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#1: Silver Dollar Video: Silver Dollar Work from can to can't. Is there nothing better than this? Maybe not. |
Well, I make about
six bucks for every hour that goes by
And it comes to just
enough so I can get high
Quitting time rolls
around and it's home and have a bite
And a few hours
later cut the lights
But I can sit in the
Silver Dollar for about a buck a beer
And I really can't
remember when last my mind was clear
'Cause it's always
cluttered by thinking things I fear
Like maybe it all
don't mean a thing
The bosses that I've
had always seem to know
That my mind's not
on my work & I wish that I could go
Back to my apartment
and sit there in the dark
And play on my old
guitar
Keeping my hands
busy 'cause my mind won't let me be
You know the
shifting of the sands answers none of it for me
But I’ve got to keep
it up 'cause the bills are not for free
And a few days ago
they cut the lights
Wake up in the
morning wash the sleep out of my eyes
They've seen a lot
of something, Lord,
But it hasn't made
'em wise
Shuffle down to work
and have coffee with the guys
And a few years from
now, I'll cut the lights
© 1980
Chuck Puckett |
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Video: All the Red Cards Wild Now this is how to play poker! |
All the red cards wild
Play ‘em if you can
Try and find the
meaning
In each and every
hand
There ain’t no sense
in folding
Just hang on for a
while
Don’t matter what
you’re holding
When all red cards
are wild
When we started
playing poker
It was straight as a
man can play
We never let no
jokers
Come getting in the
way
Five card draw was
all we’d deal
Pay a dollar to get
in
Jacks or better to
open
Trips or better to
win
Now maybe that was
boring
Maybe that was too
tame
Anyway someone soon
suggested
That we liven up the
game
How about anything
to open
And you can win with
whatever you got
We played five card
stud, then seven
But it didn’t seem
to help a lot
So then we played
with deuces
wild
We played jokers and
one-eyed jacks
Seven card stud with
low hole wild
There was no holding
back
Then someone said it, and might’ve
been me
Let’s
leave the rank and file
From here on out let’s
play this game
With all the red
cards wild
All the red cards wild Play ‘em if you can Try and find the meaning In each and every hand There ain’t no sense in folding Just hang on for a while Don’t matter what you’re holding When all red cards are wild Sometimes I think the world Is one big poker hand You don’t have the cards you bluff
it out When you got ‘em you let ‘em stand Your pay to take your chances You play it by the rules Let the cards fall where they will Try not to act the fool But when things start going crazy All the chips are in the pile You can’t
make sense of anything With all the red cards wild All the red cards wild Play ‘em if you can Try and find the meaning In each and every hand There ain’t no sense in folding Just hang on for a while Don’t matter what you’re holding When all red cards are wild
© 2020 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: First Person Singular An admission that I am not like other people. Nor do I wish to be. |
© 1991 Chuck Puckett |
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#4: Ancient Sunlight Video: Ancient Sunlight That's what carbon-based fuels are: ancient sunlight, stored in the ground. Slowly being used up. |
I received a
whispered warning
It’s a million years
in making
For the oil that
moves a nation
There’ll be no more
of warnings © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#5: Heaven's Song Video: Heaven’s Song Another song of lovers who miscommunicate with each other. Too common. |
She moves to him like water, they
hope to intertwine And dance with the river's daughter And drink the good god's wine But the feeling ever lingers on that
there's just not much time Well maybe, maybe there is He makes a small commitment with his
heart inside his head But nothing has been written And he's living in the red His dealings are so shaky and he
wants her love so bad Well maybe, maybe he has All of heaven's pouring all of
heaven's song Into the fires of bodies that have
waited much too long For a moment, any moment that would
mean anything To the dancers and the poets Who always wait for spring, always,
always In fuzzy aberrations they clasp and
turn away It's just not in their faces At least that's what they say They want a sign of sureness or else
they'll walk away Well maybe, maybe they have But love is just a moment and fire
is never still They can't forget the torment That hang's behind the thrill So sad that grownups know this,
can't forget the bitter pill Well maybe, maybe they will
© 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: Kindness Of Strangers Pretty much inspired by Tennessee Williams iconic line. But not the play. |
He walks up to the
house with a bit of trepidation
He heard about
this woman at the local hotel
But he is still a
salesman and she is just a prospect
He can handle her
easily if he does his job well
She meets him at
the door, she says, "Make yourself comfortable."
They drink a glass
of tea and he shows her his wares
He doesn't seem to
notice when she bites her lip in anguish
When she starts to
speak, it's as though he's not there
"I have always
depended on the kindness of strangers
I
have never quite recovered from the loss of my youth
I'm
not completely certain on the element of danger
But
I'm quite certain, mister, I can depend on you."
She sits in a
chair and poses a question
Just like in a
classroom, she raises her hand
What is his
opinion when a woman never marries?
Of a woman who has
never give herself to a man?
He gets a little
flushed when she steps a little closer
And quiets his
embarassed attempt at an apology
What should he do?
He starts edging towards the front door
She stops him with
a phrase, stops him so easily:
He looks like a
lion in a cage at the circus
Who's caught in an
act that he just can't understand
What would he do
if he were the strong one?
