lyrics
NEAR AND FAR (2019)
INDIAN PAINTBRUSHES
Indian paintbrushes are popping up along the road
Give it a couple weeks, the redfish will be in the coves
And a few days ago, I quit wondering where you are
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
There’s an old cowboy with that roach pressed to his lips
He’s listening to AC/DC, driving down 46
Soon this land might be subdivisions near and far
But it’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
I thought a lot about leaving this place.
It’s a hard pill to swallow.
No matter where I go, I end up back from where I came.
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow.
There goes Ronnie; he did some time and got left by his wife
They don’t have to strap you to a chair to take your life
I stop on in and buy him a whiskey for his sorrow
Man, it’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
And today Ms. Mary-Anne ain’t wearing the same old frown
Looks like her family finally came back into town
She’s smiling like a kid again in the front yard with her granddaughter
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow.
I thought a lot about leaving this place.
It’s a hard pill to swallow.
No matter where I go, I end up back from where I came.
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow.
Indian paintbrushes are popping up along the roads.
Give it a couple weeks, the redfish will be out in droves.
And a few days ago I quit wondering where you are.
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
It’s supposed to be nice out tomorrow
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CLOSING IN
I see em crawling on their bellies
They moving like snakes through the woods
Daddy been watching em for six straight days
Says they coming cus what he cooks
Mama been gone since mid-September
She don’t live here no more
Daddy’s teaching me about the family business
But there’s men closing in on our home.
I hear some folks in town been dying
Probably on account of his speed.
I don’t give a damn what they motive.
They ain’t hunting my family.
Daddy says “Go on and load that rifle.
There’s headlights coming ‘cross the hill.
I told you them son’ bitches would be here
When they hit the door fire at will”
Daddy says he ain’t going back to prison.
He’s loading up his magazine.
Those headlights’ pulling on into the drive
He says “son, on the count of three”
I hear some folks in town been dying
Probably on a count of his speed.
Twelves years old, but I been told
There ain’t nothing worse than police.
He put 17 rounds through the front door
When he heard someone turning a key
Mama lay limp on the linoleum floor
Daddy fell to his knees
She was just coming back home for Christmas
That shit’s got my Daddy losing his mind
I can hear the siren’s wailing in the distance
They’re closing in for real this time.
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HEAVY YOUR HANDS
There he go walking, knocking on Jesse’s front door
Takes his jaw and his heart, lays em down on her floor
He ain’t learned yet that with a woman like that, you cannot let yourself fall
She keeps her ground so hard, she’s got no give at all
You can count on one finger, the number of street lights
If you ain’t been outside the fence sometimes its hard to try it
Daddy used to tell me, son this town is so small
That you can close down the bar and make it to the church, even if you crawl.
He says, “heavy your hands, I need a stronger pour.
Cus now that I love her, she won’t love me no more”
I know what you’re thinking man, but she don’t need your help
If she was looking for a way out, she’d’ve found it by now herself
She just want a little company; she ain’t looking for your hand to hold
But it’s a young man’s mistake, to try and look a little to close.
He says “heavy your hands, I need a stronger pour
Cus now that I love her, she won’t love me no more”
She’s doing you a favor son, by cutting you loose.
Better now than to drag you around ‘til she breaks you right in two.
He says “heavy your hands, I need a stronger pour
Cus now that I love her, she won’t love on me no more”
“Heavy your hands, I need a stronger pour
Cus now that I love her, she won’t love me no more”
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EAGLEFORD SHALE NIGHTS
When life has drug you down, to being stuck out in this town
This ain’t the kind of country living with green pastures and cotton gowns.
You crawl out of the bar, get lost up in the stars
The neon lights are blurred, and you can’t find your car
And you say you’ll work the rigs, when the oil prices lift
But you’ll spend every dime of it, in another place like this
It’s hard to feel alive, living this kind of life
You just make it through the days, until the Eagleford Shale nights.
Now you’re drinking more, than you ever have before
Your tolerance so high; your state of mind so low.
And that girl who’d come around, finally up and left town
You still remember how, she’d keep you from spiraling down
But when that boom turn to bust, the machinery turn to rust
You realize how much the oil field is just like love
It’ll promise you a life, and take you for a ride
But leave you sitting under blurry neon lights on Eagleford Shale nights.
