Haste Make / Hard Hearted Stranger lyrics
All lyrics written by Andrew Marlin, (c) 2011 Mandolin Orange LLC
LP 1: HASTE MAKE
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1. Haste Make
Ease my mind and climb into my bed
may you find no rest here
for I am but a boy brought to bring you joy
and you to bring the same to me I fear
Haste make me good company
Ease my mind and hold fast to my hand
I’m a good man, you’ll see
oh but how in my short days could such a face
find its way to lean upon my cheek
Haste make me good company
Ease my mind and tell me I am right
if just for one night you believe
for the fool in me will find the kindness you withhold
even old this fool could never leave
Haste make me good company
2. No Weight
I wanted you once but I need you now
Like a bird flying high, in the winter flies south
and these stones that you’ve thrown haven’t come close
to turning my eyes
they’re just rocks in the road
CHORUS:
I carry your heart on my shoulders
and it’s no cross to bear
it’s no ball and chain
it’s no weight
it’s so easy
We eased down in the water and drifted away
we could hear others calling but not a word they were saying
and these stones that you’ve thrown, too big for some
have just rippled the water
and sunk to the bottom
CHORUS
3. Lines on the Floor
I awoke from a dream
and you sang me back to sleep
and all our luck weighed down on me like cotton sheets
as the morning light slowly breeched
CHORUS:
Well I knew this day would come so long ago
it happened in a dream and I awoke
but I thank my lucky stars above for until now
they let it carry on somehow
till the morning light shined
through the blinds, throwing lines on the floor
“I’ll take you down” you cried
take you down, down, down
my reply was “why, if you’ve got me now”
as the morning light lit the sky
CHORUS
4. Wake Me
Like a rock that came rollin’ down the hill I’ve been searchin’ for somethin’ to kill
I’m shameless and I’ve aimlessly drawn
I wanna lay down somewhere
I wanna close my eyes
but i’ve a good girl waiting, and if I ain’t back soon she may be gone
mmmm, if it’s all the same
it’s enough to hold her close
but i’m in need of pleasant dreams
SO I cried to the doctor, doctor please come quick
my world’s grown tired and sick
if it ain’t fixed I fear it may fall
i wanna lay down somewhere, lay down and die
well the doc just smiled and said “in a good while, son, sometimes don’t we all”
mmm if it’s all the same
it’s enough to hold her close but I’m in need of pleasant dreams
so won’t you wake me
in the morning light
wake me
when the morning comes
Well I ran outside a-shoutin’
so loud it shook the earth
so loud it chilled the air and cleared the sky
I wanna lay down somewhere
down by her side
but I’ve been gone too long to crawl back now and crumble in her eyes
Well I see a lock and key and a clock on the wall
and I swear I hear her singin’
the air smells sweet and I do think there’s coffee made
I wanna lay down somewhere, long as time abides
and with that morning sky above we can share our love with the sleep still in our eyes
mmmmm if it’s all the same
it’s enough to hold her close but I’m in need of pleasant dreams
Wake me
in the morning light
wake me
when the morning comes
x2
5. Runnin’ Red
The water’s runnin’ red tonight
and our bridges is burning high
we parted ways in the middle
and now we gaze from either side
Of the earth or of the sky
a love once grounded soon must fly
and in that shadow of goodbye
our love was left to die
Well you once shouted from the rocks
across the ocean to the docks
you cried “my island is sinking
will you come for me”
of water or the sand
will you drown or take my hand
and as the last is washed away
would you call for me again
we’ve a fated hand to hold
from when we’re young until we’re old
and it grows harder to find each time we let go
Of reason or belief, it’s no difference to me
our bridge is falling
and our love was left to drown.
