Kate Wolf Lyrics

A Friend You Can Count On

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

If you’re hurtin’
    well I am too
And if you’re wonderin’
    what you’re gonna do
Move over
    have another beer
You won’t be lonesome
    ‘cause your friend is here

I’ve been thinking
    but what’s the use
‘Cause the songs we’re singin’
    hold a lot more truth
Jokin’, cussin’
    and swappin’ lies
If it helps your head
    well it sure helps mine

Sometimes the laughin’
    hides a broken heart
Sometimes the singin’
    shuts out the dark
But if none of that
    can ease your mind
A friend you can count on
    works every time

You can go to the country
    and try to be free
You can go to the city
    or sail out to sea
But any place
    will let you down
If a friend you can count on
    just ain’t around

Aces, Straights And Flushes

Words by Bruce "Utah" Phillips & Nancy Katz
Music by Kate Wolf

        Aces, straights and flushes
             that’s the game my daddy played
        If the gambling went til morning
             that’s how late my daddy stayed
        He bought shoes for all us kids
             with the money that he made
        And aces, straights and flushes
             that’s the game my daddy played

Some say that daddy
    was a good for nothing man
But he’d come home each morning
    with the money in his hand
There was chicken on the table
    and the rent was always paid
From those aces, straights and flushes
    that’s the game my daddy played

Chorus

Oh mama, she ran off
    with some fast talkin’ man
And daddy took to gambling
    just to feed our little clan
Sometimes it was blackjack
    and sometimes seven stud
But aces, straights and flushes
    well they ran in daddy’s blood

Chorus

Then came the time
    that daddy played his biggest game
For the love of a woman
    and the honor of her name
And when the smoke had cleared
    and the cards had all been played
My daddy gave up gambling
    and took up the trombone

Chorus

Across The Great Divide

I’ve been walking in my sleep
counting troubles, ‘stead of counting sheep
Where the years went, I can’t say
I just turned around and they’ve gone away

I’ve been sifting through the layers
of dusty books and faded papers
They tell a story I used to know
it was one that happened so long ago

        Gone away — in yesterday
             and I find myself on the mountainside
        Where the rivers change direction
             across the Great Divide

Well I heard the owl calling
softly as the night was falling
With a question, and I replied
but he’s gone across the borderline

Chorus

The finest hour, that I have seen
is the one that comes between
The edge of night and the break of day
when the darkness rolls away

Chorus

Agent Orange

Words & Music by Muriel Hogan

I was seventeen when I quit school
    the year that I enlisted
I don’t recall just why I did
    my mom says I insisted
I had some strange idea then
    that Uncle Sam was right
My mamma cried, she signed the card
    and I went off to fight

        But I just found out this morning
             the doctor told me so
        They killed me in Vietnam
             and I didn’t even know

Got off the plane in Vietnam
    it didn’t look like war
With all I saw I started wondering
    what we came there for
Some officers got drunk at night
    and cheated on their wives
While those peasants on the other side
    were fighting for their lives

You know, the army tried some fancy stuff
    to bring them to their knees
Like Agent Orange defoliants
    to clear the brush and trees
We’d fly all day above the trails
    through clouds of poison spray
But they never said that chemical
    would hurt our health today

But I got the news this morning...

I tried hard to forget that war
    like everybody else did
I settled down, got married
    and I even had some kids
Our children both had birth defects
    the doctors had their doubts
They never said what caused it
    but I think I just found out

Chorus

The doctor says I have some time
    he was trying to be kind
You know, I’ve never been a radical
    but this has changed my mind
I’d be so proud to hear my son say
    “hell no we won’t go
Because you killed our dad in Vietnam
    and he didn’t even know”

This Agent Orange from Vietnam
    we carry with us still
It stays inside for years and years
    it does its best to kill
You might get cancer of the liver
    you might get cancer of the skin
You might get a VA disability
    you might not live to win

Because I got the news this morning...

All He Ever Saw Was You

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

And now the flame is out, but the light burns on
No one ever said he was bigger than his songs
So few ever knew the heart inside the man
But he gave himself away as only poets can

He took the stories of his people and gave them back in rhyme
But for the pleasures of the hearth there was never enough time
He said one day he’d quit and then he would come home
But there was always one more stage, always one more road

        The candle’s burning at both ends, it’s burning in the middle
             There’s no time to stop between the guitar and the fiddle
        A crazy tune, a crazy time you know the words were true
             Smiles lit their eyes but all he ever saw was you

And the road finally claimed him like a sailor lost at sea
Setting sail on the horizon that would not let him be
Following a star that drew him like a flame
And though he loved you so well it was not the same

Chorus

Although I’ve Gone Away

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Slow and easy like a dreamer
    winds the river to the sea
Through the hills and past the vineyards
    rolling peacefully
Like the water running free
    my heart is here to stay
Although I’ve gone away

Slow and easy like a dreamer
    you brought love and left it here
On the walls and in the windows
    where the wind blows cold and clear
By a woodstove in the winter rain
    my heart is here to stay
Although I’ve gone away

        Springtime comes in pretty flowers
             yellow, white and blue
        They remind me of the happy hours
             I’ve spent knowing you

Slow and easy like a dreamer
    I go walking down the road
Seeing faces in the clouds
    and scenes from long ago
Like a wild bird flying south
    my heart is here to stay
Although I’ve gone away

Amazed To Find

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

After all is said and done
A few things lost, a few things won
I can say I’ve had a full and a happy life
But in the quiet of the night
When I turn out the light
I’m amazed to find you’re still on my mind

        I’m amazed to find
             I’m amazed to find that you’re still on my mind
        ‘Cause it will hit me without warning
             (sometimes) early in the morning
        I’m amazed to find that you’re still on my mind

I could be talking with my friends
Or out walking when day ends
Or just doing all the things that fill my time
But at the closing of the day
When my troubles fade away
I’m amazed to find you’re still on my mind

Chorus

Baby, Is It Just In Case?

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Baby, is it just in case
I might break your heart
That you’re acting like we’ve never met?
And do you really think
I’ve never loved you at all?
Honey you’re a hard love to forget

        But how could I forget
             all the sweet things you’ve done
        All the laughs we’ve shared
             and all the good songs we’ve sung
        How could I forget
             all the trouble and pain
        The long nights of talking
             til we felt good again

I know you remember
how happy you were
You know it was the same for me
Baby is it just in case
I might break your heart
You can’t let yourself believe the things you see?

Chorus

Everytime I’m late
or I’m with some other friends
You tell me you thought I’d changed my mind
Baby, is it just in case
I might break your heart
You’re pretending that I’m leaving you behind

Chorus

Are you standing there so cold
without touching me at all
To keep yourself from making any move?
I really don’t believe
you’ve forgotten how it’s been
You’re just afraid to give in case you lose

Chorus

Back Roads

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I’ll take the back roads home through the open countryside
    Letting things slip by in drawn-out time
I’ll take the long way home on the back roads of this life
    Taking time to see what goes by

        Coming and going, there’s no dividing line
             What you’re headed for, someone left behind
        And the shortest road ain’t always the best
             Sometime let a back road take you home

A back road is so easy, it just rambles on and on
Take it or leave it as it rolls along
Drifts through things it cannot change, and doesn’t even try
Wouldn’t that be something for you and I

Chorus

Anyplace you’re bound, you’ll get there someday
    You’re the one who chooses what to see along the way
And when the heartaches seem too much for you to bear
    There’s a back road winding everywhere

Chorus

Blank Pages

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Blank pages
    hours without end
The hand that wants to write
    cannot hold the pen
Blank pages
    but I can read between the lines
It’s the heart
    that tells the story everytime

Your words
    come on the telephone
When the mind that knows itself
    hates to be alone
But hard questions
    when tomorrow’s always blind
But the heart
    will find the answers everytime

        Bridge: Clear pictures
        of sweet destiny
        The darkness may surround you
             but still the heart can see

I never thought
    that love would come to stay
It came knocking at my door
    and it would not go away
And now the papers
    scatter on the floor
Like a thousand unsaid words
    I’ve heard before

It’s the heart
that tells the story everytime

Brother Warrior

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Gentle warrior,
    with your heart like gold and a rainbow in your eyes
Brave companion,
    do you see a world shining in the sky?
With your body dancing like an arrow
    spreading joy beneath your feet
And your hands that wave like tall grass
    in the wind as you speak
With the shyness of a small child
    and the wisdom of a sage
I tell you now, there is no reason
    to be afraid

Brother warrior,
    there are none of us who walk this path alone
Spirit healer,
    it’s the only life that we have ever known
I see your smile in the sunlight
    I hear your songs in the rain,
Hold you here inside me
    feel your love, and know your pain
At this time when the earth is waking
    to the dawn of another age
I tell you now there is no reason
    to be afraid

We are crying for a vision
that all living things can share
And Those Who Care
are with us everywhere

Cable Car Cowboy

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Foggy San Francisco
    two thousand miles from home
Chasing after a lady
    I’d like to call my own
I’ve been out of work since I left my job
    on the Bar-K cattle ranch
Where my mamma cried “Think it over son
    before you take a chance.”

And Lord I sure do miss the folks
    and all those friends of mine
The city’s pretty lonely
    when a man’s just killing time
The people never stop to talk
    or look you in the eye
And the buildings there they grow so tall
    they cover up the sky

        But I went for a job the other day
             the man looked me up and down
        He said “You’re a horse-riding cowboy
             who looks like he just hit town.”
        But if you can swing a rope
             I reckon you can ring a bell
        And if a bucking bronc can’t throw you off
             you’ll hold the curves as well

Well I didn’t know what he was getting at
    til he took me to this barn
A great big place with high brick walls
    not like down on the farm
Instead of hay and horses
    it had cement, steel and tar
He said hop on board and let me see
    if you can drive a cable car

        Well it looked like a little house
             with windows all around
        A little room set on the back
             and steps down to the ground
        A roof and a porch and benches
             and wheels set on a track
        I’d never seen such a doggone thing
             but I didn’t tell him that

        Bridge: So mamma don’t you worry
        things are really going fine
        I’m working now as a brakeman
        on the California line
        And the folks are mighty friendly
        when they hop on for a ride
        And when it’s cold and rainy
             my lady loves to ride inside

        You can say I’m still a cowboy
             it’s just a different horse I ride
        I round up strays on the city streets
             and I spend my days outside
        These hills of San Francisco
             are my own West Texas plains
        And ringing a bell is like singing to
             those dogies on the range

Carolina Pines

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Just an old house with the roof falling in
Standing at the edge of the field
Watching the crops grow as it’s always done before
Nobody lives here anymore

        The sun’s going down in the Carolina Pines
             I’m a long way from home and I miss that love of mine
        Broken windows, empty doors
             Nobody lives here anymore

Old memories come whistling like the wind
Through the walls and the cracked window panes
And the grass is growing high around the kitchen door
Nobody lives here anymore

Chorus

Once there were children and a few hired hands
A hard-working woman and a bone-tired man
Now that old sun steals across a dusty floor
Nobody lives here anymore

Chorus

Carry In On

Words & Music by Gil Turner

There’s a man by my side walking
There’s a voice inside me talking
There’s a word that needs saying

Carry it on, carry it on
Carry it on, carry it on

They will tell their lying stories
Send their dogs to bite our bodies
They will lock us into prison

Chorus

And all their dogs will lie there rotting
All their lies be soon forgotten
And all their prison walls will crumble

Chorus

When you can’t go on any longer
Take the hand held by a brother
Every victory’s gonna bring another

Chorus

Carry Me Away

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I haven’t seen the trees in such a long time
    I haven’t felt the spaces in the sky
I haven’t gone riding on the open rail
    with the sunlight in my eyes
I haven’t thought of many other mornings
    just been living day to day
Last night I heard you calling
    let me carry you away

And the road still lies ahead
    where we left it long ago
Waiting like some long lost love
    who once had touched our soul
Yes yes you know I’ll come
    I’ll go riding out today
Any place you want to take me
    you can carry me away

Any place you want to take me
you can carry me away

Changing Of The Road

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Across the open fields
    the grasses are blowing
    in the heat of the day
The shadows of the trees
    reach out across the road
    showing me the way
Another night is calling
    this time feels like a brand new day

        I’ve felt this way before
             I’ll feel this way again
        It’s the changing of the road
             and maybe it’s the coming of the wind

You’ve been too long on the way
    not stopping anywhere
    won’t you come in and take some rest
Tomorrow there’s a road
    still shining in the sun
    what’s one short night, more or less
Crossroads, it’s a crossroads
    and who can say which way to go

Chorus

I’ve been on the straight and narrow
    not looking right or left
    I’ve been places I wouldn’t trade for gold
And you know I’ve found a happiness
    that cannot be
    bought or sold
But you and I know it happens
    that fate comes knocking at our door

        It’s been this way before
             it’s bound to be again
        It’s the changing of the road
             and maybe it’s the coming of the wind

Chase The Morning Sun

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I love you in the morning
    I love you in the day
I love you in a way that knows no time
Every day’s a new beginning
    to a story still untold
How we’ve chased the morning sun
    across the sky

        Chase the morning sun
             honey to chase the morning sun
        A new day is breaking on the rise
        Won’t you come and join the dance
             and take another chance
        And chase the morning sun across the sky

Some days go so fast
    some days go so slow
Some days we can’t find the time
But when we’re old and looking back
    along the rusty track
Will we chase the morning sun
    across the sky

Chorus

Love, you and I have wandered
    so many times before
Through old familiar places in our lives
Yet once again I see you
    as if we’ve just begun
To chase the morning sun
    across the sky

Chorus

Clearing In The Forest

Words & Music by Bruce Phillips

        We need a clearing in the forest
             an island in the sea
        Space for loving
             a place for you and me

Here come the critics now
    the news it won’t be good
Come along and hurry now
    and do the things you should
I can see you dancing by me
    held up by secret strings
Pulled by friends and lovers
    waiting in the wings

Chorus

Aboard the Titanic now
    it all looks black or white
If we don’t panic now
    it’ll be alright
But the wireless is broken
    the sea is dark and rough
We only have each other
    don’t you know that’s not enough

Chorus

Down in the magic city now
    the ghost of Mammon sings
You can play for plastic feelings
    you can play for plastic things
The only difference is the playing
    losing is the same
There’s truth in the saying
    that the doing is the game

Chorus

© On Strike Music

Close To You

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I like the way you smile
It reminds me of a happy child
It makes me feel a little less alone

I miss you when you’re gone
The hours they stretch on and on
Like water dripping slowly on a stone

You’re such a mystery
    the way you look at me
With that light that shines
    from someplace I can’t go
Did it take you by surprise
    when you realized
That you loved me — though you’ve never told me so

You know I want to say
So many things to you today
But you’ve got me feeling like I’m flying blind

I think if you were here
The words would ring crystal clear
From this heart that’s learning how to speak its mind

You fight for truth with love
    you’re an iron hand in a velvet glove
It’s the kind of strength
    that makes a gentle man
But I’m a child of the wind —
    I’ve been blown away but I’m back again
I just don’t know if you really understand

Sunlight moves across the floor
There’s a soft breeze through the open door
A sleepy cat lying on the windowsill

On this lazy afternoon
Like honey on a silver spoon
The memory of your smile is with me still

Don’t tell me that it’s wrong
    to say I love you with a song
When the words won’t come
    I’ve seen you do it too
This road winds along
    one day we’ll be gone
But I’ll have this song to bring me close to you

Cornflower Blue

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Cornflower Blue, blooming in the morning sun
    Tiny flowers that grew
    from when our love had just begun
Long ago we planted each dry and dusty row
    How long it has taken for the seeds of love to grow
Cornflower Blue

Cornflower Blue, like the faded shirt you wore
Standing in the shadows when I opened up the door
The smile in your eyes when you said hello
Held me tenderly and would not let me go
Cornflower Blue

Cornflower Blue, deeper than the evening sky
Peaceful as a river, bluer than goodbye
Blue like the diamond when the light shines true
If love came in colors I’d choose this one for you
Cornflower Blue

Country Music In The Rain

Words by Kate Wolf

Listening to country music in the rain
lots of songs about the memories and the pain
Someone’s crying over you
someone else is feeling blue
And someone’s just about to ride that midnight train

Life has its ups and don’t you know it has its downs
And someone’s always trying to put it in a song
They’ll give you love, they’ll take it back
send you walking down the track
Or let you win next time around

Lord knows nothing’s really changed
(Men and women, country rain)
And the years go by in spite of what you do
But some songs stick inside your mind
they help to pass the time
And they’ll always see you through

Crying Shame

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Two hearts, so much love to give
Afraid to lose so nobody wins
Crying at night for the touch of a lover
When they finally meet they can’t touch each other
It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame

Everybody sees it clearly
    How each one loved the other dearly
But they couldn’t agree on what they had
    One called it happy and the other sad
It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame
    It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame

        How it goes only time will tell
             Try for heaven, take a chance on hell
        It’s a hard way to learn the lesson
             Of a love that keeps the lovers guessing
        It’s a crying shame

‘Round and ‘round the story goes
    It’s play the game every gambler knows
Some get lucky, and they win
    Some just lose again and again
It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame
    It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame
It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame
    It’s a crying shame, it’s a crying shame

Dancing On The Dark Side

Words by Kate Wolf

I’ve been following my shadow
    the dark side of my life
Underneath the light
    chasing down the dark side
We’ll go dancing tonight
    dancing on the dark side

Following the hard times
    remembering the bad
Makes the good times sweeter
    makes a sane man mad
And there’s that shadow
    peeking out at me
Dancing in the night sky
    like a high wind blowing free

Where do you go
    when the moon hangs in the sky
How do you feel
    when you don’t know how to cry
What do you do
    with the long days of your life
When do you know your mind
    dancing on the dark side

        Following my shadow
             it won’t stay behind
        Underneath the moon
             dancing on the dark side

On the dark side of the moon
    everything is still
Somewhere the light falls
    across the hills
That old coyote’s laughing
    but you never see his face
You’re following his shadow
    but he’s gone without a trace

How do you feel
    when the stars come out at night
How do you sleep
    when the moon is on the rise
Where do you look
    for answers you can’t find
Which way will you turn
    when you see a sign

        Following my shadow
             leaving love behind
        Underneath the moon
             dancing on the dark side
        Dancing with my shadow
             dancing in the light

Desert Wind

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

There’s a wind blowing down the canyon
so hot and dry, the rocks turn red
Shade grows thin and shrinks to nothing
as the sun climbs over head

        What can I say, you said it all
             Your words ride on the desert wind
        Telling me about tomorrow
             and how a heart can love again

Did you see the stars while you were sleeping
as they crossed the midnight sky
I could hear my own heart beating
in the stillness of the night

Chorus

It’s all alone with the earth and sky
the hours are long, the days go slow
Your lovin’ way, like the wind reminds me
there is so much that I do not know

Chorus

E.S.P. (If I Ever Needed A Friend)

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You said if I ever needed a friend
    I could call on you
    but you’re two hundred miles away
And I don’t know any names or numbers
    to reach you by
    and I need to see you today

        So I just lie here at night and I think your name
             and you know stranger things
             have happended before
        I’ve been blue and feeling bad
             and you walked through my door

If I though it would help I would go for a walk
    or see if somebody I knew was at home
But you know that that wouldn’t do
    well the night’s a friend, but not like you
Holds me close and keeps me in
    but not like you

Chorus

Early Morning Melody

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

An early morning melody
playing in the scenery of my mind
Rainy days and ocean tides
through the hills and greenwood sides
Like a wind chime

I think of you that way a lot
singing to the coffeepot and the kitchen wall
Always up before the sun
picking out some pretty run, on the strings
Like a waterfall, like a waterfall

You’ve given me so many songs,
ones that kept me going on when I’d wonder why
Weaving through the busy days
they were colors in the misty haze
Like rainbow rhymes

Reminding me that even prison walls
turn to dust and fall before the open sky
And love can find you in the darkest hour
touch you lightly as a flower on colored wings
Like a butterfly, like a butterfly

Thought I’d let you know
    I heard you singing soft and low
    when I woke today
I got up to play along
    found myself with a morning song
To send your way

Thanking you for all the times
    you’ve listened to these sunrise lines
    I’ve made for you
I see your face before me now
    smiling as if you know somehow,
    you’ve touched my day
Like the morning dew, like the morning dew

Emma Rose

When Emma Rose was ten years old, her father passed away
    She cried to think he’d never see her on her wedding day
And then her mother sickened and left her on her own
    Saying ʺEmma Rose, it grieves me to leave you so aloneʺ

How long, how long, will it be ’til you’re returning?
How long, how long, must I keep the candles burning?

When Emma Rose was sixteen years she was courted and wed
    By Danny Jay the neighbor boy, a fine young man they said
And in the flowering of their love, Emma had a son
    And Danny left one morning before the rising of the sun

Tell me…

The years went by and Emma Rose grew bitter in her grief
    Of all the men who came and went, none gave her any peace
And even age could not erase the beauty in her face
    But Emma Rose had eyes for one who left without a trace

Chorus

Emma lives alone now, the child is grown and gone
Some say they see her now and then on the days she comes to town
If you’re traveling north, there’s a mailbox on the road
And all it says is Emma Rose in letters faint and old

Chorus

Everybody’s Looking For The Same Thing

Words & Music by Kate Wolf & Hugh Shacklett

Outside a country store there’s a board on the wall
    That’s filled with cards of every size
And what the folks are looking for is written there to see
    Reading it, it comes as no surprise

        That everybody’s looking for the same thing
             The same thing, it’s plain to see
        It’s an old Chevy, a bass player,
             A country house on three acres,
             Three bedrooms, absolutely free

There’s someone going to Boston with a guitar and a dog
    And a lady with a goat to give away
There’s ten free kittens, a square dance on Sunday,
    And Cindy, please get in touch with Ray

Chorus

Know your future, it’s in the stars — fifteen dollars or fix my car
    You can call mornings or evenings until nine
Do you want to lose weight, meditate? Herbal remedies you can take
    And massages given at your house or mine

Chorus

So if you’re needing something and you don’t know where to start
    Just make yourself a card that says it all
Use the words that say it best, include a number and address
    And pin it up with the others on the wall

Chorus

Eyes Of A Painter

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Gray-haired and flint-eyed, his sunburned face lined
Grandpa was a man of few words
But he had a way of not wanting to say
any more than he thought would be heard

The long years of living and day to day giving
had carved out a map on his face
With little to lose, he’d learned how to choose
and his choices were easy to trace

        He had the eyes of a painter,
             heart of a maker of songs
        His words fell like rain on the dry desert plain
             precious and so quickly gone

From a long line of teachers, white Baptist preachers
he was born with an Indian will
His quiet dark eyes reading the light
as he rode in the low Osage hills

His school was the prairie, the Sage, the wild berry,
the Quail, the wide open sky,
The Cottonwood thicket by the slow rolling river,
the Redbud and the hot cattle drive

Chorus

There were days filled with thinking,
    nights with the drinking
    for a lost love that raged like a storm
But how his eyes smiled when he’d talk to a child
    the rough hands so gentle and warm

His strong arms were brown
    where the long sleeves rolled down
    on his faded blue cotton shirt
When times got hard he’d go out in the yard
    and cuss away some of his hurt

Chorus

Now the garden’s grown dusty, the handaxe lies rusty
the door’s banging hard in the wind
Grandpa’s store is closed down, like most of the town
and it won’t be open again

And the big white car sits out in the yard
of the house he built solid and true
But I see his eyes burning tonight
like the stars in the sky he once knew

Chorus

Far-Off Shore

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Watching the sea ‘til his day’s work is done
The boatman rows to the setting sun
Catching his oars in the silver sea
He leans on the wind as you lean on me

Where the edge of the sea turns from blue to green
There’s a far-off shore that we’ve never seen

When the moon comes up in your sea-green eyes
And we sail away in the deep dark night
I can’t tell where you leave off and I begin
Love is just a way of breathing out and in

Chorus

So cast away and both shall row
There’s no telling how long or where we will go
Rock on the water, race with the sun
Follow your stars as they shine one by one

Chorus

Father Sky

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I left him when the leaves
    had first begun to fall
It was the eagle’s flight
    that carried me away
How we talked all through the night
    and loved in the morning light
Burned the sweet grass
    the cedar and the sage

        Father Sky and Mother Earth
             won’t you sing him your song
        Grandfather Sun
             and sweet Grandmother Moon
        Tell him please not to cry
             the long nights are slipping by
        Winter’s almost gone
             Springtime’s coming soon

In our eyes we saw the lights
    from a thousand tepee fires
And in our hearts
    we heard the beating of the drum
How our dreams were like the stars
    shining in the night
And our love
    was warmer that the rising sun

Chorus

He’s waiting there for me
    up the canyon in the trees
Where the river runs
    all the winter long
And when I’m far away
    I hear him in the wind
Calling me back home
    where I belong

Chorus

Feel So Good Inside

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I was walking down a city street
    on a shady afternoon
With the trucks and buses all hurrying by
    I couldn’t get away too soon
Suddenly I heard a sound
    it hit me from behind
It was a man singing in a yellow van
    “I feel so good inside!”

        I feel so happy just to be alive
             I feel so good, so good
        I feel so good inside!
        I feel so happy just to be alive
             I feel so good, so good
        I feel so good inside!

Well you know I smiled, what could I do
    he took me by surprise
And he made the sun shine a little bit brighter
    and he opened up my eyes
He kept on singing as he drove away
    with the window open wide
And I laugh every time I think of him
    and I feel so good inside!

Chorus

It was just an ordinary day
    nothing special to recall
With the usual ups and down
    that happen to us all
But it took that man in the yellow van
    to make me realize
We’ve got to pay attention to the little things
    that make you feel so good inside!

Chorus

Fire In The Wind

Words by Kate Wolf

Late at night
    as I lie here in my bed
I can almost hear your voice
    and those last words you said
You said the stronger love will run the race to win
    and move across a heart like fire in the wind

In the trees
    the leaves are curled and dry
The air grows thick and silent
    and the sun is riding high
You said “Everything is waiting for our love to begin”
    and your eyes looked right through me like fire in the wind

Fly Away

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Well you said it would be easy
    a place where you had been
Just grab the rope and climb the tree
    and swing out in the wind
And you know I must be crazy
    it’s the hardest climb I’ve made
But here I go jumping off
    about to fly away

        Fly away, spreading out my wings
             Fly away, riding high again
        You got me up a tree, out on a limb
             Just to fly away, listen to the wind

You showed me an oak tree
    standing there so tall
You know I’ve seen a thing or two
    it’s seen it all
Seen the seasons come and go
    that made its branches bend
Held the rope for those who go
    riding on the wind

Chorus

And yes I guess I see that freedom
    is waiting in the wind
I’ve taken all the rope I’ve got
    I’m jumping off the end
Riding with the swing
    ‘til I touch down again
Letting go to go
    riding on the wind

Chorus

You got me up a tree, out on a limb
Fly away, listen to the wind

Friend of Mine

Words by Kate Wolf
Music by Kate Wolf, Nina Gerber & Ford James

Friend of Mine I can’t undo the wrong
I could have given so much more than just these crazy songs
I walked down by the river and I thought of you today
You always seemed to understand the words I couldn’t say

But when we’d sing together those country harmonies,
I never heard a sweeter voice come so easy and so free

Friend of Mine at times you were so wise
With the sweet ways of a playful child and sorrow in your eyes
You came riding through, but your heart made you stay
I could use some of your honesty now that you’ve gone away

I can feel your footsteps walking here with me
I never heard a sweeter voice come so easy and so free

Friend of Mine singing to me now
I wanted to say I cared, I didn’t quite know how
Now driving on these dusty roads where we spent so many days
Your songs wrap close around me like the heavy summer haze

The coast of California holds me like your melodies
I never heard a sweeter voice come so easy and so free

Full Time Woman

Words & Music by Alice Stuart

Well I hear you’ve got a full time woman now
    does she love you like I never could
Yes and does she try to understand you, babe
    does she help you like I never would
I can feel my insides shaking, dear
    I know your heart is aching now
You’ve got to set me free
    ‘cause I’d do it for you, come on now
Do it for me

You say you would love me, you say you’d
    take good care of me if I’d come home
And yes, I guess you know you mean the words you say
    I’d like to’ve heard them once before I’d gone
But you know just as well as I do
    after all that we have been through now
You’ve got to set me free
    I’d do it for you, come on now
Do it for me

You must know I do love you
    the things you’ve done for me I never could forget
You gave me love and understanding, babe
    the kind I never knew before we met
And you helped me in so many ways
    every step of every day, but now
You’ve got to set me free
    I’d do it for you, come on now
    I’d do it for you, come on now
    I’d do it for you, come on now, babe
Do it for me

Give Yourself To Love

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Kind friends all gathered ‘round
    there’s something I would say
That what brings us together here
    has blessed us all today
Love has made a circle
    that holds us all inside
Where strangers are as family
    and loneliness can’t hide

        You must give yourself to love
             if love is what you’re after
        Open up your heart
             to the tears and laughter
        And give yourself to love
             give yourself to love

I’ve walked these mountains in the rain
    I’ve learned to love the wind
I’ve been up before the sunrise
    to watch the day begin
I always knew I’d find you
    though I never did know how
But like sunshine on a cloudy day
    you stand before me now

So give yourself to love…

Love is born in fire
    it’s planted like a seed
Love can’t give you everything
    but it gives you what you need
Love comes when you are ready
    love comes when you’re afraid
It will be your greatest teacher
    the best friend you have made

So give yourself to love…

Give yourself to love…

Golden Harmony

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You sounded tired and happy
    such a long awaited joy
Proud of momma resting easy
    and a healthy baby boy
All the roads and the hard times
    came full circle by and by
Hard years fading with the sound
    of a baby’s first made cry

        You who touched my life
             and made me try my melodies
        I’m so happy for you now
             and your woman in her hour
        Of golden harmony

All the silver strings
    you ever picked so free
All the songs from a loving heart
    you sang so openly
All the pictures of the things
    you wanted so much for us to see
They can’t match you now
    in your father’s honesty

Chorus

Like the building of a bridge
    for a crossing high above
A life once split apart
    was built again by love
Like the hawks in the rolling hills
    playing in the wind
The new life brings the old ones
    full circle once again

Chorus

Goodbye Babe

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

My life keeps changing, like a cloudy day
You brought me sunshine along the way
Now I find our love is fading like the early morning light
So I’ve made up my mind to say goodnight

        Goodbye Babe, I know you’ll do fine
             We had everything going, except enough time
        We never were together long enough to know
             How we might have made it or where we could go
        So goodbye

And there’s nothing else, Honey, that I can do
    Except to tell you I once loved you
And we’ll make better friends, than lovers
    And in trusting me, you might trust another

Chorus

Great Love Of My Life

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Great love of my life, how I feel you here beside me
Watching the clouds turn red at the close of day
And you know I think about you as the sun goes down
And you’re far away

Great love of my life, I see your face before me
As the day goes fading into night
And it’s all that I can do not to want you here beside me
In the firelight

Great love of my life, you know it isn’t easy
Saying goodbye to the good times that we knew
But the hard times came and took us where we never thought we’d go
And left us broken, me and you

Great love of my life, the flames are leaping higher
Talking to me in the quiet, empty room
So happy and so sad with the twisted pain of love
That left too soon

Remember the time we stood laughing like small children
Caught in the rain and they took our photograph
With our arms around each other and our eyes on fire
Looking out at the rain running off our hats

Great love of my life, the first time that we touched
    We were so hungry it took us by surprise
And it never changed all the years we were as one
    We tasted it all; we paid the price
    And we paid the price

Green Eyes

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Every night we light the candle
    that stands beside our bed
Sometimes the flame’s too much to handle
    that’s what you said, that’s what you said
And you should know
    Because you built a fire in me and you made it burn
You followed me, watching every move
    matching every turn

        Your green eyes they don’t miss a thing
             They hold me like the sun going down
        Warm me like a fire in the night
             Without a sound

You were waiting ‘til I heard
    Just as patient as that lovelight in your eyes
You never threw away a word
    or ever talked in a disguise
I ought to know
    You were a beacon to a sailor lost at sea
I saw it in your eyes when you looked at me
    so openly

Chorus

The first time I ever saw your laughter
    break loose inside and tumble out to me
My heart knew it had found what it was after
    and it came so easily
We should know
    After all the years of the hard and heavy times
Now our days go by like best friends’ story lines,
    yours and mine

Chorus

Green Hills

Words by Kate Wolf

Green hills in my dreams
the spirit is coming so it seems
Time for us to slip away
to the highway

Green hills before me
city streets behind
Blue sky overhead
country memories cross my mind

I saw them in my dreams last night
maybe you were there
Were you a child in the field
running everywhere

And do you remember
it was not so long ago
One day you left your cares behind
and to the green hills you did go

Guess I’m Just A Coward

Words by Kate Wolf

It seems so simple now
    looking back on yesterday
If only I’d seen it then
    like I do today
But there’s no way to change things
    at least that’s how it lays
I guess I’m just a coward
    saving for a rainy day

Seems like I’m always leaving something
    I never tried to find
Heading out of town
    leaving it behind
Seems I always get to feeling
    I really should have stayed
I guess I’m just a coward
    saving for a rainy day

