kevinstonerock - Lyrics and Credits

Party of One (2025) lyrics and album credits

Bad Memory Lane

I could have sworn I’d left you behind

Most days I’m doing fine

I don’t believe in wasting time

And you hardly ever drift across my mind

Then something happens that I cannot explain

I take a walk down bad memory lane

It could be a picture

It could be a song

Taking me to places

Where I don’t belong

I don’t need a road map

I know where to go

And I know you’re always waiting at the end of the road

I got nobody but myself to blame

When I take a walk down bad memory lane

I know there ain’t no future in the past

This feeling comes and goes, it never lasts

I know I’m gonna be ok

I’m looking up ahead to better days

Then I take a detour, the destination’s plain

I’m headed straight down bad memory lane

It could be a picture

It could be a song

Taking me to places

Where I don’t belong

I don’t need a roadmap

I know where to go

And I know you’re always waiting at the end of the road

I got nobody but myself to blame

Every time I climb aboard this train

It takes me straight down bad memory lane

Every now and then I go insane

And take a walk down bad memory lane

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Danelectro baritone guitar, bass, lead and harmony vocals

Derrick Carnes - drums

Shane Guse - fiddle

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Gabriel Stonerock - electric Telecaster

Stacey Lee Guse - harmony vocal

Nothing Dies Slower Than a Dream

Nothing dies slower than a dream

If you look around you’ll know just what I mean

Somebody always comes around

Who just can’t wait to shoot it down

But nothing dies slower than a dream

Nothing’s more desperate than a man

Who sees his chances slipping through his hands

Can’t count the times that he’s been told

He’s all washed up, that he's too old

But Nothing dies slower than a dream

Sometimes he feels like going under

He gets back up for one more round

He won’t let the sound of distant thunder

Get him down…can’t keep him down

Nothing dies slower than a dream

But 65 don’t feel like 17

He’s busted up and he’s been throwed

But this ain’t his first rodeo

Nothing dies slower than a dream

Sometimes he feels like going under

He gets back up for one more round

He won’t let the sound of distant thunder

Get him down…can’t keep him down

Nothing dies slower than a dream

If you look around you’ll know just what I mean

Somebody always comes around

Who just can’t wait to shoot you down

But nothing dies slower than a dream

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Danelectro baritone rhythm and lead guitar, Telecaster solo, bass, lead and harmony vocals

Derrick Carnes - drums

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Down Home Ain't Down Home Anymore

We never used to lock the front door in this sleepy little town

And a stranger was someone who had never come around

There the old men told their stories on the steps outside the store

But down home ain't down home anymore

Families gathered 'round their tables holding hands and saying grace

And if someone happened over, there were always extra plates

And a friend was never further than the folks who lived next door

But down home ain't down home anymore

I wish that I could go there just once more

Where the courthouse clock for 20 years reads “five to four”

And I’d like to take a walk along some streets I knew before

But down home ain’t down home anymore

A handshake sealed a bargain and a good name meant a lot

Folks were known by the love they gave and not by what they'd got

And a wrong was soon forgotten and a friendship soon restored

But down home ain't down home anymore

I wish that I could go there just once more

Where the courthouse clock for 20 years reads “five to four”

And I’d like to take a walk along some streets I knew before

But down home ain’t down home anymore

No, down home ain't down home anymore

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, electric guitar, bass, lead vocal

Derrick Carnes - drums

Shane Guse - fiddle

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Abby Carr - harmony vocals

Young boy in the summer time

Shady tree and a fishing line

Lying on my back in a flatbed full of hay

The smell of my baseball glove

First kiss, falling in love

Riding my bike and hanging with my friends all day

In the good old summer time

Young man in the summer time

Feeling my oats and doing fine

Washing my car for a big night on the town

Suntan and patched blue jeans

Prettiest girl I’d ever seen

Showing her off and feeling mighty proud

In the good old summer time

I miss the summer time

Way back when you were mine

Holding hands at the end of a lazy day

I wish the summer time

Could be like the one here in my mind

When trouble seemed a million miles away

In the good old summer time

How I miss those carefree days

Where I learned to work and lived to play

When dreams could overcome reality

Maybe those days will come again

Somewhere at the rainbow’s end

In the meantime in my mind it’ll always be

the good old summer time

The summer time…

I miss the summer time

Way back when you were mine

Holding hands at the end of a lazy day

I wish the summer time

Could be like the one here in my mind

When trouble seemed a million miles away

In the good old summer time

In the summer time

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Danelectro baritone electric guitar, bass, lead vocal

