1. |
Cabin Fever
03:30
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Cabin Fever
Sweet times, life is good,
Smell of fresh-cut firewood,
Doors closed, warm inside,
You right here by my side.
Here we are, a case of cabin fever,
I never want the two of us to leave here,
This cabin built for one’s become a cosy nest for two,
And cabin fever never felt the way it feels with you.
Logs burn, flames leap high,
I look at you and breathe a sigh,
Pinch myself, is this real?
Lovin’ how you make me feel.
Here we are, a case of cabin fever,
I never want the two of us to leave here,
This cabin built for one’s become a cosy nest for two,
And cabin fever never felt the way it feels with you.
Not sayin’ I’m stir-crazy,
Ain’t feelin’ trapped inside,
But when you hold me through the night,
My temperature starts to rise…
Fever!
Morning breaks, snow lies deep,
We could be here another week;
Make more love, drink more wine,
Livin’ life on cabin time.
Here we are, a case of cabin fever,
I never want the two of us to leave here,
This cabin built for one’s become a cosy nest for two,
And cabin fever never felt the way it feels with you.
No, cabin fever never felt the way it feels with you.
© 2019, Mandy Woods
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2. |
My Second-Hand Heart
03:24
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My Second-hand Heart
I’ve been around the block
At least a time or two,
I’ve known love and I’ve known lust,
I’ve known the deepest shade of blue,
I cannot say my heart
Has never broken clean in two,
But damaged hearts are stronger
For the pain that they’ve been through.
So I hope you won’t be troubled
By my less-than-perfect past,
And I hope you can be happy
With a second-hand heart.
You look into my eyes,
See things I hoped I’d left behind,
Chapters I’ve moved on from,
Wreckage from another life;
I’ve risked and I’ve regretted,
I’ve had my fingers burned,
I’ve been hurt and I’ve been patched up
From so many twists and turns.
So I hope you won’t be troubled
By my less-than-perfect past,
And I hope you can be happy
With a second-hand heart.
Finally you open up,
Speak of a sadder time,
And it turns out that your heart
Is just as trampled on as mine.
At last we’ve come to rest,
Two wandering souls no longer lost,
Now the winding paths we’ve been on
By some miracle have crossed;
Your story strikes a chord in me,
My pain you recognise,
One bruised heart to another,
Take my hand, share my life.
You see, me, I’m far from troubled
By your less-than-perfect past,
And you, you’re more than happy
With my second-hand heart.
Yeah, me, I’m far from troubled
By your less-than-perfect past,
And you, you’re more than happy
With my second-hand heart.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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3. |
Two Initials and a Heart
04:12
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Two Initials and a Heart
I was singing my soul out
in a bar in Tennessee,
But it seemed you were
the only one there listening to me,
So I sang and played my old guitar
to you, and you alone,
And once I’d struck the final chord,
thank God you didn’t go.
You came up to me so shyly
when I’d finished my last song,
Said you recognised yourself
in each and every one;
I smiled at you, you held my gaze,
I couldn’t look away,
And from that moment on,
our lives would never be the same.
I thought a love like ours would never die,
Maturing like the six-string
I was playing that first night,
So I burned our two initials and a heart
Deep into that treasured old guitar.
Those initials and that heart
were like the sweetest country song,
The one about a romance
that lasts your whole life long;
Each time I played that old guitar
I felt the love inscribed
There beneath its tailpiece
and shining from your eyes.
I thought a love like ours would never die,
Maturing like the six-string
I was playing that first night,
So I burned our two initials and a heart
Deep into that treasured old guitar.
But love alone
can’t weather all life’s storms—
One too many arguments,
and what we had was gone;
You walked away but left your mark
burned into my guitar,
So I took a knife and cut out
those initials and that heart.
Too late I realised the holes
I’d pierced in my guitar
Would never help my life move on
or heal my splintered heart,
So I cut three pieces out of spruce
and placed them carefully
Right where our two initials
and the heart once used to be.
I never thought a love like ours could die,
Never dreamed three wooden blanks
would be its only lasting sign
When I burned our two initials and a heart
Deep into my treasured old guitar,
When I burned our two initials and a heart
Deep into my treasured old guitar.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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4. |
Cactus Rose
04:04
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Cactus Rose
Cactus Rose, right where she needs to be,
With the primeval saguaros that keep her company.
She came from New England, never to go back,
Carving out a new life in a rustic wooden shack;
Now she’s tough as a cactus in the Arizona heat,
Footprint light upon the earth, there’s not much that she needs.
Cactus Rose, right where she needs to be,
With the primeval saguaros that keep her company.
It’s said her heart was broken many moons ago,
In grief she simply wandered, a lost and lonely soul,
Her faithful dog beside her, just as wild as she’d become,
In the dry Sonoran Desert, she sensed that she’d come home.
Cactus Rose, right where she needs to be,
With the primeval saguaros that keep her company.
Conversation’s out of practice,
Neighbours many miles away,
Like the needles on a cactus,
Silence keeps the world at bay.
Cactus Rose, right where she needs to be,
With the primeval saguaros that keep her company.
A woman and a wild dog, little known and seldom seen,
At one with the desert, so peaceful and serene;
They’ve learned from those saguaros how to simply be,
For Mother Earth will always give them everything they need.
Cactus Rose, right where she needs to be,
With the primeval saguaros that keep her company.
Cactus Rose, Cactus Rose, Cactus Rose, Cactus Rose.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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5. |
One-Trick Pony
02:54
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One-Trick Pony
I’m a one-trick pony, you’re the only one I ever loved,
I’m a lion tamer, such a shame you’re made of weaker stuff;
I walked the high wire, ate real fire,
But you just played the clown,
I’m a one-trick pony, all alone since you’ve been foolin’ round.
Two-timin’ trouble burst my bubble,
You and your new ‘friend’,
My crystal ball foretold it all,
So now we’re at an end.
’Cos I’m a one-trick pony, you’re the only one I ever loved,
I’m a lion tamer, such a shame you’re made of weaker stuff;
I walked the high wire, ate real fire,
But you just played the clown,
I’m a one-trick pony, all alone since you’ve been foolin’ round.
Gave you my life, such a high price,
Wasted so much time,
You’re just a huckster, out of luck,
Too bad this trailer’s mine… boo-hoo!
Well, I’m a one-trick pony, you’re the only one I ever loved,
I’m a lion tamer, such a shame you’re made of weaker stuff;
I walked the high wire, ate real fire,
But you just played the clown,
I’m a one-trick pony, all alone since you’ve been foolin’ round.
Three’s a crowd, and I’m too proud
To do this any more;
So take that shady bearded lady,
And vanish out my door.
’Cos I’m a one-trick pony, you’re the only one I ever loved,
I’m a lion tamer, such a shame you’re made of weaker stuff;
I walked the high wire, ate real fire,
But you just played the clown,
I’m a one-trick pony, all alone since you’ve been foolin’ round,
Yeah, I’m a one-trick pony, all alone, with eyes wide open now.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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6. |
Butterfly
04:00
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Butterfly
Butterfly, sweet butterfly,
Stay with me through the cold,
Shelter in my cabin
From the winter frost and snow,
Take your time, no rush to go,
There’s room for you and me,
Butterfly, I kinda like your peaceful company.
Mama passed away in April,
I was there right by her side,
Saw the spark of life go out,
Held her hand and cried;
New life blossomed round me,
Dark winter at an end,
But Mama’s time was over—
Sleep tight now, my best friend.
We bought a place, my love and I,
Six months down the road,
Mama’s lifelong wish fulfilled
Too late for her to know;
My happiness she’d wanted,
And how I wish she’d seen
The house I would grow old in
With love surrounding me.
Behind the house a treasure,
My dearest childhood dream:
A weathered pine log cabin,
My place to simply be;
As I cleared away its clutter,
Something fluttered through my hair:
I’d woken up a butterfly
Who’d taken refuge there.
Butterfly, sweet butterfly,
Stay with me through the cold,
Shelter in my cabin
From the winter frost and snow,
Take your time, no rush to go,
There’s room for you and me,
Butterfly, I kinda like your peaceful company.
That butterfly stayed with me
As I mourned my mother’s loss;
I knew it should have slept,
But now the cabin was too hot;
Right through that bitter winter
It sheltered there with me,
And I came to dread the springtime
When I’d have to set it free.
Some people say a butterfly’s
The spirit of the dead,
And maybe Mama’s soul
Was in my sweet log cabin friend;
Come April,
Just beneath my favourite picture of my mum,
I came across that butterfly,
Wings folded, life force gone.
