Stony Plain, 1992, SPCD1181
What's Going On (M. McDonald)
You're a girl of many mysteries is it my duty to solve them
You don't want to talk about it am I a part of the problem
Well I feel inclined while you look so down
Why do you smile whenever I frown
Why do you stay whenever I go So tell me
What's going on cuz I don't know
What's going on cuz I don't know
What's going on cuz I don't know
Well I said I'd change my life, my mind, my place, my socks for you
And I don't even care if you'd do those things too
I like it how you are but you change so much
I like it on my own but I need a crutch
And your my handicap as far as golf scores go So tell me
Chorus
I won't bore you with silly prose
You've probably seen your share of those
And I've written my share of mine
But if you've got the time
I'd like you to read between the lines
Forget the metaphors of summertime
For that matter any old clime
Tell me you'll give me give me give me give me some time
Well we could go on together if you'd just give the nod
Nobody has to know, we'll answer only to God
Well I said I'd quit drinking... I doubt that's true
But I can't be me unless I got you
My friends are talking fast but to me their brains are slow
So tell me
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
God Is Not My Father (M. McDonald)
There's a church that only one can fit into, only one can subscribe to the creed
The laws were laid down by others long ago, but they only fulfill general needs
There's a church that contains all the answers only one can constitute the host
Autonomous pursuits, autonomous decisions, in this church there are no ghosts
In this church there are no ghosts
God is not my Father, but Jesus is my brother
And He only wanted us to love one another
God is not my Father, but Jesus is my brother
And He only wanted us to love one another
There is no specific worshipping day, it's a church of thought
It's a church where idolatry gets you nowhere and forgiveness is not easily bought
It's a church that isn't tax free, entry involves more than footsteps
A genuine desire to be there is needed and once there the feeling is kept
And once there the feeling is kept
Chorus
© 1984 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Better Youth ASCAP
Rhythm of the Rain (P. McDonald)
Swirling clouds in an ominous sky, breeze carries voices from my past
And I never question why because the answers come too fast
And the wind sings out my pain to the rhythm of the rain
So bear the brunt of your venomous hate, sometimes you treat me like a fool
But it's an image you create and then you say that I am cruel
And the wind sings out my pain to the rhythm of the rain
I can see the rolling thunder travelling across the land
Fear is the tireless hunter we may never understand
Heavy mist unyielding as my heart so forever I'll remain
Playing out my part in the rhythm of the rain
And the wind sings out my pain
I can feel it once again
So forever I'll remain
In the rhythm of the rain
In the rhythm of the rain
In the rhythm of the rain
In the rhythm of the rain
© 1988 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
Try Again (D.M. Brown, M. McDonald)
Lower me into your water let me come inside
Let's find a place where danger is where both of us can hide
We're at the edge of a risque pool someplace where no one really cares
I want you in all my nicest dreams I want you tangled in my hair
Sometimes days go by without a word
Sometimes I think sentimental and it makes me feel absurd
How many times can we survive anger and pain
That's up to speculation looks like we're gonna try again
Always on trial in front of others, it seems they want to eat our hearts
Let's ignore advice from people who think they know and miss each other when we're apart
Well I'm not Dylan and I'm not Shakespeare, you're not Ann-Margaret you're not Joan of Arc
Just nameless heroes in some old car looking for a place where we can park
Chorus
Who knows what it all means
Just as long as we're not making someone else's scene
We can get by as we are
As long as we don't lose the keys to our old car
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN, Spittoon Songs SOCAN and Stecrephenalistic SOCAN
Rubbing My Knees (M. McDonald)
Well it was kind of precocious and I acknowledged it too
Sang expiallidocious while two-stepping to all your tunes
And now I'm playing in left field and tripping over my feet
You get the thrill of victory I get the agony of defeat
It's like every time I keep my mouth shut
Every time I look at you
Every time I go the distance
Every time you ask me to
You got me sleeping eight hours you got me rubbing my knees
And I remember my manners after you, welcome, thank you, oh God, please
I shed most of my possessions I shed my socks and my skin
I left my keys at the Goddamned door just to make sure I could get in
Chorus
A stolen heart is a horrible crime
Cuz now I'm confused most of the time
And I feel deaf, dumb and blind
I come home early to be the first one in line
You got me over a barrel
You got me saying please
And every time I wake up
Every time I wake up
And every time I wake up
Rubbing my knees
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
Just the Other Day (M. McDonald)
You could hardly call it sublime, but it was a pretty good time
She was resplendent in her fashion, although she lacked that certain passion
And I was such a keener for the lifestyle that had weaned her
It was such a different scene, and we tried to grow up mean
And I met her in Alberta but I never uttered a word of
The feelings that I had even when I felt real bad
Cuz things were so contrary teenage years are scary
Experience was nil and I see her still
In the bars and the libraries and the wars and bowls of cherries
And the poetry of ages and the rosemaries and the sages
And the wheat and wind and dirges, through the prairies and the urges
And the clumsiness of youth and the wisdom of the truth
And I was thinking just the other day
Was it fun, was it dumb, was it right?
