Waco Kool-Aid

Yea, we all took American History 101

There seemed to be some pages missing from the shit we done

Civil rights, fight the good fight. Feel like a rerun

Bad news, went to war. Good news, we won

Sure there was bloodshed. Get it through your head

They were bad people, and now they’re dead

And, so we pledge allegiance to the flag in the third grade

Take a little sip of that Waco Kool-Aid

We’re all failing science, but we’re acing religion

With a registered rifle and a borrowed opinion

We’re all wise guys with wifi and freedom of speech

And the truth is the truth is obsolete

In the heat of the Texas noonday

Nothin’ more refreshing than a Waco Kool-Aid

Welcome to the contest to measure our American pride

With no need to measure the ability to change our minds

‘Cause we’d rather draw a line between ‘us’ and ‘them’

And the way you vote makes you a foe or friend

I got two different neighbors yelling through a chainlink

Even though everybody kinda want the same thing

Two different flavors: red or the blue shade

Everybody sippin’ on the Waco Kool-Aid

Well, I told y’all a lie and I’mma let you know now

See there was no Kool-Aid in Waco. That was Jonestown

But I told that story, and I made it rhyme

And that’s the way I like to sing about it every time

‘Cause I’m a wise guy with wifi and freedom of speech

And the truth is the truth is obsolete

Yea, so how’s that drink? Is it hittin’ like a freight train

You could change your mind, but it’s probably too late

Nighty night, sleep tight in the bed that you made

Take a sip of that Waco Kool-Aid

Nothin’ more refreshing than a… Waco

Nothin’ more refreshing than a… Kool-Aid

Hand Me Down Love

There’s a certain kinda way you say,

“Everything gon’ be a ok”

It feels so good to me

It’s got a certain kind of energy

The kind that can neither be

Created or destroyed

You know this love between us

It did not start with you and me

It’s all hand me down love

It ain’t nothin’ new

From your great-grandmother

To your grandmother

To your mother

To you

Who you gonna hand it on to?

Hand me down love

Well, it’s the fear in me

That makes me want to store it up

When I worry that there ain’t enough

But all the more reason, lord

Just to pass it on

Spread it out

Hand it down

And just believe it comes back around

Yea, you just got to trust

It’s all hand me down love

It ain’t nothin’ new

From your great-grandmother

To your grandmother

To your mother

To you

It’s all tried and true love

‘Cause I tried it new,

But I’d only been made a fool of

That’s why I got to hand it to you, love

Who you gonna hand it on to?

Hand me down love

Yea, and it’s all tried and true love

Yea, I tried it new,

But I’d only been made a fool of

Yea, that’s why I got to hand it to you, love

Now, who you gonna hand it on to?

Hand me down love

Girl From Plaquemine

I remember that

One bedroom shack of mine

Me and that girl from Plaquemine

Take a Sunday drive to Vacherie

For a six-pack and a daiquiri

‘Cause they can’t sell it

till the Parish line

Stopped by the levee for a tank of gas

While the bridge was up to

Let the tugboat pass

A cardboard cut out fleur-de-lis

And it hadn’t yet occurred to me

That the good times don’t last

We were just having fun

Couple Louisiana kids,

Man, we were so young

Love was the last thing on our mind

There’s the ones that get away

You forget about in time

Then there’s that girl from Plaquemine

Bayou drinking on a late night

Found a paddle boat that we could untie

Already sideways from the sippin’

She jumped out skinny dippin’

Come on girl, now, don’t test my pride

Soaked and shiverin’ in the sunshine

Boats goin’ out for the day

Were comin’ in for the night

Wherever she might be today

I hope she’s doing ok

Hope she found a way to get dry

We were just having fun

Couple Louisiana kids,

Man, we were so young

Love was the last thing on her mind

There’s the ones that get away

You forget about in time

Then there’s that girl from Plaquemine

Oh, we were just having fun

Couple Louisiana kids,

Man, we were so young

Love was the last thing on her mind

There’s the ones that get away

You forget about in time

Then there’s that girl from Plaquemine

I remember that

One bedroom shack of mine

Me and that girl from Plaquemine

Bayou La Batre

Bayou La Batre, Bayou La Batre

Won’t you take me to New Orleans

Watch for the barges

Stray from the sands

I got one she’s waiting for me

Bayou la Batre, Bayou La Batre

Take me to New Orleans

Watch for the barges

Stray from the sands

I got one she’s waiting for me

She work in a café down on Toulouse

Yea, she dance there most every night

She long, and she lazy

She’ll drive a man crazy

But ain’t she a beautiful sight

She see me comin’

Yea, she give me big smile

You know she got them black Cajun eyes

She knows I go crazy when I see her

She knows I believe all her lies

Bayou La Batre, Bayou La Batre

Won’t you take me to New Orleans

Watch for the barges

Stray from the sands

I got one she’s waiting for me

She see me comin’

