Brian Johannesen

Holster Your Silver

Somewhere Down The Line

I saw you struttin' in those brand new blue jeans
Must've bought them online
They might be the skinniest jeans I've ever seen
Hope you wear them all the time
Yesterday I stopped by your place
Fed the cat and drew the blinds
Working on getting you back there some day
Somewhere down the line

Somedays it seems like you ain't lost a step
Round the bend and back without any help
Somedays you just can't catch your breath
I'm holding onto mine
No one knows quite how it got this way
They say there's nothing left to find
I guess in time we'll all get gray
Somewhere down the line

And I know you never thought it would end up like this
No time for fighting, no time for rest

Yesterday I took a walk out in the park
I saw the snow up on the pines
Somewhere all these conversations went dark
I wanna smile all the time
Someday I'll remember all those silly things you said
You got the dog on the line
Someday I'll figure out how to get them out of my head
Somewhere down the line

Copper Queen

Well that last round of charges is still ringing in my head
One of these days they're gonna pull me up dead
But the rocks are blue, the money's green, so who cares if they turn this desert red

Well the war had caused a boom in 1917
She bundled up her money and she sent it all back east
And not a single dime of that is ever gonna trickle down to me

And I can see her standing there in a burnt cholla sea
Oh, her crown of prickly pear and mormon tea
Oh, she's meaner than the sun
The cruel heart of Bisbee
Oh, I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen
No I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen

The boys decided how we're living is a crime
Ain't gonna starve to death, ain't dying in that mine
If things don't get to changing then we ain't going back down next time

But the Queen, she don't like that, and she owns this whole town
From the paper to the badge, they all worship her crown
She called on Sheriff Wheeler to dispose of those who dare to stare her down

And I can see her standing there in a burnt cholla sea
Oh, her crown of prickly pear and mormon tea
Oh, she's meaner than the sun
The cruel heart of Bisbee
Oh, I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen
No I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen

Early in the morning Sheriff sounded the alarm
He said, “you can kiss the ring, son, and there won't come any harm”
When I refused he dragged me out the house by the arm
Tossed me ankle-deep in shit in an east-bound cattle car

And I still see her standing there in a burnt cholla sea
Oh, her crown of prickly pear and mormon tea
Oh, she's meaner than the sun
The cruel heart of Bisbee

Yeah I still see her standing there in a burnt cholla sea
Oh, her crown of prickly pear and mormon tea
Oh, she's meaner than the sun
The cruel heart of Bisbee

Oh, I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen
No I'll never bend my knee
To the Copper Queen

Tired (Last Time I Saw Her)

Well last time I saw her I was three feet taller
We were swimming around near the Canadian border
I was standing knee deep in the waist deep water
I had silt between my toes

Yeah, last time I saw her I was three years older
I had the world in my hands and my head on my shoulders
Then she caught the wind and the blues took over
Ahh there ain't nobody knows…

Last time I saw her the world was colder
She used to need me for warmth, used to need me to hold her
Then my car punched a hole in the ozone layer
Ahh she's sweating through her clothes

And I'm tired of just sitting at home
Tired of always sleeping alone
Tired of only getting what's left on the bone
And I'm only growing old
And I'm tired of getting caught in your cage
Tired of trying to catch your wave
Tired of always having to say
Baby please don't go

Well last time I saw her I was three feet taller
Last time I saw her I was three years older
Last time I saw her the blues took over
Ahh there ain't nobody knows

Way Back Down There

I'm going back
Way back down there
Way back down there
Way back down there
Back where the sun seems to shine
On every corner of your mind

Because I'm stuck on the road
Blinded by snow
And I'm bored with the rest of my life
And all those things left undone
Approach all at once
And they roll over the night
All right, all right

If I Thought That I Could Win

Oh, I'd play your game if I thought that I could win
I'd play your game if I thought that I could win
But I'm unsteady on my feed, and we both know that you'd cheat
I'd play your game if I thought that I could win

And I'd pick a card if they weren't all the same
I'd pick a card if they weren't all the same
No diamonds, spades or hearts, it's been clubs from the start
I'd pick a card if they weren't all the same

It's all these miles / all that time spent on the road
I guess by now / I oughta know

Oh, I'd jump the gun if you ever drew the line
I'd jump the gun if you ever drew the line
But you're halfway round the track, and I'm still calling you back
I'd jump the gun if you ever drew the line

Music Business Blues Breakdown

We were talking on the phone
I said, "Mama, just leave it alone
I been working on the songs
No, I ain't going back to school
I've been working like a dog
Yes, Mama, this is a job
But this business is like the mob
Kick your ass til you pay your dues."

