The Last Chore
 
Lyrics

C-Sharp Charlie

This dobro instrumental was inspired by my friend Charlie Sohmer, a warm, engaging song writer, performer and story teller who I have known for over thirty years. We work together regularly in the acoustic quintet "Hurry Up and Wait". Charlie has provided helpful critiques on many of my new songs...always encouraging me to take out extraneous words. He once suggested (not entirely facetiously) that I take all the verbs out of one song! Well, I did more than that on this one...I took out all the words!

The Last Chore

This song is dedicated to those in Canada and the States who immigrated with high hopes and false promises. And to the disillusioned farmers of today whose children adopt the city and abandon the skills nurtured over generations. And Waylan D. I. Mutzfeld (my grandfather). You'll never guess what the "D. I"" stands for! Hollis

For five and twenty years, this rocky land I've sown
For every bitter harvest, just one more reason gone
I planted this fine cherry tree the day my son was born
The tree grew strong and steady, but now my boy is gone

For a season maybe two he would fight those damn Yankees
But we learned his fate so cruel at the flailing of the sheaves
His mother's heart was shattered as she grieved upon his death
She lay beneath this cherry tree and drew her final breath

As cherry blossom perfume
Twines with the morning dew
This rope across the highest branch
Is fastened strong and true
Cherry blossoms fill the air
As this task I do pursue
To join you on the other side
Is the last chore I will do

Four black stallion horses pull hard against the reins
With silver studded harness purple ribbons in their manes
The undertaker's carriage has curtains all around
To hide the load he carries to the buryin' ground

He stops beside my garden, his task is near complete
He lays me in my coffin and cradles me to sleep

As cherry blossom perfume
Twined with the morning dew
That rope across the highest branch
Was fastened strong and true
Cherry blossoms filled the air
As my task I did pursue
To join you on the other side
Was the last chore I would do

Fair Tender Ladies

This traditional ballad dates back to the 16th century in the British Isles. By the late 17th century it had taken root all over the Appalachians. It evolved many shapes and sizes over the years as isolated mountain communities developed their own unique versions. When I met Hollis he knew a completely different version from mine; so we compromised and did it my way. Kate

Come all ye fair and tender ladies
Take a warning how you court your men
They're like a star on a summer's morning
The first appear and then they're gone

They'll tell to you some lovin' story
Then declare they love you well
And away they'll go to court some other
And leave you here in grief to dwell

I wish to god I'd never seen him
Or in my cradle I'd have died
To think a fair and tender lady
Was once in love and then denied

I wish I was some little sparrow
One of those that flies so high
I'd fly away to my false lover
And when he'd speak I would deny

Love is handsome love is charming
Love is beauty while it's new
Loves grows old love grows colder
It fades away like morning dew

Never Say Die

It seems so many of my friends have been struggling with serious illness lately. I wrote this in honour of the courage they show in desperate times. Also, in honour of the rural community spirit that always picks up the slack where institutions fail. This is dedicated to my friend Susan Bowes. I hope she can still hear this song. Hollis

I see despite your best laid plans..you were a dealt a losing hand
And though tempted to throw it in, you'll play it out to the bitter end
Don't let the dealer analyze you..petrify or terrorize you.
Stare him down, play your cards. Sometimes a bluff is good enough.
The game continues win or lose. Only you will know the roose
Raise the bet as others fold. Your losing hand may yet win gold.

Never give up, don't back down, never say die
Never give up, don't back down, never say die
Never give up, don't back down, never say die

Each year you harvest what you sow but for the first time you must let it go
Too ill, too weary, for the toil you watch the rain soak your untilled soil
Don't let the banker amortize you quantify or digitize you
Hold your ground take a stand, buy some time, help is at hand
Lift your heart and don't despair all your friends are gathering here
We have laid our own burdens down to help you seed this fallow ground

Never give up, don't back down, never say die
Never give up, don't back down, never say die
Never give up, don't back down, never say die

The following verse was cut from the recording. but here it is as originally written.

Life is easy when your glass if full. Toast the good times. Buy rounds for all.
But when down to your final ounce, what exactly should you announce.
Don't let the barman patronize you, mollify or tranquillize you
Toss it back and call for more. Another round's your just reward
Tell a story recite a rhyme. One of us will pay this time
Cheer the band, request a song, one we all can sing along.