Butterfly, sweet butterfly
Stayed with me through the cold,
Sheltered in my cabin
From the winter frost and snow,
Took its time, no rush to go,
Stayed there to comfort me,
Butterfly, I kinda liked your peaceful company,
Butterfly, I kinda liked your peaceful company.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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7. |
Used By Blues
03:11
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Used By Blues
Oh, I met you in the springtime,
Summer romance from one kiss,
By fall I thought at last I’d found
The love I’d always missed;
But I’m such a fool for dreaming,
For now the year is through,
You only come to see me
When you’ve nothing else to do.
Yeah, you woo me then refuse me,
Sometimes you look right through me,
You win me, then you lose me,
Let me down then say excuse me,
And I can’t get used to being used by you.
So I put the question to you:
Do you love me still?
And the answer comes back quickly,
‘You know I always will.’
But something doesn’t feel right,
Are you seeing someone new?
This doubt I cannot shake off,
Life’s become a shade of blue.
Cause you woo me then refuse me,
Sometimes you look right through me,
You win me, then you lose me,
Let me down then say excuse me,
And I can’t get used to being used by you.
There’s nothing in this life that’s ever certain,
Least of all this thing ’tween me and you;
One minute we are lovers, then I’m hurting,
No, I can’t get used to being used by you,
Oh, I can’t get used to being used by you.
I met you in the springtime,
By summer we were one,
Through autumn I imagined
All the good times yet to come;
But now my heart don’t feel right,
I know there’s someone else,
Cause you’re here and yet you’re nowhere,
Might as well be by myself.
Cause you woo me then refuse me,
Sometimes you look right through me,
You win me, then you lose me,
Let me down then say excuse me,
And I can’t get used to being used by you,
No, I can’t used to being used by you,
Oh, I can’t get used to being used by you.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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8. |
My Companion of the Road
04:35
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My Companion of the Road
Greyhound bus to Austin,
Past left far behind,
On the rack above me
Everything I still call mine—
A sleeping bag, a backpack, my trusty old guitar,
The spirit of adventure carried in my hopeful heart.
Two days on the road to Austin,
Nothing there but music, I’ve been told,
My old guitar, of course she’s coming with me,
My best friend, my companion of the road.
A cowboy boards the bus at Memphis,
Stench of stale smoke as he walks by,
Liquor on his breath from daytime drinking,
He talks and cusses loudly through the night;
When morning comes we stop in Texarkana for some food,
A short stack and cheap coffee never tasted quite so good.
Two days on the road to Austin,
Nothing there but music, I’ve been told,
My old guitar, of course she’s coming with me,
My best friend, my companion of the road.
Those endless miles of interstate,
They’ll numb the sharpest mind,
Nothing much to do but fall asleep,
Lose all sense of place and time.
We finally reach Austin
Deep into the second night,
Before I even look above me,
I know that something isn’t right—
The cowboy has long gone, and my guitar is gone as well,
The bus drives off and leaves me in some kind of living hell.
Two days on the road to Austin,
Nothing there but music, I’ve been told,
My best friend hasn’t made it down here with me—
How I weep for my companion of the road.
Two days on the road to Austin,
Nothing there but music, I’ve been told,
No choice now but to try and make my home here
Without my dear companion of the road.
© 2016/2020, Mandy Woods
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9. |
Awesome Woman
02:56
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Awesome Woman
Girl, you look like you’re in heaven,
But I know you’ve been through harder times,
You’ve seen the deepest, darkest places
From the wreckage of a scared and troubled mind.
Girl, sometimes you nearly gave up,
Sheer determination pulled you through,
Your future’s looking brighter than you dreamed it could,
The bravest friend I ever knew.
Somehow you battled on,
Found strength where there’d been none,
That frightened little girl grew up and changed
Into the awesome woman you became.
Girl you’ve moved out of the shadows,
Fear no longer keeps you bound,
You’ve got so much inner power,
Now’s the time to let it out.
Somehow you battled on,
Found strength where there’d been none,
And now pure harmony is all around
The awesome woman you are now.
Strong in body, mind and soul,
You’ve reached up higher than the sun,
Your spirit’s free, your mind’s released,
Your past is history,
Such an awesome woman you’ve become,
Such an awesome woman you’ve become.
Oh, somehow you battled on,
Found strength where there’d been none,
That frightened little girl grew up and changed
Into the awesome woman you became,
Such an awesome woman you became!