Derrick Carnes - drums, harmony vocals

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Gabriel Stonerock - electric Gretsch Country Gentleman guitar fills and solo, organ

Abby Carr - harmony vocals

Party of One

Sittin’ in the sunshine with a big cigar

Listening to the birds sing, strumming my guitar

Things that to most folks would not seem like fun

But to me, it’s a party of one

Late summer breezes at the ending of the day

I got no place to be now, so I dream the hours away

Drifting on a quiet lake when my work is done

And to me, it’s a party of one

Don’t get me wrong I love it when my baby comes around

She’s the one that keeps me firmly planted on the ground

But everybody needs to have a moment in the sun

We all need a party of one

Coffee by a campfire on a moonlit night

Waking as the sleepy world slowly comes to life

Letting my mind wander before the day’s begun

That to me is a party of one

Don’t get me wrong I love it when my baby comes around

She’s the one that keeps me firmly planted on the ground

But everybody needs to have a moment in the sun

We all need a party of one

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, Danelectro baritone electric guitar, harmonica, lead and harmony vocals

Derrick Carnes - drums, harmony vocals

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Abby Carr - harmony vocals

In this world there will be trouble

I know, I’ve had my share

But lately it feels like double

And I’m finding it harder to care

On a train bound for nowhere going nowhere fast

Counting cross ties passing by

And I’m finding myself somewhere just north of November

With autumn fading fast

And if I ever felt older I swear I don’t remember

I’m just trying to make it last

Trying to make this journey last

Monuments I thought would last forever

Are in a pile by the side of the road

And loves I thought would leave me never

Have long grown silent and cold

Cursed by a longing for things that used to be

And things that never were

And I’m finding myself somewhere just north of November

With autumn fading fast

And if I ever felt colder I swear I don’t remember

Just trying to make it last

The candle's burning fast

I was going through some photographs

Lord we were so young

There’s this long haired kid with a cheap guitar

He was barely twenty one

Looking in the mirror I can hardly see his face

Through the man that he’s become

And I’m finding myself somewhere just north of November

With autumn fading fast

And if I ever felt older I swear I don’t remember

I’m just trying to make it last

Trying to make this journey last

The candle's burning fast

Trying to make it last

Credits

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, bass, lead vocal

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Derrick Carnes - drums

Way back in the good old days

Summer time was a golden haze

Never had a care in the world

Or none that I recall

Cruise around the old hometown

Music up and the windows rolled down

School was just a bad memory

In the early days of June

Hot days, cool nights

Wishing I had money to burn

Digging change from the old sedan

On advice from my old man

Anything that opens the can

Decked out for the Jubilee

Trying to get a little something for free

Pretty girl on the ferris wheel

Going round and round again

There she stands by the old pine tree

Could have sworn she was looking at me

Frat boy in the red Grand Prix

She’s gone with the wind

Oh no there she goes

Home Run for the team

He can have her backyard tan

I’m working on a brand new plan

It’s called Anything that opens the can

Sometimes life just falls in place

Some days you roll the dice

Sometimes you walk away, sometimes you take a stand

Anything that opens the can

Drunk crowd at the Moose hall dance

Tubes out on my guitar amp

Strings deader than four pm

On a Sunday afternoon

Plug it in to the old PA

Crank it up and just wail away

Singer doing the best he can

Though he’s slightly out of tune

Oh well, we couldn’t tell

If they were listening anyway

Packing up in the old step van

I’m Thinking bout my old man

Saying “Anything that opens the can

Anything that opens the can

Gotta get it anyway that you can

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, Danelectro baritone electric guitar, lead and harmony vocals

Derrick Carnes - drums, harmony vocals

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Gabriel Stonerock - electric guitar

Abby Carr - harmony vocals

They built this place in 1963

It became a home to mom and dad and me

I remember how I’d sit here on this bed

And practice my guitar until my fingers bled

I’m Just Saying Goodbye to this Old House

Soon it will belong to someone else

If the lights are on and the music’s way too loud

Don’t mind me, I’m just saying goodbye to this old house

There's the hall where I’d stop to pet old Prince

He’d listen to my problems and act like I made sense

There’s the silver maple where I used to play

And the sidewalk where we always stood to have our pictures made

I’m Just Saying Goodbye to this Old House

Soon it will belong to someone else

If the lights are on and the music’s way too loud

Don’t mind me, I’m just saying goodbye to this old house

There’s the table where my mom had supper made

And the chair where my dad would sit and talk about his day

But the auctioneer will come next Saturday

And sell it to some stranger who will take it all away

I’m Just Saying Goodbye to this Old House

Soon it will belong to someone else

If the lights are on and the music’s way too loud

Don’t mind me, I’m just saying goodbye to this old house

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, banjo, lead and harmony vocals