Seems I’m always looking back
    at the places I go to
Never seem to stay too long
    after I catch up with you
There’ve been so many times
    when I turned and walked away
I guess I’m just a coward
    saving for a rainy day

Here In California

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

When I was young my mama told me
she said “Child take your time.
Don’t fall in love too quickly,
before you know your mind”

She held me ‘round the shoulders
and in a voice so soft and kind
She said, “Love can make you happy
and love can rob you blind”

        “Here in California
             the fruit hangs heavy on the vine
        And there’s no gold
             I thought I’d warn ya
        And the hills turn brown
             in the summertime”

Now I may learn to love you
but I can’t say when
This morning we were strangers
and tonight we’re only friends

I’ll take my time to know you
I’ll take my time to see
There’s nothing I won’t show you
if you take your time with me

Chorus

It’s an old familiar story
an old familiar rhyme
To everything there is a season
to every purpose there’s a time

A time to love and come together
a time when love longs for a name
A time for questions we can’t answer
though we ask them just the same

Chorus

Hurry Home

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I wake up and you’re here beside me
I fall asleep in your loving arms
You have made my life so happy
I count the minutes when you’re gone

In the early spring we planted a garden
Watched it grow in the summertime
Now the fields stand brown and empty
Leaves blow down the mountainside

        It’s now that the rain is falling
             And the leaves turn red and gold
        I miss you most, can’t you hear me calling
             Oh love of mine, won’t you hurry home

I will give you gold, I will give you silver
Give you my word that this love is true
Give you anything just to make you happy
If I could spend my life with you

Chorus

I Don’t Know Why

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You’re not the sweetest man that I ever knew
And I don’t pretend to understand everything you do
There’ve been nights I’ve lain awake — without you
And I don’t know why I should love you
But I do

You’re not the kind words come easy to
Sometimes you turn away and it’s hard to be with you
And I get confused and wonder what to do
And I don’t know why I should love you
But I do

Well, you’ll always have a heart that’s partly wild
    And I’ve seen you be as foolish as a baby child
And you’ve got that crazy, stubborn strength in you
    And I don’t know why I should love you
But I do

I Never Knew My Father

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It was twenty‐five years ago, when I began my life
The second child of a woman, who tried hard to raise us right
She married a man, when I was just a babe
Who treated me just like his own, even giving me his name

        I never knew my father, I only knew his name
             I never knew the way he moved
        How he talked, or what he said
             Now I’m grown and my mama says,
        ʺYou’re like your daddy, just the sameʺ

Sometimes I got to wondering, about this man I never knew
    When I’d find myself into something, just the way he used to do
Heard stories all my life, of how he loved to sing
    And how he would take apart and fix most anything

Chorus

Now I can’t say that I don’t care, that he died before I was born
    I get to asking why he did, and I’ll probably ask some more
My life’s been good, I can’t say that I’ve had it bad
    But now I’m seeing years that my dad never had

Chorus

I Thank My Lucky Stars That I Found You

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I’m a little worn out on the cover
    been up one side down another
    looking for a little peace of mind
So many years so many changes
    life settles down and rearranges
    everything leaving things behind
Listening to that lonesome highway whine

        Lost some things I didn’t want to lose
             chose some things I didn’t want to choose
        Looked for a love that left me feeling blue
             now I thank my lucky stars that I found you

You’ve been around I realize
    I know that sadness in your eyes
    you understand the things that I’ve been through
Maybe I can make you smile
    maybe make it all worthwhile
    maybe give some loving back to you
Maybe I’ll hang up my traveling shoes

Chorus

When I was a kid I used to dream
    of a castle with a king and queen
    and a magic star that could make your wishes
    come true
And all these years I’ve traveled ‘round
    times I’ve tried to settle down
    with nothing but that dream to see me through
Now they’ve let me straight here to you

Chorus

You’re better than any dream I had
    and I’ve had the good ones and the bad
    I never thought I’d find someone like you
You got a mind on fire with a heart of gold
    it feels so good to hold
    I want to spend a lifetime holding you
Just loving all the good things that you do

Chorus

I Woke Up Dreaming

Words by Kate Wolf

I woke up dreaming you were holding me
    and I felt your arm against my breast
And the world was so warm and sleepy then
    as if the hands of time were laid to rest
In my dreams you were lying here
    warm and soft beside me too
I leaned back into your arms
    and felt your breathing and the warmth of you

In my dreams you were so close
    I could smell the very scent upon your skin
You fill me up with deep desire
    and I close my eyes to bring you close again
I can close my eyes and see you clearly
    your hair falling softly in your face
I feel my very heart will burst in two
    and I tell you now - no one can take your place

I’m Hurting Since You Went Away

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I’ve always been the one who’s leaving
no regrets for it all
But I found out I’ve never been left
and never had so far to fall

        I can’t eat, I can’t sleep
             I can’t even talk
        Nothing that I can say
        It’s so cold at night
             nothing feels right
        And I’m hurting since you went away

I’m hurting like the songs I’ve been singing
never known love could be wrong
Know you won’t call but I just wait the same
and nothing is right since you’ve gone

Chorus

In China or a Woman’s Heart
(There are Places No One Knows)

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

She got it from her captain when he sailed around the horn
Bringing gifts from China to their Oklahoma home
There were fancy silks and carved wood chests from the places he had gone
She kept them all until she died but this was her favorite one

        Just a little box all covered with blossoms white as snow
             Chinese red and made of brass that he gave her long ago
        Like the red dirt Oklahoma hills and the springtime flowering trees
             That she kept with all the love they shared inside her memories

She kept it on her dresser filled with gold and silver rings
Necklaces of turquoise beads and other things
It filled her heart with the mystery and the magic of the day
When he gave it to her for her own in his quiet loving way

Ten years they spent together he’d come home and then he’d leave
And one day while she waited he disappeared at sea
No one knew how she’d call his name to the silent rocks and stones
Or how she’d sit and hold that little box so she would not feel alone

Chorus

She never was a dancer or wrote a fancy line
The treasures of her life were the things she left behind
They buried her without them where the prairie grasses grow
In China or a woman’s heart there are places no one knows

Chorus

They buried her without them where the prairie grasses grow
In China or a woman’s heart there are places no one knows

In Loving You So Long

Words by Kate Wolf

Your curly head beside me
    has turned from gold to grey
And many years have passed, love
    since our wedding day
And the night is growing closer
    when I’ll wake to find you’ve gone
But that’s the chance I’m taking
    in loving you so long

For the better and the worse, love
    we’ve known each other well
Everything’s familiar
    there’s nothing more to tell
And now the leaves are turning
    on the pages of our song
But that’s the price I’m paying
    in loving you so long

It Ain’t In The Wine

Words & Music by Lee Slaff

Turn up the bottle
    pour down the wine
Forget about this moment, Lord
    think about some better time
And leave the bar at two o’clock
    and walk on down the line
It’s another night just spent alone
    with them old blue lights and wine

        Them old blue lights
             they serve as sad reminders
        Of the love I’m not
             sure I’ll ever find
        And each night
             the bartender’s just a little bit kinder
        Well I guess he knows
             the troubles on my mind

Long ago the happiness
    came once in a while with wine
But now the wine no longer brings it, Lord
    I drink it all the time
And why do I go on living
    with all this hurt and crying
I’ve searched for an answer all my life
    but it ain’t in the wine

Chorus

Tag: Yes, I guess he knows
it ain’t in the wine

Jenny Wind

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Her father was a man who knew no fences
her mother was a woman of the trail
But Jenny Wind was born into a new world
when the white man came

Jenny was taught the old ways
and she learned to speak her father’s tongue
When she died, she was one of the last ones
and the earth covered up her bones

Jenny Wind was born a wild thing
a sister to Coyote and the sun
But they gave her a dress of calico
and they named her Jenny Wind

But the white man’s ways, they followed her
she was buried ‘neath a marker made of stone
And on her grave they carved her pretty name
“Here lies the Indian, Jenny Wind”

        Bridge: But they say her soul flies free
        caring for the weary and the lost
        In the forest deep and quiet
             all around the grave of Jenny Wind

I met Jenny on a summer night
walking in the Placer County hills
I stumbled on her grave in the forest there
so all alone and still

I wondered if she cared that I found her
lying so hidden and alone
I wondered who she was before they named her
“The Indian, Jenny Wind”

The silence grew til it touched me
and held me like the words upon the stone
And for the first time I was afraid
I would not find my way home

I ran from her as the night grew darker
I dropped my glasses and I took a fall
Lost and blind, somehow I found them
lying folded on her grave so small

        Bridge: And I believe that her soul flies free
        and it cares for the weary and the lost
        In the forest deep and quiet
             all around the grave of Jenny Wind

Just An Angel Band

Words by Kate Wolf

If I had my way I’d be singing a song
if I had my way you’d be singing along
Just an angel band with an angel song
and lots of singing all year long

If I had my way you’d be here too
if I had my way I’d be singing with you
Just an angel band and an angel song
and lots of sunshine all day long

If I had my way there’d be enough to eat
if I had my way we’d be off the street
Just an angel band and an angel song
and lots of singing to help us along

If I had my way the family would grow
if I had my way you know it would be so
Just a family band and a family song
and lots of singing all year long

If I had my way I’d have a song to sing
if I had my way I’d make the heavens ring
Just an angel band with an angel song
and lots of singing all year long

If I had my way there’d be peace tonight
if I had my way we’d be feeling right
Just an angel band with an angel song
and lots of singing all year long

Just Another Picker In The Band

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Once again you walk in
    and stand against the wall
And I’m surprised to see you
    though I thought that you might call
The music starts and weaves the tales
    of all our growing years
You see me laughing on the stage
    but I’m smiling through my tears
We never had it easy
    words just got in our way
You’d try to talk to me
    I could only turn away
But we’ve said more than lovers do
    with all their mystic rhymes
The love, the anger and the pain
    we’ve played between the lines

        Now I’ll try to tell you somehow
             and I hope you understand
        That you never were just another
             picker in the band

Do you think that I don’t know
    how the songs tear you apart
Do you think that I don’t hear your silver
    strings ring in my heart
I’ve got friends who know my tunes
    and sing in every key
When I listen to them play
    I hear your melody
In the middle of a song
    I watch you walk away
And I don’t know if you’re going
    because you cannot stay
No and I cannot read your mind
    but still your feelings show
It’s hard to be here with you
    but I hate to see you go

Chorus

Kate’s Song

Words by Kate Wolf

Traveling around, singing from town to town
spending each day in a different place
If I could be here more, I’d be standing at your door
looking for that smile on your face

You are a friend of mine and it makes me feel so fine
to hear how you’ve been doin’ while I’ve been gone
So tell me all the news, I’ll take off my traveling shoes
but you know I won’t be staying long

I left my longtime home because I felt I had to roam
to let my soul and spirit learn to fly
Someday I’ll settle down and quit this ramblin’ ‘round
but there’s so much more I want to do before I die

KVMR Radio Song

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It sits on a shelf
    or rides in your car
Sometimes you can take it
    wherever you are
It’s silver and shining
    with numbers that glow
Almost everyone’s got one:
    an old radio

You’ll hear your neighbors
    and news about town
Learn about things
    you might never have found
It’s there in the morning
    it’s there in the night
It’s there when you need it
    if you treat it right

        KVMR
             it’s the station you own
        If you want to help
             then pick up the phone
        She’s up in the mountains
             she’s up in the stars
        Eighty-nine point five FM
             KVMR

There’s music and stories
    and lots of good times
There’s news they won’t print
    and the new poet’s rhymes
It runs on your money
    it runs on your time
So tell her you love her
    and send in your dimes

Lately

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Lately in the afternoon I’m crying over you
    Though everything still seems just the same
And lately there’ve been questions in this heart of mine
    That don’t bring any answer but pain

        And Honey, I can’t tell if it’s you or me
             Or both of us that need to change
        And if I thought that you could see it too
             We might find the good times once again

Lately in the morning I love to be alone
With the words that come into my mind
And lately you’ve been seen coming into your own
But what is it that you’re trying to find?

Chorus

And lately in the evening I’m feeling better too
    Though there’s still a lonely feeling down inside
And lately I’ve stopped listening to all the kind advice
    The way is getting clearer all the time

Chorus

Laugh Like That

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Laugh like that
    and the whole world laughs with you
Such a sweet surprise
    when it comes rolling out of you
Your smiles are like the sun
    they warm you when you’re blue
Laugh like that
    and I’ll fall in love with you

Laugh like that
    and make me warm inside
And you make me want to dance
    through the windows open wide
See the morning’s clear
    we’ve got a sunny day
Laugh like that
    and you chase the clouds away

Laugh like that
    you make me happy too
Now how could I still be sad
    standing next to you
And everything you say
    all the things you do
When you laugh like that
    I fall in love with you

Laugh like that
and I’ll fall in love with you

Lay Me Down Easy

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Sitting in the sunshine
    Trying to sing the blues away
Wondering why they came
    And how long they’ll stay
Picking out a little tune
    I never heard before
Yes and wishing you were here
    — at the door

        Won’t you lay me down easy
             Lay me down easy in my mind
        ‘Cause babe, I’ve got the blues
             And there’s something you can do
        You can lay me down easy in my mind
             In my mind

Well babe, you know how it is
    When you wake up feeling old
You wonder if you’re doing
    What you should
And everyone around you —
    They can’t read what’s on your mind
And they might not want to
    If they could

Chorus

Now the seasons of my life
    They go turning through the days
I’ve seen bitter winters
    Come and go
And here I am in sunny times
    Not feeling like I could
And wondering when the winds
    Will start to blow

Chorus

Legend In His Time

Words & Music by Cyrus Clarke & David West

Some folks think that this life ain’t worth living
    some folks think that life is just a lie
You can take so much from a man
    he’ll give you all he can
When he’s had enough
    he’ll just one up and die

        He was a legend in his time
             I don’t know the reason why
        When he’d sing a song
             you know I’d like to cry
        Now he’s on the other side
             standing on God’s golden shore
        Singing country music for the Lord

Now a singing life was all he ever wanted
    but a travelin’ life can make a man feel tired
Lay your fortune on the line
    twenty-six ain’t past your prime
Now the angel band
    has one more for the choir

Chorus

Some folks think that this life ain’t worth living
    but if you have a song to sing you’ll last awhile
And we’ll hear his songs again
    coming in on a hickory wind
Grievous angel right beside him
    one more mile

Chorus

Leggett Serenade

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Chopping wood in the rain
the axe swings up and falls again
I watch you move so smoothly in the dance

Listening to the hollow sound
of splitting logs as they hit the ground
I’d build a fire for you if I had the chance

        Let the chips fall where they can
             I’ve tried my best to understand
        Why we stand out here in the rain
             in our anger and our pain
        Afraid to feel the love
             that’s in our hands

Love that was so strong
stopped you short when it came along
Sometimes I wonder why you ever stayed

‘Cause when you turn away
and save yourself for a rainy day,
Love grows weak and then it starts to fade

Chorus

In the winter’s wet and cold
some people change and some just grow old
The years go by in spite of what you do

I’d like to lay you down
and turn your twisted head around
But babe, there’s really nothing that I can do

Chorus

Life Could Be So Easy

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Life could be so easy
    if the loving weren’t so hard
A heart given freely
    wasn’t meant to be on guard
And the joy that living brings you
    love worries for it’s own
And life could be so easy
    if the heart could find a home

Love could be a keeper
    you might not think it so
I’ve seen it burn so brightly
    it melted fallen snow
Life lights the fire
    but love feeds the flame
When the loving’s easy
    the living is the same

Life is a teacher
    she’s not afraid to fail
But love she’s a healer
    not a fighter or a jail
Life deals from the bottom
    love holds the winning card
And life could be so easy
    if the loving weren’t so hard

One without the other
    is like the house built on the sand
One day it will crumble
    and slip right through your hands
If life’s worth the living
    love’s worth the pain
‘Cause when the living’s easy
    the loving is the same

Life could be so easy
if the loving were the same

Like A River

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It’s high on a mountain the warm winds are blowing
And where the winds are blowing to, there ain’t no way of knowing
The mountain grass is short, it’s dry and close to burning
Crying out for water as the season’s turning

        The sweet smell of the pines, the tall western cedar
             Drifting on the wind through the mountains
        Like a River

I’ve been too long away from this wild open sky
On the concrete trails that wind through the canyons dark and wide
With the sounds of people talking in words of blue and grey
Smells of doors and windows closed against the day

Chorus

Now the dust lies thick and heavy where my feet are falling
There’s nothing but the sound of the jaybirds calling
My mind grows dry and thirsty as the memories linger
Drifting on the wind through the mountains
Like a River

Chorus

Lines On The Paper

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

In an outdoor café you drew my picture, drinking coffee all alone
I looked up and I caught you staring, at a picture all your own

        Tell me, what are you seeing?
             Do you think that I’m alone?
        And do those lines upon your paper
             Say I’m someone that you’ve known?

