Snakebit

Gauthier/Carll

The children are crying they never got their supper
Where would you run to in the darkness of the night?
Even shadows fear to wander
They gather round me in the candlelight

Your crucifix lies broken bloody sharp and shattered
I smashed it to pieces on the bedroom floor
Pain and prayers and promises scattered
Then I pulled the pistol from the dresser drawer

Oh Lord Oh Lord,   
Oh Lord What Have I Done
Everything worth holding slips through my fingers
Now my hands wrapped around the handle of a gun

The further I fall the less I falter
Forsaken forgotten without love
A slow motion whisper turns into a holler
Forty years of push, turns into shove

Oh Lord Oh Lord,
Oh Lord What Have I Done
Everything worth holding slips through my fingers
Now my hands wrapped around the handle of a gun

This chair that I sit in I got from my daddy
Carved from the hard wood of a bitter tree
When he was alive he used tell me kid
I knew when you were born you’d end up snake bit like me

Oh Lord Oh Lord
Oh Lord, What Have I Done
Everything worth holding slips through my fingers
Now my hands wrapped around the handle of a gun
I’m holding on to the handle of a gun

Can't Find The Way

Gauthier

This is not my street
This is not my house
That is not my bed
This is not my town
Another day another night
Another night another day
I wanna go home
I can’t find the way

The levee broke the water came
Went all the way up to my roof
I crawled up there and cried
What else could I could do?
Another day another night
Another night another day
I wanna go home          
I can’t find the way

A boat brought me to I-10
I sat there three days, maybe four
Thousands stranded on the interstate
Every hour boats brought more
Another day another night
Another night another day
We wanna go home      
We can’t find the way

With nothing but our dreams
And memories of who we’ve been
Scattered forth like seeds
At the mercy of the wind
Another day another night
Another night another day
We wanna go home
We can’t find the way

Another day another night
Another night another day
We wanna go home
We can’t find the way

Between Daylight and Dark

Eaglesmith/Gauthier

Well the grasses are swaying the suns going down
Music is playing you’re weaving through town
Pull into the driveway toss it in park
You stare out of the windshield out into the world
It was all for the love of a wayward girl
Who left you with a second place smile and a broken heart

The streetlights are starting to flicker to life
They glow for a minute then they get bright
Fireflies light up circle and spark
But there’s nothing really that you can do
Put your hands in your pockets and try to get through
The distance between the daylight and the dark

The front porch flags lie themselves down
Like forgotten soldiers and old wedding gowns
In closets unopened and graves without any marks
As the night curtains lower behind the rooftops
Shadows dance across the sidewalks
Ricochet off of the houses like pieces of art

You’re mind is reeling as the sky is changing
All you’re feeling and you’re re-arranging
The rest of your life like lines on an old sailors chart
You climb back in and fire the ignition
Put your hands on the wheel and head into the distance
The distance between the daylight and the dark

The Last of the Hobo Kings

Gauthier

Steam Train Maury died last night
His wife Wanda by his side
Caught the Westbound out of here
Hopped the high irons to the by and by
They say he jumped ten thousand trains
Rode a million miles for free
Helped out at VA hospitals and penitentiary’s
Dandy Dave, Rusty Nails and Sweet Lady Sugar Cane
Dead Eye Kate and the Baloney Kid raise their cups tonight in Steam Train’s name
Senators, congressmen, puppets on a string
Among the windswept vagabonds Steam Train was the king
The last of the hobo kings, the last of the hobo kings

Now bums just drink and wander round
Tramps dream and wander too
But a hobo was a pioneer who preferred to work for food
He knew how his nation’s doing
By the length of a side walk cigarette butt
Born with an aching wanderlust
Embedded in his gut
Hounded, beaten, laughed at, broke
Chased out of every town
With a walking stick scepter
And a shredded coffee can crown
The last of the hobo king, the last of the hobo kings

The last free men are hoboes
Steinbeck said, and he paid cash
And the stories that he bought from them
Helped write the Grapes of Wrath
But boxcars have been sealed for years
And trespassers do time
And the railroad yards are razor wired
And hoboing’s a crime
So here’s to you Steam Train Maury
Hold that Westbound tight
As you ride off into history
The last hobo, the last ride
The last of the hobo king, the last of the hobo kings

Before You Leave

Spence/Gauthier

Tell me that you love me one more time
Before you leave, before you leave
Wrap your arms around me hold me tight
Before you leave, before you leave

Whisper to me softly in my ear
Before you leave, before you leave
Tell me that you'll miss me when you're not here
Before you leave, before you leave

When you get to where you're going
Would you call and let me know you're ok?
'Cause I'll be thinking 'bout you
Won’t you ease my mind and let me know you're safe?

