It's the night before Christmas
And all over the hill
The NRA was defending
Their right to ****
It didn't much matter
That the innocent died
"Give us more guns"
The NRA cried
The field must be even
For all to survive
If a person owns four
Then let's give them five
Guns don't **** people
It's people who do
Mr. Wayne LaPierre
It's just people like you
Who represent crazies
One's who are off their top
People who choose
To die at the hands of a cop
The President wants
To bring guns under control
But, there's too many like you
Who live your life in a hole
Would it matter to you
If  your kid got shot
Or is the sale of more guns
What helps get you hot
I think that you should
Go and see David Keene
And make Christmas this year
The best one that's been
Listen to Obama
And get things in line
Reduce gun production
And help make things fine
Do what's right for the country
Gun lobby be ******
And help make the States
A much safer land
Think with your heart
Of the families who lost
Their hopes and their children
It's too high a cost
Think of the future
And give up the fight
So all gentle people
Can have a safe night !!

i'm a long long way from somewhere
but i guess i'm doing fine
There's no one here beside me
The only voice I hear is mine
I'm out here on the highway
Yesterday, was so sublime
You said you  didn't love me
But I guess I'm doing fine

I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOIN' NOWHERE
AND I'M MAKING READ GOOD TIME
I'VE GOT NO REAL DIRECTION
THIS IS GONNA TAKE SOME TIME
I'M SURE IT'S FOR THE BETTER
TO LEAVE THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOING NOWHERE, MAKING TIME

I should have seen it coming
but it hit me from the blue
I put all I had inside
Into me and you
I was in the middle of the hurricane
Doing what it is I do
I don't believe the storm that hit
was you

I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOIN' NOWHERE
AND I'M MAKING READ GOOD TIME
I'VE GOT NO REAL DIRECTION
I'M JUST  GONNA TAKE SOME TIME
I'M SURE IT'S FOR THE BETTER
TO LEAVE THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOING NOWHERE, MAKING TIME

Yesterday I had the world, today the world has me
It's time to hit the road and start to see.....

I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOIN' NOWHERE
AND I'M MAKING READ GOOD TIME
I'VE GOT NO REAL DIRECTION
I'M   GONNA TAKE SOME TIME
I'M SURE IT'S FOR THE BETTER
TO LEAVE THE SCENE OF THE CRIME
I'M ON THE HIGHWAY GOING NOWHERE, MAKING TIME

Friends and Lovers
Assorted others
It's up to me
Who I let in

It's my life
to win or lose
It's up to me
To make the rules

I party like there's no tomorrow
And tomorrow's never here
It's my life and no one elses
It's up to me who I let near

I set a course to where I'm goin'
Most times I do not know where
I don't know where I'll end up blowin'
Won't know till I'm standing there

It's my life
I choose who enters
Who gets close
Is up to me
Follow close
The road is bumpy
Just make sure
You hang with me

Sometimes i wonder what its like to wake up in the morning and not want to die.

yesterday, i took a trip in time
i had a glass of daddy's favorite wine
i remembered how he'd give me some
smile at me, and say "don't tell mom"
yesterday i took a trip in time

yesterday i took a trip in time
i had an old song stuck inside my mind
i remembered daddy'd sing that song
even though he got it wrong
yesterday i took a trip in time

i miss him every single day
i know it might sound cliche
how i wish that he were here
just to raise a glass of beer
i miss him every single day

yesterday i took a trip in time
funny as i age, the more that I'm
thinking of the things he'd do
and doing the same things with you
yesterday i took a trip in time

yesterday i took a trip in time
it didn't cost a thing, not a thin dime
it's a trip I'm taking more and more
I wish he'd walk on through the door
yesterday i took a trip in time

i hope that one day, my kids travel too
back in time to remember me and you
how'd they'd share a memory
of something said by you or me
i hope that one day, my kids travel too

