Skillets     MP3 - 2.4mb    print version

Billy was living in a boxcar…he had it fixed up nice
Round about midnight came a roll of thunder like a roll of the dice
Down came a blinding flash of light
Billy dashed out into the night
The camp was covered with ashes and the hoboes were pale with fright
And then, a stranger did appear
Dangerously near

Where had she come from? Billy could not imagine
Might have been a dream, might've been the Cherokee Beauty Pageant
Billy's temples started to pound
He mumbled, he fumbled, he felt like a clown
His world came tumbling down all around him when she frowned
And then, as only a fee-on-say can
That girl held out her hand…and

      How those vows rolled off his tongue
      How those vows rolled off of Billy's tongue
      Now let that hobo wedding song be sung
      And the skillets be loudly rung

Billy's wedding was a truly grand affair
Every West Coast Hobo King was there
Cisco sang his compositions
Leo stated his position
Hopalong got high and started wishin' they could all hit the trail
But the girl said, "No more shall my Billy ride the rail
For this bride sees through her veil"

Billy found a cabin far from town…it was a cozy little place
Cisco and Leo would bring wild roses and the girl would put 'em in a vase
Cisco said "Billy, you're a lucky snake"
As the girl brought out a devil's food cake
And when the whistle would blow at midnight and Billy would start to shake
The girl would whisper "Never mind that train…
Come here, Billy, let's make it rain"

      How those vows rolled off his tongue
      How those vows rolled off of Billy's tongue
      Now let that hobo wedding song be sung
      And the skillets be loudly rung

moonlight & snow       MP3 - 2.7mb       print version

moonlight & snow my love is sleeping
& my dreams are of her
as I sit in the window
& wish I was there asleep at her side

moonlight & snow my love is dreaming
& her dreams are of another
but I sit in the window
& wish I was there asleep at her side

moonlight & snow my love is for nothing
& my dreams are my own
as I sit in the window
& wish I was there asleep at her side

Salt         MP3 - 2.1mb           print version

Cannot raise my coffee to my lips, Mary Ann
Because the sea is tossing in her bed.
She rises and she falls just like your hips, Mary Ann
When I laid you down in your bridal gown on the night that we were wed.

Our boat is like a moth caught on the waves, Mary Ann
It struggles, but it just cannot advance.
The sea's a lonely widow, and a man is what she craves
It's useless to refuse when she asks you to dance.

      Lying on my back in my cradle
      Rolling first to starboard, then to port
            I must stay calm
            I read my palm
      The lines do not look fatal
      Is this the hand
      Of a man
      Whose life will be cut short?

Sailors say that on a Christmas day, Mary Ann
Waves like mountains suddenly appeared.
The boat went round in circles not one mile from the land
And the fragile hull it sang that lullaby every sailor fears.

They say that when he leapt there was a smile on Michael's face
They say he sang a love song as he plunged into the storm.
The sea grew tender as a girl and wrapped him in her embrace
And the ship rushed to the bay the way a child seeks his mother's arms.

      Lying on my back in my cradle
      Rolling first to starboard, then to port
            I must stay calm
            I read my palm
      The lines do not look fatal
      Is this the hand
      Of a man
      Whose life will be cut short?

How I wish that I were home with you, Mary Ann
In the saddle on my strawberry roan.
But I am lost upon the ocean blue, Mary Ann
Far from fields and cattle, with a rattle in my bones.

The Book of Regrets       print version

Is our ace of diamonds love going to last?
Our friends are placing heavy bets.
One good winning streak could pay back the past...
Honey, let's not read the Book of Regrets.

Jack takes his troubles with him, stuffed in a sack,
Each one counting as a debt.
He's bent over double by that weight on his back...
Honey, let's not read the Book of Regrets.

      Each chapter does not need to be discussed,
      Let the page turn over by itself.
      Those stacks of love letters are better off just
      Gathering dust on the shelf.

Fifteen miles ago the sky was so black,
And the rolling thunder posed a threat.
Now the voice on the radio sings "Never Look Back"...
Honey, let's not read the Book of Regrets.