Mike McKenna Jr

America

Mike McKenna Jr

I stood on the wings of America
patched up and jaded and used
the comforting sound of your voice was all that i knew

from Belfast we sailed like a runaway
full steam with nothing to lose
I'd a stone in my heart and a rip in my sleeve
and it left me confused

and the skyscrapers looked like the photographs
like something I'd seen in my dreams
I've been writing to you as I toss in the dark blue sea..

when they landed our ship in America
we flooded the street with our rye (eyes..lol)
she's the pride of the navy and you're crazy if you pass her by

Oh I hope, I hope, I hope... hope they ain't lookin for me

I stood on the wings of America
just patched up and jaded and used
the comforting sound of your voice, was all that i knew

the day that I walked through the marketplace
there was hardly a cloud in the sky
but the moment I noticed your blue eyes I started to cry

Oh I hope, I hope, I hope... hope they ain't lookin for me

Starting again
with nothing but the shirt on my back and the chew in my tin
when our vessel sailed on, I was already long, long gone

As we wandered the streets of America
just patched up and jaded and used
the comforting sound of your voice, was all that I knew

Pacific Northwest Bound

Mike McKenna Jr

She's my darling
Pacific Northwest bound
she lives inside my mind
she's the one that tried to drown me

And I struggled
to get my head above the waves
but my darling pulled me under, she pulled me under
once again

I raised the topsail
Pacific Northwest bound
I'm on the brink again
with bottles all around me

Cannons blazing
wind whips against my face
but my darling pulled me under, she pulled me under
once again

Oh there's something so beautiful
oh there's something so beautiful
when you're laying next to me...

A copper sunrise
Pacific Northwest bound
I'm headed home again
beneath the redwood crown

With totems waiving
the eagles guide me in
but my lover pulled me under
she pulled me under once again

Ohhhh there's something so beautiful
ohhhh there's something so beautiful
when you're laying next to me...

The Wake

Mike McKenna Jr

On the day of the wake, I just wanted to stay
in my bed, because sometimes you do
I struggled to think, as I crawled to the sink
for a much needed drink, maybe two..

the music played low, and my pockets exploded with
change as I emptied my drawers
the telephone rang, your voice sounded strange
while I picked my pants up off the floor

it’s the only way I know to say goodbye…
it’s the only way I know to say goodbye...

I'd later regret, my last smokes got all wet
you put my hand up your dress to keep warm
the park bench was dry and our phones had long died
and my ticket was left crumbled n torn

We both caught a whiff, someone smokin' a spliff
as it started to drift down the line...
we waited so long, I guess my watch wrong
and we'd missed the last bus for a while

it’s the only way I know to say goodbye…
it’s the only way I know to say goodbye...

distances grown, we never pick up the phone
we just text, often days to reply
it took far too long, but I wrote you this song
to remember we still had good times

it’s the only way I know to say goodbye...
it’s the only way I know to say goodbye...

Hard To Say (But It Was Awful Timing)

Mike McKenna Jr

Stuck in a corner with myself
the doors were closed behind my head
Sat in my apartment getting well
hard to say but it was awful timing

Now you're on my mind
but only when the sun is shining
yea you're on my mind..

Should have kept you when I could
I was young and a little bit foolish
Didn't love you like I should
hard to say but it was awful timing

Now you're on my mind
but only when the sun is shining
yea you're on my mind...

My temper got the most I understand
why we didn't always see eye to eye
your elegance it spoke towards the way you lived your life
and someday I might

but now you're a martyr for my cause
I wish that you could see it from my eye
I shouldn't complain about my loss
hard to say but it was awful timing

now you’re on my mind
but only when the sun is shining
yea you’re on my mind...

The Shepherd

Mike McKenna Jr

I don't suppose you've seen my friend
He went walking by himself again
his shadow may have graced your step
He just wanted somewhere warm to sit

He comes back home
and I swear I'll never make you stay alone
I think it's time, to let bygones be bygones
and I'll leave the light on

I don't suppose ya seen my friend
He went walking in the woods again
and I know he may never be the same
I just want to know my friend again

He comes back home
and I swear I'll never make you stay alone
I think it's time, to let bygones be bygones
and I'll leave the light on

Well I don't suppose you've seen my friend?

Lost

Mike McKenna Jr

There's an old man and nobody knows him
When he comes to my window he's just skin and bones
Careless he wanders as the sun grows weary
He walks in the chilly velvet moonlight all alone

He seems so lost, lost, lost
But ever so peaceful
He seems so lost, lost, lost
Lost at sea

Burning fire, and a lonely beachside
stacking stones to fight the temper of the wind
so drunk he dances, on sea salt whiskey
it's like he knows, he knows his ship is coming in

He seems so lost, lost, lost
but ever so peaceful
he seems so lost, lost, lost
lost at sea

Then one day he saw her way out in the ocean
He was high on the waves and shining bright
There's nothing to live for with a love forgotten
So he just kept swimming, swimming, swimming
Till he was out of sight

He’s so lost, lost, lost
But ever so peaceful
He’s so lost, lost, lost
Lost at sea

Ye Witches

Mike McKenna Jr

Oh Butter oh butter come into my churn
Ye witches, yes witches why don't you run?
Here comes old Nattie with dog and switches
Get out of my house ye witches ye witches

