| What Happened Out There Pay good mind, oh my little one Let’s ride on That funeral train That funeral train Don’t you be concerned Just wave behind We’ll return Like an empty prayer It will bend your bones What happened out there What happened out there It’ll make you scream It’s a terrible sight And a beautiful thing What happened out there Will make Gods of men Their shoulders we’ll ride Home again Lessons learned, left undone He ran too slow From the heavy gun From the heavy gun Don’t you be concerned He’s resting in the pine The box burned Ghosts filled the air It will age your eyes What happened out there Whistle mourns, in Washington A hero leads He rides again He rides again Don’t you be concerned Don’t you know his mind? What he learned In his captains chair Is written in the rock What happened out there (Copyright 2006, John Bolten, all rights reserved) My Miss Moses You were looking for your free holder A strong man with his own name And headed down to Dorchester But he done jumped the broom and felt the shame So make me free in Philly Take me home sweet engineer We'll leave come Winter Lilies Cause it's "Live north or die here!!" Hand me down My Miss Moses Hand me down my mistakes Hand me down red, red, roses Hand me down my heartaches Don't dope the babies if you can rock them Just keep them hid, black skin and bones Hold your head strong, and keep runnin' Count their fingers, count their toes You know it's a long way from here to St. Catharines But not far from here to Hell Where no one's gonna bury your ashes When the pin hits the shell Cause a dead runner can tell no secrets But a live one could get you killed Just ask Thomas Garrett He's sleeping up on Quaker Hill I wrote this song in honor of Harriet Tubman. To learn more about her, follow this link. (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Song For the Riverbed Let me stand by the water Hold my hands and drop my head As I bow and deliver A thousand sins to the riverbed I will sing a lonesome tune As I beg of the dirt and leaves To carry my somber swoon From the river to the seas River, carry my burdens away These things that I give Have gathered a long, long time They are bound with goodness But rotten from the vines Many lay idle and still To slumber in my soul My fears, my dreams, my ills I've awaken to console River, carry my burdens away A man who gives away All he owns but his earthen bones Can grow a silver grey Without a heart filled with stones So shall I follow the water down And taste ten thousand tears? Or sing to you my song My river, oh my dear? Copyright 2006, John Bolten all rights reserved Goodbye Billy Well he's grown shackles And he's grown chains But he's got no burden to blame Cause I put him in That Santa Fe pen Just waiting for his goodbye rye Cause I shot Yea, I shot young Billy down Now he's sitting in Stinking Springs Where Wallace was king Sitting in Stinking Springs There's no pardon here No pardon here Billy, you're bound to die Cause you shot Sheriff Brady Yea, you shot Sheriff Brady Soon you'll hang, hang low Watching the sky turn black Watching the sky turn black Watching the sky turn black, as I leave He won't ever kill no more No he won't ever kill no more He won't ever kill no more, poor Billy In 1881 The New Mexican sun Was the last to see Billy breathe... (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) New Orleans I'm gonna chase my sin I'm dressed to kill and I'll kill to win if Billy's Mosquitoes bite the bone Drowning in the dives drinking where the old men hide they wear their stink like perfume Ohhh, I'm coming clean I lost my soul in New Orleans Ohhh, I'm coming clean My heady absinthe caress has blown assail my battle dress The lone soldier stands and holds his own I go to see the Royal regulars meet the hustlers down on Frenchman Street for the dark drink in the morning light While the lamp shades give ease the crushed velvet steals the room to breathe and all the whores they feel what they can steal Listen to the muddy music invites the vamps and droogs with their last rites in the bitter end, it tastes so sweet. (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Hallelujahs Once I heard a story about a man who lived in a well He couldn't swim or drink with his hands he just waited till the rain fell Again and again, and once again he tried to climb those walls and sometimes he prayed that he was twenty eight feet tall And he waited for The hallelujahs, the hallelujahs, the hallelujas to come around again One generation off the farm eating dust and drinking tears Too many months of disregard had left him ragged beyond his years When he came upon this well so deep he kissed the wind and tossed a penny But he followed it down, down to bless these fields of plenty Now there is a place just down the hill Where you take your sins to be returned To a lonesome sleeping bush with rotting apples and snakes Its just waiting to be burned (Copyright 2004, John Bolten, all rights reserved) The Road to Pensacola I think I'll pack my bags this morning just wrap it up and run away and don't ever let them tell me that I'll get lost along the way I think I'll go down Pensacola I hear thier Heaven is a country mile where they greet your misgivings with a grin and a smile I've been down so long these blues are sinking in why can't I chase them down and feed them to the wind? maybe tell my girl it's alright, only her that I need how can I throw her away when she's been so good to me? she's been so good to me she's been so good to me... Now tell all those people that love me this head of mine has grown obscene I'm hiding from windows and from mirrors afraid to see or be seen now this road is filled with fallings of bitter ends and sour stars apologize to the one you're wanting if you want to unbreak hearts all these days they run together in an Autumn make believe it's a psychosomatic disorder when feeling sad is just a breeze I'll find someone to kill me gently in a million ways to feel alive while they tease me with a vision that makes me laugh and tells no lies... she's just a lonely girl, just a lonely girl she's just a lonely girl, just a lonely girl no wedding gown