A fine collection of folk-rock and Americana songs from a great storyteller and her kick-ass band. Guaranteed to de-stress your day.

11 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Folk-Rock, ROCK: Americana



Details:
Lyrics and song insights are listed below, but firstâ¦

Hey yâall â in case we havenât met beforeâ¦

When it comes to songwriting, my focus is clearly on people. Iâm fascinated by human nature, how lives cross, personalities interact, what motivates the characters in my imagination, and how the world feels to them. My songs sometimes consist of stories will full-blown plot lines, or may simply be impressions or first-person observations, but in all cases are based on characters with something to say.

I was born in 1959, the fourth of five sisters, in the hallway of a hospital in North Carolina (my mother claims that this was my first impatient act, that I would not wait until she made it to the delivery room). I lived in various southern states until age 15, and am grateful for that experience, but in my heart I am a westerner and have resided the greater part of my life in Oregon and northern California. When I was a kid, the consciousness of America was in a state of rapid change, with the rise of civil rights, womenâs rights, the environmental movement, and unprecedented civil disobedience and anti-war activism during the Viet Nam years. I grew up in a military family, and for me those were intense years indeed. I spent a fair amount of time in my youth listening to songwriters from the 70s and 80s, which flavors my own writing to this day, although my musical influences are truly eclectic. Iâve been playing the guitar since I was 10, so have a few licks under my belt, and write mainly in alternate tunings. I have years of experience as a performing artist, but songwriting is my true love, and I consider myself a writer first and foremost.

Issues like the bonds of love and friendship, parenthood, work, maintaining oneâs identity, and surviving the best you can in a god-awful busy world -- these are the kinds of recurrent themes that pepper my writing. As a wife and mother, family issues are very important to me. Also, I like to rock out, which my family fully supports (itâs good for you, after all). I hope you will enjoy my work. I certainly put a lot of care into my craft, and try my best to keep the b.s. out and the honesty in. I thank you for listening.


And now, meet the bandâ¦

The âEileen Hemphill-Haley Bandâ is:
EH-H: vocal & guitar
Ron Sharp: bass
Brandon Schwab: drums
Michael Proctor, dobro

To give you a bit of background of who we are as a group, I interviewed Ron Sharp, Brandon Schwab, and Michael Proctor, and provide you with the following insights:

On bass: Ron Sharp

Ron Sharp knows the secret to playing bass, and to locking in with drums in a rhythm section, is to blend in so naturally with the music that people totally take it for granted. It doesnât seem fair, but thatâs the way it is with bass. People only really notice it when itâs played badly, or missing altogether. Heâs philosophical about it all, and explains it like this: âWhen I listen to music, every song is a story. How do you support the story and bring out the texture and color? The best bass and drums are so good together that you almost canât tell which is which; the bass is like an extension of he drums. If youâre not wedded to the drums youâre just getting in the way.â Ron exemplifies these comments when he plays, with his wonderfully solid and melodic style that adds just the right feel to every song, and gets him none of the attention he deserves.
Ron was one of the first people I met when I moved from Oregon to northern California. We didnât meet because of music right off, but rather through an act of kindness (by him) toward a stranger (me) new in town and looking for a place for my family to live. He helped us find a house to rent, and as a thank you I dropped off a note and a CD at his door. He followed through with an email sayingâ â hey! I didnât realize you were a musician. I play bass and my best friend plays dobro.â The next thing I knew we had a band, rehearsing at the house he helped us find.
Ron Sharp is a native of southern California, born on New Yearâs Eve in 1950, and raised in Santa Ana. A witty and soft-spoken guy, he started playing guitar as a teenager, and in the early 70âs decided to move to northern California to pursue music more full time. Over the years he played guitar -- and eventually bass -- with a number of different rock, country and bluegrass groups. He now focuses on the bass, and plays possibly the most beautiful bass guitar on the northcoast, a 2004 Moonstone Neptune bass hand-made by his close friend and master luthier Steve Helgeson. Ron credits numerous musical influences in rock and acoustic music, from Walter Becker to Alison Krauss, and likes listening to songwriters like James McMurtry and John Hyatt. Heâs not crazy about jazz, but loves a great ballad. Besides playing bass for the EH-H Band, Ron also handles a lot of the behind-the-scenes organizing for the group, including making song charts and handling publicity.
Ron is married to Barbara Browning, the founder of OrderWithin.com, and is the father of Kelsey (22). He also has two grandkids, McKenzie (2) and a new baby, Ryan. Be sure to check out Ronâs work on the âDog Tracksâ and âTwo Nights in Myrtletownâ CDs, and if by chance you catch the band live, tune in Ronâs playing. You canât help but notice how good he sounds, and also how much fun he seems to have when he plays. Itâs really great.

