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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Two Nights in Myrtletown by Eileen Hemphill-Haley Band
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fave it Americana | Folk-Rock
11 tracks | 47 minutes
Released Aug 2007
on H2T Records
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:24 Jagged Line (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:24 Jagged Line (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:24 Jagged Line (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:47 Outwit a Coward (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:47 Outwit a Coward (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:47 Outwit a Coward (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:58 High Time For the Blues (live) lyrics BUY MP3 03:58 High Time For the Blues (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:58 High Time For the Blues (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:41 Hear Me (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:41 Hear Me (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:41 Hear Me (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:02 Our Kind of Story (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:02 Our Kind of Story (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:02 Our Kind of Story (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:21 Life Is a Road (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:21 Life Is a Road (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:21 Life Is a Road (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:56 Where's Charlene? (live) lyrics BUY MP3 03:56 Where's Charlene? (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:56 Where's Charlene? (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:09 Talk to Me (live) lyrics FREE 04:09 Talk to Me (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:09 Talk to Me (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:54 Say So (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:54 Say So (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:54 Say So (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:00 When Love Is Like the Rain (live) lyrics BUY MP3 04:00 When Love Is Like the Rain (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:00 When Love Is Like the Rain (live)
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:58 Durango (live) lyrics BUY MP3 03:58 Durango (live) lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:58 Durango (live)
A fine collection of folk-rock and Americana songs from a great storyteller and her kick-ass band. Guaranteed to de-stress your day.
Bio / Background
Lyrics and song insights are listed below, but first…
Hey y’all – in case we haven’t met before…
When it comes to songwriting, my focus is clearly on people. I’m fascinated by human nature, how lives cross, personalities interact, what motivates the characters in my imagination, and how the world feels to them. My songs sometimes consist of stories will full-blown plot lines, or may simply be impressions or first-person observations, but in all cases are based on characters with something to say.
I was born in 1959, the fourth of five sisters, in the hallway of a hospital in North Carolina (my mother claims that this was my first impatient act, that I would not wait until she made it to the delivery room). I lived in various southern states until age 15, and am grateful for that experience, but in my heart I am a westerner and have resided the greater part of my life in Oregon and northern California.
↓ more ↓When I was a kid, the consciousness of America was in a state of rapid change, with the rise of civil rights, women’s rights, the environmental movement, and unprecedented civil disobedience and anti-war activism during the Viet Nam years. I grew up in a military family, and for me those were intense years indeed. I spent a fair amount of time in my youth listening to songwriters from the 70s and 80s, which flavors my own writing to this day, although my musical influences are truly eclectic. I’ve been playing the guitar since I was 10, so have a few licks under my belt, and write mainly in alternate tunings. I have years of experience as a performing artist, but songwriting is my true love, and I consider myself a writer first and foremost.
Issues like the bonds of love and friendship, parenthood, work, maintaining one’s identity, and surviving the best you can in a god-awful busy world -- these are the kinds of recurrent themes that pepper my writing. As a wife and mother, family issues are very important to me. Also, I like to rock out, which my family fully supports (it’s good for you, after all). I hope you will enjoy my work. I certainly put a lot of care into my craft, and try my best to keep the b.s. out and the honesty in. I thank you for listening.
And now, meet the band…
The “Eileen Hemphill-Haley Band” is:
EH-H: vocal & guitar
Ron Sharp: bass
Brandon Schwab: drums
Michael Proctor, dobro
To give you a bit of background of who we are as a group, I interviewed Ron Sharp, Brandon Schwab, and Michael Proctor, and provide you with the following insights:
On bass: Ron Sharp
Ron Sharp knows the secret to playing bass, and to locking in with drums in a rhythm section, is to blend in so naturally with the music that people totally take it for granted. It doesn’t seem fair, but that’s the way it is with bass. People only really notice it when it’s played badly, or missing altogether. He’s philosophical about it all, and explains it like this: “When I listen to music, every song is a story. How do you support the story and bring out the texture and color? The best bass and drums are so good together that you almost can’t tell which is which; the bass is like an extension of he drums. If you’re not wedded to the drums you’re just getting in the way.” Ron exemplifies these comments when he plays, with his wonderfully solid and melodic style that adds just the right feel to every song, and gets him none of the attention he deserves.
