Tricks of the Trade

Money Train
Misery Loves Company
Into the Sunlight
Crazy Man Blues
Tennessee Land
Damn Rainy Day
Higher Ground
Good Intentions
Your Kin
Lenora Cynthia
Tricks of the Trade
Windows of Amsterdam (Bonus Track)
Shaky Ground


money train

chorus

ridin' the money train
ev'rybody's ridin' the ol money train
ridin' the money train
ev'rybody's ridin'
the ol money train
ride on 

broken hearts
scratches on my car
young and old
lemme tell ya 'bout my scars
whatever sells the most
i wanna be a part
of the money train 

i dont care
'bout the starvin' naked world
somebody else'll fix it
i'm busy in a whirl
on the money train 

chorus

i'd rather be alone
stuck inside my head
waitin' on my payday
makin' plans to get ahead
on the money train 

i lay awake at night
countin' cards in my head
shootin' pool in my dreams
clean the table and scream
on the money train 

chorus

pt barnum said
a sucker's born ev'ry minute
i'm standin' in line
cause i got my ticket
for the money train 

i gotta hot tub a bathtub
a solar powered guitar
i clean up pretty good
and i turn it up louder
for the money train 

chorus
chorus
ride on

c. 2019  gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

misery loves company

misery loves company
when the neon's burnin' bright
you're open up for business
you listen and you smile

as long as my money
lays down on the bar
the bartender serves me
one more broken heart

chorus

i've tasted and i wasted
the good life that i had
my poor selfish drinkin'
made a rich ol man go mad

aint you had enough
he said ev'ry nite
for too many years
i gave up the fight

to give you my best
my darlin' my wife
but misery loves company
when the neon's burnin' bright

chorus

i passed out and i cried out
my God what have i done
she's gone from my mem'ry-(she's only a mem'ry)
she was the only one

i oughtta be on tv
with a guitar strummin' smile
cause misery loves company
when the neon's burnin' bright

yeah i oughtta be on tv
countin' money ev'ry nite
cause misery loves company
when the neon's burnin' bright

misery loves company
when the neon's burnin' bright

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

into the sunlight

there's a rumble in the paper walls
and the early mornin' questions fall
from fridged winter lips they call
into the sunlight we belong

why the tossin' turnin' nights
far from younger open eyes
to the aging starless skies
into the sunlight we belong

she's waitin' on you hand and foot
you savor nuthin' more for good
she's savin' kindness to be strong
and into sunlight we belong

we belong we must hold on
to break the endless darkness laws
and stumble into your waitin' arms
into the sunlight we belong

into the sunlight we belong

c. 2020 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

crazy man blues

towers of money from la to london
your formidable foes multiply
the eyes of the world fill the pits of your past
only facts of your lies will survive

the torches of monsters beady eyes of the mob
burn starkly the cries of your demise

chorus

aint it nice being white
in a president suit
you never think twice
with the crazy man blues

salute the pharce break a leg adios
baulderdash bloody curtains will rise
a damn fool will listen never change his mind
while the drunkards applaud and conspire

chorus

faith is a fable for some feeble minds
and the faint of heart is a coward
your blasphemy remains only you to blame
only love what saves the tenderhearted

chorus
instrumental

chorus
chorus

c. 2016 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

on tennessee land

it rained forty days
it rained forty nights
there's a skunk in the well
and snakes in my mind

i gotta broken heart
fit to be tied
to a tree on the banks
of the river i cried

chorus

aint nuthin' good to say
'bout a politician's plan
when a family goes hungry
on tennessee land

no democrat 'lected
since the civil war
in a tennessee county
where the dead died poor

chicken factory
dont pay my bills
and the food stamp red tape's
dirty in the hills

chorus

ev'ry dollar ev'ry dime
aint anough when ya cry
for the hungry bellies
just waitin' in line

i'd rather be poor
honest to God
than a rich lyin' son of a bitch
for a boss

chorus
chorus

c. 2018 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

damn rainy day

chorus

it's just another damn rainy day
i feel the wind when you call my name
blowin' hot air in my face
it's just another damn rainy day

i heard all the stories ev'rybody's lived
slapped around hard as a kid
i learned to take it like we all did
i heard stories ev'rybody's lived

pretty people they better than you
bossy people get ahead in the news
wheels turnin' runnin' over the truth
pretty people they better than you

chorus

it's too dark and my mouth gets dry
i never wanna take a good look inside
you keepa wastin' your free advice
it's too dark and my mouth gets dry

heat bill's paid and the tv works
good enough but my back still hurts
bend over they gotta cure
heat bill's paid and the tv works

chorus

another old man stuck in the past
another old man stuck in the past
instituitional rules they aint bad
for another old man stuck in the past