On drums: Brandon Schwab

Born November 12, 1970, Brandon Schwab is that smart, wisecracking guy at the back of the band, holding all the sound together. Heâs a wonderfully subtle genius on the drums, a great friend, and my long-time collaborator. Brandon is also known as Dr. Brandon Schwab, Ph.D. in geology, and professor at Humboldt State University. Heâs married to Angie Schwab, an artistâs rep and owner of Humboldt Artworks in northern California, and father of two sons, Avery (3) and Harper (1).
Raised in rural Ohio, music was a mainstay in Brandonâs life beginning in elementary school. He played in every school music group through his high school years, and continued in orchestra through his first year of college. His favorite thing was playing in pit orchestras, where he might single-handedly play all the percussion parts for different performances. But along with music he always had a right-brained love for science and nature, and ended up putting the drums away for a number of years while focusing his efforts on an education in earth science. But during graduate school at the University of Oregon, he was recruited back into drumming, first with an absolutely raucous surf band (The âSurf Chiefsâ) and starting in 1996, with a solo folk-rock artist (that would be me, yâall) looking for just the right drummer to expand her sound.
As for musical influences? âEverything I listen to influences me,â he says. âMy playing style has definitely evolved over the years. I use to play straight rock-and-roll, but also had a lot of jazz influences. But as for my style, I always like to think about how the drums fit into the music. My goal is to be supporting, and not be in the way.â
âI guess my goal is to not be noticed,â he laughs.
The truth is, you canât help but notice Brandonâs drumming because it works so well with whatever music he plays. For examples of his work, check out most of the tracks on âPorch Songs,â all of the tracks on âDog Tracksâ and âTwo Nights in Myrtletown,â or catch him at a live show!

On lap-slide (dobro) guitar: Michael Proctor

âThe first thing you need to know about me,â confesses lap-slide guitarist Michael Proctor, âis that Iâm a big liar. You canât believe anything I tell you.â
So, apparently thereâs a chance that much of what youâll read here about Michael Proctor is completely untrue. How would I know otherwise? Iâve worked with Michael for a couple of years now, playing with him in the EH-H band and as a duo, and collaborating on two CDs. Iâve met his family, so I know heâs been with his wife Paula for 23 years, and that they have three kids, Mia (20), Gina (18) and Jackson (15). But how would I know if he was really born in Newmarket, Canada on April 9, 1953, and lived there only three months before his family moved to Orange County, California where he grew up? He claims he started playing piano as a kid, got into guitar as a teenager, and fell in love with slide guitar after being wowed by a friendâs collection of blues records. But how do we know for sure?
I have some verification of facts from Michaelâs best friend (and bassist for the EH-H band), Ron Sharp. Ron and Michael have been friends since high school in southern California, and Ron informed me that yes, as a teenager Michael was known for playing slide guitar, and then later played pedal steel as well. He recalled that Michaelâs first pedal steel had coat hangers for pedal rods. Somehow, knowing Michael, this sounds true.
Michael says he was raised on rock and roll, loves jazz and bluegrass, but actually likes to play anything in the realm of acoustic music. In the early 70s he moved to northern California (verified by Ron, since they both moved there), where he played in a number of different country groups and string bands. This included âBuckshot,â the house band at the biggest honky tonk on the northern California coast, the Ramada Inn in Arcata. Every weekend Buckshot played for a crowd of college students, hippies and loggers, and miraculously no one was ever killed. But after a while bluegrass music became the main interest for Michael. This led him to invest in his first dobro, the instrument for which he is best known today. A âdobro,â of course, is a kind of wood-body lap-slide guitar that has a distinctive sound prevalent in bluegrass music. Michaelâs regular old Gibson acoustic guitar, which he had been using to play slide since high school, wasnât going to cut it for playing bluegrass. So, in 1976 he and Ron took a 300-mile trip to San Francisco in search of a new dobro (Ron verifies this, too). âOur mission,â Michael recounts, âwas not to return until we found one.â Just one short weekend later they returned home with a 1975 Dobro D-60, the very guitar he plays today.
OK, now we know he got the dobro, but how did he learn how to play it? Self-taught for the most part, claims Michael, but he also credits an all-night jam session with Vince Gill in the late 70s for giving him a huge dose of new ideas and an instantaneous boost in his playing. Um, Vince Gill? The country music star? Yes, Michael claims, he was just a kid at the time, a child prodigy if you will, playing in a touring band passing through town. Believe it or notâ¦
Michaelâs playing is well known in northern California, and he has appeared on I-donât-know-how-many recording projects over the years. This is true; I really donât know how many, but it is lots and lots. The guy makes everyone sound good, so the calls keep coming. I met him in 2003, and in November of that year we played our first gig together as a band. We have done a lot of work together since then.
So, how much of Michaelâs story here is true? Who can say? But I can tell you this: Michael Proctor is great to work with, and it is a ton of fun collaborating with him. He makes playing that dobro -- a very complicated instrument -- sound like itâs the easiest thing in the world. Check out his work on âDog Tracks,â âTwo Nights in Myrtletown,â and âOrdinary Life,â or do yourself a favor and catch him at a live show. The ideas he comes up with for lead parts are so cool, and never cease to floor me. And that, my friends, is no lie.


