Bruce Hornsby Album

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

There's a man working in a field
Sees the rain and it's burning
He's saying this can't be real
As he sees the color of the fields turning
Far away the men too busy getting rich to care
Close their eyes and let it all out into the air
Hoping nobody else would care

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the world around you

There's a man working on a boat
Pulling lines from the water
Just trying to stay afloat
Filling the nets is getting harder
Far away they bend the rules so secretly
Close their eyes and let it all out into the sea
Hoping nobody else would see

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Far away too many leaders let them get their way
Close their eyes and let it all out into the bay
Say they'll clear it up another day

Look out any window
Look out any open door
Look out any window
See what's going on in the air around you

Look out, look out for the big boys
Telling you everything they're gonna do
Look out, look out for the fat cat builder man
Turning this into a wasteland
Look out, look out for the back room boys that say
The smoke is gonna blow away
Look out, look out for the men who say it's okay
Sitting in a building far away

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

Sometimes I lead sometimes I follow
This time I'll go where she wants me to go
She said maybe today maybe tomorrow
Go deep in the woods down the low valley road

While no one was looking on the old plantation
He took her all the way down the long valley road
They sent her away not too much later
And left him walking down the old valley road
Walk on, walk on alone
Walk on, walk on, walk on alone

Out in the hall they were talking in a whisper
Everybody noticed she was gone awhile
Somebody said she's gone to her sister's
But everybody knew what they were talking about

While no one was looking on the old plantation
He showed her what they do down the long valley road
She came back around like nothing really happened
And left him standing on the old valley road
Walk on, walk on alone
Walk on, walk on, walk on alone

Standing like a stone on the old plantation
The rich old man would have never let him in
Good enough to hire, not good enough to marry
When it all happens nobody wins
Walk on, walk on alone
Walk on, walk on, walk on alone

(B.R. Hornsby)

A strong man feels weak in the still heat of the day
Nothing is black and white, just a hazy gray
There's a long lonesome sound in the distance calling back to me
You look for some small reward
Everybody wants a little more
You could be the one at my door
Someone I might've seen before
What I came here for

Everything comes and goes
You try to believe but you never know
Anyway the wind blows
Baby, somewhere, sometime
I will walk with you

Long way to go, the road winds on and on
You feel all alone, in the cold light of the dawn
And I know that it's warm by your side, but you're so far away
There's always another wall
Sometimes you feel so small
You could pick me up when I fall
Be the one to help me through it all
Be there when I call

Everything comes and goes
You try to believe but you never know
Anyway the wind blows
Baby somewhere, sometime
I will walk with you

There's always another wall
Sometimes you feel so small
You could pick me up when I fall
Be the one to help me through it all
Be there when I call

Everything comes and goes
You try to believe but you never know
Anyway the wind blows
Baby, somewhere, sometime
I will walk with you

(B. R. Hornsby)

In the southwest Virginia town of Richlands
I fell in love with an Appalachian girl
She lived in a long line of little row houses
On the side of an old strip mining hill
She walked along on the jagged ridge
She looked as far as she could see
But the hills out there are so up and down
You only see as far as the next big ridge

Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow on the hill
Another time and another place
I feel her in my heart still
Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow in the bend
I see her in my mind and then
I go down the road not taken again

The coal dust settles on the window display
They have to change it about every other day
Some things never change way out here
An outsider could always remain that way
She walked along on the jagged ridge
She told me she was thinking of me
But every time I tried to take her away
She alway ran back to the rocks and the trees

Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow on the hill
Another time and another place
I feel her in my heart still
Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow in the bend
I see her in my mind and then
I go down the road not taken again

Oh I went back there after many years
So curious and so secretly
As I looked on I held back a tear
The road not taken overcoming me
Oh I saw her she was sitting there
Older, thinner on the front porch
It seemed the light was a little brighter there
Or maybe I still carried the forgotten torch

Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow on the hill
Another time and another place
I feel her in my heart still
Everytime I see her face
On the street in the hollow in the bend
I see her in my mind and then
I go down the road not taken again

(B. R. Hornsby)

What's the long face, what's all the crying for
Didn't you expect it when you opened your door
To the man with the long coat and the long list of victims
Everybody watching knows he's the one keeping score
From where she sits, everyone stands in judgement
People watching as the curtain falls down
See the lights do a long slow fade

The show goes on
And the sad-eyed sisters go walking on
Everyone watching all along
The show goes on, as the autumn's coming
And the summer's all gone
Still without you, the show goes on

