WAITING
TO ARRIVE ©September/2001WAITING
TO ARRIVE ©September/2001
1) Slip Away
©Don Bray & David Leask/2001
There's a great big sea outside the window
Footsteps on the shore
My father used to live here
Doesn't anymore
There's a lonely line at the horizon
Cold and hard and wrong
Like the one drawn between us
Long before he'd gone
And CHO: those days slip away
As I mourn the mistakes I have made
That let those days slip away
And I will never have those times again
His picture's on the mantle
Smile upon his face
Staring out at me like
Time has been erased
And I should have written him some letters
Settled on some words
Said with much emotion
What needed to be heard
But CHO:…
BRIDGE:
My old sneakers in his closet
That old bike I left behind
So many ways I left him
No way back that I can find
There's a telephone out in the kitchen
Waiting on the wall
Right now I'd love to hear him
It's far too late to call
CHO:…
2) Blessed To
Be Blind ©Don Bray & J.K. Gulley/2001
She said yes
It was the beginning of their life together
No wedding dress
Was needed to confirm their forever
Had she known what was in store for them
She might never have dared to begin
Dare she did
Sometimes it's blessed to be blind
She said yes
When he told her not to cry, I'm leaving
And his request
nearly shattered all those years, spent believing
Had she known what was in store for them
She might never have cared to begin
Care she did
Sometimes it's blessed to be blind
Every yes was just the way she opened up herself
to
Every gift she found and every loss that she ran into
A solemn promise to herself that she would always get through
Following her heart
She said yes when she found that she would
bear his daughter
No regrets
She found joy in what her faith had brought her
Had she known what was in store for them
She might never have learned to begin
Begin she did
Sometimes it's blessed to be blind
And that's the way
Sometimes it's blessed to be blind
3) Our Own Voice
© Don Bray/2001
When my father was a young man
He got high on LSD
He saw God and found his calling
What worked for him worked for him
It didn't work for me
When I was young my old man beat me
With his belt over his knee
And I'm sure he did it 'cause he loved me ya ya
What worked for him worked for him
It didn't work for me
CHO:And we hum the hymns of our fathers
And we wail them blues of our mothers' choice
But we don't become who we're meant to become
Until we sing our own songs with our own voice
Until we sing our own songs with our own voice
Now my father was a good man
At least I think he tried to be
But one man's goodness is another's sorrow
What worked for him worked for him
It didn't work for me
CHO:
Ah my old man (Amen)
4) Who's Counting
©Don Bray/2001
She's got her suitcase on the floor it's half empty
Or maybe half way full I'm no longer sure
She's had the damn thing out and open
For days of tears and hoping
But who's counting anymore
She's been talking on the phone to all her
girlfriends
Commiseration oozes in the air
If misery was money
We'd be rolling in it honey
But who's counting anymore
Who gets the bed
Who gets the pillows
How do we tear apart the past
Trying to carry on
Like nothing's been and gone
We tell ourselves nothing lasts
She's got her suitcase at the door my heart
is in it
It is apparent there is nothing I can do
I'm not the first bastard who hurt her
She's had a long line of deserters
But who's counting anymore
There are times when I forget and call out
to her
And it echoes in this space she left behind
I find it difficult confessing
What I've been doing with my blessings
But who's counting anymore
Who's counting anymore
5) Just Her Kind
Of Luck ©Don Bray/1998
Friday night's kicking at the old hotel
Dorothy's stripping and she does it well
Her old man left her without a buck
Oh oh and that's just her kind of luck
That's just her kind of luck
Hotel lights flashing as the snow comes down
Pickup trucks parking it's a tough old town
She tries to get topless but her zipper's stuck
Oh oh and that's just her kind of luck
That's just her kind of luck
CHO:She puts her nose to the grindstone and does what she must
She says too few women find men they can trust
Still she carries on expecting to recieve
Refusing to believe