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

higher ground

chorus

i got freedom to choose
i got freedom to lose
i got freedom to choose
i got freedom to lose
i got freedom to choose
higher ground

hurricane '28
everglades okeechobee
twenty-five hundred
drowned in the fury

white people got caskets
black people mass graves
migrant farmers
burned bodies no names

chorus

baltimore southside
second avenue
slumlord whitehouse
it aint nuthin' new

hollywood my ass
free carnival glass
another sucker for the man
another sucker for the rats

chorus

rinestone highheels
red lipstick's a quick fix
see thru your silk road
dirty money for the pretty kicks

chorus

it aint about your money
it aint about the-(your) gold
it's all about takin'
and losin' control

chorus
chorus

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

good intentions

breakin' daylight
fog is liftin'
dirty windows
stirrin' up good ol
good intentions

quiet as a mouse
sidesteppin'
nuthin' lasts
stirrin' up good ol
good intentions

chorus

lawrence welk on the tv in '63
keep your mind on livin'
the american dream

shell shocked
war in tripoli
infantry
stirrin' up good ol
good intentions

another uncle leaves
draft dodger
called to preach
stirrin' up good ol
good intentions

chorus

you can get a job
grow your hair long
white in the south
stirrin' up good ol
good intentions

politicians dirty
friends die early
bible belt
stirrin' up good ol

good intentions

chorus
chorus

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

your kin

hot flashes gonna make you sweat
sweet dreams they dont mean a thing
a dictator for a president

chorus
and the cops take away your children
the cops take away your kin
the cops take away your children
the cops take away your kin

rosa lee's sister eight years old
mimi died of a fever i suppose
dirty water aint no act of God

chorus

not a chance in a man made hell
for a mother at the border wails
where's the heart in a white man's skin

chorus

too scared to speak too weak to walk
back home alone with nuthin' at all
on the side o' the road she's dyin' again

chorus

hot flashes gonna make you sweat
sweet dreams they dont mean a thing
a dictator for a president

chorus
chorus

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

lenora cynthia

reach over to the mornin'
speak softly passin' by
the prison in my head
must live and never die

the floor is hard as nails
ramshakled broken steps
i stumble in your arms
lenora cynthia

your daughter knows my name
her sister's old (young) and frail
no harmony remains
lenora cynthia

freedom's shady hands
they feed you to the wolves
to crush your bones to sand
lenora cynthia

i hide behind the walls
they burned the bridges down
four thousand miles are lost
lenora cynthia

we sing so help me God
my country tis of thee
the rock of ages fallin'
lenora cynthia

lenora cynthia
lenora cynthia

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

the big top (ol tricks of the trade)

the dirty laughin' smiles
ticket taker's long cigar
his breath will knock you down
step right up only a dime

popcorn and the beer
the sucker crowd will cheer
for ev'ry slight of hand
and ev'ry joke and sneer

chorus

the devil's in a tophat
mustache coat and tails
the elephants and donkeys
struttin' tricks of the trade

the silly clowns and monkeys
take turns to tease and please
the ragged children cryin'
for their mother's arms to leave

the tigers and the lions
they pace and roar and wait
for scraps of meat to swallow
the ol tricks of the trade

chorus

the grand finale's all the same
ev'ry nite it always rains
the big top cheats your eyes
but you're always back again

chorus
chorus

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe

windows of amsterdam

half naked in the doorway ev'ry day and nite sixty nine to ninety three the years balled up unravelin' love torn apart inside o' me

direction o' time made the lightin'and thunder forgotten instincts took control all i needed and ev'rything i wanted in the windows of amsterdam in the windows of amsterdam

chorus

she was ev'ry man's dream she was ev'rything i really needed damn angel eyes and rattlesnake skin in the windows of amsterdam in the windows of amsterdam

maybe you can make money behind closed doors and keep your big mouth shut but a greasy tongue and thirsty lips gonna drown your turtle dove gonna drown your turtle dove

chorus

women color their hair buy new clothes designer fingernails for another rich man hard on dollar in the windows of amsterdam in the windows of amsterdam

chorus

chorus

c. 2019 gypsy eyes music, bmi malcolm holcombe


shaky ground
it must be nice not to face
your troubles ev'ry day
with a cocktail in your face
to wash away the pain 

it must be cool not to fool
all your friends close to you
with some pathetic point o' view
to wash away the blues

chorus

let the rain do the job
let the rain fall on down
and wash away the walls
standin' tall on shaky ground 

the burnin' fires and suicides
the general's demise
turn me loose and let me fly
closer to the peaceful sky 

chorus
verse instrumental

afternoon still and quiet
separation from the night
til the mornin' day will rise
i miss you by my side 

chorus
chorus

c. 2020 gypsy eyes music, bmi
malcolm holcombe