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FEEL ALIVE
Driving home in the rain, can’t wait to see you again
It’s only been a couple days, but it feels like its been so long
The clock on the radio is an hour fast or so
Wish I was an hour-more down the road. I’ll be home soon enough.
Getting high. Getting low. Getting by, living poor.
Its just part of this life.
Stay with me, through the dawn, oh I need, you in my arms.
Wrapped up real tight.
You make me feel alive.
And I’ll answer your call, but I can’t dance at all.
But when I can barely walk, you take the wheel.
The clouds are hanging low to night, fogging up all the streetlights
And with you by my side, it almost don’t seem real.
Getting high. Getting low.
Getting by, living poor.
It’s just part of this life.
Stay with me, through the dawn, oh I need, you in my arms.
Wrapped up real tight.
You make me feel alive.
You make me feel alive.
You make me feel.
You make me feel alive.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
OATMEAL
She took off to her mother’s
Flipped me the bird and said her brother’d
Be over later on to whoop my ass
I said I didn’t mean to make such a mess
It ain’t you it’s just that dress
Making your rear-end look so damn fat.
I’m kinda worried about what to do
I ain’t had a license in a year or two
Who the hell gonna go down and buy my beer
And tonight it’s Fruit Loops for dinner.
Gatti’s no longer will deliver.
My dog pissed on the last two guys they sent here.
Babe if you come back to me, I’ll nurse them athletes feet, she said no deal.
I wake up every morning; shit, shower, shave and I’m crying in my oatmeal.
Well I got a bone that needs a pickin’
With the boys down at the lottery commission.
I give 'em all my money and they just won’t pay me back
And ever since I upset her,
I ain’t got nothing left for records
She left all her tractor rap and took my Waylon and Willie and Johnny Cash
Babe if you come back to me I’ll nurse them athletes feet, she said no deal
I wake up every morning; shit, shower, shave and I’m crying in my oatmeal
Babe if you come back to me, I’ll quit smoking all your weed and eating all your pills
I wake up every morning; shit, shower, shave and I’m crying in my oatmeal.
She took off to her mother’s
Flipped me the bird and said her brother’d
Be over later on to whoop my ass.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
GET ME THROUGH
Cool wind through the wingpits
Thank God it’s finally fall
The heater works a little
The A/C don’t work at all
And we spend so much time together
When I’m gone I get like phantom pains
Looking for some sunshine
Cutting through the rain
And tonight I’m in a hotel
The TV’s talking me to sleep
And the colors flicker on the wall
Like the lights above the street
We’re out here in the city
There’s a bar a half-a block away
Where lover’s pour into the night
To watch the sun pour into the day
I just drive, with bloodshot eyes
Like reflections of taillights
Dark and empty, inside
Like a midnight stretch of road
And I wanna fold
But I won’t
Cus when the blacktop meets the blue
I just think of you
It gets me through
A calf got out the pasture
And it pranced like it’d been freed
But now it’s just trapped between the highway feeder
And the barbs that’ll make him bleed
And I’ve been to Colorado
And I’ve been to Tennesee
It’s the same feeling I keep chasing
Makes me never want to leave
So I just drive, with bloodshot eyes
Like reflections of tailights
Dark and empty, inside
Like a midnight stretch of road
And I wanna fold, but I won’t
Cus when the blacktop beats me blue
I just think of you
You get me through
I just think of you
You get me through
I just think of you
You get me through
—————————————————————————————————————————————————
MORE OR THE SAME
Teddy’s kicking gravel when he pulls up
Tells me, grab my keys and fire up the truck
There’s a keg down at Mary’s and we oughta go
Ain’t too far, just a little down the road
I got a little whiskey here in this flask
Stop off to buy us some smokes and gas
I’m on-call tomorrow, but what the hell
Let’s get loud until we get our fill
Watching the sun come up
While we’re coming down
It’s more of the same in this town
We grew up here, drinking beer
And hanging around
It’s more of the same in this town
A couple pastures back from the front gate
So far you can barely hear the interstate
A lot of things around here sure have changed
But some things are always gonna stay the same
That Austin-tonio metroplex
Gonna keep on growing til there’s nothing left
But ain’t no sense in bitching ‘bout what you can’t fix
Got three whiskey’s down and another on deck
Watching the sun come up
While we’re coming down
It’s more of the same in this town
We grew up here, drinking beer
And hanging around
It’s more of the same in this town
I drag Teddy back to his truck
Wrestle for his keys until he gives up
There’s only a couple cars out on the road
Not like when we were kids but pretty close
Watching the sun come up
While we’re coming down
It’s more of the same in this town
We grew up here, drinking beer
And hanging around
It’s more of the same in this town
——————————————————————————————————————————————————