She said, "That don't sound like no career
Driving around and drinking beer
Year after year
Got another label on the line
You've got an agent and stuff
This can't just be bad luck
You're always begging for a buck
Honey, maybe it's time…"

I said, "Let me break it down for you, Mama
I netted five hundred dollars
On a three month tour
From Boston to LA
After lodgings and the band
Food and gas for the van
I come home to a pile of bills to pay
And it always seems to happen that way."

I was playing for tips
At a place called Abandon Ship
Three hours round trip
Hoping to at least make up the gas
There wasn't a single damn donor
In that sea of brokeass stoners
So I went up to the owner
Hoping maybe he could spare some cash

He said, "Let me break it down for you, buddy
There just simply ain't no money
No matter how good
You think that you can play
After rent and sound and lights
ASCAP and BMI
Well, the bartender says she needs a raise (and she does)
And it always seems to happen that way."

I turned on the news today
That's where I heard the president say
He's gonna defund the NEA
So we can pay for this war
Well I just couldn't get it through my head
If the cost is that art is dead
Well, it's just like Churchill said
What the hell are we fighting for?

Let me break it down for you, Donald
And let's see if you can follow
It costs less than Mar-A-Lago
And those vacations that you take
And that's a mighty small toll
To preserve a little bit of soul
But instead you've got another eighteen holes to play
And it always seems to happen that way
Yes, it always seems to happen that way

Damn These Saints

By the light of the moon
You cover your eyes
Every day is too soon
Every day I'm surprised
By the weight on your shoulders
How we've gotten older

I tried with my hands
I tried with my ears
But it's finer than sand
And it's bigger than fear
Just know that I know you
And I just wanna hold you

Damn this place
Damn the weather
Damn these saints
And damn the whispers
Saying it'll get better
It'll get better

Baby, I know
Babe, it's a hard deal
And you just wanna go
To rot in the cornfield
To thirst til you're bone dry
To sleep in a gray sky

Damn this place
Damn the weather
Damn these saints
And damn the whispers
Saying it'll get better
It'll get better

Fremont

Well, the gnats out in Fremont
Are a special kind of thick
Where the days move like molasses
And the air is wetter than spit
As a kid he'd go swimming
In the long and mighty Platte
John Denver on the radio
The sun upon his back

He was raised on good country
Willie, Kris, and Merle
Kinda looked like Lyle Lovett
Hell, he even had his curls
He'd put Dwight Yoakam on the juke box
Down at the Corner Bar
If he ever left Nebraska
Well, he never got too far

But he'd ride through West Virginia
On them old country roads
He cut loose in Montana
And he never went back home
He's a thousand miles from nowhere
He's anywhere but here
With that silver tongued devil
Always whispering in his ear

Well, his most prized possession
In the whole entire world
Was a triple O Martin
That was owned by Steve Earle
He picked it up at Carter Vintage
Down in Nashville, Tennessee
Crossed the parking lot to Arnold's
For some chess pie and roast beef

He dipped his roll into the gravy
Got some extra mac and cheese
Put salt on his potatoes
Hot sauce on his greens
And he was having him a moment
When the phone began to ring
He put that thing on silent
Dropped it straight into his tea

Then he rode hrough West Virginia
On them old country roads
He cut loose in Montana
And he never went back home
He's a thousand miles from nowhere
He's anywhere but here
With that silver tongued devil
Always whispering in his ear

Well, he spent three thousand dollars
On the Outlaw Country Cruise
Just to see Lucinda Williams
Dip her toes into the pool
And he met Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Saw Ray Wylie in the second row
Ate his weight in softserve ice cream
And burned the shit out of his nose

When he got off the boat in Tampa
He'd never felt so gray
The sun was orange and purple fire
He watched it fade away
He got a motel by the water
And a quart of Bombay gin
Walked out in that ocean
Let that ocean drink him in

Then he rode through West Virginia
On them old country roads
He cut loose in Montana
And he never went back home
He's a thousand miles from nowhere
He's anywhere but here
With that silver tongued devil
Always whispering in his ear
Yes that silver tongued devil
Was still whispering in his ear

Holster Your Silver

It came on fast like a blade on the wind
Left me gasping for air on the couch with the Iowa bends
Come November it starts all again

But it's now, so holster your silver
Yeah, it's now, the twilight of a Midwestern winter
When up from the ground
Come the red wings and fireflies to sing for me now

