1973 (Life on The High Seas)

Tom Robertson

Wood paneled walls 1973
Belinda took his hand years before in The Bowery
Lined their pockets with hard work, prayer, dust and soot
And time stood still son, ‘til the kids were underfoot

Life on the high seas, and in the undertow...

Davey landed a job, a cook with The Merchant Marines
Travelled far and wide, boy, left the home and family

Life on the high seas, and in the undertow
Constant changes was all they’d know
Constant changes was all they’d know

Belinda buried their first born, on the side of a hill in the pouring rain
Davey returned to the news, son, shattered in pain

Life on the high seas, and in the undertow
Constant changes was all they’d know
Constant changes was all they’d know

Old shoes and walkin’ blues, Belinda lost the will to go on
And in the darkness of the deep sea, Davey would sing her this song

Life on the high seas, and in the undertow
Constant changes was all they’d know
Constant changes was all they’d know
Constant changes was all they’d know

Wood paneled walls, 1973

Down South

Thomas Earl Petty

Headed back down south
Gonna see my daddy's mistress
Gonna buy back her forgiveness
Pay off every witness

One more time down south
Sell the family headstones
Drag a bag of dry bones
Make good on my back loans

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

Sleep late down south
Look up my former mentors
Live off yankee winters
Be a landlord and a renter

Create myself down south
Impress all the women
Pretend I'm Samuel Clemens
Wear seersucker and white linens

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

Spanish moss down south
Find the heroes of my childhood
Who now can do me no good
Carve their names in Dogwood

Chase a ghost down south
Spirits cross the dead fields
Mosquitoes hit the windshield
All documents remain sealed

So if I come to your door
Let me sleep on your floor
I'll give you all I have
And a little more

I'll give you all I have
And a little more

Hacienda Santa Rosa

Tom Robertson

Hacienda Santa Rosa
On the edge of a ravine
Visit twice they’ll never know ya
Visit once you’ll never leave

Out back in a run down shack
Those Cajun queens will see ya through
But steer clear of the door in the floor
That’s where the workers pay their dues

Hacienda Santa Rosa
Where the winds and the mountains meet
Stay clear of those white lines
The roads and the costs are mighty steep

Named for a pretty girl from Lima
Ah, the Good, the Pure, the True
Hacienda Santa Rosa
Far from the streets of old Peru

Hacienda Santa Rosa
Where the winds and the mountains meet
Stay clear of those white lines
The roads and the costs are mighty steep

Named for a pretty girl from Lima
Ah, the Good, the Pure, the True
Hacienda Santa Rosa
Far from the streets of old Peru

Hacienda Santa Rosa
Where the winds and the mountains meet
Stay clear of those white lines
The roads and the costs are mighty steep

Named for a pretty girl from Lima
Ah, the Good, the Pure, the True
Yeah, Hacienda Santa Rosa
Far from the streets of old Peru

Yeah, Hacienda Santa Rosa
Far from the streets of old Peru

Lonely & Silent

Tom Robertson

It's lonely and silent
On the banks of The River Charles
And out past the broken down farms
Ponderosas burn from it all

The boredom queens kick the can
Best to hike up your long, long slacks
And let the blood run down your arms
From the tattoos of Johnny Cash

Ohhhhhhh, nooooo
I can't climb that hill right now
The pastor's screams and parishioner's dreams
Share the weight that broke the bough

Ohhhhhhh, nooooo
We won't make it before dawn
The pauper's hat is full of dirt and coal
And the calluses of work undone

It's lonely and silent
In the pocket beneath the stairs
Squatter's rights for the junkie’s nights
Peyote fueled nightmares

Somewhere out along the highway
East of the Northern Line
Hitchhikers take their chances
After gamblin’ and doin’ time

Ohhhhhhh, nooooo
They haven't been to the valley below
Cracks in plaster above her bed
Mark the time while the lanterns glow

Ohhhhhhhh, nooooo
He didn't wake to the sound of her voice
Acrobats fly through the air
She said she had no choice

Widow’s Walk

Tom Robertson

We pushed off from the shores and the docks of old Gloucester
With our head set on riches, an empty belly today
Our shipmates a-plenty, headed north through cold waters
With our lines out to Halifax, crows nest holds its sway

So forgive me sweet Lillian, the widow I’ve taken
Our love’s not in vain and my heart is not weak
Just before you could think to take the hand of another
Last time pace the widow’s walk and together we’ll be

Now lay before the mast, all 8 o’clock reports
With a bone in her teeth, we’re headed back to shore
So ply the northern seas, and keep the ship’s deck dry
And deliver me to my Lillian tonight

