| Bread
Take a little bread, you put it in the oven
Wait a little while give it lots of lovin’
It’ll rise, and open up some too
It’s not an act of faith my dear, it’s true
But you never learn what you’ve been told
You have to dive to find that gold
And down below the surface you construe
In the deepest waters is the most beautiful view
Oh you could fly
You got those wings
You tie them down with earthly things
And treat them like they don’t belong on you
Oh we’ve all learned to hide them well
The secret that we never tell
Is usually the one that makes us blue, all the way through
You can’t pretend that this is small
The path to joy leads down this hall
The world outside ain’t as grim as you assume
But it’s dinnertime and you’re still locked in your room
Oh you could fly
You got those wings
You hold them down with heavy things
And ancient thoughts you string together too
Oh we’ve all learned to hide them well
Those secrets that we never tell
Are usually the ones that makes us blue, all the way through
BRIDGE
But that darkness doesn’t hold
If you let the world unfold
In its own time
Relax you anxious will
Just a crack of light could fill
Your weary mind
And then rest your head down on these words
Let your tired heart rest assured
Certain rules are never gonna let you lose
C’mon baby, ain’t you heard the news
Chorus
Marie (Rob Lutes/Monique Riedel)
Marie is leaving town
On a long holiday
She won’t be coming ‘round
She won’t answer to that name
Marie is heading out
She’s taking just a box or two
Leaving everything behind
Except her books and her perfume
Marie is on her way
To somewhere where no one’s seen
How she was a mess
How she made it look so clean
Well it’s time for her to move on
Try to find the big romance
Change that dress, put new shoes on
Take herself to the dance
Where she can just let go
Of what the walls conceal
Only her memory really knows
How good that could feel
Back before she was singing “Is this all there is?” but thinking she was lucky to have it like this
She kept looking for an answer or a sign she could not miss
Now she’s rolling through the rain
Slowly giving up that ghost
She’ll clear her mind like a drain
’Til she finds the other coast
Tonight she’ll tip back a little wine
But it won’t tickle out no tears
Cause she’s burnt that bottom line
And it’s finally disappeared
Who knows what she might do
Beneath a brand new sun
Let the days gently slide through
Maybe have some fun
And go out after dark
Just to hear the music whirl
Or fly off for a lark
To somewhere across the world
Oh Marie is leaving town
On a long holiday
She won’t be coming ‘round
She won’t answer to that name
The Only Soul
Down at the edge of the bottom
There’s the cold black river where you caught ’em
You’d like to but you just can’t let them go
They roll inside like breathin’
When you’re in that lonely season
Oh, the blues is the only soul that you know
Babies don’t need teaching
If you recall that awful screeching
The moment they arrive they seem to know
Strangers at the waiting
And endless world that unabating
And the blues is the only soul that they know
Bread can be broken
Loving words can be spoken
But the blues is the only soul that they know
But there is pleasure in those waters
They’re as old as the stove
That heated up the mountains
When there was darkness upon the road
I’ve been to the palace
I’ve been left for dead in Dallas
Flown around as lonesome as a crow
Found love in many people
From the barroom to the steeple
But the blues is the only soul that I know
And when I’m in my final hours
You’ll come around to bring me flowers
But the blues’ll be the only soul that I know
Slips Away (Rob Lutes/Dale Boyle)
This drive-in’s sure seen better days
But they still take my eight bucks to see that late movie play
The storylines always stay the same
The second I reach for something it slips away
With a six-pack hidden down on the floor
And you right there beside me, I never needed anything more
That plot’s not supposed to go astray
But the second I reach for something it slips away
BRIDGE
The unlikely guy, he gets the girl
The lost puppy comes home and the hero saves the world
Romantic people want to believe it’s that way
But when the credits roll so many hearts fade to grey
I’ll take nothing from your final scene
Snapped your gum, looked at him, and then you walked off my screen
My life is an upside down Hollywood cliché
The second I reach for something it slips away
If the Blues Don’t Shake You
They gather as the moon appears
You tremble as you grind the gears
If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead
They catch you when your guard is down
You almost made it out of town
But the blues made you turn around instead
So you led them on with alcohol
Tried to leave them at the final call
But the blues followed you to bed
So you take them out again
Just to smooth things round the bend
You talk real nice, take bad advice
But the blues don’t want to be your friend
They’d rather hide down underneath your skin
To get to where your blood begins
And then circulate right up inside your head
Oh don’t you try to getaway
There’s no key to that highway
’Cause wherever you go, well there you are
That could be funny, but it's not today
Cause you’re wearing that old sorry face
Don’t you know they leave trace
Two tracks leading out behind the shed
So when the blue skies turn gray
Wink your eye and just say hey
Don’t you mumble on until the dawn
You’re just gonna feel all wrong for one more day
Did I mention I’ve been on that train?
