Mountain Roads & City Streets

MOUNTAIN ROADS & CITY STREETS

ADVENTURES OF THE INVISIBLE DOG
I’m back on the street again
Walking my invisible dog
I’m hearing accordions
Playing through the fog
I’m going crazy
I don’t know what I might do
It’s so lonely
Without you

There was nothing wrong
Next thing I knew there was nothing
It didn’t take too long
Your love left in a hurry
I’m going crazy
I think I lost my shoes
It’s so lonely
Without you

(Bridge)
What have you got to lose?
I’m a bargain hunter’s dream
I’m warm at night
And reasonably easy to clean

I’m over the edge again
I don’t really care if they catch me
With my see-through friend
No one’s going to touch me
It’s just crazy
We’re so far apart
I’m so lonely
In my heart

LEAST OF MY STRANGERS
I know you said you’d be late
And I said I would wait
‘Til eternities end
And I know I know I’ve got to be strong
But you’re taking too long
And it’s hard to pretend
You said we’d be together again
But you never did say when
You could arrange it
You say you’re my lover and friend
But let’s not pretend
You’re only the least of my strangers

You told me to take what I need
And I took just enough
To empty my hands
I don’t know too much
But I know a gold cane’s the same as a crutch
When you cannot stand
Some thing’s we never will see
As some thing’s are never to be
Though we still try to change it
You say you’re my lover and friend
But let’s not pretend
You’re only the least of my strangers

ANNA LEÑA
I can’t hold back anymore I’m letting go
Though I know we have so little time
I’ve fallen in love before and I should be wiser
But I’m rushing past the danger signs

(Chorus)
Anna Leña, eyes of ocean
Mystery of heart in motion
Could you stay a little while?

I can’t hang on anymore to dreams of lovers
Forever perfect in the past
If the moment is real it means as much
Even if the first should be our last

(Chorus)
Anna Leña, eyes of ocean
Mystery of heart in motion
I see the freedom in your smile

Tell me sister, is there purely loving
With no thought of a return?
How can one remain forgiving
With no thought of being burned?

(Chorus)
Anna Leña, eyes of ocean
Mystery of heart in motion
Could you stay a little while?

PRETTY FACE
There was a pretty face
The nicest face this side of grace
And I wanted to know
Where she would go
And what she would do
And who she’d do it to
And why not me
But I couldn’t see
and I loved her anyways
And hoped that one day
She would see me as I am
But she never did
Until I couldn’t kid
Myself anymore

Another pretty face
Filled with sky and lots of spaceAnd gentle to touch
But don’t touch to much
Is what she said to me
But I couldn’t see
And I touched her anyways
And hoped that one day
She would see me as I am
But she never did
Until I couldn’t kid
Myself anymore

Without a pretty face
To hide behind my face
I don’t know if I can
Look at who I am
But it’s just learning how to love
What comes from above
As well as from below
And I know it’s only damage to myself
If I’d rather wish on distant stars
Than look at who you are
Without a pretty face

DANCER
Dancer, dancing like grace through a dream
Or clouds drifting over the moon
Dancer, dancing like mountain and stream
Or time through an old, mystic ruin
Slowly she’s turning, now spinning and burning
Turning upon a great wheel
Body and light, spirit and sight
Dancer, dance through the night

Dancer, dancing like candles at dawn
A light through the night to the day
Dancer dancing forever and on
Alone in the music she plays
Slowly she’s turning, now spinning and burning
Silently she turns away
Running like deer, so far from here
Dancer, dance to the day

MOUNTAIN MAN BREAKDOWN
Where is your fire mountain man
Where is the starling in your eye
You crossed the river and we can’t get back again
Never had time to say good-bye

So now you find that you’re alone
And the light in your heart is glowing dim
Tho’ you think that you are friendless
The friends you have are endless
It’s only your spirit growing thin

(Bridge)
And you can go on picking up stones
Moving on your own, trying to make it home
Without me
But there’s gonna come a time
You’re bound to see a sign, it’ll make you change your mind
And you’ll see

