CLOSE THE FRONT DOOR TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF TRADE YOUR WANDER-LUST FOR MY ITTY BITTY FIRE CUZ I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO REMEMBER ME IT'S A HARSH WORLD SURE CAN BE A COLD PLACE IF YOU DON'T HAVE SOMEONE TO KISS YOUR FACE WHEN IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE THERE'S A WHOLE LOT OF REASONS TO KEEP YOURSELF FAR AWAY IF WE CALL ON THE ANGEL OF LOVE DIMENSION I WONDER WHAT SHE'D SAY I KNOW THAT OUR LOVE WON'T SAVE THE STARVING AND BROKEN AND I DON'T FORGET THAT WE'RE ALL LITTLE CRYSTALS SHATTERED TO THE GROUND I DO WHAT I CAN DO I TRY TO REMEMBER TO REMEMBER TO REMEMBER THAT THERE'S ALL THESE LITTLE PIECES I JUST CAN'T SEE WAITING TO BE FOUND I KEEP ON SWEEPING I KEEP MY EYES OPEN PLANT SOME ROSES IN THE GARDEN AND WHISPER YOUR NAME TO THE MIDNIGHT SKY CUZ WITH YOU I FEEL REAL LOVE I HAVE TO THINK IT'S A GREAT BIG LOVE IN THIS LITTLE LIFE GAME WE COULD DO A LITTLE DANCING TO SOME OF OUR OLD SONGS WE COULD MOVE TO OUR HEARTBEAT THERE WE DON'T GO WRONG I'M GONNA MAKE US SOME HOT TEA MAYBE SPIKE IT WITH A LITTLE BIT OF YOU LOVE ME THROW A TOWEL ON THE LAMP CUZ IT'S WAY TOO BRIGHT WE'LL TURN AND WE'LL TURN TIL WE TURN THE NIGHT INTO OUR THING OUR LITTLE BITTY LOVE THING IT'S THE POWER-OF-TWO THING IF YOU DON'T COUNT CHANCE OR MAYBE THE NOTION THAT SOMETHING WATCHES OVER ALL SUPPOSED TO BE LOVERS WHO'VE LOST THEIR WAY I'M GONNA BLOW OUR COVER AND SAY THE ONLY THING LEFT TO SAY CLOSE THE FRONT DOOR TAKE YOUR SHOES OFF TRADE YOUR WANDER-LUST FOR MY ITTY BITTY FIRE CUZ I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU TO REMEMBER ME Copyright Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

What you dream in the morning, may you dream at night May your love light be so bright it diminish the darkness that comes without warning And in no particular way and threatens to blow you away. You can pray to a flower or a bird on the line, What’s clear in the mirror twists with cheap evening wine Still, those sweet running creek beds seem to show up on time And keep you from blowing away I wish I could tell you all the pain’s in your head That it all would be better if you’d just do what they said But if the voice that is talking is never your own Then who’s going to tell you that you finally come home. Me, I’ve run with the big boys and I’ve lain in their dirt It’s the same sorry story and we all have been hurt by the Truth that we carry and the truth that flies by And the distance between them is the sweet by and by We’re born to a body that is destined to die And we wail at that moment ‘til we learn to say ‘why’ Is it me, am I the only one who suffers this way that’s when the glorified game goes to play In the wind there’s a story, in the trees there’s a song In a friend’s touch there’s so much, makes you want to live longer And do a little something that might soften the blow With your arms wrapped together you say baby I know... Copyright 2004 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

