Crusades of the Restless Knights

Crows

Crows

Some come to in grays and blues and shake like a tambourine

Some wake up and spit of the fire and it acts like gasoline

Yes sir, some drone and drool and do nothin for heaven’s sake

Some of them act like crows when they find a dyin snake

Even crows act like eagles when they find a dyin snake

Some been seen with a rusty knife walkin by the railroad tracks

Some been accused of laying down and workin on their back

Yes sir some drone and drool and do nothin for goodness sake

Some of’ um act like crows when they find a dying snake

Even crows act like eagles when they find a dyin snake

Some wake up and look around and then go back to sleep

Some come down and put on flesh and then start playing for keeps

Yes sir some drone on and drool and do nothing for nobody’s sake

Some of um act like crows when they find a dying snake

Even crows act like eagles when they find a dyin snake

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug

There are Some Days

There are Some Days

Well I seem to be haunted by these ghosts

I can’t decide which ones grieve me most

Not wanting to remember or I can’t forget

I am dusty with old regrets

There are some days I just wanna cry

There are some ways I use to get by

Well you got your cross and your hymnal too

And you say you’re prayers like you’re supposed to do

And you say it was amazing grace

And I believe you, I see it in your face

Chorus

Now I have seen this angel her wings are torn

She offers me a string of pearls and thorns

She seems to smile before she disappears

She whispers, “You’re not the only one bleeding here”

Chorus

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug

The Lovers in Your Dreams

You are soft to the touch and things fall on the ground for you

I am torn and blessed as much for I cannot not love you as I do

We are here within our skin and like a coin tossed upon a tambourine

We’ll soon be gone from all we see in this dream within a dream within a dream

When you leave you’re body laying on your bed at night

And drift off to somewhere like you do

In the morning when you open your eyes

Do the lovers in your dreams wake up too?

You all wild within your dreams and its dangerous company you keep

Perhaps it is as it seems then again these dark waters run deep

You are lost to my eyes like a gypsy child on European streets

I hope someday you’ll realize in the darkness there are thieves

Why do I burn if love is kind perhaps this is what the poets mean?

When they rhyme all those words is shades of deep blues and greens

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc.

Conversation With The Devil

I had a dream last night I was cast into hell by a jealous god

The devil walked up and said “You won’t need no lightning rod

It hardly ever rains down here, I can’t recall the last storm

You’re not gonna need that leather jacket, it gets kinda warm

There’s one way in, no way out, looks like you’re here to stay.

The place is a mess, it’s over crowded and more are comin’ in every day”

I said, “Awe man, wait a minute, there’s gotta be something wrong

I ain’t a bad guy, I just write these little songs

I always pay my union dues, and I don’t stay in the passin’ lane”

He said,” What about all that whiskey and cocaine?”

I said, “Well, sure man, but that no reason to throw me in hell.

I didn’t use the cocaine to get high, I just liked the way it smelled”

He said “Come over here son let me show you around

Over there’s where we put the preachers; I never liked those clowns

They’re always blaming me for everything wrong under the sun

Its not harder to do what’s right, its just maybe not as much fun

Then they walk around thinking they’re better than me and you

And then they get caught in a motel room doing what they said not to do”

“Now all the murders and rapists go into a fiery lake

As well as most of the politicians and cops on the take

And all the mothers who wait till they get to K-Mart to spank their kids

Instead of showing them what to do they just hit them for what they did

And all the daddies who run off and abandon their daughters and sons

Anybody who hurts a child is gonna burn until they’re done

“Every body’s down here, I said, who’s up in heaven with God and the son?”

“Oh some saints and mystics and students of metaphysics 101

People who care and share and love and try to do what’s right

Beautiful old souls who read little stories to their babies at bedtime every night

What you won’t find up in heaven are Christian coalition right wing conservatives

Country program directors and Nashville record executives”

Now I said “I made some mistakes but I’m not as bad as those guys

How can God do this to me can’t you sympathize?”

