Monday, December 31, 2007

GRENADE



Let me be clear about this said the man who was made
Let me be clear about this said the man who was made
What I hold in my hand
This is not a grenade

When he stepped to the podium
50 men in the shade
When he stepped to the podium
50 men in the shade
50 men are forbidden
To set eyes on the grenade

Well it fire or its brimstone til the preachers been paid
Well it fire or its brimstone til the preachers been paid
Keep this man from the precipice
He might have a grenade

Seven doctors walked quiet
And they left the parade
Seven doctors walked quiet
And they left the parade
It’s the best you can do when you see a grenade

When the general left town
Only staff people stayed
When the general left town
Only staff people stayed
They have to love and nurture
And learn to live with a grenade

Well my TV set’s wide-eyed
And the stars are turning gray
Well my TV set’s wild-eyed
And the stars are turning gray
When I look out my window
See the nighttime turn to day

Learn to live with a grenade….

© 2004 Chris LeRoy
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

Saturday, December 29, 2007

CHANGE




Let me tell a story about how I feel
Why you can't love me is no big deal
Sitting home alone is only wasting time
Waiting on you is surely wasting mine
But I can see a change
And I can feel a change
Coming over me

I just held the ladder out a little too long
Wishing I could hold you back but you're too strong
Sitting here static's only wasting time
Sitting here crying's only wasting mine
But I can see a change
And I can feel a change
Coming over me

Can't you hear me talking is it way too loud?
If we knew any better we would lose this crowd
Maybe you were right when you said, "Time destroys,
But we might find each other in the joyful noise."
But I can see a change
And I can feel a change
Coming over me

Chris LeRoy
© 2004 Published by New West Crash Music

I DON'T EVEN KNOW MYSELF



Everything has its place in the world
'less it all blows to hell
How am I to know
Which way the wind will blow
If I don't even know myself?

See that train going straight down the line
Hear the whistle blow fair thee well
How am I to know
Which way the wind will blow
If I don't even know myself?

Well I've been through the mountains
And I been through the hills
I just want to sit down for a spell

Blackbird is calling
He's so far from home
He don't have no time to tell
How am I to know
Which way the wind will blow
If I don't even know myself?

© Chris LeRoy
August 19, 2001
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

Sunday, December 16, 2007

FOLLOWING A RIVER



Hand me down and hand me down and hand me down my fate
Once I believed in the ever after
Don’t believe so much today
It’s a finer line I crossed this time
It’s humid out this way
And there’s a red sun sinking in the river
And it’s the evening of the day

Photograph of my little dear one
Lost in the fading light
Sending out her love to me tonight

I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea
I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea

Hand me down and hand me down and hand me down my mind
I used to find my way around here
But now I’m moving blind
One lonely child when he was young
They never tried to find him
Now there’s a red sun sinking in the river
And he walks by the waterline

Photograph of my little dear one
Cold by the firelight
Sending out her love to me tonight

I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea
I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea

Hand me down and hand me down and hand me down my name
As I go farther down this water
These rocks just look the same
There’s a blackness in the undertow
Put me in a darker frame
And there’s a red sun sinking in the river
Never going to rise again

Photograph of my little dear one
Cold in the moonlight
Sending out her love to me tonight

I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea
I’m following a river, baby
Following a river…

(SOLO VERSE)

Photograph of my little dear one
Cold by the moonlight
Sending out her love to me tonight

I’m following a river, baby
Following a river to the sea
I’m following a river, baby
Following a river…
Watch me

© Chris LeRoy
July 4, 2005 New West Crash Music

Saturday, December 15, 2007

CLOSE CALL





I guess this is how my life will go now
I talk to machines that won’t answer somehow
The wonders and worries that come to me now
Guess I just had a close call

No use in me rising I’m left out for dead
The funniest shadows afloat in my head
I rest here a moment or head off to bed
Guess I just had a close call

So goodnight my old friends and lovers
I’ll see you in dreams after all
Kinda hung around
Almost touched ground
I guess you could say a close call

I rung up my friend cause I finished a song
It’s better than most songs and not half as long
I said come on over but don’t take too long
Guess I just had a close call

I pulled down the drapes cause I’m tired of the light
I think the sun’s setting I welcome the night
A star doesn’t know when its dropped from the sky
Thinks it just had a close call

CHORUS

The cell phone will never stop ringing away
The sound just gets farther and farther away
A knock at my door but my door fades away
I guess I just had a close call

I wonder who writes all the messages down
For all the lost calls that wind their way round
Like veins through the thin air, like wires to the ground
Will somebody take a close call?

