James Otto Album

Sittin' in the seat of my old Olds
Pretty city lights down far below
Sittin' there soakin' up all of the heat of the fire
You slide a little closer and whisper in my ear
Never even get around to openin' those beers
Bein' here with you girl, nothing could get me no higher

(Chorus:)
It's a long way down
Baby, hold on to me
Never let me touch the ground
It's a long way down
Scared i'm gonna fall without your lovin' arms around

Well, love for you is such a natural thing
You were born to spread those angel wings
Every time you touch me, swear I feel light as a feather
But it seems like every other corner I turn
There's another busted heart that's crashed and burned
Baby, just remember every time you take me to heaven

Lyrics(Chorus)

So, tell me once again how high we're gonna go
Take me far away from the world below
We could be the few that make it all the way together
'Cause I could start this car and drive back into town
Land us both safe on solid ground
But after tonight, girl, you're gonna have to love me forever

'Cause it's a long way down
Baby, hold on to me
Never let me touch the ground
Yeah it's a long, long way down
Scared I'm gonna fall without your lovin' arms around
Yeah yeah yeah...

Yeah yeah, take me higher
Take me higher
Take me higher, yeah...

I wonder where she is tonight
Is she alone or did she find
What she needed from me
I guess I got what I deserve
How could I do on hurtin' her that way
And think she'd stay
I found it sittin' on the stove
"It's over" written on a Post-It note
And that was all she wrote

(Chorus:)
She's gone like the mind of a man insane
Gone like the snow when it turns to rain
And runs down the road and down the drain, so long
Long gone like the money when you've paid the rent
Gone like the time that i should've spent at home
With her, too bad, one word
Gone

Then out of nowhere she showed up
For a minute I didn't know what to say
LyricsI was blown away
This time I'm gonna do things right
Gonna show her every night I care
This time, I swear
As I reach out to touch her face
That's when the whole thing starts to fade
Then I hear the sound of my alarm clock
And it hits me like a Mack truck doin' ninety
Down a one way dead end road bound straight for hell

(Chorus)

Long, long gone like the money when you've paid the rent
Gone like the time that I should've spend at home
With her, too bad, one word
Gone
Gone

Seventeen and innocent
I wonder where all the years went
Lookin' back on a youth misspent
God, I miss those days

All the chances that we took
Always leaped and never looked
I tell you I could write a book
On all the hell we raised

(Chorus:)
Thought i was cool with my lucky stripes
I didn't start too many fights
But in those days i finished quite a few
Beat-up cars and the cheapest wine
And any trouble we could find
The worst of days were the best of times
Lookin' back through life's rearview
Lookin' back
I miss my misspent youth

LyricsI'm no worse now for the wear
I've gotten married and cut my hair
Me and her we're quite a pair
All my friends say

And speaking of old friends
We still talk now and then
'Cept now there's a few of them
You can only reach by prayer

(Chorus:)
We were cool with our lucky stripes
Didn't start too many fights
But in those days we finished quite a few
Beat-up cars and the cheapest wine
And any trouble that we could find
The worst of days were the best of times
Lookin' back through life's rearview
And lookin' back
I miss my misspent youth

Beat-up cars and the cheapest wine
And any trouble we could find
The worst of days were the best of times
Lookin' back through life's rearview
And lookin' back
I miss my misspent youth
I miss my misspent youth

I pick up the phone that's ringin' inside my head
It's your old familiar voice drippin' like honey
Sayin', "C'mon, c'mon, let's tie one on
Your know I can be there in a heartbeat, baby, if you're lonely."
I hear you knock at the door
Against my will
If I know you, you're dressed to kill

(Chorus:)
Hello there miss temptation
Is it my imagination
Didn't we have this conversation just the other day
Well, i've worked like hell to get this far
To drive you out, but here you are
And once again we're standin' face to face
Miss temptation

You talk your way through my door
And I'm surrounded by the smell of wine and smoke and perfume
One poison kiss from your ruby lips
The next thing ya know I'm lyin' on the floor of a spinnin' room
LyricsI'm not strong enough
I'm on my knees
I need an act of God to make you leave

