Freaky Tiki Faces


DOWN THERE
© 2003 by Jim Morris

About three months back
The boys at the bank
Sent me down to fix a little problem
With a client in Mexico

I worked real hard
For a couple of days
But I soon found out that the beach
Was a much better place to go

While I was checking out the scene
Night and day they wore out my message machine

CHORUS
They said hey, whatcha doing down there
No reports, no replies
No hellos, no good-byes
What you're doing ain't exactly clear
Have you even worked at all
If you're alive why don't you give us a call
Hey, Hey, Hey whatcha doing down there
Whatcha doing down there

My work at the beach
Caused some really bad vibes
So I took off some time to consider
This incredible mess I made
I ordered a round
And this lady sat down
And made a remark about somebody
Raining on my parade

Don't let those gringos push you around
I've got the perfect thing to settle you down

I said hey, whatcha doing down there
I see sound, I hear light,
Is it day, Is it night
What you're doing ain't exactly clear

Oh I think it's siesta time
I'm thinking PR is a strength of mine
I said hey, hey, hey whatcha doing down there
Hey whatcha doing down there


I said hey whatcha doing down there
I see sound, I hear lights
Is it day, is it night
What you're doing is extremely clear
You're hired as my escort
I'll bury the cost on my expense report
I said hey, hey, hey whatcha doing down there
Whatcha doing down there
Whatcha doing down there

 


WHERE I LIVE

© 2003 by Jim Morris

I'm the barefoot man
With the cool guitar
Playing island songs
Down at the Tiki bar
But it's alright
You gotta do something

You got the funky little joints
Down in Matlacha
You can play all night
And you can fish all day
But it's alright
If you don't do nothing

And every day turns out good
Wouldn't change a thing
If I could

I'm thankful for this simple life
And what it brings
Like songs to sing and everything
Sometimes you take and sometimes you give
Oh, life is good where I live
Yeah, life is good where I live

I'm the barefoot man
In the yellow boat
Fishing the flats
Like in the songs I wrote
But it's alright
You gotta do something

You got the sunny beach
You got the clear blue sea
You got the shady spot
By the mango tree
But it's alright
If you don't do nothing

And every day turns out good
Wouldn't change a thing
If I could
I'm thankful for this simple life
And what it brings
Like songs to sing and everything
Sometimes you take and sometimes you give
Oh, life is good where I live
Yeah, life is good where I live

It's a crazy, lazy life
Come on down
Where I live

I'm thankful for this simple life
And what it brings
Like songs to sing and everything
Sometimes you take and sometimes you give
Oh, life is good where I live
Yeah, life is good where I live
Yeah, life is good where I live

 


FREAKY TIKI FACES

© 2003 by Jim Morris

When I came to this morning
The sun just stabbed me in the eye
Surrounded by the remnants
Of an evening gone awry
I turned my eyes away
But as far as I could see
There were lives in disrepair
Human wreckage everywhere

There was a beach, there was a party
And the crowd began to shout
At the Church of Good Tequila
The godless souls were crying out
It got real crazy then
The crowd began to move
The band began to play
We all got swept away

Oh, I can't remember
I've never gone this far before
And I guess I should be thankful
I can't fall off of the floor
It's might shocking waking up to see
All those freaky little tiki faces
Laughing back at me

A bit of moral relaxation
Made the crowd begin to grow
No one was indecisive
About just how far they should go
Must have been a tiki spell
Must have been a trance
That made us act that way
The night just slipped away

The tikis came to life last night
When no one else was there
They robbed my of my clothes
And left me laying in this chair
It's the only answer
It happen way too fast
It's all a dream to me
That's all that it could be.

