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Lyrics from Steve’s Stoneway Close CD

 

 

1. The Old Fairgrounds (for Harry)   (Steve Nelson / James Wold)

 

Lately, Harry's been singing in my  memory

We were kind of lost we was both lonely

Remember when he told me 

Life is but a dream

And it's not only everything it seems

It can be perfect

Depending how you work it

 

The circus is still in town

Here's hoping they hang around

Up at the old fairgrounds

It's a drag when the tent comes down

 

Baby, I was high up on the wire I was crazy

You jumped through hoops of fire just to save me

You talk about your moonbeam 

Here you are still shining right into me

I'm thinking that you know 

The way you move me

The way that you undo me

 

(Repeat Chorus--solo)

 

Sadie, sit over here where it's more shady

We'll have us a beer then let's get lazy

Maybe take in main street it certainly has changed 

It's not the same street

Where you got my name

When we were married

And threw 'em back with Harry

 

(Repeat Chorus)

 

© 2010 Nelsounds SESAC / Your Parents Hate My Music SESAC

 

 

 

2. Trains   (Helen Darling / Steve Nelson)

 

Amanda took the morning train

Right on time and in the rain

She played this day out in her mind

A thousand times

 

Bobby whispered to the cold steel tracks

I don't think she's coming back

But men like him they never cry

Or say goodbye

 

The whistle blows in Watertown

It screams right through the grey

And it reminds me when I hear that sound

They were never meant to stay oh

Trains just go that way

 

One time I heard that whistle moan

The day they brought his body home

He'd just left here six months before

For the war

 

Then she came back two weeks ago

And found his stone there in the snow

She left a rose in the freezing rain

Then she was gone on the five-nineteen

 

The whistle blows in Watertown

And it screams right through the grey

It reminds me when I hear that sound

They were never meant to stay no

Trains just go that way

   And it happens every day

Trains just go that way

 

 

©2010 Voices Carry Music BMI / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

3. Back On Trial   (Steve Nelson)

 

I can peel bananas, and I'll eat them too

Roller skate around in this three piece suit 

You make some funny faces and I'll smile at you

Just don't put me back on trial

 

I got a busy monkey business, it’s pretty much full time

Besides I never met this Darwin guy

I hear we're related, that's no fault of mine

Don't put me back on trial

 

Who got all the brains it's plain to see

Back on that monkey chain you jumped right over me

There's times that I'm amazed we're family

But don't get me wrong, I love what you've done with this place

You're all a credit to the human race

1925 in Dayton, Tennessee

Eighty years down, you're still shaking up the tree

From where I hang, you're a bunch of monkeyshines to me 

Don't put me back on trial

 

Okay maybe you're the proof of an intelligent design

Me I'm just a monkey, that never crossed my mind

Let's just keep descending, it could change in time 

Just don't put me back on trial

 

You know who got all the brains it's plain to see

Back on that monkey chain you jumped right over me

There's times when I'm amazed we're family

But don't get me wrong, I love what you've done with this place

   Why let’s all take a bow right now for the human race

You’re beautiful!!

 

 

© 2010 Nelsounds / SESAC

 

 

 

4. Take Me   (Steve Nelson / James Wold)

 

Been in a fog

No telling where to go

Cracks in the cogs

Every thing's turning slow

Slipping into a change of gear

Get us out of here

Get to somewhere where we both can breathe

 

Take me wherever you're going

Take me wake me up when it's all glowing

 

Well it could be tonight

It's all in sight right now

Into the light

I can imagine how

Stepping out of the same gray scene

This is not a dream

There's no waiting if we just proceed

I'm thinking that you

 

Take me wherever you're going

Take me wake me up when it's all glowing

 

(Bridge)

  I’ll go ahead and pack some things

  And bring along a song to sing

       

   Take me wherever you're going

  Take me wake me up when it's all glowing

 

 

© 2010 Nelsounds SESAC / Your Parents Hate My Music SESAC

 

 

 

5. Some Days It Plays Like A Waltz  (Annie Mosher / Steve Nelson)

 

The dreamers, the haters, the anchored, the way wards

All here at humanity's ball

With each song they play us the band creates chaos

Desperation is shaking the walls

Behold this creation, un-civilization

There's times I lose hope for it all

 

Some days it feels like we don't stand a chance

And every step ends with a fall

But then there are days that just ask you to dance

Some days it plays like a waltz

 

Watching the mountain with stars all around

And a three quarter moon keeping time

Here in the stillness the peacefulness fills us

And without a sound it all rhymes

Those halcyon days have all gone on their way

But there's new ones just waiting to shine

 