Come on, honey, I never meant what I said
It's just that time and the cold can get stuck to your lips
And the water stays frozen under the bridge

But it's now, so holster your silver
Yeah, it's now, the twilight of a Midwestern winter
When up from the ground
Come the red wings and fireflies to sing for me now

Thought the world would just turn and we'd breeze through the fall
Put no credence in shadows, no credence at all

But it's now, so holster your silver
Yeah, it's now, the twilight of a Midwestern winter
When up from the ground
Come the red wings and fireflies to sing for me now
Red wings and fireflies to sing for me now
Red wings and fireflies to sing for me now

Northern Town

Maggie Valley

Let's go back to Maggie Valley
Disappear in the smoke
I don't think I've ever been so happy
As the nights we spent alone
While the world was getting darker
We'd watch that fire burning on

Well, work's been getting heavy
I've been carrying that load
I'll drop it off in Maggie Valley
Off that blue ridge mountain road
I'll clear the snakes out of the woodpile
In exile we'll be living by the moon
Because that life we've known is dry as bone
And the air back home is stale as the songs

Well, I was born in the city
I wasn't grown in these woods
You won't catch me whistling Dixie
But that breeze sure feels good
I'll take the pine trees and the sweet tea
And leave the flag for the crows
Above that banjo choir of rifle fire
I'll stay inspired by the rhythm of your poems

Well, we can live out here on clementines
And steaks fried in a pan
That home we can't bring with us
I'm gonna build it with my hands
I'll be wind-kissed and calloused
Just like the man you always wanted
And that time you heard me leaving
I was just teething through the seasons of a man

So let's go back to Maggie Valley
Disappear in the smoke
I on't think I've ever been so happy
As the nights we spent alone
While the world was getting darker
We'd watch that fire burning on
And that life we've known is dry as bone
And the air back home is stale as the songs

Cascade Mountain Nights

Well, I'm rolling down the mountain toward Medford
First warm day of the year
I spent the winter cutting timber just to send it down the river
Now I'm set to get the hell out of here
Spent the damn season of paychecks
On a dirty little room downtown
The ship, it might be sinking, but I'm thinking about drinking
Every last Johnnie Walker bottle down

Well, I'm sitting drinking whiskey
On a Cascade Mountain night
Locking horns with the local boys
And they're looking for a fight
If I ever get out of Oregon
Know I'm gonna do it right
Yeah, I'm gonna leave in the morning
If I make it through tonight

Well, the kids are passing through from Eugene
Looking bad and acting all rude
Well they got a little money so they start acting funny
And they get a little attitude
Got a little girl on my arm now
I've got her boyfriend's blood on my jeans
We shot the shit a little bit and then she lit a cigarette
And said she's gonna slap the sin out of me

Well, I'm sitting drinking whiskey
On a Cascade Mountain night
Locking eyes with the local girls
And they're putting up a fight
If I ever get out of Oregon
Know I'm gonna do it right
Yeah, I'm gonna leave in the morning
If I make it through tonight

Well a man ain't gonna get long in the tooth
Living this way
You spend half your life just trying to find a dollar
And the other half pissing it away
And it feels like it's been raining for three hundred days in a row
Oregon, let me go
Mama, let me go

Well, I'm sitting drinking whiskey
On a Cascade Mountain night
They locked me up with the local drunks
And I'm about to give up the fight
If I ever get out of Oregon
Know I'm gonna do it right
Yeah, I'm gonna leave in the morning
If I make it through tonight
Well, I'm gonna leave in the morning
If I make it through tonight

Two Hot Dogs and a Coke

I was sitting in my chair staring at her hair
When the teacher called on me
I opened my mouth but nothing came out
Everyone started laughing at me
My face turned redder than the reddest apple
That ever fell from an apple tree
I started sweating through my shirt and every laugh hurt
But none as bad as Jenny

When I came home I was a broken bone
Mama knew I was feeling low
She stuffed me in the passenger seat
In my Chicago overcoat
Yeah she turned it around when she took me out
For two hot dogs and a coke

Well, I got a little older and I moved down south
Seemed like a good place to go
I played my guitar in every single bar
From Omaha to Roanoke
Trying to make a living out of singing, honey
Gets hard you can end up broke
I always save a couple dollars in the bottom of my pocket
For two hot dogs and a coke

When the rain comes down and the engine floods out
Stuck on the side of the road
I throw out the map and reach in the back
For my Chicago overcoat
Yeah, when I get tired of this running around
I need two hot dogs and a coke

Well, I've been getting on, and getting round
And the doctor started telling me
"You gotta start cutting down, gotta shed a couple pounds
If you wanna see sixty-three"
He said, “no more fat or carbs or sodium”
Like the man said on tv
I said, "Man, I don't think that you understand
How they make Vienna Beef"

And try as I might I just can't fight
That urge when I get home
And if I gain a little weight I guess I'll just say
It's my Chicago overcoat
Yeah, when I go down put me in the ground
With two hot dogs and a coke

Northern Town

Streetlights silhouette my knitted crown
Listen to the muffled hiss of the plow
Everything dangerous is peaceful now
Sleeping 'neath the blanket of a northern town

You used to shiver as the flakes fell left to right
Like static on a tv screen at night
But everything colorful all went white
When you're blinded by the glow of the northern lights

Yeah, but I don't wanna know
Make your way home, take the flight of the crow
Because I don't wanna know
How this goes
So I'll cover it with snow

I always used to blame the ink in your pen
Completely irresponsible like bathtub gin
But everything violent got violent again
When you were taken by the warmth of a northern wind

Yeah, but I don't wanna know
Make your way home, take the flight of the crow
Because I don't wanna know
How this goes
So I'll cover it with snow

I have no use for a knitted crown
Listen to the whippoorwill breaking down
She's crying as the sky collides with the ground
Like when I was the king of a northern town
I used to be the king of a northern town

Easier

I need a coffee something bad, mama, I need this horse to run
Need Orion like a brother, we both need saving from the sun
Need this radio to start telling me the truth
Because I'm sinking like the ships in an old man's tattoos
Sometimes I think I want this life more than it wants me
Like the candle could go out with nothing but the breeze

But it gets easier when I'm coming home to you
And there's no one in this damn world could say that's not true
Just like the ocean spits, the willow weeps, and a lonely heart is blue
It's just easier when I'm coming home to you

I love to sit around that fire when the yellow moon is high
And listen to old Willy sing and try not to cry
But he hits that note so good, boys, there's nothing I can do
When he says, “I'm the very best at missing you”
Oh, I'm leaving in the morning, Will, play that song again
For all us wandering fools waiting on the wind

So if you see me standing by the side of the road
Go on and pick me up, brother, I need a ride back home

Oh I can go without sleep at least a day or two
I will shower in the morning, boys, I've got some work to do
I saddled up my pony and I climbed that mountain tall
I come running back down to you, mama, just trying not to fall
And I'll sleep in your arms when I find our front door
Turn on back around, honey, head on out for more

Long Legged Women and Rock and Roll

I was riding down the highway with my coffee mug
Just trying to keep my eyes on the road
Felt like I had a dagger drove by John Henry's hammer
Just pounding into my skull
Well one, two, three, goodness me
There was a long legged woman on the side of the street
I said hey now, little mama, let me give you a ride

Well, she hopped on in with a bottle of gin
She's just hitching up 55
Running from a man down in south Louisiana
She was looking for a place to hide
Well oh my my, oh hell yes
She was looking pretty good in that party dress
I said hey now, little mama, give me some of that gin

Well I'd been wrecking my health and drowning my soul
It was something like an armageddon
She started singing some song that I didn't know
It was something about a watermelon
And I didn't ever think anything was gonna come from that dream
But I saw the glass shine by the moon

Well I was about half pissed by the time we got to Memphis
I was running late for my show
Fishbones and panty hose down by the river
We were rocking to the radio
Well I put on my boots, she straightened my tie
Good god almighty would you look at them eyes
I said hey now, little mama, I'm ready to go

Well I'd been wrecking my health and drowning my soul
It was something like an armageddon
She started singing some song that I didn't know
It was something about a watermelon
And I didn't ever think anything was gonna come from that dream
But I saw the glass shine by the moon

What's it gonna take for to free my soul?
Long legged women and rock and roll

Ross County

I grew up in a stolen car
I've cooked chicken over tire fires
Yeah, forget what you think you know about Ohio
Because down here it ain't life or death
It's who goes down and who comes next
Build your life on stilts, try not to think about tomorrow

I dropped out, I was seventeen
Papa told me I should join the Marines
Get three square meals, earn an honest dollar
But these hills are all I know
Time came, I just couldn't go
Truth is I was just to scared to leave the holler

He said the rain ain't gonna stop unless you make it

In Ross County it don't take much
To qualify for a badge and a gun
And man, I just needed something to shoot at
They turn you meaner than a copperhead
Never liked city kids, shot one dead
Dropped his body in the woods, ain't nobody noticed