CHORUS

© Chris LeRoy
August 26, 2005 Published:NEW WEST CRASH MUSIC /ASCAP

OH FAITHFUL ONE



Oh faithful one
You make me breathe
You’ve got the prettiest smile
And though I hate to leave
There’s a wide road calling
I might find my fortune there
And it’s going to make me cry

Oh faithful one
You’ve got the prettiest smile
You really know my difference
Kiss me like a child
There’s a wide road calling
I might find my fortune there
And it’s going to make me cry

But when I get home, home
I’m gonna take you down
To a little county fair
Then I’ll walk you home

Oh faithful one
You’re with me all the time
You really make my difference
You really make me smile smile smile
There’s a wide road calling
I might find my fortune there
And it’s going to make me cry

© Chris LeRoy
March 20, 1983 New West Crash Music

LONESOME JOHNNY BLUES



Well, lucky number seven passed me by
Lucky number seven called my name and passed on by
Well he came back don't you know
with his brother six in tow
And that is how number thirteen wound up by my side.

And that is how I got these Lonesome Johnny Blues
How I got these Lonesome Johnny Blues
Got the Lonesome Johnny Blues
and there's nothing I can do
'Cept sing these sad old weary Lonesome Johnny Blues

Here we go

Grim Reaper he pulled up into my drive
Grim Reaper pulled his little old Chevrolet right up onto the goddamn drive
"Johnny, I haven't come for you
but I want someone who's dear to you
and the price you pay is to remain alive"

And I'll stay here with these Lonesome Johnny Blues
Stay here with these Lonesome Johnny Blues
With the Lonesome Johnny Blues
and there's nothing I can do
'Cept sing these sad old weary Lonesome Johnny Blues

Woah, no more trouble send him down the road, won't you please.
No more trouble won't you beat him up, won't you send him down the road
Trouble dumped out the trash
Ransacked the place for cash
and he wound up taking much more than I own

And he left me with these Lonesome Johnny Blues
Left me with these Lonesome Johnny Blues
With the Lonesome Johnny Blues
and there's nothing I can do
'Cept sing these sad old weary Lonesome Johnny Blues

Johnny Blues
the sad old weary Lonesome Johnny Blues
Johnny Blues
the sad old weary Lonesome Johnny Blues

© Johnny Hickman Bad Altar Boy Music BMI

WEDDING DAY



The devil will send demons to fly around your wedding day
Yeah, the devil will send demons to fly around your wedding day
Don't send no invitation, I don't have much to say

Well, I heard about your man, and I will laugh at him sometime
Yeah, I heard about your man, and I will laugh at him sometime
Cuz I can see his sad day coming when your lies will burn him blind

Well, I'm standing in the churchyard, standing here without a sound
Yeah, I'm standing in the churchyard, standing here without a sound
Wishing I'd been born the kind of man could go in and shoot you down

The devil will send demons to fly around your wedding day
Yeah, the devil will send demons to fly around your wedding day
Well they'll strike you down at midnight, and a-carry me away

© Johnny Hickman Bad Altar Boy Music BMI

SUPERFAN



SECTION 1:
I heard the words, now here I am
You were talking to me, I'm your super fan
I loved you then, I love you still
But if I can't have you, no-one will

Woah!

REPEAT SECTION 1

SECTION 2:
I will make you understand
I'm your super fan

SECTION 3:
I know you like it
I was watching from outside my love
I saw her leaving
She's not right for you my life, my love
I know what hurts you
Sing it to me again my life, my love
I know what hurts you
...I could hurt you

I'll track you down, I'll steal your mail
A lock of hair, some fingernails
A piece of you upon my shrine
Now you're with me all the time

REPEAT SECTION 2

REPEAT SECTION 3

- heavy breathing break -

If I can't have you, no-one will
If I can't have you, no-one will
If I can't have you, no-one will
If I can't have you, no-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will
No-one will

© Johnny Hickman Bad Altar Boy Music BMI

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS



When your only girl betrayed you, boy,
What did you do with your wisdom?
Well you loved that girl again, loved that girl again
Now who you got to blame for your trials and tribulations?