Well I wonder what you’d do if I told you, that I’m a painter just like you
I paint your picture with these words, instead of brushes like you do

Now it’s a writer or a painter, who can take a stranger home,
Captured in the lines upon the paper in a picture or a poem

        Do you see what I’m seeing?
             That you’re another one alone
        And do these lines upon my paper
             Say you’re someone that I’ve known?

Links In The Chain

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

She was willing to go ahead
when other people were afraid
Remembered by the questions that she raised
Does the name Karen Silkwood
mean anything my friend
She was another link in the chain

        Just another link in the chain
             in the chain
        Just another link in the chain
        It’s the truth growing stronger
             and the voices speaking louder
        That makes us links in the chain

Who took the children from the mines
the young women from the mills
When the bosses turned to look the other way
It was the rebel voices
raised high against the wind
That fought for the rights we have today

Chorus

It’s the questions and the answers
the knowing and the why
The standing up to the wrong things that we see
And it takes more than one
before the battle’s done
Someone else who’s not afraid to be

        Just another link in the chain
             in the chain
        Just another link in the chain
        Down through history
             it’s been the same my friend
        They’ve been links in the chain

Alternate First Verse:

Willing to go ahead
when other people were afraid
Remembered by the questions that they raised
Some dead and some in prison
for the things that they believed
They were links in the chain

Live And Learn

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You had your reasons for loving me
you had your reasons for changing me
And you kept on fighting what I was trying to be
and now you wonder why I’m no longer me
And all I can say is live and learn

Another woman once let you down
it took a while but she was finally gone
Then you kept waiting til someone came along
tried to love her but it still went wrong
And all I can say is live and learn

Well looking back a little farther
I could have been just a little bit smarter
And tried to see what you were after
there might have been a little more laughter
But all I can say is live and learn

You kept fooling with my mind
and I admit I wasn’t always kind
Still we thought we’d left the games behind
but there’s something we’re still trying to find
And all I can say is live and learn

Lonesome And Restless

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It’s just after midnight
    I’ve turned off the last light
    and laid down beside you to sleep
And there in my dreams
    you’re laughing it seems
    at something that’s just not right
‘Cause I can’t sleep
    there’s thoughts that come creeping
    rolling across my mind
With you here beside me
    I’m yours if you try me
    ‘cause I’m lonesome and restless tonight

        Lonesome and restless
             I’ll give you the best
             of my love if you’ll just hold me tight
        With you here beside me
             I’m yours if you try me
             ‘cause I’m lonesome and restless tonight

The hours keep passing
    I don’t feel like asking
    I’ll wait ‘til sleep finally comes
And it turns off my mind
    with some old worn out line
    that holds me until the night’s done
‘Cause I can’t sleep
    these thoughts that come creeping
    weaving across my mind
With you here beside me
    lord I’m yours if you try me
    ‘cause I’m lonesome and restless tonight

Chorus

Looking Back At You

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I never wrote a song for you that touched me like you do
We’re in this together now, now we’re finally through
You always wanted it to feel that way and you gave it all your heart
But I didn’t know my mind and it kept us far apart

        Now I see in your eyes
             The love I always knew
        (But) for the first time in a long time
             It’s in me —
        Looking back at you

When you let me go like I said I wanted to
The farther I went away the closer I felt to you
Now we both sit here crying like we never could do before
And the best part of it all is not lying to you anymore

Chorus

Wipe away the tears; it’s funny how love’s done
Just when you let it go it comes back on the run
And if I can give you anything to take along with you
It’s all the love I found looking back at you

Chorus

Love Still Remains

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I went home to a place I swore I’d never see again
Lord, it’s different now; there’s hardly anything that hasn’t changed
And the friends I’ve known have grown and moved away
But the love I felt for you still remains

        It remains
             It blows down the dusty streets and rides the falling rain
        And rolls like a tumbleweed out on the open range
             The love I felt for you still remains

I walked down past the buildings standing empty and unused
Where you asked me one more time if I’d stay, and then you cried when I refused
That was long ago, I moved away and I changed my name
But the love I felt for you still remains

Chorus

I could say that I always thought you’d be there when I came
But you wanted more and I could say the same
Now I’m leaving like the whistle on a lonesome boxcar train
But the love I felt for you still remains

Chorus

Lundberg Rice Song

Words by Kate Wolf

Where the chicory blooms by the side of the road
west of the Feather River Canyon
In the Sacramento Valley where the rice fields grow
the little town of Richvale is still standing

It’s hot and it’s sunny and the air is so clear
the soil is rich as there’s plenty of water
More than 50 years ago farmers followed the dream
they came and saw the land and they bought her

        And they’ve learned to build the soil
             and the soil grows the plants
             and the circle goes from one to the other
        Plant rice in the spring, harvest in the fall
        Plant vetch to feed the soil and turn it under

The farmer’s hands tend the soil and his heart loves the land
and he plants more for the love than for the money
And some days turn sour like the fruit picked too soon
and some days are as sweet as the honey

Working with the sun, the water and the wind
growing brown rice from the short grain to the long
Making friends with nature, she helps him when he tries
she fights him when he’s doing something wrong

Chorus

Medicine Wheel

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

When the morning breaks and the sunlight warms my soul
    In the East the Eagle flies and the Red-tail proudly soars
I’m on my way
    to the place of the spirit one
Grandfather hear me now I am on fire
    Let the Sundance guide my feet to your desire
Show me visions for my eyes
    the words like gold that shimmer in the sun

Hy-ah, hy-ah, hy-ah

When the sun goes down and it grows too dark to see
    I look within to the shaman’s mysteries
I’m on my way
    to die and live again
Grandmother Earth I cry give me rest
    I take my place with the woman in the West
Show me the Raven and the Bear
    the way of herbs and the black obsidian

Chorus

Turn toward the South like the water I will run
    In innocence and trust, the moonchild’s song is sung
I’m on my way
    to the place of the sacred plants
My emotions and my will at their command
    Where the Turtle’s voice is heard upon the land
Where the wise Coyote prowls
    the Rattlesnake will call me to the dance

Chorus

In the deepest night the stars watch over me
    Old woman of the North, my mind seeks clarity
I’m on my way
    to the place of the northern winds
Let the thunder and the lightning carry me
    Lay my thoughts to rest and send me into sleep
With the Hawk and the Buffalo
    my dreams white crystal, magic medicine

Hy-ah, hy-ah, hy-ah, hy-ah, hy-ah

Medicine Woman

Words by Kate Wolf

Medicine Woman
    Did you hear a voice calling out your name?
Medicine Woman
    Now you know your life will never be the same
Going North on the Rainbow Warrior’s trail
When the spirit calls you, you can’t fail
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman

The Marriage Basket
    Woven from so many women’s dreams
The Marriage Basket
    Beware the power that isn’t what it seems
It came to you as in a vision
Now you must reclaim it for all women
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman

She comes to guide you
    She comes to teach you what she can
Of how the power of woman
    cannot be taken by the man
You’re a sacred heart in a sacred space
Find your strength and take your place
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman

Medicine Singer
    Keeper of the stories read in stone
Rainbow Mother
    What you see, you see alone
Give away what you have learned
How you feed the fire and don’t get burned
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman

Medicine Woman
    Did you hear a voice calling out your name
Medicine Woman
    Now your life will never be the same
You’ve always known that you know
When the spirit calls you you must go
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman
    Medicine Woman

Midnight Flyer

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

In the dark I hear the whistle
    the rumble of the cars
The lonesome midnight flyer
    past the last night bars
Pulling sixty boxcars
    heading through our town
Tearing up the night
    with a long lonesome sound

It’s been a long year
    since I thought about the train
The Greyhound and the highway
    took me where I’ve been
Late at night I hear the sound
    the humming of the rails
The lonesome midnight flyer
    taking high wind in her sails

        Here comes the midnight flyer
             set your watches by her
        Wheels rolling
             coming in on time
        No one pays her no mind
             no one hears her crying
        ‘Cept some old man
             bumming down the line

Here comes the midnight flyer
    tell me how do you know?
‘Cause I heard her long whistle moan
    so soft and low
Wheels clicking on the rails
    in the stillness of the night
The engineer’s pulling cord
    until he gets it right

She’s rolling through the backyards
    the sleepers in the night
On the outskirts of town
    headlight burning bright
And she’s pulling sixty boxcars
    and another railroad bum
Who heard her whistle blow
    and caught her on the run

Chorus

Midnight On The Water

Words by John Croizat
Music by Benny Thomasson

There are times when I am blue
    thinking of you and me
At midnight on the water
    and how it used to be
There are stars among the trees
    in some old memories I know
At midnight on the water
    not so long ago

        Though they’re gone like floating dreams
             the scenes were there as in a mirror
        Made by the moon upon the water
             and our love was never stronger
        But the picture was broken
             by the waves we left behind
        At midnight on the water
             once upon a time

There are times when I am blue
    thinking of you and me
At midnight on the water
    and how it used to be
In the stillness of the lake
    where these thoughts take me again
At midnight on the water
    do you remember when

Chorus

Lyrics © 1976 Flyin’ Bayou (BMI)
Music © Wynwood Music Company Inc. (BMI)

Midnight Star (A Christmas Star)

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Let me tell you a story
    it happened long ago
When the pines were dancing in the wind
    on the Mendocino shore
The town lights were blazing
    there were parties everywhere
It was Christmas Eve
    and joy was in the air

In the dark and stormy night
    someone heard the sound
Of something breaking on the rocks
    and a big ship going down
Some said they saw a light
    some swore it was a star
That shone out there in the night
    although it wasn’t far

In the grey light of morning
    they walked along the sand
Finding pieces of the ship
    but no sign of her hands
Except a tiny pair of shoes
    and a woman’s ragged coat
That lay there at the water’s edge
    in the driftwood and the foam

Some said she sailed from India
    or the coast of Oregon
Some said by the size of her rigging
    it was some place far beyond
But why she sailed into a port
    closed down so long ago
Or if all on board were lost at sea
    no one seemed to know

The fire was crackling in the stove
    when he heard the wailing cry
Of a little baby in the night
    somewhere close outside
He grabbed his gun and he left the house
    he thought it was a cat
But he found a woman with a babe
    fallen in her tracks

She was cold her eyes were glazed
    her skin was ghostly white
He tried to make her speak
    she just handed him the child
And then she passed
    into that endless sleep
And he knelt beside her in the trail
    and he began to weep

Rushing home he stoked the fire
    and he bathed the weary babe
Its skin was brown as a hazel nut
    its eyes of greenest jade
In age it was about two years
    or maybe six months more
But he had the look of a wise old man
    who’d been this way before

And so he stayed and he filled the heart
    of the man that he called dad
And Shipwreck Star was the only name
    that boy child ever had
His mama she lies buried
    in the manzanita and the pines
Where the wild azaleas bloom
    in the fog bound summertime

Monday In The Mountains

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I’m looking out
    for the rainbow’s end
And I wonder
    if I’m ever gonna win
This crazy gambler’s throw
    I’ll hold the dice and roll
Seven come eleven once again

And lord I’m tired
    of the way I treat myself
I’d like to leave
    these worries on the shelf
And go running with the wind
    back where the day begins
And the sunshine’s gold is the only kind of wealth

        Days like this
             the shadows gather ‘round
        I sit and watch
             that evening sun go down
        Thinking of the things I’ve done
             thinking how you’ve been the one
        Who gave the truest love I ever found

Now when your dreams
    will not let you rest
And lady luck
    she’s put you to another test
And you wonder if you’re wrong
    and if dreamers don’t belong
Listen to the ones who love you best

Muddy Roads

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

If I claim to have the answers
would I be taking chances
Loving you?
And if I could say the wind was right
I shouldn’t stay with you tonight
Who would lose?

        ‘Cause you got me dancing down these muddy roads
             with soft sand between my toes
        Feeling fine
        The sunlight playing on my back, shirt in hand
             Singing out in crazy rhyme

And if I could see around the bend
would it change the time I spend
Wanting you?
If I could bring you a perfect rose
from all the pretty buds that grow
How could I choose?

You got me dancing…

If I could count the days to come
and mark them off one by one
To spend with you

I’d be rich but never poor
I’d find myself with many more
Than I could use

‘Cause you got me dancing…

New Day Coming

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Get up
    the morning’s coming
And it’s time for you
    to raise your head
Get up
    the day is dawning
And it’s time for you
    to leave your bed

        Can’t you feel
             there’s a new day coming
        You can see
             the sun is on the rise
        It may be cold
             but the air is clear
        And this could be
             the day you fly!

How many times
    on a clear fine morning
Have you missed the chance
    to try again?
The sweet pain
    of leaving your past
When you got it inside
    to let your life begin

Chorus

Get out
    see the life around you
Open your eyes
    and breathe the air
Being alive
    you’ve got wealth and glory
It’s up to you
    how much you share

Chorus

North Main Street

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Looking out my window
    what do I see
That old sun comes shining
    through the cypress trees
A big old ramblin’ house
    built long ago for someone’s wife
In the heart of the city
    living a mellow country life

Barbara’s in the kitchen
    she’s making lunch for Jill
Richard’s loading up the Ford
    for a trip into the hills
And Don’s out in the yard
    working on his car
And I’m sitting in this quiet room
    playing my guitar

Well I can’t call them my family
    ‘cause we’re not of common blood
When I think about going home
    this is one place I can come
Living on the road
    without a house to call my own
That door is always open
    it helps me feel I’m not alone

Well many nights we’ve gathered
    around the table in this room
Singing songs and talking
    and looking at the moon
A summer to remember
    when our time had passed away
It’s hard to think where we might be
    ten years from today

All around this country
    we’re all singers in one band
If you have a friend who’s traveling
    won’t you help him when you can
Share the things you’ve learned
    and he’ll tell you what he’s seen
Let your songs bring you together
    while you follow in your dreams

November Moon

Words by Kate Wolf

November moon in the sky high above me
with your light shining down through the trees
The nights have grown cold
the year’s grown old
November moon keep on shining on me

        November moon
             can you tell what I’m thinking
        November moon
             do you see what I see
        Somewhere tonight
             under your light
        The one I love is waiting for me

November moon, the trees turn to silver
and the cold valley night is so still
The long shadows fall
the coyotes call
And deer lie asleep on the hill

Oklahoma Going Home

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Another time I’m going home
    Down this road on my own
I see the trees and feel the sun
    Is this the time my traveling’s done?

        But Daddy, it’s been too long
             Since I’ve been grown and gone along
        How’re you doing, and how’ve you been?
             It’ll be awhile ‘til I’m here again

I see the house and the old wood shed
    I wonder how many friends are dead
Have you seen my boy, is he growing tall?
    How’s his ma, is she pretty still?

Chorus

The years have been good; I could be drinking less
    Out on the coast I’ve found it’s best
There’s been lots of singing and lots of pain
    But you know I’d live it again

Chorus

Some things haven’t changed, way out there
I still have my shotgun and my long hair
And the mountains and me are the best of friends
I’m still looking for a woman that really understands

Chorus

Old And Lonely Sound

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You’re an old friend
    who hasn’t let me down
And tonight I’ll call you
    and I’ll set this bottle down
‘Cause I got the old and lonely sound
    in my voice tonight
You’re the one I need to talk to babe
    you’re the one who makes it right

I’ve been staring through this bottle
    at my face on the wall
That stranger in the mirror
    don’t look like me at all
‘Cause there’s that old and lonely look
    in my eyes tonight
You’re the one I need babe
    you’re the one that makes it right

        I got the old and lonely
             you’re the one and only
        Staring through this bottle lord
             trying to see the light

I’d like to write you a letter
    just as plain as I can
Tell you that I love you
    but would you understand?
If I called you on the phone
    would you come to me tonight?
You’re the one that I need babe
    you’re the one to make it right

Chorus

I let this bottle come between us
    one too many times
But it was there to hold on to
    and it kept you off my mind
But there’s that old and lonely look
    here with me tonight
You’re the one that I need babe
    you’re the one to make it right

Chorus

Old Jerome

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Drinking early morning coffee
    talking with good friends
And walking
    the streets of rough cut stone
She was once a miner’s city
    now the ghost of a dying town
But there’s a fire
    burning bright in old Jerome
Some have come for fortune
    some have come for love
And some have come
    for the things they cannot see
Now the grass is green and growing
    where the gardens once had died
And the birds sing
    in the young ailanthus trees

And they say that once you live here
    you’ll never really go
‘Cause she’ll have
    a hold on you until you die
With her ground moving crazy
    her fierce wind blowing free
And her ruins
    standing proud against the sky
Houses cling to mountains
    like miners cling to dreams
They hold on so long
    and then they just let go
And this mountain she’s your mistress
    you’ll ride her ‘til you fall
And wash down
    to the valley far below

        There are stories they tell on Cleopatra
             There are stories that never can be told
        The wind and the rain sing their mountain lullaby
             The copper shines like Arizona gold

And her walls stand strong and silent
    staring out with empty eyes
Like beggars
    blind and lame that do no harm
With their empty rooms that hold
    the old town’s memories
And their doorways
    that reach out like empty arms
In the streets the children play
    climbing up the crooked stairs
And lovers touch
    and turn to go back home
And the sounds of hammers echo
    in the once forgotten halls
And hope stirs
    in the heart of old Jerome

        The moon shines bright on Cleopatra
             Where the mines lie sleeping far below
        The wind and the rain sing their mountain lullaby
             The copper shines like Arizona gold

Only A Dream

Words by Kate Wolf
Music by Bill Griffin

I’ve been around, I’ve been a dreamer
I’ve been a singer with a lonesome song
And I’ve seen the troubles of broken lovers
I’ve seen some restless nights of my own

Just the other day, walking to the corner
I thought about you, I thought about me
And I thought of the way, I love to hold you
And I thought of you crying in your sleep

        But it was only a dream
             Just a dream that made you cry
        And didn’t anybody tell you
             It was only a dream, and not goodbye

There are dreams, that make you happy
I’d love to show you how one goes
Because the bad times are all behind you
I can’t explain it but I know

That it was only a dream...

