1. |
One Tree
04:57
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ONE TREE
© 2020 by Chuck Hall
There’s one tree standing in the middle of the field
There’s one tree standing in the middle of the field
All the rest have been torn down, no tree is safe in my home town
One tree
There’s one fish swimming in a little country brook
There’s ol’ Mr. Google-eye swimming in a little country brook
All his friends are in frying pans, he just says, “Catch me if you can….”
One fish
There’s a bright orange flower that has blossomed in the sun
There’s a bright orange flower that has blossomed in the sun
There’s many more that’s yet to come, just tryin’ to bloom like she has done
One flower
There’s one man lyin’ dead in the street, his hands cuffed behind his back
There’s one black man lyin’ dead in the street, his hands cuffed behind his back
Maybe it never was, I’m not sure, but this is not my country anymore
One man
There’s a cross upon a church - it’s the highest spot in town
There’s a cross upon a church - it’s the highest spot in town
One cross high upon a the steeple - Jesus died for all the people
One cross
There’s one tree standing in the middle of the field
There’s one tree standing in the middle of the field
It looks as lonesome as can be, sometimes I feel just like that tree
One tree
One tree, one fish, one flower, one man, one cross, one tree…
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2. |
The Men In Silken Shirts
05:30
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THE MEN IN SILKEN SHIRTS
(Chuck Hall)
He stands on the hill and watches me each morning sailing out to sea
from the hill above the harbor, his binoculars in hand
And I can't tell if I'd disappear if I'm ever out beyond his leer
Somewhere, he can't see me from the land.
Oh I must be very picturesque. like a photo framed upon his desk.
He's dreaming of the profit when the papers finally pass,
potential income figured once then changed when it is not enough
to guarantee investors a safe return on all their cash.
Well, I met him one morning. He said he came down to warn me
the marina soon would close taken by eminent domain.
There's a new road coming through a McDonald's with a view.
And if I were smart, I'd sail my boat away.
He must've read my eyes. He says the trouble with you guys
is that you can't tell the turning of the monetary tide
the land where this marina sits. It's worth more to you than all your fish.
]You could have name your price but you refuse to sign.
And I spit a seaman's curse on the men in silken shirts
They call their surveyors and a way of life is done.
But it's all just so much spit into a cold and angry wind
They won't be satisfied till the price is up and the fishing boats are gone.
He stands on the hill and watches me and I'll pretend that I can't see him
smiling like a gambler with aces in his hand.
I have an offer I can not accept and nowhere to offload my catch.
Thank God they cannot tax the sea the way they do the land.
By God, when all their buildings done, and pleasure craft block out the sun.
There'll be no room in this harbor for a fisherman like me,
and I will not be sorely missed when I get placed upon the list
of those who never came home from the sea.
repeat chorus
He stands on the hill and watches me each morning sailing out to sea.
This morning there were three of them shovels in their hands.
Sometime after 10 o'clock, the mayor comes down to the dock,
To break the ground where golden arches soon will stand.
Well, I say don't fight City Hall. I say let em have it all.
Were I a younger man, I'd have the stuff to stay
And I'd ask him face to face, "Who'll be left to love this place.
When the boom goes bust and the money moves away?"
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3. |
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TOM BRADY’S GONE TO TAMPA
© 2020 by Chuck Hall
The house that I am living in grows smaller everyday
The walls are creeping in on me and I can’t get away
There’s fear and anger everywhere, it’s the worst I’ve ever seen
Hidden in my residence locked down in quarantine
Six feet apart and masked in lines we never had before
I can’t get my hands on my favorite brands down at the grocery store
Adding insult to this injury is what’s been on the news:
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa– whatever shall we do?
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa - whatever shall we do?
I’m out of work, my wife is too
The bills won’t get paid when they’re due
We’re in desperation - the boss is on vacation
And the President has told us it’s no worse than the flu
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa– whatever shall we do?
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa- whatever shall we do?
An ER nurse told me this virus robs you of your breath
And now just showing up to work is a case of life and death
There is pain and dying everywhere, and naught to ease the curse
There’s just the news on TV, and I’m not sure which is worse
He was our hometown hero– we could depend on him
To blind us to reality when things were looking grim
We used to say, “It’s just a game,” but I think we always knew
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa–how will we make it through?
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa–what ever shall we do?
Now Prine is gone, Little Richard, too
It’s left me empty, left me blue
I just walk the floor–‘cause I can’t walk out the door
So tonight my social life is an open mic on Zoom
With so much bad news everywhere it’s hard to face the truth
Tom Brady’s gone to Tampa– whatever shall we do?
