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Scott Cook

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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've 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

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