LasT ENTRY
©Peter J. Lehman / Phantom Leg Records 2019
Track 1. White Lines
I steer the wheel north
The white lines are reeling me away, my love Though I leave you behind
You never leave my mind
Each day is long
Each night is longer
Another strange bed
Without you under my arm
Will you wait for me
I will see you by and by
One day I’ll leave you for the last time
These motel walls imprison my soul
A dry-walled cell for weary men
Where many souls have laid before me And many will after I’m gone
I’ve been working all night
My body is sore and tired
So I draw a bath to soak my aching bones As the sun rises
And turns the sky from black to blue
I close my heavy eyes and I think of you
I think of you
Well I spent the last seven goddamn years Drowning myself in whiskey and in wine But now I’ve surfaced for air
And swam ashore where I can dry
And when you see me again
I’ll have returned to you a better man I’ll build us a home with my two hands Our own roof
Our own bed
I will meet you in our room
Wait for me there
I’ll be home soon
The white lines will lead me back to you, my dear Wait for me there
I’ll be home soon
Track 2. Kentucky Straight
I met the devil last night
And he offered me a drink
I shook my head and declined
He smiled, come on son, just a little taste
He extended his arm and arched his brow
I took the glass from his hand and drank the swill down Then he asked, well what do you think
I choked my god what is this
Why that’s bourbon, my boy
Kentucky straight
Now I’ve been drunk for forty days and forty nights
Went up a mountain top and to the Lord I cried
Oh please God won’t you help me quit and forgive me my sins He said, you’re on your own kid, don’t you come back here again I searched for that damn devil but no telling where he’d be
If I don’t quit that bourbon It’ll be the death of me
Now I lost my home, I lost my job
Wanna quit that bourbon but I just can’t stop
I can’t eat no I can’t sleep
I called on Jesus but he said salvation ain’t free
I cried, I won’t lie no more, I won’t sin
He said, I tried to save you once kid, I ain’t saving you again My God, whatever brought me to this
Jesus pointed, You did, when you put that glass to your lips
Three years later I was sitting in a bar
When a dark stranger sat down at my arm
He smiled, Hey kid remember me
There was no mistaking that old familiar gleam
I said goddamn you devil, now you’re gonna pay He laughed, You fool boy, I only offered you taste
Track 3. Grant Mountain Blues
I’ve been stuck in Alabama for three long years
I tried to leave a few times just to wind up back here
The brown bottle held me hostage, I tried to escape
I swear it’s gone to my head ‘cause I ain’t thinking straight The law caught up with me while I was on a drunken whim
I swore I’d never end up in a six by eight again
They put my picture in the paper, ain’t no hiding my shame Now all the folks around here
know me by my first name
Before I was held up I was headed north
Now it looks as though I’ll be staying here some more And the longer I stay the more it seems
That maybe Alabama ain’t all that’s wrong with me They tore up the still I kept hid in the woods
What’s in store for me now boys, it ain’t looking good I was leaving so soon, this ain’t what I planned
I don’t know how much more
Of this place I can stand
My father once said stay away from the drink son
I swear on his grave when I leave here I’m done
It ain’t done nothing for me but put stripes on my back
I lost my good collared shirt, now I’m wearing white and black A preacher man told me when I was a kid
Take the body and blood and always say your prayers
I don’t know about heaven has anyone been
But I’m sure hell is real
‘Cause I’m already there
Track 4. Alderson
Looks like you’re leaving, I’ll be leaving too Best thing about here, my darling is you You have your train to catch
To carry you away
I won’t worry baby
I know you’ll be okay
I know these last few years have been tough as hell Life down south hasn’t gone so well
It’s left us high and dry and picked our pockets bare I hear there’s work in Texas
I think I’ll go down there
My dear we’ve been apart many times before
Four years is long but I’d wait four more
I’ll write you letters every week and put them in the mail Don’t worry about me
I’m fine knowing you’re well
Track 5. The Unnamed
Don’t take what’s not yours I’ll keep what is mine
Just let me leave this place And I’ll be just fine
You ask for my spirit Well that you can’t have I’ll fight to keep it
With all I have left
The only thing I can’t lose Well you’ve taken that too In this empty bed I’ll sleep Until it’s returned to me You think that you’ve won Maybe you have this time But I’m still not done
My soul is still mine
There’s a gnawing inside me That whiskey can’t stop