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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10. |
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All That’s Left to Cherish
The things she spent her childhood side by side with,
So familiar they became invisible:
The leather flask from Spain, the silver cookie tin,
The ancient wooden chest with treasures buried deep within;
On the walls so many unseen wedding presents,
Like the flask, most wound up shattered on the floor,
Juvenile games unfailingly to blame,
But the things that still survive just feel more precious every day.
’Til you’re there yourself, it’s hard to comprehend
How significant these things are in the end;
No need to question why, just realise
They’re all that’s left to cherish from past times.
Now she’s the keeper of the history of her family,
Though very few things to hold on to still remain;
Parents both long gone, sold the family home—
She always hoped somehow this time would never ever come;
And so she takes her pick of those mementos,
The things she took for granted way back when:
The chest from ancient days, its treasures still in place,
When she looks at it, she always seems to see her mother’s face.
’Til you’re there yourself, it’s hard to comprehend
How significant these things are in the end;
No need to question why, just realise
They’re all that’s left to cherish from past times.
They can’t turn back the years,
These well-loved souvenirs,
They cannot bring the dead back from the grave;
But they’re worth much more than gold,
For the memories they hold
Stay vivid as the day that they were made.
’Til you’re there yourself, it’s hard to comprehend
How significant these things are in the end;
No need to question why, just realise
They’re all that’s left to cherish from past times,
They’re all that’s left to cherish from past times.
© 2019, Mandy Woods
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11. |
Ain't No G in Country
03:36
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Ain’t No G in Country
Rodeo cowboys bronco bustin’,
Bareback ridin’, wranglin’, hustlin’,
Ropin’ a wild steer, drivin’ a John Deere,
Blazin’ a trail and showin’ no fear,
Chorus:
Oh, we don’t add that ‘g’ to the end of nothin’,
Might say we’re g-forsaken,
Ain’t no ‘g’ in country when we’re talkin’,
Now that’s communicatin’!
Some love cussin’, some ain’t willin’,
Some are drinkin’, some just chillin’,
Lovin’ and leavin’, stayin’ ’n cheatin’,
Makin’ mistakes we keep on repeatin’.
Chorus x2
Bar hoppin’, flip floppin’, God praisin’, hell raisin’
Divin’ in a swimmin’ hole, catchin’ with a fishin’ pole,
Tailgatin’ in the sun, dancin’ ’til the cows come home,
All the things we gotta say, we’re sayin’ them the country way!
Country singin’, pickin’ and grinnin’,
Songs ’bout cryin’, two timin’, sinnin’,
Campfire gatherin’, playin’ and a-whistlin’,
Fourth of July-in’, tall tale spinnin’
Chorus
Now that’s communicatin’, yeah, that’s communicatin’!
© 2019, Mandy Woods & LL Straughan
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12. |
Full Moon Over Vegas
03:54
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Full Moon Over Vegas
Three a.m. in the Mojave,
Lonely desert drive,
If I double down and hit the gas,
Should make the Strip by five;
This heart ain’t had good fortune,
Trashed the love it found,
But a full moon over Vegas
Says I’ll turn it all around.
There’s a full moon over Vegas
Lighting up the night,
Gambler’s lucky omen,
God’s own neon sign;
Come on down and play your hand,
Put it all on one last bet,
The highest jackpot winner
Or the biggest loser yet.
It was just a chance encounter,
Pure fate we met that night,
A winning streak that lasted
Long enough to change my life;
But luck don’t last forever,
Bad bets can turn things round—
In the time it took to roll the dice,
My world came tumbling down.
But there’s a full moon over Vegas
Lighting up the night,
Gambler’s lucky omen,
God’s own neon sign;
Come on down and play your hand,
Put it all on one last bet,
The highest jackpot winner
Or the biggest loser yet.
Couldn’t bear to stick around
When everything went wrong;
The odds weren’t in my favour,
Felt like time to just move on.
But my heart can’t seem to call it quits,
That face won’t leave my mind,
So I’m driving back to Vegas
In a desperate bid tonight;
Don’t know if I’ll be welcomed
Or shown the slamming door—
If I could tell the future,
I’d be a millionaire for sure.
But there’s a full moon over Vegas
Lighting up the night,
Gambler’s lucky omen,
God’s own neon sign;
Come on down and play your hand,
Put it all on one last bet,
The highest jackpot winner
Or the biggest loser yet.