6. Not a Word
This trail of tears I follow
has led me to your cryin’ eyes
You’ve grown so sad and hollow
from a life you’ve been denied
You spoke not a word as a child
well not a word has changed
and now the black day speaks so clearly
Hang loosely on the spoken
it’s plain to see it’s not the same
a heart so close when broken
blackens the light of day
You spoke not a word as a child
well not a word has changed
You spoke not a word as a child
well not a word has changed
his loving arms grew cold
and they hold you now as chains
7. Slither
Slither slowly until you are close to me
soon may your colors be shown
and I’ll fall by your fangs if they ever let go of me
I suppose I should’ve known
But it’s no fault of yours, no it’s only a curse
beckoning on and on
and though you’d never pull any trigger you were left holding the gun
Well some beggars are born from good fortune
and free is a relative term
well I’ve taken, yes I’ve taken, much from a lesson never learned
But it’s no fault of mine, I just stay in the lines
and color in all as I see
it all come to life as it comes into light and I’ve colored the end of me
So bring down the knife
deep in me now and see it out
Bring down the knife, deep in me now and see it out
then just slither away the same as you came, back to your hole and hide
8. Ships sail away
As ships sail away I grow tired and gray
this story has always been true
and it’s a long way down each time around
it’s something you never get used to
Well I fell like a fool for the one and only
I made peace with a haunting old friend
and as the first drops fell our last words sailed
they sit with me still in the sand
Forty days, boys, and forty nights
the ship tossed and turned two by two
they say heaven poured down on our poor little heads
and the world began anew
Golden shores, I want no more in my time
than time to tell
high on the mountain is each mark shown
as the wind is blown from our sails
9. Angel
CHORUS:
Angel, angel
did you cry when they took you away
did you cry tears of joy
oh angel
did you cry for me
How unlike a rose to grow so beautiful
how unlike an ear to hear bad news
how unlike a wild bird to fly away
oh angel, how unlike you
CHORUS
I see the sun sinking low
how unlike the day to end
and now, with all that you know
oh angel, do you remember your old friend
CHORUS
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LP 2: HARD HEARTED STRANGER
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1. Big Men in the Sky
Well I wake up in the morning, try to set my hook
I used to be a settled boy, never stumbled or shook
but now I’ve got no hand to hold, no friend to call my own
and I ain’t the one to ask much of big men in the sky, but it’s all I got
So maybe I’ll pick up and go, with no thinkin’ through
just sleep out every night and try to forget you
I’d look out on some ocean, wash my head in blue
Well I ain’t the one to ask much of big men in the sky but it’s all I got
Been a-rockin’ and a-rollin’, reelin’ in my time
I set myself up fancy-like, and set a brand new line
well I oughta know by now
it comes and goes it’s true
Well I ain’t the one to ask much of big men in the sky, but it’s all I got
Well thinkin’ ain’t no passtime and thinkin’ ain’t no friend
If all you do is sit around and think about the end
maybe I will get to prayin’ someday before I’m through
but I ain’t the one to ask much of big men in the sky, but it’s all I got
2. Never Die
All the workers in song turn a dime dragging chains through the countryside
tied to color brought on each night
Born to live and never die
But not all I know go so well, and the gamble’s hard when the gamblin’ fails
and all the color won’t turn an eye
born to live, live and die
but From the time she rose til the time she sets
the old girl knows, she never forgets a gamblin’ heart, if it bleeds enough, and she’ll remember me someday
All the workers in song turn a dime ridin’ low mile after mile
from all the color thrown out each night
born to live and never die
born to live and never die
but From the time she rose til the time she sets
the old girl knows, she never forgets a gamblin’ heart, if it bleeds enough, and she’ll remember me someday
3. Clover
You used to live untruly, so kindly, and it left you lying here in ruin
you cut the hand of a good friend and you smiled in all your doing
You got a hole burning in your brain, just north of the last line on a southbound train
You wonder why you look all over, just to find a four leaf clover and as you pick it it just withers away
But now you live so true, mysterious and blue, waking up each morning all alone
You sip black coffee though you hate the taste and your crown of thorns weighs heaviest at home
You got a hole burning in your heart, where once before your love was overflowing
you hate the sky for cryin, and you love the same sky when it’s smiling
peeking through the blinds is your only means of knowing
Are you not your mother’s son, once on the run from throwing stones at old windows
