We Love You Zeuf

                                 Zeuf, The Girl In The Curl

I saw an old friend the other day
In San Francisco by the Bay
Took me back to only yesterday
The years somehow that slip away
And after talked about the days gone by
Brushed a tear away by the side
We promised not to let it be this long
Like the old refrain from the old old song

Remember old friends we made along the way
The gifts they gave that stay with us every day

Looking back it makes me wonder
Where we’re going how long we’ll stay
I know the road brings rain and thunder
But for the journey what will we pay
I often think the times be crazier
As this whole world goes round and round
Just the memory makes it easier
As the highway goes up and down

Remember old friends we’ve made along the way
The gifts they’ve given stay with us every day

Lately words come back to me
There’s a few I will no longer see
Faces will we see no more along the road
There’ll be a few less hands to hold
But for the ones whose journey's ended
Though they started so much the same
In the hearts of those befriended
Burns a candle with a silver flame

Remember old friends we’ve made along the way
The gifts they’ve given stay with us every day
Remember old friends we’ve made along the way
The gifts they’ve given stay with us every day


Mary McCaslin - Old Friends on youtube

Still Learning To Fall

I was young and knew nothing
Now somehow I know even less
Forgive me my youth
It was all for the best
Forgive my foolishness
It's grown simpler now
Cuz I’m sure what I like
who I love
And who I'm going to fight
As long as there's time on my hands

I've had to run
I've had to crawl
Been rich as a king
Had nothin' at all
Still raising hell
And tearing down walls
I know where I stand
I'm learning to fall

Me I've tasted true glory
Had a long sweet time on the stage
I laughed til I cried
I lived what I played
Never had to act my age
And it’s beautiful how
New blessings unfold
In ways I could never have known
And I’ve still got some time on my hands

I've had to run
I've had to crawl
Been rich as a king
Had nothin' at all
Still raising hell
And tearing down walls
I know where I stand
I'm learning to fall

Eric Lowen & Preston Sturges - Learning To Fall

This Life

Just reporting in, catching you up on how I’ve been,

It’s 365 again this week

Hot and humid here, same as every other year

It’s sweat or a tear on my cheek

Another year passes, I gave up my glasses

I gave up my job and my smoke and  mirrors

Another year over, I’m still growing clover

I’m still trying to face down all my fears

But I’m living a good life, I’m living a fine life,

I’m living the sweetest roses and wine life

And I know you’re near me

I hope you can hear me

I hope you can see into this life

All the family home and happy as they can be

And I’m getting married there next week

Will you hear your name?

Nothing will ever be the same

A teardrop on every cheek

I’m older than you were, and I’m pretty darn sure

Yes, I think you help me find my way

They ask if I think of you,

Every day I do, every day I do

Every day

But I’m living a good life, I’m living a fine life,

I’m living the sweetest roses and wine life

And I know you’re near me

I hope you can hear me

I hope you can see into this life

Keeping track of time, keeping up on the climb,

Do you need me to tell and show or do you already know?

I always think of you, somehow it helps to get me through

I hope that you’re listening to this song

I’ll give you all the news, your memory will be my muse

And I’ll probably go on too long

I wish I had answers to cure all the cancers,

To give all the chancers their own say

Just know that I think of you

Everyday I do, everyday I do

Everyday

I’m living a good life, I’m living a fine life,

I’m living the sweetest roses and wine life

I found my true love, the one who I dreamed of

I hope you’re above us

I hope you can see us

Living a good life,

Living a fine life,

Living the sweetest roses and wine life

And I know you’re near me

I hope you can hear me

I hope you can see into this life

Susan Greenbaum - This Life

Be Grateful, Even In Your Affliction

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I love the line from Ray Wylie Hubbard...

"The days that I keep my gratitude higher than my expectations, I have really good days!"

