I’m Gonna Stay          (top)(listen)

The grass grows through the cracks
screen door hanging from a string
and memories tracked on the front porch
still cover everything
he never said goodbye
things were easier that way
city lights might take some
but others chose to stay

With his hands he makes his way
cutting pieces from the ground
where dreams grow like the summer crop
and never make a sound
and family means more than X-mas trees
and walks down memory lane
interrupted without fail
to catch the early train

chorus:
            He said ‘I’m gonna stay
            and that’s all I got to say
            I like my chances on judgement day (2)

break:
 someone asked him one time
 ‘what’s the point my friend…..
 this land owes you nothing
 and you’re near the end’
  he said a reflection in the water
 lasts until you’re gone
 it never takes hold
 if you keep moving on

Pictures on the wall
dog sleeping on the floor
and the cool breeze sings him to sleep
through the unlocked door
I guess the world is closing in
but I think we got some time
the old man got drunk last night
and tore down the town’s road sign
it’s one and only road sign

words and music by Tom Flannery

Jenny McLane       (back)

On the corner of Market and Linden
lived a girl named Jenny McLane
eyes as wide as the holes in the windows
smile cut from a store bought frame
Her daddy toiled 6 days at the paper mill
mother part time at the Wal-Mart store
30 years on the house and they were home free
17 down only 13 more

On the hill the nights grew darker
something you can’t put your finger on
hard lives they were getting harder
many in the neighborhood already moved on
But Jenny hung tough the kid you never hear of
had no time for the corner boys
or the pom pom girls with the plastic smiles
running around making all that noise

Jenny had plans despite the walls around her
she chipped away for all those years
high school mercifully nearly over
no more waiting on tomorrow’s tears
School day just like any other
bells ringing throughout the land
she never saw the look of detachment
she never saw the 45 in his hand

Like a flash it was all but over
12 counting Jenny laying on the floor
the papers said ‘this stuff has got to stop’
then moved on to the story next door
‘For Sale’ sign hanging in the yard
house went to hell no one asked what for
knees are battered from asking questions
they just don’t seem to care no more

On the corner of Market and Linden
lived a girl named Jenny McLane
eyes as wide as the holes in the windows
smile cut from a store bought frame
her dreams meant nothing to anybody
even less now that’s she’s dead

 words and music by Tom Flannery

Favorite Son        (back)(listen)

Had myself a drink or two about a week ago
how the hell I ended up here Lord I’ll never know
could’ve sworn I seen the wife just the other day
don’t see each other much but it’s always been that way

Texas plains whoever named ‘em they sure got it right
I’m as bored as a twister running thru the night
ain’t got no crowd to watch me as I bring the house down
so what the hell’s the use of even coming round

chorus:
            Endless mountains call me now
            they want their favorite son
            got myself some leaking fuel
            but I’m still on the run

Job it got the best of me so they kissed my ass goodbye
town could not contain me put me on the other side
tracks had the same pennies on ‘em from way back when
that midnight train just flattened them again and again

(chorus)

Had myself settled down time and time again
but them scrap books can’t hold me down I always reach the end
Daddy rode the rails out of town during the strike of ‘62
he only looked back once, to say ‘son you’ll follow too’

My brother took ‘em thru two states before they brought him down
had himself a smile when the spread him on the ground
   Sheriff wiped his own brow and thrashed around for air
   said ‘I’ll walk that sonofabitch myself to that sizzling chair’

  (chorus)

So I’ll watch the sun go down deep in the Texas sky
seems to take so long but I’m not one to ask why
I’ll leave that shit to all those who’ve got the time
I was never raised to be the worrying kind

(chorus)

 words and music by Tom Flannery

Talkin' Stranger in New York Blues          (back)

Lyrics depend on what kind of a mood I am in. Buy the CD if you are really curious.

