Hills and Valleys lyrics
1. Homeland Refugee
With a backpack full of yesterdays
On a freeway full of smoke and haze
Where the power lines and fault lines double cross
I left our yellow porch light on
No one will notice no one’s home
And no one else will notice what was lost
I lost my home when the deal went bust
To the so-called security and trust
I planned my life the way they said I should
I sent my wife and kids ahead
I’m right behind you, so I said
I’ll be there when I get there if that’s good
Chorus
Now I’m leaving California for the dust bowl
They took it all, there’s nowhere else to go
The pastures of plenty are burning by the sea
And I’m just a homeland refugee
There’s a plastic sack by a barbwire fence
A burned out beer truck full of dents
A dried up stock pond by an old canal
Between the towns the desert sands
Filling up with empty cans
Container trains, casinos and canals
Chorus
My Grandpa used to tell about
The way the bankers drove them out
In the wind and the dust in the crash of ‘29
They crossed the desert headed west
They swore that it was for the best
They reassured the ones they left behind
There’s some refugees from Mexico
Behind an abandoned Texaco
We nod and smile, it’s clear we’re all the same
For everything this world is worth
We’re all just migrants on this earth
Returning to the dust from where we came
Chorus
2. Borderless Love
Walking the line between pleasure and pain
Biding my time between loss and gain
I've run out of roads, I've traveled them all
Down at the border by the one-sided wall
Down at the border, facing that wall
Racking my brain for the cause of it all
No one to point to, no one to blame
I can't be the only one stuck in this game
Borderless love, the land of the free
Borderless love, how far can you see?
Borderless love, there's no border at all
In a borderless love there's no need for a wall
When I feel what I feel, when I see what I see
Why do my heart and my head disagree?
A one-sided wall, is it all in the mind?
Who can see more than one side at a time?
A wall is a mirror that can only reveal
One side of a story that passes for real
But break it all down, it all becomes clear
It's the fearless who love and the loveless who fear
Borderless love, the land of the free
Borderless love, how far can you see?
Borderless love, there's no fear at all
In a borderless love there's no need for a wall
Over, under, around and through
Life is love and love is true
Over, under, around and through
Walls of thunder, skies of blue
3. After The Storm
I walked out on the levee to watch the river and feel the rain
To see if there was something I could find
I wouldn't be here now but I sort of missed the train
The way I miss the one I left behind
Circles of the past fade away so fast
While they spin and turn you live and learn
I heard you when you were leaving,
it was just a quick goodbye
I didn't even wonder for how long
The paddle wheels are turning,
the steamboat whistles cry
I wonder now if I'm the one who's gone
If I’d taken that job in Santa Fe
I never would have lost what I lost today
I’d go somewhere if I had somewhere to go
You’re in Baton Rouge I bet, or maybe Lafayette
Houston, San Antone, it's all the same
Some things I just don’t get,
I’m not hearing from you yet
Still waiting for the help that never came
I’ll walk out on the highway and see what I can find
Maybe nothing more than just a ride
They say the storm is over but they don’t know my mind
Is there even any reason left to hide?