Looking through the windows to the times that were my past
You blink and they're forgotten, they leave our mind so fast
Remember when you knew every program on tv
How you knew what time they started from noon till almost three
You knew each player on each team in every league there was
But now you know you know no one and the reason is because
We've gotten older, times are tough, our priorities have changed
We can remember all these things again, if we'd only rearrange
We look back and admire how things were simple then
How we'd like to go back there in time and do it all again
There've been improvements to our life since, but none that would mean more
Than getting up and looking outside and finding fresh bread at your door.
Folks our age miss the fifties and the sixties and the joys that they did bring
We can't stand todays new music, these new bands can barely sing
But if you listen close it's funny, it's not just us that miss the past
Look at retro nights for eighties bands, they've sprung up really fast
Our kids think going backwards might be better somehow too
So, while you may not talk about it, they think the same as you
Remember when the Beatles came and burst upon the scene
Now, our grandkids like their music, they're the best that's ever been
Nostalgia is emotional and I don't think it's a craze
We all have got a reason for going to those days
It might be just a teacher, how they treated you in school
It might be for your self esteem, back then you were real cool
But, whatever is the reason, we're here now, that's a fact
But we have a sure fire method that;s sure to take us back
Listen to some music, look at old time photographs
You'll be taken back in time again to where you had some laughs
A simple scent might set you free and move you forty years
It might just be so strong that it would bring you right to tears
So, take some time and ruminate on what it means to you
You can travel back in time each day to nineteen sixty two
Just keep your feet here, planted firmly on the ground
Or they'll lock you up forever more, because your mind it is not sound
Now, I'm off on a small journey, I won't be gone for long
I hear Captain Fantastic starting up by Elton John.

No time for your little games
Misplaced accusations
Best that I should just move on
Sayonorah....salutations

No time for the little snips
No time for all the crap
No time for all the snide remarks
No Time.....this is a wrap

No time for all your misplaced anger
No time for things you say
No time for all your Drama Mama
No Time...to stay and play

No time to work on what we're doing
No time to be a team
No time to hear your nasty comments
No time to hear you scream

No time to be your whipping post
No time to feel the sting
No time to be the one and only
No time to wear your ring

No time to live as we intended
No time to share in bed
No time to  wait until it's ended
No time to clear my head

No time to figure out the problem
No time to stick around
No time to bite my tongue again
No time for us is found

No time to be a perfect couple
No time to be a spouse
No time to spend one more minute
No time to sit and grouse

It's time for me to move on forward
It's time for this to end
It's time to say that this is over
It's time for me to mend.......

I figured that the best person
To speak on who i was
is me, because of all my friends
i feel the greatest loss

i lose the chance to grow old and
spend more time with my wife
i feel i disappointed her
by not completing all my life

i think i was a funny guy
i gave more than i took
although you all may disagree
please take another look

i lived my life on my own terms
having married, only twice
i kept my temper mostly
and i think, i'm rather nice

i like to have a laugh or two
and spend time with a drink
i write about my feelings
i write down what i think

but, when all is said and done in life
from all that i can see
the best one to speak on how i was
in my defence....is me!

The cigarette butts were piling up out front
Where was that steady breeze?
So she wouldn't have to get the broom out
So, they would blow off to the trees
Way back in the corner though
One man continued to smoke inside
It was a right given to him years ago
No one ever argued, no one ever tried
The bar was smelling musty
No matter how hard she tried
The owner couldn't make it fresh
That's because all the food was fried
In the window, a brown and crumpled card
Notified the world "We're Open" now
But, outside of the old man, and the crew
No one in the outside world really knew
Visitors never came here,
they stayed away from here
The regs didn't care though
To them, it meant more beer
A college game was on TV
Two crap teams from the west
No one was really watching them
The regs liked the East the best
The carpet, full of burn marks
From cigarettes long burned out
Dropped from pursed and drunken lips
Who also no longer were about
The barkeep could tell stories
Though there was few there who hadn't heard
The stories of the past long gone
The regs knew every word
The posters drab and dreary
Selling beer from years ago
From breweries long since empty
And with tag lines nobody even knew
A poster for Black Label
and one for Jolly's brew
In the back sat a piano
Out of tune and never played
It had been out of use forever
The keys were cracked and grey
The bar itself was dying
A relic inside four walls
It was dressed in papered squalor
Like an old man with no *****
The windows showed their age
Shaking when the wind did blow
Ice was always building on them
There was more inside that in the snow
A breath of life was badly needed
The bar was really already dead
They hadn't made a dime in decades
They always ran it in the red
Today though, things would change
The door opened from the past
In walked a man of substance
Another character to the cast
He sat down on a bar stool
Ordered up, and looked around
And there standing in the corner
He saw the piano...with no sound
Asking if anybody played her
The barkeep said "No, she's long since died"
"Do you mind if I go and play her"
"It's been a while since someone tried"
He rolled it out from dark in hiding
Hit a key, and hurt his ear
Lifted the lid to look inside her
And then he ordered up another beer
He hit the keys and played a little
"Let's give this thing a whirl"
The sound it made was flat and pokey
"There's lot's of life in this old girl"
"I'll tune it up and come and play her"
"If you'd like...that is of course"
"Mr. if that's what makes you happy"
"But, I think you're beating a dead horse"
"By the way, they call me Johnny"
"Johnny Fingers if you please"
"I'll tune her up and play a while"
"I'll get her clean and bang those keys"
The barkeep offered up a contract
Tune her up and play for free
"If you're good, I'll pay you extra"
"The jury's out, we'll wait and see"
Johnny laughed and said "You got it"
"I'll play whenever you decide"
"I'll play whatever's asked for"
And he had a smile ten miles wide
The barkeep said "The venture's on then"
"Let's have a talk, and grab a seat"
"There are some things I have to tell you"
"Johnny....welcome to The Street".

