Music

Album Cover for Halfway to Houston - Susan Werner looking off into the distance wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt
Album Cover for Halfway to Houston - Susan Werner looking off into the distance wearing sunglasses and a blue shirt

Halfway to Houston 02/09/2024

And I know some of you are thinking, “You did a record about Texas? WHY?”

I’d like to remind you of a few things: Chili. Ruby Red Grapefruit. The Johnson Space Center. Molly Ivins. Patrick Swayze. Dell Computers (even though I’m an Apple devotee). Beyonce. Buddy Holly. Janis Joplin. Willie Nelson.

Yes, OF COURSE Texas’ government is terrible. You think I’d overlook all that? Check out Welcome To Texas! written with Southpaw Jones, and Tiny Texans written with Sara Hickman.

But you’ll find plenty of love in these songs, too, in Lake of Stars and Corpus and Jalapeno Cornbread. You’ll hear great Philly musicians working their magic on this record along with guests from Austin (Tish Hinojosa and Chip Dolan).

So yeah, sure, the record’s “about Texas.” But maybe think of it as one artist’s view of life, seen through the lens of the Lone Star State.

Give it a listen, and even if you’re up in Minneapolis or over in Atlanta or out in L.A. you might suddenly find your imagination rolling down the interstate and halfway to Houston.

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The Birds of Florida 01/05/2022

Panthers iguanas and flamingoes meet up with dobros, bongos and marimbas on songwriter Susan Werner’s colorful new EP The Birds Of Florida.

“I wound up riding out the winter of the pandemic in Siesta Key near Sarasota,” Werner says, “And despite my best efforts to relax, I somehow left with an album.”

Produced by drummer Erik Johnson (Huffamoose), the lush arrangements feature Gulf and Western sounds ranging from rumba to reggae to bolero ballads to Bakersfield twang. Werner’s signature sharp lyrics capture the beauty and strangeness of the Sunshine State – from the playful lead track “Florida La La La” to the beach stroll of a love song “I Could Get Used To This” to the heartfelt and poetic “The Birds of Florida.”

“I was not looking for songs in Florida,” Werner says. “I was just trying to get through a really, really long winter, like everybody else. But the tunes started landing, like, well, birds. From a talking Blue Macaw on a man’s shoulder in Key West, to a radio report about cold-stunned iguanas falling from tree branches, to a silver haired Siesta Key neighbor who uncannily resembled an ibis, birds and flying things began appearing everywhere, including in my songs. After a while I stopped chasing them off, and I’m glad I did. Because with these songs, this recording, I might have accidentally made a good case for the Sunshine State.”

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Flyover Country Album Art
Flyover Country Album Art

Flyover Country Release date: 09/27/2020

This studio recording (release date Sept 27, 2020) features 10 Werner originals in a nod to the songforms and sounds of Americana and Country. Features lapsteel wizard Mike “Slomo” Brenner, pedal steel master Jim Cohen, a co-write with John Gorka (Wine Bottles) and Susan’s signature lyrical poetry and wit.

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Full Catalog

Download Susan Werner’s full catalog of albums, plus bonus tracks (demos and unreleased songs), and live concert video footage with one click!

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Includes the following:

  • ALBUMS
    • 1993 – Live at Tin Angel
    • 1993 – Midwestern Saturday Night
    • 1995 – Last of the Good Straight Girls
    • 1998 – Time Between Trains
    • 2001 – New Non-Fiction
    • 2004 – I Can’t Be New
    • 2007 – The Gospel Truth
    • 2008 – Live at Passim
    • 2009 – Classics
    • 2010 – Kicking the Beehive
    • 2011 – Live at the Center for the Arts in Natick
    • 2013 – Hayseed
    • 2017 – An American in Havana
    • 2017 – Eight Unnecessary Songs
    • 2019 – NOLA
    • 2020 – Flyover Country (for downloads after Sept 27, 2020)
    • 2022 – The Birds of Florida (for downloads after Jan 8, 2022)
  • VIDEOS
    • All Mapped Out (live concert & tour footage)
    • 1955 Chevy Bel Air (official music video)
    • Live at Stone Mountain (concert footage)
    • Free Your A** (official music video)
  • EXTRAS
    • Unreleased songs
    • Demos
    • & more

NOLA

NOW what has she gone and done?

For Susan Werner fans awaiting another of her unique concept albums, it’s here, and this time it’s NOLA – yup, New Orleans. Based on the piano stylings of Professor Longhair and Dr. John, Susan has written nine new tunes and tossed in a new take on an old classic. Just in time for Mardi Gras 2019!

Recorded in New Orleans and Philadelphia. Produced by Erik Johnson, High Hill Studios, Philadelphia.

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Sheet Music: Nostalgia (from An American in Havana)

Sheet music for Susan Werner’s often requested piano instrumental, Nostalgia (from An American in Havana).  This is a single song PDF of the sheet music,$5.

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An American in Havana

Chicago musician Susan Werner wrote the six songs of “An American In Havana” during her travels to Cuba in 2015 and 2016, and the recording features her trademark wry, poetic lyrics set to Cuban sounds and songforms.  Produced with Venezuelan drummer Pablo Bencid (who plays timbales and drums) and featuring Cuban American percussionist Mayra Casales, the EP is a vivid, colorful mural of the delights (riding in a vintage American car along Havana’s Malecon), the beauty and scarcity (detailed in the lead track) and the obsession with coffee (Cortadito) that are part of every American’s introduction to the island.

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Songbook: 8 Unnecessary Songs

This songbook includes all of the songs on the 8 Unnecessary Songs CD.

1.
Small Planes
2.
No New Friends
3.
Recumbent Bike
4.
What Did You Do To Your Face
5.
Dog
6.
Pabst Blue Ribbon
7.
Bad Bad Bad
8.
Career Counseling 101 (Don’t)
9.
The Motorist’s Prayer
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Eight Unnecessary Songs

Eight little tunes on topics ranging from cosmetic surgery to the extraordinary properties of cheap beer to global warming. At turns facile, petty and uncharitable, these songs offer a kind of comfort to those of us falling wayyy short of Mother Teresa out here.

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Sheet Music: May I Suggest

Sheet music for the often requested May I Suggest.  This is a single song PDF of the sheet music, including piano and tabs with lyrics.

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Hayseed 2013

This record is dedicated to my father and mother, and their fathers and mothers, and their fathers and mothers, and their fathers and mothers… farmers, all.

Songs commissioned by the University of Nebraska’s Lied Center for Performing Arts and the Institute for Agriculture and Natural Resources.
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Songbook: Hayseed 2013

This songbook includes all of the songs on the Hayseed project. No piano music, just the guitar chords.

1.
Back to the Land
2.
Egg Money
3.
City Kids
4.
Snowmobiles
5.
Bumper Crop
6.
While You Wait For The Rain
7.
Herbicides
8.
Plant The Stars
9.
Something To Be Said
10.
Iowa
11.
Ode to Aldo Leopold
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Live at The Center for Arts in Natick 2011

This Double Live CD was recorded on March 19, 2011 at the center for the Arts in Natick Massachusetts and captures one of the most magical performances of Susan’s Career. Susan along with Band-mates Trina Hamlin and Gail Ann Dorsey completely rock the house.

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  • 1 Hey Hey 3:23
  • 2 Heaven So Small 5:00 Lyrics

    Heaven So Small - Lyrics

    excuse me sir, what did you say?
    when you shout so loud, it's hard to tell
    you say that i must change my ways
    for i am surely bound to hell

    well i know you'd damn me if you could
    but my friend, that's simply not your call
    if god is great and god is good
    why is your heaven so small

    you say you know you say you've read
    that holy bible up on your shelf
    do you recall when jesus said
    judge not, lest ye be judged yourself

    for i know you'd damn me if you could
    but my friend, that's simply not your call
    if god is great, and god is good
    why is your heaven so small

    with your fists that shake, and your eyes that burn
    what makes you do these things you do?
    i would not be surprised to learn
    someone somewhere excluded you

    but my friend, imagine it if you would
    a love much mightier than us all
    o if god is great and god is good
    why is your heaven
    so small

  • 3 Our Father 4:15 Lyrics

    Our Father - Lyrics

    Thy kingdom come to every nation
    Thy will be done in everything we do
    Lord, lead us not into temptation
    And deliver us
    from those who think they're You

    Lord send us forth to be of service
    To build the schools and dig the wells
    And deliver us from the creepy preachers
    With their narrow minds and very wide lapels

    Lord give us strength to bring compassion
    to every corner of the world
    And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood
    And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl

    Lord deliver us from politicians
    Who drop Your name in every speech
    As if they're Your best friend from high school
    As if they practice what they preach

  • 4 Did Trouble Me 4:10 Lyrics

    Did Trouble Me - Lyrics

    When I closed my eyes so I would not see
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I let things stand that should not be
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held my head too high too proud
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I raised my voice too little too loud
    My Lord did trouble me

    Did trouble me
    With a word or a sign
    With the ringing of the bell in the back of my mind
    Did trouble me
    Did stir my soul
    For to make me human, to make me whole

    When I slept too long, slept too deep
    My Lord did trouble me
    Put a worrisome vision into my sleep
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held myself away and apart
    My Lord did trouble me
    And the tears of my brother didn't move my heart
    My Lord did trouble me

    ...

    And of this I'm sure, of this I know
    My Lord will trouble me
    Whatever I do and wherever I go
    My Lord will trouble me
    In the whisper of the wind, in the rhythm of a song
    My Lord will trouble me
    To keep me on the path where I belong
    My Lord will trouble me

    Will trouble me...

  • 5 My Different Son 4:56 Lyrics

    My Different Son - Lyrics

    my little boy plays all alone
    lives in a world that's all his own
    my different son, my different son
    he's not the same as everyone -
    he's my different son

    my little boy doesn't quite fit in
    schools and rules were never made for him
    my different son, my different son
    won't have anybody making fun
    of my different son

    my different son already knows by now
    he's always gonna be a different boy somehow

    but there's so much passion, so much pride
    so much possibility inside
    my different son, my different son
    wanna set him free and watch him run

    for my different son, i'm doing all i can
    one day my different son is gonna be a man

    want him to build a life he can be proud of
    find his purpose, find some love
    my different son, my different son
    cause he's just the same as everyone
    but he's not the same as everyone
    he's - he's - my -
    son

  • 6 Kicking The Beehive 4:20 Lyrics

    Kicking The Beehive - Lyrics

    some people love their easy chair
    some people love to spend their evenings
    sitting right there
    some people sip their morning tea
    some people love their days as dull and calm as can be
    not me

    CHORUS:
    i keep kicking the beehive just to feel alive again
    i keep bursting bubbles
    stirring up trouble where i can
    i keep playing with matches
    something catches let it burn
    i keep kicking the beehive
    and i know i'll never learn

    some people need to get along
    some people live in fear
    they might say something wrong
    some people happily comply
    some people do as they are told and never ask why
    not i

    CHORUS
    so don't teach me - don't preach to me

    strange, some people never want to feel a thing
    strange, the way i kinda like to feel the sting

    CHORUS
    so don't teach me - there's no reaching me

  • 7 I Know What I Want 4:51 Lyrics

    I Know What I Want - Lyrics

    i know what i want and i want you
    i know what i want and i want you
    i know what i need and i need you
    and i don't want nobody else
    no i don't want nobody else

    all of my life i've wanted to find you
    and i love the way nature designed you
    but some people can't see
    me with you, you with me
    why can't they let love be

    because we know what we want

    CHORUS

    my family and friends, they don't understand it
    'cause my fairy tale didn't go like they planned it
    they fought it right from the start
    they said you don't look the part
    oh but i know in my heart

    why can't they let love be

    mamma don't get it (no no)
    daddy don't get it (no no)
    this town don't get it (no no)
    this county don't get it (no no)
    this state don't get it (no no)
    let's move on out (yes yes)
    let's move up north (yes yes)
    let's move out east (yes yes)
    get somewhere else (yes yes)
    CHORUS

  • 8 The Last Words of Bonnie Parker 3:51 Lyrics

    The Last Words of Bonnie Parker - Lyrics

    i don't wanna think about it
    or take a backwards look
    i don't wanna hear 'em saying
    how i mighta got took
    all i know is when i met you
    my whole little world shook
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    and i don't wanna know the difference
    between wrong and right
    all i know is when i met you
    it was love at first sight
    hair wild as a windstorm
    eyes dark as the night
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    CHORUS:
    so drive me baby round the bend
    we'll take this highway to the end
    there's no turning back again

    and i don't wanna know the reason
    why my marriage didn't last
    say it's over when it's over
    call the past the past
    throw the money in a suitcase
    and then drive away fast
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    and i don't wanna know the meaning
    i don't wanna understand
    why i like to hold a pistol
    in the palm of my hand
    why you only feel the first time
    that you gotta kill a man
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    CHORUS

    so hold me close right by your side
    if'n this is our last ride
    jesus christ
    i love you,
    clyde

  • 9 Manhattan, Kansas 3:58 Lyrics

    Manhattan, Kansas - Lyrics

    out where the prairie grass waves in the wind
    and where the sunsets last forever
    that's where i fell in love with him
    did i see this coming - never

    CHORUS:
    manhattan, kansas
    we all do what we gotta do
    i did what i did
    and i surely don't blame you
    i simply needed
    for things to turn out differently
    manhattan, kansas, can you understand me

    i was a college girl from out of state
    he was a rancher from salina
    when i told him i was three weeks late
    he said, "i can't be a father..."

    CHORUS

    the longest sidewalk i will ever see
    deputies on either side of me
    people crying, praying rosaries
    but all of that was many years ago
    now i'm out in pennsylvania
    i watch my lovely daughters as they grow
    and i keep sunflowers on the table

    CHORUS

  • 10 Time Between Trains 6:25 Lyrics

    Time Between Trains - Lyrics

    I'm waitin' at the station

    I can choose my destination
    I'm a free soul, I got no chains
    But it's a long time between trains

    I took a long nap, I read a whole book
    I got nice legs, I got decent looks
    And I'm not one who complains
    But it's a long time between trains

    And who'd have thought it all those years
    That I would find myself back here
    Feelin' restless and ignored
    Starin' at the schedule board
    Wonderin' why the fates above
    Always route love through Miami

    And somewhere lovers smile their smiles
    While I count the ceiling tiles
    And well give or take a few
    There's one thousand fifty-two
    But that depends if you include
    The eighty-eight out in the hall

    Yes I'm waitin' at the station
    With my old friend sublimation
    You know the Wright boys designed planes

    Must have been a long time...

  • 11 Red Dress 3:23 Lyrics

    Red Dress - Lyrics

    i got on my red dress, honey
    got on my red dress for you
    welcome home now, baby
    and you're welcome to me too

    you've been working so hard darling
    thought you might like a little treat
    put down that heavy suitcase
    and help me put up both of my feet

    cause i love to hear you calling
    to the father, son and the holy ghost
    and i love that sweet sweet music
    of your wedding ring 'gainst the brass bedpost

    got on my red dress, honey
    got on my red dress for you
    'cause it's like you love to tell me -
    my little red dress, it fits you too

  • 12 Chicago Any Day 3:36 Lyrics

    Chicago Any Day - Lyrics

    You take Manhattan
    You can have that'n
    Give me Chicago any day

    L.A. may be hot
    Ain't got what we've got
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me the down home people
    who say what they mean
    Give me the lake and the river
    so marvelous and clean
    Give me the best tall buildings
    the world has ever seen
    We scrape the blue from the sky
    so there's nothing left for Cleveland

    Don't need to see more
    of old Baltimore
    Give me Chicago any day

    Or go get lost in
    the streets in Boston
    Give me Chicago any day

    Just give me Michigan Avenue
    any time of year
    Leave and you'll wish again
    that you were livin' here
    We got Studs Terkel
    Got Wiener Circle
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me the full length overcoat
    the two button suit
    Give me the Field Museum
    the Art Institute
    Give me the Cubs out at Wrigley
    We root, root, root
    And if the win you would say
    they exceeded expectations

    Go see Grant Park
    That ain't no scant park
    Give me Chicago any day

    Go ride the L train
    Now isn't that a swell train
    Give me Chicago any day

    Because the way I reckon
    when the reckoning's done
    You'll find the second city
    is second to none
    Enough chit-chattin'
    about Manhattan
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me Chicago any day

  • 13 I Can't Be New 3:52 Lyrics

    I Can't Be New - Lyrics

    Coffee, ham and eggs
    I can be your diner
    Tired aching legs
    I'll be your recliner
    And when you need a breath of air
    I'll be your balcony

    When you need a laugh
    I can be your joker
    Cut a loss in half
    I can be your broker
    'Cos all of that and more
    You have been for me

    And I'll be the release
    When the pressure's heightening
    I can be the grease
    When your wheels are tightening
    And when you need a dance
    I can be that old soft-shoe

    I can be your girl
    Through the best and worst time
    But I can't be the girl you notice
    For the first time
    There's so much I can do
    But I can't be new

    And when they're buying you steak baby
    I can be the gravy
    When they throw you in the lake
    I can be the navy
    Be that three-day leave
    I can be that bad tattoo

    I can be the sky
    The very wild blue yonder
    Still I can't catch your eye
    When it starts to wander
    As I've seen it do
    Oh at least a time or two

    I'll be anything for you baby
    But I can't be new...

