Good Tar Scroll down or click a song title to see the song's lyrics - CD 1:     Deadline     Lens Cap & Boots Story - includes streaming audio!     Home By Now - includes streaming audio!     Just Like Me (Super 8)     Middletown Mall     Stupid in Love     Walking Home With You - includes streaming audio!     Dark & Deep     Shadows     Watching the Linght Scroll down or click a song title to see the song's lyrics - CD 2:     Spin     That's My Toy     Levi Blues     Water Is Wide & Good Tar Story - includes streaming audio!     Hope     Hold On     Dans la Louisiane     Janey & Shoplifting a Jellyfish Story - includes streaming audio!     In the Light/Simple Gifts     We Are Charlie's Angels Deadline He's got a meeting at six-thirty, so he won't have time to stay For dinner with his darling and his daughter on the way He's fighting down the freeway, sewing up that dotted line There's no time like the present and there's no present like time The little one gets presents for a little consolation He gives her her own telephone but not much conversation She asks him for a moment like a beggar for a dime There's no time like the present and there's no present like time Model student in her high school, does her homework every night Sends her mortarboard flying with her future looking bright Hangs the tassel from the mirror of the present parked outside There's no time like the present and there's no present like time Now there's a husband and a daughter and a lot of bills to pay Everyone needs something from her and they all need it today But she can't be omnipresent when she's working overtime There's no time like the present and there's no present like time Then the phone rings late at the office Coming in on the private line It's her husband It's her father Seems he finally made his deadline Now she's furiously packing for a little time away She's got a week's vacation and she's gonna make it pay Her husband's turning bitter and her daughter just turned nine There's no time like the present and there's no present like time Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1998 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Lens Cap She's living in his lens cap He's studying her light Trying to find a still frame Of the gracefulness of flight Shooting up the pictures Like a needle in his arm Burning down the world around him For a shot of something warm But her wings won't fit on paper There's no room for them to fly The distance is too short between The corners of the sky The light is warm and precious At the turning of the day His shadow falls between them Her shadow falls away But he just can't seem to get it Must be doing something wrong Maybe chose the wrong exposure Or held his breath too long She watches while the sun sets He sees the glowing tears He slowly drops the camera She disappears And her wings won't fit on paper There's no room for them to fly The distance is too short between The corners of the sky Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1998 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Boots Audio: Lenscap and the Boots Story David says: if I'm allowed to have favorites among my own songs, this is one. The song grew out of a dream. I woke up one morning with the first line emblazoned across the inside of my eyelids, and grabbed a notebook to write it down and explore it. It's a strange line, but I found it interesting, and the rest of the song grew fron there. It was awarded the runner up prize in the Folk category for the 2002 USA Songwriting Competition, an international contest with about 32,000 entries that year. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy this song, check out more in the Audio Library. Home By Now You were reading in the café about that kid who left his home Disappeared into the north woods and died up there alone You were staring out the window like your thoughts had wandered far Then you ordered cappucino and got back into your car Keep the traffic moving There's nothing to see here Rubbernecking in the buffet line Where the choices all seem far too clear So comfortable it's painful Can't feel it anyhow Hey if you lived here You'd be home by now They were sitting in the hot tub of a cheap resort hotel They were toasting to the good life, but they didn't look too well He said this is why you work for forty years and pay your dues Then she told me about his bypass, how he's careful with his food Keep the traffic moving There's nothing to see here Rubbernecking in the buffet line Where the choices all seem far too clear So comfortable it's painful Can't feel it anyhow Hey if you lived here You'd be home by now Pay your money, take your choice Choose your vision, lose your voice Tell the story with a sigh of a thousand roads not taken I saw you glancing in that window driving past that pretty house There was a family in the dining room, forks half-way to their mouths Makes you want to pass your plate back to have a little more But you left that table years ago, your key won't fit the door Keep the traffic moving There's nothing to see here Rubbernecking in the buffet line Where the choices all seem far too clear So comfortable it's painful Can't feel it anyhow