Derrick Carnes - drums, harmony vocals

Shane Guse - fiddle

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Stacey Lee Guse - harmony vocals

Atlanta In Reverse © Kevin P. Stonerock 2025

I’d rather drive through Atlanta in reverse

I’d rather walk across Death Valley with a hornet in my shirt

I could not live without her

But living with her’s worse

I’d rather drive through Atlanta

Atlanta in reverse

I followed her like an old hound dog

Waiting for a bone

I would have been less lonely all alone

Losing her was torture

But pleasing her was worse

I’d rather drive through Atlanta

Atlanta in reverse

I swear that girl was born with rambling shoes..

That sweet love song she sang to me soon became the blues

It seems my little blessing has turned into a curse

I’d rather drive through Atlanta

Atlanta in reverse

I followed her like an old hound dog

Waiting for a bone

I would have been less lonely all alone

Losing her was torture

But pleasing her was worse

I’d rather drive through Atlanta

Atlanta in reverse

I followed her like an old hound dog

Waiting for a bone

I would have been less lonely all alone

Losing her was torture

But keeping her was worse

I’d rather drive through Atlanta

Atlanta in reverse

She threw it into overdrive while I was stuck in first

I’d rather drive through Atlanta, Atlanta in reverse

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, harmonica, Fender bass, Danelectro baritone electric guitar, lead and harmony vocals, percussion

Derrick Carnes - drums

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

It won’t be long til I see you again

But until then I keep hanging on

Doing the things that you taught me how to do

Keeping the faith cause it won’t be long

I miss you sometimes much more than I let on

But you’re never more than one thought away

Sometimes I get tired but I keep pushing on

One step at a time cause it won’t be long

It won’t be long until you run to me

With open arms and welcome me home

The road is so long but I will see you again

I know in my heart it won’t be long

Sometimes it seems it’s been an eternity

Since I felt your touch and saw your sweet smile

Yet sometimes it seems it was just yesterday

And that keeps me strong cause it won’t be long

I see your face sometimes when I close my eyes

I hear your voice saying its gonna be fine

I know you’ll be there at the end of this long hard road

So I keep moving on, cause it won’t be long

I keep holding on cause it won’t be long

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, Danelectro baritone and Gretsch Country Gentleman electric guitar, lead vocal

Derrick Carnes - drums,

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Gabriel Stonerock - electric guitar

Stacey Lee Guse - harmony vocals

Well I came here years ago

But I didn’t really know

All the things the good life had in store

So I hung around a while

And used my winning smile

To get myself thrown out of every door

But I heard I had a good time

I read it in the hometown paper

They said I’m doing fine

I’m walking in the rain

But I guess I can’t complain

I heard I had a good time

The day I came to town

You showed me around

And I marveled at the big shots on the square

But you blew through all my dough

How was I to know

You’d run off and leave me standing there

But I heard I had a good time

The Greyhound left at a quarter to three

And I got left behind

So I’m walking in the rain but I guess I can’t complain

I heard I had a good time

Well I never did fit in with all your high tone friends

But you can’t say I didn’t try

In conclusion I must say

I never liked them anyway

I guess it’s time I moved on down the line

But I heard I had a good time

Now I’m standing on the corner of Misery and Wine

I’m walking in the rain

But I guess I can’t complain

Cause I heard I had a good time

Got my thumb out in the rain, all my money’s down the drain

But I heard I had a good time

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, electric guitar harmony solos, lead vocal

Derrick Carnes - drums, harmony vocals

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - dobro

Gabriel Stonerock - electric guitar

All those years ago

I wonder if you know

There was a time I loved you so

All those years ago

The fires of love have died

But the embers still survive

Reminding me of who we were

All those years ago

The dreams that we had back then

Never will come true

Though we can’t change the past

I’m glad that there was you

All those years ago

Though time must take it’s toll

I won’t forget the love we shared

All those years ago

This song is for you

And hearts that once were true

Forgive me for mistakes I made

All those years ago

The dreams that we had back then

Never will come true

Though we can’t change the past

I’m glad that there was you

All those years ago

When life moved oh so slow

There was a time I loved you so

All those years ago

I was the one who loved you so

All those years ago

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, fretless U bass, lead vocal

