BEGGARS, THIEVES AND KINGS

 

Route 5

She’s got curves that excite me

Ain’t seen lines like hers anywhere

But she takes me where I want to be

Spinning ribbon through the country

She’s the one and only thing

Regardlessly is there for me

 

She don’t care about the weather

She looks on every day just the same, just the very same

But she loves me when I’m relaxed

Keeping all my senses intact

I’m a smiling seed in the rain

When I’m rolling down her asphalt vein

 

CHORUS

Baby when you’re out on the street

It’s like no other time

When you get to where are the world meets Route Number Five

I won’t be far behind

 

I see Shirley and I wave her by

And Westover’s on the river side

But you know she makes me smile

Down each and every country mile

 

CHORUS

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitar

Arlo Gray – backing vocals

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

 

Lonely Romeo

Will I see you there?

On my front porch stair

Sunday morning light

Shining through your hair

 

Will you be there to ring my bell?

Or knock upon my door?

Or will you simply steal my crown, girl,

Like you’ve done so many times before?

 

Chorus

I’m a lonely Romeo

Because of you I feel so

I’ve been twisting and turning every night

And I just can’t fight this pain

Here in the Sunday morning light

 

Will I see you there

Underneath the tree?

Will you be waiting on all your friends, girl,

Or will you be waiting on me?

 

Will you have one more trick

Tucked into your sleeve?

You gonna bring me all your love, girl,

Or bring me down to my knees?

 

Chorus

 

First time I asked to take your hand and you let me

We were under the boardwalk bridge where you can’t see

The moon was shining where the base boards part

You said “I’ll race you to the spinning cup carts”

Should never given you a running start

Now I may never get back my heart

 

Will I see you there

In your automobile?

Sunday morning light

Shining through your windshield

 

Will you be on your way

Coming to make my day?

Or let me pile up all my hopes, girl,

So you can blow them all away?

 

Chorus

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

J.C. Kuhl - saxophone

 

​

Caught a Spark

Flickering lights all around

I felt a little buzz when the plane touchdown

Simple words light up the phone

Said lover man I hope you’re home to stay

 

Thinking back upon that time

Before I was yours and you were mine

Never thought that I’d find anyone

Now it’s 33 trips around the sun with you

 

And I can’t recall what what it was that led me to you on that day

Can’t recall the color of the sky was it cornflower blue or was it jet gun gray

Can’t recall the shape of the bottle or the color of the label on your Chardonnay

 

CHORUS

But I still recall the words as they spell from your lips

Still recall the feeling of your fingertips on my heart

The first time I caught a spark and set fire

 

Ain’t it strange how your memories fade

There’s always one or two that never go away

Safe and warm in your mama’s bed by the window

And the day it hit you that you’re not that kid anymore

 

It was then I learned what it means

To move from one to another extreme

One day I’m just a picker man paying my dues

Next day I’m inside singing my songs with you

 

And I can’t even call the name of those friends that were tagging along

Or the name of the band on the cover of the baggy tank top that you had on

And I can’t recall the rhythm or the words or the tune to your favorite Jacksons song

 

CHORUS

 

I get a tingle in my pocket and a little blush too

When I think about the trouble we were getting into

One hand in the honey, another on the wheel

As we are headed out back to the Cottonwood field

In the summertime

 

And I can’t recall the faced moon or the trace of the falling stars

Or the number of gemstone summer sunsets that we saw from the Anglers bar

And I can’t recall the rhythm or the words or the tune of your favorite Genesis song

 

CHORUS

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

​

Brink Street

What you gonna do now?

You in this strange town

Now that the truck of your life

Just broke down?

 

Tell me will you weep?

Will your weary tears fall down?

Will your clouded hopes

Rain an answer?