Centralia         (back)

I come from Centralia
hear what I say
I was born and raised
and I'll die here someboday
that wind still blows
through this dirty little town
and that's sure good enough
to keep me hanging 'round

from the darkness of this highway
looks like the sun fell down
decided she liked it here
buried herself in the ground
she watches over me
just like my daddy before
but she brought a government man
to my back door

he said you gotta leave sir
but we're gonna make it worth your while
we got this government briefcase
with money stacked in a pile
it's for your own good
this place is gonna burn down
and who wants to live
in a mining ghost town

well some took the offer
I guess I don't blame 'em much
money is even hotter
than burning coal to the touch
but some hunkered down
as these walls closed in
can't burn me out my friend
from the places I've been

I said I worked this vein
and she knows me good
she promised me a living
right where I stood
I always treated her right
so she'll do the same to me
she go on back up to Washington
and leave us all be

words and music by Tom Flannery

When the Rains Came        (back)

The river it knew my name
And not many men could say the same
but it’d lose it’s soul when the rains came
lose it’s soul when the rains came
River’s edge ain’t no place to be
unless you was born a man like me
work just crumbles beneath my feet
work just crumbles beneath my feet

Valley was warned as far as I could tell
with announcements the good Lord makes so well
nothing to buy but a lot to sell
nothing to buy but a lot to sell
seems the river had it way many years before
with water breaking down granddaddy’s front porch door
he stuck his regiment’s flag in the muddy shore
said you ain’t taking another inch anymore

He said the river takes notice if you make a stand
as it wears down a young farmer’s land
it remembers faces as it rolls by
it remembers faces as it rolls by
Daddy brought me to the roof in 72
with the rain soaking us both thru
he said ‘son I think it’s gonna spare us this time’
I think he’d been nippin’ at granddaddy’s wine

break:
 I guess five wars will turn a family hard
 mamma said ‘pay no attention to that boat in the yard’

The river it knew my name
And not many men could say the same
but it’d lose it’s soul when the rains came
lose it’s soul when the rains came

  words and music by Tom Flannery

Lonesome Valley          (back)

Lonesome valley she calls my name
leads me back home once again
saint or sinner you can't hardly tell
who's got time for heaven or hell

Lonesome valley she spreads her wings
she circles 'round me and so she brings
constant sorrow and kisses sweet
these contradictions, they hurt my feet

Lonesome valley
she sets me free
she brings my baby back to me
this fiddle music with it brings
lovers hanging from a string

Lonesome valley and played out mines
play tricks on you all the time
ghostly voices down below
singing sweetly because they know

oh the dead don't leave here
they just hang around
there's a party raging underground
saint or sinner you can't hardly tell
who's got time for heaven or hell

words and music by Tom Flannery
 

The Killing Land        (back)

Redemption will play her hand and I’ll play mine
but she’ll raise me and raise me till she leaves me blind
that cell door is cold when it slides on by
like the coal train stealing the sun from the sky

chorus:
            They say one who hates what he don’t understand
            is missing the soul of a God fearing man
            well that’s the way it is
            that’s the way it is
            down here in the killing land
            down here in the killing land

Time comes when a man just can’t take no more
gotta lay it on the table and keep two feet on the floor
yet when they take you down that hall they say your legs give way
and you finally hit your knees and they drag you while you pray

(chorus)

break:
 I hope you find some peace
 and you have no doubt
 I’m gonna run through my veins
 and drain this poison out

Oh the Lord could turn His head it wouldn’t be no surprise
considering what I’ve done I was built to despise
but I’m told He’ll be with me when they strap me down
and that’s the kind of man I want to die around

(chorus)

  words and music by Tom Flannery
 

Have You Even Known Anyone Like Teddy?         (back)

We swore allegiance to the end with a wicked grin
with the sun burning holes
in the valley of sin
Teddy came from bad seed that’s what he used to say
his Daddy left with the credit card
and his sister on the way

He had eyes that made girls cry and a nose that looked right down
on anyone or anything
that tried to outsmart this town
he had a smile that’d light up a room with fists that’d clear one out
no man could keep him down
of course many had their doubts

chorus:
            Have you ever known anyone like (3)
            anyone like Teddy

