Dust Bowl Symphony

• Trouble In The Fields
• The Wing And The Wheel
• These Days In An Open Book
• Love At The Five And Dime
• It's A Hard Life (Wherever You Go)
• Late Night Grande Hotel
• Tell Me How
• Not My Way Home
• 1937 Pre-War Kimball
• Waiting For Love
• Nobody's Angel
• Always Will
• Drops From The Faucet
• Dust Bowl Reprise

Trouble In The Fields

Baby I know that we've got trouble in the fields
When the bankers swarm like locust
Out there turnin' away our yield
The trains roll by our silo...silver in the rain
They leave our pockets full of nothin'
But our dreams and the golden grain

Have you seen the folks in line downtown at the station
They're all buyin' their ticket out
And they're talkin' the great depression
Our parents had their hard times...fifty years ago
When they stood out in these empty fields
In dust as deep as snow

Chorus:
All this trouble in our fields
If this rain can fall
These wounds can heal
They'll never take our native soil
What if we sell that new John Deere?
And then we'll work these crops with sweat and tears
You'll be the mule
And I'll be the plow
Come harvest time...we'll work it out
There's still a lot of love
Here in these troubled fields

There's a book up on the shelf about the dust bowl days
And there's a little bit of you and a little bit of me
In the photos on every page
Our children live in the city
And they rest upon our shoulders
They never want the rain to fall
Or the weather to get colder

(repeat chorus)

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The Wing And The Wheel

The wing and the wheel
Well they carry things away
Whether it's me that does the leavin'
Or the love that flies away
And the moon out side my window
Looks so lonely tonight
There's a chunk out of it's middle
It's big enough for an old fool to hide

Where are all the dreamers
That I used know?
We used to linger beneath street lamps
With our halos in the smoke
The wing and the wheel
Came to carry them away
Now they all live out in the suburbs
Where their dreams are in their children at play

There's a pale sky in the east
All the stars are in the west
Oh, here's to all the dreamers
May our open hearts find rest
'Cuz the wing and the wheel
Are gonna carry us along
And we'll have memories for company
Long after the songs are gone

Scat:
And it's so long and sweet dreams now
From the backstreets of old South Austin
To the dustbowl of my crickets
To the streets of Juan De Fuca
All the way to China
Straight across to Dublin
Then again to London
Amsterdam to Christchurch with my blue moon rising
I was a small child with a big dream
Riding a western flyer with a small song
Upon a wing and a wheel
From the northern coast of Scotland
To my flatlands of west Texas
All upon a wing and a wheel
It's all upon a wing and a wheel

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These Days In An Open Book

Shut it down and call this road a day
And put this silence in my heart in a better place
I have traveled with your ghost for so many years
That I see you in the shadows
In hotel rooms and headlights
You're coming up beside me
Whether it's day or night

Chorus:
These days my life is an open book
Missing pages I cannot seem to find
These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace against these times

No one's ever come between your memory and me
I have driven this weary vessel here alone
You still find me if I leave you here beside this road
Cuz' I need someone who can touch me
Who'll put no one above me
Someone who needs me
Like the air he breathes

(Repeat chorus)

Bridge:
I can't remember where this toll road goes
Maybe it's Fort Worth, maybe a heart of gold
The price of love is such a heavy toll
That I've lived my life in the backroads
With your love in my pocket
If I spend the love you gave me
Tell me where will it go?

(Repeat chorus)

Tag:
These days your face
In my memory
Is in a folded hand of grace
You're a folded hand of grace
You're in a folded hand of grace
Against these times

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Love At The Five Dime

Rita was sixteen years
Hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She made the Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer
And a darn good dancer
They'd waltz the aisles of the Five and Dime

Eddie played the steel guitar
His mama cried 'cuz he played in the bars
And he kept young Rita out late at night
So, they married up in Abilene
Lost a child in Tennessee
But still that love survived

Chorus:
And they'd sing
Dance a little closer to me
Dance a closer now
Dance a little closer tonight
Dance a little closer to me
'Cuz it's closing time
And love's on sale tonight
At the Five and Dime

One of the boys in Eddie's band
Took a shine to Rita's hand
So Eddie ran off with the bass man's wife
Oh' but he was back by June
Singin' a different tune
And sportin' Miss Rita back by his side

(Repeat chorus)

Eddie traveled with the barroom band
Till arthritis took his hands
Now he sells insurance on the side
Rita's got a house to keep
She writes dimestore novels
Of a love so sweet
They dance to the radio late at night

(Repeat chorus)

Rita was sixteen years
Hazel eyes and chestnut hair
She really made the Woolworth counter shine
Eddie was a sweet romancer
I heard he was a darn good dancer
They'd waltz the aisles of the Five and Dime

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It's a Hard Life Wherever You Go

I am a backseat driver from America
They drive to the left on Falls Road
The man at the wheel's name is Seamus
We pass a child on the corner he knows
And Seamus says, "Now, what chance has that kid got?"
And I say from the back, "I don't know."
He says, "There's barbed wire at all of these exits
And there ain't no place in Belfast where that child should go."

