1. |
Crooked Teeth
01:56
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Crooked Teeth
You found me drunk
And fast asleep
Behind the wheel
Of someone’s jeep
And in my hand
A bottle and
A picture of
Your crooked teeth
On that night
We said goodbye
You went your way
And I went mine
That was fifteen
Years ago
Now you’re old
And I am grown
And I guess
We never knew
All the things
That we could do
Last I heard
You’d moved out west
And got a job
At Disneyland
And as for me
And as for mine
We’re still at home
And doin’ fine
I shot ten years
My whole twenties
Working on a PhD
That never seemed
To let me own
Anything but
Student loans
The days grow long
It’s getting late
And time like tears
Evaporate
My sallow sad
Myopic eyes
Squint too much
These days to cry
But there were days
Not long ago
My open faucet
Tear ducts flowed
Like William Wordsworth
High on grass
I recollect
The mournful past
You found me drunk…
Words & Music (c) 2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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2. |
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Requiem (Autumn in Tulsa)
It was autumn in Tulsa
and springtime in Perth
when the wedding bells rang out
from St. Joseph's Church
Where he lay in the alley
with a cross 'round his neck,
like a bottle of Mad Dog
all broken and spent.
No, I didn't bring flowers,
but I witnessed his death
and stood like a coward
to steal his last breath.
He said, “The problem, you see,
is nearly everyone but me
is a pusillanimous
son of a bitch.
Yeah, they'll look brave and bold,
they'll act cool and cold,
but on the Sabbath they will leave you
like an ox in a ditch.”
So I turned back into the rain,
pulled my collar up close,
and forgetting his pain
I headed back home.
'Cause the sunsets and seasons
are all fictions of this earth:
When it's autumn in Tulsa,
it's Spring, springtime in Perth.
(c) & (p) 2011 Allen herndon (BMI).
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3. |
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Holy Fool's Lullaby
Well I could drink myself to sleep
but what's the use in countin' sheep
if the wool that keeps you warm cannot be found?
Well the Lamb of God they say
way back in them Bible days
was quickly curtly run right out of town.
I know it's a dead man's walk I pace
and if the whole damn human race
decided they would crawl, I might catch up.
But there's nothing that I find
with my simple country mind
in all this so-called Progress that measures up.
They've put monkeys into space
and projected man's disgrace
onto every television on the earth.
But there's nothing there, I guess
in this whole postmodern mess
that seems to me to have a lot of worth.
We've got cellphone towers for trees
and we connect at such high speeds
but still I feel alone and without shade.
You could promise me the moon
but I guess I'd just as soon
that the moon just stay where it was made.
Words & Music (C) 2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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4. |
The Dancing Lesson
03:24
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The Dancing Lesson
There was a raincloud
Then the sunshine
Then a rainbow
Then I felt Time
Slip, slip a way
Another birthday
Another year, Lord
Another chalk mark
On the chalkboard
And I know I'll slip away
There was some Xanax
There was some bourbon
I watched the rural
Blur into the urban
At the speed of sound it slips away
I turned from sleeping
Into dreaming
Turned from living
Back into scheming
And I could feel me slip away
There's no life vest
There's no Coast Guard
The water is soft
And it is not hard
To slip, slip away
There is a buzzing
There is a clatter
Always asking me
What is the matter
And so I tried to slip away
I saw a raincloud
I saw sunshine
I saw a rainbow
And I changed my mind
I don't want to slip away
I saw the sunshine
I saw a raincloud
I heard angels
Singing out loud:
Child, don't slip away
And their song it went like this, it went:
Hallelujah!
Bismillah!
Hare Krishna!
Like a baby crying, “Mama
Mama, won't you teach me how to dance”
I felt the rope break
I tried Hope
'Cause I had exhausted
Everything else
And so, please, don't slip away...
(c)&(p)2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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5. |
Law School Blues
02:58
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Law School Blues
The kids were bathed, then they were fed
Tucked into bed and then we read
Turned off the lights, the youngest said,
“When’s mommy comin’ home?”
Went back to the living room
Gave the house a dust and broom
The window framed a hungry moon
Now I am all alone
Your lipstick’s on the oven mitt
The doctors say I need to quit
But I’ll have one more cigarette
It helps to pass the time
So I pick up the autoharp
I try to play, stop and start
The chords change like a lonely heart
Lookin’ for a rhyme
The TV’s tuned to static now
Spongebob Squarepants anyhow
I’ve milked it like a sacred cow
But there’s just nothing on
I’ve read these books a thousand times
These magazines, I’ve drank this wine
Like rotten grapes on autumn vines
I just keep hanging on
Lightening bolts and Cadillacs
Light up the road that brings you back
But those headlights don’t leave the tracks
That bring you home to me
So I’ll shop for a private jet
On websites on the internet
But travel’s just the last respects
Paid to memories
If I were rich I’d buy a farm
Far from loneliness and harm
I’d take you there in my strong arms
And never let you go
But I’m not rich and you’re not home
No knocking door, no telephone
No nothing when I’m all alone
I’m all alone
(c)&(p) 2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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6. |
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Unicorn Girl (Stars & Hearts)
When we were young & starlight filled our eyes
We prayed on that distant constellation
Not knowing then that the scattered suns
Had burned away a million years before
And there was no star to wish upon
But black and aching void
And now that age has caught us off our guard
Such distant revolutions slip our mind
The music of our spheres is now local & confined
The turning of humble months and years
But I was lying to you all the time
I never cared about the stars
I cannot tell if your eyes were fixed on darkness
Or if they were always fixed on light
No I never did believe in constellations
You watched the stars for hope but I watched you
Heavenly bodies do not sit still or last for long
And I know there is no heaven in this man
But a fool full of black and aching void
Will try to hold and kiss them while he can
When we were young & starlight filled our eyes
We prayed on that distant constellation
Not knowing then that the scattered suns
Had burned away a million years before
(c)&(p)2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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7. |
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River of Sorrow
I have swam in the River of Sorrow
I have begged for a sign from the shore
I have prayed, Lord, that someone would save me
But I drowned like a man overboard
I have crawled through the trenches of longing
Felt the blood spray of both birth and death
And surveyed the expanse of existence
It is measured in dwindling breaths
I have read every book ever written
I have walked every road ever paved
I have kept every law & commandment
That is carved on a stone like a grave
I have drank in the dark lonely tavern
I have stared through the lens of my glass
I have seen there my cold gray reflection
Only warmed by the amber that passed
I have hid from the light like a vampire
I have hid from the crowd like a child
If death is a fear never-ending
Then life is to fear but a while
I have swam in the river…
(c)&(p)2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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8. |
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On The Inevitable Disappearance of Self & Other
She was the kind of girl
Who knew the names of things
Things like occulator
And polystyrene
You know she only ate raw meat
She slept on paisley sheets
She might have been a Capricorn
She folded her pajamas wrong
But then one day the spacemen came
And they took her away
Or so her emails say
They said goodbye
He was an ordinary man
The kind with lots of piercings
A tattoo of Charlie Manson
And a rune stone earring
He played fiddle in a Celtic band
He played marbles on Saturdays
He made his money the old fashioned way
By investing in oil
But then one day the spacemen came
And they took him away
Or so his postcards say
They said goodbye
I was a singer in a folk band
I had some trouble with the chord changes
Got optimistic when I drank too much
But was a pretty nice guy
My family seemed to like me some
The neighbors didn’t mind too much
My favorite food was peanut butter
The natural kind
But then one day the spacemen came
And they took me away
Or so my songs all say
They said goodbye
(c)&(p)2011 Allen Herndon (BMI).
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HERNDON Tulsa, Oklahoma
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