What did you do when you found the man,
The one who stole your good girl?
Well you cut him up and down, heard you cut him all around
Now who you got to blame for your trials and tribulations?

Well I tried to tell you
But you run and hide
Down by the riverbed
Stay drunk all night
It weren't no lady
It was a scorpion
Well, you're just another rabbit on the run

When they dragged you to the courthouse, boy,
What did you do with your wisdom?
Well you cursed the judge again, cursed the judge again
Who you gonna blame for your trials and tribulations?
Well I tried to tell you
But you run and hide
Down by the trestle bridge
With a .45
It weren't no lady
It was a scorpion
Well, you're just another rabbit on the run

© Johnny Hickman Bad Altar Boy Music

THEY BROUGHT A GUN



Stop someone tell me how can this world be?
Down by the station a quarter to three
Four hard-eyed devils a’comin’ for me
You cannot run
They brought a gun

Four killers warming by the devils own fire
Three can’t be truthful the other’s a liar
Headed for town the flames going higher
You cannot run
They brought a gun

Four hungry bastards who move past the gate
No time to call out cause help comes too late
And over my should the cold hand of fate
You cannot run
They brought a gun

Doctor, Oh Doctor, can you stay with me?
I’m sick of this killing. I want to be free
Of all accusations and complicity
You cannot run
They brought a gun

Darling, sweet darling, how can this world end?
I once was your lover, but now I’m your friend
Four faceless horsemen are rounding the bend
You cannot run
They brought a gun

You graceless shadows who come to me know
I offer no penance for I know not how
There’s no one beside me but I made a vow
I will not go gently ‘til God takes the plow
I will not go gently ‘til God takes the plow

© Chris LeRoy June 4, 2004
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

RADIO CITY




On a windy night radio 63
It was four o’clock it suddenly came to me
I had no choice, I had to surrender a smile
The D.J.’s voice pulled my heart to the dial
He said go to RADIO CITY

On weekend nights there’s plenty to do in this town
You got girls & beers & cigarettes on the ground
But that’s ok I can take it, I can throw it away
I’d rather stay home nights, listen to the radio play
And I go to RADIO CITY

But nowadays the music can’t keep us home
You’ve got to spend big money for fear of being alone
& my heart calls out for radio spirits past
& the D.J.’s voice says he’s sorry but it couldn’t last
Get back to RADIO CITY

© 1980 Chris LeRoy & Johnny Hickman
NEW WEST CRASH MUSIC/BAD ALTAR BOY MUSIC

SUE THE BIBLE STUDY GIRL




Sue the Bible Study Girl
Has a heart of gold and an iron will
Sue the Bible Study Girl
Has all the answers for the world

And Sue wants to save me
Yeah. Sue, she wants to save me
From an eternity in Hell
Cuz her God is really swell
But all I wanna do
Is get my hands on Sue

She knows every chapter and verse
Got a Bible in her purse
She lays on me hands to heal
But tingling quivers all I feel

And Sue wants to save me
Yeah. Sue, she wants to save me
I rom an eternity in Hell
Cuz her God is really swell
Rut all I wanna do
Is kiss the hand of Sue

So 1 finally married Sue
There was nothing left lo do
I got baptized, now I'm saved
And Sue gets morally laid
I have a good time in church
But Sue's lovin' me up first

And Sue's love it saves me-
Yeah, Sue's she really,really me
And she's a lot of fun in bed
Cuz we're Christianly wed
And all I wanna do
Is plant a kiss on Sue

© 2006 Chris LeRoy, Mike Wilkerson,
& Gary Kjorvestad
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

RESURRECTION TRAIN




I've got my rumpled ticket
Bought it a long time ago
Cuz nobody gets out of here alive
I'm dressed up with nowhere to go

