Rewritten in dedication to Dad and played after his eulogy.
Many roads and many miles have brought me to this place. On bended knee I stop to think and memories embrace. They give me strength, they give me power. Hold me in my troubled hour, and leads me down that long and winding road. And though tomorrow I must journey on, tonight I think I’ll stop and rest, and somewhere beneath this starry sky I’ll think of all the ways that I’ve been blessed.
The dust within my soul is from a thousand winding roads. Oh the beauty we have seen. And you my dear have walked them all right here next to me and held my heart and held my every dream. And Oh my dear, oh my darling, who is with me every day, forgive me for my silence but I can find no way to stay. And mourn me not tomorrow for laughter is my will and it echoes in the voices of our children still.
And though tomorrow I must journey on, but tonight I think I’ll stop and rest and somewhere beneath this starry sky I’ll think of all the ways that I’ve been blessed.
I wrote and recorded this song for our wedding. Jen heard it for the first time during our first dance together on our wedding night.
You are everything I’ve dreamed of and an answer to a thousand prayers. A face that makes the angels envy and a smile that chases away my fears. And I know I’m half a man, without your heart, without you hand. Please un-derstand…
Chorus: If you’ll have me I will hold you, this day and forward. I swear this is my word, for better for worse. And be rich or be poor, I could never want for more. I swear it’s true… I Do.
A ship at sea alone and searching, till a harbor in your arms was found. Now I can face the waves of whimsy, because I am anchored in loves sacred ground. With all I am and all I have, no matter what may come to pass, I swear this love will last.
Chorus
Bridge: They say to everythings a season and that God in His Heaven has His reasons. Well I believe this much is true, I believe in me and you. I pray that you do.
I didn’t originally set out to write this song about my Grandmal, but as the verses came together the song seemed to find its own voice, a voice from the twilight that is Alzheimer’s. While Parkinson’s would ultimately take my Dad, he too would seem to struggle against a disease that too often seemed to rob him of his bright light and crash down around his halo.
When the world crashes down around your halo and the sun doesn’t shine for days on end. When the pain stays the same and it’s hard to face tomorrow. When you pray for a way to be young again.
Lie your head down on my pillow. Drift to dream in your sleep. I will hold you til tomorrow and in our love, you’ll find peace.
When your days turn to gray and your nights are filled with sorrow. When your world falls apart and your heart breaks at the seams. When you pray for a way to make sense amongst your sorrows. When the world turns on you, you can always turn to me.
And lie your head down on my pillow. Drift to dream in your sleep. I will hold you till tomorrow and in our love, you’ll find peace.
So let the world just slip away. Now it might go but true love stays. In a world of change we found our one guarantee… In our love, you’ll find peace.
I wrote and recorded this song after returning from the cruise where Jen and I met in 1994 (one of several songs she inspired). It seemed like I had know her all my life, so it did not seem like I was abusing “artistic license” too much to transplant her from the PA dairy farm of her youth to my old home town in the corn fields of Illinois (Charleston, IL) and pretend “what-if” we had met there. The locations in Charlestion are real, as was the girl I was lucky enough to meet years later.
It ain’t these old dirt roads and it ain’t this old town square. It ain’t the Dog-n-Suds or the ball field on 4th and Blair. And it ain’t this old high school and it ain’t the Dairy queen. Now sure they’re places I like to go and they bring back sweet memories. But the reasons I go home ain’t about no bricks and stones
Chorus:
What keeps me coming back… It’s you, it’s you, it’s you. What keeps me coming back… It’s you, it’s you, it’s you. You keep me coming back.
I found myself on a windin’ road head back for our county line. So I drove by Mr. Walkers fields were we broke down but had a good time. Then I stopped by the soda shop were we both danced to Patsy Cline and as I walked through those diner door the memories just flooded my mind. And the reason I was there suddenly became so clear.
Chorus
Bridge:
Now the parks may turn to parking lots and they may close down town square. And the tree we carved our name into may no longer be there but no city council, or act of God can change what I call home cause the home we’ve built here in this place ain’t made of bricks and stone.
I wrote this song while mowing and thinking about all those old school days and how they might look to me in the years to come. Recorded in Memphis with Clyde Brooks producing. One of my favorites. The pic above was taken at one of my High School banquets and every time I see it I think of this song.
Its Monday night and the boys are all gathering/ Down at Lucy’s Good Time Grill/ The regulars walk in and they order their gin/ And Lucy serves ’em up they’re meal/ She says you all gather round the TV set/ Put your money in the jar boys and place your bets/ The games comin’ on and it won’t be long/ Till you all start to spin your yarns
Billy starts in remembering when/ And a smile jumps across his face/ One look in his eyes and there’s no dis-guise/ He’s in another time and place/ He says I could have been a football star/ Had all the pretty girls and a fancy car/ But things don’t always work that way/ But God knows I could play….and I say now
Chorus: High School buddies grow up and grow old/ But the years disappear when the stories are told/ They’re young once again when they’re remembering/ Their glory days of old
From the corner of the bar Bobby’s talking ’bout his car/ He had back in ’74/ With a smile and a grin they all listen in/ To a story they’ve all heard before/ Then Billy jumps up puts a slap on his back/ Says Bobby would you shut up ’bout that old Cadillac/ It was a fine old car but it never got you far/ With the girl from the laundry mat …..and they laugh and say
Chorus:
Bridge: Now Billy and Bobby and that whole gang/ Show up every Monday every week its the same/ They all gather around that TV set/ Pretend to watch a game they’re all soon forget/ They laugh and they joke and they have their fun/ It’s a few good buddies just growing young
I was staying outside Memphis when a girl came to my door/ I said the show was over but she said she wanted more/ So what was I to do boys I grabbed my old guitar/ Walked out on the front porch and I gave the girl some more/ Played some country bluegrass/ Played some rock-n-roll/ I did my best Elvis she did Marilyn Monroe
Oh how she got excited and her feet they hit the floor/ Well that was all it took boys I couldn’t stand it anymore/ I bit into my guitar so hard it popped a string/ She pulled me close and held me tight and started into sing/ I’d sweared that it was Patsy if I dared to close my eyes/ With every breathe she took I swear my temperature would rise.