in this one horse town for a heart tha'ts bound... ...to this lonely girl... she's been down for so damn long these blues were sinking in she's finally chased them down to feed the wind she knows its alright, she can't heal if she don't bleed as she sings. she's been so good to me she's been so good to me she's been so good to me... (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Lazy Bones I've got a pitchfork it's brown and grey and hangs in the hallway It reminds me of work that needs done I've got a tourniquet around my neck wrapped tight with sweat But who's bleeding who when i'm alone? Sometimes it feels good when i'm numb and watch the moon swallow the sun because I am Lazy Bones I've got a bad penny that keeps rolling back to me along with lies I've told I've got a rosary, you know sometimes she talks to me about getting right with God I've got a friend who makes me feel like steel and stone I keep him bottled and wrapped up tight Now if I took this hammer and beat on these rocks all day You know I wouldn't break a God damned thing.... (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) I'll Stay Gone I'm a brakeman on the midnight train I push my freight through the pourin' rain It's unfortunate, yea it's a shame That I just passed you by Steel wheels carry rusty tin To Canada through north Michigan While I dream of you in my arms again But I just passed you by Rollin' thunder makes me wonder Why I stay gone Till lightning flashes through mountain passes I'll stay gone Like a knife you know I'll cut these lands And roll on to drink from ocean sands Untill I lay your head upon my hands I'll just pass you by Seasons pass as I ride these rails through the snow, sleet and hail You know these hills may be God's braille And they say I just passed you by From Point Pleasant to the Jersey Shore Women stare through screen doors Their eyes ask what am I looking for And I say I just passed you by I'm a brakeman on the midnight train I've sang too long without refrain So I'll pull these brakes and I'll remain No longer will I pass you by (Copyright 2005, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Hunger I'm the one who dreamt you up in the morn Now I wear this smile like a crown of thorns holding my head down to hide the crimson of your cries escaping from your mouth withered and torn I'm the one who makes you suffer still like apple pie on your window sill teasing the trees with no teeth and babies with no breath they know they can't like I know you will I'm the one who tucks you in at night and tills your dreams 'til your dreams ignite beneath blankets full of ballads of horses and of herons dancing and falling like I think you might Tell me now darling show me how starving feeds your hunger these days without me, without me... (Copyright 2004, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Appalachian Highway The summertime has come I whisper words that it has sung So I can follow, so I can follow I breathe a broken breath And I'm gone again My days are dreaming, my days are dreaming Well this truck I drive through the cool mountainside Carries me to my cabin home In the lonesome whispering pines The day has just begun In the yellow summer sun I'm a warm receiver, warm receiver I drop the gears and go Down an unmarked road And I'm pushing 60, I'm pushing 60 There's no thoughts declined of the rich and wholesome kind That'll pass me by, pass me by I'm bound to live this life again Today was a great day my friend To be alive, to be alive One day I'm gonna follow Those fleeting smiles and laugh my way through this lonesome hollow Appalachian Highway Appalachian Highway Appalachian Highway (Copyright 2004, John Bolten, all rights reserved) The Spotter's Blues They call us mountain men, then we get behind Behind our mules and plow, this dusty ground The ground beneath our feet, and in our lungs Our lung remind us how, it's just begun But the whiskey tastes good The copper kettle, sour mash and wood It makes you a better... It makes you a better man, they say It makes you a better man, they say I'll be a better man some day The chill walks through my bones, in these early hours In these hours the devil sneaks, behind the trees Where I stoke my fire, in the blue moonlight Moonlight hides my sins, but not my pride I haul two bushels more, and my day is done Or I bottle twenty four, and make a bootleg run But the spotters crawl these hills, and they talk tax Last winter I buried one, 'neath the Devil's Flax Don't do damage, don't leave scratches on my door Don't do damage, don't you come 'round here no more Cause I will not die, like my daddy done Dead hands on the plow and dust in his lungs (Copyright 2004, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Blind Cody They don't call the men by their names here anymore Where the cement walls are holding up these steel bars and doors Old Cody swears that he has done no wrong He blames it on the system, just another unsung song Like a bird who sings alone where no other birds can hear In a cage filled with thieves and murder, rape and racketeers Pass around that old bottle my poor boys And listen to the story of Blind Cody McCoy The first time his eyes opened they were blinded by the sun Now he listens to the songs that no living man has sung Cody was a good man, as good as good can be But trouble finally found him in the hills of Tennessee When he came home to find his wife and child dead But Cody had no eyes to see who he heard fled He felt the floor around his wife; it was covered in the blood And found that smoking 44 iron pistol stub When the sheriff opened up the door he beat Cody down And threw him in this prison with a ball and chain for his crown But the sheriff didn't search the grounds, he thought he had his man 'Cause he found Cody with blood on his hands Now a blind man cannot see what a deaf man cannot hear But a dying man surely knows what a living man most fears So Cody carries a wooden cross in the pocket of his shirt To remind him on his place where he no longer will hurt And he'll know not the thought of pain and suffering Nor hate, nor fear, nor death, nor greed, nor freedom tormenting (Copyright 