There’s a field there’s a field I can go to and lay down to When I need to have you close In the quiet in the quiet of the moment I can feel you all around me You’re the wind that blows Everybody loves someone a little bit harder Everybody cries sometimes a little bit more Everybody waits a little longer in the shadows Than they should In the cruel of the city streets I think I see your face And then you disappear from me I pull my jacket up around my neck Try not to think about the times When you were holding me I know we had our stories And this time they’re not the same We’re walking different avenues Towards our losing game Can’t say it doesn’t hurt To be a number not a name Walking backward through the memories Until the hometowns look the same Are you already on that bus and gone? Is it me you're running from? Or did our love shine a little more Than you counted on? In the mirror when I’m looking in the mirror I can safely see the traces of my own mistakes I still hope I’ll be a someone for somebody Get it right and win my insides straight I hope you’re somewhere, baby, where the waters flow That’s where I’m heading And you never never know Love is bigger than the sky above Or the sacred ground below And just because we say it’s so Doesn’t always make it so Are you already on that bus and gone? Copyright 2004 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

My momma was a waitress My daddy a truckdriver. The thing that kept their power from them slowed me down awhile. I remember the morning that was the closing of my youth, when I said goodbye to no one and in that way faced my truth... and a walk along the river... and a rain a'coming down... and a girl on a road. There's a rhythm to a highway to match the rhythm of your fears. My shopping bag possessions scattered with my splattered tears. A string of nights in truck stops in darkness and in lies and a man they all called Tigerboy... he just had to show me why. He just had to give me something I'd forever understand... as a girl on a road. Rain upon the water makes footprints sunk in sand. Anger upon angry hurt, take me by the hand. Take me by the heartstrings and pull me deep inside and say I'm one with your forgiveness and separate from my pride. I don't know what it's like for you but here's what it's like for me... I wanted to turn beautiful and serve Eternity and never follow money or love with greasy hands, or move the earth and waters just to make it fit my plans. My eyes would be the harbor, my words the perfect place for a girl on a road. I met you in the Summer, I left you in the Fall. In between we did some living... I like to think that's all... but now I see words can be like weapons no matter that they're small, and I used three tiny words on you and then beat it down the hall. Does this road go on forever? Does this terror know no end... for a girl on a road? Rain upon the water makes footprints sunk in sand. Anger upon angry hurt, take me by the hand. Take me by the heartstrings pull me deep inside say I'm one with your forgiveness and separate from my pride. You cannot measure what it takes to mend a withered heart. They'll tell you at the onset everybody does their part. I did my best to follow the calling of my soul. But, it's like that first guitar I played... at the center is a hole, at the center is a...longing... that I cannot understand as a girl on a road. But if music be a boulder, let me carry it a long while. Let it turn into a feather, let it brush against my smile. Let the life be somewhat settled with the life that song has made. Let there be nothing I am longing for in some plan I may have made, in some story quickly written during a long forgotten time as a girl on a road. Rain upon the water makes footprints sunk in sand. Anger upon angry hurt, take me by the hand. Take me by the heartstrings pull me deep inside say I'm one with your forgiveness and separate from my pride. Copyright 1995 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

The strap that holds the cart in rein
 Has been let loose by wearing thin 
By wearing thin, by biting through 
The shift in power leans to you And the cart is on a wheel I've wept with joy for the things I've done 
And I've wept as hard for what I left undone 
For what I left undone 
For what I couldn't deem mine
 For what I thought was yours
 And so I drew the line And the cart is on a wheel And the wheel is on a hill I heard someone fall 
I saw another one flail 
I saw an arm dig deep 
Where there was no rail 
Well there is no rail 
And there's no 'because' 
Though the body be strong
 The Spirit is law And the cart is on a wheel And the wheel is on a hill And the hill is shifting sand And inside these laws we stand. If we are lives and souls to keep
 If we are Love, I hope we do not sleep 
I hope we do not sleep 
I hope we stay our ground
 Hold fast to the Mother as she turns us 'round. 'Cause the cart is on a wheel And the wheel is on a hill And the hill is shifting sand And inside these laws we stand. Hold fast to the Mother...hold fast. Copyright 1990 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