Standing at the station
I feel the spirits moving in
Resurrection train rolling slowly
I see the conductor waving me in
I see the conductor waving me in

When they plant me six feet under
I'll have a door put in my grave
So when the names are shouted out
It will be my moving day

Standing at the station
Got no luggage to hold me back
Resurrection train, yeah, all aboard
Rolling away on silver tracks
Rolling away on silver tracks

© 2006 Chris LeRoy, Mike Wilkerson, Gary Kjorvestad
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

THERE'S NOTHING WRONG




there's nothing wrong with the things that you live for
nothing wrong with the doubts in your mind
walking on a sharp edge, skin on a razor
nothing wrong with you killing your time
there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing…

there's nothing wrong with your cold hesitation
nothing wrong with the things that you say
talking 'bout your problems, a bad destination
nothing wrong with it anyway
there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong, there's nothing…

talking about your bad habits
talking about your bad friends
talking about your bad feelings
talking about the way its gonna end

there's nothing wrong with the way that you love me
nothing wrong with your useless stare
holding both hands out way up above me
there's nothing wrong and I don't even care
there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong
there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong
there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong

© 1981 Chris LeRoy and Tony Bramel
Published by New West Crash ASCAP and Vital Gesture Records BMI

Sunday, December 9, 2007

TREASURE





If you’re walking down the road
Underneath a heavy load
Don’t you worry, there’s a treasure for you here
If you feel you can’t go on
And your heart’s a setting sun
Don’t be troubled, there’s treasure for you here

If you wander through the years
And your eyes are full of tears
Don’t you worry, there’s a treasure for you here
If you stumble and you fall
Afraid to lose it all
Don’t be troubled, there’s treasure for you here

In your mind you’re waiting for connection
But you can’t see no mansion on the hill
Be careful that you never lose direction
There will always be a candle on the sill

If you ever lose your way
Please remember what I say
Don’t you worry, there’s a treasure for you here
There will be blue skies when we meet
You’ll be swept right off you feet
Don’t be troubled, there’s treasure for you here

In your mind you’re waiting for connection
But you can’t see no mansion on the hill
Be careful that you never lose direction
There will always be a candle on the sill

If you’re walking down the road
Underneath a heavy load
Don’t you worry, there’s a treasure for you here
If you feel you can’t go on
And your heart’s a setting sun
Don’t be troubled, there’s treasure for you here
Come on darling, there’s treasure for us here

© 2007 Chris LeRoy
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

Saturday, November 17, 2007

FEEL



I don't know what to say to you
A plan has gone awry
And everything I meant to you
Well, that grew cold inside
And if the bough should break, my love
Before my last appeal
If you’re not in my dreams tonight
You don’t know what I feel

There was a time when we would talk
About the smallest things
And even now the sweetest bird
Outside the our window sings
But if that bough should break, my love
Our secrets to reveal
If you’re not in my dreams tonight
You can’t know what I feel

(SOLO VERSE AND CHORUS)

The kitchen floor is cold and hard
The wall is paint and cracks
Like all the things you gave to me
That end up peeling back
(SOLO CHORUS)

The moon is high I drift away
Into another place
It’s time for me to hold you close
Or let your memory fade
You know that bough will break, my love
You know it always will
If you’re not in my dreams tonight
You can’t know what I feel
If you’re not in my dreams tonight
You can’t know what I feel

© 2007 Chris LeRoy, Tony Fate, & Lisa McIntosh
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

DIME




Midnight mass for a midnight moon
Midnight drive to a midnight tune
Mystery train moving black in the rain
She’s popping her gum like pink champaign
Said, “Let’s pull over to the side of the road
Or are you hardly breathing?”

