Lyrics
  

Mama Went To Arkansas

 

Mama went to Arkansas

Many long years ago

Daddy got in his car 

Went looking for her you know

 

Mary Jean was my girl

I asked her to be my wife

But she left to see the world

She wanted a different life

 

I used to watch the sun go down

But now I don't see it so much

I ramble all around this town

Drinking and cursing my luck

 

Sometimes I get to feeling wild

Sometimes I just want to run

Been haunted since I was a child

Thinking about what daddy done

 

Mama went to Arkansas

Many long years ago

Daddy got in his car

Went looking for her you know

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: Drums, vocal

Lou Ann Bardash: Vocal
 

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Cool Daddy

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Richard's in the big house sinking like a stone

His baby's on the street trying to make it alone

I'm working this highway out on parole

I see all the new Young Turks come and go

Cool daddy

Well look out mama here comes

 

I grew up in this town the part they call the east

On the other side of the interstate nobody has to see us

We fight and we scratch sometimes we hurt each other

Then they blame our fathers and they blame our mothers

Cool daddy

Well look out mama here comes

 

Well Richard couldn't take it he got caught one night

With a little bit of crack you know they locked him up tight

Now a rich boy can do coke and they call it a youthful mistake

A poor boy does it the judge says "son that's four to eight" 

Cool daddy

Well look out mama here comes 

 

I'm going to find Richard's baby gonna try to get her clean

Ain't going to feed her no bullshit about no American dream

Cause those lies don't mean nothing down here on these streets no more

We already know who we're really slaves for

Cool daddy

Well look out mama here comes

Cool daddy

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, percussion, harp

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: Cymbal, maracas, B3, paper (yellow)

 

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Let My Spirit Fly

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I fell out of bed in some old hotel

Seen my clothes thrown all over the place

I looked at my reflection but it was no help

So I slapped cold water upon my face

 

Baby don't you weep

Honey don't you cry

Just bury me deep

And let my spirit fly

 

I caught a train over to Jersey town

Me and my friend Django trying to make something pay

I found some work throwing concrete down

But I hadn't eaten all morning and I didn't last a day

 

I went out west to California 

All the way down to that cold Pacific shore

I met me a girl she gave me the blues

Left me standing like a vagabond outside her door

 

I'm going to take a ride down to the Alamo

I want to see that place where Davy Crockett fell

I don't care about no sprawling city

I just want to hear one more time the ringing of the bells

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp, mandolin

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: B3

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I See You There

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I see you there

Night falling down

Across that mighty ocean

Other side of this town

 

I see you there

On these haunted streets

Surrounded by fools 

Hypocrites at your feet

 

I see you there

In some smoky room

Dancing out your heart

For the merchants of doom

 

I see you there

Shadows on the wall

Slipping through the darkness

Footsteps down the hall

 

I see you there

On some hotel bed

Loving all of the loveless

Weeping for the dead

 

I see you there 

Face growing pale

In the morning light 

Where ships use to sail

 

I see you there 

Climbing those stairs

Needle in your arm

Tangles in your hair

 

I see you there

Standing in some door

Thinking about somebody

You've never seen no more

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp

Mark Andes: Bass

 

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Dark Road

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Woke one morning 

in the afternoon

Woman in my arms 

had left too soon

I cross the floor 

to the windowsill 

I watched a storm 

rising over the hill

I felt a chill 

running through my bones

Now it's a dark road 

I'm traveling on

 

So much has changed 

since the start

Matters of conscience 

matters of the heart

I've seen starvation 

I've spied the feast

I've been with an angel 

I've been beaten by the beast

I stood in the desert 

beneath the windblown sun

Now it's a dark road 

I'm traveling on

 

How to relate 

time gone by

How to put down in words 

what escapes the eye

How to express 

a single thought

How to walk free 

without being caught

How to make peace 

with the great unknown

Now it's a dark road 

I'm traveling on

 

Now I ask you please 

tell me what's left

Eyes going blind 

ears going deaf

You stand in the city 

take another shot of booze

You meet another woman who says 

"Mister, tell me what it is I got to lose"

 

Throw away the key to that door

I don't think she'll be back no more

Love is love and flesh is flesh

It makes us whole

it makes us a wretch

I guess it's the deal 

for the damage done

Now it's a dark road 

I'm traveling on

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp

Robert McEntee: Electric Guitar

Mark Andes: Bass
 

 

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Sixth Avenue

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She once was a true love of mine

She once shined a light in my heart

But it been a long time 'til one night

We met as strangers in the dark

 

Lord how many years, how many tears

How many crosses on the road to Calvary

Before the night brings us peace

Before the day we are free

 

She called out my name said, "How ya doing"

I said, "I'm still kind of ramblin' round"

She stepped from the shadows I saw a painted face 

Of a working girl on the town

 

We stood in silence as the night rushed by

I knew there was nothing I could do or say

She touched my cheek smiled one last time

And I watched her slowly walk away

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp

Mark Andes: Bass

 

 

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Underground Train

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Seen two lovers

Out on a bridge

One said to the other

"You don't know what love is"

 

Underground train 

Rolling away

Please bring my baby 

Back someday

 

Went to see Marie

Just the other night

She took one look at me

Said "Boy you ain't right"

 

Went to park

Heard the drums

Picked up a guitar

I began to strum

 

Hand me down that bottle 

Hand me down that joint

Can't see tomorrow 

Can't see the point

 

Underground train

Underground train

Underground train

Underground train

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: Drums

Lou Ann Bardash: vocal

 

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Meeting On the Road

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Mister can you tell me 

how long has it been?

