CATCH THE DRIFT

Cut out from work early today
I got bigger dues to pay
On such a beautiful sunny day
Picked up this buddy of mine
He likes to go when he can find the time
With a family it's harder to get away

My buddy goes for the fish,
Well, at least that's what he says
Me, I think I needed something new
We're goin' down to the stream to catch a few

The only way to get there is by back roads,
little gravel roads
I don't need a map
with a buddy who knows the way
Find a recess in the trees
Park the car and hide the keys
Get ready for the day

Pack up both our vests
And pull our waders to our chests
Leave the car and bid troubles adieu
We're goin' down to the stream to catch a few

Tie your fly tight
Let it go and let it ride
Let it float by
Catch the drift and watch 'em rise
It's nice to get away
Oh, the sun is out so get outside today

We head upstream, where the water's clean
and the barbed wire gleams across the path
Pass a couple peckerwoods on the route
We see 'em here about every year
But we're not sure why cause it's pretty clear
to us, they ain't gonna catch no trout

Land a couple more
Taking turns upon the shore
Trading barbs just like we always do
We're going down to the stream to catch a few

Tie your fly tight
Let it go and let it ride
Let it float by
Catch the drift and watch 'em rise
It's nice to get away
Oh, the sun is out so get outside today

AUTUMN SONG

It's a lazy autumn day
Just sittin' around watchin' the leaves turn
Got nothin' to do or say
Ain't got no money to burn

Just listenin' to the wind blow
And watchin' it rush through the trees
And when the leaves decide to let go
They hop a ride on that breeze

This kind of weather
Is full of simple pleasures
A reason it's the season I love

And when they settle to the ground
I'll rake 'em into a pile
I know they'll soon be turnin' brown
But, honey, they go out in style

So get a runnin' start
And then jump right in
And my favorite part
Is doin' it over and over again

The smell on your clothes is
Much sweeter than roses
A reason it's the season I love

Don't want no house in the south
I want the seasons when I grow old
So when my hair's turnin' gray
I'll watch the leaves turnin' gold

So winter may be long
And springtime may keep on rainin'
But when the summer's gone
You'll never hear me complainin'

With colors in the air
And leaves painting the sky
It'll put away your cares
And put a light in your eye

I always fall in love with it all
The autumn hues take away all my blues
A gentle breeze when it's sixty degrees
It's so pleasin', cause it's the season
Those are the reasons it is the season I love

LIFE'S TOO SHORT

There is a lesson I learned from this girl I knew
And she could teach this lesson well
I didn't know her for all that long
But she had many a story to tell

One of my favorites was about this boy
Who thought that time would wait for him
His feet were planted, he was taking things for granted
When he looked back, he cried
"I wish I could start over again."

La, la, la
Life's too short to wait too long
You gotta dance now before they finish that song
You're gonna get burnt by the sun
You're gonna get drenched by the rain
So you dry off the tears
And you learn from the pain
When tomorrow's here, then today is gone
And life's too short to wait too long

Time waits for no one and especially you
You better get while the gettin's good
No use in giving up before you even try it
Or you'll never find out of you could

Too sentimental, too dramatic, who cares
Sometimes we do things just because
You don't need to be perfect to be loved
No one does

La, la, la (chorus)

So you broke up, you're choked up
You wish you never woke up
But now you better buck up before you break down
Still you're fallin' and ballin'
And wishin' they were callin'
But if you don't quit your stallin'
You'll be hittin' hard ground
So you get a breath of air, get a little careless
Shed a layer of skin, and remember this

(chorus)

Don't be too little, too late, too wrong
Cause life's too short to wait too long

TWO WINGS

For years I've been looking up to the sky
Where everything is beautiful way up high
I've climbed and climbed but I
Had never learned to fly

When you took my hand, I knew
That this was the one
The one that I should hold on to
A love so good to be true
Me and you

It takes two hands to hold
Two wings to fly
With you, I can touch the sky

I've pictured the view from up here
A million times it seems
But now as I look in your eyes it's better
Than all of those, all of those dreams

I didn't know what I would see
I didn't know who I could be
You showed them to me

It takes two hands to hold
Two wings to fly
With you, I can touch the sky
We can touch the sky

MINNESOTA BOY

I met a woman who had moved to Minnesota
A couple months 'fore the winter came
She was lookin' to blame
I won't mention where she's from
But I'll mention what she had to say
She said the cold gets old, and there's not much to do
And we all talk funny
Yeah, she covered that, too
She wondered what I'm doin' here
And why the hell do I stay

And I said
I'm just a Minnesota boy
Born in a Minnesota town
I get my Minnesota joy, a little pride and joy
Just from hangin' around
So don't try to tell me that I'm just naïve - no
Cause if you're not from Minnesota
Then there're some things you don't know

And when I finished first she rolled her eyes
Then shook her head and turned away
Drippin' with attitude, she was so very rude
And I said don't you walk away from me, you'll stay right there and hear me out
I like the lakes and flakes of freshly fallen snow
And the hot summer days and WCCO
And the spot on Lake Vermilion
Where I sit and watch the sun go down

(chorus)

I'm well aware that I may move around the country
Maybe in and out of money, and so it goes
But it's so nice to know
That I'll always have a respite where I left it
Anywhere I roam
I may go from Bean-town to downtown
Of New York City
From Oregon to Washington
And the south's so pretty
They all are nice to visit
Oh, but Minnesota is my home

(chorus)

Furthermore, don't tell me why to try
And get myself away
Cause I know I'll be coming back someday
Here endeth the lesson
Don't be messin' with the state I'm in