Got Boots

I've got...you've got..she's got! What ever happened to I have...you have...he has! It seems to me contractions are supposed to shorten a phrase, not lengthen it. Okay, so I'm a language snob...but a bitter defeated one! I resign in the face of an evolving English language. The British Council Teaching Centre now teaches both usages as correct. Power to the people. Hollis

Got boots that fit like moccasins
Got a hat that stays on in the wind
Got you... through thick and thin
You’re the one that broke me in
Got eyes that show I'm still amazed
Got a heart with strings for you to play
Got you... the rest of my days
You I can’t replace

Never had a trophy case or put things on display
What I had got all used up then cast away
But you taught me things I had never learned
Find the best; treat her well; give love and it returns

Got friends all over town
Got a six string that makes the sweetest sound
Got you... you never let me down
You I build my life around
Got kids…that always make me proud
Got a good job to pay the mortgage down
Got you... to chase away my frown
You're the best I ever found

Sometimes An Angel

I often wonder what gives you the right words for a friend in need. Or what gives you the courage to do something out of the ordinary to help a stranger. Why do people risk their lives to save others without thinking? Maybe angels use our bodies to transmit these good deeds to others. Who knows? Kate

Sometimes an angel might visit your soul
Sometimes you do things that you’ve never known
Sometimes a feeling knocks on your door
You find yourself helping a complete unknown

Sometimes a moment had help from above
To give those in need a guided gentle nudge

Sometimes a whisper is like the shifting sand
A moment caught your eye and guided your hand
Visiting angels come borrow our souls
To offer others a renewal of their goals

Sometimes a moment had help from above
To give those in need a guided gentle nudge

Swing The Hammer

Another dobro solo? What can I say, on the next CD I'll probably have two banjo solos, so don't complain too much! In concert Kate fills this piece in with guitar but she and Al Bragg (our co-producer) convinced me this would stand up as a solo. We all love the sound my Beard model "R" has on this track and the rhythm tracks just covered up the richness. But Lordy, I hate being naked on stage. Hope you enjoy it. Hollis

All Around You

This is dedicated to those now going through a mid-life crisis. Egad! I wrote this during a time of self-reflection. I had come to a crossroads in my life and was reassessing my goals and aspirations. Then Hollis came along and I forgot all about that deep stuff. Oh joy! Kate

The road is yours, and it's a long one
You feel you're fly'n and nothin can go wrong

You followed your dreams, you were led astray
You can't understand why they leave you this way

All around you, life's a play
You read your lines and you act a certain way

You gotta be strong, now don't delay
Just remember your lines it'll get you there some day.

The path is yours, It's not a straight one
You fly through the turns you're runnin' from the gun

So take your coat, Cause it might rain
But you know the sun she'll shine again someday

Campin'

The nice thing about camping is how disconnected I become from phones, email, bosses, neighbours, or whatever else is bugging me at the time. Only then can I absorb the rhythm of the woods, wind and water. After a few days I return exhausted in body and refreshed in spirit. This song talks about a real place you'll never find without a guide! The guitar instrumental is meant to invoke the rhythm of rapids on the river. Hollis

There's a place of mine up the Opeongo Line
A well worn track is the only sign of the
Sweetest camping spot; it's my Camelot.

I'm going campin'. Don't need to take a lot.
Pack my bag, grab my tent, bring my bathin' suit or not.
Goin' up on the mountain above this city crime.
I'm so glad it's the weekend; so glad it's summertime.
on't you come a-long, we'll be there by dawn.
Watch the sun- rise on the Madawaska River.
I have found the river sound
Slows me down

Mmm…hmmm. Mmm…hmmm.

Don't bring a phone. Don't bring your stereo.
Don't bring work that you can postpone. Just leave it all at home.
But bring some food of your own; maybe a little wine, (oh yea) any snacks you can find

I'm going campin'. Don't need to take a lot.
Pack my bag, grab my tent, bring my bathin' suit or not.
Goin' up on the mountain above this city crime.
I'm so glad it's the weekend; so glad it's summertime. Won't you come with me, I will guarantee
It's a sight to see, the Madawaska River
You will find your sense of time
Slows way down

Music Man

Oh to be 24 again...but not so naive. I had become very good friends with a musician and one of us fell in love...guess who! My heart broke when he moved away and married another woman. Sigh. Kate

So you're on your way to the bright light city
To the woman you love and made your wife
And I have no right to say
How you've made my days
A little bit brighter like the spring water running
To the tune of a summertime rhythm
You're a music man, a guitar in hand

And your words played through my hair
Like a breath of spring air
And I guess I have to say it's true
That I fell in love with you.