Chorus: We made music ’neath that Memphis Moon/ Was the sweetest soul felt country tune/ And I swore I heard a choir backing up each sweet refrain/ One night beneath that Memphis Moon and I’ve never been the same.
Now I don’t know how long we’d been there just caught up in the beat/ But we had done plumb forgot about all the neighbors trying to sleep/ But we were soon reminded as we both spun around/ To find the frowning faces of half the folks in town/ Then we heard the sirens a coming down the road/ But this music wasn’t stopping so we just let it go/
We pumped up the rhythm and we sand it out real loud/ Changed those frowning faces into a cheering crowd/ By the time the police got there, there was nothing they could do/ The peace had done been disturbed/ We had broke it clean in two/ Now I’ve sung in front of thousand but boy it don’t compare/ To the magic that I felt that night in the Memphis air,
Chorus:
Now I ain’t got the answers to the magic of that night/ But I’ve been told it’s something in that Memphis Moon light/ They say if your caught beneath it with a woman by your side/ And a guitar in your hand than prepare to take a ride/ It will fill you up with music/ It’ll rock you to your soul/ It’ll let you rest at sunrise but it’ll never let you go.
So if your staying outside Memphis and you plan to spend the night/ if you want to get some sleep boys you better lock them doors up tight/ And if a girl comes knocking says she wants to play some more/ Buddy hey that’s your choice but on this you can be sure/ If the moon’s arising if it’s shining bright/ Chances are son your goiing to spend a sleepless night.
On March 27th, 1994 on the cruise ship Fantasy, I met Jen as we both waited in line at the concierge desk. From that moment on my wish has been simple… that she would always think a thought of me. I wrote this song about us in the days after I returned to my cabin in Tennessee and I feared she had returned to parts unknown.
I don’t know where you are, but think of me/ Oh, I’m hurting bad tonight/ I’ve nearly lost my faith in all I’ve loved/ I’m hoping everything with you is alright/ I know it’s been a long, long time since we’ve been together/ But I never left you in my mind/ So if you find a moment of silence/ Won’t you Think a Thought of Me tonight
Chorus: Won’t you think a thought of me tonight/ I’m afraid that’s all we can share/ Besides the same moonlight/ So say a prayer for me/ And hold my memory tight/ Oh my darling Think a Thought of Me tonight
I know when we did our leaving/ You said there would be some grieving/ But I never dreamed it’d hurt this way/ You said there would be tomorrow/ If on faith we could borrow/ The strength to get us there/ Now that strength I need to face my sorrows/ I find in the strength of loving you/ So if you find a moment of silence/ Won’t you Think a Thought of Me tonight
This was the first song Jen inspired. Written on the cruise ship only a day or two after meeting… I knew I would love her.
I’ve played the game of love and I’ve held the losing hand/ It seemed Lady Luck was no lady at all/ And then I held you and I almost turned and ran/ Afraid of the pain in the fall
Chorus: All my life/ I’ve searched for you/ Here you are/ So here I’ll stay/ I will love you tomorrow/ Even more than yesterday
I thought I’d felt it all till I felt this love for you/ Oh, your love opened up my eyes/ To a world of beauty that I never knew/ To a love I thought I’d never find
Chorus:
Bridge: Now when all else seems uncertain/ This much you’ll always know/ Darling you’ve been loved/ And you’ll be loved tomorrow
When the road is long and lonely/ And my burdens more than I can bear/ Oh, my thoughts take me homeward/ And I find peace in them there/ I think of supper on the table/ I think of sunshine in your hair/ And then with the highway as my witness/ I say a silent prayer
Chorus: Take me Home, Lie me down/ In the place where my happiness is found/ And when I wake in that place/ Let me wake to the beauty of your face
When my work stacks up before me/ And there seems to be no end in sight/ I close my eyes to the world around me/ And think of holding you tonight/ I’d lie my head down on your pillow/ And then I’d turn out the light/ Then in the quite of our bedroom/ Every thing would be alright
Chorus:
Bridge: Now I lay me down to sleep/ My heart to you I give to keep/ And should I go before you wake/ My love I leave for you to take
Recorded at Belmont with fellow classmates and band members.
Dancing in the lights of a worn out Ford, miles from town on Rural Route Four. Listening to the songs on the radio. Where we’re going next nobody knows. But I say, it’s going to be okay
Chorus: As long as we got tomorrow. As long as we got a road to follow. I say it’s going to be okay.
My windows are down and my radios up. My head is hanging out of a pickup truck. The wind in my face it makes me feel alive. Tomorrow I’ll worry tonight I’ll drive. And I say it is going to be okay.
Chorus
Bridge (2x): Call me crazy call me a fool. You can call me anything you want to. But tonight I’m having a ball. And I don’t care what you think at all.