Hey if you lived here You'd be home by now Words and Music by Jared White and David LaMotte ©1998 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Audio: Home By Now David says: as a young songwriter I tended to write lots of songs about how cool it is to be a songwriter - road not taken songs and songs about following dreams and such. I haven't renounced that stuff, of course - there's some truth to it. As I've gotten older, though, and some of the dreams have come true, I've learned that there are a lot of honorable ways to live life, and that there are sacrifices and compromises invloved with any path you choose. Working a steady job to make space for a family in your life can bring incredible richness too. Choosing a life on the road brings a different set of wonderful experiences, but makes intimate relationships of any kind pretty challenging. Musing on that sort of thing combined with real-life conversation with the elderly couple in verse two and a banner on an apartment complex in Atlanta to give birth to this song. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy this song, check out more in the Audio Library. Just Like Me (Super 8) I work at the Super 8 Down there by the interstate I do the things nobody wants to do It keeps dinner on my plate I keep my mouth shut I'm never late To knock on doors and clean up people's rooms I can't stand this time of year It's cold and everybody here Is wishing they weren't stuck in this motel But holidays aren't much at home I'd quit living there alone Before you could ring a silver Christmas bell My mama and my brother used to laugh at me 'Cause I like the presents best when they're still underneath the tree And I can still dream about what each one might be Ain't that just like me Billy works security Sometimes he will talk to me When I get in he's almost going home We went to the same grade school He was older, I thought he was cool He disappeared and dropped out years ago If Billy'd take me out there on that highway We could leave this loneliness behind But I guess I'm just not that bold A little scared, a little old Blessed be the broken yellow line My mama and my brother used to laugh at me 'Cause I like the presents best when they're still underneath the tree And I can still dream about what each one might be I work at the Super 8 Down there by the interstate I do the things nobody wants to do Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Gardening and Yoga Middletown Mall Fingerprints on the window of the toy store display Joey sees what he wants, but doesn't have words to say It's round and it's red with no buttons at all Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall Anna's feet seem to be fixed to the spot Where Pete said he'd meet her, he must have forgotten She's right there in front of the Chick Fil-A stall Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall Paul's a young husband, he's just out of school Came to shop for his wife but he's looking at tools And he wonders if she'd like these drill bits at all Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall Olivia came to pick up a few things Her youngest just moved out of town in the Spring The meal seemed too big and the laughter too small Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall His real name is Spencer, but his friends call him Spence The crowd's flowing by near his usual bench And he stares at them like he's completely enthralled Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall The line's getting long where the Santa Claus sits He's jolly and round and the suit almost fits But he's not from the North Pole with that southern drawl Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall We gather our goodies, perfume and cologne We're all here together, completely alone The traffic outside has slowed down to a crawl Day after Thanksgiving at the Middletown Mall Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2002 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Stupid In Love Well I come 'round the corner and see you there And my heart begins to race You look up from where you are tying your shoe And smile at me with such warmth and such grace That I have to stop what I'm doing I am frozen in time and space When I finally move I trip over your cat And fall right flat on my face Because I'm stupid in love I'm clumsy in love I'm goofy in love I'm stupid in love with you We went to the ocean, we played in the water We walked along the sand And we went out to dinner and sipped champagne And completely ignored the band And you looked in my eyes and told me you loved me And reached out to touch my hand And that's when the waiter dropped our food And ran for the nearest trashcan Because we're stupid in love I mean we're disgustingly in love Revoltingly in love I'm stupid in love with you You fill me full of music I'm singing all of the time I am writing down my grocery list And it's coming out in rhyme Because I'm stupid in love I mean I'm hopelessly in love I'm cheesy in love I'm stupid in love with you Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1997 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Romance and Regurgitation Walking Home With You I remember