Some Other Ocean
Kathryn Koch

On some other ocean, nothing like the ocean where I wet my feet
You stand faced to the ocean, nothing like my ocean
and never turn your face to mine

It's a crime, it's a crime
It's the devil come to fight
It's a crime, it's a lie
It's the devil come to fight

You stand high atop your mountain, high atop your mounting disbelief
If you won't be my lover, won't be my brother
then won't you just let me be
You've got your doors, you've got your shutters
You can read all about it if you want to in the papers
There's no telling just how far they'll go
to keep things this way

It's a crime, it's a crime
It's the devil come to fight
It's a crime, it's a lie
It's the devil come to fight

Down on my street, not on the same street
but the one street where we're all living
I hear them calling out for hearts and souls
but there's questions we just don't ask

They will try to save your soul
They will steal it and try and sell it back to you
They will make you feed your children hypocrisy and mercury
Don't let them Don't believe them

It's a crime, it's a crime
It's the devil come to fight
It's a crime, it's a lie
It's the devil come to fight

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No Tombstone
Kathryn Koch

When I go I'll leave no trace, no photographs, no evidence, you'll never know that I was here. And when I go there'll be no tombstone, no goodbye, not even memory. 'Cause it's not me, I said it last time. It's all been you, and that face burning. If I could believe, I'd wrap myself around you. A lock, on a house, and I'd keep you safe inside. And if you could believe you heard me, you'd know that it was so. He said "I just have this feeling I'm never going to see you, never going to touch you again". And I said "It's not just a feeling", seeing is believing, but you don't see, you don't remember it's not me, I said it last time. It's all been you, and that face burning. If I could believe, I'd wrap myself around you. A lock, on a house, and I'd keep you safe inside. And if you could believe you heard me, you'd know that it was so. Later there will be no song, no diary, no last words, no reunion. And I could say it over and over, I could make it true, I could change the ending. But it's not me, I said it last time. It's all been you, and that face burning. If I could believe, I'd wrap myself around you. A lock, on a house, and I'd keep you safe inside. And if you could believe you heard me, you'd know that it was so.

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Andi's Blues
Kathryn Koch

Andi's comin' down from her glory
but all her joy can't keep out the morning
I've changed my mind, it wasn't me
But she can't even speak, can't even say a word
She just stares into the distance
There's nothing left to do but turn around and face this

Do you think you'll turn it around?
Do you think you'll get back home?
There's no home, there's no resting place...for you

Andi fights the little wars, she goes to the trenches
but she loses every time
Are your dreams so small that you would risk them?

Do you think about your chances?
Do you think you'll take it back?
There's no chance, there's no taking back...for you

I'm talking right to you and you don't hear me
Don't you think I understand?
Even the lost want to be found again...
But Andi's got the time, she's got a story
She can tell it over and over
Like the ending's gonna change the next time

Do you think you'll turn it around?
Do you think you'll get back home?
And do you think that home is just a chance?
Will you take that chance to rest?
When there's no home, there's no way, there's no taking back the time
there's no home, there's no resting place for you
there's no home, there's no resting place for you

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Run, Billy, Run
Kathryn Koch

Billy was his mother's son, daddy was a gambler's son, sister prayed to God above and Billy went to jail. Philipsburg to Buffalo, 9 hours on a slow train, just to bring the wayward son back home again.

Run away, run away, run away, run, run, Billy run away

Billy worked the fac'try line, the paper mill, the coal mine. And in his dreams he might provide his pretty wife with diamonds. But taprooms and dark saloons, dancing girls and barrooms, peanut shells and empty pints all weigh on Billy's mind. One Fateful night, that April night, when Billy made his final flight, he wouldn't prove too hard to find, out stumblin' through the moonlight. They took him down on Swan Street with a bottle in his hand and Susie came to go his bail and do it all again.

Run away, run away, run away, run, run, Billy run away

Now Billy's wife ain't got no son, daughter had a gambler's son, mother went to God above and Billy jumped his bail. Buffalo to Philipsburg ain't nothin' but a slow train, just to bring the wayward son back home again. He said in Eastern Pennsylvania all the water tastes like coal. But when he got back home the fac'try doors were shut and all the mines were closed. A neon glow will lead you to the tavern down the way. You can dream your little dream, Billy, dream you'll run away.