2004, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Pick Your Poisons Would you go gently to a war on war To protect your sacred home? And know that you would walk no more On the very soil that you fought to roam On the very soil that you fought to roam Choose your battles, or they'll choose you Pick your poisons careful, through and through Could you sell your soul to a holy roller band And make peace for all your 'errs? Only to refuse your lover's hand And answer your savior's prayers And answer your savior's prayers Would you up and leave and bar the door And head for some unsung town? Or would you nail your shoes to the kitchen floor And play dead in a wedding gown Play dead in a wedding gown (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Wichita When I was a child I felt a piece of broken glass at the bottom of the lake that no one sees. They'd pay no mind, 'till you caused them pain. Place a cold towel upon my head and hold me, I'm so alone, I'm all afraid, that no one cares what I've said and done I'm bound to ride, gonna find my Wichita where no one cares if you're livin' small It's not the life they once wished at all I've climbed so high, now I'm scared to fall I've found my hope, it's held here in my hands to help me chase these blues away. Cause the best of the worst, is yet to come, my friends! The music breathes life inside me It burns so bright, it chars my soul. I feel the heat, now I've come alive 27 years and my life's past by me now My troubles are bottled up on the shelves I pay no mind, 'till they fall into broken glass (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Dark House I had a moment of serenity once when I was young When I knew nothing but the feeling of the sun Now I return to the place of my birth and visit once again the home where it all began dark house, dark house, dark house dark house, dark house, dark house These walls they talk to me in vivid memories of pixy stick police and candy covered trees A cap gun that I made for my cowboy masquerade shooting marbles made of stars, tigers, and toy guitars I remember wishing I could leave this broken home But now all I wish is for those memories to last Something about a boy who would ride on his dragon Puff and bring him sealing wax and fancy stuff They'd tease me in my sleep, those monsters through my bedsheets I'd hide and close my eyes and dream that I could fly It's so hard to say goodbye... It's so hard to say goodbye... ...to the dark house (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Lonesome Hollow Did you see the midnight rider? She looked a lot like me I bet she thought they'd never find her These troubled times, troubled times She's gonna leave this lonesome hollow gonna leave here today She's gonna leave this hate and sorrow for all the rest of her days Her eyes they see a thousand miles in my soul, in my soul and when she speaks, the voices of angels they ring true, they ring true She's got no ring upon her hand only words to above Her baby cries, the mother weeps her new life has begun (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Tomorrow Well they come and go can't you hear them blow? The winds are a callin' from down below like a weeping crow they sneak up on you like death now don't be upset your eyes shall never be wet Cause this life of pain and this life of sorrow will fall like grain through your fingers tomorrow I'ts just a sign of the times our clocks unwind these days they run together in perfect chime for a pantomime of your lovers endless fall may their deceit drown them all in an ocean of mornfall squalls Like a blade of grass that will never last in this storm blows forever A heart of glass will shatter at last from a crack felt within filled with lies seeped in sin just an ode to where it's been (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Karma to Burn I left my home when I was just a child My aging parents, they never understood Why I traded those hills of home For this city of stone. Cause I've got karma to burn, my friends I've got it way down in my soul Yea, I've got karma to burn, my friends And I know I'll reap what I sow Now it comes around pretty fast down here It comes around like the wind and the rain But I've got my eyes open wide now I see pleasure and no pain Now I've got no brothers in this land no more I've got no one who no longer cares But I've got my head up high And I've got dreams upstairs It comes around it goes around it comes around it goes around... (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) Bottle in Your Hand I'm going down this road You've been here before. When you were down this low my heart hit the floor Now these dreams I have they're not as real to me as this bottle and kind. But they've never been good to me Oh, Momma, you were so down and blue Oh, Momma, it hurt me too Oh, Momma, you're still beautiful to me When I see myself, I look just like you My dreams they make, a highway back to you You know these lessons of life they've never been learned, with my plastic Christ or my bridges burned Oh but I can't understand Why won't you love me like that bottle in your hand? Oh Momma, your still beautiful to me (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) One More Round This bible of mine, it's got a broken spine It reads like a novelty someone warned me 'Cause verse twenty three doesn't mean that much to me and verse tweny one says I can have no fun Hit me just one more time boys, I'm bound to come undone If I act a little strange, you can bring me down I've worn my soul too thin, it's these troubles I'm in I'm driving nails in my coffin, just another round? Can you help me make it all go away? I've got a feeling I've been here before Two bucks in change and a headache from hell I've done a lot of searching without ever leaving this bar stool Oh, these memories I'm about to make amends and tie up these loose ends From these months of Sundays I can't comprehend Now your talking out of your head, babe don't forget yourself Just lay your body down, lay your body down. (Copyright 2003, John Bolten, all rights reserved) |
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| furnace - 2007 |