Lyrics & Song Stories

GARFIELD AVENUE

Lyrics

MOST ANY OTHER PLACE

I’ve got an old gray beard that’s a couple of inches long

My hair hangs down to the middle of my back

I drive a ’65 VW campmobile with a split windshield

I’m poor but it’s only money that I lack

I park my home at a rest stop now and then

I sing songs for gasoline and bite to eat

Some people stare, some turn away, but I make lots of friends

I have all I need to make my life complete

Then I wake up in a crowded office space

I sold my soul for a steady paper chase

I’ve got deadlines and worry lines carved across my face

And I’d rather be most any other place

I smoke grass, but only for medicinal reasons

I mainly get high on mountains that I climb

I open all my van windows wide so I can feel the seasons

Nobody tells me how to spend my time

And then I wake up in a carpeted plastic cube

This office space interrupts my fantasy groove

I’ve got deadlines and worry lines carved across my face

And I’d rather be most any other place

I finally figured out what really matters

But I surrendered to society long ago

I’ve got bills to pay, and roles to play, and responsibilities

I was drawn into a web of lies, now it won’t let me go

I spend all my days just rollin’ down the highway

Living life the way that life was meant for me

At nighttime when I make my bed underneath the sky

My lullaby is just knowing that I’m free

SIDEWAYS THEOLOGIAN

He’s just a sideways theologian, he don’t have all the answers

He just has all the wonder, and he wonders

If the peace of the Lord be with you, then the peace should bring the hope

And the sky should turn to golden and the water rush in

He knows creation is groaning, longing, longing

For the great act of salvation, the divine embrace

So he does all of his have-to’s, and avoids all of his shouldn’t’s

And he minds the youth and monitors the language

And the spirit is buried underneath the cold hard grip

Of righteousness and all the right thinking

So he always looks for a reason just to get up in the morning

Conquering the angel in his sleep

What about this grace he hears of pulling toward a higher light

Pulling out of the weight of mediocrity

NO DOUBT

There’s a fan on the ceilin’ in my living room

It can turn low, it can turn fast

It’s got five different speeds, to meet all of my needs

And a written guarantee it’s gonna last

In the summer when I sweat, I sit right under it

And I don’t move until it cools me down

It’s just a personal convenience I can’t live without

And God wants me to have it, no doubt

There’s a new car in my driveway for the world to see

It can go slow, it can go fast

It’s a luxury SUV, it set me back 80 g’s

And it goes 13 miles on a gallon of gas

On the weekend when I’m bored, I drive it into town

And I smile when I see heads turn around

It’s just a badge of affirmation I can’t live without

And God wants me to have it, no doubt

God wants me to prosper, and always to believe

That everything I pray for I’ll receive, praise the Lord

There’s a woman waitin’ just for me when I come home

She can move slow, she can move fast

She’s got all the right stuff, and she can’t get enough

Of my love, she needs my touch

When we go out at night, she wears her clothes real tight

And all the other guys think I’m so tough

She’s just my little ego booster I can’t live without

And God wants me to have her, no doubt

God wants me to prosper, no doubt

‘Cause it’s all about me, no doubt

OUT OF MY MIND

Hands in my pocket on a Saturday night, my feet of the sidewalk

I’m all strung out of losing and lonely, cause baby you’re nowhere in sight

I’ve got a certain song going round in my head, couldn’t place it or tell you the tune

My heart is breaking like a record is shattered

Standing beneath a dying yellow moon

Did you forget me standing lonely, did you forget I would always be here

Do you remember the way I said your name, do you ever feel the weight of the years

And it must be that you’re still better than me at losing what you don’t want to find

Cause you’re out on your own and you don’t seem to miss me

But I can’t get you out of my mind

Girl I always loved that blue dress you bought on vacation last May

Dancing like a star on a dark Texas night, you know you took my breath away

But now I’m the fool who’s all wrapped up in blue, can’t forget what your silence said

Cause it speaks so loud to the face in the mirror

It’s driving me right out of my head

FORGOTTEN HIGHWAY

We were travelin’ light, never mindin’ the sight

Of Abilene disappearin’ behind us

On U.S. Highway 83, just beginnin’ to get free

From the 8 to 5 routine tryin’ to bind us.

