I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Peel back the mountains peel back the sky
Stomp gravity into the floor
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull
Somewhere near the end it said
"You can't do this", I said "I can too"
Shift sway rivers shift, oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
I fell asleep and read just about every paragraph
Read the scene where gravity is pulling me around
Shift the swaying river's shift
Oceans fall and mountains drift
It's a Man Ray kind of sky
Let me show you what I can do with it
Time and distance are out of place here
Step up, step up, step up the sky is open-armed
When the light is mine, I felt gravity pull onto my eyes,
holding my head straight (looking down)
This is the easiest task I've ever had to do
Reason had harnessed the tame
Holding the sky in their arms
Gravity pulls me down

MAPS AND LEGENDS LYRICS

(for the Rev Howard Finster, "a man of vision and feeling -
a fine example to all")
He's not to be reached, he's to be reached
He's not to be reached, he's to be reached
Called the fool and the company,
On his own where he'd rather be
Where he ought to be, he sees what you can't see, can't you see that?
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood
Down the way the road's divided,
Paint me the places you have seen
Those who know what I don't know
refer to the yellow, red and green
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood
He's not to be reached, he's to be reached (4 times)
The map that you painted didn't seem real
He just sings whatever he's seen
Point to the legend, point to the east,
Point to the yellow, red and green
Maybe he's caught in the legend,
maybe he's caught in the mood
Maybe these maps and legends
have been misunderstood, been misunderstood (Maps and legends)
(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached? He's not to be reached
(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached? He's not to be reached
(Maps and legends) Is he to be reached? He's not to be reached anymore

DRIVER 8 LYRICS

The walls are built up, stone by stone,
the fields divided one by one
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
I saw a treehouse on the outskirts of the farm
The power lines have floaters so the airplanes won't get snagged
Bells are ringing through the town again,
Children look up, all they hear is sky-blue, bells ringing
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself to sleep
Way to shield the hated heat
Way to put myself, my children to sleep
He piloted this song in a plane like that one
She is selling faith on the Go Tell crusade
Locomotive 8, Southern Crescent, hear the bells ring again
Field to wheat is stricken thin
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We've been on this shift too long"
And the train conductor says
"Take a break Driver 8, Driver 8 take a break
We can reach our destination, but we're still a ways away"

LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT LYRICS

Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
To doors to go between the wall was raised today
To doors remain before your others and your own
Keep these books well stocked away and take your happy home
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
Burn bright through the night, two pockets lead the way
Two doors to go between the wall was raised today
Raise the walls and shout its flaws, a carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
The hills ringing hear the words in time
Listen to the holler, listen to my walls within my tongue
Can't you see you made my ears go tin?
the air quicken tension building inference suddenly
Life and how to live it
Raise the walls and shout its flaws, a carpenter should rest
So that when you tire of one side the other serves you best
Read about the wisdom lost, a knock, a knock, a knock
A secret knock one hammer's locked the other wisdom lost
My carpenter's out and running about, talking to the street
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
My carpenter's out and running about, barking in the, listen to the holler
My pockets are out and running about
Barking in the street to tell what I have hidden there
Listen, listen to the holler,
If I write a book it will be called "Life and How to Live It"

OLD MAN KENSEY LYRICS

Old Man Kensey wants to be a sign painter
First he's got to learn to read
He's gonna be a clown on TV
Flexes his elbow taunt and free
That's my folly, I believe
Drink up the lake Kensey's awake
That's my folly, that's my mistake
Old Man Kensey wants to be a goalie
First he's got to learn to count
He's gonna be a clown on a circus mount
Letters to be signed and dropped off
Kensey's going far
John, Bill and Ed, stand on your head
That's my folly, I'm ready to go
Old Man Kensey wants to be a dog catcher
First he's got to learn to stand
He's gonna be a clown in a marching band
Letters to be signed ransom greed
That's my folly, I believe
Drink up the lake, John, Bill and Ed,
That's my folly, that's my mistake
Kensey's awake, stand on your head
That's my folly, I'm ready to go

CAN'T GET THERE FROM HERE LYRICS

(published in Guitar Magazine in 1985 a few lines were reprinted
in Goldmine in 1987 and some appear in the video as well)
When the world is a monster
Bad to swallow you whole
Kick the clay that holds the teeth in
Throw your trolls out the door
If you're needing inspiration
Philomath is where I go by dawn
Lawyer Jeff he knows the lowdown
He's mighty bad to visit home
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
When your hands are feeling empty
Stick head jumpin off the ground, 'round
Tris is sure to shirr the deers out
Brother Ray can sing my song
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Hands down, Calechee bound
Landlocked kiss the ground
Dirt of seven continents going round and round
Go on ahead Mr Citywide hypnotized, suit and tied
Gentlemen, testify
If your world is a monster
Bad to swallow you whole
Philomath they know the lowdown
Throw your trolls out the door
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Can't get there from here
I've been there I know the way
Thank you, Ray

GREEN GROW THE RUSHES LYRICS

The wheelbarrow's fallen
Look at my hands
They've found some surplus cheaper hands
Rubbing palms and pick and choose,
who will they choose? Here is the news
Look at that building, look at this man
Haloed and whitewashed
Gone to find a cheaper hand
he'll offer a pound, offer a pound
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
The compass points the workers home
Pay for your freedom, find another gate
Guilt by associate, the rushes wilted a long time ago
Guilty as you go
Stay off that highway, word is it's not so safe
The grasses that hide the greenback
The amber waves of gain again
The amber waves of gain
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
Green grow the rushes go
The compass points the workers home

KOHOUTEK LYRICS

Who will stand alone?
She carried ribbons, she wore them out
Courage built a bridge, jealous tore it down
At least it's something you've left behind
Like Kohoutek, you were gone
We sat in the garden, we stood on the porch
I won't deny myself, we never talked
She wore bangles, she wore bells
On her toes and she jumped like a fish
Like a flyin' friend, you were gone
Like Kohoutek, can't forget that
Fever built a bridge, reason tore it down
If I am one to follow who will stand alone?
Maybe you're not the problem
scissors, paper, stone
If you stand and holler, these prayers will talk
She carried ribbons, she wore them out
Michael built a bridgeMichael tore it down
At least it's something you've left behind
Like Kohoutek, you were gone
Michael built a bridge Michael tore it down
If I stand and holler will I stand alone?

AUCTIONEER (ANOTHER ENGINE) LYRICS

She didn't want to get pinned down by her prior town
Get me to the train on time, here take this nickel make a dime
Take this penny and make it into a necklace when I leave
What is at the other end, I don't know another friend
Another wife, another morning spent
Listen, listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
We never wrote the reasons that I need explained
Some things are givens, and others get away
This time its for myself you call it what you may
Okay, we won't say goodbye so long, so much more
Listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
Listen to the bargain holler
Listen to the barter holler
Listen to the auctioneer
Get me to the train on time here take this nickel make a dime
Take this penny and make it into a necklace when I leave
What is at the other end, an I don't know another friend
Another wife, another morning spent
Listen to the auctioneer
Another engine, another engine
Do I stand the bargain holler?
Listen to the barter holler
Listen to the auctioneer

GOOD ADVICES LYRICS

When you greet a stranger look at his shoes
Keep your money in your shoes put your trouble behind
When you greet a stranger look at her hands
Keep your money in your hands put your travel behind
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head home is a long way away
At the end of the day, I'll forget your name
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away
When you greet a stranger, look at her shoes
Keep you memories in your shoes, put your travel behind
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head
Home is a long way away
At the end of the day, when there are no friends
When there are no lovers, who are you going to call for
What do you have to change
A familiar face a foreign place I forget your name
I'd like it here if I could leave and see you from a long way away
Who are you going to call for, what do you have to say
Keep your hat on your head
Home is a long way away

WENDELL GEE LYRICS

That's when Wendell Gee takes a tug
Upon the string that held the line of trees
Behind the house he lived in
He was reared to give respect
But somewhere down the line he chose
To whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me
He had a dream one night
That the tree had lost its middle
So he built a trunk of chicken wire
To try to hold it up
But the wire, the wire turned to lizard skin
And when he climbed inside
There wasn't even time to say
Goodbye to Wendell Gee
So whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows, with me
If the wind were colors
And if the air could speak
Then whistle as the wind blows
Whistle as the wind blows