They said some men would be warriors and some men would be kings And some men would be owners of land and other man-made things And false love as the eternal flame would move some to think in rings And gold would be our power and other foolish things But you who dream of liberty must not yourselves be fooled Before you get to plea for freedom, you've agreed to being ruled If the body stays a shackle then the mind remains a chain That'll link you to a destiny whereby all good souls are slain And it won't take long, it won't take too long at all It won't take long, and you may say "What has that got to do with me" and I say, "You mean to tell me that's all?" Of three men in a desert wandering, one is knowing and two are scared They say time is in the river, but the river is not there Dry in spirit dry in body two will lend themselves to death And in grief one weeps into his hands and drinks his bitter tears 'Cause it don't take long, it don't take too long at all It don't take long, and you may say, "I don't know what you're talking about," and I say "You mean to tell me that's all?" And as I stand before you now, I am hopeful in my rage You know love has finally called for me, I will not wilt upon its stage But still smaller than my nightmare now do I print upon the page Do we have to live inside its walls to identify the cage? 'Cause it takes so long, why does it take so long, But it takes so long, and you may say, "I don't really care what you're talking about," and I say, "Are you trying to say you don't belong?" I am my mother's daughter, but I have seen myself in you It's this blessing that I follow now, and so I must speak true I dreamed of thousands dying, it was you and you and you, And while the city sleeps so quietly there is something we must do And it won't take long, it won't take too long at all, It won't take long, and you may say, "I don't know if I wanna know what you're getting at," And it makes we wanna say, "So long." Because grief will come in measures, only grief alone will know And you'll see it on your family, on your own face it will grow And they'll try to keep you hungry, then they'll tell you to eat snow You know pride can be a moving thing if we learn the strength of "NO!" And it won't take long, it won't take too long at all, It won't take long, and you may say, "I don't think this has anything to do with me," "But did you ever think you could be wrong?" At noon on one day coming, human strength will fill the streets Of every city on our planet, hear the sound of angry feet With business freezed up in the harbour, the kings will pull upon their hair And the banks will shudder to a halt, and the artists will be there 'Cause it won't take long, it won't take too long at all, It won't take long, and you may say, "I don't think I can be a part of that," and it makes me want to say, "Don't you want to see yourself that strong?" Division between the peoples will disappear that honoured day And though oceans lie between us, lifted candles light the way Half will join their hands by moonlight, the rest under a rising sun As underneath the sun and moon, a ritual'd wailing has begun And it won't take long, it won't take too long at all, It won't take long, and you may say, "I don't know how to be a part of what you're talking about," and it makes me want to say, "Come on!" And beware you sagging diplomats, for you will not hear one gun And though our homes be torn and ransacked we will not be undone For as we let ourselves be bought, we're going to let ourselves be free And if you think we stand alone, look again and you will see: We are children in the rafters, we are babies in the park, We are lovers at the movies, we are candles in the dark, We are changes in the weather, we are snowflakes in July, We are women grown together, we are men who easily cry, We are words not quickly spoken, we're the deeper side of try, We are dreamers in the making, we are not afraid of "Why?" Copyright 1983 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

