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©1999-2008
All Rights Reserved
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Long Roads, Short Visits
Produced by Bob Franke
Production Consultant: Nina Gerber
Recorded and Mixed by Dave Shacter at Daring Studios, Marblehead, MA
Executive Producer: Mason Daring
Bob Franke: Vocals, Acoustic and National Steel Guitars,
Hand Drum on "Slow Down"
Nina Gerber: Acoustic, Nylon String, High
String and Electric Guitars
Paul Bryan: Bass
Tim Jackson: Percussion, Leather Suitcase and Pizza Box
Jennifer Kimball: Harmony Vocals
The Roads
Are Long In Canada
The roads are long in Canada,
You're driving through the night;
You're washed in prairie moon and stars,
You're bathing in their light
And if God in her heaven seems so far away,
Well, at least you're assured that you're headed for day,
And you're headed for someone who's asked you to stay, and it's right
It took a night in Canada
To recognize your soul
To heal some dark and hollow times
With clarity and cold
For the deals that you made you bitter and sick,
And so trapped in that place where it happened so quick,
And so lost without moving, you knew that the trick was to go
Racing a distant horizon, you learn what it means to be small;
Leaving your plans for an empire, you finally hear your heart's call
A silver night in Canada
Was what you needed most
To show you that your spirit
Was more than just a ghost
And it's not just the stars, and it's not just the moon,
But your car's little engine will get you there soon,
And though all of this distance maroons you wherever you roam,
You're on your way home
And it's not just the stars, and it's not just the moon,
But your car's little engine will get you there soon,
And though all of this distance maroons you wherever you roam,
You're on your way home
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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Inland Sea
That summer I fell in love with a video actress
So deeply and sweetly it shook my resolve to be faithful to my Marie
I was there when they said goodbye near the bay in Wisconsin,
Knowing my silence revealed as much
as the light on that inland sea
Marie gave her the hat she'd worn as a going away gift
It would have made her look bad, of course,
But it might have saved her skin
Like one of those hats that the children wore
in that old movie "Exodus"
The color of sand on that poor young girl,
Unaware of the danger she was in
Love's a terrible power, my friend,
much greater than humans
Yet people still lie on the beach, and some even think it's fun
Somehow we survived, of course, and I'll never forget her
Burned hands like a baby's reach for the power of the sun
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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There's
a Last Time For Everything
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything
There's a last time for everything
Baby goodbye, Baby goodbye!
I remember when you looked at me
With a look as cold as cold could be;
there was nothing you could really see;
Baby goodbye, Baby goodbye
chorus
It's been too long since you called my name,
It's been too long since you fanned the flame;
It's been too long things have stayed the same;
Baby goodbye, Baby goodbye
Well I guess I shouldn't hang around
while you dream about the love you've found;
Time to put my feet on solid ground;
Baby goodbye, Baby goodbye
chorus
© 1989 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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In The Place of
Trust
In the place of trust the soil grows rich and fine,
Each creature takes its rightful place, though none of them are mine
And I must wait, and listen, and there's nothing I control,
Except the wasting of my life, and the fear within in my soul;
And slowly these get crowded out by life and love and time
If I could but afford these things, I wouldn't spend a dime,
To try to kill the weeds because I like my spaces clear,
To try to kill the insects, but if takes more every year,
More herbicide, insecticide, until the waters kill
And all this barren landscape is a slave unto my will
Until I can't afford these things I'll pay because I must.
I'll kill a thousand little towns to avoid the place of trust.
And when the soil's exhausted and there's nothing left but dust,
You rape another acre or you find the place of trust.
I tell myself that this is real, that ever was it so,
We slash and burn, and move along, we harvest and we go,
Were I the master of my fate as I and many claim,
All fields would be the same field, all crops would be the same,
And all the earth would die as I must die, for die I must,
Though earth itself survives me to became the place of trust.
But when these lies are shattered and this pride lies in the dust,
I wonder if I yet may live to find the place of trust.
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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For Real
Death took the husband of a neighbor of mine,
on a highway, with a drunk at the wheel.
She told me "Keep your clean hands off the laundry he left,
and don't tell me you know how I feel."
She had a tape that he'd sent her from a Holiday Inn,
and she never played it much in the day,
But when I heard him say he loved her through the window at night,
I just stayed the hell away.
There's a hole in the middle of the prettiest life,
so the lawyers and the prophets say.
Not your father nor your mother nor your lover's
gonna ever make it go away,
And there's too much darkness in an endless night
to be afraid of the way we feel;
Let's be kind to each other, not forever, but for real.
