Came in late to work this morning,
Me and the boss got in a fight,
Now I'm sittin' in a jail cell,
Cause I got a better right!

If I only had a pick-up truck,
A little girl in a nice sundress,
If I only had an old dog,
A family farm  that was a mess,

Then I guess I'd be a cowboy,
And I'd always have me a job,
And I guess I'd be happy too,
...instead of eating prison slop!

I spent that last night drunk again,
Hung-over after fightin' with the wife,
Came in late to work that mornin',
Me and the boss got in a fight,
Now I'm sittin' in a jail cell,
Cause I got a better right!

I can remember all the country tunes,
Young love out dancing with the wife,
How her face shined in-the-moon,
Left a simple cowboy-n'-country life!

If I only had a pick-up truck,
My best girl in her little sundress,
If I only had my old dog,
My family farm that was a mess,

Then I guess I'd be a cowboy,
And I'd always have me a job,
And I guess I'd be happy too,
...instead of eating prison slop!

Came in late to work that mornin',
Me and the boss got in a fight,
Now I'm sittin' in a jail cell,
Cause I got a better right!

If I'd stayed on that family farm,
If I still had my old dog,
Then I guess I'd be a cowboy,
Maybe the wife would still be gone?
Then I guess I'd be happy too,
...instead of singing this sad song.

Then I guess I'd be a cowboy,
And I'd always have me a job,
And I guess I'd be happy too,
...instead of eating prison slop!

Came in late to work that mornin',
Me and the boss got in a fight,
Serving my time in a jail cell,
Cause I got a better right!
Yeah I guess I'd be a cowboy,
Cause I will never find a job,
And I bet I'll be happy too,
...no more eating prison slop!*

Yeah, I guess I'll be a cowboy,
Yeah, I'll always have a job,
Yeah, you know I'll be happy too,
...pick-up truck and an old dog.

East of Mississippi far away from the hustle,
old mills, dirt and muck,
mirth and the muscle...
Where livelihood’s still found resting in the arm,
out past the cities and down on the farm,
Growing up simple cause that’s where we are,
trying to hard and never getting far,
Toiling in the fields or out in a barn,
Well that’s where we are never getting too far,
…but that’s where we are.


I’ll set the stage and you listen here,
is this like any story that you’ve lent to an ear?
I know it’s familiar and everyone should know,
how life takes turns and where it seems to go,
you lead with your heart and love seems to flow...

It was Saturday night and I was at the county fair,
Where every kid hung out, yeah ya’ll know where,
Center of town and east of Mississippi’s
with the young cowboys and the girls were all hippies,
The winds picked up and she shined in the moon,
My heart thumping so hard it made me swoon,
I knew I had to make my move soon,

So I walked right up and grabbed her hand
and spun her around like I had a plan,
We started dancing and wouldn’t you know,
love was on the horizon and that’s how it goes,
From the square that night and back to my car,
small town lovers that’s about as far,
…and I was playing it cool acting Brad Pitt to my best
and asking her to dance was my best guess,
Oh my baby in that sundress!

…and nothing in this world will ever compare, life with her was what I needed to share,

I asked her to marry me right then and there,
Her eyes lit up and the crowd just stared
as the clouds rolled by and the moonlight flared,
She walked right up and grabbed my hand
and stood me up like she had a plan,
and that first kiss was ‘man-o-man’

…and nothing in this world can ever compare to those green eyes and that brown hair and life together is what we’re gonna share and the love in her eyes was always there.

She was so pretty she made me feel old
and that’s our story of love I’ve told.
I know it’s familiar and everyone should know,
how life takes turns and where it seems to go,
How there’s nothing in this world like her sundress
and dancing in the moonlight was my best guess.
County fair, a proposal and our first kiss
and she walked right up to me just like this,

…and nothing in this world can ever compare to those green eyes and that brown hair and life together is what we’re gonna share and the love in her eyes was always there.

She was so pretty she made me feel old
and that’s our story of love I’ve told,
I know it’s familiar and everyone should know,
there’s no work in this world like love to grow,
…and there she was in her sundress
and dancing in the moonlight was my best guess,
County fair, a proposal and our first kiss
and she walked right up to me just like this,

…and nothing in this world can ever compare to those green eyes and that brown hair and life together is what we’re gonna share and the love in her eyes was always there,

East of Mississippi and every town square
where you’ll find her she’ll always be there,
The winds will pick up and she’ll shine in the moon
and your heart will pump so hard it’ll make you swoon,
I know it’s familiar and everyone should know,
how life takes turns and where it seems to go,
How there’s nothing in this world like her sundress
and dancing in the moonlight is a pretty good guess,
County fair, a proposal and the first kiss
and she’ll walk right up to you just like this,

…and nothing in this world can ever compare to those green eyes and that brown hair and life together is what we’re gonna share and the love in her eyes was always there,

I know it’s familiar and everyone should know,
there’s nothing in this world like love to grow…

she is a child on the streets in the light of day.
dancing.
she has made a world of her own, here,
in tattered clothes and still-bright eyes.
she,
who lives in fear and smiles still—
braveheart.

this is the life she lives:
a fight for freedom even now,
a thirst for better days,
a kindness that remains.

this girl—she is a child.
and she is fury.
(beneath the worn-out dress there is a knife.
this child—she has been a fighter in so many lives.)

this lady—she reclaims her royal right.
for far too long she has been dealt too much dirt;
my child. she hurts.

generous child; sometimes I think she has been far too kind.
she has been cheated too many times.
good lady, take back all that they have taken.
I want it back; I want it back. we will take it back.

