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#1: Next Time Around Video: Next Time Around Working professional existential lament. |
Well, I stood around watching just as long as I could
There was no need in bitching And
even if there was any reason at all
Nobody would
Might as well have been a hanging, tie a rope to the tree If
I had been a stranger I'd
have been a lot happier then Than a man like me
Next time around, I may have to be cruel
Well, then I will But
I swear, by God, that I won't be fooled No, I won't
Who'd thought they could do it? They were too well hid I'd
a said, "Just screw it"
Probably let it go anywhere at all And
be glad I did But
the thing was finished and it stood up proud All
shiny and polished And
the marketeers with their megaphones Shouted out real loud Do
you just get a single opportunity
When you hang your shingle And
announce you're here, with your stuff all set
Ready to be free? If
you bend over double working overtime
Shouldna taken the trouble
Sweating that sweat, eating that crap Till you're past your prime
Hope there's déjà vu up around the bend And
if it's all true
That it rolls around on another track To
me again
Then I'm gonna be reckless and I'm gonna be hot
'Cause life is thankless,
Cruel and hard, short and sweet When a man is not
© 2000 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: Straight Downhill Sometimes the bottom is the only place to go. |
You
can write a bad suggestion on a $20 bill My
brother might not do it, but Lord you know I will
It’s not that I am desperate, but times are kinda lean The wolf is at the door and my
friends are looking mean
These are times that try my soul
Though I may be on a roll
There’s no guarantee a man might not get killed
This may come as a surprise
There’s no prize for being wise Sometimes the way to go is straight
downhill
Running like a freight train on a grade of ten degrees I’m
tired of seeing things nobody else can see I’m
tired of living faster than the laws of man allow I’m burning for a chance that I
won’t take anyhow We
make no distinction between
What’s beautiful and what’s obscene On
the brink of mass extinction there’s just not much left to
say
About our failure to recall
Which one of us started it all So
we wait around ‘til someone shows us a better way And we hope that we can hold out
until that coming day In
the end we hear the trumpets playing music to the stars
It’s a song we’ve heard before, we could all hum a few bars We
could harmonize so easy, but nobody knows the words So the world just keeps on spinning,
so dizzy and absurd |
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Video: Its Worked Before What's worked in the past is no guarantee for future results.Back to Top |
How
many dreams will you knock flat? How
many hopes will you destroy?
What’s the use in growing up
When you leave behind the joy?
Where’s the end to stepping down?
These stairs don’t go no further You
best be taking this last chance ‘Cause you might not get another
Just because it’s worked before
Don’t mean it will again
Just because there’s something more
Don’t mean it’s yours to spend
Just because you’ve got a little left inside your tank
Don’t count on laughing all the way to the bank
How
many things can you believe
That contradict each other?
Home many times will you decide
That you just can’t help your brother?
When nothing’s left to throw away How
will you play the drama? Did
you think you’d always find A way home to your mama?
