For the Mission Baby
Bigtime Blues
Hannah’s Tradin’ Post
Leonard’s Pigpen
You Have It All
Short Street Blues
A Bigger Plan
For The Mission Baby
For Another One Gone
Doncha Miss That Water
Straight and Tall
Whenever I Pray
Someone Left Behind
Lyrics
Bigtime Blues
i'm a fatcat losin' in the lean ol' times
got my fatback slappin' outta my time
ya make the phone keep ringin' in my ear fine
i'm a fatcat losin' to the bigtime blues.
lazy eights a slippin' under that ratty ol' rug
sweepstakes driven outta town sucks
gonna claim my ticket to the way that it was
lazy eights a slippin' to the bigtime blues.
chorus
see me on the left
see me on the right
see me cut down
right down to size
i'm a fatcat losin' to the bigtime blues
i was a c.e.o. widda souped up seven
taxman grinnin' shinin' my shoes
now i'm a s.o.b. at the backdoor whinin'
no dry clean money for the bigtime blues.
chorus
chorus
c.2009 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Hannah's Tradin' Post
hangin' timbers creak the pain
welcomin' the feastin' bats
and the company safely waits
in hannah's tradin' post.
the sweet breath of an outside chance
sickens in your knees and legs
and sours on your mind at last
in hannah's tradin' post.
she's always been and always seen
with smilin' hands to weigh what's real
but there's very very little change
when all the money's gone.
chorus
now the goldmine is abandoned
leavin' treasures unattended
rusty coal cars standin' frozen
and scattered cages sprung wide open
shovels picks and hammer's told
of blasphemy confoundin' us
sweatin' from a hundred years
now silent as a desert.
a fools' death for anothers' best
a song and dance no longer sounds
the twisted tracks lay in regret
dynamited for collapse.
chorus
progress soon will swallow you
and sour bitter on your mind
but a fools' death waits on the steps
of hannah's tradin' post.
first verse
c.1993 purple girl music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Leonard's Pigpen
seen you hangin' outta window
strugglin' to the trees
swingin' for the younguns
they gonna catch a sweeter breeze
got uncle davey's letters
hunched down twixt d'lines
he's scratchin' in the sideyard
and i'm beatin' outta time
dodgin' leonard's pigpen sweet sister
dodgin' brother leonard's pigpen
ol' cousin mickey's courtin'
he's cocky like a crow
i'm done flyin' outta texas
aimin' closer to my nose
now there's boots up to a man's shoulders
she's a woman scrappin' on a hill
livin' dead outta dumpsters
don't believe it man i had my fill
man i had my fill
chorus
junior's bulgin' in the battle
gamblin' face about
i made my records in the courthouse
playin' wall-eyed south
chorus
bridge
chorus
seen history books for breathin'
riddled by the wind
they let me outta greenville
now a hurtin's sinkin' in
chorus
repeat first verse
c.1993 purple girl music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
You Have It All
chorus
i aint got what i want it's never enough
but i got what i need you dont have to call
i aint got what i want you have it all.
now aint ya glad to see me and tell me a tale
'bout somebody's deal on a free ride to hell
i see them new clothes rags under your eyes
you been twistin' your mind for a taste of desire.
chorus
there's a taste in my mouth bitter as gold
i cant swallow the blues and keep my eyes closed
well the cat ate the bird he's grinnin' for sure
buzzards flyin' low bringin' a cure.
chorus
chorus
c.2008 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Short Street Blues
gonna tell ya a tale 'bout livin' in a helluva neighborhood next ta town
folks round here drink alotta cheap wine and stay crazy mosta the time
people hangin' out on da corner wastin' my time an' bummin' my quarters
we aint gotta lot o' money it's true buyin' cigarettes a nickle for two.
chorus
me an' my baby we both agree
livin' on short street ain't our cup o' tea
honey make some coffee pack up da boxes
pick da pennies up offa da floor
we aint livin' on short street anymo'.
ya gotta keep things down after midnight no tappin' yo foot on da floor
no mo' singin' dem country songs o' da broomstick'll bounce below
rats moved in and we losin' out neighbors don't care if we scream an' shout
talkin' 'bout da rent is due da hell widda short street blues.
chorus
da bathroom's out on da backporch front door's just a rickety gate
yard's full o' dem groundhog holes an' da neighborhood jus' ain't safe
ev'rybody's gotta do what they gotta do ev'rybody gonna say what they gonna say
i say honey the rent is due the hell widda short street blues.
