Mary Chapin Carpenter Album

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

He was a long tall stranger from way down south where he'd left his life behind
He had a big old Gibson and a pickup truck and Shenandoah eyes
And I remember him sitting in that local bar where I earned my pay each night
Singing my songs to empty chairs and going home half tight

So the nights rolled by like headlights shining on a lonesome strip of tar
I kept his words of kindness close to me like a pick on my guitar; And we
Talked about the singers and the songs we loved and the songs we'd most forgot
In that run-down bar they'd make last call and I'd never want to stop

'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams
With my cowboy boots and my old six-string
Hitching my wagon to a star, dreaming of leaving those local bars
When I'd get him up at closing time for a couple of songs and a chance to shine
Like the star that he longed to be, he looked a helluva lot like me

He'd played a lot of places where the only wages were food and beer for free
No fancy licks, but he had him a gift for the kind of songs he'd sing
But you do what you can to be a satisfied man, just to have your peace of mind
So he gave it all up for a government job where the paychecks come on time

So now he comes to the bar to hear me play guitar and to share a drink or two
And we sit swapping tales of where we've been and what we'd rather do
There's a wealth of danger when you're talking to strangers, and I meet them all
the time
But my heart knew better than my head when I looked into those eyes

'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams with my cowboy boots
and my old six-string
Hitching my wagon to a star, dreaming of leaving those local bars
When I'd get him up at closing time for a couple of songs and a chance to shine
Like the star that he longed to be, he looked a hell of a lot like me

Well, maybe I'll quit when I got me a kid and a place to call my own
But tonight there ain't nobody there waiting up for me at home
It's a hell of a way to live from day to day not knowing where you're bound
But the look in his eyes made me realize I was glad for the life I'd found

'Cause I was living on nothing but a young girl's dreams with my cowboy boots
and my old six-string
Hitching my wagon to a star, dreaming of leaving those local bars
When I'd get him up at closing time for a couple of songs and a chance to shine
Like the star that he longed to be, he looked a hell of a lot like me
Like the star that he'd always be, he looked a hell of a lot like me

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

The whippoorwills were crying in the falling rain
Far away a whistle hailed a passing train
Out in the country summer was almost gone
The fields were turning rusty and the hills were turning brown

Now I think of you when summer stars are on the rise
I think of you with a bottle of wine and lazy eyes
Playing rock and roll songs on an old guitar
Getting drunk and sleeping out in my backyard

Now sometimes I just lie awake and I hear the wind
Blowing through the seasons of my heart again
My dreams are mostly lost and found on other streets, in other towns
But babe, you know, I still look out for you

The cars were all abandoned on the city streets
When snow had left us stranded then we used our feet
And wound up drinking whiskey in a crowded bar
And now when it starts storming I wonder where you are

'Cause you said that I was crazy to believe in you
You said to never trust a man who sings the blues
Well trust and that old guitar was all you'd ever need
If you found a way to love the girl in me

Other boys I knew were just like shiny dimes
Tossed and spent, they came and went a hundred times
Nothing was as rough on me as giving up on you
Now it seems like every bar in town's got boys who sing the blues

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Years ago in my hometown I was a headstrong girl and a heartstrong one
We'd ride all summer with the top rolled down through the sleepy streets of that
Jersey town
Now I knew girls when I was sixteen
Could make a smart boy stutter, turn a nice boy mean
And the boys made the girls into homecoming queens
Married each other instead of their dreams

These days I'm mostly out on my own
Looking for someplace that I can call home
Late at night, or just before dawn
I pretend you're with me now
It never seemed that hard before
What happened to that hometown girl?

The seasons changed in my hometown
The way they changed in yours
The windows opened up to the Spring
Like every spring before
And I ran with boys who weren't like you
I was young but somehow I knew
The difference between a man and a fool
Sometimes I think that could have been you

These days I'm mostly out on my own
Looking for someplace that I can call home
Late at night, or just before dawn
I pretend you're with me now
It never seemed that hard before
What happened to that hometown girl?