Stopped by the river for some open air
I took a rifle & she took a flare
Fingers moving cold just a shot in the dark
Somebody missed but I hit the mark
Headlights hot as they hit the road
& she was hardly breathing

3 red trucks at a country bar
I walked in the barrel of a steel guitar
Mud on my shoes, My hair was a mess
Reached in my coat & I pulled out a dress
Said, “I found these rags on an open road
& someone hardly breathing”

Was it something I did was it something I said
Listen to the sirens inside my head
I’m giving out number, giving out clues
These late night hours get me so confused
Then I sang them a song about a winding road
& I was hardly breathing


© January 10, 1982 Chris LeRoy
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

Monday, November 12, 2007

I BELIEVED IN THE FORCE




When I was young, I believed in The Force
Heard my young heart beat with The Force
But the howling winds of winter
Come and changed my course
I can find no peace in The Force

I sat before that screen of stars
That opened up to my backyard
Electric carousel of snow
And all the small lights filled my soul

CHORUS

And painters painted Rockwell scenes
Of neverheards and neverseens
The never cried cause it’s a sin
The never pass this way again

CHORUS

You made me shed my skin to play
My colored dreams just fade to gray
My crown of pens and paper trays
And me too old to run away

When I was young, I believed in The Force
Heard my young heart beat with The Force
But the howling winds of winter
Come and changed my course
I can find no peace in The Force

Chris LeRoy
© 1/9/97 New West Crash Music

DEDICATION



I heard the pounding of the generation beat
I heard the beat police
I heard a band making echoes on the street
I fell to my knees

I heard the nightsticks tapping out of time
I never heard a thing
Cops, rockers, teenyboppers fighting in a lonely line
I never heard them sing

Man its just a shot away
That’s what they used to say
Every night I feel betrayed
When I try to rock away

Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know about it
Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know me

I took my friends for a walk out in the cold
A small café by the square
The way the rubbed their hands I swear that they was getting old
No revolution in the air

Man its just a shot away
That’s what they used to say
Every night I feel betrayed
When I try to rock away

Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know about it
Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know me

Even when its safe outside
A man holds his paper bag
Looking for a place to hide
And he dies on the beaten track

They say that 50 million fans are never wrong
The say that Elvis went to heaven
I say that 50 million don’t make 50 strong
If they can take without giving

I heard the pounding of the generation beat
I heard the beat police
I heard a band making echoes on the street
I fell to my knees

Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know about it
Dedication, Dedication
You should know me
But you don’t know me

© Chris LeRoy July 29, 1981
Published by New West Crash Music

Monday, November 5, 2007

DON'T WHISPER



The end of all is crashing
I'm buried beneath this load
Beneath this load
I wanna buy a gun and shoot the neighbor
Trouble is, no one's home
If I could catch my breath, I'd breathe
If I had traveling clothes, I'd leave
Man, I'd leave
I need that shrink, pull the plug
Maybe someday, he will come
Please don't whisper
Or else I’ll just die
Scream until the windows crack
And I'll love you again
I set my sights too high
I stumbled and I fell, asking why
Running in my sleep, my eyes won't blink
Turn the last few corners, wave goodbye
I take a bus back home
I sit in County Jail by the phone
“ Think the call's for you, mister.”
Couldn't hear a word you said,
"Please don't whisper".
Please don't whisper
Or else I’ll just die
Scream until the windows crack
And I'll love you again


© 2006 Chris LeRoy, Mike Wilkerson,& Gary Kjorvestad Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

Saturday, October 27, 2007

TIME HURTS


When my father died I was a young man
I wandered for most of a year
Now once in a while I think of him
When I see my eyes in the mirror

Time hurts, time hurts, hurts before you can feel
Time hurts, time hurts, it hurts before it heals

I had a great love and she left me
I cried when she walked through the door
I watched through the window her mind to change
I watched for and hour or more

Time hurts, time hurts, it hurts before you feel
Time hurts, time hurts, it hurts before it heals

I looked for work for a long time
But I just could not settle down
So I settled down with this bottle
To sleep in a river and drown

I see the winds in the mountains
I see the smoke in the trees
I see dreams rising up to the heavens
Come settle down soft in the streets

Time hurts, time hurts, hurts with a pain so real
Time hurts, time hurts, time hurts before it heals

© Chris LeRoy October 25, 2007
Published by New West Crash Music

PULL THE CURTAIN


It’s not just these few words
I’m like a willow bending low
It’s not just these few hours
Before it’s time to go

Pull the curtain
Pull the curtain
Pull it slow

Time up on this altar
Seems like minutes in a row
Seems like every time we falter
We have all our dreams in tow

Pull the curtain
Pull the curtain
Pull it slow

Were I the faithful servant
Who ran the household so
The master found me pleasing
When he returns, behold

Pull the curtain
Pull the curtain
Pull it slow

Will he come unexpected
In an hour I do not know?
Will he cut me into pieces ?
Will he bring me in the fold?

