Lyrics

In the minutes after midnight March the 3rd
hovered up above like a big black bird
Swooped right down and swallowed German Town
Moved on like a train down Main St. Eastward bound
we headed for the basement
east of Eden as the beast came through
captured it’s prey and had it’s fill
off the bones of the ghost of Nashville

It rained it poured the Cumberland ran red 
The mayor fell ill, collapsed and took to bed
rats on Broadway spreading the disease
and rotten fruit was falling from the trees
good ‘ol boys with swollen pride
was this the day the music died
the streets fell silent, the drunks had had their fill
in the ghost of Nashville

Will the songs of Music City die?
the beating heart, the poets cry
hindsight is 2020, foresight is 4 eyed
will we pack our cars leave music row behind,
Wave goodbye to the blind?
who’d sell the soul of Nashville for a song
even the devil pulled out of the deal, it was so damn wrong

Black and white sang the Music City Blues
courthouse burning on the evening news
Can’t get beyond the color of the skin
To let the healing of the wounds begin
Are we back to 1968?
never really killed the hate
See the city fall from up on St. Cloud Hill
the ghost of Nashville

The pressure built, the perfect storm arrived
what was left, just a struggle to survive
the beast exposed the ugly underneath
sharpened claws and gnashing of the teeth
the heart and soul of music city
knocked down replaced by tall and skinny
they’ll hunt until there’s nothing left to kill
in the Ghost of Nashville

Desert Highway
Blinding Sun
Bleached Bones Railroad Crossing
On your tail, they know that you’re the one                              

Big Black Bird
Pale Sky Above
Across the desert
Where you lost you love

Lone Star
Lone Star
Far away with (in) the setting sun
Lone Star
Lone Star
All alone when the day is done

Whiskey Bottle
And a poison heart
Up all night in haze, in a blur
Tear you soul(self) apart
Sour smell
First light of dawn
Not certain
Where it all went wrong

All fail the king
Spit on the ring
Naked in his new clothes
And pissing on the promise of American dreams

33, 45, 47, 78
old records and songs
And the message is hate
The grooves are deep
The lacquer is scratched

These songs of Freedom
Were meant to last

But in the name of god there is a firing squad
All blood red and white stripes
And rich men squeeze through eyes of needles
In this version of paradise
And the muffled sounds of suffocating songs
Are this year’s hits and it won’t be long
Til warble warble war warble warble war

Looking for a savior
But a plague spread across the land
Bliss and ignorance found him
Then he slapped ‘em down with his red right hand
American spirit is a black hat
Cracking whips and a smoking gun
But when the law comes to save you
You shoot yourself in the foot and try to run
(The word) Patriot, has become a Front
For KKK and ICE, who will take you away
But fire melts ICE so burn the flag, red white, white, white
And blue means nothing
Got no spine got no right to whine
And when they come for you there’s nothing you can do
Cuz you supported the cause that undermined the laws so fuck you

Copper turns green, and orange is rust
And it eats away at the colors of trust
Liberty, drowns in the sea
To the highest bidder goes the land of the free

Rubber on Rubble, to leave my trouble
Behind in the dust, shake off the rust
Pedal to metal, screaming tea kettle
About to blow, just need to go
Faster faster, in front of disaster
A pointless race, through time and space
(Push the) Needle Higher, city on fire
In the rear view, (but I’m) into the blue

CHORUS:
She asked me: ‘How are you feeling?’
I don’t know, like I lost my soul
She asked me: ‘Where are you going?’
I’m not sure, I’m not clear

2nd and 3rd chorus extension:
She asked me: ‘What are you doing?’
I gotta go, feel so slow
She asked me: ‘When will you be home?’
I can’t say down the super sonic highway

V2
Faster faster, away from disaster
(Is it) Time to turn, or just crash and burn?
I wanna go far, wanna get to the stars
Leave this earth behind going out of my mind

CHORUS W/ EXT

V3
Hot flash, (and) burnin’ road rash
On the road for days lost in Purple Haze
Seein’ double, (don’t)burst my bubble
White line fever, ghost in the receiver
7-11, must be heaven,
Fueled up for flight, feelin’ alright
(Push the)needle higher, engine on fire
Look in the rear view, then into the blue

BRIDGE
A need for speed, seductive indeed
(When you’re) in low gear, and riddled with fear
(Cuz it’s) On your back, about to attack
Get on the road, to lighten the load
Drive through the night, ’til the sun is bright
A new day, to push it away
Ahead or behind, nowhere to find
A safe place, gotta drive into space
101, 152, 5, 58, 40, 66, 40, 24, 75, 16, 95, 1, A1A up up and away 10, 9, 8…etc

