10,000 ACRES
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
Well I ain't a man of many words, at times I have none
I know that there are smarter men and many more handsome
But I take pride in what I've done though it may not be grand
I kept my word and I learned to work this land
I kept my word and I learned to work this land
Yeah I cleared all these fields here, bent my back 'till it hurt
I spilled my blood upon this earth and mixed it with this dirt
And I hear she happier than she ever was back then,
but if I could catch her eye again
CHORUS
I'd knock down all of the timber
Dig the stumps in the cold of November
I swear in the dead of winter
I'd bust the sod until I break her
I don't care how long it takes her
To push my plow 10,000 acres
And sow the seeds of your love
My dad died on a Sunday night, when I recall the day
I hear his final words, "Don't let the banks take this away"
So I held out and I went without to put her in the black
Anything to keep 'em off my back
And I paid my dues in mud and dust
I paid my dues from sun up to dusk
'Cause I am just a simple man
with nothing more to give but simple hands
There's no glamour for a farmer's wife so I can understand
A lifetime of getting' by is not what you had planned
But I swear I'd start it all again there ain't nothing I won't do
Anything for one more chance with you
TWO-BIT SUIT
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
Come on darlin' let's go down main street put on your dancing shoes
Won't you wear your pretty red hair any old way you choose
All I got is a hole in my pocket, it ain't worth a damn if it was I'd hawk it
We don't need no fancy ballroom, let's dance under the moon
CHORUS
Yeah let's dance under the moon tonight
Take my hand and hold on tight
A little bit left and a little bit right
We'll dance until the morning light
We ain't got much I can't deny
But what we got honey money can't buy
Come on darlin' let's go down main street put away those blues
Money's tight but we can spend some time wishing we had something to lose
I found a penny in my purse, and we ain't much but we could do much worse
I don't see our luck changing anytime soon, let's dance under the moon
Come on darlin' let's go down main street put on your sweet perfume
Your lilac dress and sweet pea breath and eyes like lilies in bloom
I'll put a spit shine on my boots and I'll patch up my to-bit suit
We'll let the rhythm of our own hearts carry the tune and we'll dance under the moon
SWEET SWEET ROSE
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
I've fallen behind and I've fallen through
I've fallen to pieces a time or two
And I've fallen victim to words that weren't true
I've fallen from grace, now I've fallen for you
CHORUS
Oh my sweet sweet Rose, I've come to my senses
And silenced the voices that play in my head
Oh my sweet sweet Rose, I'm done riding fences
Can I come to you now and lay in your bed
I wore my heart for you pinned to my sleeve
You wrapped yours in an old shirt where prying eyes can't see
Would you trust it to me, just for awhile
I'll only need it for the rest of my life
If you could find one thing, would that be enough
If you could find one thing for you here to love
Would you be my girl in more than just songs
It's your face that my gaze wants to lay upon
DAMN IT GWENIVERE
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
Well my old chevrolet died on the highway
The day that I tried to leave
There on the shoulder, well I tried to scold her
But she just shuddered, sighed, and heaved
CHORUS
Damn it Gwenivere I don't wanna leave here
But there's no turning back
Damn it Gwenivere I don't wanna leave here
But I wish you hadn't gone and done that
There were big dreams in the hey day but the wind blew them away
Lost to those pretty city lights just east of town
The old timers say back in '38
The wind blew so hard, it blew itself right out
And there's small talk on the menu at Rosie's café
Town gossip is the special everyday
80 cent draft in a dirty glass and a tray for the cigarette ash
Talking 'bout politics, the weather, crops and hearsay
INFANTRYMAN
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
My boy came home form the war today
I stood by as his plane touched down
An infantryman on foreign shores
Coming on back to his hometown
And it's been so long since he's been gone
I stand before him now and gaze in disbelief
My boy came home from the war today
Draped in the Mapleleaf
My boy came home from the war today
With a medal for valour in combat
They hoisted high on their shoulders
And everyman gathered there clutched his hat
But no fanfare played and no speeches were made
No pretty young maids waved a hankerchief
My boy came home from the war today
Draped in the Mapleleaf
When my boy came home from the war today
He was draped in the Mapleleaf
My boy came home from the war today
Now my heart is filled with grief
DIGGER'S LAMENT
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
One by one, tears began to well
One by one into the river fell
He cried for thirty nights
And he cried for thirty days
That river tried and tried
But couldn't hold his pain
CHORUS
So the banks ran over, flooded the plain
Raged down mainstreet washed the town away
Then somebody shouted she ain't flooded for years
I guess nobody counted on a young man's tears
Stone by stone he dug until it hurt
Stone by stone for a pail of pay dirt
But a digger's life they say
Makes a young man old
And an old man pray
The Lord to take him home
Ten thousand men there to stake a claim
In hopes to make amends and young girls change their name
But the streams whose beds were gold long turned to rust
And the dreams of wealth untold vanished into dust
One by one, tears began to well
One by one into the river fell
He cried for thirty nights
And he cried for thirty days
Now another holds her tight
And asked to change her name
