Bruce Hornsby Album

(B. R. Hornsby)

Close your eyes and slip away
To the dream of your fancy
Close your eyes and float downstream
To where the marsh grass dances
Take you down where the air is thick
Like to make you shake and shiver
Make you see there will be no tricks
There will be no tricks tonight
There will be some tricks tonight

We could go down to the harbor lights
Lay out on the sand on the shore
Let me take you down to the docks at night
Whatever you do I'll do more

Take some hours and waste them away
Let your mind flow freely
Take some time and forget about time
You may find a little feeling
I can see you shining with sweat
Like to make you shake and shiver
We could feel the air so wet
We could feel it all tonight
We could feel it all tonight

We could go down to the harbor lights
Lay out on the sand on the shore
Let me take you down to the docks at night
Whatever you do I'll do more

Take you down where the air is thick
Like to make you shake and shiver
What I'll show you've probably seen
Why not come on again
Why not come see it again

We could go down to the harbor lights
Lay out on the sand on the shore
Let me take you down to the docks at night
Whatever you do I'll do more

(B. R. Hornsby)

I've been riding around with the top down
Like I always do
My love at my side, but only this time
My friends say something's changed you
They said you're running with the wrong set
The girl is someone you should never have met
Let her go on her own, son
Everyone else has just come undone

The old town fathers are up in arms
The city council is very alarmed
Cousins and uncles are having fits
Predictors of doom think this is it
Everybody else is just hanging around
And me and my baby we're the talk of the town

The statue there in the town square
Seems to stare at me
Walking around with my head down
They say can't we make you see
Said son, you know we're really color blind
But everybody else seems to really mind
Lose her now, I think you'll find
Everything else will just fall in line

The old town fathers are up in arms
The city council is very alarmed
Cousins and uncles are having fits
Predictors of doom think this is it
Everyone else is just thinking out loud
And me and my baby we're the talk of the town

We're probably not the first
Surely not the last
Shouldn't throw stones out from your house of glass
Round here lots of crackers and cheese
Stay away from those my daddy said to me
You'll get in trouble if you mess with these

The old town fathers are up in arms
The city council is very alarmed
Cousins and uncles are having fits
Predictors of doom think this is it
Everybody else is just hanging around
And me and my baby we're the talk of the town

(B. R. Hornsby)

Is he sane or insane
That's all they want to know
Is he crazy or strange then
If so I want to go
I've seen him leave at night
Followed him so far
Drove out about thirteen miles
Then he pulled in to a shothouse bar
For a...

Long tall cool one
Don't know just what's going down
Long tall cool one
Looks like a new friend I've found

Walking in the shadows
Now I want back in the light
As I make the drop I've got some
Second thoughts tonight
You see I walked right in, sat right down
Offered him a light
Big talk for about thirteen hours
He said can you help me with a job tonight,
For a...

Long tall cool one
Don't know just what's going down
Long tall cool one
He said something's in it for me right now
I've reached out into the darkness
Jumped up from my bed
Woke up in the middle of the night
Got myself in way over my head
For the...

Long tall cool one
Don't know just what's going down
Long tall cool one
Looks like a new friend I've found
Long tall cool one
But it better never bite me well
Long tall cool one
Customer's always right...

(B. R. Hornsby)

You lie over there in a bed with iron rails
Like a frightened child in the cold light, so frail
Things were going so well, just rolling along
Now, just when you think you got it all made,
You think it's all gone

China Doll, I've got something for you
A few good words, a hand to help you get through
May not be much, but now it's all that I can do
Lay down your weary head
Do whatever you gotta do

Put on your strong face when they're in the room
Can't show signs of weakness; an unspoken rule
Put on your strong face, act like nothing's wrong
We can be so helpless, helpless and so strong

China Doll, I've got something for you
A few good words, a hand to help you get through
May not be much, but now it's all that I can do
To ease your worried mind
Do something to get through

We bend and break, so fragile, it's true
I say everything'll be alright but I don't have a clue
They say faith is a crutch, well whatever works for you
In a world where you never know
I'll be there for you,
I'll be there for you...

China Doll, I've got something for you
A few good words, a hand to help you get through
May not be much, but now it's all that I can do
Lay down your weary head
Do whatever you gotta do

(B. R. Hornsby)

When the night lies so still
Before I go to sleep
I come by, I come by
Just to look at you
In the dim light I say
That in my own small way
I will try, I will try
To help you through

There'll be blue skies falling
There'll be sad scenes and bad dreams
In a world so uncertain
Through the clouds it's hard to see
I will grab you and lift you
As you hold on tight and sway
We'll go walking
Across the fields of gray

There's a place I can go
When the world gets me down
When nothing, when nothing
Goes quite right it seems
As I look there I know
Fortune smiles on me so
But who knows, no one knows
About tomorrow

There'll be blue skies falling
There'll be sad scenes and bad dreams
In a world so uncertain
Through the clouds it's hard to see
I will grab you and lift you
As you hold on tight and sway
We'll go walking
Across the fields of gray

When I was younger I saw things in black and white
Now all I see is a sad, hazy gray
Sometimes I see a narrow flash of light
Sometimes I look and you show me the way

