Mud

Take a dab of dust and dirt
Add flotsam from the flood
Press it in our hands
And we are mud

Take a whit of wood and word
Add blessings from the blood
Press it on our tongues
And we are mud

Take a speck of sin and skin
And level it with love
Press it to our hearts
And we are mud

04.25
prj 025
1st 30-Minute Session
Gm /F# /F /E
C

Gm /F# /F /E
C Bb F C

Gm /F# /F /E
C Bb F C

break
Dm G7
Am D7
Bm F#7
C#m G#7
Am D7

See You At The Light

Will the question of speed and distance
Be answered when you arrive?
Will the quest for your needs and wishes
Be enough for you to survive?

See you at the light
See you at the light

Will the problem of pain and pleasure
Be solved and sound right?
Will the probing gain the treasure
That's found at the light?

See you at the light
See you at the light

Haunted by the taunting of the dauntless sky

04.17.10
verse: E A A G E
chorus: Asus2 Cmaj7 E

Judgment

I wanted to use poison
There were too many to choose
So I spent the night with whiskey
And mixed it with the morning dew
When they found the bishop's body
I'd just left the rectory
I went down to the river
To wash the blood off of me.

Sheriff Clark asked questions
Soon he'd heard enough
He stood me up, turned me around
And bound me with cold cuffs
They smiled on the evening news
Their experts all agreed
Eye for an eye after this break
To wash the blood off of me.

Who were the peers in my jury
I didn't know even one
And none of them, not a single soul,
Had ever done what I'd done.
Whores and thieves on the docket
As the judge looked over my plea
My lawyer said he couldn't help
To wash the blood off of me.

The padre checked his nails
As they tried to find a vein
All my senses were burned and black
As I tried to cry out his name.
I felt the river through my fingers
I felt the mud under my knee
I heard singing clear as water
As the blood washed off of me.

04.02
capo 3
Am
C
E
Am
C
Am
C G/B Am
G F G C

without the capo
Cm
Eb
G
Cm
Eb
Cm
G Bb/D Cm
Bb Ab Bb Eb

ways & means

she has a way with me
could do away with me
by any means

she's more than what she seems
she's more than what she seems
in her ways & means

she can sway me
could always play me
by any means


she says she prays for me
i wish she'd stay with me
by any means

take me
break me
make me
forsake me
bathe me
scathe me
crave me
save me

04.16
capo 6
intro: Bb F
verse: C G/B Am (E)
chorus: F C G/B Am E
coda: F Bb

Down To The Shore

I go down to the shore
I go down to the shore

The moon moves the wave
The wave moves the sand

The wave moves the sand
The sand moves through time

And time moves the moon

04.13

C Csus4
Bb F C Csus4

Invisible

I come into a room
And feel so small
Like no one's
Gonna notice at all
Invisible

I get up on the stage
And sound so small
Like no one's
Gonna listen at all
Invisible

I walk right up to you
And talk so small
But you don't
Ignore me at all
I'm visible

04.12

Leave This Room

I have a book
I'm gonna read it real soon
Until the day I read it
I'm never gonna leave this room

I have a song
I'm gonna sing it real soon
Until the day I sing it
I'm never gonna leave this room

How can I be so sure
That there is so much more
On the other side of my door?

I have a prayer
I'm gonna pray it real soon
Until the day I pray it
I'm never gonna leave this room


I have a bed
I'm gonna go to sleep soon
And when I go to sleep
You know I'm gonna leave this room

04.11

Uke
D G
G D
F G D

Gm7 A7

(G C
C G
Bb C G

Cm7 D)

Trying To Get Through

Trying to get through
Trying to get through

I settle down
And get quiet
One more time
I'll try it

Trying to get through
Trying to get through

The empty room
Is full of creaks
The day light
Is getting weak

That's not my body
That's not my heart
That's not my mind
It's something apart

04.09
CGDGCe

Wishing For A Waltz

She wished for a waltz
Wild and in the nude
I laughed and said
I like your attitude

We cut up that rug
Flown from Isfahan
We were half the world
The other half was gone

Paris loved Vienna
In three-quarter time
If love were a number
I'm sure it would be prime

Paris and Vienna
Rugs from Isfahan
And even you and me
Have our own faults
Yet none of it matters
When wishing for a waltz

04.08

*

Note for the second verse: There is a saying in Farsi, Esfahan Nesf-e-Jahan, which means "Isfahan is half the world."

Graveyard Wisdom

lyrics by Paul Gorman & Chris Baker
music by Chris Baker

They'd give anything to have my cough
or a kingsized bed that was as soft
the dust settled in their veins
everyday seems just the same

just the same

they’d give anything to have my job
they judge my complaints as being odd
day after day they pine
that their days were just like mine

just like mine

They’d give anything to have my hope
And live this emotional kaleidoscope
Night after night they wish
That their lives were just like this

just like this

graveyard wisdom
graveyard wisdom


*

To hear Paul Gorman's version of this song, click here.

Before My Name Becomes Stone

I think about that night
We lost our way down streets
We found that dim hotel
And swapped secrets between the sheets
We swore we'd never go back
But tomorrow it's something I'll do
Before I go, let's drink together
I'll sing you a song or two.

How could love be forever
Even stars have their spans
Star light, star bright, first star
No star would heed your demands
I spelled your name in the stars
But it was smeared by the moon
I wish we'd drink one more together
And sing a song or two.

A promise is a snake's skin
The old one gives way to the new
Vows turn lovers to liars
Who'll turn you with small truths
So before my name becomes stone
And forgotten by all but a few
I'd like to drink with you alone
And sing you a song or two.


04.03.10
C F C G
C F Fm
C G/B Am G F C
interlude: Am Dm G7