Reunion
Back to Mike Morningstar's Official Site
This Page Last Updated:
The lyrics for this song were written by Steve Morningstar, Mike's brother.
Dimed-out street, dead-end town, whiskey moon, sad-faced clown
With a jaded soul, a jaundiced eye, ah but his piano tunes
could make you cry
A night so long, that it just won't pass, and a never empty
whiskey glass
Time hangs a frozen chandelier, in some forgotten yester-year
Where the laughter flowed above the din, and the ballroom
dancers lauded him
And he played his "baby grand" all night, and not
this old untuned "upright"
But now he plays an "east-end" bar.. for drinks and
tips in a mason jar
It's a long way down to an "east-end" bar..much
further down, than you ever think you are
So his heart aches like an abscessed tooth, and love's a
glance from a corner booth
And the neon flickers in a tobacco haze, it's a long time
since "the good old days"
To an "east-end" bar of broken dreams, Where hope is
lost within smoke-screens
I knew him well many years ago, but when our eyes met, he
didn't know me
I dropped some bills into his jar, stepped out to count my
lucky stars
It's hard to know what some men need, to keep their lives from
going to seed
This song is an "Old-Time" tune from the mountains of West Virginia, with a couple of added verses by Steve Stanley and Rick Roberts
I don't drink, and I don't smoke, and I don't wear no greasy coat
I don't spit, and I don't chew, and I don't kiss on the girls that do
I've felt up, and I've felt down, but when I saw her, I felt "all-around"
Well I don't cheat, and I don't lie, but with a girl like you, I'd give it a try
I don't drink, and I don't smoke, and I don't wear no greasy coat
I can't believe these flat-land ladies, the way they treat
this mountain man
Like so much love, was only pennies, like so much salt, like
so much sand
They let you think that you've been chosen, they make believe
you are the one
Lead a poor man on, 'til he's near crazy, they play the game
and then they're gone
May the storms lie at your back, may you never have to ask for
"peace of mind"
Happy am I to have known some time with you . Happy am I to
have known some time with you.
I can't believe in all the cover, it's either cold or else
it's hot
Just read the pages of your feelings, it's either there or
else it's not
And when you learn to face the music, just let the dance wear
out your shoes
Wear out your heart, wear out your lifetime, only to pay the
fiddler's dues
I can't believe that it's all over, the road lies splintered
into dust
I felt as if I was a stranger, admidst the tarnish and the
rust
So I'll bid farewell unto these mountains, and to the good
times we have seen
I hope your memories are happy, and thoughts of love still
fill your dreams
Oh you damned Ohio Valley, you've been bought and you've been
sold
I see your gently rolling river, run with poison through your
fold
I have seen your crowded cities, Cincinnati to Pittsburg
And the air you breath is thick and filthy, and your water has
no worth
You rape the earth all 'round about you, the river's brown the
sky is gray
How could you rob so many people, and think you'd never have
to pay
And I have seen your fractured hilltops, the railroad stitches
across your face
How could they trade your sacred beauty, for the jingle and
the waste
These people here are making money, lots of dollars I am told
Yet they can't buy fresh air with silver, or clean water with
all their gold
I'll tell you now, your dues are coming, fast as bullets,
sharp as steel
When you've exchanged the air you're breathing, for your
green-back dollar bill
This song was written for my daughter when she was about four years old. We were parted when my marriage to her Mother failed.