This window makes a perfect frame For New England leaves like painted rain They hold me as I hold this train All shadows on a dime. You move forward fast by holding back You gauge your steps and you don't look slack Me I'm looking backward down the track To see us dreamers in our prime. I poured my soul in Santa Cruz I ached all night, Next day I lost my shoes It's so optional what you may or may not lose in this pattern we call time. Fifteen years ago I worked the line With a thousand more all doing time While a foreman smiled complicit crime We were strangers to the plan. An old old woman ran the gears She couldn't move They said she'd been there forty years ...I think that's rude... 'Cause forty years is forty years And I was only fifteen then. The work waged war upon our backs But we gauged our steps and we didn't look slack One day the old woman didn't come back I couldn't work so well and they let me go. But I don't forget about the factory I don't expect this ride to always be Can I give you what you want to see? Can we do it one more time? Ten years have worn this guitar down Its ivory whites are now mustard brown Its face bears cracks from every town Still it resonates with age. Where would I be without its ring? Who would I be if I didn't sing? For half a chance you spare nothing -- A tethered bird to a tethered cage. I sing to you to feed the dream I call to you 'though it's a muted scream We're one on one projected beams Translucent future be our sage. Five years have blazed since she warmed my side She is my gift I've loved and cried With her level look she is my guide A spirit on the wing Our love has jostled like this train Or like the moon to wax and wane But to know somebody worth the strain -- Me I have one gift to bring I cried for her then I let her down She let me go and then we came around I felt us new and I felt the ground And I felt myself believing. And now a tired conductor passes by He takes my ticket with a sigh I don't think he meant to catch my eye But he doesn't turn away. He says "I have a daughter as old as you And there's really nothing anyone else can do Do you play guitar...well good for you Me I play the violin" I imagine him with his hair jet black Does he hide his fiddle in the back? He gauged his words as the train went slack: The New York train stops here But I don't forget the factory I don't expect this ride to always be Can I give them what they want to see Let me do it twice -- The second time for me. 'Cause these windows make a perfect frame For New York buildings like upright trains They hold me as I hold the rain Fleeting shadows on a dime. Copyright 1983 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

It’s a quiet street in someone’s town On stranger’s feet I mark my ground I trace my circles round and round I ‘m sworn to find me In a party scene and I’d just got loose Its my devil’s luck to be introduced To one who takes their shape like you It unbinds me We knew we wouldn’t have everything And time proves it true I’ve got a flat-top six dressed in steel strings And I don’t have you You wouldn't like the life And I couldn't want you to There’s a secret in this solitude As my love unfolds I find it’s often crude I call you late and my words intrude And I falter But the miles don’t shrink by telephone The crackling wire becomes our home I tell you I’m okay alone And then I wonder I’ve got towns ahead and shows behind and I won’t be lost I join my name to that solid line though it always costs it takes my time it fills my mind And it feeds the ghost of Memories in the quiet heat When our words were trim And our hope was neat We said our purpose here Was to be complete with ‘I want you’ It’s a woman’s dream this autonomy Where the lines connect and the points stay free We said passion as an open sea would only haunt you I watch the last cab turn its headlights down To today’s sunrise I must have wanted you in every town And it’s no surprise that want alone don’t sit you down By my love eyes I’ve got memories in the quiet heat When our words were trim and our hope was neat We said our purpose here Was to be complete with ‘I want you’ Copyright 1979 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

the moon's on full fm full moon the speaker in the sky she's loud and wise and the highway I'm on is shimmering the signs shudder there’s one more strand of light one last wisp of the wand before night the highway I'm on is shimmering the streets are bare everyone's tuned to the glare it's just me, street wind and hair the highway I'm on is shimmering I'm writing with my hand covering the light so my friend can still see when she drives turns are fast changes too I still have a patch over my eye over you the highway I'm on is shimmering long live the Sparkly Queen she came from the east and rests in the west like me the trees are like claws coming by they're Ozark stark black on blue I still have the aftertaste of you the highway I'm on is shimmering there's something about these streets how they fuel us Copyright 2008 Capital B Music (BMI)

Up the misty mountain
 Wild flowers bind the ground
 Down by the rushing river 
Force will wear those boulders down 
Me I'm underneath my covers 
Me I'm trapped inside my brain
 While up above the misty mountain 
Up above the rushing river
 Up above the bed of longing
 The eagle takes the wind
 The eagle takes the wind my friend
 The eagle takes the wind
It makes me think of this my friend
 Where does the eagle live in me? O I am crawling through this city 
I say the city will be my home 
I say Ferron you are halfway pretty
 And may you never be alone 
Be it scorn or be it favour
 Be it but a moment gone 
But I stood before the mirror 
Like an open-ended cavern 
Like a breath held inhaled, holding, 
And I barely knew my name 
I barely knew my name my friend 
I barely knew my name 
It makes me think of this my friend 
Where do I live in me? O it's a planet of resistance 
It's a whirling flame of choice
 Are you my comrades in persistence 
I swear they'll know us by our voice
 Though we lay down in dusty corners 
We are ragged as a scar 
And when we rest our eyes stay open 
We are always off to war
 We're always off to war my friend
 We're always off to war
 And it makes my think of this my friend 
Where can the quiet be? O is it up the misty mountain
 Where wild flowers bind the ground 
Is it down by the rushing river 
Where force wears those boulders down 
Is it underneath my covers 
Is it trapped inside my brain 
Is it up above the misty mountain 
Is it up above the rushing river 
Is it up above the bed of longing
 Where the eagle takes the wind? Copyright 1976 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