Ron was one of the first people I met when I moved from Oregon to northern California. We didn’t meet because of music right off, but rather through an act of kindness (by him) toward a stranger (me) new in town and looking for a place for my family to live. He helped us find a house to rent, and as a thank you I dropped off a note and a CD at his door. He followed through with an email saying’ “ hey! I didn’t realize you were a musician. I play bass and my best friend plays dobro.” The next thing I knew we had a band, rehearsing at the house he helped us find.
Ron Sharp is a native of southern California, born on New Year’s Eve in 1950, and raised in Santa Ana. A witty and soft-spoken guy, he started playing guitar as a teenager, and in the early 70’s decided to move to northern California to pursue music more full time. Over the years he played guitar -- and eventually bass -- with a number of different rock, country and bluegrass groups. He now focuses on the bass, and plays possibly the most beautiful bass guitar on the northcoast, a 2004 Moonstone Neptune bass hand-made by his close friend and master luthier Steve Helgeson. Ron credits numerous musical influences in rock and acoustic music, from Walter Becker to Alison Krauss, and likes listening to songwriters like James McMurtry and John Hyatt. He’s not crazy about jazz, but loves a great ballad. Besides playing bass for the EH-H Band, Ron also handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes organizing for the group, including making song charts and handling publicity.
Ron is married to Barbara Browning, the founder of OrderWithin.com, and is the father of Kelsey (22). He also has two grandkids, McKenzie (2) and a new baby, Ryan. Be sure to check out Ron’s work on the “Dog Tracks” and “Two Nights in Myrtletown” CDs, and if by chance you catch the band live, tune in Ron’s playing. You can’t help but notice how good he sounds, and also how much fun he seems to have when he plays. It’s really great.
On drums: Brandon Schwab
Born November 12, 1970, Brandon Schwab is that smart, wisecracking guy at the back of the band, holding all the sound together. He’s a wonderfully subtle genius on the drums, a great friend, and my long-time collaborator. Brandon is also known as Dr. Brandon Schwab, Ph.D. in geology, and professor at Humboldt State University. He’s married to Angie Schwab, an artist’s rep and owner of Humboldt Artworks in northern California, and father of two sons, Avery (3) and Harper (1).
Raised in rural Ohio, music was a mainstay in Brandon’s life beginning in elementary school. He played in every school music group through his high school years, and continued in orchestra through his first year of college. His favorite thing was playing in pit orchestras, where he might single-handedly play all the percussion parts for different performances. But along with music he always had a right-brained love for science and nature, and ended up putting the drums away for a number of years while focusing his efforts on an education in earth science. But during graduate school at the University of Oregon, he was recruited back into drumming, first with an absolutely raucous surf band (The “Surf Chiefs”) and starting in 1996, with a solo folk-rock artist (that would be me, y’all) looking for just the right drummer to expand her sound.
As for musical influences? “Everything I listen to influences me,” he says. “My playing style has definitely evolved over the years. I use to play straight rock-and-roll, but also had a lot of jazz influences. But as for my style, I always like to think about how the drums fit into the music. My goal is to be supporting, and not be in the way.”
“I guess my goal is to not be noticed,” he laughs.
The truth is, you can’t help but notice Brandon’s drumming because it works so well with whatever music he plays. For examples of his work, check out most of the tracks on “Porch Songs,” all of the tracks on “Dog Tracks” and “Two Nights in Myrtletown,” or catch him at a live show!
On lap-slide (dobro) guitar: Michael Proctor
“The first thing you need to know about me,” confesses lap-slide guitarist Michael Proctor, “is that I’m a big liar. You can’t believe anything I tell you.”