There’s a full moon over Vegas…
© 2019, Mandy Woods
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13. |
Trail of Goodbyes
03:48
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Trail of Goodbyes
This life’s been a trail of goodbyes,
Born on the road, always lived on the fly,
Ain’t one to stay round too long,
Sooner or later, it’s time to move on.
I’ve travelled the east coast, I’ve lived way out west,
High in the mountains my soul found some rest;
I’ve sprawled in a mansion, scraped by in a shack,
Two years in a trailer I’ll never get back.
This life’s been a trail of goodbyes,
Born on the road, always lived on the fly;
Ain’t one to stay round too long,
Sooner or later, it’s time to move on.
Don’t think I’m jealous of you,
Your four-bedroom prison would just never do,
Don’t think that I’ll change in good time,
I’ll always be walkin’ this trail of goodbyes,
Yeah, I’ll always be walkin’ this trail of goodbyes.
Nine-to-fived in the city, relaxed on the coast,
Moved far from all people, crushed in way too close;
Explored distant places, six months had no home,
Shared rooms with strangers, struck out on my own.
This life’s been a trail of goodbyes,
Born on the road, always lived on the fly;
Ain’t one to stay round too long,
Sooner or later, it’s time to move on.
Yeah, sooner or later, it’s time to move on.
© 2019, Mandy Woods
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14. |
Eileen
03:57
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Eileen
I knew her from way back when,
Introduced by a mutual friend,
She was feisty and funny, angry and sad,
And we lurched between good times and bad.
In time, we went our separate ways,
Kept in touch, though I’d moved far away,
Still feisty and funny, angry and sad,
She stayed true to the memories I had.
Looking back, it’s much clearer to see
The way some lives are hardwired to run,
And when the curtain falls,
It’s the end that always had to come,
Still we wonder what we could have done.
Years passed, and she’d gone from my life,
Then a ‘friend’ request came up one night:
Still feisty and funny, angry and sad,
But she’d married the gentlest man.
Looking back, it’s much clearer to see
The way some lives are hardwired to run,
And when the curtain falls,
It’s the end that always had to come,
Still we wonder what we could have done.
Evil from another time
Reverberates down through the years
To take its toll on one more life,
Haunted by untold fears.
This June I was back down that way,
We caught up over two edgy days,
She was feisty and funny, angry and sad,
And thank God for that last time we had.
Looking back, it’s much clearer to see
The way some lives are hardwired to run,
And when the curtain falls,
It’s the end that always had to come,
Still we wonder what we could have done;
Was there anything we could have done?
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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15. |
Every Single Second
04:08
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Every Single Second
Older, wiser, time to realise that
No one’s getting out of this the same;
Just one answer: live like each day’s your last here,
Now’s the chance to take hold of the reins.
Strange days, new ways, nobody’s been in this place—
Keep the faith and hold on for dear life;
Your dream, your scheme is yours alone, you’ll soon see,
Each one of us has our own path to find.
Life’s a journey, truth the goal,
Open up your heart and soul,
The past is dead and gone, don’t turn around;
The future doesn’t yet exist, today is all there really is,
Make every single second of it count,
Yeah, make every single second of it count.
Climb your mountain, do it while you still can,
While you still have the energy and drive;
One thing’s certain: although you may be hurting,
You’ll never ever feel more alive.
Life’s a journey, truth the goal,
Open up your heart and soul,
The past is dead and gone, don’t turn around;
The future doesn’t yet exist, today is all there really is,
Make every single second of it count,
Oh, make every single second of it count.
In the end when life is gone,
Memories of us linger on,
And that’s about as much as we can say,
Nothing more and nothing less,
Its meaning anybody’s guess,
All we can do is live life for today,
All we can do is live life for today.
Life’s a journey, truth the goal,
Open up your heart and soul,
The past is dead and gone, don’t turn around;
The future doesn’t yet exist, today is all there really is:
Make every single second of it count,
Oh, make every single second of it count,
Yeah, make every single second of it count.
© 2020, Mandy Woods
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Mandy Woods Glastonbury, UK
The transatlantic flavour of Mandy Woods’ songs reflects a decade spent in Austin, Texas. Now based in Somerset, she plays guitar and country blues harmonica and performs at venues around the UK. Mandy also writes songs about dachshunds, as WagsLyrical. ... more
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