Seen the arrow on the doorpost Saying, “This land is condemned All the way from New Orleans To Jerusalem.” I traveled through East Texas Where many martyrs fell And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell Well, I heard that hoot owl singing As they were taking down the tents The stars above the barren trees Were his only audience Them charcoal gypsy maidens Can strut their feathers well But nobody can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell See them big plantations burning Hear the cracking of the whips Smell that sweet magnolia blooming See the ghosts of slavery ships I can hear them tribes a-moaning Hear that undertaker’s bell Nobody can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell There’s a woman by the river With some fine young handsome man He’s dressed up like a squire Bootlegged whiskey in his hand There’s a chain gang on the highway I can hear them rebels yell And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell Well, God is in His heaven And we all want what’s his But power and greed and corruptible seed Seem to be all that there is I’m gazing out the window Of the St. James Hotel And I know no one can sing the blues Like Blind Willie McTell

She rode the train from Lawyers' Hill He sailed from Halifax Her journey home but one short hour For both there was no turning back Two separate roads boldly taken Crossed near the waterside A glance and smile and a heartbeat Forever changed two lives He dreamed of fame and fortune She of Paris and Rome Those dreams were detoured in Baltimore And there they made their home The blue-eyed raven-haired beauty And her dashing handsome Scot Believed their deepest dreams fulfilled But in truth they sadly were not The lovers discovered in marriage His ambition and her love of gin Would drive him away until late at night And slowly do her in Before all tumbled to ruin Children's laughter rang out there But the dark secret slowly twisted Young dreams into growing despair So a boy and a girl with blue eyes And two more with the darkest brown Learned well the lessons of imperfect love Before each of them left town The long ago star crossed lovers Were once again all on their own They lived out their lives together While each in fact lived quite alone With their passing not one single sibling In the city was to be found But there were long nights spent remembering One's bitter and sweet hometown Some have found fame and fortune The others restlessly roam But all visit the graveside in Baltimore The town that will always be home She rode the train from Lawyers' Hill He sailed from Halifax

You've slipped in again like late autumn wind Cool respects to pay Even though it was years ago You quietly stole away I still see your eyes flashing angry Warnings that never will end While you were never much good for a smile You were good to us all 'til the end Beneath that mask of iron will And coke spoon so debonair Lay a girl who lost all her dreams But still had courage to care His cocaine and wine went down fine Chaser to marriage gone bad But you never let your new best friend Touch the real friends you had You were just so terrified Of ending up old and unknown You held him so tight most every night In a bed that wasn't your own You tried to be strong but then in the end After two years clean and alone You took every pill then took your leave While sitting next to the phone My turn to leave sweet Annie Pardon I do gently pray Your visit begs such solitude And this is our family day Unlike you I did find love Laughter rings out in this home But I won't forget you never found A family of your very own Beneath that mask of iron will And coke spoon so debonair Lay a girl who lost all her dreams But still had courage to care

They named their child Grace Frances Last born shy little girl Surrounded by words she mostly watched And kept to her own quiet world Alone on a pond, cold moon lit nights Was one place her dreams rang out clear Though her silvery skates whispering on ice Was the only sound you could hear Chorus We rush through our days never seeing Those who their own counsel best keep Just remember while rivers at times rush and roar Still waters are what run most deep Well childhood dreams get faded And for some that's the end of the road But Grace Francis just turned to the future And took on her real life's load You might think she chose the wrong line of work So full of loud classrooms and all But she loves to hear children cry out their joy And they love to heed her soft call Chorus Quiet, firm, and determined Do not every man's interest keep But beneath all that fearsome beauty Lies a beauty much more than skin deep Later than most do she married And the girls get their voices from John But you know when those two are sad at night It's her voice they depend upon Chorus You can waste half your lifetime looking For the one who will bring your heart peace So remember while rivers at times rush and roar Still waters are what run most deep

You need not say a single word I can read your angry eyes Yes I've had a drink or two With all the day shift guys Indeed we closed down Ernie's In a most rememberable way With bitter words we made our toast To the new American way I've raised my glass forty years or more To brides and newborn babes Tonight I hurled it to the floor They stole our dream today At Nine A.M. those Boston brats Shut this old factory down That was just the first mean blow They laid on this old factory town They're parsing out but two weeks pay For all our years of sweat We asked about our pensions No answer did we get I've raised my glass forty years or more To brides and newborn babes Tonight I hurled it to the floor They stole our dream today We drove four hours to corporate towers To ask our so called bosses To reconcile their new found gains With our profound new losses But Ammerman, McGrath, and Potter Hid from Jimmy, Jenny, and me While a stiff and stammering Boston cop Marched us back down to the street Jimmie Lamore turns sixty-four With no retirement pay Charlie Hall who's lived here all His years tomorrow will say There is no future here my son You must move away And as for you and me, my dear They stole our dream today I've raised my glass forty years or more To brides and newborn babes Tonight I raised then hurled it down To the new American way

Must’ve been in late September When last I climbed Reunion Hill I fell asleep on Indian Boulder And dreamed a dream I will not tell I came home as the sun went down One eye trained upon the ground Even now I find their things Glasses, coins, and golden rings It’s ten years since that ragged army Limped across these fields of mine I gave them bread, I gave them brandy But most of all I gave them time My well is deep, the water pure The streams are fed by mountain lakes I cleaned the brow of many a soldier Dousing for my husband’s face I won’t forget our sad farewell And how I ran to climb that hill Just to watch him walk across the valley And disappear into the trees Along there in a sea of blue It circles every afternoon A single hawk in God’s great sky Looking down with God’s own eyes He soars above Reunion Hill I pray he spiral higher still As if from such an altitude He might just keep our love in view