chorus
chorus
c. butterside music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
A Bigger Plan
when ev'rything's in place and ev'rybody's free
gonna sit right down and wonder why this happened to me
i got troubles on my mind on the table blessed at night
they always here to bear and evermore to share.
chorus
no matter who i am
no one will understand
the same man works to live within a bigger plan
the sun's one winkin' eye the devil beats his wife
the whippin' cracklin' rain will stain the days ahead
lovin' to be loved givin' will not take
away my holdin' hand upon your heart in place.
chorus
faith must be my job spendin' wasted dreams
on ev'rything in place and ev'rybody free.
chorus
chorus
c.2009 gypsyeyes music,BMI
malcolm holcombe
For the Mission Baby
she was sixteen handy with a needle and thread
she danced to the beatles in '65
he was dark and handsome maybe seventeen
they made love one night one breath to be.
chorus
singin' lovely love lil' dark-eyed darlin'
lovely be for the mission baby
now no one knows the sound of submission
when the family whispers down to the mission
too young too poor too free to keep her
and the reckonin' cries and times grow older.
chorus
mountains of the mourne to the appalachian sisters
the roots run deep for the mission baby.
chorus
now God only knows who's right or wrong
when you're breakin' a heart or keepin' the law.
chorus
c.2009 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Another One Gone
i see you in the backyard so sweet and so small
i been workin' ev'ry day for what's been missin' all along
you gonna fix up my problems you gonna fill up my cup
with a heartbeat so troubled and your bottomless love.
chorus
now what's wrong with livin' for another one gone
to a place made for givin' and children don't belong
i grew up hungry for a lil' baby boy
back in ol' west virginia i left her for the sea
some people they turn sick too frail to raise a child
me i just worry 'bout someone left behind.
chorus
there's a piece o' my heart and a drop o' my blood
somewhere on this earth and somewhere up above.
chorus
chorus
c.2009 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Doncha Miss That Water
steps bowed up and the hurricane chimes
to the wind kickin' up and the sun beatin' down
aint no rain in sight bone dry in the valley
and nobody smiles but the rich in the alley.
chorus
doncha miss that water when it's gone
doncha miss that water when it's gone
rich in the alley free in the gutter
take a drink to the past and pray for another
holdin' on in the corner words slappin' the flies
to the cries of the crows in a lonesome sky.
chorus
doncha think about me when the sun goes down
stars raisin' up all over this town
i'm lost in the heat burnin' round and round
doncha miss that water when it's gone.
chorus
chorus
c.2008 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Straight and Tall
i have a task at hand
thinkin' of you is fine
so kindly make your plans use my back and arms
make me straight and tall.
you always think of me
through others tried and true
so kindly make your plans
use my back and arms
make me straight and tall.
it's better to not know
the future where i go
so kindly make your plans
use my back and arms
make me straight and tall.
a warm shirt for the cold
a lil' food to fill the void
so kindly make your plans
use my back and arms
make me straight and tall.
your heart is young and strong
many years to you belong
so kindly make your plans
use my back and arms
grow up straight and tall.
c.2009 gypsyeyes music, BMI
Whenever I Pray
there's a sound in the distance i know all too well
and the voices inside me my heart cannot tell
the singin' i long for has been taken from me
unspoken mem'ries forever will be.
chorus
way up on a hill still callin' my name
inside a tower so steady it sways
it's a ringin' for mothers and children who dwell
in a home full o' love 'neath that ol' mission bell.
now the night passes slowly and the mornin' comes soon
and i should be a sleepin' beside only you
but my head lays heavy in the choices i made
may God keep you close to him whenever i pray.
chorus
chorus
c.2009 gypsyeyes music, BMI
malcolm holcombe
Someone Left Behind
she took a seat by the window
and covered her face as the tears rolled down
i heard her whisper johnny, oh johnny
why did you leave me alone
the old bus driver
pulled a picture out of his trouser back pocket
shook his head and said jenny, dear jenny
sixteen years she's up and gone
chorus
well there's one who does the hurtin'
two who'll feel the pain
one who takes the train, another takes the blame
but there's better days ahead in time
for someone, somewhere left behind
there's a young man on the corner
checking his watch as the time rolls by
no one hears him prayin' God, oh my God
in my life what have i done
chorus
c.1993, purple girl music, BMI
malcolm holcombe