Lyrics

From Into the Night

Into the Night
words and music by Liam Robinson

House lights dim
There’s a drink in your hand
What is the promise of this night
That brought you here with your friends?

Stage lights burn
Guitar in my hand
What is the promise of this night
That brought us here with this band?

What is that promise 
That brought all of us to this stage?
All roads lead to this backroom bar
And all roads will carry us away
Into the night

Old things go
And new things come
While a heart still pounds inside of our chest
We move to the beat of the drum

Ring out glory 
Sing out love
While we still have breath inside of our lungs
We’re lifting our voices up
Into the night
Into the night
Into the night

Oh, a new day’s coming
Can’t you feel those drums a-rumbling?
Oh, a new moon’s rising
Can’t you see those trumpets shining?

Oh, a new wind’s blowing
Can’t you hear those voices growing?
Oh, our hearts are open
Just to feel it for a moment

A turn of the page
A stroke of the pen
We grope in the dark to make our mark
On these walls we’re living in

So rosin that bow
Tune those strings
You got to get out the devil or get out the way
Make that fiddle sing
Ooo, make it a sweet song
‘Cause the time is coming, and it won’t be long
Before we’ll all be goin’
Into the night

Off Track
words and music by Jean Rohe

I been gettin down to business, babe
Been doing all the things I wrote down on my list of things to do
I been waking up real early
Hit the gym and practice, 
Write some emails, make my money, get the groceries, shine my shoes
But I want you

To get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track
Want you to get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track

I been keeping up to date on all the latest goings-on
In Washington and all around the world
It's my civic duty, reading all the papers, magazines,
The Facebook feed and Twitter, 
Instagram and gossip girl,
But I want you

To get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track
Want you to get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track

Get me off track
Catch me off guard, take me offline
Distract me from this fear of all I lack

Get me off track
Oh, and let me off my leash
I want skydives and hashish, your hand on the small of my back
Get me, get me, get me
Want you to get me off track

I been paying very close attention to this ghostly cargo
Chugging down the line inside my head
A single pair of rails and that high and lonesome wail
And some nights in desperation I lay down on that steel instead of having you

To get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track
Want you to get me off, get me off, get me off, get me off track

Where I'm Coming From
Words and Music by Jean Rohe

I come from people who came from nothing
The huddled masses on the shore
They came from wars and they came from suffering
Came sailing through her golden door
I come from people who missed their homelands
And friends forever left behind
I come from people hungry for something
People with freedom on their minds

I come from people who came to work hard
Miners and dockers on the shore
Worked in the steel mills or in the shipyard
Or locked behind the sweatshop doors
I come from people taunted and spit on
Their bodies chewed up in the grind
I come from anarchists, I come from socialists
The suffering of Jesus on their minds

Oh, dream of America
Oh, how the dream wears thin
Once your ship comes in, America

I come from people who felt American
Who fought and died on distant shores
And though they weren't yet, they learned the secret
That being white could open doors
So I come from people who left their language
Who changed their names and got in line
I come from people who don't remember
Becoming American in America's mind

I come from people who sank the lifeboats
Who snuffed her torch when they came ashore
Who turned a country into a fortress
With stony walls that have no door
I come from people who saw their dreams bloom
Just as their fears made them go blind
These people made me, they complicate me
They're weighing heavy on my mind.

Oh, dream of America
Oh, how the dream wears thin
Once your ship comes in, America

A Ways Down the Road
Words & Music by Liam Robinson

A ways down the road
When the sun is sinking low
And the air rings a cold note of autumn

A ways down the road
When I’m trying to hold
All the memories floating on the wind

A ways down the road
Wond’ring where did you go
When our friendship is old and faded

Ooo, I’m starting to feel
Ooo, I’m starting to feel
A ways down the road

A ways ‘round the bend
They say all things end
But they come ‘round again, ever turning

A ways round the bend
I will think of you friend 
And the times that we spent in Wisconsin

Ooo, I’m starting to feel
Ooo, I’m starting to feel
A ways down the road

A ways down the road
I’m gonna lay that heavy load
When the sun is burning gold in autumn

Hey Houdini
Words & Music by Jean Rohe

Hey Houdini, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do this time?
Hey Houdini, whatcha gonna do
Whatcha gonna do?

