For Real Lyrics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If You Come Back Again

 

Bucket drums and violins

Dancing bums with drunken grins,

Bonfire and a big Amen, if you come back again

 

Whole pot of venison stew,

Uncle Bob in his pink tutu,

Play kazoo, a déjà vu, if you come back again

 

Banjo on the radio

Hang brass on the old pinto

We parade down skid row, if you come back again

 

Dogs wag, donkeys bray

Saltine sardine buffet,

Seventy-five degrees all day, if you come back again

 

If you come back again, salmon start to spawn

And midnight musicians write pretty songs at dawn

And fireflies begin to light up a pantheon 

Made up of your good friends, if you come back again

 

Cowrie shells and British pounds

Bells and crying basset hounds,

Buy us all another round, if you come back again

 

Red paint, cardinal sin

Getting out my old buckskin,

Singing like the Bedouin, if you come back again

 

If you come back again, salmon start to spawn

And midnight musicians, write pretty songs at dawn

And fireflies begin, to light up a pantheon 

Made up of your good friends, if you come back again

 

 

Maybe Elvis

 

Maybe hotter weather will be better

And fossil fuels will last us forever

Maybe billionaires really care about us

 

Maybe I drive better after drinkin

Maybe Wilkes-Booth never shot Lincoln

Maybe Rosa Parks never rode a bus

And maybe health care really costs that much

 

Maybe Elvis will save us

Float down on a cloud and play us

Hound Dog, and we’ll all become sane

 

He’ll have tablets, written in rhinestones

New truth that we’ll all follow

And get rid of this ole ball and chain

 

Maybe cigarettes are really good for me

Maybe homeless are happy on the street

Maybe women don’t need the right to choose

 

Maybe Vietnam is a vacation

Maybe we don’t need United Nations

Maybe David Duke is a good dude,

And walking on the moon was just fake news

 

Chorus

 

Maybe black folks get due process

And when she says No she really means Yes

Maybe Jesus visited Wichita

 

Maybe vagina is a bad word

Maybe no one can figure out my password

Maybe Pink Floyd never made The Wall,

And those genocides never happened at all

 

 

Do Me Up Darlin

 

Old Red Cloud wore his feathers, beaded shoes of soft leather,

For his bye and bye,  and

 

All the queens went with gowns on, not like this hospital one,

To their castle in the sky

 

So do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

There’s a lot to do, yeah

Do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

Darlin do

 

I’ll dress you in diamonds, bluebells and dandelions

And you’ll shine right through, cuz

 

You, you show up a show-girl, you light up this old world,

Like a sky of blue

 

So do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

There’s a lot to do, yeah

Do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

Darlin do

 

Day after day, we walk through the doors,

till the soul has flown, till the soul has flown,

 

Year after year, my hand in yours,

till the soul has flown, till the soul has flown,

 

Oh do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

I’ll tell you what to do, just

Do, do me up darlin, do me up darlin,

Darlin do

Darlin do.

 

 

California

 

From the curve of her cascades, down her long sierra spine

A fair scent as her limbs sway, fir, cedar, oak and pine

 

She will call you to her gently, show you concrete cuts that make you weep

Guide you across her fertile valleys, and smoke beside you while you sleep

 

California is my country, Californiaye-ay

If you love her, you might join me, Californiaye-ay

 

You might find her in clover, when her water tastes like wine

Some days her cup runs over, but she’s thirsty most the time

 

And if you’re lucky, she’ll tell stories, kneel down and listen hard

And as usual, she’ll sing sweetly, then turn around and crush your heart

 

California is my country, Californiaye-ay

If you love her, you might join me, Californiaye-ay

Aaaay ayayayaay

 

You can never claim another, if she burned as your first flame

‘Cuz she’ll stick with you, like a mother, and you’ll be calling out her name

 

California is my country, Californiaye-ay

If you love her, you might join me, Californiaye-ay

Aaaay ayayayaay

Aaaay ayayayaay

 

 

Six Seconds

 

On 174, two thousand and ten,

my husband was out for a ride

He was in his lane, doing what he loved best,

when he was hit from behind

 

Now everyday on my way to work,

I count the time that driver had

From the moment you come ‘round that curve,

it’s six seconds to see him ahead

 

Oh, six seconds, to get your eyes on the road

Oh, six seconds, I count’em every morning

Oh, six seconds, once you come ‘round the bend, it’s

Oh, six seconds, to him

 

They say that Jim was so kind, it was like Santa Claus dyin’,

and he always listened with love

and if you had a tough climb, and you were falling behind then

he’d circle back and push you up

 

He lived for the ride and had a hundred-mile smile

I see him shining, fine and free

Now his friends roll out his rider-less bike

Every anniversary

 