Yea, she give me big smile

You know she got them black Cajun eyes

She knows I go crazy when I see her

She knows I believe all her lies

We go to her house

She take me in, yea, she know

How to love me just right

And in the morning,

I’ll go back to that ol’ shrimp boat

Be in Bayou La Batre tonight

Bayou La Batre, Bayou La Batre

Won’t you take me to New Orleans

Watch for the barges

Stray from the sands

I got one she’s waiting for me

Bayou La Batre, Bayou La Batre

She know how to love me just right

And in the morning,

I’ll go back to that ol’ shrimp boat

Be in Bayou La Batre tonight

And in the morning,

I’ll go back to that ol’ shrimp boat

Be in Bayou La Batre tonight

Almost Forever

How long has it been

Feels like almost forever

Since those days way back when

Back when we were together

The ties that did bind your heart to mine

We thought would never sever

Feels so long ago now

Feels like almost forever

Time sure does fly by

Feels like almost forever

Since we used to laugh and cry

Thought we’d grow old together

We were so sure our love would endure

Through all winter’s weather

Now there’s a chill on my skill

Remembering when

We were almost forever

It’s an age old sad song

Known all too well by the most of us

What more can we do, but raise a toast

To the ghost of a love

Still haunting the both of us

How long has it been

Feels like almost forever

Since you were my best friend

Back when we’d always be together

The ties that do bind

They get tattered sometimes

I guess that’s just the way it goes

It was a good ride

It was almost forever

Felt My Heart Breaking

I was young and unscathed

All the world was a stage

It was make believe

Just a game to me

A world without scars

Reaching only as far as

My eyes could see

Featureless ground

Till your river wound right through me

And carved out a canyon

For the first time I came alive

When I felt my own heart breaking

Suddenly, there was color inside

I felt my own heart breaking

Never felt more alive

Never more awakened

All the colors of a dawn

With the innocence gone

There is only sky

I am open wide

Crying not out of fear

But to cherish the tears

Of a different kind

Now, I live for the days

When the world melts away

In a stranger’s eyes

That see right through mine

For that moment in time

Oh, I feel my own heart breaking

Suddenly, you’d known me my whole life

Oh, I feel my own heart breaking

Never more alive

Never more awakened

Before you walked away

You gave me one last embrace

I felt something pull

Letting you go…

Oh, I felt my own heart breaking

I felt my own heart breaking

Lord, and I’d do it again, just to

Feel my own heart breaking

Never more alive

Never more awakened

Never again will I run from that feeling

Just to feel my own heart breaking

Never more alive, never more awakened

Never more, never more, never more

Never more alive…

Shotgun Religion

Shotgun wedding made her momma proud

Carried ‘cross the threshold

Of a shotgun house

Question ‘bout it they would

Never ask out loud

It’s just the way it’s done

Is how we do it now

Who are they to question

Ancient tradition

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

Pop bottle target practice

In the yard out back

Presidential pennies

On the railroad track

Pride is the monkey

On a young boy’s back

And he’s leaving the safety

Of the cul-de-sac

With an itchy trigger finger

And a split second decision

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

We were all good kids

Raised on blood wine

Now we’re all grown up

And we’re thirsty for the stuff

Thirsty for the stuff

I was raised on Jesus, and I drank it up

Learned about the martyrs

And the flesh and blood

I knew the difference

Between them and us

I was so self righteous,

And I called it love

Could it be the spirits

Are blurring our vision

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

We were all good kids

Raised on blood wine

Now we’re all grown up

And we’re thirsty for the stuff

Thirsty for the stuff

You were my neighbor across the street

Now, there’s a canyon ‘tween you and me

Self-anointed patriot of liberty

Everyone who’s different is the enemy

Now you’re going off

On some god-sent mission

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

Could it be the spirits

Are blurring our vision

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

So many things have

Caused this division

But the only two things

He’s gonna bring with him

Shotgun religion, shotgun religion

Shotgun wedding made momma proud

Carried ‘cross the threshold

Of a shotgun house

20/20 hindsight, but don’t look now

‘Cause that ain’t the sight

That he’s staring down

Man On The Marquee

I’m sure I’d heard his name before

Then I heard it twice in one week

So, I bought a ticket to the show

Out of curiosity

On the sign between Disco Night

And Buy One Get One Free

Was the name of the stranger

I’d come to see

The man on the marquee,

The man on the marquee

His name in lights shinin’ on Canal Street

All the girls wonder what he’s like

And that’s why the boys wonder

What it’s like to be

The man on the marquee

I watched him step into the stage light

Like he was movin’ in slow motion

Looking fifteen years older

Than the picture in the promotion

But he closed his eyes and sang a song

That any heart could hear

Songs of love and songs of loss

That must have cost him dear

And he never made the big time

But he was enjoyin’ a small resurgence

From a TV show that played

A theme song version

Of a song he wrote

Way, way, way back in his prime

And he saved it as his last song

And the whole crowd sang along

With the man on the marquee

The man on the marquee

His name in lights shinin’ on Canal Street

All the girls wonder what he’s like

And that’s why the boys wonder