YOU ARE MY LOVE

It's already late December
And it's perfect with you here
Outside the trees are bare and lonely
But winter doesn't seem as cold this year

Comfort me
Laugh with me
Stay with me
You are my love

It's funny, right before I met you
I was finally, finally happy with myself
Ready for the world and all that stood before me
But you showed me it's best
To stand with someone else

Comfort me
Laugh with me
Stay with me
You are my love

Wrapped up in my thoughts and in your arms
I found a better part of me
And in your eyes I see
All I want to be

Comfort me
Laugh with me
Stay with me
You are my love

You are my love

I'M 21

21 is a nice age to be
Old enough to get in anywhere,
Too old to get in free
You'd think by this time
My life would have a plan
But, to be honest, the more I figure out
The less I understand

Next year I'll be 22
And everyone asks me what I'll do
I want to be rich, stop war, help the poor
And be in GQ
How about you
I'm 21

When I was 18 I began my freshman year
I had my first taste of being away
And my first taste of beer
Didn't know who to vote for
Didn't like the status quo
And now I pay attention, and I still don't know

They told me in high school that I should prepare
For the real world once I leave from there
Well, if this is real then I feel
That I've done okay
But hey
I'm 21

At ten years of age I thought by this stage
I'd have a house, a dog and a wife
But now I find I'm taking my time
Same person, different life
I'm 21

Am I mature now that I'm out of my teens
I'm not old, I'm not young, I'm not anything
But somewhere in between
Some days I'm hopeful and feel ahead of my time
Other days I feel like my whole life
Is waiting in line

Next year who knows where I'll be
So I'll take life as it takes me
From hour to hour
Just where will the flowers be
We'll see
I'm 21

HEY LITTLE SISTER

Hey, hey little sister
What are you lookin' at through those green eyes
Do you see all the troubles out walkin'
Beneath these lonely skies
With the touch of your hand
And the sound of your voice
You will dry all the tears that you see
Hey, hey little sister
It's gonna be

Hey, hey little brother
What are you thinkin' about right here and now
You've got all of these dreams in your head
And you're not lettin' them quiet down
You look at the world and you think about all
Of the places that you'd like to be
Hey, hey little brother
Go and see

Hey, hey father
What are you workin' on this late at night
If you do all that needs to be done
Then will everything turn out all right
Time is a healer but also a thief
That will use you and steal from you blind
Hey, hey father
Take some time

Hey, hey mother
What is weighin' so much on your mind
Do you sense the strange power of nature
Will all of your children be fine
It's so hard to balance on top of a world
That keeps movin' around beneath your feet
Hey, hey mother
Set it free

Hey, hey little sister
What are you looking at through those green eyes

SHE MEANS TOO MUCH TO ME

We've been good friends for a long time
We've stayed up late, so late into the night
We talk of life and love
And say what's on our minds
Everything about her seems so right

But I can't say how much I care
Cause it might change
The friendship that we share
Now I could tell her all the things I see
But she means too much to me

I've never kissed her, but I'd like to
The whispers sometimes whistle through my mind
But I must find a way to just not think that way
In between the nightfall and sunrise

But I can't say how much I care
Cause it might change
The friendship that we share
Now I could tell her all the things I see
But she means too much to me

What do you do
What do you say to yourself
When what's best for you
Isn't best for someone else

So many people in a lifetime
Walk in and out and leave without a trace
Now she may never know, cause I won't let it show
That in my soul she'll always have a place

But I can't say how much I care
Cause it might change
The friendship that we share
Now I could tell her all the things I see
But she means too much to me

SONGS WE ALL KNOW

The radio woke me with one of your songs
And when it was over they said you were gone
So hard to believe
Been listenin' since I was a kid
It's not like you knew me
But sometimes I felt like you did

And all of those albums I heard as a boy
That we played on the car rides
Back home from Illinois
With my sisters beside me
We all sang along with those tunes
And you helped us forget that those rides
Took the whole afternoon

You looked at the world and you opened our eyes
To the green of the forest and blue in the skies
And you walked through those woods
And you spoke through the wild
Familiar with landscapes like nature's own child
And you've taken us home
From roads in the country to Colorado
Your melody lines spin around in our minds
Cause you wrote
The songs we all know

I saw you in concert when I was fourteen
Looking just like I pictured
Guitar and blue jeans
And the stories you told, so simple and true
And each song you sang had a sound so definably you

(chorus)

Fly, fly away, let your spirits awaken the fears
That you hide, kept for years deep inside
Take a ride on the wind and let them in
Then let 'em all go

(chorus)

COFFEESONG

I don't drink coffee, never had a cup
But it still pays my bills
It still keeps me up
It helps me hit the road
Anywhere they'll let me go
I'll set things up and play my little show

Smoky bars, they are much too loud
Could play a stadium
But it's pretty hard to draw that crowd
Sitting here, like it's my living room
That's what makes this coffeehouse a home

Ain't got no lighting crew
Ain't got no sound man
It's just me and you, and my caravan
If you'd like to see it, it's parked outside
Wood paneling on the side
I could take you for a ride

A few guitars in case I break a string
A couple harps to help my songs to sing
It's what I do, it's who I am
Next weekend I'll do it all again

Throughout the night, I never mind the sounds
Of casual conversation
The grinding of the coffee grounds
And the whir of the cappuccino machine
Hear it spin and foam and steam

Tip your servers so graciously
They're working hard to make your coffee and tea
And they won't second-guess
If you ask them to make
A half-caf, double-mocha, skinny latte cup of joe
So sit back, sip slow, enjoy the show