Johnny oh Johnny oh do bring us your gun
lay the barrel in water, and soon she will come
if she borrows from you, then it soon shall be lifted
Get out of my house ye witches ye witches

Hovela hovela kavela streck
Es moriss a free, Is alles aveck
Hovela hovela kavela streck
Es moriss a free, Is alles aveck

At dusk a lone raven flew over our nest
two magnum bullets rang true through her chest
but the darkest I'd witness was her crawl to the ditches
Get out of my house ye witches ye witches

Oh the touch of the sun how it burns through my eyes
all the young and peculiar will soon have to die
no rest for the wicked, no blood and no riches
Get out of my town ye witches ye witches

Hovela hovela kavela streck
Es moriss a free, Is alles aveck
Hovela hovela kavela streck
Es moriss a free, Is alles aveck

Oh sister oh sister oh why do you run?
Ye witches, yes witches can't have all the fun
Here come old Nattie with dog and switches
Get out of my house ye witches ye witches

Hope the Angels Will Sing over My Lonely Bones

Mike McKenna Jr

I wake every morning with the sun in my eyes
find the temperament needed to be swallowed by night
And I'll be swinging my pick and pannin' for gold
I hope the angels will sing over my lonely bones

You kissed me so sweetly when the stampede left town
didn't take long to smell the wooden nickels around
But you’re my steadfast oak, you're the best of my friends
and I knew in my heart that I'd hold you again

Oh they say, ships await, and I'll come back a rich man someday
But now my blood is frozen through...
I could be writing my last words to you...baby know that..

After all this time diggin, my future looks bleak
For a year of supplies lasted just 34 weeks
and the mounties they said it's 'bout time we head home
but I'll be damned if came just to die here alone

Oh they say, ships await, and I'll come back a rich man someday
But now my blood is frozen through...
I could be writing my last words to you...baby know that..

as December rolls in and the light slips away
I feel the hair on my chin slowly turning to grey
but I'm quick to remember that you're waiting at home
gently stokin' the fire to warm my lonely bones

Spring, 1823

Mike McKenna Jr

Cold is my face from the wind
Tender my skin from the burn
Heavy is the weight on my back
Warm are my feet from the earth

and I heard the sky speak to me
From the clouds up above
She said the sun would keep me safe and warm
and she'll rain down with love

and I said ooh..
I'm gonna find my way home..

I wanna be with my people
and Im'a travel through the ice and snow
I wanna be with my people
and the stars tell me where to go

She said "the sea is my sister
and she watches over me
I spent too much time helping everything grow
and I miss my family”

She said well say hello
and I’ll visit someday soon
Then when the sun set I knew for sure
That she missed her people too

and long is the trail that I follow
and steep is the path that it climbs
and rocky is the fall of the unlucky
Who suffer from time to time to time to time...

and when the sun's coming up
I remembered my friend
For the sky must have watched me fall
Again and again and again and again...

Little Things

Mike McKenna Jr

When I was just a boy, my grandmother said to me
"Dear when I'm old and I lose my mind you need to take care of me" yea
Before she passed on, I was given one more day
I heard her voice again in my head and my thoughts drifted away

I feel it's been forever since, I had the pleasure of driving
at this point in my life, I miss the little things
Something being alone is good for the soul
More time for my mind, more time as I'm growing old

And someday I'll meet you there yea
Someday I'll meet you there yea
Someday I'll meet you there yea, whoa

I can see so clearly, my first memory
I'm in your lap in a rocking chair, cutting pears while we watch TV
You always watched over me, like I knew you would
When you barely recognized my face is the part I never understood

And someday I'll meet you there yea
Someday I'll meet you there yea, yea oh
Someday I'll meet you there yea, whoa

Yea well someday, someday, someday I'll meet you there yea
whoa someday...
Yea well someday, someday, someday I'll meet you there yea
whoa someday..mmm...

Die in the West

Mike McKenna Jr

I keep coming home just to see you my dear
My parents are old and their time's coming near
Well my pockets are rich and my back's getting poor
and I keep my chin high and my feet on the floor

It must've been some time since I last seen you
When you waved me goodbye from your living room
The company just paid my flight to come home
and a week off ain't much when you travel alone

and I said I knowww...
That our love can just never be
As long as I need Fort McMurray
Love you know how much I miss the sea
and the breeze on the Mira River
Oh the nights in Whale Cove were the best
and as long as there's work on the oil rigs my lover
I'll leave you my heart but I'll die in the west

Even out on the rigs I found Maritime charm
As I worked at the sides of my brothers in arms
Had the lads from the Rock and the Mainlanders too
When you're this far from home you connect by your roots

Well my grandfather spent half his life underground
and his lungs were so black that he may as well have drowned
and now I don't wish for my children to see
Their old man to look 50 when he's 33

and I said I knowww...
That our love can just never be
As long as I need Fort McMurray
Love you know how much I miss the sea
and the breeze on the Mira River
Oh the nights spent with you were the best
and as long as there's work on the oil rigs my lover
I'll leave you my heart but I'll die in the west

Baby I know that you love the East Coast
So I raise up my glass and I offer a toast
To our last visit before I go back
Just to bank up my money while the oil sands last

Oh you must tell my son where he'll bury me
In the soil of Cape Breton I'd much rather be
and I hope I can save enough money to rest
When the time comes to cross my arms over my chest