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

She’s just an old sidewinder

Boys don’t let her get too close to you

She’s just an old sidewinder

Boys don’t let her get too close to you

Cause when she shake that tail

Ain’t no telling what she’s gonna do

Well she’s a locomotive

Running down a railroad track

She’s just a locomotive

Running down a railroad track

And when she pass you by

You can bet she won’t be comin’ back

She seemed so sweet just as sweet as sugar cane

But she took all my money and threw me off the train

But I’m an old DeSoto

Sittin’ out by the old barn door

I’m just an old DeSoto

Sittin’ out by your grandpa’s old barn door

Somebody turn my crank

And you’ll hear my engine roar

Well now she seemed so sweet just as sweet as a honey bee

But if you don’t get stung you’re a better man than me

She’s just an old sidewinder

Boys don’t let her get too close to you

She’s just an old sidewinder

Boys don’t let her get too close to you

Cause when she shake that tail

Ain’t no telling what she’s gonna do

Oh well now (Scat)

Skeet scat skedlebop beatun du oh

Hadalatta howdlety how

Skittlybot skeep Scott scoodle de dough

Boys you’d better run right now

She’s just an old sidewinder

Boys don’t let her get too close to you

Credits:

Kevin Stonerock - acoustic guitars, Fender bass, Danelectro baritone electric guitar, lead guitar (Telecaster), "train" brushes, lead and harmony vocals,

Derrick Carnes - drums

Ed (Pee Wee Charles) Ringwald - pedal steel

Gabriel Stonerock - electric guitar fills

Twilight Town (2020) Lyrics and Album Credits

The Band:

Derrick Carnes: drums, harmony vocals

Shane Guse: fiddle

Ricky Nye: Piano

Ed “Pee Wee Charles” Ringwald: pedal steel guitar

Gabriel Stonerock: electric rhythm and lead guitars, percussion

Kevin Stonerock: lead and harmony vocals, acoustic guitar, bass and baritone guitars, banjo, electric guitar solos on “Go Ahead On” (first half of break) and “Long Slow Fade”

Produced by Gabriel Stonerock and Kevin Stonerock

Recording Engineers: Jeff Monroe, Group Effort Studio, Erlanger, KY

Ben Kempel, Among The Hung Studio, Conestoga, Ontario, Canada

Mixed by Jeff Monroe

Mastered by Dan Murphy

Photos and Design: Andy Carr

1. Too Young To Quit

This seems like As good an excuse as any for not getting a “real job”.

Too Young To Quit

Standing on the rim of desperation

Wondering if I’ll jump or if I’ll fall

I’ve rubbed shoulders with the nearly famous

And it never got me anywhere at all

(Chorus)

Too young to quit, too old to change

Too dumb to come in from the pouring rain

So I’ll keep moving along biding my time

I’m a stubborn mule with something to prove

With little to gain and nothing to lose

I guess I like it that way cause I feel fine

Every now and then I get to wondering

If I am master of my own demise

Hanging on to things that do not matter

Acting like a sane man in disguise

(Repeat Chorus)

(Bridge)

I keep listening for that sound

Of the curtain coming down

(Repeat Chorus)

2. Go Ahead On

“Go Ahead On” was a phrase I often heard from my grandfather, usually in the context of hoeing the garden, mowing the yard, moving out of his “light” or getting out of his ever-thinning hair. I suppose I should also give honorable mention to Festus Haggen, who was also known to utter this phrase.

Go Ahead On

Come on over here

Tell me what you’re thinking

I ain’t playing games

And you know I ain’t been drinkin’

You just can’t make up your mind

If I’m the man (one) you want hanging around

Let me make it easy

Here’s your toothbrush and your comb

Just Go ahead on

Chorus:

Go ahead on

Don’t come knockin’ on my door, don’t call me on the phone

Go ahead on

I ain’t got time to fool around so

Go ahead on

You sat yourself right down

And told me all about it

You said that I’m the one

Then you said you doubt it

You just keep me hanging on

Then you pull the rug from under me

This ain’t no magic carpet ride

And I can’t read your mind

So go ahead on

You’re the gift that keeps on taking

But you’ve taken all you’re gonna get from me

You’ve said goodbye a hundred times or more

But you never leave

Repeat Chorus

Tag:

