1. |
Jimmy Day
05:56
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Jimmy Day
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
I first heard that sound on a small-town sidewalk
Where a jukebox poured music out the door of a café.
Hank Williams and Elvis, Patsy Cline and Willie
All wound some gold on the steel of Jimmy Day.
There’s a woman crying for her hard scrabble cowboy,
A spice wind from the desert in the steel ringing true.
One murmur sweet goddess would do.
One murmur Blue Darlin from Jimmy Day and you.
I met him in a bar off a hill country highway,
People laughing and dancing, it was Ernie Durawa’s birthday.
Texas seems more real with a shot of pedal steel.
We were all thinking Jimmy would play and play.
Watched him on the stage as a woman leaned against me,
Moving her hips to the touch of his sweet hands.
His hair pushed back, he was smiling at us dancing.
Some things a player’s heart understands.
There’s a woman crying for her hard scrabble cowboy . . . .
If you drive out of these hills toward San Antonio,
There’s a honky tonk ruin boarded up and windblown.
Ghosts go there some nights under the shattered neon lights
For the music in the dust, for the words in broken stone.
It’s like a holy well in the dry grass and the cactus
Where the ache in your heart rings deeper and more pure.
You remember that sound from a small town jukebox,
And you know for a fact there is no cure.
Just a woman crying for her hard scrabble cowboy . . . .
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2. |
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Blackbird
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
I
Blackbird cackling in the courtyard,
Wisteria growing all twisted against the wall,
My true companions for the past two weeks –
Memories, that’s all.
You want me to take you back
Like a shark attack,
No baby, I don’t need another chance
To suffer and rise again.
I don’t intend to take any advice
That sets me up for sacrifice,
Somebody else can save your world.
Went walking in hell by the fiery sea,
Met some people a lot like me,
They’re still there with people like you.
Can’t think of anything I’d rather do
Than forget everything you put me through.
II
Mamma would you send me
Some of that Baton Rouge coffee.
No one out here ever makes it that strong.
I want to wake up and face the day clearly,
Been half asleep for way to long.
He wants me to take him back
Like a shark attack,
Oh no Mamma, I don’t need another chance
To suffer and rise again.
I don’t intend to take any advice
That sets me up for sacrifice.
Somebody else can save the world.
I went walking in hell by the fiery sea,
Met some people looked a lot like me,
That ever happen to you?
There must be something you’d rather do
Than talk about the things
I’ve just been through.
Blackbird singing in the courtyard.
Wisteria — blooming — against the wall.
Blackbird singing in the courtyard.
Wisteria blooming against the wall — Blackbird.
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3. |
He Won't Change
04:49
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He Won't Change
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
Same wind blowing stronger,
Weather vane spins tight,
Something breaks but it won’t break off,
Slaps on the roof all night.
Her old man told him,
White and black,
“Change direction, she’s not for you,
You’re on the wrong track.”
He won’t change, he won’t change,
No way, that boy, no way, he won’t change.
Old man told her, “I don’t like him seeing you,
I know his family, it goes way back,
This is nothing new.
He won’t change, the boy won’t change,
That boy, no way, no way, he won’t change."
She said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.
The past is over, it’s all in your head.
You can write us off or help us climb out,
Cause that boy loves me and like you said:
He won’t change, the boy won’t change,
That boy, no way, no way, he won’t change."
Pulled off the Menchaca Highway,
Drove up Townsley Hill,
Headlights flashed on the tree trunks,
The night seemed to have its own will.
Under the starlight
They talked about her dad:
“I know your old man hates me,
Thinks I’m nothing, nothing but bad.
I don’t know why his generation
Has to mess with our conversation,
I can’t change their point of view,
But what’s the difference –
I’m in love with you.
I won’t change, I won’t change,
No way, this boy, no way, I won’t change,
I won’t change.”
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4. |
Kingdom Come
04:27
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Kingdom Come
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
The town he was from
Is a place called Kingdom Come
With a sandy riverbank
And a funny name—
It’s the one place on this earth
He still drove from Fort Worth,
Cause Kingdom Come is so far away
It stays the same.
