A Far Cry From Here
No Danger Lifting Me
Justice in a Cradle
Oh Precious Cargo
Who’s Got the Time
Back in ‘29
One Room At Night
A Long Way’s This Mornin’
A Far Cry From Here
Spinnin’ Roll On
Ev’ry Honest Word
Anna Rubyanne
Teachin’ Michael Anthony
Lyrics
No Danger Lifting Me
He took a bullet, hollow point made
A fatal hit followed by no trace
In a pool of wonder, shallow reasons lie
Alive one moment, found cold as ice
There is another pictured ev'ry day
Missin' windows figures in the mail
In a home of ruin, families cryin' why
Someone's losin', dryin' up inside
Comes a world with no misery
A time of hope not sympathy
A day of rest, no danger lifting me
No danger lifting me
No danger lifting me
A light in darkness, shinin' all alone
In a room of choosin' who casts the first stone
A mausoleum reads, let him rest in peace
Euthanasia, my God have mercy on me, Have mercy..
Comes a world with no misery
A time of hope not sympathy
A day of rest, no danger lifting me
No danger lifting me
No danger lifting me
(Repeat Chorus)
No danger lifting me
No danger lifting me
No danger lifting me...
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Who's Got The Time
Baskets on the wall
Spillin' out guts from fallin' too far
Livin' through it all
Barin' her soul to keep from losin' it
Now who's got the time to pick up
A good book anymore
Workin' too slow
Belly on up to the feedin' machine
Headin' undertow
Right down the tubes on the golden screen
Now who's got the time to pick up
A good book anymore
Thinkin' hard fast
A faster pace better make it two
Least of all last
Shut in worried soon comin' to
Now who's got the time to pick up
A good book anymore
Baskets on the wall
Spillin' out guts from fallin' too far...
Malcolm Holcombe © l994, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Back In '29
Ol' Joe Bryson lived down a dirt road in the holler
No use for no license and that automobile
He got to town on his own two feet
Tough stained hands from raisin' his cattle and t'bacca
And soft -hearted for the shiny clean Cherokee hair
Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair
A dollar a day he made at the sawmill by the river
And lost outta work like everyone and taxes comin' due
He heard the news and you know it's the truth
(BR) Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
(CH) He cried, Rosalee I'm leavin' at sunrise
I heard 'em talkin' down at the stockyard
There's jobs up north and I know it
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Rosalee I'm walkin' to Detroit
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
Ol' Joe Bryson sent money from Kentucky to the holler
Soft-hearted for the shiny clean Cherokee hair
Rosalee could sit on in her rockin' chair'
Back in '29, back in nineteen and twenty-nine
(Chorus/Bridge)
The years rolled on past the wheels on his chair in the city
No use for no license and that automobile
He's gone to heaven with his own two feet
(Chorus/Bridge)
(Chorus/Bridge)
(Bridge)
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
A Long Ways This Mornin'
That ol' winter sun
Is a long ways from bein' hot this mornin'
But sometime next spring it'll get a little warmer
We'll bundle up our babies and work a whole lot harder
'Cause it's a long ways from bein' hot this mornin'
They say New York's got it bad
But it's a long ways from where I am this mornin'
But someday next year I might get a little closer
So bundle up our babies and work a whole lot harder
'Cause it's a long ways from where I am this mornin'
It's funny how the time
Is a long ways from passin' by this mornin'
But some way tomorrow she might think a little softer
And we'll bundle up our babies and I'll work a whole lot harder
'Cause I'm a long ways from her love this mornin'
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Spinnin' Roll On
In a tired some ol' town
Blue hearts beatin' all around
Wheels turnin' up and lockin' down
Spinnin' roll on true love roll on
Roll on true love roll on
Workin' loose the sorrow
Leavin' one ol' past for tomorrow
Insistin' on a sweeter sunrise
Spinnin' roll on true love roll on
Roll on true love roll on
There's a pencil in the window
Wooden voices and telephone poles
On a lonesome ol' highway
Red eyes burnin' through the daybreak
Prayin' for a bed out of the rain
Spinnin' roll on true love roll on
Roll on true love roll on
There's a pencil in the window
Wooden voices and telephone poles
In a tired some ol' town
Blue hearts beatin' all around
Wheels turnin' up and lockin' down
Spinnin' roll on true love roll on
Roll on true love roll on
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Anna Rubyanne
There's good money in construction for a Garrison man
But a heart in destruction won't mend in the wind
I saw him on a crosswalk lookin' hard led
Walkin' cold wet steel for Anna Rubyanne
I can hear the soft words slippin' out from under his tongue
But they ain't fixin' nothin' hurtin' worse in the sun
I reckon he's just buildin' time matter over mind
And walkin' cold wet steel for Anna Rubyanne, Anna Rubyanne
Below the sirens screamin'
The mornin' whistle moans
Letters come with a warnin' I know
Garrison knows
I feel my eyes grow weaker every time around
I've taken all my chances givin' way to other sounds
Garrison's far from solid ground but closer where I am
Walkin' cold wet steel for Anna Rubyanne, Anna Rubyanne
(Chorus)
A woman's in a mission with children abreast
But harder times are written down for distance to bend
Garrison fell dead a long ways back when
Walkin' cold wet steel for Anna Rubyanne, Anna Rubyanne
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
Anna Rubyanne
Anna Rubyanne
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Oh Precious Cargo
Ol papers under glass
Passin' on names to namesakes
Two livin' it up to snuff
One broken heart to another
Don't let your arms grow numb
Reachin' back and forward
Some ol sound said spoken for
One broken heart to another
Deliver son oh precious cargo
I'm down to one broken heart to another
Deliver son oh precious cargo
Love bares a sober scoldin'
Heart throbbin' needy
Savin' up for a rollin' holler
Goodness gracious straightback east
One broken heart to another
(Chorus)
Now them glory clothes don't fit
In a closet mansion uptown
Good for nothin' documents
For one broken heart to another
(Chorus)
Ol papers under glass
Passin' on names to namessakes
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
Love bares a sober scoldin'...
