Fugitive Souls
Album released February 2018. All songs copyright Short & Curly 2018.
Head West, Turn Right
Head west, turn right and you’ll find me
Near a town with ‘Please drive slowly’ at each end
I have walked away from ties that bind me
It’s way off the map, but I’m still going ’round the bend
A rusty track, it runs right through this town
You can’t get here by train from anywhere no more
But when I trek along that track come sundown
I swear I can still hear the locomotives roar
The stars out here for you must be the same
The more I stare at them, the less I see
When I search that firmament for something to blame
Those eyes in the night, they’re looking back at me
Head west, turn right and you’ll find me
Where the sign says ‘Prone to flood – live at your own risk’
I’d love to see you, as long as you don’t remind me
You don’t like mud and you bring a plowing disk
The stars out here for you must be the same
The more I stare at them, the less I see
When I search that firmament for something to blame
Those eyes in the night, they’re looking back at me
Head west, turn right, turn right
Just trust my footsteps, there is no other way
Head west, turn right, turn right, when you see my light
When you get here I know you’re going to stay
I know, I know you’re going to stay
Do the River Walk
When you’re in a muddle with your soul so blue
Like you’re in a puddle with a hole in your shoe
Your car won’t start, you’re down at heart
And gettin’ it together is fallin’ apart
Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]
Take it slow past the rapids, straight around the bend
Start at the beginning, when you get to the end
If every mangy stranger isn’t lookin’ like a friend
Turn a-right around, go strollin’ back again
Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]
Because an old man river is sadly depleted
By the careless way it’s mistreated
But an old man river is never defeated
Do-the do-the, do-the do-the, do-the do-the
Do the river walk
I used to go places deep in my sleep
[He’ll be halfway to the river and still a-countin’ sheep]
But it’s better etiquette than being seen around the town
[In your green gumboots and a purple dressing gown]
Do the river walk do-doot ’n doot do do [x2]
’Cause it’s all water, water, water, water under the bridge
You oughta oughta oughta oughta oughta follow that ridge
Do the river walk, do the river walk
’Cause you’re never goin’ backward by the flowin’ Blackwood
When you do-the do-the, do-the do-the, do-the do-the
Do the river walk
Reverse Engineering
We’ve been building something fine, it seems like forever
Could be intelligent design, but we’re really not that clever
Now it’s back to the drawing board, back to going by feel
Back to when falling in love was reinventing the wheel
Reverse engineering, taking the pieces apart
To find the bit that’s made to fit what’s missing in your heart
Reverse engineering, that’s what I try to do
When I’m losing track and can’t get back to what’s going on with you
What’s going on with you
So we’ve been going by the blueprint, with ciphers writ in white
We can trace out every bone-like line, but the flesh is out of sight
There’s no patented invention, no prototype for this
But I parlay my intention for a magic-bullet kiss
Reverse engineering, that’s what I try to do
When I’m losing track and can’t get back to what’s going on with you
Reverse engineering, taking the pieces apart
To find the bit that’s made to fit what’s missing in your heart
What’s missing in your heart, missing in your heart, etc
Yellow Boat
I came across a yellow boat lying by the riverbank like a beached banana
I thought I’d borrow it and float and if by any chance it sank, I’d call it instant karma
Making jetsam of my cares, I stretched out fore and aft to sleep perchance to dream
And in my state of unawares that stolen fruit of shallow draft found its own way down midstream
When my skeleton is a tree fallen into the river
When my soul is a twig on its way to the sea
When the memory of who I was begins to wither
Well, never mind – it was enough just to be
On a day like this, on a day like this
Life was a kiss on a day like this
I came across a yellow boat lying by the river bank, it carried me away
I wish I could have put it back
Eventually it leaked and sank beneath me where I lay
Eventually it leaked and sank beneath me where I lay
When my skeleton is a tree fallen into the river
When my soul is a twig on its way to the sea
When the memory of who I was begins to wither
Well, never mind – it was enough just to be
On a day like this, on a day like this
Life was a kiss on a day like this [x3]
I came across a yellow boat lying by the river bank
It carried me away
Fugitive Soul
I like your town, I like the way you live
I like the dry wit in your watering hole
I like your dusty roads and hidden farms
And your hills they feel like open arms
Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role
So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul
As you all know, I don’t come from around here
The dead-end roads I’ve walked all led somewhere
But I’ve never had a gravestone to honour
If it took roots to survive, I’d be a goner
I’ve been a nomad, an outcast and a stray
But I feel no need to go walkabout today
I like your town, I like the way you live
I like the dry wit in your watering hole
I like your dusty roads and hidden farms
And your hills they feel like open arms
Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role
So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul
When I kicked the city I said four million farewells
It’s amazing how much weight one finger dispels
You can tell yourself it’s freedom as you’re leaving