Then we made a left turn where the past returns

Hopin’ to find out just where we come from

And on the highway that’s the best, we began to motor west

From Texas to the California sun

And we sat cross-legged on a saggy bed

In a run-down motel room

On the lonely dark edge of a forgotten highway

We never made much money but we sang our songs

For the sake of the simple truth

On the lonely dark edge of that forgotten highway

The interstate takes less time, but it’s got no rhyme

‘Cause you’re goin’ too fast to read the roadside poetry

So take any exit down to that two-lane hallowed ground

And learn a lesson from yesterday’s wayside prophecy

We slept in a concrete teepee, we stopped at a curio shop,

And we bought a t-shirt at the Petrified Forest

And we talked about war and politics with the man behind the counter

At an old motel he said was built by his father

Now we’re losin’ our minds, wastin’ all our time

Holdin’ jobs that lose the love for the sake of the letter

When we just want to be free to sing about what we see

And to break the chains of every prisoner’s fetter

And we sat cross-legged on a saggy bed

In a run-down motel room

On the lonely dark edge of a forgotten highway

We never made much money but we sang our songs

For the sake of the simple truth

On the lonely dark edge of that forgotten highway

We never made much money but we sang our songs

For the sake of the simple truth

On the lonely dark edge of that forgotten highway

On the lonely dark edge of that forgotten highway

HIGHWAY 10

Highway 10, heading out to far West Texas

Highway 10, through El Paso and Las Cruces

Highway 10, not much out there in the distance

So I fly right on by Deming’s motel row

And ol’ Lordsburg can’t tell me nothin’ I don’t know

On to Tucson, another 150 more miles or so

Highway 10, let me take your lonely journey once again

Highway 10, stretching out through Arizona

Highway 10, destination California

Highway 10, can’t you feel my wheels upon you

Burnin’ up my tires beneath the desert sky

Lookin’ back to see the towns I’m passing by

I feel so good I wonder why this car don’t fly

Highway 10, meditatin’ on the waitin’ of my friends

Highway 10, moving through San Bernadino

Highway 10, rolling South of Pasadena

Highway 10, been so long since I have seen ya

And I long to be there on a summer night

Lookin’ out upon an old familiar sight

Takin’ rest just gazin’ on the city light

Highway 10, take me back to where your pavement finally ends

Give me comfort in the company of friends

GRAY SKIES

Gray skies, autumn winds, my favorite time of year,

Quiet evenings, lonely nights, I wish you were here.

I walk alone into the night, I watch the clouds above,

I think about you, and how I love you, the wonder of our love.

People passing outside my window, cars go rollin’ by,

I’m so lonely here without you, a grown man shouldn’t cry.

When you’re without me what are you thinkin’, does my love fill your heart?

Do you always love me only, even when we’re apart?

Gray skies, autumn winds, my favorite time of year,

Quiet evenings, lonely night, I wish you were here.

GALLUP

You’ve walked this footbridge every day

The black lava flow is home to your feet

The road reclines in both directions

The sun reaches down to darken your cheek

Your new life is marching in from the East

You fought and lost with final defeat

They still take your land and buy your shoes

All the while your ground is drying underfoot

Sister lives on your reservation

Brother left with grander vision

Father fights and dies every minute

Mother called you forsaken

The rusted shells of metal you billow past

Forgotten by the dreams of the young men

Past the cracked adobe against majestic forms

It’s all your children ever will know

The dark clouds are trying to give you rain

Out where the sky rests on your mountain

You’re stirring up the dust on a warm day

It’s coming down, we’re living the great divide

HOMELESS IN HAWAII

I’m getting’ on a jet plane in the mornin’

Got a one-way ticket in my hand

I hear there’s a lot of homeless people out in Hawaii

Maybe one of them will understand

I’m livin’ someplace right next door to nowhere

The job I do is driving me insane

It pays the bills but leaves my poor heart cold and empty

I might as well be standin’ out in the rain

I can sing my songs out on the sidewalks

The tourists will throw me dollar bills and dimes

Just enough to buy a beer, some pretzels, and a sandwich

And to live my life on my own time

Hawaii’s about 3,000 miles away

It’s not far enough, but it’ll do

My little world is closin’ in and I know I can’t stay

If I don’t get on that jet plane my life will be through

The winter wind cuts me like a razor

The summer sun just boils my brain away

I’m gonna find that eternal springtime

In my t-shirts, shorts, and sandals

And live out on the beach every night and day

YOUNGER DAYS WELL DONE

The world is coming down like a Sunday matinee

Things aren't like they were when we were young

I've come back to this place to have my final say

To should out all the songs that I once sang

The churches and the schools and the old drive in's still the same

Our restaurant is still up  on the hill

And John I've got the table by the door

The wine is poured, the places set, it's you I'm waiting for

We'll lift a glass to younger days well done

Please don't say you've lost the long way home

The summer sun was late the last time we shook hands

Our college days were two roads out of town

But we swore to make it back no matter what our plans

To celebrate another fortune found

But how our work and families and our lives take all our time

The promises of youth are hard to find

The candle's burned away and the bottle's nearly gone

The words to our old song have lost their rhyme

One day I'll return on another trip along

Perhaps a later year a better time

The waiter brings the trays out as the crowd is winding down

Another hand is reaching for the chair

BUT WE DON'T

I got cobwebs in the corners, where the four walls meet the ceilin’