Run away, run away, run away, run, run, Billy run away

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Hungry Mother
Kathryn Koch

What's that sound? What's that sound? What's that sound?
Mother, call your children home
That's the word- That's the word- That's the word
Mother, call your children home

Don't need no house of steel- Don't need no house of stone
Don't need no house of steel- Don't need no house of stone

What's that sound? What's that sound? What's that sound?
Mother, call your children home

Hungry Mother- Hungry Mother- Hungry Mother
What's that sound?

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Morning Blues David Nanni

Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues
Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues
When I lay down in the evening feeling weary and abused
Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues

Don't you worry, don't you pay no never mind
When I come home at night my breath may taste like wine
Hard work for little pay, it's such a long long wasted day
Don't you worry, don't you pay no never mind

Don't you wonder why those better times don't come
Don't you wonder how the days roll into one
Don't you pack a heavy bag, catch the first ride we can flag
Don't you wonder why those better times don't come

Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues
Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues
When I lay down in the evening feeling weary and abused
Don't you wake me in the morning with those blues

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Later that Morning David Nanni

Death come around on a bright shiny day
The sky was not cloudy, the sky was not gray
Was a sign of the times, all the people did say
When death come around on a bright shiny day

Death come on down from a crystal blue sky
Sang not a note of the sweet bye and bye
Mocking the sun, threw mud in its eye
When death come on down from a crystal blue sky

Later that morning, that very same day
It was not December, April, or May
An eagle took flight, was a fierce bird of prey
Later that morning, that very same day

Death did not care much for whom he chose
Three thousand of these, ten thousand of those
Be they women or children, husbands or foes
Death did not care much for whom he chose

Death come around on an uncloudy day
The sky was not dark, the sky was not gray
Was a sign of the times, all the people did say
When death come around on a bright shiny day
Later that morning, that very same day

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Some Sunny Day
Kathryn Koch

I feel I have lost you
and I feel I've lost my way
I don't know when I'll see you- if I'll see you

I've lost my way- I've lost my way
but I'll be found some sunny day

Might be a change in the weather
Could be a change in the sea
Might be change could move mountains- or me

I need something to borrow, I need this to hold
I need some kind of answer until I can make it home

I've lost my way- I've lost my way
but I'll be found some sunny day

I feel the changes
and I feel you, my love
but that won't keep me going for long

Give me something to borrow, something to call my own
Give me some kind of answer until I can make it home

I've lost my way- I've lost my way
but I'll be found some sunny day

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Owed to Johnny Cash
David Nanni

Who's gonna pick up that nine pound hammer
now that John Henry laid it down?
Who's gonna play that old steel drivin' music
now that the man in black done gone?
I been from Memphis up to Venus and everywhere between us
Ain't never heard nothin' like that sound
Who's gonna play that old steel drivin' music
now that the man in black done gone?

Who's gonna go lightly from your window?
Who's gonna leave at his own given speed?
I heard he's gone now, I heard he left us
I heard he rode off on a strong white steed
I heard he finally beat the devil, took that orange blossom special
to the promised land just over the next hill
I heard he's gone now, I heard he left us
Feels like he's gone and left us standing still

Who's gonna say Mama, how high's the water?
Who's gonna tell you love's a burning thing?
And will the circle be unbroken,
and strong as June and Johnny's wedding ring?
Who's gonna stand and deliver the truth about Nashville
and still sing "Don't take your guns to town, son"?
Who's gonna play that old steel drivin' music
now that the man in black done gone? 

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Headin' Homeward
David Nanni

It was a full moon rising over Greenville, Alabama
as I packed my bags and headed on my way
I won't make it there by morning, and I won't be home by evening
But I'm going back to see her one fine day

It was a slow heat rising from the Mississippi delta
Sweet as the notes plucked on an old guitar
and six worn tires kept on singin'
that song about the highway
and it carried me back home to where you are

There's a place over yonder, gonna make it if we try
There's a place for us all sweet by and by
We're forever headin' homeward
in our hearts and on the highway
We are all headin' home sweet by and by

Oh, mama, how I long to hear you callin'
A gentle breeze that rolls across the land
But if I don't make it won't you lay my weary body
In those rolling hills of Southern Alabam'

Well the highway seemed eternal, the gauges needed wiring
That old machine ran on a prayer that was whispered from afar
and I dreamed she lived forever
standin' in the kitchen
callin' out my name across the yard

There's a place over yonder, gonna make it if we try
There's a place for us all sweet by and by
We're forever headin' homeward
in our hearts and on the highway
We are all headin' home sweet by and by