Ralphie 

He's Not So Far Away

When I look in the mirror I see my dad's face
Where my face used to be
Then I realize that he was about my age
When he started his own family
Then my radicalism, all my college Marxism
Starts drifting on out to deep sea
When I look in the mirror and I see my dad's face
Where my face used to be


When I was a kid I used to look at my dad
And I'd say, "This is who I am not."
He used Bryl-Creem, I used hair spray
He was fat, I was skinny
He drank beer, I smoked pot
But now my feet are disappearing beneath an ocean of beer
And not so mysteriously
When I look at my face I see in its place
My dad's physiognomy

 I used to look at my friends, they looked fifty years older
Some nights when I'd get too stoned
That's when I believed time was a visible line
With its end and beginning both shown
Now I know that's not true
But I've still got an idea pretty much of what I can expect
When I look in the mirror and I see my dad's mug
Sitting there right on top of my neck


Well, my dad had it rough, he couldn't keep his true love
He never reached his sought-after perfection
So as I headed down my own life's road
I headed straight in the other direction
Now, when I turn around, he's not so far away
And we're on the same road, I can see
When I look in the mirror and I see my dad's face
Where my face used to be


5 Chinese Brothers - My Dad's Face

These Little Victories

Friday night alone
And callin' everyone you know
Your reach for the cigarattes
You gave up long ago
You wanna go get drunk somewhere
Turn it off and just not care
For a little while
Your runnin over what went wrong
For the hundredth time today
You wonder if another thought
Will ever take its place
You're feeling like you're trapped inside
Your own bad dream
One that's never gonna end
 
But here's the funny thing
My friend
 
You feel like you're gonna die
But you don't
You think that the world
Will stop
But it won't
And it's the darndest thing I know
The sun comes up
It's another day
And your heart still beats
And you say
Hey
I'm still breathing
Take it from me
These little victories
Are all a heart needs
 
The photographs you tore in half
Are scattered on the floor
Letter where he swore
His love means nothing anymore
You can't imagine how to get from here to there
But one day you'll know where to start
That's the power of the heart
 
You feel like you're gonna die
But you don't
You think that the world will stop
But it won't
And it's the darndest thing I know
The sun comes up
It's another day
And your heart still beats
And you say
Hey
I'm still breathing
Take it from me
These little victories
Are all a heart needs.
 
The dog still barks
And your shower is hot
And you burn your hand on the coffee pot
So like it or not
Gotta say 
Hey
I'm still breathing
Take it from me
These little victories
Are all a heart needs.


 Blue Sky Riders - Little Victories

No, I Am...

I am the strongest man alive

That might sound like idle boasting, but I have no need to lie

I have lived through storms and tempest not another soul survived

I am the strongest man alive

I have carried burdens heavier than human tongue can tell

I’ve travelled distances untold, been forth and back through Hell

I’ve endured the very worst that man and nature could provide

I am the strongest man alive

I have fought in many battles, though I have not won them all

It’s a miracle this bruised and battered body breathes at all,

Oh they say a cat has nine lives, well I’ve lived through four or five,

I am the strongest man alive

I have cheated death a thousand times, that foul and greedy thief,

But I’ve buried many comrades, which has brought me endless grief,

I alone live on while all around my friends and loved ones die

I am the strongest man alive

It’s the mental anguish that’s the worst of all the pain I’ve had

Where other men have gone insane, I’m only slightly mad

And still I bleed I breath I weep through times I’ve wished to die

I am the strongest man alive

Although I am earth’s strongest man, I’m not immune to death

There’s a motive for each motion, a purpose for each breath

For without your true and lasting love I would not,

Could not

Survive

Although I am the strongest man alive

David Bromberg - The Strongest Man Alive

How Dark Is It?

In The Dark you can sometimes hear your own heart beat
Or the heart of the one next to you
The house settles down after holding itself up all day
Shoulder slumps, gives a big sigh
You hear no one's foot fall in the hall
That drip in the kitchen sink markin' time
June bug on the window screen can't get in but he keeps on tryin'
One way or another we're all in The Dark

Fireflies, sparks, lightning, stars
Campfires, the moon, headlights on cars
The Northern Lights and The Milky Way
You can't see that stuff in the day
When the earth turns its back on the sun
The stars come out and the planets start to run around
Now they call that day is done
But really it's just getting started
Some folks take comfort in that

And how dark is it
It's too dark for goblins
And how dark is it
It's so dark you can smell the moon
How dark is it
It's so dark the wind gets lost
How dark is it
It's so dark the sky's on fire
How dark is it
It's so dark you can see Ft. Worth from here

 Guy Clark - The Dark

Mercy Now

My father could use a little mercy now
The fruits of his labor fall and rot slowly on the ground
His work is almost over it won't be long, he won't be around
I love my father, he could use some mercy now

My brother could use a little mercy now
He's a stranger to freedom, he's shackled to his fear and his doubt
The pain that he lives in it's almost more than living will allow 

I love my bother, he could use some mercy now

My church and my country could use a little mercy now
As they sink into a poisoned pit it's going to take forever to climb out
They carry the weight of the faithful who follow them down 

