1. |
Criminal Eyes
05:06
|
|||
|
Another night he’s up to no good
Driving through the neighborhood
He’s got time on his hands, he’s just looking around
It’s raining so he pulls up his hood
He’s just walkin’ through the neighborhood
Bag of Skittles in his hand, he’s just looking about
If you aren’t guilty why did you run?
Mister you better put away that gun
Zimmerman calls in a complaint
Says “These assholes always get away”
Wait a minute now, he’s starting to run
Are you trailing him the dispatcher asks
“We don’t need you to do that”
The car door slams George checks for his gun
If you aren’t guilty, why did you run
Mister you better put away that gun
In the darkness they stand their ground,
Scuffle then they both go down
“What’s going on” a neighbor shouts
“Help me help me” one of them cries
In a voice that goes unrecognized
George goes for his gun and then a shot rings out
If you aren’t guilty why didn’t you run
Mister please put away that gun
The phones are ringing off the hook
A man comes out to take a look
George tells him he fired in self-defense
The cops arrive, they look around
They cuff him and take him downtown
But you can’t hold a man without any evidence
If you aren’t guilty why didn’t you run
Mister please put away that gun
Dead men never talk
A jury lets Zimmerman walk
Only one man knows where the truth lies
Some see good wherever they look’
Some folks read from the Holy Book
And some see life through Criminal Eyes
If you aren’t guilty why didn’t you run
Mister please put away that gun
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
Like a leaf I am blown
Back and forth, to and fro
Helplessly adrift on the breeze
But Angels will rejoice
And they’ll sing in one voice
When this burden is lifted from me
I am trapped in this life
Between darkness and light
Where temptation won’t let me be
But Angels will rejoice
And they’ll sing in one voice
When this burden is lifted from me
In this world I stumble and fall into sin
I repent then I fall once again
Sometimes I fall to my knees in prayer
Sometimes my weakness is too much to bear
I am trapped in this life
Between darkness and light
Where temptation won’t let me be
But Angels will rejoice
And they’ll sing in one voice
When this burden is lifted from me
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
When I was growing up and not more than a pup
I remember Mama taught me how to pray
She said there’s trouble and there’s strife
In everybody’s life but God is there each step of the way
So count your blessings not your troubles
There’s a rainbow after every thunderstorm
Light a candle in the dark, always comfort broken hearts
Let your life be like a Rose among the thorns
When the rose is in bloom the thorns must make room
If the rose is to live and to thrive
In a world full of woe, remember how the rose
Finds a way among the thorns to survive
So count your blessings not your troubles
There’s a rainbow after every thunderstorm
Light a candle in the dark, always comfort broken hearts
Let your life be like a Rose among the thorns
|
||||
4. |
||||
|
As a child she watched Fred Astaire
Movies on TV
She would dance with him every night
But only in her dreams
But dreams are as real as the love you feel
When you’re only 9 years old
When she finally gets to dance
I hope he sweeps her off of her feet
I hope he spins her ‘round the ol’ dance floor
And makes her life complete
When she finally gets to dance
Later on she learned that life can be
Sometimes cruel and mean
At the prom she danced the night away
But only in her dreams
‘Cause dreams are as real as the love you feel
When you’re almost seventeen
When she finally gets to dance
I hope he sweeps her off of her feet
I hope he spins her ‘round the ol’ dance floor
And makes her life complete
When she finally gets to dance
As the years rolled by their weight has left
Scars that were not there
When she was only 9 years old
And dreamt of Fred Astaire
But dreams are as real as the love you feel
When you’re pushing thirty-four
When she finally gets to dance
I hope he sweeps her off of her feet
I hope he spins her ‘round the ol’ dance floor
And makes her life complete
When she finally gets to dance
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
I know I’m not pretty
I was born like this
I’m not the kind of girl
Men long to kiss
But I’ve got feelings
Just like you
Don’t stare at me that way
I get lonely too
I may not be smart
Not the way that you are
But sometimes I still shine
As bright as any star
And sometimes I wish
You could stand in my shoes
You wouldn’t stare at me that way
If you were lonely too
Now I don’t mind the rain
It washes things clean
And I don’t have to worry
It can’t wash away my dreams
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
Well I never gave it much thought when I was younger
Yeah I guess you could say that I was perfectly blind
You better watch out for the one you don’t see coming
That’s the one they say will get you every time
There’s a woman who lives all alone with her cats and her Bible
There’s a red rose she keeps under glass to remind her of him
Ruth used to dance with Bobby at the club every Friday evening
Just a little bit of joy in a world full of sorrow and sin
Broken hearts and memories
Are always leaving town
Just when you’re not looking
They always come around
Well I never gave it much thought when I was younger
Yeah I guess you could say that I was perfectly blind
You better watch out for the one you don’t see coming
