LORD'S WORK (2015)
Nice to Be Needed -
Lately it feels like I’m in high demand
I’m included as an integral part of everybody’s plan
As soon as I sit down to take a rest,
somebody comes in with the next request
It does wonders for my ego but I just don’t understand
Can’t nobody do nothin’ on their own?
I gotta walk ‘em through their own life like a dog and bone
One day I’m writing papers for free
The next I’m doing a delivery
I can tell you right now it’s starting to get old
CHORUS
It's nice to be needed, but man it's a pain
Breakin' your back for another's gain
Everybody wants a piece, and they're not ashamed
It's nice to be needed, but man, it's a pain
I got myself a girl that’s something’ else
When I’m gone she puts her makeup on the shelf
But man that gal ain’t got no car,
I gotta drive the woman round near and far
I wanna tell her I need some time just for myself
Turns out she heard my request loud and clear
She said take all the earthly time you need my dear
And with that, well, she kicked me out
Now all I need is a good friend’s couch
And a few willing hands to help move me out of here
CHORUS
Drivin you around for free
Take you to the pharmacy
Fillin the prescription
You forgot to mention
Pick you up from the bar
When you’re drunk and lost your car
Take your pet to the vet
Help clean your apartment
Do it all three times a week
Gonna be the death of me
Friend in need, friend indeed
Just how can I make you see?
CHORUS
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Red -
Baby, why'd you leave me
To go down to mexico?
I really don't recall ever asking you to go
South
The sun's gaping mouth
Is only
Red
You left your watch and keys
I'm begging baby please (don't go)
You left your nicest dress
Somehow it's worth less
With this stain
That will remain
Red
Your car's still in the drive
You must have hitched a ride (I know)
We had that awful fight
That doesn't make it right
For you to leave
You're blinding me,
It's all gone red
It's all gone red
It's all gone red
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First Day It's Warm (After Winter in Texas) -
The first day it's warm after winter in Texas
Anything becomes an excuse to get out and play
Ask a girl on a date, cause no one gets rejected
on the first day it's warm after winter in Texas
There's a strong smell of barbecue for miles around
Sleeves all rolled up and the windows rolled down
Adults on the porch, kids in the street
First time you've seen your neighbors in weeks
CHORUS
Freeze tag, dirty mags, Six Flags and ice cream
School just got out,
You hear kids down the block scream
Drinking liquor in the front yard
Till they come and arrest us
The first day it's warm after winter in Texas
All the cowboys and cowgirls start to switch out their clothes
Box up the felt hats, there's no need for those
It'll be short sleeves and straw till at least late October
Even the cattle are glad winter’s over
Uncle Al's trying to get his jalopy to start
It's his project car, and it's falling apart
It's sat in the back of the yard for a year
Today it's his baby, tomorrow he won't care
CHORUS
Everyone knows that there's no steadfast rule
About heat in the spring and in winter the cool
It can be just as warm in December as in April
We’ll all soon complain and say we all miss the cold
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MPSMC -
Well I'm goin down
Goin' down to that devil town
Well I'm goin' down
Goin' down to pray
Goin' down to pray
Well I'm get up at dawn
Get up at dawn, get up at dawn
Well I'm gon' get up at dawn
To wash my sins away
Battle rages 'tween heaven or hell,
I hear that battle ain't goin' too well
Battle rages 'tween heaven or hell,
Goin' to battle today
Goin' to battle today
(outro)
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Taken for a Ride (Short Version) -
You wake up in the morning
Unhappy without warning
Telling me that life ain't all it's
Cracked up to be
You clean the house in silence
Dropping cold, subtle, sly hints
Resolving in the end to just
Live and let things be
BRIDGE:
I saw all the signs come callin'
Figured the axe was fallin'
From that moment I just hoped and prayed
That from your mind, darlin' I
I wont fade
CHORUS:
I'm a coward, I'm a loser, I'm a serial abuser
Of the thoughts and of the feelings
That you try so hard to hide
If I knew word to tell you,
Something that might compel you
To believe me when I say
I didn't take you for a ride
Meanwhile I'm receiving letters
Promising I'll treat her better
Somewhere in my mind, I'm
Resigned to my fate
Each choice is harder than the last
I'm reminded of the past
I'd kinda rather just go to class
Than sit and worry and wait
BRIDGE:
I got myself to believe in
Shame I can't find any good reasons
Sometimes you're gonna wonder if I even care
And if I ever looked what I'd find hidden there
CHORUS
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Jukebox -
Don't touch the jukebox, cause it's playing my song
And I brought all my money
To keep it playing all night long
I've got no friends to hold me back,
So don't get in the way
Don't touch the jukebox, and maybe I'll be okay
My friends are where I left 'em,
They're all still way uptown
But none of those bars play what I like,
And they're tired of me bein' down
So I raised the flag and retreated back
To the place that feels like home
Just don’t touch the jukebox, cause it’s playing my song
The only bar in this whole damn city
That catches you with its neon loving
Filled with friends that don’t need talking to
We’re all the same kind of blue
Just like the jukebox, too
Play a game of video poker,
Buy some shots for the bar girl
To anyone around it’d look
Like I’m sitting on top of the world
In the background hums my sadness,
But it starts to fade away
At the music from the jukebox, and the songs I always play
The routine ends with flickered lights
And an almost empty bar
Turn me out, lock the door, and try to find my car
Don't touch the jukebox, it's playing my song
And I brought all my money
To keep it playing all night long
I've got no friends to hold me back,
So don't get in the way
Don't touch the jukebox, and maybe I'll be okay
-----
Next Year -
Scott set down his pencil and cursed his simple brain
And as he left the classroom,
He could hear his mother say:
"Scott, he's just a simple boy, one day he'll understand
After all there's always next year,
One day he'll be like his old man."
