I keep a picture of myself
In a drawer beside my bed at night
So when I wake up in the morning
I can remember what it is I look like

Because when I look into the eyes of the mirror
And it looks back into mine
It takes who it is I feel that I am
And replaces it with old man lies

It doesn't see the youthful heart in me
That I wish it would, so instead
I keep a picture of myself
In a drawer beside my bed

My daddy turned life into living
By raising ten ornery kids
A righteous man, daddy was given
I only hope to live life like he did

He was brought up on old mountain wisdom
That's the best kind of wisdom he said
Don't just hear with your ears but also your eyes
But don't let it all go to your head

Don't trust no one named Uncle Sam
Cussing don't make you a man
If you see your brother in the gutter before you check with another
Be there to lend him a hand

Don't pick a fight if you ain't planing on winning
Don't ever miss church on Sundays
If your caught in a storm and can't make it home
Get down on your knees boy and pray

Make sure you take the advice of your mother
And that you show your sweet sister respect
If you've had your fill of a good home cooked meal
Give a hungry man what is left

My daddy brought us up on mountain wisdom
You can always fall back on when there ain't nothing left
A word to the wise, not just your ears but your eyes
That's what my daddy always said

.

Where does the night go to cry in New York City
Whose finger print is that upon the moon*
Who kisses the stars and shows them pity
To the forever distant tune

Whose selling souls in the land of plenty
Backing out on promises they've made
Buying the beggar off with no more than pennies
While spitting on the unmarked graves

Who gives a voice to the silence
Where does memory turn when it forgets
When the strong ones fall who picks up the pieces
Where do the dying place their bets

If the fool reaches for the hand of wisdom
At that moment does he cease to be a fool
If the night could hear, would it even listen
*And would it stop crying if it knew

MEANINGLESS ALL OF IT!*

Every bit of life
All for which we do
All for which we strive

The sun comes up, the sun goes down
Every single day
We work our fingers to the bone, but why
If not for more of the same

The wind blows and blows and blows and blows
North, East, South, and West
When it makes it's way around
It starts all over again

The rivers flow into the sea
And the sea is never filled
It gives itself back to the rivers
Just so it can be done again

Wearisome beyond description
Man is never satisfied
With what we have we're not content
Always wanting more in life

History again repeats itself
What you see has all been done
There is truly nothing new
Under the scorching sun

We may have new gadgets, new contraptions
But we're still victims of the past
Repeating all that's been done before
As our simple memories lapse

There will be future generations
When this one tragically bows out
Where they will repeat our same mistakes
Not remembering the ones we're making now

MEANINGLESS ALL OF IT!

Straight out of prison
Wondering what I've been missing
Right out of the gates I stuck out my thumb

A van load of hippies
All from Mississippi
Stoped and asked, hey dude...what's going on

I'm here for adventure
Well hop in then Mister
Adventure is what we're all about

Now where we're all going
There's no way of knowing
A van of hippies and parolee freshly let out

We ended up in Disney
Me and all of the hippies
Where we had caboodles of fun

We met Mickey and he saw it
When I lifted his wallet
Now we're in the Magic Kingdom all on the run

We split in different directions
To throw off detection
It's A Small World is where I made my mistake

With that song stuck in my head
It's a fate worse than death
Prison now sounds like a wonderful place

We rendezvoused in
The Pirate's Of The Caribbean
Where soon after, in came the law

We all jumped from our boats
Splashing around in the moat
And had ourselves a good old fashioned pirate brawl

We soon made our escape
Out of exit door 88
Finding ourselves in Frontier Land at night

Where in the middle of the street
Were Mickey, Donald, and Goofy
All with guns strapped to their sides

We ran into a shop
And bought guns on the spot
All with Mickey's money...he's a mouse of a man

Mickey squeeks we're going to ruff you up
As Goofy holds up the cuffs
And Donald says something we can't understand

We had a shoot out
With cap guns no doubt
After all Disney runs a safe place

Ran out of caps in our guns
Which stopped our lives on the run
The wrath of Mickey we all now would face

After justice's hammer
I'm now back in the slammer
This time I made my own prison bed

Now I cry every day
What more can I say
With It's A Small World still stuck in my head