The weathers turning, don't forget your coat
Before you leave, before you leave
Listen close, there's something you should know
Before you leave, before you leave

The darkness that shadowed you was mine
It was never yours at all
The light behind your eyes that used to shine
Gets brighter as you walk away

Tell me that you love me one more time
Before you leave, before you leave
Wrap your arms around me hold me tight
Before you leave, before you leave

Please

Gauthier

4 nights alone in Amsterdam, and I missed you every one
I wish the trip was over and it’s only just begun
I don’t know when I’ll see you again,
I can’t think of it, it’s more than I can bear
I know I only kissed you once but I hold on my on my lips like a prayer
I see me in the window of old Café on the boulevard
Looking hunkered down and blown around, I’ve forgotten what I’m out here for
I stood alone last night by the streetlight, aching for you
Then I watched the snow fall in Berlin from a hotel room on Karl Marx Avenue
Please, I Need Your Love
          
I dreamed of you in Belfast and I woke up to the echo of your voice
I roamed the streets of Dublin talking to myself ‘bout love and choice
I forgot the dream in Aberdeen and panicked cause it felt like you were gone
I called your number in despair and you laughed at me, thank God I was wrong
Please, I Need Your Love           

I kissed you once and then I left, hoping that you’d remember me
I didn’t even try to stay I was teasing you with the possibility
I set a trap but I fell in and I don’t think I’m finished falling yet
What I tried to do to you, I did to me I guess I’m working off the debt

Going crazy here without you and it makes no sense at all
On my knees with my arms out, and my back against the wall
I miss you everywhere I go with a need that grows stronger town to town
If you don’t want me baby, I hope I’m strong enough to keep on moving round
Please, I Need Your Love

Same Road

Rose/Gauthier

My silence betrays me
Let’s the demons take a hold
The truth always saves me
When there’s nowhere else to go
When you flirt with shadows
Darkness snakes under your skin
The only way back home
Is let the light of truth back in

I know you see it in my eyes
I know you know where I’ve been
So it’s hard to understand
Why you’d take me there again
I’ll come back to get you
But baby I can’t stay
The same road that brought me to you is gonna carry me away

I’ve come so far to stand here
I’ve earned this solid ground
I’ll fight to keep you with me
But I won’t let you take me back down
It scares me to death
To know what I need
I’m brave enough to love you
Brave enough to leave

I know you see it in my eyes
I know you know where I’ve been
So it’s hard to understand
Why you’d take me there again
I’ll come back to get you
But baby I can’t stay
The same road that brought me to you is gonna carry me away
I know you see it in my eyes
I know you know where I’ve been
So it’s hard to understand
Why you’d take me there again
I’ll come back to get you
But baby I can’t stay
The same road that brought me to you is gonna carry me away

I’ll come back to get you
But baby I can’t stay
The same road that brought me to you is gonna carry me away

I Ain't Leaving

Meadows/Gauthier

Broken on the inside, that’s what I used to say
Then I’d pack my bags, raise a white flag and drive away
I thought that’s what made me strong
Well, I was young and I was wrong, and

I ain’t leaving any more
I’m not walking out that door
No more running away
Made up my mind to stay
I’m gonna stand my ground
Stare my demons down
I ain’t leaving

I don’t know when it happened but I turned a corner somewhere on the road
On this side of those stubborn years, somehow, I ain’t so broken any more
I pushed away what I should’a held, yea, but sorrow taught me well

I ain’t leaving any more
I’m not walking out that door
No more running away
Made up my mind to stay
I’m gonna stand my ground
Stare my demons down
I ain’t leaving

There’s still a whisper in my ear
That I’m trying not to hear
Haunted voices from my past
Promises of greener grass
Speaking to me everyday
Fighting hard to have their way but

I ain’t leaving any more
I’m not walking out that door
No more running away
I made up my mind to stay
Wanna find out what it’s like
To live a different kind of life
To hang around and fight
For something I believe in
I ain’t leaving
This time I ain’t leaving
Broken on the inside that’s what I used to say

Soft Place to Land

Hall/Gauthier

Look at me, on the high wire
As I attempt to balance safety with desire
Step right up, get your tickets here
What you see should have you trembling with fear
Without a net, here I go
Ladies and gentlemen I promise you a show

As I’m crashing through the clouds I used to walk on
Reaching out for unfamiliar hands  
Falling into the eyes of strangers
I wanna smile but I can’t
I’m looking for a soft place to land

When you’re up so high it’s hard to know
If you look foolish waving to the crowd below
It was plain, to everyone but me
Only a fool forgets the pull of gravity
But for a while, didn’t I fly?
Didn’t I shine like a star up in the sky?

Now I’m crashing through the clouds I used to walk on   
Reaching out for unfamiliar hands
Falling into the eyes of strangers
I wanna cry but I can’t
I’m looking for a soft place to land

bridge

I remember blue sky
I remember your company
I remember laughter
I remember everything

As I’m crashing through the clouds I used to walk on   
Reaching out for unfamiliar hands
Falling into the eyes of strangers
I wanna cry, but I can’t
I’m looking for a soft place to land
And it’s hard to find a soft place to land
Ain’t it hard to find a soft place to land

Thanksgiving

Gauthier                                                                            

We stood in a long line waiting for the doors to be unlocked
Out in the cold wind, ‘round the razor wire fenced in cellbloc
Young mamas with babies, sisters and other kinds of kin                                 
At Tallulah State Prison on Thanksgiving Day, we’re waiting to get in

You gotta get here early, it don’t matter how many miles you drove
They make you wait for hours, jailers always move slow
They run names, check numbers, gravel faced guards they don’t smile                                 
Grammy and me in line, silently waiting single file

Thanksgiving at the prison, surrounded by families
Road weary pilgrims who show up faithfully
Sometimes love ain’t easy, sometimes love ain’t free

My grammy looks so old now, her hair is soft and white like the snow
Her hands tremble when they frisk her from head to her toes
They make her take her winter coat off then they frisk her again
When they’re done she wipes their touch off her dress, stands tall and heads in

Thanksgiving at the prison, surrounded by families
Road weary pilgrims who show up faithfully
Even though it ain’t easy, even though it ain’t free
Sometimes love ain’t easy, I guess love ain’t free