Pull the curtain
Pull the curtain
Pull it slow

For me they’ll stop their weeping
Because they see the glow
For me they’ll raise the standards
So let the trumpets blow

Pull the curtain
Pull the curtain
Pull it slow

Chris LeRoy © October 9, 2007
Published by New West Crash Music

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

HAPPY TIMES



First had a book they called it Happy Times
With happy words, happy rhymes for sure
From where I stood it was a real hard climb
But I had a place to go

When I was young I had a late night station
I tuned it in for a Little Bit of Soul
Back at my school they had no expectations
But I had a place to go

I saw a poster it said Happy Times,
See the world, come get your place in line
From where I stood it was a real hard climb
But I had a place to go

I saw my friends getting high for the weekend
Drive with this monkey down a wrong way road
Back in my room I had a late night station
But I had a place to go

SOLO

I’m out driving to a moonlight station
Signal stutters on my radio
I sing along cause its My Generation
We got a place to go
Still got a place to go

I wrote a song and called it Happy Times
With happy words, happy rhymes for sure
From where I stand its still a real hard climb
Turn off your radio

Chris LeRoy
3/22/2007
© and Published by New West Crash Music

WHOLE LOTTA TROUBLE



There’s no happy ever after
Here were trying to survive
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble in this life

You work and you can have your money
But that don’t guarantee a ride
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble in this life

And the morning sun comes up
And the evening sun goes down
Think that I would be alive
But everyone is dying
In this cold dark town

Some folks just think of starting over
They take a lifetime to decide
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble, baby
Whole Lotta Trouble in this life

© Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman 1989

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

LAST TRAIN



Sitting on a train track tryin’ to decide
Should I lie back for the rest of the ride?
Cash my ticket to the other side? Why?
Everybody guessed that I would end this way
Little bit of heaven there’s hell to pay
I can hear the whistle from a mile away Why?

Hello Hello Hello Hello, Hi
Do you know how to cry? Blue Sky
Do you know how to cry? Well I…

Started falling early I was just a kid
Monkey on my shoulder in a takeover bid
He always found me so I never hid Why?
But I remember summer under candy trees
Learning my chords just shooting the breeze
Life can be golden in small degrees Why?

Hello Hello Hello Hello, Hi
Do you know how to cry? Blue Sky
Do you know how to cry/ Can you sigh?
Like the last train coming by?

Wish I had a family in a 50’s home
Faded brown Buick and some rusted chrome
A rusted dog and a rusted bone Why?
I remember summer under candy trees
Learning my chords just shooting the breeze
I can feel the crosstie under my knees Why?

CHORUS
Life is a good kid trying to be bad
Laughing out loud cause his heart is so sad
He could be the best friend that you ever had
Here’s to the summer that never ends
Here’s the last quarter I was meaning to spend
Smoke from the engine coming round the bend

© Chris LeRoy
September 15, 2005 New West Crash Music

DON'T WHISPER


The end of all is crashing
I'm buried beneath this load
Beneath this load
I wanna buy a gun and shoot the neighbor
Trouble is, no one's home
If I could catch my breath, I'd breathe
If I had traveling clothes, I'd leave
Man, I'd leave
I need that shrink, pull the plug
Maybe someday, he will come
Please don't whisper
Or else I’ll just die
Scream until the windows crack
And I'll love you again
I set my sights too high
I stumbled and I fell, asking why
Running in my sleep, my eyes won't blink
Turn the last few corners, wave goodbye
I take a bus back home
I sit in County Jail by the phone
“ Think the call's for you, mister.”
Couldn't hear a word you said,
"Please don't whisper".
Please don't whisper
Or else I’ll just die
Scream until the windows crack
And I'll love you again


© 2006 Chris LeRoy, Mike Wilkerson,& Gary Kjorvestad Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

ANOTHER SONG ABOUT THE RAIN



The wind of fate has pried us loose
The light of mercy hurts my eyes
Is it worth the things you lose
To board the train and watch the sky?

