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Old Blue Truck

by Charles de Lint

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1.
Bobby & Me 03:46
Wrong place, wrong time, guess I should have paid some mind Spoke up instead of playing blind, but how was I to know? Bobby pulled the pistol from under his coat, he held it to the cashier's throat All she had in her drawer was a twenty-dollar float, just enough to make him blow I said, Bobby put the pistol down, he gave me a look, said I'm sick of this town Everybody's always kicking us 'round, like we ain't worth a dime I said, robbing this girl don't change a thing, he said, tell me now, are you out or in I never had a chance before he did the thing, I had to watch that poor girl die refrain: And if I had the choice I suppose I'd go, someplace down in Mexico Someplace where nobody knows my name Yeah, I'd hop a freight or steal a car, sleep out underneath the stars Just keep moving and see how far I could go The D.A. tried to cut me a deal, all I had to do was take the stand and squeal Bobby'd get the chair, I'd pull a few years, but I was just as much to blame I know what we did it wasn't right, I think about that girl most every night Knowing that I should have seen the signs, like the sky before it rains refrain Bobby and me never had a real life, never held a job, never took a wife Guess we drank too much and we liked to fight, but he was a friend of mine I don't know where it all went wrong, what he thought this killing would solve Or if he even thought about it at all, guess he just got broke' inside refrain
2.
Coyote's in the wash, you know he never gets stuck He drives a battered old '57 pickup truck Cherokee girl's sitting right by his side She's got straw-gold hair, she gives a prayer to the sky Singing hey ya, hey ya, hey ya / hey ya, hey ya, hey ya (after every verse and refrain) Up in the Rincons, back in some canyon There's a mesquite fire and the people are gathering Rattlesnake rattle shake, stick on drum And the Cherokee girl leads them in her song refrain: There are four directions, only one creator Call him what you want, you know it doesn't matter There's only one thing you've got to remember Everything in this world is a brother or sister The red-tailed hawk he's a brujo man He's got a word or two about the care of the land But nobody's listening, they don't understand They just see a hawk, they don't see the man Oh the aunts and uncles watch over the fire While the people let the flames build higher and higher Inside the lodge steam jumps from the rocks And the Cherokee girl sings about the hawk refrain Down along the river where the sycamores grow See the red rocks rise, hear the song of the crow She's got the desert in her heart, so deep and old But the Cherokee girl's got a sycamore soul Coyote's in the wash, you know he never gets stuck He drives a battered old '57 pickup truck Jackrabbit's sitting in the shotgun seat Tapping her foot to a Cherokee beat
3.
refrain: I'm sitting in the backyard, in my old blue truck The floor's half-gone, and the doors get stuck It's got no motor, it's got no wheels But I like to remember, the way it'd feel When my dad was alive, and he drove us into town In his shiny new Ford, with the windows down We were young and free, maybe happier then When I sit in this truck it's like it all comes back again Sherry says its time we got rid of that heap It's just an eyesore we don't need to keep There's snakes in the grass, weeds in the wells There's birds making nests, it just looks like hell There's mice in the seat springs and under the hood Well, a truck like that it ain't much good I said it don't move an inch, but it's logging miles Yeah, it don't do much, but it makes me smile refrain I said remember before the kids were born We'd sit in that truck just to watch the corn The moon'd come floating up over the trees There was no one in the world, just you and me And you held me close till I thought I might cry Just to see how the stars shone in your eyes I was thinking when the kids're grown up and gone We might do it again, just sit here and watch the dawn Sherry says I guess it won't be a trial We could clean it up some, maybe keep it awhile Everybody's got some crazy old load We'll just have a truck we can't put on the road refrain
4.
Highway 105 05:31
refrain: Get in the car, start to drive Headin' up the line, highway 105 There's somethin' 'bout the motion, somethin' 'bout the ride Somethin' 'bout the road makes you come alive Highway 105 Crossing the bridge from Ottawa to Hull Forget the casino and the shopping malls You don't need the lights or the smoky bars Just follow that highway underneath the stars You've got the river on your right, the hills all around Ghosting through Chelsea and the only sounds Are your wheels on the pavement, the wind in your hair You're passing Tenaga like it's not even there When you refrain Get into Wakefield, there's the Black Sheep Inn Have a beer, maybe check out the band Ian Tamblyn, Mike Plume, Melwood Cutlery Lynn Miles, Greg Brown, the Laws, the Kennedys Keelaghan, Savoca, Blackie and the boys Stacey Earle so full of joy Tom Wilson, Fiftymen, Christine Graves Fred Eaglesmith singing 'bout trains yeah, I like trains, but when the night is done, I'd rather refrain These towns have a history, it's living there still Alcove, Farrelton, Brennan's Hill Logging camps, whiskey runners, mines in the hills The river took the logs to the E.B. Eddy mill People working farms now that don't hardly pay It's all cottage country starting in May Pass the dam in Low, and then Venosta If you don't turn off you'll be in Kazabazua That's not so bad, you can eat at Sue-Ellen's, or you can refrain Wright's got itself a fancy pedigree But Gracefield was founded by my family The land up here's just as pretty as it gets We usually turn off when we get to Bouchette We've got a little school bus sitting right on a lake It's the perfect spot to catch a break Lazing on the raft, soaking up the sun Sitting 'round the campfire, have a little fun But there comes a time when I've got to refrain Messines' next if you're not tired yet 'Round Maniwaki it's all an Indian rez Keep on driving, there's more to be seen At Grand-Remous catch the one-seventeen Or you can Go back to Wakefield and the Black Sheep Inn Have another beer, check out the band…
5.