  • 14 May I Suggest 5:19 Lyrics

    May I Suggest - Lyrics

    May I suggest
    May I suggest to you
    May I suggest this is the best part of your life
    May I suggest
    This time is blessed for you
    This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
    Just turn your head
    And you'll begin to see
    The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight
    The reasons why
    Why I suggest to you
    Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a world
    That's been addressed to you
    Addressed to you, intended only for your eyes
    A secret world
    Like a treasure chest to you
    Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise
    A lover's trusting smile
    A tiny baby's hands
    The million stars that fill the turning sky at night
    Oh I suggest
    Oh I suggest to you
    Oh I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a hope
    That's been expressed in you
    The hope of seven generations, maybe more
    And this is the faith
    That they invest in you
    It's that you'll do one better than was done before
    Inside you know
    Inside you understand
    Inside you know what's yours to finally set right
    And I suggest
    And I suggest to you
    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

    This is a song
    Comes from the west to you
    Comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun
    With a request
    With a request of you
    To see how very short the endless days will run
    And when they're gone
    And when the dark descends
    Oh we'd give anything for one more hour of light

    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

  • 15 Movie of My Life 4:06 Lyrics

    Movie of My Life - Lyrics

    When they make the movie of my life
    I hope they get somebody beautiful to play me
    Somebody eloquent and beautiful to play me
    When they make the movie of my life

    And when they make the movie of my life
    I hope they get somebody famous to direct it
    Somebody famous and a genius to direct it
    When they make the movie of my life

    And everyone will see
    How hard it's been for me
    How much I've overcome
    To be someone
    Deserving of a motion picture

    And when they write the book about my life
    I hope they write about my sexual adventures
    My very legendary passionate adventures
    When they write the book about my life

    And when they write the book about my life
    I hope they mention I was very good with children
    Good with the elderly and animals and children
    When they write the book about my life

    And everyone will see
    They underrated me
    Oh how they disbelieved and misperceived
    This living saint and tiger woman

    But if they really made a movie of my life
    They'd show me going to a thousand stupid movies
    And if they really wrote a book about my life
    They'd say I read a lot of nothing little novels

    And all this is true

    And everyone will see
    My mediocrity
    How I deserve to be
    Forgotten just like everybody else

    So please don't make a movie of my life
    Don't make a musical or write me into fiction
    I don't deserve any portrayal or depiction
    Please just let me live my little
    Very very very little
    Life

    My life, my life
    My life

    Yes, yes, yes

    Brilliant, just brilliant
    Comic genius

  • 16 Living on Love | Trina Hamlin 3:20
  • 17 Help Somebody 4:29 Lyrics

    Help Somebody - Lyrics

    i got plenty and then some
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get plenty and then some, too

    i got a roof over my head
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get a roof over their head, too

    i got supper on the table
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get supper on the table, too

    'cause i got it to give
    i got it to give
    and when you got enough to give away
    well it's the only way to live

    i'm going to heaven
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get to heaven, too

Kicking The Beehive 2011

Kicking the Beehive is an 11-song collection of provocative, poignant, lyrical originals that are infused with the rustic roots of American folk, blues and country music. Produced by Rodney Crowell, recorded in Nashville and featuring such all star-guests as Vince Gill, Keb’ Mo’ and Paul Franklin, Kicking the Beehive is a personal project where Werner intuitively explorers the full impact of looking beyond the superficial and delving into soulful honesty.

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  • 1 Kicking The Beehive 3:40 Lyrics

    Kicking The Beehive - Lyrics

    some people love their easy chair
    some people love to spend their evenings
    sitting right there
    some people sip their morning tea
    some people love their days as dull and calm as can be
    not me

    CHORUS:
    i keep kicking the beehive just to feel alive again
    i keep bursting bubbles
    stirring up trouble where i can
    i keep playing with matches
    something catches let it burn
    i keep kicking the beehive
    and i know i'll never learn

    some people need to get along
    some people live in fear
    they might say something wrong
    some people happily comply
    some people do as they are told and never ask why
    not i

    CHORUS
    so don't teach me - don't preach to me

    strange, some people never want to feel a thing
    strange, the way i kinda like to feel the sting

    CHORUS
    so don't teach me - there's no reaching me

  • 2 Doctor Doctor 3:51 Lyrics

    Doctor Doctor - Lyrics

    doctor doctor this just can't be
    i can't believe this news you're telling me
    doctor doctor you've got it wrong
    she looks so well and so very healthy and strong
    and she's the sun
    she's everything
    she holds my heart
    she wears my ring
    don't take her away

    CHORUS:
    don't take my baby away
    she means the world to me
    my whole world can't you see
    don't take my baby away
    take everything i own
    my work, my pride, my home
    but don't take my baby away

    doctor doctor i'm so confused
    by all these numbers and these words you use
    i know, i know you're trying to help
    forgive me doctor i'm beside myself
    cause she's the sun
    she's everything
    she holds my heart
    she wears my ring

    CHORUS

    she is the warmth inside my bed
    she is the calm inside my head
    she is the meaning of success
    she is my every happiness
    don't, don't, don't

    CHORUS

  • 3 My Different Son 3:48 Lyrics

    My Different Son - Lyrics

    my little boy plays all alone
    lives in a world that's all his own
    my different son, my different son
    he's not the same as everyone -
    he's my different son

    my little boy doesn't quite fit in
    schools and rules were never made for him
    my different son, my different son
    won't have anybody making fun
    of my different son

    my different son already knows by now
    he's always gonna be a different boy somehow

    but there's so much passion, so much pride
    so much possibility inside
    my different son, my different son
    wanna set him free and watch him run

    for my different son, i'm doing all i can
    one day my different son is gonna be a man

    want him to build a life he can be proud of
    find his purpose, find some love
    my different son, my different son
    cause he's just the same as everyone
    but he's not the same as everyone
    he's - he's - my -
    son

  • 4 I Know What I Want 3:09 Lyrics

    I Know What I Want - Lyrics

    i know what i want and i want you
    i know what i want and i want you
    i know what i need and i need you
    and i don't want nobody else
    no i don't want nobody else

    all of my life i've wanted to find you
    and i love the way nature designed you
    but some people can't see
    me with you, you with me
    why can't they let love be

    because we know what we want

    CHORUS

    my family and friends, they don't understand it
    'cause my fairy tale didn't go like they planned it
    they fought it right from the start
    they said you don't look the part
    oh but i know in my heart

    why can't they let love be

    mamma don't get it (no no)
    daddy don't get it (no no)
    this town don't get it (no no)
    this county don't get it (no no)
    this state don't get it (no no)
    let's move on out (yes yes)
    let's move up north (yes yes)
    let's move out east (yes yes)
    get somewhere else (yes yes)
    CHORUS

  • 5 The Last Words of Bonnie Parker 3:41 Lyrics

    The Last Words of Bonnie Parker - Lyrics

    i don't wanna think about it
    or take a backwards look
    i don't wanna hear 'em saying
    how i mighta got took
    all i know is when i met you
    my whole little world shook
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    and i don't wanna know the difference
    between wrong and right
    all i know is when i met you
    it was love at first sight
    hair wild as a windstorm
    eyes dark as the night
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    CHORUS:
    so drive me baby round the bend
    we'll take this highway to the end
    there's no turning back again

    and i don't wanna know the reason
    why my marriage didn't last
    say it's over when it's over
    call the past the past
    throw the money in a suitcase
    and then drive away fast
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    and i don't wanna know the meaning
    i don't wanna understand
    why i like to hold a pistol
    in the palm of my hand
    why you only feel the first time
    that you gotta kill a man
    i just wanna be with you
    i just wanna be with you

    CHORUS

    so hold me close right by your side
    if'n this is our last ride
    jesus christ
    i love you,
    clyde

  • 6 Manhattan, Kansas 3:46 Lyrics

    Manhattan, Kansas - Lyrics

    out where the prairie grass waves in the wind
    and where the sunsets last forever
    that's where i fell in love with him
    did i see this coming - never

    CHORUS:
    manhattan, kansas
    we all do what we gotta do
    i did what i did
    and i surely don't blame you
    i simply needed
    for things to turn out differently
    manhattan, kansas, can you understand me

    i was a college girl from out of state
    he was a rancher from salina
    when i told him i was three weeks late
    he said, "i can't be a father..."

    CHORUS

    the longest sidewalk i will ever see
    deputies on either side of me
    people crying, praying rosaries
    but all of that was many years ago
    now i'm out in pennsylvania
    i watch my lovely daughters as they grow
    and i keep sunflowers on the table

    CHORUS

  • 7 Red Dress 2:57 Lyrics

    Red Dress - Lyrics

    i got on my red dress, honey
    got on my red dress for you
    welcome home now, baby
    and you're welcome to me too

    you've been working so hard darling
    thought you might like a little treat
    put down that heavy suitcase
    and help me put up both of my feet

    cause i love to hear you calling
    to the father, son and the holy ghost
    and i love that sweet sweet music
    of your wedding ring 'gainst the brass bedpost

    got on my red dress, honey
    got on my red dress for you
    'cause it's like you love to tell me -
    my little red dress, it fits you too

  • 8 Botanical Greenery Blues 4:16 Lyrics

    Botanical Greenery Blues - Lyrics

    i know a man with a broken heart
    never did completely heal
    takes his medication
    so he does not feel the bruise
    he's got the botanical greenery blues

    i know a man with a secret heart
    a heart too tender to reveal
    tosses up a smokescreen
    so that no one reads the clues
    he's got the botanical greenery blues

    a little buzz to close the evening
    troubles drifting away
    a little buzz to start the morning
    spend your day partly aware -
    just -
    partially there

    i know a man with a captain's heart
    never got to take the wheel
    now every night he takes his mind out
    for a moonlight cruise
    he's got the botanical greenery blues

    a little buzz to round the edges
    a little buzz to ease the pain
    a little buzz to dim the sunlight
    spend your day partially clear -
    just -
    partially here

    but what do we all do with this human heart
    and all the sadness that we feel
    everyone has one temptation that they can't refuse
    and i know a man
    with the botanical greenery blues

  • 9 Sleeping On A Train 3:43 Lyrics

    Sleeping On A Train - Lyrics

    sleeping on a train, sleeping on a train
    staying out of the cold and the pouring rain
    well i get my rest one hour at a time
    til they wake me up at the end of the line
    sleeping on a train

    you're afraid of me -
    well, i'm afraid of you -
    what the hell do you think i'm gonna do?
    i make one wrong move and the call the heat
    and the cops'll throw me back out on the street
    i'm just sleeping on a train

    and the nights are awful cold
    nights are awful long
    and its safer in here where the lights stay on
    safer in here than a shelter bed
    somebody there liable to crack your head
    that's why i'm sleeping on a train

    CHORUS:
    red line, blue line
    oh i wish they'd build a new line
    sleep the whole night through line

    sorry 'bout my hair
    i know i'm looking like hell
    it's twelve dollars a night at the men's hotel
    and i made five dollars jingling that cup
    til the rain came down and the money dried up
    so i'm sleeping on a train

    and i'm going nowhere
    nowhere to be
    i ain't looking out the window
    cause there's nothing to see
    just the lights of the city as they pass me by
    prettier world when i close my eyes
    sleeping on a train

  • 10 Irrelevance 3:20 Lyrics

    Irrelevance - Lyrics

    i see it coming from far away
    and it's getting closer every day
    it's like a dust cloud from the west
    and although i try to do my best
    i feel a panic start to grip my chest
    it's so frightening and immense

    irrelvance

    i used to really wanna make my mark
    to live my life in a dramatic arc
    i was bohemian and unkempt
    thinking somehow i could be exempt
    but now it's clear that nothing i attempt
    will matter in the least, twenty years hence

    irrelevance

    and i'm sure there's a "gift" in this somewhere
    i'm sure there's a "lesson" as well
    yes i'm sure there's a "gift" in this somewhere
    but for now i'm unhappy as hell

    i guess i coulda lived a more different life
    i was never a traditional wife
    i maybe shoulda had a kid or two
    or twenty seven like the mormon's do
    but most parents will admit it's true
    having children is no defense
    against Irrelevance

    and i'm sure there's a "gift" in this somewhere
    a gift all wrapped in dread and defeat
    yes i'm sure there's a "gift" in this somewhere
    it's so hard to accept it -
    i hope somebody kept the receipt
    and when that final day rolls around
    and they bury me in the ground
    i can pretty much guarantee
    that when the gods look down on me
    they'll all shake their heads and agree
    "she did nothin of consequence"

    Irrelevance

  • 11 On The Other Side 2:53 Lyrics

    On The Other Side - Lyrics

    on the other side of night there shines a light
    on the other side of night
    people say there shines a light
    well i'd surely liek to see it for myself

    on the other side of doubt's where you find out
    on the other side of doubt
    people say's where you find out
    well i'd surely like to know it for myself

    on the other side, on the other side
    but sometimes that wall's so tall so wide
    built of bitterness, fear, and pride

    on the other side of desire lies something higher
    on the other side of desire
    people say there lies something higher
    well i'd surely like to feel it for myself

    on the other side of despair a voice is there
    on the other side of despair
    people say a voice is there
    well i'd surely like to hear it -

Classics 2009

The new year brings a new release from Susan Werner that leverages ALL of her many talents, and adds “arranger” to her long list of musical accomplishments.

Buy MP3 Album

  • 1 Lonely People|America 2:23 Lyrics

    Lonely People|America - Lyrics

    (by America)

    This is for all the lonely people
    Thinking that life has passed them by
    Dont give up until you drink from the silver cup
    And ride that highway in the sky

    This is for all the single people
    Thinking that love has left them dry
    Dont give up until you drink from the silver cup
    You never know until you try

    Well, Im on my way
    Yes, Im back to stay
    Well, Im on my way back home (hit it)

    This is for all the lonely people
    Thinking that life has passed them by
    Dont give up until you drink from the silver cup
    And never take you down or never give you up
    You never know until you try

  • 2 Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)|Marvin Gaye 3:17 Lyrics

    Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)|Marvin Gaye - Lyrics

    (by Marvin Gaye)

    Oh, mercy mercy me
    Oh, things ain't what they used to be
    No, no

    Where did all the blue sky go?
    Poison is the wind that blows
    From the north, east, south, and sea
    Oh, mercy mercy me
    Oh, things ain't what they used to be
    No, no

    Oil wasted on the oceans and upon our seas
    Fish full of mercury
    Oh, mercy mercy me
    Oh, things ain't what they used to be
    No, no

    Radiation in the ground and in the sky
    Animals and birds who live nearby are dying

    Oh, mercy mercy me
    Oh, things ain't what they used to be
    What about this overcrowded land?
    How much more abuse from man can you stand?

    My sweet Lord
    My sweet Lord
    My sweet Lord

  • 3 The Wind|Cat Stevens / Bach 2:19 Lyrics

    The Wind|Cat Stevens / Bach - Lyrics

    (by Cat Stevens)

    I listen to the wind
    to the wind of my soul
    Where I'll end up well I think,
    only God really knows
    I've sat upon the setting sun
    But never, never never never
    I never wanted water once
    No, never, never, never

    I listen to my words but
    they fall far below
    I let my music take me where
    my heart wants to go
    I swam upon the devil's lake
    But never, never never never
    I'll never make the same mistake
    No, never, never, never

  • 4 Waiting In Vain|Bob Marley / Satie 4:38 Lyrics

    Waiting In Vain|Bob Marley / Satie - Lyrics

    (by Bob Marley)

    From the very first time I rest my eyes on you,boy
    My heart said follow through but I know now
    That Im way down on your line
    But the waiting feelings fine

    So dont treat me like a puppet on a string
    Because I know how to do my thing
    Dont talk to me as if you think Im dumb
    I wanna know when youre gotta come,you see

    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love
    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love
    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love
    cause sommer is here
    And Im still waiting there
    Winter is here
    Im still waiting there

    Like I said
    Its been three years since Im knocking on your door
    And still I can knock some more
    Ooh boy,ooh boy,is it crazy look,i wanna know now
    For I to knock some more,you see

    In life I know
    That there is lots of grief
    But your love is my relief
    Tears in my eyes burn
    Tears in my eyes burn
    While Im waitin
    While Im waitin for my turn,you see

    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love
    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love
    I dont wanna wait in a vain for your love

    Like I said-
    I dont wanna,i dont wanna
    I dont wanna,i dont wanna
    I dont wanna wait in vain
    I dont wanna,i dont wanna
    I dont wanna,i dont wanna
    I dont wanna wait in vain

    Its been three years since Im knocking on your door
    And still I can knock some more
    Ooh boy,ooh boy,is it crazy look,i wanna know now
    Like I said,the tears in my eyes burn
    Tears in my eyes burn
    While Im waiting
    While Im waiting for my turn,you see
    Ooh boy,ooh boy,is it crazy look,i wanna know now
    For I to knock some more
    In life I know there is lots of grief
    But your love is my relief

  • 5 A Hazy Shade of Winter|Simon & Garfunkel / Vivaldi 4:48 Lyrics

    A Hazy Shade of Winter|Simon & Garfunkel / Vivaldi - Lyrics

    (by Simon & Garfunkel)

    Time, time, time, see whats become of me
    While I looked around
    For my possibilities
    I was so hard to please
    But look around, leaves are brown
    And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

    Hear the salvation army band
    Down by the riverside, its bound to be a better ride
    Than what youve got planned
    Carry your cup in your hand
    And look around, leaves are brown now
    And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

    Hang on to your hopes, my friend
    Thats an easy thing to say, but if your hopes should pass away
    Simply pretend
    That you can build them again
    Look around, the grass is high
    The fields are ripe, its the springtime of my life

    Ahhh, seasons change with the scenery
    Weaving time in a tapestry
    Wont you stop and remember me
    At any convenient time
    Funny how my memory slips while looking over manuscripts
    Of unpublished rhyme
    Drinking my vodka and lime

    But look around, leaves are brown now
    And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

    Look around, leaves are brown
    Theres a patch of snow on the ground...