Circles of the past fade away so fast
While they spin and turn you live and learn
Time is to the game like fire is to the flame
There's nothing more to learn
Just let it burn
4. Wishing For A Rainbow
Standing at a crossroad in the rain
I been here before, I can't complain
Must be something in the book of revelation
Keeps on messing with my destination
That big old city nearly did me in
I got my doubts if I'll go there again
Turning back could turn into a heartbreak
Tonight I just need some shelter from a heartache
Chorus
Wishing for a rainbow
Listen to the wind blow
Wondering how can love grow
Wishing for a rainbow
I wonder if she found her way to Denver
If she still needs the love I said I'd send her
Like roses untended may grow withered
Love letters in my heart go undelivered
Chorus
Shattered glass all scattered ‘cross the floor
Some fellow left his suitcase by the door
I'd like to think I left it all behind me
And know for sure the past will never find me
There are some who sanctify revenge
Time and life will leave them on the fringe
And some until the end will carry grudges
Time and life and death will be their judges
Chorus
5. No Way I’ll Never Need You
I don't need no rearview mirror to show me
where I've been
I don't need the game to tell me what it takes to win
I don’t need no key to let me in
I can think of several ways I'll never get to heaven
And there's bound to be some more I never knew
But there's no two ways about it
I'll never need another
For there's no way I'll never need you
There's no way I'll never need to have you by my side
No way to never need a love so true
I know I’ll never need to tell you goodbye
There's no way I'll never need you
I don't need no World Wide Web to show me how it’s done
I don't need no finish line to tell me that I’ve won
I don't need no cloud to hide the sun
I can think of several ways I'll never see the light
I have friends who’ve pointed out a few
But there's no two ways about it
I'll never need another
For there's no way I'll never need you
There's no way I'll never need to have you by my side
No way to never need a love so true
I know I’ll never need to tell you goodbye
There's no way I'll never need you
6. Just About Time
Everybody’s saying it's just about time
But it's partly about space
The rest is all about not dividing things up
And leaving every last little piece in its place
You can start out slow
You can speed things up
You can take things as they are
Your average person is afraid to talk about death
But not afraid of driving a car
Take the whole ball of wax
Stick it to the facts
Life might stop on a dime
Sooner or later it's now or never
Don't you think it's just about time?
Chorus
Don't you think it's just about time?
Don't you think it's just about time?
Sooner or later it's now or never
Don't you think it's just about time?
You worry and you hurry and it’s just about time
But it's partly about space
Everything that goes up must come down
And nothing's in the way until it gets in your face
It goes without saying that I must say
Some things are better left unsaid
Here and there
Gone everywhere
You may be just a-dreaming when you’re
waking up dead
Dying for love
Living in fear
Neither is a reason or rhyme
Sooner or later it's now or never
Don't you think it's just about time?
Somewhere beyond the dark and the dawn
Unsaid, unsung and unseen
Somewhere behind the back of your mind
Not beside, not before
Not even in between
Sitting in silence being in love
Looking for a mountain to climb
Sooner or later it's now or never
Don't you think it's just about time?
Some are denying it's just about time
Some don't believe in space
If you try to undo what’s done been did
You’ll mistake the static for the thrill of the chase
If time is money, space is credit
They're talking about it all over town
Are you rolling in the black or sinking in the red?
Is gravity the only thing that's holding you down?
It's hard to stop when you're picking up speed
Brother can you spare me a dime?
Sooner or later it's now or never
Don't you think it's just about time?
Chorus
7. Loves Own Chains
My mind can’t rest, I await the day
I turn and toss the night away
I hear my heart crawl through my veins
There’s no relief from loves own chains
Chorus
Just like the winds that rule the skies
No one can bend the bind that ties
The more they try the more in vain
Love must be free from love’s own chains
Oh what a fool I’ve always been
Free on the outside and chained within
How can it be, can you explain?
How to be free from love’s own chains
Chorus
The rooster crows, the wild bird sings
I wonder what the day will bring
The faucet leaks, the sink is stained
There’s no relief from loves own chains
From love’s own chains, love’s own chains
Love must be free from love’s own chains
8. Cry For Freedom
Well my old friend, is this how you cry for freedom?
When you walk alone out in the cold, you walk alone
Into the night, looking for light, longing for fire
Out of your heart, cry for freedom, out on your own
And you were born, bound in chains, to cry for freedom
You cast a stone, you weren't alone, to cry for freedom
But you cried for more
Your children rise and lift their eyes and cry for freedom
Old men swear and darken the air with clouds of lies
Some for you, some for me, some forever
To heal their hearts they cry for freedom, while freedom cries
And we were born, bound in chains, to cry for freedom
We cast a stone, we weren't alone, to cry for freedom
The ones you love and skies above, cry for freedom
Heavy loads and open roads, cry for freedom
Birth and death and every breath, cry for freedom
Mountains tall, coyotes call
The river wide, the rising tide
The dove that mourns, a crown of thorns, cry for freedom
Horses wild, a laughing child, cry for freedom
Trembling lips, sailing ships
Falling stars, sad guitars
Right and wrong, a lonely song
My old friend, is this how you cry for freedom?
