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 saw 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 live 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, 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 ax

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 oal

you're the best of my friends

and I knew in my heart

that I'd hold you again

Oh they say, it's far away..

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 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, it's far away..

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 our 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

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