1.  Cry Over You
Kari Sickenberger, Jacustica Music ASCAP 2009

I know that I am going to cry over you
I can tell; it’s just as well I know what’s true
There was a time I’d blindly fall for you
Now I know that I am going to cry over you

See the violet’s got an eye that’s mostly blue
Yellow thrill of daffodil will soon undo
I know the hours of flowers are few
And I know that I am going to cry over you

See little robin’s got a spotted new breast
The spring’s greenest shoots, they seem the truest
I know the freshest taste the best
I’ve got it now; I know how to fill in the rest

I know that I am going to cry over you
I can tell; it’s just as well I know what’s true
There was a time I’d blindly fall for you
Now I know that I am going to cry over you

Daddy loves you, this you know
For I sometimes tell you so
At times I act the fly away dove
But earth is the right place for love

It’s my birthday, I’m going outside
Nature’s my muse and my guide
Your brother and your sister and you are my poems
And your mama, she’s still my home

This old race I run
It ain’t all fun and I ain’t all done
But I believe I’ve won
I’m fine with 71

Lacing up these old boots to go
When my heart it tells me so
Mountain laurel flowers and how to laugh
Hard times, endurable path

Uhwarrie Mountains are my churches
My bending birches
Above the brim I’m heavenly bound
Till they gently drop me back down

This old race I run
It ain’t all fun and I ain’t all done
But I believe I’ve won
I’m fine with 71

One could do worse than be
A climber of mountains, you see

Hey, moon, you’re like that young man walking on the shoulder of the black highway
Taking his sweet time but going my way

For the loveless and the luckless you’re a big fat ball of attraction turned to dust
And a big fat reflection of the sad satisfaction of all the rest of us

Irresistible moon, you pull things off the ground
You got me like you to floating all around
Getting lost and found
You don’t know your up from down

Now you’re waxing and grey like that mocking bird, so beguiling, never singing the same song
You’re watching me watching baby dreaming with a sideways smile and today everybody gets along

Irresistible moon, you pull things off the ground
You got me like you to floating all around
Getting lost and found
You don’t know your up from down

It’s about a boy
It’s how about a boy
It’s all about a boy, a little baby

Whatcha gonna do?
Whatcha thinking to?
Whatcha making blue for the little baby?

Ain’t he just the deal?
Ain’t he the big deal?
Ain’t it just surreal the way he coos?

It’s how’s he gonna grow?
It’s where’s he gonna go?
It’s who’s gonna know this baby true?

And then he cries, he cries, he never lies
What he can do with those eyes

Settle down, boy, you’ve got to settle down
Turn yourself around, boy, stop your running around
You’re messing up, messing around
Settle down, boy, settle down

Can you please understand?
Just trying to find a holding hand
For to playful pull my way
What look like hands are hard and cold as clay

I’m just aiming to please
I guess I’m shooting at your knees
Say I’m inclined to disobey
But hard cold hands can’t point me the right way

Settle down, boy, you’ve got to settle down
Turn yourself around, boy, stop your running around
You’re messing up, messing around
Settle down, boy, settle down

Aiming, learning to love
Seeking help from below and above
What feels right just turns out wrong
What feels like love turns into a sad song

Settle down, boy, you’ve got to settle down
Turn yourself around, boy, stop your running around
You’re messing up, messing around
Settle down, boy, settle down

I ain’t got nobody; he’s done gone and left me
No strong arms in the dark
Emptiness, my only company, don’t you see
That I’ve got a broken heart
I’ve got a broken heart

Mama, where’s your baby in her blooming glory,
Reaching up for the sun?
Like a wild flower, she’s grown too heavy, don’t you see
Bent down because her love is gone
Bent down because her love is gone

Mama, you want strong arms like warm winds around me
To rock me carry me through my life
Dreams can come true and nightmares surround me
No strong arms tonight

As we’re never what we are going to be
I’ll straighten up maybe with a kiss
Or with no strong arms to call my own, don’t you see
And nobody calling me his
Nobody calling me his

Mama, you want strong arms like warm winds around me
To rock me carry me through my life
Dreams can come true and nightmares surround me
No strong arms tonight

I don’t want nobody now to call my own
No strong arms in the dark
Father, you say it’s time for leaving home
You give my hand, can’t give my heart

Should it be about love or laying claim,
Or a friend to come to?
Can white veils and black veils be one and the same?
Mama, where to run to?