Here you are again, upside down, hanging by a wire
Shackled and you're bound in leg irons dangling over a fire

You always found a way
You always found a way out

But it's a new routine, now, for the record books, so they've all lined up to see
But something isn't right, something's jammed, something’s tight,
You're gonna drown before you get free

You always found a way, 
You always found a way
To make it out somehow
But not now

Hey Houdini, whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do this time?
Hey Houdini, whatcha gonna do
When your high wire is a clothesline and you're out to dry?

You did it to yourself for the fun, babe
And to feel the thrill of all those eyes on you
You stunned 'em with your stealth until one day
You couldn't find a hole big enough to wiggle through

You always found a way

Here you are again, upside down,
And you know that this is it
All the time you wasted on escape plans
Couldn't get you ready to face it, Honey

Hey, Houdini whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha gonna do this time?
Hey Houdini, whatcha gonna do
When your high wire is a clothesline and you're out to dry?

Singing Like a Saw
Words & Music by Liam Robinson

Honey, come on down to the kitchen
I been cooking up the thing that you like
I made it up with all of the fixings
So I hope you brought your appetite

I got the radio on, and they’re singing that song
And I’m banging on the pots and pans
We been working all day, and now it’s time to play
And we ain’t got no other plans


Here we’re coming
Ooo, we’re coming
Here we’re coming now

You’re singing like a saw
I’m keeping time like a hammer and a nail
You can hear my honey wail tonight
I’m singing like a bird
You’re keeping time like a woodpecker
Just a-looking for the bugs
We make a good pair in love

We’re sounding so good together
You say, “You and me should start a band.
Put our sweet melodies on a record
Put the mattress in the minivan”

And when we hit the open road, everywhere we go
People will be singing our song
They been working all day and they came out to play
All we have to do is sing along

You’re singing like a saw
I’m keeping time like a hammer and a nail
You can hear my honey wail tonight
I’m singing like a bird
You’re keeping time like a woodpecker
Just a-looking for the bugs
We make a good pair in love

Ooo, it’s getting hot in the kitchen
And I’m just about to blow my top
The neighbors are starting to listen
But that ain’t gonna make us stop

We got a jamboree, they’re getting jams for free
And they can hear it for blocks around
But they can tell all their friends that they knew us back when
We discovered our funky sound

You’re singing like a saw
I’m keeping time like a hammer and a nail
You can hear my honey wail tonight
I’m singing like a bird
You’re keeping time like a woodpecker
Just a-looking for the bugs
We make a good pair in love

Where Did You Go?
Words & Music by Jean Rohe

After dinner in the yard
Cigarettes and fireflies
A father and his favorite girl
Darkness, quiet, Earth and sky

Summer, ever summertime
Arguments, the kitchen light
Or singing quiet, side by side
While time escapes into the night

Oh, what’s this life for?
I, I seen your ghost
Oh, where, where you gone to?
Where did you go?

Follow
Words & Music by Jean Rohe

Lead me down the hill
And I will follow, follow, follow
Lead me down the hill
And I will follow you

Lead me down the hill
And I will follow, follow, follow
Lead me down the hill
And I will follow you

Across the rocky shore…

O’er the salty sea…

Down the winding path…

Even in the darkness…

Lead me down the hill
Across the rocky shore
O’er the salty sea
And I will follow you

Down the winding path
Even in the darkness
O, what shall I find there,
If I follow you?

One Last Waltz
Words & Music by Liam Robinson

The band is wrapping up
The bar is closing down
They’re dancing one more on the dance floor
Drinking one more in the lounge
The beer is getting warm
The night is getting cold
And we’re just sitting here getting older

So give me one reason that I shouldn’t waltz with you
Give me one reason that we shouldn’t dance
Soon we’ll be leaving, so come take a turn or two
You say you don’t have the time
I say “It’s eleven fifty-nine, so come on!”