Oh, I can't remember
I've never gone this far before
And I guess I should be thankful
I can't fall off of the floor
It's might shocking waking up to see
All those freaky little tiki faces
Laughing back at me

 


NAVAJO RUG

(Ian Tyson/Tom Russell)

Well, it's two eggs up on whiskey toast
Home fries on the side
You wash it down with roadhouse coffee
That burns up your inside
It's just a Canyon, Colorado diner
And a waitress I did love
We sat in the back 'neath an old stuffed bear
And a worn out Navajo rug

CHORUS
Ay yi yi, Katie
Shades of red and blue
Ay yi yi, Katie
Whatever became of the Navajo rug and you

Well ol' Jack, the boss, he left at six
It was Katie bar the door
We'd pull down that Navajo rug
And spread it across the floor
I saw lightning frame the Sacred Mountains
I saw woven turtledoves
Lying next the Katie on that old Navajo rug

Repeat Chorus

Well, I saw ol' Jack about a year ago
He said the place had burned to the ground
All he saved was an old bear tooth
And, Katie, she left town
Katie got a souvenir, too, Jack smiled
As he spit out a big old plug
You should have seen her coming through the smoke
She was dragging that Navajo rug

Repeat Chorus

Now every time I cross the Sacred Mountains
And lightning breaks above
It always takes me back in time
To my long lost Katie love
Well, everything keeps on moving
Everybody's on the go
You don't find things that last anymore
Like a hand-woven Navajo

Repeat Chorus



DREAMIN'

© 2003 by Jim Morris

I didn't tell you and I don't know why
I had to leave, never said good-bye
I've been dreamin'
Just dreamin'

I saw a picture on an office wall
Tahiti sunset and a waterfall
I've been dreamin'
Just dreamin'

If you gotta know why
It was something I've been feeling
I just had to go try
It was something I've been needing

I got this post card in the mail one day
Sailboat anchored out in Magen's Bay
I've been dreamin'
Just dreamin'

If you gotta know why
It was something I been feeling
I just had to go try
It was something I've been needing

I saw a picture on an office wall
Tahiti sunset and a waterfall
I've been dreamin'
Just dreamin'
Dreamin'
Just dreamin'



ROCK STAR SCHOOL

© 2003 by Jim Morris

When the lights go down
It puts the Beatles to shame
Thirty thousand people
Start screaming my name
They're tearing their clothes off, man
They're dancing up on the chairs
When I wake from my dream
It's a pitiful sight
Cause we're playing down at
Fat Bubba's Lounge tonight
Hey whose gonna help me
Get these speakers up those stairs

CHORUS
Now they're brawlin'
And crawlin' down on the floor
We got people throwing up
But then they're drinking some more
We've got bikers, spikers,
Hikers, rednecks and ghouls
We've got people spilling beer
All over our gear
Oh, buddy that ain't cool
They never said a word about this
In Rock Star School.

The back stage party
Is rocking again
Jack Nicholson's pissed
Cause he can't get in
We're drinking the best champagne
That money can buy
In real life
I'm putting my equipment away
Then I'll sample cuisine
Down at the Circle K
Jalapeno hot dogs, man
And a big Moon Pie

Repeat Chorus

Models, models, models
Where are the models
Where are the models
And all the bottles of booze
I've got this nasty old lady
Trying to pick me up
Oh, momma I'm no fool
They never said a word about this
In Rock Star School


I got the stretch limo waiting
To take me away
I gotta get to my jet
And fly out to LA
There's a party at the Playboy mansion
And it's gonna be big, big, so big
But reality hits
And I'm a tired old man
Changing a tire
On my beat-up van
I'm gonna have to drive all night
To make my next gig

Repeat Chorus

Models, Models, Models
Where are the models
Where are the models
With all the bottles of booze
I've got this nasty old lady
Trying to pick me up
Oh momma, that ain't cool
They never said a word about this
In Rock Star School

 


WATER DAYS

© 2003 by Jim Morris

Marinas in the morning
Seem so calm and still
Coffee poured at dockside
Warms the early chill
Rosy streaks of rising sun
Fading shades of gray
Sliding past the boat slips now
Gently on my way

