1. |
Miles From Home
04:19
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Driving down a lonely highway
Headin’ west towards the dying day
Vivid red fading into blue
Always different, and always the same
And I drive along the road
But I’m still many miles from home
Moving on through the valley
I haven’t seen for a long, long time
I think about my life’s direction
These memories that are mine
And I drive along the road
To the place where I can shed my load
But I’m still many miles from home
Breathing in the smell of sundown
Each moment makes me smile
Windows down, take it all in
It’s coming back with every mile
I drive along the road
I’m just a few miles from home
I’m just a few miles from home
To the place where I belong
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2. |
Small Stories
05:08
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Head held high, beneath a brand new sky
The dust of the roads you've wandered on your clothes
Only you can say what you've seen along the way
Little things just waiting to be told
Little things are the big things that matter
A lifetime of moments all make up a life
What seems like nothing could be everything
If you'd care to hear I'll tell you my
Small Stories
The smell of my dad's old car, the sound of my first guitar
The ocean breeze blowing through my hair
From watching green grass grow, to playing in the snow
Each one is a story to share
And nothing is too small for the telling
Each chapter we read in the book of our lives
We all tell our story one page at a time
It's 3 AM and he's crying, wants to be held one more time
He couldn't wait for the morning, I don't know why
In the soft light of his room, he lifts his head from my chest
Looks up at me smiling, then lays back down to rest
Just a little thing that changed me forever
I've got the time, won't you tell me your Small Stories
Small Stories
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3. |
Wherever, My Love
04:04
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Five years ago, if you’d asked me
“Where will you live all your days?”
With a joking smile, I would answer
That heaven is the home where I was raised
But along came a girl, took me by the hand
No way of knowing about another promised land
Wherever my love is, is where I wanna be
Mountain or valley, or sea to shining sea
I’ve seen first light on the east coast, the dying embers out west
Anyplace my love is, is the place I love best
These southern roads now seem familiar
Don’t need a map to get around
As I drive along in the twilight
Heading home to where my love can be found
Perhaps the tide will take us to yet another shore
Now that love has given us a boy with eyes like yours
I don’t have to choose between city or country
Or live among the stars in outer space
To learn this lesson that your love has taught me
That home is more about people than place
I know I don’t deserve it, but I know that I’ve been blessed
Anyplace she lays her head is where I wanna rest
Mountain or valley, sea to shining sea
Wherever my love is, is where I wanna be
I know I don’t deserve it, but I’ve been richly blessed
Anyplace my love is, is the place I love best
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4. |
I Meant Well
03:42
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Wand’ring again, this familiar state I’m in
The wind’s at my back, it keeps me moving on
Flows through my veins, like a west-bound train
Restlessly searching for so long
Will I find it or not? I can’t tell
Just tell my preacher I meant well
I knew before too long, this is where I don’t belong
Gave it half a chance, and that’s when I departed
I should’ve know, didn’t leave well enough alone
I was better off leaving before I started
Yet another town I bid farewell
I made an offer that didn’t sell
They say good intentions pave the road to hell
Just tell my preacher I meant well
What can I do when everything turns out wrong
But take my coat and hat, and move along
Weary and resigned, but still I hope to find
Something growing in the seeds that I have sown
No way to know; I’m getting tired and it shows
I need to settle down, but it’s all I’ve ever known
To that old way of life, I bid farewell
I’ve been wasting all this time, and it’s just as well
Will I find my way or not, time will tell
Just tell my preacher I meant well
I just wanna say, as I carry on my way
I meant well
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5. |
Watchman
05:29
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Well I heard him say,
“Go set a watchman; he’ll declare what he sees”
Thus saith the preacher
“The world out there is shifting under your feet”
Hell-bent on running, but going nowhere
Don’t know what to believe
There’s trouble in the valley
With a guarantee of no relief
You ain’t seen it yet, but it’s comin’
Put out roots, or take off runnin’
‘Til what’s done is done, and there’s nothing more to say
All sorts of lost every day
Who has ears to hear, let ‘em hear
The answers are blowing in the wind
But if there’s no understanding,
There ain’t no point in listening, my friend
There’s all kinds of people out there calling
But if you can’t hear a sound
You’ll get along much better
If you climb into their shoes and walk around
You ain’t seen it yet, but it’s comin’
Put out roots, or take off runnin’
‘Til what’s done is done, and there’s nothing more to say
All sorts of lost in every way
Are my footsteps made of what I see,
Or what I wanna see?
