I Can't Remember, They're Just Names....

I Can't Remember, They're Just Names

I can’t remember, they’re just names
And I’m not tryin’ to change somebody’s mind
Got a little nit to pick
Couple tricks to try and I’ll be fine
Writin’ while I’m drivin’
It’s when I do the little thinkin' that I do
Caught here in the traffic
The only freedom of the road is solitude

Let's talk about this human stain,
Sad, sweet, short, conditional refrain
Follow all the rule of thumb
It all comes down to just one thing
An' if you’re the one a-listenin’
Why am I the one in pain?
Jus' how it's got to be
I don’t bother to explain

(And) Sometimes, if not always, it’s all me
If it’s your hat, why’s it hangin’ on my tree?
How you gonna walk a mile when the shoe don’t fit?
Take that trip and then you’ll see...

Maybe Rodney got it wrong
Can’t spin out when the give-a-damn’s gone red
Sometimes a curve is just a curve
And there’s a lighthouse in the cornfield up ahead
I know that you don’t care
Just in case, give it a wave before we’re dead
And I stopped meaning all that much
Just to keep the children fed

(And) Sometimes, if not always, it’s all me
If it’s your hat, why’s it hangin’ on my tree?
Hard to walk a mile when the shoe don't fit
Take that trip and then you’ll see...

I can't remember, they're just names
And I'm not tryin' to change somebody's mind

© Daniel Dain, 2006.

I'll Come Back For You

I dig my way out of the scrum of stickers 
and begin my climb

I left the house, ostensibly to pick mushrooms, 

but failed in the attempt, as I found none 

after succumbing to the temptations of a 
new route, becoming tangled in a mess 

of these same stickers, and hampered by the 
slippery wet rocks at the bottom 

of the other end of the creek that 
runs along the back of the adjoining property,
I have to scramble my way back
onto the familiar territory

of the lower shelf of the ridge

I labor up the hill and almost miss
the two new falls of trees,
and it is strange to me, as I had been on that 

part of the trail only last Wednesday and I recall 

no storms that would have caused such damage
The lay of the land looks a little different, and 
here at fifty-two, I feel the mistrust of memory,
as if assailed by a long, slow attack of deja vu

It's after seven in the evening, and through the trees,

I barely see the ivory siding of our house,
and lug my overweight baggage through the shadows

up the path that feeds into the slope of our backyard,
past the tractor shed, the three-quarters full wood-shed
between the house and your studio, 

and up onto the back deck, where I take 

my muddy shoes and wet socks off

and leave them in the porch  

Entering, I catch  a whiff of the soup you have
simmering on the stove.  A bean mix, with bits of
herb from our garden, a little turkey sausage,

the ever-present and dangerous floating habenero,

a splash or two of wine

You claim you've been losing your hearing,

and there is some small evidence that it may be so

As I come up behind you, sitting at my office desk,

using my computer to grade papers,

I chuckle and touch your shoulder,

and still you do not turn

I lean in to sniff your hair, as I always do,

and I notice that you have not colored it,

and now I remember that I have come back 

for you a hundred times or more

I promised

 The Mercy of the Wheels  - John Gorka

I heard a train calling
Through the middle of the night
I heard the whistle
And the mercy of the wheels
It's a hand to mouth existence
In a mouth to nothing world
I was longing
For the way I used to feel

I'd like to catch a train
That could go back in time
That could make a lot of stops
Along the way
I would go to see my Father
With the eyes he left behind
I would go for all the words
I'd like to say
And I'd take along a sandwich
And a picture of my girl
And show 'em all
That I made out ok

I heard a train calling
Through the middle of the night
And I wondered if I
Should have gotten on
Cause a train knows where it's going
And when it's time to go
And that it looks best
When it's already gone

I heard a train calling
Through the middle of a dream
And I wandered through the weeds
As it went by
Oh the trains they have the numbers
The nicknames and the nights
They know it's ok
To run away and cry

I'd like to catch a train
That could go back in time
That could make a lot of stops
Along the way
I would go to see me Father
With the eyes he left behind
I would go for all the words
I'd like to say
And I'd take along a sandwich
And a picture of my girl
And show them all
That I made out ok

I heard a train calling
Through the middle of the night
I heard the whistle
And the mercy of the wheels

Bad Man

This started as a rip on 80's Arena-Rock Cowboy songs, then I tried to bring that into a modern setting. This song is for the TV Evangelists, politicians, Hedge Fund and Health Care Systems managers, and predators of all kinds.... Here's the flash: you CAN sell your soul.

Bad Man

I conned an earmark trickle-down
Like tossin' offa shot a' Crown
Cooked the books, gone to ground
Slush-fund glory bound
Bought the vote, got your money
Been cheatin' like a Bear eats honey
I'm a bad, bad man
There's an angry mob and an old oak tree
Somewhere in God's Grand Plan for me

I run your HMO and retirement plan
I take the taken, skim the scam
When I cash out, I leave town
They're still addin’ up the tab
Raise your rates, deny the claim
Dish out dividends in pain
The blood on my white collar
Cancels out the promises I made

I got Congress in my pocket
So my lobby's in your wallet
Dress it up in God and Country
Don't let fact get in the way
An' I can Testify right in your eye
An' mean the end I Justify
Twist the Truth and take The Fifth
Down to Judgment Day

The investors always call for more
So I moved that money way-off-shore
Revelation Seventeen
Says sumpin' 'bout a "Whore"
Playin' shell games with the gains
Got no conscience, got no shameHey, what year is that Champagne?
Ill-fated orphans curse my name

No time to turn and wave bye-bye
At the dead-end street with the One-Way sign
Knee-capped by a baseball bat
The HMO don't cover that
Blindfold all the lies I told
In a trunk ride down a river road
No six foot deep, just a shallow hole
22-long and a burnin' soul
The Devil's Handshake
Devil's Handshake
Devil's Handshake
It's waitin'
The Devil's Handshake
Devil's Handshake
Devil's Handshake
It's waitin'
I'm a bad, bad man

© Daniel Dain, 2008.

Barney

Barney  (an excerpt from "Be No Cushion")

Barney
You must go now
And tell Andy
That Mayberry is dead
No more sleepy haircuts
Slow talks on slower
Golden afternoons
On a bench outside
A door that 
Doesn't open anymore
Oh Dear Barney
Times are such 
Just one bullet
Will not do

Where The Sun Shines Through

Where The Sun Shines Through
Put me down
Where the grass is green
Down near close
Where I dreamed my dreams
Where a big ol' tree
Throws a big ol' shade
But where the sun shines through

Take me home
While you live life
Home with you
Is never Bye and Bye
And it is sweet
And it will be
Home

I can go
But I won't leave
Going's easy
And I BelieveAnd I've always been happy
Hangin' 'round
With you

So put me down
Where the grass is green
Down near close
Where I dreamed my dreams
Where a big ol' tree
Throws a big ol' shade
But where the sun shines through
Where the sun shines through

© DDC, 2006.