So, apparently there’s a chance that much of what you’ll read here about Michael Proctor is completely untrue. How would I know otherwise? I’ve worked with Michael for a couple of years now, playing with him in the EH-H band and as a duo, and collaborating on two CDs. I’ve met his family, so I know he’s been with his wife Paula for 23 years, and that they have three kids, Mia (20), Gina (18) and Jackson (15). But how would I know if he was really born in Newmarket, Canada on April 9, 1953, and lived there only three months before his family moved to Orange County, California where he grew up? He claims he started playing piano as a kid, got into guitar as a teenager, and fell in love with slide guitar after being wowed by a friend’s collection of blues records. But how do we know for sure?
I have some verification of facts from Michael’s best friend (and bassist for the EH-H band), Ron Sharp. Ron and Michael have been friends since high school in southern California, and Ron informed me that yes, as a teenager Michael was known for playing slide guitar, and then later played pedal steel as well. He recalled that Michael’s first pedal steel had coat hangers for pedal rods. Somehow, knowing Michael, this sounds true.
Michael says he was raised on rock and roll, loves jazz and bluegrass, but actually likes to play anything in the realm of acoustic music. In the early 70s he moved to northern California (verified by Ron, since they both moved there), where he played in a number of different country groups and string bands. This included “Buckshot,” the house band at the biggest honky tonk on the northern California coast, the Ramada Inn in Arcata. Every weekend Buckshot played for a crowd of college students, hippies and loggers, and miraculously no one was ever killed. But after a while bluegrass music became the main interest for Michael. This led him to invest in his first dobro, the instrument for which he is best known today. A “dobro,” of course, is a kind of wood-body lap-slide guitar that has a distinctive sound prevalent in bluegrass music. Michael’s regular old Gibson acoustic guitar, which he had been using to play slide since high school, wasn’t going to cut it for playing bluegrass. So, in 1976 he and Ron took a 300-mile trip to San Francisco in search of a new dobro (Ron verifies this, too). “Our mission,” Michael recounts, “was not to return until we found one.” Just one short weekend later they returned home with a 1975 Dobro D-60, the very guitar he plays today.
OK, now we know he got the dobro, but how did he learn how to play it? Self-taught for the most part, claims Michael, but he also credits an all-night jam session with Vince Gill in the late 70s for giving him a huge dose of new ideas and an instantaneous boost in his playing. Um, Vince Gill? The country music star? Yes, Michael claims, he was just a kid at the time, a child prodigy if you will, playing in a touring band passing through town. Believe it or not…
Michael’s playing is well known in northern California, and he has appeared on I-don’t-know-how-many recording projects over the years. This is true; I really don’t know how many, but it is lots and lots. The guy makes everyone sound good, so the calls keep coming. I met him in 2003, and in November of that year we played our first gig together as a band. We have done a lot of work together since then.
So, how much of Michael’s story here is true? Who can say? But I can tell you this: Michael Proctor is great to work with, and it is a ton of fun collaborating with him. He makes playing that dobro -- a very complicated instrument -- sound like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Check out his work on “Dog Tracks,” “Two Nights in Myrtletown,” and “Ordinary Life,” or do yourself a favor and catch him at a live show. The ideas he comes up with for lead parts are so cool, and never cease to floor me. And that, my friends, is no lie.
LYRICS AND SONG INSIGHTS
Track 1: JAGGED LINE
© 2000 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
E’s insights: What to do with someone you love who can’t stop ruining his own life -- and yours? This is a story about two people who obviously have a long history, but for one of them that history has become unbearable. When at last she understands that he is not going to let her help him, she realizes it is time to help herself, and get away while she can. She says, “Jared, I’m shot right through with the agony of loving you, but in my heart I forgive you, too, for walking that jagged line.”
Verse 1
Never met a soul so full of need for the things out of his reach
For the things he could not have
It was a hard and troubled youth
S
What a miserable excuse for the choices of a man
Chorus 1
Jared, what can I do?
