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Humming My Way Back Home

by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers

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1.
Humming My Way Back Home 03:48
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Stand by the window and raise it wide Open your ear for a song I’m turning the corner and coming inside Weary but never so strong I’m humming my way back home Humming my way back home to you Humming my way back home To rest with you, as night rolls through Living is longings and lessons half-learned Our words tangle up in a knot Let’s forget what we’ve given, forget what we’ve earned Give thanks for the love that we’ve got Chorus Winter is coming, the leaves blow down Daylight is slipping away Stoke up the fire and gather around There’s no place where I’d rather stay Chorus To rest with you
2.
Only the Soul 03:53
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Words and music by Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers Lean a little closer Let the signals fade Dig a little deeper In this life we’ve made All the shiny little figures Are dancing on a screen Every finger is twitching On a shiny new machine Chorus Only the soul knows Way down, way down Easy little answers With the easy clicks Easy little candy For a midnight fix All the shiny little wrappers Are lying in a heap Still the hunger is calling And will not let me sleep Chorus Tell me what you picture When the screen goes gray Tell me what you think of When there’s nothing to say Feel the swaying of the rhythm When the noises start to fade Steal the tiny little secret Lying in the cooling shade Chorus
3.
My Life Doesn't Rhyme 04:07
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Searching for chords that’ll turn like a wheel As I try to interpret the way that I feel Wishing for words that’ll glimmer like pearls No, I never stop hoping to impress all the girls Too ancient for Idol, too young to expire Here’s why this songwriter does not retire My life doesn’t rhyme so I pick and I choose I leave out the black and I sing you the blues For artistic license I’m paying my dues With every step of the way I’m mining for meaning, spelunking for sound The headlamp is beaming, it’s dark all around I’ll take something clever if nothing’s profound And call it a fairly good day You know heartache and quiet desperation Are hanging around every bend But a song with a rhyme can turn on a dime And carry me home again My life doesn’t rhyme and the world is off key But here in my song all the voices agree And sweet resolution is just up to me I like it much better this way ’Cause heartache and quiet desperation Are a songwriter’s very best friend But a song with a rhyme and a good sense of time Will carry you through to the end So I’ll mix all these metaphors and hope for the best Reach for the feeling down deep in my chest Thank you for listening to what I’ve confessed In my sinner songwriterly way
4.
American Dream 04:27
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When you’re out on the road Driving alone With the rising moon A sliver of bone The desert hills fade to black And you’re not sure If you’ll go back at all To what you knew Whatever lies ahead Whatever falls behind Whatever matters here Is on the line In this American dream When you’re out on the road Leaving no trace Just a motel key A smile with no face At every town you read the sign But nothing pulls you From that line It’s all you know Chorus Listen: the roar of the windows And scanning for stations The radio preaches approaching salvation The all-night café with the coffee eternal The trucks breathe like dragons Their eyes fired with diesel When you’re out on the road Driving alone With the rising moon A sliver of bone You never give, you only take And I’m not sure You’ll ever wake at all From this American dream
5.
Leap of Faith 03:22
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I won’t say any more But hold out my hand No promises or speeches On the edge of the land We make this leap of faith And watch the headlands fade Floating through the deepest bowl of night We are sailing away By the light of the moon I don’t know where we are going But we’ll be there soon I won’t say any more But hold out my hand To feel a new life beating Toward his first day on land We ride the rising wind And bundle from the cold Opening our future to the sky Chorus I won’t say any more But watch for the sun We’re thinking of beginnings But the voyage has begun
6.
Fly 03:01
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Fly away Drop what you’re doing Gray skies will soon be bluing No doubt am I entertaining No reason for explaining Been too much anticipating Fed up with contemplating No more will I be waiting ‘Cause we’ve got Stones on our shoulders and steps to climb We’re losing our breath in the crush of time Gather the weight and the questions on your mind And leave it all behind Fly away Stop with the teasing I got a bag of reasons No way can I be going No matter how it’s blowing Been too long, too much dealing Today I got a feeling This moment is for stealing ‘Cause we’ve got Stones on our shoulders and steps to climb We’re losing our breath in the crush of time Gather the weight and the worries on your mind And leave it all behind Repeat verse 1 No doubt and no reason No waiting, no teasing No talk and no secret Just spread your wings and fly Fly
7.
One More Waltz 02:56
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He stands at the top of the stairs With the bannister shadow across his shoes The memories hang in the air Of the eggshell brown on her shoulder And the smell of her skin All the heat rushes in Through the wall once again Her touch on the nape of his neck And the skim of her thigh on a pillow And her deepening sigh Remembering this Who can resist One more waltz with the memory? One more waltz He watches the thickening dark Through the flutter of moths on the old window pane Deep in his chest there’s a spark Then a blaze of regret At a parting without a goodbye All the years for a lie Digging in, running dry Her words like a blade on his neck And the richochet cries in the doorway And the tears in her eyes Remembering this Who can resist One more waltz with the memory? One more waltz
8.
Dog for a Day 03:49
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I’m rushing off into the morning Eyes hanging down Waiting for the coffee to slap me around I hear a thumping on the sidewalk And look up to see a dog face smile I’m off to work as he naps for a while And then I’m planning a career or I’m planning for play Planning for a mortgage on some distant day You know I’m planning for a kid and for dinner Planning to plan no more When I hear paws scratching at the door Chorus If I could shed my skin Alter the shape I’m in Fill out with fur and grow a long tail If I could be that way I would be a happy man A dog for a day I’d scare a squirrel to a treetop And mangle your shoes Chase a stick into the water or simply refuse I’d bark my head off if I wanted Whenever I heard the siren call Or I would sleep, contented, through it all Chorus So I am stuck inside my body And with my two feet But there are human consolations here In the front seat No, I never have a collar or dog chow And I’m allowed on the bed But I wonder what my life would be instead Chorus