I ain’t got time to fool around so go ahead on

3. Railroad Man (Brakeman’s Lament)

Originally, the title of this song was “Old Boomer”, but I didn’t want people getting the impression that this was a song about an aging Baby Boomer like me. A boomer, in railroad lingo, was a railroad worker who didn’t tie himself down to any one company, but was more of a free spirit, working for various railroads. In 2016, I was contracted by the Indiana Historical Society to write and perform a script about a railroad character set in the year 1916. I knew little (and cared less) about railroads, but I cared a lot about the money. During the course of my research, I became fascinated with railroad culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; especially the old brakemen. I performed this show several times and often there were old railroaders in the audience. I took it as high praise when one of them would say “You nailed it!”.

Railroad Man (Brakeman’s Lament)

I’m a railroad man like my father before

From San Bernardino up to Baltimore

Daddy lost his life on the Monon Line

In a bad train wreck in the fall of 69

Oh oh oh oh

My pappy died young and he left his wife

With three hungry kids and a Barlow knife

I’ll never forget that look on her face

When the government men came to take us all away

I ran off from the orphans’ home

Hopped a freight train bound for San Antone

Got a job working on a section gang

Hotter than hell but I never complained

Oh oh oh oh

When I was nineteen I was shoveling coal

On an old locomotive bound for Jackson Hole

I learned to be a brakeman from a hard boiled man

Who could whip two ‘bo’s only using one hand

I’ve walked across the top of a moving train

In the snow and the wind and the driving rain

I started in the days of the link and pin

Ain’t nobody wanna a do that again

(Instrumental)

Well, I’m an old boomer and I’ve worked the rails

Felt the sting of the old tell tails

Low steel bridges flying over my head

Move too slow and you ended up dead

In the long cold winter of 25

Hauling sand down a Wind River mountainside

The train broke in two and it left the track

I rode it all the way but I won’t be coming back

Oh Oh Oh Oh

Now here I lie in a hospital bed

One leg gone and the other half dead

I don’t speculate about when I’ll die

Cause a railroad man is always on time

Oh oh oh oh….(repeat)

4. Life of the Party

I wrote this one in about 15 minutes. Sometimes it pays not to overthink.

The Life Of The Party

The life of the party will be the death of me

This town ain’t seen the likes of her since 1963

She’s a long lean dancing machine

She’s fine as she can be

But the life of the party will be the death of me

At the end of a hard day’s work

I’m ready to shut it down

But she’s all dressed for dancing

And a night on the town

She’s got a heart of gold and a tender soul

She’s cool as she can be

But the life of the party will be the death of me

When she walks into the room

The boys all turn around

But she came to hear the steel guitar

And that rockabilly sound

She’d never go behind my back

She’s true as she can be

But the life of the party

Will be the death of me

She’s a long lean dancing machine

She’s cool as she can be

But the life of the party will be the death of me

The life of the party will be the death of me

5. Gypsy Road

I do a lot of driving. Sometimes, when I am feeling a little punchy and road weary, I keep myself awake by making up funny and or stupid spontaneous lyrics and melodies. I usually end up laughing myself awake, but on this particular occasion, I thought perhaps I was on to something, so I used the ever handy voice memo feature of my phone to record it. I changed the lyrics (thank me for that) and it turned into this song.

Gypsy Road

Gypsy Road Gypsy Road.

Gypsy Road, Gypsy Road

When all you got left is a seed of doubt

You know what I’m talking about

You’d better not go on down that Gypsy Road

You’re somewhere you never thought you’d be

But where you’ve ended up is plain to see

When the days are long and the nights are cold

And you’re dragging around a heavy load

Better not take it down that Gypsy Road

Gypsy Road Gypsy Road

When the devil plants a little seed of doubt

You walk right in but you can’t get out

You might not make it home from Gypsy Road

When the hoot owl seems to call your name

When the lights are low and you hang your head in shame

I’ve been down that road myself

And I wouldn’t wish that on no one else

You better not slip on down that Gypsy road

Gypsy Road Gypsy Road

When all you got left is a seed of doubt

You know what I’m talking about

You’d better not go on down that Gypsy Road

Whatever it is that’s dogging you

Be it money, love or pills or booze

There’s a million paths that lead that way

If you go too far there’s hell to pay

You best just stay away from Gypsy Road

I know you’ve got those low down blues

From the top of your head to the soul of your shoes

But don’t go walking down that Gypsy Road

6. Twilight Town

I started writing this one from a title. I liked the sound of it, but had no idea what the song was going to be about. As is often the case, the song revealed itself to me and I realized it was about second chances.

