Here are stories carved from hard reality – every one is crafted with care. There’s not a ‘non-essential’ one in the bunch. These songs are not for the lazy listener, nor for the faint of heart. They’re not cut-and-dried tales with the endings tied up in a bow. Every aspect of the story is not revealed. These songs will make you think. Eric Taylor writes from a place deep inside, and the images he creates get under your skin. They can take you places. What you do with what you might learn there is up to you…but I have no doubt you’ll be richer for the experience. – No Depression
1. Molly’s Painted Pony
Stolen kisses, somebody’s gotta pay
If Molly had-a missed him
He’d-a lived another day
Here comes Molly with her painted pony
Wonder where she’s ridin’
Wonder where she’s ridin’
Maybe she’s ridin’ home
There goes Molly with her painted pony
Ridin’ in a hurry
Ridin’ in a hurry
Face is full of worry
Chorus
Stolen kisses, somebody’s gotta pay
If Molly had missed him
He mighta lived another day
Pulls up short at Gunsmith Harley’s
Bridle through the ring
Husband and sister down the street
How two shots do ring, boys
They fell in harmony
They fell in harmony
Stolen kisses, somebody’s gotta pay
If Molly had missed him
She’d-a lived another day
Here comes Molly on her painted pony
And there’s a preacher and a judge
Hangman’s rope made by the county
Say your prayers or hush, boy
Say your prayers or hush
She and the paint stood still as a picture
Mona Lisa grin
I did not kill my husband, I killed a dishonest man
I killed a dishonest man
Stolen kisses, somebody’s gotta pay
If Molly had-a missed him
She’d-a lived another day
If Molly had-a missed him
She’d-a lived another day
Here comes Molly and her painted pony
Wonder where she’s ridin’
Wonder where she’s ridin’
Maybe she’s ridin’ home
Maybe she’s ridin’ home
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar
David Webb – keyboards
James Gilmer – percussion
Susan Lindfors Taylor, Rock Romano – supporting vocals
2. Reno
I got a highway hound from Kansas, friend
Been driftin’ all his life
Feeds all his kids from Reno now
Since he lost that married life
He ain’t afraid of nothin’
He ain’t afraid of you
He says a Barlow knife
Will take your money or your life
It’s up to you….. you choose
Bridge
He’s a jailhouse infantile
He can’t tell you there from then
But he feeds his kids all high-tone style
You give that boy a half a hundred
And he’ll come back with a pile
You can count it, you can count it
He’ll come back with a pile
Couldn’t find his mother
So he found himself another
She taught him careful in that northern snow
She taught him drivin’ one cab is just like drivin’ some another
Taught him how to double up his money up in Reno
How to double up his money up in Reno
bridge
He found a mom and pop in Barstow, thought he’d take himself a lick
I could tell you every lie that everybody knows
Front left right cut bloody, hundred dollar check, now
Here’s another little somethin’ from down in Reno
Some all-night joint down in Reno
bridge
I got a highway hound from Kansas, friend
Been driftin’ all his life
Feeds all his kids from Reno now
Since he lost his married life
Since he lost his married life
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar, electric bass
David Webb – keyboards
James Gilmer – percussion
3. Bill
It’s a small town
It’s a small town
Four-way stop
One way out
You can call her graceful
You can call her love
Who is this girl that I’ve been thinking of
Who is this girl that I’ve been thinking of
Chorus
Canadian whiskey, cowboy rye
I oughta stop drinkin’ but I don’t know why
I’ve been through this town before
It’s got a four-way stop and a liquor store
Leavin’ out of New Hampshire
Goin’ down towards Tennessee
Just my songs
To some friends of me
I got caught in the middle
Of some kind of hobo fight
One of them things that’ll keep you up all night
Yes, one of them things, boys, keep you up all night
chorus
They’re gonna miss me down in Atlanta
Come Friday night
I was gonna play ’em strong, boys
I was gonna play ’em right
repeat verse
chorus
It’s a small town
It’s a small town
Four-way stop
One way out
Well, I’m almost home
I got one more song
Dalton, Georgia
Then I’m gone
Goin’ down to Dalton, Georgia
Then I’m gone
Eric Taylor – vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, electric bass
David Webb – keyboards
Susan Lindfors Taylor, Rock Romano – supporting vocals
4. Cover These Bones
Take this earth and cover these bones
This path I walk, I walk alone
Close my eyes but I still see
All the things you’ve done to me
Hope to lie in sacred ground
Feel the sun come shining down
And hold the wings of this holy bird
Circle ’round this piece of earth
You people came, a few at first
With guns in hand and woven shirts
Around the fire we smoked the pipe
You gave us whiskey, we gave you wives
You cut the trees, the trees did die
You built the roads for wagons wide
You taught us how to live inside
You told us all why Jesus died
Cover our bones with homes and towns
This land we held as sacred ground
We had enough for all we wanted
Now we’re ghosts, the walking haunted
Cover these bones, our people cry
Cover these bones, our stories die
Cover these bones, cover these bones
Cover these bones with the waves of grass
Cover these bones with seeds that last
Tell our stories once we’re gone
Indiana Indians
Indiana Indians
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar, electric bass
David Webb – keyboards
James Gilmer – percussion
5. Dark Corner Ice Water
I saw Billy Jim Pruitt shoot that Georgia boy
Everybody called him “Revenue Shoes,” his last name was MacElroy
Billy walked over to that Georgia boy’s wife
He said, “I ain’t sorry for what I did.
We live our lives three-quarter time
You better run and tell your kids, girl
You better run and tell your kids
He was proud of them Revenue shoes
And I’m proud for what I did”
Chorus
Dark Corner ice water
Wash clean my very soul
Better drive up Highway 11, boy
Better catch it ’fore it’s gone
Maybe north on 25
Dark Corner, little hard to find
Always a little bit up the road
Dark Corner, ice water
Wash clean my very soul
Bridge
Tastes like Spartanburg peaches
Tastes like the wisdom of the poor
Sufferin’ little blind girls
Snake handlin’ preachers want some more of them kisses
Tastes like Spartanburg peaches
Want some kisses
When I got back from Henry’s
She was sittin’ on the porch
Half-pint of Dark Corner with her
She was chewin’ on the cork
“Get yourself cleaned up, my son
Start walkin’ towards the MacElroy’s
I got a ham and some biscuits,
sweet potato pies for his wife and boys
You and Pruitt bury his Bible
Better yet, throw it down the well
I don’t need no dead MacElroy
walking through my hell.”
chorus
bridge
Before you leave, son
Please get that radio goin’
Put it on Harlon Joye, son
Dial in Harlon Joye before you go
Before y’all go
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar, electric bass
Susan Lindfors Taylor, Rock Romano – supporting vocals
6. Francetown
Francestown, Francestown
Take a little hit and pass it around
Dance the boogie woogie with your pantses down
Spend your money down in Francestown
Chattanooga redneck, New Orleans queen
One drinks happy, one drinks mean
Catfish boat deck Velveteen
It’s the craziest thing that you’ve ever seen
Chorus
Here come the lawman
Ain’t nothin’ but a straw man
Chattanooga pulls his Zippo out
Lights things up over Francestown
Yeah, he lights things up over Francestown
She got two women, she got two kids
She got a Bengal tiger that she keeps hid
Any one thing gets outta hand
That Bengal tiger loves the taste of man
She sells clear whiskey, 4 dollars a shot
Say it’s illegal, but no it’s not
The judge and the jury stand and say
I’d pay 5 dollars every day
I pay 5 dollar, yes, every day
chorus
repeat 1st verse
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar
David Webb – keyboards
James Gilmer – percussion
Rock Romano – electric bass
7. Adios
I been thinkin’ ’bout movin’ on
I don’t know, just some place
These Maybelline eyes will soon be gone
And I’ll close em tight and forget your face
I’ll close em tight and forget your face
Take my little Sunday school bible
White leather book full of blue-eyed Jews
Takin’ my saddle, takin’ my bridle
But I ain’t takin’ you, boy