  • 6 Turn Turn Turn|Pete Seeger / The Byrds 3:39 Lyrics

    Turn Turn Turn|Pete Seeger / The Byrds - Lyrics

    (by The Byrds)

    To everything (turn, turn, turn)
    There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
    And a time for every purpose, under heaven

    A time to be born, a time to die
    A time to plant, a time to reap
    A time to kill, a time to heal
    A time to laugh, a time to weep

    To everything (turn, turn, turn)
    There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
    And a time for every purpose, under heaven

    A time to build up,a time to break down
    A time to dance, a time to mourn
    A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

    To everything (turn, turn, turn)
    There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
    And a time for every purpose, under heaven

    A time of love, a time of hate
    A time of war, a time of peace
    A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

    To everything (turn, turn, turn)
    There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
    And a time for every purpose, under heaven

    A time to gain, a time to lose
    A time to rend, a time to sew
    A time to love, a time to hate
    A time for peace, I swear its not too late

  • 7 All In Love Is Fair|Stevie Wonder / Chopin 3:44 Lyrics

    All In Love Is Fair|Stevie Wonder / Chopin - Lyrics

    (by Stevie Wonder)

    All is fair in love
    Loves a crazy game
    Two people vow to stay
    In love as one they say
    But all is changed with time
    The future none can see
    The road you leave behind
    Ahead lies mystery
    But all is fair in love
    I had to go away
    A writer takes his pen
    To write the words again
    That all in love is fair

    All of fates a chance
    Its either good or bad
    I tossed my coin to say
    In love with me youd stay
    But all in war is so cold
    You either win or lose
    When all is put away
    The losing side Ill play
    But all is fair in love
    I should have never left your side
    A writer takes his pen
    To write the words again
    That all in love is fair

    A writer takes his pen
    To write the words again
    That all in love is fair

  • 8 Maybe I'm Amazed|Paul McCartney 3:15 Lyrics

    Maybe I'm Amazed|Paul McCartney - Lyrics

    (by Paul McCartney)

    Baby Im amazed at the way you love me all the time
    Maybe Im afraid of the way I love you
    Baby Im amazed at the the way you pulled me out of time
    Hung me on a line
    Maybe Im amazed at the way I really need you

    Baby Im a man and maybe Im a lonely man
    Whos in the middle of something
    That he dosent really understand
    Babe Im a man and maybe youre the only woman
    Who could ever help me
    Baby wont you help to me understand

    Baby Im a man and maybe Im a lonely man
    Whos in the middle of something
    That he dosent really understand
    Babe Im a man and maybe youre the only woman
    Who could ever help me
    Baby wont you help me understand

    Baby Im amazed at the way youre with me all the time
    Maybe Im afraid of the way I leave you
    Baby Im amazed at the way you help me sing my song
    You right me when Im wrong
    Maybe Im amazed at the way I really need you

  • 9 Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood|The Animals / Rodrigo 4:25 Lyrics

    Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood|The Animals / Rodrigo - Lyrics

    (by The Animals)

    Baby, do you understand me now
    Sometimes I feel a little mad
    But don't you know that no one alive
    Can always be an angel
    When things go wrong I seem to be bad

    But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

    Baby, sometimes I'm so carefree
    With a joy that's hard to hide
    And sometimes it seems that all I have do is worry
    Then you're bound to see my other side

    But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

    If I seem edgy I want you to know
    That I never mean to take it out on you
    Life has it's problems and I get my share
    And that's one thing I never meant to do
    Because I love you
    Oh, Oh baby don't you know I'm human
    Have thoughts like any other one
    Sometimes I find myself long regretting
    Some foolish thing some little simple thing I've done

    But I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

    Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

    Yes, I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
    Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood

  • 10 I Just Wasn't Made for These Times|The Beach Boys 3:12 Lyrics

    I Just Wasn't Made for These Times|The Beach Boys - Lyrics

    (by The Beach Boys)

    I keep looking for a place to fit
    Where I can speak my mind
    Ive been trying hard to find the people
    That I wont leave behind

    They say I got brains
    But they aint doing me no good
    I wish they could

    Each time things start to happen again
    I think I got something good goin for myself
    But what goes wrong

    Sometimes I feel very sad
    Sometimes I feel very sad
    (cant find nothin I can put my heart and soul into)
    Sometimes I feel very sad
    (cant find nothin I can put my heart and soul into)

    I guess I just wasnt made for these times

    Every time I get the inspiration
    To go change things around
    No one wants to help me look for places
    Where new things might be found

    Where can I turn when my fair weather friends cop out
    Whats it all about

    Each time things start to happen again
    I think I got something good goin for myself
    But what goes wrong

    Sometimes I feel very sad
    Sometimes I feel very sad
    (cant find nothin I can put my heart and soul into)
    Sometimes I feel very sad
    (cant find nothin I can put my heart and soul into)

Live at Passim 2008

A collection of live recordings of Susan Werner performing with band from two nights at Passim (May 31st & June 1st 2007) during her CD Release tour for “The Gospel Truth.” The band setup includes Werner’s long-time upright bass player, Greg Holt, as well as angelic harmonies and percussion from Colleen Sexton and sizzling harmonica, backup vocals and percussion from Trina Hamlin.

Buy CD     Buy MP3 Album

  • 1 Time Between Trains 5:15 Lyrics

    Time Between Trains - Lyrics

    I'm waitin' at the station

    I can choose my destination
    I'm a free soul, I got no chains
    But it's a long time between trains

    I took a long nap, I read a whole book
    I got nice legs, I got decent looks
    And I'm not one who complains
    But it's a long time between trains

    And who'd have thought it all those years
    That I would find myself back here
    Feelin' restless and ignored
    Starin' at the schedule board
    Wonderin' why the fates above
    Always route love through Miami

    And somewhere lovers smile their smiles
    While I count the ceiling tiles
    And well give or take a few
    There's one thousand fifty-two
    But that depends if you include
    The eighty-eight out in the hall

    Yes I'm waitin' at the station
    With my old friend sublimation
    You know the Wright boys designed planes

    Must have been a long time...

  • 2 Lost My Religion 3:50 Lyrics

    Lost My Religion - Lyrics

    Lost my religion
    At the age of ten
    seen too much with my own eyes
    already by then
    Lost my religion
    Got a little off track
    Lost my religion
    Never really got it back

    Lost my religion
    In the holy church
    Preacher told me "girls like you
    Are more trouble than theyÕre worth"
    Lost my religion
    I guess it had to be
    Lost my religion
    Or my religion lost me

    Things we cling to
    Things we hold true
    smoke clouds, white lies
    just to get by

    Lost my religion
    Again yesterday
    When my baby said goodbye
    And turned and walked away
    Lost my religion
    But I don't need it anymore
    I found a new religion
    Down at the corner store

  • 3 Did Trouble Me 3:57 Lyrics

    Did Trouble Me - Lyrics

    When I closed my eyes so I would not see
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I let things stand that should not be
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held my head too high too proud
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I raised my voice too little too loud
    My Lord did trouble me

    Did trouble me
    With a word or a sign
    With the ringing of the bell in the back of my mind
    Did trouble me
    Did stir my soul
    For to make me human, to make me whole

    When I slept too long, slept too deep
    My Lord did trouble me
    Put a worrisome vision into my sleep
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held myself away and apart
    My Lord did trouble me
    And the tears of my brother didn't move my heart
    My Lord did trouble me

    ...

    And of this I'm sure, of this I know
    My Lord will trouble me
    Whatever I do and wherever I go
    My Lord will trouble me
    In the whisper of the wind, in the rhythm of a song
    My Lord will trouble me
    To keep me on the path where I belong
    My Lord will trouble me

    Will trouble me...

  • 4 After All Of This 2:41 Lyrics

    After All Of This - Lyrics

    i would like to think
    there's something
    after all of this
    when life's final kiss
    has faded
    i will have waited to see
    if there might be more
    still another door to open
    i'm hoping

    and i can say that faith
    is one thing
    i could never risk
    too much of a leap
    too steep a fall
    but after all of this
    i just can't resist
    wondering what's to come
    and there may be nothing
    but there must be something
    no one really knows

    but i would like to think

  • 5 Our Father (The New, Revised Edition) 3:46 Lyrics

    Our Father (The New, Revised Edition) - Lyrics

    Thy kingdom come to every nation
    Thy will be done in everything we do
    Lord, lead us not into temptation
    And deliver us
    from those who think they're You

    Lord send us forth to be of service
    To build the schools and dig the wells
    And deliver us from the creepy preachers
    With their narrow minds and very wide lapels

    Lord give us strength to bring compassion
    to every corner of the world
    And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood
    And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl

    Lord deliver us from politicians
    Who drop Your name in every speech
    As if they're Your best friend from high school
    As if they practice what they preach

  • 6 Chicago Any Day 2:58 Lyrics

    Chicago Any Day - Lyrics

    You take Manhattan
    You can have that'n
    Give me Chicago any day

    L.A. may be hot
    Ain't got what we've got
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me the down home people
    who say what they mean
    Give me the lake and the river
    so marvelous and clean
    Give me the best tall buildings
    the world has ever seen
    We scrape the blue from the sky
    so there's nothing left for Cleveland

    Don't need to see more
    of old Baltimore
    Give me Chicago any day

    Or go get lost in
    the streets in Boston
    Give me Chicago any day

    Just give me Michigan Avenue
    any time of year
    Leave and you'll wish again
    that you were livin' here
    We got Studs Terkel
    Got Wiener Circle
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me the full length overcoat
    the two button suit
    Give me the Field Museum
    the Art Institute
    Give me the Cubs out at Wrigley
    We root, root, root
    And if the win you would say
    they exceeded expectations

    Go see Grant Park
    That ain't no scant park
    Give me Chicago any day

    Go ride the L train
    Now isn't that a swell train
    Give me Chicago any day

    Because the way I reckon
    when the reckoning's done
    You'll find the second city
    is second to none
    Enough chit-chattin'
    about Manhattan
    Give me Chicago any day

    Give me Chicago any day

  • 7 Barbed Wire Boys 4:52 Lyrics

    Barbed Wire Boys - Lyrics

    Well I come from the rural Midwest
    It's the land I love more than all the rest
    It's the place I know and understand
    Like a false-front building
    Like the back of my hand
    And the men I knew when I was coming up
    Were sober as coffee in a Styrofoam cup
    There were Earls and Rays, Harlans and Roys
    They were full-grown men
    They were barbed wire boys

    They raised grain and cattle on the treeless fields
    Sat at the head of the table and prayed before meals
    Prayed an Our Father and that was enough
    Pray more than that and you couldn't stay tough
    Tough as the busted thumbnails on the weathered hands
    They worked the gold plate off their wedding bands
    And they never complained, no they never made noise
    And they never left home
    These barbed wire boys

    'Cos their wildest dreams were all fenced in
    By the weight of family, by the feeling of sin
    That'll prick your skin at the slightest touch
    If you reach too far, if you feel too much
    So their deepest hopes never were expressed
    Just beat like bird's wings in the cage of their chest
    All the restless longings, all the secret joys
    That never were set free
    In the barbed wire boys

    And now one by one they're departing this earth
    And it's clear to me now 'xactly what they're worth
    Oh they were just like Atlas holding up the sky
    You never heard him speak, you never saw him cry
    But where do the tears go, that you never shed
    Where do the words go, that you never said
    Well there's a blink of the eye, there's a catch in the voice
    That is the unsung song
    Of the barbed wire boys

  • 8 I Can't Be New 3:25 Lyrics

    I Can't Be New - Lyrics

    Coffee, ham and eggs
    I can be your diner
    Tired aching legs
    I'll be your recliner
    And when you need a breath of air
    I'll be your balcony

    When you need a laugh
    I can be your joker
    Cut a loss in half
    I can be your broker
    'Cos all of that and more
    You have been for me

    And I'll be the release
    When the pressure's heightening
    I can be the grease
    When your wheels are tightening
    And when you need a dance
    I can be that old soft-shoe

    I can be your girl
    Through the best and worst time
    But I can't be the girl you notice
    For the first time
    There's so much I can do
    But I can't be new

    And when they're buying you steak baby
    I can be the gravy
    When they throw you in the lake
    I can be the navy
    Be that three-day leave
    I can be that bad tattoo

    I can be the sky
    The very wild blue yonder
    Still I can't catch your eye
    When it starts to wander
    As I've seen it do
    Oh at least a time or two

    I'll be anything for you baby
    But I can't be new...

  • 9 Movie of My Life 4:01 Lyrics

    Movie of My Life - Lyrics

    When they make the movie of my life
    I hope they get somebody beautiful to play me
    Somebody eloquent and beautiful to play me
    When they make the movie of my life

    And when they make the movie of my life
    I hope they get somebody famous to direct it
    Somebody famous and a genius to direct it
    When they make the movie of my life

    And everyone will see
    How hard it's been for me
    How much I've overcome
    To be someone
    Deserving of a motion picture

    And when they write the book about my life
    I hope they write about my sexual adventures
    My very legendary passionate adventures
    When they write the book about my life

    And when they write the book about my life
    I hope they mention I was very good with children
    Good with the elderly and animals and children
    When they write the book about my life

    And everyone will see
    They underrated me
    Oh how they disbelieved and misperceived
    This living saint and tiger woman

    But if they really made a movie of my life
    They'd show me going to a thousand stupid movies
    And if they really wrote a book about my life
    They'd say I read a lot of nothing little novels

    And all this is true

    And everyone will see
    My mediocrity
    How I deserve to be
    Forgotten just like everybody else

    So please don't make a movie of my life
    Don't make a musical or write me into fiction
    I don't deserve any portrayal or depiction
    Please just let me live my little
    Very very very little
    Life

    My life, my life
    My life

    Yes, yes, yes

    Brilliant, just brilliant
    Comic genius

  • 10 May I Suggest 5:05 Lyrics

    May I Suggest - Lyrics

    May I suggest
    May I suggest to you
    May I suggest this is the best part of your life
    May I suggest
    This time is blessed for you
    This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
    Just turn your head
    And you'll begin to see
    The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight
    The reasons why
    Why I suggest to you
    Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a world
    That's been addressed to you
    Addressed to you, intended only for your eyes
    A secret world
    Like a treasure chest to you
    Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise
    A lover's trusting smile
    A tiny baby's hands
    The million stars that fill the turning sky at night
    Oh I suggest
    Oh I suggest to you
    Oh I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a hope
    That's been expressed in you
    The hope of seven generations, maybe more
    And this is the faith
    That they invest in you
    It's that you'll do one better than was done before
    Inside you know
    Inside you understand
    Inside you know what's yours to finally set right
    And I suggest
    And I suggest to you
    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

    This is a song
    Comes from the west to you
    Comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun
    With a request
    With a request of you
    To see how very short the endless days will run
    And when they're gone
    And when the dark descends
    Oh we'd give anything for one more hour of light

    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

  • 11 Help Somebody 4:13 Lyrics

    Help Somebody - Lyrics

    i got plenty and then some
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get plenty and then some, too

    i got a roof over my head
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get a roof over their head, too

    i got supper on the table
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get supper on the table, too

    'cause i got it to give
    i got it to give
    and when you got enough to give away
    well it's the only way to live

    i'm going to heaven
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get to heaven, too

  • 12 Together 4:36 Lyrics

    Together - Lyrics

    there must be a time
    there must be a place
    when everyone will finally come together
    if there is a God
    with a human face
    i'm sure He'd want us all to come together

    and get beyond these bolted doors
    get beyond these awful bloody wars
    get beyond this way of settling scores
    'cause the score is never even

    and if i had the words
    then i'd make the case
    that everyone has got to come together
    if i had the hounds
    i'd call off the chase
    and everyone could finally come together

    and we'd get beyond who's right and wrong
    get beyond the need to look so strong
    and just get on with simply getting along
    'cause that's a thing we can all believe in

    'cause that's enough of the bitter tears
    that's enough of talking to our mirrors
    that's enough of separate hemispheres
    that's enough that's enough
    we really gotta come together

Songbook: The Gospel Truth

Different from the last songbook, which was piano-centric, this sheet music is also great for piano but much more guitar friendly, whether you play with or without a capo. We are providing lyrics and chords for all songs, plus lead sheets/complete charts for five of the most requested songs on the record.

1.
(Why Is Your) Heaven So Small
2.
Help Somebody
3.
Forgiveness
4.
Did Trouble Me
5.
Sunday Morning
6.
Our Father (The New, Revised Edition)
7.
Lost My Religion
8.
Don’t Explain It Away
9.
I Will Have My Portion
10.
Probably Not
11.
Together
Buy PDF

The Gospel Truth 2007

Susan Werner takes on the church in contemporary American life in this gospel/bluegrass – tinged collection of 11 new originals. Quite possibly the first “agnostic gospel” album, this CD surveys the wide variety of viewpoints regarding the church today, ranging from earnest and uplifting handclap choir rousers such as “help somebody” to the introspective and critical “forgiveness” and “sunday mornings,” pausing along the way for comic relief in the frank and humorous “our father” and what is sure to become the anthem of agnostics everywhere, “probably not.” A project sure to confirm Werner’s reputation as “one of the most innovative songwriters working today” (Chicago Tribune).

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  • 1 (Why Is Your) Heaven So Small 3:29 Lyrics

    (Why Is Your) Heaven So Small - Lyrics

    excuse me sir, what did you say?
    when you shout so loud, it's hard to tell
    you say that i must change my ways
    for i am surely bound to hell

    well i know you'd damn me if you could
    but my friend, that's simply not your call
    if god is great and god is good
    why is your heaven so small

    you say you know you say you've read
    that holy bible up on your shelf
    do you recall when jesus said
    judge not, lest ye be judged yourself

    for i know you'd damn me if you could
    but my friend, that's simply not your call
    if god is great, and god is good
    why is your heaven so small

    with your fists that shake, and your eyes that burn
    what makes you do these things you do?
    i would not be surprised to learn
    someone somewhere excluded you

    but my friend, imagine it if you would
    a love much mightier than us all
    o if god is great and god is good
    why is your heaven
    so small

  • 2 Help Somebody 2:51 Lyrics

    Help Somebody - Lyrics

    i got plenty and then some
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get plenty and then some, too

    i got a roof over my head
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get a roof over their head, too

    i got supper on the table
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get supper on the table, too

    'cause i got it to give
    i got it to give
    and when you got enough to give away
    well it's the only way to live

    i'm going to heaven
    what do i do?

    go out and help somebody
    get to heaven, too

  • 3 Forgiveness 3:12 Lyrics

    Forgiveness - Lyrics

    How do you love those
    Who never will love you
    Who are happy to shove you
    Out in front of the train
    How do you not hate those
    Who would leave you lie bleeding
    While they hold their prayer meeting

    How do you love those
    Who never will love you
    Who are so frightened of you
    They are calling for war
    How do you not hate those
    Who have loaded their bibles
    And armed their disciples
    'cause I donÕt know anymore

    And I canÕt find forgiveness
    For them anywhere in this
    And with God as my witness
    I really have tried

    How do you love those
    Who never will love you
    I think only God knows
    and He is not taking sides
    I hope one day He shows us
    How we can love those
    Who never will love us
    but who still we must love

  • 4 Did Trouble Me 3:35 Lyrics

    Did Trouble Me - Lyrics

    When I closed my eyes so I would not see
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I let things stand that should not be
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held my head too high too proud
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I raised my voice too little too loud
    My Lord did trouble me

    Did trouble me
    With a word or a sign
    With the ringing of the bell in the back of my mind
    Did trouble me
    Did stir my soul
    For to make me human, to make me whole

    When I slept too long, slept too deep
    My Lord did trouble me
    Put a worrisome vision into my sleep
    My Lord did trouble me
    When I held myself away and apart
    My Lord did trouble me
    And the tears of my brother didn't move my heart
    My Lord did trouble me

    ...

