• shows
  • tunes
  • press
    • bio
    • resources
    • hi-res press photos
    • press quotes
  • travelogue
  • videos
  • words
  • politics
  • contact
  • store
  • fellow travellers
    • subscribers-only content

    Scott Cook

    • shows
    • tunes
    • press
      • bio
      • resources
      • hi-res press photos
      • press quotes
    • travelogue
    • videos
    • words
    • politics
    • contact
    • store
    • fellow travellers
      • subscribers-only content

    lyrics from Further Down the Line 

    Further Down the Line 

    Aren't some people just famous for being famous? 
    Isn't that about all that they do? 
    And couldn't the radio leave you feeling aimless? 
    Just a nameless person like you 
    But I sure heard the words Woody Guthrie sang 
    Even when they didn't quite rhyme 
    He knew the heart was the stuff, they'd ring close enough 
    Further down the line 

    I've painted houses, mopped floors, and washed dishes 
    Taught kids, cut grass and moved gear 
    Swung hammer, cleaned toilets and dug ditches 
    And I even sang songs to sell beer 
    But it was all for someone else's dream, 
    'Til I set out after mine 
    Said, "take this hammer, take it to the captain 
    Tell him I'm further down the line" 

    I crossed the Fraser, the Columbia, the Mississippi, 
    The Allegheny and the Ohio 
    Saint Lawrence, Susquehanna, Chattahoochee, 
    The Hudson and the Colorado 
    I saw the big rigs sleeping in the starry desert 
    Saw the snow piled 'round the Yukon pines 
    But I couldn't hang around too long in New York town 
    Without lookin' further down the line 

    Some of the joints in New Orleans ain't pretty 
    But the waitresses'll call you "hon" 
    And a cop'll stay on the white side of the city 
    'Cause they paid for his hat and his gun 
    And there's a Gulf War vet by the overpass 
    Who says "Bro, can you spare a dime?" 
    Who's he kidding? These days a dollar won't be getting 
    You any further down the line, boys 

    I saw the stars and bars flying in Dixie 
    And doomsday prophets on capitol hill 
    I saw a fast food mall named after Walt Whitman 
    And Gettysburg ghosts wandering still 
    If our families are so broken, 
    How do we make a family out of humankind? 
    We still got promises to break 
    And miles to go before we wake further down the line 

    I saw the homeless and the houses sitting empty 
    I heard the explanations of learned men 
    Nowadays they'll rob you with a computer 
    'Cause it's faster than a fountain pen 
    And if smarter people haven't found a gap in the armour 
    Why do I keep trying? 
    I still believe there's a world dying to be born 
    Further down the line, friends 
    Further down the line 

    Aw Woody, I been through all kinds of weather 
    Been searching all the faces for a sign 
    As you know, love's hard to keep together 
    As the miles and the years unwind 
    And you never run out of blacktop 
    Nah, you just run out of time 
    That ribbon of songs keeps on winding along 
    Ever further, down the line 

    Dogs and Kids 

    We staggered arm in arm here when we were younger 
    Tried everything they said we shouldn't do 
    And we took as many trips as we took lovers 
    But some of those trips, a dog comes back with you 

    And some of those trysts turned into tricycles 
    And my wild and reckless friends got safe and old 
    Wheeling little buddy homeward on the bicycle 
    With all the hope and joy and poop a bike seat could hold 

    Now the feral festival kidlets keep changing costumes 
    They run in a pack, and dig holes in the ground 
    And they like sleeping under the table just like the dogs do 
    So you watch your step when there's little ones around 

    And I'm a better person, when I'm hanging with dogs and kids 
    Got one thing on their mind at a time, can't keep nothing hid 
    Remind me we're alive, forgive whatever we did 
    I'm a better person, hanging with dogs and kids 

    So we talk about work, and what we're reading 
    Why the bastards keep winning, and where we'd move if they did 
    We talk about who went home with whom at the party last weekend 
    But eventually we just watch the dogs and kids 