Doves and buzzards fly the same
And every living creature knows your name
Your only safety’s staying humble, when the sky begins to rumble
‘Cause there’s no place to get out of the rain

Where is your fire mountain man
Where is the starling in your eye
You crossed the river and we can’t get back again
There never is time to say good-bye

THE LORD WILL PROVIDE
I got no money, honey,
They took back all my credit cards
I got lots of nothing and I work hard
I’m not a fancy dancer
I just try to stay on my toes
And keep it steady
When the rhythm goes

(CHORUS)

And the Lord will provide
The Lord will provide
The Lord will provide
In his own time
And hopefully mine

Woke up feeling like an endangered species
Woke up feeling I should have stayed asleep
These dates with daylight
Get so hard to keep
I wasn’t born to be a consumer
I won’t die sitting in front of TV
I’m not chasing any carrots
Hung in front of me

(CHORUS)

There’s no hard times coming, darling
Don’t you know hard times are here
Everybody’s gotta hang on
Or else disappear
You don’t have to believe me
You can get up and walk away
But underneath it
We’re all living day to day

(CHORUS)

TRAVELIN’ LIGHT
No shine and no peace
No loving release
Keep going
Sweet dreams but no rest
No passing the test
Keep going, just keep going

Through the hollow of soul
Through emptiness whole
Through the silence
Gotta learn how to wait
How to stretch my faith
In the silence, in silence

And when the darkness is falling
A swift descending night
When the hard winds are blowing
I want to be travelin’ light

Can’t give in to the past
And all the questions asked
With no answers
Fear in the eyes
Of fools and the wise
What comes after is what comes after

And when the darkness is falling
Day is filled with night
When that Great Voice is calling
I want to be travelin’ light

MOUNTAIN ROADS
The valleys filled with timber and the hills are filled with elk
the sky is filled with thunder, stars and rain
Hiking down this road, I could use a little help
A hand, a lift to ease this aching strain

Lights go rolling by, with visions of the sky
And other private dreams of lost control
Almost in the ditch, no shoes or wheels to switch
And every mile’s bound to take a toll.

But it’s all for the ride, it’s all for a taste
it’s all that I can do to get someplace.
If you’ve got enough at stake
You can bend or you can break
On these mountain roads.

There’s beauty in the deer, the alder, fir and moss
The silent peace of trees can ease your soul
But the hills are turned to slash,
Sold for pulp wood, cut for cash
You can see the scars most anywhere you go

And it’s all for the living of a thousand little towns
Each trying to keep from going down
For the simple life it seems, the price is high indeed
On these mountain roads

Once upon this land, the big trees used to stand
Now they’re cold, ancient shadows lost in time
There’s echoes in the wind and the ghosts of Indians
Praying by the roadside for a sign

I’m still on the edge, hanging by a thread
Waiting for some stranger’s distant light
In the darkness and the chill, all I’ve got is my own will
To keep me moving through the night

And it’s all for the ride, it’s all for a taste
There’s slash and second growth most every place.
What’s gone is gone, what’s been left still carries on
On these mountain roads

NORTHWEST PASSAGE
When first unto this country
A long long time ago
The winter was heavy,
And the trees were filled with snow
Had no friends, I had no money
Had no place that I called home
And the changes were as many
As the things I did not know

So I learned to make some money
And I learned to make some friends
I learned to take my time with things
And I learned to make amends
I learned to build a fire
Though there’s times when I’m still cold
I learned what can’t be boughten
And I learned what can’t be sold

When my body’s gone
Spread my ashes all around
Some out on the waters,
Some back in the ground
Then take me on a mountain
And give me to the wind
So I can go for one last time
To a place I’ve never been

Now the winter snows have melted
But summer has not come
It rains day after day
Like it never will be done
I love all I’ve been given
And everything that’s had a cost
I don’t know where I’m heading
But I know that I’m not lost