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REDEDICATED (2021)
Lyrics to ALL 22 Songs

disc 2

1. Ribbon Of Moonlight

 

Ribbon of moonlight... you make me shiver and shake

Ghost of the chances that I never did take

What if I’d loved her?  Tell me, what if I’d stayed?

Oh, ho... gonna be a long, long wait till the break of day.

 

Firefly dancin’... at my window outside

You trace the romancin’ that flickered and died.

What if I’d chosen not to leave her that way?

Oh, ho.... gonna be a long, long wait till the break of day.

 

Well, I could walk all night and never hope to find the break of day

Well, I could walk all night and never hope to find the words to say… Hey...

 

Ribbon of moonlight... now you’ve got me awake

Maybe you’d tell me, if it isn’t too late ---

Would she forgive me?  Could I blow it away?

Oh, ho.... gonna be a long, long wait till the break of day.

Oh, ho.... gonna be a long, long wait till the break of day.

 

Ribbon of moonlight... ribbon of moonlight...

 

2. Nina

 

Nina, don’t say a word

Just let the waters flow

Leave the singin’ to the birds

And let my own heart row

 

Nina, please don’t explain

I wouldn’t want to know

Just let me kiss your lips again

And let my own heart row

 

On the rivers of time

Say you’re gonna be mine

Say you’re gonna be mine, mine alone

In the desert our dreams

Gonna sparkle like streams

Gonna sparkle like streams goin’ home...

 

Nina, sailing away

Wherever I may roam

I will return to you one day

And let my own heart row

 

 

3. If I Have To Leave

 

One leaf skipping down the open road

One leaf shivering in the corner

I don’t know if I should stay or go

I only wish that I could warn her

‘Cause if I have to leave

It’s gonna be so hard

 

One light screaming down the railroad track

One light flickering from a vandle

One cries, “Come away!”  One cries, “Come back!”

It’s too much for me to handle

‘Cause if I have to leave

It’s gonna be so hard

 

One light flickering… one light crying…

One leaf shivering… one leaf flying…

 

Deedle deedle dumpling, my son John

One foot off the train and one foot on

How can I leave with my heart holding on?

How can I stay when I’m already gone?

II have to leave

It’s gonna be so hard

 

 

 

4. Previously Enjoyed

 

Once upon a time, we called a spade a spade

But now we bend the truth and soften things a shade

Advertisers designate what’s used merely “pre-owned”

And aren’t satisfied leaving such vague half-truths alone

Now “pre-owned”’s the term Madison Avenue avoids

Instead, they celebrate what’s been “previously enjoyed”…

 

Even though you left me

Don’t call mine a used love

A worn out or abused love

I’m more than that…

 

Yes, my heart was broken

But I’m stronger than before love

Healing taught me more, love

I’m still worth lookin’ at

 

The Classifieds won’t find me

Listed under “Bruised Love”

“Left-over”, “Paid-Their-Dues-Love”

No, you’ll find me at:

“Previous-ly Enjoyed”

“Previous-ly enjoyed”

 

“Used” is old news. “pre-owned” is passé

No one wants a love like that these days

But all of us have history - In this life, and the mystery

Of former lives and lovers lost - no one can avoid

The fact we’ve all been previously enjoyed

 

I know when remembering

The shivers I once stirred, love

And the way you sighed and purred, love

I know I’ve been

“Previous-ly Enjoyed”

“Previous-ly enjoyed”

 

You loved me once, you loved me twice

You loved me three times, four

Now you’re saying you don’t wanna love me anymore

You loved me here, you loved me there

You loved me everywhere

Now you’re acting like you never even really cared

 

5. Kenny's Song

 

Outside my door the chimes are ringing

A gift you gave me lobng ago so I might be

Reminded when the winds come singing

You’re here with me

 

I’ve always known the miles between us

Were greater than the distances vould ever be

And when my need is at the keenest

You’re here with me

 

Someone said we’re lucky if we find

One good friend to count on in this lifetime

So I thank the stars above

We’ve been side by side through the years

Laughter, memories, and tears

 

Time is a highway, love’s a ladder

Over each wall and baricade it sees us through

And when a friend’s what really matters

I’m there with you

 

 

6. Newton's Red Guitar

 

I think I’m going downtown

To the old Moondog Café

A mist is on the vorner

You can hear the blue notes play

Wafting down the street now

You know it can’t be far

People cheer ‘til they can’t hear the blues

On Newton’s red guitar

 

Newton’s got some new shades

And a switchblade in his hand

They say he used to be

The only white guy in the band

Nowadays he’s got

The only black heart in the bar

And people cheer ‘til they can’t hear the blues

On Newton’s red guitar

 

Mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm

Adios, I’m on my way

To hear the blues on red guitar

At the old Moondog Café

7. Jack Daniels & Beer

 

Mama told me Daddy drowned

In the bottle where he found

Escape from the misery

He left to Ma and me

 

Daddy died of Jack Daniels and beer

If it wasn’t for the whisky he’d still be here

But a six-pack of pallbearers carried him home

Daddy droned in a river of foam

 

 

8. Fart In Colors

Here’s a thought that you may think a silly waste of time

But lately it’s been lingering in the back end of my mind

To think how easily a guy could make a million dollars

Selling people magic pills that made ‘em fart in colors!

 

Pills like these could soon become a national sensation

Especially for people’s Fourth of July celebrations

No more costly fireworks with their inherent dangers

And what a way to break the patriotic ice with strangers!

 

You put ‘em in your ice cream, lick the spoon

You know fireworks are comin’ soon

Hot dog!  Some apple pie!  Oh, glory –

Let your colors fly!  Let your colors fly!

 

Fueled by your pork and beans and swelling up with pride

You’ll display your love of country far and wide

Never turning red-faced anymore, ‘cause when you fart

They’ll be blown away taking in your art!

 

Of course, we’ll print instructions on every package label

Recommending dosages so everybody’s able

To simulate a black snake or a blazing roman candle

And warn enthusiasts to take no more than they can handle

 

You put ‘em in your ice cream, lick the spoon

You know fireworks are comin’ soon

Hot dog!  Some apple pie!  Oh, glory –

Let your colors fly!  Let your colors fly!

 

How the politicians at their picnics and fundraisers

Will relish having light-shows bright as lasers

Punctuating every patriotic point of view

And proving, inside-out, they are red, white and blue!

 

If you’ve got some capital to sink into this venture

In no time we’ll make millions from our multi-colored stencher

With colorful retorts for anyone who calls us crass:

We’ll just tell them, “Pop a pill and blow it out your –

Ask not what your fireworks display can do for you

Ask what you can do for your fireworks display!

These colors don’t run… I hope!”

 

 

9. For Who I Am

The things I do aren't always right...

But you love me for who I am

I dance between the dark and the light...

But you love me for who I am

 

You love me---You love me for who I am

And you love me---You love me for who I am

 

I may be different than the rest...

But you love me for who I am

Even when my choices aren't the best...

You still love me for who I am

 

And you love me---You love me for who I am

And you love me---You love me for who I am

 

Even when I make mistakes, you always stand behind me

Any wrong turn that I take, you forgive me

So I know every day that breaks, you're gonna love me as I am, for who I am

 

I feel free to grow and change...

'Cause you love me for who I am

Even when the song I sing is strange...

You still love me for who I am

 

And you love me---You love me for who I am

And you love me---You love me for who I am

 

 

10. Good Luck Charm

 

If Friday falls on the thirteenth day

No bad luck’s gonna come my way

‘Cause love will keep me safe from harm

Darlin’ you’re my good luck charm

 

Should a black cat cross my path

I’ll throw back my head and laugh

‘Cause love will keep me safe from harm

Darlin’ you’re my good luck charm

 

A little luck is all I need

To see me through my day

A little luck and a little love

The kind you send my way

 

Step on cracks, break the mirror

Walk under ladders without fear

‘Cause love will keep me safe from harm

Darlin’ you’re my good luck charm

My good luck charm... my good luck charm

 

 

11. Mr. Minstrel / Old Banjo

When I wake up in the morning

And I look on down the track

It can’t take me back to where I’ve been

‘Cause the ties that bind the rails

Don’t bind the hours that slip on by

When time goes by you can’t go back again

 

And when I die

There’s an angel above me

Singin’ softly, sweet and low

You’ll hear him cry, ‘cause nobody loves me

Mister Minstrel, Old Banjo

 

Oh, the train yard and the bone yard, babe

It’s all the same to me

A lock without a key that keeps me nowhere

I could hop a freight and not be late

To where I’m bound for next

The road’s my bible text, the rail my creed

And when I die

There’s an angel above me

Singin’ softly, sweet and low

You’ll hear him cry, ‘cause nobody loves me

Mister Minstrel, Old Banjo

 

And if dreams are not forgotten

When I leave this world behind

If one child hears a tale I used to tell

Then my bones will rest so easy

When I leave this world behind

Knowing that I did my life’s work well

And when I die

There’s an angel above me

Singin’ softly, sweet and low

You’ll hear him cry, ‘cause nobody loves me

Mister Minstrel, Old Banjo

 