SINNER’S WORK
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I were born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I are born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Ain’t no other word but hard, behind on bills working two jobs
The folks at the top they say they care, but talk don’t do much for folks down here
No overtime, working by the hour, but that don’t pay for food and power
And I swear it’s gonna break me in half, I’m losing my mind, time I’ll never get back
This shovel gonna put in the ground, goes to notes, the rest to the crown
I’m busting rocks til the black of night; up with the chickens before day light
I work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I were born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I are born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Spilt salt cut up on a broken mirror: we make our own bad luck around here
Gonna scuff these boots in a parking lot, Friday night around 2 o’clock
Keep what’s left of my sanity; sweat it all out come Monday morning
All of this here just to stay afloat; ain’t no other choice, got their foot on my throat
And some folks try to skirt the system. It all works out ‘til their door is kicked in
People in prison, doing their years. It ain’t just dominos in there
They work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I were born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I are born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Three hundred miles until the town; gonna play this gig and turn back around
Spent a lot of time sleeping in my truck, woke up a lot of times still tore up
Brother stomp them feet and bend them strings; back on the road, smokes and gasoline
The good die young before the scene does, ain’t no fun for the rest of us
We work, work all night long
Out at dusk go in at dawn
You and I were born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all night long
Out at dusk go in at dawn
You and I are born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I were born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
In at dusk go out at dawn
You and I are born to sin
Devil’s tools are idol hands
Work, work all day long
Work, work all day long
Work, work all day long
Work, work all day long
———————————————————————————————————————————————
AIN’T GOING HOME
Daddy says we ain’t the kind to go to college
Better go down to the plant and try to get on
But I’m already tired of this forsaken town
Think I’ll transport pounds until I get caught
Got me a girl she’s a lush alcoholic
Busted capillaries in a couple mugshots
Keep your judgement to yourself; that’s the way we like it
Living on the run and running out the clock
Hell no, we ain’t going home
Hell no. We ain’t going home.
I got a couple buddies, died in the Army
Chasing phantoms in the sand out in Iraq
I took my cousin’s car when he got sent away
Put it in gear and I never looked back
You get pulled over sometimes when you look like us
But we got a good spot in here for that stash
Can’t do much with this kinda life
But they already call us South Texas trash.
Hell no, we ain’t going home.
Hell no. We ain’t going home.
I’m sure that there’s a dead end
Maybe death and maybe the State.
But I don’t see too much difference in,
Paying off credit cards and stamping license plates.
I stop off and buy me a pack of cigarettes.
Before we get to the state with the nicotine tax.
To tell you the truth, I’m getting sick of this too
Looking behind me and covering tracks.
There’s a cool breeze pushing through that stale air.
My girl takes another pull from that flask.
You got two choices: live for the moment
Or spend your life wondering what if you’d had.
Hell no, we ain’t going home.
Hell no. We ain’t going home.
Hell no, we ain’t going home.
Hell no. We ain’t going home.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————-
ONE FOOT
She was promised a life of privilege and money.
Pretty black dresses, a man who’d do more than try.
But life ain’t always like you see in the movies.
She got what she wanted except the cheating and lies.
Our own brand of tears and our own flavor of shame.
One foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave.
Joe-painter-six-pack works with oil and latex
Some pray for stock options, some for 50 cent raises.
He gets off work, you might think he looks homeless.
But it’s good for the soul; he’s better off than the Jones’
From low to the high, it all shakes down the same.
One foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave.
I look around me, and all that I view
Is folks working their lives away or wasting their youth
We hit that mid-age and all feel so blue
No matter what you got, we all got one thing to lose.
Low to the high, it all shakes down the same.
One foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave.
Our own brand of tears and our own flavor of shame.
One foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave.
One foot in the cradle and one foot in the grave.
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BURGUNDY RED
Run to my gun, pull it from under my bed
A kid named Billy’s out in his Camaro; burgundy red.
