Beautiful Ride

by 'Dewey Cox'

Now that I have lived a lifetime's worth of days
Finally I see the folly of my ways
So listen when I sing of the temptations of this world
Fancy cars and needles, whisky, flesh, and pearls

And then in the end it's family and friends
Loving yourself, but not only yourself
It's about the good walk and the hard walk
And the young girls you made cry
It's about making a little music till the day that you die
It's a beautiful ride

As I stand on the precipice of death, my perspective is enormous
Every leaf, every cloud, I see the hands which have formed us
Some days all you got is a nighttime graveyard walk
You whistle some sweet melody to the ghost down at the dock

So into your hand lead the marching band
Don't you let them fade your colors grey
'Cause when all is said and done
When youth is spent and burned
You'll see that it's all about
Music, flowers, babies
Sharing the goodtimes
Traveling not just for business
Accepting your mortality
This is finally what I've learned

And then in the end it's family and friends
Loving yourself, but not only yourself
It's about the good walk and the hard walk
And the young girls you've made cry
It's about making a little music every day till you die
It's a beautiful ride

New Routine

by Adam Schlesinger

Two men sit in the corner of a diner
Both of them look quite a bit like Carl Reiner
One of them is smoking even though the sign says not to
The waitress says to stop, he says, 'sorry but I've got to'
Tell each other jokes that they both know that they both know
They talk about real estate, prostates, Costco

And when they finish up they leave a twenty on the table
The waitress picks it up with the half-eaten bagels
And when her shift is over she goes back to Mineola
Sits on the couch, opens up a diet cola and says

'I'm so, I'm so sick of this place
'I'm so ready for a change of pace
'I'm just looking for a new routine'
So she spins her globe
And the next thing you know
She's living in Liechtenstein

She doesn't speak German, only high school Spanish
But within a few weeks she discovers she can manage
But there's not much going on except for banking and skiing
So she breaks up with the man that she just started seeing
He drops her at the airport in a diesel Mercedes
Thinks to himself, 'I'm so feeble with the ladies, and I

'I'm so, I'm so sick of this place
'I'm so ready for a change of pace
'I'm just looking for a new routine'
So he grabs his cap
Throws a dart at a map
And now he's living in Bowling Green

He talks his way into a job at La Quinta
Falls for the manager who's moving back to Canada
She's tried Roanoke, Reykjavik, Rome
Says 'you're really sweet but I just want to go home'

Two men sit in the corner of a diner
One of them says 'I might take a trip to China'
It's one of those things we should do before we're too old
Thanks but no thanks, bring me back an egg roll
Bring it back

Carl Perkins' Cadillac

by Mike Cooley

Life ain't nothing but a blending up
Of all the ups and downs
Dammit Elvis, don't you know
You made your Mama so proud
Before you ever made that record
Before there ever was a Sun
Before you ever lost that Cadillac
That Carl Perkins won

Mr. Phillips found old Johnny Cash
And he was high
High before he ever took those pills
And he's still too proud to die
Mr. Phillips never said anything
Behind nobody's back
Like 'Dammit Elvis, don't he know
'He ain't no Johnny Cash'

If Mr. Phillips was the only man
That Jerry Lee still would call Sir
Then I guess Mr. Phillips did all of y'all
About as good as you deserve
He did just what he said he's gonna do
And the money came in sacks
New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac

I got friends in Nashville
Or at least they're folks I know
Nashville is where you go
To see if what is said is so
Carl drove his brand new Cadillac to Nashville
And he went downtown
This time they promised him a Grammy
He turned his Cadillac around

Mr. Phillips never blew enough hot air
To need a little gold plated paperweight
He promised him a Cadillac
And put the wind in Carl's face
He did just what he said he's gonna do
And the money came in sacks
New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac

Dammit Elvis, I swear, son
I think it's time you came around
Making money you can't spend
Ain't what being dead's about
You gave me all but one good reason
Not to do all the things you did
Now Cadillacs are fiberglass
If you were me you'd call it quits

If Mr. Phillips was the only man
That Jerry Lee still would call Sir
Then I guess Mr. Phillips did all of y'all
About as good as you deserve
He did just what he said he's gonna do
And the money came in sacks
New contracts and Carl Perkins' Cadillac

The Mountains Win Again

by Bobby Sheehan
Note: I recommend reading through Looks Like Rain below in order to understand the allusions herein.

