I'll be the whiskey that you used to drink,
if you be the good thoughts that I like to think
I'll be the paper you write all of your tragic poems on,
if you promise me you'll sing them like they've never been sung.

I'll be your late night till the darkness turns to dawn,
if you will take my simple words and turn them into song
I'll be the one who sometimes makes you want to see red,
but you'll always be that gypsy tune runnin' through my head

Standin' on the front porch smoking' Camel cigarettes,
favorite cup of coffee hangin' 'round with your best friends
you are the life inside the painting that is hanging on the wall,  
and if I didn't come here to see you then I wouldn't come here at all

old suitcases and the guitar strings scattered round the floor,
knives drawing notebooks and a bucket of dreams sittin' by the door
I will be playin' this guitar for you as you fall asleep tonight,
and you'll hear it through those paper walls in the early mornin' light

you can find her at the depot but she ain't waiting' for no train,
you might find her in the attic starin' out at the rain
she is as lively as the colors of which most artists only dream,
she's seen the bitter side of life before and its jaded her it seems
(c) 2011 CJM

I went down to the river to try and find Maria,
but Maria wasn't there, I walked the bank for a while,
skipping stones I searched for miles, but you know, Maria was nowhere

Oh, Maria where did you go
Maria where did you go
Where did you go
Maria where have you gone

I went into the city, to try and find Maria, but in the city I only found despair,
skyscrapers streets and boardwalks, the empty sound of my feet on the sidewalk,
stares and glares were all I found there

so I walked down to the ocean, to try and find Maria,
and I found her, yes I found her there,
her soul was the waves in their crashing,
her voice was the breeze in her laughing,
and her tears were the mist softly floating in the salty air

Oh, Maria, I miss you so
Maria I miss you so
I miss you so
Maria I miss you so
(c)2011 CJM

money doesn't grow on trees so if you're selling' I ain't buyin'
and putting' your eggs in one basket wont keep the mocking bird from cryin'
a leopard cannot change its spots, not even in a New York minute
and a picture ain't worth a thousand words if theres nothin' painted in it

well I went on back to square one back up to the drawin' board
so come hell or high water I'm gonna keep kickin' that dead horse
yea I don't think that he'll mind much if we get down to brass tacks
these idle hands they are the devils tools and I know...

i got a pistol named curiosity so I gave it to the cat
if it ain't one thing its another and if it isn't then its that
they say that it takes two to tango, I say it only takes one to dance
and don't you make no bones about it 'cause its so...

you ain't playin' with a full deck, maybe we got off on the wrong foot
and I'll say this off the record, but I'll let you off the hook
just so we're on the same page, and you don't try and pass the buck
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and let you know...

I dont cry when it rains
dont always smile when the sun shines
ive seen my fair share of pain
and it helps me through the tough times
ive broke a couple of hearts along the way
had mine broken once or twice myself
thats just the way it goes they say
but i say

if life throws you a curve, you keep your eye on the ball
and if youre backed up and cards are stacked up
make sure you know where the hammer falls
some nights youll sleep with your boots on
and some days youll walk alone
but ive been there and i can still say with no shame
i dont cry when it rains

I dont cry when it rains
i guess i never really thought to
never been one for walking behind the crown
guess i was never really taught to
i dont always do what i should
I dont like to do what I'm told
I guess im just happy to live my life
with any luck I might die old.
(c) 2013 CJM

I saw the look in her eyes
Caught my reflection in the tears that fell
Like rain from the stormy skies
But I had not a single word to say
Just left an echo in the silence
As I faded into grey

Because she's just a stranger
And I do not recall her face
Like a nickel laid on a railroad track
Lines gone without a trace
She's just a stranger
A memory I cannot recall
Like a whisper lost on the summer breeze
Before it made a sound at all

Was she a painter with no canvas
A poet left without a rhyme
Last grain of sand dropped through the hourglass
Or just a nightmare in my mind
I do not know why her empty shadow
Is the only thing I see
She may be somebody to someone
But all she is to me
Is just a stranger...

(c) 2013 CJM

I was born in the desert, over 30 years ago
rattlesnakes were thick as thieves there
ghosts of the ancient ones still roam
and i'd lay out on the porch at night
my hands stuffed in my pockets
listen to coyotes howl
I was 5 years old then
the days pass so quick
the years seem to escape us all somehow

I was raised in the rocky mountains
cold autumn wind and winters snow
my dad would play us kids the banjo
by the light of the fires glow
we all grow and theres so many things i miss
memories treasured till the end
live and learn
find the truth and watch it burn
maybe the answer is just blowing in the wind

and it seems to me that its time to leave
feels like saying goodbye to a dear old friend
the time has come what happened to forever young
oh i hope one day our paths will cross again.

life it doesnt always aim to shoot you straight
and that one lesson i have learned
the education of a wandering man
is the education i have earned
(c) 2012 CJG

Don't think about the scars, no.
Don't think about tomorrow.
Just sit by the fire
And watch all the stars glow.
(c) 2008 CJG