Oh, mama, how I long to hear you callin'
A gentle breeze that rolls across the land
But if I don't make it won't you lay my weary body
In those rolling hills of Southern Alabam'

It was a full moon rising over South Alabama
as I packed my bags and headed on my way
I won't make it there by evening, and I won't be home tomorrow
But I'm going back to see her one fine day

Oh, mama, how I long to hear you callin'
Like a gentle breeze that rolls across the land
But if I don't make it, won't you lay my weary body
In those rolling hills of Southern Alabam'

Hold that Tiger
Chorus of "Tiger Rag" with new words, music, and arrangement by Kathryn Koch

You can take me to the movies
or box seats at the opera
you can take me home to mother in a limousine
but if you really want to take me
tell you how to really make me
take me to the club to hear that Tiger Rag

I'm not too hard to please
I don't ask for much
I don't put no store by finery and fancy stuff
I don't need romancin'
I just want to go dancin'
Won't you ask the band to play that Tiger Rag

I've had every kind of man
this old world can offer
but I've never met the man that I could pine and long for
Don't buy me no diamond ring
Wedding bells ain't got no swing
C'mon let's go hear them sing that Tiger Rag
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East Jackson Blues
David Nanni

Mean day in Mississippi, we were down and almost out
We pulled into East Jackson just to take a look around
We pulled into East Jackson just to take a look around
We found everything we needed down in East Jackson town

Well we nearly missed our mark cause he had them ragtime blues
dressed in threads and shufflin' in them old worn out shoes
He said "The cops don't think I got none
but I got anything you choose"
He said "Lay your Franklin on me
and leave me with those East Jackson Blues"

"When you go down to East Jackson keep your shuffle in your shoe
The cops down in East Jackson they got nothin' else to do
They'll pick you upside down and shake you
just to find a nickel, dime, or two
Then they'll march you to the courthouse
Leave you with them East Jackson Blues"

Met a man in Mississippi with them East Jackson Blues
He said "The man got me dressed in threads
and these old worn out shoes
just to hide the fact I'm carrying
just about anything you choose
so lay your Franklin on me
and leave me with those East Jackson Blues"
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GiGi
Kathryn Koch

Fallin' on hard times
Countin' pennies just to make up a dime
Hot on the pavement and the soles of her shoes
and the joke's on me, and the joke's on you

He was a simple man with a complicated habit
and he kept on going 'til he got to Mexico
She was waiting on a train back to the border
but they'll never really get back home

Little Ricky went on out to Tucson
danced his silver saxophone to reservation Chicken scratch
She crossed from Nogales into Sonora
said "Daddy, your good woman's come at last"

Arizona was hot and unforgiving
They found his body three days later
I'd like to think he walked out into the desert
but I know he died alone, alone

GiGi, GiGi, GiGi

You'll never really get away from where you come
You'll always recognize the streets and the corners
If you live a little to the left of your past
The alleys will get you every time

She never learned nothin' from half the lessons that they gave her
She never walked too straight
never looked both ways neither
In southern California where the water tastes so sweet
they say she looked a lot like me

GiGi, GiGi, GiGi
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Poor Ellen
Kathryn Koch

Poor Ellen lived in a whiskey bottle
Fly away, fly away, I'll fly away
She traveled the world from inside the bottle
Fly away, fly away, I'll fly away

Poor Ellen died with the engine on
Crazy for feeling so lonely
Fourteen lines in the local news
Crazy for feeling so blue

La di da, la di da
fly away, fly away, fly away

She held the glass and she smashed it down
the day poor Ellen died
They will bury me and no one will come
the day poor Ellen died

I think this glass is a little too heavy
for my size, buddy for my size
Poor Ellen died and these tears are too heavy
For my size, buddy for my size
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Under the Moon
Kathryn Koch

In the smoky hour of killing time
a young girl walked in from the broken street
and all the old men in the corner stared
Their red eyes gazed out from behind their drinks
Pretty's a liability in certain neighborhoods
Nice girls don't stay out late
A simple drink, a look can be misunderstood
and dangerous

Too many nights to wrap around a mouth completely blameless
But her dress was just too much, insolent and shameless
I'd lead him on, I'd let him
if he knew my secret song
But the shadows they'd still follow me
forever remaining nameless...and dangerous

I come here for the emptiness and it fills me and it fills me
I come here for the emptiness and it fills me and it fills me