Hometown girls are like hometown dreams
Some start fading, others stay keen
I won't forget you but I'll let you be
Love never was that kind to me

Late at night or just before down
I pretend you're with me now
You had your madness and you had your charm
But only when your heart allowed
And my heart just won't allow no more
What happened to that hometown girl?

(Waits)

Outside another yellow moon
Has punched a hole in the nighttime
I climb through the window and down to the street
I'm shining like a new dime

The downtown trains are full
With all those Brooklyn girls
They try so hard to break out of their little world
You wave your hand and they scatter like crows
They have nothing that will ever capture your heart
They're just thorns without the rose
Oh, be careful of them in the dark

And if I was the one
You chose to be your only one
Oh baby now, can't you hear me now

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night is just the same;You leave me lonely now

(Now) I know your window and I know it's late
I know your stairs and your doorway
I walk down your street and past your gate
I stand by the light at the fourway

You watch them as they fall
Ooh, and they all have heart attacks
They stay at the carnival, but they'll never win you back

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night, every night is just the same; you leave me lonely

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night, every night is just the same, all upon a downtown
Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where every night, every night is just the same, you leave me lonely

Will I see you tonight on a downtown train
Where all my dreams just fall like the rain, all upon a downtown train

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Last Sunday we got in the car and we drove
To the town you were raised in, your boyhood home
The trees were just turning, up on the ridge
And this was your valley when you were a kid
You showed me the railroad that your daddy worked on
As we neared the old house where your granny lives on
She's nearing ninety years now, with her daughters by her side
Who tend the places in the heart where loneliness can hide

Raised by the women who are stronger than you know
A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn
The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth
By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth

Your grandmother owned a gun in 1932
When times were bad just everywhere, you said she used it too
And the life and times of everyone are traced inside their palms
Her skin may be so weathered, but her grip is still so strong
And I see your eyes belong to her and too your mama too
A slice of Virginia sky, the clearest shade of blue

Raised by the women who are stronger than you know
A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn
The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth
By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth

And a rich man you might never be, they'd love you just the same
They've handed down so much to you besides your Christian name
And the spoken word won't heal you like the laying on of hands
Belonging to the ones who raised you to a man

Raised by the women who are stronger than you know
A patchwork quilt of memory only women could have sewn
The threads were stitched by family hands, protected from the moth
By your mother...and her mother, the weavers of your cloth

(Mary Chapin Carpenter/John Jennings)

He pulled out in a cloud of dust
Laying rubber and spewing rust
And on any road he'd take
He'd have his foot on the pedal and my heart on the brake
Underneath the smooth tar curves
A road is only dust and dirt
On a lonely interchange
The signs all look the same

'Cause a road is just a road and a feeling's just a feeling
No matter where you go, from Waterloo to Wichita
A road is just a road that the one you love is leaving on
And midnight's another dawn, 100 miles ago
His wheels spun out of sight of me
Believing that I'd set him free
But I'd heard the voice of the prisoner
Saying he couldn't get enough of her

You go by land, you go by air
You go by sea, hell I don't care
You can go any way you choose
Wearing out the soles of your traveling shoes

And a road is just a road and a feeling's just a feeling
No matter where you go, from Bangor, Maine to Bakersfield
A road is just a road that the one you love is leaving on
And midnight's another dawn, a hundred miles ago

And every sleepless night I see him
Screaming by the scenery
Not noticing another mile
That's rolled down between him and me

'Cause a road is just a road and a feeling's just a feeling
No matter where you go, from Saskatoon to San Antone
A road is just a road that the one you love is leaving on
And midnight's another dawn, a hundred miles ago

Yes, a road is just a road and a feeling's just a feeling
No matter where you go, from San Bernardino to Sault Ste. Marie
A road is just a road that the one you love is leaving on
And midnight's another dawn, a hundred miles ago

Slowly as you look at me
In your eyes I can't believe
All the love I'm seeing now
Plain as day to me somehow
Oh, love, come on home

Promises a heart can keep
Happiness is you and me
Never was a dream so right
Love has finally come in sight
Oh, love, come on home

You fit into my life and
You seem so right like someone planned it
You give yourself to me and
You give so easily, seems like you always understand

Everything says you are the one
Time is shining like the sun
Telling my heart what to say
Growing old with you someday
Oh, love, come on home....