BLACK AS COAL
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM)
He had a heart of gold and silver hair
Nerves of steel and an iron stare
But thirty years of mining takes it's toll
For a small town boy there ain't much in store
You do what your father did before
You light your lamp and down you go
And it ain't fair and you swear you'll quit
You say, "Only a fool would stay down in this pit"
But you don't know nothing else
And if you truly believe you're gonna leave
There's no bigger fool than yourself
CHORUS
And it says here it takes a million years
To turn coal to diamond stones
But it's less than a lifetime
to take the diamond sparkle from a young man's eyes
and turn them black as coal
Worn down shovels and ten pound mauls
Third and last time to heed the calls
Watch out boys there's fire in the hole
You pull in but a pittance for pay
Your work's only worth what the weigh scales say
And you don't have much to show
But lines on your that run deep as your debt
Cause the company store just won't forget
Nor grant no time for grace
Wipe the tears from your eyes or next time you cry
Black tears will fall from your face
And this mine brought life to this town they say
Forgetting the lives it took away
And the bosses spit shine the toes of their shoes
With the tears widow's weep over those they lose
NATIONAL HOTEL
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM )
There's a big chain on the front door with a pad lock made of iron
Where the cold beer neon sign once hung they posted up a sign
It said, "Warning this building has here by been condemned"
For the folks at the National Hotel I guess it spelled the end
CHORUS
And oh if these walls could talk the stories they could tell
These walls have seen it all here at the National Hotel
And though some folks wished a fond farewell
some wished it straight to hell
These walls have seen it all here at the National Hotel
Bootleggers bought beer and booze for the town kids not of age
$10 bucks bought a blind eye from the cashier in the cage
Deadbeats and dealers, debutantes and drunks
Poets, pimps and preachers, pretty boys and punks
Rat traps in the cooler, fly paper in the hall
Bare bulbs flickered on a wire or didn't work at all
A junkie in the toilet all strung out in the stall
While the cover band played a two-step under the disco ball
$210 a month included water and power
The hookers in the alley rented by the hour
The ghost of Charlie Banks they say still wanders the upstairs
He got shot when she got wind of the affairs
AT FIRST LIGHT
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM )
The sign back there says 30 miles to go
Though I can't see the town lights I can see the glow
And I'll be pullin' in about a half hour or so
It's only been a week but seems longer ago
And I lost a little time around Pincher Creek
That old west wind was too strong and my coffee weak
And I ain't sure if it's my old rig or my old bones that creak
But my tires are singing now I'm on a streak
CHORUS
And I can't say that it was love at first sight
No I ain't even sure you call this love
But these tired eyes have driven all night
Cause like most things she's most beautiful at first light
The D.O.T. asked me where you headed to
Said I'm heavy and my logbook's overdue
But he waived the citation and when he waved me through
He said, "Hey buddy, I'm just tryin' to get home to
And I'm runnin' on empty but she gets me through somehow
And she holds on when everything shuts down
Honey I could use your run away lane 'bout now
And my engine's runnin' hot, guess my lucks run cold
And my thoughts weigh heavy as my load
And my hair smells like diesel, living years over the road
Stops me from forgettin' that I'm growing old
DOVER
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM )
Love I write just one last time
Before we head to the front lines
Me and the boys are on stand by
Sergeant's call might come at any time
I'd be lying if I declared
I ain't afraid to see my time end
But it ain't dying that makes me scared
It's never seeing your face again
CHORUS
I kiss you with these words
Embrace you with this line
Fell you with these letters
And touch you with this rhyme
Hold you with this pen,
this ink this paper too
I love you with this verse
in this note I wrote for you
Love if I don't make it home
Movin' on won't be easy
But I beg of you don't grow old alone
Just promise me you won't forget me
And if my face from your mind's eye fades
And the sound of my voice grows weak with age
Just remember this day I laid
My heart out on this very page
I had a dream late last night
And this war was over
You were standing under the bright lamp light
As we sailed into Dover
And the sun in your eyes burned the fog out of mine
And I could see more clearly
But I awoke to my own cryin'
I miss you so dearly
WRECKING BALL
(WORDS AND MUSIC BY JOHN WORT HANNAM )
They're tearing that old building down on 17 th and Vine
Making way for something that will block out the skyline
And the bright lights of The Rex marquee
And people gathered round to see it one last time
They found it hard as I did saying goodbye
Do you ever think of me?
CHORUS
Wrecking ball, wrecking ball
You swing through town just to watch me fall
Wrecking ball, wrecking ball
Did you ever even love me at all
Did you ever even love me at all
They tore out all the timber, took out the window panes
Gutted all that's good inside 'till nothing there remained
And I swear to you it hurt like hell
The salvage men left nothing but scrap they couldn't sell
They ripped apart its old heart and left an empty shell
But I remember how that felt
Now there's nothing left but rubble the dump trucks haul away
When people stop and ask me they don't know what to say
But they're sorry. What can they do?
And I never saw it coming and I was told
Everything was solid it was just a little old
But I guess she wants something new