Into the cold air of a city buttoned down against the winter
No one to hear the cry, no hero to avenge her
There is a sound in bitter cold, a stillness high and lonely
covering our own sins with its eerie lullaby

I used to walk without fear, look boldly into faces
smiled up at my destiny
kicked my feet up under the moon
Now I lower my eyes as I lift my lonely glass
Look down to the end of the bar but there's no one looking back
I might be dangerous
They say I'm dangerous
They told you I'm dangerous
That danger's just what I'm looking for
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Coal Miner's Dream
David Nanni

I had a dream
A West Virginia coal miner's dream
and as the soot upon my face washed down my neck in dirty streams
I had a dream
A West Virginia coal miner's dream

My life had purpose
Though my back ached and my face was always dirty
At night when she lay beside me
she would ease all of my pain like a dream
She was a West Virginia coal miner's dream

She was my wife
She was the best part of a long and worried life
but I lost her in the freeze of '65 to an icy stream
A West Virginia cold mountain stream

I'm drowned in sorrow
and somewhere her ghost haunts the banks of the Kanawha
and I wander there in wintertime
Stare into the stream and I dream
She was a West Virginia coal miner's dream

I had a dream
that the sickness in my lungs had set me free
and I walked again beside her all along those banks of green
I had a dream
She was a West Virginia coal miner's dream
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Lilybugs
Kathryn Koch

Lilybugs in the henhouse, Lilybugs in the henhouse
Lilybugs in the henhouse and I feel fine
Buttercups and the daisies, peas are on the vine
Ladybugs in the milk jug and I feel fine
Lilybugs in the henhouse, Lilybugs in the henhouse
Lilybugs in the henhouse and I feel fine

Fine, lord I feel fine
Lilybugs in the henhouse and I feel fine

Babygirl's in the cradle, mamma's gone 'fore day
Gramma's on the front porch, a-rockin' in the shade
Lilybug's in the henhouse, Ollie's in the barn
The dogs can have the chickens, I don't give a darn

Tomcat's on the table, dishes on the floor
Doodlebugs in the breadbox, sheriff's at the door
One hand on the bible, one foot in the grave
If my sinnin' ways don't kill me
I'll live until I'm saved
 

Blue Yodel
Kathryn Koch

Bye bye baby blues
I've got them lonesome bye bye baby blues
Ever since the day you said you were
puttin' on your walkin' shoes
I've got them bye bye baby blues
You said your cheatin' heart could not be true
and now I've got them bye bye baby blues

You told me that I was the only one
Night after night I waited for you while you had your fun
I thought that I was the only one
I can't count how many times I've cried for you
Cryin' these bye bye baby blues

I wonder if you'll ever think of me
I wonder if you'll ever sing this lonely song of misery
these bye bye baby blues

I've wasted all the best years of my life
and it's clear to me now that I'll never be your wife
How I've wasted the best years of my life
All that I have left now is my memory of you
and these bye bye baby blues
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folks 'round here
David Nanni

Here comes the neighbor with his fist in the air
Here comes the neighbor with his fist in the air
He's got a complaint but I don't really care
folks 'round here don't care

He says the radio's blarin' from the house across the street
He says all night long from the house across the street
He says his temper's gettin' fired in the night and the heat
But me I'm really tired so I just go to sleep

'Cause my momma always told me just to keep to my own
Ain't nobody's business if your lawn's being mowed
Some flowers are just weeds 'til they really get grown
Nobody's business but my own

But here comes Kathy with a note in her hand
Here comes Kathy with a note in her hand
She's got a complaint but they don't give a damn
folks 'round here don't care

Kathy says the neighbor's party goes all night long
"People comin' goin' all night long"
She said "What'cha gonna do?"
I said "I'll put it in a song"
Kathy says "The party goes all night long"
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Old Marge
David Nanni

Old Marge sat on the porch across the street with the banjo on her knee
With a big stuck grin said from deep within "Why the fuck you lookin at me"

Get up girl, you slept too late
Hey little boy get your shoes on your feet
Your momma's not here and I'm your keeper
so don't talk back to me

I wouldn't say but what I know to be true
It's good to have an old woman lookin' after you
Catch the kids playin' in the middle of the street
Said "Get your ass over here before it really get beat"

I'm the kind of folk kinda keep to myself
but my old neighbor Marge she can motherfuckin yell
Happy or sad, never really can tell
Says "If you don't like me you can go to hell"
top

