Lyrics to the album – A Damn Good Ride

04/19/2010

Track 1. - A Damn Good Ride
My head is pounding, my eyes are burning
My mind is racing, big wheels are turning.
I’m headed down the highway
Things are going my way
We’re playing down in Houston town tonight…

And it’s a long, hard road
Give it all at every show
Staring down a tunnel
At the money that I owe
But it’s a damn good ride
There’s cold Bud on ice
Playing down in Houston town tonight.

My hands are winning, my songs are spinning
I’ve been praying, Lord, ‘cause I’ve been sinning.
I’m on a roll now, long way to go now
We’re playing down in San Antone tonight…

And it’s a long, hard road
Give it all at every show
Staring down a tunnel
At the money that I owe
But it’s a damn good ride
There’s cold Bud on ice
Playing down in San Antone tonight.

and it’s a damn good ride…

SOLO

My head is pounding, my eyes are burning
My mind is racing, but I’m returning.
I’m going home now,
Little way to go now.
We’re going home to Austin town tonight.

And it’s a long, hard road
Give it all at every show
Praying that I’m gonna get
The money that I’m owed
But it’s a damn good ride
There’s cold Bud on ice
Going home to Austin town tonight.

Repeat…

Track 2 – Can’t Slow Me Down

Running low on dough
Got a ticket to the show
To see the Old Crow Medicine Boys
And I spend my dollar on a cold Bud Lager
And I jump, jump, jump for joy
When they play a little song about a Wagon Wheel
And I rock my baby around
And the words I don’t know
But me down it won’t slow
I just make a little raht da sound…

Rahd dad a dad a dad a da… etc…. (there is now way to spell this…)

Can’t slow me down
Can’t slow me down

Pay a mountain full of bills
And I hear Bob Wills
And I drink a little Mountain Dew
I don’t know until I’ve been shown
It’s the shit that we go through.
And I sing another verse
Too much like the first
With the same damned thing to say
So I write another song
And I chug right along
And wait for my next pay day

Rahd dad a dad a dad a da… etc…. (there is now way to spell this…)

and I don’t know
but I’ve been told
them Cajuns down de ole bayou
hang down by da fay do do
drinkin’ to that zydeco
and I believe it to be true
I done been to Baton Rouge.
Can’t do like dem Cajuns do
Dey drunk down there on Bourbon Rue…

Rahd dad a dad a dad a da… etc…. (there is now way to spell this…)

Can’t Slow me Down
Can’t slow me Down…

Track 3 – Let the Boys Drink Whiskey

If the stage gets cold
And my eyes fall down
And never ever open up to let the light of town in.
Let my bones lie down
Like a fallen cause
And let the ones who knew me best have a drink and write my song.

And play it on a steel string
And mourn me in a low moan.
Rosin up the morning
So the night can ring so true.
Let the band play Dixie
And let the Boys drink Whiskey.
Lay me in the ground
And host the Bonnie Blue.

So here’s to Dublin Cash
A little proof that life is fast.
The say that it aint a race
But you sure can’t finish last.
And we all grow up
And life goes on
With a little much letting go
When we oughta be holding on….

And play it on a steel string
And mourn me in a low moan.
Rosin up the morning
So the night can ring so true.
Let the band play Dixie
And let the Boys drink Whiskey.
Lay me in the ground
And host the Bonnie Blue.

…and I’ve got a woman
And she’s got a song now
And we’ll sing “Jackson” loud
And scrape for rent downtown.
For a few more months now
Then I’ll lay my dollar down
On a few square feet around
To write my songs in…
And in a long, long time
When you’re looking at my life
You’ll know I did my living right
Singing old time, AM songs…

And play it on a steel string
And mourn me in a low moan.
Rosin up the morning
So the night can ring so true.
Let the band play Dixie
And let the Boys drink Whiskey.
Lay me in the ground
And host the Bonnie Blue.