Guess I'll get a case of beer looks like I'm gonna be up all night
It was neat and almost forgotten quite like Johnny Rotten
All the punkers drank their fill and they puked on the windowsill
Of a blurry unwritten future while splitting all the sutures
Of a past tattooed with pain impossible to explain
And it took about forty full moons and a hundred thousand sad tunes
And a million barricades and a bad version of purple haze
To lift the rusty visor of the jaded knight inside her
So she could see the starting gun and then her life went on the run
Chorus
I tried to stay behind her but the slipstream was a sidewinder
And I tripped on an ideal and my heart burned and peeled
So I collected my resources and I ate about seven courses
Of a dozen bad mistakes served on silver plates
And she lived happily ever after and I got lost in the laughter
Emitted by the stream of an adolescent dream
And I wound up in the alley where the broken hearts would rally
Against a world of hurt although we ate it for desert
And so I lost her in Alberta and since then I never heard of
Her vision or her light or her blindness or her night
Me I'm parallel with danger now that she's become a stranger
I gotta laugh when it hits the surface... thank God the past can't find a purchase....
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
What a Great Day (M. McDonald)
If you gotta be here don't make it too long
Don't want to be a part of a radio song
We sectioned off the junk, we dusted it off
So don't expect pious or a man of the cloth
You want to say something but something is nothing right now.
If you gotta be here please make it brief
I don't want this to go beyond belief
If you got a ride well you better go catch it
In about three minutes I'll be way too pathetic
I want to say something but something is nothing right now.
What a great day can you feel that wind a'blowin'
What a great day can you hear that crow a'crowin'
What a great day I could tell from the first omen it was a
It was a really great day
If you want to talk just leave me a note
Cuz I know all of your speeches by rote
You put in a nickel you put in a dime
I'd take two cents but there's no more time
We invested and I lost and that's nothing to me right now.
What I love is not what I see
Why is she doing what she's doing to me
This is my house it certainly ain't hers
But she never did put too much value on words.
If you gotta come here wait till I leave
I just can't act like one of the bereaved
Just take your shoes off at the door
And don't you touch my booze like I told you before
Quit hanging onto something because something is nothing right now.
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
Where the Hell Are You (M. McDonald)
You promise me the stars you act like a satellite
I gotta hang around in bars you stick it out till the morning light
I sing you a song you act like it's just something that I do
If I'm supposed to be in heaven where the hell are you.
I change your flat tire and you give me the creeps
And I'm feeling kind of nervous cuz I know I'm gonna see you in two weeks
You seem kind of detached when i just want to stick like glue
If I'm supposed to be in heaven where the hell are you.
You make a strong impression and I see stars
And I can't tell you how it feels to see you behind the wheel of your car.
I want to see you in three dimensions you want to see me when you want
I'm not much of a veteran you're not much of a debutante
Well I'd bungy jump off the High Level Bridge only because you asked me to
If I'm supposed to be in heaven where the hell are you.
Chorus
I look into your eyes you see right through my head
I can't seem to sleep you can't seem to get out of bed
And I just can't seem to get out of the things you seem to get into
If I'm supposed to be in heaven where the hell are you.
If I'm supposed to be in heaven where the hell are you.
