Ain't That Something
Black-Eyed Susan
City Lights
Eagle & Blue
Echoes
February
Grumman At The Keel
How Do You Pray
Leaving Again
Mid September
Oh Jealous Mind
One Last Look
Pack Of Lies
San Joaquin
Savage On The Downhill
Selma
Storms Of Scarcity
Things I Saved
Tracey Joe
Trinity Gold Mine
Waiting For The Hard Times To Go
You Can Come In
AIN’T THAT SOMETHING
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Ain't that something the way he's looking at me
Ain't that something the way he's looking at me
He's looking at me like I'm a beauty queen
Like I just might be the prettiest girl he's ever seen
My baby kiss me good morning, he kiss me goodnight
My baby kiss me good morning, he kiss me goodnight
There's something about him that just feels right
Giving kisses sweeter than all of the valley's wine
I've been cold most all my life
I've been cold most all my life
That fire you got sure burns bright
I'm counting on you to keep me warm tonight
Ain't that something the way he's looking at me
Ain't that something the way he's looking at me
He's looking at me like I'm a beauty queen
Like I just might be the prettiest girl he's ever seen
BLACK-EYED SUSAN
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
We walked just one mile to get to God
Spent the afternoon running in the church yard
Can't you see I'm walking just behind you dad
Two steps to your one ain’t half bad
And I go walking through the fields of summer
And I start laughing loud and gay
I'm talking back to the Black-Eyed Susan
Hope I always feel this way
Charlotte Road 214
That little white church was all we knew
The smell of a hymnal in my hands
Sitting in a church pew next to you
CHORUS
Pulling on my tights for Sunday School
Everybody ought to know the golden rule
"This is the day the Lord hath made
We will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
CHORUS
CITY LIGHTS
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Don't mind my tears they'd be falling just the same
You haven't done anything wrong
No I'm not crying cause you say your love's grown old
It's just hard to face the winter here alone
No I'm not saying it’ll work out if you stay
Just with you here this house felt like a home
And after all it's you that made the biggest change
Restless nights, no city lights, go on and go
As you wander far away and grow tired of the race
Think of these foothills and a girl you used to know
I'll keep a kitchen fire burning in case you ever lose your way
When city lights get too bright just come on home
Love ain't enough, at least that's what he'd say
I always wished I could offer him something more
But in his arms my troubles seemed to slip away
And this poor girl didn't feel so poor
CHORUS
EAGLE & BLUE
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Eagle & Blue how in the hell are you
And how is our friend Rio Grande
The plaza felt empty, I couldn't find Johnny Floras
Tell me where did he go the old man
No I never heard that Amy had a baby
Seems like everybody I knew moved on
I drove out to Pueblo where we parked for the winter
And I thought of you singing that song
You’d sing some say love is a flower
Some say love is a rose
If we give all we have to each other
Surely something might grow
When I hear boots pound on old dance floors
Down the hall two by two
Eliza’s red lipstick and a fat turquoise bracelet
Button accordions remind me of you
"What can I say that will take me away
From the snow flower bloomed in your heart
What can I do to reach out to you
And keep us from drifting apart" *
CHORUS
*Used by permission, poem by Bodie Wagner
ECHOES
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Mama’s coming down the hall in her slippers
On the look out for a cup of tea she swore she made
Dad’s been up and out since four this morning
He tried to lay back down but the quiet woke him up again
The kids we raised became our pride and joy love
For eighteen years our lives were not our own
Tell me again just why are we still together
Lying next to you I never felt so alone
At the foot of the stairs we hear the echoes
Of the children that we raised up gone and grown
Out of the stillness comes a question begs an answer
With just you and I will this house still be a home
Let’s go back to when you and I were young love
What’d we ever do to pass away the time
It had something to do with sunshine on a dew drowned meadow
Going walking and talking with the apple of my eye
CHORUS
I swear you ain’t the one I said my vows to
But you do look like someone I used to know
