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    Scott Cook

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    lyrics from One More Time Around 

    Pass It Along 

    This guitar came from a timber, from the body of a tree 
    Through the workshop of a luthier, now it's on loan to me 
    And it's good company after dinner, and it fits my hands just fine 
    But some day another singer with a pair of hands like mine 
    Will coax out songs much prettier still hiding in its strings 
    And sing stronger, braver words than I could ever sing 
    And folks are gonna love it, of this I'm almost sure 
    So I'll take good care of it, cause I'm borrowing it from her 

    Pass it along, pass it along 
    May it land in careful hands when we're gone 
    You carry it for a moment 
    But time won't loan it to you for long 
    You don't own it, pass it along 

    This here is my country, sometimes it's hard to recognize it 
    But I count myself lucky, to have been born inside it 
    And I'm grateful for the rights others struggled hard to win 
    And you can be sure I'm gonna fight when they try to take 'em back again 
    Oh, and everywhere are teachers, though some fell along the way 
    The words they said still reach us, just like you're teaching me here today 
    And you may not speak it loud, but it's clear in what you do 
    And I hope to make you proud, because I borrowed it from you 

    Seems these days we're in a hurry, to grab up all that's left to use 
    Putting patents on discovery, making seeds that don't reproduce 
    If our vision is so narrow, seeing only bought and sold 
    We'll end up like the pharaohs, buried with their gold 
    We've all pushed this thing along, we've all been guided by our fear 
    But the river sings a song we've gotta be quieter to hear 
    It's in every child's face, new and hopeful as a stem 
    Best be gentle with this place, cause we're borrowing it from them 

    Among the Trees 

    Remember when we played among the trees? 
    Threw pinecones and skinned our knees 
    Built forts out of sticks and boats out of paper and wood 
    And the days lasted so long 
    Lots of games had their own song 
    And up until dinnertime, we had the run of the neighbourhood 

    There was a rainbow in a piece of glass 
    Dewdrops in the tall grass 
    Dark smells and shade, and a puddle of water in an old rubber tire 
    And a hiding place inside it 
    And anywhere your bones fit 
    And inside every story with something to fight against, and someone to admire 

    And the TV signed off at night 
    But you could read with a flashlight 
    And games just took cards, or chalk, or jacks and a ball 
    We played grown-up with candy smokes 
    And hockey cards in our bike spokes 
    Climbing a maple tree, the seeds would helicopter as they fall 

    We'd always known it, but if we knew what it was worth 
    Would we have traded it for trinkets from the company store? 
    I ain't saying it was heaven, but at least it was earth 
    We don't taste much of that anymore 

    What weight pulled our kites down? 
    What fear drove us from the playground? 
    Convinced us there's only one game and the point is to win it? 
    What modesty clipped our wings? 
    Traded our dreams for things? 
    Led from leaf-covered trails to a road with no poetry in it? 

    And can we find our way back somehow? 
    Or has our imagination failed us now? 
    With the world at our fingertips, doors locked and shades drawn 
    Can we catch a wild breeze again? 
    Are there still far-aways on the wind? 
    Stories worth believing, dreams worth betting everything on? 

    Mama Always Said 

    A dark-eyed girl with a load of hurt 
    Mama always said be careful 
    Took most of it with her, didn't leave a word 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    Sometimes the truth's too hard to learn 
    Mama always said be careful 
    Can't face it straight, you find a way to turn 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    All jacked up on Saturday night 
    Mama always said be careful 
    She'll be a stranger in Sunday's light 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    Too late for the cops, you're hopin' 
    Mama always said be careful 
    Foot on the gas and one eye open 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    Oh, Mama always told you, boy 
    It's you I'm thinking of 
    You're my pride and joy 
    Be careful with your love 

    It'd break her hear to see her boy this way 
    Mama always said be careful 
    A whole two-six to get through the day 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    And the girly bars that you walk past 
    Mama always said be careful 
    Got a hollow face in the window glass 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    You got two eyes and you got two lungs 
    Mama always said be careful 
    You only got one heart, just that one 
    Mama always said, be careful with your love 

    When We're Back Around 

    Thought of you up in the timberline 
    Where the cool wide open starts 
    You're there whenever I clear my mind 
    There whenever I ask my heart 
    And there beside the snow-fed creek sliding clear along 
    Laughing with the clapping leaves and the kingfisher's song 
    And again along the weary way down 
    Thinking of someday, baby, when we're back around 