I sing myself to sleep at night
I sing myself to sleep

Another song about the rain
Coming down it burns through me
Another song about the rain

Got a line straight from my heart
There was a time it went to you.
Another place when we were smart
Before the flood and time was through

I sing myself to sleep at night
I sing myself to sleep

Another song about the rain
Coming down it burns through me
Another song about the rain

Sorry now never made you see
Sorry now sounds so far away
Will our child cry for me
When he hears the dragon's flame

Highway flares make red the street
My fingers spin the dial again
But every station's on to me, yeah

Another song about the rain
Another song about the rain
Another song about the rain
Never rained so viciously

© 1992 Chris LeRoy & Johnny Hickman

LUCKY


I ‘m lucky for my fingers
Lucky bed to sleep
Lucky thoughts that linger
Lucky as I leap
Sometimes I turn my mind to days
Before we broke in two
Yeah but I'm lucky, so lucky
For the time I spent with you

Now some would call it destiny
Say we don’t control our fate
Yeah but me I don't believe that stuff
And I'm luckier that way
(*Alt version: See I believe you make your own luck)
Sometimes. I turn my mind to days
Before we broke in two
But I'm lucky, so lucky
For the time I spent with you

What more could I ask for?
What more could I do?
What more could I ask for?
I owe so much to you

Well I'm lucky I'm still dreaming
Lucky to have cried
Yeah even lucky for the bad luck
Just lucky to have tried
Sometimes I turn my mind to days
Before we broke in two
Yeah but I’m lucky I'm lucky
For the times I spent with you
For the times I spent with you

© Chris LeRoy and Johnny Hickman Published 2005 New West Crash Music and Bad Altar Boy Music

A HOUSE HAS MANY ROOMS


I’m wandering out this old dirt road
So far away from home
And I have done so many things
Ashamed with what I’ve done
But I can see the city lights
A crown up on the dunes
I’m coming home
I’m coming home
A house has many rooms

When I was young I saw no life
Beyond my carryin’ on
I’d rattle with the best of them
I’d carry on ‘til dawn
But I can see I wasted time
The end was sometime soon
I’m coming down
I’m coming down
A house has many rooms

Then I was stuck in troubled times
I had no where to go
I drained out every waking dream
That used to be my soul
I worked for money, worked for bread
I howled at the moon
I’m coming down
I’m coming down
A house has many rooms

If you should ever leave your home
If you should go astray
If you should ever find you’re down
This side of judgment day
I think that you should cry out loud
Please lift me from this gloom
I’m coming down
I’m coming down
A house has many rooms
I’m coming home
I’m coming home
His house has many rooms

Chris LeRoy © October 9, 2007 Published by New West Crash Music

Sunday, October 14, 2007

THE TREES



Up in the mountain where they cleared away the trees
Up in the mountain where they cleared away the trees
I’m looking through the clearing as far as I can see

I see the white hot hills I see the river split in two
I see the white hot hills I see the river split in two
Well there ain’t no telling what the water’s gonna do

I see the waters rush to the center of town
I see the waters rush to the center of town
They got no idea. The rain’s a’ coming down

I see a smart dressed man floating with a silver cane
I see a smart dressed man floating with a silver cane
I have this beggar man float by with his cup of rain

I see an old pack mule caught up in the clothesline
I see an old pack mule caught up in the clothesline
I see a trunk of old pictures they got left behind

I see an angel cryin sitting by the side of the road
I see an angel cryin sitting by the side of the road
She says walk with me and we can share this heavy load

Back in the mountain where they cleared away the trees
Back in the mountain where they cleared away the trees
Me and my angel are planting seeds.