 

 

All songs © KEN LONNQUIST 2021

disc 1

 

 

1  Rededicated

 

I’ve written you more than a few

Love songs, ‘til you might grow jaded

Thinking the heart that sang at the start

Now echoes melodies faded

 

It isn’t true.  Each song for you

Bubbles up newly created

From the heart-spring

That’s long made me sing

Songs of love rededicated

 

Go where you go, love songs follow

Your every step serenaded

I love you still

And I always will

With songs of love rededicated

 

 

2  Desire

 

Biding my time, smoking what’s mine

Listening to the whistle blow

Train leaving town, wish I was bound for to go

It’s a train called Desire

Where they stoke the coals to set your heart afire

It ain’t for thieves, fools or liars

No, you must be true, for love to come to you

 

I’ve been alone, far from my home

Far from anything called love

But there’s still hope, stars rung with smoke up above

From a train called Desire

Where they stoke the coals to set your heart afire

It ain’t for thieves, fools or liars

No, you must be true, for love to come to you

 

All I want… all I need…

All I ever wanted was a love for me

Here I am… set me free…

All I ever wanted was a love for me

 

Roll out the track, no turning back

Let the starlit fields unfurl

I’ve seen my dreams

Drift through the steam clouds that swirl

From a train called Desire

Where they stoke the coals to set your heart afire

It ain’t for thieves, fools or liars

No, you must be true, for love to come to you

 

All I want… all I need…

All I ever wanted was a love for me

Here I am… set me free…

All I ever wanted was a love for me

 

3  Moonshine Still

 

Back in prohibition days

That was when crime really paid

Folks would spend the grocery bill

To drown their sorrows in the moonshine still

As the twilight took the day

Thirsty folks would slip away

Like moths in the darkness drawn to flame

To the moonshine still they came

 

Like old times again

Sun goes down and the trucks roll in

Deep in the valley, high in the hills

They drown their sorrows in the moonshine still

 

Cousin Jimmy knew the power of corn

Mashed into moonshine ready for pourin’

Sip juist a little and your chest’ll grow hair

Sip a little more, you’ll see dancin’ bears!

Goldilocks had a sip or tow

Saw a mama and a papa and a baby bear, too

If she’d have slugged a whole jug by chance

She’d have seen every bear on the mountain dance!

 

Way up high in the hills

Old Cousin Jimmy got a moonshine still

Just one jug of juice for a dollar

And you’ll see bears dancin’ down in the holler

 

Two step and a dosie doh

Bears are dancing row by row

Aleman left and Aleman right

Hair of the bear that bit ya in the moonlight!

 

A grizzly fiddler tickles a tune

Jug band playin’ by the light of the moon

Strummin' on a banjo clawhammer style

Breakdown makin’  the crowd go wild

 

Like old times again

Sun goes down and the trucks roll in

Deep in the valley, high in the hills

They drown their sorrows in the moonshine still

Way up high in the hills

Old Cousin Jimmy got a moonshine still

Just one jug of juice for a dollar

And you’ll see bears dancin’ down in the holler

 

Cup your hands---sip just a little

Listen to a tune from a Grizzly fiddle

The Man In The Moon singin' hey-diddle-diddle

Hiccup, kick up your feet just a little!

 

 

 

4   Preacher Man

 

Kickin’ up a dustcload, rollin’ with a clip clop

Down a road at midnight. Which’ll be the next stop?

Underneath his collar hides the coin and dollar

Pilfered by the Preacher man.

The moon is cold above him. Hell is hot below him.

Lookin’ for a town where nobody’ll know him.

Offering salvation for a small donation

Given to the Preacher man.

 

Preacher man, where do you come from?

Raise the roof, bow your head low

Jesus turned water to wine,

But he never turned a profit like the Preacher man

And his traveling show

 

Blessed are the profits, blind are the believers

Foolishly they cough it up to the deceiver

“Buy it!” cries the trickster. “Heven’s own elixer!

Only from the Preacher man.”

“Pay and you’ll be pardoned!” Yes, he’s got the power.

Have the pretty blind girl meet him in an hour.

Laying on his hands, she doesn’t understand

But blindly trusts the Preacher man.

Preacher man, where do you come from?

Raise the roof, bow your head low

Jesus turned water to wine,

But he never turned a profit like the Preacher man

And his traveling show

 

When the money’s taken, when suspicion’s growing

He’ll be out of town before the rooster’s crowing.

Through the dark a vision comes --- she sees religion

Evil as the Preacher man

Preacher man, where do you come from?