My father never put his parachute on in the Pacific
back in World War Two;
He said he'd rather go down in familiar flames
than get lost in that endless blue,
And some of that blue got into my eyes,
and we never stopped fighting that war,
Until first understood about endlessness,
and I loved him like never before.
chorus
It's lucky that my daughter got her mother's nose,
and just a little of her father's eyes,
And we've got just enough love that when the longing takes me,
well, it takes me by surprise,
And I remember that longing from my highway days,
though I never could give it a name;
It's lucky I discovered in the nick of time
that the woman and the child aren't to blame
For the hole in the middle of a pretty good life,
I only face it 'cause it's here to stay:
Not my father, nor my mother, nor my daughter, nor my lover,
nor the highway made it go away,
And there's too much darkness in an endless night
to be ashamed of the way I feel.
I'll be kind to my loved ones, not forever, but for real.
Some say that God is a lover; some say it's an endless void;
Some say both, and some say She's angry, and some say just annoyed,
But if God felt a hammer in the palm of His hand,
then God knows the way we feel;
And love lasts forever, forever and for real.
Love lasts forever.
© 1983 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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I
Won't Feel Lucky ('Til I get lucky with you)
I've been finding change in telephones and rental cars,
And old friends by sheer coincidence in tourist bars,
It's been a sweet trip so far from a business point of view,
But I won't feel lucky 'til I get lucky with you.
You know, they're preachin' my religion down in LA,
I gave 'em hell in San Diego and the East Bay,
It's gone as easy as a person could expect it to,
But I won't feel lucky 'til I get lucky with you.
I would trade you all the honey in this honeycomb
For a pair of ruby slippers that would take me home.
And though my dance card filled right up with some amazing blondes,
I've been safe in my maturity as savings bonds.
There've been a million tickets printed, babe, but only one will do,
And I won't feel lucky 'til I get lucky with you.
© 1991 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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Slow Down
I was so deeply dreaming upon my father's bed,
A song came drifting to my heart straight from the Grateful Dead.
It said, you can't keep drinking new green wine, you know it rots your gut;
You can't keep cutting back on love it's the unkindest cut, you'd better
Slow down, as I believe you may,
Slow down, in a sort of sacred way, you'd better
Slow down, as I believe you may,
Slow down, in a sort of sacred way.
They took away my gravy train, my television too,
And all I had were two good friends, and one of them was you.
We walked the beach by moonlight, I was thinking about a swim,
I heard the voice of Jesus call, or someone just like him, it told me
Chorus
The storm commenced to rolling in, the boats began to rock,
The thunder and the lightning might have made a nasty shock,
But I was resting safely in the comfort of your arms,
Content to wait 'til morning, or at least until the alarm.
Chorus
© 1995 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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Je T'Adore
Our visit to France was a trifle outré
We went in the spring, and it rained every day,
I confess that I don't feel chic,
but I love how it taught me to speak.
That fille du nuit with the Guide Michelin
Kept looking at me like she might be a fan,
I was touched, but what could 1 do?
For I only had eyes pour vous.
Je t'adore, you gave directions to a cabby out of Orly,
Je t'adore, it was his attitude that made me tip him poorly,
And though you would have tipped him more,
Who keeps score? Je t'adore.
Je t'adore, I asked the waiter for a table down at ringside,
Je t'adore, His laughter made me feel a trifle on the thing side,
But the Folies Bergere's a bore.
I could snore, Je t'adore.
The old Notre Dame had that look of Monet
When that boulevardier knocked my glasses away,
With a slap to my innocent head;
it must have been something I said.
The wind from the Seine and the high cost of food
put my soul in a dark existentialist mood,
But what were you trying to convey,
When you called me L' Etranger?
Je t'adore, The Mona Lisa at the Louvre was poorly lighted,
Je t'adore, When I drew near to her the guards grew so excited,
Had they never seen tourists before?
They were sore, Je t'adore.
Je t'adore, I was astonished when you put your hand on his knee,
Je t'adore, I only asked if we could visit Euro Disney,
But you must have been looking for more.
Still, encore, Je t'adore.
We sat on the boulevard drinking chartreuse;
when you called me chou, I thought you rather loose,
But I'd be the last to complain;
you're so jolie in the rain.
When we reached the hotel, there was so much to say,
I couldn't believe how you used the bidet.
When we travel, my teeth just clench,
But with you, I'm impossibly French.
Je t'adore, I'd hoped that dollars turned to francs might last us longer,
Je t'adore, And as for sex, I know that women are the stronger,
But you still thrill me to the core,
love me more; Je t'adore.
