1. |
How I Learned to Drink
03:24
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HOW I LEARNED TO DRINK
Billy got the bright idea -- hitchhike to the nearest town
Find some guy to buy us wine
Be back in camp by sundown
We missed the dinner call -- counselor got kinda mean
That bounty in our paper bag
Tasted like Kool-Aid and kerosene
Chorus: The night was colder than shame
The moon was hazy grey and pink
I was a lonely twelve year old kid
And that's how I learned to drink
I spat out my first tequila shot
Shared some beers with a girlfriend under a bridge
Jolted by the gin I tried at midnight
From my grandpa's rec room fridge
Bluffed my way through San Jose State
Billy and I pledged Sigma Chi
It was beer pong and jello shooters
Tasted like Tang and turpentine (to chorus)
Well the years passed with a whiskey flask
Tucked in a drawer with my secret life
Woke up one day in a hospital bed
With my best friend was standing by
Yeah, it was Billy -- who got the bright idea
Of sending me back to summer camp
The name and program changed a bit
Now it’s called The Rehab Ranch
So here I am for 28 days
Those counselors get kinda mean
I'm drinking coffee by the quart
Tastes like river mud and livin' clean (to chorus)
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2. |
Whiskey and Me
03:19
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Whiskey & Me
Verse 1
Out in the desert, you feed your regrets to the flame
Reborn on the wind, everybody takes a new name
I met a woman, a singer of sweet lullabies
They called her Whiskey, and I never thought to ask why
Chorus
If wishes were roses, I’d have a dozen tonight
A bouquet of hopes and dreams to set by her side
If she was my lover, I’d sing a new melody
No sad lullaby for the life of whiskey and me
Verse 2
Straight up you sip and you savor the bite and the burn
Distilled in the heart of a man who will never learn
Foolish to think that woman could ever be mine
‘Cause if my love was Whiskey,
you know I’d be drunk all the time
Repeat Chorus
Repeat Verse 1
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3. |
Wife Number Five
02:31
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Wife Number Five (by Steve Key ©2019)
Wife Number One was just for fun
Wife Number Two could not be true
Wife Number Three gave me a family
Wife Number Four chased them all out the door
So I'm glad I stayed alive for Wife Number Five
Wife Number One was a Mustang
Wife Number Two was a Subaru
Wife Number Three drove an SUV
Wife Number Four kept my Honda Accord
But oh, what I get to drive with Wife Number Five
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again
Toss the dice and throw the rice and hope it never ends
Wife Number One fried chicken
Wife Number Two loved bar-be-que
Wife Number Three only ate Lean Cuisine
Wife Number Four said she wouldn't cook no more
But I'm eating steak every night with Wife Number Five
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again
Just say yes, and until death, I hope we'll still be friends
Wife Number One was a virgin
Wife Number Two was not
Wife Number Three liked it once a week
Wife Number Four ran off with the girl next door
But my love life has been revived with Wife Number Five
Yeah, I'm glad I stayed alive for Wife Number Five
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4. |
Golden
03:12
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Golden
New and tender like the spring
I was open to everything
I was green, so green
You smiled at me and I couldn't think
I must've blushed a perfect pink
Like a rose, unfolding slow
Chorus:
You were Golden
And you made me shine
And I thought that you were mine
For a brief but precious time
And I was Golden too
Golden, like you
You were silent, strong and deep
A lake full of mystery
You were blue, so blue
And I was burning with your love
Every night, never enough
Burning red, oh so red (to chorus)
But then you turned out the light
And you left me in the night
It was black, so black
No more fire, only smoke
No more colors when I woke
Only white, cold and white (to chorus)
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5. |
Record Time (33, 45, 78)
03:16
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Record Time (33, 45, 78) by Steve Key ©2019
I'm spinning like an old turntable
Three speeds, goin' nowhere fast
I hesitate at the door to the future
Holdin' on to my bittersweet past
Me and all of the percolators
Me and all of the rotary phones
Me and all of my vinyl records
Warped and scratched and out of date -- 33, 45, 78
I got friends from the old hometown
We used to work at the hometown news
They got houses in a couple of cities
I'm still singin' the hometown blues
Me and all of the drive-in movies
Me and all of the afternoon papers
Me and the free-form radio
Fading in and out of date -- 33, 45, 78
I hear talk about a great depression
I hear the drummin' of the war machine
I wonder if I'm stuck in the past
Or if it all repeats, just like a CD
I'm following the railroad line
It's another job in another town
I skip around in record time
And try not to notice the candle burn down
Me and all of the Rust Belt workers
Me and all of the hot type printers
Me and all of the family farms
Auctioned off and out of date -- 33, 45, 78
Singin' oh-oh, the percolator
Oh-oh, the rotary phone
All of my vinyl records
Warped and scratched and out of date
I'm just a 33, 45, 78
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6. |
Hit That String
02:45
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Hit That String (by Steve Key ©2019)
I heard them in Hollywood when I was a teen
Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee
I didn't know better so I went backstage
I said Mister McGee can you teach me to play
Chorus
He said, Hit That String, that's what you do with that thing
Little boy, don’t you understand
