Some Nights You Never Go Home

 

Nav-A-Gator Afternoon
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

It's a little far out but it's always worth the journey
A little spot up the river where the real adventure begins
That yellow billboard's so familiar to me now
The crowd starts growing
The place starts swinging
The beer starts flowing
Everybody starts singing
Let's all jump in the car
Come on let's go
It's a Nav-A-Gator afternoon
Sit back and enjoy the show

On Saturday afternoon the joint is humming
They've got real live music and the show is always free
I've played on that bar stool so many times myself
The crowd starts growing
The place starts swinging
The beer starts flowing
Everybody starts singing
Let's all jump on the boat
Come on let's go
It's a Nav-A-Gator afternoon
Sit back and enjoy the show

If I've had me a better time I can't remember
I'm gonna come right back cause tomorrow the beer is free
Save me a chair cause I hope to see you there
When the crowd starts growing
The place starts swinging
The beer starts flowing
Everybody starts singing

Let's all jump on the boat
Come on let's go
It's a Nav-A-Gator afternoon
Sit back and enjoy the show

 

Magazine Street
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

The candlelight falls faintly on the woman there
And the secrets she keeps hidden in her room
Walls freshly painted clean
In shades of blue and green
With black and white photos of cold November scenes
The rain begins to fall and lies in puddles at her feet
As she steps outside on Magazine Street

The streetlight casts a halo in the misty rain
And she walks quickly with a purpose all her own
She fails to meet the eye
Of those who pass her by
Indifferent to their glances when they try
A raspy saxophone plays Jobim so soft and sweet
As she makes her way down Magazine street

The bar light casts a shadow on the corner booth
And the lady whispers softly to the man
He will never match her skill
And she will play the game until
She has made her choice and moves in for the kill
It's a game she plays so well with every man she meets
In those uptown bars on Magazine Street
And the pleasures of the night make the day so bittersweet
In those uptown bars on Magazine Street

 

When Sunday Comes
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

He was one reluctant tourist down island way
He said I don't want to be a part
Of that old worn out Island life cliché
Enough with the sand and the Keys
And the breeze through the coconut trees
The water is blue but I am too
So just let me be

Then he threw his luggage down there in the dirt
Then I saw him four days later in his new Hawaiian Shirt
And he said

Chorus
What will I do when Sunday comes
I don't think that my work down here is done
Will I get back on that plane and take my memories home
What will I do when Sunday comes

He was rescued by some locals
Who found him in the shade
They took him to a tiki bar
And offered him first aid
The rum drinks seemed to help
And the women didn't hurt
Now he has a suitcase full of brand new flowered shirts

And all the women left him with a kiss
He said "My bar tab is too low
I had a better time than this"
And he said

Repeat Chorus

And he looked like he was such a happy man
When I saw him on the stage
Singing with the band
And he sang

Repeat Chorus

 

Captain Jack is Coming Back
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

The wind is blowing thirty knots
From the Northwest again
You know if I were a sailor
I swear there'd be no wind
These cold fronts scare the tourists
And the fish sure disappear
It's hard to find a client
And I'd just soon find a beer

CHORUS
I've got to get myself together
I've been coasting for too long
I've got a midnight buzz at 9 A.M.
And I'm feeling mighty strong
I've got to get myself together
And when I do beware
Captain Jack is coming back, I swear

I'm just working on my boat
And waiting for your call
I'm living the life of a writer
But most days I don't write at all
So I'm fishing for my living
And waiting for the words
But my Muse ain't so amusing
It's a voice I've seldom heard

Repeat Chorus

The old pros laugh about me
And they say I've lost my touch
I'd fish a whole lot better
If I drank about half as much
And I'm so damn tired of people
And all the things they say
I'll move closer to bad weather
And just live alone some day

Repeat Chorus

 

Magic on the Water
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

A night of drinks and conversation
A few good friends and me
Life explored with old Doc Ford
And the gang at Cabbage Key
Falling stars streaked across the night
And slicing like a knife
Then daylight sneaked across the sky
And the world just came to life

What a lovely morning
What a perfect day
Familiar scenes from El Jobean
Clear down to Matlacha
All cross Charlotte Harbor
See the beauty everywhere
There's magic on the water
And music in the air