So I’ve corked the bottle Now I hear the gods
They whisper gently
The faintest breath in my ear This time I’ll listen
This time I’ll not fear
So don’t worry about me
And pull that plank from your eye Before you tell me
To take the splinter from mine
To be trapped in your maze
I fear more than dying
I’ll make it out
Or I’ll die trying
Track 6. Oh Mother, Oh Father
Oh Mother, Oh Father
What’s this world done to me
I’m bound to the same lonesome road That once set me free
And the end of the road
Is too far to see
Left my heart in West Virginia
Beyond the banks of Greenbrier river
And as the torrent flowed
So did the life flow from me
So I returned to the belly of the beast once more As I toiled I dreamed of rest on rocky shores
My mind no longer harbors Hope for a king of kings
I won’t lend my only soul To a savior I can’t see
My blood teems with a bitterness
Towards the callous ways of man
How much malice must be wrought by our wretched hands
I put down the bible
And picked the fruit off the vine The taste was bitter
But it opened my eyes
My shackles loosened
And the yoke fell from me
I left my burdens
In the shade of that tree
I no longer kneel
In hope of reward
I know longer bow
With my eyes closed
I don’t have the answers I know I never will
I just want to live
A life that is real
Track 7. Farewell, Oh Youth
I remember when I drove all night
Just to say goodbye one last time
I stood where Father lay in his small bed
I leaned over him and put a kiss upon his head I leaned over him and put a kiss upon his head
In that red Missouri earth beneath the trees There’s a place where Father lies facing east I still go there and sit from time to time
No better father a son could ever find No better father a son could ever find
Well I bid farewell to my youth
And I tip my hat this town
I’m leaving it too
It’s been nearly ten years since I left home And the last few have felt twice that long Oh the last few have felt twice that long
I met a girl one year and fell in love
Her old man was an outlaw on the run Together we were happy, I kept her safe
But the law came one day and took her away Oh the law came one day and took her away
Now I’m back on my own on this old road
I’m still searching for a place to call my own There’s Some land up north of birch and pine That’s where I’ll build a home for her and I Oh that’s where I’ll build a home for her and I
Well I bid farewell to my youth
And I tip my hat to this town
I’m leaving it too
It’s been nearly ten years since I left home And the last few have felt twice that long Oh the last few have felt twice that long
Track 8. Last Entry
I’m afraid my time has come
Though my work here is far from done This home I tried to make
Is theirs alone, I’m fading away
I worked hard, I did the best I could I fought this sickness only to lose
I was sure God would heal this flesh But He had different plans I guess
So lay me in a box of pine
And face me towards that morning sunrise Forgive me for leaving
I hoped for more time
They say I’ll meet my God in the skies
But I’d rather dine with my family tonight Forgive me oh God
I’m not ready to die
And so I lie here thinking
Of all the things that happened this year My memory is mostly hazy
My memory that once was so clear
I recall a simple board game
And I remember not doing so well It will come back to me
Or maybe not, it’s hard to tell
So lay me in a box of pine
And face me towards that morning sunrise Forgive me for leaving
I hoped for more time
They say I’ll meet my God in the skies
But I’d rather dine with my family tonight Forgive me oh God
I’m not ready to die
I do remember I love my children They’ve been so good to me And my wife
I love her dearly
I’m grateful she shared her life with me
May my sons watch over their sister
For I won’t be there to give her away
May they all care for their mother
Dear God mend their hearts again I pray
Oh dear God mend their hearts again one day
So lay me in a box of pine
And face me towards that morning sunrise Forgive me for leaving
I hoped for more time
They say I’ll meet my God in the sky
But I’d rather dine with my family tonight Forgive me oh God
I’m not ready to die
Track 9. Reparation
I’m sorry for what I’ve done And all the pain I caused
I was lost in a bottle
And I lost my mind
I’ve been lost in a bottle For quite some time
I no longer drink from a cup
That’s filled with a savior’s blood
I replaced it with a cup full of a poison That only numbs
I can still taste the bitter and the bile On my tongue
I’ve been busy with the demons that exist only in my head I gave up on Jesus convinced that God must be dead Now I’m no closer to understanding this life that we live But I’m closer to finding a peace that I never had
Yes I’m closer to finding a peace that I never had