    And of this I'm sure, of this I know
    My Lord will trouble me
    Whatever I do and wherever I go
    My Lord will trouble me
    In the whisper of the wind, in the rhythm of a song
    My Lord will trouble me
    To keep me on the path where I belong
    My Lord will trouble me

    Will trouble me...

  • 5 Sunday Morning 4:05 Lyrics

    Sunday Morning - Lyrics

    sunday morning
    there is someplace that 'm supposed to be
    keeps returning
    the feeling keeps coming over me
    just like music
    or like sunlight on a distant memory
    sunday morning
    sunday morning

    my mother choosing what to wear
    my father combs his jet black hair
    we are their little prizes
    in our mary janes and clip on ties
    we hurry down the aisle
    the neighbors smile because we're
    late again

    on sunday morning
    there is someplace ...

    daddy prays because the money's tight
    mama prays she'll raise her children right
    and my brother prays he'll change
    so he won't feel so very strangely out of tune

    and i went back the other day
    closed my eyes and tried to pray
    but a voice spoke loud and clear
    "you ask too many questions, dear"
    and i said, "you ask too few"
    that's why i still don't know quite what to do

    on sunday mornings ...

  • 6 Our Father (The New, Revised Edition) 3:30 Lyrics

    Our Father (The New, Revised Edition) - Lyrics

    Thy kingdom come to every nation
    Thy will be done in everything we do
    Lord, lead us not into temptation
    And deliver us
    from those who think they're You

    Lord send us forth to be of service
    To build the schools and dig the wells
    And deliver us from the creepy preachers
    With their narrow minds and very wide lapels

    Lord give us strength to bring compassion
    to every corner of the world
    And please allow for women in the Catholic priesthood
    And remind the pope that he coulda been a girl

    Lord deliver us from politicians
    Who drop Your name in every speech
    As if they're Your best friend from high school
    As if they practice what they preach

  • 7 Lost My Religion 3:07 Lyrics

    Lost My Religion - Lyrics

    Lost my religion
    At the age of ten
    seen too much with my own eyes
    already by then
    Lost my religion
    Got a little off track
    Lost my religion
    Never really got it back

    Lost my religion
    In the holy church
    Preacher told me "girls like you
    Are more trouble than they're worth"
    Lost my religion
    I guess it had to be
    Lost my religion
    Or my religion lost me

    Things we cling to
    Things we hold true
    smoke clouds, white lies
    just to get by

    Lost my religion
    Again yesterday
    When my baby said goodbye
    And turned and walked away
    Lost my religion
    But I don't need it anymore
    I found a new religion
    Down at the corner store

  • 8 Don't Explain It Away 4:04 Lyrics

    Don't Explain It Away - Lyrics

    If you find yourself looking at someone
    at their shining hair so silky soft and black
    If you find yourself smiling at someone
    And then suddenly you find they're smiling back

    Well that's how love comes calling
    It may call you today
    Don't stop yourself from falling
    Don't explain it away

    If you find yourself in the dead of night
    In the moonless light
    In the middle of the woods
    And you've turned around, you turned left and right
    And you're lost for now
    But you might be lost for good

    And you need someone to guide you
    When you have gone astray
    Well, that still small voice inside you
    Don't explain it away

    Don't explain it away
    When the moment mystifies you
    Don't explain it away
    And the feeling will surprise you
    Don't explain it away

    If you find yourself at the water's edge
    And you're listening as the waves break on the shore
    While a sea of stars rolls above your head
    And you realize you're part of so much more

    And you're struck dumb with wonder
    Can't find the words to say
    Don't break the spell you're under

    Don't

  • 9 I Will Have My Portion 3:02 Lyrics

    I Will Have My Portion - Lyrics

    And some would say
    That time has passed me by
    And some would say
    That the wells have all run dry
    Some would say
    That's how its meant to be
    So some would say
    But I beg to disagree

    Cause I know good fortune waits for me somewhere
    I will have my portion I will have my share
    I'll keep my feet in motion til they carry me there
    I will have my portion I will have my share

    Cause I do believe
    There's a harvest in the field
    I do believe
    There's truth to be revealed
    I do believe
    There's treasure to be found
    And I do believe
    There's enough to go around

    I know good fortune waits for me somewhere
    I will have my portion I will have my share
    I'll keep my feet in motion til they carry me there
    I will have my portion I will have my share

    Cause somewhere there's a blessing and it bears my name
    and soon or late, it's coming to me just the same
    Can't wait to see
    What's set aside for me
    With every new sunrise
    I'm gonna keep my eyes wide open

  • 10 Probably Not 2:55 Lyrics

    Probably Not - Lyrics

    Well I've travelled far and wide
    'Cross hills and countryside
    To answer the questions troubling me
    And one day out of the blue
    I realized I knew
    And the answer was simple as could be

    Is there a god above?
    Is there eternal love?
    Probably not
    Probably not
    Is there a home up in the sky?
    Will we be there by and by?
    Probably not
    Probably not

    Think of that Easter day
    When they rolled the stone away
    And the apostles said they'd seen Jesus by the city wall
    Well Saint Thomas' heart was pure
    When he said, "o right yeah sure"
    That's why Saint Tom was the grooviest apostle of all

    Is there a god above?
    Is there eternal love?
    Probably not
    Probably not
    Is there a home up in the sky?
    Will we be there by and by?
    Probably not
    Probably not

    But what if I've been wrong
    And God's been up there all along

    And He hands me a heavenly crown
    Would I dare to turn Him down
    Probably not
    Probably not
    And if He sends me down to hell
    Would I smile and say oh well
    Probably not
    no Probably Not

  • 11 Together 3:20 Lyrics

    Together - Lyrics

    there must be a time
    there must be a place
    when everyone will finally come together
    if there is a God
    with a human face
    i'm sure He'd want us all to come together

    and get beyond these bolted doors
    get beyond these awful bloody wars
    get beyond this way of settling scores
    'cause the score is never even

    and if i had the words
    then i'd make the case
    that everyone has got to come together
    if i had the hounds
    i'd call off the chase
    and everyone could finally come together

    and we'd get beyond who's right and wrong
    get beyond the need to look so strong
    and just get on with simply getting along
    'cause that's a thing we can all believe in

    'cause that's enough of the bitter tears
    that's enough of talking to our mirrors
    that's enough of separate hemispheres
    that's enough that's enough
    we really gotta come together

  • 12 After All Of This 2:37 Lyrics

    After All Of This - Lyrics

    i would like to think
    there's something
    after all of this
    when life's final kiss
    has faded
    i will have waited to see
    if there might be more
    still another door to open
    i'm hoping

    and i can say that faith
    is one thing
    i could never risk
    too much of a leap
    too steep a fall
    but after all of this
    i just can't resist
    wondering what's to come
    and there may be nothing
    but there must be something
    no one really knows

    but i would like to think

Songbook: I Can’t Be New

13 Original songs from the CD I Can’t Be New plus two bonus charts: Movie of My Life from the CD Time Between Trains and May I Suggest from the CD New Non-Fiction. Some songs have been transposed for ease of play.

1.
I Can’t Be New
2.
Late For The Dance
3.
Seeing You Again
4.
I’m Not Sure
5.
Much At All
6.
Tall Drink of Water
7.
You Come Through
8.
No One Needs to Know
9.
Let’s Regret This In Advance
10.
Don’t I Know You
11.
Philanthropy
12.
Stay On Your Side Of Town
13.
Coda: Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter
14.
Movie of My Life
15.
May I Suggest
Buy PDF

I Can’t Be New 2004

Always ready to reinvent herself, in 2004 Susan Werner released her album of instant songbook classics “I Can’t Be New” on Koch Records. For years she incorporated cabaret-style numbers in her live performances, exchanging her guitar for a piano (when there was one to be had), and she’d been asked by her audience to put all those songs in one recording. Fans and critics alike sang her praises: the All Music Guide calling it “a brilliantly constructed, soulful, and cleverly tender effort by a songwriter and musician who is in such complete command of her gifts that it’s almost scary.”

Buy MP3 Album

  • 1 I Can't Be New 2:54 Lyrics

    I Can't Be New - Lyrics

    Coffee, ham and eggs
    I can be your diner
    Tired aching legs
    I'll be your recliner
    And when you need a breath of air
    I'll be your balcony

    When you need a laugh
    I can be your joker
    Cut a loss in half
    I can be your broker
    'Cos all of that and more
    You have been for me

    And I'll be the release
    When the pressure's heightening
    I can be the grease
    When your wheels are tightening
    And when you need a dance
    I can be that old soft-shoe

    I can be your girl
    Through the best and worst time
    But I can't be the girl you notice
    For the first time
    There's so much I can do
    But I can't be new

    And when they're buying you steak baby
    I can be the gravy
    When they throw you in the lake
    I can be the navy
    Be that three-day leave
    I can be that bad tattoo

    I can be the sky
    The very wild blue yonder
    Still I can't catch your eye
    When it starts to wander
    As I've seen it do
    Oh at least a time or two

    I'll be anything for you baby
    But I can't be new...

  • 2 Late For The Dance 3:36 Lyrics

    Late For The Dance - Lyrics

    I arrived last night at half past two
    In my best dress and my best shoes
    I rushed up the stairs to look for you
    But I was late for the dance

    And there was nothing left but faint perfume
    And floating smoke in an empty room
    And a janitor leaning on his broom
    I was late for the dance

    I'd been taking my sweet time
    Yes I'd been hesitating
    But I finally made up my mind
    And you weren't there, no
    You weren't there

    Just tin-foil ashtrays and cigarette butts
    And lipstick-printed plastic cups
    The barkeep said, "We're all closed up"
    I was late for the dance

    And I asked the doorman if he'd seen you
    He said, "What a pity"
    He said you waited on the stairs
    Then left with someone
    Left with someone

    I looked up at the stars and cussed
    I thought what might have been for us
    But the band was leaving on the bus
    And I was late

    I was late for the dance

  • 3 Seeing You Again 2:41 Lyrics

    Seeing You Again - Lyrics

    It was so nice
    Seeing you again
    So nice
    Seeing you again
    It would be so nice
    Seeing you again
    Again

    It was so nice to see that familiar grin
    I wouldn't think twice if you said you're in
    It would be so nice seeing you again
    Again

    And if our love the first time 'round
    Suffered a reversal
    Well maybe our love that first time 'round
    Was just a dress rehearsal

    'Cos it was nice seeing you again
    So nice
    Seeing you again
    It would be so nice
    Seeing you again
    Again

    A-ha
    So nice
    A-ha

    And if it means that time's gone by
    And we haven't found a new love
    Well maybe it means that we should try
    The good old deja-vu love

    'Cos it was nice
    Seeing you again
    So very nice
    Seeing you again
    So nice
    Seeing you again
    Again

    A-ha
    So nice
    I wouldn't think twice
    If you said you're in
    So how ya been

  • 4 I'm Not Sure 4:15 Lyrics

    I'm Not Sure - Lyrics

    Ask me the first time and I'll tell you yes
    Ask me one more time and I'll second-guess
    Thought I was certain, that was premature
    Is this love
    Well I'm not sure

    You say forever and it sounds like something sung
    I say forever and it trips my tongue
    I had been hoping time would be the cure
    But time's gone by
    And I'm not sure

    No I'm not sure and you know I wanna be
    Like you are with me
    Free of reservations
    I'm not sure
    No and you deserve more than this
    My uneasy kiss
    Full of hesitations

    Oh to be dancing carefree 'cross the floor
    Hard to keep dancing, one foot out the door
    I know it's too much, too much to endure
    But when you'll go
    Well I'm not sure

    I'm not sure, no and you deserve more than this
    My uneasy kiss
    Full of hesitations

    'Cos love is the one drug no one does without
    Love is a cruel drug when it's cut with doubt
    Somewhere my darling you'll find love that's pure
    But it's not mine (aah)
    No it's not mine (aah)
    'Cos I'm not
    Sure

    No I'm not sure
    And you know, and you know, you know I wanna be
    Like you are with me
    I wanna be, yeah

  • 5 Much At All 4:08 Lyrics

    Much At All - Lyrics

    I like the sound of quiet with my coffee
    I like the look of nothing on the wall
    I like to read myself what's in the morning paper
    So I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    And I never shared your love of the big, big city
    I never gave a damn for basketball
    I seem to get along without the new New Yorker
    So I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    But oh the days when we were lovers
    We were such the electric pair
    Doomed in a way like all the others
    Classic affairs are always rare and fleeting

    And I must have missed the changing of the seasons
    Well I've seen enough New England in the fall
    I've seen enough of anywhere we were together
    So I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    And doomed in a way like all the others
    Classic affairs are always rare and fleeting

    And now I'm staring out the window in the kitchen
    Sitting in the stairwell in the hall
    Trying for the life of me to do some living

    It's good how I don't miss you much at all

  • 6 Tall Drink of Water 3:01 Lyrics

    Tall Drink of Water - Lyrics

    The summer sun's blazing
    It bakes the ground
    But I'm waitin' baby
    'Til you come 'round
    You're like a tall drink of water
    On a long hot day

    Withering flowers
    Thirsty grass
    Here you come shining
    Shimmering in the glass
    Just like a tall drink of water
    On a long hot day

    And all of this summer puts thoughts in my head
    Thoughts that simmer the sheets of my bed
    And I don't remember just what you said
    But oh I'm sizzling now

    And you're six foot and something
    So cool, so slim
    Just add a slice of lemon on the rim
    You're a tall drink of water
    On a long hot day

    And I don't remember just what you said
    But oh I'm sizzling now

    So pour me a pitcher of those sweet, sweet eyes
    And let the mercury forever rise
    'Cos you're like a tall drink of water
    You're like a tall drink of water
    On a long hot day...

  • 7 You Come Through 3:13 Lyrics

    You Come Through - Lyrics

    You come through
    In every little thing you say you'll do
    Baby you come through

    You make good
    In every single way you said you would
    Baby you make good

    Oh baby you deliver
    In a world
    Where they promise you the moon and all you get's a sliver
    In a world
    Where they offer you a drink and throw you in the river
    Mm but baby you're a giver

    And you're giving me a love that's so reliable
    Yes it's undeniably true
    That you
    You bring the sweetest love I ever knew
    It's irresistible too
    Because you make good
    You come through

    Doo doo doo...

    Mm baby you deliver
    In a world
    Where they promise you the moon and all you get's a sliver
    In a world
    Where they offer you a drink and throw you in the river
    Mm but baby you're a giver

    And you're giving me a love that's so reliable
    Yes it's undeniably true
    That you
    You bring the sweetest love I ever knew
    It's irresistible too
    Because, you got to know, because
    You make good
    Oh baby you make good
    Yeah you make good
    You come through

  • 8 No One Needs To Know 2:58 Lyrics

    No One Needs To Know - Lyrics

    No one needs to know, my love
    How sweet our love can be
    No one needs to know, my love
    The sweet things you do to me

    Sometimes the secretest of secrets
    Are best kept to themselves
    For they lose their power
    When we tell someone else

    So no one needs to know the way
    Your glances cast a spell
    No one needs to know how fast
    How very hard I fell

    And if you're still in love with someone
    That you loved years ago
    Well darling
    No one needs to know

    So no one needs to know the way
    Your kiss feels on my cheek
    And no one needs to know I know
    Your words before you speak

    And if you're still in love with someone
    That you loved years ago

    Well darling
    No one needs to know

  • 9 Let's Regret This In Advance 2:45 Lyrics

    Let's Regret This In Advance - Lyrics

    Standing there before the altar
    Lovers make a vow
    But forevers sometimes falter
    In the here and now

    Still it's in the holy Bible
    One should never stray
    So you and I'll be wholly liable
    If there's hell to pay

    So let's regret this in advance
    Why wait until it's over
    If we're gonna take a chance
    On what tonight may bring

    Let's tell all there is to tell
    And speak of things unspoken
    We both know, we know full well
    That true hearts will be broken

    So let's feel sorry at the start
    And save all the hours later
    After both of us depart
    From what tonight may bring

    If we're about to do
    What we set out to do
    And yield to this romance
    Let's not wait until it's over, no no
    Let's regret this in advance

    If we're about to do
    What we set out to do
    When we began this little dance
    Let's not wait until it's over
    Let's just regret this in advance

  • 10 Don't I Know You 3:05 Lyrics

    Don't I Know You - Lyrics

    Don't I know you from someplace
    I'd swear I know you from someplace
    'Cos that really is some face
    Don't I know you from someplace

    Don't I know you from somewhere
    I'd swear I know you from somewhere
    From those lips beyond compare
    Don't I know you from somewhere

    You, I know you from our honeymoon
    And from the happy day we met
    But when the bills pile high
    And when the babies cry
    How very quickly we forget

    Don't I know you from sometime
    Yes it's really been some time
    So let's steal tonight from time
    'Cos I know you from someplace

    You brush against my skin
    The passion's back again
    This love song isn't over yet

    'Cos I still know you from somewhere
    I can still hear the drum there
    We were never far from there
    'Cos I know you from somewhere
    I still know you from sometime
    Don't I know you from someplace

  • 11 Philanthropy 2:53 Lyrics

    Philanthropy - Lyrics

    I used to keep unto myself
    I didn't think of no one else
    I didn't go out of my way
    I couldn't spare the time of day

    Couldn't stop and lend a hand
    To my fellow, fellow man
    Couldn't look him in the eye
    'Cos I was barely getting by