I stopped my boat and let it drift
And watched the world flow by
Mullet boats and crabbers floats
And sails reached to the sky
A tarpon broke the surface
As I got underway
I reached into my cooler
It's time to celebrate the day

What a lovely morning
What a perfect day
Familiar scenes from El Jobean
Clear down to Matlacha
All cross Charlotte Harbor
See the beauty everywhere
There's magic on the water
And music in the air

 

Some Nights You Never Go Home
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

The smell of success hangs in the air
Down at Coconut Willie's tonight
The crowd shuffles in and the boys are all there
And everybody's playing tonight
That's right, everybody's winning tonight
You make a move and she flashes a smile
Looks like there's no way to lose
But you play it cool
It's much too early to choose

Some nights you play it so slickly
Some nights you end up alone
Some nights are over too quickly
And some nights you never go home

Out by the beach is your ace in the hole
So you're taking chances tonight
You're slamming the drinks and losing control
But you've got it covered tonight
Yeah everybody's winning tonight
There's a new girl in town and you're making your play
Looks like you're breaking the ice
But up walks her friend
And you start rolling the dice
Oh her friend is so nice

Some nights you play it so slickly
And some nights you end up alone
Some nights are over so quickly
And some nights you never go home

 

Sangria Wine
Copyright Groper Music
All rights reserved. Used by Permission

When friends come for Saturday night
We always make up some sangria wine
It's organic and it comes from the vine
It's also legal and it gets you so high

Chorus
And I love that sangria wine
Love to drink it with old friends of mine
Love to drink with old friends of mine
When we get drunk on that sangria wine
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I love sangria wine
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I love sangria wine

You start with some lemons and limes
Apples, brandy and sugar's fine
Old friends always show up on time
That's why you add that sparkling burgundy wine

Repeat Chorus

In Florida on a Saturday night
Everclear is added to the wine sometime
You got some tacos and nachos, burritos, hell who knows
That's the way it usually goes and it goes

Is anybody going to San Antone
Or Phoenix, Arizona
Any place is all right as long as I 
Don't have to go to Disney
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I love sangria wine
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
I love sangria wine

All that's left to do is drink wine
Sit back and watch your mind go by
You know you always tell the truth
When you're drunk on wine
That's why you add the lemons and limes

Repeat Chorus

 

Night Watch
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

The evening claims the sunset
And the stars begin to show
A matter of amazement
To all who live below
The sky is filled with wondrous things
Like rocket ships to Mars
The world has such a different feel
Alone beneath the stars

Just a sleepy sailor 
On a night watch all alone
Rolling in the gentle waves
While the rigging softly moans
His back against the weather rail
But his mind is some place else
A million different random thoughts
Hell, I've been there myself

So many miles from landfall
So buried in the night
Carried by a fickle wind
Not a soul in sight

Cities shine like diamonds
To a soul out on the sea
Channel markers blinking out
All the possibilities
We all want the freedom
To escape to some place else
Longing for a night like this
Hell, I've been there myself

So Many miles from landfall
So buried in the night
Carried by a fickle wind
Not a soul in sight

Just a sleepy sailor
On a night watch all alone
Listening to his random thoughts
While the rigging softly moans
The sky is filled with wondrous things
Like rocket ships to Mars
The world has such a different feel
Alone beneath the stars
Yeah, the world has such a different feel
Alone beneath the stars

 

Contrary to Ordinary
Copyright by Groper Music/Polygram
All rights reserved. Used by Permission

I never live my life through other people's eyes
I guess I've always been the one they said was
Too tall, too late, too early
Yeah, he's the one
You ought to be in the circus
You're having too much fun

Just a one-man band, a one man gypsy circus
Finding out each piece of the puzzle has a purpose
Drifting and dreaming
Yeah, that must be my fate
Always grinning down the devil's throat
Blazing with aces and eights

And I was contrary to ordinary
Even as a child
Fast freights made me wonder
The full moon still drives me wild
And stories do come true
You just got to live your life in episodes
With one eye on a lady
And one eye still on that open road

And when I die don't put no tombstone on my grave
Just have my friends throw a great big party
Toss my ashes out across the waves
Don't bring no preacher man down
Just to tighten up my past
Just tell 'em how I like to live
I like to make sing and dance and laugh