    Thought of you in the dusky air 
    With the day's journey just begun 
    Thought of the autumn in your hair 
    And the way you wear that setting sun 
    Thought of all the miles I'm going, all the time we tried 
    And how long we held on, knowing that I had to leave and why 
    Wondered if different reasons might be found 
    Someday, baby, when we're back around 

    Thought of you when I heard last call 
    When the hour's hungry for a kiss 
    I'm tired of barrooms and alcohol 
    You used to take me home 'fore it came to this 
    There's a couple young girls making out right in front of their fellas 
    And the guys think it's all about trying to make 'em jealous 
    But when she dips her down close to the ground 
    She whispers, "someday, baby, when we're back around" 

    Thought of you rollin' through Michigan 
    With her turquoise lakes and her peeping toads 
    Getting around to wishin' again 
    For someone like you to share these roads 
    I guess we did right parting, but right's still hard to feel 
    Now I can't hold you darling, so I just hold this wheel 
    And dream through the time zones and towns 
    To someday, baby, when we're back around 
    I just dream through the time zones and towns 
    To someday, baby, when we're back around 

    You Don't Find Out in the End 

    We don't know how we got here 
    Tell stories because we forget 
    Probably never know what's out there 
    If we haven't found out yet 
    Life's clues fly by thick and fast 
    And you can't watch the movie again 
    You don't know the plot, if you're a good guy or not 
    And you don't find out in the end 

    It don't always turn out like it should 
    Despite what some folks say 
    Here's hoping things tip for the good 
    But it could really go either way 
    Each word you let loose from your lips 
    And every dollar that you spend 
    You don't know where it lands, or what'll come of your plans 
    And you don't find out in the end 

    What if I'd given more? 
    What if you hadn't missed your flight? 
    What if the Axis had won the war? 
    What if I would've called that night? 

    There's madness in the land 
    The dogs are at the door 
    This could well be our last stand 
    Though they've probably said that before 
    May be nothing we can do to turn it back now 
    But who knows, so how can you give in? 
    You just pick a side, and let your bet ride 
    You don't find out in the end 
    You just pick a side, and let your bet ride 
    You don't find out in the end 

    Use Your Imagination 

    I was tired of talking to myself 
    Tired of young girls talkin' crazy 
    Said, what I need now is a full-grown woman 
    Why you wanna be my baby? 
    And I was staring at my shoes when she took me by surprise 
    Saying "Use your imagination, babe, improvise" 

    Unbroken buckskin mare 
    Wildest thing I've seen 
    Tear down an engine all by herself 
    Sometimes she starts a fire with gasoline 
    I'm falling fast, and it's hard to disguise 
    She says, "Use your imagination, babe, improvise" 

    You can put down your best-laid plans 
    Plot your whole life through 
    But love's not something you can go out and find 
    If you're lucky, love finds you 
    Out here past the edge of my maps, there's nothing I recognize 
    She says, "Use your imagination, babe, improvise" 

    When the world's changed the locks 
    Windows are boarded shut 
    When your castle becomes your cage 
    When your highway becomes a rut 
    When you can't see new horizons with your old eyes 
    Use your imagination, babe, improvise 

    I've heard there's two kinds of women'll get you 
    And I suspect it's true 
    One kind makes you feel like home 
    One scares the hell out of you 
    I say show me how to love you, and she replies 
    "Use your imagination, babe" 

    Broke, and So Far from Home 

    Rain on concrete, worn out and beat 
    Tired of hearing people talk 
    We're all rushing by in our hurry to die 
    When music spills out down the block 
    And I dream I am somewhere people know what I mean 
    Where the rain falls grey but the wind blows green 
    And I know it ain't true, but what's a poor boy to do? 
    Broke, and so far from home 

    The winners and losers, the hustlers and users, 
    Jostle and make deals and shout 
    And the all-night cafes, and the storefront displays 
    Promise what this town can put out 
    She's had her way with so many men 
    Leaves 'em on the sidewalk when their money's all spent 
    With nothing but time, and an old cardboard sign 
    That says, "Broke, and so far from home" 

    It's in the blue TV light that shines every night 
    For people with no time to cook 
    It's in the billy clubs and gas 
    The way we walk past each other and don't even look 
    The way we eat when we're not hungry, drink when we're not dry 
    Need religion when we're hard up, and dollars when we die 
    And the whole sad mess is just like me, I guess 
    Broke, and so far from home 

    When it all comes crashing, only compassion 
    Might save you, but it's a tenuous thing 
    To empty yourself to see anyone else 
    Like a bell must be empty to ring 
    Whatever you've done and wherever you've been 
    You're never so free as when you go all in 
    And you hear yourself singing, empty and ringing 
    Broke, and so far from home 