(this is a shout, a hope, a full demand.)

good lady, you deserve far more than what you have been given.
my lady, dear child,
still you smile.
my goddess,
stay bright.
unsheathe your knife;
raise your voice, speak honest words—
let battle cries be battle cries.

old heart of mine,
old heart of this land I love:
stay bright, stay bright.
we will take it back and more.

Cicadas singing
a nighttime lullaby
sending me off to sleep

Memaw & Pepaw ..Mason Dixon Saturday night,
Just sippin' muscadine wine by the Tennessee moonlight
Rockin' chairs...Zenith Black and White
Roy, Buck, Minnie Pearl a Hee Haw delight.

Crickets a chirpin' and a Frogs a croakin'
Toe tapin' rhythm's got em all in motion.
Corn fields swaying like a metronome
Watching those two dance to cotton eye Joe!

Sunday mornings best at the Church of Christ,
Me, I'm Thinkin' bout Memaws country gravy, my fav-o-rite!
Fried Chicken, taters, eggs sunny side right,
These are the memories I like to recite.

She wears t-shirts of the Beatles

And she loves the Rolling Stones

She wakes up to David Bowie

And she dreams of the Ramones

She goes out to dance clubs nightly

Till her ear drums both get blown

But, she has a deep dark secret

That her friends will never know



At night when she is by herself

When the room is nice and dark

She slips beneath the covers

With Johann Sebastian Bach

She's a closet classic ******

And her name is Amber Clark

She just loves orchestral music

The rock and roll is just a lark

Her friends think something classical

Is something for your folks

They cannot play an instrument

They cannot read the notes

They think that  chamber music is

What people play on boats

But she has a deep dark secret

She loves the stuff that Chopin wrote

At night when she is by herself

And her friends have gotten ******

She slips beneath the covers

And she listens to some Liszt

She listens to it many times

In case there's things she's missed

She's a closet classic ******

She has "Baroque" upon her wrist

She listens to the music

That her friends like to be cool

If she told them what she listens to

They'd laugh her out of school

So, when they go out  clubbing

She will join them as a rule

But...ah that deep dark secret

This girl is no ones fool

She listens to Beethoven

And she knows each piece by heart

She knows where one bar ends

And another one will start

She can play most every instrument

And she knows most every part

She's a classic closet ******

But she still knows Boyce and Hart

She has cds in her library

And most sit there untouched

When her friends are gone they don't get played

She doesn't like them much

She would rather hear a symphony

By a composter who was Dutch

But there's that deep dark secret

And she won't use it a crutch

At night when she is warm in bed

She listens to Mozart

She needs a little Nacht Musique

To open up her heart

It's a piece that sets her mind a blaze

It hits her like a dart

She's a closet classic ******

And she keeps her worlds apart

By day she sings Bruce Springsteen

At night she listens to

Composers that her friends don't know

They're so old they're new

So she keeps her world a secret

For she knows what they would do

If they found she didn't know

Where were you in sixty two

But at night she is a ******

And she listens to Mozart

She needs that piece of music

To shoot an arrow through her heart

Eine Kleine Nachmusic

She conducts every part

She's our Closet Classic ******

shhh.....the song's about to start...

This Ain't a ******* Country Song

You know I love my Rock and Roll

I wouldn't write a Country Song

'Cause that's not how I roll

This song it ain't bout country things

Like pickup trucks and cars

You'll never find me writing

About getting drunk in bars

There's no mention here of Taylor Swift

or The Charlie Daniels Band

I wouldn't write of how the banks

are taking our farmland

This Ain't a ******* Country Song

You know I love my Rock and Roll

I wouldn't write a Country Song

'Cause that's not how I roll

I don't know **** 'bout Redneck stuff

like hunting dogs and guns

I wouldn't write of Daisy Dukes

showing off some hot babes buns

I won't write 'bout the Opry

I don't know all that stuff

Of Minnie Pearl and Grandpa Jones

And Mr. Roy Acuff

This Ain't a ******* Country Song

You know I love my Rock and Roll

I wouldn't write a Country Song

'Cause that's not how I roll

There's nothing here 'bout Bourbon

or of Racing through the fields

I don't know much about farming

or crop futures or of yields

I listen to The Rolling Stones

Trace Adkins I don't like

Lady A can go away

Kid Rock can ride his bike

You won't hear much about Zac Browns Band

or of food thats Chicken Fried

I might go to a hoedown

If I'd  just  up and died

My music, it fulfills me

It makes me who I am

But I'll stay away from country

songs, Cause I don't give a ****

No Oak Ridge Boys or Hee Haw Here

Hank Williams I won't buy

I'll never buy a Dixie Beer

It's a drink I'll never try

I won't sing about Kentucky

or of a Texas Yellow Rose

you know this aint no country song

Good god I hope it shows

There's no mohter, dogs or applie pie

no  fishin' in the dark

No Everything is Beautiful

No songs by Terry Clark

I'm really open minded

My friends they are the same

We won't buy country music

To us it's just so lame

This Ain't a ******* Country Song

You know I love my Rock and Roll

I wouldn't write a Country Song

'Cause that's not how I roll

I won't mention stuff you'll find

in songs by Nashville bands

There's nothing here about

watching football in the stands

I'll never write a country song

Cause country just ain't fun

Oh crap I just read this thing

And I think I just wrote one

This Ain't a ******* Country Song

You know I love my Rock and Roll

I wouldn't write a Country Song

'Cause that's not how I roll