Lyrics

Listen For That Good

I don’t care if I land on the bottom or the top
All I know is we got a show and we ain’t gonna stop
Wrong or right up or down, well it doesn’t matter much
You told me so bout this and that and therefore such and such

It’s not a thing you own
It’s not a thing you take
It’s not something for sale
It’s not gonna break

When the road gets long and your mind’s unstable
Listen for that good for that good for that good
When the night goes wrong and you’re under the table
Listen for that good for that good for that good

Some have style some have class some ain’t got no clue
Doesn’t bother me if it doesn’t bother you
Step right up and get on down there’s a party going on
Open up your ears like the words in this here song

It’s not a thing you lose
Not something you save
Just something you shout
It goes “nah nah, hey hey”

Listen for that good for that good for that good
Listen for that good for that good for that good
If it all seems strange and you can’t find a handle
Listen for that good for that good for that good
See the darkness disappear in the light of that candle

Lyrics by Matthew J Royles (ASCAP)
Music by Matthew J Royles (ASCAP) & Matthew Hiller (BMI)

Frankford Junction

That old train went a-rolling down the track
On the northern city railway
The suits up front and a cafe in the back
As I recall it was the month of May

New York City, 90 miles on down the line
Passing cars out on the freeway
Fastest engine that the line had ever seen
But Frankford Junction’s from the steam days

Slow your roll and watch your speed in the needle’s eye
‘Cause we’re on that fast train we don’t get another try
And we’re gonna learn about that turn when we reach the other side

No one knows why it rolled right of the tracks
Just a couple of miles from the station
The politicians just wouldn’t spend the cash
Is what they said in the investigation

The birds were singing when we climbed out of the wreck
But things got twisted down the railbed
For a little while of all your life’s on the right track
But then the world’s got other plans instead

Words and lyrics (c) 2017 M. Royles (ASCAP)

You Can Never Go Home Again

I remember twenty years ago I was standing in that courtroom
My charges I could not defend
The last thing the judge said to me as he handed down my sentence
You can never go home again

Never go home, never go home
You can never go home again

When you’ve done your time and you come back out that doorway
You will not find a loved one or a friend
You may return to the place where the people used to know you
But you can never go home again

We found a man the other day hanging from the ceiling
His sentence was almost at an end
And there on his bed was a note so sad and simple
You can never go home again

Words and lyrics (c) Dan Whitener (BMI)

You Don’t Return My Tenderness

I fell in love the very first time I saw you
I said oh my god you are so fair and fine
I gave you a wedding ring,
wrote songs for us to sing
And then I asked you if you would be mine

You don’t return my tenderness
I love you more, you love me less
Where you are now, I can only guess
Cuz you don’t return my tenderness

Wish I was with my sweet little baby daughter
Or back home with my momma for a while
The only two women who ever loved me
The only ones who could ever make me smile

Every letter that I write you gets returned to me
And I write you a new one every day
They forward it around,
your address they never found
You probably wouldn’t write back anyway

Words and lyrics (c) Dan Whitener (BMI)

Grieve, Cry, and Moan

I remember the night that I told her
It ain’t you, but it’s me who’s got to go
Now as I sit alone I wonder
If a heart as true as hers I’ll ever know

Why, why, why
Won’t this yearning just leave me alone?
Why, why, why
Am I destined to grieve, cry, and moan?

Once I had a home in the city
And with wine, friends, and money I was blessed
Why’d I hop that train to California
Now I’m lonesome, broke, and hungry way out West

[Chorus]

This bottle, I know it’s gonna kill me
Or at least make me old before my day
But sad songs they sound so fine with whiskey
And those sad songs are the only kind I play

[Chorus]

Words and lyrics (c) 2017 M. Royles (ASCAP)

Lay My Head Down and Cry

Lay my head down and cry
Lay my head down and cry
Lay my head down
My head down and cry
Lay my head down and cry
Lay my head down and cry
Lay my head down
My head down and cry

You left me alone
You left me to die
Left me
Left me to die
I know where you’ve gone
But you never told me why
You left me
Left me to die
I lay my head down
My head down and cry

I thought I loved you
But I loved your disguise
I loved your
Loved you disguise
You’ve broken my heart
Brought tears to my eyes
Tears to
Tears to my eyes
I lay my head down
My head down and cry

Well some other guy’s
Gonna see through your lies
Gonna see through
See through your lies
When that day arrives
He’s gonna say his goodbyes
So don’t be
Don’t be surprised
If you lay your head down
Your head down and cry

Words and lyrics (c) Dan Whitener (BMI)

To Your Ghost

You were still sleeping
When I walked out our front door
With just one last look back
And the bag I’d packed the night before

I drove a long long way
But there’s no place I’m going to
All of those miles I’ve rolled on
I was only circling ‘round you

I carry the ghosts of every heart I ever broke
I keep them right here in a pocket over my chest
And every time i close my eyes I can still hear their goodbyes
But of them all, I loved you the best

I carry the ghost

I still can see your face
And the way you wore your hair
I wish I could turn back home
And find you, still waiting there

But that was so long ago
You’re happy now, with someone new
These days seem to pass me by
But my mind still circles ‘round you

I carry the ghost of every heart I ever broke
I keep them right here in a pocket over my chest
And every time i close my eyes I can still hear their goodbyes
But of them all, I loved you the best.

Because I cannot forget your name
No it echoes in my veins
And the life I sought in leaving you
Well it all turned into pain
I wish I’d learned long ago
Half the things that I know now
Regret poisons everything
The years turn heavier as I go

I carry the ghost

Words and lyrics (c) 2017 Matt Thomas (ASCAP)

She Should Be You

Sure, I don’t sleep ‘till the morning
And it’s cold lying here all alone
While you’re in the arms of your lover
All I’ve left’s a fare-the-well upon my phone

And sure, I can’t stop my mind from wandering
To the taste of your tender lips so sweet
But I’ve got a better thing coming
When the sun comes up I’ll get back on my feet

My next love will thank you for treating me lightly
For making me want to be a one-woman man
She’ll write you a letter, she’ll sign it “sincerely”
She’ll thank you for leaving my love all for her

Night grows so dark before the dawn comes
But I know this old world keeps spinning ‘round
And as sure as one day leads to another
There’s someone out there waiting to be found

My next love will thank you for treating me lightly
For making me want to be a one-woman man
But won’t you come over, while I wait to find her
‘Cause I think you know dear, she should be you

Words and lyrics (c) 2017 M. Royles (ASCAP)