holding hands in the moonlight We avoided the streetlights Walking home with you I remember up to when I payed for the tickets But I don't remember the flick, it's Just nice to be walking home with you The light from your eyes was much better than the show The oil from the popcorn gave your lips that shiny glow I remember I was once sad and lonely Now I contemplate only Walking home with you I remember how you cried through the credits How my shoulder got wet it's Just so nice to be walking home with you Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Audio: Walking Home With You David says: I'm quite proud of this song, not only because it's my first doo-wop song, and my first love song that doesn't mention throwing up, but because it carries two of the worst rhymes I've ever given birth to. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy this song, check out more in the Audio Library. Dark and Deep On a two lane road through the mountains I am taking the corners too fast My head is spinning as fast as my wheels Shifting from future to past So many things to attend to So many places to be The mountains roll right past my window Like a half-watched bar room TV If I could die just for a moment Let these worries work themselves out If it would all go on without me Tell me what's all this worry about? A promise is not like a moment A moment's not something you keep I've made too many promises lately And the woods are lovely, dark and deep I remember this friend down in Florida She used to get lost just for fun She'd take any turn that presented itself Just to see where the road might run It's amazing the places they'd take her The people and things that she'd find I've been meaning to look her up again But I can't seem to find the time Trying to make all the ends meet It's like I'm skating the edge of a knife I'm so busy making a living I've got no time for a life If I could die just for a moment Let these worries work themselves out If it would all go on without me Tell me what's all this worry about? A promise is not like a moment A moment's not something you keep I've made too many promises lately And the woods are lovely, dark and deep Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Shadows Instrumental Music by David LaMotte ©1999 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Watching For the Light And suddenly it's five AM After the songs and conversation And what a holy night it's been The mystery and revelation And now I'm lying here alone Swimming in sleepy contemplation The music ringing in my bones The scenes replay now as they will The stories flowed and fingers fell Along the strings that bind my memory You seemed to see my sorrow well And recognized a heart run empty And now I'm watching for the light A tired but dedicated sentry I couldn't ask more of the night Except to make it longer still A song can soothe the savage breast Or it can make a soldier heartless But it's the song I love the best That shines into the deepest darkness And even when your strings were still Your warmth and kindness left my heart blessed My empty cup has been refilled You have been music to me Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2002 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Spin Six o'clock dinner, the family falls silent Move over a little I can't see the screen The man in the box speaks in high definition Turn it up loud so I won't hear the screams More about bad things the bad guys are doing More about how I need what they sell And right down the road they are building a prison On the whole the economy's doing quite well Give me the update, tell me again Show me the difference between us and them Give it a number between one and ten Give me the headline Give me the spin A picture is fading inside of a wallet Inside of a pocket in the pants of a man Soggy with saltwater there in the dark In a dead submarine from a faraway land Saltwater runs down the face of a woman As she thinks how he can't be all he could be Need I point out the pointless pointing of fingers And the point of a missile that's pointed at me? Our side appears to be up for the moment They taste defeat we decide they deserve We shoot the horizon and catch our own bullets And find it is only the hatred we serve Give me the update, tell me again Show me the difference between us and them Give it a number between one and ten Give me the headline Give me the spin Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP That's My Toy That's my toy you can't have it That's my ball you can look, but you can't play This is my candy and I'm not gonna share any of it If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way That's my bike, you can't ride it That's my chair, you can't sit there That's my dog, you can't pet him Oh go tell your mama, see if I care These are my friends, we don't like you This is our clubhouse, and it's our playground If you talk to us we won't listen We don't like you hangin' around That's my parking place, I was here first This is my place in line, you can't cut in That's my woman, keep your eyes off of her This is my land, stay on your side of the fence This is our country, we don't want you here This is our