Some days it feels like we don't stand a chance

And every step ends with a fall

But then there are days that just ask you to dance

Some days it plays like a waltz

 

 

© 2010 Cornflower Music ASCAP / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

6. Weekend In A Coal Mine Town   (Don Henry / Steve Nelson)

 

Hey big sister take me please

I have finished my chores

A buffalo nickel's all I need

Down at the general store

 

Watch the old men sit and pick

Stomping out a mountain song

Chewing on our licorice sticks

As we clog along 

 

Old Blue barks the whistle blows

Daddy will be getting home soon

Black coal dust from head to toe

Smiling bright as the moon

 

Supper's served and momma prays

Lord watch over us all

The Philco glows as Acuff plays

 Wabash Cannonball 

 

Momma's in her sleeping gown

Sewing in the morning light

Patching' up a hand me down

For the big dance tonight

 

While we're playing' hide and seek

They're dancing' on the barnyard deck

Between Old Joe Clark and Cripple Creek

Daddy gave mom a peck 

 

Morning comes the church bell rings

Echoing through the trees

As we sit down, the choir sings

Nearer My God To Thee

 

Preacher preaches 'til we're bored

Daddy says better settle down

Pass the plate and thank the Lord

For a weekend in a coal town

Weekend in a coal mine town

 

 

© 2010 Poppermost Music SESAC / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

7. The Finish Line   (Lisa Aschmann – Steve Nelson)

 

There's a crater off the Yucatan

From a long long time ago 

Seems a six mile wide meteorite

Crashed into Mexico

 

We weren't even chimpanzees

It was just the dinosaurs

And when the dust had settled down

They were gone forevermore

 

Say so yeah that's how it goes

We're just a moment in time

We're running in the human race

And there's the finish line

There’s the finish line

 

An iceberg the size of Minnesota

Just fell into the sea

Which by the way is rising

Not like the global economy 

 

Hey friends Romans and countrymen

We're headed for a fall

We'll probably see the writing

Just as we hit the wall    

 

(Repeat Chorus) 

 

(Bridge)

   Every cockroach is excited

   Every bee's a-buzz

   Peace at last, yeah they're so jazzed

   It'll be the way it was

 

(Repeat Chorus)

 

So say so that's how it goes

We're just a moment in time

   Too many rats here in the race

And there's the finish line

There’s the finish line

 

 

© 2010 Nashville Geographic ASCAP / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

 

8. Falling Off The World   (Leslie Mills / Steve Nelson / Chris Pelcer)

 

Coming up for air from a deep blue feeling

Getting out of here on a slow ride she's gone

She's got all  her bags at the bus stop waiting

Making up her mind and it's goodbye, so long

Don't trace her tracks, no plans to come back

Don't write, don't phone cause she's not home…..she's

 

Falling off the world

The disappearing girl  

Catching her breath doing her very best

Cut herself free gonna be 

Falling off the world

The disappearing girl

Don't look her up, down she's not around you see

She's falling off the world

Picture you and me in a romance movie

Then it fades to black and it's over and done

Heavy on my heart like a force of nature

Gravity's a grip that'll hold on so strong

Swing high, swing low, one two three go 

Oh yeah, you bet she's not done yet..she's just

 

Falling off the world

The disappearing girl  

Catching her breath doing her very best

Cut herself free gonna be 

Falling off the world

The disappearing girl

Don't look her up, down she's not around you see

She's falling off the world

 

©2002 MPL Tunes/Loveriot Music BMI / Nelsounds SESAC / Million Suns Music BMI

 

 

 

9. Nobody Sent For Ya‘   (Steve Nelson)

 

Go back to where you came from

You can't just come in here

You just don't fit, in so many ways

I could go on for years

 

Now all you people you look the same

You're a different color too

And I don't get what you're trying' to say

You don't talk the way we do

 

And nobody sent for ya’

Why don't you turn around

Nobody sent for ya’

Just go home and settle down

‘Cause nobody sent for ya’

Guess some of you are peaceful

But not the ones I see

Got your guns and knives and alcohol

This could the end of me

 

And this place that I've been given

To live out all my days

The land of the free

And the home of the brave

 

And nobody sent for ya’

Why don't you turn around

Nobody sent for ya’

So just go home and settle down

‘Cause nobody sent for ya’

 

Damn that Chris Columbus

Had to sail that ocean blue

Never saw him coming

And now we're stuck with you

 

So we will celebrate our redness

With all our tribal kin

Pray you go home, leave us alone

And tell all your pale faced friends

 

Nobody sent for ya’

Why don't you turn around

You know nobody sent for ya’

