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Monthly Archives: January 2007

I Wish the Sea Would Roll You Back to Me

Written in New York in 1976. CHORUS: I wish the sea would roll you back to me, So I could see your face again; I wish the sea would roll you back to me, So you would marry me, And I’d feel fine again.

I’m Wonderin’ How You Miss Me

Written around 1976. I’m wonderin’ how you miss me, And if you toss and turn at night; I’m wondering how you miss me, Do you leave on the light?

Izzy’s Song

Written around 1977 after hearing stories from Isabel Bridget Montague, mother of Eileen Montague Brown (my mother’s best friend) and grandmother of Pam Brown Yarbrough. Izzy left for Canada with her sister Anne in 1911, and returned to Ireland to visit but never saw her father again. He was lost at sea. Izzy’s father’s last […]

Lenny

Written after seeing the 1974 movie Lenny with Dustin Hoffman. Lenny, say something to me; Lenny, say something to me. You’re dead on the floor, No more nightclubs anymore; You’re dead on the floor, No more busts anymore; You’re dead on the floor, No more laughter anymore. Lenny, say something to me, Lenny, say something […]

Eddie Already

Written in 1985 on the birth of Ed Dillon. Better tell Chicken Little and the three men in a tub; Better tell Humpty Dumpty and old Mother Hubbard.

Daddy’s Got a New Smile

Written in 1983 on the birth of Sam Dillon. Surprise, surprise, big blue eyes, Better get the word out on the telephone lines; Surprise, surprise, two is now three; What was once small is now a big family.

The Cowboy Bar

Written in 1979 after an incident on a trip my old housemate Adelia Kearney and I took to spend Christmas at her parents’ home in Montrose, Colorado. My dog Gopher got hit by a Bronco during a stop at a park in Durango, Colorado. It all started in Durango when my dog got hit, We […]

Country Man, Won’t You Stay with Me Tonight?

Co-written in 1973 with Mary Ann Simmons in Chicago. Loosely based on a man I met at the $50 betting window at the 1973 Kentucky Derby. I can tell you’re from Tennessee, I can see the Smoky Mountains in Your eyes; You talk kind funny to this city girl, I know; But you’re gentle like […]

Better Watch Your Heart (‘Cause a Trucker Only Watches the Road)

Written around 1977. I was so young when I first saw him, In that run-down truck stop café; Fillin’ up mugs I was, passin’ out pie I was, Fussin’ with my hair I was Wishin’ some trucker would fall in love with me.

The Ballad of El Ladrón

Co-written in 1980 with RTD. First performed for the New Mexico Mountain Club as a trip report. Music adapted from mixed sources. El ladron means “the thief” in Spanish. El Ladrón (also called Ladrón Peak) is over 9000’ feet high and is in New Mexico’s Rio Grande Valley. I am the mountain they call El […]