With my hands in my pockets I am empty I am ruthless
and the words written on your skin make me itch
And the rats and the stray cats are a poor excuse for climbing up the stairs
if facing restlessness is more than I can bear
And everything's alive except the street which has folded up and gone to sleep
and I'm waiting for the floors to climb the walls and do the same
There's no There's no sleep tonight
top

Like a dandelion lawn, your early morning yawn
Sun is up and coffee's on
And the world just seems to sing your favorite song
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Any Old Way
David Nanni

Baby you been good, baby I been better
Lately laid so low no need to worry 'bout the whether
Whether I should go, whether I should stay
Don't make no difference to me any old way
I will go, I will go, I will go any old way

Some things are better left said
some tongues are better left twisted
They never got it quite right
No matter how many times they might have insisted
This case is closed, my case is packed
Call up my number, get you nothin' but the facts
I'll be gone, I'll be gone, I'll be gone any old way

Take me down to the station
That old Greyhound she's waitin'
Hear him callin' her name say the Birmingham boards
at gate eighteen
Well seat me by the window and driver let it roll
I want to wake up where the sun shines
on some place I never known
I'll be gone, I'll be gone, I'll be gone any old way
top

My father moved slowly through seasons of storming My mother arrived to lay stone in the spring And the last thing remaining of unhappy union Is the claim I make daily as mine and never think twice of denying
top

And it's not so far from here
where he lives in the dark and tries to disappear
And I meet him late at night
And he tells me that the river will be mine
And I always take his hand
top

So look me in the eye and tell the truth
Look me in the eye and tell the truth
My love died on the wire in this tired old phone booth
top

There's nothing here but war and destruction
and it's late and I'm tired
And I know you're waiting home for me
I swear I'll leave
in just a little while
top

I hope, I guess, I think I know I do believe
I'll get my shit straight and then I'll get up and leave
Can't eat can't sleep can't see clear through the dark of day
Dig deep inside Try to find the light that shines the way
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North Country Wind
David Nanni

North country wind got my bones North country wind got my bones North country wind finally got beneath my skin and I'm cold and I want to go home

Worried life's no way to get along Worried life's no way to get along I wouldn't work my life just to sing some worried song Worried life's no way to get along

This feels like a hard gravel road This feels like a hard gravel road Comes from sleepin' in the back I know a dirt road from a railroad track and this feels like a hard gravel road

Got holes in the bottoms of my shoes Holes in the bottoms of my shoes Got holes in my shoes Lord I got these walkin' blues And I'm cold and I want to go home

I'll catch my rider southbound and go I'll catch my rider southbound and go I'll catch my rider southbound to some small town in Mexico And that's where I'll make my home
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Honey's Blues
Kathryn Koch

Have you ever forgotten how to breathe
in the space between the things you can and cannot see
Are you merely a mistress to all your old addictions
worshipping the fire for the dim light it shines

Once upon a time Honey had the blues
and she passed it down and it was mine
See how she shines, see how she moves
I can see her through the windows at the end of the night

Have you ever been lost at sea
There may be room for both of us
but not enough for me
If I haunt this bar for another hour more
I may be on a great adventure but I can't see the shore

You can put your hands into the air
You won't find me there
Isn't that emptiness almost filling
I think that you could beat me and I wouldn't feel a thing

You know Honey she was beautiful once
She was lines on my margins at closing time
Honey is sweet, Honey is sticky
Honey is what happens when flowers are sucked dry
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Time Will Tell
Kathryn Koch

All my freedom got taken back
when I stayed out all night with Jack
and then I went and lost all my money
to a sweet little thing called Honey
If papa was a millionaire I'd never want for nothin'
but papa was a drinkin' man and spent his time a-wanderin'

Time will tell darlin', time will tell honey
just what it's gonna be
Time will tell darlin', time will tell honey
just what it means to me

Honey can't come out to play, her momma says she's poorly
Honey fell and skinned her knee and got the street all bloody
Honey's got an ice cream cone, she bought it for a dollar
Honey let me have a lick, it made her momma holler

Little girls are made of sugar
Little boys are made of snails
Little girls break down and cry but
little boys they never will
Momma thinks I'm crazy to love you like I do
But all the money in the whole wide world
wouldn't take me away from you

I came to a crossroads I did not know my way
I took a right and walked all night
I'm walkin' to this day
I came to a railroad and hopped up on a train
And if you do not love me then I won't be back again

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