Quicksand

Devil of the Trail

A young girl had a vision
And left her home, Missouri
The siren of the West had cast a spell
Oregon, it told young Sarah,
Holds a piece of Heaven
But along the path to Heaven
She’d pass the gates of hell

She took off with her family
Across the barren prairie
Past a swarming sea of buffalo
Then the devil send them charging
Right toward their fragile wagons
And nearly crushed their dreams
Into the dusty ground below

The devil of the trail, he will burn you in the valleys,
He’ll shoot you from the skies with his windblown hail
He’ll freeze your heart with his snow-crusted mountains
Sarah, are you ready for the devil of the trail

In the fall, they wandered through
The frozen Cascade mountains
The winding canyons filled them with alarm
Half-dead, they finally came across
A peaceful little cabin
Where a grateful Sarah knew that
Finally they were safe from harm

The devil of the trail has burned you in the valleys
He shot you from the skies with his windblown hail
But he couldn’t freeze your heart with his snow-crusted mountains
Sara, you have overcome the devil of the trail

Time and Time Again

Time and time again you left me cryin’
Time and time again you made me blue
You two-timed me this time
One time too often
Now it’s time to watch me leavin’ you

You thought I’d hang around for almost always
You thought that I would never wanna’ part
But my clock was running down
While you spread yourself around
And now there’s no more time left on my heart

‘Cause time and time again you left me cryin’
Time and time again you made me blue
You two-timed me this time
One time too often
Now it’s time to watch me leavin’ you

You thought I’d be your fool for almost ever
You thought that I would never run away
But I told you long ago
That your time was running low
Now I’ve run out of reasons to stay

‘Cause time and time again you left me cryin’
Time and time again you made me blue
You two-timed me this time
One time too often
Now it’s time to watch me leavin’ you

Yes, now it’s time to watch me leavin’ you

Die on the Vine

At the breaking of the dawn, on the outskirts of town
They held my farming tools up and tore my world on down
I watched them as they auctioned off the pieces of my life
Treasures that my daddy left for me and my wife

At the end of my rope at the bottom of a dream
I tried to drown my troubles in an endless whiskey stream
One day when my empty bottle rolled across the floor
I swear I heard my daddy’s words from 20 years before

Son, don’t let your life die on the vine
Don’t plant your roots in whiskey and red wine
Grow up straight and tall like an old Georgia pine
Son, don’t let your life die on the vine

Then I pushed away my glass and pulled myself up straight
I knew that I could stand up to the bitter winds of fate
Cause  suddenly I realized, that one thing hadn’t sold
The best thing Daddy ever planted was his
Strength in my soul

Son, don’t let your life die on the vine
Don’t plant your roots in whiskey and red wine
Grow up straight and tall like an old Georgia pine
Son, don’t let your life die on the vine

If You Think It’s Hot Here

God help you without Jesus
You ain’t got a prayer
You go wandering around in the wilderness
And you ain’t gonna’ get no where

Some people say when you’re dead your done
Well, who really knows
But if you think it’s not in here
Just wait until those pearly gates close

You cook the books for the crooks on the hooks
And you all tee off at three
Just like there was no such thing as eternity
You catch the heat
But you’re standing mighty close to the stove
If you think it’s hot here
Just wait until those pearly gates close

All the things that were killing me
Used to make me feel alive
I was too blind to see the difference
Between living and life

My redeemer came to claim me
Burning down the wrong road
He said, “If you think it’s hot here,
Just wait until those pearly gates close”

Jesus is my Savior,
If you think it’s hot here,
Just wait until those pearly gates close

Quicksand

You have a bad day
So you don’t go straight home
You take a right turn thinking that might fix what’s wrong
You lay your keys and all your stress down on the bar and start up a tab

You feel better
With every drink you take
So you think maybe you just found an easy way
To solve your problems and if tomorrow life gets hard to handle you’ll be back

Ain’t that just the way the devil leads us down a path
Where we wind up worse than we were and there’s no turning back
You go from standing tall to disappearing where you stand
Like a slow sinking man in quicksand

You make a dollar
Turns into three or four
You feel important and that makes you want more
You chase success and happiness is something you let your bank account decide

You lose focus
Of just how rich you were
Back when your family and all your friends came first
You just forget them and you won’t miss em
Till the day your kissing them good bye

You need a hand it takes a friend
Or the good lord reaching down
To lift you up with faith and love
When you get that far in the ground
How’d you get that far in the ground

Ain’t that just the way the devil leads us down a path
Where we wind up worse than we were and there’s no turning back
You go from standing tall to disappearing where you stand
Like a slow sinking man in quicksand

It’s Been So Long

The Ghost of Jack McCline

When you hear footsteps and no one’s there
Makes a chill run down your spine
You feel a presence in the air
Well, greet the ghost of Jack McKline

Old Jack was a loggin’ man
Miles of timber he did own
It was from those trees that Old Jack cut
That framed my Grandpa’s home
That land was worth a fortune
Jack found out ‘for too long
Big money could not buy him out
And soon old Jack was gone
Soon Old Jack was gone

No one knows where Old Jack went
Some say he was killed
But he lives on to haunt the homes
That big money built

So when you hear footsteps,
Well know he’s there
As cold chills run down your spine
You feel his presence in the air
You’ve met the ghost of Jack McKline

As you lay within your sturdy walls
Tucked safely in your bed
Well if your house was built with old Jack’s wood
Then you’re sleeping with the dead
Sleeping with the dead

Cumberland

She sprang from the belly
Of a cold hard mountain
Swore one day she’d reach the sea
700 miles she carved
Her way through the limestone
Bound and determined to be free

Oh Cumberland she’s deep and dark
With a wanderin’ soul and a restless heart
Men have tried to break her will
But to the sea she rolls on still
Sometimes she gently winds
Sometimes she rages
She’s got a mind of her own
To one man she gives life
Another she takes it
She don’t answer to anyone

Oh Cumberland she’s deep and dark
With a wanderin’ soul and a restless heart
Men have tried to break her will
But to the sea she rolls on still
She rolls on still

This Must Be the Bottom

Sunday Clothes

I found my jacket in the closet
Behind my only button down white shirt
I put it on, headed out to church
For the first time
In a long time

It got me thinking me back, to eight years old
Didn’t wanna go,
I fought that tie and those shiny shoes
Every time like little boys do
But Mama made me
Go every week

While all her friends
Sang old time hymns
The ones she said blessed her soul
But my new blue tie
Wouldn’t let me breathe
I just wanted to go
Yeah, Mama’s the only one that could get me
In my Sunday clothes

Standing here in the church yard
It’s still the same old muddy mess where I’d run
And get myself all dirtied up
Though I’d make her mad
Mama’d just laugh

While all her friends
Sang old time hymns
The ones she said blessed her soul
But my new blue tie
Wouldn’t let me breathe
I just wanted to go
Yeah, Mama’s the only one that could get me
In my Sunday clothes

Just like old times
There’s mud all on my shoes here from the rain
But this time she’d understand
But she can’t see these tears rolling down my face

And all her friends
Sing old time hymns
Lord, the ones that blessed her soul
But this ‘ol tie won’t let me breathe
Lord, why’d she have to go

Yeah, Mama’s the only one that could get me
In my Sunday clothes

Truman’s Vision

When I was a boy, I remember my Daddy talkin’
About the days of the great Cold War
Back in ’49 when the Russians got the bomb
Uncle Sam told the town “You just can’t live here anymore”

Mr. Thurman at the State house would make the sacrifice
Of 300 squares of farming land
Mr. Truman at the White House would take it all away
By eminent domain for the progress of man

Dupont built a plant on the edge of the river
There’s no corn or cotton growing by those old dirt roads today
There’s no more rows to hoe where only the concrete grows
From Mr.Truman’s vision on Thurman’s red clay

Well they closed up the schools and they tore down the town
Ripped up the fences in the fields
And there’s nothing left of the old homeplace now
It’s all covered with concrete and wrapped up in steel

Dupont built a plant on the edge of the river
There’s no corn or cotton growing by those old dirt roads today
There’s no more rows to hoe where only the concrete grows
From Mr.Truman’s vision on Thurman’s red clay

More About John Henry

First of all, John Henry was a black man
He was born down where the sun don’t ever shine
He was six feet tall
Didn’t know his own strength
But he did not swing a hammer all the time course he didn’t
John Henry had some women on his mind

There was a woman cross the street named poor Selma
Well John Henry like a natural man
John Henry quit poor Selma
Just like he was quittin’ work
He loved that senorita Julie Ann

She was somethin’ else you understand
There was a man named Stagger Lee in Argenta
A little man with a big 44
You know he shot his woman down
And took a shot at poor Selma
But ole Stagger won’t be shooting anymore he had to quit it
John Henry layed him dead on the floor

John Henry through Stagger Lee in the river
Then he said I’ve got a say so to say
He broke out in a song that was wrote by Blind Lemon
Julie Ann I’m singing my say, You know I love ya
But I do not like your low down ways

Well John Henry went to a conjurin’ woman
Said this misery ain’t no way to live
Somebody’s back door creepin’ on my pretty Julie Ann
The conjurin’ woman had a say so to give
Said, John Henry, that’s just the ways things is

Well john Henry well to a hell bustin’ man
Said I’m tormented deep in my soul
Well that hell busted pray John Henry’s sins went away
And they tell me how the thunder had rolled sweet Jesus
What a frightening sight to behold

From that day on John Henry was a changed man
All he did was just work all the time
Well he worked till the muscles in his body gave out
Then he kept right on a working in his mind, Lord don’t do it
Cause a man ain’t supposed to work all the time

Julie Ann said “John Henry I Love You”
Poor Selma said John Henry “You’re My Man”
Ruby said I’m gonna cook you up some greens and some lean meat
With cornbread in a four foot pan with lots o cracklins’
But John Henry was a different kind of man

Well they allow that hard work killed John Henry
I’m gonna leave that allowing up to you
Well was he killed by hard work or was he killed by bad women
Be sure it ain’t a happening to you
Quit workin’ when your days work is through
For a man ain’t supposed to work all the time
And you know that’s just the ways things is

Down Around Clarksdale

Well, Down around ‘ol Clarksdale, Mississippi
By a little spot in the road to grab some BBQ
They say that a man sold his soul there
And gave up his place in Heaven just to sing and play the blues

I heard that he hit the ground a beggin’
Asking, “Lord, please save me from myself”
Well, my curiosity made me wonder
If I went down there would I need my good Lord’s help

I guess I’m blessed to be telling y’all this story
I can’t say I wasn’t tempted, but thank God I found the truth
Well, I’ll testify on this metal body guitar
On this stage tonight as I sing and play the blues
Well, let me tell you now

The Good Lord           is your helper
The Good Lord           can save your soul
The Good Lord           is your Savior

Oh He can make you whole