It's a hard life, It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in Belfast where that Child should go

A cafeteria line in Chicago
The fat man in front of me
Is calling black people trash to his children
And he's the only trash here I see
And I'm thinking this man wears a white hood
In the night when the children should sleep
But, they'll slip to their window and they'll see him
And they'll think that white hood's all they need

It's a hard life, It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there ain't no place in Chicago where a child can go alone

It's a hard life

I was a child in the sixties
When dreams could be held through TV
We had Disney, and Cronkite, and Martin Luther
And, I believed, I believed . . . I BELIEVED
Now, I am the backstreet driver from America
I am not at the wheel of control
I been guilty, I been war, . . . I am the root of all evil
Lord, I can't drive on the left side of the road

It's a hard life, It's a hard life
It's a very hard life
It's a hard life wherever you go
If we poison our children with hatred
Then, the hard life is all that they'll know
And there had been no place on this earth where a child can go
Then we have made it a hard life where ever they go

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Late Night Grande Hotel

I'm working on a morning flight to anywhere but here
I'm watching this evening fire burn away my tears
All my life I've left my troubles by the door
Leaving is all I've ever known before

Chorus:
It's not the way you hold me when the sun goes down
It's not the way you call my name that left me stranded on this ground
It's not the way you say you hear my heart when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again

Instrumental break...

And maybe you were thinking that you thought you knew me well
But, no one ever knows the heart of anyone else
I feel like Garbo in this late night Grande hotel
Cause living alone is all I've ever done well

(Repeat chorus)

Coda:
It's not the way you say you hear my heart when the music ends
I am just learning how to fly away again

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Tell Me How

Words & Music By Charles Hardin (Buddy Holly) & J.I. Allison
© 1958 EMI Music/Robert Mellin Music (BMI)

Tell me how to keep your love
You know how I need your love
Tell me how you keep the love
Within your heart from me

Don't you know that I love you
Let me show why, I'm true blue
When I know a love is true
Don't keep your love for me

If you would say to me today
The time for love is now
Could I sway your love my way
Then I say, "Tell me how"

Tell me how to keep your love
You know how I need your love
Tell me how you keep the love
Within your heart from me

(Instrumental Break)

Tell me how to keep your love
You know how I need your love
Tell me how you keep the love
Within your heart from me

If you would say to me today
The time for love is now
Could I sway your love my way
Then I say, "Tell me how"

Tell me how to keep your love
You know how I need your love
Tell me how you keep the love
Within your heart from me

(Instrumental Break)

Tag:
Tell me how you keep the love
Within your heart from me

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Not My Way Home

I know you believe in miracles
That this love will come back around
I know you believe the grass is growing
Across this winter
To the south of this town

I know your kiss is sweeter
Than the dust that this love has become
Yet, I know your path is clearer
Shed of me... out there on your own

Chorus:
I don`t intend to sound ungrateful
You`ve given love when I had none
My feet have tread upon the road you`re on
And I know it`s not my way home
I know... it`s not my way home
I know... it`s not my way home

You know... this love has left us
Don`t count the years... it took a long time to kill
I know you will find a place for memories
And you`ll be out there runnin... I will be here to be still

(Repeat chorus)

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1937 Pre-War Kimball

Dedicated To The Hands Of The children
At The W.O. Smith School Of Music

Oh, It sat in this corner for many a year
Through fireside parties, of tear and cheers
The hands of James Hooker flew over it's keys
And God know who else 'fore it came to me
When I was alone I could be Julie Gold
It rang her "From A Distance" just like it was my own
I'd pretend I've the voice of Beth Neilsen Chapman
I wrote "Late Night Grande (Hotel)"
With just my right hand happenin'

Chorus:
Now it's the keys rent the air in it's new place to stand
A gift for the children who'll play right and left hand
Just a 1937 Pre-war Kimball
Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand
Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand
Oh, the grace of that three-quarter grand