9.
Wasting Time No More 05:18
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It’s a small town in her mind With such a big road screaming by She can taste the fumes, the destination Watching the sun sink in the hill Above the dust-clogged windowsill The dark removes her hesitation Soon it will be alright She’s wasting time no more All the hush and the heat Of a dream going down He’s such a big man in her mind With such a small view of the sky The horizon shrunk in black sunglasses She’d been a young girl on his arm As if the world could hold no harm Where they lay alone in prairie grasses Soon it will be alright She’s wasting time no more All the pain and the parch Of a dream going down Going down He finds the screen door flapping wide Without a light left on inside Where the radio speaks, no one listens While on the freeway she drives on Her reservations all but gone In the blasting wind, the firing pistons Soon it will be alright She’s wasting time no more All the rage and the rush Of a dream going down She’s on her way, any way So long, so long, so long
10.
Sister 04:47
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I have a little sister But we never got to play She said hello and said goodbye The very same day Daddy was so quiet Mommy cried and cried Grandma took me to the park My parents stayed inside I have a little sister I saw her foot slide far Across my mommy’s belly Like a shooting star I painted her some pictures Of a rainbow on the bay My sister took them with her When she went away People see my family My brother and me They say that we have two kids But I know we have three I have a little sister This year she will be two I like to think of all the things She and I could do We’d strum the ukulele And race the wooden cars And when she grew up big enough I’d teach her monkey bars People see my family My brother and me They say that we have two kids But I know we have three I have a little sister She’s somewhere up above I send her secret wishes And messages of love She plays with every sister And brother who is there On a rainbow-colored playground Floating through the air I have a little sister And though it makes me sad I like to do my puzzles And wrestle with my dad My brother does this wiggle He dances like a clown Sometimes I don’t mind it when He follows me around We are all a family Branches on a tree My sister is my sister And she will always be
11.
Traveling Song 03:54
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An afternoon with my legs stretched on the grass My head leans back and lets the hours pass Oh there’s a child in aimless wander Lifting flowers from the grass The child moves on, the sun sinks in my clothes A song appears, I hum it as it grows Oh if the wind swept up around me I would tumble where it chose And sing of Travels where my past is tied and hugging on my back Travels stepping on and off the track Travels where the winter’s dust is shaken from my shoes Travels always leading home to you Today the beach, the ocean holds my eyes The waves erase my footsteps as others rise Oh, if a wave swept up around me I would float without surprise And sing of Chorus The months pass by, your touch is far away The song grows sad, I miss you every day Oh, but another day approaches Reunion rolls in like a wave So I sing of Chorus
12.
Bones 03:42
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Shin bone connected to the thigh bone Thigh bone connected to the hip bone Hip bone connected to the trombone Yeah Round bone in your head Thin bone in your feet He bone jumping she bone in the sheet Choose your way You can chart your course in the day to day Skip your future like a stone You are free Let it comfort you like it comforts me But watch out for them bones Time bone connected to the peace bone Peace bone connected to the soul bone Soul bone connected to the bone bone Yeah Old bone in the ground Young bone on the wing Dream bone dreaming winter into spring Chorus Work bone connected to the cash bone Cash bone connected to the stuff bone Stuff bone connected to the stuff bone Yeah Need bone in your arm Want bone in your sleeve Wish bone telling which bone to believe Chorus
13.
Prayer 05:28
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He leaves the TV on in another room The blue light flickers On the dusty picture of the bride and groom She drops her suitcase down with a hazy smile And he stands there weighing What he’s not been saying for a long while From the dawn to dusk is an uphill slog When the sleep is falling All the doubts come crawling through the heavy fog If he could find the words Lay ’em down right there If he could clear his voice He might have a prayer He pours another glass; she reads a magazine The remote is clicking But there’s nothing sticking on the TV screen They’re laying back to side in a chilly bed All the anger welling But there’s just no telling what is in his head In a game of chance, he is down by law He will soon be folding And he’s always holding on the shortest straw If he could find the words Lay ’em down right there If he could clear his voice He might have a prayer In the headlong rush of the day to day It’s a way of being Keeps our eyes from seeing any other way All the shock and awe and the shameless lies The big suits figure With their hand on the trigger we won’t realize They are making off with quite a haul But there’s no point stopping All our bargain shopping at the mega mall If we can find the words Lay ’em down right here If we can raise our voice We might have a prayer
14.
Here 02:47
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Hand A hand Gentle touch of a hand I am reaching Face A face Open eyes on a face I am seeking In a glimmer of light In the eye of a storm I am here You are here Hand A hand On a silvery string I am playing Voice A voice On a delicate wing I am praying In a glimmer of light On the cusp of a dream I am here You are here Way A way We are dreaming a way Through the tangle Chance There’s a chance If we turn To a different angle At the end of the day This is all I can say I am here You are here We are here

about

Featuring "Fly," grand prize winner in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. "Folk music with a serrated edge."--Andy Ellis

credits

released January 25, 2008

JPR: vocals, acoustic guitars, bass, cajón, Strumstick, tenor banjo, frame drum, snare, and the percussion bag o’ tricks
Dru Rodgers: tenor ukulele, eight-string baritone ukulele, backing vocals
Hanna Richardson: backing vocals
Jesse Collins: saxophone
Lisa Gentile: duet and backing vocals
Joe Cleveland: five-string banjo
Linda Stout: backing vocals
Lila Rodgers: violin
David Hamburger: slide guitar
Phil Robertson: drums

Mixed and mastered by Jocko at More Sound, Syracuse, NY

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Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers Syracuse, New York

John Lennon Songwriting Contest grand prize winner and founding editor of Acoustic Guitar magazine.

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