    Chasing and sniffing and eating's all they're on about 
    They don't complicate their blues, they just moan 
    They don't think much about themselves, they just freak out! 
    If they got a bone to pick with you, it's probably just a bone 

    And I'm a better person, when I'm hanging with dogs and kids 
    Got one thing on their mind at a time, can't keep nothing hid 
    Remind me we're alive, forgive whatever we did 
    I'm a better person, hanging with dogs and kids 

    My buddy had a string of bad luck and bad choices 
    If it goes bad in court, one of us has to take his pup 
    He's trying to learn to listen to the right voices 
    Hope he don't have to miss his kid growing up 

    We were all bulletproof daydream manifestors 
    But all the bluster just boils down to love 
    Just wanna be a good uncle, be a good ancestor 
    I'm taking better care when there's someone to take care of 

    And I'm a better person, when I'm hanging with dogs and kids 
    Got one thing on their mind at a time, can't keep nothing hid 
    Remind me we're alive, forgive whatever we did 
    I'm a better person, hanging with dogs and kids 
    I'm a better person, hanging with dogs and kids 

    Alberta, You're Breaking My Heart (co-written with Benjamin James Caldwell) 

    Alberta, 
    Remember when 
    I held you as the room spun 
    At the harvest dance 
    You had dreams 
    To match my ambition 
    The ridge-lines of your body 
    Rose beneath my hands 
    Oh, kissing slow 
    Whispering low 
    That we'll never part 
    Alberta, you're breaking my heart 

    Northern country 
    To forge a life 
    This oil town's grey and brown 
    But there's black gold to grab 
    My days are dirty 
    Your nights are lonely 
    Turned to finding comfort 
    In a zip-lock bag 
    Baby, are you sober? 
    Tried to turn it over 
    But it wouldn't start 
    Alberta, you're breaking my heart 

    Midnight gas stop 
    Tryin' to get home 
    The card read declined 
    Please pick up the phone 
    Are you using again? 
    Where's the money? 
    Did you sell off our promise 
    With your beauty? 
    Oh, is it just fate? 
    Is it too late 
    For this frail work of art? 
    Alberta, you're breaking my heart 
    Alberta, you're breaking my heart 

    Alberta, 
    Remember when? 
    I held you as the room spun 
    At the harvest dance 

    Careful With My Heart by Heather Styka 

    I'm a brave aviator 
    In the stories that I write 
    A fearless lion-tamer 
    Baring it all every night 
    And there's nothing I won't tell 
    When I'm behind my guitar 
    But when I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 
    When I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 

    You can say I'm reckless 
    For the chances that I take 
    You can say I'm hopeless 
    For all the losing bets I make 
    You know I'm hell on wheels 
    Not afraid to fall apart 
    But when I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 
    When I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 

    I have slain dragons 
    But none wearing your clothes 
    With all your good intentions 
    And your disarming prose 
    These words are a talisman 
    To protect against love's start 
    When I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 
    And I might well be a fool 
    But there's one way I am smart 
    When I'm standing beside you 
    I am careful with my heart 

    Your Sweet Time 

    I keep musing on you, baby, just a whiff of you inspires 
    I'm wishing I was with you, singing 'round the fire, drinking cheap wine 
    And I'm jonesin' for a little bit more of your sweet time 

    Your love's a foreign country, baby take the lead 
    I'm carryin' no currency, I can't even read the street signs 
    But I'm searching the lanes for a hidden doorway into your sweet time 

    You can bring me home to dinner, I'd even meet your folks 
    I promise to scrub up and laugh at their jokes, you can even meet mine 
    If you'll do a little scrubbin' up too, in your sweet time 

    We're both born lovers, gal, that's understood 
    I know you got others but don't your hands feel good in between mine 
    And won't you keep a little room for me in your sweet time 

    There's a cruel wind blowing, I'm feeling like a ghost 
    This little flame I'm holding, if you guard it close it'll keep fine 
    Could you leave it burning in the window of your sweet time? 