land, we mean to keep it for our own This is our freedom, we don't want to share it You can pack your dreams, you can go back home This is my God, you don't know Him He's saving a place up in heaven just for me You won't go there, my Bible tells me You're not invited, just wait and see That's my toy you can't have it That's my ball you can look, but you can't play This is my candy and I'm not gonna share any of it If you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of my way Words and Music by Steve Fisher Levi Blues I was doin' my laundry baby Thought I'd throw my blue jeans in too Yes I was doin' my laundry baby Thought I'd throw my new blue jeans in too When the spin and rinse was over Every single thing in there was blue Blue on my bedsheets Wrap around like they do Blue on my pajamas Blue fruit of the looms Yes I did the bad thing, baby Did the thing you're never supposed to do I washed me a brand new pair of Levi's Now every single thing in there is blue Oh, I got the blues My reds have gone to purple Yellows went to green Even my blacks and browns Have got blues that can't be seen Yes the blues have got me surrounded baby No matter which outfit I choose 'Cause I just washed a brand new pair of Levi's And every single thing in there is blue Words and Music by David Wilcox ©1995 Midnight Ocean Bonfire Music/Nine-Ten Music, a division of Soroka Music Ltd. (BMI) The Water Is Wide The water is wide, I can't cross o'er And neither have I wings to fly Build me a boat that can carry two And both shall row, my love and I There is a ship, she sails the sea She's loaded deep as deep can be But not so deep as the love I'm in I know not how I sink or swim Oh love is handsome and love is fine The sweetest flower when first it's new But love grows old and waxes cold And fades away like summer dew Though I may speak with tongues of fire And have the gift to all inspire And have not love, my words are vain As sounding brass, and hopeless gain The water is wide, I can't cross o'er And neither have I wings to fly Build me a boat that can carry two And both shall row, my love and I Traditional Good Tar Audio: The Water Is Wide and the Good Tar Story David says: this is a true folk song, i.e. one whose writers are wholly unknown. There is even debate in traditional folk circles as to which country gave birth. Some say it's a Robert Burns song. I've always loved it, though, partly because it has an emotional complexity rarely captured in song. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy this song, check out more in the Audio Library. Hope In the Southland we're lighting the night sky With the fire from a church burning down When the sun comes again the black and white men Stand and stare at the soot on the ground They raise up their weapons and summon their strength And they cut at the wood with their swords But hey're striking blows against hatred 'Cause they're hammering nails into boards I keep thinking I hear the four horsemen And turning around to see It's just the pony express again And they've got a message for me I've got a lot of hope for the future I've got a lot of faith things can work out fine Got a lot of dreams for a better world Got a lot of work to do if I'm going to make them mine My town is still mostly divided And I don't see much color tonight And I know that it's all complicated That the issues are not black and white But how can we come any closer If I just shake my head where I stand There can never be any handshakes Until somebody puts out their hand I keep thinking I hear the four horsemen And turning around to see It's just the pony express again And they've got a message for me I've got a lot of hope for the future I've got a lot of faith things can work out fine Got a lot of dreams for a better world Got a lot of work to do if I'm going to make them mine Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1997 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Hold On I appreciate your smiling Like it's just another day But you seem a little weary Just want to say that it's OK If you don't feel like being steady If you'd rather say what's true You don't have to have the answers Sometimes all that you can do, is Hold on, Hold on Take the dream in your pocket and lock it up safe Hold on for one more day When your eyes don't want to open When all you feel is fear When you wish someone would notice And that you could disappear In the company of silence If you need someone to hold Let your tears fall on my shoulder Let your story rest untold, and Hold on, Hold on Take the dream in your pocket and lock it up safe Hold on for one more day You walked through the daylight And nobody knew But the light falls to pieces And you're falling too Hold on, Hold on Take the dream in your pocket and lock it up safe Hold on for one more day Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2000 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP French Lesson Dans la Louisiane Down in south Louisiana the moonlight grows on trees It blows down in the autumn and it washes out to sea It dances on the waves there like a distant memory Dans la Louisiane I had played my songs and packed my gear and still I felt all right So I