New Release!
Chapter One
The songs started as Zoom song-writing collaborations during the early days of the COVID lock-down, and progressed into a full CD. Scroll down for lyrics.
1 Send Your Troubles On Their Way
2 In A Valley
3 Midnight Drive
4 Forgotten
5 Cold Hard Ground
6 Shoulda Stayed Home
7 Just a Yesterday Away
8 Raise a Glass
9 More Than Any Man Could Ask
10 Downtown
11 All My Friends
Send Your Troubles On Their Way
(© 2021 Cal Scott and Lloyd Jones)
When the sun comes up on New Years
It shines on the Baggage Train
It’s come to haul away your sorry
And you can drop off all your pain
So bundle up your burdens
While you’re waiting on that day
Load them on the Baggage Train
And send them on their way
Pack up all those demons
The ones that fill you up with doubt
They’ll beg and they’ll bargain
But don’t let ‘em get back out
So bundle up your burdens
Get ready for that day
Load them on the Baggage Train
And send them on their way
Send them on their way
Send your troubles on their way
If you’ve lost someone to the sickness
Or lost your fortune of gold
If you’ve lost your reason for living
Left an empty hole in your soul
Just bundle up your burdens
Get ready for that day
Load them on the Baggage Train
And send them on their way
Send them on their way.
Send your troubles on their way
Everybody could use a little train song to lighten their burdens
In a Valley
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
Starting work early on a Saturday morn
To get the job done so the fun can begin
Everybody jumpin’ in my beat up Ford
Burgers and Fries at the gravel lot drive in
Heading to the hills to watch the sunset
Swimming in the river as the sky turns red
Listening to Creedence on an 8 track tape
Groovin’ to the music ’round a pony keg
In a valley where the freeway ends
The wheat is high and wide open begins
In a valley outside of time
Tucked in hills of Ponderosa pine
Sha la la, Sha la la la la
Buying quarter gas at the Richfield station
Cruising round in circles forever it seems
Falling in love over summer vacation
Trying to live a rock and roll dream
Armory dances made the girls smile
A four piece band, five hours a night
Skin tight jeans, the latest style
Small town boys, doing it right
In a valley where the freeway ends
The wheat is high and wide open begins
In a valley outside of time
Tucked in hills of Ponderosa pine
Sha la la…
There were days of dares and deeds we couldn’t undo
Just a little town that we outgrew
It’s the same old story, nothing new
Looking through a lens with a wider field of view
Going back early for a class reunion
Twenty years after so much went bad
Rear view mirror a perfect reminder
Of all the good times we had
In a valley where the freeway ends
The wheat is high and wide open begins
In a valley that is ageless now
A place not forgotten some how
Sha la las
An homage to the rural town of our youth
Midnight Drive
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
Neon sign in lipstick red
Eve’s Apple Orchard is what it said
Fifteen years ago tonight
A diamond gone without a fight
Casino stuck on the edge of town
Unlikely crew that took it down
Building’s gone but the story survives
Old Town Vegas on a midnight drive
Nothin’ good happens after midnight
Smile at millionaires for nickels and dimes
Break-time chatter working graveyard
Just might lead to a night of crime
Baron’s son from an eastern state
All night poker, getting late
Daddy’s ring in a dusty safe
Collateral for the highest stakes
Dealer’s cue, a stifled yawn
Tonight’s the night, the game is on
Patient ’til their time arrived
Old Town Vegas, and a midnight drive
Nothin’ good happens after midnight…
Sign on a door in another state
“Market price by carat weight”
All agreed on the time and place
Split the cash and left no trace
No arrests from that night stood
Their simple plan was just that good
Locals talk about those five
Old Town Vegas on a midnight drive
Nothin’ good happens after midnight….