Some say she's alright, some say she'll never learn
Some rush into things, some stand and wait their turn
I've been here all along, standing here all this time
But you never noticed, just let the same tired flames burn
From where she sits, everyone stands in judgement
People watching as the curtain falls down
See the lights do a long slow fade

The show goes on
And the sad-eyed sisters go walking on
Everyone watching all along
The show goes on, as the autumn's coming
And the summer's all gone
Still without you, the show goes on

Time is passing, slowly passing you by
You'd better try, try to find it before it passes you by
As I watch you walking to another cold dawn
And you keep on walking
And they keep on talking
Talking all along

From where she sits, everyone stands in judgement
People watching as the curtain falls down
See the lights do a long slow fade
The show goes on, and the sad-eyed sisters go walking on
Everyone watching all along
The show goes on, as the autumn's coming
And the summer's all gone
Still without you, the show goes on

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

Walking on the sidewalk, roundball under my arm
Everybody knows how you play is who you are
Walking down the road, looking for a game or two
The real moves come through, no matter what they're gonna do
It's down to you

Take me to the old playground
Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time
Take me to the old playground
Where the talk is cheap
And the restless stalk their baseline

The old sage frowns, he says just pass it on around
But all-world junior's pulling up from downtown
For some it's a way out, for some it's a way in
Most of us don't even care
We're just looking for another gym to get in

Take me to the old playground
Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time
Take me to the old playground
Where some play for dreams
And the rest just play for pride

The old man said stop running with those boys
But they know what to do, and their folks don't mind the noise
Say hey now, everybody's gonna get along
Just call your own foul when you break the rules
If you make it, you take it, so make your move

Take me to the old playground
Where the old ones rule, and the young ones do their time
Take me to the old playground
Where the talk is cheap
And the restless stalk their baseline

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

It's coming any day said the captain
It's coming any day now cried the priest
The people in high places may defend you
But son you'd better hope they keep the peace

Can't you hear them calling
Can't you see them shine
The city halls are falling
The defenders drink their wine
And when the party's over
Their stomachs start to sag
Defenders, defenders of the flag

The congregation's waiting at the altar
They can't find the preacher anywhere
They found him with the new girl from the choir
Where they store the boxes of the book of prayer

If these guys are the good ones
I don't want to know the bad
You wonder how it happened
They just picked it up from dad
Faded old glory is hanging like a rag
Defenders, defenders of the flag

The flag is flying high over the courthouse
The wheels of justice never stood a chance
The judge is down at Charlie's on his lunch hour
Checking out the picture show from France

Carrying a fifth of whiskey
In a dirty paper bag
Threw the ball to home
But they always missed the tag
Faded old glory hanging like a rag
Defenders, defenders of the flag

(B. R. Hornsby/John Hornsby)

I met a fan dancer down in southside Birmingham
She was running from a fat man selling salvation in his hand
She said he's trying to save me
But I'm doing alright, the best that I can
Just a pair of fallen angels trying to get through the night

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob's ladder

Coming over the airwaves the man says I'm overdue
Sing a song, send money, join the chosen few
But mister I'm not in a hurry, and I don't want to be like you
All I want from tomorrow is just to get it better than today

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob's ladder

All I want from tomorrow is to get it better than today
Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob's ladder

(B. R. Hornsby)

Well I saw her one day
At the corner cafe
Everybody there knew she's a wonder
I sat there all night
Too shy to say
Honey you could keep me from going under

Oh my, my when she walks on by
It's hard not to get lost in the view
How can you know if the feeling's a lie
When love comes out of the blue

North, south, east, west
Up, down, all around and all the rest
I'll go anywhere she wants me to go
Of all the girls I've loved she's the best
She's the one
Till the dreaming's done

Well I left in the springtime long, long ago
Funny but I never got to know her
Some people tell me she stayed alone
And if things were different
I'd go and show her

But oh my, my when she walks on by
It's hard not to get lost in the view
How can you know if the feeling's a lie
When love comes out of the blue

North, south, east, west
Uptown, downbound, and all the rest
I'll go anywhere she wants me to go
Of all the girls I've loved she's the best
She's the one
Till the dreaming's done

Oh my, my when she walks on by
It's hard not to get lost in the view
How can you know if the feelings a lie
When love comes out of the blue

North, south, east, west
Uptown, downtown and all the rest
I'll go anywhere she wants me to go
Of all the girls I've loved she's the best
She's the one
Till the dreaming's done