No matter what else happens
What the future will be
In a world so uncertain
Through the clouds it's hard to see
I will grab you and carry you
Calm your fears if you're afraid
We'll go walking
Across the fields of gray

(B. R. Hornsby)

Well he came to town with a strong pull
Would flash his moves for the worshipful
Shoulder moves from side to side
Go over your head and dot your eyes

Every night about a quarter to ten
From the middle of June to the summer's end
People would gather from miles around
To see the mighty Rainbow knock 'em down

He'd pull up from around the back
Folk's say, "There's Rainbow's Cadillac"
Fancy shirts and shorts of plaid
Coat of more colors than Joseph had

Every night about a quarter to ten
From the middle of June to the summer's end
People would gather from miles around
To see the mighty Rainbow knock 'em down

Take a quarter from the collection plate
Every night he would dominate
Jump to the top and pick off a dime
Throw it down at the proper time

Every night about a quarter to ten
From the middle of June to the summer's end
People would gather from miles around
To see the mighty Rainbow knock 'em down

(B. R. Hornsby)

Train rolls by about 3 a.m.
Wakes me from a fitful sleep
Got the urge to jump on board
I believe I'm in a little too deep
Walk the train station
Walking through the park
Looking out for something
Still in the dark
One day you'll see something
Oh, with a familiar ring
It'll be just me moving through
On the way to something

It's your life, it's your world
It's your world, and I'm just passing through
It's your life, it's your world
Your life, and I'm just passing through

Tired and confused, yes I am
Don't see much in the future for me
I'm a vagabond and a drifter
Not so hard to be
Walking down the highway
Walking through the park
Looking out for something
Still in the dark
Don't know what to say when I see you smile
So I guess I'll turn my head and go
On the way to another mile

It's your life, it's your world
It's your world, and I'm just passing through
It's your life, it's your world
Your life, and I'm just passing through

Walking down the highway
Walking through the park
Looking out for something
Still in the dark
Want faith in something
So hard to believe
Maybe one night soon
Maybe you could make me see

It's your life, it's your world
It's your world, and I'm just passing through
It's your life, it's your world
Your life, and I'm just passing through

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

Sometimes I get lucky
Most times I come up short
Got to pull up the lines
Got to move around the bend
They say it's a dying breed
They say it's going to disappear
Nothing I can do, oh but pull up the load again

The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
We'll be out on the water
Before the break of dawn
The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
Oh, we'll be working on the water
When the long, long day is gone

Full moon it was always best
Keep a little and you sell the rest
Living on hope that the seed is sown again
Red sky in the evening
Better times are coming up they say
Well, why do I feel like it's all coming to an end

The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
We'll be out on the water
Before the break of dawn
The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
Oh, we'll be working on the water
When the long, long day is gone

When the seed is broken
Nothing left to grow on
When you lose the seed
It's hard to bring it on back
Never bowed to no one
Always went my own way
Broke down, run around, but I won't run away
And the tide will rise

The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
We'll be out on the water
Before the break of dawn
The tide will rise
And the tide will fall
Oh, we'll be working on the water
When the long, long day is gone

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

It came on fast when I heard the blast
And the main generator gave a giant gasp
It was round about midnight, about half past
And the city went black as coal so fast

Oh, what a time
Everybody was fazing, hazing
Oh, what a time
It was time to be amazing
Time to lose all reason or rhyme
What a time

It was bad to worse, as the landlord cursed
And the water tank in the backyard burst
We were slipping and sliding and killing thirst
And we couldn't see a soul doing it in the dirt

Oh, what a time
Everybody was praising, raising
Oh, what a time
It was time to be amazing
Time to lose all reason or rhyme
What a time

A thousand people singing in the dark
Couldn't see a thing
A thousand people singing in the dark

Oh, what a time
Everybody was razing, grazing
Oh, what a time
It was time to be amazing
Time to lose all reason or rhyme
What a time

(B. R. Hornsby)

Hey Now, where are you going
Where are you going to my friend
Said I'm going out to find
The pastures of plenty
I believe they're out there somewhere

Did you hear about the girl
Alone in the world
Thought she was losing her mind
She found it in the discarded refuse pile
Down near the railroad line
A book of sonnets torn and tattered
A few remained intact
One held the key, she said to me
To getting some feeling back

Sometimes my head turns round and round
Sometimes you talk but I can't hear a sound
Sometimes I look down, find my feet off the ground
I feel that I'm somewhere else bound

Hey Now, where are you going
Where are you going to my friend
Said I'm going out to find
The pastures of plenty
I believe they're out there somewhere

She looked down the railroad trackLined with trees on each side
She prayed for the strength to run to the boxcar
To pull herself up for the ride

You invite me to your house - you're so sincere
We sit so close for a while
You reach out for me in the low light so clear
But you look like you're frowning when you smile

Hanging around just to see what could happen
Hanging on by oh, the thinnest thread
Sometimes I see the faintest glimpse
Sometimes I feel I'd be better off in bed

Hey Now, where are you going
Where are you going to my friend
Said I'm going out to find
The pastures of plenty
I believe they're out there somewhere