Malcolm Holcombe © l994, Purple Girl Music/BMI
One Room At Night
He earned a blue ribbon
Pinned it up inside
Down to dirt livin'
Workin' outside
Eighty years raisin'
Her children comin' first
Kinda unhandy
But no disgrace bein' poor
I heard 'em prayin' and cryin'
In the broad daylight
What can you say, What can you say
In one room at night
A mountain made o' backbones
And bottom land all mine
A deep well's good water
'til the end of time
I heard 'em prayin' and cryin'
In the broad daylight
What can you say, What can you say
In one room at night
The prize ain't the money
Sized up in your hand
Hold a clean mem'ry
Keep a good close friend
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
In one room at night
In one room at night
In one room at night
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Justice In A Cradle
Strong soap and lots of hot water
Behind my ears pound by pound
Before my eyes one moment to moment
Pages rockin' justice in a cradle
Stingin' knives for skillful good reason
Lovin' sweat on shiny metal tables
Stayin' life torn slow from sinkin'
Pages rockin' justice in a cradle
Starch my shirt and raise my heart
Missin' faces blew outta paintin'
Black and white ain't enough to cover
Pages rockin' justice in a cradle
Catchin' hell payin' for answers
Skinny arms now wrapped around a rainbarrel
Pourin' slaughter for a swiss chocolate camel
Pages rockin' justice in a cradle
(Chorus)
Strong soap and lots of boilin' water
Poundin' moments rockin' outta slaughter
Pages tearin' justice from the cradle
For the growlin' belly of the swiss chocolate camel
(Chorus)
Unleash my eyes away from the belly
Pry my arms far far from the rainbarrel
Spit in the eye of the swiss chocolate camel
Pages rockin' justice in a cradle
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
Malcolm Holcombe © l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Ev'ry Honest Word
There ain't a nickle in a solitary dime
That'll buy back anybody's love
Above us all longer arms keep reachin' on down
And listenin' hard for ev'ry honest word
We keep workin' for
Sometimes a heart's caught talkin' too much
Stayin' busy makin' up a change
Namin' all good will callin' up a good day
And listenin' hard for ev'ry honest word
We keep workin' for
It's the little old things
For the little ones
That bring us closer homeward still
Listenin' hard for ev'ry honest word
So go on and run run out the door
And cry out louder in the streets
It ain't money keepin' me back on my feet
And listenin' hard for ev'ry honest word
(Chorus)
There ain't a nickle in a solitary dime
That'll buy back anybody's love
Now it's the little old things for the little ones
That bring us closer homeward still
Listenin' hard
Listenin' hard
Listenin' harder
Now for ev'ry honest word Ev'ry honest word
Malcolm Holcombe © l994, Purple Girl Music/BMI
Teachin' Michael Anthony
I have been known disappearin' now and then
God only knows where you've been
There is a train over ridin' yesterday
Idle worries in the way
Teachin' Michael Anthony your name
Irma keeps children singin' back in church
Clutchin' closer to the scraps
Exhaustin' ev'ry muscle possible
Outlastin' carelessness
Teachin' Michael Anthony your name
Time so learns formin' goodness from past
God only knows what will last
There is a child barin' gladness in your eyes
Willin' to change a made up mind
Teachin' Michael Anthony your name
I have been known disappearin' now and then
God only knows where you've been
Teachin' Michael Anthony your name
Teachin' Michael Anthony your name
Malcolm Holcombe © l994, Purple Girl Music/BMI
A Far Cry From Here
I've heard misfortune losses
And wasted ways before me by the costs
Of givin' someone time enough for spendin'
Love only borrowed
I've placed myself at ease
Listenin' to the lies of self-belief
For wantin' somethin' close enough for keepin'
A far cry from here
But I believe in ways than these
To speak another dear who has been spared
Innocent so near
A far cry from here
Even still the night is passin'
Behind her heart an emptiness still follows
The distance dams the swallows hard for lendin'
Love only borrowed
(Chorus)
Some are sad but true to know
There's belongin' in just longin' for someone
My shoulder rests a road I only follow
Love only borrowed
(Chorus)
(Chorus)
A far cry from here
A far cry from here...
Malcolm Holcombe ©l993, Purple Girl Music/BMI