I feel the years are passing two by two
And whenever I remember you
I see you walking on a jagged line
Verse 2
The laws are written in this land to give the rich the upper hand
And treat the poor like so much dust
Cement wall and iron doors, who do they build those prisons for
If not for us?
Chorus 2a
Jared, what can I say?
But there had to be another way
Than to throw your whole life away
Walking on a jagged line
Verse 3
I think about the way things might have been
The way that they are now
The things that you have done
But there was no persuading you
Just like a bullet can’t be turned once it’s left the gun
Chorus 3a
Jared, I’m shot right through
With the agony of loving you
But in my heart I forgive you, too
For walking on that jagged line
Chorus 3b
Jared, what can I say?
But there had to be some other way
Than to throw your life away
Walking on a jagged line
Than to throw your sweet life away
Walking on a jagged line
Track 2: OUTWIT A COWARD
© 2002 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EAEAAE
CAPO: IV
E’s insights: This is roughly based on a true story, about a person who figures out a non-violent way to thwart a very dangerous bully. She figures that if she can just trick him into believing that the tables have turned, and that he’s not the one in power anymore, he’ll slither off like the little weenie he really is, and leave her in peace. She’s counting on the fact that he’s as dumb as he is mean, and she’s right.
Verse 1
Felix had a ring, crusted ‘round with diamonds
And a big fat fake ruby
He liked the way it felt on what he called his fighting hand
That he was rather fond of using
Verse 2
Jasmine stayed home, she had a nasty shiner
And a deep cut under her eye
She could not reconcile her humiliation
With a real fear for her life
Verse 3
Jasmine called a friend, a boy she knew in high school
Who had since become a man of the faith
She told him everything, when he came to see her
He could see the truth of it etched in her face
Chorus
Brother, take your collar off
Brother, come and stand by me
All I’m trying to do is outwit a coward
How hard can that be?
Verse 4
James towered high above his congregation
And his voice boomed out when he spoke
For such a gentle man to have such a mighty stature
Was like God’s own personal joke
(Chorus)
Verse 5
Felix couldn’t breathe
Standing next to Jasmine was the biggest man he’d ever seen
He looked like he could kill, rip his frickin’ head off
And it made him feel helpless and weak
Verse 3
So Felix made a vow, to Jasmine’s satisfaction
That he’d never see her again
Jasmine said to James, “Thank God it’s finally over”
And Brother James said “Sister, amen”
(Chorus)
Track 3: HIGH TIME FOR THE BLUES
© 2000 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
E’s insights: Sometimes, when things suck, it just because it’s their turn to do so. I mean, if you have no trials, how are you going to recognize triumphs? Well, OK, in truth this song isn’t all that deep. It’s just that I wrote it when I was a teenager, and the Queen of Angst. That was a million years ago, and I’m almost over it.
Verse 1
Some days your life just don’t pay
The right words cannot be found
Keep on till the feeling is gone
It’s just high time for the blues
Verse 2
So you saw your baby but she did not see you
Now you feel like you’re losing control
It’s not the end, you’ll love again
It’s just high time for the blues
Chorus
What you gonna do about it?
How you gonna fight what you can’t win
What you gonna do about it?
When you know it’s bound to come again
Verse 3
Just once you wish you could trust
All those good friends who don’t understand
Walk away, call it a day
It’s just high time for the blues
Track 4: Hear Me
© 2005 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADGAE
E’s insights: Every now and then I travel by bus. It’s not that I really like traveling that way, but living on a rural part of the California coast, sometimes it’s the best way to get in and out of here. The travel is really slow, but at least it’s smoke-free these days (something I appreciate now that I’m no longer a smoker), and there’s lots of time to think. Every person I see on the bus sets my mind to wondering, because I’m convinced that no one gets on the bus without a story to tell.
In this song, I imagine someone arriving at her chosen destination: some small, worn-out town on the bus route. She’s got a connection to the town, although it’s not clear if she’s actually from there, or just returning to a place she lived before. She’s starting over, which is a recurring theme in a lot of my songs. She’s got a pile of cash in her bag, which she acquired by some kind of fluke, but all the money in the world can’t help her at this particular moment, stuck without a ride in the middle of the night in a cold, creepy, windswept town. She had figured she was through making mistakes, but the receding taillights of the bus remind her that there’s always one more.