And I guess I ought to sweep ‘em, but I won’t

They make a real good metaphor of how my mind is thinkin’

And I guess I ought to care more, but I don’t

There’s dust upon the desktop where I scribble out some lyrics

And I hope they’ll make a difference, but they won’t

They just lie there getting dustier, safely hidin’ from the critics

And I guess I ought to try more, but I don’t

There’s a man standin’ on a corner, holdin’ a piece of cardboard

A sign that says “please help me,” but most people won’t

Through the window I hand him a dollar, and he says “God bless you brother”

And I wonder could I do more, but I don’t

So I count my many blessings, and I go about my business

Hopin’ things will get better, but they won’t

‘Cause the poor keep getting’ poorer while the rich get even richer

And I wish I had an answer, but I don’t

I watch you leave every morning, and I wait for you each evening

Hopin’ we’ll be together, but we won’t

The days all pass so quickly now, we forget our good intentions

And we vow to find time later, but we don’t

So we let our life just slip by and pretend we have forever

Hopin’ everything will work out, but it won’t

And we look for any reason good enough to stay together

Cause we almost love each other, but we don’t

LET ME KNOW

Let me lie down in green grass

Let me have some times to pass

Let me be free for just a day

Let the time go slowly

Let me watch the sky above

Let me spend a day with the one I love

Let me feel the wind a blowin’

Let me see her warm eyes glowin’

Let me know her love is just for me

Let me hold her hand in mine

Let me see her soft hair shine

Let me know she’ll one day stay with me

Let us talk for hours

Let us have some peace of mind

Let us share all the love that we can find

Let us give each other

All the love we have inside

Let’s tell the world we’ve nothing here to hide

SECOND SIGHT

Allison got married in a chapel in the woods, her parents had to park a mild away

They say she looked so pretty and the preacher made it good

I knew she'd always wanted it that way

Driving with the top down on an April Saturday, magnolias spinning in the fading light

We'd head down to the quarter for some jazz and efoufee

A night in New Orleans would do us right

The southern stars have led me all the way to second sight

You can't reverse the past or second guess hard left from right

But even so I try to find the place where I went wrong

So please forgive the timing of my song, but I finally understand where I belong

Allie had her baby boy on the 15th of July, a week before her daughter's first birthday

She called her new son "Daniel" like the song that made her cry

We held hands while the record used to play

Chicken and church picnics and the Mississippi moon, and homemade peach ice cream on my birthday

But dreams are made to waken when the fear gets in too soon

I left a note before I walked away

Allie talks to Jesus every Sunday afternoon, asks Him to protect her family

In sickness and in health with hand-me-downs and silver spoons

As long as they're together finally

Most stories have nice endings where the hero gets to stay  in castles built for other an to live

But long-lost love is gone for good when a man throws it away

Like yesterday's advice on how to give

PRETEND PROMISES

She stares down at her knittin’, he looks up at TV

In different chairs they’re sittin’, not even in close proximity

They make no conversation, they let the silence fall

Like the darkness on the longest night of all

They used to try to make it, but all they did was fake it

Then the kids were born, and the debt piled up

Then they were openly disagreein’

About what each other thought they were needin’

They had to admit they had always been drinkin’ from an empty cup

Now they’ve got the four walls, they’ve got the ceilin’

To stare at from the bed where they’ve got no feelin’

It’s all just a masquerade, a sad April Fool’s parade

Of all the pretend promises they never should have made

They both grew up never knowin’ how to know how to feel

So they both just had to guess about what is worst and what is best

They made a quick decision that took them far too long

And they found out truth is more than right or wrong

You can cry for them, you can cry for yourself

You can cry for the wedding rings on display on a pawn shop shelf

You can cry for the children who make the same mistakes

As the ones their parents already made

And yet they stay together, like it’s supposed to be

But they just can’t shake the feelin’ their love is a lie everyone can see

They tell themselves they’re livin’, but they died long ago

When they sold their souls to be stars in a silent picture show

CHURCH OF THE PARADISE CHILDREN

We lived on an island out at Hanalei Bay, bonfires in the evening, sun and surfing all day