Momentary flaw in lost time
It’s not there, it’s not there, he’s not there
his way to find a way
to cleanse the sins of father’s dark crimes
but not there,
he’s not there, he’s not there
the eye of god a dusty lens
reveals a day that’s now gone
it’s not there,
he’s not there, he’s not there
Erase a moment moving
frame by frame
we lose what went wrong
it’s not there,
it’s not there, he’s not there
fix this broken hearted soul
and plans that started growing up
from poison seeds a toxic fruit
that feeds a fucked up dream
that turned into a thought
that burned into your heart
a plan that fell apart
fixer fixes
takes aim misses
back around again
fixer takes care of dirty business
back around again
fixer fixes
hiding stolen kisses
back around again
fixer fixes
takes aim misses
back around again
Altered truth
is now a burden
it’s not there
he’s not there, he’s not there
Forget about the man
who’s hidden there
behind the curtain
he’s not there,
he’s not there, he’s not there
fix this broken hearted soul
and plans that started growing up
from poison seeds a toxic fruit
that feeds a fucked up dream
that turned into a thought
that burned into your heart
a plan that fell apart
fixer fixes
takes aim misses
back around again
fixer takes care of dirty business
back around again
fixer fixes
hiding stolen kisses
back around again
fixer fixes
takes aim misses
back around again

Get On Up, Get Out, Get On the track
James Brown (Get On Up)

And don’t you come back you little Cracker Jack
Ray Charles(roughly—Hit the Road Jack)

You’re a devil in a blue dress, and I like it like that
Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels(Devil with a Blue Dress)

Turn Out Turn it up turn it round round baby right round
Dead Or Alive(Spin Me Right Round)

Floating’ on the ground in Funky Town
Lipps Inc(Funkytown)

Got Legs and You know how to use ‘em pussy cat
ZZ Top(Legs) Tom Jones(what’s new pussycat?)

Get up Get out get down tonight
KC and the Sunshine band (Get Down Tonight)

Saturday Night’s alright
Elton John(Saturday Night’s Alright)

Wake me up before you go go
Wham (Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go)
Cuz the groove is tight

Come on, come down, come over here
You’re like a virgin dear without a fear
Madonna(Like A Virgin) 

Want to dance with somebody like you
Whitney Huston(I want to dance with Somebody)

When the mood is right
Queen Latifah(Mood Is Right)

Dance let your body move
Dance to that funky groove
Dance the beat is hot
Dance and give it all you got

Dance to the Hustle or beat it
Van McCoy(the Hustle) Michael Jackson(Beat It) Funky Le Freak, cuz that’s the way I see it
Chic(Le Freak)

Dance the groove is in the heart
Deee-Lite(Groove Is In The Heart)

Get down tonight never tear us apart
KC again and INXS(Never Tear Us Apart)

Dance, cuz we gotta be free (she said)

Don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
Pussycat Dolls(Don’t Cha)

Sexy little venus with her eyes on fire
Bananarama(Venus)

That’s the way I like it c’mon and take me higher
KC and the Sunshine Band(That’s The Way I like it)  Diana Ross(Take Me Higher)

Yesterday or years ago
it’s all the same and we don’t know
that time’s moved on
and nothing’s gone
we talk away the day and so
the night walks in and steals the show
it’s been too long
still sing that song
the one that’s always dances in my head
the tune that always gets me out of bed

Na Na Na Na Na Na Na
C’mon C’mon 
Life’s as short as the day is long
c’mon c’mon
no one else….can sing your song c’mon c’mon c’mon

the latest style it’s all the rage
it flies away and leaves the cage
and then it’s gone
but not for long
the drink and then the sound is brown
’til the strong and clear take down the town
for today
but it’s ok
cuz it won’t be long ’til we see you again
and the coolest kids will want to be your friend

it’s new it’s old it’s bought and sold
the salvage yard then solid gold
and should it stand the test of time
rewrite the lines repeat the rhyme

ISRC usl4q2085576
UPC 195448519037

As I wander through the cemetery here in Tennessee
my feet on top of footsteps of ghosts who walked here before me
Despite different times and different sights, different lovers and different fights
God knows the struggle was still the same, regret attached to different names

but I blamed you
for what i’d failed to do

stray off course to find a love, one that fits just like a glove
and overnight, the path is gone, tossed the map cuz it felt wrong,
still the same since the dawn of time, the poison bite that killed devine
the need for 2 to become one, the struggle of the moon to kiss the sun

I blamed you
for what I’d failed to do
The worst thing I’ve ever done
Is to make you feel that we were one
When in secret, I always kept a piece for me