Track 4 – The Day to Day, Today

Monday morning, 7:30
I wake up and throw a dirty
Shirt upon my ever-aching back.
Still hope one day to be a star
And pay my bills with my guitar
But every morning I see that same stack
Of bills I know I should have paid
By 7:30 yesterday,
But yesterday I didn’t have the jack…
I carry all that burden on my back…

Mmm hmmm mmm
The working man’s a whiskey man
Marlboro Red and Lonestar cans
Get you through the day to day, today
And you can say its killing me
But I’m alive and I believe
I’d rather die than live another way.
That’s how I live my day to day, today.

Mmmm hmmmm mmmm hmmmm

And now I’m working hard, in Austin.
Where I pray I don’t get lost in.
Won’t let no city limit me to live that way,
No way.
The day to day, today!

And I ain’t as smart as I used to think
And I ain’t so stubborn and I ain’t naïve,
And I ain’t gonna take y’all treating me that way.
‘cause I work long and I work tired
I’ve worked hard to start a fire
And I won’t stand by ‘cause that just ain’t my way…
Its beer and bourbon, singing, serving
Sleeping less than I’m deserving
Rather play guitar than place a blame.
That’s how I live my day to day, today…

And now I’m working hard, in Austin.
Where I pray I don’t get lost in.
Won’t let no city limit me to live that way,
No way.
The day to day, today!

Track 5 – Auburn

Another night at another bar,
Drinking beer and playing my guitar
To a small crowd who talks loud
About their lives and what they’re proud of.

The small things and the little dreams
The big plans and the crazy schemes and
America and Saturdays,
Football games and, oh, the sunshine rays.

I was pretty tired, I was feeling down
I didn’t feel like singing in this same old town.
But I looked up, and I saw her, and
She had:

Chorus:

Auburn hair and Autumn Eyes.
What a smile, God what a surprise
It was at me, and she was so sweet,
And, my God, she’s beautiful.
She was 5′3″, she looked 19,
In blue jeans and a “baby tee”.
She had a high mind,
Liked the fast times,
Guitar players and their slanted rhymes.
It was right then, and
Only then that I knew…
That only time and eyes make dreams come true.

And if, someday, I’m on the big stage,
Singing about how the times have changed.
And how the world turns, and
How the kids learn
About God and America.
If I lose sight of all that’s right,
And what got me here on Friday night…
I’ll think of:

Auburn hair and Autumn Eyes.
What a smile, God what a surprise
It was at me, and she was so sweet,
And, my God, she’s beautiful.
She was 5′3″, she looked 19,
In blue jeans and a “baby tee”.
She had a high mind,
Liked the fast times,
Guitar players and their slanted rhymes.
It was right then, and
Only then that I knew…
That only time and eyes make dreams come true.

Track 6 – Can you Teach me How to Dance

The first time that I saw her on the hardwood
Her boots were skates, the floor was ice
And she was winning gold…
So I stepped up with two left feet
And told her….
I said “I wanna learn”, I guess I was feeling bold…

And I said:

Can you teach me how to dance?
Forgive me, baby, if I stumble
I’m just asking for a chance
To prove I’m more than just this humble
Chunk of coal that you see
A little time is all I need
And I can be a diamond I believe.

So I saw her every Friday at the dance hall
I learned to two step, swing and waltz across the floor.
And when I told her every move was mastered,
Well, I had to pick her jaw up off the floor…

****instrumental***

And she said:
You know there’s more to life than honky tonks?
Its something boys like you never understand.
I’ve got church on Sunday, two jobs, and a daughter
And you don’t see no diamond on my hand…
And I said:

Can you teach me how to dance?
Forgive me, baby, when I stumble
I’m just begging for a chance
To prove I’m more than just this humble
Chunk of coal that you see
A little time is all I need
And I can be a diamond I believe.

If you teach me how to dance,
I can be a diamond, I believe.

Track 7 – South Texas Blues

I guess I felt a bit exotic
With my red sideburns
And pale skin, in Laredo.
Met a damn good looking dark-haired girl
Who said, you ain’t too bad for a gringo.

We were booked next night in Dallas,
But a broke down van kept us in San Antonio
So we got drunk at the Riverwalk, like tourists,
And took pictures by the Alamo…. And I said:

Aye aye aye aye
Aye aye aye aye oh no
I’m broke in South Texas
And busted with no place to go…

So I went down to the ATM
But I was overdrawn with a $30 charging fee.
And I couldn’t use my phone,
‘cause for the second month
I didn’t pay AT and T.