That’s the one they say will get you every time
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
In a dust bowl town in Oklahoma around the summer of ’35
Sam Duncan got drunk and started talking about a plague that was coming around
The bartender cut him off and sent him on his way
Laughing at drunken Duncan and that juiced old bum’s dismay
Two weeks later the virus hit and everyone went to bed
The doctor was working overtime on the living and the dead
Then the bartender remembered Sam Duncan’s drunken remarks
At exactly the day and hour that the rumors happened to start
The doctor called it a virus
The town folk called it a plague
And if Sam called it down upon us
We’ve got only one person to blame
Fear got the best of reason like dust gets the best of rain
Sam got the worst of all, he took a bullet in the brain
The Sheriff came down with the fever and no arrests were made
The virus took its course and left the dust dancing over Duncan’s grave
The doctor called it a virus
The town folk called it a plague
And if Sam called it down upon us
We’ve got only one person to blame
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
38 Nooses
©Dan Sullivan 2014
38 Nooses swinging in the wind
The hangman checks his watch again
A few clouds drifting across the sky
And 38 Dakotas waiting to die
Soldiers torn by lead and steel
Ghosts departing the battlefield
Into the smoke they disappear
Just as if they were never here
Husbands, wives, sons and daughters
Some were spared and some were slaughtered
The news spread like a prarie fire
Riding east on the telegraph wire
The thunder dies and all is still
Except for the creaking of the wheels
As ambulance wagons carry away
Ten thousand dead Blue and Grey
Justice mixed in the blood of revenge
Weighed on the scale against the dead
The prairieland is vast and cold
No one knows the secrets it holds
Can you feel that December wind
It’s grey as shame and cold as sin
From the Land of Lakes that cold wind blows
All the way to Cashtown Road
38 Nooses swinging in the wind
The hangman checks his watch again
In the distance a coyote calls
And suddenly the trap doors fall
|
||||
9. |
Refugee
03:19
|
|||
|
I am just a Refugee
I have no place to rest
I’m hungry and I’m tired now
I have but one request
Won’t someone spare a Refugee
Some water and some bread
And perhaps a place upon the floor
To lay my weary head
The fever took my mother
I have no family
I’m lost and forgotten
There’s no one left for me
No vagabond am I
I did not choose this fate
To stand outside the city walls
Begging at the gate
I am just a Refugee
I have no place to rest
I’m hungry and I’m tired now
I have but one request
Won’t someone spare a Refugee
Some water and some bread
And perhaps a place upon the floor
To lay my weary head
|
||||
10. |
||||
|
An old friend of mine was dying,
A songwriter like me,
I was told he didn't have much time left.
His family had gathered 'round
To be there at the end,
Along with a few of his close friends.
When I came into the room
I saw his wife was there,
So was their daughter and son.
A small girl looking sad
Was standing by the bed.
My friend looked like he was sleeping.
I hugged his wife and asked her
How she was holding up.
I could see the sorrow in her eyes.
She said, "I'm fine,”
But I knew she was lying,
Though lying’s not a sin at times like this.
On the desk by his bed
Was a single sheet of paper;
I could see by the writing it was words to a song.
Then his son said to me,
"Dad wrote this last week.
He was hoping that you would finish it."
"Trust God. Have faith. . Heaven's a better place.
When life hurts you, here's what to do:
Don't judge or blame,
Just pray, trust God, Have faith.”
It was hard to keep from crying
As I took his hand in mine
And leaned close to whisper in his ear.
"Man, you wrote some good songs
The world may never hear,
But you sure outdid yourself when you wrote this one.”
I stepped back from his bedside
And slowly bowed my head,
I was thinking how much I'll miss him.
I said a silent prayer
As his wife bent down to kiss him
...And then he slipped away.
"Trust God. Have faith. Heaven's a better place.
When life hurts you, here's what to do:
Don't judge or blame,
Just pray, trust God, Have faith”
|
||||
Dan Sullivan Kalamazoo, Michigan
Some people like gardening, working on cars or woodworking. Others enjoy knitting, collecting stamps or coins. That kind of thing. I like writing songs.
If you like Dan Sullivan, you may also like:
New Album Out Now: Spirals
by Kate Ellis
Kate Ellis uses melancholy Americana to conduct fearless soul searching.
go to album
Big, gutsy country music from Matney Cook, with exuberant vocals and tasteful, stately arrangements.
go to album
When Carolina Comes Home Again
by Jim Lauderdale
The latest from Jim Lauderdale is exclusive to Bandcamp, its songs drawing on bluegrass, country, and classic American music.
go to album
The latest from Jim Lauderdale is a showcase for his heavily-detailed songwriting and soaring country melodies.
go to album
Flower Country
by Cassie Josephine and Gabriel Minnikin
Pristine harmonies and gentle twang aplenty on this happy alt-country collaboration.
go to album
Margo Price's latest album tackles loss, failure, and freedom over lush pop, psychedelic country, and rock arrangements.
go to album
The Freelancer's Blues
by Dougie Poole
Poole's experimental country tunes tell stories about financially insecurity and romantic disappointments.
go to album