I led you down a dark country road
with the burden to shoulder my heavy load
(and a hope that your love might set me free)
and undying faith that you could set me free

and maybe we’d become
that pair that move as one

but not quite yet

you turned your world upside down, tried to wear a smile to replace a frown
wandering circles in the same unending maze
i seemed to miss your strength of heart, i’d almost tear your soul apart
still you’d be there to hold me in my final days

still I blamed you
for what I’d failed to do

The worst thing I’ve ever done
Is to make you feel that we were one
When in secret, I always kept a piece for me

I led you down a dark country road
with the burden to shoulder my heavy load
(and a hope that your love might set me free)
and undying faith that you could set me free

and maybe we’d become
that pair that move as one

but not quite yet

i thought every word i said was true, ’til i heard them reflected back off you
and what I always thought was solid ground was a hollow chamber full of sound
the sound a song that pulled you in to a game of chance you’d finally win
but as you’d make your final play, the song would move a different way

CH

the best thing, I’ve ever done
is to make you feel that we are one
and give you, every piece of me

hold your hand down this country road
and help you lift our heavy load
and finally see that you’ve helped set me free

and maybe we’ve become
that pair that moves as one

the sting of september
try to remember
those endless, sticky summer days
the bite of october
the carnival’s over
last days of sunlight to go out and play

spoken but unheard
all these poems and words
the letters all blur and fall off the page
the taste of salt and sin
when spring invited you in
sweaty pale silky skin now thin and cracked with age

the cold of november
try to remember
how you loved me so much you would cry
the dead of december
the flames fade to embers
sleep wins the battle we don’t even try

the spirit’s unyielding lust
beneath the settling dust
and never sleeping rust, the beauty of decay
unforgettable fire
fields aflame with desire
harvest moon retires to the pale light of day
another song for the young
decomposed and unsung
wrung out and then hung out in the cold to dry
bouquet of red flowers
fades away with the hours
and collapsing towers fall away from the sky

in the warming of may
when you visit my grave
fight back the tears, you’re still in my arms

consumed by all we consume
distracted by the beauty of a dying deadly bloom
don’t you look to the men in charge
they’re puppets dangling from the rings of hell and their appetite is large
and the devil knew he’d been outdone
when they slaughtered raped and scorched the earth in the name of the holy son
mother put your babes to rest
there’s poison coursing through your veins and flowing from your breast

out here in the shallow water
no longer does the river run deep
this is where we lost our daughter
blind drunk and tired, seduced by sleep

mother father what have we done?
built a tower of your sins so high and wide we’ve blocked the sun
and in the cities of facade
and architecture void of light and laughing at your god
so we drove down this country road
burned down our house, from the city ran to escape this heavy load
but god’s country was fucked up
the river beds were empty just like the sacred cup

my love and i we drank ’til dawn
when we woke to find our child and our innocence were gone
so in this swamp we’ll spend our days
looking for our little girl in the god-forsaken maze

gonna dream my way back
gonna dream of all the colors i lack
and the moon is the shape of your face
only sleep takes me back to that place
in the sun
oh god i’m done
without you my world looks
black and blue again

gonna float back to the south
dream of the taste of you still in my mouth
your soul shines in eyes so deep
oh i float across the ocean in my sleep
when darkness falls
tears down these walls
without you my world looks
black and blue again

gonna dream in orange and blue
then float like a ghost over you
kiss the back of your neck when you sleep
i’ll make wine from your tears when you weep
at night we’ll fly
through the southern sky
without you my world looks
black and blue again

gonna dream my way back
to a lily-white ghost in a shroud of black
and the moon is the shape of your face
only sleep gets me back to that place
in the sun
oh god i’m done
without you my world looks
black and blue again

with a broken heart and a broken home
me and a dream and a bottle on the road alone
miles of highway and desert motels
last drops of water from the bottom of empty wells

the believers in the bars
along the walk of fallen stars

fleeing for fame like looking for god
but the fables in the bible you believed were just a facade
in the city of angels where you gotta believe
but the holy are falling and the prophets are born to decieve

the believers in the bars
along the walk of fallen stars

at the end of the earth, maybe the end of times
burnt out by the rhythm, tired of the rhymes
an angel told me there’d be hell to pay
and i knew it was time to get myself out of LA

prayin’ for vision in a church of deceit
on the coast where the poets all go to get back on their feet
one step forward, two steps back
putting faith in counterfeit saints to give us purpose we lack

the believers in the bars
along the walk of fallen stars

another broken dream and a fallen star
everything i own in the back of a broken down car
a promise of angels and a palace of gold
was just a deal with the devil where my soul was stolen then sold

after the famine, flood, and fall of rome
once seemed like hell, now it’s good to be back home

