She rode the train from Lawyers' Hill He sailed from Halifax Her journey home but one short hour For both there was no turning back Two separate roads boldly taken Crossed near the waterside A glance and smile and a heartbeat Forever changed two lives He dreamed of fame and fortune She of Paris and Rome Those dreams were detoured in Baltimore And there they made their home The blue-eyed raven-haired beauty And her handsome dashing Scot Believed their deepest dreams fulfilled But sadly in truth they were not The lovers discovered in marriage His ambition and her love of gin Would drive him away until late at night And slowly do her in Before all tumbled to ruin Children's laughter rang out there But the dark secret slowly twisted Young dreams into growing despair So a boy and a girl with blue eyes And two more with the darkest brown Learned well the lessons of imperfect love Before each of them left town The long ago star-crossed lovers Were once again all on their own They lived out their lives together While each was in fact quite alone With their passing not one single sibling In the city was to be found But there were long nights spent remembering One's bitter and sweet hometown Some have found fame and fortune The others restlessly roam But all visit the graveside in Baltimore The town that will always be home She rode the train from Lawyers' Hill He sailed from Halifax

My name is Joe Roberts I work for the state I'm a sergeant out of Burdenneville barracks number 8 I always done an honest job honest as I could Got a brother named Frankie, Frankie ain't no good Ever since we was little kids been the same come down Get a call on the shortwave Frankie's in trouble downtown If it was any other man, I'd put him right away But when it's your brother sometimes you look the other way Me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria While the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" Catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would Man turns his back on his family, he just ain't no good Frankie joined the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife But them wheat prices kept on droppin' till it was like we was being robbed Frankie came home in `68, me I took this job… Yeah we was laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin' make him walk that line Man turns his back on his family he ain't no friend of mine The night was like any other,got a call `bout quarter to nine There was trouble out at a roadhouse close by the Michigan line Kid lyin' on the floor lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head Girl cry'n' at a table, it was Frank, they said… I jumped into my car and then I hit the lights Musta done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night It was out at the crossroads, right by Willow Bank Saw a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank… Chased him down those county roads Till a sign said "Canadian border five miles from here" Pulled my car off the side of the road, watched his tail-lights…disappear Me and Frankie laughin' and drinkin' Nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria While the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" Catch him when he's strayin' like any brother would Man turns his back on his family and he just ain't no good

Bruised all over But not on her skin So I didn’t see it When she walked in An American beauty In that smokey old bar Dressed in black silk Head held high Took the stool right beside me Brushed a tear from her eye “I came for a drink” Stay where you are Cut a rose, kill a dream Something fine dies No blade sharper Than your lover’s lies And no way to hide Your innocent eyes She stared straight ahead Nursed ginger and rye Touched the rose in her hair Said with a sigh The cruelest pleasures Cut straight to the heart She glanced at the clock Whispered low God bless the man Who understands ‘No’ Then she said “Thanks" As she made to depart Cut a rose, kill a dream Something fine dies No blade sharper Than your lover’s lies And no way to hide Your innocent eyes Then she walked off Out to the night A dark limousine Quickly took flight… But there on the bar Just to my right The rose from her hair Scarlett and bright An American Beauty In that smokey old bar An American Beauty In that smokey old bar

We pay our bills for concrete things, some we pay as dues The deepest debt you’ll ever owe…is to someone dear to you… Boy whose mother died after a bitter fight Even now she can’t undo the end of that distant night… Last day with your best friend before he goes to war…You Can’t find the words …to wish him home and more We pay our bills for concrete things, some we pay as dues The deepest debt you’ll ever owe…is to someone dear to you… These sums we owe..some past due, so often hard to pay But some we pay quite willingly, like those I owe today Owe for love you’ve given, chances to make good on my Vow to you…to love you like I should We pay our bills for all these things, then we pay our dues This bill I gladly pay…to fall in love with you to fall in love with you

The name she gave was Caroline Daughter of a miner Her ways were free And it seemed to me Sunshine walked beside her She come from Spencer, across the hill Said her pa had sent her Cause the coal was low And soon the snow Would turn those skies to winter Said she'd come to look for work She was not seekin' favors For a dime a day And a place to stay She turn those hands to labor Times were hard lord, and jobs were few All through Tecumseh Valley She asked around And a job she found Tending bar at Gypsy Sally's She saved enough to get back home When spring replaced the winter But her dreams were denied Her pa had died Word came down from Spencer. She took to whoring out in the streets With all the grief inside her And many a man Returned again To lay himself beside her. They found her down beneath the stairs That lead to Gypsy Sally's In her hand when she died Was a note that cried Fare-thee-well, Tecumseh Valley The name she gave was Caroline Daughter of a miner Her ways were free And it seemed to me Sunshine walked (Cm)beside her(G6)