But every weekend on Sunday we'd grab our kids and guitars, singing praises to Jesus, the sun and moon and the stars

At the church of the Paradise Children

Everyone is welcome to get in the groove

At the church of the Paradise Children

Come and feel the Holy Spirit move

We cleared the sand for a campfire, we built our houses in tress

Traded corporate lifestyles for a coconut breeze

Come see my photograph album, a life beneath cellophane

Here's how we spread our aloha, here's how we dealt with our pain

I loved my friends and my freedom, I loved my VW van

Until thy came and removed us, we loved our own fellow man

DREAMS I'LL NEVER KNOW

Song Stories

WEATHERMAN

West-central Texas is a perfect place to live for a constant observer of the weather like Ed.  As the old saying goes, "if you don't like the weather in Abilene, just wait five minutes."  Ed particularly enjoys watching thunderstorms develop during the spring months.  One spring afternoon as he was watching storm clouds forming, it occurred to him that what he was observing served as a very likely metaphor for, pardon the pun, "stormy" relationships.  WEATHERMAN is the song that resulted from his musings.

THE ONLY SOUND

How often do we think we're running toward the new when we're really just running away from the old, or just running away?  THE ONLY SOUND was inspired by someone Jenni knew who moved to Abilene from Austin, TX.  He had a sad soul and it seemed he thought he had discovered what he was looking for in moving, only to find he had brought his loneliness with him.  Only after the song was written did Jenni realize he had actually come from San Antonio.  Oops!  Such is life!

LOST GENERATION (The New London Song)

New London, Texas is very near Tyler, Texas, and Tyler, Texas is where Cole spent his formative years.  LOST GENERATION  commemorates the 1937 explosion of the school in New London.  Almost 300 children died that day after an undetected gas leak was ignited.  It was that very incident that led to the introduction of odor into natural gas.

FAIRYTALE

Ed is forever fascinated by the frequent disparity between what appears to be and what really is - a seemingly perfect relationship that suddenly splits, apparent career success that takes an unexpected dive, and well-constructed deceptions that promise heaven but deliver hell.  Fairytales present themselves in many guises, but they have one thing in common - they all tell a story that can never come true.

CYNTHIA ANN PARKER had a beautiful and tragic life.  As a young girl at Fort Parker, Texas, she was captured in a raid and taken to live with a Comanche tribe.  She embraced her new life, grew up, married, and had three children.  When she was 35 years old she was captured again (along with her daughter) and taken to live with her family of origin.  She was told her two sons would be brought to her, but of course she never saw them again.  After several attempts to flee to her family, she began a hunger strike and is said to have died of a broken heart.  Jenni was touched by her story after reading about her at Frontier Texas in Abilene.  Her life is a reminder to us all of the destruction that hatred of our fellow beings brings.

SHE JUST HAPPENS TO LOVE ME

Human nature tends to think love includes entitlement, as if loving someone, or being loved by someone, implies ownership.  Au contrare - love, if it is really love, must be freely given and freely received.  Otherwise, it is nothing more than a device used to obligate and manipulate someone into a kind of forced emotional servitude.  Love frees both the giver and the receiver of love.  This inspired Ed to write SHE JUST HAPPENS TO LOVE ME.

MONTECATINI

The beginnings of MONTECATINI were written on a plane ride back from Italy.  Jenni is a people-watcher by nature, and when she travels she always watches and wonders about the people she sees.  Sometimes it can become a trance-like experience - watching and wondering, sound and time almost stop.  But for the people around, the hustle and bustle continue, and they walk right by without even seeing you.

SMALL TOWN SARA

In downtown Kerrville, Texas there's a tiny cafe where Sara greets you, seats you, takes your order, cooks your food, buses the table, and runs the register.  Cole was inspired to write SMALL TOWN SARA after he, Dan McGregor, and Greg Young enjoyed pizza ala Sara during a trip to the Kerrville Folk Festival.

TWO-LANE ROAD

Ed wrote TWO-LANE ROAD long ago when he was in college.  He had lost the song until one day while driving and dreaming on a two-lane road, he thought "That would make a good song subject.  Hey, I've already written that."

INFAMY was inspired during one of Cole's trips to Hawaii.  It marks a tragic day in world history, and explores a moment in a life affected by that day.