Je t'adore, Cherie, I realize my accent may seem raucus,
Je t'adore, And yet, it didn't sound so bad back in Secaucus,
But then, what are vacations for?
Zoot allors, Je t'adore.
© 1989 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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William the Streak
The sun was a'risin' over Amesbury Hill
At the same time tomorrow, rise again it will
On a thin silver shadow leaping over Jack's Creek,
The dog they call William the Streak.
Now, Dick was a farmer sort of through the back door,
Someone gave him two sheep, so he bought thirty more,
And he raised any vegetable a 'Header might eat,
The work was hard, but life was sweet.
And William was a racing dog until he retired,
He got bored by the rabbit, and so he got fired,
But he found a lucky family near Amesbury town,
To adopt before his boss put him down.
Now some dogs are killers in a sheep man's eyes,
And a few dogs get shot, to no one's surprise.
And Dick was a shootin' man, or so went the word,
And the word just made it safer for the herd.
But when William ran circles all around Dick's land,
In the face of his beauty, Dick stayed his hand,
And when Dick's little farm was marked as William's to play,
The town dogs, they all stayed away.
And the streak they called William was bored by sheep,
They were slow, they were stupid, they put him to sleep,
But the groundhogs and woodchucks were a lot more fun,
'Cause William, after all, liked to run.
And the bundles got bigger on the vegetable truck,
'cause a groundhog chasin' greyhound is a real stroke of luck,
And the smartest of farmers will learn from the land,
And rejoice at what the Lord brings to hand.
So be kind to your neighbors, and give them a break,
Chances are they will give you as much as they take,
and if a short-sighted bastard should fire you next week,
Just remember old William the Streak.
For this world turns around, and we all have our place,
And there's more than one job, and there's more than one race.
Just keep your eyes open and stay close to the land,
If you've the sense of a dog, you'll find a plan.
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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Straw Against The
Chill
In a town of David, not so near to spring,
At the heart of love, there came a lovely thing.
It was the time of Mary, the time of Caesar's reign.
Nothing in our lives would ever be the same.
It was so long ago, but we remember still:
Star upon the snow, straw against the chill.
A planet dancing slow, a tree upon a hill.
Star upon the snow, straw against the chill.
Stumbling in the darkness, it was her time for birth,
Bearing in her womb, the King of all the earth.
Searching for some shelter, by a cruel decree,
They found a kind of glory the mighty never see.
Chorus
There within a stable, the baby drew a breath
There began a life that put an end to death,
And all the frozen stillness, mighty voices heard:
"God is here among you! Human is the Word!"
Chorus
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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Saturn Blues
You know this car's my office, this dashboard is my desk
You know this car's my office, this dashboard is my desk
You know I'm losin' my memory 'cause my life is too damn picaresque.
Give me that mixed fruit jelly, toast & and coffee for my nerves,
Give me that mixed fruit jelly, toast & and coffee for my nerves,
You know, I never did like mixed fruit, but it's the only kind that this place serves.
You know I love my women, but I've only got one squeeze.
Yes, I love my women, but I've only got one squeeze,
Cause you can love two women, but you can't give 'em what they need.
You take a highway lover, gonna tear your little life apart,
You take a highway lover, gonna tear your little life apart,
You'll put a ghost in your home, you'll drive a wedge right through your heart.
Mr. coffeehouse booker, may I please sing my songs for you,
Yeah, Ms. festival booker, may I please sing my songs for you,
You know I might be an old man, but the young people love me too.
I woke up in Massachusetts but I'm Detroit bound tonight,
I woke up in Massachusetts but I'm Detroit bound tonight,
I'm gonna talk to my Daddy, ask my Mama is eve'thing all right.
You know some people buy a Jeep, some people buy a big Land Rover,
You know some people buy a Jeep, some people buy a big Land Rover,
You know I might've bought a Honda but Ellis Paul flipped his right over.
You buy a stripped down Saturn, and you're never gonna miss your gig,
You get a stripped down Saturn, and you're never gonna miss your gig,
You know I might've got a Ford, but the gas bill's too darn big.
39 on the highway's gonna get me where I need to be,
39 on the highway's gonna get me where I need to be,
You know that crumple zone construction's gonna take good care of me.
Mr. Ronald McDonald, no, I never did like your food,
Mr. Ronald McDonald, no, I never did like your food,
But if you clean that restroom, you know I might buy my coffee from you.
© 1996 Telephone Pole Music Publishing Co.
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