Glory Days
Like the promise of the sun
We’ll get our healing done
Though the levee is blown to hell
We know these waters well
Glory Days lay ahead
If the fires are burning red
Glory Days
I will promise to be true
When I get over you
Though I’ve stumbled in the rain
And felt unteathered pain
Glory Days lay ahead
If the fires are burning red
Glory Days
Like a little boy with a dime
I’ll know when it’s mine
Like that rock up on the hill
I know you’ll be here still
Glory Days lay ahead
If the fires are burning red
Glory Days
© 2001 Randy Riviere
Tangerines
Life was easy
Then times got hard
Now I’m staring out the window
At the neighbor’s farm
They’re picking tangerines…tangerines
In the wind there’s a sparrow
Headed for the trees
It’s its only answer for
This December breeze
But there’s tangerines…tangerines
Chorus
My father was a simple man
He did his giving with his hands
But those dollars were just one thing
To make a living on this land
Been drug through the willows
Been left for dead on the road
Had to take what they’re givin’
Just to carry their load
But there’s tangerines…tangerines
Met a pretty dancer
Had some Colorado fun
Ended up staring down
A Pocatello gun
There’s tangerines…tangerines
© 2004 Randy Riviere
Fool Stand
Here I am God
Standing on this line
Waiting on the Captain’s call
I’m feeling like
My heart has lost my hands
On this fool stand
We lost a good man down at Tupelo
He was a good friend don’t you know
But we killed a dozen men there at Tupelo
From this point of view we let the cannons go
Two lines of birds
Cut across the Autumn sky
If you listen you can hear their cry
This mother earth
Will be here when I’m dead and gone
And it’s looking like that won’t be long
I lost a good friend down at Tupelo
He was his mother’s son don’t you know
But we killed a hundred men there at Tupelo
From this point of view we let the cannons go
I lost a good friend down at Tupelo
He was a good man don’t you know
But we killed a thousand men there at Tupelo
From this point of view we let the cannons go
© 2004 Randy Riviere
I’m Not You
There’s a table set
Far from home
With crystal, oak and river stone
Where cars shine in driveway lights
As pretty people take
To the night
Chorus
I know it’s true
I’m just not you
Blank faces walk
A lonely street
As people are groovin’ on that merchant beat
What’s grinding down wood & bone?
What’s winding down
This same old road?
Did Jesus once
Walk this land?
Is there a template for the heart of man?
Did you look away when they took that ground?
Did you put away one more fortune found?
© 2004 Randy Riviere
Nothing Left to Lose
You are desire
Set my heart on fire
Are your guns for hire?
To get me out under the wire
I’m right on you
Got to see this through
The dark forest grew
Now it’s time for you
Chorus
I know I’ve got nothing left to lose
On this avenue
And I see You’ve had all I have to choose
Now I’m letting loose
You are a reason
Not a mother lode for one season
The sky is dark and it’s freezing
Warm my bones with freedom
I’m right on you
Got to see this through
The dark forest grew
Now it’s time for you
©2003 Randy Riviere
What’s True?
If I were a postman with the news
If I had a notion you could choose
If I could tell tales that made you laugh
If I could lead you through this rocky path
If I held the fire in my hands
And I wanted everything that you have
If I could trust no one to be true
Just sat behind walls collecting clues
Chorus
What’s true … about me … about you …
and our lives … what’s true?
If I held the anger in my heart
If I knew my maker from the start
If I could draw circles around the moon
If I could only make a ledger bloom
If I were both guilty and the judge
Or had no means to hold a grudge
If I were a priest for one day
What would I hear, what would I say?
If I were an ocean full of hate
Or carried this load for my brother’s sake
If I owned a castle on a hill
Or held my life on a window sill
If I sat at this table and made a bridge
Or let them all swim with the fish
If I were a stallion on the run
Or just another scared kid with a gun
©2004 Randy Riviere
You’re What Misery Means to Me
When the trail gets steep and slow
You’re the first to go
And when the wind is blowin’ snow
You’re the last to show
Chorus
But when life gets good again
I know you’ll be my friend
Girl you’re what misery means to me
When my heart aches & head hangs low
You’re the last to know
But when my step is fast & free
You’re the first to see
When my pockets are full of change
You’ll know my name
But when my shelves are broken and bare
You’re the last to share
© 2001 Randy Riviere
Devil’s Blood
Late at night
When you lie in bed
Does the sound of the engines
Run through your head?
Or is it the wind
Across the land?
A desert seed
Waits to mend
A thousand cold winters
Or seven months of sin
As our little valley rolls
Under the wheels of company men
Chorus
Fill it up now, Sonny
It’s 400 miles to Maple Grove
Settle down now honey
It’s time to give Devil’s Blood
Forest leaves
Gather up the rain
It doesn’t really matter
When the market bell rings
On these city streets
And through the White House door
Those planes in flight
Have a new name
They’re calling down a thunder
Like a school boy game
Upon those city streets
And through your neighbor’s door
© 2004 Randy Riviere