Verse 1
Step down in a mill town in the middle of the night
Just a couple of storefronts closed up tight
The bus pulls out and then it’s quiet
No one around
Verse 2
Good thing there’s a pay phone
So you pick up the phone
When you dial the number, nobody home
Why must things be complicated?
All you want to say
Chorus
Hear me
I’m ready for it now
I’m ready for the day I’m living quiet with somebody
Write this down
I’m ready for the time when everything that’s mine won’t fit inside a suitcase
Verse 3
Forty-eight thousand dollars in a bundle in your bag
Oh no you didn’t steal it, what if you had?
There’s no one left to even wonder what became of you
Verse 4
You should have made arrangements
Should have called ahead
Bought a car with your money
Gone somewhere else instead
Why must things be complicated
All you want to say
Verse 5
It’s the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night
Where’s a cop when you need one to give you a ride
Drive you home in the squad car, lend a little advice
You can say what you’re thinking, it’s all right
Quite all right
It’s all right
Chorus
Hear me
I’m ready for it now
I’m ready for the day
I’m living quiet with somebody
Hear Me
I’m ready for the time
When everything that’s mine won’t fit inside a suitcase
Hear me
Hear Me
Track 5: OUR KIND OF STORY
© 2004 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes Music (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD, Capo V
E’s insights: Anybody who’s been involved in real-life love knows it’s no fairy tale, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t great. Of course, real-life relationships aren’t always easy. There’s a reason for that “for better or worse” clause, after all. But as long as you find yourself in a situation where you’re happy more often than not, and with someone who looks good to you in any given situation, you can bask in the joys of the real deal, and scoff at all those tabloid personalities who wouldn’t know real love if it bit them on the ass. As for Cinderella, she would have caused a whole lot less trouble if she had just taken a moment to stop, pick up her shoe, and say “look baby, this is the real me. Wanna make a go of it?” If the prince had said no, it wasn’t going to work out anyway, now was it?
Verse 1
Cinderella was a poor girl in a house full of wealth
With nobody there to raise her
Left to fend for herself
Sometimes the hardest thing about needing love is letting it show
You and me, baby we should know
(Chorus)
Fairy tale love is all pageant and glory
Flying banners of crimson and blue
But I don’t really think that it’s our kind of story, do you?
Verse 2
Cinderella should not have faltered, she should have picked up her shoe
And let the rags fall from her body
What did she think he would do?
Sometimes the hardest thing about being me is believing in you
Not knowing what you’ll say, or what I’ll do
(Chorus)
Verse 3
Sometimes the hardest thing about loving you is believing in me
Knowing what I’ve got is what you need
(Last chorus)
We know love isn’t pageant and glory
Got no banners of crimson and blue
But I’m happy I’m living our kind of story
Our kind of story with you
Cinderella should not have faltered, she should have picked up that shoe…
Track 6: LIFE IS A ROAD
© 2004 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes Music (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADF#AE
E’s insights: The idea for this song took shape during a day trip in northern California. I traveled that day with my husband, our young son, and a good friend from back east, on his first visit to the area. From our home we headed out first to Petrolia and the beautiful “Lost Coast,” on a road so winding that we never knew what we’d see around each bend. It got me thinking about the unknown, about how even when you don’t know what lies ahead, you have no choice but to move forward and meet it anyway. On that day we were pleasantly surprised with one gorgeous view after another; if only life was always like that. We then traveled inland from the coast into a forest of towering, ancient redwood trees. When you see the redwoods, it’s impossible not to think about time, since they are so noble and so incredibly old. As we drove through the trees I found myself becoming more and more pensive, thinking about each of the people I was riding with. There was my husband, Mark, whom I’ve known for so long; our son, a cute little kid with his whole life ahead of him; our friend, a cancer survivor, basically embarking on a rare second chance at life. It occurred to me that life is a journey, and a timeline, and you can go anywhere you like except back. And the way to make it all work out is to remember that your destination isn’t somewhere you’ll eventually get to, but everything you do and every life you touch along the way.