After all these years is there nothing left to hold on to
Tell me again just what are we fighting for
I’m fighting for my sweetheart sunny day darling
And I'm fighting for my lover and my friend
I’ve searched long and hard to find an answer for you
After all these years, after all these years
After all these years I know we’ll find the love again
CHORUS
FEBRUARY
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
The short month it flew by like a bird on the wing
I don't let it worry my mind
Turns out the rent is due sooner than we think
I don't let it worry my mind
Wipe the tears and hide my eyes at the kitchen sink
I don't let it worry my mind
I just try and focus on the simple joys life brings
I don't let it worry my mind
It sure is warm for February
I can see bare patches of our lawn
Winter was so cold and dreary
But it looks like sunny days from now on
The radio is speaking out the most depressing things
I don't let it worry my mind
More and more I'm finding out you can't trust who you’d think
I don't let it worry my mind
CHORUS
Late frost it came and took most everything
I don't let it worry my mind
Looks like I was fooled by an early spring
I don't let it worry my mind
CHORUS
GRUMMAN AT THE KEEL
Written by Amber Cross
© 2014 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
You can call her silver, you can call her friend
She can take you up the river and bring you back again
No matter where I travel, when I reach an end
I’ve got 15 feet of aero grade aluminum
I don’t ask questions, it’s like she knows the way
Before I begin to tell her, before I start to say
She walks on water in that old-school way
She’s my 15 feet of aero grade aluminum
And I know that she’s not fancy
I just like the way I feel
When I’m on the water paddling
With my Grumman at the keel
HOW DO YOU PRAY
Written by Amber Cross
© 2014 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Tell me how do you pray
Where do you go and what do you say
Do you fall on your knees at the end of each day
How do you pray
Do you shake your fists at the sky
You stub your toe and wonder why
When life ain't going your way
How do you pray
Tell me how do you pray
Where do you go and what do you say
Do you fall on your knees at the end of each day
How do you pray
Where do you feed your soul
Be it a lazy afternoon at your favorite fishing hole
Where you can marvel at God's grace
How do you pray
CHORUS
When you lose some one you love
And the comfort of friends just ain't enough
When you just can't take the pain
How do you pray
CHORUS
LEAVING AGAIN
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
I made my home on the Whisky’s banks
Fell in love with a man and took on his name
Winter came and the creek did rise
I took back my heart, tore me up inside
And he says where now, where you going now
I see you’re leaving again, can I change your mind
I say no, no, I’m leaving again
I don’t want to get close, not this time
Can I live with myself, his poor heart in my hands
I tell him I tried but he don’t understand
I know this is home but it don’t feel that way
He don’t want me to go but he drives me away
When he says where now, where you going now
I see you’re leaving again, can I change your mind
I say no, no, I’m leaving again
I don’t want to get close, not this time
MID SEPTEMBER
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Mid September and there's a half moon in the sky
I'm lying in bed and I listen to the coyotes cry
Oak leaves blowing in through an empty window pane
I woke up this morning to the sounds of an early rain
Used to think I'd look back on us crying and laugh
I never thought I'd look back on us laughing and cry *
I still go driving but I take to circling wide
Check my mirrors, keep an eye on my blind side
I try and remember the days my heart was open wide
I watch the storm coming in
And I think about running outside
I never used to hesitate
I never let the doubt in my mind
No I never let the doubt in my mind
I got blood stains in the kitchen and a possum underneath the floor
But living this way I could never ask for more
I say it's better your back than mine cause you're the one leaving this time
I ain't asking you to leave I'm just showing you to the door
CHORUS
Give me a day when I won't try and leave
I’ll stay and see the seasons change between my love and me
I’m looking for a reason to put your shoes outside
I think things might be different if I stick around this time
Billows so white rolling over
Clouds build and pile up high
Some bright morning