You see I have been gone 

and I can't remember when

A time when we were young, 

a time when we were free

A time I did not know 

my fate and destiny

 

Are the cities still golden? 

Do the temples still stand?

Do the prophets still wander 

across this ravaged land?

Are the rich men still greedy? 

Do the young men fight and die? 

Are the children still hungry? 

Do their mamas weep and cry?

 

Do you think she will remember 

when I stand outside her door?

Or am I just among the number 

who have walked across her floor?

You see I once loved her 

but I had to let her fall

For in my darkest hour 

I heard my father call

 

So mister can you tell me 

how long has it been?

You see I have been gone 

and I can't remember when

A time when we were young, 

a time when we were free

A time I did not know 

my fate and destiny

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: Octave Mando, tablas

Lou Ann Bardash: Vocal

 

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Living In This Town

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Evening shadows fall over me

Was it glimpse of regret 

or just a memory?

I bow my head, 

I close my eyes

And try to remember 

a time gone by

Was it in my heart? 

Was it in my mind?

Or was it somewhere 

down the line?

Well I don't know 

what I 'm trying to say

I've let so many things slip away

 

I see the headlines, 

I hear the news

Outright lies, 

celebrity fools

Ain't it strange 

how we don't believe

The naked truth 

that we all see

Pointed fingers, 

desperate threats

Vulgar voices 

and tragic deaths

Manipulate the young, 

rip off the old

Money is everything 

so we're told

 

I seen you baby 

just the other day

With a friends child 

I watched you play

I wanted to scream, 

I wanted to cry

But all I could do 

was tell you hi

Fallen angels, 

fallen curls

There's so much beauty 

still in this world

It's a rotten shame 

all the things we've done

On this road to kingdom come

 

Now the moon is high, 

the sun is low

I'm looking at the lights 

of the city below

I know the game 

I had my chance

But I just couldn't play 

or do that dance

 

Faded pictures, faded dreams

Nothing is ever quite what it seems

I'm sorry baby if I've let you down

I know you ain't happy living in this town

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar, harp

Mark Andes: Bass
 

 

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The Night I Saw the Devil

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The night I saw the devil

A tempest was on the rise

All seemed lost

I got ready to die

I screamed "Take me, take me

Don't forsake me to this pain"

The wind just continued to howl

I was tortured by the rain

 

In the dark a woman's face

A face that I knew

In desperation I reached a hand 

But it was too far too few

I clung to myself 

Watched rivers flood

Darkness was everywhere

Rain had turned to blood

 

A child was thrown 

Against a tree

I looked on with the horror

Of a man set free

A voice sounded behind me

It shook my body to its bones

"You are not by yourself" it said

"You are only on your own"

 

"Is this the price?" I shouted

"All these corpses that lie before me

Spare them their souls

And I'll come willingly"

I turned to face the devil

Looked him in the eye

Fell down on my knees

And I commenced to cry

 

For what seemed like forever

I cannot recall how long

All senses were lost 

Yet the nightmare took form

I saw all was real 

Yet nothing took shape

I saw faces from long ago

And I seen my own pathetic fate

I ran until the forest

Until the desert was left behind

Until the sea vanished

Until there was nothing but time

In the grayness of this vacuum

Great bells started to ring

And somewhere down the road

I heard a lonesome choir sing 

 

Gypsies danced around the fire

As human sweat cursed

And twelve apostles waited

For that long black Hearst

Yet this was not enough

For death brings no pity

Not under sunless light

Where we all eventually meet

So I ran once more

Against hurricane force winds

Not knowing, not caring

Who loses or who winds

I crumbled to the ground beaten

For there were no more doors

I drifted off into oblivion

And I came to on a concrete floor

Saw two tortured eyes

Heard a haunted twisted voice

It said "Take me, take me into life

It is your only choice"

I watched this flesh like image

And I thought I saw eternity

"No more, no more" I cried

"I now know what I see"

 

I awakened in hunger

In the coolness of the dawn

Lifted my eyes without fear

For I knew the devil would be gone

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic slide guitar, harp

Robert McEntee: Electric guitar

Mark Andes: Bass

Mark Hallman: Bongos

Lou Ann Bardash: Vocal
 

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I Got A Feeling For You

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Moon is on the river

River's on the edge

I'm standing in this darkness

Standing on the ledge

Watching city lights

Shining red, white and blue

I got a feeling babe

I got a feeling for you

 

Been walking down these streets

Rambling down the road

Looking for shelter

Everywhere I go

People can be kind

People can be so cruel

I got a feeling babe

I got feeling for you

 

I heard a lover whisper

I heard a soldier cry

On a train from Glasgow

One time I had to ride

I looked out the window

Felt myself passing through

I got a feeling babe

I got a feeling for you

 

This world is turning 

Changing by degrees 

But where it's going

Don't matter much to me

It's just another game

Honey it's nothing new

I got a feeling babe 

I got a feeling for you

 

Now the dawn is breaking

Somewhere in the east

A man gave his life 

For love and for peace

After all is said and done

Honey what else can we do

I got feeling babe

I got a feeling for you

 

Well if you want to find me

I'll tell you where I'll be

Down at the end 

Of some lonely street

I'll be playing this guitar

Honey like I always do

I got a feeling babe

I got a feeling for you

 

Tom Ovans: Vocal, acoustic guitar
 

 

All songs written by Tom Ovans

C & P 2000 Tom Ovans/Bug Music

BMI

 

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