    Some things you can't rehearse, some things you'll never know 
    I'll listen for another verse and pray whatever road my feet find 
    Leads me far and wide and back inside of your sweet time 

    If He Showed Up Now 

    If he showed up now, you wouldn't know what to do 
    He'd be flat broke as usual, filthy too 
    And the worst thing about it when he comes to town 
    Is the kind of people that he brings around 
    But all of your life you have called him your friend 
    And promised you'd stick by him right to the end 
    So you'd say do us the honour, have something to eat 
    And he'd say where were you when I was living on the street? 

    If he showed up now there'd be trouble, I bet 
    He'd be talking revolution, or did you forget 
    When you told him you'd follow him, he said "If you 
    Were anything like me, they'd kill you too." 
    You'd say I've been calling you, haven't you heard? 
    I live by your name and I'd die for your word 
    And I'd fight to defend it in every detail 
    And he'd say where were you when I was in jail? 

    If he showed up now, would you recognize him? 
    If he came as a pauper when you expected a king 
    Or as an illegal, scrounging for bills 
    Or a defenceless child in the Syrian hills 
    You'd say I've been fighting your cause all along 
    I studied your pages and sang out your songs 
    And it was in your name that I closed every prayer 
    And he'd say where were you when I was sick and couldn't get care? 
    You'd say if I'd known it was you I'd have come 
    I fought for your honour and all that I've done 
    It was under your banner in the name of the Son 
    And he'd say where were you for the weakest ones? 
    Where were you for the weakest ones? 

    Walk That Lonesome Valley (traditional/Scott Cook) 

    You got to walk that lonesome valley 
    You got to walk it by yourself 
    Nobody else can walk it for you 
    You got to walk that valley by yourself 

    Now there was a slave girl, Isabella Baumfree 
    Sold three times in her youth 
    She took her child and walked to freedom 
    She took the name Soujourner Truth 

    She took a white man to court and won 
    She said I'll do anything a man can do 
    And I'll eat as much as any man, if I can get it 
    If black men'll vote, why can't I vote too? 

    She had to walk that lonesome valley 
    She had to walk it by herself 
    Nobody else could walk it for her 
    She had to walk that valley by herself 

    Now there was a priest named Father Berrigan 
    Tryin' to make sense of what Jesus said 
    He heard their country was burning children 
    He and his friends burned draft records instead 

    He said now, what if you really meant it? 
    Loved your fellowman like you love your Lord? 
    In Pennsylvania they destroyed warheads 
    Making plowshares out of swords 

    Dan Berrigan walked that lonesome valley 
    He had to walk it by himself 
    Nobody else could walk it for him 
    He had to walk that valley by himself 

    Now there was a soldier named Bradley Manning 
    Without a friend, so far from home 
    In a body that never fit right 
    Knowing things no one should know 

    Said what would you do with this information? 
    Wouldn't it help the world if it were known? 
    Got eleven months in Quantico, for starters 
    With the lights on, naked and alone 

    Chelsea Manning had to walk that lonesome valley 
    She had to walk it by herself 
    Nobody else could walk it for her 
    She had to walk that valley by herself 

    If you got to walk that lonesome valley 
    You got to walk it by yourself 
    Nobody else can walk it for you 
    But you got to walk it by yourself 

    Fellas, Get Out the Way 

    There's a whole lotta uppity women 
    Still ain't satisfied with the deal 
    We let 'em ride right alongside 
    Now they wanna take the wheel 
    And the fellas keep sayin' we got this 
    That's the way that it's always been done 
    Don't the scriptures say a woman should obey 
    Didn't a man write every last one 
    We can take a little lesson from history 
    All the priests, generals and kings 
    There's just nothing like long experience 
    When it comes to making a mess outta things 

    Fellas, get out the way! 
    Fellas, get out the way! 
    We had our turn, we've had our say 
    Fellas, get out the get out the way 
    Fellas, get out the way 

    Now they want choice, and pay equality 
    Wouldn't believe it how they rant and rave 
    Back in the day we'd just knock 'em on the head 
    And drag 'em on back to the cave 
    And we're still flexin' that privilege 
    Though we find ways to ignore it 
    And ever subtler ways to say 
    She must've been asking for it 

