Now I’ve got a railroad hat

I’ve got some railroad shoes

All I need’s a freight train

I could sing those railroad blues

But I live in the city

City ways and means

The only tracks I roll on

Are the tracks of railroad dreams

Now I’ve got a cowboy hat

I’ve got some cowboy shoes

All I need’s the open range

I could sing those cowboy blues

But I buy me my food at the grocery

Get my cigarettes from a box

I’m too busy worrying about

Closed doors and locks

I can’t talk about the four winds

‘Cause I don’t know but one

That rolls ‘round my window

Come to chase away the sun

Where the newspaper dances

In the gutter where the rains can run

I can’t talk about the four winds

‘Cause I don’t know but one

That rolls ‘round my window

Come to chase away the sun

While the newspaper dances

In the gutter where the rain can run

Now I’ve got a dreamer’s hat

Got some dreamer’s shoes

And I’ve got lots of dreams

So I can sing those dreamer’s blues

So listen to the music

Follow where it leads

No one has to know about

The things I’ve never seen

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

I came back as fast as I could you know

They said you lost your mind you know

They said for all your vision you'd gone blind

Now I see you tear the wrinkles from your forehead

And lay them on the bed

And I guess I know what you mean

But I can't remember what you said

This broke old guitar you had

You laid it in my hands and said

Go play it for the children play it 'til you're dead

But you know they never listen to your song

And it's been so goddamn long

And it's getting hard to swallow

That we could have been so wrong

So we sit down to the table

With our fingers in the gravy

And I wonder what it was that came

And made us both so lazy

And the winter wind that gave me wings to roam

Has froze you to the bone

But can't you raise your weary head

One more time

And tell me welcome home

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

Reading by a bare bulb in a room that's filled with echoes

While the dog outside makes non-stop noise

At something in the moon

He says he knows its secrets I have asked but he won't tell me

Why his soul responds to lightning

And the singing of the loons

On this page the words are fuzzy

I have read this line three times

In this hollow house where no one lives

There's cobwebs near the floor

The dog has found a new love and I guess I'll find another way

To take the night and leave my mind as stranded as before

Where are you on this cold night

Are you staring at the moonlight

Sure gets dark out here darker without you

I sing 'til I'm dizzy the music keeps me busy

When the last notes fade away I find I'm singing them for you

Out on the horizon lies a flying frozen seagull

And I see the earth tilt crazy while I dream l'm flying too

He circles ‘round the moon above this house lost on the prairie

And I climb upon his wing and fly the lonely miles to you

But I'll wake up with the dawn, still slightly drunk and heavy-handed

Like a shipwreck in the bathtub like a broken old balloon

The day will turn to dark me and the dog commence our yelling

Sing crazy songs at midnight thumbing noses at the moon

Where are you on this cold night are you staring at the moonlight

Sure gets dark out here darker without you

I sing 'til I'm dizzy, the music keeps me busy

When the last notes fade away I find I'm singing them for you

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

I'm not a king

Got no castle on a hillside

Got no promises

Just an hour full of good times

And a pocket full of moments

By a wishing well

I'm not a saint

Just a quiet kind of memory

That remains behind

Got no magic lantern shining

Just a dream to catch and turn my way

Before my dying

One time before I die

Hey look around hear the sounds

Look for my face in a crowd

I stand on every corner mama

Keep your sons and daughters home

Before they leave you

They'll leave you soon

I'm not a man

Just a shadow of a child's parade in sunny lands

A sail to catch the wrong wind

And a dime to put the phone call through

To talk to you

I'm not a king

Got no castle on a hillside

There's no promises

Just an hour full of good times

And a pocket full of moments

By a wishing well

But I like this easy rolling Lord

It suits me well

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

There’s stories I’d like to tell ya

Got some things that my heart wants to sell ya

But the blues but the blues

Like a child of mine like a lover

Like a bottle of ruby wine

The blues come rolling ‘cross my mind

The blues come rolling ‘cross

My hands and heart and time

Time seems to find me where I stand

Abused and disillusioned

Maybe only half a man

But I offer you my hand

Take what you can of me

I’ve been set ashore on a no-man’s island

In the middle of a stormy sea

So what have you got to loose

Only your right to choose

There’s nobody here but us heroes

And the blues

Like a ball of clay

Like a blackened freeze and

Hole in the middle of a sunny day

The blues come rolling ‘cross

My mind the blues come rolling

‘Cross my hands and heart and time

And time seems to know me by my name

Beads of fools that change the rules

Each time I try to play the game

And they always stay the same

There’s no one to blame but me

But I’m not complaining I’m always

Straining my little bit of purity

So won’t you please let me come inside

And salvage my wounded pride ‘cause there’s

Nobody left to hide me but the blues

Like a rolling wheel like a losing hand when

You know damn well you fixed the deal

Blues come and tell me how it feels

The blues get hard to tolerate

But Lord at least they’re real

And each time I reach the end

I’m back to the start again

There are stories I’d like to tell ya

Got a lot of things that my heart wants

to sell you but the blues

Lord, the blues

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

Long John was a sailor
Bound for the sea of the moon
Long John had a boat in a bottle in a tiny room
He called to his cabin boy
(a small black cat)
Said, “fetch me a flagon of ale”
And the wind did rise
And the ship set sail

Long John was a sailor
Bound for the port of the Rain
With pieces of eight that he’d saved

from a broken window pane

Diving for treasure in a porcelain sea
Singing a nautical song
And the wind did rise
And he sailed along

He laid out for the silvery sea

Laid out for the silvery sea

Long John where do you sail

Long John coming’ down

Long John tell me where do you sail

Comin’ down

Long John was a sailor
And the sea was an old man’s mind
Long John sailed alone in the wind of another time
He laughed so hard when they called him mad
He nearly fell off of his bed
But he held his course
And he sailed ahead

And he laid out for the silvery sea

Laid out for the silvery sea

Long John where do you sail

Long John comin’ down

Long John tell me where do you sail

Comin’ down

Long John tell me where do you sail

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs

It’s hazy today and the paper says rain

I been lookin’ for sunlight so long but I can’t complain

But I know I might drown in it

I just might go down in it

Trying to get back to heaven

Trying to get back to my home

While the man in the street

Bows his head to his feet

For his eyes are as empty

As blind broken stones

Find an unchangeable sign Lord

Follow predictable lines

Pluck the sweet fruit from the vine Lord

But it looks like it’s leaving

And it looks like it’s mine

Look over yonder look over the wall

There’s a city of lights you can’t see it at all

But I know I might fall to it

I might yield to the call to it

Singin’ my song for nobody

Painting a scene for the blind

While the man in the street

Bows his head to his feet

He’s looked over yonder one too many times singing

Find an unchangeable sign Lord

Follow predictable lines

Pluck the sweet fruit from the vine Lord

But it looks like it’s leaving

And it looks like it’s mine

So pick up your feet

Find that old dancing beat

Go looking for something to make you complete

You don’t know what you’ll say to it

Maybe you’ll pray to it

You won’t find your freedom in chains

You can’t see the forest if you’re tied to a tree

You won’t find your freedom remaining the same

And I wish I could say you would find it in me

But the man in the street

Has finally lifted his head

To wait for tomorrow

Or to wait ‘til he’s dead he’s singing

Find an unchangeable sign

Follow predictable lines

Pluck the sweet fruit from the vine

But it looks like it’s leaving

And it looks like it’s mine

©1975 Lonnie Knight Songs