That's just her kind of luck
The old boys are fighting for a front row chair
A broken beer bottle flies through the air
By now she's naked she don't think to duck
Oh oh and that's just her kind of luck
That's just her kind of luck
CHO:
And a fine young doctor fixes up her head
He has plans for her he isn't wed
Hold me back he says my heart's been struck
Oh oh and that's just her kind of luck
That's just her kind of luck
Hold me back he says my heart's been struck
Oh oh and that's just her kind of luck (repeat)
6) Sure I'll Get Over
You ©Don Bray/1999
I’ll sing again and I will dance
And in good time I’m sure I will romance
Someday soon my heart will soar
And I won’t need you anymore
‘Cuz I’m sure I’ll get over you
The sun will rise just like it should
And I’ll be fine and I’ll be feeling good
The birds will bravely singing fly
And they’ll be singing you goodbye
‘Cause I’m sure I’ll get over you
CHO:I’ll get over you like a worn out shoe
Or a man selling vacuums at the door
I’ll get over you like the Asian Flu
Or a hungry dog coming back for more
‘Cuz I’m sure I’ll get over yo
It won’t be long until I see
The ending to this miser-isery
Pigs will fly the dead will walk
And on the streets the mute will talk
And we’ll get whisky from the rock
And I’ll go free with any luck ‘cuz
I’m sure I’ll get over you
CHO:
I’ll get over you like a worn out shoe
Or a man selling vacuums at the door
I’ll get over you like the Asian Flu
Or that picture of you smiling that I
Accidentally dropped upon the floor
And I’m sure I’ll get over you
7) I'll Be Home Tomorrow
©Don Bray/2000
CHO:It’s all right I’m coming home
I should be there tomorrow
And all these things we do this for
Well surely they will follow
When I get home tomorrow
We’ll walk the dog
Down by the video
She’ll make us laugh
The way only she knows
And you’ll get cold
But that’s all right
‘Cause I’ll be home tomorrowWe’ll do the dishes
That piled up by the sink
I’ll make some wishes
You’ll know just what I think
And I’ll get bold
But that’s all right
‘Cause I’ll be home tomorrow
CHO:
We’ll make our bed
And we will lie in it
I’ll kiss your head
And watch you dream a bit
And we’ll grow old
But that’s all right
That’s all right
‘Cause I’ll be home tomorrow
8) Wrecked This Place
©Don Bray/2000
There’s no spaceship in the wings
Waiting to take us home
We are where we’ve always been just
Sea and soil and bones
And sometimes when the sun is high
And the wind a warm embrace
Well I wonder what we might have been
If we hadn’t wrecked this place
See the children in the street
Look how they play and play
They’re so small so rough so sweet just
Dancing their lives away
And sometimes when my child is near
I can’t look into her face
‘Cuz I wonder what she might have been
If I hadn’t wrecked this place
There is no room for excuse
We’ve done what we have done
We treated such a fragile place
Like a war we could have won
And and if we finally go too far
And disappear without a trace
Well I wonder what we might have been
If we hadn’t wrecked this place
I wonder what we might have been
If we hadn't wrecked this place
9) Paddle Hits The
Blue ©Don Bray/2000
With a warm cup of coffee
As the sun paints the sky
He packs up his old Lincoln
Gets her ready for the ride
In a northern direction
He heads up the highway
On his way to Algonquin
Where he loves to get away
CHO:Where he needs no conversation
To make it through the day
What he sees and what he feels is
Far beyond what he could say
Where the deepest things seem true
Where the paddle hits the blue
He gets knots in his shoulders
The paddle blisters his hands
Still it’s his heart that propels him
Ever further from dry land
Far away he’s safe at home
On his own he’s not alone
He can feel this in his bones
There’s no map for his travel
Every wave holds a new
Mystery to unravel
Where the paddle hits the blue
CHO:
10) No Guarantee
©Don Bray/2001
You know what you need
You could sow that seed
But you’re worried that the soil
Has turned tainted tired and spoiled
And the heart that holds the spade
Might just bury what you’ve made
There’s no guarantee
No guarantee
I know that you can
You’re strong as any man
Only softer when you sleep
Maybe deeper where you’re deep
Surely smart enough to know
That anyway you choose to go
