Rust & Rain by Liz&Tim

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 Brought On

By Tim Marema

 Schoolhouse door
Bare wood floor
Oiled to keep the coal soot down
Pot-belly stove
Warms my nose
Feet freezing on the ground
Free lunch if I couldn’t pay
Courtesy of L.B.J.

 Where you from, Brought On?

 Kids I’d see
Looked like me
But I’d hear the mountains in their voice
Mines and farms
Tobacco barns
Me, I got another choice
But every day from eight ’til two
Hard to say just who changed who

Yellow school bus is my passage home
Running up those winding roads we’d wander and roam
All those miles ahead we’d yet to pass
Looking out that dusty glass

Not too long
We moved on
But I could see those hills from town
I'd think of them
Now and then
What if we had stuck around
It took a while but now I see
Nothing 'bout that lunch came free

Where you from, Brought On? 
 So long, Brought On, so long

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Let the Mountains Roll

By Tim Marema

 We’ve sung that song ’bout the rusting train
The rocking chair, the wind and rain
And the cuckoo bird that warbles as she’s flying
The gospel songs that’ll save our soul
From a shallow grave and the wave that rolls
It’s some sweet land that we can by-and-by in

Let them roll, let them roll
Bless my soul, let the mountains roll

 See the outlet malls and the gated tracts
For the second homes on the cul-de-sacs
And the rent-a-cops to rescue Pretty Polly
A torn up mountain and a big coal truck
Old Cripple Creek is out of luck
No wonder cuckoo’s sounding melancholy

Shady Grove in her little bare feet
Couldn’t get a bite to eat
No shoes, no service
Cluck old hen has got to go
That farm got torn up long ago
And the rooster he’s been acting awful nervous

Shady Grove, my little love
Shady Grove, my darling
Shady Grove, my little love
Go see what’s left of Harlan

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Green Water

By Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

 Well I built me a life by the sweat of my brow
On that rough, rocky land by the creek
In the first quarter moon when the spring floods went down
I’d plant corn that grew tall and so green
’Til that year when the tide just continued to rise
And my farm lay ’bout forty foot down

In that green water
Water over me

Now there’s power in the lines to turn on the lights
When it’s cold there’s a switch for the heat
But I still feel the call when that quarter moon shines
And the spring earth is soft ’neath my feet
But those hard days are gone, not so sure I’d return
If some miracle set that land free

In that green water
Water over me

Dream't they opened that dam, drew that lake down
Like old Moses had parted the sea
We stood high on that ridge ’bove that long, narrow cove
And all that was left for to see
Was the silt and the mud and stones steps reaching up
To a front porch that once used to be

In that green water
Water over me

©  Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Down by the Riverside (African-American spiritual, public domain)

 Gonna lay down my burdens
Down by the riverside
Study war no more

Gonna lay down my sword and shield
Down by the riverside
Study war no more

 Gonna lay down my hate and fear
Down by the riverside
Study war no more

Chicory Road

By Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

 I got here on a chicory road
Long way ’round and a ways to go
Started out at an early hour
Morning dew on a purple flower

Diesel breeze comes washing through the chicory
Shadows fall behind
Summer wind, you might not pass this way again
It don’t pay no mind, oh, chicory

 Might find love on a chicory road
Tougher the soil, the sweeter it grows
Asphalt, gravel, and the broken glass
That’s where those flowers bloom the best

Down the road where the sun gets hot
State boys mowed and they missed a spot
Johnson grass and jewel weed
A big old patch of chicory

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

I’ve Been Here So Long

By Tim Marema

 I’ve been here for so long
I know every board in my ceiling
Oh, what a feeling
To stare and never see
I’ve been here for so long
I know every crack in the sidewalk
Oh, every little fault
Looks like a road map to me

 The bus leaves twice a day from the corner grocery store
Every time I smell those diesel fumes it makes me
Want to leave here more and more

I’ve been here for so long
I recognize every tourist
Oh, what the lure is to this little one horse town
Everything is so small time
’Cept for the clock on the steeple
Oh, listen people
I’ve heard each and every chime

Day after day they ring like a thousand days before
Every time I hear those big bells sound
It makes me want to leave here more and more

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Taillights

By Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Winter’s hanging on the hills
Fighting back the daffodils
And the haze of redbud running
Up the main road right of way
I watch your taillights round that turn
I guess by now you’ve learned
That you’ll get there tomorrow
If you started yesterday

Yes, l I know you can’t turn around and change your mind
So I hope there’s more ahead than what you’ve left behind

The fellas down at Morgan’s store
Tell all the tales we’ve heard before
Ask me how you're doing
When they see I’m feeling blue
They’ll drink his coffee all the day
Spend their money at the store by the interstate
But to tell the truth old Morgan trades there too

I can’t say I’m surprised to see the course you’ve run
When I first looked in your eyes I knew this day might come