There's a great big yellow moon, hanging low in the sky It's watching over us, and I don't know why Guess it thinks we need watching over, turns out it was right Everything's changing back to front, day into the night refrain: Great big moon, hanging low, over us tonight We couldn't be more different, it used to be all right You were always shining, while I stepped out of the light We're like pieces of two puzzles, got mixed up in a box Each one's missing pieces, I guess too many got lost refrain When you can't see where you're going, it's hard remembering where you've been The better times get swallowed by, all the troubles that you're in Once we were on the same road, or is that just the way it seemed? I don't know anymore, wish that moon would talk to me refrain Guess you think that I'm not listening, guess you think that I don't care Guess we're feeling all alone, even when the other's there I don't know the answers, or how they can be learned I've been missing you a long time, and I don't know where to turn refrain
6.
Sam's Song 03:04
Sam's Gap on the top of the mountain There's a pull-off along the road That dog he's there every single day You know he's got no place to go That dog he's scared of people Won't take nothing from your hand Once a day old Jimmy Wilkes Brings him dog food in his van refrain: That old dog he's living up in the hills People say he's took to running wild I see him waiting on the side of the road He's just watching the cars go by Joe and Mary died where they'd lived In a holler off the county road They had themselves a cabin there back in the hills Was a place nobody would go Guess they were dead a week or two When the state troopers came Didn't leave nothing but old black Ford And a dog nobody could name refrain There's people living all over this land Ain't got a friend to their name Fell in the cracks that we build between us Nobody's really to blame Lost and waiting for something That ain't broke' or torn Like that dog we took to calling Sam Waiting on an old black Ford refrain That old dog he's living up in the hills People say he took to running wild I see him waiting on the side of the road He's just watching the cars go by Second refrain: That old dog he took to running wild People say he's living up in the hills I see him waiting on the side of the road When I'm driving to Asheville
7.
Red Dog chasing Jackalope Out in the badlands that's the way it can go Driven by hunger, looking for something Deep in the desert, deep in the soul Medicine wheel, dreams in the moonlight From each direction, the four winds blow Coyote Woman, she has a vision Sets them to travel on the Medicine Road refrain: They're on the Medicine Road, out in the desert Thunder is talking, rumbling low Bound by a promise laid upon them To help each other on the Medicine Road In the flight of the hawk there is a mystery In the sound of a flute hear a raven's cry In the beat of a drum there is a heartbeat In the eyes of a lover is a medicine sky refrain Smoke is rising, sage and sweetgrass Smoke is rising like an eagle's flight Smoke is rising, tobacco burning Smoke is rising from a medicine pipe refrain Brothers and sisters are guided by spirits Some follow the Ghost Dance, some the buffalo Los peyoteros are guided by Mescal Coyote's children take the Medicine Road refrain
8.
I met her at a carnival, by the Wall of Death She was laughing her head off, I was holding my breath I heard her say she likes whiskey, I had a small hip flask When I offered her a shot, she said, I thought you'd never ask refrain: I knew she was wild, I didn't know she was crazy, too Didn't know she was dangerous or what she might do She's like an eighteen-wheeler chasing down the white line Says the guy can keep up to me, I'll show him a good time She says she knows Elvis, says she knows where he lives Says it's not in Memphis, not anywhere you'd guess Says he told her she was high class, told her she could go far They had the chance to be real good friends, then she stole his car refrain She didn't come from Alabama, banjo on her knee She doesn't know about coincidence or serendipity Says there's no such thing as fate, we're living wild and free There's no one you were meant to meet, except for her and me refrain bridge: Sometimes late at night when the moon is high, I hear her crying in her sleep I just hold her close till the feeling goes and she's smiling back at me She was Tennessee born and bred, living up in the hills If she hadn't joined the carnival, she'd be living there still Her daddy makes moonshine, her mama's in the stir Says she's got no problems, so long's I'm with her refrain
9.
They say the devil lives up the line Got himself a place where the sun don't shine, you see He's making whiskey out of people's souls The kind that die young and never get old--not me refrain: I hear a voice and it's calling, high and lonesome in the rain Says she's still waiting on me, waiting...on the lost highway Mona went walking on a stormy night She's dressed in black, just had a fight with me I put the dog in the car and went looking for her Drove up and down, all around the curves, you see It's the little things that you can't forget The night was dark, the road it was wet and cold There were suicide frogs dying under my wheels A crack of lightning and the thunder's peal, too close refrain I come around a curve and there she was In the middle of the road, my heart filled with love for her I couldn't stop, my tires just squealed So I hit the gas and I yanked the wheel out of the curve We tore through the rail, that old hound and me And dropped into the night, down a hundred feet or more When Mona found me, I'd dragged myself clear There was rain in her eyes, though it might have been tears, she said don't go I tried to hold on, coughing blood and rain The dog was gone and there wasn't much pain no more refrain They say the devil lives up the line Got himself a place where the sun don't shine, you see If you see a ghost coming out of the fog Got a long dark coat and a big black dog, that's me refrain
10.
The preacher's done talking and everybody's gone Darling it's just you and me again I know you're sleeping, guess you need your rest But it's hard for me to let you go this way refrain: You said you'd save a dance for me, save a dance for me You said you'd save a dance for me, you said you'd save You said you'd save a dance for me The first time we kissed was at the county fair You pressed up close and I held on tight to you You said whatever happens, I promise you this In the end I'll always save a dance for you refrain The moment that I knew was when he took me aside That doctor wouldn't look me in the eye They were waiting on some paperwork, waiting on a bed While they were waiting you just closed your eyes refrain See I brought you some flowers, the kind you always liked A bunch of black-eyed Susies from our yard Forty years together wasn't long enough to love you I guess that's what makes all of this so hard refrain