    New Grist 

    Tune up the strings, rosin the bow 
    It'll sing if you touch it just right 
    And you can almost feel 
    In the kerosene glow 
    Our ancestors dancing with us tonight 
    Dust off the old tunes, there's life in 'em still 
    Sun-kissed, new grist for the old mill 

    Plant in the spring, gather in fall 
    Cellars full of jars and brown-bagged seeds 
    This land's got food and work for us all 
    If you like flowers, gotta pull some weeds 
    Dust off the old ways, there's life in 'em still 
    Sun-kissed, new grist for the old mill 

    Bluebird days, wood for the stove 
    Your company and all that time makes 
    Summer dancing all the sweeter 
    Hearing creek music and drinking sunshine 
    Dust off your old boots, there's life in 'em still 
    Sun-kissed, new grist for the old mill 

    The old struggle, again begun 
    Learning to sing our healing songs 
    Learning that we are the very ones 
    We've been waiting for all along 
    Dust off your old dreams, there's life in 'em still 
    Sun-kissed, new grist for the old mill 

    The Poet Game by Greg Brown 

    Down by the river, junior year, walking with my girl 
    We came upon a place 
    There in the tall grass where a couple had been making love 
    And they left the mark of their embrace 
    I said to her, "Looks like they had some fun" 
    She said to me, "Let's do the same" 
    And still I taste her kisses and her freckles in the sun 
    When I play the poet game 

    A young man in the hill country, the year of '22 
    Went to see his future bride 
    She lived in a rough old shack that poverty blew through 
    And she invited him inside 
    She'd been cooking, ashamed and feeling sad 
    She could only offer him bread and her name 
    Grandpa said that it was the best gift a fella ever had 
    And he taught me the poet game 

    I had a friend who drank too much and played too much guitar 
    And we sure got along 
    Reel-to-reels rolled across the country near and far 
    Filled with letters, poems, and songs 
    But these days he won't talk to me, and he won't tell me why 
    I miss him every time I hear his name 
    I don't know what he's doing, don't know how our friendship died 
    While we played the poet game 

    The fall rain was pounding down on an old New Hampshire mill 
    And the river wild and high 
    I was talking to her while leaves blew down with a sudden chill 
    There was wildness in her eyes 
    We made love like we'd been waiting all of our lives for this 
    Strangers know no shame 
    But she had to leave at dawn, and with a sticky farewell kiss 
    She left me to play the poet game 

    I watched my country turn into a coast-to-coast strip mall 
    and I cried out in a song: 
    If we could do all that in thirty years, please tell me you all 
    Why does good change take so long? 
    Why does the color of your skin or who you choose to love 
    Still lead to such anger and pain? 
    And why do I think it's any help for me to still dream of 
    Playing the poet game? 

    Sirens wail above the fields, another soul gone down 
    Another Sun about to rise 
    I've lost track of my mistakes, like birds they fly around 
    And darken half my skies 
    To all of those I've hurt, I beg you to forgive me 
    I to you will freely do the same 
    There were just so many things I didn't see, with my eyes turned inside 
    Playing the poet game 

    I walk out at night to take a leak underneath the stars 
    Yeah, that's the life for me 
    There's Orion and the Pleiades and I guess that must be Mars 
    All as clear as we long to be 
    I've sung what I was given, some was bad and some was good 
    And I never will know from where it came 
    And if I had it all to do again I am not sure I would 
    Play the poet game 

    One More Time Around 

    Magnolia in the mild breeze, roadway stretching south 
    My thoughts scatter like wild geese, and the words fall from my mouth 
    I'm missing where I've been, and yearning for where I'm bound 
    Spin the wheel again, one more time around 

    I thought of the islands, a canoe in the morning mist 
    Thought of waking up smiling, thought of leaving all of this 
    Burning through the scenery wore my brakes right down 
    Gotta listen to the machinery, to make it one more time around 
    One more time around 

    There's joy in the daylight, courage in every start 
    Landscapes to fill my sight and music to fill my heart 
    And when the band kicks harder, troubles come unwound 
    Swing your partner, one more time around 
    One more time around 

    Lucky to have the friends I've known, these songs to sing and this earth to ride 
    Got this sweet life on loan, couldn't keep it if I tried 
    Just a day's worth of air, feet worth of ground 
    Somebody's lettin' it ride somewhere, one more time around 
    One more time around, One more time around

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