
STILL IN THIS WORLD 2001
Song List
Mama Went To Arkansas
Cool Daddy
Let My Spirit Fly
I See You There
Dark Road
Sixth Avenue
Underground Train
Meeting On The Road
Living In This Town
The Night I Saw The Devil
I Got A Feeling For You

Credits
Produced by Tom Ovans & Mark Hallman
Executive Producer: Lou Ann Bardash
Recorded, mixed, and mastered by Mark Hallman
At The Congress House, Austin, TX
October 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 2000
Assistant engineer - Ned Stewart
Photography & artwork -
Design - Joe Montgomery
Words & Music by Tom Ovans © & Ⓟ 2000 (BMI)
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
Cool Daddy
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)
Let My Spirit Fly
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
I See You There
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
Dark Road
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
Sixth Avenue
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
Underground Train
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
Meeting On the Road
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
Living In This Town
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
The Night I Saw the Devil
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
I Got A Feeling For You
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