There’s no guarantee
No guarantee
Caught in the headlight
Wondering what’s right
Transfixed by your needs
Waiting for something
To loosen your longing
Maybe someone will set you free
If I had my way
At the end of your day
There’d be no going home alone
No more crying on the phone
No more trying to atone
For that one truth carved in stone
There’s no guarantee
No guarantee
No guarantee
11) Mama Ain't Too
Happy © Don Bray/1999
Rolling 'cross this nation
My only salvation
Is this rusty station wagon I’m alone
No one here beside me
Thinking they can guide me
Hoping they can hide me from these doubts I own
CHO:Momma ain’t too happy that I’m gone
Daddy he’s ecstatic ‘cause it’s been too long
And me I’m only eighteen years running down the road
A vessel for some future that I can’t behold
Going where the road lies
Severing all ties
Stopping off for french fries and a pack of beer
Chatting up the waitress
Try not to be graceless
Chances I have wasted are the things I fear
CHO:
Flying by the fence posts
Going for the left coast
Thinking on the many ghosts I’ve left behind
Using up my juices
Trying to find my muses
Trashing my excuses ‘fore I change my mind
CHO:
12) Not This Road
©Don Bray/2000
It’s not this road I’m on
This path through my illusions
I wouldn’t want someone
To draw the wrong conclusion
It’s not the way the stars align
Though I can plainly see
How some folks might believe that to be
It’s not this empty room
The neon flashing 'Vacancy'
And outside it’s not the moon
Howling through this hole in me
It’s not by choice or by design
Though I can plainly see
How some folks might believe that to be
It’s not this heart that beats
Regardless of intention
Or these eyes that will not meet
The sight of my obsession
It’s not that I’m a shallow man
Though I can plainly see
How some folks might believe
Some folks they believe
Sometimes I believe that to be
13) One Big Mystery
©Don Bray/2001
A gentle hand woke me up
To a morning dark as coal
We caught ourselves an early train
From Louisville to Toronto
My brother there to beat me up
My mother there to ease the pain
And we were off to Canada
To start our lives again
CHO: And all I know
In this world we travel
Under the stars our lives unravel
One big mystery
We just look for love
And being only six years old
That exodus seemed strange
The train kept clicking on toward
Some destiny my folks arranged
And sitting in that window seat
My tender years secured for me
I wondered if some trains get lost
And what my lunch might be
Refrain: We look in all the strangest places
The roar of crowds the lost embraces
And faces where there are no traces anyway
We look where we will never find it
And die a bit when left behind it
And lie a bit, pretending we don’t mind it
That Yankee soil is far behind
I travel different ground
Knowing I’ve been lost far more
Than I’ll ever be found
And sitting in this window seat
Digesting what has passed me by
I’m still that hungry passenger
Just waiting to arrive
CHO:
14) We Don't Die ©Don Bray/2001
We don’t die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in our children’s eyes
We don’t die when we die
He lived his life just like any other man
With a gentle heart and a gentle hand
He loved his family with a heartfelt persistence
He delivered those in need of deliverance
We don’t die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in our grandchildren’s eyes
We don’t die when we die
He had his children and he raised them up right
Straight and strong good and bright
He loved one woman his whole adult life
They had a good one that man and his wife and
We don’t die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in our loved one’s eyes
We don’t die when we die
You can count all his blessings
And the mouths he did feed
The love and devotion he scattered like seed
And the sounds of his laughter and the tears he did shed
We were all left better by the life that he led
We don’t die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in our family’s eyes
We don’t die when we die
We don't die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in our good friend’s eyes
We don’t die when we die
We don't die when we die (times 2)
We carry on in a lifetime of eyes
We don’t die when we die
We don’t die