She said 'where you off to now, Tumbleweed"
I said "i got so many places to go,
it might be what i want it might be what i need
it might be the strangers touch ill never know"

its a lonely way to go the road is long you know
i walk the path of troubadours from long ago
the moon she is my light
the sun she is my night
the pen the only compass ive ever known.

Where you off to now, Tumbleweed
you set your course or you just blowin in the breeze
just like ships in darkness pass
too far to touch too close to last
to grow the soul you know you've got to plant a seed
Tumbleweed
(c) 2013 CJM

It aint just the blue collar or the hands in the dirt

or the coal on the belt line or the paint on the shirt

or the dust from the cowboy and the cattle he's drivin'

or the eighteen wheels rollin and the gravel thats flyin'



my best friends named Sparky, he works in the mine
 six miles deep, come rain or come shine
 dont take lip from no one, ive seen him move fast
 give him some **** and he'll hand you your ***



I got a buddy called Outlaw, he rolls eighteen wheels
 sometimes nine in a corner with the logs on his heels 
he aint scared of nothin, says he dont like to fight
 says hes just exercisin' for the long haul tonight



my ol man swung a hammer for most of his life 
he earned blood sweat and tears
 but he came out alright 
might be a church in the city or a cabin far from town 
but he''ll die in his tool belts before he'll die sittin down.



it aint just the blue collar or the blood in the dirt,
or the coal beneath your skin or the scars from the work,
or the rope burns on your hands and yet you keep ridin


its just the breath thats the difference between livin and dyin.


(c) 2013 CJM

Mother when you finally get to heaven
can you tell me just what you have found up there
and if you speak to Jesus, tell me
what he really said
because I think we lost it long ago down here

Now I don't mind what you tell me
but I don't know if it's all true
but you're going' and you'll see it
and I know you really care
that's why I wrote this note to give to you

Well, mother, when you find your place in heaven
just in case I never make it there
tell my old friend I can still hear the ringing of his laughter
and I often wish that he was still down here

Mother, when you look down on me from heaven
in the chance that you arrive while I'm still here
tell the angel at the door to leave the porch light on for me
because I know I'll need help finding my way there

Momma tell the angel at the door to leave the porch light on for me
because I know I'll need help finding my way there

© 2009 CJM

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

Northbound sittin on a southbound train
No money in your pocket and youre left sittin in the rain
Two way ticket down a one way track
Don’t know where youre headed but you know you aint comin back

It feels like ive reached the bottom but its
Still a long way down
So I ask, the bartender
To pour me another round

Stars don’t have to fall for you to know that its night
Whats left is all you’ve got when youre all out of the right
Started at the ending don’t know where to begin
And so it goes, no one knows about the shape I'm in

It feels like ive reached the bottom but its
Still a long way down
So I ask, the bartender
To pour me another round
(CJM 2013)

I hate to see her go
But there she is walking away
Sometimes I just don't know
I guess its better off that way

She laughs at everybody's jokes
the whole world makes her smile
I guess she just wants to be free
because nobody makes her...

nobody makes her cry but me

She left her key in the door
She left a note on the bed
Sometimes I cant make sense of all the things that run through my head
The tear drops on the paper are dry
so I know she's gone
maybe I'll see her later
maybe she was never here at all

She laughs at everybody's jokes
the whole world makes her smile
I guess she just wants to be free
because nobody makes her...

nobody makes her cry but me

(c) 2013 CJM

Old chair sittin' broken in the corner
a dusty mirror hangin' on the wall
mamma's in the kitchen makin' a cup of coffee
daddy, he's just sleeping down the hall
sisters in the backyard picking' flowers
brothers in the treehouse with a gun
and I am watching all, but they can't see me
no one else around knows what they've done

Some of them will live and die without ever even knowing
and I have lived and died among them all
bones'll break and dust will make the pathways we walk after
and you will hear my voice after it all

old man shopping cart down by the river
the banker drives his cadillac back home
his high rise overlooks the lifeless city
that in his eyes does not seem lifeless at all
twigs and sticks have gathered to build a heart of fire
twigs and sticks or maybe sticks and stones
give or take or crush and break the time that you fear after
realize it was never there at all

Some of them will live and die without ever even knowing
and I have lived and died among them all
bones'll break and dust will make the pathways we walk after
and you will hear my voice after it all
and you will hear my voice after it all
and you will hear my voice after it all
bones'll break and dust will make the pathways we walk after
and you will hear my voice after it all
(c) 2011 CJM

I went out searching' with nothing to find
went looking' for someone with no one in mind
last petal on a rose in the fall I feel alone
all the faces starin' back from the crowd reflect my own
I can't breathe without you here
I can't hold on, I need you near

Down this highway, lonesome road
life before me left untold
tell me something that I wonder
forever lost or just untouched
a wounded heart in two is cut
lost at sea, I'm going under

Through the darkness I feel you
in the silence I see you
turnin' slowly you fade away
your lips moving with nothing to say
reaching out without my hands
a voiceless call on nothing lands

I went out searching' with nothing to find
went looking' for someone with no one in mind
(c) 2008 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

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

Don’t need no body tellin me
Nothing at all
Don’t need nobody to tell me
Nothing at all
Sometimes ya just gotta try it
And its my fault if I fall
Don’t need nobody tellin me
Nothing at all

Don’t need to call me on the phone
Don’t need to call me on the phone
Sometimes this ol boy needs to be left alone
Don’t need to call me on the phone

Don’t need you kissin me goodbye
Don’t need you kissin me goodbye
Just go on and walk away so you don’t see me cry
Don’t need you kissin me goodbye

Sorry if I curse too much
Sorry if I curse too much
Used to read the bible
But lately ive been out of touch
Sorry if I curse too much

Don’t need to tell me not to drink
Don’t need to tell me not to drink
You know I do my best thinkin
Sittin in a corner drinkin
Don’t need to ask me not to drink

Its just the kind of life I lead
Its just the kind of life I lead
Sometimes I win the fight and other times I bleed
But its just the kind of life I lead
© CJM 2012

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

Some days you've gotta read the story just to figure out your lines
and other days youve gotta write it just to save some time
so i sit here with my guitar and nothing much to say
but the melody keeps flowin on without me
sometimes it works that way

i like to be in full control but im the first to know to grow
sometimes you gotta learn to let things go
its hard to do im tellin you youre tellin me
sometimes i cant see
but all i can be
is me

some days you gotta read the story just to figure out your lines
some days youve gotta write the poem just to work out all the rhymes
some days the pen goes where the wind blows just so you survive
some times you just gotta watch the blood flow to remember youre alive.

(c)2013 CJM