Who’s the boss and who’s the slave
When you bend to every fashion? If
there’s no cause you’d give your life
Then nothing’s worth your passion
Tomorrow might be all you need To
fix what you have broken
Today is all you’re guaranteed To speak what must be spoken © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#4: Pouring Rain Video: Pouring Rain Getting left is never any fun. Neither is leaving someone else. |
I left you standing in the pouring rain
I left you standing and I felt no pain
Now everything is washing down the drain
In the pouring rain, the pouring rain
I felt your shadow in the noonday sun
I turned around and I tried to run
But there was nothing to run from
In the noonday sun, the noonday sun
It's symptomatic of the pouring rain
I automatically go insane
If things were different it would be the same
In the pouring rain, the pouring rain
You left me singing out beneath the moon
You left me humming a mournful tune
Now every song I sing is sung to you
Beneath the moon, beneath the moon
You heard my voice calling on the wind
You turned around and tried to call me friend
I wouldn't let you do that again
Calling wind, call me friend
I left you standing in the pouring rain
You had your ticket for a leaving train
Smokestack lightning all around my brain
In the pouring rain, the pouring rain
I'm hardly partial to the pouring rain
I'd just as soon have you back again
But even a fool can feel the end
And this is the end, this is the end
© 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: Maries Last Line A very special lady. Who knows what she wants, even if nobody else does. |
The only time I miss Marie Marie's a child, almost a saint Marie's might have the only line The first time I ever saw Marie Marie, Marie, Marie, Marie, Marie,
Marie, Marie, Marie The last time I saw Marie
© 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#6: You Never Tried Video: You Never Tried A hodge-podge of literary symbols. A message? Probably not. But there's a great rock interlude. |
You might be insane, or you might be
a genius It’s a thin line that separates the
two Like Galileo said at the Leaning
Tower of Pisa “Who’s the heavy here, is it me or
you?” You might bear a grudge, or seeking
your salvation In this wicked world sometimes it's
hard to tell Does it matter who was right? Does the judgment ever come? Chalk it up to taking sides Maybe should’ve left well enough
alone There’s no sense in leaving home ‘Cause it’s a long hard ride Doesn’t matter what you’ve done Mama always said you never tried You might carry typhoid or you might
be sterilized It depends on what disease you left
behind Just like Genghis Khan who kept ‘em
mesmerized You can kill or you can heal with
what’s in your mind You might be in love with all the
latest fashion Or love might be the place you pin
the hardest blame Just like Shylock said when he went
to turn his cash in “My daughters and my ducats are
worth about the same” You might understand, or maybe it’s
a mys’try Seeing is believing if your heart
can see It’s just like science fiction but
you claim that it’s all his’try A history of a world that never came
to be You might cast a doubt or you might
cast a shadow Walking out at noon just to see the
sun Just like the Egyptians chasing
Moses through the meadow You want that bush to burn ‘just to
proves that it’s the one © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#7: Summersmoke + Live In the Desert Video: Summersmoke + Live In The Desert Summersnoke is another song of bad communication. Live In the Desert notes that great religious experiences seem to require privation. Wonder why? |
Summersmoke A summersmoke is rising to the
autumn air
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Video: Hopefully Paranoia An audience member once called this song "the best description of mental illness" she had ever heard. High praise. |
As I walk down the
alley I am startled
By the black cat
that jumps into my path
I remember with a
panic that I've seen him
So often before at
this task
For his is the
beacon for the beaten
To follow all us
brinkers in the lane
And close to our
ears he must whisper:
"Remember how it
is when you're insane"
I see colors
coming out of nowhere
I hear sounds when
there's nobody there
I think maybe
we're all in this together
But I was surely
surer at the start
Do it with a
flair, or it's forgotten
Do it with a flair
and it's a lie
Soon enough our
time on earth is spoken for
Never really sure
what's on the other side
But soon enough
the memory will haunt me
I've seen it all
before it is plain
Though the places
where I end up are so empty
I don't want to
have to visit them again
I remember in the
shadows how it started
Sitting all alone
in the dark
Features of my
friends begin emerging
Then there's just
the ticking of the clock
There's a room
waiting for me somewhere
Where everyone
I've known just counts the tiles
They know I'll
walk right in there someday
And all they'll
have to do then is smile
I hear colors
coming out of nowhere
I see sounds when
there's nobody there
I think maybe
you're all in this together
But I was surely
surer at the start
Now nothing left
to do but play my part
And sit here all
alone…In the dark
© 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: King Blue And Pearly A long folk ballad. But all ends well. |
He
was called King Blue
Though he always wore yellow He
sang what he knew He
was a most righteous fellow
Honey in his voice And he was never afraid
There was snow on the ground
When December froze early No
friends came around
Except a lady named Pearly
She’d made the hard choices And she would not back down
They made small talk
While he searched for an opening
Then they went for a walk And
they walked until morning He
promised his life He was never afraid She
left him at dawn
When he thought she was praying
Then he knew she was gone No
intention of staying She
had something to do And she would not back down He
hid in the trees To
see the gypsy moon dances He
fell to his knees He
was taking no chances He
was king for a day And he was never afraid She
ran with the moon
Till she heard the cock crowing Not
a moment too soon She
was already showing
They wanted her blood But she would not back down
King Blue was distraught He
could feel the earth spinning
He’d always been taught
Love was kind of like sinning He
knew he was lost But he was never afraid
Twelve signs of the sun
Made their yearly rotation But
nothing was done
About her situation She
had a babe in her arms But she would not back down No
force can deny A
man driven by longing He
did not know why But
the feelings were strong and He
wandered alone And he was never afraid She
mixed voodoo and love In
south Louisiana It
was never enough:
Pearly left for Havana A
babe in her arms And she will not back down He
made a journey back East
Where he stood by the ocean He
had a moment of peace And
he said his devotions
King Blue was quiet And he was never afraid She
stands on the pier
Drinking rum and molasses Her
feelings are queer
Then the worst of it passes The
child makes a noise And he will not back down He
came to Mobile And
became quite immobile He
found a car he could steal And
pretend it was noble He
headed down south And he was never afraid She
caught the first boat
That would take her to Tampa She
was barely afloat But
still willing to gamble She
had the keys in her mouth And she would not back down
They met once again
Down in Bayou La Batra It
was like they’d never been Far
apart, it was natural
That he drown in her fears She was back in his arms
That baby grew old He
wore satin and gingham He
was fearless and bold He
had the keys to the kingdom He
was never afraid And he never backed down © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#10: Train of Time + Too Far To Catch Me
Video:
Train Of Time
Train of Time is a rocker that always provides a nice segue juncture. Too Far To Catch Me is just plain fun. |
Train O' Time
Time keeps moving like a big truck tire
We’re all stuck up on the high wire
A man wants more, he's got to give it all in
Looking for an easy way to win
And it don't seem like you
Can do the things that you used to do
It don't seem like a good man
Gonna hardly make it through
But I don't want to seem to give it all away
'Cause I know it's got to be a little better some day
Get on the highway – Ride the train o' time.
Love has a price and it's hard to pay, hey
But you know it means so much to me anyway
A man wants more than he's got to give
Looking for an easy way to live
And it don't seem like you
Can love like you used to, you used to do
It don't seem like a good man
Gonna hardly make it through
But I don't want to seem to give it all away
'Cause I know it's got to be a little better some day
Get on the highway – Ride the train o' time.
The Lord made time to help you to forget
But you don't want to seem to let go of it yet
All of your life is wrapped up in a road
Wondering which way that it's gonna go
It don't seem like you
Can go like you used to, you used to do
It don't seem like a good man
Gonna hardly make it through
I'm tired of carrying this load all the time
Gonna sit right back with my bottle of wine
Get on the highway – Ride the train o' time. Too Far To Catch Me
Singing the song much the same way
Taking the long way around things
Making some tracks in the desert
Mesmerized by the sameness
Hasn't the Lord got no mercy
This ain't my kind of diamond
© 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#11: Peace Of Mind Video: Peace Of Mind A great song to end the night and send everyone happily home. |
So good to sit on the edge of
dreams Where things are not as hard as it seems Sitting down where the sunshine beams You got what you need and you know what it means (You got) peace, peace, peace, peace of mind Peace, peace, peace, peace of mind Summertime feels oh so right Got the breeze all day, got the moon at night So nice and warm, so nice and bright No bills to pay, everything is all right May have to take a little nap today Lay down my burden, just lay it on down Sleep like a baby on a blanket in the hay Hey, look-a here, look what I found (I found) peace, peace, peace, peace of mind Peace, peace, peace, peace of mind Maybe that winter got to come on back It might be so, that's a matter of fact Even if does, it don't worry me, Jack Could snow and snow and I'd still never lack (I’d never lack) peace, peace, peace, peace of mind Peace, peace, peace, peace of mind © 2010 Chuck Puckett |