I love my church and country, they could use some mercy now

Every living thing could use a little mercy now
Only the hand of grace can end the race 
Towards another mushroom cloud
People in power, they'll do anything to keep their crown
I love life and life itself could use some mercy now

Yeah, we all could use a little mercy now
I know we don't deserve it but we need it anyhow
We hang in the balance dangle 'tween hell and hallowed ground
And every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now
Every single one of us could use some mercy now

Mary Gauthier - Mercy Now

Blind Luck

Here comes Blind Luck swingin’ his cane,

I wonder what he’s gonna try and pull today,

He’s always got a few tricks up his sleeve,

I’ve seen him pull a few tricks you wouldn’t believe

Here comes Blind Luck calling your name

He’s got a new set of rules to a brand new game

He’s gonna make an offer that you can’t refuse

He has a way of knowing who’s got something to lose

You can hedge your bets, or you can play the odds,

Deal with the devil or go with God

It’s anybody’s game, when the wheel starts to spin,

Somebody’s gonna lose, somebody else wins

Now here comes Blind Luck, he’s your long lost friend

When the stakes are right he’s always back again

Tappin’ on your shoulder while you wait your turn,

Standing’ in your corner when there’s money to burn,

So you bet it all on the black 13,

Then you close your eyes and you start to dream

Of a brand new chance in a far off town,

Then your hands start shakin’ as the wheel slows down

So here comes Blind Luck in his new pair of shades,

A pocketful of money somebody else made,

A new white suit and a French silk tie,

He’s crossin’ against the traffic with his head held high,

All the evidence points to providence,

But your common sense says coincidence,

When the deal goes down

And the lost are found

Whether you win or lose,

That’s the Blind Luck blues

Peter Case - Blind Luck

Sometimes The Darkness Is Your Friend

Sunset is an angel weeping
Holding out a bloody sword
No matter how I squint I cannot
Make out what it's pointing toward
Sometimes you feel like you live too long
Days drip slowly on the page
You catch yourself
Pacing the cage

I've proven who I am so many times
The magnetic strip's worn thin
And each time I was someone else
And every one was taken in
Powers chatter in high places
Stir up eddies in the dust of rage
Set me to pacing the cage

I never knew what you all wanted
So I gave you everything
All that I could pillage
All the spells that I could sing
It's as if the thing were written
In the constitution of the age
Sooner or later you'll wind up
Pacing the cage

Sometimes the best map will not guide you
You can't see what's round the bend
Sometimes the road leads through dark places
Sometimes the darkness is your friend
Today these eyes scan bleached-out land
For the coming of the outbound stage
Pacing the cage
Pacing the cage 

Bruce Cockburn - Pacing The Cage

If There's One Thing That I've Learned From All This Living...

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you.
All you can do is stalk them and hope they panic and give in.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just assholes.

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust,
and it only takes suspicion, not proof, to destroy it.

I've learned that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes.
After that, you'd better have a big willy or huge boobs.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to others -
 they are more screwed up than you think.

I've learned that you can keep vomiting long after you think you're finished.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, unless we are celebrities.

I've learned that regardless of  how hot and steamy a relationship is at first,
the passion fades, and there had better be a lot of money to take its place!

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon,
and all the less important ones just never go away. 

Blues Don't Care

Blues don’t care if you’re young or old, a real big deal or some poor soul. 
Makes no different if you’re wrong or right, blues will track you down, it’s gonna pick a fight. 
Blues don’t care, blues don’t care. I know, cause I’ve had my share.

It’ll creep up on you when you least expect, make the hair stand up on the back of your neck, 
Try to run but there ain’t no escape, it’s a middle finger on the hand of fate,
Blues ain’t fair,  I know, cause I’ve had my share.

You can buy insurance, try to ease your mind, lock up your woman and hide your wine, 
Bury your money in the cold hard ground, but the blues are gonna get you some way, somehow. 
Blues don’t care, no blues don’t care. 

I know, yes y’all, cause I really had my share.