Love, the longest nights fade into springtime
And winter’s sun turns warm and bright
Let me see you smile and know I love you
This time your dreams will turn out right

Pacheco

Words & Music by Robin Williamson

Purple clouds turn scarlet
    in the setting sun
Where sagebrush turns to live oak
    and the whitetail run
The air is cool as music
    when the day is done
And God paints the sky above Pacheco

Driving all day up the San Joaquin
Turn west again, up through Pacheco

Through the blue hills back of Santa Cruz
    we’re rolling fine
Where redtail hawks go circling
    like the ways of time
And lovers and friends will meet again
    ‘round red Sonoma wine
When God calls the night above Pacheco

Chorus

Peace Carol

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

And now the carols
    have been sung
The presents passed from hand to hand
    the wrappings all undone
The children play like children everywhere
    they just want to live
But it’s not what we have
    it’s what we give
Christmas time reminds us
    another year has come and gone
    and now we must carry on

        This we know:
             all things are connected
        And the stars that shine on me
             are the stars that shine on you
        Millions of stars, millions of stars
             one earth

Some are rich
    while some live in misery
And so we light the candles
    and raise the Christmas tree
The mountains sleep beneath the silent snow
    the sun shines on the shore
The earth is with us still
    a time of hope once more
We wish you all
    a Merry Christmastide
    and it’s peace that we must find

Chorus

Let go of fear
    and lay down the gun
If for just this Christmas night
    let the world know it is one
We all are different in so many ways
    but we are the same
Children of the sun
    keepers of the wind and rain
Someone has to be the first
    to say no more walls
    or life on earth will fall

Chorus

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Words & Music by Jack Tempchin

I like the way your silver turquoise lays
against your skin so brown
And I want to sleep with you in the desert night
a million stars all around

        I’ve got a peaceful, easy feelin’
             I know you won’t let me down
        ‘Cause I’m already standin’
             on the ground

I found out a long time ago
what a man can do to your soul
But he can’t take you anywhere
you don’t already know how to go

Chorus

I’ve got a feeling I may know you
as a lover and a friend
But there’s a voice whispering in my other ear
that I may never see you again

Chorus

        ‘Cause I’m already standing
        I’m already standing
        I’m already standing on the ground

Peyote Song

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Once a generation tested
came again the spirit rain
The streets talked wisdom under fiery skies
and we went with buttons begging

On the California beaches
as pillbox fury roared
Long hair bleached by sun to smokey glaze
so we went to buttons begging

In the circle’s fire dance
to light without within
Southern songs come flowering once again
as we came to buttons begging

Picture Puzzle

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I’m picking up the pieces, trying to fit the holes
in this picture puzzle you left me long ago
The hardest puzzle that I can see
just a pile of little pieces that makes no sense to me

        ‘Cause we were together, now we’re apart
             I’m picking up the pieces of my heart
        I thought my heart would mend, and babe, you know I’ve tried
             But the picture on the cover doesn’t match the one inside

I’m holding the pieces, not knowing where to start
    with this jigsaw puzzle you’ve made of my heart
A pretty picture puzzle should fit so easily
    but the picture that you left me doesn’t match the one I see

        ‘Cause we were together, now we’re apart
             And I’m picking up the pieces of my heart
        The puzzle looked so easy ‘til we tried to play the game
             The pieces fit together, but the picture’s not the same

Verse I

Chorus I

Pirates In The Wind

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The pilot says we’re coming in
    that the landing’s just ahead
But I’m chasing my shadow
    turning ‘round instead
The plane’s climbing over the water
    like a seagull leaving dry land
Playing in the night sky
    like a child in a wonderland

        Oh if you could see the far-off horizon
             where the mountains run down to the sea
        And the water’s shining like jewels
             for pirates whose treasures are free

Take the turns a little steeper
    you don’t have to be afraid
He pushed down on the rudder
    as he took his hands away
And now we’re climbing in the night
    between the mountains and the sea
And I feel just like a bird in flight
    happy to be free

        And in the dark my senses are on fire
             oh how I feel my smile burn
        And I want to climb again
             and take that steeper turn

Pull back on the stick
    she’ll lift so easily
Bear down a little harder
    turn her out to sea
And this pilot’s dressed in leather
    with seal fur to his chin
And he’s smiling at me knowingly
    as I take that turn again

        Oh and I have seen the far-off horizon
             and the ships sailing down below
        Playing in the wind like me
             with treasures in their holds

We’re over land the pilot said
    you can touch her down
Look for the lights ahead
    lying straight along the ground
But first you must cross over
    check that the runway’s clear
Take her up and circle ‘round
    if it’s not right to land her here

        Oh look ahead to the far-off horizon
             the sun still lights the evening sky
        Though the mountains have grown darker now
             we’ve time enough to fly

What have you learned the pilot asked
    as we taxied to a stall
Taking the turns steeper
    doesn’t mean you’ll fall
‘Cause the plane will hold herself level
    constant as she spins
And she holds a special place inside
    for pirates in the wind

1st Chorus

Poet's Heart

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I wrote to you somewhere in South Australia
A Poet's Heart in the eye of a hurricane
I struggle with finding words to sing these days, I said
As if my thoughts are waiting in the wings for the stage to clear

        And you in your elegance and humor fill the room
             Your love and your concern
        Your anger at the injustice of man’s narrowness and fear
             I thank you for being here

You wrote of love from the coast of Mendocino
A Poet's Heart crying a fighter’s tears
The children of your body spread out across this earth
Like messages written across time measuring the years

Chorus

I heard your songs reach out to California
A Poet's Heart locked in the Coeur d’Alene
Of the old men and the booze, singing out the truth in lives
Of forgiveness and loyalties to friends, constant as the endless railroad ties

Chorus

So here we are joined finally by our words
All poets’ hearts close though far apart
I remember how you said that language is a knife
That spreads what we feel across the dry crust of someone’s heart

Chorus

Pushing

Words by Kate Wolf

Pushin’, shovin’
    trying to get to heaven before they’re ready
Pushin’, shovin’
    trying to change minds before it’s time
    Why is everybody pushing all the time

Movin’, runnin’
    looking outside for all the answers
Movin’, runnin’
    afraid to stop and look behind
    Why is everybody running all the time

Fightin’, cheatin’
wanting everything that’s someone else’s
Fightin’, cheatin’
hard to believe people are so blind
Why is everybody fighting all the time

Lovin’, livin’
trying to let your brother live in peace
Livin’, lovin’
try to let the time flow naturally
Why are people rushing things all the time

Red Mountain Ranch

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

He sits in the kitchen
    in the early evening light
With a poster on the wall
    about the garden of life
She brings bread to the table
    and sits down at his side
After forty years he still touches her
    as if she were a bride

        On Red Mountain Ranch
             the red dirt fills your clothes
        You go to sleep with the setting sun
             and rise when the rooster crows

On hot summer days
    feedback ringing through the trees
There’s songs of life and freedom
    kids playing in the creek
He’s a potter and a dreamer
    he’s a builder and a sage
She’s his roots and his direction
    his partner on the stage

Chorus

There’s sheep and cows and chickens
    fat cats running loose
A dog hanging ‘round the house
    a pony named Jesús
Rattlesnake Alliance
    mourning doves and hawks
Stars that fill the night sky
    and castles made of rocks

Chorus

It’s written on their faces
    like the truth carved on a stone
A love for all God’s children
    the growing and the grown
Smiles that take you in
    food that feeds the heart
Words that reach to hold you
    when the miles keep you apart

Chorus

Riding In The Country

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Going riding in the country in a Model A Ford
Past the cows and the chickens, through the fields of corn
Out across the flat lands and the rolling hills
Feel the summer sun shining, hear the motor purr

And I’m just sitting on the front seat with two friends of mine
Going to the country sure makes me feel fine

Working in the country, cleaning up yards
    With a Model A truck you know it can’t be hard
Folks smile and pass us, walking down the road
    Going to the county dump with another load

Chorus

Hayfields are cut, harvest has begun
    Riding through the orchards in the morning sun
Good times in the country, can’t you smell the air
    Apples and apricots and plums to spare

Chorus

Down gentle roads with no white line
Like a pathway to another time
Old houses passing, front yards of flowers
I could ride in the country for hours and hours

Chorus

Right As The Rain

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You make me feel like a good book
    you’re a story that I’d read again
You make me feel for the moment
    that everything’s right as the rain
Everything’s right as the rain
    everything’s right as the rain
You make me feel for the moment
    that everything’s right as the rain

You make me feel myself living
    when I don’t know how I’ll survive
You make me feel myself loving
    darling you keep me alive
Darling you keep me alive
    darling you keep me alive
You make me feel myself loving
    darling you keep me alive

You make me see my weakness
    and leave me alone in my pain
You give me something I can cling to
    when I’m back on my feet once again
When I’m back on my feet once again
    when I’m back on my feet once again
You give me something I can cling to
    when I’m back on my feet once again

1st verse

Rising In My Eyes

Words by Kate Wolf

Like a clear running stream from me to you
I can feel your love come shining through
I can feel your heart as it speaks to mine
I can feel the joy rising in my eyes

Rising in my eyes like a candle glow
and it flickers brighter when the cold winds blow
When I grow weary and things go wrong
I can rest on your love and it makes me strong

And you make me smile like the morning sun
give me hope for the days to come
You shine so bright like the clear blue skies
I can feel the love rising in your eyes

I had to learn how much you mean to me
sometimes you’re blind when you think you see
I can see your love has made me want to try
I can feel the light rising in my eyes

Rising Of The Moon

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The rising of the moon
    on the Oregon borderline
Lights up the river’s edge
    and the wild blackberry vine
The sand beneath my feet
    is a cool silver grey
The moon dances on the water
    and then it sails away

        And I watch it sail away
             somewhere where the river goes
        Some love lasts forever
             just like the river flows

On the last day of July
    you sailed into my mind
We were riding down a river
    the wind blowing from behind
There were two great blue herons
    flying through the trees
Moving up the canyon
    so silent and so free

And I watched them sail away...

I hope the years are happy
    and the winters aren’t too cold
And that life won’t treat you badly
    I’d like to see you when you’re old
I’ll keep you in my heart
    like the crying of the loon
And wonder how you are
    at the rising of the moon

And I watched you sail away...

Rock Salt And Nails

Words & Music by Bruce Phillips

By the banks of the river
    where the willows hang down
And the wild birds all warble
    with their high lonesome sound
Down in some hollow
    where the waters run cold
It was there I first listened
    to the lies that you told

If the young men were blackbirds
    the young men were thrushes
I would lay by the hours
    in the cold rainy marshes
If the young men were squirrels
    with high bushy tails
I’d fill up my shotgun
    With rock salt and nails

Now I lie in my bed
    and I see your sweet face
The past I remember
    time cannot erase
The letters you wrote me
    were written in shame
And I know that your conscience
    echoes my name

Lord I lie here each night
    all alone and I weep
Nothing ain’t worse
    than a night without sleep
I walk out alone
    under the sky
Too empty to sing
    too lonesome to cry

If the ladies were blackbirds
    and the young men were thrushes
I’d lie there for hours
    in the cold rainy marshes
If the ladies were squirrels
    with high bushy tails
I’d fill up my shotgun
    with rock salt and nails

I’d fill up my shotgun
with rock salt and nails

© Scruggs Music

Rolling Sea Of Time

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Baby we are sailing
    on that rolling sea of time
Sometimes up, sometimes down
    but never in a line
Rushing with the wind
    or driven on the tide
Sometimes tossed along together
    sometimes one is left behind

You may feel you have a ways to go
    to where I’ve already been
I can see you’re showing me
    things I missed back then
Going in the same direction
    we see it different ways
Past the same inside landmarks
    but at different times of day

I’m trying hard to find out
    what’s real to me right now
And it’s clear the way you live
    you’ve thought about somehow
We can ride along together
    each one looking out ahead
Two sailors on one ocean
    with two maps inside our heads

If you ever get to feelin’
    that you’ve sailed too far from land
That time has stopped and you’re adrift
    without a helping hand
Just think about the wind
    and the way things move in time
How when there’s nothing you can see ahead
    something’s coming from behind

Safe At Anchor

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Here I stand alone again
    reaching out across the room
Quietly the sun’s gone down
    and sailors seek the harbor
Look at us sailing in
    decks awash but still afloat
And now the wind’s come up
    to rock us on the water

        Riding out the storm
             like a ship safe at anchor
        Waiting out the long voyage
             ‘round the Cape of Hope we’ll take her

In the calm before the storm
sunny days and smoother waters
When we hit the seventh wave
we found a line and caught her

Look into my eyes
let me see where you’ve been sailing
Like you I’ve felt the storm
and heard the wild waves wailing

Chorus

Steer clear of the shore
    the coast is rough and rocky
It’s the deepest channel that runs most true
    the brightest stars that mark her
Steady as she goes
    there’s no turning back the sailors
With the ship on course and the sea wind fair
    there’s no need to fail her

Chorus

San Geronimo Valley

Words by Kate Wolf

Driving west into the sun
where the road runs out to the sea
And the night sky paints a picture with the stars
Where Spirit Rock stands watching
over all the weary souls
And the cows and horses watch the passing cars

        San Geronimo Valley
             where the towns are small and sleepy
        The redwood trees stand along the creek
             and the sun and wind play freely
        I’ve been waiting such a long time
             for the touch of your hand
        And the sweet clear waters
             that run on this land

There’s a hummingbird trapped in the house
    how long I do not know
She beats her wings but her heart is beating faster
She looks at me as I wrap her
    in a soft kitchen towel
    As I set her free there’s a lot I’d like to ask her

And if I look I just might see
    that the shadows of my life
Have faded in the valley’s morning sun
The hills that rise around me
    and the place that fills my heart
    Lead me home to rest when the day is done

Scott’s Creek Bluff

Words & Music by Bruce Phillips

        Climb aboard, Janey, we better get rollin’
             The sheriff’s outside and this time he ain’t foolin’
        Hold on to the baby, in a few hours maybe
             We’ll camp by the ocean with folks of our own

Well the north coastal highway, it rolls on forever
Any jobs that need doing, any work you can use?
No, thank you kindly, we don’t need a hand-out
We pay our own way, it’s the life that we choose

Chorus

When there’s work in your county, you make us feel welcome
You treat us like neighbours, when there’s money to spend
But when the work’s over, you close down the campground
Your sheriff comes out, and we’re vagrants again

Chorus

And now in my mirror, your red light is flashing
Pull over, get down, in a voice hard as stone
The questions and searches, the cold ugly laughter
The fines that will take all the money we own

Chorus

Down on the beach, the wide surf is pounding
Behind us the redwoods play catch with the stars
Circled together our friends of the highway
In campers and vans, old buses and cars

Around the big fire there’s good food and music
’Til the long evening fades with a slow fiddle tune
In silence we linger, the bad times forgotten
And baby’s asleep ’neath our big silver moon

Chorus

© On Strike Music

Seashore Mountain Lady

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Down beside the ocean, the doorways face the sea
Looking out across the water on eternity
Down from the mountains, like the rolling tides
Comes the seashore mountain lady with the haunted eyes

        Can you tell me just how you came to be
             Living in the mountains by the rolling sea?
        Did you leave behind a shelter for your long hair blowing free?
             ‘Cause that’s what your eyes say to me

You sit there with your baby and you’re all dressed in blue
Wearing roses on your shoulders and mud-caked shoes
And you’re listening to the wind as it sings to you
From someplace down inside yourself as children often do

        Did you come here for the living that makes you try your wings?
             For tasting cold and hunger and leaving pretty things?
        Did you come here for someone who works with the land
             Who’ll reach inside your soul with his hands?

