Backslider's Dream

It was a dollar a dance
downtown tonight at Maria’s
And the beautiful Becky,
 she dances like a Mexican rose
And she dances in trances of
visions of things that she dreams of
I’ve never met a woman as crazy
or who felt more like home

I only had twenty dollars
so asked if she’d let me keep dancing
And pay her double tomorrow
just to dance for the rest of the night
She didn’t say a word
but she pulled me just a little bit closer
As if to say,
“it’s alright you know you ain’t gonna owe me a dime.”

And way I feel tonight you may be in trouble
Reckless endangers the heart but it eases the time
And when I whisper in her ear
she drives me crazy
She says boy you look straight in my eyes
And I say girl don’t ruin the surprise
The best part of loving is found in the subtle disguise

And we could dance to the sound
of the old phonograph on my front porch
Steady hand on her waist
so inspired by a bottle of wine
With the wrap around lights
tossing shadows out into the night sky
And at one she’d just kiss me
‘cause she’s finally feeling alive

The way she looked out in the dark
was a window into the cold things she had
And I saw it as clear
like it was painted right up on the wall
But I would stop it right there
just in case with the morning might come regret
I’d just kiss her till she fell asleep
on the couch in the hall

And she’d wake to the falltime breeze
blowing over her body
And the smell of the coffee
drifting from right down the hall
She a stumbling angel
and she’s reaching for some kind of end line
she was looking for a soft road
 to get her away from it all

from - "Love Tigers"

Summer of June

he had the keys to the kindgom
in that old chevrolet
and that old gas station
where he worked every day
it was hotter than hell,
the brightest of moons
in the middle of august,
the summer of june

she was a dark beauty
right out of his dreams
down by the river
in those cutoff blue jeans
she was drinking a beer
and soaking up sun
and they hit the ground running
like a shot from a gun

He was the brightest among us
when he got the idea
for a quick in for money
there’s only one way round here
when we found out that night
he was just a falling star,

the way everyone tells it
is he just took it too far

she was a disastrous beauty
when she crashed in so hard
she crashed in the bar
and then she crashed in the car
he was still gone
when she pulled through the meds
of that dense dewy fog
of that hospital bed....

and she remembered the night
that they found out the news
the red river had dried up
and there were other clues
the doctor confirmed it
a girl would be along soon
it was the middle of august,
the summer of June

and she cried out, “goddamn you
for leaving me here
with this sweet thing all swaddled
i’m all alone here
we could have made it
with you fixing cars
coming home to your woman
and wishing on stars”

“he had the keys to the kingdom,”
the epitaph read
from the lips of a young girl
but no tears were shed
the girl on the gravesite
holding two red balloons
about twenty years after
the summer of June

from - "Love Tigers"

Redwinged Blackbirds

First shot missed me, second one laid me down
now Im laying all akimbo thinking,
“What was that sound?”
Was it your velvet voice cying lonely in the night?
singing, “lover, please hold me
but don’t hold on too tight.”

Is is Love?
That makes me do the crazy things
I’ve never dreamed of
love,
that makes me burn for the way you smile
and your sweet touch

first time you kissed me, you set my kinder all ablaze
and now i’m standing in your embers
and trying to catch a glimpse of your face
You were just a pretty girl,
bruised by love, but not messed up
So why are you standing in the rain
on my back porch?

Is it love that makes me so fuzzy,
like I took a bunch of different pills
psychadelic gumbo comes with
such a fine load of thrills
but this bad trip’s making me feel
like i’m being chased right down
a one way street by a big old dog with sharp white teeth

walked out past the waterfall,
back where it’s swampy mud
and listened to the Redwinged Blackbirds
making love...

from - "Love Tigers"

Last Drop

Babe we’ve been together
On this track quite while now
Where it’s heading I really didn’t care
But every line has a last stop
And you’ve used me to the last drop
and I haven’t got a tear to spare

You’ve got my heart in your hands
And you know where I keep it
and now you know the reason why,
Why this old slow rolling drifter
And wanna be free and shifter
Has kissed your cheating heart goodbye