Blues Don't Care - Buddy Guy

It's Not The End Of The World

Into this pitch darkness we're hurled
Where there's not a glimmer of light
It's not the end of the world
It's just the middle of the night

And the blackest of flags is unfurled
In all this absence of light
It's not the end of the world good people
Merely the middle of the night

The middle of the night that's what this is
If death is the real test this is just a quiz
When grey creeps through your window it will be day light
The end of this darkness is almost in sight

Into a ball of fear you are curled
And you're holding on with all of your might
But it's not the end of the world little sister
It's just the middle of the night

In the maelstrom of your mind you are swirled
You're almost down the drain but not quite
It's not the end of the world my brother
Rather the middle of the night

The middle of the night when you fear everything
But the birds will awake soon you will hear them sing
You doubted you'd make it not sure you'd survive
Now you're dead tired you're still alive

Around fate's fickle finger we're twirled
Small wonder we're all so up tight
But it's not the end of the world good people
Merely the middle of the night
No it's not the end of the world as we know it
It's just the middle of the night

The Middle Of The Night - Loudon Wainwright III

I Don't Like Surprises

Boy, I'd hate living there...

God Speaks

I truly believe that God speaks to us in many ways...He often speaks to me through music and lyrics...at the appropriate moment, some song will sing some lyric that speaks to a worry or a joy that is on my heart...it happens quite often and it always makes me smile...that's how I know its a message from God, because it makes me smile and gives me hope.

Sometimes, though, when we least expect, some message will come out of the least likely of places.

A couple weeks ago I was working early in the morning at my second job, cleaning the bathrooms at our church in Felton, when I got a message from God that was just for me!

In the women's restroom there are those little boxes in the stalls with the wax paper bags inside for depositing used feminine hygene products. I peek inside those everyday, because you reeeaaaallly don't want to leave those unattended for too long!

On this particular morning I peered in and saw that there was indeed something in one of those bags...I could tell it was just some paper trash that someone had put in there. I knew Kids Club had met at church that day and I figured some child, not knowing what that box was for, had thrown some trash in there. When I took it out and looked, I found it contained a pew envelope, the kind for putting money in when making an offering.

On the back outside flap of the envelope, written in a child's writing, it said: "There is a special message for you from God inside..."

I flipped it open, and on the inside flap, in the same child's writing it said: "God Thinks You Are Nice"

I stared at it a little stunned for a moment, taking it all in...and then I smiled, chuckled and gave thanks!

I gave thanks not just because it's good to know that God, whom I think is nice, also thinks that I am nice...but because I knew that message was intended for me and me alone!

After all, brothers and sisters,  I am the only one who would ever be looking in that little receptacle!

Ralphie

I Hope I Hope

If I wasn't all you wanted
If I wasn't even close
Only hope that I made you smile
Maybe more than once in a while

If you never felt the blessing
If you only made it through
I only hope that I made you smile
Maybe more than once in a while

If we sleep right through the ending
If we slowly fade away
I'll only hope I went that extra mile
Maybe more than once in a while

I only hope that i made you smile
maybe more than once in a while
maybe more than once in a while

Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson -  Once In Awhile

Someday

I was born by a river, but it was paved with cement
Yeah I was born by a river, but it was paved with cement
Still I stand out in that old dry river, and wish that I was soaking wet

Someday it’s gonna rain, someday it’s gonna pour
Someday this old dry river, it well, won’t be dry anymore

I played in the orange groves, ’til they bulldozed the trees
I played in the orange groves, ’til they bulldozed down all the trees
Now I stand out in those dead stumps, and I smell the blossoms on the leaves

Someday it’s gonna rain, someday it’s gonna pour
Someday those old dead trees, won’t be dead anymore

I fell in love with a woman, but she did not love me
Well, I fell in love with you baby, but you did not love me
Now I’m as dry as that old river, and I’m as dead as those old trees

Someday it’s gonna rain, someday it’s gonna pour
Someday this old heart of mine’s gonna fall in love once more

Someday it’s gonna rain, someday it’s gonna pour
Someday this old dry river, it won’t be dry anymore

Dave Alvin - Dry River

Hmmm...What A Concept!

Watch This

At Least...

Rise and shine from the bed 

Let the coffee clear the cobwebs from my head 

Kiss my wife and wake the children down the hall 

Can't help thinking it's amazing
That I'm even here at all

Every step's a miracle and every breath's a gift 

So I wear a smile and grateful prayer upon my lips 

Tomorrow is a mystery, so I believe I'll take 

A couple hundred miracles today

If I wait for sign 

There's a risk of missing out on what is mine 

So my feet keep steady rhythm on the ground 

There's no wrong way, there's no right way
There's just one more time around

Every step's a miracle and every breath's a gift 

So I wear a smile and grateful prayer upon my lips
Tomorrow's just a mystery, so I believe I'll take 

