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Signifying Nothing Lyric Book PDF
Unfurl My Soul Part I – Requiem
Unfurl My Soul Part II -- the Odyssey
Hidden Track 3 – Across Your Echo
Bonus Track: Kick Out the Jamz/Rock For Light
CD Credits
Joe Wilford: Vocals, Acoustic and
Electric Guitars, Piano, Keyboards, Bass, E-Bow, Mandolin.
Don Bear: Drums, Tambourine.
Duane Larson: Bass.
Tim Randall: Acoustic and Electric Guitars.
Produced by Joe Wilford
Mixed and Mastered by Joe Wilford
Recorded at ICE-Nine Studios, Linn and Johnson Counties, Iowa August
2002 – October 2005.
All Words and Music: Joe Wilford © 2005 ICE-Nine Music except tracks 10,
11, 15, 16, and 20.
Head Out: Lyrics- Duane Larson, Joe Wilford / Music- Duane Larson, Don
Bear and Joe Wilford.
Annette Clark-Triplett-Cello on tracks 3, 9 and 18. Violin on track 9.
Marty Letz-Steel Guitar on tracks 1, 7 and 11.
Pablo Unidos-Lead Guitar Solo on track 11. Pablo appears courtesy of
Groovy Times Records.
Inside cover photo: Michelle Johnson
Back cover photo: Jay Young / Classic Photography
www.classicphotocr.com
Management and Web Site Design: David Petersen
All selections BMI.
Here I am, just riding in my black pick-up truck
heading down the road hoping I’ll run into some luck
but I don’t know most likely I’ll just run right out of gas
‘cause over me a shadow has been cast
now you tell me you won’t be seeing me no more
you packed your bags and you’re headed out the door
you say you’re looking for something you ain’t found
I doubt you’ll find it in this dusty old town
Here I am, just a-wondering what the hell I’m gonna do
well first I lost my farm and now I’m losing you
I cannot say I blame you for all the things you feel
but somehow I got the short-end of the deal
and now I’m begging you, babe please don’t leave this way
you shake your head and tell me there’s nothing left to say
who will I talk to baby, when you’re not around
you are the only one I know In this dusty old town
Here I am, just a sitting with my stray dog and a case of beer
there’s really not much going on, there never is ‘round here
sometimes we take a ride up yonder to the canyon road
that dog ain’t never left, so I named him,”Alamo”
as I walk the fields I think about you still
I wish you’d come back but you probably never will
and I would tell you even if you came around
there’s no way I’m ever gonna leave this dusty old town
Like That
There were shots in the Jersey Night
It was J.D. bathed in the dim lamplight
Of a barren apartment over the dentists office and shoe store
A scrabble board lies on the trunk
And we were 3 notches past drunk
We laughed so hard and loud when I scored 23 points with “plowed”
You were my strength you kept me sane
From a life that threatened to be so plain
You were the best protection, using a magician-like misdirection
A diner on Route 22
The perfect place to write a song or two
On the back of a place-mat or even a napkin will do
There was Elvis, BBAC, The Big Book, Platinum Blonde
And I Died In Line At Bradley's
Not to mention Deli Trek or the Dan Tanna Show
And driving round till the sun in our rear-view mirror started to glow
Tom—You were like that
Nobody else was quite like that
Stubborn, passionate, uncompromising
Always saw your love for life within
Can’t believe I’ll never see you again
No memory can fill the void of a lost friend…
Well I’ve wasted all my time here
Tattered pages of this book ripped out and scattered on the floor
And I finally see the error of my ways
I should have backed across that threshold and simply closed the door
That’s why they say hindsight’s twenty-twenty
But that ain’t going to help this fire I’m in
Our conversations are steeped in history
The same mistakes just different versions of the story
And as we argue I sense you smell the victory
But you can’t see that long ago I stopped caring
I should’ve stayed away
I should’ve stayed away
Love fades away…
I was naïve and young had gasoline in place of blood
And just a glance from you was all the spark I needed
As the vapor of our love burned off diluted into silken mud
Damned in a field of passion, never seeded
And there was you and me was it just illusion or really love?