Twilight Town

When you’re sick and tired of being on your own

And you just can’t face those same four walls at home

When it’s time to burn it down

There’s a place where lonely hearts abound

Come on down to Twilight Town

When you’ve had enough of being by yourself

Even though you’re with somebody else

When your hope has nearly drowned

There’s a lost love waiting to be found

Come on down to twilight town

Chorus

If the fire inside has died

Don’t give up just give it one more try

In a world of lost and found

Come on down to twilight town

There’s a lot of folks who’ve felt like me and you

Thinking that their life is all but through

Pick your heart up off the ground

There’s a second chance just waiting to be found

On the streets of twilight town

Chorus

If the fire inside has died

Don’t give up just give it one more try

In this world of lost and found

Come on down to twilight town

You may think your life is done

Could be that it’s only just begun

If your world has come unwound

Come on down to twilight town

7. Long Slow Fade

During a mixing session for a previous album, my old friend Dan Murphy, who was engineering, made a joke about a “long slow fade”. Something about that phrase spoke to me, so I jotted it down. Several years later, it became a song. Dan, your royalty check should be arriving any day now.

Long Slow Fade

Well baby, is that the way it is?

You’ve made up your mind

You ain’t sayin’ but it’s easy to see

Your love for me has died

Just tell me and I’ll be on my way

Before the long slow fade

I know you would never be cruel

Cause that’s not how you’re made

But darlin’ I have been in your shoes

And regret some cards I played

And I can tell you nobody wins

In a long slow fade

CHORUS

Long slow fade

I ain’t waiting

I ain’t hanging around

For the long slow fade

Instrumental

Repeat Chorus

Tag

8. I Wish I Was a Riverboat

I’ve done a lot of shows along the Ohio River, love river culture and have even written a song about a steamboat. This isn’t it.

I Wish I Was a Riverboat

I wish I had a dollar for everyone I’ve spent

But wishes ain’t worth nothing when you’re trying to pay the rent

I wish I was an old guitar With stories yet to tell

I’d sing one of a lonely man that we both know so well

I wish I was a riverboat floating down a stream

I wish I was a carpenter, I’d build myself a dream

I wish I was a vagabond with nothing left to lose

I’d walk these old backroads and think about you

But I’ve got obligations, I’m too young to retire

I’m not one for standing still or sitting round the fire

So I’ll just keep on moving, living in my mind

Til the day they lay me down perhaps I’ll wake to find

That I was just a riverboat floating down a stream

I was just a carpenter who built myself a dream

I was just a vagabond with nothing left to lose

So I walked those old backroads thinking ‘bout you

I was young but now I’m past my prime

With every dream that’s crashed and burned

More and more I find

I am just a riverboat floating down a stream

I am just a carpenter trying to build a dream

I am just a vagabond with holes in both my shoes

From walking these old backroads thinking about you

I‘ve been walking these old backroads thinking ‘bout you

9. Black Diamonds

Black Diamond was a brand of guitar strings. Cheap guitar strings with a tensile strength roughly equivalent to fence wire. (Disclaimer: Black Diamond has changed with the times and makes very high quality strings these days!) Nearly every kid guitar player who grew up in my era (and before) was familiar with them because they could be found just about anywhere; the corner drug store, the five and dime, etc. If you were like me and lived miles away from a real music store, that was pretty handy, as were the callouses you developed by using them. This song was inspired by my own 1953 Gibson Southern Jumbo. I recently bought it from a former guitar student. Her dad bought it from the original owner, a man named Ray, which also happens to be the name of the fictional protagonist in this song. This song is a shout out to the unsung heroes of my dad’s WWII generation, the original owners of my guitar who took such good care of it and the fine American craftsmen who built it.