i’ve gotta hold back
can’t let it all loose right now
it’s hard to get back
and god knows i’ve never known how
i want to fly now
i want to jump before i think
time after time
these feelings push me
to the brink
i want to jump in
the best and worst life has to give
time after time
it seems to think is not to live

it’s hard to carry this heavy load
when you’re ready to explode

i’ve gotta hold back
can’t let it all loose right now
it’s hard to get back
and god knows i’ve never known how
i want it right now
despite the warning signs
i want to make it mine
like a flower waiting to be
kissed by the light of day
you’ll come out and play
in your own sweet time
around in circles
i’m drunk with thinking and
you’re the wine i’m drinking
i’ve got to hold back
can’t force the climax at the start
it’s hard to hold back the fever
of my screaming heart

let me out, set me free
i need to escape, i need to breathe

but then again, what does it mean to be a friend
but then again, why start if it’s only gonna end

it’s gonna unfold, it’s gonna open up this time
this gorgeous flower, it’s for the world
it’s not just yours and mine

sunk so low there’s nowhere
left to go but up
not 1/2 full, not 1/2 empty
just a single drop of blood in my cup
the illusion i’d risen above
games people play
seems i haven’t outgrown my toys
at the end of the day

even those of who lay claims
to not playing games are playing
a quiet game of avoiding games
but i place no blaim
it’s human nature and we all
gotta play in some way
but at the end of the day
just be careful not to leave
a path of hell to pay
well ok, your move

we play games
to distract and amuse ourselves
we go down
most times we just abuse ourselves
in flames
wanna feel a fire burnin’ in my soul
not be fuel for a fire burnin’
out of control

in too deep but i refuse to creep
further in
have we rewritten the rules
so neither kings nor fools can win?
gotten so low but i refuse to go
further down
you may continue the circus
but i’ll no longer be your clown

this one is for passion
a worn out trait that used to feel great
and this one is for pride
i had it yesterday i think i threw it away
this one is for fashion
the mask i wear that got me here
standing by your side

i don’t understand i’m feeling
10 feet thick and the obvious trick is to
listen to everything you say
i’ll throw it up against the wall
to see if i can make it stick
i think a smarter man would simply just walk away

this one is for pleasure
the bait i took that got me caught on this hook
and this one is for pain
that familiar face i always seem to embrace
no longer can i measure
the length or the depth of the fellings that kept me
playing in this game

this one is for reason
i had it yesterday i think i threw it away
and this one is for rhyme
a parallel sound or a rhythm i found
this one is for leaving
well this is the part that breaks my heart but i won’t
do this one more time

i don’t understand i’m feeling
10 feet thick and it’s making me sick. i can’t
listen to a single thing you say
i’ve thrown it up against the wall
to see if i could make it stick
but i’m a smarter man

sitting in this empty chair
i feel a breeze but i’m not there
took myself away 3 days ago
out beyond these prison walls
a temptress’ voice just softly calls
baits me with relief i should not know

since i went away
miss you everyday
seems so obvious
the beauty of your fading kiss

out beyond these prison walls
are deep blue skies and waterfalls
now i long for a dirty city street
i miss feeling sad and feeling scared
and always feeling unprepared
for a shining soul in a crowd that i would meet

i miss the frail october sky
when everything begins to die
and we’d recognize the beauty of decay
that golden light through dying leaves
as summer’s warming breath recedes
and a harvest moon would swallow up the day

god damn me if i’ve been a fool
and the path i chose was dark and cruel
to my mother, to my lover, and my friends
forgive me i can’t take it back
end of scene then fade to black
please don’t tell me this is how it ends

dry as a bone
a ghost alone
an echo in the phone
fire cinder and stone
and she will fall down
to her knees
oh please
and the steel will grow cold
when i’m gone
desolate view
hides the beauty of you
and captures the few
who peel off their skin divide in two
and i nail myself to the southern cross
rise from the loss
of a stagnant landscape
we fade
and we’re gone

the needle
a plastic card
a bottle of poison
and a 2 foot yard
ooh ooh the sun goes down
a sea of skin
a cathode ray
a belly full of bricks
and the dying day
ooh ooh the sun goes down
soul seduction and a drug like love
down to the bottom just to rise above
ooh ooh the sun goes down
smoke and mirrorsa queen of hearts
a one arm bandit
pushing shopping carts
ooh ooh the sun goes down

sweet night
shower us with stars
light a path of grace
pale moon
fill us with your light
take us to a safer place
and the blackest night erase

blood red petals
a stem of thorns
a crooked halo
on the devil’s horns
ooh ooh the sun goes down
rag tagpick up sticks
a box of bones and a bag of tricks
ooh ooh the sun goes down