It stops and then it starts again
If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead
The breeze blows, the baby wakes
There’s just some rules that never break
If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead
If the blues don’t shake you then you’re dead
Interstate
Does it hold you down
Can you turn it around
Can you stop it like a car on the interstate
Does it pull too strong
Can you lose it in a song
Do you wonder why you choose to hesitate
Has it seen too much
Has it lost its touch
Does it feel much of anything these days
Does is run its mouth
Does it drag you south
Does it pull you into dark alleyways
Does it know some peace
Does it fast or feast
When you get together on the holidays
Does it hit the road
Just to maintain control
Is it taking you somewhere or running away
BRIDGE
Oh when your roots are feeling rotten
There’s no growth on the vine
When your life feels forgotten
Forget the words me and mine
Those trees down by the water, they just stand in place
You’ve got to gear down ’til you’ve found the state of grace
So let it rest tonight
Let it lose this fight
And just smile, you know you’ve come a long, long way
Watch the darkness fall
Hear those crickets call
That’s the mercy of the evening saying hey
Don’t grab the wheel
Just let it go on feel
It’s alright for tonight, anyway
The Autumn Light
Now you’re driving back through the autumn night
Two bills to bank against the cold
Long ago you could’ve left this life
If you’d’ve hit the brakes when you lost control
All those nights that you’ve played these towns
Trying to write the wrongs in rhyme
Now the words have a hollow sound
But they still hit home from time to time
When you think you’ve lost what you need the most
The bone that used to be your spine
Will haunt you like your father’s ghost
And wake you just to drink the wine
To the passing of another night
Upon the flat boards long and hard
Between the leaves of the autumn light
The heart cannot feel disregard
You can hold it there for a minute’s gaze
Then it’s gone again and you’re looking down
You keep running but the moment stays
And you never gain back any ground
But it’s only clear on the way back home
Where you’ve hidden, how you’ve cloaked the light
And it’s too late then to cast that stone
So you turn it up and you let it ride
Chorus
Now you’re rolling in and the best is done
And the birds are squawking on the wire
And the rest is just a rising sun
Before the moment you retire
And you wonder now why it meant so much
For all the time that it requires
Living takes a gentle touch
Like fingers setting strings on fire
Chorus
Down to You
She put it all in her heart and she pulled it together
The truth don’t depend on what kind of weather
When she was alone she could feel that traction
She could only kill doubt if she took that action
She hit the road about half past midnight
It was a six-hour drive ’til the world cracked daylight
Stuffed in her vest, tucked inside her head
Emotion and steel; pain and lead
Don’t the pain that comes alive
Bring blazes to your eyes
When they’re opened to
What comes down to you
He made them believe he was pure and holy
He used to try any line just to sell that story
And they hated that room, there were flies drawn to it
But he wasn’t shy about making them do it
Now he was back in that cold room cellar
And he didn’t need no fortune teller
The years of disguise had filled him with shame
Once he was gone they would all curse his name
Don’t the pain that comes alive
Feel well earned and justified
When your eyes open too
What comes down to you
Down to you
She opened the door and the dust glowed heavy
Like the stream of light broke a desperate levee
Alone in the dark was the soul of the man
Whispering lies to the gun in his hand
She turned him down with his back to heaven
Then she turned around and left town by seven
Her only regret was to feel the same
After staring him down and taking such dead aim
Oh but the pain that comes alive
Will not save you from your eyes
When they’re opened too
What’s come down to you
Oh no the pain that comes alive
Is not going to save your from your eyes
Once they’re opened too
What comes down to you
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