 

Chorus

You’re driving down on Brink Street once again

Got two white walls following the white line

Two over the edge

Two stacked dice and the tears in your eyes are your only friends

And they are slipping away

 

Hey now friend

Won’t you let me tell you

Ain’t but one thing

She truly loved you for

 

Now your diamonds are shattered

And your wind it stands still

Don’t let it be the death

That keeps you mourning, mourning, mourning

 

Chorus 

 

Tell me about your breakdown

On the time you bit down

And found that dirty worm

In the apple of your eye

 

If your head is the station

Then her memory's the train

That’s leaving for the brink every time you’re thinkin’

Maybe just one more time

 

Chorus

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

 

Powderfinger

Look out, Mama, there's a white boat coming up the river,
With a big red beacon and a flag and a man on the rail
I think you'd better call John 'cause it don't look like they're here to deliver the mail
 

And it's less than a mile away
I hope they didn't come to stay
It's got numbers on the side and a gun,

And it's making big waves

 

Daddy's gone, my brother's out hunting in the mountains
Big John's been drinking since the river took Emmy Lou
So the powers that be left me here to do all the thinking
 

And I just turned twenty-two
I was wondering what to do
And the closer they got,
The more those feelings grew

 

Daddy's rifle in my hand felt reassuring
He told me, 'Red means run, Son, numbers add up to nothing'
But when that first shot hit the dock, I saw it coming
 

Raised the rifle to my eye
Never stopped to wonder why
Then I saw black

And my face flash in the sky

 

Shelter me from the powder and the finger
Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger
Just think of me as one you never figured,
 

To fade away so young
With so much left undone
Remember me to my love
I know I'll miss her

 

Arlo Gray – lead vocal verse 1, backing vocals

Lewis Gray – lead vocal verse 2, backing vocals

Teddy Gray – lead vocal verse 3, backing vocals

Freddie Gray – backing vocals

Lawrence Gray – backing vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

Constellations

Light attaches to the vapors

As they scatter ‘cross the sky

Ancient sailors told us that stars are

Brightest right before they die

 

Then she came to me

Falling right out from the sky

Her halo burning soft and silky

Cinder circles around my eyes

 

Chorus

Is it wrong to call the stars to fall in line again?

Staring out into the endless night

Out where the constellations end

 

The rattling chains of the jailers

Echo on the edge of town

Patiently they’re waiting

They know those card castles do fall down

 

Chilly wind blowing the mountain tops

The bells were ringing but not for us

Quickly learned that you can dance

Only so long once that music stops

 

Chorus

 

Well there’s no guarantee

In those jewels that you set aside

Oh, were we the beggars, thieves or kings?

I’ll let you decide 

 

The mist is making mirrors

On the city streets at dawn

Contemplate and wonder

About all the plenty that’s now all gone

 

Twisted willows in the table

Of a gilded lily windowpane

Can’t recall if we were in it

For the money or the fame

 

Chorus

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

 

American Way

The mother of truth

Has gone and died

Street walkers see

Through dark hollow eyes

 

And I

Can’t deny

That I sometimes lie

When the truth won’t get me by

 

And I got my papers and I’m on my way

Leave 'em all a little bit behind

It’s the American way

 

Now if you are

The humorous kind

You just got to say

These are humorous times

 

You know you got to laugh

Laugh out loud

We’ll  be looking at a lit screen

When the lightning hits the ground

 

Now I’m lost in cyber space

On drugs in living color

It’s the American way

 

See the world

Through the media’s eyes

You know I can’t relate

No, you just can’t rely

 

Now our youth

Strung out with acid eyes

Now the nation's pride

Well they’re strung out on exercise

 

And I’m getting in shape

Want an Atlas mind and body

It’s the American way

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

 

Mary’s Song (Reprise)

She came in on the wind

That’s definitely how she left

She lived in the villages

We were living up on the level

Up at the top of that church hill

Where we could really see the stars

 

We had to be careful at the crossing

That’s where they were always hanging out

But we made it on the air

Hell yes I remember…do you?

Well I’ll write it down

But you gotta remember to tear it up!

 

Lawrence Gray – vocals, guitars

Stephen McCarthy – bass

Johnny Hott – drums, percussion

Daniel Clarke – piano, organ

 

 

All music and lyrics by Lawrence Gray (UW Music copyright 2020) except “Powderfinger”, music and lyrics by Neil Young (Silverfiddle Music copyright 1979). 

Recorded December 2019 and January 2020 at White Star Sound Studio, Richmond Va. Engineered by Stewart Myers. Mastering by Kevorkian Mastering NYC.