Living in the mountains by the rolling sea
You live with the wind always blowing free
That blows in the rain and bends the growing trees
And tears at your heart like a seashore mountain lady

        And she moves with the grace of the deer and the squirrel
             High in the mountains on the edge of the world
        With her haunted eyes turned toward the sea
             Her skirts wrapped around her and her hair blowin’ free

See Here, She Said

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The sun is sinking in the sea
    as she sings my life for me
A tapestry of children’s smiles
    wrapped in memories and miles
You’d better do the things you dream
    see here, she said, you know it seems
That children grow and lovers sleep
    and the time that’s left is yours to keep

Her song rises like the wave
    then falls and takes me far away
A sorceress on hammered keys
    her fingers play my destiny
See here, she said, you must believe
    see here, she said, look at your dreams
‘Cause children grow and lovers sleep
    and the time that’s left is yours to keep

It tears from her like a cry
    then soothes me like a lullaby
I can see her sing through half closed eyes
    see here, she said, dreams never lie
My dreams are visions on the wind
    and places I have never been

Pictures only I can see
    songs that sleep inside of me
See here, she said, you must believe
    see here, she said, look at your dreams
‘Cause children grow and lovers sleep
    and the time that’s left is yours to keep

Send It On A Rainbow

Words by Kate Wolf

There never were too many places
    that could hold you down
But for a time I thought you might
    somehow stick around
And I guess you tried in your way
    to live the life you should
But you never seemed to stay too long
    and I guess you never could

And the lady she still loves you
    you’re always in her heart
And she’s finally found a way
    to let you know
She’ll never hold you down
    to something you can’t be
So she’s gonna have to send it
    on a rainbow

Send it on a rainbow
    everywhere the sky goes
Anywhere you find yourself
    her love finds you too
The lady sends a rainbow
    a gift for when the rain goes
‘Cause the rainbow is a circle
    that brings her love to you.

Red is for laughter
    orange for the fire
Yellow waking up with you
    in the morning so alive
Green for all the places
    our roads took us through
Blue and purple for the nights
    you left me wanting you

Like a rainbow filled with light
    she’ll be there with you
Sometimes more
    than you will ever know
You’ll think that she’s forgotten
    the love you tried to give
And then she’ll go
    and send you a rainbow

Send it on a rainbow
    everywhere the sky goes
Anywhere you travel
    her love travels too
The lady sends a rainbow
    a gift for when the rain goes
‘Cause the rainbow is a circle
    that brings her back to you

September Song

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The wild geese flew overhead in Pennsylvania
I thought of a few choice words I ought to send you
And you know if I thought it was right
I’d pretend that you were here with me tonight

The ghost of a frontier lady walked through the tall rooms
Of an old Ontario farmhouse under a full moon
And we sat in the kitchen all night
Drinking good whiskey until the morning light

        Did you ever think I would go
             Out on this road you told me I would take
        So long ago?

On a Roanoke back road, laughing beside a cold stove
We sang for old black Francis & Bessie, songs about true love
All the songs I ever knew
Came back to me and brought me back to you

The leaves were turning, we felt the summer passing
Knowing things were changing, even without asking
Like a photograph faded in time
In a cabin lost in the Blue Ridge mountain pines

Chorus

Now the wind is blowing cold across the bay
And Massachusetts seems so far away
From the California tides
The rolling hills and roads I used to ride

So I’m leaving in the morning, seeing faces
Of friends I leave behind in all these places
And though I’m coming home
I’m not coming back to California all alone

        Yes, you always knew I would go
             Out on this road you took yourself once
        So long ago

Shadow Of A Life

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

There’s an owl flying from the south
heading north from the Superstition Mountains
Gone like the shadow of a life
fading in the dark surroundings

        While we who travel on the rim
             seeking love and finding understanding
        Go safely on our way
             the shadows lengthen in the canyon

Into this world everything is born
all colors come together
And we take our place on the sacred hoop
and when we go we leave forever

        And those who travel on the rim
             seeking love and finding understanding
        Go safely on their way
             as the shadows lengthen in the canyon

Like the shadow of a life
we are formed by the rising sun
And like the owl our spirit flies
to say goodbye when our day is done

2nd Chorus

1st Verse

She Rises Like The Dolphin

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

She rises like the dolphin with the sea wind in her eyes
The sunlight casting shadows like a painter’s palette knife
Her hair fans out around her, floating like a crown
She plays on the water and lets it pull her down

Sometimes she swims in moonlight with the stars high above
The night sounds of the water speaking soft of love
Her skin turns to velvet as she feels the waters glide
She loses all her boundaries on this magic carpet ride

You see ripples on the water and watch the shadows dance
Then she’s diving down and you’re looking through a glass
Like a one-way mirror her reflection’s far below
And where she was, she isn’t now; that’s all you really know

Two swimmers in the water, one of silver, one of gold
One below the surface, one reaching for a hold
One floating freely, one trying not to drown
A dreamer with two faces, a dolphin and a clown

If you think you’ll hold her in a shallow pool
Or catch her in a waterfall, you’re thinking like a fool
She’ll strike for the horizon like a ship out to sea
Leaving just illusions that look like memories

She wears the water like a mask, a brand new suit of clothes
A player on the stage, an actress no one knows
See her roll and tumble, falling like a clown —
A swimmer in the water that runs from higher ground

She Was Born To Be A Singer

Words by Kate Wolf

She was born to be a singer
she was born knowing how to cry
She was born to have so many love her
she was born knowing she would die

She was born to be a dancer
she was born knowing how to fly
She was born to move like thunder
she was born to the sky

She was born to be a healer
she was born with the sorrow in her eyes
She was born knowing about answers
she was born knowing about lies

She was born to be a dreamer
she was born to make her true love cry

Shining!

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Oh love, it’s your blue eyes turning to black
Shining down on me as I lie here on my back
And that lovelight shines deeper than even I can see
It makes my heart glad it’s shining down on me

        Shining in the morning, shining in the evening
             Shining in the summer, and the winter too
        Makes me sing with a glad heart, sing in my sorrow
             Sing for those blue eyes that burn so true

I’d like to wrap you in my blankets, yes, and ride that morning train
Lie warm and soft beside you, listening to the rain
Rolling down the valley on its journey in the wind
And watch that light of love come shining down again

Chorus

You get that look in your eyes, love it’s something I can’t name
I’ve seen that look before just not on something tame
It’s a little lost and lonely, a spirit burning free
That makes my heart glad it’s shining down on me

Chorus

Sitting Here With You

Words by Kate Wolf

Sitting here with you, we could be alone
    you know what I mean
We’re not touching but you’re close to me
    and the distance isn’t what it seems
We’ve talked before about who you are
    I haven’t forgotten what’s been said
It’s just so good to be here with you again
    to fit so easy in your head

I’ve loved some others in my life
    there’s no one I’ve known so well
I may not be an answer for you
    but if there’s any way I can help
I’ll hold you when you’re feeling cold
    make you laugh when you’re feeling old
And I’ll come to you when you’re all alone
    stay when the good times are all gone

You may not believe what I’m sayin’
    but babe, that’s up to you
It’s a long life ahead to be alone
    and there’s nothing I’m trying to prove
I’ll hold you when you’re feeling cold
    make you laugh when you’re feeling old
Come to you when you’re all alone
    be a friend when your other friends are gone

Sitting On The Porch

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Up before the dawn, watching the sky
    Waiting for everything to wake
Noticing the clouds moving along
    Don’t you know a fine day’s about to break

        Can’t you feel the sun and can’t you feel the day
             Don’t you know that everything’s gonna be OK
        Can’t you feel the time and won’t you be a friend of mine
             We’ll sit on the porch and watch the morning going by

There’s nothing I’d rather do than sit right here with you
    Watching the morning going by
Singing country songs, now won’t you sing along
    Don’t you know it’s a fine way to get high

Chorus

We may not be here long, the night is bound to come
    And who knows what roads we have to choose
But you know that when our morning comes again
    We can meet here and celebrate the news

Chorus

Slender Thread

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

She’s weaving him a pillow full of dreams
Soft winter wool and summer fleece
With the colors of the berries that grow among the hills
Strands of cloudy gray and deep blue indigo

And she sits beside the open door in the evening sun
Combs the carded wool in her lap, her long hair all undone
Talking to the one she loves, as she weaves the hand-spun yarn
Like a web around her there to keep her safe from harm

She dances in his heart like a feather
So fine the threads that bind the souls together

She’s weaving him a pillow for his head
Sometimes the strongest love hangs by such a slender thread

He always loved to sing those country songs
About his mountain home and love gone wrong
That one about an old friend riding with the highway signs
But his favorites were the ones he could play between the lines

He would sit on her porch in the evening light
With his guitar in his hands singing to the night
Weaving pictures in her mind with every single word
But the songs he wrote for her were the only ones she heard

She had his drifter’s heart on a tether
So fine the thread that bound the souls together

She loved to hear him sing that’s what she said
Sometimes the strongest love hangs by such a slender thread

See him lying there with broken bones
And a child’s smile on a man full grown
If he’d gone just another inch by now he would be dead
At times a life can hang by such a slender thread

He can only thank his stars for another day
And then he has to choose to live another way
But he can’t ask her how this time, she’s already said
That fine line that you walk is just a slender thread

She knows his heart can be as tough as leather
So strong the threads that bind the souls together

But still he counts the scars inside his head
Sometimes the strongest love hangs by such a slender thread

She’s weaving him a pillow for his head

Some Kind of Love

Words & Music by John Stewart

Some kind of love is like gold
And that is the hardest to hold
Cause it catches the eye of each thief passing by
Some kind of love is like gold

Some kind of love starts as friends
And that kind of love never ends
For it comes on as slow as a flower in snow
Some kind of love starts as friends

        Some kind of love, some kind of love
             Everyone’s looking for some kind of love
        Some kind of love, some kind of love
             Everyone’s looking for some kind of love

Some kind of love comes too soon
But tat kind of love heals your wounds
When your wounds are all healed and you’re back on your wheels
You say that kind of love came too soon

Some kind of love tears your heart
When you knew it was wrong from the start
Ah, but try to explain a moth to a flame
Some kind of love tears your heart

Chorus

Some kind of love never dies
That is the hardest to find
Through the laughter and rage it mellows with age
Some kind of love never dies

Some kind of love is like gold
And that is the hardest to hold
It catches the eye of each thief passing by
Some kind of love is like gold

Chorus

Song For Johnny

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

When you come home again my friend
no matter how long it may be
And when you find your journey’s end
you can find some peace of mind with me

Being alone in a strange place is hard
you lose some feeling deep inside
But think ahead to when you can return
and find your friend’s arms open wide

Yes and when you’re feeling that you’re all alone
that nobody cares about you
Just remember all the times when someone else felt the same
and you helped carry them through

1st Verse

Springfield Mountain Coal Miner

Words & Music by Cyrus Clarke

My brother was a Springfield Mountain coal miner
    he had three young children and a darling wife
But last night there was rumble on the mountain
    shaft number three came down and took his life
    shaft number three came down and took his life

Thirty miners died down in that cave-in
    thirteen times we’ve brought the wagons down
There’s twenty graves we’ll be digging in the churchyard
    ten more in the mountains underground
    ten more in the mountains underground

        Lay down dear brother
             daddy’s gonna take you home
        Mamma’s right behind you
             to take you home
        Where the cold wind blows

And my sister was a coal miner’s daughter
    my daddy was a coal miner’s son
My family’s lived and died on this mountain
    down in the ground where the sun don’t ever come
    down in the ground where the sun don’t ever come

One more year I’ll be ready for the coal mine
    one more year and I’ll be going down
But every night when I pass by that mountain
    I cry to see my brother underground
    I cry to see my brother underground

Chorus

Statues Made Of Clay

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Well I saw a man today
    and he looked like you
And I found myself
    staring like a fool
Til he turned
    and I had to look away
‘Cause he was just
    a statue made of clay

        Statues made of clay
             so pretty and so cheaply made
        But they don’t weather well
             like the strong granite stone
        They crumble and they leave you all alone

Now I’ve been on the road
    a country singer with a band
Playing all the honkytonks
    and the one-night stands
But I think about you
    when you’re far away
And this road seems like
    a statue made of clay

Chorus

Now you and I
    we’ve been through the hardest times
There’ve been lonely nights
    and days without a dime
But my love for you
    grows stronger day by day
‘Cause you’re not just
    a statue made of clay

Chorus

Steady As A Rock

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I wrote you a letter that I never mailed
    tried to call you on the phone but I failed
I miss you in the quiet night
    it’s lonely here and I don’t like
    to be so far away
I wonder what it’s all about
    why loving you should make me feel this way

I’ve been changing though I know it’s hard to see
    ‘cause there’s so much I keep inside of me
But looking back to where I’ve been
    I don’t want the things I wanted then
    I’d give them all away
Loving you’s the only thing
    that I’m really certain of these days

        Steady as a rock you hold me
             in the shifting sands
        Give me shelter from the wind
             a place where I can stand
        When my feet grow tired
             and the day slips through my hands

So take my hand and tell me it’s alright
    that I wake and want to hold you close tonight
‘Cause in my deep confusion
    when there is no resolution
    and my head is spinning ‘round
You always seem to find a way
    to help me get my feet back on the ground

Chorus

Stone In The Water

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Now babe, is that you crying ‘cause I’m not lying next to you?
That sun going down sure makes this lonesome town thirty shades of blue
Here in Minnesota, waiting out the summer’s hottest night
I think about you walking on the beach at home and I know you’ll be alright

You’ve been calling on the telephone, spending all those hours alone ‘cause you wanted to
And writing letters every night, it seemed right to say whatever came to you
Go down by the water and make a wish for you and me
And watch the shorebirds running in as the tide goes running out to sea

        Throw a stone in the water
             Bless the son and daughter of this rolling ocean shore
        Love waits to guide us safely home once more

People walking with their dogs, stacking driftwood logs to make a fire
As the sea pulls at the sun the day flies on the run before the night’s desire
Love is all around you as the day falls fast asleep
But all that I can send you now is a love that’s only yours to keep

Chorus

Streets Of Calgary

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

There’s a bad storm moving in
    across the prairie sky
The clouds roll like thunder
    the lightning splits the night
I’m alone with your memory
    the darkness and the pain
The trees are trembling in the wind
    I heard the falling rain

And oh sweet Maggie Lee
    do you remember me
I used to be your sweetheart
    out by the rolling sea
I came here to this prairie town
    when the stakes were running high
Now the boom’s gone bust the works played out
    the money’s running dry

        Every day I walk the banks
             of the ice-fed river Bow
        And watch the river running east
             that’s where I’d like to go
        I’ve seen the streets of Calgary
             I’ve known a prairie sky
        I’ve made and lost a fortune
             since I left and made you cry
        And now I wonder why

And you said I should have stayed
    we might have settled down
But the western plains they called to me
    and took me from your town
There’s not a thing that I can do
    to stop this falling rain
But if ever I can find a way
    I’ll hold you once again

        Every day I walk the banks
             of the ice-fed river Bow
        And watch the river running east
             that’s where I’d like to go
        I’ve seen the streets of Calgary
             I’ve known a prairie sky
        I’ve made and lost a fortune
             since I left and said goodby
        And now I wonder why

Sweet Companion

Words & Music by John McNicholas

There are times
    that I remember well
There are times
    that I remember well
On the road, beneath the pines
    time to kill

And there are places
    where I’ll return sometime
There are places
    where I’ll return sometime
Colorado, Oklahoma
    friends of mine

There are faces
    that often come to mind
There are faces
    that often come to mind
Familiar faces, gentle eyes
    better times

I’ve seen mornings
    that remind me of you
I’ve woke to mornings
    that remind me of you
Blue sky mornings, uncloudy days
    think of you

Sweet companion
    mountain meadows now are green
Sweet companion
    mountain meadows now are green
And if you want
    we can go in love again

And if you want
we can go in love again

Sweet Love

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Sweet love, don’t deny me just a hand to hold
    I may not always be the one who sees
I find myself blinded from time to time
    Reaching out for someone who can take the lead
And in my weariness I’ve tried to cry
    Although my eyes are dry, I’ve cried inside

Sweet love, let me lay myself beside you
    And listen to your breathing ‘til it slows
Long enough to dream a vision of my life
    Wrapped up in the gentle wind that blows
A vision of a life lived long ago —
    I see it, though the lights are low

Sweet love, like the leaves that fall
    The scenes go drifting by my eyes
And I remember holding you
    Telling you that it would be alright
You know the road looked straight ahead
from far away
    But it turned into a blind curve
    and I’ve lost my way today