Verse 1
If life was a road, which one would you choose?
Which one would you travel?
One that’s wide and worn
One that’s barely used
Paved or dirt or gravel?
It’s all about the journey
And how you get to where you want to go
Verse 2
Everyone I know is always on the move
The dust flies up behind them
When all the things you want are out in front of you
It’s up to you to find them
But you have to love the journey
And the ones who make it easier for you
Chorus
Because life is a road, and you don’t get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you don’t get them back
Make life your destination
Verse 3
My life is a road winding through big trees and scenery that moves me
Full of twists and turns
Potholes and blind curves opening to beauty
It’s all about the journey
And preparing your arrival
Chorus
Because life is a road, and you don’t get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you don’t get them back
Make life your destination
Last Chorus
Because life is a road, and you don’t get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you don’t need them back
When life’s your destination
Track 7: WHERE’S CHARLENE?
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD
E’s insights: The conflicted feelings of someone who is absolutely wild about someone who is, well, absolutely wild! He is certain she would be his if he could just find the right way to tell her. But when she comes near, his eloquence instantly vanishes, and he can find none of the words to make her stay.
This beautiful, gutsy, desirable character is based on two different friends of mine, both named Charlene, and both awesome women.
Verse 1
She stops by for a minute
You feel the words pull at your mouth
It’s her world and you’d be in it
If the right words would just come out
Chorus
Where’s Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Where’s Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling can’t you guess the things that you don’t know?
Verse 2
You have no great love for money
Anything she wants you would buy
She tries to tell you that you cannot buy her love
That doesn’t mean that you can’t try
(chorus)
Verse 3
So many things you want to tell her
And it pains you to the bone
You’re a man who truly can wax eloquent
Every time she’s gone and you’re alone
(chorus)
Chorus
Where’s Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Where’s Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling can’t you guess the things that you don’t know?
Where’s Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Where’s Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling can’t you guess someone loves you so?
Track 8: TALK TO ME
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADF#AE
E’s insights: This is a heart-felt request to someone who doesn’t care to talk about his feelings, even though it’s the one thing that might heal his world. For some people the prospect of talking things out seems too daunting, too risky. It’s a pervasive and frustrating situation for a lot of couples and families.
Verse 1
It may be you know the reasons for the things that you are feeling
But you don’t ever try to explain
If you feel it you don’t show it, don’t let nobody know it
You just take it hard and watch what you say
Verse 2
How can silent resolution make much of a solution buried in a secretive man?
The one who wished that he knew better so they might have stayed together
Now he sees the kids whenever he can
Chorus
Talk to me
Talk to me
Know my heart’s with you
Let me hear your point of view
Verse 3
There may be doubts from time to time that lay there heavy on your mind
Nothing’s really different these days
It’s still so easy to be hurting, so soothing to be talking
But instead you’re only walking away
(chorus)
Track 9: SAY SO
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD
E’s insights: I love telling stories about sweet people falling in love. This song is all about that, while simultaneously serving as a stark warning about the dangers of junk mail. Beyond being incredibly annoying, junk mail is also hazardous because among all the piles of mail you never wanted to receive there might actually be something really important, say for example, a love letter.
