Things We Find

Darlin’ it seems this road we’re on
Is always going up hill
I’m too tired to keep up with you
So I think I’ll just sit still

It’s not how fast you go that counts
It’s the progress that you make
And his hurry up life we lead
Is just more than I can take

Chorus:
I’m gonna gather me some moss
And I don’t care how much it costs
I want to see some grass
Growing beneath my feet
You tried so hard to get ahead
That you left me behind
Sometimes the things we’re looking for
Aren’t the things we find

You used to say we’d have it all
I guess most was not enough
Your war against imperfection
Finally took its toll on us

I hope you get where you’re going
But I doubt that you will stay
When you see what little you gained
For the things you threw away

Bridge:
I waited so long for you to slow down
That it was hard to believe when I found
I could learn to live without you
But that’s what I’m gonna do

Chorus:
I’m gonna gather me some moss
And I don’t care how much it costs
I want to see some grass
Growing beneath my feet
You tried so hard to get ahead
That you left me behind
Sometimes the things we’re looking for
Aren’t the things we find

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

These Boots are Made for Standing

I’ve got on my best Nudie suit
The one you liked me to wear
And I’ve got my old Thunderbird
To take me from here to there

I’m still wearing the same old boots
You gave me for my birthday
But the soles are almost worn out
So it’s hard to walk away

Chorus:
These boots are made for standing
And that’s just what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna stand right here
And tell myself
That I’ll get over losing you

I once dreamed of our wedding day
You were wearing calico
Now that dress hangs in my closet
Just like some faded old ghost

And you know I’m scared of the dark
And these voices in my head
That keep telling me to move on
I’d rather stay here instead

Chorus:
These boots are made for standing
And that’s just what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna stand right here
And tell myself
That I’ll get over losing you

But one day I’ll climb in that bird
To go look for what I lost
Close my eyes and whisper your name
And say it’s my turn to cross

Bridge:
There’s not a highway in this world
That can take me where I need to be
There’s an angel on my shoulder
I know she’ll take care of me

Chorus:
These boots are made for standing
And that’s just what I’m gonna do
I’m gonna stand right here
And tell myself
That I’ll get over losing you

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Streets of Music City

There are a lot of sad stories
On the streets of this town
Among the flashing neon signs
And the sad country sound

And there’s lots of pretty women
To pull your world apart
Beneath the bright lights of Nashville
With their icy black hearts

Chorus:
The streets of Music City
Have been awful hard on me
I was gonna be a star
I had lots of hopes and dreams
Now I play lower Broadway
For tips and spare change
I wish it wasn’t raining
I wish it wasn’t so gray
On the streets of Music City today

Everything starts out in color
And slowly fades to black
Just like all the old memories
That always call you back

To the places you left behind
All the choices you made
On the way to Music City
And where you are today

Bridge:
I wish I’d never heard a fiddle
I wish I’d never seen a guitar
I wish I was a cowboy
I wish I was a country star

Chorus:
The streets of Music City
Have been awful hard on me
I was gonna be a star
I had lots of hopes and dreams
Now I play lower Broadway
For tips and spare change
I wish it wasn’t raining
I wish it wasn’t so gray
On the streets of Music City today

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Shape I’m In

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 Bob Clay
All Rights Reserved

The Light of a Brand New Day

Harsh words spoken
In the heat of a fight
Hang around us like dark clouds
Turning our days into night

Listen to me
This is not like before
The moon may need the sun
But darlin’ I need you more

Chorus:
In the darkness around us
It’s easy to lose your way
But we can walk together
Into the light of a brand new day

I have loved you
Since the first time we met
When the rain came between us
I tried too hard to forget

But late at night
When the thunderstorms came
I always longed to hold you
And I still called out you name

Chorus:
In the darkness around us
It’s easy to lose your way
But we can walk together
Into the light of a brand new day

Every journey
Starts with a single step
We have a long way to go
But I know we’ll get there yet

Chorus:
In the darkness around us
It’s easy to lose your way
But we can walk together
Into the light of a brand new day

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Left Side of the Road

She used to like to sit on the porch
Counting the cars as they passed by
She said for every place they’re going
They’re leaving someplace else behind

I didn’t think much about it then
But now I think I understand
It’s easy to talk about leaving
When you’ve got leaving on your mind

Chorus:
We said we’d be together
Until the end of the line
But somewhere along the way
She must have changed her mind
I wonder where we got off track
But I’ll probably never know
Answers don’t come easy
On the left side of the road

We used to lie in bed and listen
To the lonesome sound of the trains
But trains sound a lot like goodbye
When you find you’re on different tracks

Then one day she said we had to talk
Said she had decided to leave
Did she hear that old highway call
Or did she just want to leave me

Bridge:
Was it pictures of far away places
The sparkling lights of town
Or something she’s looking for
That she still hasn’t found
Or was it simply wanderlust
That put an end to us

Chorus:
We said we’d be together
Until the end of the line
But somewhere along the way
She must have changed her mind
I wonder where we got off track
But I’ll probably never know
Answers don’t come easy
On the left side of the road

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved

The Last Days

It was a dry and thirsty road
That brought us to this place
Grab a chair and sit with me for a while
At the end of these last days

We can talk about the good times
Before the hurtful things
That blew across our lives like a killing wind
A dust storm of broken dreams

Chorus:
When I started out I packed light
That’s not the way I’ll leave here
Your memory is my postcard
A broken heart my souvenir
I never meant to make you cry
I never thought we’d leave this land
The last days of Rancho DeNada
The last days of an old ranch hand

You’ve been asleep for hours now
It must be well past one
I wish I’d never picked up a bottle
Or known another woman

The drought killed the crops in the fields
While we drowned in our pain
A deluge of hatred, whiskey and lies
That fell around us like rain

Bridge:
You spend your life waiting
For something better to come along
And just when that last grain falls
You realize you had it all wrong

Chorus:
When I started out I packed light
That’s not the way I’ll leave here
Your memory is my postcard
A broken heart my souvenir
I never meant to make you cry
I never thought we’d leave this land
The last days of Rancho DeNada
The last days of an old ranch hand

Copyright Kent Newsome and Ronnie Jeffrey
All Rights Reserved