Dancin’ in the Bone Yard
Country Girl
Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers
Nightbirds Waltz (How Are You Sleeping Tonight?)
The Train
Early Sunday Morning
Love Boat to Reno
Rockabilly Saturday Night
Iowa
Mr. Sandman (Keep An Eye On Me)
Hand Me That Bottle
All songs written by Michael McGarrah. ©2007 Michael McGarrah/BMI, all rights reserved.
Dancin’ in the Bone Yard
The ghosts are dancing in the bone yard
To the music of the dead
The moon hangs like a disco ball
High above their heads
The tombstones read like tarot cards
And the flowers smell like rum
Digger serves your drink in a monkey skull
And stirs it with his thumb
Dancin’ in the bone yard
Dancin’ in the bone yard tonight
Dancin’ in the bone yard
Tonight — it’s alright
Everybody’s dancing
Irene she was a lady of the evening
She knew how to work that scene
She stays in touch with her clientele
When she haunts them in their dreams
And Leon he was a gambler
How he loved his fancy clothes
Now he runs a game in the grave diggers’ shack
And he’ll play you for your fingers and your toes
Chorus
Now Charlie used to be a dancer
They called him twinkle toes
Piss him off he’ll dance on your grave
At least that’s how the story goes
And Father O’Brian used to be a man of the cloth
But he couldn’t keep his hands to himself
Now he’s down on the corner of First and Purgatory
Waitin’ on the next bus to hell
Chorus
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Country Girl
Country girl am I ruined
By the foolish life I’ve lived
Can you tell me?
Can I look into your eyes
And see the dreams that hide behind them
When you laugh
Sittin’ on your front porch swing
Your dusty feet just ticklin’ my shins
And when the evening shadows fall
The lovers moon just draws you to my arms
I wish I said I’d stay forever
With this love we found
Makin’ hay and makin’ babies
And growin’ things in the ground
And oh it’s been such a long long while
Since I’ve known the charm
In a country girl’s smile
I blew outta town with a hatfull of pride
And 16 dollars in my sock
Livin’ on cheap whiskey and lies
‘Til I ran outta money
Then I ran outta luck
Now here I stand at your door
With my hat in my hand
And my heart on my sleeve
Hopin’ against hope and all that’s sacred
That I can get you to believe
Chorus
I remember layin’ on the riverbank
Dryin’ off in the summer breeze
And those lazy Sunday afternoons
Shakin’ apples from the trees
There’s only one thing I ask of you
Don’t give away all of your secrets please
Country girl I’ve come home to stay
But I can see you’re soon to leave
Chorus
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Let’s Pretend We’re Strangers
Let’s pretend we’re strangers
On some island afar
I’ll be an oyster diver
You can be the girl behind the bar
I’ll make you dangling earrings darling
You can give me my drinks for free
At night we’ll walk hand in hand
Along the moonlit sea
I’ll wear your shoes around my neck
You can wear my cowboy hat
People will laugh and clap their hands
When they see us walkin’ by like that
Well I don’t know where you want to go
But I know where I want to be
Sittin’ underneath that lovers moon
Right beneath a coconut tree
Your hair it smells like coconuts
And your kisses taste like mangos
(and your skin has the texture of the inside of an oyster shell)
And how’s that song go?
Chorus
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Nightbirds Waltz (How Are You Sleeping Tonight?)
The fire’s burnt low
To a soft ember glow
The moon peaks over the hill
I sing along
To a night bird’s sad song
Sitting on my windowsill
Will your dreams be enough
To keep you company
How are you sleeping tonight?
When you wake up
Will you be thinking of me
How are you sleeping tonight?
Now I wake up, having fallen asleep
Sitting in my favorite chair
And when I reach out
Just to touch your cheek
I’m reminded that you’re not there
Chorus
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The Train
There’s a dirty breeze blowin’ the clothes out on the line
Dark clouds rollin’ in the old people say
It’s bringin’ some kind of sign
I don’t notice no depression
It’s always been this way
Things ever get too bad
We all just drop down on our knees and pray
And sing
“When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound
And time shall be no more
When the morning breaks eternal
Bright and fair
When the saved on earth shall gather
Over on that other shore
When the roll is called up yonder
I’ll be there”
The sweet perfume of mornin’
Gives way to the dry ache of the sun
Burnin’ a hole right through your soul
Makin’ everything just go numb
The crows sit and listen in on telephone wires
Strung on tar caked poles
Listenin’ in on the desperate prayers
Of ten thousand lost souls
Everybody singin’
“When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there”
An old diesel train comes rumblin’
Like a demon straight from the pits of hell
He never stops — just goes on through
Leavin’ us in his spell
We drop down on our bellies
And put our ears to the rails
And listen as he slowly fades away
Goin’ to that place where dreams come true
And people don’t always have to pray
One day I’m gonna hop that train
(Repeat)
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Early Sunday Morning
There’s a tear running down your neck
I want to follow it with my tongue
See where it goes
It’s been a while since I’ve checked
To see if you have all your toes
And maybe I’ll make
A few stops along the way
It’s early Sunday morning
We’ve got nowhere to be today
The cat’s been watching us
Do you suppose she knows what’s going on
And if she does, and tells all her kitty friends
You know, we’re gonna have
Quite a reputation in this town
And if your Grandma knew what we were doin’