about

Old Blue Truck features ten original songs from folk rock to psychobilly to heartbreaking ballads. Every song evokes a distinct reaction: a sense of the familiar, a touch of nostalgia, compassion or mystery. And always a greater appreciation for life.

credits

released March 1, 2011

Charles de Lint - vocals, guitar, harmonica
MaryAnn Harris - vocals, mandolin, percussion
Brock Zeman - guitar, bass, percussion, vocals
Blair Hogan - electric & acoustic guitars, organ, mandolin
Greg T. Brown - fiddle
Alistair Dennett - drums, bodhran
John Law - slide guitar, mandolin
Charlie Sohmer - banjo
Steve Foley - drums

Tamson House Records

Produced by Brock Zeman with Charles de Lint & MaryAnn Harris
Recorded and engineered by Brock Zeman at The Big Muddy Studio (November–December 2010)
Additional Recording by Greg T. Brown at Lemonie Studio (January 2011)
John Law at Sweetley Studios (January 2011)
Charlie Sohmer at The Alta Vista Social Club (January 2011)
Mixed and mastered by Steve Foley at Audio Valley Studio
Cover art by Michael Babinski
Photo by Leslie Howle
Designed by MaryAnn Harris

© 2011 All songs written by Charles de Lint (Socan)

Thanks to Brock Zeman for getting us into his Mud Music recording studio. If not for his persistence, this album would probably still be just the vague idea of something I might do someday. Thanks as well to the musicians who played on these songs, Steve for a great mixing job, Michael for the great cover art, and to all my readers who've been asking for this album over the years. This one's for MaryAnn. We met through music and we'll be playing together until they pry our instruments from our hands.
—Charles de Lint

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Charles de Lint Ottawa, Ontario

A full-time writer and musician, this author of more than eighty adult, young adult, and children’s books has won the World Fantasy, Aurora, Sunburst, and White Pine awards, among others. Modern Library's Top 100 Books of the 20th Century poll, voted on by readers, put eight of de Lint's books among the top 100. De Lint is also a poet, artist, songwriter, performer and folklorist. ... more

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