When you lived so freely and walked so easy, leaning with whichever way the wind would blow
4. Killer
I left to find an honest man who only lies
I tried to spot a raindrop in the sea
and I went a-huntin’, a killer, to kill her
someone who thought and talked like me
But now I sit wondering am I lonely, am I home
and how these times often pull me to the corner of Eden and battle avenue
I tried to find a lover and never want another
I hope that I’ll be happy by myself
‘Cause we all reach the top and eye the bottom
Is it better yet to leave it on the shelf
mmm, I sit wondering, am I lonely, am I home
and how these times often pull me to the corner of Eden and battle avenue
5. Hard Hearted Stranger
I’d follow you down in a hole
and lie with the best of men
and try to hold my head in the clouds
but one heartbeat can seem like a lifetime
in the arms of some devil you used to know
and with that lost cause crying down the path that I’ve led
I’ll be the hard-hearted stranger to share your bed
Hey, hey, is it me they say was wrong
my, my if I could take it all away
back to some better day I would
With eyes of a great pretender burning in my head
I’ll be the hard-hearted stranger to share your bed
with red on that horizon and blue skies at my back
there’s a whole world of trouble I’ve yet to find
I’m free but I’m lonely, wishing i was easy
With a devil softly singing “take my hand”
I’ll be the hard-hearted stranger to share your bed
6. Next to Nothing
How long, how long must I run
before my shadows have left my side for good
until my eyes can no longer lie as they do
ANd how soon, how soon will you fly
away to where your angel once stood
next to nothing his heart was pure and seemed true
Well my dear, my dearest friend
wild and troubled is it my cold hands you fear
or the world that lies behind their touch
Well how soon, how soon will you fly
away to a kinder hold, it’s clear
next to nothing a world I’ll never know
How long, how long must I seek
stones this world has left unturned
and hold ‘em high just before they’re thrown
And oh how soon, how soon will you fly
my eyes can no longer wait unknowing
‘cause next to nothing you are all I want
next to nothing you are all I want
7. Train Song
I never did have that fast train to take me down the line
Or smelled the smoke from a hot coal as the engine fired
If I could ask that engineer for one more mile and then I’ll go
just let the whistle wail and take it in slow
Take me back to the railroad track and the sounds inside my mind
where rusty wheels and steel rails still whine
Where I can hop that 909 and go back in time some time ago
just let the whistle wail and take it in slow
Park my horse and buggie by some old lazy creek
take my car to the graveyard and dig a hole real deep
We’ll holler “rest in peace” and weep, lay track on every street
let the whistle wail and give the rail my soul to keep
mr. engineer just one more mile and then I’ll go
just let the whistle wail and take it in slow
let the whistle wail and take it in slow
8. Darling Girl
It’s a darling girl my darling girl
with eyes as dark as night
and a heart so true but just so strong, set to live a darling life
As years roll by she’ll grow up fine
and she’ll sing a silent song
but she’ll find your piano and she’ll find her wings and she’ll sing all her days long
Chorus:
I’m waiting on a ghost to show her loving arms
Sweet Marie I can see your faint light shining down on me
Go call on her brother and her sister too
Go call on all the town
Tell them all today your darling girl is to wear a wedding gown
And though it all came so fast ten years soon will pass
before there’s room for three
My sister will grow, my mother will know, soon there will be room for me
CHORUS
LIke an old toy top spins and stops
or a tag on the last waltz to end the ball
a long summer’s wait will come winding down and she’ll be buried in the fall
Well now she sleeps with you, Marie
Bittersweet is this old world
For they tell me soon my sister too will have a darling girl
CHORUS
9. Birds of a Feather
It’d sure be fine to sit and pine together
But no feather in the wind ever did intend
For us to pretend and work so hard to try to mend a broken heart
I’d say what we’re looking for will always ask for more
‘Cause feathers fall and fly, but I am no stranger to you now
the same old friend, you’ll find me when it ends
All the love we share could sink a ship, the ends of earth would tip it all in time
and it leaves me asking why
we see it under through and through and live out in the blue all of our days
mourning the love we made
Hang your head and cry
look down that lonely road and know that I’m the same old friend, you’ll find me when it ends
Yes it’d sure be fine to sit and pine together
will it ever be the same? well it’s rather hard to say
‘cause feathers fall and fly, but I am no stranger to you now, the same old friend, you’ll find me when it ends
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