Talk To Me

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Talk to me
    I can’t stand to see you cry
And if words don’t come easily
    who’s to blame you if you try
Sit down here and let me hold you
    like I used to do
I promise that I’ll let you go
    when you want me to
You’re looking pale
    like it’s been winter for so long
And is that the rain I hear
    that keeps falling like a song
But I didn’t come to spend the silence
    there’s some things I’d like to know
Talk to me
    then I’ll go

I can take it
    if you’re straight with me
‘Cause I’ve already cried those tears
    and kept those memories
And yes I’ve found another life
    it gets better day by day
There’s a lot I could tell you
    if I could find a way
You’re watching me
    to see if I still care at all
I’m right here where you left me
    with my back against the wall
But I’ve learned some things about myself
    since you said goodbye
I do know that you’re gone
    but I don’t know why

So talk to me
    and I’ll be going out the door
Just this once let’s try to be
    the friends we were before
Dry your tears and look at me
    let me see you smile
Remember I’ll be leaving
    in a little while
‘Cause I can see that things have changed
    it’s true for me
And I don’t want to hurt you anymore
    that’s hard for you to see
You told me you don’t love me
    and I can see it in your eyes
But talk to me
    and try to tell me why

Telluride

Words & Music by David West & Cyrus Clarke

On my way to the Telluride sawmill today
    I thought of an old friend who’d long gone away
He took to traveling when he turned seventeen
    and I stayed at home with the family
A collector of dreams was my old friend
    he talked about the times yet to come
But I took to working at the Telluride sawmill
    and I’ve been there since I turned twenty-one

        And the river keeps rolling
             past the south county line
        I’d love to roll with it
             but I’ve run out of time
        The days roll by
             like the logs at the river
        And I know I ain’t getting no younger

We were kids growing up in the Rockies
    when the mountains were young and so free
He was my friend and my equal
    though in years he was younger by three
We grew up in the usual fashion
    never wanting to grow up at all
Then I found a family and he found the rails
    he left on the train for St. Paul

        And the river keeps rolling
             past the south county line
        I’d love to roll with it
             but I’ve run out of time
        The days roll by
             like the logs at the river
        And I don’t often think of my old friend

Mr. Preacher can you give me an answer
Lord, I can’t go on this way
I’m getting old and I don’t feel so good
have I just been wasting my time

Tag: Telluride, Telluride
have I just been wasting my time

Tequila & Me

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The telephone’s ringing, the radio’s singing
    A song I know much too well
As I pick up the phone, here all alone
    Who’s calling, I really can’t tell

        ʺHello out there, you know I was just thinking
             about you and I thought I would callʺ
        But he can’t see, it’s Tequila & Me
             Spending the night with the walls

And I figure he’s thinking how far I’ve been sinking
    And I can’t say I really care
Cause I’m here all alone, with the walls and the phone,
    Drinking my way to somewhere

Chorus

Tequila’s my friend, she comes now and then
To stay ‘til the long night is through
There’s more where she came from, more of the same one
That’s more than I can say about you

Chorus

The Ballad Of Weaverville

Words & Music by Jim Ringer & Mary McCaslin

Well I’ll tell you ‘bout a gambler, folks,
    Jim Weaver was his name
And I don’t know where he came from
    but gambling was his trade
Ride in here close beside me
    and I’ll tell you about a game
The damnedest game in all my years
    I ever did see played

Some said they’d seen him play before
    down on the Barbary Coast
He said that might be true enough
    ‘cause he’d gambled all around
And he lost his stake to a jack-high straight
    out at Sutter’s Fort
But he’d saved a little poke in case
    of a game within our town

        And a lady loves a gambler
             running loose, running free
        I felt a tremble deep inside
             when I turned around to see
        He was looking hard at me

Now the game was set in daddy’s tent
    an honest man you know
And all the boys in town were set
    to take Jim Weaver’s gold
‘Cause digging gold is hard work
    and panning is too slow
And I saw Jim Weaver smiling
    at some little private joke

Well by midnight he had all the gold
    that the boys in town had saved
And they never caught him cheating
    though they watched him all the while
He never lost a single hand
    in any game he played
And he never lost a dollar, boys
    and he never lost his smile

        And a lady loves a gambler
             smiling free, smiling wide
        I knew I wouldn’t rest
             til I was smiling by his side
        Smiling as we ride

Soon all the boys were busted flat
    but they wanted still to play
So they asked Jim Weaver what was left
    to gamble in the game
He said he’d cut high cards one time
    and if he lost he’d pay
But if he won they had to swear
    to give the town his name

And he told my daddy he would bet
    ten dollars on the side
And I could be my daddy’s stake
    if I would so agree
And I rode out of Weaverville
    next morning as his bride
And I left the town that bears the name
    of the gambling man and me

        And a lady loves a gambler
             if he cheats all the same
        And no one saw me slip to him
             the ace that won the game
        And gave the town our name!

The Eggplant Song

Words by Kate Wolf

Every morning I wake up
    and stumble to the radio
Turn on the country music
    and the Ed LaFrance show
And then into the kitchen
    where the coffee pot is cold
Lord, I’m tired of dirty dishes
    and I’m tired of living alone

Yesterday’s coffee
    and I’m out of cigarettes
If a man can live on eggplants
    I ain’t met him yet
Think I’ll call up the morning DJ
    and ask him to play me a song
‘Cause if a man can’t live on eggplants
    then I know my time ain’t long

Hello morning DJ
    you say this is Ed LaFrance?
You sound like a man who would understand
    so I thought I’d take a chance
Since you asked, I’m home alone
    staring at my coffee cup
And some moldy eggplant sandwich
    is coming to eat me up

And it’s yesterday’s coffee
    I’m out of cigarettes
And a neighbor bringing eggplants
    is all the company I get
Well I’m hungry for loving and apple pie
    and someone’s pretty face
And I’m awful tired of eggplants
    stacked all over the place

The Heart

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

There is a heart locked in a box of pain
    Wanting so long to be free
And wanting more to be in love again
    Not believing anyone can turn the key

        There is a story that’s been told before
             Of a good love that went bad
        And of one who gave so much he gave himself away
             And left the heart so empty and so sad

Friends who come to feed the heart
Are turned away by the walls within
The heart grows more lonely in its box of pain
It gives love but it cannot take it in

        Here is the strongest heart that anyone has known
             Locked up so long and going blind
        And in its darkness it does not see
             It could break out any time

There is something that always seems so clear
    From the outside looking in
When the heart is empty and it cannot feel
    Let someone fill it once again

Chorus II
It could break out any time

The Hobo

Words & Music by Hugh Shacklett

And he sits beside the fountain
    with his head bowed down, don’t look around
At the grey steel and the concrete
    a man has never known a colder home
With fifty cents for burgundy,
    a paper bag that holds a change of socks
    and a bible that’s too poor to hock

And I looked into his eyes
    they were blue like mine I recognized
The hollow sunken feeling
    like some work of art they painted
To hang upon the wall
    as we gathered round to praise the honesty
    of one man’s lonely misery

        And every heart that ever broke
             one man’s dreams a heavy load
        That died from an overdose of on the road
             sits all alone...

I gave the man some money
    and wished him well as my eyes fell
To his feet, the bottom of a body
    wrapped up inside such ragged clothes
That I felt like a millionaire
    with little more, but rich, so rich in love
    and no one gives a damn for him

And I hope that he finds Jesus
    or a bed tonight, or another drink
I’d take him home but you see now
    I don’t live alone
And even if I did
    some other reason would make me think
    of the places that I must go

Chorus

And maybe if he got a shave
    and washed the blood off of his face
And changed his suit, he’d be some use
    to this country, this prosperity
But he’s bleeding in his soul
    they haven’t found a cure for that you see
    except for maybe burgundy

Chorus

The Lilac And The Apple

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

A Lilac bush and an Apple tree
    were standing in the woods
Out on the hill above the town
    where once a farmhouse stood
In the winter the leaves are bare
    and no one sees the signs
Of a house that stood and a garden that grew
    and life in another time

One spring when the buds came bursting forth
    and grass grew on the land
The Lilac spoke to the Apple tree
    as only an old friend can
Do you think, said the Lilac, this might be the year
    when someone will build here once more?
Here by the cellar, still open and deep,
    there’s room for new walls and a floor

Oh no, said the Apple, there are so few
    who come here on the mountain this way
And when they do, they don’t often see
    why we’re growing here, so far away
A long time ago we were planted by hands
    that worked in the mines and the mills
When the country was young
    and the people who came
    built their homes in the hills

But now there are cities, the roads have come
    and no one lives here today
And the only signs of the farms in the hills
    are the things not carried away
Broken dishes, piles of boards,
    a tin plate, an old leather shoe
And an Apple tree still bending down
    and a Lilac where a garden once grew

The Minstrel

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The minstrel to my side has come
    and stirs old memories
Like the winds of time I remember well
    his haunting melodies
Seems like I’ve been thinking
    too much of myself
For a country lady’s heart grows tired
    and calls it something else

        Won’t you play that tune
             that held me in those days
        When I was singing to myself
             and you had gone away

You were younger then
    with the morning in your eyes
And a little bit of madness
    which I too recognized
How you would knock upon my door
    and I would let you in
We had foggy San Francisco nights
    and those warm Sonoma winds

Chorus

They ask me if I know you now
    I don’t know what to say
It’s been so many years
    though it seems like yesterday
But I remember clearly
    the magic in your songs
That held me til I could not speak
    in those hours before the dawn

Chorus

So here we sit together now
    like strangers and like friends
And maybe what seems new tonight
    is how the story ends
You can’t cry the rain away
    and you don’t have to try
I heard you say that long ago
    but I never asked you why

Chorus

        Won’t you play that tune
             of coming back to stay
        I can’t quite recall the words
             they just drift away

The Old Street Singer

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You old street singer
    some call you a bum
Sitting on a park bench
    soaking up the sun
Singing to the children
    and the people passing by
With a bottle in a paper bag
    a banjo at your side
Anyone would know you
    if they’d take the time to look
Underneath those ragged clothes
    they’d read you like a book
They’d see it in your eyes
    the corners of your smile
There’s more to this old street bum
    than too many dusty miles

Sometimes that hotel room
    must get so very small
A bed and a chair
    and memories on the wall
In a city full of strangers
    far away from times
You’ve made that banjo ring
    across a picket line
You go downstairs
    and out on the street
Sit there waiting
    for everyone you meet
Some they ignore you
    some they ask you why
Some they dance to the tune
    you’re playing to the sky

Passing through a city
    one day you’ll see him there
Stop and listen to his tunes
    let him know you hear
Put a dollar in the box
    that sits there at his feet
Tip your hat to the man
    who’s singing in the street
‘Cause if you stop and listen
    you’ll hear it every time
Melodies around you
    the rhythms and the rhymes
In the stares of passing strangers
    questions of the young
The barking of a stray dog
    and the memories of a street bum

The Redtail Hawk

Words & Music by George Schroder

The Redtail Hawk writes songs across the sky
    There’s music in the waters flowing by
And you can hear a song each time the wind sighs
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California

It’s been so long, love, since you said goodbye
    My cabin’s been as lonesome as a cry
But there’s comfort in the clouds drifting by
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California

A neighbor came today to lend a hand
    He saw I’d fixed the road as best I can
But there’s just some things that need a man’s hand
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California
    In the Golden Rolling Hills of California

Verse I

The Trumpet Vine

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

The trumpet vine grew in the kitchen window
    And bloomed bright orange on the wall
You sat in the morning light, holding a guitar
    As the first summer rain began to fall

        Like the gentle raindrops
              your words fell in the air
        Making things so clear
               as we quietly sat there

It reminded me of other times you had come before
And brought a song or just walked in through the kitchen door

Now it seems the truest words I ever heard from you
Were said at kitchen tables we have known
‘Cause somehow in that warm room, with coffee on the stove,
Our hearts were really most at home

        Sitting at a table
             looking hard at you
        Catching up on stories
             of the things we’d tried to do

It seems we really said the most when we didn’t talk at all
Let the songs speak for us like the sunlight on the wall

Now as we come and go, in sunshine and in rain
Some years are seen more clearly than the rest
And if it weren’t for kitchen songs and mornings spent with friends
We all might lose the things we love the best

        I can see you sitting there
             beneath the trumpet vine
        The sunlight through the window
             in the kitchen in my mind

You came when you were needed, I could not ask for more
Than to turn to find you walking through the kitchen door

The Wind Blows Wild

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I woke up to the sound
of the wind blowing wild
Crying like a warning in the night
Crying like a warning in the night
If you would save a friend
if you would serve your own
Rise up in the morning with the light
Rise up in the morning with the light

        Rise up in the morning
             and hear the sisters call
        The brothers are standing at the door
        They say one spirit leads you
             they say that all must go
        The wind blows wild on the shore

Now listen to the sound
of the years going down
It’s fifty blowing in the wind
Fifty years blowing in the wind
The memories just fade
into a bright parade
How many times did you see him
How many times did you see him

        Did you see him
             he was there to wave to you
        All those times you’ve needed him before
        You say this one shall lead you
             he knows we all must go
        The wind blows wild on the shore

        Bridge: Nobody’s fool, everybody’s clown
        a riddle when there is no better answer
        Tripping through a dream
        like Mister Tambourine
        Dancing on a sea of laughter
             Dancing on a sea of laughter

2nd Chorus

Now listen to the sound
of the wind blowing wild
Crying like a warning in the night
Crying like a warning in the night

If you would save a friend
if you would serve your own
Rise up in the morning with the light
Rise up in the morning with the light

        Rise up in the morning
             and hear the sisters call
        The brothers are standing at the door
        You know one spirit leads you
             you know we all must go
The wind blows wild on the shore

Tag: Did you see him
he was there to wave to you

The Winds of Change

Words by Kate Wolf

The winds of change are blowing through the trees
the summer’s end written in the falling leaves
And my heart is crying for a friend
to hold me on this journey without end

        The winds of change, I can hear them blow
             but this time, I swear I do not know
        Whose voice is in the wind or which way I should go
             It makes me restless (and it makes me want to go) like waiting for the snow

The winds of change they came when I was young
I do not understand when they left my heart undone
Then they blew again when my babies were born
first the flower, then the thorn

There’s Lots I Could Have Told Her

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It snowed along the ridge top this morning
when I woke everything was still
Snow covered all the treetops
leaving little snowdrops
All up and down the windowsill

I turned to stare at the ceiling
leaving my bed would take awhile
The stove and the chimney
the coffeepot stood empty
No one here to wake me with a smile

        Seems like every morning’s just the same
             and you know I can’t complain
        Now it’s getting colder
             there’s lots I could have told her
        Enough to maybe bring her back again

Looks like the suns trying to break through
may as well get up and make a fire
Woodpile stacked up high
got some dandelion wine
I’ll go out walking when the sun gets higher

Chorus

These Times We’re Living In

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Down by the river the water’s runnin’ low
    as I wander underneath the trees
In the park outside of town
    the leaves turned brown and yellow now
    are falling on the ground

Remembering the way you felt
beside me here when love was new
That feeling’s just grown stronger
since I fell in love with you

Now we’ve only got these times we’re living in
We’ve only got these times we’re living in

Winter wood piled on the porch
    walnuts scattered on the ground
    wood smoke risin’ to the sky
An old man comes home from work
    and hugs his wife in a sweat-stained shirt,
    steps through that door to where it’s warm inside

And I’m walking as the wind
rustles in the fallen leaves
My footsteps picking out a tune
my heart sings silently

How we’ve only got these times we’re living in
We’ve only got these times we’re living in

See the roses dried and faded
    the tall trees carved and painted
    with long forgotten lovers’ names
The old cars standing empty
    and dogs barking at me
    as I walk through the quiet streets the same

If I could I’d tell you now
there are no roads that do not bend
The days like flowers bloom and fade
and they do not come again

We’ve only got these times we’re living in
We’ve only got these times we’re living in

Thinking About You

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You always knew
    it was time to go
You gave yourself one more chance
    played one more show
Now suddenly you’re gone
    like the wind through the waves
Your sweet soul has flown
    to the peace of the grave

        But I’ll be thinking about you old friend
             about the times that won’t come again
        About the things that might have been
             I’ll be thinking about you

What can you say
    when an old friend goes on
To a place you can’t follow
    in a far distant home
You say he brought life
    to the ones he loved best
You say he’s not gone
    he’s only at rest

Chorus

So here’s to the ones
    who have gone before
The things they have done
    their songs and more
And here’s to us all
    who carry it on
In the lives that we live
    and the words of our songs

Chorus

Tonight You Loved The Memories Out Of Me

Words by Kate Wolf

You know you’re not the first to say I love you
and you’re not the first to be here at my side
And these bitter years have left me feeling lonely
with nothing but those memories inside