I’m going back to Kingdom Come,
Back to the place I’m from.
Look across the water, walk on the air,
Finding things I lost somewhere,
I’m going back to Kingdom Come.
With a Bible in his hand,
He knew his Lord and took a stand,
Found some others in the Bible Belt who agree.
He said, “Could God mess up so bad
On the best idea he had?
No, you’re not going to burn in eternity.”
I’m going back to Kingdom Come . . . .
He was 90 years old.
We were talking about the faith I withhold,
And how religion
Can seem like pure fraud.
I said, “Do you still teach those classes?”
He said, “Everything passes.
Lately I’ve been walking on the riverbank
Talking with God.”
I’m going back to Kingdom Come . . . .
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5. |
Chandelier Light
03:06
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Chandelier Light
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
She lives up on the third floor,
Comes down after hours,
And though she speaks to no one,
You sense her charm and powers.
She smiles across the flickering light,
Sorrow in her face,
No one knows the lady in lace.
Chandelier light goes back forever
In the mirror down the hall,
Sometimes she waltzes with her lover,
Though no one’s there at all.
You hear the floorboards creaking
Up and down the stair,
A doorknob turns, the lights go dim,
You look and no one’s there.
She might be in the balcony,
Leaning toward the stage,
As the curtains open on another age.
Chandelier light . . .
Tell me the truth my friend,
Did someone break your heart?
Tell me where the ghost tales end
And where the true ones start.
The past is filled with such fine things
It makes this life seem thin,
But that mirror cannot let us in.
Chandelier light . . .
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6. |
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Diamonds on the Texas Dew
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
Middle of the night you forget about the sun,
But it’s still gonna rise.
See – there it is,
Fractured in these eyes.
Stays cold all evening,
The field at dawn is covered in dew –
A glint of light diamond bright
For each of you.
You know, he believed
Being linked together makes us sane,
And he was the kind
Who loved to build that chain.
He always had some shining idea breaking through,
Gentle and real as diamonds on the Texas dew.
He told me, “Don’t you give up yet, got this idea,
A few more tricks to play.
Let me think about it –
There’s gotta be some way.
Hey, I know a guy who knows a woman
Who will know what to do
And someone else
Who needs a hand from you.”
You know, he believed
Being linked together makes us sane,
And he was the kind
Who loved to build that chain.
He always had some shining idea breaking through,
Gentle and real as diamonds on the Texas dew.
He believed
Being linked together makes us sane,
And we’re the ones
That have to fix that chain,
Cause this is where the shining ideas come through,
Gentle and real as a glint off the Texas Dew,
Gentle and real as diamonds on the Texas Dew,
Gentle and real as diamonds on the Texas Dew.
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7. |
Queso
02:47
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Queso
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
He must be nervous, my name isn’t Jack,
And I really don’t come from El Paso,
But I’m glad to meet you, he’ll be right back
With a bar towel to wipe up this queso.
Cowboy cool, honky tonk fool,
As a friend there’s no one more true,
And I don’t think he’s crazy cause there’s nothing crazy
About a man going crazy for you.
I’d ask you to dance but you’re covered with cheese,
Guess we could pour on some hot sauce,
And waltz in the mystery of Broken Spoke history,
He’s taking his time, well that’s his loss.
Cowboy cool, honky tonk fool,
As a friend there’s no one more true,
And I don’t think he’s crazy cause there’s nothing crazy
About a man going crazy for you.
Love is a dancer, love is the answer,
Love is what drowns us in queso.
Just hold me tighter, please call me Jack,
As we waltz all the way to El Paso.
Cowboy cool, honky tonk fool,
As a friend there’s no one more true,
And I don’t think he’s crazy cause there’s nothing crazy
About a man going crazy for you.
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8. |
Three Pawn Shops
03:37
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Three Pawn Shops
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
There are three pawn shops in Harrison, Arkansas,
Where I found this guitar.