10. Baseballs Sad Lexicon (Tinker, To Evers, To Chance)   

(Poem by Franklin Pierce Adams July, 1910 / Music by Steve Nelson)

 

These are the saddest of possible words

Tinker to Evers to Chance

Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds

Tinker and Evers and Chance

Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble

Making a Giant hit into a double

Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble

Tinker to Evers to Chance

 

© 2010 Nelsounds / SESAC

 

 

 

11. The Team From Cooperstown   (Phillip Coleman / Steve Nelson)

 

It 's just an old piece of leather

And a bat from Louisville

I've had them both forever

And I guess I always will

Somehow they find my hands each spring

When the days get longer and the grass turns green

 

I was Willie Mays in center field

Mickey Mantle in the house Ruth built

I was Jackie I was Hank

I was money in the bank

And the crowd was on their feet

You should have heard the sound

When I was just a kid with dreams

On the team from Cooperstown

 

A button down cotton jersey

Like the old big leaguers wore

Every day I got it dirty

Sure made my mom sore

Old black spikes with red dirt stains

That'll you'll never see in the Hall Of Fame

 

(Repeat Chorus)

 

(Bridge)

   Now I watch them round the bases

   It's just practice in the park

   Little bubble blowing' faces

   Pretending that they are

 

Pujols and  Ichiro

It's Trevor time, close the show

Jeter turning two

Chipper coming through

And the crowd's still on their feet 

I know they hear the sound

For now they're all  just kids with dreams

On the team from Cooperstown

 

Smack that ball yeah

Touch 'em all now

Can of corn  'round the horn 

.....It’s just an old piece of leather

      And a bat from Louisville

 

©2010 Gravitron Music SESAC / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

12. The Dealer   (Guy Clark / Steve Nelson)

 

Heavy air, sky of gray                                                                            

Looks like rain is coming this way

Settle in, you're here to stay

‘Til you wash away

 

Blame the cards, or destiny

Call it God or what's meant to be 

Call you gone or still next to me

It's no mystery

 

And the moon it is confounded

And the sun it is ashamed

  But  the dealer shows no mercy

And the dealer calls the game

The dealer calls the game

 

Curse the sun chase the rain

Dance with joy, face the pain

Face the night, it's all in vain

Only time and tides remain

 

It's so cold, hurts to breathe

It's so dark deep inside of me

Close my eyes and I can see

Across eternity

 

And the moon it is confounded

And the sun it is ashamed

But the dealer shows no mercy

And the dealer calls the game

  And the moon it is confounded

And the sun it is ashamed

  The dealer knows no mercy

And it'll always be the same

The dealer calls the game

 

© 2010 EMI April Music ASCAP / Nelsounds SESAC

 

 

 

 

13. Evaporated Man   (Steve Nelson / James Wold)

 

He's been globalized and downsized

And the planet's hot

Keep him bottlenecked in jam time

Give him all you got

He can take a lot

Every day he wakes up to the light

And he's born again

And if the medications' all right   

Then he's warm again

Out on a gust of wind

He can see the world on fire

Burning  away

And he's melted down

At the end of his every-days

When at last he runs out of steam

He'll be but a dream

The evaporated man 

The evaporated man

 

And it goes according to plan

Now he's all but gone   

Just another kick of the can

It's a sing along

It's the same old song...everybody

 

He can see the world on fire

Burning  away

And he's melted down

At the end of his every-days

When at last he runs out of steam

He'll be but a dream

The evaporated man 

The evaporated man

 

(repeat chorus)

(tag)

 In a way every thing's still fine 

We'll be like him in time

The evaporated man

 

 

© 2010 Nelsounds SESAC / Your Parents Hate My Music SESAC

 

 

 

14. Anchors Aweigh   (Steve Nelson)

 

There's a wind that points to home

A ship to sail you there

There's times you swear 

That you're where you belong

Then you hear it in the air

 

Anchors aweigh,

Rig the lines and sails

Anchors aweigh

And pray a steady wind prevails

Your ship is safe at harbor

But it wasn't built to stay

Anchors away

 

And if you're going 'round the world

Will you take me too

I don't know where 

But I know why I'm going

And I won't be overdue

 

Anchors aweigh,

Rig the lines and sails

Anchors aweigh

And pray a steady wind prevails

Your ship is safe at harbor

But it wasn't built to stay

Anchors away

 

(bridge)

   The waves are only borrowed from the wind

   And each one is another chance 

   That may not come again 

 

(repeat chorus)

The waves break the reflection

In the quiet of the bay

Anchors aweigh

Anchors away

 

 

©2002 Nelsounds SESAC