1. Right Now
At the time, I was dating a guy who was stringing me along, and I realized I was finally ready to have a real commitment.

I’ll be the 1st to tell you that I got a checkered past.
If there’s a wrong way to do it, well I’ll run right down that path.
I’ll never be perfect, I’ll never quite get it all right.
But baby let me tell you, that I’d make a damn good wife.

Chorus:
We may not have tomorrow and yesterday’s already gone,
But we have right now.
We may not have tomorrow and yesterday’s already gone,
But we have eachother right now.

I’m a little older now and a little more wiser too.
I’ve sown these wild oats, ripped off a few t-shirts too.
And I have learned so much, wouldn’t change in any way.
But I am ready now to give all this love away.

Chorus

2. Complete Yourself
At this time I was completely ok with being alone, I broke through my co-dependent nature.

There was a time in life when I felt I couldn’t get by
Without the possibility of holding onto anyone.
Always on the search for love, never getting satisfied.
Thinking that I need someone to fill this lonliness in my heart.
Giving myself away before we even start.
But now I’m holding onto this guitar close up to my body.
And that’s good enough for me. (2x)

I don’t feel the need to marry someone or settle for less.
There’s too much I gotta do before I die, I can’t afford that stress.
So many grabbing onto love, afraid of being alone.
No one can complete you, no one can destroy you.
Complete yourself, stand tall & be strong.

Don’t give yourself away to someone undeserving.
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
But above all you’ve got to love yourself.
Don’t give yourself away to someone undeserving.
You can’t let anyone take advantage of you,
No and I can’t let anyone take me for granted.
Let’s hit the road and travel, maybe we’ll meet up one day.

3. I’m Somebody
featuring Mark Schimmick on mandolin, Kevin Hardy on drums.
It always sucks when you meet people in your line of work that think they’re so much better than you, don’t include you, or try to put you down. That have to prove they are ‘somebody’ and you’re ‘nobody’. Jealousy is a bitch isn’t it? Never give anyone power over you. Hence, I hope I NEVER think I’m ‘somebody’.

Living this life the best that I can
Just playing out the rest of this hand,
Just a musician in a working man’s land,
Don’t have nothing I can’t keep in a van.

Chorus:
I hope I never think that I’m somebody,
I hope I never think that I’m so great.
The truth is we’re all in this together now
And the hours getting late.

Don’t need much to get me by.
I hope this voice of mine can carry me awhile.
Important people do their best to give a smile,
Only making friends that help their life style.

Chorus

$ & fame don’t do too much for me
I’d rather roam around all dirty and free.
I’ve gotta lotta things in common with a tree.
Even the fancy people want to piss all over me.

Chorus

4. Make a Difference
let’s work together to make this world a better place!!!!

Can you feel where America is going?
When will she breathe her last breath?
No one cares about anything anymore except about what they get.
We all stomp around like we do no wrong
Until we’re stricken with grief.
We take and don’t give.

Why do we all feel the need to be controlled by our government?
And why do we give our $ away to anything corporate?
Why support things that only hurt you to become spiritually dead?
I can’t understand where our brains went,
Where our hearts went, where our souls went.

Take me into you.
We take and don’t give.
Can you feel where America is going?
LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE!!

5. Woody Guthrie
featuring Caleb Jacobs on lead guitar, Steve Magliano on harmonica
I’ve listened to and loved Woody Guthrie for quite some time, and one day I saw an excellent movie about him: ‘Bound for Glory’. When I picked up my pen-this came out.

He was a union man fight for a cause
for the pickers and the growers in America.
Didn’t like the way the money treated the poor,
wrote songs about it till he got beat down to the floor.
Walked away from fame and his family to make a difference here for you & me.

Woody Guthrie

Hopped from train to train, walked around the country-
California, Texas, right on into Tennessee.
Played his songs in the streets, in the fields, in the stores
For anyone who’d listen always talking about that freedom.
He went walking that ribbon of highway, saw above him that endless skyway,
This land, made for you and me.

Woody Guthrie

Not much has changed since his time,
The pickers and the growers now have a cashiers line.
And it’s the same 10 stores in every town,
The corporate chain is gonna take your business down.
All the people working for minimum wage don’t make much more
Than those ‘Woody days’.

Woody Guthrie

(‘This Land is Your Land’ Woody Guthrie 1956)
This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island,
From the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters,
This land was made for you and me.

6. You Don’t Like Me
featuring Phil Kelly on lead guitar & vocals, Kevin Hardy on stand-up bass.
This one is currently my theme song

Chorus:
You don’t like me and you never will.
You don’t like my style, you don’t like my skills
You’ll never like the way I laugh out loud,
If you could-you’d shove me off my cloud.

The other day I went into the post office to check my mail.
I noticed this young girl snarling at me for reasons I just can’t understand,
And I felt such bad vibes coming off of her shooting out at me.
So I said: ‘hello baby! I just want you to know that I wish you well.

Chorus:
You’ll never like the way I dance around,
If you could you’d knock me to the ground

Now for a minute my feelings were kinda hurt,
I felt bad like maybe I’d done something wrong.
But then it reminded me of the time I was playing
Music up on stage and a member of the audience was yelling
For a Jimmy Buffett tune right in the middle of my song.
Now I don’t know any buffet songs, I’m sure he doesn’t know any
Of mine either, but my friend- Phil Kelly,
standing next to me at the time said:
‘Shit man, we’ll do it for $50.00’.
The man then produced a crisp 50 dollar bill.
So I learned ‘Wasted Away in Margaritaville’.

Chorus:
You’ll never like the way I play guitar,
If you could-you’d send me somewhere far.

So all this goes back to the ancient old question?
Can’t we all just get along?
Can’t we just spread love and goodness all around?
Can’t we all just love one another?
Is this too much to ask for?
It sure seems to be.
I just want you to know that I wish you well.

Chorus:
You’ll never like the way I sing this song.
If you could you wouldn’t sing along.

7. Love in the Air
featuring Kevin Hardy on the dobro
dinghying around the Ocracoke harbor during a time where I fell in love as often as I changed my clothes-about every other day. This particular night felt magical.

The other night, last night I saw,
I saw the reflection of you soul.
It was dark that night, a million stars were shining,
If I died right there, Lord, I would’ve been smiling.
I don’t know you well, in fact I don’t know you at all.
But in that magical phosphorescent night,
We were both glowing in the dark.

Could there be love in the air?
Well I don’t know, but it sure feels good.

You gotta hold onto hope and love in this God-forsaken world.
There’s beauty all around with lots of guns and frowns standing at your door.
So when you feel love for another, gotta let it flow.
The more love we give affects everyone in the worlkd.
So lets not be shy, or scared, or play those games.
Let the truth touch our thoughts and our lips…..
And pour out of our souls.

Let there be love in the air!
Let’s make each other feel good.

I found a piece of happiness inside of you.

8. Pretty Possibilities
featuring Christian Breeden on vocals
Had a silly fling with a young guy, knew it wasn’t anything real. It was rather a lesson in learning not to force things, allowing whatever to happen as it will and being okay with that. But felt passionate enough to write a song about it.

We inflated a life raft & set sail to lovers island.
The air blew gusts of wind & pushed us in the right direction.
As soon as we landed, we deflated our rafts & went our separate ways.
And we never saw each other in the life raft afloat again.
Afloat again, we deflated a pretty possibility.
We deflated a dream.

Mother oceans so deep and wide, hidden with buried treasures.
So many fish in the sea just riding along with the current.
Not looking ahead or behind, just letting the ocean take them where she will.
And I want to learn from them, no control and going with the flow.
With the flow comes pretty possibilities. We created a dream.

9. Outerspace
featuring John Bullard on hand drums
I fell in love for a few days with someone who was visiting and had a girlfriend back home. We never actually did anything and he’s still a great friend that I love!

I wonder what you’re doing?
I wonder where you are?
I wonder if you think of me underneath the stars?
I wonder if you touch her the way you touched my face?

Chorus:
Oh darling how I love you up here from outerspace.

I wonder if we’ll ever sail across that sea?
I wonder if you’ll ever find your way back to me?
I wonder if you can feel me in a galactic way?

Chorus

Our souls touched for a reason, right now it is unknown.
But I’m sending you my loving from outerspace and beyond.
No I won’t stand in the way of the way it’s meant to be.

Chorus

10. Good ol’ Days
One of my best friends from childhood whom I love drank himself into someone I don’t know.

I remember when there still was a spark in your eyes.
And I remember when you could tell me no lies.
I remember when you thought your dreams could never die.
Do you remember those good ol’ days?

Do you remember me driving while drinking a beer?
Do you remember those nappy dread locks in my hair?
Do you remember when we used to play truth or dare?
Do you remember those good ol’ days?

Now time has crept on us and the past has slipped
Into our lives as we watched them drift.
A phone call here and there does not nurture a friendship.
Do you remember those good ol’ days?

Well I drove through your town the other day to say hello?
You had a beer in one hand and your lips were pulling smoke.
Your eyes-sunk in as you tried to make a joke.
But your eyes cleared right up when you said:
Do you remember those good ol’ days?

Well I smiled and tried to find the boy that I once knew.
He’s long gone and this thin man didn’t seem to have a clue.
He traded in his life for a bottle of booze.
But oh I remember those good ol’ days.
Yes I remember those good ol’ days.

11. Slaves to Society
Society tells me I should work towards retirement,
Put money away and save for the future.
Society tells me I should buy a big nice house
With a white picket fence, a dog in the yard.
Society tells me I should look for a husband,
Cook dinner at night and raise some kids.
Society tells me that war is justified,
Lets go kill others because it’s right.

Chorus:
But I don’t care what society tells me
I’m gonna do things in my own way.
I don’t care what anyone tells me,
I’m gonna to things that seem right to me.

My father tells me I should stay in college,
Get my ticket punched and get a real job.
My mother tells me pursue your music ,
You only live once, you’re not coming back.
My sister tells me that I’m too loud,
I should sit more pretty and walk more proud.
My friends they tell me we believe in you,
We love what you do so fuck the system.

Chorus

So lets get down to what we really need:
I need my health, love and sex.
I need some food, I need some rest.
I need music, and I need some art,
I need my family, I need my God.
I need people, animals and plants,
I need my freedom, I love to dance.
And I need the sun, the moon and the stars,
The sandy beaches, the forests, the fires.
And I need my guitar and my clothes and my car
. That’s all I need to take me far.

I’m not gonna be a slave to society
They can’t convince me to sell my soul for money.
I’m not gonna be a slave to the govt
They can’t tell me whats wrong or right.
So lets not be controlled by the media.
We don’t need their new product for sale.
And lets not be controlled by the work force,
Work 10 hour days for some storage space.
I’m not gonna be a slave to society-
They can’t convince me to sell my soul for money.

Chorus

12. Shoe Box
featuring, Jon Jon Davis on vocals & guitar, Mark Schimmick on mandolin.
this song was written aboard Risky Business on Ocracoke in the summer of ’07 by Mya Rose, Jon Jon Davis and the dock boys. It was a magical night-Jon Jon was on the mandolin, Mya playing bass on the guitar, the dock boys playing drums, bottles, etc. and 20 people were up on deck adding to this song that seemed to go on forever. I half-assed recorded it so we wouldn’t forget, but it became our theme song we play every time we’re around each other. None of us really know the words, they change each time but the chorus is always the same.
Chorus:
You and I locked up so tight.
You and I singing songs on the radio.
You and I locked up so tight (in the shoebox).

13. My Own Island
featuring Rob King on vocals
Mavis, a good friend of mine, is an amazing woman. Her sailboat is docked at her own island in Guatemala. She inspired me to write this song.

I’m gonna buy my own island,
make my own tools,
Build my own house,
Grow my own food.
I’m gonna sail across the seas and find my own way,
Make my own life, live for today.
I don’t want anymore than I really need.
I don’t need too much, I just need to be free.

Chorus:
We could just get a little shack down by the beach,
We can raise our little barefoot babies,
We can run around and be free.
This is the way that this is always going to be,
Cuz if you you ain’t living your life-
You’ll never ever be free.

I don’t want to follow no laws, I don’t want to follow rules.
And when I have my own children, they won’t go to school,
I’m gonna raise them on the ocean
Gonna sail ‘em through the seas,
Gonna teach them about the good life
Of self sufficiency.
Don’t want to be in the lime light,
I’d rather hide out in the trees.
I want a life based in truth-NOT hypocrisies.

Chorus

14. I’m a Pirate
featuring Christian Breeden & the dock boys on vocals & random objects.
We were hanging out in the summer of ’07 on Risky Business talking about sailing away to the Dominican republic, or Trinidad, or Bahamas, ya know-where ever. For some reason, this chanting happened to spew out-the pirate spirits of Ocracoke must have been lurking about. Luckily, I hit the record button.

I’m a pirate searching for treasure,
No one around me understands.
I’m an outcast, I’m a dreamer.
All I have is the sea and all her wind.
But when I get my fame and glory,
You’re gonna come around and be my friend.
But I’m a pirate……..