Sweet Western Sound

1. Tanya

“A song written by Billy Joe and Tanya. One day Billy Joe left a voicemail with the song on it and Tanya’s been playing it for us since we started making the first album. Brandi had the idea to start and end the album with the voicemail.”

-Author

2. Kindness

I have traveled down the long and twisted roads

Through the darkened streets not many souls have known

I’ve seen beauty some may not understand

I found glory in the ruin

Of the best laid plans

There were times tomorrow felt so far away

It seemed as though the bitterness was here to stay

And though I’ve pushed down on my anger through my tears

I have always felt the love of God so near

I’ve been everything there is to be

So come on baby, show some kindness to me

How the hand of fate drags us all behind

Like a river flowing back and forth in time

To the place we call free will, but we were always meant to be

It was written like a song, so long ago

It’s a long and lonely river to the sea

So c’mon baby, show some kindness to me

When all the wasted years have come and gone

And there’s just the empty sky to look upon

And all the dreams that pulled our hearts are memories

I will remember what it felt like to be free

‘Cause I’ve been everything there is to be

Come on baby, show some kindness to me

How the hand of fate drags us all behind

Like a river flowing back and forth in time

To the place we call free will, but we were always meant to be

It was written like a song so long ago

It’s a long and lonely river to the sea

Come on baby, show some kindness to me

I’ve been everything there is to be

Come on baby, show some kindness to me

3. Breakfast In Birmingham featuring Brandi Carlile

Just a little static

Breakin’ up the Beatles

AM wakeup Tuesday mornin’ tunes

It’s a turquoise-blue good mornin’

With the copper eagle flying’

Whippin’ through the plains

North across the motel-rendezvous

You know me, I’m still a-movin’

Just as slow as ol’ molasses

Bacon cooked up good and crisp for gone

Moved in to Alabama

In a purple Firebird

Looking for some love

Looking for the words to write a song

As cheap as gas is here

I will look beyond my longing

The extra dollar doesn’t mean a damn

If I get clear of Jasper

And all this dixie thunder

I’ll get breakfast with brown eyes in Birmingham

Hippies on the shoulder

Yeah, they’re at a place hearabouts

They’re tie-dyed and golden-haired and free

All the motorcycle cowboys

Highway two-sixty-nine’ers

Pullin’ up the shades

And shuttin’ down the rebel history

Oh me, I’m still a-blowin’

Through the same old C-sharp harp

Old hymns and Arthur Alexander songs

Jakey Hess is up in Heaven

Together they’ll both be singin’

Singin’ with the Lord above you

Best be movin’ on

As cheap as gas is here

I will look beyond my longing

The extra dollar doesn’t mean a damn

If I get clear of Jasper

And all this dixie thunder

I’ll get breakfast with brown eyes in Birmingham

As cheap as gas is here

I will look beyond my longing

The extra dollar doesn’t mean a damn

If I get clear of Jasper

And all this dixie thunder

I’ll get breakfast with brown eyes in Birmingham

Oh, Birmingham

4. Waltz Across A Moment

You could say these days

Are cold and sharp like razor blades

They twist and burn and then they fade

Like a kiss from long ago

I wouldn’t tell just anyone

Somedays I feel like a loaded gun

Is our love just a hit and run?

Only time can really know

Just like the California sun

I think I’m goin’ down

Come and meet me in the shadows

Of this drunk and broken town

Don’t curse your mind with yesterday

Or the love we could have found

Just waltz across the moment

To that sweet western sound

It seems like a fever dream

Everyone matching in their perfect themes

Somethin’ they saw on their TV screen

Here I am out on my own

My daddy always seemed to know

Who hung the moon and where there river flowed

You know I can hear him when the night wind blows

Daddy, which way do I go?

‘Cause just like the California sun

I think I’m goin’ down

Come and meet me in the shadows

Of this drunk and broken town

Don’t curse your mind with yesterday

And the love we could have found

Just waltz across the moment

To that sweet western sound

Don’t shoot the lights out

Don’t curse the moon

You’re the star of the show

And if you don’t go

How will you know

Heaven for real?

