1. |
||||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
Every day that I go through
And every night 's the same thing too
Every day and every night I get the feeling
There's something I missed
Life for all its promise is one big tease
When I think about the way things ought to be
I say hey there goes another thing
That I'll never get
A dollar bill that' s worth more than a dime
A salesman that tells me just what I'm buying
A winning hand that turns up
Just when I get the urge to bet
A dollar jug of wine that really does the trick
A woman that don't work me like a carrot on a stick
Man there goes another thing
That I'll never get
They say good things come to those who wait
But I'm working on limited time
All I'm really shooting for is breaking even once in a while
A TV show that I’d like to see again
A radio that plays a song I can stand
A night on the town that doesn't strap me with the national debt
A Broadway show that leaves me calling for more
A movie that' s worth the price you pay at the door
Man there goes another thing I'll never get
They say good things come to those who wait
But tell me when do the goods arrive?
All I'm really shooting for is breaking even while I'm alive
A state trooper that looks the other way
A county judge who sees the world my way
A presidential race where the man really means what he says
A job that pays me just for being alive
A vacation that lasts until I'm 65
Man there goes another thing I'll never get
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
2. |
||||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
Five long days a week I work at one job or another
Saturday and Sunday I spend looking for another
Low pay, long hours
The story's the same all over this town
Listen here - One job's worse than the next
It takes two days of work to pay off one day of rent
When a man hits 30 he's 50 years in debt
Low pay, long hours
You get in so deep you can never climb out
I'm telling you people - One job's worse than the next
I don't mind working if I'm working with my mind
But as soon as you get to thinking, man you' re overqualified
Low pay, long hours
They'll show the door if you figure it all out
Tell the truth - One job's worse than the next
Five long days a week I work at one job or the other
40 hours of slaving and I can't stand another
Low pay, long hours
I try looking up but work keeps bringing me down
Spread the word - One job's worse than the next
Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
3. |
Don't Be Doin' Like I Do
03:58
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
Well that little baby of mine
She’s fine most of the time
But once in a while she gets where
she don’t buy my song
Starts asking questions like, “Where you been”,
“Where’d you meet her?” and
“How long has this thing been going on?”
Now I don’t mind curiosity
And I explain it all as best I can
But there are times when she don’t get the message
And I have to tell her all over again
I say, I spend my days at the racetrack
Evenings I keep appointments in the bars
In between I roam around the streets of this town
In a long black Cadillac car
If I’m out on the roam and late getting home
I wouldn’t let it bother you
Just do as I say, don’t be doin’ like I do
Now when I get home I wanna find you alone
Got no need for company round here
And if you’re heading downtown
Just keep your eyes to the ground
Don’t want no man pulling your ear
Well, it’s different for me, I’m a man of means
And I can’t afford to be rude
Just do as I say, don’t be doin’ like I do
It was late one evening
In the not too distant past
I wandered in late after business way ‘cross town
And being so late at night
I didn’t bother with the lights
I just came in and laid my weary head on down
Now there comes a time in every man’s life
When things are going so right
That you ought to stop…and take a good look around
See when I reach across the pillow
For a little tender loving care
My woman was nowhere to be found
Now it’s been six long weeks
And as many lonely nights
Since my baby packed her blanket and gone
It was hard for a while
But grieving’s not my style
Now I’m singing that same old song
Just the same if you’re looking
for a long-term woman
I’ve got some advice for you
Just do as I say boys, don’t be doin’ like I do
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
4. |
The Drinks Are On Me
06:17
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
I come from a long line of bar stool companions
Tell your story man have I got one for you
Life’s too short for silence
I may be right, I may be wrong
But no story ever fell on deaf ears
That had a bottle to help it along
I come from a long line of higher education
The higher I get the more my lesson gets learned
And now, now that she’d gone
I can stay out all night long
So tonight, the drinks are on me
Never mind the place is empty
Never mind the clock striking three
The sun rising over the city
It’s a sight you really ought to see
So fire up that jukebox
Mix the drinks up strong
She may not be here with me
But I still love that song
I come from a long line of late night walkers
Flashing neon is a siren to my soul
And at home the clock ticks like a gong
So I’ll stay out all night long
And say tonight, the drinks are on me
Bridge
I come from a long line of self-made men
Everything I got, brother I paid for in spades
I ain’t made out of money
But if I was I share the wealth
If a man’s honest with strangers
You can bet he’s honest with himself
I come from a long line of closet gamblers
Roulette wheel eyes and a crap shoot smile
And the years when winning was my style
They all come back to me for a little while
When I say tonight, the drinks are on me
And my real friends they never run away
And they smile, especially when I say
That tonight, the drinks are on me
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
5. |
Sixteen Tons
04:43
|
|||
(Words/music by Merle Travis)
|
||||
6. |
Connect With Me
04:27
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
Step out of line, we' re walking in for free
Step out of line, we' re walking in for free
If you' re looking for connections
Come on, connect with me
My mother was princess, my daddy was a wheel
I got a brother who works on Wall Street
The boy sure knows how to deal
Step out of line, we'll see the show for free
I got connections at the door
Come on, connect with me
I got a buddy who's in real estate
Now I don' t pay no rent
My neighbor he’s a diplomat
He drinks with the President
Scratch my back, baby
You’ll get the same from me
I'll make all the introductions
Come on, connect with me