The dogwood blooms have been and gone
Heat of summer coming on
Saw those kids a playing
On the diamond yesterday
They looked so small but we both know
Won’t be long some of them will go
But we’ll still have a team for the ones who stay

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Blue State Woman (in a Red State World)

By Liz McGeachy and Tim Marema

Old dog sitting in the morning shade
Neighbor comes over with some jam she made
Asks about Momma from the rocking chair
We meet in the middle there

It’s so easy when those labels unfurl
Blue state woman in a red state world
People ask me why I stay
Grow where you’re planted I say

Oh, could you let it go
One less line in the sand
Oh, could you let it go
Hold out your hand

 Don’t get me wrong, sugar, I’m not shy
I raise my voice when the stakes are high
But there’s a whispering in my ear
And all that yelling makes it hard to hear

Some folks need somebody to pay
I stay out of their way
Everybody’s got some gold inside
Look ’em in the eye

Old dog sitting in the morning shade
Neighbor comes over for the song I made
She’s come to hear the little song I made

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Moving Slow

By Tim Marema

You’ve been working weary hearted
Break of day til sun goes down
Seems so long ago you started
Is it time to lay this body down
Truck a-whining on the county road
Gears grinding, it’s a heavy load

Well he’s moving slow, getting late
The rest will have to wait

On those silent streets of our home
Stood alone and called your name
Feeling every kind of lonesome
I wonder if you ever came
I’ve flown a long way from that hallowed ground
Never get frightened ’less I’m looking down

 You come in crying like a baby
Boy, you’ll learn to be a man
With all the ifs and buts and maybes
Well you do the best you can
Some folks long to hear the angels sing
’Spose there’s a time and place for everything

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Sweet Lorraine

By Tim Marema

Memphis town, barbecue and Delta blues
Sad old songs linger on
April breeze blowing through the trash cans at the curb
And strong men softly swaying as they march along

Sweet Lorraine, I know I’ll wind up in your arms
You’ll be coming soon
Sweet Lorraine, I saw you from a mountaintop so high
Will you hold my hand as I walk down the other side

 Evening sun, shadows leaning toward the end of day
Work so hard, always something more
Find my hat, tie that Windsor long and straight
A quiet breath and then I’m heading out your door

The pain that beats within your heart
Lonely place where healing starts

 Final step, I’ll meet you on your balcony
One last look, whoa, and then I’m gone
I know you tried to stay away
One more tender hour could have done no harm
Now we hear their saddest songs as we march on

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Rust and Rain

By Tim Marema

Foot down gonna cover some ground
Gonna beat the break of day
Headed to or running from
I’m traveling either way
This town’s been getting me down
Not enough to just get by
Been said that I made my bed
And I’m awful tired of lying

Oh, wash away this dust and pain
Wipe away these fears
Had enough of rust and rain
To last a thousand years, a thousand years

Preacher shouts, no doubt
Gonna reap the seeds I sow
Preacher we just disagree
On what’s a weed and what should grow
God of might with his rage and spite
From your Book up on the shelf
Nothing he can do to me
That I can’t do to myself

This old car, traveling star
Take me far from here

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Ten Thousand Miles

Traditional

Fare thee well my own true love
Fare the well for a while
But I’ll return to you someday
If I go ten thousand miles

 Ten thousand miles, my own true love
Off to some distant shore
Rocks may melt and seas may burn
If I return no more

Can’t you see the mourning dove
Flying from pine to pine
Longing for his own true love
Like I long for mine

Who will shoe your pretty foot
Who will glove your hand
Who will kiss your ruby lips
When I’m in a foreign land

This longing in my heart, my love
Soothes my weary soul
Very thing to cause you pain
Thing that makes you whole

Last verse © Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Sing with Me

By Tim Marema

 Little baby with a bad dream
In the middle of the night
Tippy-toeing down the hallway
Past the pale night light
Crawling underneath my covers
Elbows and knees
Little baby with a bad dream says
Would you please

 Sing with me

 It’s a short life of trouble
It’s a wide world of woe
Can’t see too far in the night light’s glow
Looking for an answer
Haven’t got a clue
When you’re out of luck
Still one thing to do

So you taught me
’Til I understood
You sing a song  
Through the bad and good
When you lay me in the water
’Til you lay me in the ground
And in between while the world spins ’round

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Last Couple Dancing

By Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy

Summer dance, took a chance
Reluctant you said yes
Didn’t know the song was slow
Crazy luck I guess

Now we’re the last couple dancing
Last on the floor
Last couple dancing
Just a little more

 Early years saw some tears
You and I held on
Others knew a thing or two
Most of them are gone

One by one they’ve all sat down
You and I are still around
To our surprise we’ve found
The last couple dancing

Some things change and some remain
It’s hard to understand
Never know where the song may go
Follow if you can

© Tim Marema and Liz McGeachy