They say the rain ain't gonna stop unless you make it
No, they ain't gonna stop

His body is rotting down in that marsh
Wanna find me I'll be sitting on the porch
Thinking what kind of good can I do tomorrow
Because I grew up in a stolen car
I've cooked chicken over tire fires
Yeah, forget what you think you know about Ohio

Cottonmouth

Well, I've been stepping easy in the long, tall grass
Watching my feet down by the railroad tracks
No matter what I do, I know that it ain't gonna last
Won't be too long 'til that snake gets me

I know that he's been hiding down by the river side
Sucking people in with those cold, cold eyes
And I've been doing what I can to stay dry
Won't be too long 'til that snake gets me

And I said oh, I know I'm gonna get it
I can see that dirty snake in the weeds and the thicket
I said oh, I know I'm gonna get it
And there's nothing I can say to keep that snake from coming my way

Well, he got Jesse James back in 1882
The Coward Robert Ford under his own roof
He shot him in the back and there was nothing he could do
Won't be too long 'til that snake gets me

And he got Julius Caesar and he sparked a civil war
Hiding in the theater with forty senators
And Brutus sent him back to that old golden shore
Won't be too long 'til that snake gets me

And I said oh, I know I'm gonna get it
I can see that dirty snake in the weeds and the thicket
I said oh, I know I'm gonna get it
And there's nothing I can say to keep that snake from coming my way

Customer of the Month

There's a sandwich shop on the corner
Two blocks from my office
I'm a sucker for the three-meat, ten-inch sub
Skip the veggies, extra mayo
Yeah, they know how I want it
Today they named me the customer of the month

I've always been a picky eater
Don't like pickles or lettuce
I know what I want, there's nothing wrong with that
I like a cold, domestic pilsner
And a good, firm mattress
And the summer sun at the Lake Mary ranch

And I save ten percent of every paycheck
And I use the coupon book at the Jiffy Lube
And I have no idea how I'm gonna spend it
But I heard nothing and nothing if you ain't got nothing to lose

Magna cum laude
Political science
An internship and an advanced degree
A furnished apartment
A stainless steel appliance
A Roth IRA and a salary

And I drink my black coffee every morning
And I fill up my car with premium gas
And nothing is ever gonna come back to haunt me
No, you won't catch me dead with a monkey on my back

Well, they gave me a certificate
Good for four free sandwiches
And everybody down at the shop was just exceedingly nice
And I didn't know what to say
I guess I'll see y'all on Monday
I'll keep doing what I'm doing because I must be doing something right

And I save ten percent of every paycheck
And I use the coupon book at the Jiffy Lube
And I have no idea how I'm gonna spend it
But I heard nothing and nothing if you ain't got nothing to lose
Like free sandwiches

Kingdoms

Dug my boot into the sandstone
Heels to the wind
This sight, it's been seen before
And will be seen again
With all the settled dust, purple light
And the echo of the coming night

Oh I could stick my hand in the gas tank
It'd be drier than this land
Drier than the blood that's buried
Deep beneath the sand
And all the tortured songs of people gone
Nowhere to go, they got moved along

And when they fall, when they fall
Man, it's like no one ever knew
That they were even here at all
But we took them all
And we'll take the rest
We've been knocking over kingdoms
And there ain't to many left
No there ain't too many kingdoms left

Well, Andy loved you, baby
He would have took you for his queen
Until that Colorado morning
When you woke up with me
And man it broke him down, he skipped town
I stuck around, but heavy lies the crown

I guess you thought I was your savior
At least a better man
But the notion of forever
It was more than I could stand
Oh and she was there while you were gone
And so it goes and on and on and on

And when they fall, when they fall
Man, it gets hard to remember
If they were even here at all
And I took them all
And I'll take the rest
I've been knocking over kingdoms
And there ain't to many left
No there ain't too many kingdoms left

Well a holy man will tell you
There's a better way
I can't blame the man for trying
But it's in our DNA
Man we set ‘em up, knock ’em down
Steal the crops and burn the town

And he's pulling fear from pages
And that fear gets in your head
You start clinging to a rubric
Trying to make some sense of death
I'll tell you I'll live my life until I die
I'll stay out of yours, you stay out of mine

Because I will fall, and you will fall
And few will even care
That we were ever here at all
But I want it all
And I'll take the rest
I'll keep knocking over kingdoms
Until there ain't no kingdoms left
Until there ain't no kingdoms left