Oh, six seconds, to get your eyes on the road

Oh, six seconds, I count’em every morning

Oh, six seconds, once you come ‘round the bend, it’s

Oh, six seconds, to him

 

Jim loved a paceline, and like his team on a ride, he carried us inside his slipstream

Now the best place to go, is my car with the doors closed, so I can just let go and scream

 

Oh, six seconds, time to get off that phone

Oh, six seconds, I count’em every morning

Oh, six seconds, once you come ‘round the bend, it’s

Oh, six seconds, to him

 

One, two, three, four, five…

 

 

Honey’s Home

 

I asked you to marry me, everyday for a week

You said yes seven times, and we wed under marble skies

 

Now there is no yesterday, ‘cause with you I’ll always stay

Free to wander free to roam, my heart your shelter, my arms your home

 

My gentleman, my jester fine, open arms and so kind

To Mexico you had to go, and who’d a thought you’d bring back snow

 

Now there is no yesterday, ‘cause with you I’ll always stay

Free to wander free to roam, my heart your shelter, my arms your home

 

Honey’s home

Honey’s home

Honey’s home

 

Honey bees fly on their own, and always find their way back home

We found ourselves side by side, and real things are made with time

 

Now there is no yesterday, ‘cause with you I’ll always stay

Free to wander free to roam, my heart your shelter, my arms your home

my heart your shelter, my arms your home

 

 

Mother Gravity

 

Tiny feet, first step

Giant leap, swing set

 

Safe in bed, for real

Stories read, ferris wheel

 

Ever side by side

Moon pulls the tide, but

Ties that bind loosen gracefully

 

With my space helmet on

I look to the great beyond

And I pray that you’ll keep holding on to me

Mother Gravity

 

Downpours, hot-air balloons

Shut doors, night raccoons

 

Walking down, and upstairs

Not a sound, no one there

 

Stunning superpower

25,000 miles per hour

now reaching escape velocity

 

With my space helmet on

I look to the great beyond

And I pray that you’ll keep holding on to me

Mother Gravity

 

She don’t tell no lies…

 

 

Let the Land Find You

 

A child wanders through a field full of flowers

Grass to his chin, he’s never been a place like this before

Where waters roar, and tall firs tower

And soon enough he’s up in a tree, all the eye can see, thinking this is me

 

Let the land find you,

Let the land find you

Let the land find you

And let it all in

 

Computer screens have blurred my eyes, but

I head outside and I’m handy with my spade, so I

Go where apples grow, and green hops climb

Toward the sun, shining where I stand, dirt on my hands, remembering who I am

 

Let the land find you

Let the land find you

Let the land find you

And let it all in

 

Quiet of the first snowfall

Music of the wild bird call

 

For my last verse, for my last song please

Make my deathbed with an open view, so I

Can see and hear where I belong, and place

Some sap on my skin and leave it there, while I breathe the air,  it’s gonna take me there

 

Let the land find you

let the land find you

let the land find you

and let it all in

 

 

For the Ride

 

A friend has said to me, oh

She said why not just let it be? Oh

But not till we see all sides, and bigotry has died,

Oh, will I sit back for the ride

 

They say just give them a chance, oh

They’ll show us who wears the pants, oh

But not till love beats hate, and the women run this place,

Oh will I sit back for the ride

 

People gonna rise up singing, gonna tear down those walls

And you grab me there, well, I’ll kick you in the balls

 

They ask why can’t you see, oh

Well I studied my history, oh

And not till I meet my end, till I take my last breath

Oh will I sit back for the ride

Oh will I sit back for the ride

 

 

Good People Wherever You Go

 

Man from Iraq gave the shirt off his back,

Good people wherever you go

Family from Chad fed us everything they had,

Good people wherever you go

 

Some may scare you, ‘cause they look new, and you don’t see their kind at home

Some been shot at, and they don’t like that, they’re on a journey all alone

 

Russia, Pakistan, Malawi or Mexico

Good people wherever you go

 

Americans, voting red, green or blue,

Good people wherever you go

Love home and family, no different than you

Good people wherever you go

 

Most been lied to, most have tried to, make the best on their own

None are innocent, so let those without sin, be the ones to cast the first stone

 

Arkansas, Iowa, New York or Idaho

Good people wherever you go

 

A young man is stabbed, dying where he lay

Good people wherever you go

He says “tell the crowd, I love everyone on this train,”

Good people wherever you go

 

Some are bad men, but that’s not most of them, some of us just carry heavy loads

Most will pause and lend a helping hand, trying hard to follow the good road

 

Remember when you’re feeling low

There’s good people wherever you go

 

(oh, you know)

Anytime is time to get to know

Good people wherever you go

 

There’s good people wherever you go.

 

 

All songs were composed and written by Rita Hosking, except Honey's Home which was written by Rita and Kora Feder. 

copyright Rita Hosking, BMI