Oh, it's lonesome in this corner at five am
I'd call Harlan Howard, only he'd understand
All those melodies that came to be
Mornings in that corner... that piano and me
I wish for a left hand like Glenn D. Hardin
I could play Jimmy Webb or perhaps Randy Newman
Ah, it's a blessing it never met Jerry Lee's feet
Just the hands of those children
Is all this Kimball needs

Bridge:
I'll let it go... Let it go
That piano I bought from Al Jones long ago
I've let it go, I've let it go
I smiled as it rolled out my door
The songs that we wrote, ah, note for note
That piano will always know

(Repeat chorus)

Tag:
And God bless the child
Who's got a song
Who's got a song
Who's got a song

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Waiting For Love

Life is full of finer things
They`re lost and found in the dark
It`s the dog by the highway
Who said "Goin` my way?"
Now, he lives in your own backyard
He was waiting for love
You came along and fit the part

Its the whistle from the man with the kindest hands
And a Norwegian name you can`t say
You meet him in the street
Tripping over your own feet
He claims upi still anyway
Waiting for love
God forgives your lack of grace

Chorus:
Everyone I know
From the dust bowl to the city
Is waiting for (love)
To start another day
They may be shy of heart
Oh, their pockets maybe empty
Yet they are waiting for (love)
And that's enough to fill our days

It`s the heartworn jokes of your dear father
And the laughter in your own mother`s heart
It's the plane blowin` in
With your loved one within
Who you`ve ached for in your time apart
When you`re waiting for love
Life`s a thread of paths to cross

Whiter shade of pale is my best kept secret
It`s the song that`ll sail me back home
It`s a picture in my hand
Of my own farm land
And the crops that I planted last spring
When you`re waiting for love
You`ve got the finest life can bring

(repeat chorus)

When you`re waiting for love (love)
You`ve got enough to fill your days

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Nobody's Angel

Something's disturbed me
I'm out of your company
Out of the country
With another man's heart
I'm angered and doubtful
I'd shout an earful
But nothing comes out
When I open my mouth

Chorus:
I'm nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
I'm nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
Cuz' if I can't give love
I can't rise above the clouds
So, I'm nobody's angel now

I was the forest for love songs
The one who can't love wrong
The one who won't fall
But will still write it down
I'm the one who would understand
Who listens with pen in hand
Everyone's shoulder
Till it's me who falls down

(Repeat chorus)

Bridge:
I'm grounded and rusty
My dance card is dusty now
Because I wanted to be
What the angels see
When they look down
Just a couple on the avenue
With their feet on the ground

Something's disturbed me
I'm out of your company
I'm out of the country now
And I'm nobody's angel now
(she's out of the country now)
I'm Nobody's angel now
(she's out of it)
She out of the country now
She out of the country
And nobody's angel now

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Always Will

I saw you on the avenue
You looked so tired and a little blue
You were in your Sunday best
With your father's tie upon your chest

Chorus:
Hey, you always stood me still
Hey, you always will

In the corridor of one hotel
We once crossed paths I recall it well
Voices in an empty hall
Slamming doors to hearts that fall

(Repeat chorus)

Bridge:
Always will.....Always will
Hey
Always will.....Always will
Hey

Love has been my passer by
I stood too still to catch your eye
But there out on the avenue
In your father's tie I'll remember you

(Repeat chorus)

Tag:
Hey, you always will

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Drops From The Faucet

The drops from the faucet like a nervous heart
Beat on my porcelain sink a rhythm avant-garde
I page through the phone book, reach for my fountain pen
Is he comin' in for the holidays to haunt me again?
I call up the Grand Central, "information please.
Is that nickel line on time? Oh fine!"
It's a hair-do with a wave
We both forgot and forgave last time

A peddler of pots and pans down on Union Square
Said City Hall wants us off the street
There's no Christmas in the air
Some high-brows were waiting
Carnation bright lapels
Their big cars line the curbs outside those grand hotels
I passed a marquee, Third Avenue
"Ramona" with Loretta Young and I swung myself around
And (headed) uptown to the train

So this is New Year's eve another year has passed
We wait so patiently, (but) still they come and go so fast
I stand on this platform, wait for that basket of light
And the sound of the whistle screamin' out
Like some hot trumpet in the night
And... as I'm waitin' I wonder why and where...
And what went wrong
But this song don't tell no lies
It was just a quick good-bye, yeah

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Dust Bowl Reprise

INSTRUMENTAL

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