I pick up my smile
Put it in my pocket
Hold it for a while
Try not to have to drop it
Men are not to cry
So how am I to stop it?
Keep it all inside
Don't show how much she rocked ya

Can you feel the same?
You gotta love the pain
It looks like rain again
I feel it coming in
The mountains win again

Dreams we dreamed at night
Were never meant to come to life
I can't understand
The ease she pulled away her hand
This time in my life
I was hurt enough to care
I guess from now on
I'll be careful what I share

Can you feel the same?
You gotta love the pain
It looks like rain again
I feel it coming in
The mountains win again

A pocket is no place
For a smile anyway
Someday I will find
Love again will blow my mind
Maybe it will be
That love that got away from me
Is there a line to write
That could make you cry tonight?

Looks Like Rain

by John Perry Barlow

I woke today and felt your side of bed
The covers were still warm where you'd been laying
You were gone, my heart was filled with dread
You might not be sleeping here again

It's all right, I love you
That's not gonna change
Run me 'round, make me hurt again and again
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name
And brave the storm to come
For it surely looks like rain

Did you ever waken to the sound of street cats making love
And guess from their cries you were listening to a fight
Well you know, hate's just the last thing they're thinking of
They're only trying to make it through the night

I only want to hold you, I don't want to tie you down
Or fence you in the lines I might have drawn
It's just that I have gotten used to having you around
My landscape would be empty if you were gone

It's all right, I love you
And that's not gonna change
Run me 'round, make me hurt again and again
But I'll still sing you love songs
Written in the letters of your name
And brave the storm to come
For it surely looks like rain

Green and Grey

by Chris Thile

I'm in a room full of people, hanging on one person's breath
We would all vote him most likely to be loved to death
I hope he still wants it, but it might remind him of when
He aimed for the bullseye and hit it nine times out of ten

That one time his hand slipped, and I saw the dart sail away
I don't know where it landed, but I'm guessing between green and gray
I thought nothing of it, but it still haunts him like a ghost
With all eyes upon him, except two that matter the most

He says, 'Green is the color that everyone sees all around me
'Gray is the color I see around her, and she's just a blur'
'The more the crowd cheers, the less I can hear
'And they don't really care what I play
'It might be for her, but for now it's between green and gray'

We paid and we cheered, now we're gone, and to us that feels right
But for him every one of those evenings turns into a night
With another hotel room where he lays awake to pretend
That he's doing fine with his notebook and Discman for friends

He says, 'Green is the color that everyone sees all around me
'Gray is the color I see around her, and she's just a blur
'Night after night, what I hear, what I write
'Fills the room, and my head starts to sway
'It might be for her, but for now it's between green and gray'

'I want you to love me,' he whispers, unable to speak
And he wonders aloud why feelings so strong make the body so weak
Then he awoke, now he's scared to death somebody heard
If it was you, and you know her, please don't say a word

Here's to the Meantime

by Grace Potter

You're running me ragged
I don't do the things I should
If the devil made a fire
You'd be the wood

I've just got one question
Answer me if you could
How can so much trouble
Look so goddamn good?

Look at the way that you've been living
Look at the love you should be giving
Look at what tomorrow left behind
Look at at the life that you've been missing
Look at the girl you could be kissing
Look what happened in the meantime

You gotta get yourself back home
Before I find you and kindly remind you

So come sit down beside me
With a dollar and a dime
And we'll drink away our fortunes
Here's to the meantime