But I’ve got 50 in my pocket
And I’m all strung out on trucker pills and Sudaphed
And the whiskey from the Riverwalk
Is taking my mind sound and I’m without a bed… and I sang:

Aye aye aye aye
Aye aye aye aye oh no
I’m broke in South Texas
And busted with no place to go…

And now who was that girl?
That damn good looking girl
Down in Laredo?
I wanna say Maria, but its too clichéd
Like every song by Gringos…
About South Texas… I said…
Aye aye aye aye
Aye aye aye aye oh no
I’m broke in South Texas
And busted with no place to go…

Repeat.

Track 8 – One Way Ticket

I climbed up on that plane
Leaving from a guitar town.
I kept you, baby, on my mind
And left you on the ground.

I sat up in my chair
And I wrote down your song.
I tried to make it right
For all the times I’ve done you wrong…

I got a one way ticket
Going everywhere
And no matter where I go
There’s music there
And I won’t be coming home
For quite a while.

But, one day maybe
Looking back in time,
We’re gonna laugh
About the way we tried
To make it through
And to make eachother smile….

But I’m gonna see this through
And I’m gonna pay these dues
And I’m gonna sing this song I wrote
On the radio for you…

And I’m gonna hold you tight
And we’re gonna be alright.
Tomorrow, I’m back on the road
But I’m right here tonight….
I got a one way ticket
Going everywhere
And no matter where I go
There’s music there
And I won’t be coming home
For quite a while.

But, one day maybe
Looking back in time,
We’re gonna laugh
About the way we tried
To make it through
And to make eachother smile….

I got a one way ticket
Going everywhere
And no matter where I go
There’s music there
And I won’t be coming home
For quite a while.

But, one day maybe
Looking back in time,
We’re gonna laugh
About the way we tried
To make it through
And to make eachother smile….

Track 9 – The Sand Panther Medicine Show

Well, I tried to write you a sweet song
Where I would call you “Honey”.
But, everytime I wrote it down
I sang it so damned country…

But, baby, I can’t get enough
I’m like a damned old junkie.
But I get my fix on you…

And I’ll call ya doctor
Put on your medicine show
I’m so addicted
I’m bound to overdose.
I ain’t got no more money
And I aint got no more whiskey.
But I’m kinda fixed by you.

And baby, when I’m 95
And you’re still only 94,
We’ll polish up our walking canes
And walk the hell on out the door.
We’ll fly down to the honky tonk
In a Dodge Ram Spaceship,
And I’ll fly it home for you.

And I’ll call ya doctor
Put on your medicine show
I’m so addicted
I’m bound to overdose.
I ain’t got no more money
And I aint got no more whiskey.
But I’m kinda fixed by you.

Kaw Liga was a wooden Indian
Standing by the door.
And I ain’t gonna be that Indian,
Hell no, not no more.

And I’ll call ya doctor
Put on your medicine show
I’m so addicted
I’m bound to overdose.
I ain’t got no more money
And I aint got no more whiskey.
But I’m kinda fixed by you.

Track 10 – A Long Drive Home

It’s a long drive home
To where I wanna go.
Lay the pedal to the steel,
But still, I’ve got miles left to roam
And mountains left to climb
And 27 reasons why I’m feeling
Like I’m running out of time.

But I’ll take your song
Anywhere we wanna go,
With thundering drums and understanding
The people that we’ll know
Along the way.
We’ll make our pavement the uncharted paths
The maps won’t show for many yesterdays.

And…

I ain’t saying its gonna be easy.
It ain’t like a travelling song.
Where one perfect chorus can save us
From every little verse ever gone wrong.
The drive and the show must go on.

Still, I’ll spend my time and all my cash
On “Folsom” in a jukebox and the prayer that I might last
To see another day
When your radio might play another song
That I might wanna learn to play…

I ain’t saying its gonna be easy.
It ain’t like a travelling song.
Where one perfect chorus can save us
From every little verse ever gone wrong.
The drive and the show must go on.