Well I saw you Tuesday morning
At Josie’s sit down diner
I saw you kiss him and you smiled
A man whose face I’d never seen
so the truth lies in between
The two lover’s with the lying eyes

Well I’ve never been a fool
And I never share my woman
Used to love you but the well’s run dry
You’ve taken till the last drop
And you know this is the last stop
So go on honey, kiss my ass goodbye

from - "Love Tigers"

Dark End

Steam is working good tonight
Lying on the floor after our fight
I’m Just a little drunk, but I’m all right
Lately our love don’t feel so right

So if you’re feeling the same way
Why don’t we both agree to change
And maybe we’ll find that gold some day
Or maybe it all just slips away

Cause we’ve been walking down that road
the Devils killed the angels that we’d known
And they’re lying bleeding on our dreams
And it’s burning like acid at the seams

And at the dark end of the street
Might lie the love that waits for me
and If we don’t go our separate ways
We might regret the way we’ve lived these days

Cause I love you and you know I’ll never stray
But if you’re looking for a getaway
Lets turn the keyhold on these chains
And let it fade off into yesterday

I love you so
So I’ll let you go
 If you feel you’ve overstayed,
Then slip away
But please go far away
On a bus or on a train
because I’ll miss you everyday
I’ll Miss you everyday

And at the dark end of the street
Might lie the love that waits for me
and If we don’t go our separate ways
We might regret the way we lived these days

And on the dark end there might loom
The love that waits for only you
If we don’t go our separate ways
You’d resent it that I took your love away

from - "Love Tigers"

Song for Liza Jane

When I walked in from the road
I was tired i suppose
and you were standing without your clothes
And so it goes, so it goes
Little Liza Jane

With a cold and icy stare
You were sitting on the stairs
In nothing but your underwear
you Had me going there, had me going there
Little Liza Jane

And there’s nothing sweeter than huckleberry pie
And fireworks on the 4th of July
Or Sundays, lying, staring at the sky
But my Little Liza Jane

Porch swing on a sticky July night
a Little bit drunk from drinking all that red wine
Liza came around and said, “I wanna take one big bite”
And I don’t mind, no, I don’t mind
Little Liza Jane

She put on an Otis Redding forty five
and Then she purred and said it made her feel alive
Then she came to me and she climbed on for a ride
and we danced all night, we danced all night
Little Liza Jane

When the fighting’s over and she acts so sweet
It makes all worth it when she gets so mean
And every time she gets drunk and wants to fight
I say, “that’s all right, if you stay the night....”

My Little Liza Jane

from - "Love Tigers"

Exorcise the Devil Blues

Walked in this joint about seven to three
Pretty little thing looked right up at me
Place was just jumping sweat soaked folks getting loud
She walked on over like a panther on the prowl
I Never thought the devil’d get a hold on me

Saddled on the stool and she offered me a beer
I said, “hey babe, I ain’t chasing down no devil in here”
She looked me in the eye and she sort of bit her lip
She said, “I know you ain’t turning down this”
But I never thought the devil’d get a hold on me

The band was kicking it ill and playing loud
The way they think they kick it way down south
Dragged me out on the floor and she fell onto her knees
Crawled up my leg like a big oak tree
But I never thought the devil’d get a hold on me

Tight little body and them ripped up pants
Gave away her intentions in a sideways glance
Back at my place by the 3:45
She said, “well you’ll be lucky if you get out alive”
My kind of loving makes them run and hide

Well the devil is a woman with a perfect touch
Made love so slow, hell, I was burning up
My fever broke and I was out in the cold
I bargained one night for my very soul
a Hellhound in the distance and the night wind moaned

‘Bout three months later I was down and out
A drunken fool with a big old mouth
When some voodoo preacher man stepped up on me
And spoke of the viper that crawled up my tree
I told him that the devil was five foot three

So listen closely, son, you’d better stay clear
There’s probably even one or two in here
The perfect sin with midnight stare
You ain’t gonna find a bit of love in there
We’ren’t no crossroad where the devil found me

The devil is a woman, ‘bout five foot three

from - "Love Tigers"