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Fetch me a glass, let's fill it with fine romance
Pour slow the wine, then let your eyes kiss mine
You, you with the charming eyes
Lately I've found myself truly beguiled
If this is a waltz, then I can't refuse
To dance with a man like you.

She must be fine, she must be enchantingly kind
And she must be fair, and never reveal that she cares
Then, then when you've got her heart
Spin her around till she begs you to stop
But this is a waltz and no lady refuses
To dance with a man like you.

And if she inquires the meaning of love
You'll silence her words with a glance
And if she desires to wonder and pause
You'll charmingly ask her to dance

You promised me that you would forever be kind
And if meant to be, our love would find comfort in time
Now, now that you feel no more
How could I follow you out to the floor
And now it's the waltz but I have to refuse
To dance with a man like you
But this is your waltz and you'll find someone new
To dance with a man like you

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Have you ever loved someone you knew nothing of
Except you'd seen the light inside their eyes
Have you ever loved someone just because
Nothing felt so easy or so right

And I think of you like the others do
Wondering if you think of me
And if you do, if you really do
Who is it that you see

Have you ever loved
Whether right or wrong
Have you ever loved someone
Just because

Have you ever tried to speak the truth instead of lie
When it seemed you had everything to lose
Have you ever tried to stand your ground instead of hide
When staying only made you look a fool

And I stayed by you though I think I knew
It wouldn't change a thing
Changes come to hearts with ease
But they come so hard to me
Have you ever tried to make it last, not knowing why
Except you had to try
Just because

And every day that passes now, I s'pose I'm getting older
Wiser with the things I've done
But I hope I don't grow colder

And now I see the ones, who've lost so much
They swear they're done
With love and all the chance it brings for pain
But have you ever touched, and by itself it was enough
To make you want to reach out once again

And I'll touch you when I need a friend
Or just a small reminder
That I haven't grown too cold to feel
You penetrate my armor

Have you ever loved
Whether right or wrong
Have you ever loved someone
Just because
Have you ever loved someone
Just because

(Mary Chapin Carpenter)

Heroes and heroines are scarcer than they've ever been
So much more to lose than win the distance never greater
Way back when you made history by flying planes across the sea
Embarking on your odyssey
You put away the danger
Heaven bless the one who flies
A pioneer on frontier skies
The world was dark and your only mark
Was the light of the northern star
I imagine what was in your eyes
The seeds of rust and days gone by
Your wings hang in a gallery sky I wonder how you're flying

Way out on the western plains
The snow drifts high and the dust wind burns
The chinooks blow their winds
Across the mountains
A life that's never safe and dry rodeos and riding high
Ladies and their men get by on six guns and white lightening.
Heaven bless them on the road those drifters and their dreams of gold
The world was wide and a cowboy's song could span the whole horizon
I imagine what was in your eyes
The dust and the dirt under out law skies
A piece of land and a stubborn mind were the only things worth having

Now they say the moon is dust and ash and California's made of cash
We're waiting for those hills to crash into sparkling waters
Rain and snow and sun and wind
You roamed the earth and you spread your wings
Long ago my hero's dreams belonged to all God's creatures
Heaven bless the ones who sleep
The ones who laugh and the ones who weep
Heaven bless the one who keep their bearings strong and certain
And Lord help the fool who said
You'd better quit while you're ahead
A dreamer born is a hero bred on earth and up in heaven
And Lord help the fool who said
You'd better quit while you're ahead
A dreamer born is a hero bred on earth and up in heaven