|
1. |
|
|
|
|
You never should have left me
I would have never been untrue
If I’d had you there to hold me
In your arms the whole night through
You know this heart of mine gets lonely
And all the crazy things that I do
Were never meant to hurt you
Or break your heart in two
Please say you love me
Like you always did before
You used to come around whenever I was down
And pick my smile up off of the floor
Please say you love me
Like you always did before
I used to count on you to pull me through
Now I need you more and more
|
|
2. |
|
|
|
|
Candy hearts and paper flowers
We’ve been talking on the phone for hours
Please don’t break this heart of mine
Will you be my Valentine
|
|
3. |
|
|
|
|
THE LAST COWBOY
© Dan Sullivan 2012
Billy lived in New Jersey
And there ain’t many cowboys there
And the ones that are left are just replicas
And that ain’t the way to learn best
So he saved up most of the money
The mill traded for his sweat
And with a pack on his back and an old cowboy hat
Billy headed it West
He thumbed his way to Dodge City
What he saw nearly broke his heart
Not a cowboy around just another ghost town
And barely a memory left
Shifting South through the burnin’
Texas panhandle plains
Dreaming of Albuquerque
And finding it just the same
Billy had never heard of
Quixote’s reckless scheme
But he was just as determined
Chasing his cowboy dream
In a broken down bar in Phoenix
Billy got loaded on beer
And his dreams flickered like the cold neon light
Laughing at him in the mirror
Then a stranger sitting beside him
Said, “Son, you’re the closest thing
To a cowboy I’ve seen since back in the Spring
Of Eighteen and Seventy-Three
“‘Course this bar wasn’t here back then
But there was one just down the road
Where the cowboys came in for whiskey and gin
And anything bought could be sold
“Son, I could tell you some stories
But my memory ain’t the best
“Bartender send down two cowboys a round
There ain’t many of us left.”
|
|
4. |
|
|
|
|
Candy hearts and paper flowers
We’ve been talking on the phone for hours
Please don’t break this heart of mine
Will you be my Valentine
|
|
5. |
|
|
|
|
Don’t wonder if I love you baby
You know that you’re always on my mind
Don’t worry I won’t hurt you baby
You know I’d never be unkind
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
On nights like this when I need your kiss
I can almost feel you touching me
The scent of you fills this empty room
Then I wake and I find that it’s just a dream
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
Without your love I’m nothing at all
|
|
6. |
|
|
|
|
When you broke my heart it never bothered you
I still remember that look on your face
If you had any feelings at all for me
Well, you never showed a trace
Now I’m learning
Learning how to love again
When faith and trust had all turned to dust
I felt broken beyond repair
In the darkest night just a spark of light
Was all that saved me from despair
Now I’m learning
Learning how to love again
Since you broke my heart the hardest part of the day
Was just getting out of bed
I’d wake up trying to shake these awful
Nightmares from my head
Now I’m learning
Learning how to love again
I’m learning how to love again
Not gonna be stuck in this lonely place
Now I’m learning
Learning how to love again
|
|
7. |
|
|
|
|
On a warm night in December
Somewhere South of Danang
Gunshots exploded
In the jungle in the pouring rain
As all Hell was breaking loose
At point blank range
It ended five minutes
Before the gunships came
To pull the survivors
From the jaws of a certain grave
But James O’Brien
Was the only one they saved
Five men died that night
And one is still alive
Searching through the memories
He’s wondering why
He’s wondering why
Six months in the hospital
And the Army gave up on Jim
They put him on a one-way flight
To the unemployment line
‘Cause they figured he’d seen
One too many fights
Now Jimmy’s looking better
But he’s changed to his friends
He’s hiding something no one can see
And no one or nothing can mend
Old friend’s hang out
Jimmy just hangs in
Five men died that night
And one is still alive
Searching through the memories
He’s wondering why
He’s wondering why
Now there’s talk of legislation
And the price that we must pay
To ease a nation’s conscience
And hide that war away
But what about Jimmy
And the men he couldn’t save?