    I thank God that She made women 
    Every time I'm in a crowd of guys 
    They might do just fine without us 
    Without them, we'd be Lord of the Flies 
    Whoever said it's bros before hos 
    I can tell you that's a load of malarkey 
    If there's any hope for this whole show 
    We got to bring on the matriarchy 

    I got a guy friend who's 30 years married 
    He backs her up however he can 
    He says, "happy wife, happy life" 
    Seems to me he's a reasonable man 
    I got a gal friend who's tougher than me 
    If you cross her there'll be hell to pay 
    When I hold the door it ain't chivalry 
    Nah, I'm just getting out of her way 

    Kitchen Dance Party On 

    Well, it might start out with Tuesday night mojitos 
    Squeezin' out that mint and lime 
    Til' someone drops the needle on that Temptations vinyl 
    And it's kitchen dance party time 
    Or you just might be cookin' up some curry 
    With some funky funky Nina Simone 
    'Fore you know it you're bippin' and a-boppin', poppin' and a-lockin' 
    Kitchen dance party on! 

    We don't need no big sound system 
    We don't need smoke and laser lights 
    We don't need to show ID or wait in line to go pee 
    At the kitchen dance party tonight 
    So don'tcha be a kitchen dance party pooper 
    Come on and grab a good time before it's gone 
    We're just banana bread bakin', booty-ooty-ooty shakin', gettin' our 
    Kitchen dance party on! 

    When you're goofin' with such goofy, goofy people 
    Sometimes it's been known to spill out in the yard 
    If the neighbours get uptight, you gotta fight for your right to 
    Kitchen dance party hard 
    Oh, and even though my face hurts from smiling 
    Won't you play another Stevie Wonder song 
    We're just a-bumpin and a-grindin', yellin' out "rewind!" and 
    "Kitchen dance party on!" 

    Have you heard that new Boogie Patrol record? 
    That band's so hot, man, they're flammable 
    We'll go off to that stuff, come on, cue it on up 
    For these kitchen dance party animals 
    And we'll boogie like our backs ain't got no bone 
    Someone get Chelsea Johnson on the phone! 
    Tell her we're oompin and a-loompin', shakin' our sum'un sumpin 
    There's a kitchen dance party on! 
    We just a-twistin' and a-jivin', fist-bumpin' and high-fivin', 
    Kitchen dance party on! 
    Kung fu fighting and top rockin', chicken dancin' and duck walkin' 
    Kitchen dance party on! 

    Learning to Let Go 

    They're all done sweeping up 
    And the chairs are stacked for going 
    While there's drink left in our cups 
    Here's to when they were overflowing 
    And all the good times gone 
    And the urge to tarry on 
    But I'm hungry for the starlight 
    Out beyond the neon glow 
    And that's how I'm learning to let go 

    Good friends, haven't we had some times? 
    And I've wished that they could linger 
    Oh, but don't they feel sublime? 
    As they run through your fingers 
    Like the last golden dregs of day 
    Or a love you can't make stay 
    When no amount of wanting 
    Will ever make it so 
    That's how I'm learning to let go 

    All the sights that filled my eyes 
    All the wild lands I wandered 
    All the sweetest things I tried 
    All the sweet time I squandered 
    All the loves, the closest ones 
    And the should'ves and the might have dones 
    Will be scattered like our money 
    Like our good friends laid low 
    That's how I'm learning to let go 

    I've seen my big ideas come and go 
    Seen my father in the mirror 
    And I'm fading into everyone I know 
    As the young ones come in clearer 
    May their hearts be wide and true 
    May they find comrades like you 
    And the good seeds that we planted 
    May they live to see them grow 
    That's how I'm learning to let go 

    I've heard about a land beyond the sky 
    Where the righteous go in the end 
    But I don't know how I'd rest there by and by 
    Without all my wicked friends 
    And the land calls to me 
    Someday she'll take all of me 
    And feed me to the flowers 
    That lie dreaming 'neath the snow 
    That's how I'm learning to let go

    • stay kind •

    • Contact
    • Edit profile
    • Log in
    • Log out