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4. |
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THEY DON'T MAKE LOVE LIKE THAT ANYMORE
(Chuck Hall)
There's a photograph on the wall by the door
They pass by it so much they don't see it no more
A man in a tux and a woman in white
An altar with candles drowning in light
They were younger then and they're first days were rough
They had only each other but that was enough
They used to head for the bedroom and run through the door
They don't make love like that anymore
They don't make love like that anymore
It's the couch and the TV when they come through the door
Stare all night at their phones in a world of their own
They don't make love like that anymore
They don't make love like that anymore
Another black and white photo with brown overtones
So precious it cannot ever be shown
Packed away when they moved, they've forgotten it's there
With family heirlooms, in storage somewhere
She was wearing white satin, he was in the Air Corps
They survived the Depression and Second World War
Hard times made their love so strong it endured
They don't make love like that anymore
They don't make love like that anymore
Forever still means what it meant before
Stand like a rock on the promise they swore
They don't make love like that anymore
They don't make love like that anymore
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5. |
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PLEASE DON’T SAY GOODBYE TO ME
(© 2021 Chuck Hall)
When I am old and in the way, can’t find the words I want to say
Bump into things I cannot see
Please don’t say goodbye to me
If I seem preoccupied, and somehow lock myself outside
When I cannot find my key
Please don’t say goodbye to me
If I get to the grocery store, but can’t recall what I went there for
That’s just the way Mom used to be
Please don’t say goodbye to me
If I can’t recall my name, sometimes rage, accuse and blame
Lost in some distant galaxy
Please don’t say goodbye to me
The cold gets colder every year
It gets into my bones
Can’t stand the thought of living here
And waking up alone
The years aren’t all that slip away, the future’s in our hands, they say
When I can’t find our memories
Please don’t say goodbye to me
Repeat chorus
If I can’t recall the lyrics to the love song that I wrote for you
I never wrote a song so true
I wrote it to be sure you knew
From the moment that we met you see, my life has been a symphony
You are my words and melody
Please don’t say goodbye to me
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6. |
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THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
(©1980 Chuck Hall)
The circus crowds are gathered ‘round
Everyone’s glad the shows in town
The hawkers yell for all they’re worth
The greatest show on earth
Red balloons and trained raccoons, sword swallowers and clows
And those who were deformed at birth
The greatest show on earth
It seems to me they must get bored
When all of life is to perform
But they ssay the show must go one
The greatest show on earth
The lion tamer plays for kids
He’s poking tigers in the ribs
The beast won’t smile when he does his tricks
It’s the greatest show on earth
And I feel like a tightrope walker in a three ring circus show
I think I’m on the high wire and you’re the net below
And everyone says this sure is fun, I say not to me it ain’t
When no one knows the clown when he takes off his paint
The people come in families
Thank God there’s no one looks at me
Eating peanuts in the balcony
The greatest show on earth
In the shadows, safely hid
I’m still just a frightened kid
And no one knows a thing I did
It’s the greatest show on earth
Does the bearded lady ever date? Does the trapeze ever get there late?
Doesn’t anyone ever make mistakes in the greatest show on earth?
The day must go by awfully slow
For someone in the circus show
But the audience must never know
It’s the greatest show on earth
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7. |
Oh, Time
06:06
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OH, TIME
(c)2020 by Chuck Hall
There's a photograph of me on my first day of school
In a bow tie, with a missing tooth, and a smile upon my face
Now the paper says they're tearing the old school down
There's almost nothing let in my home town
To make me want to see the place.
What's now the library used to be the grammar school
My mother taught the Golden Rule, they won't be doing that today
I learned to catch and hit a ball in the playground in the back
Now there's a fence that's locked and painted black
And no one coming out to play
Oh, Time...thank you for your generosity
You've given everything to me
The good, the beautiful the true
But everything you gave, one by one you took away
Til all that's left is memory
Will you one day take that, too?
There's a strip mall now where the florist used to be
That place was beautiful to me
Before the flower lady died
I used to hunt for arrowheads among the ancient flowerbeds
Now there are condos painted red, and guards to keep me locked outside
Oh, Time...thank you for your generosity
You've given everything to me
The good, the beautiful the true
But everything you gave, one by one you took away
Til all that's left is memory
Will you one day take that, too?
Oh I went home one day
To see if there was something there for me
An afternoon of memory, to remind me who I am
It;s a truth written in stone in the names of the people I have known
And I wonder as I turn to go:
What will I find when I come back?