(Chorus)

Miss Temptation, yeah

(Chorus)

Miss Temptation
I pick up the phone that's ringin' inside my head
It's your old familiar voice
Miss Temptation

My ol' man was a contradiction
A real hard man to figure
He'd read the King James Bible
While sippin' on corn liquor
He'd get drunk, and he'd get to preachin'
Right out on the porch
Alternatin' between cussin' and a prayin'
Spittin' and a praisin' the Lord

No doubt about it
He was a man of both extremes
He had his share of demons
But on Jesus he would lean

(Chorus:)
He'd say, "Fly high like the angels
Run wild like the devil
We're all tryin' to find the middle
Between saint and sinner, wrong and right
Sunday morning and saturday night."

LyricsWell, I have sung "Amazing Grace," hymnal in my hand
Played "Stairway To Heaven" in a three piece pick up band
I know the straight and narrow is the path that I should take
But out here in the fast lane, you tend to get a little sideways

I still hear him preachin'
Slurrin' his words a bit
Sayin' the thing about temptation
Is it's so hard to resist

(Chorus)

Back then I didn't realize
The wisdom in the sermon
It took a while to understand
The lesson I'm still learnin'

(Chorus)

Saint and sinner, wrong and right
Sunday morning and Saturday night

He said, "Fly high like the angels."

The last fifty years
Have seen laughter and tears
And your hair slowly fade to gray
Your children are grown now
And it's hard to believe
How the years have just all slipped away

(Chorus:)
But in time you've gained a wisdom
That seems to elude the young
And each line that now marks your face
Tells the stories of all that you've done
So fear not the passing of days
'Cause like the song of the violin
You only grow sweeter with age

As time's pages turn
You lived and you learned
What truly mattered most
Is family and friends
And in the end finding peace
LyricsIn the path that you chose

(Chorus:)
'Cause in time you've gained a wisdom
That seems to elude the young
And each line that now marks your face
Tells the stories of all that you've done
So fear not the passing of the days
'Cause like the song of the violin
You only grow sweeter with age

Ooh, in time you've gained a wisdom
That seems to elude the young
And each line that now marks your face
Tells the stories of all that you've done
So fear not the passing of the days
'Cause like the song of the violin
You only grow sweeter with age
'Cause like the song of the violin
You only grow sweeter with age

The last fifty years
Have seen laughter and tears
And your hair slowly fade to gray

She walks around late at night
In my old Allman Brothers t-shirt
And not much else
There's a hint of her perfume
In the air, she lets her hair dry
All by itself
Then she shits down next to me and paints her toes
And asks me why I'm staring

(Chorus:)
She knows what she does to me
All the little things set fire to my soul
And i love that girl, and i go out of my way
To find a way every day
To make sure she knows

I might call to say, "How's your day?"
Or stop off at the Chevrom
And buy a rose
I might save a little cash from my check
And get that dress
LyricsShe thought she'd have to sew
I'll make her a card and scratch out words
And still not get it right

(Chorus)

She knows what she does to me
All the little things that set fire to my soul
And I love that girl, and I go out of my way
To find a way every day
To make sure
To make damn sure she knows

Ooh...

Well I left for work in a hurry
I rushed out the door without saying goodbye
I didn't tell her I loved her this mornin'
But I'll tell her tonight I thought to myself

An as I hurried off towards the highway
This truck outta nowhere caught me by surprise
He missed me by inches an my life passed in front of my eyes
I guess that's the reason that they say

Dance every dance an live each day'
As though it's your last
An tell those that you love how you feel
Before it's too late
Life is right here and now
We only go around just one time
So embrace'em and don't waste'em
For these are the days of our lives

Well son as my my legs stopped a shakin'
Took a deep breath an turned my car around
LyricsOh,I'm gonna take that vacation
That we talked about startin' right now

Although I know tomorrow will be here for me
'Cause nothin' in life is for certain but death's guaranteed
And that's the reason that I say

Dance every dance an live each day
As though it's your last
An tell those that you love how you feel
Before it's too late
Life is right here and now
We only go around just one time
So embrace'em and don't waste'em
For these are the days of our lives