Looks like heaven's coming down in style
Looks like heaven's coming down in style
Looks like heaven
Looks like heaven's coming down in style
CHORUS
*Quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson
OH JEALOUS MIND
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
I'm going crazy now I’m losing sight of almost everything we've gained
This jealous mind done got the best of me
I've tried 'bout everything to lose the loop of her with your last name
My skins crawling and I can't sleep
Oh jealous mind, stop your scheming
You know he loves you now what's so wrong
Got a jealous heart, for no good reason
Don't need your games, leave me alone
Ain't that just right on time I step aside the day she pulls in town
I'd like to jerk a knot right in her pretty tail
A girl don't drive that far to see a man without trouble on her mind
I'm telling you, a woman knows
CHORUS
So if you don't mind now, I'm gonna be leaving
You know I love you, but this is wrong
Gonna take my heart, and hide away grieving
Don't need your games, leave me alone
CHORUS
ONE LAST LOOK
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
It’s quiet on the mesa when all the mouths are fed
I’m standing at the back gate, my hands cold and red
The aimless way my thoughts go drifting round my head
Taking me to places I will never see again
I’m going to walk right in and make myself at home
Turn around real slow
Shake out all the pieces on the floor
Take one last look and let it go
These hills run deep into my bones, I know the secrets they keep
I know where the ancient souls lay wake beneath the trees
They turn around, they come and go, doing as they please
Stay with me everywhere I go, like a worn out melody
CHORUS
Now it’s getting late I got to go, somewhere I have to be
But I can smell the woodsmoke riding on the breeze
So it’s up the hill to a house I know where there’s an open door for me
I’m going to walk right in and say hello, set my spirit free
CHORUS
PACK OF LIES
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
I’m caught up in a pack of lies
Barking dogs rule the moonless night
Pretending to love is a wicked game
I made this bed where I lay in the shame
Memories of you oh they haunt my mind
Falling stars streak the blacked out sky
There’s no way around how careless I've been
Selfish and blind, facade of love, loss of a friend
And I pray life is going to get easier
It won’t always be this hard
Through penitent tears I watch us fade
I never meant to do you wrong
Wish I could heal your breaking heart
Making believe the sun’s gonna shine
I try to be strong while I’m lost inside
Pardon me, I never meant to lie
What a mess I’m in, I’ll take the blame, swallow my pride
CHORUS
Come here darling, come and rest your eyes
You look so tired, have you been up all night
Pretending to love does a wicked harm
Will I ever learn to live with what I have done
CHORUS
SAN JOAQUIN
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
There was once a rich and fertile valley watered by the San Joaquin
She gave and she gave plenty, from her foothills to her seas
For miles they came to farm her the blackest soil you ever seen
She ran all the way to San Francisco Bay, she was wild and she was free
The Friant Dam it holds her and for 60 miles she runs dry
Polluted by those that crowd her with only dollars on their minds
They did nothing to rebuild her, not a cover crop or tree
Now the topsoils turned to powder it’s being taken by the breeze
What’d you ever do to your valleys, they used to be so green
You paved and planted orchards, diverted our rivers and streams
You took all she had to offer, blinded by your greed
Now it’s no wonder that she’s on fire when you pretend that you don’t see
Now there’s a bird eating berries in the shade of a Madrone tree
The smoke's settled low and heavy and I’m finding it hard to breathe
They say that California just might drop off into the sea
I want to be out of that line of fire when Mama’s soul busts free
Take me riding on a lonesome cowboy’s yodel out across the lone prairie
Let’s get carried away together sing me of how it used to be
July sun, wild fire, it's got nothing to do with me
Lay that buffalo hide ‘cross my shoulders paint a rose tattoo on me
I need a friend I need a lover I need a long tall glass of tea
Cause I’m all out of answers trying to learn your harmony
I need a place to run for cover, a place I won't be seen
The river aches from this drought she’s under, touch her set her free
CHORUS
SAVAGE ON THE DOWNHILL
