Information/Write-up
Recorded in 1989 at Happyrock Studio by Ross Murray
Stand ‘Neath My Window
“We re-recorded this one when country radio station Q101 offered to support local music by paying for the session. Randall Prescott had a whack of musicians in from Nashville doing beds for a bunch of different projects and I got to watch Jerry Douglas overdub his dobro part. I ended up buying one and still love the hell out of it. The lyrics are the same as the “Terry Tufts” version.”
Long ago when I could ride for days without tirin’
I met a young girl who set my poor heart to fire
And as we stood ‘neath the darkness of night
With our arms wrapped around each other tight
She promised tenderly:
Chorus
Come and stand ‘neath my window and I’ll throw down the key
And I’ll give all my love just as freely to you
As you’d give it to me.
Next night I broke my tether and rode hell bent for leather into town.
I had to fight just to keep my temp’rature down.
I tied that nag out back behind the kitchen door
With her promises from the night before
Still ringing in my ears.
Chorus
Come and stand ‘neath my window and I’ll throw down the key
And I’ll give all my love just as freely to you
As you’d give it to me.
‘Neath her window and more than willin’ to comply.
From behind well I swear I heard my lover sigh.
I turned around and then to my great alarm
I found her there with another in her arms
And I overheard her say:
Chorus
Come and stand ‘neath my window and I’ll throw down the key
And I’ll give all my love just as freely to you
As you’d give it to me.
Come and stand ‘neath my window and I’ll throw down the key
And I’ll give all my love just as freely to you
As you’d give it to me.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
The Bloom Falls Off The Rose
“Miles and I wandered into The Royal Oak on Bank Street in Ottawa on Valentines Day. We were to have a meeting with a friend of ours and as it turned out the friend was in the throws of a breakup. This was the second couple I’d seen that day that called it quits on that particular day. Earlier I’d had a phone conversation with my mother, whining about the state of my marriage, whereupon she asked “Has the bloom already fallen off the rose?” I wrote that one down in a hurry.”
Don’t wanna be a bother
But I see that look on you.
I been tryin’ to decide if it’s just
Hungry, bored or blue.
Since you’re here without your lover
I can just presume to know:
I bet you that the bloom fell of the rose.
Chorus
Do your best to
Hide that blue, but like a big ol’ sky
You show right through.
Just somethin’ ev’rybody goes through on occasion, I suppose
Ev’ry time the bloom falls off the rose.
They caught you with your guard down,
Another chance been blown.
A case of love you, love me, leave me,
Can’t leave well enough alone.
The hardest part’s the free advise that ev’rybody throws
Ev’ry time the bloom falls off the rose.
Chorus
Do your best to
Hide that blue, but like a big ol’ sky
You show right through.
Just somethin’ ev’rybody goes through on occasion, I suppose
Ev’ry time the bloom falls off the rose.
They’ll be starin’ at the ceiling
And you’ll ask them why so blue.
It mystifies them wond’rin’ what life
Could be without you.
How a love like this remained in flower
So many years, God knows.
Then suddenly the bloom falls off the rose.
Chorus
Do your best to
Hide that blue, but like a big ol’ sky
You show right through.
Just somethin’ ev’rybody goes through on occasion, I suppose
Ev’ry time the bloom falls off the rose.
Ev’ry time the bloom falls off the rose.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Candy Calls For Water
“I had a friend named Candy who at one point was abstaining from alcohol. One night when I was playing Patties Place on Bank Street in Ottawa, my mine wandered off around the room as it tends to do when no one’s listening. I was just doing a running commentary on what was going on, like ‘There’s Craig behind the bar doing the do. Here comes X and he’s gonna ask me for that stupid song again. There’s’ Candy callin’ for water ...’ The rest I just kind of made up.”
Down at the saw mill where they’s stackin’ pine
They call her sugar coated turpentine.
Some kind of magic moves with lips like wine.
It’s just like kissin’ a claymore mine.
Chorus
Candy calls for water. Ev’rybody runs.
Tell me how you ever ‘spect to get your business done.
Rags ‘em near to madness, pullin’ out their hair.
Rollin’ in to work on a wing and a prayer.
One minute she’s runnin’ at me with open arms.
Feels like I’m runnin’ back into a burnin’ barn.
Next minute she’s messin’ me up just like before
Screamin’ “Honey, now don’t you leave me” as she flies out the door.
Chorus
Candy calls for water. The faithful offer tears.
The righteous fall down on their knees. The judgement day is here.
The victim wants a witness. The judge just wants his fun.
The jury’s standin’ stompin’ ‘cause the jury’s always hung.