Raise the roof, bow your head low

Jesus turned water to wine,

But he never turned a profit like the Preacher man

And his traveling show

 

5  Little Lady Luck

 

Get a little bit closer. You’re a little too far.

Get a little bit closer than you are.

Get a little bit warmer. You’re a little too cold.

All you need is somebody you can hold.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

Be a little bit bolder. You’re a little too shy.

You could be a bit bolder if you’d try.

Be a little bit braver. You’re a little too scared.

You’re a little like people everywhere.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

Be a little more open. You’re a little too closed.

Be a little more open so she knows.

Be a little more honest. You’re a little too dark.

Ain’t no fire can burn without a spark.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

6. Make Sweet Love To You

 

By the fire light

When the moon was bright

And the wind was still...

Did you hear that whippoorwill singin’?

And all its singin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

By the ripplin’ stream,

We were swappin’ dreams

And you smiled at me... d

Did you hear that willow tree sighin’?

And all its sighin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

Darlin’, was it the moonlight?

Or just some magic spell?

Was I dreamin’?

Oh, I still can’t tell...

 

But the night grew old,

And the fire grew cold

And you fell asleep

On my shoulder warm and deep.

And darlin’, all your dreamin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

 

7. Blister

 

I got a blister from your sister

We had a hell of a time

There was a blister on your sister

And now your sister’s blister’s mine

 

She said she got it from your brother

Before she gave it to me

Your brother got it from your mother

It’s running in the family

 

Your mother got it from the postman

Special delivery

He was the host but now he’s toast, man

Why does it hurt me when I whee-hee-hee-hee

 

I got a blister from your sister

We had a hell of a time

We played a little game of Twister

And now your sister’s bliss

And now your sister’s bliss

And now your sister’s blister’s mine

 

 

 

8. Hey, Amigo

(for Cris Plata)

 

Hey, amigo! If I’ve learned a thing

Standing side by side with you to sing

Hey, amigo! We can’t harmonize

Without listening to the other guy

 

Hey, amigo! If I miss a note

Or tangled words come tumblin’

from my throat

Hey, amigo! Sing it in my ear

So I can hear our song ring loud and clear

 

Sing the song and I will follow you

Changing words and changing keys

Listening close to make our song ring true

I know you’ll the same for me

 

Hey, amigo! The song of life’s been shown

Sweeter sung together than alone

Hey, amigo! Let’s tune up these guitars

And lift another chorus to the stars

 

 

9. Borderline

 

Love has always been a boundary before

I’ve come so close, and never managed crossing over

But life is sweeter now you’re part of mine

Life is sweeter with each tick of time

Life is sweeter and I’m on the borderline

 

Though I’ve wondered what might lie across the way

Fear has always found a reason I should stay

But life is sweeter now you’re part of mine

Life is sweeter with each tick of time

Life is sweeter and I’m on the borderline

 

Yes, I’m on the borderline

Yes, I’m on the borderline

 

If I haven’t crossed already, I will soon

The lines are disappearing between me and you

‘Cause life is sweeter now you’re part of mine

Life is sweeter with each tick of time

Life is sweeter and I’m on the borderline

 

10. True Love Of All Time

 

Nobody I know could love me the way you do

It’s always been so since I first laid eyes on you

Nobody with just one look could stop me on a dime

Nobody – except the true love of all time

 

Nobody I know could spit watermelon seeds

Aiming so low the bullseye is always me

Nobody can look so sweet gnawing on the rind

Nobody – except the true love of all time

 

You bring all your tender kisses to let me know

Unworthy as I may be, you love me even so

Oh, oh, oh

 

Nobody I know can see through my bullshit screen

The way that you do – the way that you’ve always seen

Nobody can argue so convincingly that I’m

Nobody – without the true love of all time

 

11. I Won’t Let That Get Away

 

I won’t let that get away from me

That little glance you took

I won’t let that get away from me

I’ve memorized the look

I love you

 

I won’t let that get away from me

The way your eyes looked into mine

I won’t let that get away from me

No matter where the roads may wind

I’ll love you

Yes, I’ll love you

 

And I always will

Memory’s gonna hold you against the chill

Of the days growin’ old

And I always will

Memory’s gonna hold you still...

 

I won’t let that get away from me

Your kiss upon my lips

I won’t let that get away from me

No matter where the time may slip

I’ll love you

Yes, I’ll love you

 

And I always will

Memory’s gonna hold you against the chill

Of the days growin’ old

And I always will

Memory’s gonna hold you still...

Words & Music © Ken Lonnquist

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