My shoes are feeling tight
My head is feeling loose
It’s time for last calls and a last waltz
And baby, you’re the one I choose
The night is nearly gone, but the song has just begun
And we ain’t getting any younger

So give me one reason that I shouldn’t waltz with you
Give me one reason that we shouldn’t dance
Soon we’ll be leaving, so come take a turn or two
You say you don’t know the steps
I say, “It’s as easy as it gets

It goes one, two, three
One, two, three
A, B, C
It’s so easy”

There ain’t nothing wrong
With feeling alright
Come out from the shadows
Into the light

There ain’t no reason that I shouldn’t waltz with you
There ain’t no reason that we shouldn’t dance
Soon we’ll be leaving, so come take a turn or two

I ain’t talking ‘bout romance
If you can walk, you can dance
One last waltz

Into the Night (Reprise)
Words & Music by Liam Robinson

Echoes fade
Stage lights dim
The curtain falls on every song
But you know it’s gonna rise again

The last shall be first
And the first shall be last
But the band’s gonna stay in the second line
When the saints go marching past

Into the night

From Hunger

Shine
Words and music by Liam Robinson

So many jewels are awaiting your ear,
For whom do you shine, love, for whom do you shine?
You hold each one up as you gaze in the mirror
For whom do you pine, love, for whom do you pine?
What do they whisper as you draw them near?
You say that you’re mine, love, but are you just mine?

Each little jewel is a secret untold
For whom do you shine, love, for whom do you shine?
You remember the story of each one you hold
For whom do you pine, love, for whom do you pine?
Is it silver for some while others are gold?
You say that you’re mine, love, but are you just mine?

One gem shines in the glimmering day
And another one glows in the shimmering night
Do you wear the same one in the sun’s golden rays
As you do in the moon’s silvery light?

So many jewels were here before I
For whom do you shine, love, for whom do you shine?
Some etched in truth and some cast in lies
For whom do you pine, love, for whom do you pine?
This beauty beheld in so many eyes
You say that you’re mine, love, but are you just mine?

One gem shines in the glimmering day
And another one glows in the shimmering night
Do you wear the same one in the sun’s golden rays
As you do in the moon’s silvery light?

After an evening there comes a new day
Will you be true, love, will you be true?
And in this new dawn can we find a new way
If I shine for you, love, if I shine for you?
Can I believe in the things that you say?
You say that you’re mine, love, but 

Am I the one that shines in the glimmering day,
And the one that glows in the shimmering night?
Can I shine for you in the sun’s golden rays
And again in the moon’s silvery light?

Louisa
Words and music by Jean Rohe

Louisa, little Southern town
The green hills wear their hazy crown
In the evening I go walking as the summer sun goes down

Louisa, I left everything
For your green hills, for a wedding ring
I'm a dreamer, I'm a foolish dreamer with a sad, sad song to sing

O, Louisa
What have you done?
Now I'm a prisoner of my icy jealousy
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O, Louisa, you made a broken girl of me

Louisa, full of Southern belles
They'll smile bright and they'll wish you well
But you can see it: they're hiding something; what it is, you can't quite tell

Louisa, he caught me in his snare
With his sweet laugh and his golden hair
But Louisa, his wandering eye–-this Northern girl could not compare

To Louisa
What have you done?
Now I'm a prisoner of my icy jealousy
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O, Louisa, you made a broken girl of me

And I'd go, you know I'd turn and head back homeward
Back to my land of snow
And I've tried, but he's the only one for me
O, Louisa
Louisa
Louisa

O, Louisa
What have you done to me?
I shoulda never left my home up North for your warm Virginia breeze
O Louisa, you made a broken girl of me

O Louisa, Louisa, Louisa.

Hunger
Words and music by Jean Rohe & Liam Robinson

We were children then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We stopped for gas and ice cream in these reservation towns
The curving mountain lanes and the asphalt arrow running through the plains

We were lovers then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We touched those heavy stones that hold this nation to the ground
The rocks that have endured; great paperweights for freedom’s written word

But these awesome peaks 
Are not monument enough for our hungry thoughts
We must raise a stone for each brave act, for each war fought
As if memory’s great ship without these tethered weights would set adrift

And we wondered if our love would endure the certain pain
And if this land could withstand the crimson stain of our hunger

We were dreamers then
We drove across this country with the windows down
We stopped for gas and coffee in these migrant worker towns
We touched those heavy stones and the greatest lakes this ancient Earth has known

But these torrent streams
Cannot cool the burning of our open pores
We must turn our greedy mouths up to the drinking gourd
From sea to thirsty sea, these mighty rivers yearning to be free

And we wondered if our love would endure the certain pain
And if this land could withstand the iron chains of our hunger
Oh the hunger. Of our hunger, oh the hunger

We are older now
We drive across this country with the windows down
We stop for gas and bathrooms in these slag heap company towns
We buy some pretty stones and fill our tank with prehistory bones

These fossil lakes 
Are the inkwells for a novel of our times
We scratch with furious hands to soothe our feverish minds
Though the ink is running dry, we still insist to write upon the sky

Oh, this spacious sky
Is not poetry enough for our swelling lungs
We must write a thousand songs to carry on our tongues
Our thoughts will burn so bright we can white the stars out from the sky at night

And we wonder if our love will endure the certain pain
And if this land can withstand the endless strain of our hunger
Oh the hunger. Of our hunger, oh the hunger

Will we be lovers then?
Will we move across this thirsty land of trading posts?
And stop to stretch our tired legs among the hungry ghosts?
As o’er the Earth we roam, the past will live inside these heavy stones.