    But since you fell in love with me
    It's like I won the lottery
    I'm happy as a soul can be
    I've taken up philanthopy

    (Doo we, doo we, doo we, doo we do)

    'Cos baby every time we kiss
    It's a hundred thousand just like this
    Directly into my account
    What a staggering amount

    And when I sleep you hold me tight
    I make a million overnight
    And that's the way I start each day
    With so much more to give away

    So now when I walk down the street
    I smile at everyone I meet
    I'm kind to everyone I see
    I've taken up philanthropy

    Baby you're so good to me
    I'm feeling very Carnegie
    Oh baby you're my every wish
    I'm feeling Rockefeller-ish

    I'm feeling very much inclined
    To benefit all humankind
    To bring whatever I can bring
    'Cos I don't want for anything

    Since you feel in love with me
    It's like I won the lottery
    I'm happy as a soul can be
    I've taken up philanthropy

    Every time it rains it rains
    Pennies from heaven

  • 12 Stay On Your Side of Town 2:54 Lyrics

    Stay On Your Side of Town - Lyrics

    I get the north side where the brownstones are
    You get the south side and the big blues bar
    Cross the river and you've come too far
    Stay on your side of town

    I get the sunrise on the lake at dawn
    You get three bedrooms and the sprawling lawn
    That's the deal and yes the deal's still on
    Stay on your side of town

    I thought I saw you walking on the pier last night
    I thought I saw you walking through the crowd
    I thought I saw you walking on the pier last night
    And I almost went to find you
    Someone should remind you

    That there's a line along Grand Avenue
    And there's nothing different we can do
    Not at least until I'm over you
    Stay on your side of town

    I thought I saw you walking on the pier last night
    And I wouldn't say it matters but
    'Til my heart un-shatters

    I get the north side where the brownstones are
    You get the south side and the big blues bar
    Cross the river and you've come too far
    Stay on your side of town

  • 13 Coda: Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter 1:45 Lyrics

    Coda: Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter - Lyrics

    Maybe if my heels were higher
    Maybe if I grew my hair
    Maybe if I wore those Spanish earrings
    Maybe you would see I care

    But maybe if I sang Cole Porter
    Sang those ballads tenderly
    You'd maybe finally see
    How happy we could be
    And you'd maybe fall in love with me

New Non-Fiction 2001

Performing Songwriter Magazine’s Editor’s Choice, top 10 DIY records of the year. Washington Post: “always an impressive songwriter, Werner continues to compose sharp, funny, compassionate lyrics, a gift rare enough to set her apart…”

Released 2001. Recorded in Nashville in the summer of 2001, NNF was produced by colin linden (producer of the bruce cockburn’s charity of night and breakfast in new orleans cd’s) and features richard bell on keyboards (from janis joplin’s pearl album), dave roe on bass (johnny cash’s gut-string bass player) and colin playing tasty slide solos and rollicking electric guitar parts.

Buy MP3 Album

  • 1 Stationary 3:16 Lyrics

    Stationary - Lyrics

    Hold on both hands, don't let go
    Don't lean too far back or too far in
    And don't get fancy
    You might hurt yourself or someone else
    Sun up overhead is spinning
    All the trees and sidewalks turning 'round
    And those familiar faces
    Smiling and then disappearing

    Loneliness in love propels you
    All the world is moving very fast
    And everybody tells you
    Find one thing that's stationary

    Dizzy, dizzy, palms are sweating
    All the blood is rushing to your head
    And you begin to wonder
    If you've had a bit too much
    Still you can't resist the ride
    You've loved it since you were a child in school
    And you were looking for that
    Something sure and steady out there

    Loneliness in love propels you
    All the world is moving very fast
    And everybody tells you
    Find one thing that's stationary

    And baby is that you
    'Cos I want it to be you
    But you keep moving too
    Yeah you keep moving too
    And nothing does stand still
    Nothing ever will
    At least until the world stops turning altogether

    Hold on both hands, don't let go
    Don't lean too far back or too far in
    And don't get fancy
    You might lose yourself in someone else
    Everywhere the signs are posted
    And they say you play at your own risk
    But break your heart or something
    You'll be back again tomorrow

    Loneliness in love propels you
    All the world is moving very fast
    And everybody tells you
    Find one thing that's stationary

    Loneliness in love propels you
    All the world is moving very fast
    And everybody tells you
    Find one thing that's stationary

  • 2 Shade of Grey 3:50 Lyrics

    Shade of Grey - Lyrics

    God forbid you ever mention that you're looking for love
    Mention it to anyone
    And you'll be gettin' more advice than you could ever dream of
    Cheap advice, ain't it fun
    Hey, let everybody have their say
    And at the end of the day
    All you really get's another shade of grey

    And everybody's gonna tell you 'xactly what you oughta do
    If you're thinking 'bout a family
    Have a baby, don't have any, really gotta have two
    If you wanna live happily
    Hey, let everybody have their say
    And at the end of the day
    All you really get's another shade of grey
    And time just ticks away
    With the whole world holding sway
    While the sun goes down on one more twenty-four hours and

    Everybody yippin' yappin' in the interview chair
    Hawking their philosophy
    Be a Christian, be a Buddhist, be a billionaire
    Be like me, can't you see
    Hey, let everybody have their say
    And at the end of the day
    All you really get's another shade of grey
    So get up and walk away
    Walk away

    So don't tell me the answers
    I'd rather learn them for myself
    And don't sell me your answers
    Put your book back on the shelf
    With the new non-fiction and

    When everybody's making weather in your overworked brain
    Drizzlin' on your picnic
    Just take a step in one direction and you're out of the rain
    And your road's yellow brick
    And hey you're off to see

    Hey, let everybody have their say
    And at the end of the day
    At the end of the day
    At the end of the day
    All you really get's another shade of
    Grey

    All you get's another shade of grey

    So get up, get up, get up
    Get up
    Get up and walk away

  • 3 Blue Guitar 2:55 Lyrics

    Blue Guitar - Lyrics

    Oh my famous heartache
    Here you are at my door
    Half a year it's been over
    Here you come hoping for more
    More of that beautiful tension
    More of that sweet release
    Oh together we did make a lovely and true masterpiece

    But given time we all move on
    Grieve awhile then let go
    Let the new light come shining in
    Let the new colours show
    'Cos we can't go back to someplace
    Someplace we've already been
    That's why I know my darling
    We can't paint that blue guitar again

    Maybe we're still feeling lonely
    Maybe we're still feeling sad
    But we gave each other
    Everything we had
    May well have been the best loving
    Best loving I've ever known
    But the secret to getting it right
    Is to know when to leave it alone

    And given time we all move on
    Grieve awhile then let go
    Let the new light come shining in
    Let the new colours show
    'Cos we can't go back to someplace
    Someplace we've already been
    That's why I know my darling
    We can't paint that blue guitar again

    'Cos we can't go back to someplace
    Someplace we've already been
    That's why I know, why I know my darling
    We can't paint that blue guitar again

  • 4 Yellow House 2:14 Lyrics

    Yellow House - Lyrics

    This little yellow house has too many rooms
    Too many rooms, too many rooms
    This little yellow house has too many rooms
    And I sit all alone and cry

    I had me a good man, lord I let him go
    He went back to St Paul and I let him go
    I had me a good man, lord I let him go
    Now I sit all alone and cry

    And my sister's baby boy has learned to say my name
    Learned to say my name, he's learned to say my name
    My sister's baby boy has learned to say my name
    And I sit all alone and cry

    And the sands in the hourglass gather down below
    Gather below, they gather below
    The sands in the hourglass gather down below
    And I sit all alone and cry

    In this little yellow house with too many rooms
    Too many, too many, too many rooms
    This little yellow house has too many rooms
    And I sit all alone and cry
    Yes I sit all alone and cry

  • 5 (It's OK to) Feel Good 3:55 Lyrics

    (It's OK to) Feel Good - Lyrics

    Yes I've seen you here before
    Standing just inside the door
    'Cos you'd never wanna take up any room
    And everybody's slow dancing in the hall
    But you just hold tight to the wall
    'Cos a little pleasure, that would be too much to presume

    Yes and that's the way it's been
    But you'd love to join on in
    You'd join in but you just don't think you should
    Well now come on along with me
    Let me help you see
    That baby it's okay to feel good

    'Cos you're the kind to stand out in the rain
    Never tap on a windowpane
    'Cos you wouldn't want to trouble anyone
    And when they call your name for the parade
    You always step back in the shade
    'Cos you wouldn't want to inconvenience the sun

    No you never ask for much
    But you miss that tender touch
    And you'd reach out, oh you'd reach out if you could
    Well now come on and take my hand
    Let me help you understand
    That baby it's okay to feel good

    Yeah baby it's okay
    Let down your guard
    Life's too long
    Life's too hard
    Baby it's okay
    To enjoy yourself
    To lean your head
    On someone else's shoulder for a while

    And all you have to say is yes
    To a little tenderness
    And your heart and soul are just wishing that you would
    'Cos the night's still plenty young
    And it's okay to need someone
    Baby it's okay to feel good

  • 6 All of The Above 3:41 Lyrics

    All of The Above - Lyrics

    I'm makin' my list, checkin' it twice
    Looking for a lover who is naughty and nice
    Looking for an innocent with schoolboy charm
    Looking for a kinky little French gendarme
    Looking for a felon with a tattooed arm and a leather glove
    And I want all of the above
    All of the above, that's right

    All the above and all of this too
    Want me a nature boy paddlin' a canoe
    A Wall Street wizard in a pinstripe vest
    A doey-eyed Bowie in a little black dress
    I once settled for so much less, what was I thinking of
    Now I want all of the above
    All of the above

    All of the above is what I need
    All of the aforementioned yes indeed
    Feelin' pretty lonely and I must concede
    That I need some love
    And I want all of the above now
    All of the above

    Yeah I want all of the above but none of the below
    None of what's to follow now no no no
    An old man gettin' by on schoolboy charm
    A dirty and perverted little French gendarme
    A felon with a fully loaded firearm, headin' to Mexico
    I want none of the below now
    No no no no no no no no

    None of the below, none of these please
    Nature boy kissin' all the Christmas trees
    A Wall Street wizard in a junk bond mess
    A doey-eyed Bowie wearin' my black dress
    I'm never gonna meet with any real success in that scenario
    I want none of the below now

    None of the below, nothin' of the kind
    None of that was really what I had in mind
    True true lovin' baby's hard to find but I know I know
    That I want none of the below

    And hey, hey
    Everybody looking for a Tom Terrific
    Hey hey
    North Atlantic to the South Pacific
    Hey hey
    I've done my study and it's scientific and the numbers showed
    Take none of the below
    And get all of the above
    Hey hey hey

    All of the above and none of the below
    Line up all my candidates in one long row
    Line up all my candidates if anybody comes
    So far it's just me twiddlin' my thumbs
    So far it's just me
    Livin' off crumbs

    And I want some love
    And I want all of the above

  • 7 Everybody's Talking 4:06 Lyrics

    Everybody's Talking - Lyrics

    (by Harry Nilsson)

    Everybody's talking at me
    I can't hear a word they're saying
    Only the echoes of my mind
    People stop and stare
    But I can't see their faces
    Only the shadows of their eyes

    I'm going where the sun keeps shining
    Through the pouring rain
    Going where the weather suits my clothes
    Banking off of the northeast wind
    Sailing on summer breeze
    Skipping over the ocean
    Like a stone

    (Everybody's talking at me
    Everybody's talking at me
    I don't hear a word they're saying)
    Yeah
    (Only the echoes of my mind)

    (I'm going where the sun keeps shining) I'm going where the sun keeps shining
    (Through the pouring rain) Through the pouring rain
    (Going where the weather suits my clothes) Going where the weather suits my clothes
    (Banking off the northeast wind) Banking off the northeast wind
    (Sailing on summer breeze) Sailing on summer breeze
    (Skipping over) Skipping over the ocean (skipping over, skipping over the ocean)
    Like a stone

    'Cos everybody's talking (everybody's talking)
    Everybody's talking at me

  • 8 Misery & Happiness 4:44 Lyrics

    Misery & Happiness - Lyrics

    Misery
    Misery sings at the Hilton
    Steps into the purple spotlight
    Leans into the microphone
    Misery
    Sways his hips and smooths his hair back
    Winks at you and gets you thinking
    He is handsome from a certain angle
    Happiness
    Slips in and takes a seat
    At a table in the corner
    And watches you with real concern, yeah
    Happiness
    Walks up and taps your shoulder and says
    "Call me when you wanna come back home"

    Misery
    Woos you when his show is over
    Buys you drinks and keeps you laughing
    While he's looking down your shirt
    Misery
    Says, "I believe in destiny"
    Says, "Destiny says brought us together"
    Says, "Who's that asshole in the corner?"
    Happiness
    Doodles on a cocktail napkin
    And waits for you to figure out
    That you should really lose this loser
    And Happiness
    Smiles a sympathetic smile that says
    "Call me when you wanna come back home"

    Misery
    Says, "Oh I know life can be too hard to bear sometimes, yeah"
    Misery
    Says, "So why don't we go get a room upstairs
    'Cos I never disappoint"

    Misery
    Says, "Hey baby where you going?
    I thought we had an understanding
    You shouldn't really lead me on like that"
    Misery
    Says, "Well lady I know your kind
    You'll settle down with someone boring
    And then you will come looking for me"
    And Happiness
    Says, says, "Misery leave her alone
    'Cos I know you get your share of girls
    But I prefer a full-grown woman"
    Happiness
    Says, "Honey you know the number
    Call me when you wanna come back home

  • 9 Barbed Wire Boys 3:20 Lyrics

    Barbed Wire Boys - Lyrics

    Well I come from the rural Midwest
    It's the land I love more than all the rest
    It's the place I know and understand
    Like a false-front building
    Like the back of my hand
    And the men I knew when I was coming up
    Were sober as coffee in a Styrofoam cup
    There were Earls and Rays, Harlans and Roys
    They were full-grown men
    They were barbed wire boys

    They raised grain and cattle on the treeless fields
    Sat at the head of the table and prayed before meals
    Prayed an Our Father and that was enough
    Pray more than that and you couldn't stay tough
    Tough as the busted thumbnails on the weathered hands
    They worked the gold plate off their wedding bands
    And they never complained, no they never made noise
    And they never left home
    These barbed wire boys

    'Cos their wildest dreams were all fenced in
    By the weight of family, by the feeling of sin
    That'll prick your skin at the slightest touch
    If you reach too far, if you feel too much
    So their deepest hopes never were expressed
    Just beat like bird's wings in the cage of their chest
    All the restless longings, all the secret joys
    That never were set free
    In the barbed wire boys

    And now one by one they're departing this earth
    And it's clear to me now 'xactly what they're worth
    Oh they were just like Atlas holding up the sky
    You never heard him speak, you never saw him cry
    But where do the tears go, that you never shed
    Where do the words go, that you never said
    Well there's a blink of the eye, there's a catch in the voice
    That is the unsung song
    Of the barbed wire boys

  • 10 Big Car 3:08 Lyrics

    Big Car - Lyrics

    Don't want style
    Don't want speed
    I want size, size is what I need
    I don't need handling or a fancy name
    Just want a humongous mother of a frame
    I want a leather power seat
    Want you to move when I come down the street
    I want a big big car

    'Cos size is righteous
    Size is good
    Piece of steel size of Utah for the hood
    Gigantic windows
    Gigantic doors
    Square corners so I win all the wars
    Ain't like the Bible
    Ain't that a crime
    But you know Goliath takes 'em every time
    I want a big big car, yeah

    So you can keep your stupid SUV
    Give me a big old ugly LTD
    A Lincoln Town Car
    Or a Grand Marquee
    And I'm a woman driving destiny around

    Because almighty is how it feels
    Driving a one-storey building on wheels
    I feel passion
    I feel romance
    I feel like Patton rolling over France
    So tell me mister
    Tell me what you got
    I want the biggest lemon on the lot
    I want a big big big big big big car
    I want a big big big big (big big) mother of a car (car)
    I want a big big big big big big car

  • 11 Nefertiti's Dream 3:38 Lyrics

    Nefertiti's Dream - Lyrics

    Time
    Can bring on seven years of rain
    Wash the rushes from the plains
    But it can't touch us

    And time
    Can turn a mighty river's course
    Break its will and bend it north
    But it can't touch us

    So let the forces of nature pull
    Let the sea's rise fill the deserts full
    There's still just one thing immovable in this world
    In this world
    Just one thing stronger than

    Time
    Can run its fingers through our hair
    Paint us white and silver there
    But it can't touch us

    And time, time, time
    Can steal the light from out our eyes
    But something shining still survives
    'Cos it can't touch us
    No

    They'll lay us down in the warm soft earth
    A thousand rounds of death and birth
    One day they'll uncover what we're worth and they'll see
    They'll see the truth of it

    That kingdoms come and the kingdoms go
    Lost cities in the sands below
    One day they'll all learn what we both know
    Only love can live forever after

    Only love
    Only love
    Only love

    Time
    Can take this moment, make it end
    Win the game of make-pretend
    But it can't
    Touch us
    No it can't touch us

    Only love

  • 12 Epilogue: May I Suggest 3:28 Lyrics

    Epilogue: May I Suggest - Lyrics

    May I suggest
    May I suggest to you
    May I suggest this is the best part of your life
    May I suggest
    This time is blessed for you
    This time is blessed and shining almost blinding bright
    Just turn your head
    And you'll begin to see
    The thousand reasons that were just beyond your sight
    The reasons why
    Why I suggest to you
    Why I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a world
    That's been addressed to you
    Addressed to you, intended only for your eyes
    A secret world
    Like a treasure chest to you
    Of private scenes and brilliant dreams that mesmerise
    A lover's trusting smile
    A tiny baby's hands
    The million stars that fill the turning sky at night
    Oh I suggest
    Oh I suggest to you
    Oh I suggest this is the best part of your life

    There is a hope
    That's been expressed in you
    The hope of seven generations, maybe more
    And this is the faith
    That they invest in you
    It's that you'll do one better than was done before
    Inside you know
    Inside you understand
    Inside you know what's yours to finally set right
    And I suggest
    And I suggest to you
    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

    This is a song
    Comes from the west to you
    Comes from the west, comes from the slowly setting sun
    With a request
    With a request of you
    To see how very short the endless days will run
    And when they're gone
    And when the dark descends
    Oh we'd give anything for one more hour of light

    And I suggest this is the best part of your life

Time Between Trains 1998

Quintessentially Nashville and rich with stand-out performances that highlight Susan Werner’s strong songwriting. Produced by guitar wizard Darrell Scott, features the likes of upright bassist Viktor Krauss and legendary timekeeper Kenny Malone.