© 2007 Chris LeRoy
Published by New West Crash Music/ASCAP

WRONG



The day I said I loved you
Was the day it got away
It messes up my memory
Makes it hard to penetrate
But now I’ve gone and left you
I’m out for parts unknown
I sit here by this windy road
I’m feeling all alone

Because I was wrong
The moon won’t shine
Making the stars align
One more time, one more time

Half of what I said to you
Made all the sense to me
I wondered how you lost your way
Your sensibility
And I was never stronger
Then when I shut that kitchen door
A cold wind on my windshield and
A notebook on the floor

CHORUS

Way out here the Joshua tree
Ain’t really trees at all
And somewhere in the desert winds
The rain’s about to fall
But I could never tell you how
You mean so much me
I’ll carry you inside this soul
For all eternity

Because I was wrong
The sun didn’t shine
I saw the birds fly through
The skyline
Because I was wrong
The moon won’t shine
Making the stars align
One more time, one last time

Chris LeRoy © September 6, 2007 New West Crash Publishing

THE GREAT DECLINE (Palmhenge II)


They're putting up a superstore
Where the local merchant tried
Another corporate nightmare
Where another dream has died

CHORUS:
And as the choices disappear
I wanna change my mind
I wanna go back to the days
Before the great deline

The job you had your eye on
Has just sailed across the sea
So much for your resume
So much for your degree

CHORUS:
And as the choices disappear
Don't you wanna change your mind?
Don't you wanna go back to the days
Before the great decline

The signs up ahead read indecision
Cloudy vision for a head on collision
God bless you, and God bless me
But God help the children of this century

CHORUS:
Our leaders are all drunk on greed
Do you wanna taste that wine?
Or do you wanna go back to the days
Before the great decline

© 2005 Johnny Hickman
BAD ALTAR BOY MUSIC BMI (FROM PALMHENGE)

FRIENDS


I'd never sleep with your ex-girlfriend
Even if she starts to flirt with me again
Allow me to apologise for my slightly wicked thoughts
But that's the kind of friend that you've got

If a fight broke out and you're the cause of it
In some redneck bar where you've been talking shit
I would not forsake you later in that parking lot
'Cause that's the kind of friend that you've got

CHORUS:
Through the laughter and the tears
We go stumbling through these years
A bit disfunctional some might say
But I've got the dirt on you
And you've got plenty on me too
So I pray we stay together all our days

When you're on a date and you finally bring her home
Put some music on and disconnect the phone
I'll show up drunk and cryin', and pass out on the spot
'Cause that's the kind of friend that you've got

REPEAT CHORUS

Dear Lord I pray we stay together all our days

Johnny Hickman
© 2005 Bad Atar Boy Music BMI (From Palmhenge)

LET IT DROWN


The sun up his morning was the hurting kind
So began the battle for our hearts and minds
So began the tale Adam raised a Cain
You know it happened once now it’s happening again

IF THE RAIN COMES DOWN
BUT THE WORLD JUST WON’T COOL DOWN
LET THE RAIN COME DOWN
LET IT DROWN

All along the watchtower on every written page
Winds of revolution and tears of holy rage
Someone gets the medal. Someone gets the grave
See the Savior coming but there’s no one left to save

Been the source of trouble since the world began
It happened to a woman. It happened to a man
You put all together mix in earth and wood
You don’t know what you started. Would you stop it if you could?

IF THE RAIN COMES DOWN
BUT THE WORLD JUST WON’T COOL DOWN
LET THE RAIN COME DOWN
LET IT DROWN

The sun up his morning was the hurting kind
So began the battle for our hearts and minds
So began the tale Adam raised a Cain
You know it happened once. Now it’s starting all again

IF THE RAIN COMES DOWN
BUT THE WORLD JUST WON’T COOL DOWN
LET THE RAIN COME DOWN
LET IT DROWN


Chris LeRoy
© March 17, 2005
New West Crash Music

OPEN ARMS


Look at that road
Under the trees
Look on back
The way it used to be
From the soul of the heartland
To Yasgur’s farm
Walking on the roadsides
We came for open arms

The time I loved her
Was long ago
But I came back
For the things I had to know about her
But she lost what she had for me
And most of her charm
Never saw me coming
But I came for open arms

Don’t want money
Don’t want cars
And I just look up
When I want to see the stars
But if I fall over
Don’t want to fall far
I need you to catch me
When I fall for open arms

Not many stories
Turn out straight
Not many hours
Before the hour is late
And the liberty statue
She never meant harm
But who can I turn to
When I reach for open arms?

Chris LeRoy
© June 13, 1983
New West Crash Music