Written by Amber Cross and Ray Bonneville
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
I can feel you out there moving through the dark
Feeding on my fear like the scavenger you are
Did you think I’d stay here in your nightmare dream
This is the last time that you will ever bother me
With my savage on the downhill so not to break my fall
I move along the cattle trail across the canyon wall
I’m a hawk eye on a sparrow, I'm onto your game
I know which way the wind will blow before it begins to change
I drop low into the canyon where you’re bound to be
Lying in the shadows, blending and unseen
You will know my heart and taste it’s ragged beat
When your beastly eyes set darkly upon me
With my savage on the downhill so not to break my fall
I move along the cattle trail across the canyon wall
I’m a hawk eye on a sparrow, I'm onto your game
I know which way the wind will blow before it begins to change
SELMA
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Lately I been thinking about going
Somewhere nice to see some music played
But all of my dresses are in Selma
And Selma is a really long ways away
I've been thinking 'bout my pretty dresses
I never really wore 'em much anyway
I sure don't go out dancing like I used to
I wear the same ripped jeans and sweatshirt every day
I say may be it's time I go for a drive
Cause lately I been doing too much thinking
I just don't look at life in the same way
I've been spending too much time reading
And books have become a means of escape
I say may be it's time I go for a drive
Cause lately I've been losing my composure
I just don't hold together quite the same
I quit trying to make church on Sundays
And now Sunday has become my favorite day
I say may be it's time I go for a drive
(La Da Da Da...)
Cause lately I been thinking about Selma
How all my things are neatly packed away
How'd I ever end up in Selma
And why on earth did I ever move away
I say may be it's time I go for a drive
(La Da Da Da...)
STORMS OF SCARCITY
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
The silence between waves, calm before a storm
Gulls screaming over the sea
There’s a moon out tonight and she rips a lunar tide
These are storms of scarcity
I can’t feel my hands and I can’t feel my feet
I’m walking with you by the sea
There’s a ship on the horizon being tossed from side to side
These are storms of scarcity
Come sit by my side and wipe your weeping eyes
These hard times are more than I can bear
And here on the sand we’ll write our names inside this heart
Let the waves wash us away from here
The pull of the tide challenge your heart and mine
As it tries to undermine all our dreams
Sleeper wave came, crossed a thin line
Into storms of scarcity
Come sit by my side and wipe your weeping eyes
These hard times are more than I can bear
And here on the sand we’ll write our names inside this heart
Let the waves wash us away from here
It’s the change you won’t miss if you blink your eyes
The wind be the breath of the sea
Somehow I’ll get though with you by my side
Through these storms of scarcity
THINGS I SAVED
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Looking back for something I might have lost along the line
Reading through old letters of my youth and days gone by
The smell of balsam lingers, almost makes me cry
As I burn through these old memories, take a good look at my life
There's a letter here from Betty, written just after Bob died
61 years married, now she's given me advice
Her cat is old and cranky, the grandkids are doing fine
When will you come and visit, write when you have the time
Dreaming now of years gone by
Letters from, friends of mine
All the things I saved, was it worth the time
Without them now, will these memories survive
I must have a stack of post cards that stretch a mile high
A few forgotten love letters, written under New Mexico skies
You want me to move back there, you know I always thought I might
No you're not forgotten, I just moved on with my life
My Great Aunt from over the river, she says she tried to call last night
Her sister came for a visit, at 92 years she still drives
And dear I'm getting married imagine me an 88 year old bride
I hope you make it home for the wedding, here's our picture from the local Times
CHORUS
All the cards from my mother and father filled with love and pride
We miss you more than ever, a little cash to get you by
There were fifteen in church last Sunday, for once we let out on time
We're thinking about coming to visit, your father says he wants to drive