We pushed off from the shores and the docks of old Gloucester
With our head set on riches, an empty belly today
Our shipmates a-many, headed north through cold waters
With our lines out to Halifax, crows nest holds its sway

So forgive me sweet Lillian, the widow I’ve taken
Our love’s not in vain and my heart is not weak
But before you could think to take the hand of another
Last time pace the widow’s walk and together we’ll be

Now lay before the mast, all 8 o’clock reports
With a bone in her teeth we’re headed back to shore
So ply the northern seas, and keep the ship’s deck dry
And deliver me to my Lillian tonight

We pushed off from the shores and the docks of old Gloucester

A Room in Birmingham England, 1919

Tom Robertson

There's a butterfly on the window
The drapes shield the room
From the tough part of the ghetto
Vinegar, piss and gloom

The sunlight hits wide board floors
The shadows deep and dark
Move through the room with Patience
Old woman, ticking clock

Whispers and echoes
Rise up from below
The laughter and the cryin’
As the train rattles through the ghetto

Red oak sideboard stores the linens
Folded, crisp and white
Cheap table wine, Rathborne candle
Sits In the parlor, to her delight

Coal dust coats the sills and walls
A fire warms her heart
And from the platform at the mills
A train is soon to depart

Whispers and echoes
Rise up from below
The laughter and the cryin’
As the train rattles through the ghetto

Whispers and echoes
Rise up from below
The laughter and the cryin’
As the train rattles through the ghetto

Sweet Thunder

Tom Robertson

Cast my soul upon the wind
Jesse James and Ativan
Straight roads of Oklahoma
Take me home

Kind words of strangers spoke
Drownin’ in the talk show cloak
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home

Miles of dark soaked road
Pass under the chassis’ load
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home

Starlight hits the caravans
Brakes, the silence, poorly laid plans
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home
Roll on sweet thunder take me home

Fast rattlers slip on by
In the Panhandle night
Headlights blurry
From the rain and the weary

West, route 40 through Amarillo
Northern Texas, New Mexico
Fog swept road, Duke City, I’m home

Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home
Roll on Sweet Thunder take me home

Up Over Avery Hill

Tom Robertson

A piston will fire
Prom dates and liar
As the chippers lay idle and still
Steam burns and whistles mourn
Through acres of corn
On the backside up over Avery Hill

You go on about sticks and stones
But names really break your bones
The sounds that reach your ear
From Avery Hill are clear

The gas lights long gone
On porches the songs
Of whiskey fueled troubles and thrills
Children's joy could be heard
Through Town Crier's spoken word
On the backside up over Avery Hill

You go on about sticks and stones
But names really break your bones
So turn and walk away
From the rumors of yesterday

The gas lights long gone
On porches the songs
Of whiskey fueled troubles and thrills
Children's joy could be heard
Through Town Crier's spoken word

On the backside up over Avery Hill
On the backside up over Avery Hill
On the backside up over Avery Hill

Lila Page 8

Tom Robertson

A pot of grits and blackstrap molasses
She said don't put me through this bother for nuthin'
Ain't we warm right here?

Come get me out of the rain
Nobody come lookin' for Lila
Old woman with a nit comb on a chain
She stokes the wood on the fire

Our paths would surely cross
Lila walking to the Pearly Gates
Holdin' hands with the Angels
Aw, Sweet Lila was saved

She’s got some troubles of her own
Aw, Sweet Lila don't die on me
All night by the glow of the coals
I had to make sure she could breathe

Our paths would surely cross
Lila walking to the Pearly Gates
Holdin' hands with the angel
Aw, Sweet Lila was saved

Our paths would surely cross
Lila walking to the Pearly Gates
Holdin' hands with the angels
Aw, Sweet Lila was saved

Repeat

I laid you down on the pine needled ground
Whispered in your ear, you shouldn’t be - you shouldn’t be lonely
Let’s keep each other warm in the pourin’ rain

Oh Sweet Lila, don’t die on me
Oh sweet ly le ly le ly, don’t die on me
I had to make sure she could breath
Ain’t we warm right here, ly le ly le ly
Ly le ly le ly

Nobody

Tim Gearan

Nobody ever loved me like you love me every day
Nobody could ever want me like you want me every day
Nobody ever had a reason
Nobody ever found the time
Nobody ever loved me like you love me every day

Nobody ever held me like you hold me every day

And nobody ever found a reason
And nobody ever had the time
And nobody ever loved me like you love me every day

Nobody really knew me like you known me every day

Nobody ever found a reason
Nobody ever had the time
And nobody ever loved me like you love me every day.