His mama’s gonna be crying here come sunlight
She should’ve raised him better, he might still be alive.
He took my sister out on the backroads after the bars.
Where no didn’t mean no and he pushed her out of his car.
She stumbled through the door with more than just a broken heart.
Tonight there’ll be flashes of light glowing through the dark.
She’s my sister, I’d do anything for her
I’m her big brother, it’s my job to be there
He’ll be feeding the birds come early morning.
Life ain’t always easy; at least my justice is fair.
I might be staring at grey walls for the rest of my life
But if it’s the last free thing I do, that boy’s gonna die
They’ll pick me up at my mama’s house where my sister sleeps
He’s sleeping too: his eyes are open and his blood’s in the creek.
She’s my sister, I’d do anything for her
I’m her big brother, it’s my job to be there
He’ll be feeding the birds come early morning.
Life ain’t always easy; at least my justice is fair.
She opened her eyes and grabbed for my hand
Said don’t do nothing stupid boy, let the law take him in.
I said, “I want him dead!” She said, “Yeah I do too
But more than that I don’t wanna lose you”
Well, she’s my sister, I’d do anything for her
I’m her big brother, it’s my job to be there
So I guess I’ll let him go with his life, but with a warning.
You set that son’bitch free, he ain’t got a prayer.
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THESE DAYS
I got tired of getting out of bed
So I brought that bottle in here instead.
For a moment when I wake up, you’re still here
And then you disappear.
I had to move off far away.
Just to get through my day to day.
When I’m at the work, that clock takes me by the hand.
But then the misery comes right back again.
Take me back where I belong
Where the sky is blue and the wind is blowin
Through your hair and we walk side by side
I used to love the morning rain
Now it sounds like a hurricane
Ripping everything right from my arms
These days the night’s are long.
I keep saying I’ll get a full night’s sleep
But it’s already been, 37 weeks.
Maybe one day you’ll come knocking on my door
But until then I’ll have one more, one more … one, more.
Take me back where I belong
Where the sky is blue and the wind is blowin
Through your hair and we walk side by side
I used to love the morning rain
Now it sounds like a hurricane
Ripping everything right from my arms
These days the night’s are long.
Take me back where I belong
When you’re with me, and I’m still strong
And everything works out like it should.
I try so hard to understand
But it’s just something that I can’t
How something so bad could come from something so good.
Take me back where I belong
Where the sky is blue and the wind is blowin
Through your hair and we walk side by side
I used to love the morning rain
Now it sounds like a hurricane
Ripping everything right from my arms
These days the night’s are long.
——————————————————————————————————————————————-
HAYS COUNTY HILTON
They only got me for DWI
When I tried to run over my ex-wife
I didn’t quite get her, but I sure tried!
The cops just laughed and took me for a ride.
Got to the jail, I couldn’t ask for more
They gave me a nice spot to lay on the floor.
I finally got to sleep for 8 hours or more.
And I got breakfast in bed
Never had that before.
They took me on down so I could see the judge.
Said I get to stay here for a couple of months.
They wanted pictures of me; that made me blush.
I thought to myself, “man this is the stuff”
Showed me to the tank and man it was cool
Here they got 24 beds to a room.
At most hotels you only get 2.
There’s even a guy in here doing free tattoos.
At the Hays County Hilton.
It can’t be beat.
Hays County Hilton.
Man it’s sure neat.
Hays County Hilton.
Got me wearing a smile.
Hays County Hilton.
I’ll be here for a while.
You can check out books, you know, read and unwind
They’re all missing pages, that saves you some time
If you like bologna, you’ll love the chow
I ain’t got to sleep on a cot since back when I was in scouts
My friend, “Loco Pete" got put on a train
Say he gets to go to an even bigger place
Man even better than here? They must have it made.
Maybe I’ll get lucky and they’ll save me a space.
At the Hays County Hilton.
It can’t be beat.
Hays County Hilton.
Man it’s sure neat.
Hays County Hilton.
Got me wearing a smile.
Hays County Hilton.
I’ll be gone for a while.
Hays County Hilton
Nothing is better.
Hays County Hilton.
Got me wearing a sweater.
Hays County Hilton.
Relax and unload.
Hays County Hilton.
Out on Uhland Road, whoooo!