Just like the California sun

I think I’m goin’ down

Come and meet me in the shadows

Of this drunk and broken town

Don’t curse your mind with yesterday

Or the love we could have found

Just waltz across the moment

To that sweet western sound

Oh, sweet western sound

5. Ready As I’ll Never Be

I felt you calling, I saw your star

From the old town movies to the bars on the boulevard

The bells were ringing for a gypsy soul

Straight to the smart mouth little girl from Seminole

All you outlaws and the Opry queens

They wrapped those golden arms around the baby of the family

To stand beside you then was more than enough

I always was and always will be looking up

So gather round now, it’s time to sing

It’s bittersweet, but it’s a hell of a silver lining

I tell the same old stories

Y’all get your wings

And I get better every time I kiss a weathered cheek

And watching doves fly sooner than me

I guess I’m ready

Ready as I’ll never be

The snow don’t fall on Wilcox, and the whippoorwill don’t lie

Are the two things you can count on

And if you blink you’re gonna miss it twice

Even if I saw it coming, even if I wanted to

You’re just going to the one place left that I can’t follow you

So gather round now, it's’ time to sing

It’s bittersweet but it’s a hell of a silver lining

I tell the same old stories

Y’all get your wings

And I get better every time, but I don’t know

Ain’t no debts to repay, even if your light years away

May the circle be unbroken, let it ring through you

One sweet day, oh happy day

Gather round now, it’s time to sing

It’s bittersweet, but it’s a hell of a silver lining

I tell the same old stories

Ya’ll get your wings

And I get better every time I kiss a weathered cheek

And watching doves fly sooner than me

I guess I’m ready

Ready than I’ll never be

I’m ready as I’ll never be

6. The List

Well, I wish time had a throttle

I wish years had changed your mind

I’m peelin’ labels off the bottle

Till that clear green glass can finally get it’s chance to shine

But I ain’t gonna make excuses

I’ve since lost all track

Of my demons and their muses

So if you’re still keeping score

Then you can keep your heart attack

Awe, make me a list, do what you gotta do

You heard stories about my past and they’re probably true

Hey, make me a list, that‘ll be fine

If you wanna sling mud in my face

Tell you what, you can get to the back of the line

I don’t live in the past, it ain’t gonna last

And the years ain’t always been kind

But that list of things you don’t like about me

Is gonna be shorter than mine

Well I don’t mind keepin’ pictures

I don’t wear those shoes no more

And the sweet ol’ winds of change

Took a while to call my name

But now and then those sleeping dogs

Come howling at my door

Oww, make me a list, do what you gotta do

You heard stories about my past and they’re probably true

Awe, make me a list, hey, that’ll be fine

If you wanna sling mud in my face

Tell you what, you can get to the back of the line

I don’t live in the past, it ain’t gonna last

And the years ain’t always been kind

But that list of things you don’t like about me

Is gonna to be shorter than mine

Now I ain’t here to make excuses

And I’ve since lost all track

Of my demons and their muses

So if you’re still keeping score

Then you can keep your heart attack

Hell, make me a list, do what you gotta do

Y’all heard stories about my past and they’re probably true

Oh, make me a list, oh, that’ll be fine

If you wanna sling mud in my face

Tell you what, you can get to the back of the line

I don’t live in the past, it ain’t gonna last

And the years ain’t always been kind

But that list of things you don’t like about me

Is bound to be shorter than mine

Hey, that list of things you don’t like about me

Has gotta be shorter than mine

7. Letter to Linda:

Dearest Linda,

I write to let you know

You always were my favorite

The greatest and that still goes

I know that you’ve been strugglin’

Been in the shadows for so long

I just had to reach out to you

And say “You shaped me with your songs”

I wanted to be just like you, Linda

You left an unforgettable, incredible stamp on me

A voice from heaven above to the body the below

If I close my eyes I can still feel the glow

Of “Heart Like A Wheel” reaching out from my radio

I thought you should know

Rest easy, Linda

You already stole the show

Dearest Linda,

I heard your voice today

I walked through the door at the Troubadour

And “Desperado” softly played

We only met once in Nashville

I hope some day we meet again

We could talk about the highs

And the times gone by

I’d just love to be your friend

I remember how they introduced you on the TV

“The girl with the warm, beautiful chipmunk eyes”

As of the rivers of inspiration flow

You pulled me in like an undertow

And you’ve got no idea how your magic grows

But as far as I go,

Rest easy, Linda

You already stole the show

Thought you should know

Oh, Linda

You already stole the show

8. City of Gold

My blood runs hot, baby, till it goes cold

And you know my heart is a city of gold

The sun sets in the west

But I’m strollin’ down Hollywood Blvd.