Julie hit the landing mat, everybody heard the break
Before the pain shot through her leg,
She went over her mistakes
As everyone rushed over, her coaches shook their heads
"I guess there's always next year,
We'll train for that instead."
CHORUS
Next year brings a promise
That'll fade like colored papers
Behind glass that just can't force the light to bend
Next year is a curse
A curse that's worse than others
Cause it repeats itself forever without end
My friends, we're trying to get there,
We keep trying to make it big
We always say, "well, next year,
"We'll find that perfect gig."
But it's only us we're foolin',
Though we've written us some good songs
Even though we'd wait forever, it'd take us twice as long
As for me, I know a man who loved a woman well
He tried his best to please her
All to no avail
He'd always say that next year, she'd finally be his
His love would last forever
But her love never did
CHORUS
One day there'll be no next year, no tomorrow or today
And as you're burnin' in that pit
You'll hear the master say
Well, son I tried to warn you, you brought this on yourself
I can offer little comfort
To the poor souls damned to hell
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Honest Drinking -
There's plenty of nights of drinking that I don't remember
Try as I might, the whiskey's a memory clot
Unlike most, that don't mean regrets
I ain't made all that many yet
But I do think that I've missed out on a lot
There's probably times that things could have gone a lot better
If my vision weren't blurred and my mind could stand itself up
Arguments, relationship woes,
Fist fights and terrible shows,
My body, my mind, and my liver all bruised from the cup
What is it about drinking that I find so fun?
Why is it that two drinks are always better than one?
I can't help but think that someday I'll give it up
But for now I just can't convince myself I've had enough
Now don't get me wrong, drinking is my favorite pastime
I swear there's even plenty of times I drink for the taste
It sure makes you feel so grand
When it starts to get hard to stand
And you yell and you sing, all your inhibitions erased...
If there ain't never a time you thought about quitting
Then son, you probably just haven't drank enough yet
This is probably my second time
And I ain't come close to dying
And there's men that keep going and they've certainly done that
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Song of Longing -
I don't sing songs of longing,
cause my mind's not that great
I never know where I'm going, but I try not to be late
And when I sit and I wonder what I did to you
I know this song of longing has carried us through
My mind is a steel trap, but the spring's long been broke
But somehow I remember, every song that I wrote
There aren't many about you, but there have been a few
And this song of longing will carry us through
I'm increasingly tired
You're increasingly fine
And every time I look your way
you just roll your eyes
I've been called a liar
I've been told I can't rhyme
But you stole this song of longing for you
And that's even more unkind
You got yourself fixed up, after I went away
And you know I'd be lying if I said that I'd stay
Through such cliche rhymes, yeah a new girl I'd woo
And this song of longing would carry us through
It's rare to revisit that ghost town of ours
So small and in shambles, poorly written memoirs
But through the ashes I sift, and the past I review
As this song of longing carries us through
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Square Tires -
Everyone I know
Has got to be so cold
My final resort
Is to pick up the phone
And call you
I've got repressed desires
I'm drivin' on square tires
I'm getting depressed
I never got the rest
Of the dream
Why, oh why,
Did she leave me?
Why, oh why,
Is she gone?
Why, oh why,
Do I sit and cry
For hours on the phone?
I've begun to go insane
Smoke too much Mary Jane
I'm just like Lil' Wayne
I'll probably end up in jail
I smoke too many cigarettes
My life is nothing but regrets
And anger, and woe,
Sorrow, and sadness, and pain
I know you can't see me there,
I know that you're paid to care
I know there's a by-the-minute fare!
I know you haven't got a choice
When you listen to my voice
But we both lead square tire kind of lives
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