Underneath her quilt
I wonder what she’d say
It’s early Sunday morning
We’ve got nowhere to be today
Can we turn off the radio you know
Your body makes enough music for me
We can play each other like old violins
And write our own symphony
You can be the conductor baby
Tell me just how you want me to play
It’s early Sunday morning
We’ve got nowhere to be today
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Love Boat to Reno
Let’s catch that love boat to Reno
It leaves at midnight tonight
I’ll bring the whiskey, you bring a suitcase
Filled with your favorite delights
We’ll tie up the captain and hang him over the side
Keep him drunk he’ll do just fine
We’ll dance in the ballroom ’til the morning light
To our own kind of music
Our own special music
On that love boat to Reno tonight
We’ll drop anchor somewhere in Wyoming
They say it’s just a beautiful place
I’ll go fishin’ for a big jack rabbit
You can dive for arrow heads
We’ll jump in a skiff and row into town
And drink some lone star beer
They say it’s a place of great spirituality
If you can just put up with the pickup truck mentality
Oh baby I want you to go there with me
On that love boat to Reno tonight
Then we’ll pull into gambling town
The biggest little city in the world
The streets will be filled with schemers and dreamers
And lined with dancing girls
We’ll tie up to a wedding chapel
Send out word that we’ve eloped
Then we’ll untie the captain sober him up
And slide down the rope
Then I’ll say I did, and you can say he do
Then I’m gonna make sweet love to you
That’s exactly what I wanna do
On that love boat to Reno tonight
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Rockabilly Saturday Night
It’s a hot sticky summer night somewhere deep in the heart of middle America listen real close and you can hear the strains of a fender esquire drippin’ out like the beads of sweat on a hillbilly preacher’s brow shimmering guitar chords breaking like waves across the hoods of Starlite Coupe Devilles and double mint perfumed girls with round asses like the fenders on 1958 Chevy Impalas pose and poke at poison ‘dos as they gaze off into the blue haze impaled on their own personal dreams of post war picket fences and their leather clad lobos flicking their fags off into the middle American night as they hurl whiskey soaked epithets at a mirror ball moon straining against their innocence until the bonds break freeing them to dance like young gods around this new pagan fire called rock and roll where duck tails and beehives float like hot peppers atop this rockabilly stew and guitars blister fingers like six string radiators and drummers paste their sinful beat to the dance floor as skinny boys on fat tub basses dredge up a working man’s groove beating into frenzied submission you see rock and roll was the devil in four four time and he showed up tonight just to make sure the beat was right and to gaze lustfully at the soft white ankles of Americas youth and it’s a good night for a sacrifice.
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Iowa
She calls herself a lady
Sometimes she wonders why she bothers
In this land of workin’ men
They wouldn’t notice if she tried
She studies her face in the mirror
Behind the bar down at the diner
The dust has blown the years her way
Stole the color from her eyes
No new faces, just new places
To read about in all those
Travel magazines
Hidin’ in the darkness
At the Saturday matinee movie
Tears that flow like rain drops
Right off the silver screen
Friday night dance at the legion hall
She’s nursing a drink in the corner
The men just huddle like sheep
She knows sometimes they’re just too shy
She smiles at their silly hats
Sayin’ things like “Truckers Make Better Lovers”
They wouldn’t know how to steal a kiss
If they had the nerve to try
Chorus
She remembers that soldier right after the war
Said let’s run away to someplace we’ve never been before
She can’t, she said she’d leave too much behind
She’ll never forget the tears in her eyes
When he flew off into that August night
She wonders now if she ever crosses his mind
Silos loom like tombstones
Filled with grain no one ever uses
Reminds her of the dreams she’s had
That used to fill her mind
Sometimes if she squints her eyes just right
As the sun sets on the horizon
They look just like skyscrapers
On a New York City night
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Mr. Sandman (Keep An Eye On Me)
If I’m going to wake up lonely
Don’t wake me at all
I’d rather stay lost in my dreams
I’d rather sleep forever
Than find out that she’s gone
Please Mr. Sandman, keep an eye on me
I’d rather stay in my dreams
I know that’s where she’ll always be
Standing close here by my side
Giving me a shelter from the raging storm
Giving me a place to hide
Now if you notice me smiling in my sleep
Don’t worry about the company I keep
I’m in good hands; I’m in other lands
Rollin’ in my sweet baby’s arms
Chorus
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Hand Me That Bottle
Please hand me that bottle
By the bed on the floor
Right there beside
That picture of her
You don’t have to worry
I won’t ask you to stay
Its there on the floor
Please don’t slam the door
When you go away
Let me help you with your coat
It’s right there on that chair
I’ve forgotten your name
I really don’t care
Now don’t get me wrong
You’re a beauty I’m sure
But when you met me tonight
The timin’ wasn’t right
I was drinkin’ ‘bout her
That bottle holds all the secrets
That I don’t want to know
They taste just like poison
Her memory won’t go
I tried to forget her
God knows I tried
Oh it hits the spot
I believe I’ll have another shot
Of this sweet suicide > back to top |