A heist song from old Las Vegas
Forgotten
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
There’s an hour to go ’till the sun hits the sky
Ramona is waiting for the bus to come by
She’s been out on her own since she was sixteen
Working shifts at the diner a six-day routine
Every day in the colors of the franchise dress
She’s stuck in this alley way off the road to success
She’s been forgotten
Out of the eyes of the Wall Street world
Yeah, she’s forgotten
Forgotten like an orphan girl
Working overtime hours for minimum wages
No time for appointments on her calendar pages
The kitchen’s a sauna sweat falls down like tears
She carries the burdens that are way beyond her years
It’s as if she’s doing penance ignored publicly
She feels like she’s been sentenced, doing time in poverty
She’s been forgotten
Out of the eyes of the Wall Street world
Yeah, she’s forgotten
Forgotten like an orphan girl
In a dream she sees a baby bird clinging to it’s nest
Learn how to fly
Every day in the colors of the franchise dress
She’s stuck in this alley way off the road to success
She’s been forgotten
Out of the eyes of the Wall Street world
Yeah, she’s forgotten
Forgotten like an orphan girl
There’s an hour to go ’till the sun hits the sky
Ramona is waiting for the bus to come by
For those struggling to make ends meet…
Cold Hard Ground
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
No, things aren’t looking up
Too busy looking down
I see the pieces of the better days
Scattered all around
On this cold hard ground
Fiction and lies, they used to live
Way out on the edge of of town
But now there are pieces of truth
Scattered all around
On this cold hard ground.
I’m looking down
Oh yes, I’m looking down
See where the pieces fell
On this cold hard ground
On this cold hard ground
You cry out for reason
But the tears make no sound
‘Cause they’re falling,
Falling on this cold hard ground
Falling on this cold hard ground.
Walked this ground all my life
Now it’s colder than I’ve ever found
Tender mercies
Are scattered all around
On this cold hard ground
repeat Chorus
For the times we find ourselves living in.
Shoulda Stayed Home
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
Bought two tickets for an ocean cruise
With a buffet for miles and Elk’s Club booze
We took on water and my boots got wet
We overheard the captain, “we there yet?”
Now everything is leaking, the mast just broke
The Fat Lady’s singing and I’m smellin’ smoke
They lost all my luggage and my snakeskin boots
Thank God for life jackets, where’s my parachute?
Shoulda stayed home, why’d I buy the tickets
Shoulda stayed home, Dramamine won’t fix it
Shoulda stayed home, can’t find the exit
Shoulda stayed home, I’m sorry I left it
We were rowing the ship when we first ran aground
Now, stuck in this parking lot, may never be found
The trip has been just awful, room service is slow
Now the bus is leaving, I don’t really want to go
Shoulda stayed home…
They say that travel is exciting and fun
But after this ocean cruise
Can’t count on either one
This taxi has no floorboards, the driver is cryin’
Not having fun yet but I’m sure tryin’
I’d rather ride a bicycle, scooter, or skates
Steering wheel is broken, and he can’t find the brakes
Shoulda stayed home…
A cruise gone awry…
Just a Yesterday Away
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
Black and white photos in a dented tin
Like walking round the edge of town for miles
Staring in the storefronts, money all spent
Quiet footsteps, dusty church aisles,
Juniper Gin and iced lemonade
Just one sip takes my right back
To those wild desires and debts unpaid
Riding in that old green Pontiac
It’s all just a yesterday away
A wishing well of time
Full of nickels and dimes
It’s all just a yesterday away
Meet up at the carnival way after dark,
Big top tent in the fairground field
Rubbing sticks together, looking for sparks
Nervous kiss on the ferris wheel.
