I Know What It’s Like

I put down my bag, and I stood in the room.
I was finally on my own.
I lived my life like a feral cat.
or a hungry dog without a bone.

I was lying alone deep in the night 
and a strange feeling came over me.
I can see clearly without any light
I knew what it’s like to be free.

I wandered the streets, slept on bench seats.
I had no money at all.
I passed out my number and I told them my name.
And I hope they’d give me a call.

I was lying alone in the night 
and a strange feeling came over me.
I can see clearly without any light
I knew what its like to be free

I've had some bad bosses and cut my losses
I’ve found myself up against a wall
I’ve always raised a buck, turned my luck
I’ve climbed back after a fall.

I was lying alone deep in the night 
and a strange feeling came over me.
I can see clearly without any light
I know what it’s like to be free.

It Ain’t Late Summer If You Ain’t Got No Flies

Up in the mountains, you hear the crickets roar
up in the hills beyond the franchise store,
there’s a dirt road by a stream wandering down.
After a good rain, its water turns dirty brown.

Some pollen-drunkards flying through the weeds.
A grove of Catalpas are dropping their seeds.
I can hear the sound now, so I ain’t too far.
Out on the porch, Annie is strumming her guitar.

There’s a nearby lake to take a late-night dip.
Annie likes a good laugh and a timely quip.
She said she hears music coming down from the stars—
something about the position of Venus and Mars.

You can’t feel alive unless you talk all night
as the moon is falling and mosquitoes bite.
With the calling rooster, fresh eggs and the bacon.
two pans, a kettle and the griddle for makin’.

It ain’t late summer if you ain’t got no flies,
the last thing she said before waving our goodbyes.
A couple of nights together, she knows I’m gone,
like the wind and the road known for moving on.

Two Feet on the Ground

Now, you might think it romantic
to fly transatlantic as a career,
get a high pay and a three-day stay,
and to travel all the time everywhere.

The constant glare and the dry cabin air,
the twelve-hour days without sleep,
there ain’t no woman to hold me in her bed
because of this job that I keep;

I’ve been eight miles high
and twenty years of looking down,
I’m sitting in front of Maria’s bar
with my two feet on the ground.

I was the kind of guy who loved to fly, 
until the night I stayed in Queens.
I came back from Korea and met Maria.
I hung up my cap and turned in my wings.

In a little place with a bed upstairs, 
I felt the rush of a new dawn in my chest.
Instead of endless bore, my eyes getting sore,
I collected bottles and tips in my vest.

I’ve been eight miles high
and twenty years of looking down.
I’m sitting in front of Maria’s bar
with my two feet on the ground.

Freedom’s Freight

I’ve tossed my computer and packed my rags
I’m going to lose myself on a road.
I’m unplugging grid and traveling light
I’m done with carrying the big guy’s load.

I cut loose my ball and chain,
no more drinking off the pain.
I’m done digging out from debting. 
I’ll be the system sidestepping,
hitching a ride on freedom’s freight train..

All the college fish baiting for loan.
This watering hole is a carnival game.
They rail you in with a money stick
and bait you with fortune or fame.

I cut loose my ball and chain,
no more drinking off the pain.
I’m done digging out from debting. 
I’ll be the system sidestepping,
hitching a ride on freedom’s freight train.

A night the sparkling constellations 
will be circling around my bed,
and that sweet smell of Honeysuckle,
will be floating through my head.

I cut loose my ball and chain,
no more drinking off the pain.
I’m done digging out from debting. 
I’ll be the system sidestepping,
hitching a ride on freedom’s freight train.
 

One Thing I’m Sure Of

I met a woman in a bookstore .
We had a short tryst.
We ended up at her place.
She talked about Christ .

I don’t get messages from heaven.
I know when the devil’s game,
but I …

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Along the Hillside

We woke up early.
I buttered some bread.
The dogs were walked,
and the cats were fed.
Today is a new day.
That’s what she said.

We’ll go for a ride
along the hillside.
and follow…

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In Youngstown

You would knock on my door late at night
with you back up lookin’ fo a fight.
When you had a drink, I could always tell.
You talk too loud and you had that smell.

I ain’t wasting time…

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Dregs like Me

You won’t find a good reason to come around.
It’s on an unmarked road at the edge of town.
Whatever’s unwanted finds its way here.
it’s a waste land of rust and homeless despair.

Woun…

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Let's Just Call it Blue

At the Walmart, dresses were on sale.
A couple of old women checking a deal.
Days go by. There’s nothing new.
Let's just call it blue.

Stopped by to see if you were home.
I …

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Dear Ms. Pretty Privilege

I see you push your shopping cart.
You get in other people’s way.
I see you push your way in line.
You’re impatient when you pay.

You and your  off-the-cuff remarks.
like …

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I and Her Dog

I and her dog are out driving.
The summer breeze is twitching his nose.
The road winds through the mountain pines.
how quickly autumn comes and summer goes.

I and her dog go for a hik…

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Love Your Dog

You had a house on,
a tree-lined street.
Your neighbors were honest.
Your daughter was sweet.
You had got a wife who 
sure loves to cook.
It’s like your life 
was a picture book.

Livi…

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Doesn’t Cost a Dime

Walking downtown streets
somewhere around eleven,
passing bars and eats, 
thinking I’m in heaven.

It’s a lost and found thing,
both at the same time,
a whirling, swirling thing.…

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The Space between the Lines

My dad was a traveling man. 
You know, away from the family, out on the road.
He always returned with that look in his eyes
like he’d been dragging too long his working l…

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Welcome to L.A.
 
You must be the one 
who answered the ad.
there aint much to see
it just a crash pad

Dowm the hall you find
the toilet and the phone.
Pour a drink, light a smoke,
and make yourself…

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Live by the One 

We brothers do anything.
We don’t give a funk.
You can’t bad-word the radio,
you got to live by the code,
eaten mouf was our junk.

Don’t be playin’ a whole lot of nothin’.
If you w…

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String of Lies

My shoes were wearing down from pacing the floor.
My eyes saw a metronome in the handle of the door.
Light from the window were mixing with the heat.
The hands of music were pulling m…

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The Real Truck

Sometimes a poser comes
out from the big dity.
They’ve got them fendered
polished up too pretty.

tpretty boys only come
for serving up papers.
that kind’s not a giver;
they’re only a…

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Garden of Love

I’ve seen a lot of doors, 
watched them close and open
I try to help myself
but I always end up broken.

I’ve traveled highways
and I’ve followe the sun
There’s been moments of stayin…

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Got the Love Potion

Now, this country belle,
she sure cooked swell.
Asked me to hang another day.
It was time to split
I had a radio hit
It’s my job to play.

I’ve got to keep rockin’.
I’ve got to k…

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