Felt like singing a phrase or two,
Never thought I’d get this far.
They played Johnny Cash on cassette
At the funeral home,
Someone called out, “Amen.”
This is the way we lay our people down,
Until they rise again.
Darlin come home to this Arkansas mountain.
We’ll take you up the gravel road –
To your father and brother
Buried on that mountain top,
Long black car with its precious load,
Long black car with its precious load.
There’s a green shingle house
quarter mile from the graveyard,
Corrugated roof and an endless Ozark view.
If anyone was getting out of this valley,
Ginger, it was you.
Tell us how you lived all the way down in Texas,
Getting songwriters paid for their work on the screen.
Pastor read a letter from the Austin Music Union,
There’s a bouquet on the alter from Robert Earl Keen.
Darlin come home to this Arkansas mountain.
We’ll take you up the gravel road –
With your Aztec prince from San Antonio,
Long black car with its precious load,
Long black car with its precious load.
As we passed slowly
On the Boone County highway,
A farmer stops his tractor
In respect for the dead,
Looks down a plow row
As the cars come by from Harrison,
Slides a seed cap from his head.
I have no claim but my memory
Of running with you in these hills.
I said, “Ginger, magic girl,
Will you ever come back?”
You said, “If and when god wills.”
Darlin come home to this Arkansas mountain.
We’ll take you up the gravel road –
To your father and your brother
Buried on the mountain top,
Long black car with its precious load,
Long black car with its precious load.
There are three pawn shops in Harrison, Arkansas,
Where I found this guitar.
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9. |
Break Through and Shine
05:06
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Break Through and Shine
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
There’s a lotta nowhere out there.
She had compassion for the worst and the least,
In a town without a doctor,
Without a future, without a priest.
Words she said came alive in my head
Like holy wine,
“You’re gonna break through, break through,
Break through and shine.”
She gave me shelter
And I never had to explain
How a stray bolt of lightning
Left me face down in the rain.
Words she said came alive in my head
Like fortified wine.
“You’re gonna break through, break through,
Break through and shine.”
When I go back in time
To say the things I meant to say,
She tells me, “Get on your way.”
And if you don’t know where you’re headed,
Maybe you should try a prayer
To whatever’s out there in that unknown land
Where miracles appear.
I saw her carrying a round loaf
Of bread in a biblical episode.
Her shoes were anointed with oil,
Black like the unpaved road.
She said, “You look good tonight,
But you still shake and burn.
Why can’t you just get it right
and start taking your turn.”
Pressure shifting, something’s gonna change,
Warm wind lifting clouds off the open range,
Shaft of rays cuts through haze where emotions combine.
You’re gonna break through, break through,
Break through and shine.
There’s a lotta nowhere out here.
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10. |
Texas Nightingale
03:52
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Texas Nightingale
© 2021 by Eric Dahl
The day is gone like it’s supposed to be.
Darling what’s wrong? You can talk to me.
I can say the things that soothe you,
I can sing a lullaby,
If you tell me why you’re tied in knots
Or if at least you try.
Did you hear that? It’s a Texas Nightingale
And live oaks whisperin adieu.
No one’s written anything
That comes even close to you.
Take off your braided Texas belt.
Turn off the twisted Texas news.
Take off your skintight Texas anger
And your lacy Texas blues.
The night comes on with all its poetry,
On and on – just keep talking to me.
This is not about eternity.
It’s a moment in your mind
When the Grecian Urn is broken,
And the lovers touch like the blind leading the blind.
Did you hear that? It’s a Texas nightingale . . . .
This is not about eternity,
It’s a moment in your mind
When the Grecian Urn is broken
And the lovers touch like the blind leading the blind.
Did you hear that? It’s a Texas nightingale
And live oaks whisperin adieu.
No one’s written anything
That comes even close to you.
No one’s written anything
That comes even close to you.
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Eric Dahl Seattle, Washington
His music ranges from acoustic neo-rockabilly to thoughtful and reflective with a voice somewhere between Johnny Cash and Lou Reed.
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