CHORUS
TRACEY JOE
Written by Amber Cross and Ray Bonneville
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
Tracey was just a boy when I put him on a train
Pulling out of Duluth on up to Winnipeg
Saying don’t look back, you were bred to run
Cover your tracks like we always done
Got a picture of the family when he was only three
The only one ever taken that included me
He was holding my hand standing next to his dad
On the day that he left us, that picture makes me sad
Sing me to sleep Tracey Joe
So your mama don't feel so all alone
Shut the door, turn out the light
Tell me again it’s going to be alright
I worked as a waitress, a barmaid all my life
All the wrong men left us fleeing in the night
Climb up the gutter Tracey and see if he’s asleep
I’ll circle round the block son, you run back and tell me
Peek in the windows, check the door for a falling match
Throw it all in the car, we got to make it fast
He pried at the hammers but he was too small to pull them back
He watched on helpless as my head came through the glass
CHORUS
I’m still in Minnesota, in the casino lights I live
I’ve got nothing left of myself to give
Somebody said they seen him driving a train
Up on a stretch between Duluth and Winnipeg
CHORUS
TRINITY GOLD MINE
Written by Amber Cross
© 2017 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
I live out on the edge of town
Joe and I we settled down
With him I found a common ground
But no one knows about me
I guess I'm the quiet kind
The girls I like won't give their time
They think I'm weird, they're probably right
They don't want to know about me
Joe and I we had some times
Hacienda Bridge at midnight
Drinking beer and wasting life
You don’t want to know about me
I can’t look you in the eye
And when I leave I don’t say goodbye
My friends say I’m a real nice guy
But they don’t know about me
I climbed up off the ground
Wove a web in the redwood boughs
Up where I could not be found
No one knew about me
I can’t talk about my life
cause talking sure don’t make it right
Life in the Trinity Gold Mines
No one knew about me
I can’t look you in the eye
And when I leave I don’t say goodbye
My friends say I’m a real nice guy
But they don’t know about me
WAITING FOR THE HARD TIMES TO GO
Written by Jim Ringer
Used by permission. Folklore Music
Well my name it don't matter, you don't know me no how
But I wish you would listen to what I'm saying now
I need someone to talk to and I want you to know
I ain't putting you down but I don't like your town,
Just a hanging around, waiting for the hard times to go
Well I come here from Fresno and that is my home
If I ever get back there I wouldn't feel so alone
I come looking for work here just a few weeks ago
Now my spirit is beat, I got sores on my feet,
From walking your streets, waiting for the hard times to go
My home seems as far now as the earth is from Mars
Any way that I look here I see buildings and cars
I want to hear the birds singing, I want to feel the wind blow
But I know that can't be, I can't yet be free,
Got to stay in your cities, waiting for the hard times to go
Sometimes I wonder about the workings of life
Why can't a man make a living for his kids and his wife
Without leaving his home town for a strange place to go
Where he spends every cent paying groceries and rent
Until his whole life is spent, waiting for the hard times to go
YOU CAN COME IN
Written by Amber Cross
© 2012 Two Red Doors Publishing, ASCAP
You can come in but you can't stay long (3x)
This is my house, I like living alone
And I don't need a boy even if he's grown
I guess I don't mind if you take off your shoes (3x)
They slip off easy and on again too
And like I said you're leaving, you'll be leaving soon
He makes me laugh and he makes me cry (3x)
Somebody put another quarter in this guy
Before he goes I want another ride
I can't help it if the ink ain't dry (3x)
I got it out of my system I ain't the marrying kind
But when you say it that way you make it sound so nice
I know it's late but I ain't tired (3x)
I could listen to you talk, going on for hours
See if April showers really bring May flowers
Give me a reason to make you leave (3x)
Cause I'm getting weak, weak in my knees
I'm falling fast and I can hardly breathe
You don't have to know what you want in life (3x)
Just catch it quick or it may pass you by
And if it knocks don't make it knock twice
Hey now I see you (3x)
As I look back you're looking back too
Never known a man like a want to know you
Never known a man like a want to know you