9. The Way We Are
Every night you and I catch a wandering eye
We stand out like trees in cotton rows
It ain't a look, it ain't a style we might throw
down after a while
It's the way we are and that's the way it goes
Chorus
The way we are, the way we are
You might think we fell right off the same bright star, the way we are
Never had a dream so good to me so far
It don't leave nothing much to say, the way we are
I'd lost my mind riding on the 99
When you found me singing sad and low
And at the end of the track, you took my hand
and led me back
To the happy song I'd left so long ago
Chorus
It might be, I might say, we weren't born to be this way
There's a million ways they say and this I see
But it occurred to me last night, when I saw you standing in the moonlight
If I die this way that’ll be okay with me
The way we are, the way we are
You might think we fell right off the same bright star, the way we are
Never had a dream so good to me so far
I never thought I would meet someone who
would share a fate like ours
It don't leave nothing much to say the way we are
10. Thank God For The Road
There’s the sky, here’s the earth
This is the road for all it’s worth
It’s a ribbon, it’s a river, it’s a wave
It’s an arrow and it’s a snake
It’s asleep and it’s awake
And it stretches from the cradle to the grave
Thank God for the road
And the hubcaps and the headlights
And the mudflaps and the taillights
And the dim lights and the bright lights
Thank God for the road
And the miles that come between us
The little rains that come to clean us
The guardian angels who have seen us
Thank God for the road
No matter what it takes to drive it
Life and death can seem so private
Still you think you will survive it
Thank God for the road
There’s the sky, here’s the earth
This is the road for all it’s worth
It’s a ribbon, it’s a river, it’s a wave
It’s an arrow and it’s a snake
It’s asleep and it’s awake
And it stretches from the cradle to the grave
Thank God for the road
The soft shoulders you can cry on
The hard nerves you rely on
The fast curves you can die on
Thank God for the road
And the stars that shine above it
No matter what you once thought of it
You always knew you’d come to love it
Thank God for the road
And those old telephone poles
A cup of coffee and a sweet roll
When you’re trying to save your own soul
Thank God for the road
11. Free The Wind
You move the wind, you move the water
You move the wild in all that's free
You move the child, you move the mountain
You move the song inside of me
Chorus
The mountain stands against the water
The ocean breaks against the shore
Ten thousand years times ten thousand
The prideful mountain stands no more
From wanting happiness for others
Comes all the joy the world contains
From wanting pleasure for yourself
Comes only sorrow, only pain
Chorus
You free the wind, you free the water
You free the wild in all you see
You free the child, you free the mountain
You free the song inside of me
Free the wind
12. Sowing On The Mountain
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
Sowing on the mountain, reaping in the valley
You gotta reap just what you sow
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
There won’t be water, be fire next time
There won’t be water, be fire next time
There won’t be water, be fire next time
There won’t be water, be fire next time
God gave Noah the rainbow sign
Chorus
Where you gonna run to when the world’s on fire?
Where you gonna run to when the world’s on fire?
Where you gonna run to when the world’s on fire?
Little darling pal of mine
Use your bosom for my pillow
Use your bosom for my pillow
Use your bosom for my pillow
Oh my darling when the world’s on fire
Chorus
13. There’s Never Been
There’s never been a story told
That no one would believe
Like there’s never been a hand to hold
That no one would receive
Chorus
There’s never been a season yet
That never had an end
There’s never been a reason yet
For lovers to pretend
There’s never been a baby born
Without the eagle flying
Like there’s never been a love been torn
Without one heart a-dying
Chorus
There’s never been a soul to know
A life without a fall
Like there’s never been a love to grow
Where each did not give all
Chorus
There’s never been