Could I find myself by looking
In the knothole of a live oak tree
Sometimes I’m uncertain, lost by the wayside
But what’s lost can always be found
I seek a country, where I won’t fall
On stony ground
I ain’t seen it yet, but I know it’s comin’
No more wasting my time runnin’
I know where I’m going, by the early morning rays
My Watchman there, he knows the way
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6. |
Pt I: Take Me Back
04:28
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Something I wish I could say to yesterday
Please don’t forget about tomorrow
I was living life with no thought for the choices
I was finding my voice without thinking of what I should say
Autumn leaves bring my past to the present
Memories incessant, they’re calling my name
Black and white Chuck Taylors, and that old leather jacket
Little did I know that I wasn’t ready for the coming years of shame
And no one else to blame
Take me back to where it all started
But I can fix this from the moment it began
And if I can’t change how it all turns out
Please take me back, take me back,
Take me back as I am
I was young, I was living for the moment
Like an angsty, adolescent acoustic song
Before I knew it I had lost all direction
A long way from home, and ashamed to admit I was wrong
And I’ve been out here for so long
Somehow it feels like I’m losing who I was
Is there still time, or am I
Gone, long gone?
Will you take me back, even though I’m not perfect
Will you take me back, in spite of where I’ve been
What’s done is done, nothing can change that
But can I start over again?
Take me back, take me back as I am
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7. |
Pt. II: Beautiful Day
05:07
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I been crying, I will cry no more
Brush the dirt off, though my limbs are sore
Just put one foot in front of the other now
I’ll get out of this somehow
Every nightfall seems to knock me down
Every morning would find me still on the ground
But I’ve decided to leave it all behind
And I won’t change my mind
I feel the rising, with the rising tide
That I will never know unless I try
Sunshine or rain, I’ll be on my way
You’ll hear me say it’s a beautiful day
Keep my eyes fixed on what’s ahead
Ain’t no use in looking back instead
It ain’t no secret that living takes it toll
But it’s good for my soul
All at once I can’t believe my eyes
As I realize
After all this time I finally found my place
And what’s behind me is gone without a trace
Through sunshine and rain, I’ve come a long way
And I’m here to stay
The wind is blowing, it won’t slow me down
The song is changing I can hear the sound
Sunshine or rain, I’ll be on my way
You’ll hear me say it’s a beautiful day
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8. |
New Sky
04:34
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You’ve been headin’ the same direction for a good long while
Doing good, feeling fine
But deep inside you know that things are bound to change
‘Round the corner, down the line
You look around, and it’s all different
And you can’t help but look back
I know what you’re going through
I know you miss what you’ve left behind
Just think about what you’re heading to
A new sky stretches over you
You know this ain’t the first time, and it won’t be the last
To say it would be untrue
It’s just like the seasons, summer turns to fall
Always different, but nothing new
You may not like it, but it happens
It’s all for the better in the end
Just keep moving on
You’ve been waiting now for so long
To feel right at home
Instrumental Break
Now you’re feeling settled, the sunset fills your eyes
Doing good, feeling fine
An old familiar story, and it ain’t no surprise
This story sounds just like mine
Over the rise, up to the saddle
That’s when you first catch the view
You can see what you’re heading to
You’ve not forgotten what you’ve left behind
But now you know that you’ll make it through
A new sky stretches over you
A new sky is hanging over you
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9. |
Run River Run
05:30
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Run, see the river run
Winding through the valley, the current carries me
Down, water flowing down
Shenandoah valley, such a sight to see
But why am I here? Where will this current take me?
To some new town, or straight on out to sea?
Run, run river, run
Run river, run
Ain’t no way of knowing where you’re going or who you’ll be
But you know who you are and where you’re from
So run
Strength to cut the canyons wide
Changing the landscape almost before my eyes
Rest, gives my spirit rest
Peace to calm my worry, and soothe my troubled mind
But what lies ahead? Where will the river take me?
Picking up speed; will this journey break me, or make me?
Watch from the bank, let it all pass you by
Or jump on in, and take the ride
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10. |
Linger
03:54
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Another day of my choosing, one just like the one before
Each good life comes by necessary labor
But I’d do well to remember just what all that effort’s for
Life has moments that ought to be savored
One by one they come along, like the lyrics to a song
You’ve never heard, yet somehow seems familiar
They greet you like an old friend that you did not know you had
When they find you, they call you to linger
I long for you my darling, you are always on my mind
Though you know I’m predisposed to wander
But I ask myself a question, with an answer I’m head to find
Do we really need absence to grow fonder?
Sometimes I am called to roam, taken far from my home
But I’ll return, cross many a lonesome mile
And there I’ll find you waiting; I’ll hold you like I can’t let go
We’ll pray this moment will linger for a while
One by one they come along, like the lyrics to a song
That I don’t know, but always makes me smile
Moments that can warm you like a chair beside the fire
I think I’ll stop and linger for a while
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John Elwood Morgan Logan, Utah
The musical confluence of Appalachian sunrises and western desert sunsets. Stay a while and swap some stories with The Sleepy-eyed Songster.
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