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
1000 Miles to Go (M. McDonald, C. Smith)
There's a honky smiling Jasper with his fingers in the blizzard sky
Calling our names in alphabetical order
On this road you sleep lightly cuz sometimes it's interrupted
With a reality beyond imagination
We still got a thousand miles to go
We still got a thousand miles to go
So keep right of the center line, try hard to make real good time
And make sure you keep both hands on the wheel
Cuz when you drive right into glory each piece of glass will tell you
On this road there aren't that many rules
Chorus
Eighteen wheels shining ghostly white
I was trying to find the absent moon
Eighty tons of twisted steel
We've got a date with fate real soon
Then all the windows popped like balloons
Chorus
Now there's a frowning Jasper and as we drive away
We can all feel his hand on our shoulder
All the flares have fizzled out now as we ride into the day
And not one of us was feeling any older
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN, Spittoon Songs SOCAN and Killing Time Productions SOCAN
Annie Get Your Gun (D.M. Brown)
I've been working my whole life here but I still ain't got a job
And I'm too proud to beg, but girl I ain't too proud to rob
And you're not scared to kill
Annie get your gun, I know it's kind of dangerous
Annie get your gun, and we'll buy ourselves from happiness
Annie get your gun
You and me bring the bacon home tonight
If we keep living on this way, we're both bound to starve
You can do the killing Annie, me I'll drive the car
We'll run so far
Chorus
We'll be like Bonnie and Clyde
Except we'll both get out alive, get out alive
When we steal a million dollars we'll go down to Mexico
And buy ourselves a farm where we can watch the family grow
We'll call it home
Chorus
Annie get your gun
Annie get your gun
Annie get your gun
© 1984 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Stecrephenalistic SOCAN
Bandage My Chin (C. Smith)
Well I saw her at sunrise at the edge of town
I was calling her name but she never turned 'round
Well my darling rode off on her pony at dawn
I never felt so good for doing so wrong
I was drinking all night Tanqueray Gin
I was doing alright 'til the floor hit my chin
And when I got home she was already gone
I never felt so good for doing so wrong
A young woman in love is easy to please
But a drunken old fool just ain't what that girl needs
I never felt so good for doing so wrong
But I'll find a woman that is twice as strong
No lectures required just please bandage my chin
And I'll flood out the pain with Tanqueray Gin
I never felt so good for doing so wrong
Well I sent her to freedom I sent her to hope
I know that my love was a noose on a rope
I tied each of those knots with a bottle in hand
Maybe one day she'll understand
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Killing Time Productions SOCAN
Beat Me to the Door (M. McDonald)
There was a time when full sentences dominated our conversation
But now we seem so obsessed with shallow abbreviations
And mine and your demeanour ain't seeming very smart
We ought to show forgiveness but can't remember how to star
But it wouldn't take a PhD to enable us to see
We made a real big mess upon our floor
The cliches have got us wired we can't quit because we're fired
Well you didn't leave me baby, you just beat me to the door
There was a time I can recall when love ruled our world
Now we face off with marching drums and battle flags unfurled
And I guess you know me very well you know right where it hurts
It used to be so damned alive but now it's just inert.
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Spittoon Songs SOCAN
March Into Jerusalem (D.M. Brown)
We'll march into Jerusalem, Jesus, John and me
Well we packed up the cases and we loaded the van
Just like fugitives running from a one night stand
There's no heroes left to put in the fight
So we're running on empty through the middle of the night.
I hear the roar of the engine, and the grinding of the gears
But it's the thunder of the wrecking ball that's ringing in my ears
I can't see through the fog, I can't see through the lies
But I've been staring at the headlights like I'm looking in your eyes.
And they say it'll get easier to take
And that a heart needs time to break
I'm still behind the wrecking ball
But I know one day we'll meet
On the shores of the Galilee
And we'll march into Jerusalem, Jesus, John and me
I see the wrecking ball fly as the walls are coming down
I still hear the trumpet sounding as they tumble to the ground
I spent my whole life sleeping at Gethsemane
And now I hear somebody crying God I wish it was me
Chorus
There could be blood on the roadside or blood in my hands
I've been counting all the criminals nobody's gonna hang
The Manitoba border's just an hour away
And I'm still behind the wrecking ball that's where I'm gonna stay
Chorus
© 1992 Stony Plain Music SOCAN and Stecrephenalistic SOCAN
... guest starring Kathryn Rose, vocals
Like its predecessor, Too Dumb to Quit, this album features new renditions of a few songs that previously appeared on Folk You: The Guido Sessions.
Also worth noting: the videos of Rhythm of the Rain and Where the Hell Are You appeared on a CD ROM video compilation by The San Francisco Canyon Company (which no longer exists, so the link is to Download Recordings, which is now handling the downloadable video. (Thanks to Mark Florence and Nels Johnson for the info.)
Copyright Steve Roby, 1995.
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