He'd have his coat
on his arm, frankly not giving a damn
The moment passes
by like an empty whiskey bottle
That's poured out
its very last glass of misery
She walks out to
the porch expecting him to follow
She flirts with
her voice, dredging up her memories
He slips out the
back, leaves her sitting on the front porch
Talking to herself
in a quiet little voice
What could he have
done? It's beyond his comprehension
That faraway look
in her eyes left him very little choice
She hums a little
tune, draws her shawl all around her
Rocks in the swing
and gazes out into the black
She heard the door
of course but it really didn't matter
He was a certainly
a gentleman and gentlemen always come back © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: Fountain Of Youth We live in the minds of people we knew years ago, forever frozen in that youth. |
Somewhere deep in someone’s mind I
am still eighteen In
someone’s world there lives a boy
Who’s never seen the things I’ve seen
Never had the worried moments,
Never boasted in my pride
Never hurt the ones I’ve loved, Never cheated, and I never lied
Didn’t need to search the whole world over
Sailing oceans vast and deep
Eternal youth was always waiting In
the memories of an old friend fast asleep
There is no way to take life back
Every road leads just one way We
can hold our breath and pretend But
we cannot relive one single day
Somewhere once, somebody knew me Who
only knows how I was then I’m
still alive in their mind Always will be, and I’ve always been And
if I’ve never loved selflessly, And
if I never gave needlessly, And
if I never hoped faithfully, If
I’ve gazed upon my life and I’ve sighed
Still somewhere deep in someone’s mind My dreams have never died
Somewhere deep in someone’s mind I
am frozen fast in time
Deep inside of all my memories
There are friends that I can find
We’re still dancing with abandon
We’re still singing around a fire
We’re still living for the future We’re still driven by our desire © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#8: She Might Have Said Goodbye
Video:
She Might’ve Said Goodbye Another song about miscommunication in love? Is every romance like that? |
She might've said goodbye, I
don't remember Things got kind of blurry It was raining hard that day I think I said some things I soon regretted I think I might've said We should go our separate ways It's funny how mem’ry rewrites hist’ry How little things stay with you While the big things slip away Things get turned around, things get twisted She might have said goodbye But she might've said please stay She might've said goodbye I don't recall But something changed forever Which I had not foreseen Tear a hole in your jeans You can't sew ‘em good as new Get a stain on your heart You can never wash it clean The lamp of love grows dark when you get angry Can you light it back again? I swear I just don't know Her tears made it hard to understand She might've said goodbye But she might've said don't go Years gone by but no one’s heart was mended The tears evaporated Left nothing but a stain The only thing I ever comprehended What might’ve been don’t matter What you did is what remains She might've said goodbye I don't recall But something changed forever Which I had not foreseen Tear a hole in your jeans You can't sew ‘em good as new Get a stain on your heart You can never wash it clean The only thing I ever comprehended What might’ve been don’t matter What you did is what remains © 2015 Chuck Puckett |
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Video: Occupation Remember Occupy Wall Street? I wrote this anthem in honor of that. Still means something, I think. |
You
may be occupied with money
Occupied with fame
Occupied with how history Is
gonna treat your name
Occupied with watching movies Or
listening to some song
Occupied with ignoring What’s right from what is wrong But
you need to look and see
What’s happening in your town
Some folks have occupied it, friend And
they ain’t backing down No, they ain’t backing down
You
may be worried about the future And
where you might find work Or
wondering where the dream has gone And
if you’ll go berserk
Worried about your pension How
much money’s in the bank If
nothing’s left you need to learn Exactly who to thank You
better make an effort To
make some sense of it
These folks have occupied their towns And
they ain’t gonna quit No, they ain’t gonna quit
Yeah, we all got occupations
Working hard to get what’s earned It
steals our concentration So
we don’t have time to learn
Who’s the robber, and who’s been robbed Who
stole your cash away You
should occupy your time By standing up to say: We
won’t take this crap no more We
know what’s going down
We’re gonna make them understand
They don’t own this town
We’ll occupy the stage
We’ll make our final stand
Cause one percent can’t have it all
No one
gets to have it all
This land is ours, this is our land
This land is our land, this land is our land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forests To
the Gulf Stream waters
This land is the home of the free This land was made for you and me © 2011 Chuck Puckett |
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#10: What Regrets Are For Video: What Regrets Are For A love song for Carol. The title is misleading. Listen and find out why. |
I
owe her everything, I wonder if she knows The
pattern of our lives is one solitary sound We
scattered seeds of destiny and watched the best ones grow A
garden in the middle of the holiest of ground I
wish I had done better, I wish I had done more Maybe that’s what regrets are for It
all remains a mystery built on a rocky hill
Where shadows fall so silent, but they cannot hide the truth We
never lived in poverty, her riches kept me filled She
built a bridge across every moment of my youth I
wish I had done better, I wish I had done more Maybe that’s what regrets are for No
one holds a candle to the way she sees the world Her
eyes are like two telescopes, they penetrate the void The
wisdom of a women in the heart of a little girl She
bears them both with grace, with faithful love and joy I
wish I had done better, I wish I had done more Maybe that’s what regrets are for
Regrets are not for sorrow for things I haven’t done
Regrets are not for anger for things that I did wrong We
can’t repeat the past we can’t turn back the sun The
song we sang is gone but we can still sing any song
Regrets are like the markers that lie along the road The
keep you on the straight and narrow way She
opened up door and she took my heavy load
Then she helped me throw the worst of it away I’m
glad I got it better, I keep doing what I can I guess that’s why she chose me for
her man
© 2016 Chuck Puckett |