Come all you good people, I’ll tell you a story Of West By God Virginia and the Big Branch Mine A dark deadly day all but forgotten But for those whose memories are frozen in time CHORUS I’ll never go back to the town of Birkton Where I used to live, where I used to pray Too many graves with names too familiar 29 miners died there that day Cold April morning, mine fan not working A fact well known to Big Gary May Superintendent of Big Branch production Gary knew well how to best earn his pay Gary worked for an outfit called Massey Ronald L. Blankenship, C E O With threats to the miners and two sets of safe books Gary and Ronnie kept the coal on the go CHORUS Coal dust and methane, a most deadly mixture When the shaft’s not cleared by a hard working fan Good men paid the price of that deadly evasion On April the 5th, 2010 Who mourns for the widows, mourns for the children Lives full shattered by the blast in that mine Their men all buried, mine shaft shuttered And Ronnie B. has paid off his fine CHORUS

When the time is right, in weeks, or years Come up to this room, may be answers here All those cards you sent me, tacked up on the wall Don’t you know I saved them, most most every one… Among these books, topped with dust, deep in the pile Waits for you a letter, waiting all this while… House stands empty, harboring old pain Daring you to enter with so much unexplained No one beside you, will answers be found In a room of echoes…made without a sound… This box of Spanish leather, safely tucked away Has photos that tell stories in the light of day Old guitar on the wall, still rings true Echoing the songs…played for you All of these and more for you, some may catch your eye Will they bring you comfort? Let your heart decide… These pieces just might help you better understand So reach out…and take them…in your hand There are answers here, don’t you know In this room of echoes…

Has anybody here, seen my old friend Abraham? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young. Yeah, I just looked a-round and he was gone. Has anybody here, seen my old friend John? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young. Yeah, I just looked a-round and he was gone. Has anybody here, seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, but it seems the good die young. Yeah, I just looked a-round and he was gone. Didn't you love the things that they stood for? Didn't they try to find some good for you and me? And we'll be free one day soon…. It’s gonna be one day Has anybody here, seen my old friend Bobby? Can you tell me where he's gone? I thought I saw him walking up over the hill. With Abraham Martin and John. I just looked a-round...and they were gone

She stands at winter’s window and stares out through the years Well past holding grudges, she has conquered all her fears Winter’s sun, pale yellow, lies kind upon her face Of regret, life’s last joker, the light reveals no trace Still she feels a longing born in dreams of youth As she surveys roads not taken and the shifting sands of truth Sand within the hourglass Like sand above the dunes Softly shifts and whispers Solitary tunes First love long forsaken, children’s time long past She discovered constant love, settled peace at last And if, as on this winter’s day, the heat is less intense It’s not that life goes unfulfilled, indeed it makes more sense Still she stands there knowing in her distant youth One road was not taken, ever constant truth Sand within the hourglass Like sand above the dunes Softly shifts and whispers Solitary tunes

The waltzing fool He's got light in his fingers The waltzing fool He just don't ever say The waltzing fool Keeps his hands in his pockets And waltzes the evening away Chorus And it's a waltz for the woman Who's lying beside him It's a waltz for the face On the wall when she's gone It's a waltz for the rodeo That’s the damn thing that rides him It's a waltz for a waltz The waltzing fool They say that he’s crazy Cause the waltzing fool Keeps the moon in his car But the waltzing fool Says it just keeps on running On waltzes and waltzes Now the waltzing fool They say he's been dreaming But the waltzing fool He's got mud on his shoes And the waltzing fool He knows just what they're saying That he's just an old waltzing fool The waltzing fool He's got )light in his fingers The waltzing fool He just don't ever say The waltzing fool Keeps his hands in his pockets And waltzes the evening away And waltzes the evening away

(in memory of the children of Newtown 12/14/12; in hope for the courage to make change) Winter morning magic As we walk to school Jack Frost makes you smile You are only six Hearing others laugh You rush on to join Then you turn around And shyly wave goodbye They say guns don’t do the killing I say they are wrong Someone buys some bullets And puts them in a gun And since he has a semi His work is quickly done As he shoots our little children One by one by one… Late sun, long shadows Mark this lonely path Through our weary church yard How the world has slipped Standing in attendance As you slowly leave Then I turn around… As if to say goodbye You were...only...six