When I was young the mom next door Would have tea at our house And she said her heart was broke she told me that life was based On faith in the Evermore But me I was always trying to find a way To get a dime and go outside and play It was pretty weird my childhood years Especially with the transference of those dreaded adult fears And it is just today as I feel my pent-up baby tears That I remember a song the moms would sing and we’d sing along... “If you go through that Shady Gate Have someone near who is for you Someone who will not mind to wait As you go slow through shady gate.” He left my mom when I was ten She said she didn’t give a damn That they’d never amount to anything They woke me up one night In the middle of an awful fight I heard him yell ‘What about my needs?’ And her hiss back “Why don’t you wake up all the neighbours too But please leave me be, another kid would finish me” And in the morning while I ate my cereal he left I didn’t look so I didn’t see And she got a better job in the new department store And me I had to rush right home from school and feed the kids They didn’t ask about him much But I asked her once about ‘Shady Gate’ It was late one night We were hanging out the laundry She said that Shady Gate Was when sweet time won’t wait, It’s like when a choice gets made Like a deck been laid And maybe the sun will shine Or maybe it won’t at all But whatever is coming for you you get to have it all And I wanted to ask her then exactly what he’d meant by ‘needs’ But we had to rush inside the winter made her fingers split and bleed he knocked upon the door before my next birthday my mom looked real upset and she sent us out to play And when we came back in it looked like she’d been crying hard And him he tried to hug us then and he said he loved us all. He said, “Anything you want all you have to do is say” And my mind raced to the brand new pair of jeans I’d seen at school that day But you know that night when we slept the monsters didn’t come And I dreamt we sang the song out loud only this time with a drum... “If you go through that Shady Gate Have someone near who is for you Someone who will not mind to wait As you go slow through Shady Gate” I like the way you held your head And how you muttered right out loud... the things you said... You were so serious and I didn’t believe at first You saying there was still some place you had to go And still some things you had to know “Well, wash your face” my good friend tells me and “Clean your house in troubled times” I must admit It helps an awful lot To go on loving what you love You see I’ve even trained my mind I’m not afraid to look behind It’s a cool night falling With the night birds calling And I dare not wonder where you be But it’s times like this I wish I had a line to mother love Or just another word for eternity Copyright 1978 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)

So many people are so broken and this story is broken too we go looking for forgiveness for things we did or didn't do in our hearts we know we're goodness in our souls we feel the call to be someone for somebody each other one and all i have wept upon your mountain i have walked upon my knees i have crawled along the rubble of broken promises and unmet needs and the thing that i was looking for and the thing i could not see was the image of a perfect girl the one i'd never be oh my father how i've missed you having never touched your face and just like you i feel a sorrow that time does not erase when i cross over will you meet me will you walk me to the bright will you lead me on the dancefloor of that ever-lasting light in the meantime here on earth time i am something of a song but i once drank your whole abandon wanting only to belong now i walk beside the broken a glass of water in my hand and in the prism of their reflection i see the once invisible man you are with me as i love her you are in me as i care you have shown me not to hold back knowing what is gone's not there you have helped me to be tender you have taught me to be true i went empty up the mountain and brought back a piece of you Copyright 2004 Nemesis Publishing (BMI)