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Gary W. Nichols
Singer/songwriter
Breathing On Her Own
Left her boots on the beach.
Walked down for a swim.
Wondering all the while
what she ever saw in him.
The water licked her wounds
with salty, burning tongues.
Soft sweet evening breeze
filled up her tired lungs
and she could breathe.
Started breathing on her own again.
Forever ago
and only yesterday
every word he whispered
took her breath away.
She'd fall into his arms,
like falling into space.
Hold her breath so tight
she'd disappear without a trace
forget to breathe.
Now all she really needs-
Is open air,
the wind in her hair,
driving off to nowhere at all.
Too deep in-
she's starting over again.
Time to go over the wall.
Right now she's better off alone.
She's breathing on her own.
Room two-seventeen.
Wake-up call at one.
Another thirteen hours
chasing down the sun.
In the dusty desert light,
mountains to the west,
she'll take a thousand miles of highway-
you can keep the rest
just let her breathe.
Let her breathe on her own again.
Open air
the wind in her hair,
driving off to nowhere at all.
Too deep in-
she's starting over again.
Time to go over the wall.
Right now she's better off alone.
She's breathing on her own...
Paul and Rita
Paul and Rita had about ten acres.
It was all good blackland bottom.
Cotton was king but some years it seemed
like God forgot 'em.
But the river would flood
and bring the good rich mud
and right back to cotton they'd go.
Sit on the porch at the end of the day
a cup of cold black coffee and Rita would say,
"Where in the world did the time go?
How'd the trees get to be so tall?
Wasn't yesterday summer?
Is it really already fall?
I can feel the winter creepin' in the holler.
Did you hear ol' bobwhite call?
Where in the world did the time go, Paul?"
Raised five kids put four through college
only one went bad.
Little lost lamb by the name of Sam
nearly cost them everything they had.
The river ran down 'til it was muddy and brown.
The cottonfields finally played out.
Evenings they'd watch the fireflies play
and Rita would turn to Paul and say,
"Where in the world did the time go?
How'd the kids get to be so tall?
Yesterday they would run and play
and I guess I thought that they'd stay small.
I can feel the winter deep in my bones
did you hear ol' bobwhite call?
Where in the world did the time go, Paul?"
She soothes the wrinkles out of the lap of her apron.
Gets a faraway look in her steel gray eyes.
She says, "Ain't it funny no matter when the season changes, it always seems to take you by surprise?"
Paul passed on left Rita alone to watch
the trees break down and fall.
Still got her mind, but she's 'bout half blind
and she's slowed down to a crawl.
The river run dry like a tearless eye
the kids are grown and moved away.
But she still gets around to where they laid him down,
she still has the strength to say,
"Where in the world did the time go? I got some
memories and that's about all. Even the brightest
yesterdays are getting hard to recall.
We used to run in the summer sun
but we finally hit a wall.
Where in the world did the time go, Paul?"
Out On The Prairie
Out on the prairie
You can ride for a while
You can own your ownself
You can pay with a smile
You can prance with the pronghorns
Dancewith the snakes
Hold the wind in your arms feels good, goodness sakes.
And the skies are not cloudy
And the sun is all shine
The cowboys are rowdy
All the cowgirls are mine.
Out on the prairie
You can’t help feeling fine.
The air tastes like copper
And the water’s so wet
Better than whiskey
It’s good as it gets
And there’s badgers for breakfast
There’s lizards for lunch
Grounds in your coffee
Just give ‘em a crunch
When the sun hides her face in
The steel overcast
And the funnels are forming
The dust races past…
Out on the prairie
Better ride fast.
Time is a stallion he’s rearin’ to go
A hot-blooded heartbreaker never goes slow
And he paces and stamps and snorts
In the stall
He don’t stop to blow
Won’t come when you call…
You can see past forever
On the prairie at night
It’s a quarter past never
When they turn out the lights
And stars wink like gypsies
And the wind stops and sighs
The moon only laughs
While coyote cries
And Venus is blushing she
Stands in the wings
Get out your fiddle
Tune all four strings!
Out on the prairie-
Everything sings!