From this moment on
It's gonna get better
Life and luck
Just changes on the water
One big morning kiss
Everyday should be like this
It's all about life, oh yeah
It's all about love

Water days can take me back
To the simpler times
Water days can clear my head
And bring me words and rhymes
From the morning calm
To the evening breeze
Take it all the way
Make a toast to the setting sun
A perfect water day

Repeat Chorus

 


Mona

© 2003 by Jim Morris

I'm stuck in the middle
Smack dab in the middle
And I regret the whole affair
You're saying things about me
B-bad things about me
And you know it's just not fair
I deserve a little bad press, baby
But your story just ain't true
Mona,
Do you hear what I'm saying to you
Oh Mona,
Do you hear what I'm saying to you

Well other guys have loved you
And other guys have left you
Don't know why you feel so blue
It was a harmless little fling
Just a momentary thing
What'd you think that entitled you to
The emotional price you paid was too high
What made you think you could get it for free
Hey Mona,
I hear what you're saying to me
Yeah Mona,
I hear what you're saying to me

Sometimes I tell myself
I'm wrong, wrong, so wrong
But this time I know I'm right
And you're spreading these lies
And there's just nothing I can do about it

Well, I'm stuck in the middle
Smack dab in the middle
And I regret the whole affair
You're saying things about me
B-bad things about me
And you know it just ain't fair
I deserve a little bad press, baby
But your story just ain't true
Mona,
Do you hear what I'm saying to you
Oh Mona,
Do you hear what I'm saying to you



TRYING TO HOLD THE WIND UP WITH A SAIL

(Pat Garvey)

Today the sun is somewhere soaking up a cornfield dry
But it's shining a love song on some snowy clouds
If our feelings ever get brushed away
In the hard life of everyday
It's still you and me

Last night when you cried
And woke me up to tell me of your bad dream
I tried to hold you close to be of some avail
Like trying to hold the wind up with a sail

We met again and stood upon that gentle land
I wiped away your tears and you took my hand
And we can rise up against the highest wall
Yeah, we'll stand tall and face it again
It's the same old wind

Last night when you cried
And woke me up to tell me it's all a bad dream
I tried to hold you close to be of some avail
Like trying to hold the wind up with a sail

 


SPENDING THE NIGHT ALONE

© 2003 by Jim Morris

When that evening sun goes down
And all my friends have gone
Twilight rolls around
Shadows they grow long
When I look back over my lifetime
You're the greatest peace I've known
It ain't easy, oh
It ain't easy no
Spending the night alone

I spend too much time with hard questions
But the answers escape me again
Too much time with bad memories
And the walls start closing in

Repeat Chorus

The days seem to go by so quickly
But the nights seem to linger too long
Sometimes we make our own prisons
I'm like a man in a sad country song

Repeat Chorus


DON'T MAKE ME GO

© 2003 by Jim Morris

CHORUS
Don't turn me loose,
Don't say good-bye,
Don't make me go
If you keep hanging in
We'll let it flow
We're just warming up
Come on please stay for one more show
Don't turn me loose,
Don't say good-bye,
Don't make me go

This time of night the girls start getting pretty
And the good old boys don't seem as hard to please
The owner made it clear he wants to sell a lot more beer
We'll lock the bus and throw away the keys

Repeat Chorus

The bass man has some notes he isn't using
The drummer really wants to break a sweat
We've got a thousand guitar licks in our little bag of tricks
And we ain't even played our best songs yet

Repeat Chorus

We've played so long our finger might start bleeding
But bloody is the way we like to play
We've got ourselves a set list like something done by Tolstoy
And we're prepared to blow this place away

Repeat Chorus

The Metronuts go crazy on Long Island
On the Chesapeake they party with such heart
And over in Biloxi when they get that bobsled going
It's impossible to pull those folks apart

Repeat Chorus

 

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