He said, “You’re wrong about God being cruel and mean

God is the most loving thing that’s never been seen.”

“Well, hot shot,” I said, “Tell me this which religion is the truest?”

“They’re all about the same” he said “ Buddha was not a Christian, but Jesus would have made a good Buddhist.”

I thought about my future and I didn’t seem to have much of one

Looked around to leave but there was no place to run

I said, “I don’t suppose I could go back and try living again

You know like reincarnation, I hear that’s the way it’s always been.”

“I can’t answer that,” he said “you’ll have to wait for that response

But, it’s not any more unusual to be born twice than it is to be born once”

It looked like I was gonna be stuck here as far as I could tell

I thought I might as well suck up, what the hell

I said, “You know that song that Charlie Daniel’s did

About how you went down to Georgia and played fiddle against that kid?”

“Yeah”, he said “It broke my heart, but what are you gonna do?”

“ Well to tell you the truth I thought your solo was the better of the two”.

Then I woke up and I was lying in my bed

I ran up the stairs and kissed my little boy on his sleeping head

Well I took this dream as a sign from God so I thought I better pray

I said, “Don’t ever speak to me directly and thanks anyway”

Now so much has changed about me besides just giving up red meat

Some get spiritual cause they see the light and some cause they feel the heat.

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc

Red Dress

Baby put on her red dress and her lipstick too

Slipped on her seamed stockings and her high heeled shoes

Tonight’s the night she gonna be takin it downtown

Baby’s looking good and baby’s looking round

She put on her danglin earrings and some French perfume

Slid on her diamond bracelet and a little necklace too

Tonight’s the night she gonna be takin it downtown

Baby’s lookin good and she’s looking round

She went down to the beauty parlor, got a platinum rinse

Then she went and tanned her hide, she sparred no expense

Tonight’s the night she gonna be takin it downtown

Baby’s looking good and baby’s lookin round

Now she painted up her fingernails and slipped on her sparklin rings

Picked up her little black purse to carry her special things

Tonight’s the night the woman gonna be takin it downtown

The woman’s lookin good and she’s lookin round

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc

The River Bed

The River Bed

I come down to the river

And I watched the sun go down

And I feel the earth shiver

And the darkness come circlin’ round

I swore I would not come here

And I know I should not stay

Any thoughts heaven born I have

I choose to cast them away

She appears by the water

In the light of a quarter moon

She is dress in lace and velvet

And shades of grays and maroons

She knows without me speakin’

Until I have her I cannot rest

And she smiles as she comes to me

And I lean down and kiss her breast

She rips the cross from my neck

She says “take me down to the river bed”

For once you have had me

You’ll not be satisfied with the undead

We walk into the river

I cannot see the shore

I am baptized in dark waters

And I am hers forever more

Beneath my feet there’s a rumble

In the heavens there are storms

I feel myself sinking into something dark and warm

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc

This River Runs Red

My mama run off with a bible salesman

Daddy didn’t come back from the Korean War

My mama’s mama took me in

To save me from sin

The kind sweet Jesus died for

One day she said were goin to the Kiamishie River

We loaded up in her old blue green Pontiac

Before the next sunrise

We gonna get you baptized

By the way your mama ain’t comin back

When we get to river, a man standin out in water

Dressed up in a suit of clothes old and gray

There was people standin round

Okies glory bound

He raised up his head and begins to pray

This river runs red, this river runs red, this river runs red like Jesus’ blood

Gonna raise up the dead, gonna raise up the dead, gonna raise up these old bones from the cold, cold mud

Let me tell you he said about revelations

Chariots of fire and a Promised Land

Being washed in the blood of the lamb

Your soul being goddamned

Repent, for the kingdom is at hand

Then them people started shoutin hallelujah

Come on come on sweet heavenly host

Old women began to cry

Throwin their hands up to the sky

It was a full tilt rapture of the Holy Ghost

Chorus

Now me I got baptized that Sunday

I guess it didn’t take as I look back

When I turned 15 I just seemed to get mean

And I stole my mama’s mama Pontiac

I took me drive up to the south side of Tulsa

Satisfied and moved in with a woman called sweet Loraine

Talkin tough and breakin rules

Being hip slick and cool

And by 25 I was dealin a little cocaine

My luck run out one night in Knoxville

Not less than 5 more than 10 a judge said

Now it happens every night

When they turn out the lights

I can’t stop the voices in my head

Chorus

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc

After the Harvest

Always before us there have been true believers

Rising above the rank and file drums

Now for a short time we gather small treasures

And after the harvest there is sweet kingdom come

Once we had wings and could fly over mountains

In the blue yonder we had a home

There was a time we could all walk on water

Then we saw a reflection and sank like a stone

There are these bridges from the past to the present

There are these bridges from now until dawn

There are these rivers that flow on forever

We are like rivers on our way home

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard and Lisa Mednick

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP) /Pop Decay Music (BMI)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc

This is an attempt at a mythological bluegrass Buddhist Gnostic gospel hymn. Lisa and I hit two out of the six.

Ray Wylie Hubbard – vocals, acoustic guitar; Lisa Mednick – background vocals, accordion; Paul Pearcy – percussion; Glen Fukunaga – bass; Stephen Bruton – mandolin; Lloyd Maines – dobro

Airplane Fell Down in Dixie

An airplane fell down in Dixie lord how the people cried

An airplane fell down in Dixie, lord how the people cried

20 people was damaged bad, 6 crossed over to the other side

When a mama lose a young’n, ain’t no sadder loss

Was baptized in the name of Jesus, lay’em neath a Southern Cross

I stood on the ground in England, and heard a hard southern reign

Stood on the ground in England …heard a hard southern rain

Got a taste of bourbon whiskey and Mr. JJ Cales’ cocaine

Now nobody lives forever, some things never die

Nobody lives forever some things never die

Like way down in the land of cotton, they tell me a free bird will always fly

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music (ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc.

For the 20, the 6 and the millions they touched.

Ray Wylie Hubbard – slide (Martin D-28E), vocal; Paul Pearcy – cardboard box, tambourine; Glen Fukunaga – upright bass

The Messenger

I am wearing old boots with high Cuban heels

Our souls they are worn and we stand here by grace

My trousers are torn and my jacket is borrowed

I am wearing my time behind the eyes in my face

I am not looking for loose diamonds

Or pretty girls with crosses around their necks

I don’t want four roses and water

I am not looking for God

I am not looking for sex

I’ve worn out my welcome in certain small circles

In Spanish bordellos and confederate states

But there is an angel in leathers and kindness

Who whispers my name and smiles at my fate

All the true believers are out on the road tonight

And no matter what happens, you know they’ll be okay

While the rock and roll gypsies was the last song we sang

By Mr. Van Zandt down in old Santa Fe

Now I have a mission and a small code of honor

To stand and deliver by whatever measures

And the message I give you is by this old poet, Rilke

He said, “Our fears are like dragons guarding our most precious treasures.”

I am not looking for loose diamonds

Or pretty girls with crosses around their necks

I don’t want four roses and water

I am not looking for God

I just want to see what’s next.

Written by Ray Wylie Hubbard

Mt. Kharma Music ( ASCAP)

Administered by Bug Music, Inc.

After I awoke from a long sleep someone gave me “Letters to a Young Poet” by Rainer Maria Rilke. This book should be read whether one is a young poet, old poet, not a poet, don’t want to be a poet, don’t care about poetry one way or the other, hates poetry etc.

Ray Wylie Hubbard – vocals, acoustic guitar; Paul Pearcy – percussion; Glen Fukunaga – bass; Stephen Bruton – mandolin; Lloyd Maines – dobro; Terry “Buffalo” Ware – acoustic lead; Patty Griffin – harmony vocals