LYRICS AND SONG INSIGHTS

Track 1: JAGGED LINE
© 2000 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)

Eâs insights: What to do with someone you love who canât stop ruining his own life -- and yours? This is a story about two people who obviously have a long history, but for one of them that history has become unbearable. When at last she understands that he is not going to let her help him, she realizes it is time to help herself, and get away while she can. She says, âJared, Iâm shot right through with the agony of loving you, but in my heart I forgive you, too, for walking that jagged line.â

Verse 1
Never met a soul so full of need for the things out of his reach
For the things he could not have
It was a hard and troubled youth
S
What a miserable excuse for the choices of a man

Chorus 1
Jared, what can I do?
I feel the years are passing two by two
And whenever I remember you
I see you walking on a jagged line

Verse 2
The laws are written in this land to give the rich the upper hand
And treat the poor like so much dust
Cement wall and iron doors, who do they build those prisons for
If not for us?

Chorus 2a
Jared, what can I say?
But there had to be another way
Than to throw your whole life away
Walking on a jagged line

Verse 3
I think about the way things might have been
The way that they are now
The things that you have done
But there was no persuading you
Just like a bullet canât be turned once itâs left the gun

Chorus 3a
Jared, Iâm shot right through
With the agony of loving you
But in my heart I forgive you, too
For walking on that jagged line

Chorus 3b
Jared, what can I say?
But there had to be some other way
Than to throw your life away
Walking on a jagged line
Than to throw your sweet life away
Walking on a jagged line



Track 2: OUTWIT A COWARD
© 2002 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EAEAAE
CAPO: IV

Eâs insights: This is roughly based on a true story, about a person who figures out a non-violent way to thwart a very dangerous bully. She figures that if she can just trick him into believing that the tables have turned, and that heâs not the one in power anymore, heâll slither off like the little weenie he really is, and leave her in peace. Sheâs counting on the fact that heâs as dumb as he is mean, and sheâs right.


Verse 1
Felix had a ring, crusted âround with diamonds
And a big fat fake ruby
He liked the way it felt on what he called his fighting hand
That he was rather fond of using

Verse 2
Jasmine stayed home, she had a nasty shiner
And a deep cut under her eye
She could not reconcile her humiliation
With a real fear for her life

Verse 3
Jasmine called a friend, a boy she knew in high school
Who had since become a man of the faith
She told him everything, when he came to see her
He could see the truth of it etched in her face

Chorus
Brother, take your collar off
Brother, come and stand by me
All Iâm trying to do is outwit a coward
How hard can that be?

Verse 4
James towered high above his congregation
And his voice boomed out when he spoke
For such a gentle man to have such a mighty stature
Was like Godâs own personal joke
(Chorus)

Verse 5
Felix couldnât breathe
Standing next to Jasmine was the biggest man heâd ever seen
He looked like he could kill, rip his frickinâ head off
And it made him feel helpless and weak

Verse 3
So Felix made a vow, to Jasmineâs satisfaction
That heâd never see her again
Jasmine said to James, âThank God itâs finally overâ
And Brother James said âSister, amenâ
(Chorus)



Track 3: HIGH TIME FOR THE BLUES
© 2000 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)

Eâs insights: Sometimes, when things suck, it just because itâs their turn to do so. I mean, if you have no trials, how are you going to recognize triumphs? Well, OK, in truth this song isnât all that deep. Itâs just that I wrote it when I was a teenager, and the Queen of Angst. That was a million years ago, and Iâm almost over it.

Verse 1
Some days your life just donât pay
The right words cannot be found
Keep on till the feeling is gone
Itâs just high time for the blues

Verse 2
So you saw your baby but she did not see you
Now you feel like youâre losing control
Itâs not the end, youâll love again
Itâs just high time for the blues

Chorus
What you gonna do about it?
How you gonna fight what you canât win
What you gonna do about it?
When you know itâs bound to come again

Verse 3
Just once you wish you could trust
All those good friends who donât understand
Walk away, call it a day
Itâs just high time for the blues



Track 4: Hear Me
© 2005 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADGAE

Eâs insights: Every now and then I travel by bus. Itâs not that I really like traveling that way, but living on a rural part of the California coast, sometimes itâs the best way to get in and out of here. The travel is really slow, but at least itâs smoke-free these days (something I appreciate now that Iâm no longer a smoker), and thereâs lots of time to think. Every person I see on the bus sets my mind to wondering, because Iâm convinced that no one gets on the bus without a story to tell.
In this song, I imagine someone arriving at her chosen destination: some small, worn-out town on the bus route. Sheâs got a connection to the town, although itâs not clear if sheâs actually from there, or just returning to a place she lived before. Sheâs starting over, which is a recurring theme in a lot of my songs. Sheâs got a pile of cash in her bag, which she acquired by some kind of fluke, but all the money in the world canât help her at this particular moment, stuck without a ride in the middle of the night in a cold, creepy, windswept town. She had figured she was through making mistakes, but the receding taillights of the bus remind her that thereâs always one more.