Well, I guess you could call it our summer of freedom, the year that we both turned eighteen - We hitch-hiked to Denver, straight out of high school man, we were sights to be seen. And that was the year that you dated my cousin, 'til they took us away in the fall. Now I dearly wish you were standing here with me as I touch your name on the wall. [chorus:] Touch a name on the wall, Touch a name on the wall. God help us all Touch a name on the wall. Every time I come here I wear my fatigues, to honor the men that I knew. I touch every name that came from my outfit, and I read them out loud when I do. Now some people say that they all died for nothing, but I don't completely agree - 'Cause this brother here didn't die for no country - He died for me. [chorus] Now, usually walls are made for division - to separate me from you. But God bless the wall that brings us together, and reminds us of what we've been through. And God damn the liars and the tin-plated heroes who trade on the blood of such men. God give us the strength to stand up and tell them - Never again! [chorus]

Dear Sally I just came in from patrol And now it's quarter past four I hope you're sleeping safely tonight I don't sleep much anymore If I could I would reach out and hold you And whisper what's inside my head I'm sending good soldiers to their desert deaths And I'm wishing it were me instead Three boys gave up their lives tonight And a brave young girl makes it four We're right back where we started a lifetime ago In another liar's war I'm thinking of my brother William He died leading his men tough and true And while it's now been more than 35 years His passing tonight feels brand new He died in a long ago Asian war But now more have died on the way Down a long bloody road that ends right here But began back in Cam Ran Bay Three boys gave up their lives tonight And a brave young girl makes it four We're right back where we started a lifetime ago In another liar's war You know best how proud I have been to serve Thirty years in a tangible way And to honor my brother's sacrifice In that rice field an ocean away But my proud serving days are over There's no honor in burying men For those who chose to start this war But chose not to fight back then Three boys gave up their lives tonight And a brave young girl makes it four We're right back where we started a lifetime ago In another liar's war Three boys lost their lives tonight That young girl she died too I miss you Sally so much tonight And I wish I were there with you

I don't believe in God I don't believe in ghosts I do believe we live beyond our time You won't find me in Heaven I hope I'm not in Hell I might be in our daughters' hearts and minds And what will they remember? What tales will they tell? Will they recall sudden words of anger Or draw softer tears from memory's well? By the end of every day I try to find a way To give those girls reason to sleep well But it's sometimes hard work praised Sometimes voices raised And sometimes we need a final bell And what will they remember? What tales will they tell? Will they recall sudden words of anger Or draw softer tears from memory's well? Don't you hope that as they sleep Our children only keep Visions of happiness and light? Alas it's surely true The brush at times holds blue As those dreamers paint memories at night And what will they remember? What tales will they tell? Will they recall sudden words of anger Or draw softer tears from memory's well? I don't believe in God I don't believe in ghosts I do believe we live beyond our time

I was long on the road and lonely At Sandy's in the old Empire State So after my songs were over I stayed even though it was late Sandy opened a Miller and dark Guinness Stout Her east Texas black and tan I moved to the farthest barstool And reflected as I sometimes can. The miles and years are many Since I left my hometown But I still wish I could find a way To gather my old friends around We were the damnedest collection of shipwrecked fools Each nursing a big broken heart Our collective convictions were failing As our worlds were falling apart We'd gather together to sing out some songs Drink a cold frosty beer or two Go out to bars and ballgames And together we somehow got through The miles and years are many Since I left my hometown But I still wish I could find a way To gather my old friends around They helped me to see that there could be light In the midst of a dark bitter end By showing how strongly they felt that I was Worth having as one of their friends I never told them they gave me the courage To risk going so far away And how that farewell courage they gave me Makes me miss them to this very day By the time Sandy softly bid me goodnight My thoughts had become hard earned verse I set those words to music Laid 'em plain for better or worse And so my long ago faraway friends You helped me to write this song When I sing it I'm saying what I should have said When I long ago said so long Oh the miles and the years are many Since I left my old hometown But at times when I sing you are right here with me Old friends we have gathered around

Living on the road my friend Was gonna keep you free and clean Now you wear your skin like iron Your breath's as hard as kerosene You weren't your mama's only boy But her favorite one it seems She began to cry when you said goodbye And sank into your dreams Pancho was a bandit boys His horse was fast as polished steel Wore his gun outside his pants For all the honest world to feel Pancho met his match you know On the deserts down in Mexico Nobody heard his dying words That's the way it goes All the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him hang around Out of kindness I suppose Lefty he can't sing the blues All night long like he used to The dust that Pancho bit down south Ended up in Lefty's mouth The day they laid poor Pancho low Lefty split for Ohio Where he got the bread to go There ain't nobody knows All the federales say They could have had him any day They only let him slip away Out of kindness I suppose The poets tell how Pancho fell Lefty's livin' in a cheap hotel The desert's quiet and Cleveland's cold So the story ends we're told Pancho needs your prayers it's true, But save a few for Lefty too He just did what he had to do Now he's growing old A few gray federales say They could have had him any day They only let him go so wrong Out of kindness I suppose

Oh so many years on the run Chances lost one by one Chased by the past, future too Until that evening I first met you Childhood full of sunny days to keep But also shadows that still cut deep I learned to trust, but not too far I just thought that was the way things are As a young man I tried to build Sturdy bonds but instead dreams I killed The part of me I would not share Proved much more than love could bear So to this northland I moved away To live out quiet and reflective days Held scant hope of love anew Until that evening I first met you And though I write this song in room alone You and our daughters fill this sturdy home The day you opened up your heart to mine Marks the end of my running time What did I ever do to so deserve Your constant love behind that calm reserve? With love that's broken almost all the chains And put peace in place of all the pain I fear at times I am still too reserved But your touch tells me your heart feels well served As for my heart, it's been yours it's true Ever since that night I first met you