Sometimes the roads all lead to where you don’t want to go
but you hear someone calling
who it is you’ll never know
so I caught the midnight train Teddy there to say goodbye
finally said ‘farewell my friend
I sure wish that I could fly’

break:
 We made it through the rain
 we’ll make it through anything

(chorus)

Teddy used to drop in but my wife she had her say
he still looked wild around the eyes
and she was not brought up that way
so things were quiet for a time then them makeshift walls came down
Teddy’s knife in the foreman’s chest
and the mill burnt to the ground

I told my wife I know he’ll come she said it’s him or me
heard his footprints on the porch
and I turned to watch her leave
with the dirt caked on his face he looked 16 once again
wrapped my arm around his neck
said ‘we best be moving on my friend

(chorus)

  words and music by Tom Flannery

Drinking With Nick Drake           (back)

Drinking with Nick Drake is such a chore
he’s always got to sit closest to the door
and when it comes that it’s his round
empty pockets staring at the ground

Drinking with Nick Drake it ain’t much fun
he yells if the shades don’t hide the sun
he says “if you want me to sing for you…
look the other way is what you gotta do”

 I know he’s a genius and all that stuff
 but I think enough is enough
 Tired of dragging his limey ass around
 with the same ghouls stepping in the same ground

Drinking with Nick Drake I do it still
I said I’d stop but I never will
never sure what he’s going on about
but maybe someday he’ll scream and shout

 “you want a piece of me here I am….
 I’ll take you all at once I don’t give a damn.
 I’m 6 foot 3 and handsome as well
 ain’t no place for me…this hell”

Oh Nicky boy be glad you’re dead
alive and they’d ignore you instead
say “here’s a guy we don’t understand….
to hell with him lets go see a band..
a real rock and roll band….”

Drinking with Nick Drake I do it still
I said I’d stop but I never will
Hit the road in his bug and then we pray
to chase that black eyed dog away
 

--words and music by Tom Flannery

Was I You Yesterday?        (back)

You were never here so you don’t know
the horrors of war where the poppies grow
and now we march down your main street
to the sound of our own shuffling feet

You live in your head you can’t understand
drowning in mud out in no man’s land
CNN and the evening news
and another pair of boardroom shoes

chorus:
 was I you yesterday?
 was I you yesterday?
 was I you yesterday?
 something slipped along the way
something slipped along the way
 was I you yesterday?

Now you hang your flag and you beat your chest
singing along with all the rest
when I say Somme and Passchendaele
you scratch your head without fail

Now I’m old and light is growing dim
and I contemplate my childhood sins
If everything remains the same
then I’ll know I died in vain

(chorus)

  words and music by Tom Flannery
 

Belt Buckles        (back)

Of what I’ve seen I cannot tell
no words exist to pass it well
but the eyes of a child need to understand
what drove a man from his beloved land

They hear me speak with gentle tongue
they hear the songs that need be sung
they see the eyes but not the soul
for that won’t come until they’re old

chorus:
            River rolls by without a sound
            trying not to disturb this sacred ground
            that keeps a child warm at night
            and keeps them belt buckles tight

Potato was life then it was gone
did what it could then moved along
seemed to carry the good Lord with it too
maybe he had other things to do

So sleep my child under peaceful skies
for I’ll comfort you when you shake and cry
oh pray tell me years are few
but the good Lord has returned in you

(chorus)

(repeat verse 4)

words and music by Tom Flannery

Harry Truman         (back)(listen)

Harry Truman Harry Truman
can't go on without you in
without you in my life
you dropped the bomb then went to bed
you slept the sleep of the newly dead
Harry Truman make me your wife

McCarthur looked you up and down
you kicked his ass right out of town
a mans man with a sensitive side
but when Bess and Margaret call your name
they bring with them a ball and chain
give me hell...take me for a ride

President Harding knew just what do do
he kept a girl in his closet to....help him govern

Independence can be dull
here is something for you to mull
over in your mind
I can show you the world
c'mon Harry give it a whirl

Harry Truman Harry Truman
can't go on without you in
without you in my life
you dropped the bomb then went to bed
you slept the sleep of the newly dead
Harry Truman make me your wife

words and music by Tom Flannery                  (top)