And I was contrary to ordinary
Even as a child
Fast freights made me wonder
Full moons still drive me wild
And stories do come true
If you live your life in episodes
With one eye on a lady
And one eye on that open road

 

No Beer Today
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

We hit port this morning
Couldn't wait for the day to begin
And old Rico's surviving on stale bologna sandwiches
Waits for the ships to come in

CHORUS
All the bars were locked
But we continued to knock
Till we heard that bartender say
"You see it's election day
Here on Antigua, mon
There's no beer today
No, no, no, no beer today"

A man appeared from the alley
And said, "gentlemen come speak to me
I understand you've got a problem
I know somebody you ought to see"

Repeat Chorus

So he took us to his cousin named Rico
Who said, "Hey mon, what do you think"
Then he opened the door to his back room
And said, "Here's all the beer you can drink"

Repeat Chorus

So we sat on the beach with our contraband beer
And celebrated our good luck
We sipped on a case of Red Stripe
It only cost us fifty-five bucks

Repeat Chorus



Yankee Traitor

Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

He came on the Yankee Traitor
Left his home in Pittsburgh
Pulled her down through the rolling hills
To the Chesapeake Bay
Rode the ditch down through Virginia
Can't believe he's finally made it
Just a little nervous
But laughing all the way

He came on the Yankee Traitor
Crossed the mighty Gulf Stream
Wintered down in Nassau
With smugglers and millionaires
Living slow and freely
But always on his guard
Learning as you go
Makes the passage twice as hard

CHORUS
Looking for the changes coming
Writing off the past
Can't explain, just take the main
And run it up the mast
Hope like hell this leaky boat's
Gonna get me out of here
Just an old man looking
For the new frontier

He came on the Yankee Traitor
Through the Windward Passage
To Costa Rican waters
And the girl he knew down there
The lady was so pretty
But he needs to travel light
You never know you might need to go
In the middle of the night 

Repeat Chorus

Yankee Traitor keep on moving
There's so much to see
Restless soul on a gypsy wind
Living slow and free
Seems like every place was better
Twenty years ago
Our spot is out there somewhere
Let the breezes blow

He came on the Yankee Traitor
To South Pacific Islands
Anchored in a cove
With pirates and millionaires
How did this Yankee
Get so far from Pittsburgh
Once you feel the gypsy wind
You can never go back home

Repeat Chorus

 

Wherever the Wind Blows
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

 
I sold the house and I'm taking out
All the money that I've saved
Gonna buy that cruisin' boat
And set out on the waves
Gonna chase some lazy dreams 
And live like a millionaire
Wherever the wind blows and the sun comes up
You can find me there

You'll hear my name in every tropic port
From Key West down to Martinique
I'll grow a beard and shed my clothes
Drink rum till I can't speak
Gonna be a different man
Gonna live my life with flare
I won't be around you'll have to run me down
Should you decide to care

Chorus
And I'll be a lot like you
Sailing on a breeze
And I'll be so different too
It's gonna bring you to your knees
I know you'll want to find me
Come ahead and find me
When you decide to care
Wherever the wind blows and the sun comes up
You might find me there

I know it's bound to break your heart
When you find that I've left town
Empty days and sleepless nights
Your life turn upside down
I don't want you to waste your time
When you start to search for me
When you come to your senses
Here's exactly where I'll be

Repeat Chorus

 

Strong Whiskey and Big Glasses
Copyright 2001 by Jim Morris

I can see by your frown
That you're a little underwhelmed
But lady can I offer you a drink
Now don't be alarmed
I've got a steady hand on the helm
And I'm not nearly desperate as you think 

So if you would permit me
Just a little of your time
I think I might just make you smile
So bartender won't you bring us
Strong whiskey and big glasses
I think this just might take a while

If you're thinking, oh my God,
I'm being hit on by some drunk
Let me assure that
I don't think you're not
You might look at me 
And think you're better off alone
Well don't flatter yourself
Cause, baby, I'm all you got

So if you would permit me
Just a little of your time
I think I just might make you smile
So bartender won't you bring us
Strong whiskey and big glasses
I think this just might take a while

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