A couple hundred miracles today

Every step's a miracle and every breath's a gift 

So I wear a smile and grateful prayer upon my lips
Tomorrow's still a mystery, so I believe I'll take 

A couple thousand miracles today 

Every step's a miracle, so I believe I'll take 

A couple thousand miracles today'

A COUPLE HUNDRED MIRACLES (Will Kimbrough/Irene Kelley)

I'm Trying

I try to travel around with less and less
Tried them all and the simple way is the way that's best
I save a lot of time not havin' to choose
What color shirt I wear or which pair of shoes

I don't need the guitar to sing my song
Wherever I land, I'll always get along

I've been up and down the road a time or two I guess
Now I try and travel around with less and less

I had a woman once, she was not my wife
I took a long detour on the road of life
I carried that weight and almost broke my back
I nearly lost the ones I loved getting' back on track

Wasted lots of time and I still feel the pain
Made a vow that I won't go through that again

I've been up and down the road a time or two I guess
Now I try to travel around with less and less

Coffee in the mornin', a little wine at night
A meal somewhere in the middle I think I'll be alright
I've got my pride, I got a smile to greet the day
I got a friend or two to help me through when I lose my way

Don't need the guitar to sing my song
Wherever I land, I'll always get along

I've been up and down the road a time or two I guess
Now it's time to travel around with less and less
I've been up and down the road a time or two I guess
Now I try to travel around with less and less

Tim O'Brien  Less & Less

Betwixt And Between

Someday my baby, when I am a man,
and others have taught me
the best that they can
they'll sell me a suit
they’ll cut off my hair
and send me to work in tall buildings

So it's goodbye to the sunshine
goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers
and goodbye to you
I'm off to the subway
I must not be late
I’m going to work in tall buildings

When I’m retired
My life is my own
I made all the payments
it's time to go home
and wonder what happened
betwixt and between
when I went to work in tall buildings

So it's goodbye to the sunshine
goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers
and goodbye to you
I'm off to the subway
I must not be late
I’m going to work in tall buildings

So it's goodbye to the sunshine
goodbye to the dew
goodbye to the flowers
and goodbye to you
I'm off to the subway
I must not be late
I’m going to work in tall buildings

John Hartford  In Tall Buildings 

Hello In There

We had an apartment in the city,
Me and Loretta liked living there.
Well, it'd been years since the kids had grown,
A life of their own left us alone.
John and Linda live in Omaha,
And Joe is somewhere on the road.
We lost Davy in the Korean war,
And I still don't know what for, don't matter anymore.
 
Chorus:
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."
 
Me and Loretta, we don't talk much more,
She sits and stares through the back door screen.
And all the news just repeats itself
Like some forgotten dream that we've both seen.
Someday I'll go and call up Rudy,
We worked together at the factory.
But what could I say if he asks "What's new?"
"Nothing, what's with you? Nothing much to do."
 
Repeat Chorus:
Ya' know that old trees just grow stronger,
And old rivers grow wilder ev'ry day.
Old people just grow lonesome
Waiting for someone to say, "Hello in there, hello."

So if you're walking down the street sometime
And spot some hollow ancient eyes,
Please don't just pass 'em by and stare
As if you didn't care, say, "Hello in there, hello."


John Prine   "Hello In There"

I Feel It!

There's a feeling in music and it carries you back down the road you have traveled and makes you travel it again. Or it takes you back down the road somebody else has come and you can look out across the world from the hill they are standing on. 

Sometimes when I hear music I think back over my days - and a feeling that is fifty-fifty joy and pain swells like clouds taking all kinds of shape in my mind - If it is joy it is of such a treasured sort and such a fine make that the thought of its passing is near to pain - and you can see how pain has paid you a profit in its own strange way - and the joy of the sadness is like a raindrop falling in the sun.

Music is on the radio - I notice that as I listen, I think of my mistakes, ill words, wasted time, and the next note I think of who I love and who I hate, and the success I've had at both, and of my tomorrow's chances. And I feel like a singing god riding on a cloud snapping my fingers and ruling a universe.

Music is a tone of voice, the sound life uses to keep the living alive. They call us back many times a day from the brinks of torture - the holes of superstition. There never was a sound that was not music - there's no real trick of creating words to set to music - once you realize that the word is the music and the people are the song. 

There's A Feeling In Music
Words by Woody Guthrie, 

Excerpt from Woody Guthrie diary entry written on 3/16/1942