Hey Babe, your smiling face, I got to see through all my tears
Hey Babe, your smiling face, carry me on for a million years
Hey Babe, your gentle kiss, I seem to feel inside my head
Hey Babe, your gentle kiss, I'll carry on beyond the dead
Look in my eyes I'm sure you'll see, my love goes on eternally
It begins not, it's got no end, I see your eyes at every bend
Hey Babe your laughin' eyes, they seem to see my deepest part
Hey Babe, your laughin' eyes, they look into my deepest heart
All the many miles that lie between, can't stop the love that
we have seen
We share a bond that cannot bend, my love goes with you to the
end
Hey Babe, your smiling face, I long to see through all my
tears
Hey Babe, your laughing face, carry me on for a million years
This is a traditional song with an added verse by Mike and Donna Morningstar
There used to be a gambler he courted all around
There used
to be a gambler he courted all around
He courted Pretty Polly, such beauty'd never been found
Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly come go along with me
Pretty
Polly, Pretty Polly come go along with me
Before we get married some pleasure to see
She jumped up behind him and away they did go
She jumped up
behind him and away they did go
Down into the valley that lay far below
They went a little farther and what did they spy
They went a
little farther and what did they spy
But a new-dug grave with a spade lying by
Oh Willie, Oh Willie I'm afraid of your ways
Oh Willie, oh
Willie I'm afraid of your ways
I'm afraid you will lead my poor body astray
Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly you guessed it just right
Pretty
Polly, Pretty Polly you guessed it just right
I dug on your grave the best part of last night
Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly a choice you must make
Pretty
Polly, Pretty Polly a choice you must make
To give me your love or your life I will take
Oh Willie, Oh Willie my love I will save
Oh Willie, Oh Willie
my love I will save
And I'll carry my honor down into my grave
He stabbed her in the heart and her heart's blood did flow
He
stabbed her in her heart and her heart's blood did flow
Down into the grave Pretty Polly did go
A debt to the devil that Willie must pay
A debt to the devil
that Willie must pay
For killing Pretty Polly and running away
This song was written for my dear friend, Trudy, whom I've known since childhood, and who joins me on the vocal recordings.
Walk lonely in the city streets, footsteps ticking passing
time
Trying to find the words that rhyme, the feelings of my
heartbeat
Wrinkles etched from smiles and tears, building fences 'round
my eyes
Eyes are windows of the soul, to gaze across those years
I love you..Beyond the boundaries in my heart, Beyond prisons
of flesh and desire
I love you.. In the realm of freedom, on a plane of honesty,
In a time called eternity, In a time called eternity
Across these years I've come undone, the depth and color in
your eyes
Deepest ocean, bluest skies, song-birds neath the sun
And so I stand here near the end, where the desert meets the
sky
Gazing in those depthless eyes, singing love songs for a
friend
So I'm lost without a dream, night-time fades into the day
The gypsy hymns of yesterday, have caught me so it seems
With just a song to bring me through, a friend to understand
my song
and maybe help me sing along, I'll sing along with you
I loved you one time baby, I loved you one time twice; (Repeat
line)
But your lovin's too expensive, my heart can't pay the price
You hurt me one time, darling, you hurt me one time twice; (R)
I won't let that happen three times, I just can't be that nice
I gave you all my money, I gave you all my heart
You spent it all for nothing, now you tell me we must part
You left me one time honey, you left me one time twice
If you ever try to come back, you'll be skating on thin
ice...skate on
You told me that you loved me, you told me you were true
That's twice that you've lied, baby, what's a man supposed to
I told you one time baby, I told you one time twice
Stop your evil doings, but you don't hear my advice
Way down in Willow Island, on the Ohio River shore,
I'll tell you 'bout some working men who gambled at death's
door
On a clear, cool, April morning in a WV town,
The cooling towers were going up, when the men came tumbling
down
They were pouring a run of concrete, while the scaffold ringed
the well,
168 feet above the ground, when the catwalk peeled and fell
Some say they were pushin' a deadline, and the concrete wasn't
dry
The company gambled with those workers' lives, and fifty-one
men died
Forty- five men on the scaffold, six men on the ground
Fifty-one cards in the gambler's deck, with the last card
dealt face-down
Mon-Power was the dealer, and you know they stacked the deck
The last pale shadow was the Ace of Spades, the last card
dealt was Death
Oh the trees were turning leafy, and Spring was in the air
When those poor men went up to work, like they didn't have a
care
The mist from the river was rising, and the flowers were in
bloom
Little did they realize, they'd gone up to meet their doom
One man lost his brother, he also lost four sons
Two of his daughter's husbands, and three nephews gone
Ten men from his family, hurled into their graves
For the sake of a company's profits, and the money they could