Released 1998. Bottom Line Records. Recorded in Nashville.

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  • 1 Time Between Trains 3:45 Lyrics

    Time Between Trains - Lyrics

    I'm waitin' at the station

    I can choose my destination
    I'm a free soul, I got no chains
    But it's a long time between trains

    I took a long nap, I read a whole book
    I got nice legs, I got decent looks
    And I'm not one who complains
    But it's a long time between trains

    And who'd have thought it all those years
    That I would find myself back here
    Feelin' restless and ignored
    Starin' at the schedule board
    Wonderin' why the fates above
    Always route love through Miami

    And somewhere lovers smile their smiles
    While I count the ceiling tiles
    And well give or take a few
    There's one thousand fifty-two
    But that depends if you include
    The eighty-eight out in the hall

    Yes I'm waitin' at the station
    With my old friend sublimation
    You know the Wright boys designed planes

    Must have been a long time...

  • 2 Old Mistake 4:26 Lyrics

    Old Mistake - Lyrics

    It was another birthday party
    That Tina threw herself
    She said that you would be there
    So I came armed with someone else

    And everybody turned to greet me
    McGee and all the rest
    'Cept you turned toward the TV
    Distinctly unimpressed

    'Cos I speak such diamonds
    But you know me for a fake
    You see right through me
    'Cos I'm just your old
    Mistake

    And time does not undo it
    It's been three years or more
    Since those most famous kisses
    On my living room floor

    But those most famous kisses
    Were as far as we got
    I froze 'cos you were perfect
    I froze 'cos I was not

    And I poured the champagne
    While McGee served up the cake
    And you walked right past me
    'Cos I'm just your old mistake

    I'm just a mistake in judgement
    One that you will not make again
    Just a mistake in believing
    I'd do more than waste your time
    My friend

    But it was nice to see you
    Even from afar
    Even as you drove away
    In your new lover's car

    'Cos you still move the planets
    And you still pull the strings
    And you still make me want to fade
    Into the panelling

    'Cos I blew my chances
    Yeah I froze up like a lake
    And you just skate on by now
    'Cos I'm just your old

    I'm just your old mistake

  • 3 Bring 'Round The Boat 3:36 Lyrics

    Bring 'Round The Boat - Lyrics

    Judy turns fifty. Three days later her husband takes seven thousand dollars from their joint account and buys a diamond ring for his much younger mistress. A week later Judy discovers all of this and, quite upset, she calls him at work for an explanation. And he says, "Yes but the check didn't bounce..."

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of year

    Sheila tells the policeman, "I've got all of his phone messages here on a cassette marked 'Death Threats'. No, he never sent any letters, he's dyslexic so he doesn't like to write anything, ever. It's funny, he always said how that made him more compassionate..."

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of year

    White sand, beaches and emerald seas
    Palm trees swayin' in the Mediterranean breeze
    Sunshine every day of the week
    And all the signs are in Greek

    Linda's boyfriend walks in the door. He just drove the fourteen-year-old babysitter home and his tie is untied and his shirt's buttoned up all wrong. He puts the keys on the table, looks up at Linda and says, "Oh did we need milk?"

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of

    Year

    Bring 'round the boat, bring 'round the boat, bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    'Cos the island's very nice this time of year

    Anchors away

  • 4 Sorry About Jesus 3:09 Lyrics

    Sorry About Jesus - Lyrics

    Hello Amy Miles
    I'm surprised to see you
    Do you live here now
    Are you married
    Do you have some kids
    Are you still painting
    Oh, that's good, that's good
    You really were good at it

    Yes I'm fine, I'm fine
    I live in Houston now
    I have a son
    His name is Tyler and he's three years old
    His dad and I
    We couldn't work it out
    But really that's okay

    And by the way
    I'm sure that you remember I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    When I memorized the Bible I went overboard
    And I prayed for your soul and you were saved, you said
    And I was glad to tears you wouldn't go to hell
    With everybody else
    Oh I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I try to just forget about it all

    So how is your mom
    Yeah she was funny
    Yeah she made me laugh
    And she smoked Camels
    I remember that
    She drinks a lot
    Oh yeah I guess she does
    I guess she always did

    Yeah my dad's alright
    He's got the house out by the reservoir
    I only see him maybe once a year
    My mom's in Tulsa with her husband Bill
    Who doesn't beat her up

    And by the way
    I'm sure that you remember I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I'm hardly like the person that I was back then
    I never read the Bible
    I don't pray to God
    I'm not real sure he listens, you know what I mean
    But I really hoped he did when I was seventeen
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I try to just forget about it all
    I try to just forget about it all
    I try to just forget about it all

  • 5 Petaluma Afternoons 3:52 Lyrics

    Petaluma Afternoons - Lyrics

    Sonoma County on a Sunday
    Not a cloud in the California sky
    Cement Buddha in the backyard
    Unperturbed by the ants crawling up his thigh

    T.J. sittin' in a deck chair
    Smiles her easy smile from ear to ear
    Maura standin' in the doorway
    Says, "You really ought to move out here"

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin is
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons
    Yeah

    Put your book up on the table
    Stretch yourself back underneath the sun
    Close your eyes and let the daydreams
    Dance across your forehead one by one

    Troubles fade into the distance
    The Doobie Brothers on the radio
    Maura reads the weather for ya
    Says, "New York City got another three feet of snow"

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin is
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons

    Feel the healing golden rays
    Feel them warm your frozen bones
    Listen as the music plays
    And the serotonin flows in

    Goodbye kisses 'round sundown
    Gas and coffee by the Interstate
    Due in Vancouver in the morning
    Safe to say you're gonna be just a little late

    But Portland's nothing but a downspout
    Seattle is only sailboats in the rain
    So drag your feet in California
    God knows you got nothing to explain

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin's
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons

    These Petaluma afternoons
    These Petaluma afternoons
    These Petaluma afternoons

    Feel the healing golden rays
    As the serotonin flows in

  • 6 Courting The Muse 3:30 Lyrics

    Courting The Muse - Lyrics

    Well I lit up all the candles
    And I turned out all the lights
    And I waited up all hours
    But she did not come by last night
    She is beautiful as music
    But jealous to the bone
    And she will only love you
    If you love her alone

    And she used to sleep beside me
    In my narrow single bed
    When I took public transportation
    And I was badly underfed
    And she loved me more than a lover
    More than anyone I've known
    Yes she will truly love you
    If you love her alone, yeah
    But then came some fame and fortune
    And I got to feelin' pleased
    And I paid her less attention
    As my situation eased
    So she left me for a busker
    On the Spanish steps in Rome
    And I could see that she loved him
    'Cos he loved her alone

    Now every night I light the candles
    And I pray that she'll return
    For I have learned the double lesson
    That all her suitors learn
    Don't get too much lovin'
    Don't care what you own
    'Cos she will only love you
    If you love her alone
    Love her alone

    You must love her alone, yeah

  • 7 Montgomery Street 4:59 Lyrics

    Montgomery Street - Lyrics

    The air is still sweet on Montgomery Street
    Where the road bends around to the west
    The flowershop waits for the five-thirty train
    And the wives wait around for the rest

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that you keep to yourself

    The books that you read at the side of your bed
    And the turn at the top of the stairs
    The sound of my name in the sound of your voice
    The beginnings of grey in your hair

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that keep to yourself

    The air is still sweet on Montgomery Street
    But the moon is unbearably bright
    The ache unmistakably somebody else
    Where you sleep in her arms every night

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that you keep

  • 8 Like Bonsai 4:07 Lyrics

    Like Bonsai - Lyrics

    The lady at the greenhouse said, "That would be seven-fifty please"
    You drove us down the gravel roads, I held it balanced on my knees
    You said we'd keep it inside so the branches wouldn't freeze
    And I asked you what would happen
    If we let it grow
    And you said

    Some trees were meant to reach
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai

    Winters and then summers and then I was seventeen
    We packed up my fall sweaters and my possibilities
    And we cried the day you left me at the university
    And it was something I remember
    As I watched you turn and go

    That some trees were meant to reach, you said
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai, like bonsai

    Some trees we trim back
    Some hands we tie
    Some wings we clip
    Some feet we bind

    Nineteen forty-eight it was and you were twelve years old
    Dreaming about high school and you asked if you could go
    And your mother said
    "Even very clever girls are better off at home"

    Some trees were meant to reach
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai, like bonsai

  • 9 Can't Let You In 3:44 Lyrics

    Can't Let You In - Lyrics

    I can hear you at the bottom of the stairs
    The sound of breaking bottles, curses splittin' the air
    You're shoutin' up the hallway, shouting down the street
    I have to close my ears, I can't stand the heat
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in, I can't let you in

    And I have a picture hanging on the wall
    Of you in all your tall and handsome just before the fall
    And I have a black mark written in my book
    Of all the times you ripped me off and everything you took
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in, I can't let you in

    Your long sad story breaks my heart
    And no sarcasm on my part
    But if I let you look me in the face
    You'll get the best of me
    You know my weakest place
    And I can't let you in

    And I can hear you cryin' leanin' up against the door
    Cryin' like a lost child that I don't love you anymore
    But love you, yes I love you and that's what this is about
    I can't pick you up, I can't throw you out
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in...

  • 10 Standing In My Own Way 3:57 Lyrics

    Standing In My Own Way - Lyrics

    ( By Dana Cooper)

    There goes me
    Giving in easily
    Trying too hard to please
    Soft in the middle

    Faithlessly
    Chickening out on me
    Blaming the big machine
    Cursing in riddles
    Frightened and little
    Standing in my own way

    Here am I
    Questioning where, how, why
    Watching my life roll by
    I don't want to blow it, no

    Contrary me
    Begging to disagree
    Making mistakes in threes
    Wrong and I know it
    Too proud to show it
    Standing in my own way
    Standing in my own way

    You naysayer
    Oh you're doing what you do best again
    Get out of my way you betrayer, no
    Don't be so damn sure
    You'll win

    'Cos we are through
    There's not enough room for two
    I'm stepping right over you
    Open that front door

    'Cos here I come
    Banging my broken drum
    I've got you on the run
    I'm winning this old war
    There will be no more
    Standing in my own way
    Standing in my own way

  • 11 Vincent 3:39 Lyrics

    Vincent - Lyrics

    Starry starry night
    Paint your palette blue and grey
    Look out on a summer's day
    With eyes that know the darkness of the soul

    Shadows on the hill
    Sketch the trees and the daffodils
    Catch the breeze and the winter chills
    In colours on the snowy linen land

    Now I understand
    What you tried to say to me
    How you suffered for your sanity
    And how you tried to set them free
    They wouldn't listen, they did not know how
    Perhaps they'll listen now

    Starry starry night
    Flaming flowers brightly blaze
    Swirling clouds in violet haze
    Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

    Colours changing hue
    Morning fields of amber grain
    Weathered faces lined in pain
    All soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

    Now I understand
    Just what you tried to say to me
    And how you suffered for your sanity
    And how you tried to set them free
    They wouldn't listen, they did not know how
    Perhaps they'll listen now

    And no they did not love you
    But still your love was true
    And when no hope was left in sight
    On that starry starry night
    You took your life as lovers often do

    But I could have told you Vincent
    This world was never meant
    For one as beautiful as you

Last of The Good Straight Girls 1995

Released 1995. Private Music. Susan’s national label debut (Private Music/BMG) created an audience for her beyond the east coast, with two tours with joan armatrading following this release, recorded in New York City and Los Angeles.

Produced by Fernando Saunders (Lou Reed’s long time bass player and collaborator), the cast of players includes Marshall Crenshaw and Mitchell Froom.

Buy MP3 Album

  • 1 Last of The Good Straight Girls 3:43 Lyrics

    Last of The Good Straight Girls - Lyrics

    She is waiting in the rain
    She is taking a commuter train
    She is wearing a beret
    Always wanted just to look that way
    She appreciates the thought
    As you help her with the bag she brought
    She extends a little smile
    As she looks at you across the aisle

    But gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
    And the last of the good straight girls

    She is riding on the bus
    And she winces when the people cuss
    She is reading from a book
    That she needed for a class she took
    She puts a marker in the spine
    As we're crossing over city line
    As she steps down on the street
    There's a man she never planned to meet

    Hey gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
    And the last of the good straight girls

    And you say oh, oh, oh, oh, where did the gentle women go
    And you say where oh where is the town I used to know
    And you say why, oh why is it slipping out of sight
    Is there something in the night
    Is there something out there happening in the night
    Yeah

    She bought a second-hand Ford
    Doesn't bother with the bus no more
    She rolls the windows up tight
    When she's waiting at the traffic light
    Through the bulletproof glass
    She buys a paper and a tank of gas
    Does she seem a little scared
    Well she's always gotta be prepared

    Hey gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    It's keys in hand and a gun in the pocket
    Of the last of the good straight girls

    Say goodbye to your Eisenhower-shiny world
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
    And the last of the good straight girls

  • 2 Still Believe 5:19 Lyrics

    Still Believe - Lyrics

    Lewis lost his marriage when he lost his illusions
    That it had been the modern-day ideal
    They both worked way too hard and made love way too little
    No surprise she found that San Jose had more appeal
    But last night I saw Lewis walking down by the river
    With a suitcase in his hand
    Lewis looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "I'm going there to make her understand"

    That I still believe, hmm, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, hmm, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Lucy lost her parents when she lost her illusions
    That theirs had been the family ideal
    Lucy dove into the fast and shiny city
    She found her feet in dancing but she lost the heart to feel much of anything
    But last night I saw Lucy walking down by the river
    With a husband and a brand-new son
    And Lucy looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Who'd have thought that I would be the one?"

    But I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Laura lost her bearings when she lost her illusions
    That she had nothing much to fear
    She lost her ponytail and six long months of sleeping
    When the Big C came to call last fall
    But last night I saw Laura walking down by the river
    And I could hardly hide my tears
    Laura looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Wanna go with me to Italy next year?"

    I still believe, mm-hmm, I still believe

  • 3 Man I Used To Love 4:09 Lyrics

    Man I Used To Love - Lyrics

    I could throw my things together
    Hustle for the train
    Pay my weight in silver
    For the last seat on that westbound plane
    I would fidget in the taxi
    I would pray I find him in
    Get down right there on my knees
    But where would I begin

    It's such a long way, a long way back
    To the man I used to love
    It's a long way, such a long way back
    To the man I used to love

    There were eyes that seemed to reach me
    Arms that opened wide
    There were lips that seemed to know me
    It was bottled up inside me
    It was winter up in Boston
    It was springtime in DC
    It was June in Chattanooga
    It was much too much for me

    Now it's a long way, a long way back
    To the man I used to love
    It's a long way, such a long way back
    To the man I used to love

    A beautiful thing, liberation
    Lets you write your ticket to hell
    Offer your own explanation
    But the fact is this does not reflect too well on me

    Now it's sizzling in Manhattan
    And the sirens down below
    Are screaming some disaster
    Like I don't already know
    That my anchorman is leaving me
    Closing down the show
    There's a preacher on the TV hollering
    "Girl I told you so"

    Now it's a long way, a long way back
    To the man I used to love
    It's a long way, such a long way back
    To the man I used
    To love

    Such a long way back
    Such a long way back to the man I used to love

    It's a long way back
    A long way, a long way
    Such a long way

  • 4 St. Mary's Of Regret 4:07 Lyrics

    St. Mary's Of Regret - Lyrics

    I'm wearing that dress
    I've pulled on those gloves
    I put on my veil
    We once were in love
    We once had it all
    The entire sky
    We threw it away
    And I wonder why

    Passion's always half impossibility
    But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
    We visit them in mourning in December and in May
    In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret

    The end of the street
    The wrought-iron gate
    The cobblestone path
    The names and the date
    The anxious hello
    The everyday laugh
    The intimate tears
    The epitaph

    Passion's always half impossibility
    But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
    We visit them in mourning in December and in May
    In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret

    You're married by now
    She's kind I suppose
    Does she know what she has
    Does she tell you she knows
    Do you put on the suit
    Do you try on the tie
    Do you walk through that gate
    Do you wonder why

    Passion's always half impossibility
    But lovers that we lose we never dare forget
    Maybe someday there I'll see you in December or in May
    In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret
    In the graveyard of St Mary's of Regret...