        But tonight you loved the memories out of me
             took my broken heart and finally set it free
        When I closed my eyes to kiss you
             you were all that I could see
        Tonight you loved the memories out of me

When I met you I’d been hurt by
and all those heartaches wouldn’t let me be
But tonight you took me in your loving arms
and loved those memories out of me

Traveling Day

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It’s a traveling day you know
somehow they just don’t start off slow
I must be off again and on my way
For me leaving don’t come easy
long goodbyes just don’t please me
Even when I know that I’ll be back someday

        But I’d like to give you
             one last fond farewell before I go
        To thank you for all we’ve shared
             and I’d like to have you know

That this time has been a pleasure
a jewel I’ll always treasure
Across the hours and miles of my way

Two-Way Waltz

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You’re a quicksilver lady, a child of the morning
A flower by day, a slow fire by night
But he’s taught you things, for all that you’ve shown him
He’s a gazer of stars, a blue crystal light

        And sometimes he cries and he says things
             That pierce you to your soul
        But he’s still a man who loves you
             And it hurts to let you go

You’re a man with the power of rattlesnake lightning
    Hard like the mountains, but soft like the sun
And she’s taught you things for all that you’ve shown her
    She’s a weaver of visions in threads finely spun
        And sometimes she cries and she walks away
             Held by the dreams that find her
        But she’s still a woman who loves you
             And her heart will always remind her

So dance for the day, but watch for the signs
That point out your way when the doubt fills your eyes
And try to believe that the sweetest hello
Always comes after the hardest goodbye

        For two ways can sometimes make one
             That’s stronger than either alone
        So dancers join hands for the two-way waltz
             But take the steps on your own

Understand

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You’ve got to do it before you understand
    how something is the way it is
And the signs life can bring you
    may pass right by in darkness
Leave you feeling lost
    ‘cause you cannot understand

There is no time to wait until the hour
    when you think you know what’s going on
Talk to yourself about it
    and say the way it is
Until you do it
    you cannot understand

        Understand
             to feel it in your soul
        Without words
             to let your spirit flow
        And those things you tell yourself
             someday you’re gonna do
        Are just words you cannot understand

Like a brother feeling low
    you must walk in his shoes
Before you know him
    and understand his blues
And a bird sailing free
    before the wind
You cannot talk about
    until you understand

        Understand
             to feel it in your soul
        Without words
             to let your feelings show
        And those things you tell yourself
             someday you’re gonna do
        Are just words you cannot understand

When You Live Outside The Law

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

When you live outside the law you are a stranger
    but not to everyone you meet
The ones like you they know you better
    than you will ever have the chance to be
‘Cause going underground you leave your bloodlines
    your roots are where you find yourself at home
No way of knowing if you are remembered
    ‘cause time stops when you’re all alone

        When you live outside the law you are a stranger
             and those like you are strangers to themselves
        Each of you knows the other better
             but only fools and children know you well

When you live outside the law you are a stranger
    a stranger to everyone you see
When you live outside the law there is a price to pay
    and it comes from running free
‘Cause there’s nothing to tie you down
    and let your roots take hold
You’re like a tree tossed on the ocean
    waterlogged and sunbleached
And tossed up on some lonely beach
    to break apart when you’re growing old

        When you live outside the law you are a stranger
             with no name or kinfolk of your own
        Living, born from a piece of paper
             giving title to a body fully grown

When you live outside the law you are a stranger
    a stranger to everyone you meet
Someone who knows so well the lonely nights
    listening to the footsteps in the street
Wondering if this time will be the last time
    you get up and unlock the door
Almost forgetting for the bad times
    what being on the outside’s living for

        When you live outside the law you are a stranger
             but not to the ones who know you best
        You are a stranger to yourself
             with an aching heart that knows no rest

Unfinished Life

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

It’s an unfinished life that I find lies before me
An open-ended dream and I don’t want to wake
I’ve crossed so many rivers in search of crystal fountains
I’ve found the truest paths always lead through mountains
I’ve seen water on the sky and fire burning on the lake

        You said to me, “I cannot make you happy
             Like a wounded bird, you must find the strength to fly
        Time can paint the treetops with colors of the rainbow
             But you cannot find the end, no matter how you try”

It’s a journey with my soul that I am taking
One that only goes from the cradle to the grave
Going ‘round in circles like painted dancing horses
Up and down we ride on the wooden courses
And light from a lover’s eyes is all that I can save

Chorus

So I’ll take the day and run out across the open fields
Where the grass grows high and the shadows fall
Where my eyes can see all the colors in the air
So quiet that the wind whistles in my hair
And takes the rising dust and carries it away

Chorus

Up Above The Clouds

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Come sit down beside me
    the night has grown cold
Tell me a story
    I’ve never been told
Sing me a song
    I’ve never been sung
I’ll keep you til morning
    and a new day’s begun

        Up above the clouds
             sailing along
        Feeling so free
             on the wings of a song

Take off your coat
    put down your guitar
Take off your boots
    that have brought you this far
Let your mind wander
    and let yourself rest
Sit while the sun
    goes down in the west

Chorus

There’s no use pretending
    to be what you’re not
If you can’t be yourself
    tell me what have you got?
You’ve said before
    it’s a thought I would share
“It’s not where you are friend
    it’s why you are there.”

Chorus

We Still Survive

Words by Kate Wolf

We lost one to the bottle
    we lost one to the plague
The one who left for Mexico
    we never saw again
We lost one after Vietnam
    whos mind just didn’t mend
We lost one to the grace of God
    and one more to the wind

        After all this time
             we still survive
        In our hearts together
             alone in our lives

One became a dreamer
    one became a clown
One of us took everything
    that wasn’t fastened down
One became a fountain
    one burned like a flame
One of us broke every rule
    and never was betrayed

Some of us left memories
    some of left pain
Some of us cried and then
    learned to laugh again
Some of us kept going
    one of us stood still
Some of us left legacies
    others left a will

We Were Strangers

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You never asked for much
    but I loved you just the same
You with your quiet eyes
    and a face without a name
You stood there staring
    as I sang another song
We were strangers then
    we weren’t strangers long

        We weren’t strangers long
             though we never spoke at all
        But in your eyes I saw you knew
             we were heading for a fall
        And I trusted you completely
             you know it wasn’t wrong
        We were strangers then
             we weren’t strangers long

It was all that I could do
    not to turn away and hide
You saw right through me
    as I stood there at your side
The things I saw in your clear eyes
    they looked so calm and strong
We were strangers then
    we weren’t strangers long

Chorus

It’s just like a book
    when it’s read between the lines
It’s the words that weren’t spoken
    that told me you were mine
As the pages turn
    the story still goes on
We were strangers then
    we weren’t strangers long

We’re Going To A Wedding Day

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Come on down
    there’s going to be a wedding
Old folks, young folks
    soon will be a settin’
The preacher says
    now don’t you be a frettin’
There’s gonna be a wedding day

And a little bit later
    there’s gonna be some dancing
And then some time
    for a little romancing
There’s no telling
    what they’ll be chancing
We’re going to a wedding day

The bride and the groom
    they sure look happy
And so does his mother
    and her pappy
And all their friends
    are dressed so snappy
We’re going to a wedding day

There’s good food
    and lots of presents
Pink champagne
    with effervescence
This ain’t no time
    for convalescence
They’re going to a wedding day

So come on now
    bring your harps and your fiddles
Grab your partner
    round the middle
It don’t matter
    if you’re big or little
We’re going to a wedding day

We’ve Loved Away The Night

Words by Kate Wolf

Listen to the nightbirds singing
    I wonder what they say
You said those aren’t nightbirds, darling
    it’s the clear light of day
Open up your eyes
    you’ll see the morning light
‘Cause I’m waking up beside you
    and we’ve loved away the night

Are you sure it’s not the wind
    singing like a bird
In the pale light of the moon
    I thought that’s what I heard
For how could the evening hours
    pass so quickly out of sight
That I wake up to find
    that we’ve loved away the night

Waking up beside you
is more precious than you know
This time when the sun comes up
I don’t have to go

Remember how the wind
    was whistling in the hall
And the moon came up so still
    like firelight on the wall
I guess I fell asleep
    holding you so tight
Now I’m waking up beside you
    and we’ve loved away the night

Who Knows Where The Time Goes

Words & Music by Sandy Denny

Across the morning sky, all the birds are leaving
Ah, how can they know it’s time for them to go?
Before the winter fire, we’ll still be dreaming
I do not count the time

Who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes

Sad, deserted shore, your fickle friends are leaving
Ah, but then you know it’s time for them to go
But I will still be here, I have no thought of leaving
I do not count the time....

Who knows where the time goes
Who knows where the time goes

And I’m not going while my love is near me
And I know it will be so ‘til it’s time for you to go
So come the storms of winter and the birds in Spring again
I do not fear the time...

Who knows how my love grows
Who knows where the time goes

Wood Stoves And Bread Loaves

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Do you see the pines shining like gold
and the sun hanging red in the west
Do you feel the wind start to blow cold
don’t you know your old friends the best

        Don’t you know your old friends the best
        Like warm clothes and bread loaves
             and a fire in the wood stove
        Don’t you know your old friends the best

Do you feel your heart slipping away
like a bird flying back to the nest
Like the feel of the sun rising each day
don’t you know your old love the best

        Don’t you know your old love the best
        Like warm clothes and bread loaves
             and a fire in the wood stove
        Don’t you know your old love the best

Do you hear that song come stealing in
just when your mind is at rest
It brings back a face or a place that you’ve been
don’t you know the old songs the best

        Don’t you know the old songs the best
        Like warm clothes and bread loaves
             and a fire in the wood stove
        Don’t you know your old songs the best

You And I Together

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You and I together
    we could make it better
You and I together
    is more that one alone
You and I together
    we could change this country
You and I together
    could make our lives our own

You and I together
    we could watch the sunrise
You and I together
    we could plant the seeds
You and I together
    we could tend the harvest
You and I together
    would have all we need

You and I together
    we could write the papers
You and I together
    we could run the grocery stores
You and I together
    we could learn to use the sunshine
You and I together
    could stay home from the wars

You and I together
    we might see things the same way
You and I together
    we might disagree
You and I together
    we’d get to know each other
You and I together
    could set this whole world free

1st Verse

You Don’t Have To Knock Your Woman Down

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You don’t have to knock your woman down
you don’t have to knock your woman down
You can argue, you can cry
you can ask and wonder why
But you don’t have to knock your woman down

She doesn’t deserve it
she’s a person just like you
Try to talk to each other
if you’re not getting through
But you don’t have to knock your woman down

So you beat your woman
    til she turned black and blue
Held her down and hurt her
    and said she lied to you
Took her tender love
    and crushed it in your hands
Broke a gentle heart
    feelin’ you could never understand
But you don’t have to knock your woman down

Little boy in the body of a man
    with iron fists instead of toys
    to answer your demands
Your woman may not match your strength
    but her courage has no bounds
And you don’t have to knock your woman down

1st Verse

You Made Me See Myself

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

You were right you know
    said why not show
    the things you mean
    when you sing
Sometimes I forget
    what it was that I set out to do
    it’s just the child in me

        You made me see myself today
             with your quiet ways
        Told me that you love my songs
             did I do the same
        Babe you share my place
             I couldn’t let you down
        It’s true the songs I sing
             are the best I have found

You took me by surprise
    your words reached inside
    and I think I heard
    I think I heard you cry
And I shared your tears with you
    thought of all that I’ve been through
    and how it might be the same for you

You made me see myself today
    someone I thought went away
    deep inside
    who’s only hiding
You were right you know
    took the time to tell me so
    you said it, I don’t regret it

        You made me see myself today
             when your letter came
        You told me that you love my songs
             did I do the same
        Babe you shared your heart
             I wouldn’t let you down
        You know the songs I sing
             are the best I have found

You Never Really Saw Me As I Am

Words by Kate Wolf

You saw the morning sun rising in the east
    white winter snow thawing as the springtime came
You saw the rising river flowing past our mountain home
    but you never really saw me as I am
You never saw the one who shared those days
    as anything except a game to play
You couldn’t see the good for all the bad times
    and you never really saw me as I am

You were always looking for a way to see my world
    you saw as much as anybody can
But if seeing is believing then you must have been stone blind
    ‘Cause you never ever saw me as I am
Never saw the one who shared your days
    as anything except a game to play
You saw the way I cried with tears I couldn’t hide
    but you never really saw me as I am

You’re Not Standing Like You Used To

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

I wish I could tell you how I feel tonight
It’s been so long since I’ve seen you
You haven’t said, but I can see so plain
Something’s been on your mind again

        ‘Cause you’re not standing like you used to
             Your clothes are fitting you looser and
        There’s a tired shadow hiding in your eyes
             You’re looking like you could use a friend

And I wish I could make you happy some way
But that would be a lie and you know it
Find what you really care about
Then live a life that shows it

Chorus

I wish I could say that I thought things would change
You’ve had so many try to love you
Too many years thinking you could see it all
Until a woman saw right through you

Chorus

You’re The One

Words & Music by Kate Wolf

Well I never had a reason to love you
I stayed and I said I would try
And I never found a reason to leave
you’re the one who’s saying goodbye

        And you’re the one, you’re the one
             who’s breaking my heart
        And you’re the one
             who’s making me cry
        No I never could find a reason to leave
             you’re the one who’s saying goodbye

Love was so strong it burned like a fire
it warmed my heart day by day
And I finally learned to settle down
you’re the one who’s going away

You tried so hard to make me love you
and darling you got me to stay
I never found a reason to leave
you’re the one who’s going away

Chorus

20/20 Vision (And Walking Around Blind)

Words and Music by Joe Allison & Milton Estes
Words of verses two, three, four and the second half of verse five by Kate Wolf
Well I been to the doctor and he says I’m all right
I know that he’s lying, I’m losing my sight
He should have examined the eyes of my mind
20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind

And there’s so much around us that we don’t want to see
Children hungry and dyin’ in deep poverty
But we measure wealth in nickels and dimes
20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind

Now if you’ve ever been lonely, then you know what it means
To have someone who loves you and it hurts when you see
Folks fightin’ and fussin’ and having hard times
20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind

We pay for the oil and the coal that we burn
They tear out the trees and they never return
While there’s power for free in the warm sun that shines
20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind

Yes I’ve been to the doctor and he says I’m all right
    I know that he’s lying, cause day looks like night
We’re stumbling in darkness with our eyes open wide
    20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind
    It’s 20/20 vision and walkin’ ’round blind

Sheet Music

Paper songbooks and downloadable digital sheet music are available for almost all of the above songs.

Contact Us

Official Kate Wolf Website

Kate Wolf Lyrics

Kate Wolf Lyrics

All of Kate Wolf's songs from both Kate Wolf Songbooks plus songs written by others that appear on her albums.

Paper songbooks and downloadable digital sheet music are available for almost all of these 161 songs.

A Friend You Can Count On

Aces, Straights And Flushes

Across The Great Divide

Agent Orange

All He Ever Saw Was You

Although I’ve Gone Away

Amazed To Find

Baby, Is It Just In Case?

Back Roads

Blank Pages

Brother Warrior

Cable Car Cowboy

Carolina Pines

Carry In On

Carry Me Away

Changing Of The Road

Chase The Morning Sun

Clearing In The Forest

Close To You

Cornflower Blue

Country Music In The Rain

Crying Shame

Dancing On The Dark Side

Desert Wind

E.S.P. (If I Ever Needed A Friend)

Early Morning Melody

Emma Rose

Everybody’s Looking For The Same Thing

Eyes Of A Painter

Far-Off Shore

Father Sky

Feel So Good Inside

Fire In The Wind

Fly Away

Friend of Mine

Full Time Woman

Give Yourself To Love

Golden Harmony

Goodbye Babe

Great Love Of My Life

Green Eyes

Green Hills

Guess I’m Just A Coward

Here In California

Hurry Home

I Don’t Know Why

I Never Knew My Father

I Thank My Lucky Stars That I Found You

I Woke Up Dreaming

I’m Hurting Since You Went Away

In China or a Woman’s Heart(There are Places No One Knows)

In Loving You So Long

It Ain’t In The Wine

Jenny Wind

Just An Angel Band

Just Another Picker In The Band

Kate’s Song

KVMR Radio Song

Lately

Laugh Like That

Lay Me Down Easy

Legend In His Time

Leggett Serenade

Life Could Be So Easy

Like A River

Lines On The Paper

Links In The Chain

Live And Learn

Lonesome And Restless

Looking Back At You

Love Still Remains

Lundberg Rice Song

Medicine Wheel

Medicine Woman

In China or a Woman’s Heart
(There are Places No One Knows)