Yeah,life is right here and now
We only go around just one time
So embrace'em and don't waste'em
For these are the days of our lives
Yeah

I've been livin' on truck stop coffee
Cigarettes and vitamin C
It's a wonder that the Devil ain't caught me
I guess he's tired of playin' hide and seek
I've been drivin' like I'm struck by lightnin'
I think about you, and I start to speed
I might as well be playin' with matches
In a trailer load of gasoline

(Chorus:)
If it's the last thing i do
If it takes me from tupelo to timbuktu
If it's the last thing i do
I'm gonna dodge every road block, speed trap, county cop
To get my hands on you
If it's the last thing i do

A box of chicken and a day old biscuit
Ain't nothin' left but a few old bones
I oughtta stop, but I'm gonna risk it
Caffeine got me chewin' Styrofoam
LyricsGirl, I'm callin' out of Kansas City
From a fillin' station telephone
Just had to tell you what I've been thinkin'
First thing I wanna do when I get home

(Chorus)

Well, I've been drivin' like I'm struck by lightnin'
I think about you, and I start to speed
I might as well be playin' with matches
In a trailer load of gasoline

(Chorus)

If it's the last thing I do
If it's the last thing I do
Ah, yeah

If I hadn't dropped the ball, I would've took it all the way
Homecoming '89 with ten seconds left to play
We were drivin' toward the goal line, they were screamin' in the stands
I had the chance to be a hero, but it slipped right through my hands
There would've been a big pep rally, the would've hung my jersey on the wall
If I hadn't dropped the ball

Me and Cindy Miller were supposed to meet after the game
I waited by the bleachers, but she never came
I found a note on my windshield underneath the wiper blade
With goodbye bleedin' through it in the cold October rain
We probably would've gotten married
And those recruiters in from 'Bama would've called
If I hadn't dropped the ball

(Chorus:)
My life would've been so different if in that instant
Things had gone the way i planned
But the fact is that they didn't, and the hand i wound up getting
Is something that i'll never understand

LyricsI ran away that summer, took a job out on the coast
And that's where I met your mama, and the rest I guess you know
If I had the chance to go back and score that last touchdown
Well, son, I wouldn't do it, 'cause you wouldn't be here now
And I wouldn't be your hero, I wouldn't be around to catch you when you fall
If I hadn't dropped the ball

(Chorus:)
My life would've been so different if in that instant
Things had gone the way i planned
But the fact is that they didn't and the hand i wound up getting
Is the one that god intended me to have

No, I wouldn't be the man I am at all
If I hadn't dropped the ball

He played guitar in a honky-tonk band
He drank Jack Daniels, black label brand
He was the life of the party
Till they closed down the bar
In the eyes of a young boy, he was a star

(Chorus:)
He'd say, "son, don't you run down the roads that i've run
And don't go and sing all the songs that i've sun
'Cause this kind of livin' takes its toll on a man
And through the smoke and the neon i saw it first hand
I got the lowdown on the highlife
Bust still here i am."

The blues and the bottle held him under their spell
Took him to heaven and put us through hell
Well, sometimes I feel him up on this stage
His restless spirit
Still runs through my veins

(Chorus)

I got the lowdown on the highlife
But still here I am
Mmm...

Your bags are packed
And your cab's out back
Guess it's too late to change your mind
But before you leave
Do one thing for me
Just turn around
And look me in the eyes

(Chorus:)
And say you'll love me
But you need a little time
Make me believe that
You're still mine
Tell me anything
Even if it's just a lie
But never, never, never say goodbye

Baby, please
I'm on my knees
I'm begging you not
To close that door
Lyrics'Cause I can't live without you
'Cause everything about you
Makes my life worth living for

So, say you'll love me
But you need a little time
Make me believe that
You're still mine
Tell me anything
Even if it's just a lie
But never, never, never say goodbye
Yeah...

Ooh, so say you'll love me
But you need a little time, just a little time
Make me believe
That you're still mine
Tell me anything
Even if it's just a lie
But never, never, never
Never, never
Say goodbye
Yeah...