Well I write this song in the memory of you
As we walked hand in hand
Along the shores of another land
How we made a stand
We met as two rivers to flow and meet
And part with each wave
Toss'n bout talk of the future and the past
And how we could make it last

And your words played through my hair
Like a breath of spring air
And I guess I have to say it's true
That I fell in love with you.

So you're on your way to the bright light city
To the woman you love and made your wife
And I have no right to say
How you've made my days
A little bit brighter like the spring water running
To the tune of a summertime rhythm
You're a music man, a guitar in hand

And your words played through my hair
Like a breath of spring air
And I guess I have to say it's true
That I fell in love with you.
And I'm sad it's time to say goodbye
To a very good friend of mine.

Wayfaring Stranger

This traditional spiritual has many variations but all have a IV / III modulation from the major key to the relative minor somewhere in the arrangement. Ours has it near the end of the chorus and we inserted the same figure at the end of the last verse. It allows some compelling harmony. I have been singing this version accompanied on guitar since I was fifteen. When I added the dobro a few years ago it came alive again for me. Hollis

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
While traveling through this world of woe
Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright world to which I go

I'm going there to see my father
I'm going there no more to roam
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I know dark clouds will gather 'round me
I know my way is rough and steep
Yet beauteous fields lie just before me
Where God’s redeemed their vigils keep

I'm going there to see my mother
She said she'd meet me when I come
I'm only going over Jordan
I'm only going over home

I am a poor wayfaring stranger
While traveling through this world of woe
Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger
In that bright world to which I go

Jackie

Hi-Jack Frost is a feral cat who moved in on a cold winter day a few years back. Jet black from a distance, up close he revealed long, white, single strands of fur like frost all over his body. The first winter he lived in the barn. It took a while to teach him some manners. Hollis

Jackie spends the autumn days on his own, all alone
Far from the bustle and the hustle and the tussle
He likes to roam
Jack cat walking down the railroad track.
Sniffs the breeze, quite at ease
Needs a place to winter and a steady source of dinner
Before the bitter freeze
Knows where to go to find security
Cause Jackie got a bead on me

Jackie came to my door, arrived at three stayed for tea
I thought it was a visit but apparently it isn't
Guess the jokes on me
Moved in for the winter. sleeps till noon in his room
Hangs out by the fire until ready to retire
Plans to stay till June
What would I do without his company
Cause Jackie got a hold on me

Oh oh oh oh ...Jackie where'd you go
Down the tracks again, my friend
Oh oh oh oh...hear the whistle blow
Jackie please don't go again

Jackie needs a girl friend in the spring, it's his thing
A week or two of prowling and sufficient caterwauling
He will get his way
Jack comes back no worse for wear, with a smile,
The cat has style
That ball bearing mouse catcher never met a house cat that
He could not beguile
All through the neighbourhood cats look just like him
Cause Jackie got a hold on them

Oh oh oh oh...Jackie where'd you go
Down the tracks again, my friend
Oh oh oh oh...hear the whistle blow
Jackie please don't go again

Jackie spends his summer days, on his own, all alone
Far from the bustle and the hustle and the tussle
He likes to roam
Jack cat walking down the railroad track.
Sniffs the breeze, quite at ease
In the bushes in the summer up the trees or under cover
Doing as he please
What will I do without his company

Jackie got a hold on,
Jackie got a hold on,
Jackie got a hold on me.

Mockingbird Blues

Although just written recently, this deals with a relationship of mine from my late teens and early twenties. Who says guys don't deal with emotional issues? Better late than never I guess. Hollis

Mockingbird sings a blue song every time she calls
And with each and every new song knows I’ll play along
Funny how it’s so complicated, in some minor key
But I’m sure I can improvise around the melody
Mockingbird, sing that blue song, just in case she calls

On the breeze hear that bird song rise and fall and fade
Now it’s gone just before I learn the final phrase
So I'll try to recreate it from my memory
But passing time will soon erase it, and I’ll forget the key
Mockingbird sing that blue song just in case she calls

Funny how it’s so complicated, in some minor key
But I’m sure I can improvise around the melody
Mockingbird, sing that blue song, just in case she calls
Just in case she calls one more time. Just in case she calls.

Copyright 2004-2007 Kate & Hollis