Rodeo club girl
Riding out in the wind, the rain, the bright sunshine
Rodeo club girl
Shaving slivers of seconds off of slivers of time
Rodeo club girl
Won’t you please ride?
Just eight seconds more,
just eight seconds more
You walk down the hall with your bottom lip full
Spit in my locker with a little bitty giggle
You got hands so deep down deep in your pockets
I think you must be touching your toes
I see you sitting in math in your Stetson hat
Pulled down over your eyes
In a dream, in a dream laid back in your saddle
In a dream, I’m laying back in mine
In your Wheeler’s bow-legged boot cut jeans
Bustin’ away at the tight inseams
That circle of chew a permanent moon
In your hand-stitched back pocket
When the gate crashed open at the Burwell rodeo
And your legs wrapped tight round the shanks
Of that sweaty big black bull
Well my heart blew up like a red balloon
That popped and shriveled when you hit too soon
You hit the ground too soon rodeo club girl
Whiskey Raise The Dead
Worked 13 days
Among the hollow men
Got to know that sumbitch bossman
Like an evil twin
Took that graveyard walk
Down the shipping dock
Dug me a hole so deep
I saw the devil winking up
Hope there’s whiskey enough to raise the dead
Whiskey enough to raise the dead
Whiskey enough to raise the dead
First drink turns each memory to gold
Second makes even yesterday
Seem a thousand years old
He sat across my table
One eye ajar
Slipping up and down her body
Like a greasy paw
I turned to bone
Deep down inside
Just a homemade skull & ribs
Out for a rattlin’ midnight ride
(Repeat CH)
Oh pull me down into the lilac honey hush
Baby, pull me down into the lilac honey hush
Pull me down into the lilac honey hush
Pull me down; pull me down, one more time
Spent 13 years
Just a sawdust ghost
Arms so limp around you
When you’re so damn close
Feeling like a spent shotgun shell
Laying in the liquor glass
Shattered all to hell
CONCERNS OF THE DAY
Go in and put your chicken slacks on
we'll run the party our way
play birdsongs on the sacred saw
'cause our way is the highway
our way is the highway
these are the concerns of the day
Whorehouse couch sits on the porch
goat stands in the driveway
cockfights in the melon patch
kick the hog nose my way
kick the hog nose my way
These are the concerns of the day
Well, the tract house girl
dragged to the riverside
fights like a tiger
as they hold her under
climbs inside a big easter lily
with a jar of homemade possum butter
well, the rest stop boy
sits in the dirty stall
carves pictures of parts of the girl he loves
climbs inside a tricked out tiger lily
with a jar of homemade possum butter
with a jar of homemade possum butter
with a jar of homemade possum butter
with a jar of homemade possum butter
These are the concerns of the day
Go in and put your chicken slacks on
we'll run the party our way
bulldog on a cardboard box
poundin' on the Steinway
poundin' on the Steinway
These are the concerns of the day
RED ROVER
You're playin' hide and seek
You're playin' little red rover
you're playin' statue tag
why don't you come on over (over...over...over...)
You're playin' duck duck goose
you're playin' pin my tail
you're playin' old grey wolf
well, you finally hit your nose your nose on the nail
And I want you to come out now
(out from behind that tree)
I want you to come on in
(come on in and surrender to me)
well, red rover red rover
bring yourself over and let me win
yeah, and let me win
you're playin' spin the bullet
you're playin' hold your breath
you're playin' pull the trigger
why don't you give it a rest
you're playin' doctor and nurse
you're playin' pin my tail
you're playin' kick the can
but y'know y'know y'know you'll fail
When I get you into my backyard baby
get you into my birthday party
get you down in the basement baby
and into my rumpus room
there'll be ollie ollie oxen free
red rover red rover pin it to me
…And let me win
COBRA NECK
Out there somewhere is her window
and beyond her velvet sleep
the waves below her house are crashing
they don't move her why should he
and I see her in the window
the party full and wild
they lift her to the ceiling
and she laughs just like any other girl
And all her boot boys throw their weight around
they give the cobra neck to me
and all her boot boys throw their weight around
they give the cobra neck to me
but I haunt the wake of her step
like a ring around the rose
like a ring around the rose
I see the downtown lights upon him
and they fall on him in dreams
the central air it tingles on my skin
and it's like he's touching me
I see him in the mirrors
of a dozen clubs downtown
he stands there half in shadow
and he shrugs when the boys stare him down
and all the boot boys throw their weight around
they give the cobra neck to him
and all the boot boys throw their weight around
they give the cobra neck to him
but he haunts the wake of my step
like a ring around the rose
he haunts the wake of my step
like a ring around the rose
like a ring around the rose...
WHAT I DO AT MIDNIGHT
Well, the clock it ticks a little slower each day
and the night comes hunchin' in
like a bad salesman
and I watch my self turn 32
in the reflection in my wingtip shoes
and I wait for the light to turn blue
which it always does
(turns blue)
which it always will
(turns blue)
I cross zero street to you
well, there's no more use in crawlin'
yeah, there's no more use in beggin' you
no more use in sniffin' round your door
i got a pocket full of shiny dimes
and the neon makes me look just fine
now you know what i do at midnight
now you know just what i do at midnight
well, the face on the clock's not nearly as sad as mine
I wanted to wait, but I need just a little more time
I need some to waste
I need some to burn
some to erase
I need some to yearn for
my heart it beats a little slower each day
and still I go walkin' out
just like the duke of earl
?
'cause she's so fine
in this light she damn near shines
and I wait for the light to turn blue
which it always does
(turns blue)
which it always will
(turns blue)
I cross zero street to you
The Mercy Of The Night
I get this feeling when the night is unreeling
A snake out from under the nice cool rocks
My hands on your belly like I wanna be here
But if I could slip through a crack no matter how narrow
In the side of this house I’d be on my way
Sugar, the lightning’s like strings on a puppet
I feel them movin’ me like the moon moves the waves
Sugar, the sunflowers heavy headed and stooped down
That’s how I feel when I fall into bed
I wanna do cartwheels On the heels of a rainstorm
And throw myself on the will of the night
I’ll throw myself on the mercy of the night
Til it throws me back to you
I’d live in a teacup in Fairbanks Alaska
And head on south when it fills up with snow
Sleep in a tarbox in North Platte, Nebraska
And go straight to hell when they tell me to go
But here I sit on the edge of this desert
Watchin’ the wild things come out of their holes
They whine and they scratch and they snarl at the darkness
But they go on about it ‘cause it’s what they know
Sugar, the lightning’s like strings on a puppet
I feel them move me like the moon moves the waves
Sugar, the sunflowers heavy headed and stooped down
That’s how I feel when I fall into bed
I wanna do cartwheels On the heels of a rainstorm
And throw myself on the will of the night
I’ll throw myself on the mercy of the night
Til it throws me back to you
The Wheels
By now
My grieving lover
Don’t you know
It’s all for sale
Little white coffin
Stumbles down the road
The rain
Halfway up the wheels
By now
My grieving lover
Can’t you see me
Through this haze
Little old eyesore
To whom you were promised
The rain splashes off his heels
Too much sun will kill the orchard
Too much rain will drown the heard
I sit in the water and wish for fire
Sit in the fire and watch it rain
By now
My grieving lover
Can’t you see
I’m bitter sad
Little white slippers on the headboard
Waiting for my swollen feet
By now
My grieving lover
Don’t you know
It’s all for sale
Little white coffin
Stumbles down the road
The rain
Halfway up the wheels
All song C&P 2002
All rights reserved, all wrongs revenged