I ain’t takin’ you
Chorus
Don’t you be thinkin’ about roses and rings
I love how that blue highway sings
When I’m leavin’ you
When I’m leavin’ you
Maybe Galveston, maybe Rome
World full of wild horses out there
It’s a big enough place, be hard to go wrong
Anyway, adios, I’m goin’ somewhere
Anyway, adios, I’m goin’ somewhere
I’m takin’ that flat-top box guitar
The one that Guy Clark signed
You made up things, never got that far
It’s goin’ with me, it’s mine
It’s goin’ with me, it’s mine
chorus
I been thinkin’ ’bout movin’ on
I don’t know, just some place
These Maybelline eyes will soon be gone
And I’ll close em tight and forget your face
I’ll close em tight, forget your face
I’ll close em tight and forget your face
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar
David Webb – keyboards
Susan Lindfors Taylor, Rock Romano – supporting vocals
8. Tully’s Titles
There’s a Circus Parade & it’s Twenty Below
There’s Blood On The Moon & there’s Laughter In Hell
There’s Ladies In The Parlor with no place to go
Shadows Of Men, comes in The Bruiser, another one fell
Biddy Brogan’s Boy with A Dozen & One
Beggars Of Life and Beggars Abroad
Shanty Irish when it’s time is done and gone
It’ll be Emmett Lawler over Jack Jarnegan
Place your bets, boys, it’s Blood Money
Place your bet now, boys, it’s Blood Money
Eric Taylor – vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
9. Tully
These hands have forged Ohio chains weighin’ 15 tons
These hands have emptied pockets, Okie red, dead, 2 dollars & a little blue gun
I sold the gun somewhere in Dallas, I was doin’ alright
These hands were learnin’ trades & trains – all made for the beggars of life
All made for the beggars of life
These hands have wiped the tears from my very own face
Old Hughie was my grandfather, ditch digger peddlin’ lace
St. Mary’s stole my childhood, but I wouldn’t let ’em see me cry
I learned how to make a fist to push tears away some nights
These hands were learnin’ fights & trains – all made for the beggars of life
All made for the beggars of life
Chorus
My name is Tully and I write or I starve
Give this pen to the Irish, and he’ll scratch a story and buy a pint for all around
I got a square ring, I got bells rings, all featherweights we are
Takes 65 seconds to take a bigger man down
My name is Tully and I write or I starve
These hands are those of a road kid, shook with Dempsey and Big Max Baer
These hands took pen for Chaplin, Little Tramp of a different shape altogether
Hollywood’s not a magic place, just a place to hang your soul
You give up the rods for ridin’ the cushions when the money starts to roll, alright
These hands are still learnin’ trades & trains, they’re all made for the beggars of life
These hands have thrown a shot back with men the likes of W.C. Fields
These hands have broken my own damn heart, silent movie reels
These hands have touched many a woman, some of them my wives
But I think things all changed for me when Nellie, she declined
These hands’ll be learnin’ fightin’, trades and trains, all made for the beggars of life
All made for the beggars of life
chorus
All made for the beggars of life
All made for the beggars of life
Eric Taylor – vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar
10. String Of Pearls
Pull a string of pearls through the night and the rain
Amsterdam girls on an Amsterdam train
Americans from Paris makin’ fools of themselves
I drop one more tear and catch my breath
I drop one more tear just to catch my breath
Chorus
Come down to the water, to the water with me
You and your brother to the Northern Sea
Always words better left unsaid
Always sorry ever since
Smoke like a curtain in the uptown bar
Call somebody, tell ’em where we are
I learned her name and I’ve learned my lesson
It’s a hell of a thing to have a friend go restin’
Another hell of a thing to put a friend to rest
chorus
Only preacher I know that’ll say a thing about me
Say he didn’t know nothin’ but lost and free
Take his ashes and set ’em down
And call him a cab that’s headin’ uptown
See if you can find a cab that’s headin’ uptown
chorus
repeat 1st verse
Eric Taylor – vocal, guitar