Untraditional by Jim Butler

Happy

I’m happy

Can’t you see it in my face

Am I really out of place

Because I’m Happy

I’m happy

Can’t you see it in my eyes

Is it such a surprise?

That I’m Happy

I’m Happy

Can you hear it in my voice?

Do you think I have a choice?

To be Happy

I’m happy

Can you hear it in my songs?

Can it be so wrong?

To be happy

I’m happy

Can you see it in my face?

Is it such a disgrace?

To be happy

I’m Happy

Happy

Happy

Happy

So Happy

Alstead (Great Flood of 2005)

I used to live in Alstead, NH when I first moved from the city. I lived on Lake Warren on Rte 123, in Alstead NH, which is referenced in the song. This was really hard for me to write; I wanted it to be truthful, but also to show the resolve of the people that wanted to stay and rebuild. They shut down Rte 123 for awhile and had to re-route the road. All of the places where there were houses are just flat gravel now. It’s a sad and sobering drive. The person I refer to in the song (Ray) is my wife’s father, who works for the Langdon Police Department, and who was banging on doors that night, getting people out. The anniversary of the flood is Oct 9.

It was the darkest Saturday night, windblown rain fell from the left to right

Like God hadn’t cried for a thousand years, and tonight he couldn’t hold back the tears

Ray came to the house, he was a banging on the door, Said ‘Son you can’t stay here anymore’

The stream is now a river overflowin’, no time to pack, you can’t take nothing’

Made it to the edge of the property line, turned around for one last time

In the muffled thunder, a flash of yellow lightning, the house where I was born was crumblin’

Alstead, New Hampshire it’s north of Louisiana

Once was whole, well we ain’t anymore

This great flood of 2005

Has left us high and dry

The house standing across the way, straight and whole as this October day

Two lots down, you know all that’s left, is a broken well pipe and a trashed picket fence

Houses they were swallowed by the river, cars strewn around like forgotten child’s toys

Uprooted trees twisted like chicken wire, and there’s nothing left but the mud, the muck and mire

Alstead, New Hampshire it’s north of Louisiana

Once was whole well it ain’t anymore

The great flood of 2005

And it left us high and dry

There’s an uneasy feeling, there’s an eerie peace, 123 is a tangled mess of asphalt and concrete

Save our city, painted on an old brick wall, it tells this town’s tale, tells it all

Most of the locals well they made it out, they got their health still intact,

And the sun will shine one more day, we will re-build and stay

Alstead, New Hampshire is north of Louisiana

Once was whole well it ain’t anymore

The great flood of 2005

And we will rebuild and we will survive

Mirage

She moved through the fair

Wind Blowing through her hair

I thought she caught my eye

I was mistaken, she walked on by

I got on down on one knee

And I asked her to be mine

Thought I saw a tear

Thought I saw fear

We were married on a spring day

There was nothing left to say

Held hands and we prayed

That the fear would just go away

Two years, three months to the day

This love was drowned by hate

We act as if nothings wrong

We act as if nothings wrong

House is as still as a church

This sadness was replaced by hurt

This mirage of hope and love

Has died like a caged dove.

12:15 (This is a Love Song)

12:15

She can’t to find her being

All she wants to be is sleeping

And at night she always loses it

Because her life is always a Hit or Miss

So this is a love song

So this is a love song

Say something, anything, anything, anything, anything to stop the tears

Say anything, anything, anything, anything, something to stop the fears

This is a love song

This is a love song

It’s 1:15 and nobody hears her

All she wants, is someone to believe her

And after all of the self made delusion

This is where she finds the conclusion

This is a love song

This is a love song

Say something, anything, anything, anything, anything to stop the tears

Say anything, anything, anything, anything, something to stop the fears

This is a love song

This is a love song

It’s 2:15 she lies sleeping peacefully

She founds out who she wants to be

A woman who has arrived

A woman who will survive

So this is a love song

So this is a love song

Say something, anything, anything, anything, anything to stop the tears

Say anything, anything, anything, anything, something to stop the fears

This is a love song

This is a love song

Food for Thought

VERSE

I’ve been thinking

And I’ve been watching

And the difference between

The have and have nots

And we always say what can I do?

