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Category Archives: Song lyrics

Mr. Rich and Famous

This bluegrass a capella betrayal waltz came to me like a lightning bolt as I was driving south through cold, dry flatness out of Glenn’s Ferry, Idaho, listening to car parts commercials on a Boise radio station. I was going to add a murder verse, but I like having it just implied. When singing this, [...]

Hoyo de Manzanares

Written in Brooklyn in 1976 after reading a TIME magazine article about the execution of three Basque separatists in Hoyo de Manzanares.
Winding through the hills on the road to Madrid,
The jeeps and vans came to a stop;
The morning sun had just begun
To warm the mountain tops.

Union Hero

Written in about 1976, and based on my ancestor Uncle Hyland Biddle, wounded at the Battle of Shiloh

CHORUS:
Well, I feel like I’m slippin’ into hell to the sound of a rebel yell;
I only want to be a Union hero,
Most decorated man at the Battle of Shiloh;
But I had to get shot in the knee,
And, as [...]

You Know How You Need Somebody

Written around 1974, loosely based on a bus ride to Indianapolis sitting next to a Marine, heading to Columbus to see Karl play with his band at a Smuggler’s Inn
One evenin’ feelin’ kinda low,
I took the bus to Ohio;
To see my brother play in a band at a Holiday Inn;
And I asked to sit next [...]

Unfinished Business

Written about 1979
Well, there’s a knock upon his door,
He begins to apologize;
He says, “I guess I should have warned you,”
And you know you’re getting’ wise, he’s got . . .

Two-dollar Window

Based on a conversation I had with a one-armed man in line at the $2 window at the 1974 Kentucky Derby
I met you at the two-dollar window,
At the races on a day in July;
And I could tell you were a regular winner,
By the crazy look you had in your eye.

Tongue Sandwich

Written in Brooklyn, New York, in 1975
Movin’ and groovin’ at the deli,
Not exactly sure what I want;
Standin’ at the counter, starin’ through the glass,
Corned beef is nice, but it ain’t got no class.

Stuck

Written at a booth in Deena’s Diner during the summer of 1975.
Just outta Jackson, headin’ for Nashville,
‘Cause I’m gonna be a country star, too;
When the axel started breakin’ and the van started shakin’,
We pulled off on Highway 22.

Stray Dog

Written around 1975 after seeing a Humane Society film on stray dogs

Stray dog, stray dog,
Let me take you home where it’s warm;
Stray dog, stray dog,
Come on in from the storm.

Slippin’ through My Fingers

Written in 1974, based on an overheard conversation between a couple in a restaurant.
CHORUS:
I feel you slippin’ through my finger,
And maybe that’s the way it has to be;
But let’s stop the car right here,
Have another cup of coffee,
And tell me why you’re breakin’ up with me.