save
So they had an investigation, and the justice system failed
And those at fault were only fined, and no one went to jail
The rules for them are not the same, as they'd be for you and
me
They killed those men for money, and then they walked "scot-free"
But I know that God's a working man, He built the Heavens and
the Earth
He'll weigh those dealers in His hand, and give them what
they're worth
May they never know the peace of death, or a sleep of a
restful grave
But lonely walk this lonely Earth, until their judgement day
What price to pay for nights with her, what light upon our
days
We hold but sorrow's wisdom when, the bird has flown away
The skies are filled with promise, when love is in the seed
Faith will grow and prosper tho' when love is in the deed
Love is a lesson, that we all must learn to live
The heart is still the greatest gift, we'll ever have to give
The world is filled with treasures rare, it's silver and it's
gold
But rarer still the loving heart, what precious gift to hold
Love that's kept unto itself, is worthless so they say
The value lies in giving all, the golden heart away
Bound by stars unto the earth, love's circle incomplete
She could not glimpse the dreamer's dream, or chase his gypsy
feet
Faith can make you blind my friend, and faith can let you see
Love can lock your heart away, and love can set you free
Carry myself along somehow, through fear and fantasy, with all
the schemes,
The hopes and dreams that only lovers see
Well I'm stealing like a shadow, moonbeams in the dark
Hungry...for the Queen of Hearts
Well I'm tappin' on your window, in the hissin', spittin' rain
And I'm askin' take away the ache, but leave me with the pain
From all those other ladies, who played me for the part
Before I met... the Queen of Hearts
I'm sittin' in your kitchen, and I'm lookin' in your eyes
And the things I see, they frighten me, as I finally realize
You've got me in your power, you could tear my soul apart
I'm gazing at...the Queen of Hearts
Love me till I'm empty, feed me till I'm full
Take the dust and heat from my weary feet, bathe me till I'm
cool
First I'm standin' lonely, then I'm standin' stark
Naked...with the Queen of Hearts
Well, I hear greed singing in these hills, in the night the
droning of it's drills
With the hooty-owls and the whip-poor-wills, like a night-jar
without wings
I look around me it's so sad, the ravenous "American
Dream" gone mad
If one guitar was all I had and just one song to sing
Then I would sing me a song for Mother, for the Mother of us
all
For are we all not brothers on this blue- green spinning ball
You know that Mother loves you, lift your hands and voices too
Let's sing a song for Mother, it's the least that we can do
For oil's sake they drill these holes, her back is broken for
it's coal
Cash her rivers in for gold, with a crap-shooter's
laissez-faire
But what about our future sons and daughters, blood kin
everyone
After Mother's turned and gone because nobody cared
Don't turn your back on your Mother, don't you look the other
way
For everything that's broken, you know someone has to pay
You know that Mother loves you, do what loving children do
Try to help and save your Mother before her days are through
So don't forget your family and your family that is yet to be
There's plenty here for everyone, but not enough for greed
There's nothing new beneath the sun, only something's gone
away
For everything her children won, why make Mother pay
So let's give a gift to Mother, so she'll know we really are
The loving sons and daughters that she always knew we were
You know that Mother loves you, and now it's time to show
The love you hold for Mother, before her time to go
Before her time to go....before her time to go
All of you long-haired hippies quit smokin' that "Mary
Jane"
Puts holes in your pockets, holes in your shoes, and great big
holes in your brain
Keep away from them that say "pot won't do you no
harm"
You're smokin' and jokin' next thing you know, you're
shootin-up your arm
Just say "no thank you, no thanks, thanks a lot"
All of you pregnant women stop drinkin' that alcohol
And stay away from them smoke-filled rooms where the boys are
tokin' on the bowl
Stay away from your hair spray, don't watch no atom bombs
Don't think twice, take my advice, the baby's sure to come
Just say "no thank you, no thanks, thanks a lot
Run out and tell all of your idiot friends, don't try no LSD
It'll mess-up all of your chromosomes, make your kids turn out
like me
Keep 'em on the straight and narrow, don't you ever let 'em
stray
And always give 'em a helpin' hand, when they're too blind to
find their way
Just say "no thank you, no thanks, thanks a lot"
Ground Hog in the meadow, ground hog in the wood
Ground hog in my garden, that's a hog that ain't no good
Working in the fact'ry, slaving in the mill
I'd rather be with the ground hogs, in the corn out on the hill
Plant my seeds in the garden, work all day in the shop
Sun come up and the hogs come out, chomped off all my tops
Plant my watermelon, hope the vines don't please ya
I'll take my magnum rifle, give that hog "mag-nesia"
Ground hog don't do nothing, lay on a rock in the sun
He just eat and sleep and dodge the bullets from my gun
Hickory in the woodpile, hides out on the barn
Cabin fever in my heads, where's the ground hog gone ?