Last Monday mornin’ we lost Charlie Wade.
Watchin’ that woman he leans into the blade.
The doctor’s verdict upon investigation:
“Clearly a case of death by inspiration.”
Chorus
Candy calls for water.
Ev’rybody hears.
One man turns around and then another disappears.
Special kind of mojo. Drinkin’ bitches brew.
Best beware for fear she sets her sights on you.
Last night I had myself the strangest dream.
My body was broken and I was nailed to a tree.
Lightnin’ flashes just as I look down.
There’s Candy drivin’ the last spike home.
Chorus
Candy calls for water. Ev’rybody runs.
They call her demons daughter. We call her number one.
The dogs commence to barkin’. The children form a ring.
The Heaven’s start to darken and then all the children sing.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Where Do I Go?
“Same old same old.”
When was the last time that I spoke to you in song?
Do you know? Can’t say I do.
Each time I try to find the words when we’re alone
I just run dry
Chorus
So listen once again to that old refrain.
Here I am again on my knees
With tears in my eyes.
I am needing you but you don’t want to hear.
Where do I go from here?
I know you’re crazy with frustration my dear
‘Cause we both know this act so well
But I badly need a sign that tells me you’re still here.
Please let me know.
Chorus
So listen once again to that old refrain.
Here I am again on my knees
With tears in my eyes.
I am needing you but you don’t want to hear.
Where do I go from here?
You drift away to your own world now an then.
To each his own. It’s only fair.
When you come back to me it feels so good to have you
Here at home.
Chorus
So listen once again to that old refrain.
Here I am again on my knees
With tears in my eyes.
I am needing you but you don’t want to hear.
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go from here?
Where do I go?
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Azelie
“For Judith Anna Azelie Gallant.”
When day break comes and mornin’ sun is on the rise
The answers lie clearly in my lady’s eyes,
The one who helped rekindle life’s redeeming fire
And now has me dancing on electric wire.
Chorus
Azelie, above the border
Carry me over the water.
Happily, see how they laud her,
Azelie, fair angel’s daughter
For years I’ve seen love manifest ‘neath azure skies
And watched as it disappeared before my eyes.
But now I stand as one whose hands receive the light,
Whose heart finally can sore like birds in flight.
Chorus
Azelie, above the border
Carry me over the water.
Happily, see how they laud her,
Azelie, fair angel’s daughter
Bridge
And I know it’s not lose or win
But take and in blind innocence give back again.
No concern for perfection here,
But try and maybe come at least as half as near.
Solo
Chorus
Azelie, above the border
Carry me over the water.
Happily, see how they laud her,
Azelie, fair angel’s daughter
The careless walk alone between such narrow lines
With arms aching angrily in anxious times.
When angels fall and souls are lost on stormy seas
Who calls out for guidance calls out Azelie.
Chorus
Azelie, above the border
Carry me over the water.
Happily, see how they laud her,
Azelie, fair angel’s daughter
Chorus
Azelie, above the border
Carry me over the water.
Happily, see how they laud her,
Azelie, fair angel’s daughter
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
=====================================================================
Don’t Think I Want Your Lovin’
“I had fun with this. Listen to how the electric twelve string plays against Danny Artuso’s closing lick on the steel guitar.”
Well I have seen you when you’ve laughed and in the same breath watched you cry
Anything to have your way. Any way to have your lie.
At one time you surely know you could’ve had your way with me
And have me grieve to watch you go, have me cry so easily.
You could touch my heart just like you’ve done a thousand times before
And I don’t think I want you touchin’ me no more.
It is said that hardened times cannot outlast a love that’s strong
And if you keep this thought in mind a love prevails before too long
But these are only words to you, it lasts only for a while.
Just a different point of view. Just the ramblings of a child.
You once told me that you’d love me ‘til the sun would shine no more
And I don’t think I want you lovin’ me no more.
Bridge
Another disappointment and another night alone.
Another disadvantage. Who can say when you’ll be home?
But you’d never dare be doin’ half the things you tend to do
If you cared for me just half as much as I cared for you.
I never thought a heart so tried could take this much from one man’s life
Whose only crime’s believin’ lies and lovin’ girls with suitcase eyes.
You can’t accept the rule of thumb, the exception to the rule
So up you get and off you run leading the fast life of a fool.
I have taken good and basd and taken bad when good was gone
But I won’t take this kind of lovin’. I can do without your lovin’.
I don’t think I want your lovin’ me no more.
No more.