But these pilgrim rocks
Are not elegy enough for our aching hearts
We must plant a stone for every soul when it departs
Until every shady grove is a grinding mouth of molars set in rows

And we’ll wonder at how our love endured the certain pain
As we are swallowed by the land again
Oh the hunger. Oh the hunger, oh the hunger, oh the hunger.

For a Moment
Words and music by Liam Robinson

They tore up the asphalt to repave the street and revealed the old trolley car tracks
Two bright lines of steel that emerged from the pavement like fossils dug up from the past
We could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone

The power went out on the fourteenth of August and the children of Brooklyn saw stars
Orion’s bright arrows were raining from heaven as radiant beams from afar
We could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone
Oh, we could see them
We could touch them
Just for a moment and then they were gone

The cloud cover lifts, the kaleidoscope shifts and a red velvet curtain is drawn
The silence is broken, the truth it is spoken one moment before it is gone
That’s when I see it
That’s when I feel it
That’s when I know it
Just for a moment

You sat on the bed, you buttoned your shirt as the stars faded out of the sky
And there in the doorway you switched on the hall light and something had changed in your eyes
I could see it
Just for a moment and then it was gone
Just for a moment, and then you were gone
Just for a moment and then we are gone
Oh, we can see it
We can feel it
Just for a moment and then we are gone

Safe Harbor
Words and Music by Liam Robinson

Safe harbor
You were taken by a storm
The people of this town cannot stay here anymore
And you say
You could see the warning signs in the rearview
You could hear that warning bell behind you
But you could not hear it then

Well the wind cried and the tide rose,
But we can’t live in hiding and we fight for what’s ours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone

Safe harbor
You were taken by a storm
Just look at the sky, my love and I, we can’t stay here anymore
And I say
I could see the warning signs in the headlights
I could see that flickering storm in the dark night
Oh, but I could not show you then

Well the wind cried and the tide rose,
But we can’t live in hiding and we fight for what’s ours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone

My lover,
I left you like a storm
This hurricane heart of mine cannot stay here anymore
And I say
My bags are packed and my car’s out back and I’m a-leavin;
You heard the back door slam and you started believin’
Oh, ‘cause you could not hear me then.

Well the wind screamed and the rain fell and the mud rose and the flood came,
But you fight for what’s yours until it goes
‘Till it’s gone

Can’t Fall Asleep
Words and Music by Jean Rohe and Liam Robinson

The breeze and the curtains are doing their slow dance
Darkness descends on the big world outside
You’re lying beside me and I watch your breathing
Your eyelids, the face that I know

I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side 
But I don’t want to wake up alone

The quiet of nighttime is our tiny haven
From the noise of the street and the cares of the day
I want to protect you from all the world’s troubles
With shelter in my loving arms

I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side 
But I don’t want to wake up alone

I see you in springtime, the May that I met you
I see you in winter, the end of our days
I kiss you softly, you smile in your slumber
It’s summer and I’m by your side

I can’t fall asleep when I’m by your side 
But I don’t want to wake up alone
No, I don’t want to wake up alone

Pretty Saro
Traditional appalachian, adapted from Jean Ritchie

Down in some lone valley in a lonesome place
Where the wild birds do whistle and their notes do increase
Farewell, Pretty Saro I bid you adieu
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go

My love she won’t have me so I understand
She wants a freeholder who owns house and land
I cannot maintain her with silver and gold
Nor buy all the fine things that a big house can hold

If I were a merchant and could write a fine hand
I’d write my love a letter that she’d understand
I’d write it by the river where the waters o’erflow
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go

Down in some lone valley in a lonesome place
Where the wild birds do whistle and their notes do increase
Farewell, Pretty Saro I bid you adieu
And I’ll dream of Pretty Saro wherever I go