I don’t believe I’m done just yet

I took the hard knocks and the broken dreams

So I don’t freeze in the moment

When a good one’s goin’

Like a doe in the high beams

My blood runs hot, baby, till it goes cold

And you know my heart is a city of gold

Honey, if you do just like I told you

Might have a little fun tonight

They got jet planes and bullet trains

Take you anywhere you wanna go

Except for yesterday

I wear my sadness like a summer dress

When the wind blows through

I feel beautiful

Honey, ain’t that just the way?

My blood runs hot, baby, till it goes cold

And you know my heart is a city of gold

Honey, if you do just like I told you

Might have a little fun tonight

My blood runs hot, baby, till it goes cold

And you know my heart is a city of gold

Honey, if you do it just like I told you

My blood runs hot, baby, till it goes cold

And you know my heart is a city of gold

Honey, if you do it just like I told you

Might have a little fun tonight, yeah

Have a little fun tonight

9. That Wasn’t Me

Hang on, just hang on for a minute

I’ve got something to say

I’m not asking you to move on or forget it

But these are better days

To be wrong all along and admit it

Is not amazing grace

To be loved like a song you remember

Even when you change

Tell me…

Did I go on a tangent?

Did I lie through my teeth?

Did I cause you to stumble on your feet?

Did I bring shame on my family?

Did it show that I was weak?

Whatever you’ve seen

That wasn’t me

When you’re lost you will toss

Every lucky coin you’ll ever trust

And you’ll hide from your God

Like he ever turns His back on us

And you’ll fall all the way to the bottom

And land on your own knife

And you’ll learn who you are

Even if it doesn’t take your life

So tell me…

Did I go on a tangent?

Did I lie through my teeth?

Did I cause you to stumble on your feet?

Did I bring shame on my family?

Did it show that I was weak?

Whatever you see

That wasn’t me

But I want you to know

That you’ll never be alone

I want to believe

Do I make myself a blessing

To everyone I meet?

And when you fall

I will get you on your feet

Did I spend time with my family

Did it show when I was weak?

When that’s what you see

That’ll be me

That will be me

That’ll be “T”

10. When The Rodeo Is Over (Where Does The Cowboy Go?)

He got down out of the cattle truck

In the Amarillo night

He looked up at the Texas sky

And thought of his last ride

He’d trade all his tomorrows

For eight seconds one more time

He could’a made World Champion Cowboy

Back in 1969

He thanked the driver for the ride

And he closed the semi door

And limped across the parking lot

To another liquor store

He held onto the bottle

As he counted out his change

And he felt like some old saddle bronc

Who’d been turned out on the range

When the rodeo is over, where does the cowboy go?

Never thought it’d be his last ride

Till the last time he got throw’d

When your heart can’t take the losin’

And your knees can’t take the blows

When the rodeo is over, where does the cowboy go?

Where does the cowboy go?

Whiskey on his breath

And the age in his eyes

He’ll hitch a ride on the interstate

And fade into the sunrise

Now, Sedona, she’s a vortex

But she’s sweeter than the coast

He smokes cigarettes he can’t afford

And whistles to a ghost

His boots belong to memory

And his spurs belong to rust

He’ll be picking up his turquoise

And leave the buckles in the dust

When the rodeo is over, where does the cowboy go?

He never thought it’d be his last ride

Till the last time he got throw’d

When your heart can’t take the losin’

And your knees can’t take the blows

When the rodeo is over, where do the cowboys go?

When the rodeo is over, where does the cowboy go?