Mama you want strong arms like warm winds around me
To rock me carry me through my life
Dreams can come true, and nightmares surround me
No strong arms tonight

Some stars you can’t see, from the veil you can’t free
They’re shining all the same
It’s in your eyes, Mama, not in mine, don’t you see
The grace of no power and no blame

Mama you want strong arms like warm winds around me
To rock me carry me through my life
Dreams can come true, and nightmares surround me
No strong arms tonight

It looks like you’re at it again
You keep telling me she’s just a friend
But last evening too, someone saw her with you
About the same time that I was turning in

You cleaned the trash and the tools from your car
Said you were driving your buddies to the bar
Your blue shirttail tucked in, you took off with a grin
And now your buddies are asking me where you are

I need a beer and an explanation
You act like you’ve nothing to lose
I need a beer and an explanation
‘Cause I get thirsty when I’m so confused

So here I am waiting up late
Just imagining you on a date
What’s she got I don’t? What’ll she do I won’t?
‘Cause from the outside, she don’t look that great

I need a beer and an explanation
You act like you’ve nothing to lose
I need a beer and an explanation
‘Cause I get thirsty when I’m so confused

What is hidden from the wise
Is revealed unto the babes
Under stacks of satisfied desires
Some unpaved riches we crave

For the wretched shed a tear
Thank your one god they’re not you
Everybody kindly disappears
But we’ll never die like they do

It can put you on a wonder
How come this game?
Applause for each plunder
Rewards for each shame

Now the dry spell takes our land
Any good gods you might know?
No more work, not even for the man
And nowhere nohow we can go

Who counts gold? Who counts regrets?
Who counts each tiny war?
I would empty all my pockets
Just to see my river flow once more

It can put you on a wonder
How come this game?
Applause for each plunder
Rewards for each shame

With abandon he came swooping down
With abandon and his halo crown
With her hand in his they both lay down
On a bed of roses and wild fire

With abandon stormy waters flow
Past her standing, watching her man go
Toward a grand end, swept away don’t you know
It’s abandon gives in to desire

It’s abandon aches like a tooth
Hard landing in where to lose a truth
It’s a bad end when the knot’s tied loose
Desire defeats love

With abandon and that second glance
It’s abandon starts a new romance
Now abandoned, her sad circumstance
Singing to the choir

It’s abandon aches like a tooth
Hard landing in where to lose a truth
It’s a bad end when the knot’s tied loose
Desire defeats love

This old heart’s been hiding out in an insecure place
Now I’m seeking out what I’m scared of
Sometimes I think about, would it be such a disgrace
To admit I’m falling out of love?

I believe I’m finding out what it’s like to awaken
Shake it off, this life without a star above
See, I’ve been holding out for more giving, less taking
But now I think I’m falling out of love

It’s the kind of love that won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger
It’s the kind I never dreamed of
Without a little tenderness I’ll not hold much longer
I believe I’m falling out of love

I believe I’m crawling out of this man-made cocoon
I believe I’m figuring out what I’m made of
These wings, they’re drying out, and I’ll be flying soon
I believe I’m falling out of love

It’s the kind of love that won’t kill you, but it won’t make you stronger
It’s the kind I never dreamed of
Without a little tenderness I’ll not hold much longer
I believe I’m falling out of love

I’m not what I’m supposed to be
I’m just what I’m mostly being
Did you have different plans for me?
Whatcha seeing that I’m not seeing?

Taking a long walk in the woods
Hey, is natural the same as good?
Thinking on my daily chores:
Closing windows, opening doors

I’m not what I’m supposed to be
I’m just what I’m mostly being
Did you have different plans for me?
Whatcha seeing that I’m not seeing?

Taking a long hot bath
Thinking about where we’re at
Thinking about thanks a lot
And a little about sorry for what I’m not

I’m not what I’m supposed to be
I’m just what I’m mostly being
Did you have different plans for me?
Whatcha seeing that I’m not seeing?

Love, it is a moving thing
Takes its shape from what it meets
Like the air against each wing
Like the ocean each shore greets

Ocean swell of grey and green,
Comes a wave in your blue eyes
It’s real but like a dream
The privilege of surprise

My love for you is like the wide open blue
You are the shape my heart meets and makes

Love, it is a childish wonder
Changing tides and shifting light
Reckless seaweeds all up under
Blossom out with all their might

Seabird searching on a breeze
A believer on his knees
It’s just what comes naturally
Like loving you for me

My love for you is like the wide open blue
You are the shape my heart meets and makes