  • 5 No One Here But Me 4:13 Lyrics

    No One Here But Me - Lyrics

    I tried everything
    I've been everywhere
    I asked all my friends
    And they've all been there
    And it's always been
    It'll always be
    That there's no one here but me

    I read the ancient walls
    Walked the winding streets
    Followed the pretty words
    Slept in tangled sheets
    But there is no cure
    Across the sea
    No there's no one here but me

    And all the while
    I've been wasting time
    Putting the miles
    In an uphill climb
    Chasing the smiles
    Of the satisfied
    On the other side

    He was the poet king
    He was the promised land
    He was the solid rock
    He was the shifting sand
    And the only thing
    That's guaranteed
    Is there's no one here but me

    And all the while
    I've been wasting time
    Putting the miles
    In an uphill climb
    Chasing the smiles
    Of the satisfied
    On the other side

    And all the years (yeah)
    I just threw away
    Wringing the tears (yeah)
    From a perfect day
    Chasing the ghost
    Of a paradigm
    From another time

    So now there's no one to measure the size of my dreams
    No one to tell me how crazy they seem
    No one to tell me the way it ought to be
    I get to write my history
    I get to tell it like I see it
    If there's no one here but me

    Hey all the while (yeah)
    I've been wasting time
    Putting the miles (yeah)
    In an uphill climb
    Chasing the smiles
    Of the satisfied
    On the other side

    And all the years (yeah)
    I just threw away
    Wringing the tears (yeah)
    From a perfect day
    Chasing the ghost (yeah)
    Of a paradigm
    From another time

  • 6 Through The Glass 4:40 Lyrics

    Through The Glass - Lyrics

    God was I naive
    Waiting like some little lamb
    Willing to believe
    The story of the big strong man
    Who follows his own dreams
    The man who would be king some day
    But it isn't all it seems
    With something always in the way

    And the empire falls with every word you're fumbling for tonight
    And I can't bear to fool myself again

    When you say
    Hang on, just a little bit longer
    You say
    Hold on, just a little bit more
    But I, I know now what I didn't before
    And I will not love you through the glass

    Such a sleight of hand
    Such a touch with subtle lies
    Such a fine command
    Of every common alibi
    But then you lost your grip
    And sank into a six-pack slide
    Living for the sip
    And killing off the king inside you

    Call it running from the shadows
    Call it running from the light
    But you're fumbling for my name again tonight

    And you say
    Hang on, just a little bit longer
    You say
    Hold on, just a little bit more
    But I, I know now what I didn't before
    And I will not love you through the glass

    Why dream on a dream that burns me
    Why dream on a dream expired
    I'm told that this dream returns
    But lately I'm
    So tired

    I used to be naive
    Waiting like some little lamb
    Willing to believe
    The story of the big strong man
    Follows his own dreams
    The man who would be king some day
    But it isn't all it seems
    With empty bottles standing in the way

    And you say
    Hang on, just a little bit longer
    You say
    Hold on, just a little bit more
    But I, I know now what I didn't before
    And I will not love you through the glass

    You say
    Hang on, just a little bit longer
    You say
    Hold on, just a little bit more
    But I, I know now what I didn't before
    And I will not love you through the glass

    I will not love you
    I will not love you through it

  • 7 Some Other Town 4:08 Lyrics

    Some Other Town - Lyrics

    Some other town
    Some other place
    Some other eyes
    Some other face
    Some other tribe
    Some other race
    Lives in some other town

    They shoot their drugs
    They shoot their friends
    And who's to blame
    It all depends
    There is a tear nobody mends
    Down in some other town

    In some other town
    Somebody's boy
    Is learning a dangerous trade
    In some other town
    Somebody's girl
    Is joining the red-light parade

    We contemplate
    The business day
    We throw the Sunday Times away
    The cleaning ladies take their pay
    Back to some other town

    They take their cheque
    They stand in line
    Play every week
    Lose every time
    We call it fair
    It could be crime
    But that's some other town

    In some other town
    Somebody's boy
    Has mastered his dangerous trade
    In some other town
    Somebody's girl
    Is leading the red-light parade

    Na na na na...

    My heart is left
    My head is right
    My uniform
    Suburban white
    And I'll be driving home tonight
    Over some other town

    Around some other town

    Right by some other town

  • 8 Yes to You (Tappan Zee) 4:05 Lyrics

    Yes to You (Tappan Zee) - Lyrics

    Well it was all worked out from here to Oklahoma
    All mapped out across the Tappan Zee
    All laid out like dresses at the tailor's
    Someone's groom and someone's bride-to-be

    But you walked up and you changed the conversation
    Quite profoundly you rocked my point of view
    And here I am still straightening the paintings
    Working my mind overtime on you

    Well how would it be
    If I said yes to you
    How would I find
    The strength to pull me through it
    And how would it feel
    If I got next to you
    Well I don't know
    But I know I'm gonna, mm-hmm

    Now when storm clouds roll they roll from one direction
    West to east they roll up against the moon
    But you I swear I did not see this coming
    And I do not see it moving on too soon

    And God devised a mighty mighty heavy magnet
    To draw the world up together man and wife
    But someone must have slipped you some exemption
    To throw this mighty wrench into my life

    Well how would it be
    If I said yes to you
    How would I find
    The strength to pull me through it
    And how would it feel
    If I got next to you
    Well I don't know
    But I know I'm gonna
    That's right

    Yeah

    Well how would it be
    If I said yes to you
    How would I find
    The strength to pull me through it
    How would it feel
    If I got next to you
    Well I don't know
    But I know I'm gonna
    That's right, that's right
    Well I don't know
    But I know I'm a-gonna
    Mm-hmm
    I know I'm a-gonna go home
    Oh I know
    I know I'm a-gonna go home
    I know
    I know I know I can't
    I can't help myself
    Oh no with you I'm going

  • 9 Something So Right 5:27 Lyrics

    Something So Right - Lyrics

    (By Paul Simon)

    You got the cool water
    When the fever runs high
    You've got the look of love
    Light in your eyes
    And I was in crazy motion
    'Til you calmed me down
    It took a little time
    To calm me down

    When something goes wrong
    I'm the first to admit it
    The first to admit it
    The last one to know
    But if something goes right
    Oh it's likely to lose me
    It's out to confuse me
    Because it's such an unusual sight
    I swear I can't
    I can't get used to something so right
    Something so right

    They got a wall in China
    That's a thousand miles long
    To keep out the foreigners
    They made it strong
    And I got a wall around me
    That you can't even see
    It took a little time
    To let you get next to me

    When something goes wrong
    I'm the first to admit it
    The first to admit it
    The last one to know
    But if something goes right
    Oh it's likely to lose me
    It's out to confuse me
    Because it's such an unusual sight
    I swear I can't
    I can't get used to something so right
    Mm something so right

    Some people never say the words "I love you"
    It's not their style
    To be so bold
    Some people never say those words "I love you"
    But like a child
    They're longing to be told
    Mm

    Something goes wrong
    I'm the first to admit it
    The first to admit it
    The last one to know
    But if something goes right
    Oh it's likely to lose me
    It's out to confuse me
    Because it's such an unusual sight
    I swear I can't
    I can't get used to something so right
    Mm something so right

    Something so right
    Something so right

    Something so, something so right
    Something so, something so right

    So right, so right, so right
    Something so right
    Finally found myself
    Something so right

  • 10 Signing Your Name 5:10 Lyrics

    Signing Your Name - Lyrics

    Once in a while in my living room
    I look up at your face
    The man in the hand-painted photograph
    I know you from someplace

    What comes so hard from history
    Comes so easy to my pen

    And I keep signing your name
    While the world remains the same around you
    And I keep signing your name
    Is that all that remains of us

    Year after year in the shrinking walls
    Nothing to the exchange
    Wood in the smiles at the holidays
    And your kiss that fit me strange

    What comes so hard from history
    Comes so easy to my pen

    And I keep signing your name
    While the world stays the same around you
    And I keep signing your name
    Is that all that remains of us

    Gave the truth to the lie
    Turned your eye to the sky
    Looked away when I looked your way
    There's a myth in the air
    It's too late to repair
    But you look at me anyway

    Now where the kiss and the smile would be
    The distance lies instead
    Nine hundred miles of what might have been
    And a world of things much better left unsaid

    And I keep signing your name
    While the world stays the same around you
    And I keep signing your name
    Is that all that remains of us

    I keep signing your name
    While the world remains the same around you
    And I keep signing your name
    Is that all remains of us

    I keep signing your name

  • 11 Much At All 3:15 Lyrics

    Much At All - Lyrics

    I like the sound of quiet with my coffee
    I like the look of nothing on the wall
    I like to read myself what's in the morning paper
    I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    I never shared your passion for the city
    I never really cared for basketball
    I seem to get along without the new New Yorker
    I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    But oh the days when we were lovers
    Such the electric pair
    Doomed in a way like all the others
    Classic affairs are rare and fleeting

    I must have missed the changing of the seasons
    Well I've seen enough of New England in the fall
    I've seen enough of anywhere we were together
    I guess that I don't miss you much at all

    Doomed in a way like all the others
    Classic affairs are rare and fleeting

    I'm staring out the window in the kitchen
    I'm leaning on the railing in the hall
    I'm trying for the life of me to do some living

    It's good how I don't miss you much at all

Live at Tin Angel 1993

Released 1993. Collected solo performances from Susan’s early years, all recorded at Philadelphia’s best listening room, the tin angel located on Second Street in old city Philly.

Highlights include My Mother’s Garden, My Soul’s Not At War, Society Ball, The Country Send Up, Ain’t I Lonely Tonight, and a version of Edith Piaf’s La Vie En Rose.

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  • 1 So Heavy 3:41 Lyrics

    So Heavy - Lyrics

    My sister Sarah was a straight A student
    Parked her soul behind a Ph.D
    One day Sarah says, "I've never seen Paris"
    I get a postcard from across the sea and she says

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

    My brother Benny was a big time lawyer
    A beautiful man in a Brooks Brothers suit
    One day Benny throws his briefcase out the window
    And he sold his car and bought a silver-plated flute and says

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

    My brother Benny was a big man in the city
    Benny always knew his way inside
    Sarah always knew her ancient history
    But it never comes to nothing if you never let it slide sometime
    Sometime, yeah

    This morning Richard never made it to the office
    Richard called says he's home sick in bed
    This morning Richard was a Rudolf Valentino
    And I saw his wife tonight
    And she was smiling when she said it to me

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

  • 2 The Great Out There 4:21 Lyrics

    The Great Out There - Lyrics

    Catherine flew out to Senegal
    In her Malian motley robes
    In her voice were more colours than the rainbow she wore
    And her cheeks were sweet Irish rose
    She talked of dancing in bars in Dakar
    To that African high-life jive
    Her ma said, "Girl you're gonna get yourself killed"
    She says, "I'm going just to be alive"

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

    She sent me a card from Zanzibar
    From Khartoum and Marrakesh
    And then later that year some letters appeared
    From Nepal and Bangladesh
    At first the words were laughter
    The strange ways we live in peace
    The next, the words were blurred with tears
    The war, the famine, the disease

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

    I was born in Iowa
    And that's where they'll bury me too
    And the sacred things I hold near and dear
    Are probably the same for you
    So I'm glad I got my friend Catherine
    She needs to know the new
    Oh I spend my time wrapped up in my tribe
    Till she brings the world into view

    Catherine flew back from India
    With malaria in her veins
    But the fire returned to her clear blue eyes
    Just as soon as it whirled from her brain
    I said, "Catherine who will you be
    When you're finally who you are?"
    She smiled and said, "We'll see won't we
    But there'll be more to be by far"

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

  • 3 Still Believe 5:26 Lyrics

    Still Believe - Lyrics

    Lewis lost his marriage when he lost his illusions
    That it had been the modern-day ideal
    They both worked way too hard and made love way too little
    No surprise she found that San Jose had more appeal
    But last night I saw Lewis walking down by the river
    With a suitcase in his hand
    Lewis looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "I'm going there to make her understand"

    That I still believe, hmm, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, hmm, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Lucy lost her parents when she lost her illusions
    That theirs had been the family ideal
    Lucy dove into the fast and shiny city
    She found her feet in dancing but she lost the heart to feel much of anything
    But last night I saw Lucy walking down by the river
    With a husband and a brand-new son
    And Lucy looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Who'd have thought that I would be the one?"

    But I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Laura lost her bearings when she lost her illusions
    That she had nothing much to fear
    She lost her ponytail and six long months of sleeping
    When the Big C came to call last fall
    But last night I saw Laura walking down by the river
    And I could hardly hide my tears
    Laura looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Wanna go with me to Italy next year?"

    I still believe, mm-hmm, I still believe

  • 4 Last of The Good Straight Girls 2:41 Lyrics

    Last of The Good Straight Girls - Lyrics

    She is waiting in the rain
    She is taking a commuter train
    She is wearing a beret
    Always wanted just to look that way
    She appreciates the thought
    As you help her with the bag she brought
    She extends a little smile
    As she looks at you across the aisle

    But gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
    And the last of the good straight girls

    She is riding on the bus
    And she winces when the people cuss
    She is reading from a book
    That she needed for a class she took
    She puts a marker in the spine
    As we're crossing over city line
    As she steps down on the street
    There's a man she didn't plan to meet

    Oh gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen
    And the last of the good straight girls

    And you say oh, oh, oh, where did the gentle women go
    And you say where oh where is the town I used to know
    And you say why why why is it slipping out of sight
    Is there something in the night

    She bought a second-hand Ford
    Doesn't bother with the bus no more
    She rolls the windows up tight
    When she's waiting at the traffic light
    Through the bullet-proof glass
    She buys a paper and a tank of gas
    Does she seem a little scared
    Well she's always gotta be prepared

    Oh gone the days of the corduroy jumpers
    And your very first string of pearls
    It's keys in hand and a gun in the pocket
    Of the last of the good straight girls
    So say goodbye to your Dairy Queen soda
    And your Eisenhower-shiny world
    Say a prayer for the souls of the fallen and the last, mm
    Of the good straight girls

  • 5 Snow White 3:11 Lyrics

    Snow White - Lyrics

    Forgive me if I love
    The love that's shining in your eyes
    Not that I'm surprised
    I simply didn't think it possible

    Forgive me if I love
    The love that you and I just made
    Not that I'm afraid
    I simply didn't think it possible

    I thought Snow White and fairytales
    Could not apply to me
    But I've seen the light
    As of tonight
    I'm as snow white as I can be

    Forgive me if I love
    The picture that you have in mind
    Not that I'm inclined
    I simply didn't think it possible

    I thought Snow White and fairytales
    Could not apply to me
    But I've seen the light
    As of tonight
    I'm as snow white as I can be

    Forgive me if I love
    The picture that you have in mind
    Not that I'm inclined
    I simply didn't think it possible

  • 6 My Mother's Garden 4:22 Lyrics

    My Mother's Garden - Lyrics

    If it's warm and it's clear and a full moon tonight
    Let's go down to my mother's garden
    I'll tap on your door at a quarter to one
    Come quickly as soon as you hear me
    And we'll steal down the carpeted stairs
    In pyjamas of Packers and Bears
    And we'll hold in our breath till we're out the back door
    With food for the dog so he's quiet

    We'll skip 'cross the grass in our tender bare feet
    With the blades clinging on to our ankles
    And the crickets will sing us the Latin high mass
    As we come to the altar of flowers
    And the snapdragons narrow and tall
    And the zinneas the brightest of all
    And the peonies came from great-grandmother's farm
    And someday I'll grow them at my house

    Come over a row to the peas and the beans
    All waiting like good little soldiers
    Go on help yourself to a handful of each
    The best ones are always the young ones
    And the ground cherries grow down the line
    Eat a dozen or so off the vine
    Hey the muskmelon's ripe so we'll crack one in two
    And we'll feast just like thieves up in heaven

    Then we'll sneak back inside like the Indians would
    Be sure not to step on the branches
    And we'll slip into bed and we'll lie wide awake
    'Til the moon sinks below California
    And my mother she sleeps and she knows
    One eye open, the other eye closed
    In the morning she'll smile and she'll wave us goodbye
    And she'll never betray our adventure

    If it's warm and it's clear and a full moon tonight
    Let's go down
    To my mother's garden

  • 7 Shackamaxon Street 3:35 Lyrics

    Shackamaxon Street - Lyrics

    That old Shackamaxon Street sugar refinery
    It's just a place by the river
    Where I sometimes go
    Every season just floats by
    The channel's filled with broken ice
    Today's the day that winter finally let go
    Today's the day that winter let go

    There are swollen buds on the poplar trees
    On that worn-out pier at Noble Street
    There are no winter shadows on the red warehouse wall
    Like half-forgotten make-believe
    Old sorrow, nonsense, lies and grief
    The sharp frozen boulders they go down to the sea
    Let 'em all go out and down to the sea

    I've waited
    I've waited so long for the springtime
    I've waited for the love in your eyes
    I've waited
    I've waited so long for the springtime
    I've waited for the love in your eyes

    That old Shackamaxon Street sugar refinery
    It's just a place by the river
    Where I sometimes go
    Every season just floats by
    The channel's deep and the tide looks high
    Today's the day that wintertime finally let go
    Today's the day that winter let go

  • 8 Attend The Sky 3:52 Lyrics

    Attend The Sky - Lyrics

    Have you ever had life pour in like sunlight through the window
    Have you ever had love pour down like summer in the rain
    Have you ever had justice come and settle in your corner
    Well if you never have
    Well it will happen one day

    Have you ever been so inspired you couldn't get to sleeping
    Have you ever been unafraid to take it all the way
    Have you ever been so in love you lived it to the limit
    Well if you never have
    Well it will happen one day

    So don't you give up now
    Don't you give in
    Give yourself time now
    And you will love the skin you're living in
    Don't you lay down now
    Don't you lay low
    Attend the sky now
    And you'll have more than you'll ever know

    Have you ever read someone's words like water in the desert
    Have you ever seen God himself come dancing back in May, yeah
    Have you ever heard angels sing although you're not a Catholic
    Well if you never have
    Well it will happen one day

    So don't you give up now, mm
    Don't you give in
    Give yourself time now
    And you will love the skin you're living in
    Don't you lay down now
    Don't you lay low
    Attend the sky now
    And you'll have more than you'll ever know

    Have you ever had life pour in like sunlight through the window
    Have you ever had love pour down like summer in the rain
    Have you ever had justice come and settle in your corner, well
    Well if you never have, well it will happen you know
    If you never have, well it will happen I swear
    If you never have, well it will happen one day

  • 9 Soul's Not At War 4:26 Lyrics

    Soul's Not At War - Lyrics

    I wish I could remember the time and the day
    I think it was November but it could have been last May
    And I wish that I could tell you just how it came to be
    Partly pain and trial-by-fire and partly lottery

    But I woke up in the morning and the earth was standing still
    I thought somebody dropped the bomb or I had fallen ill
    'Cos I didn't hear the pounding of the traffic in my brain
    That nearly had me tied and bound and classified insane

    And I'd say it's like the movies
    Like walking through a door
    But the truth is it came as a total surprise
    That my soul's not at war anymore

    I used to raid my memory with a candle and a sword
    Smoking out the enemy, expecting some reward
    And I used to look for pain relief to get me through the night
    Someone's arms or some applause or artificial flight

    I used to cross the ocean just to leave it all behind
    But lately I can sit here on the back porch of my mind
    Letting all the days roll in and settle on the shelf
    Feeling so at ease inside I swear I hardly know myself