The pictures paint a peculiar portrait
Are we just that naive or are we blind
to the moment of…
When all hope is lost
and all seems darkness
there comes a new light
“Yes this is what I need,”
The dark night of the soul
comes just before revelation
Unfurl My Soul Part I--Requiem
(Instrumental)
In the town that I grew up in
there was this girl I knew next door
her name was Eileen May Frances Winfield
I called her Ellie just for short
ever since I can remember
we were as close as kids could be
we fished for bull-heads at the culvert
she even climbed that big oak tree
I used to say “Hey Ellie May, won’t you come on out to play
I need you just to hold my hand and tell me stories all day long
hey Ellie May, I’ll just wait out here all day
until you come on out and run with me down through the trees”
Now she was a little older
a little smarter just the same
she used to quote me lines from Shakespeare
while I read aloud Mark Twain
and we savored all the good times
we stuck it out through all the bad
and through the early years of my youth
she was the only friend I had
I used to say “Hey Ellie May, won’t you come on out to play
I need you just to hold my hand and tell me stories all day long
hey Ellie May, I’ll just wait out here all day
until you come on out and run with me down through the trees”
Now around the time I went to high school
Ellie’s family moved out of town
and though we wrote each other every single day
I never, never felt so down
One day the letters stopped coming
and some of mine came back returned
so I took all those of hers that I saved
put them in the fire and watched them burn
How can time ruin friendships?
How can distance play a part?
How can fate be the dull blade that severs the ties
that bind our lonely hearts?
Why do children have to grow old?
Why do old friends always change?
How can something that once meant so much
mean less than anything?
My Daddy was a farmer outside a Midwest town
My backyard stretched as far as I could see
I remember walking barefoot down that old dirt road
I had a burning curiosity
‘Cause the dirt met with asphalt and concrete
Thick yellow lines, well they cut it in two
Big trucks rolled by and sent the dust rolling
This boy began to wonder where they were going
Down 218
My oldest brother Bobby- he used to take me riding
He had a ’67 Chevrolet
He used to drive so fast, my Father would get so mad
He swore to take ol’ Bobby’s keys away
One night I woke up ‘cause I heard ma was crying
She cried out that her baby was gone
Bobby sped through the night down some old lonesome highway
A truck had swerved and the two hit head on
On 218
Well I’m older now and just out of high school
I look back on how my life has changed
I see these folks around me, and I respect their ways
Still I wonder if I’ll end up just the same
I’m proud of my home and my family
But I’m like a wheel that has just started rolling
Maybe I’m just looking for a little a little adventure
‘Cause when the sun comes up I guess I’ll be going…
Down 218
w/out the Sin
Into the wind my hair was blowin’
as I walked straight down that road
I didn’t even turn around to see if you were watchin’
I just couldn’t bear to stop and look
if I was crying, the rain was hidin’ it
if I felt hurt, the cold was numbing it
if I only had a single dollar in my pocket
I would find a warm place to stay
Oh baby how you make me wonder
what is love without the sin
sweet child of the devil’s thunder
your lightning strikes me down again
I’m on my way- now don’t you try and stop me
I’ve just got to make a break this time
well you entice me here and you seduce me there
with your story-telling candle lit eyes
it’s as I stagger down onto the open highway
that I understand it wasn’t real
you’re just a lonely spirit in a world of confusion
looking for a lost soul to steal
Oh baby how you make me wonder
what is love without the sin
sweet child of the devil’s thunder
you will haunt me once again
There she stood in the doorway
a scarlet, black and silver robe ‘round her
at first I thought it was just the drug
but she shook her head no
Then she reached out her hand and she led me away