I got an aunt who was a beauty queen
She was long, dark and slim
My uncle stars in Hollywood
And they say I look like him
Don't mind the cameras
Just walk on and say cheese
We'll make a front page splash
Come on, connect with me
Those wheels across the street
They look mighty fine to me
With you beside me darling we’ll ride like king and queen
It ain't my car but I think we can find the key
We'll joyride into the sunset
Come on, connect with me
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
7. |
Only Man In Leavenworth
03:53
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
I don't hear no trains
I mark time by the falling of the rain
I got no company except for the hand that feeds
The meal plate under my door
I ain't the last, ain't the first
But I'm the only man in Leavenworth
Floor of earth, walls of stone
A man lives as he dreams: all alone
The darkness of my days seems so far away
From the green, green grass of home
I know I ain't the first
But I'm the only man in Leavenworth
Every man must fall
The story's been scratched on these walls
The words that I read are the desperate pleas
Of the man put here before me
I ain't the last, ain't the first
But I'm the only man in Leavenworth
This whole world ain't what it seems
I try to sleep but I always dream
Of the day when these chains and the falling of the rain
Are put to rest with me in a deep dark grave
From death to birth
I'm the only man in Leavenworth
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
8. |
What I Learned from You
02:58
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
All the places that I've been to
Every room l walk through (2x)
There's always something that reminds me
Of all the things I learned from you
All my friends seem so foreign
All my memories fade from view (2x)
And the world turns so slowly
After what I learned from you
Every story ever written
Every book I learned in school (2x)
It all adds up to nothing
Next to what I learned from you
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
9. |
It Was You Who Changed
04:06
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
I was living clean once
I had my head on straight
But now I'm in the barrooms daily
Smoking three packs a day
I may look different now
But when all the arguments are through
I step back and look at myself
One thing I know is true:
It wasn't me who changed
Honey it was you
I once had loads of money
I walked the streets with pride
Now I'm ragged and lonely
People just walk on by
Now all my friends and relations
They all look away when I walk into the room
They nod their heads but I know they ain't believing
When I try to explain the truth
That it wasr1' t me who changed
Honey It was you
I used to roll straight sevens
With you by my side
Now my luck's gone south
Police are giving me the eye
That crystal ball was lying
When it said my life would be trouble-free
Now even that gypsy woman
Slams the door at the sight of me
But it wasn't me who changed
Honey it was you
I used to build for the future
I had our plans well-laid
But now the nest egg's gone
So is the promise you made
I was wrong about you
And for that I'm a damaged man
Deep inside I'm true to myself
But no one else seems to understand
That it wasn't me who changed
Honey it was you
The world may say I'm lying
That bitterness got the best of me
But when somebody does the same to you
Deep in your heart that day you'll see
That it wasn't me who changed
Honey it was you
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
10. |
Del Rio Stompin'
04:00
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
Don’t start her talking
She’ll wanna talk all night
Don’t start her crying
She’ll cry until the morning light
Refrain:
If I know my baby
She’s got no mind for stopping
‘Cuz at the bit she’s chomping
To go Del Rio Stompin with me
Don’t start her fighting
We’ll fight like cats’n dogs
Don’t start her thinking
She’ll sit like a bump on a log
Refrain
Don’t start her primming
She’ll stare at the mirror 'til dawn
Don’t start her drinking
She’ll drink like a fish in a pond
Refrain
© Last Warning Music. All Rights Reserved.
|
||||
11. |
I'd Rather Live Alone
04:51
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
It's not that I've been hurt
And hardened to stone
I've just seen enough of this world
To know I'd rather live alone
Makes a man weary, all these turns in the road
I'd rather live alone than be left out in the cold
Doorbell rings and I don't answer
My telephone's off the hook
I spend my evenings indoors
With records, TV and books
Makes a man evil, all these turns in the road
I’d rather live alone than be left out in the cold
The years go passing by
Like so many days of the week
I see an old familiar story
On every face I see
Makes a man crazy, all these turns in the road
I'd rather live alone than be left out in the cold
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
||||
12. |
Do It Myself
04:09
|
|||
(Words/music by P.Mark)
At the restaurant I order black-eyed peas
The waiter serves up a plate of pork and beans
Down at the laundry I drop off my fine silk suit
Give it to them red and it comes back blue
I've seen enough
Good help is so hard to find
Next time, I just as soon do it myself
At the car wash when I pick up my wheels
I find a brand new dent and the paint's all peeled
I told the barber to clip my wig just so
Now I've got to wear a hat where ever I go
I'm staying home
Can't trust nobody these days
Next time, I just as soon do it myself
I ask my baby real nice to go out to the store
"Be happy to darling," and she flew out the door
Three hours later with her arm’s loaded up
She says, "l got me a few things but I couldn't find your stuff"
I seen it coming
She's got a lot of nerve
Next time, l just as soon do it myself
My accountant took a fortune to balance my books
I should have known it'd be the year the tax man would look
That lawyer said he'd get me off for a fee
Now I'm pacing in the pokey doing one to three
I've seen enough
They just take your money and run
You want it done right?
You got to go and do it yourself
© Last Warning Music. All rights reserved.
|
Paul Mark & The Van Dorens New York, New York
Triple-threat songwriter-musician-producer Paul Mark has been mystifying critics and barflies for decades. With a striking lyrical edge and an encyclopedic facility with American roots music, NYC-based Paul Mark has built a top-drawer original song catalog that tugs on the ears of the literary as well as the liquidated. Mark is principal owner of Radiation Records. ... more
Contact Paul Mark & The Van Dorens
Streaming and Download help