Five men died that night
And one is still alive
Searching through the memories
He’s wondering why
He’s wondering why
|
|
8. |
|
|
|
|
She’s gone like some
Tropical breeze she has flown
Didn’t really know
What I had ’til she was gone
Reason or rhyme
What does it matter
Now that she’s gone
Time just goes on
I didn’t know that time
Could slip by so fast
Now to find her
I must look into the past
Reason or rhyme
What does it matter
Now that she’s gone
I just can’t go on
She’s gone like some
Wind song left out in the breeze
Sailing away
Nearer each day to her dreams
She’s gone like some
Tropical bird she has flown
|
|
9. |
|
|
|
|
Her smile could melt ice and I’ve never seen
Prettier eyes than the eyes of Maureen
And I dream of her often, even when I’m awake
I wonder where they bury all the hearts that she breaks
Maureen, Maureen get out of my dreams
You’re making me nervous and restless and mean
A lovesick heart burns like kerosine
Why do you bother me so much Maureen
God joins together from high up above
But love doesn’t always fit like a glove
A man can go crazy just chasing his dream
Why do you bother me so much Maureen
Maureen, Maureen get out of my dreams
You’re making me nervous and restless and mean
A lovesick heart burns like kerosine
Why do you bother me so much Maureen
|
|
10. |
|
|
|
|
The Officer’s Ball
Is Saturday night
There’ll be music
And dancing
Beneath the moonlight
You know that shirtwaist
That you’ve never worn
The blue sash would go good
With my uniform
Darling, Darling
Say you’ll join me
At the Officer’s Ball
On Saturday Night
I’m riding tomorrow
I won’t be gone long
I’ll be back Thursday
If nothing goes wrong
The 7th has been
On an Indian hunt
They haven’t had mail call
In more than a month
Darling, Darling
Say you’ll join me
At the Officer’s Ball
On Saturday Night
I’m carrying orders
For Custer and Crook
You know the Army
It goes by the book
I’m traveling light
I leave in the morn
It’s a two-day ride
To the Little Big Horn
Darling, Darling
Say you’ll join me
At the Officer’s Ball
On Saturday Night
|
|
11. |
|
|
|
|
Uncle Jimmy’s gone to Heaven
I heard he left New Jersey Monday night
He must be South of Denver by now
I bet he’s somewhere on the Strip tomorrow night
Forgiveness isn’t always easy
And I know how hard it was for him
But he always said to trust in Jesus
So I’ll just say a prayer for Uncle Jim
There won’t be a flag-draped coffin
Or a bugle sounding Taps for Uncle Jim
They’ll ship his ashes by Registered Mail
So his kids can say their last goodbyes to him
Forgiveness isn’t always easy
And I know how hard it was for him
But he always said to trust in Jesus
So I’ll just say a prayer for Uncle Jim
Uncle Jimmy’s gone to Heaven
I heard he left New Jersey Monday night
He must be South of Denver by now
I bet he’s somewhere on the Strip tomorrow night
|
|
12. |
|
|
|
|
Keying on the Flying Dutchman
Sorting through the night
Sparkplug Bill, a postal clerk
Was fighting for his life
The sad stare in his eyes revealed
A life too quickly old
Too many letters in too short a time
Had flashed past his console
No warm words consoled him
No word at all prevailed
There was nothing but a constant roar
And a steady stream of mail
As machine and man struggled
In uneasy unison
No one knew that Sparkplug Bill
Was making his last run
Sparkplug Bill, Oh Sparkplug
Hey foreman ring the bell!
Load another tray of mail
On the ledge for Sparkplug Bill
The zero bin was filled with mail
From console number four
Where the little hands of Sparkplug Bill
Lay still at the keyboard
The foreman pulled an edit
Then he cursed beneath his breath
And spied the sleepy figure
With his slumped on his chest
Sparkplug Bill, Oh Sparkplug
Hey foreman ring the bell!
Load another tray of mail
On the ledge for Sparkplug Bill
With an edit in his hand
The foreman lifted Billy’s head
Then he called for relief clerk
For Sparkplug was dead
There was no time to grieve for him
The mail could not be slowed
He was only a sparkplug
Who died at his console
Sparkplug Bill, Oh Sparkplug
Hey foreman ring the bell!
Load another tray of mail
On the ledge for Sparkplug Bill
Load another tray of mail
On the ledge for Sparkplug Bill
|
My 3rd collection of original songs was put together in 2011 and 2012. The title song was written sometime in the late '70s or early '80s while I was a postal clerk. It's kind of a John Henry song about a postal clerk keying mail on a letter sorting machine. The clerks had less than a second to read the address on letters and tap out a code to send the mail to it's proper bin on the back of the machine. Those LSMs are all gone now, replaced by automated equipment which sorts the mail without any input from postal clerks.