    And now I hear the music
    That was never there before
    Oh let's dance with the sailors, hmm
    And kiss the marines
    'Cos my soul's not at war anymore, no
    My soul's not at war anymore

    'Cos I'd say it's like the movies
    Like walking through a door
    But the truth is it came as a total surprise
    That my soul's not at war anymore
    No my soul's not at war anymore

  • 10 Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter 3:55 Lyrics

    Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter - Lyrics

    Maybe if my heels were higher
    Maybe if I grew my hair
    Maybe if I wore those Spanish earrings
    Maybe you would see I care

    Maybe if I snuck up on a rainbow
    Maybe if I snared the stars
    You'd maybe turn your head in my direction
    And see the perfect pair we are

    But my heart's begun to sink again some
    I've had these kind of dreams before
    I drank your favourite drink and then some
    But that just made me want you more

    I'd balance candelabras on my forehead
    Disrupt the royal family at tea
    I'd swim Niagara Falls
    Swim any falls at all
    To make you fall in love with me

    Maybe if I spoke some football
    Maybe if I waxed my car
    Maybe if I chewed tobacco
    Believe me I would go that far

    But maybe if I sang Cole Porter
    Sang those ballads tenderly
    Then maybe you would see
    How happy we could be
    And maybe fall in love with me
    And maybe fall in love with me

  • 11 Society Ball (Just The Band) 1:57 Lyrics

    Society Ball (Just The Band) - Lyrics

    You got forty doormen waiting at the Waldorf
    Front door's fancy as the Taj Mahal
    But there's Jimmy and Don and Jack all loading in from the back
    We're just the band at the society ball

    You got everybody strutting their Armani
    Yes and everybody knows what's in for fall
    But we're scavenging up the bucks
    For a twenty-five-dollar tux
    We're just the band at the society ball, mm-hmm

    You got old men good and ready for the coffin
    With some twig girl of twenty on their arm
    Oh, you got women with their faces tight as pup tents
    I'd better pack me up my Samsonite and get back to the farm

    You got everybody buttoned like the British
    And everybody loves old Satin Doll
    But we'd rather get roaring drunk
    And rip off a little Monk
    We're just the band at the society ball

    You got everybody playing up their English
    And everybody playing down their drawl
    But we're just the working brass
    From a substantially lower class
    And it's some kind of foreign land
    When you are looking out from the stand
    And you're the band
    At the society ball

  • 12 La Vie En Rose 2:57 Lyrics

    La Vie En Rose - Lyrics

    Quand il me prend dans ses bras
    Il me parle tout bas
    Je vois la vie en rose
    Il me dit des mots d'amour
    Des mots de tous le jours
    Et a me fait quelque chose
    Il est entrŽ dans mon coeur
    Une part de bonheur
    Dont je connais la cause
    C'est lui pour moi
    Moi pour lui dans la vie
    Il me l'a dit, l'a jurŽ pour la vie
    Et ds que je l'aperois
    Alors je sense en moi
    Mon coeur qui bat

    Des yeux qui font baisser les miens
    Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche
    Voilˆ le potrais sans retouche
    De l'homme auquel j'appartiens

    Il est entrŽ dans mon coeur
    Une part de bonheur
    Dont je connais la cause
    C'est lui pour moi
    Moi pour lui dans la vie
    Il me l'a dit, l'a jurŽ pour la vie
    Et ds que je l'aperois
    Alors je sense en moi
    Mon coeur qui bat

  • 13 Ain't I Lonely 3:55 Lyrics

    Ain't I Lonely - Lyrics

    Well I'm standing at the jukebox in this little corner bar
    Where the playlist is all country stars
    On a good day I'd give my last quarter and smile
    Just to hear George Strait singing awhile

    But the song in my head is as loud as a plane
    And as long as a train pulling grain
    And it follows me around like a three-legged hound
    Getting by on two legs
    And a sprain

    Well ain't I strong
    Ain't I stunning
    Ain't I stable now
    Ain't I smart
    Ain't I stuck with a big empty heart
    Ain't I brave
    Ain't I beautiful
    Ain't I better now
    Ain't I bright
    Jesus Christ ain't I lonely tonight

    Patsy Cline's singing "Crazy" and I was a time or two
    Who'd believe everything I've gone through
    But now I'm sane
    Now I'm simpler
    Now I'm standing here on my own
    Now I'm spending the night all alone

    But ain't I strong
    Ain't I stunning
    Ain't I stable now
    Ain't I smart
    Ain't I stuck with a big empty heart
    Ain't I brave
    Ain't I beautiful
    Ain't I better now
    Ain't I bright
    Jesus Christ ain't I lonely tonight

    Well I wrote it with lipstick on the bathroom mirror
    I wrote it with riddles in my diary
    I said it before I fell asleep at night
    But "I love you" don't mean that much to me
    No, "I love you" don't mean that much to me
    From me

    Well my mind's got a jukebox with a mind of its own
    And tonight it won't leave me alone
    So I settle my bill and leave two dollars more
    On the bar as I turn toward the door

    It's then that I notice the man across the way
    His eyes read like headlines that say
    Ain't I strong
    Ain't I gentle
    Ain't I married now
    Ain't I right
    Jesus Christ ain't I lonely tonight

    But ain't I strong
    Ain't I stunning
    Ain't I stable now
    Ain't I smart
    Ain't I stuck with a big empty heart, oh no
    Ain't I brave
    Ain't I beautiful
    Ain't I better now
    Ain't I bright
    Jesus Christ ain't I lonely tonight
    Jesus Christ ain't I lonely tonight

Midwestern Saturday Night 1993

Released 1993. Susan’s first recording, made possible by a gift from the late Philadelphia philanthropist Phoebe Valentine. Produced by Grant Macavoy and performed with a cast of Philadelphia musicians, this collection of songs indicates musical styles Susan would continue to explore over the next years of her career.

Highlights include Greg Simon’s The Great Out There, The Satirical Baby Boomer Song, Uncle John, and the first recording of the piano ballad Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter.

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  • 1 So Heavy 3:35 Lyrics

    So Heavy - Lyrics

    My sister Sarah was a straight A student
    Parked her soul behind a Ph.D
    One day Sarah says, "I've never seen Paris"
    I get a postcard from across the sea and she says

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

    My brother Benny was a big time lawyer
    A beautiful man in a Brooks Brothers suit
    One day Benny throws his briefcase out the window
    And he sold his car and bought a silver-plated flute and says

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

    My brother Benny was a big man in the city
    Benny always knew his way inside
    Sarah always knew her ancient history
    But it never comes to nothing if you never let it slide sometime
    Sometime, yeah

    This morning Richard never made it to the office
    Richard called says he's home sick in bed
    This morning Richard was a Rudolf Valentino
    And I saw his wife tonight
    And she was smiling when she said it to me

    It's so heavy when you're holding up the ceiling
    Ain't it lighter when you let the thing fall
    Ain't it better having something you believe in
    And ain't it heaven when you're never holding back at all

  • 2 Born a Little Late (The Baby Boomer Song) 2:55 Lyrics

    Born a Little Late (The Baby Boomer Song) - Lyrics

    I was four years old in nineteen-sixty-nine
    When everybody had their thing and I had mine
    There were some people smoking weed, there were some others doing speed
    But I was way big into raisins at the time

    And now I'm all grown up and I'm a-writing a-folky songs
    But there are people telling me that I don't belong
    These folk music consumers are Birkenstock-ed baby boomers
    They say, "You're way too young and you dress completely wrong"

    They say, "You showed up just in time to miss the boat
    You slept right through our rendezvous with fate
    And though we're getting old and grey we still can gloat
    Must be a thorn to have been born a little late"
    That's what they say

    Yes they were all at Yasgur's farm in 'sixty-nine
    They all made love to Country Joe and Johnny Prine
    And every one of them adored young Bonnie Raitt
    They love to tell me I was born a little late

    And at folk festivals I've seen them a-hanging around
    I've seen them having sex and sleeping on the ground
    They'll all be sitting around the campfire singing Beatles and The Byrds
    And then they laugh at me 'cos I don't know the words

    And they say, "You showed up just in time to miss the boat
    Yes you slept right through our rendezvous with fate
    And though we're getting old and grey we still can gloat
    Must be a thorn to have been born a little late"
    Rub it in now

    I get upset about Social Security
    It's like the government just steals my cash away
    'Cos by the time I'm sixty-three there won't be nothing left for me
    When all the boomers have retired and bought a house in Santa Fe

    And they'll say, "You showed up just in time to miss the boat
    Yes you slept right through our rendezvous with fate
    And though we're getting old and grey we still can gloat
    Must be a thorn to have been born a little late"
    Yes indeed, must be a thorn to have been born a little late

  • 3 Midwestern Saturday Night 5:21 Lyrics

    Midwestern Saturday Night - Lyrics

    Thanks for the concert, it was quite enlightening
    Although Mahler does tend to make me wanna do myself in
    And now we'll top off the night with some cognac and coffee
    And we'll talk about all the places we've been

    I'm impressed by your French, I'm impressed by your English
    I'm impressed that I'll risk what I've got on my mind
    I would trade all this in and this Burberry jacket
    For a date of a different kind

    'Cos I wanna knit you wool sweaters with little deer all over
    I wanna feed you from my kitchen till your belt feels too tight
    I wanna make love till three and never judge my performance
    On a Midwestern Saturday night

    Now I can see you're confused when confronted with jello
    And I'm certain you're lost when there's four feet of snow
    And you think I'm the kind who could tear down Manhattan
    But I prefer nights with no place to go

    Just a Wisconsin cap and a reliable pickup
    Just a vise-grips and a pair of old dungarees
    Just a set of four seasons and a good long October
    And a good man who's looking at me

    'Cos I wanna knit you wool sweaters with little deer all over
    I wanna feed you from my kitchen till your belt feels too tight
    I wanna make love till three and never judge my performance
    On a Midwestern Saturday night

    Yes my thinking's as straight as the Panhandle's narrow
    Yes my thinking's as straight as the prairie is plain
    Let me fix you some oatmeal, let me talk to your mother
    Let me try one more time to explain

    That I wanna knit you wool sweaters with little deer all over
    I wanna feed you from my kitchen till your belt feels too tight
    I wanna make love till three and never judge my performance
    On a Midwestern Saturday night...

  • 4 I Still Believe 5:21 Lyrics

    I Still Believe - Lyrics

    Lewis lost his marriage when he lost his illusions
    That it had been the modern-day ideal
    They both worked way too hard and made love way too little
    No surprise she found that San Jose had more appeal
    But last night I saw Lewis walking down by the river
    With a suitcase in his hand
    And Lewis looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "I'm going there to make her understand"

    That I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Lucy lost her parents when she lost her illusions
    That they had been the family ideal
    Lucy dove into the fast and shiny city
    She found her feet in dancing but she lost the heart to feel much of anything
    But last night I saw Lucy walking down by the river
    With a husband and a brand new son
    And Lucy looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Who'd have thought that I would be the one?"

    But I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still believe
    I still believe, I still

    Laura lost her bearings when she lost her illusions
    That she had nothing much to fear
    She lost her ponytail and six long months of sleeping
    When the big C came to call last fall
    But last night I saw Laura walking down by the river
    And I could hardly hide my tears
    But Laura looked at me with eyes that were wiser and said
    "Wanna go with me to Italy next year?"

    'Cos I still believe, I still believe

  • 5 Rubber Glove Blues 2:44 Lyrics

    Rubber Glove Blues - Lyrics

    Eyes so sharp, hair so dark
    I need a little action, maybe this boy is the spark
    He's got savvy, he's got skill
    Now he's coming my way, moving in for the kill
    He says, "Hey little lady why don't we go upstairs?"
    I said, "Listen up little man before we go anywhere"

    You wanna play in my park, you better follow my rules
    You wanna swing in the dark, I wasn't born no fool
    He says, "But b-b-b-b-baby give me a taste of the best"
    I said, "You can't come to dinner improperly dressed"
    He says, "B-b-b-babe I need to make a little love"
    I said, "You can't do my dishes without rubber gloves"

    Well that man he just turns on his heel and heads right out the door
    But don't you know that I have seen this all before
    They may stay or they may go
    But the one who gets my loving is the one in the know
    So if you're looking to get you a little access
    Get away little man and get dressed for success

    You wanna play in my park, you better follow my rules
    You wanna swing in the dark, I wasn't born yesterday
    He says, "B-b-b-b-baby give me a taste of the best"
    I said, "You can't come to dinner improperly dressed"
    He says, "B-b-b-babe I want to make a little love"
    I said, "You can't do my dishes without rubber gloves"

  • 6 Lullaby For One 4:09 Lyrics

    Lullaby For One - Lyrics

    I am my own big brother
    And I am my own best friend
    I am the songs of my mother
    And I am the one I'm depending on

    So why lie awake over far away fears
    If the good moon should slip out of sight
    I'll just lean down and kiss me
    And turn out the light
    'Cos it's me who can tell me goodnight

    The night comes to call on my troubles
    He asks for the worries I keep
    I give him the weight off my shoulders
    I give myself sweet dreams and plenty of sleep

    I give myself buckets of laughter
    I give myself busloads of kids full of play
    I send myself seventy-six dozen roses
    I send myself night and I send myself day

    So why lie awake over far away fears
    If the good moon should slip out of sight
    I'll just lean down and kiss me
    And turn out the light
    'Cos it's me who can tell me goodnight

    I am my own big brother
    And I am my own best friend
    I am the songs of my mother
    And I am the one I'm depending on

    So why lie awake over far away fears
    If the good moon should slip out of sight
    I'll just lean down and kiss me
    And turn out the light
    'Cos it's me who can tell me goodnight

  • 7 Uncle John 2:32 Lyrics

    Uncle John - Lyrics

    I love you so much Uncle John
    I love to hear about your year in France
    I love the way you put your sneakers on
    And I love the way you make me dizzy when we dance

    I love to tell you about my boyfriend
    And I know you never had a wife
    You never mention any girlfriend
    But still there must be someone in your life

    I think it's time I told you
    That I'm not just a little girl
    And I believe that there's a thousand seven hundred ways
    Of making love in this big world

    I thought I'd tell you Uncle John
    That I don't think you've got a thing to hide
    If you get tired of these holidays
    At least you know there's someone on your side

    I love you so much Uncle John
    And here's the way I think it oughta be
    That you can love whoever you wanna love
    And you can call anytime at all to dance with me

  • 8 The Great Out There 3:42 Lyrics

    The Great Out There - Lyrics

    Catherine flew out to Senegal
    In her Malian motley robes
    In her voice were more colours than the rainbow she wore
    And her cheeks were sweet Irish rose
    She talked of dancing in bars in Dakar
    To that African high-life jive
    Her ma said, "Girl you're gonna get yourself killed"
    She says, "I'm going just to be alive"

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

    She sent me a card from Zanzibar
    From Khartoum and Marrakesh
    And then later that year some letters appeared
    From Nepal and Bangladesh
    At first the words were laughter
    The strange ways we live in peace
    The next, the words were blurred with tears
    The war, the famine, the disease

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

    I was born in Iowa
    And that's where they'll bury me too
    And the sacred things I hold near and dear
    Are probably the same for you
    So I'm glad I got my friend Catherine
    'Cos she needs to know the new
    Oh I spend my time wrapped up in my tribe
    Well she brings the world into view

    Catherine came back from India
    With malaria in her veins
    But the fire returned to her clear blue eyes
    Just as soon as it whirled from her brain
    I said, "Catherine who will you be
    When you're finally who you are?"
    She just smiled and said, "We'll see won't we
    But there'll be more to be by far"

    Oh when you get there, is there a there there
    Do people care there, are people aware there
    Do the boys and girls do more than
    Break their toys and perm their hair there
    Send an update Kate to your old roommate
    From your big round world to my small flat state
    Tell me what do you find when you open your eyes and your mind
    To the great out there

  • 9 Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter 4:37 Lyrics

    Maybe If I Sang Cole Porter - Lyrics

    Maybe if my heels were higher
    Maybe if I grew my hair
    Maybe if I wore those Spanish earrings
    Maybe you would see I care

    Maybe if I snuck up on a rainbow
    Maybe if I snared the stars
    You'd maybe turn your head in my direction
    And see the perfect pair we are

    But my heart's begun to sink again some
    I've had these kinds of dreams before
    I drank your favourite drink and then some
    But that just made me want you more

    I'd balance candelabras on my forehead
    Disrupt the royal family at tea
    I'd swim Niagara falls, swim any falls at all
    To make you fall in love with me

    Maybe if I spoke some football
    Maybe if I waxed my car
    Maybe if I chewed tobacco
    Believe me I would go that far

    But maybe if I sang Cole Porter
    Sang those ballads tenderly
    Then maybe you would see
    How happy we could be
    And maybe fall in love with me
    And maybe fall in love with me

  • 10 Shadow Dancing 4:01 Lyrics

    Shadow Dancing - Lyrics

    Friend it's good to see you
    But have you seen yourself today
    You got a bad thought brewing in the back of your head baby
    You got a big fear written all over your face

    The little tiny worry looking over your shoulder
    Be a big tall worry by the afternoon
    The sun goes down and you think you've outrun it
    But it'll come around and catch you by the light of the moon

    So you better go shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)

    You say you couldn't name it
    But you think you got the same old blues
    Well they've been rattling around like a string of old tin cans
    Darling put on those dancing shoes

    'Cos the little tiny worry looking over your shoulder
    Be a big tall worry by the afternoon
    The sun goes down and you think you've outrun it
    But it'll come around and catch you by the light of the moon

    So you better go shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)

    A little heap of trouble be a mountain of regret
    And the longer you ignore it the bigger it will get, yeah

    You got an old ghost chasing round you
    You better put him six feet underground
    And those bad thoughts brewing in the back of your head baby
    Just pour a cup and drink them down

    'Cos the little tiny worry looking over your shoulder
    Be a big tall worry by the afternoon
    The sun goes down and you think you've outrun it
    But it'll come around and catch you by the light of
    The moon

    So you better go shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    Shadow dancing (shadow dancing)
    You better go, you better go shadow dancing (shadow dancing)