oh but I had so much left to do, I had so much to say
and if you’re callin’ me no I won’t be home
and if you’re callin’ me no I can’t come home
cause I - yes I’ve seen your face before
oh I - I know you’re the angel at the door
There I lay in the jungle heat
amidst the flies and the stench of death
I was bleeding hard yet still alive
Heard a faint whisper-her icy breath
She said now you’re gonna be just fine
though soon I’ll come back again
and you can light your candles and bolt your door
but I’m just gonna walk right in
and if you’re callin’ me no I won’t be home
and if you’re callin’ me no I can’t come home
oh cause I - yes I’ve seen your face before
oh I - I know you’re the angel at the door
Head out—like a pioneer
Don’t you wish there was still a frontier here
Burnt out—on the old routine
Don’t want to see what I’ve already seen
Went out—once or twice before
Came back a little more wise, but a lot less sure
And I’m heading out again
Head out—but which way to go
My mind’s too fast and my head’s way to slow
Thrown out—by my own design
Don’t think I’ll know till I’ve made up my mind
Wiped out—over-thinking it
Second guess is another chance to quit
Head out—gotta do it quick
Hanging out there like a carrot on a stick
Passed out—in a corner trapped
Can’t find my way out till I find a map
Worn out—like a passing fad
Feel older than old and sadder than sad
(Lyrics and Music --Neil Young)
Tragedy
There were movie posters all over your room
They’re still on the wall
But the Theatre programs, Hawaiian shirts and TV Guides
They’re in boxes down the hall
Shouldn’t be left here
Should’ve been gone
Shouldn’t be kept here
With an unfinished song
Think of all of the people
Saying God why me?
Staring into the face of
Tragedy
Creating brilliance from the bits and pieces
Of the broken rules and tattered style
Using channeled aggravation
And some misplaced indignation
You made it all worthwhile
Should’ve been left here
Should’ve been gone
Should’ve been kept here
To harmonize this song
I try to find a good reason
What good would that do
Should’ve been left here
Somebody like you
Flyers litter the streets; the photographs and descriptions
Wind has set them free
The hope is gone if it ever even existed
Crumbled like brittle leaves
Should’ve been left here
Should’ve been gone
You should’ve been kept here
To finish this song
I think of all of the wonder
You never lived to see
On my shoulder I feel it
Tragedy
Head down in the pouring rain
Head down on the blackest day
Unfurl My Soul Part II--The Odyssey
As I lay dying- descending into hell
I can hear them building the box
driving in the nails…
You cannot bathe me of my sins-oh no
A matter of words just the same- salvation too
Don’t try to save me - you can only forestall what must be
Life is preparing to stay dead
no shining light to see
Unfurl my soul…
(Spoken -- from William Faulkner's 'As I Lay Dying')
I cannot love my mother- my mother is no more
death a constant familiar- life its sullen core
She cannot be if she is was- oh no
her eyes like two flames just blown out
and I said, “ Jewel, your mother is dead”
The odyssey continues
her only wish to be fulfilled
their motives are in question here
despite what she has willed
Unfurl my soul…
(Instrumental--Sample: Hound Dog Taylor's 'Give Me Back My Wig.')
(Lyrics and Music--Johnny Cash)
Hidden Track 3--Across Your Echo
I’ll take off see me
Faders down on it
I finally read up I would
Across your echo
I’d say some swan he made
That horrible racket
Na na na na na na
I must repair the stripper said
Her disgrace is mine
To skate is gain
Shout – hey
Na na na na na na
To be swayed
See it
Friends, yeah
(solo)
Way bad leaves
Her throne for me
Serve her up on the board
And I will ask myself
Na na na na na na na
Steady
Fade away
Throw it away
And when you want
A lot of love
Friends don’t cure
And I ain’t blind
If you want to know
I all of sudden blood
Dance once, Jesus
Sober up on the flood
And I will dance myself
Stay away
Keep it
Oh yeah
Bonus Track: Kick Out the Jamz/Rock For Light
(Words and Music: MC5 / Words and Music: Bad Brains)