What it’s like to be

The man on the marquee

I wonder if he stuck around town

Or if he just drove on through the night

Toward that distant light

That spelled it right

Somewhere else tomorrow night

He’ll be

The man on the marquee,

The man on the marquee

His name in lights shinin’ down

On some ol’ Main Street

The promise of the big time long gone

Still, he carries on for that distant light

That spelled it right

Somewhere else tomorrow night

He’ll be

The man on the marquee,

The man on the marquee…

Just In Case

Fare thee well, compadres

Safe travels on them highways

We’ll come back together someday soon

Raise glasses once again

Reconvene like heroes

Parting is sweet sorrow, but I

Trust that we’ve got tomorrow

More adventures ‘round the bend

Raise one to the journey

One more to the journey’s end

Just in case we never meet again

Oh na na na na now…

This is my favorite pastime

Right on down to the last time

We won’t even know it’s that time

Ain’t no telling how or when

It’s not something that I try to dwell in

It’s just a truth I think is worth the telling

This is gold, and we’ ain’t selling

It’s yours and mine to spend

Raise one to the journey

One more to the journey’s end

Just in case we never meet again

Oh na na na na now….

Aw, but that next train’ll come

Just like we want it

Bet your ass I’m planning on it

Oh, but just in case it doesn’t

I love you dear, my friend

I got a buddy’s service next Sunday

If they call my number one day

Just know it was always house money

We were playing with, my friend

Raise one to the journey

One more to the journey’s end

Just in case we never meet again

Oh na na na na now…

Another House

I visit her in the house I grew up in

Relieved when she says “How’s my boy?”

I say “Momma, I’m okay. How you doin’?”

She says “So so,”

She wants to know when will we go

To the other house

And I know it’s gonna take all of me

‘Cause her love made every part of me

She’s got her faith, I’ve got my doubts

The only thing that matters now

Is she believes there’s another house

She gives me a hug

And calls me her brother

It does not phase me like it used to do

Momma, I’ll be your brother

I’ll be your sister

I’ll be your Father, I’ll be your truth

I will be right here long as you need me to

And I know it’s gonna take all of me

‘Cause her love made every part of me

She’s got her faith, I’ve got my doubts

The only thing that matters now

Is she believes there’s another house

Momma, we’ve been here thirty odd years

This is where you raised me

This where we live

I know better these days

Than to correct her

We just go for walks together

She’ll walk all the way ‘cross town

To her childhood house

Surprised to find

There’s no one there she knows

Father, you bear the greatest burden

No one knows this pain like you do

Well, that little boy you carried

Through all these rooms

He is strong enough, now, to carry you

I am strong enough to carry you

And I know it’s gonna take all of us

‘Cause her love made every part of us

She’s got her faith, we’ve got our doubts

But the only thing that matters now

Is she believes there’s another house

We know better these days

Than to correct her

We just walk with her together

It’ll Come Back To Me

I woke up between

The dawn and a bad dream

Shook it off walked across

Cold blades of grass beneath my feet

And in that twilight I did find

A peace inside of me

My only wish at the time

Is that you were next to me

I wish you were next to me

How long did I wait

Like a stranger at your gate

Thought I’d seduce you

Then I’d lose you

Somewhere out there

In the winds of fate

Kept my bird in a ribcage

Afraid that it might fly away

What good is keeping what I got

If that’s what’s keeping me away

That’s what’s keeping me away

What was that line

About lovin’ somethin’

And settin’ it free

It’s on the tip of my tongue

But now it’s gone

Never mind, give it time

It’ll come back to me

Maybe I was swindled,

Maybe I was lied to

Or maybe he really did have a daughter

Broken down in Baton Rouge

Funny what a story

And an empty can of gas can do

I gave him 40 dollars wished him well

And I still felt like a fool

I still felt like a fool

What was that line

About lovin’ somethin’

And settin’ it free

It’s on the tip of my tongue,

But now it’s gone

Never mind, give it time

It’ll come back to me

Used to drive myself crazy

Chasin’ all that escaped from me

It ain’t that I got lazy

It’s just room that I’m leavin’

‘Cause we’ve all got our reasons

I woke up between the dawn

And a bad dream

Shook it off walked across

Cold blades of grass beneath my feet

And in that twilight

I did find a peace inside me

My only wish at the time is that

You were next to me

I wish you were next to me

Fog Rolls In

It’s like an ocean upside down

When the sky gets heavy

And I’m drownin’ in the blackest blue

That’s when we meet up

And sit cross-legged on the levy

To feel the spirits passin’ through

From you to me is as far as I can see

The rest is pitch black

Just enough to see that I’ve been

Such a fool in all my lookin’ back

Just enough to take the breath

That makes the time stop

And healin’ begin

On the nights when the fog rolls in

I hear sirens, voices in the distance

I’d walk for miles

But there ain’t nothin’ to see

High time that we rely on other senses

That’s when I feel you closest to me

The city sleeps and the river wraps

Herself a shroud around it

Quiet as a thief who leaves everything

Right where she found it

Screen door doesn’t creak

Threadbare enough

She just floats back out, again

On the nights when the fog rolls in

There was so much more

I’d hoped to show you

Just as sure she’s gone

I know she’ll be back, again

On the nights when the fog rolls in

It’s like an ocean upside down

When sky gets heavy