parked down by the water and I wandered through the night Where the streetsigns all speak Friench beneath the shimmering streetlights Dans la Louisiane And the moon it shone so brightly I couldn't find a star And the music flowed like sunshine from the fiddle and guitar But the light that glowed within us was the warmest light by far Je dois dire que je vous aime bien So I'm writing down this simple song with nothing much to say Except I'm thankful for the music and the privilege to play But most of all I'm grateful just to get to spend this day Dans la Louisiane And the moon it shone so brightly I couldn't find a star And the music flowed like sunshine from the fiddle and guitar But the light that glowed within us was the warmest light by far Je dois dire que je vous aime bien Dans la Louisiane Dans la Louisiane Words and music by David LaMotte ©1999 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Janey Hey Janey, where you been lately I've been looking for you down on Sullivan Street With your beat-up car and your bass guitar And your skinny, winning grin All the birthday candles melted away The colors running everywhere Yeah the flame burned down in this party town Man, I've been missing that light I keep looking for you In the stoplight cars and the blue jean bars downtown There were a couple of things I really wanted to say, but Janey you're not around I keep looking for you I keep looking for you You and Amy and me watched for shooting stars In that vacant lot up on Lookout Road But your head hung down, staring at the ground You never saw that light Those rocks went blazing across the sky Like they were trying to show us how to fly But you weren't like me, didn't have to see You were already burning into the night I keep looking for you in the rusty park and the smoky stars at night There were a couple of things I wanted to say, but anyway, I hope you're all right I keep looking for you I keep looking for you When Amy told me you were gone I didn't even believe her And there's nothing left that's burning now But the ashes and the fever I still turn down Sullivan once in a while When I've got something to do in your old neighborhood And I know you're gone, but I hear that song And I can't help looking for you I keep looking for you I keep looking for you Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1998 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP Shoplifting Jellyfish Audio: Janey and the Shoplifting a Jellyfish Story David says: this one was inspired by thoughts about and memories of two old friends who have disappeared for my life for different reasons. It's funny to me how people can be combined in songs, like in dreams. I spoke to a songwriting class at Warren Wilson College a few years ago and I remember the instructor, Jim Magill, saying that "facts may always be manipulated in the service of truth." That only applies for creative writing, though, not personal relationships or foreign policy. DavidLaMotteFan.com thanks David for his generosity in letting us share his songs. If you enjoy David's songs, you may order them here. If you enjoy this song, check out more in the Audio Library. In the Light/Simple Gifts So here I stand with this guitar in my hand What was it that I came to say? There was something about some hope and some dreams and some fear Some ideas for a better way If I really feel like I trust you Maybe we'll talk about the pain Maybe you'll understand me Maybe you won't walk away You know I ain't no television I'm watching you while you're watching me I can tell when the music reaches you Something changes and I can see And it shines down on my soul, you know And deep inside I feel We're in this thing together And we're touching something real And if we're gonna do it Let's do it right Let's bring back the magic tonight It'll all work out fine If you just let it shine I'm gonna hold you I'm gonna hold you in the Light It's so easy to get distracted When I'm working day in and day out I get lost in all the numbers I forget what it's all about But couldn't we cross the boundaries Can't we conquer the fear Shouldn't we love each other? Isn't that why we're here? And if we're gonna do it Let's do it right Let's bring back the magic tonight It'll all work out fine If you just let it shine I'm gonna hold you I'm gonna hold you in the Light Words and Music by David LaMotte ©1992 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP We Are Charlie's Angels You have seen us on the TV In a silhouette of black You thought the seventies were over But I'm here to say they're back We are Charlie's Angels And we're out to solve the crime And we're working on our hairdos and that takes lots of time When I was a kid daydreaming Farrah Faucet wanted me Now Drew Barrymore's an angel Wasn't she in E.T.? Now Drew Barrymore's an angel And she's out to solve the crime And she's grown a little bigger But that lisp is still divine So I admit I saw the movie Went to catch it on a dare And I even kinda liked it But whatever flips your hair We are Charlie's angels And we're out to solve the crime And we're working on a sequel So start saving up your dimes Words and Music by David LaMotte ©2001 Lower Dryad Music/ASCAP