Eventually you’ll end up disbelieving
Call me a nomad, an outcast or a stray
But I feel no need to go walkabout today
I like your town, I like the way you live
I like the dry wit in your waterin’ hole
I like your dusty roads and hidden farms
And your hills they feel like open arms
Never thought I’d find a place to fill that role
So spare some good grace for a fugitive soul
Never thought I’d find somewhere to fill that role
So won’t you buy another beer for a fugitive soul
Go on and buy another beer for a fugitive soul
Three Stories to the Truth
I’ve been out listening to talk on the street
Learnin’ the lowdown through the soles of my feet
Things I’ve heard about the good people I know
Bad word travels fast when the livin’ is slow
They say the neighbour’s got an axe to grind
The butcher’s got a wife no-one can find
The dentist’s always drillin’ with killin’ on his mind
The vicar likes a flicker of the pornographic kind
And the things I’ve heard about you, my friend
It fair made the hair on my head stand on end
Well, you can tell a tall tale and never stoop for proof
Trade in myth and scandal ’til you’re long in the tooth
But there’s two sides to every story
And three stories to the truth
Always three stories to the truth [to the truth, yeah]
Yeah, I’ve been out listening to talk on the street
Learnin’ the lowdown through the soles of my feet
Things I’ve heard about the good people I know
Bad word travels fast when the livin’ is slow
And the things I’ve heard about you, my friend
It fair made the hair on my head stand on end
Well, you can tell a tall tale and never stoop for proof
Trade in myth and scandal ’til you’re long in the tooth
But there’s two sides to every story
And three stories to the truth
I went from room to room to room to room
And I found a guru on the roof
He said there’s two sides to every story
Two sides to every story
Two sides to every story
And always three stories to the truth
Lucky Penny
I found an old Australian penny, I can’t remember where
It doesn’t matter anyway, you probably don’t care
The point is that it’s lucky the way found pennies are
And ever since I picked it up I’ve had a lucky star
I wanna wanna be your lucky penny
Let’s get together'round-the-clock it
I got the time if you've got any
So pick me up and put me in your pocket
I found an old Australian penny, been spent a thousand ways
But keep a lucky penny and it pays ’n pays ’n pays
I tell you of my fortune, expecting you to scoff
But come and rub against me, some luck just might rub off
I wanna wanna be your lucky penny
Let’s get together 'round-the-clock it
I got the time if you've got any
So pick me up and put me in your pocket
Don’t have no legal tender, don’t have no ready cash
All I have’s a flippin’ coin that’s done its flippin’ dash
But money isn’t everything, they say to coin a phrase
I take my flippin’ chances and I play the way it lays
I wanna wanna be your lucky penny
Let’s get together 'round-the-clock it
I got the time if you've got any
So pick me up and put me in your pocket
Let’s get together, roll ’n rock it
I found an old Australian penny, been spent a thousand ways
But keep a lucky penny and it pays ’n pays ’n pays
The point is that it’s lucky the way found pennies are
And ever since I picked it up I’ve had a lucky star
I’ve had a lucky star, I’ve had a lucky star
So come and rub against me
Some luck might just rub off, just might rub off, just might rub off
Last Drink for a While
Working myself to death and living in the red
I planted three-score seeds behind the tractor shed
Twenty-seven kilos is a demon stash to store
My future cut ’n dried until a knock upon the door
I’ve had me some money some, but I never had a pile
This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while
Now, friends are thick as thieves when you’ve got what they need
With the deals going down, I had many friends indeed
Now tomorrow’s judgment day and I’m drinking all alone
’Cause those friends all disappeared like the sinking of a stone
So excuse me if I knock this back like it’s going out of style
This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while
I know I’ve been a fool, I know I took a risk
But let me tell you something, let me tell you this
A man’ll do what he has to do to keep a wretched farm
And I never hurt no-one, I twisted no-one’s arm
So remember me at Christmas, maybe giftwrap me a file
This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while
So remember me at Christmas – yeah man, giftwrap me a file
This could be my last drink, this could be my last drink for a while
Love is an Instrumental
I’m not looking for love that’s perfect note for note
Lost in loneliness is the tenor of my song
Some people say I’m a hopeless dozy dote
But hum a bit, we’ll pick it up as we go along
I know I’m sounding absurd
I’m always messing up the words
But honestly, what more can I say
Than love’s an instrumental day to day
Love’s an instrumental anyway
If you should hear me coming in on the off beat
It’s just because my timing’s flawed from sad refrains
I’ve played the second fiddle in a bitter suite
Fallen out of tune and other contrapuntal pains
I know I’m sounding absurd
I’m always messing up the words
But honestly, what more can I say
Than love’s an instrumental day to day
Love’s an instrumental anyway
It’s hard to get things right from the very first take
Perfect pitch is not always what it’s made out
If what you’re looking for is an instrumental break
I can do without the verse, the chorus and the fade-out
I know I’m sounding absurd
I’m always messing up the words
But honestly, what more can I say
Than love’s instrumental day to day
Love’s an instrumental
Love’s an instrumental
Love’s an instrumental anyway