The Angel is My Wife

We’ve been married ten years today
I can still remember the way
You looked at me and smiled
There was an angel on the aisle

Chorus:
Thank you for being
The great love of my life
It’s still hard for me to believe
That the angel is my wife

Our honeymoon’s still going strong
It just keeps going on and on
Now we’ve got this baby boy
My heart is so filled up with joy

After you have grown old with me
Lots of grandchildren at our feet
I’ll gently take your hand in mine
And tell you for the millionth time

Chorus:
Thank you for being
The great love of my life
It’s still hard for me to believe
That the angel is my wife

Bridge:
Happy anniversary baby
You mean the world to me
You’re a blessing I don’t deserve
You’re an angel here on earth

Chorus:
Thank you for being
The great love of my life
It’s still hard for me to believe
That the angel is my wife

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

(That Just Ain’t) How It is for Me

Tell me some happy stories
Cause it’s not that way for me
I like those happy endings
But they just aren’t meant to be

I miss skies full of sunshine
Cause I’ve been out in the rain
I miss all my yesterdays
Now each day brings me more pain

Chorus:
I try to tell myself
That you’ll come crawling back
But that is just a lie
It ain’t gonna be like that
I try hard to pretend
Things aren’t as bad as this
But deep inside I know
That just ain’t how it is

When I see pictures of us
Things look a whole lot clearer
How could I trade those smiles
For the frown in my mirror

You tried so hard to love me
But I took more than I gave
If I’d been a better man
Maybe you would have stayed

Bridge:
I’ve got to face the hard cold facts
And stop kidding myself
The arms that are holding you now
Belong to someone else
You needed love I didn’t give
And there can be no doubt
I’ve got no one to blame but me
For the shape I’m in now

Chorus:
I try to tell myself
That you’ll come crawling back
But that is just a lie
It ain’t gonna be like that
I try hard to pretend
Things aren’t as bad as this
But deep inside I know
That just ain’t how it is

Copyright Kent Newsome and Bob Clay
All Rights Reserved

Tailspin

I’ve been drinking much more than I should
And I’ve been staying out way too late
What do you expect
Ever since you left
Well I guess I’ve lost my way

Chorus:
But I found whiskey
And I found bourbon
And I found gin
Call it a poor excuse
Call it what you want to
I call it a tailspin

Sometimes I take along your picture
And I place it right there on the bar
Here’s to you my friend
Cause it’s where we’ve been
That makes us who we are

Chorus:
But I found whiskey
And I found bourbon
And I found gin
Call it a poor excuse
Call it what you want to
I call it a tailspin

Bridge:
I’ve been here before
I can do this some more
I’ve got nothing
Nothing left to lose

Chorus:
Cause I found whiskey
And I found bourbon
And I found gin
Call it a poor excuse
Call it what you want to
I call it a tailspin

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Tabor City

Ain’t much left in Tabor City I guess
The banks took the farms and Fran took what was left
I used to own my own home
Now I own a pile of trash
I guess Tabor City met its match

I suppose I could move to another town
Maybe start all over on some higher ground

Chorus:
The president promises we’ll get federal aid
And government shelters where we can all stay
Here in Tabor City we’re all democrats
We get knocked down but we always bounce back
Yeah we get knocked down but we always bounce back

My folks talk of storms before I was born
How Hazel blew through town like a woman scorned
Now that I’ve seen it I know
We must have done something bad
To make Mother Nature so damn mad

But I was born in Tabor City and that’s where I’ll stay
Till another storm comes and blows me away

Chorus:
The president promises we’ll get federal aid
And government shelters where we can all stay
Here in Tabor City we’re all democrats
We get knocked down but we always bounce back
Yeah we get knocked down but we always bounce back

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Society Hill

Driving south on Old Cash Road
Beside empty fields and model homes
This two lane road I take
Winds like an old black snake
Heading towards the great unknown

A mile past the trestle bridge
I’ll take a left on Route 52
Join a long line of travelers
Whose lives have come unraveled
Searching for some greater truth

Chorus:
They’ve been knocking my childhood down
Looking for something that can’t be found
That mythical thing called enough
That brings peace of mind and true love
The farms have been subdivided
And they’re building houses in their place
Where people use dollars like sandbags
Trying to keep the storms at bay

I live on the family farm
Daddy’s faded tractor in the yard
Behind an old barbwire fence
That’s mounting a brave defense
With a rusty cattle guard

My folks have been gone for years
But I held on to the old homestead
It’s my one chance for refuge
High ground before the deluge
The threatens the life we led

Chorus:
They’ve been knocking my childhood down
Looking for something that can’t be found
That mythical thing called enough
That brings peace of mind and true love
The farms have been subdivided
And they’re building houses in their place
Where people use dollars like sandbags
Trying to keep the storms at bay

Bridge:
In the thick kudzu vines
That grow on Society Hill
You trace your family lines
And mourn for all you’ve lost
You think about loved ones
Who sweated for every acre
And you know you’ll die on that land
No matter what the cost

Chorus:
They’ve been knocking my childhood down
Looking for something that can’t be found
That mythical thing called enough
That brings peace of mind and true love
The farms have been subdivided
And they’re building houses in their place
Where people use dollars like sandbags
Trying to keep the storms at bay

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Slow Decline

I’ve been run down
Left here for dead and then buried deep
By promises we couldn’t keep
By cries that fell on deaf ears

Fading away
Like a white ring around a finger
That tans as the summer lingers
Soon it will just disappear

Chorus:
I’m shrunk up and fading
Broken up and degrading
With the passage of time
By the slow decline

She looks away
All the lines on her face look like scars
That were earned in some holy war
Where nobody ever wins

It’s her turn now
To lob a bomb, turn and walk away
One man’s work is another’s play
I’m starting to sink again

Bridge:
Faded, jaded and degraded
By the passage of time
By the slow decline
From us to used to be mine
From we’re great to I’ll be fine

Chorus:
I’m shrunk up and fading
Broken up and degrading
With the passage of time
By the slow decline

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Slippery Slope

The kids are all grown up
And out on their own
The house seems so empty
And she feels so alone

She thinks there is
Much more to life than this

He says he still loves her
She wonders if he does
He goes through the motions
But that’s just not enough

She feels so young
She wants to love someone

Chorus:
She’s never thought of herself
As the leaving kind
But loneliness is driving her
Right out of her mind
Straight to some places
She never thought she’d go
She’s standing on the edge of
A slippery slope

She can still turn a head
Every now and then
She’d trade it all away
To feel his touch again

She starts to cry
She knows she’s lost his eye

He wouldn’t notice her
Walking out the door
She was afraid to leave
She’s not scared anymore

She thinks there is
Much more to life than this

Chorus:
She’s never thought of herself
As the leaving kind
But loneliness is driving her
Right out of her mind
Straight to some places
She never thought she’d go
She’s standing on the edge of
A slippery slope

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

Shooting Stars

Sitting in our backyard
In the middle of the night
I can see the whole world
And out into space

It gets lonesome out here
When you’re so far away
But when I close my eyes
I still see your face

Chorus:
Shooting stars
And broken hearts

Move at the speed of light
Or stand perfectly still
Whichever path you take
A choice has been made

Even good intentions
Can get lost in the dark
It’s hard to know for sure
Until it’s too late

Chorus:
Shooting stars
And broken hearts

Bridge:
There goes a shooting star
That’s just how things are
But I can always wish
For something more than this

Chorus:
Shooting stars
And broken hearts

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved