees
I’ve only been to Walmart in my nightmares

Last night I had one it wasn’t very nice
I was on a Texas highway hitchin’ for a ride
When an old diesel Chevy stopped to pick me up
They said “You hippies can ride in the back of the truck!”
“With the pigs, where you belong”

So I yelled up to the front with the wind in my face
”I gotta get to the other side of the state”
They said “Sit back hippie keep smoking your hookah”
”We ain’t gonna take you to Tuscaloosa”
”We’re kicking you out at the very next town”
”You’re gonna love that place”

Well I squealed like a pig when i saw that sign
It said “Walmart: Population 9,009”
Everything’s bigger in Texas you see
And that Walmart was bigger than the state of Tennessee
”Had its own post office, its own city hall,
its own go-cart racing track, its own nuclear missle silo,
even its own K-Mart!”

They kicked me out in front of that town
I was greeted by a lady in a long blue gown
She said ”welcome to Walmart, our prices are low”
”They’re practically free you just give your soul”
Well i must have died and gone to heaven

I walked on through the shiny glass doors
I took an elevator to the 100th floor
At the Small Business Department the elevator stopped
There I bought my very own hardware shop
Prestocked, Preowned, Preassembled.
99 dollars and 44 cents

I was so proud of my recent purchase
I figured I’d open shop back home in Kansas
But the receipts fine print it let me down
Said the shop is “Only Valid in Walmart Town”
“Aisle 1,492”

So I got on a bus and road a few miles
An hour later I was standing at the aisle
There it was “Dave’s Hardware Shop”
Across the street from “Alice’s Restaurant”
Dang they got her too.

There was a man out back with a leaf blower
I asked him if Dave was the previous owner
He said “Yeah he was open for 52 years”
”But now he’s in New Orleans bottling his tears”
Only thing Walmart can’t seem sell any more of

Right about then I was hoping it would end
When one of the blue vests showed up on my skin
Before I knew it I was working the register
And my name tag said “Walmart Manager”
Good grief.

Now many days have passed since that awful dream
I learned my lesson if you know what I mean
I’ve been to Walmart for the very last time
Now I do all my shopping Online
”Who’s running that operation?”

Highway Winds

When you’re bright-eyed and blue
And you cannot see through
All the pain and the sorrows
That world gives to you
There are angels up in heaven
Jealous of your point of view
The highway winds blow easy
On the road that carries you

When the rivers run dry
Throw their curses at the sky
Salvation is the tears
That are falling from your eyes
May the heavens shake with laughter
On the holy things you do
The highway winds blow easy
On the road that carries you

When Winter comes around
And steals the Summer’s crown
And the carnivals abandon
All those quiet country towns
You’ll be the meaning and amusement
To every place you travel through
The highway winds blow easy
On the road that carries you

When the crossroads unfold
On the straight and narrow road
And your heart cannot handle
More than one way to go
Don’t you think too much about it
Cause no matter what you choose
The highway winds blow easy
On the road that carries you