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1. |
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She turns me on without silly words
Her heart speaks to me without being heard
When her eyes meet mine I’m free as a bird
To fly away
And given a choice between her and you
I couldn’t be bound to what you say and do
My heart would belong and there I would be
With her to fly away
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2. |
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A might river runs through my mind
The tears that I refuse to cry
Carry me carry me * Blue water running down
Carry me away * Running down
Carry me away * The mountain
Reach high
And let me be
Reach high
And let me be
Like the rivers of old hanging around so long
I roll on even after the storm
Just a little bit longer
Just a little bit deeper
Reach high
And let me be
Reach high
And let me be
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3. |
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Somewhere mixed with all the tears
Is the painful past from passing years
And all that’s left is dust upon a desk top
The memory of each day behind
Is a silken fiber in my mind
The memory of is not so sweet or kind
And all that remains is the
Deep dark blue stains the memory
Of the dark and heavy rains
The sun is rising or is it set
Who knows but one day I’ll forget
The colors found within the skies of past
Of all my friends can no one see
The road of bends the misery
Yet I carry on from day to day
And all that remains is the
Deep dark blue stains the memory
Of the dark and heavy rains
All that has been left unsaid
The music still within my head
All I need is someone who will hear
The books are neatly stacked on high
I wake up give it one more try
My soul is like a sponge tell me why
That all that remains is the
Deep dark blue stains the memory
Of the dark and heavy rains
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4. |
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Well all my life the words have come
I’ve never had trouble saying what’s on my mind
But since I’ve met you girl
Lord knows I can’t get you out of mine
And the words just won’t come
Lord knows I try
I gotta turn to my
Spanish guitar in the night
Let’s me know it’s all right
Spanish guitar in the night
Helps me sing it all right
You want to know what I’m feelin’
Well lady listen to my singing
‘Cause when the words won’t come
The guitar helps me say it right
And the words just somehow come
Lord knows I don’t have to try
I gotta turn to my
Spanish guitar in the night
Let’s me know it’s all right
Spanish guitar in the night
Helps me sing it all right
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5. |
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You – you love to make me cry
You’re stayin’ up all night
Just to see my tears fall
Well I – I’m livin’ ten hours a day
The rest I spend with you
And your love
And your love
You – you love to make me cry
You’re stayin’ up all night
To tell me all your problems
Well I – I’ve got problems too
And one of them is you
And your love
And your love
You – you love to make me cry
You’re stayin’ up all night
Just to see my pride fall
Well now – now my pride is gone
And I guess I’ll carry on
Without your love
Without your love
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6. |
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I give up
I thought I had a chance to
Make her happy
But I was wrong
I relax
I recall the times
When she held me close
Were they wrong?
And I try
To come to grips with why
Our love had to die
Was it me?
And my pain
It just goes to show
I can never know
What will be
And I know
I couldn’t tell you half
The things she did wrong
Who’d believe?
What we had
Is finally in the past
And oh they go so fast
And we leave
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7. |
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I loved her
For the wife she was gonna be
I loved her
What a mother she was gonna be
And her children
We were gonna have three
After giving birth to just one
She has died but I’m not alone
I can see her
In that little girl’s eyes
And I can see her
When she takes me by surprise
And I can see her
When she sits down hard and cries
And it comes in twice as hard
When she say’s “I love you”
I loved her
For the wife she was to me
I loved her
What a mother she turned out to be
I can see her
In that little girl’s eyes
And I can see her
When she takes me by surprise
And I can see her
When she sits down hard and cries
And it comes in twice as hard
When she say’s “I love you”
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8. |
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The other day I heard some words
They said that I was mean
Well I can’t believe
Not after all I’ve seen
The other day I saw a man
Strike his woman with his fist
I can’t believe that I
I’m as mean as this
But she still cares for him
Don’t you know that she will
Be there for him
Well I went up to that man
And I hit him with my fist
I guess that I
Can be as mean as this
The girl’s name was Angie
And she came up to me
She said, ‘hey you hit my boyfriend’
I just can’t believe
That she still cares for him
Don’t you know that she will
Be there for him
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9. |
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Well I’m just sitting here
In my bed
Dreams of you are running
Through my head
And I’ve been thinking about
The things that you said
I think maybe it’s time
I backed away
‘Cause I love my guitar
More than any shooting star
You’ve been doing fine
Lately these days
Looking beautiful in
So many ways
And I’ve been far off
On my own
I think maybe it’s time
I backed away
‘Cause I love my guitar
More than any shooting star
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10. |
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You feel a pain from a memory
That you can’t keep down
To a broken bond you try to tell
Your heart it’s unbound
And in the clouds you see the love
You once had
You felt so proud now she’s
Gone away and left you sad
But the icy winds of change will blow
It’s time to let her go don’t you know
For the icy winds of change will blow
You gotta let her go don’t you know
And spared the pain of
A slowly dying love
She flew away just a quick
And silent as a dove
The lights will shine and future
Holds uncertain paths
You know one day a love will come
And you’ll make it last
And the icy winds of change will know
It’s time for them to let you go
Then the icy winds of change will know
It’s time for them to let you go
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11. |
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You’re gonna have to kick and scratch
No matter who you pick
And you’re gonna have to kick and scratch
I should be the one you pick
“Cause if I’m the one you pick
You’ll be so happy tomorrow
And if it’s me you let go
There’ll be no end to pain and sorrow
‘Cause I know the way of your heart
I’ll know just when you’ll fall apart
I know the sorrow in your eye
I know sometimes you’ve got to fly
So make me the one you pick
And make him the one you let go
Come with me now let’s hit the sky
It’s time to let our love fly
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12. |
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She calls it love
But I prefer
To be more precise
And I remain
Just to watch what we have
Fall apart
I won’t fall apart
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These are excerpted from a solo acoustic performance set - recorded simply in a cold partially wood room in 1991
Coffee Klatch small performances at Duke when I was an undergrad were fun a time or two, but during those years my guitar playing was still less than 3 years in the making. The available piano at the coffee house was a pitifully un-maintained upright and thus my play sets were mostly guitar.
Two years later, during my year off from college I did 3 important things: 1) learned to drive a semi-truck/trailer rig, 2) chased girls mostly in vain (with one or two exceptions), and 3) I spent nearly every evening practicing my guitar songs in performance mode (no stops, playing through any mistakes). I pretended how one day I might perform them again to more than my faithful housecat, Scotty.
After graduation, and a short marriage with a long divorce, I wound up for a time as a recluse in a small duplex apartment. I again dove into mock solo guitar show rehearsals now to my Alaskan Malamute who gratefully never howled. Once the lawyers were finished and paid off (hers and mine), I eventually moved back into a house and brought with me a recently restored 1875 Steinway grand piano. Now I began practicing piano songwriter performances and guitar sets together.
Sometime later that year in 1990, using a Sony WM-D6C Pro Walkman (which was surprisingly good at capturing small rehearsal performances) I recorded 31 of my piano songs and made a compilation of them for myself to save them in hopes on one day recording them “for real”. While I was intent on doing my best to capture the songs for the future, I was also trying to improve my ability to play and sing simultaneously. In addition, I was trying to get back some piano skills that had atrophied during my divorce proceedings.
Once I had the piano songs recorded to my amateur satisfaction, I used the same Sony Pro to record 46 of my guitar songs during 1991. The Coffee House Guitar – Solo Acoustic selections are from those. Some of them have been subsequently studio recorded, but a few of them have not been played except as solo performances on rare occasions.