Repeat CHORUS
Younger summer days seemed to never end
Spent half my life waiting to begin
Now every night laughs as if to say
It’s all just a yesterday away
We’ve come back to send off a dear old friend
To cherish the pleasure, forgive the pain
To tell the old jokes, and sing the songs again
Some leave early, some remain
Repeat CHORUS
A look back…
Raise a Glass
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
Standing at this bar too many times I think
Hell there’s Susannah please don’t say anything
Just let me keep drinkin’ my way outta’ this place
Now Frank has arrived, that look on his face
Probably lost all his money, that joint on the east end
guess I’ll buy a round
Here’s to all my friends , here’s to all my friends
This is where I met Joey, Bobby, and Mike
Not here today, so they’ll be in tonight
Sure wish that Flo’ would ease through that door
But maybe better off I don’t see her anymore
Alright! There’s Lucky with Barbara Slo-Gin
Sit down and join me
Here’s to all my friends, here’s to all my friends
I came by here ‘bout six months back
Billy bought me a beer so I kept comin’ back
Well now here’s the dayshift just off from the plant
Maybe buy the house a round ‘cause I sure can’t
Let’s move to that table where I should pay rent
Play B 13 again
Here’s to all my friends, here’s to all my friends
I’m spending my life and money in this velvet painting bar
Drinkin’ past twilight and I’ll never be a star
Please, please help me gotta change my fate
Oh God! There’s Flo, It’s probably too late
We’ll do our drunken tango and talk of love and lies
Drink up everything that our money buys
Sit beside me here we go again
Here’s to all my friends, here’s to all my friends
A guy walks into a bar…
More Than Any Man Could Ask
(© 2013 Cal Scott & Richard Moore)
Old Frank looks like a statue
On that bench on Dover Street
He’s got an old felt hat, his nose in a book
And a happy dog at his feet
Never has a cruel word
Or a cynical reply
But if you had to guess he might be the best
At the art of getting by
He says gimme my
Pork Pie hat and bottle of hooch
A copy of The Grapes of Wrath
The company of a faithful pooch
It’s more than any man could ask
He don’t talk about Viet Nam
Or the Curry County Jail
He won’t tell you that success in life
Is all about the way you fail
You can ask him about the trial
Or why he copped a plea
He won’t say much but when he does He says…”all I need..”
Repeat Chorus
He don’t need no Cadillac
No chattering possessions
They’re like monkeys on his back
He don’t need no alligator shoes
‘Cause when your pockets are empty
You got nothin’ left to lose
Mary checks in once a month
Always on the first
She’ll say, “Frank was no blue ribbon beau
But nowhere near the worst”
She tells him that the sheriff died
And Billy sold the Benz
Franks says, “no, just keep the dough
Cause you can’t go home again”
Repeat Chorus
A person is always more than meets the eye…
Downtown
(© 2022 Cal Scott, Bob Bailey, Dan Ross)
I got money in my pocket, and an ace up my sleeve
“Who loves ya baby?”, says the mirror back at me
Tickets in my jacket, keys in my hand
I’m gonna go out to to see my favorite band.
Goin’ downtown is what I wanna do
It’s Saturday night
Goin’ downtown tonight’s the night
The doors are open and I’m gonna go
Downtown
It’s been so long,I’ve lost track of time
My favorite little club put up an open sign
I know the band is playin’ I can hear ‘em in my mind
Steve is taking tickets gonna be a line
Repeat Chorus
Been goin’ downtown since I was just a kid
I gotta get back, I wanna go down,
See what I missed
Kim is working tables, dancing all the time
She’ll bring me a double I’m going to be fine
I’ve not forgotten I will get loose
I gotta find my dancing shoes
Repeat Chorus
Been shut in too long! Time to get back out there again…
All My Friends
(© 2022 Cal Scott)
I have a friend who drives an old Chevy
Rattles like crazy, but she likes it that way
She says that old truck is just like life
You patch it back together,
And you drive another day, drive another day
All my friends, come with directions
Well-oiled machines with a few loose screws
Nary a one is without imperfection
We were born this way, so what you gonna do?
Fact-check Fred always know’s he’s right
End of discussion, he’s made up his mind
Next week, he does a one eighty
He asks for opinions but we decline, we decline
Repeat Chorus
High test Hank, lives like he drives
Bouncin’ off the guardrail, back into his lane
He scares us half to death when he jerks on the wheel
So we offer up a prayer that’s a little profane, a little profane..
Repeat Chorus
It’s potluck on Sunday
The gang looks a little like a medicine show
Everyone confesses, everyone’s forgiven
And we laugh like the wind is never gonna blow…
Angeline talks to the angels
She’s in touch with the other side
We drew up a list of questions
But I guess grandma, just never replied, never replied…
Repeat Chorus
Right now, I can hear you thinking,
“That’s all fine, man, but what about you?”
One of my personalities is perfect
I just keep it hidden from view, hidden from view..
Repeat Chorus
All my friends come with directions…