Teaching high school kids the craft
Directing them in their school show
Teenagers singing just off key
With a band that's one beat slow
Holding rehearsals when the gym is free
Have you really sunk this low
Are you truly at your bottom
Or are you "Waiting for Godot"?

"YOU'RE ON IN FIFTEEN MINUTES...MR. WILSON"

Doing plays in local theater groups
With untrained  amateurs on stage
You tell them all your stories
And you keep them on their page
It's not exactly where you started
Talent that you just can't gauge
Selling programs in the lobby
It's time you act your age

"TEN MINUTES TILL SHOWTIME MR. WILSON"

Touring shows around the country now
Second touring group, smaller towns
Doing revival shows of Sondheim
"Sweeney Todd " and "Send in the clowns"
Living out of an old suitcase
The countryside a sea of browns
Where you are at the local's mercy
And there's less ups than there are downs

"FIVE MINUTES TO SHOW TIME MR. WILSON"

You've made it, you're on Broadway
Starring roles are yours to choose
Where the highlights of last nights show
Are in today's reviews
Where a sold out run continues
And your name is in the news
You're an actor, and you're famous
The world is yours to lose

"SHOW TIME MR.. WILSON...ON STAGE PLEASE"

The kids are out there schlepping
working their way through the *****
singing songs sung by the Beatles
"All This and World War II"
You're just a pillar standing, sweating
As you see what you can do
You're still an actor, and you know it
You'll need a drink when this is through.

it never really mattered
she was trouble from the start
she never thought of who she hurt
she put the horse before the cart

the school was always calling
saying please pick her up again
until the day they kicked her out
when she was only ten



she was flying too  close to the sun
always thought she didn't need no one
we knew she would crash and burn
that was something she would learn
flying to close to the sun

her father and i wondered
just where did we go wrong
was she a troubled child
we couldn't keep at this too long

we split when she was thirteen
i had to put her in a home
she was always going missing
i couldn't leave her home alone

she was flying too  close to the sun
always thought she didn't need no one
we knew she would crash and burn
that was something she would learn
flying to close to the sun

i saw her on my tv set
watching nightly news
there she was, my daughter
the one i chose to lose

they said she was wanted
for robbery and more
she'd shot a clerk in cold blood
while robbing his small store

she was flying too  close to the sun
always thought she didn't need no one
we knew she would crash and burn
that was something she would learn
flying to close to the sun

my heart was broke
my girl was truly bad
because of her
i lost all that i had

yesterday i got the call
they said they found her dead
she'd hung herself in the night
that was all they said

she was flying too  close to the sun
always thought she didn't need no one
we knew she would crash and burn
that was something she would learn
flying tooclose to the sun
always flying too close to the sun

Over Sixty years of marriage
We know that Dad still hurts
But the only words he ever said,
"We knew one of us would go first."
Phil Lindsey, 4/15/15