No more.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Hangin’ Roses From Her Door
“I recorded this using one mike at Ken Kanwisher’s Teletune Studio. Ken had sampled a bunch of sounds from a Beneteau guitar I had and in exchange he did this session. It was also recorded by John Cybanski and produced by Ted Gerow for the first BMG Songwriter Sessions CD (BMGP-01). I think it was the song that helped me win the CKBY Talent thingy at the Gatineau Clog for the Budweiser Talent Contest in 1990.”
Big eyed lady from Durham County
Such a bounty never seen.
Strappin’ shiftless double takes her.
Such a looker. Such a dream.
Tell you truly he wants her badly,
Love her madly given half a chance.
Such a shy one lookin’ sidelong.
She takes notice: start the dance.
Chorus
He would swing her three ways to Sunday
Call back Monday and ask for more.
He is dreamin’ he supposes
Hangin’ Roses from her door.
Drunken lonely grabs a bottle.
Tales a swallow. Turnin’ pale.
Ain’t no worry. Feelin’ friskey.
But too much whiskey means a night in jail.
He’s a shy one. Long gone and then some.
She is handsome, she is grand.
She is sprightly. She is friendly.
She is lovin’ another man.
Chorus
He would swing her three ways to Sunday
Call back Monday and ask for more.
He is dreamin’ he supposes
Hangin’ Roses from her door.
Repeat Chorus
Extro
Baby take a notice I been up all night
Walkin’ through the trees beneath the sweet starlight.
Dreamin’ you to pieces and it’s such a pretty sight
Dancin’ you from Asphodel up to Actinolite
Baby take a notice I been up all night
Walkin’ through the trees beneath the sweet starlight.
Dreamin’ you to pieces and it’s such a pretty sight
Dancin’ you from Asphodel up to Actinolite
Dance from the Otonobee up to Actinolite.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Heart Of The Beholder
“My stab at country air play.”
Chorus
It can happen in a heart beat
Or it can take until forever.
Lost and lonely on a dark street
Or where the lonely crowd together.
You can keep it at a low heat
Or you can let it all grow colder.
It’s in the hands of the believer.
It’s in the heart of the beholder.
So many people are eluded ev’rey day of their lives.
They count on love and end up singin’ the blues.
A cold intention deep inside to start all over again
Just has ‘em feelin’ all alone in a crowded room.
They’re still tryin’ to get a hold on love
And so afraid of bein’ alone;
Start out seekin’ independence, tryin’ to find themselves
And end up lookin’ for a hand to hold.
Repeat Chorus
Some kind of fool ain’t never gonna learn
Buried ‘neath a mountain of pride.
They’re gonna pay that toll that robs them of their soul
And eats the heart away from deep inside.
Repeat Chorus
Tag:
It’s in the hands of the believer
It’s in the heart of the beholder
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Holdin’ On
“This lyric is a re-write from the album version.”
She needs a friend at the end of the day,
Someone to help her pack the blues away,
Breath a little life into that day to day
But damn it, he’s got nothing to say.
If we’re only water, and we’re only light
Burnin’ a hole in that endless night
There’s got to be more to life than what she’s seen
Than lovin’ by the light of a TV screen.
Chorus
Holdin’ on. Wake up the livin’ ‘fore they’re dead and gone,
Prayin’ for your new day to dawn.
We are only holdin’ on, lookin’ for a place to be where we belong.
We’re only tryin’ to survive. We’re only holdin’ on.
A weathered hat, a pair of scufflin’ shoes,
A lot of time, a lot of nothing to do.
Just a bad case of transparent blue, livin’ on a cafè stool.
Baby keep movin’, got to keep movin’,
But where you gonna find the will?
Got to be a better way of gettin’ your thrill
Than hangin’ out all night at the Sampan Grill.
Chorus
Holdin’ on. Wake up the livin’ ‘fore they’re dead and gone,
Prayin’ for your new day to dawn.
We are only holdin’ on, lookin’ for a place to be where we belong.
We’re only tryin’ to survive. We’re only holdin’ on.
Bridge
Where do you come from and where are you bound?
Why do you put yourself down
And duck out of the line up in the end when the credits all role?
Chorus
Holdin’ on. Wake up the livin’ ‘fore they’re dead and gone,
Prayin’ for your new day to dawn.
We are only holdin’ on, lookin’ for a place to be where we belong.
We’re only tryin’ to survive. We’re only holdin’ on.
(Holdin’ On) We are only holdin’ on
(Holdin’ On) We are only holdin’ on
(Holdin’ On) We are only holdin’ on
(Holdin’ On) We are only holdin’ on
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Approaching Cordelia
“This character is a composite of a couple women friends of mine. Both decided to close the door on men because they’d had bad experiences with jerks. It was my way of saying “Come out! Come out wherever you are!’ The acoustic six string is a 1968 Yamaha FG 180. It’s bright like a D-18 but cheaper. It got recorded hot because I was playing too quietly, the result of which was a pant load of tape hiss. We masked the hiss on the cassette with a stream and the CD with an ocean, instantly becoming New Age Sensitive Producers.”
Cordelia’s on the third floor of a walk-up ‘cross the street.
From her balcony she stand’s watch like a guard within a keep
And sees nothing.
When suitors call she is not moved to acknowledge or approve
Of their favour.
Cordelia, Cordelia,
Where is the honour?
That’s not the answer.
All we would ask you
Is come home.
Not long ago she crossed the hard-fought line of passion’s reach.
A lover then, a warrior now of consequence from seige
And subversion
And none can free the silent rhyme that move the spirit, heart and mind
To dance.
Cordelia, Cordelia,
Pull down the banners.
Push back the anger.
Bid the captain weigh anchor
And come home.
Cordelia walks the battlements and ramparts ‘round the keep,
Cold guardian of a passion that has been too long asleep,
Set in stone.
She stares across the high road where the old guard was relieved
Long ago.
Cordelia, Cordelia,
Cast off the armor.
Lay down the lances.
Take to the harbour
And come home.
Cordelia, Cordelia,
All we would ask you
Is come home.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
================================================================
Ocean Of Tears
“Sure wish I could dance.”
I swore I’d never shed me a teardrop the mornin’ that you gave me the news.
Now I’m up to my knees in salt water.
I’m soakin’ wet and baby I’m sure it can’t be good for my shoes,
Woh, you really got me singin’ the blues
Chorus
Mountain of heartache, ocean of tears.
Cold lover’s scar that you carry for years and years.
Sail away, sail away, sail away
Upon an ocean of tears.
I thought that I was over the poison, I thought that I was makin’ out fine
But I woke up from dreamin’ about you again.
I’m broken hearted honey and it’s gonna drive me out of my mind.
Woh, ‘cause it’s all been a big waste of time.
Chorus
Mountain of heartache, ocean of tears.
Cold lover’s scar that you carry for years and years.
Sail away, sail away, sail away
Upon an ocean of tears.
Bridge
Sailin’ away on an ocean of tears.
Sailin’ away on an ocean of tears.
Sailin’ away on an ocean of tears.
Ah-ooh.
Solo
I don’t wanna ask you all the wrong questions, I don’t wanna step on anyone’s toes.
I’m too worried and scared I’m gonna drive you away
And too frightened to be livin’ out a “what if” scenario.
Who, I really don’t know which way to go.
Chorus
Mountain of heartache, ocean of tears.
Cold lover’s scar that you carry for years and years.
Sail away, sail away, sail away
Upon an ocean
Away, sail away, sail away
Upon an ocean
Away, sail away, sail away
Upon an ocean of tears.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
(Bop it out.)
================================================================
Never No More
“I wrote this after watching the Canadian political debate of 1988 (Ed Broadbent, John Turner, and Myron Baloney). Free trade was on the block and all the other relivent issues went out the window. This lyric is the current version as opposed to the recorded one. I found out about Chateauguay and the Marquis de Salaberry after it was recorded and felt it better to stay in context with the War of 1812 than go off into left field regarding Canada’s naval contributions in WW II.”
I wandered down to water’s edge, down to the churnin’ sea.
I called out to the ship of state but they would not hear me.
I begged for guidance ‘ore the waves. I gave my trust in vain.
Never no more, never no more, never no more again.
I passed my sister’s house and home and I found her there in tears.
She’d hoped for more than rhetoric to help her through her fears.
Her status choked, her spirit broke for want of equal wage.
Never no more, never no more, never no more again.
I walked up to my neighbour’s farm, his life and love he claimed.
When imports under-cut by half I heard my neighbour say:
“They told of better days ahead. The bastards lied again.
Never no more, never no more, never no more again.”
We faltered not at Chrysler’s farm, held ground at Lundy’s Lane
And with might and pluck, bold vic’try struck on the shores of Chateauguay
And now they think we have no fight, no pride, no hope, no shame.
Never no more, never no more, never no more again.
Though promises may fall like leaves, on guard we shall remain.
We walk, we run, we rise, we fall, we stand by our good name
For if our rights are put at risk and all leaders run from blame
Sing never no more, never no more, never no more again.
W.T. Tufts
SOCAN
No Comments