William’s on a Bender

William’s on a bender
It’s been a long time coming
He’s been holding it inside
As long as I’ve known him
William’s on a bender

Chorus:
If I were William
I’d be on a bender too

William’s grown his hair long
And he’s sporting an earring
He bought my old guitar
He going to learn how to sing
William’s grown his hair long

Chorus:
If I were William
I’d grow my hair long too

William’s leaving Texas
On the back of a Greyhound
He’s never been to Tulsa
But he’ll be there pretty soon now
William’s leaving Texas

Chorus:
If I were William
I’d leave Texas too

William’s on a big drunk
He’s letting it all hang out
He’s feeling those feelings
He thought he’d forgotten about
William’s on a big drunk

Chorus:
If I were William
I’d be on a big drunk too

William’s on a bender
It’s been a long time coming
He’s been holding it inside
As long as I’ve known him
William’s on a bender

Chorus:
If I were William
I’d be on a bender too

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

What I’m Talking About

Stay with me for a while
Oh stay with me for a while
You can leave tomorrow
If you still want to go
So stay with me a while

Stay with me one more night
Oh stay with me one more night
You might not change your mind
But we’ll have a good time
So stay with me one more night

Chorus:
I’m tired of treating you bad
Tired of making you so mad
Baby we don’t have to scream and shout
Let me show you what I’m talking about

Stay because you want to
Oh stay because you want to
You’ve got some time to kill
And I’ll give you a thrill
So stay because you want to

Stay and let me show you
Oh stay and let me show you
This is my neighborhood
I’ll make you feel so good
So stay and let me show you

Chorus:
I’m tired of treating you mean
Tired of the same old bad scene
Baby we don’t have to scream and shout
Let me show you what I’m talking about

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Watson Opportunity

I dial up your number
And listen to it ring
I’ve got no claim on you
So it don’t mean a thing

Yet I sit in the dark
Listening to the dial tone
My fingers are so tired
Too much walking alone

Chorus:
I’m drinking and dialing and feeling so blue
At the end of the line that connects me to you
I’ve got so much to say, we don’t talk at all
You play it safe while the phone rings off the wall
I gambled my heart on you and me
Looking for a Watson opportunity
Looking for a Watson opportunity

I could go to your house
But I know what I’d find
Just one more sad story
At the end of the line

Chorus:
I’m drinking and dialing and feeling so blue
At the end of the line that connects me to you
I’ve got so much to say, we don’t talk at all
You play it safe while the phone rings off the wall
I gambled my heart on you and me
Looking for a Watson opportunity
Looking for a Watson opportunity

Bridge:
Won’t you please come here
I want to see you
So bad I can taste it
Another call unanswered
Another opportunity wasted

Chorus:
I’m drinking and dialing and feeling so blue
At the end of the line that connects me to you
I’ve got so much to say, we don’t talk at all
You play it safe while the phone rings off the wall
I gambled my heart on you and me
Looking for a Watson opportunity
Looking for a Watson opportunity

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Twenty-First Century Blues

My baby started drinking
In the 21st century
She drinks because it fills her up
When she feels so empty
My baby started drinking
In the 21st century
She drinks to all the wasted years
She drinks because of me

Back in the nineteen hundreds
She hardly ever touched a drop
She had a few on New Year’s Eve
And now she just can’t stop
It’s Mary in the morning
A few gin and tonics each night
She’s too far gone to turn back now
I’m too beat up to fight

I’d throw away her bottles
But she’s learned to hide them so well
For every Jack or Jim I find
I miss two Rebel Yells
It breaks my heart to see her
When she’s stumbling around blind
The 21st century blues
They caught her from behind

That old demon alcohol
Has got my baby in it’s grasp
She swears that she will do better
But it don’t ever last
So I’m down to two choices
And I don’t know which one is best
Booze it up or be alone
I’m in an awful mess

So go get me a bottle
I was once known to tip a few
I’d rather be drunk all day long
Than sober without you
We’ll get drunk in the morning
And wasted in the afternoon
I’m a newfangled hell raiser
Not a moment too soon

My baby started drinking
In the 21st century
She drinks because it fills her up
When she feels so empty
My baby started drinking
In the 21st century
She drinks to all the wasted years
She drinks because of me

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Transient Connection

There’s static on this line
We keep getting cut off
You were saying something
About starting to fall

You said you weren’t looking
But this new love found you
If I’m hearing you right
What it all comes down to

Is that

Chorus:
We’re talking in bits and pieces
In a state of disconnection
It’ll take more than a telephone line
To hold this transient connection

I’m just leaving Austin
On my way to Houston
To ask for one more chance
Lord knows I could use one

If I’m gonna lose you
I’ll do it in person
Of all the ways to go
This must be the worse one

Because

Chorus: We’re talking in bits and pieces
In a state of disconnection
It’ll take more than a telephone line
To hold this transient connection

Bridge:
Maybe we can still get it together
We’ll never know unless we try
I’m sorry I’ve been hard to talk to
Are you still there, hello
Baby, please don’t say goodbye

Chorus:
We’re talking in bits and pieces
In a state of disconnection
It’ll take more than a telephone line
To hold this transient connection

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Last Thing You Need

What are you doing here
I guess your reasons ain’t all that clear
There are things that you need
That you just can’t get from me

I tried to cut you loose
If you stay with me you’ll just get used
I haven’t sunk that low
But I might, so you should go

Chorus:
I’m the last thing you need
You think you do but you don’t
You never should have loved me
You think I’ll change but I won’t

Call it bad luck or fate
A stupid choice, a costly mistake
Or an experience
With all my sad indifference

Bridge:
You should leave while you still can
Don’t make me hurt you again
One day you will understand
Why I can’t be your man
Why I can’t be your friend

Chorus:
I’m the last thing you need
You think you do but you don’t
You never should have loved me
You think I’ll change but I won’t

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Bottom of a Glass

When you finally stumbled home
She was waiting by the door
To smell the whiskey on your breath
Like so many times before
You promised her that you would quit
But the dies had all been cast
With the mettle that you have mined
From the bottom of a glass

She tried so hard to change you
Into what you could have been
But every time she pulled you up
You fell right back down again
She stayed beside you for a while
But you knew it wouldn’t last
So you took the strength you needed
From the bottom of a glass

Chorus:
So now you stay all liquored up
Cause she left you high and dry
You’d like to pull yourself together
But you’re much too drunk to try
You sit and wonder what went wrong
As you stare into your past
That stares right back at you
From the bottom of a glass

Snow seep comes too easily
You haven’t left home in days
You put blankets on the windows
To block out all the sun’s rays
Now your life is in the gutter
And the rain is falling fast
It’s hard to swim when you’re drowning
In the bottom of a glass

Chorus:
So now you stay all liquored up
Cause she left you high and dry
You’d like to pull yourself together
But you’re much too drunk to try
You sit and wonder what went wrong
As you stare into your past
That stares right back at you
From the bottom of a glass

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved