Climb Up A Ladder
Oh, won’t you help me Climb Up A Ladder
Somebody tell me that this can be done
Oh, won’t you help me Climb Up A Ladder
Reach for the very next rung
What can I do when I’m stuck in the middle
Reach for the very next rung
Feeling confused, like my life is a riddle
Reach for the very next rung
I can’t look up cause I’m scared where I’m going
Reach for the very next rung
Can’t look down, it’s a bad fear of falling
Reach for the very next rung
Well my hands are shaking
My arms are aching
My knees are quaking
As I reach for the very next rung
© copyright 2017 by Dennis Dougherty
The Farmer Is The Man
When the farmer comes to town with his wagon broken down
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
If you only look and see I think you will agree
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
Well the lawyer hangs around while the butcher cuts a pound
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
While the preacher and the cook go strolling down the brook
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
The Farmer Is The Man, The Farmer Is The Man
Lives on credit till the fall
His clothes are wearing thin, his condition it’s a sin
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
Now the Farmer he left town and the place got broken down
The pigweed and the thistle it was rife
But the land in fallow lay, just waiting for the day
When dreams and hands could bring it back to life
Now the banker says he’s broke and the merchants up in smoke
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
It would put ‘em to the test if the farmer took a rest
The Farmer Is The Man that feeds them all
Additional lyrics by Dennis Dougherty © copyright 2017
Schoolday's Over
Schooldays Over come on then John
Time you were getting those pit boots on
On with the sark and the moleskin trowsers, time you were on your way
Time you were learning the pit man’s job and earning a pit man’s pay
Come on then Jim, time to go
Time you were working on down below
Time to be handling a pick and shovel it’s time you were on your way
Time to be learning the colliers job and earning a colliers pay
Come on then Dai, it’s almost light
Time you were off for the anthracite
The morning mist is on the valley, it’s time you were on your way
Time you were learning a miners job and earning a miners pay
Schooldays Over.
Ewan MacColl
The Ballad Of Lawnchair Larry
I’m just gliding through life on a tailwind
I’m just drifting along with the breeze
I have not a care, got my feet up in the air
Laughing and floating with ease
I’m just gliding through life on a tailwind
I’m just doing whatever I please
Call me a clown, no you cannot hold me down
I’m drifting along with the breeze
No, do not worry friends, I am not crazy
Soaring with my silvery balloons
Apologies will never top nephrology
Oh, look at me, I’m halfway to the moon
I do not fear the stratosphere it’s heaven
I’m swinging with angels in the clouds
I hate that I’ll miss Jeopardy at seven
But a lawn chair lets you sail above the crowds
© copyright 2017 by Dennis Dougherty
Empty Streets
We stepped out and turned right
Straight into the morning light
Silent rain fell at our feet
And we walked down Empty Streets
All the shops closed and still
In the air the autumn chill
Not a word could we speak
As we walked down Empty Streets
I still see your silken hair
I feel you hold me tight
Will you keep your promise dear
Every day you’ll write
Five thousand miles from you dear
Boredom laced with sudden fear
And a soldier's life is bleak
And he prays for Empty Streets
Roads of hell, towns of dust
As we stare down from these trucks
Poor men fight while the rich men sleep
And I dream of Empty Streets
© copyright 2017 by Dennis Dougherty
Grandma's Old Piano
Grandma's Old Piano she never let anyone play
Sat silent in the corner, until they hauled it away
Now I wonder, was it noise the old woman couldn’t stand
Or did it bring back memories of some sweet lovers hands
I know that she liked music, she always hummed a tune
Magic in the kitchen By the Light of the Silvery Moon
Moments that get lost in time can come to life again
When music touches hidden thoughts buried deep within
When Grandma wasn’t looking I’d sneak into that room
Spin the chair up good and high and play myself a tune
The low notes were the thunder, the high ones were the rain
Holding down the pedals brought lightning to the plains
Grandma's Old Piano she never let anyone play
Sat silent in the corner, until they hauled it away
No one will remember, nothing to regret
The storms of music I once made, times I can’t forget
© copyright 5/7/17 by Dennis Dougherty
Rock Bottom Is A Solid Place
Don’t come to me for answers when this world gets you down
Me, I’m just a working man, got both feet on the ground
I measure out what’s needed in this life of mine
I focus on the details according to design
Let’s talk of saws and hammers how to read the plans
My life is written in the scars you see on these old hands
And when you are rebuilding what storms have torn apart
Rock Bottom is a solid place to start
You see me cutting lumber or driving survey stakes
I know just what I’m doing, I rarely make mistakes
That’s cause I made them years ago, way before your time
You bend some nails, break some bones before you reach your prime
Don’t try to swing your hammer just the way I do
Find a rhythm all your own deep inside of you
When it’s time to build a house of your very own
There’s nothing wrong with starting out down on solid stone
© copyright 3/17/2017 by Dennis Dougherty and Joe LaMay
Comin' Home To Say Goodbye
I left Frisco yesterday
I had some good times with my friends
I never let on that I knew
That you and I were at the end
‘Cause I’ve learned too well to pretend
I’m comin home to see you one more time
Cause you’re the one who made me cry
I’m comin home to see you one more time
I’m comin’ home to say goodbye
The mountains and the coast are clear
I see the lights of Monterey
Oh California my old friend
Let’s not forget those early days
Fore I may never pass this way
Now I'm prepared to face the pain
Of leavin' one I loved so true
But we're just strangers once again
And there ain't nothin' we can do
So I'll just say goodbye to you
©1976 by Joe LaMay/ Pressed For Time
Dancin' In The Kitchen
Better watch my feet the dogs are both asleep
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Careful where I stroll I be in the water bowl
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Singing from the heart Now what a place to start
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Watch out for the man Washin’ pots and pans
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Rockin’ to and fro Waltz across the floor
Holding my baby so tight
Doin’ what I can, Like a Louisiana man
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Better pull the shade as my knees begin to fade
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Haven’t got a care Prancin’ in my underwear
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Rockin’ to and fro Waltz across the floor
I got the bedroom in sight
Doin’ what I can Like a Louisiana man
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
If you’re young or old Exercise your soul
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
Life is so complete It’s a tour de feet
Dancin’ in the Kitchen tonight
© copyright 2017 by Dennis Dougherty
I Remember That Song
Oh, I remember that song
Uh huh, Oh yeah
Yes, I remember that song
Uh huh, Oh yeah
The one about teenage heartache
Wishing on the stars above
A song about staying out too late
Thinking you're in trouble and knowing you're in love
The way that they sang together
Strumming those twin guitars
I thought that it would last forever
I saw them on the TV, I heard them in my car
Why oh why did you leave me?
Why oh why did you go?
I never will forget their voices
Crying like two lovesick birds
Growing up and making choices
The magic of the music - the wisdom of the words
©2017 Dennis Dougherty, Thinking Dog Music.
Joe LaMay, Pressed For Time, BMI
Dance Into the Distance
I asked a friend, How do you do it
Livin’ day to day, Don’t you get those blues
You got no job and you got no savings
Just an old guitar, and even older shoes
You know what he said?
I’d rather dance into the distance
Where the tall trees cry,
When the night winds wail
Then to drag down streets of cold existence
It’s a damn good walk up the old long trail
Now don’t you think about the future
Don’t your people say, It’s time to settle down
Get yourself a wife, raise up a family
Get outta that cloud, put your feet on the ground
I still can remember, deep in December
Locked in a little red school
With the Snow softly falling, I could hear the calling
Of the wild, what’s the number one rule?
We talked all night, shared a bottle
We spoke of dreams he sang some songs
You gotta listen to your own heart, That’s what he told me
Get your compass right and you can’t go wrong
Dennis Dougherty © 2015 Thinking Dog Music
Lonely Side of Town
I’m walking the edge of a blacktop highway
Guess nobody feels like slowing down
Got all that I own in a beat up suitcase
When the landlord comes I won’t be round
I’m leaving the Lonely Side of Town
There’s a girl back home and god, I miss her
I’m thinkin’, It’s time to settle down
Just one good ride and I’ll be with her
Thumb in the air, I’m homeward bound
I’m leaving the Lonely Side of Town
Let the cold wind comb my hair
Let the people point and stare
Who cares what they’re thinking of
I got her letter just yesterday
Called and said, I’m on my way
Now you’re lookin’ at a man in love
I’m leaving those sleepless nights behind me
I’m leaving the state of mind I’m in
Out where the blues won’t ever find me
Say goodbye and turn around
I’m leaving the Lonely Side of Town
© 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/Thinking Dog Music and Fred Kollar/ Lucrative Music
Get the Angle Right
When I was five I found my mother crying by the phone
She said, I’ll be alright you run along
I did what any boy would do, I turned and went outside
And brought her every dandelion that my hands could find
And she said, They look like orchids, so beautiful and bright
If you hold them to the sun, and Get The Angle Right
Diamonds are a girls’ best friend, I heard the TV say
Show how much you care by what you pay
I’d like to show you something that didn’t cost a dime
A shiny stone I found when I was maybe eight or nine
And there’s a million stars a-twinkling, like diamonds in the night
If you hold it to the sun, and Get The Angle Right
Yes, and I hear tell the cost of love is high
But I’m glad to know it’s something you can’t buy
I know that life’s not perfect, there are no guarantees
But every day’s a good day, you’re with me
I’d like to bring you orchids, yes and diamonds too
I guess these dandelions and a shiny stone will do
Our love will last forever and every moment is bright
If we hold them to the sun, and Get The Angle Right
© copyright 2016 by Dennis Dougherty/Thinking Dog Music
Dust Bowl Joe
Dust Bowl Joe, No he won’t go, He’s the one that stuck around
Some forgot, most they don’t know, He’s the man that stood his ground
When the dust storms hit, most folks quit
They couldn’t stand that lonesome sound
But Dust Bowl Joe pulled his hat low, Set his teeth and hunkered down
He’s a hero in this town
GI Joe movin’ kinda slow, limping back from World War Two
Scars he’s got, Lord they don’t show, all the hell that he went through
When the first shell hit, the shrapnel bit and nearly tore his leg in two
But GI Joe shifted into low, drove his men to higher ground
He’s a hero in this town
“Whiskey Joe hang your head low”, walk the dark side of life
Step by step, blow by blow, lost a child and his wife
In the face of it, he almost quit, tried to drink this county dry
But Whiskey Joe looked into his soul, Stood to fight another round
He’s a hero in this town
Grandpa Joe what a way to go, We’re burying a real class act
A one line will for a Coupe De Ville, “Plant me in my Cadillac”
‘Cause all that shit, that life will git, rolls off a good man's back
Grandpa Joe, ease him down slow, Here’s a man that’s glory bound
He’s a hero in this town
© Dennis Dougherty/ Mike Radtke August 15, 2012
Apples On My Mind
Lord, I’ve got apples on my mind
When I think of apples I think about harvest time
Sweet red apples and a girl with lips like wine
Don’t you know I’m coming back someday
Lord, I smell flowers in the air
When I smell flowers, it takes away a winters care
A little wild-flower said she had to go back north somewhere
Don’t you know I’m coming back someday
Lord, there’s a bluebird on the wing
When I see a bluebird I think it’s ‘bout time for spring
Hey mister bluebird if you see that girl won’t you sing
Don’t you know he’s coming back someday
Lord, I got cornsilk in my hands
When I feel cornsilk I think about summer sand
Hair soft as cornsilk, guess it didn’t go the way I planned
Don’t you know I’m coming back someday
© copyright 1-23-95 Dennis Dougherty
The Cafe Corner
When I’m feeling empty, just a little down and weak
I know where I am welcome day or night
I walk up to the corner, take my favorite seat
By the second cup of coffee, I will be alright
Doris takes my order and I always get the same
A couple over easy and home fries
She forgets the orange juice but I don’t complain
If I do as well at her age, Lord I’ll be doing fine
At the corner, going back in time
At the corner, stuck in 1949
Well some folks think it’s strange
That nothing here has changed
But me, I love the corner just the same
Where the world is plain
Before we went insane
Well it looks like Norman Rockwell was in here yesterday
Wonder if he had the apple pie
Don’t suppose it’s homemade, looks good anyway
I’ll take a scoop of ice cream on the side
The radio is playing a song from way back when
Doris, she remembers every line
I know that it sounds crazy, but when she turns her head
To me she looks a bit like Patsy Cline
Half a Dance
I saw your face just today
The hometown girl on the front page
There you were In mid air
Friday you’d be center stage
But you’re an apparition, I’m stuck in first position
The dancer and the boy are worlds apart
Why should I be upset, I can do a two step
Give me half a dance to win your heart
Now I don’t need that old TV
I’ve got better things to do
I broke my bank and bought a front row seat
Friday I’ll be watching you
Now the curtain falls
It’s the final bow
That’s when suddenly you see
The boy next door with roses in hand
“Please come dance tonight with me”
© copyright 1990 Dennis Dougherty/ Greg Cagno
Dennis Hopper & the Cajun Queen
Well, Back in the day baby back in this swamp
A bad boy, cowboy drifting right along
Lost in the Bayou, Lost in the the blues
Shovel headed, dead-a-headed, breaker of the rules
He pulled in a roadhouse, it was the Devil’s Dream
And Oh, Dennis Hopper met the Cajun Queen
A oh, When you throw them dice
A oh, in the Voodoo rice
A oh, Gonna lose your soul
A oh, to Jolie Laveau
jeter les dés dans le riz vaudou
égarer l'âme Jolie Laveau
The sweet shady marmalady looked in his eyes
Her chocolate legs make him beg to do the slip and slide
Crazy go the Zydeco a pumping loud and clear
A cocain line, a neon sign a-flashing Ice cold beer
Her age didn’t it matter, Her name was it Jolie
Oh, Dennis Hopper bet the Cajun Queen
Trouble and darkness it rode by his side
Sold his soul to Jolie for that Easy Ride
He drank up the whisky and cranked up the stakes
Dropped a lot of acid by the Saint Louis gates
Everybody loved him, He made a lot of green
Oh, Dennis Hopper, et le Cajun Reine
Here's to the Rocky Road
Here’s to the Rocky Road, The ups and downs
Traveling a better road Through the fields and towns
High on a mountainside Or in the valley below
You’re gonna find a sweeter ride Along the Rocky Road
Lace up your old boots, leave the key on the hook
Sometimes second chances don’t need a second look
Old regrets and memories are bills you just can’t pay
Now someone else can fix that Chevrolet
Follow the music, it’s like drifting in a dream
Wash away your troubles in that flowing stream
Sing with true heart, leave it right out on your sleeve
Rid yourself of all that you don’t need
When the path of least resistance
Gets filled up with foolish pride
Take the road to self fulfilment
It’s right outside, yea it’s right outside
When the last light is fading, and the day is done
The cold hand of winter will hide the warming sun
All good intentions will pave a golden road
It’s not the path you chose so long ago
9-27-12
Diggie Dog
Hey dog, hey dog, hey diggie, diggie dog
Diggie, diggie dog, hey diggie, diggie dog
Hey dog, hey dog, hey diggie, diggie dog
Diggie, diggie, dog hey dog
When I was a boy I'd run through the woods
Run through the woods, run through the woods
When I was a boy I'd run through the woods
Runnin’ with a little brown dog
When I was a boy I'd fish for my supper
Fish for my supper, fish for my supper
When I was a boy I'd fish for my supper
Share my fishy with a dog
When I was a boy I'd camp in the woods
Camp in the backyard, Camp in the woods
I was a boy I'd camp in the woods
Pup tent, boy and a dog
When I was a boy I'd scratch like the Dickens
Scratch like the Dickens, scratch like the Dickens
When I was a boy I'd scratch like the Dickens
Got my fleas from a dog
One for seven, so they say
Dogs grow old, while the children play
Teacher, teacher long ago
I learned all I need to know from a dog
Now my knees they knock through the woods
Clock through the woods, Tick Tock through the woods
Now my knees they knock through the woods
Knockin’ with a little white dog
Hey up girl let's go to the shelter
Down to the shelter, off to the shelter
Hey up girl let's go to the shelter
Now my doggie got a dog
Carolina's All I Really Need
In those hills of Carolina
Tween the Piney and the Blue
Dreams of cities, they will blind you
Should the neon get to you
Chopping wood to make a dollar
Play the radio at night
Mailing off to big Chicago
A Stella guitar can change your life
Gold will glitter in the city
But Broadway lights don’t shine for me
I keep coming back to my home in ol’ Deep Gap
Carolina’s all I really need
Record man he says you’re something
Come to New York in the spring
All these folks here in the city
Will love to hear you pick and sing
Be it center stage at Newport
Or with presidents and Kings
I’m still longing for my back porch
And the happiness it brings
© copyright 9-11-12 Dennis Dougherty
There's No Cowboys in My Life Anymore
There’s No Cowboys in My Life Anymore
They don’t play the old ones like before
They’ve saddled up and gone into the setting sun
There’s No Cowboys in My Life Anymore
I used to love to get up on the weekend
Tune in my favorite TV shows
But Gene and Hopalong and Roy and Dale are gone
There’s No Cowboys in My Life Anymore
Oh lord, I need to hear ‘Cool Water’
‘Home on the Range’, ‘Happy Trails to You’
Yes I miss those days, I guess that shows my age
There’s No Cowboys in My Life Anymore
© 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/ Thinking Dog Music
The Last Pony Ride
The pony’s twenty two years old
He doesn’t know that he’s been sold
Giving rides to kids the best part of his life
And another tradition dies
Ride a little pony, go round the ring again
Look at all the happy faces on the children
Ride a little pony, such a gentle stride
Daddy takes a picture, Mommy’s standing by your side
For The Last Pony Ride
A pony doesn’t pay today
He barely earns the feed and hay
The pasture and the barn, that’s all he’s ever known
But tomorrow they’ll be gone
And as this day comes to an end
A trailer waits beside the fence
Wherever he may go, wherever he may be
I hope there’s children and an apple tree
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/ Thinking Dog Music
Lord It's a Powerful Thing
Stream At the End of My Street
A long time ago back in old Idaho
Me and my dog running free
And most every day you could find us at play
In the stream at the end of my street
Everyone needs a cool running stream
To carry their troubles away
It’s a long hard road but I’m cooling my feet
In the stream at the end of my street
Fishing for hours, picking wild flowers
Swing from a rope on a tree
Just a half a block from home and I’d be skipping stones
In the stream at the end of my street
Now that I’m grown, got a child of my own
I’m hoping that he’ll take after me
Cross a continent I came, but some things never change
There’s a stream at the end of my street
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/Fred Koller Thinking Dog Music/Lucrative Music
Paulina
Oh the sun is going down a sleepy Texas town
And I’m staring through a dirty Greyhound window
Dusty rain begins to fall and we head out for St. Paul
Paulina, Tell my why you still haunt my memory
Is you or just the highway calling me
Every time I close my eyes some baby starts to cry
Mamasita sings a Spanish lullaby
Smoke is drifting up the aisle, the kind that makes me smile
Paulina, Paulina will I ever understand this mystery
Is you or just the highway calling me
‘Ore the hills of Oklahoma, across the Kansas plains
Will you listen to the wind and me
We’re whispering your name
Paulina
Now the weather’s getting colder
So darling I won’t blame you
If you tell the operator, “No I won’t accept the call”
A hundred miles left to go and the driver’s talking snow
Paulina, Paulina how I wish the road ahead was clear to see
Is you or just the highway calling me
Paulina, Paulina
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/Michael Smith Thinking Dog Music/Bird Avenue Music
A Pocketful
You can’t tell a person
By the cut of their clothes
What is in my pocket
What I have or what I don’t
I got a pocketful of memories
A pocketful of dust
A pocket full of things you’ll never see
And though it’s been a long time
Since they were lined with green
I got pockets full of everything I need
I got pockets full of everything I need
I’d trade in a paycheck
For an old guitar pick
With a new song in my pocket
Don’t I feel like I’m rich
When my days are over
Tune my guitar up for me
Put pen and paper in my pocket
Then I’ll lay me down to sleep
© 1991 by Dennis Dougherty Thinking Dog Music
Breakdown and Cry
I’m glad you came to talk this over with me
You’ve always been a rock, a man of stability
But now that she’s left you, you feel like you just can’t go on
Big boys don’t cry, let me tell you, you’re wrong
You always feel cleaner after the rain
You gonna feel stronger after the pain
You might be defeated but don’t say goodbye
Tell her you love her, you need her
Breakdown and cry
The sorrow you’re feeling doesn’t show on your face
You’ve learned how to push it into a cold dark place
You’re keeping it bottled up tight like they told you, you should
If you don’t let it out, it’ll do you more damage than good
I’ve learned my lesson, Life can be lonely and long
The man who hides what he feels, he’s not so strong
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty Thinking Dog Music
What's a Father For?
When I was a boy of ten I did something wrong
I went through the closet and I found my father’s gun
My sister caught me playing, She said, “I’m gonna tell”
So I ran away from home, I knew that I’d catch hell
The world was awful big and so I didn’t go too far
I hid out in the treehouse right in my own backyard
When Daddy slammed the screen door, fear shot through my heart
I couldn’t keep from crying as I shivered in the dark
/well now you ain’t seen nothin’ till you seen my Dad
He has this trick of growin’ ten feet when he’s mad
I swear his eyes shoot fire and smoke pours from his ears
But as he started talking he wiped away my tears
Son, if you’ve got a problem I’m always here for you
You’ll feel a whole lot better if you talk it through
‘Cause I’ve got time to listen, I’ll never lock that door
And all can be forgiven, Hey what’s a father for?
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty Thinking Dog Music
Sweet Country Waltz
I’m driving late, way out of state
Down some lonesome road
Over the tires, scratch on the wire
Twin fiddles are playing low
I like the sound of a sweet country waltz
Played on the radio
I like the sound of a sweet country waltz
Yodel la de oh
My hand shoots out, no room for doubt
Turn her up far as she goes
Nothing’s so sweet as a three quarter beat
I’m singing all the way home
Fast rolling trains and high flying planes
They get you there fast as they can
But I’ll take the dust, the back roads and rust
Play me the slow one again
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty/Kathy Johnson Thinking Dog Music
Good Old Country Song
Two in the morning in a diner
John comes a-drifting off the road
He sits all alone at the counter
And stares at the Juke Box by the door
Sara says, “Can I help you?”
John says, “I don’t know, but you can try.
What do you do when you get lonesome?”
Sara gets that twinkle in her eye.
Give me a good old country song
Where the heartache really comes on strong
But the lovin’ just won’t go away
Give me a good old country song
The right one can last so long
I need to hear that song today
John drops two quarters in the Juke Box
Sara says, “Play B-24”
He smiles as his fingers punch the buttons
It’s just like a thousand times before
Sara turns the lights out in the diner
John tips his hat and holds her coat
She slips her arm around her husband
Sara and John are headed home
© copyright 1991 by Dennis Dougherty Thinking Dog Music