Black Diamonds

He came from Alabama, no banjo on his knee

He had a beat up Gibson made in 1953

He came north to work the graveyard shift in a rust belt factory

Til him and Mogan David lost that job

So he wandered to a little town, doing odd jobs for his pay

He’d save a little money then he’d drink it all away

He’d talk about his buddy who he lost in 44

Who never even made it to the shore

He never had much money but the one thing that he had

Was a gift for playing guitar that he picked up from his dad

He’d play for folks at Christmas in department stores downtown

And they would come for miles to hear that sound

He could make it talk, he could make it sing

He could make those old Black Diamonds ring

He could make it laugh, he could make it whine

He could make those old Black Diamonds shine

And the world seemed like a brighter place

When Ray would open up his case

“You could make it on the Opry” folks would often say

He’d just smile and shake his head and turn the other way

“You belong in Nashville, down on Music Row”

But he’d always mumble something about St. Lo

Instrumental

He lived behind the hardware store in a room they let him use

He was master of the fretboard but he never beat the booze

Sometimes I’d sit and listen underneath his window sill

Late at night when all the streets were still

He could make it talk, he could make it sing

He could make those old Black Diamonds ring

He could make it laugh, he could make it whine

He could make those old Black Diamonds shine

And the world seemed like a finer place

When Ray would open up his case

They found him by the railroad track, face down in the sand

A bottle in his pocket, a Silver Star in his hand

They found his old Gibson in a pawn shop south of town

And I cried when they laid him in the ground

And sometimes late at night I hear that sound

He could make it talk, he could make it sing

He could make those old Black Diamonds ring

He could make it laugh, he could make it whine

He could make those old Black Diamonds shine

He could make it talk, he could make it sing

He could make those old Black Diamonds ring

And the world seemed like a better place

When Ray would open up his case

Black Diamonds

10. That’s The Truth

Here’s a little tongue-in-cheek dose of reality.

That’s the Truth

They lied to you when they said you’d pay some dues

Cause they implied that one day you’d be thru

What I’ve got to say might make you blue

But the dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

You’ll keep on a payin’ As long as you’ll be staying

I hate to break your happy heart in two

But tell me have I ever lied to you?

The dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

Instrumental

I know you’re thinking that you’ve got it made

But there’s another card yet to be played

You could be in LA or in Duluth

But the dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

One day you’ll be flying but pretty soon you’re dying

You’re no better than your last review

Now you’re swinging for the fences like Babe Ruth

But the dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

Instrumental

Go on and climb that ladder but one day it won’t matter

It’s just a thing that all of us go through

One day it’s PBR, and the next Vermouth

But the dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

It’s a lesson that I learned back in my youth

The dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

Ask anyone I know, we’re living proof

The dues ain’t never paid

Don’t mean to rain on your parade

But the dues ain’t never paid and that’s the truth

11. The Town Where I Was Born

Although my mother was a first generation transplant from the central Tennessee/Kentucky border, I am a Midwesterner, born and raised, as was my father. This song could be about nearly any small town in the Midwest or the South or just about anywhere, but these are my memories of my little town. Moses Hodson, aka “Mose the Miller”, really was a poet from my town and a contemporary of James Whitcomb Riley. A few years ago, I acquired one of his out of print books. The poems would seem a little hokey by today’s standards, but I find them endearing. Every bit of this song is As true as I remember it.

The Town Where I Was Born

There was an old man

In the town where I was born

Said he came there in a wagon

During the Spanish American War

He used to sit for hours

In front of the only store

In the town where I was born

His best friend was a black man

Who everyone called Shine

He tried to give me a silver dollar

For catching fishing worms one time

But I was proud to do it

Cause that’s what friends were for

In the town where I was born

Just a sleepy little village

On the wrong side of the tracks

We lost our school in 64

And we never got it back

But the lessons that I learned there

Went beyond the schoolhouse door

In the town where I was born

I remember Pete and Ida

And the hill behind their house

How the wooden sleds went flying

When the snow was on the ground

And they never seemed to mind

Those laughing kids ‘round their back door

In the town where I was born

There was an old mill

In the town where I was raised

The old folks talked about it

Until their dying days

Mose the miller was a poet

Like Riley so they say

In the town where I was born

Just a sleepy little village

Two legs short of a one horse town

The old town hall got the wrecking ball

And the restaurant fell down

But time just kept on going, like it did before

In the town where I was born

There’s an old graveyard

In the town where I was born

The tombstones are forsaken

No more to be adorned

And the saddest ones of all

Are for boys who went to war

From the town where I was born

Just a sleepy little village

On the way to another town

We got passed up by the railroad

It put our high hopes in the ground

But I’m proud to say I’m from there

In spite of all the scorn

That’s the town where I was born

The town where I was born

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