Verse 1
A young man sits down one night
Puts his pen to paper
Street ights on the hill in town look like stars tumbling down
He lets his emotions fly across a sweet and simple letter
They say God’s in the details
So he puts his faith in the U.S. Mail
Chorus
It says, Baby, little games are not my style
But if you want someone to cherish you
I promise you all you have to do is say so
I can’t read your mind
But if you want my love it’s here for you
Just make your move
All you have to do is say so
Verse 2
His letter comes a few days on
Tucked inside all the junk mail
Credit cards, discount stores
She drops them on a table by the door
Amidst the junk his words of love will go unnoticed
Like a kiss she never feels
Like a gift she never opens
(Chorus)
Verse 3
Ten days and nights go by
And every time he sees her she smiles and she says hello
But that’s as far as it ever goes
Finally to her door, no choice but to confront her
He’s amazed at her surprise
At the amusement in her eyes
When she says soft and low
There’s something you should know
Baby, little games are not my style
But if you want someone to cherish you
I promise you all you have to do is say so
I can’t read your mind
But if you want my love it’s here for you
Just make your move
All you have to do is say so
Just say so
Track 10: WHEN LOVE IS LIKE THE RAIN
© 2006 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD
E’s insights: This song looks at love as a force of nature. But as we all know, nature isn’t always kind. For example, rain can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the amount of chaos in the storm delivering it. When love is like the rain, but it’s rain that’s not even close to being a good thing, it’s time to find some dryer weather quick.
Verse 1
Sure was cold and cruel
He was walking down the road
His face was wet with tears
His face was wet with raindrops
He did not have a prayer or the right kind of clothes
To save him from this kind of weather
Verse 2
Now, a man may want the rain falling gently on his fields
Putting food up on his table
But when it turns relentless
And the river crests and floods
That's the way it is when love
Makes you sorry for the things you wished for
Chorus
When love is like the rain
Give up, give up
When love is like the rain
Verse 3
At first she gave him spring
Showered him with things
That grew up all around him
But then one day she changed
And now her love was falling on everything but him
There was nothing he could do but watch it rain
Verse 4
Sometimes its hard to know when to cut your losses
Turn and run for cover, find another lover
Keep hoping for the best
But it turns out to be less
Than what it really takes to keep you going
Chorus
When love is like the rain
Give up, give up
When love is like the rain
Bridge
First all the predictions
Said she was the one
But everything's gone cloudy
And you cannot see the sun
You want to turn off all those feelings
You want to make them stop
You can't take another minute
No no not another drop
Chorus
When love is like the rain
When love is like the rain
Verse 5
Sure was cold and cruel
He was walking down the road
The raindrops felt like tears
When at last he'd had enough
H e turned and headed home
He was ready for a change of weather
Track 11: DURANGO
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD
E’s insights: Here’s a story about two people, both out wandering around the West, too focused on their own lives to realize that in fact they are each actually quite lost. They happen to meet by way of an automotive breakdown, followed by becoming trapped by a storm. By the time the weather clears, well, everything is different.
This is the one and only song of mine with a geologist as the protagonist. I love geologists! They’re so… earthy (heh, heh).
Verse 1
Out of Four Corners
Down a two-lane road with a one-track mind
Eyes ever forward
Not a thought askew, not a glance behind
Cool wind blowing, pushing me hard in the direction of Durango
Verse 2
Now me, I know these highways
I know the lay of the land that they’re drawn across
I am a mapmaker
I’m not capable of getting lost
But there I was stranded just a few short miles from Durango
Chorus
Durango…
Durango…
Verse 3
I met him on the roadside
Apparently I’d run out of gas
One of life’s little metaphors
I see that now, thinking back
Would he take me to the next town?
He said, what is the next town?
I said, Durango
Verse 4
The snow started blowing before we’d made it even two more miles
The roads were getting treacherous and it was clear we’d have to stop for a while
He said, let’s find a cup of coffee
See what we can learn about the weather in Durango
Durango… Durango…
Bridge
He was working on a novel about love gone right in a world gone wrong
Satellite positioning
That’s what I was working on
He said, this storm is getting vicious
Maybe we should find a place to sleep
A satellite wouldn’t get a fix on us again for seven weeks
Verse 5
If love wants to find you it doesn’t need a compass or a map
Don’t have to draw me a picture
Believe me, I know all about that
I am a mapmaker
And every map I make now leads to Durango
Verse 6
And me, I known these highways
I know the rocks and the hills and the canyon lands
If anyone can find you
Darlin’ you know I surely can
I know where to find you, yeah
I know that I will find you in Durango
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