Because it’s up to me and you

And it’s all about giving

So they can go on living

PRE-CHORUS

So don’t turn your head

When children need to be fed

When you don’t have to look far

To find a family living in a car

There’s a single mother

Struggling to make it on her own

Lonely man with AIDS

Just counting the days

CHORUS

So this is where we live

And this is where we work

And we can’t turn away

From our responsibility anymore

And just because you can’t see them

Doesn’t mean they aren’t there

The homeless we forgot

It’s just food for thought

VERSE

Volunteers doing what they can

And I see them making a stand

Participation is what it’s all about

Even the smallest dollar amount

Or an hour of time

To hold someone’s hand

Or to look someone in the eye

And tell them you will be by their side.

PRE-CHORUS

There’s a battered woman

Trying to stand

Looking for a place

Hoping to be safe

An addict walking the line

Taking it one day at a time

Knowing the support

Will ease the hurt

CHORUS

So this is where we live

And this is where we work

And we can’t turn away

From our responsibility anymore

And just because you can’t see them

Doesn’t mean they aren’t there

The homeless we forgot

It’s just food for thought

Destiny

Don’t cry my little girl

Momma said don’t cry

Don’t cry little girl

I’ll be watching over you tonight

Don’t cry little one

Momma has to let you go

Don’t cry my little one

I love you more than you know

There’s a place better for you

I know you don’t understand

Momma knows what you need

And it’s just your destiny

Smile for your daddy

He is here for you

Smile for your daddy

He can take better care of you

When you look into the sky

And the sun shining bright

Where the sparrows and the robins fly

Just think of me and smile

Don’t cry my little girl

Momma said don’t cry

Don’t cry my precious one

Your life will be filled with love

Tears will flow

But it’s time to go

The leaves fall from the tree

This is your destiny

The Ice Storm

I started my car

Looks Like Rain

The cold chills to the bone

As I drive to your place

Slide the wedding ring off

Don't know what to do

Put it in the glove box

And forget about you

I know she isn't waiting up

Called her to let her know

Going out for a beer

After the show

I shouldn't be here

But I am

I shouldn’t be holding you

But I am

Someone else is waiting for me

I shouldn't be here

But I am

Rain is beating on the roof

Ringing in my ears

Double yellow line is just a blur

As the car self steers

When you open the door

I know what to do

Even though I have to go back

You still come through

Back in the car

Put my ring back on

Driving in this Ice Storm

I've been gone too long....

1000 Coffins (Letter to the President)

I wrote this when the Iraq war had only taken about 1,000 military lives. According to CNN, as of August 29, 2006, 2,800 coalition forces have now lost their lives. This was another song that has had many different versions and re-writes.

1000 Coffins in an airplane hangar

1000 freshly dug graves

1000 chiseled Headstones

1000 People alone

Too Many hearts still being broken

Too many lives still being stolen

And a thousand children

They don’t understand

So Dear Mr. President

How do you sleep at night

Knowing we were never meant

To fight this fight

Dear Mr. President

in that heart of stone

Would you bring our soldiers home

1000 wooden crosses

1000 lost causes

1000 unfulfilled lives

The men in power of a thousand lies

Can you look into the eyes

Of the parents and brothers and sisters

Of the sons and daughters

Who died for you

Dear Mr. President

We were in Afghanistan

Explain to me

Because I don’t understand

How we ended up under attack

In the deserts of Iraq

Dear Mr. President

Just one more thing

Don’t call on me

Don’t you think about my offspring

Your fighting and killing too

And the weapons you never found

1000 Coffins in an airplane hangar

1000 freshly dug graves

1000 chiseled Headstones

1000 have died alone

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