Oh, Time...thank you for your generosity
You've given everything to me
The good, the beautiful the true
But everything you gave, one by one you took away
Til all that's left is memory
Will you one day take that, too?
Oh, Time....oh, Time....
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8. |
She Was BetterThan Me
07:47
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SHE WAS BETTER THAN ME
(c) 2020 Chuck Hall
When it come to making money, she was better than me
From the moment that we met, she'd foot the bill
And I guess it hurt my pride, 'cause no matter how I tried
She could make more in the office than I could in the mill
I guess I'll never know what it was she saw in me
That first time our eyes met and she smiled
Did she know what it would cost when all that love was lost?
There's an emptiness a paycheck cannot fill
It was the truth that set her free, and as far as I can see
She was better than me
When it come to making friends, she was better than me
You should have seen the way her face lit up a room
How every head would turn - that's not something that you learn
They would all push to be close to her, drawn by her sweet perfume
I always seemed to disappear beside her
And the truth is, I didn't really mind at all
I loves the way she way she was admired, and the awe that she inspired
When held up to the light like a precious heirloom
I was just costume jewelry, and as far as I can see
She was better than me
When it come to making love, she was better than me
We were two stars sparking in the night
In the pure flame of desire, she burned white hot in that fire
And I've never seen a bonfire burn so bright
I'm not sure where she went when her eyes closed
But I don't think that she was there with me
Beyond the boundaries of fashion, she could lose herself in passion
And I tried but could not keep up with her flight
She'd smile faintly as could be but as far as I could see
She was better than me
And when it come to leaving, she was better than me
I didn't see it coming, then she was gone
I turned to look around, but the only thing I found
Was an aching that goes on and on and on and on and on
She wrote a note when she took off that morning
And left it in a place that I would find
It just said it seems that we were blind but now we see
That nothing lasts forever but the road that you're upon
Some things aren't meant to be and as far as I can see
She was better than me
Some things aren't meant to be and as far as I can see
She was better than me
Oh, she was better than me
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9. |
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The Road We Didn't Go
(c) 2019 Chuck Hall
Down the road we didn't go
There's a place we didn't know
We don't know we can't say
People we might be today
Had we gone some other way
It's a secret we are not allowed to know
Hidden down the road we didn't go
Roads go ever on and on down from the door where it began
And we are born into this world according to the plan
Not accidental tourist we, sojourners on the road to see
People we were meant to be
Love will guide the pilgrim heart and show
Every step along the way to go
Repeat chorus
Sometimes the path that I am on is overgrown and disappears
Fear has left me hurt and broken, filled my eyes with tears
But I will not pass this way again
On the road to what might not have been
I cried out and found a friend
Had not left me in the wilderness alone
To stumble down the road I didn't go
Repeat chorus
You get lost sometimes you've got to fake it
When you get to the fork in the road, take it
Repeat chorus
My path divided in a wood, I took the road less traveled by
And that has made the difference, but I can't help wondering why
It's such a sad an old cliché
I am the man I am today
For the choices I've made on the way
There's no regretting what I'll never know
Was hidden down the road I didn't go
Repeat chorus
Down the road, down the road, down the road......
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10. |
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We Are All In This Together
(c) 2020 Chuck Hall
This train came to a sudden stop I don’t think I recognize the spot
I can’t find it on a map
I don’t recognize this barren scene, no landscape here that I have seen
In all the circles around my hat
It was so impersonal they dumped us at the "terminal"
I wish they’d found a better word for it than that
The conductor she was standing near, I said loud enough for her to hear, "This is not where I’m supposed to be!
There’s a meeting I’ll be late for not some train I’ve got to wait for
How long will this stop be?"
Expressionless she turned to me held out her punch officiously
And in her best conductor voice said, “Ticket please.”
chorus
We are all in this together, we are all in this alone
We are all in this together, we are all in this alone
We have no immunity from our need for community
And so we find our unity together and alone
Now I see my shrinking bank account so unlike the body count
That just rises every day
We don’t get the truth that we deserve, as we seek to flatten out the curve and it occurs to me to say:
"To all my fellow passengers: we may be headed for a massacre, but this train was bound for nowhere anyway!"
repeat chorus
I will embrace and take you by the hand as soon as any human can
I am dying for your touch
My hands have never been so clean, never in my life I dreamed I needed you so much
When we get the call but all is clear, may we understand that we are here
To give and to receive the Gift of Love
repeat chorus
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