You gotta hit that string like a full grown man
Brownie's uncle made him his first flattop
From a piece of board and a marshmallow box
Brownie was lame from polio
But you give him a guitar and you watch him go (to Chorus)
It was East Hollywood, on a dead end street
Where I took my lesson from Brownie McGhee
That old blues master showed me some things
He said "Don't hesitate to make your guitar sing" (to Chorus)
Many years later after I played
I saw this kid hanging ‘round back stage
He said "I play a little guitar too,
Can you teach me to play the blues?" (to Chorus)
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7. |
Looking for a Hammer
02:56
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Looking for a Hammer
© 2019 by Vicki Landis & Steve Key
She’s tough as nails, that’s what she’ll say
But tough old nails can rust away
And a nail sitting on a shelf ain’t good for much
She keeps looking for a hammer and calling that love
You’re a nasty dog but that’s OK
In fact she kinda likes ‘em that way
She comes home late at night feeling all beat up
She keeps looking for a hammer and calling that love
Oh I wish she’d say
Don’t treat a tender heart that way
Don’t leave her alone in the cold light of day
She used to be somebody’s wife
No harm no foul she says of that life
But the harmless kind ain’t the kind she’s dreamin’ of
She keeps looking for a hammer and calling that love
I wish this time she’d say enough
And send you off with your nasty stuff
She’s a precious jewel and you’re a fool to treat her rough
She’s tough as nails, that’s what she’ll say
But is she tough enough to walk away
Mend that hole in her heart until it all heals up
No more looking for a hammer and calling that love
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8. |
Get Ready For The Fall
02:52
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Get Ready For The Fall (by Steve Key 2019)
Pour out the iced tea, honey
Put the quilt back on the bed
I can feel that autum chill
Snuggle up for the fall ahead
Taste the apple fresh from the orchard
Makes me think about Adam and Eve
They survived the fall from grace
And stuck together like fallen leaves
CH Get ready for the fall
Get ready for the fall
We're headed for a cold snap, baby
We gotta get ready for the fall
I got a little money in the bank
Right now there’s food in the fridge
But there's talk about Christmas layoffs
Sure seems so sacrilege
Even if we've got to beg or borrow
With paradise so far from view
Your love is my salvation
I'd take the fall for you
CH Get ready for the fall, Get ready for the fall
We're headed for some hard times, baby
We gotta get ready for the fall
BR When those clocks fall back
Put some wood up on the stack
Then crawl back in the sack
Until spring comes back
(Chorus twice)
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9. |
Wind Chimes
03:36
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Wind Chimes by Steve Key ©2019
These days I can't tell anymore
If it's the highway I hear or the ocean's roar
They both send the winds to my door
Listen to the wind chimes
It's a short walk from my front door to the sea
But most nights I sit at home by the TV
On the front porch it's a symphony
Listen to the wind chimes
Sometimes I think of taking them down
Late at night when I can't stand the sound
When the blues torture me
And the last thing I need
Are those sweet little chimes all around
You came to town on a warm, spring wind
You talked to me like we'd always been friends
I could hear a new melody begin
It sounded like wind chimes
Walking together and taking in a show
Laughing and kissing in the very last row
Holding you in the full moon's glow
I could hear wind chimes
Then we're talking long distance over the phone
As you tie up some loose ends at your former home
You tell me you miss me
It's been cold and windy
But that afternoon on the patio
You could hear wind chimes
I hear the ocean and that highway whine
Sending the wind through those silly little chimes
But now they bring you to my mind, sweet wind chimes
Yeah now they bring you to my mind, sweet wind chimes
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10. |
Red Sky at Morning
04:10
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Red Sky at Morning (by Steve Key ©2019)
Red Sky at morning, no storm out at sea
Red Sky at morning, and it's dark out on the beach
It's the smoke choking out the sun
from the clouds of tragedy
Governor speaking out, on my TV
Governor came to Ventura, to see what he could see
He said "Wake up California to your new reality"
Oh California, how you love to boast
You're far away from hurricanes, blizzards and tornados
But that ash is falling down, just like snow over the coast
Red Sky at morning, no storm out at sea
Red Sky at morning, and it's dark over the beach
Smoke choking out the sun from the clouds of tragedy
In southern California, they say it never rains
All over California, they are praying for rain today
But don’t let it grow more fuel for the flames
Oh California, have another glass of wine
Toast the ones who weren't so lucky this time
Someday the earth will shake on the San Andreas line
Red Sky at morning, no storm out at sea
Red Sky at morning, and it's dark over the beach
Smoke choking out the sun from the clouds of tragedy
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Steve Key Pismo Beach, California
Steve Key is an award-winning songwriter & performer, best known as the writer of "33, 45, 78 (Record Time)" recorded by country music star Kathy Mattea. He recorded for New York's Fast Folk, which is now part of the Folkways collection at the Smithsonian. Steve lives in Shell Beach and produces live music events under the banner of Songwriters at Play at many venues on California's Central Coast. ... more
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