Verse 1
Step down in a mill town in the middle of the night
Just a couple of storefronts closed up tight
The bus pulls out and then itâs quiet
No one around

Verse 2
Good thing thereâs a pay phone
So you pick up the phone
When you dial the number, nobody home
Why must things be complicated?
All you want to say

Chorus
Hear me
Iâm ready for it now
Iâm ready for the day Iâm living quiet with somebody
Write this down
Iâm ready for the time when everything thatâs mine wonât fit inside a suitcase

Verse 3
Forty-eight thousand dollars in a bundle in your bag
Oh no you didnât steal it, what if you had?
Thereâs no one left to even wonder what became of you

Verse 4
You should have made arrangements
Should have called ahead
Bought a car with your money
Gone somewhere else instead
Why must things be complicated
All you want to say


Verse 5
Itâs the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night
Whereâs a cop when you need one to give you a ride
Drive you home in the squad car, lend a little advice
You can say what youâre thinking, itâs all right
Quite all right
Itâs all right

Chorus
Hear me
Iâm ready for it now
Iâm ready for the day
Iâm living quiet with somebody
Hear Me
Iâm ready for the time
When everything thatâs mine wonât fit inside a suitcase
Hear me
Hear Me



Track 5: OUR KIND OF STORY
© 2004 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes Music (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD, Capo V

Eâs insights: Anybody whoâs been involved in real-life love knows itâs no fairy tale, but that doesnât mean it isnât great. Of course, real-life relationships arenât always easy. Thereâs a reason for that âfor better or worseâ clause, after all. But as long as you find yourself in a situation where youâre happy more often than not, and with someone who looks good to you in any given situation, you can bask in the joys of the real deal, and scoff at all those tabloid personalities who wouldnât know real love if it bit them on the ass. As for Cinderella, she would have caused a whole lot less trouble if she had just taken a moment to stop, pick up her shoe, and say âlook baby, this is the real me. Wanna make a go of it?â If the prince had said no, it wasnât going to work out anyway, now was it?

Verse 1
Cinderella was a poor girl in a house full of wealth
With nobody there to raise her
Left to fend for herself
Sometimes the hardest thing about needing love is letting it show
You and me, baby we should know

(Chorus)
Fairy tale love is all pageant and glory
Flying banners of crimson and blue
But I donât really think that itâs our kind of story, do you?

Verse 2
Cinderella should not have faltered, she should have picked up her shoe
And let the rags fall from her body
What did she think he would do?
Sometimes the hardest thing about being me is believing in you
Not knowing what youâll say, or what Iâll do
(Chorus)

Verse 3
Sometimes the hardest thing about loving you is believing in me
Knowing what Iâve got is what you need

(Last chorus)
We know love isnât pageant and glory
Got no banners of crimson and blue
But Iâm happy Iâm living our kind of story
Our kind of story with you

Cinderella should not have faltered, she should have picked up that shoeâ¦



Track 6: LIFE IS A ROAD
© 2004 E. Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes Music (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADF#AE

Eâs insights: The idea for this song took shape during a day trip in northern California. I traveled that day with my husband, our young son, and a good friend from back east, on his first visit to the area. From our home we headed out first to Petrolia and the beautiful âLost Coast,â on a road so winding that we never knew what weâd see around each bend. It got me thinking about the unknown, about how even when you donât know what lies ahead, you have no choice but to move forward and meet it anyway. On that day we were pleasantly surprised with one gorgeous view after another; if only life was always like that. We then traveled inland from the coast into a forest of towering, ancient redwood trees. When you see the redwoods, itâs impossible not to think about time, since they are so noble and so incredibly old. As we drove through the trees I found myself becoming more and more pensive, thinking about each of the people I was riding with. There was my husband, Mark, whom Iâve known for so long; our son, a cute little kid with his whole life ahead of him; our friend, a cancer survivor, basically embarking on a rare second chance at life. It occurred to me that life is a journey, and a timeline, and you can go anywhere you like except back. And the way to make it all work out is to remember that your destination isnât somewhere youâll eventually get to, but everything you do and every life you touch along the way.

Verse 1
If life was a road, which one would you choose?
Which one would you travel?
One thatâs wide and worn
One thatâs barely used
Paved or dirt or gravel?
Itâs all about the journey
And how you get to where you want to go

Verse 2
Everyone I know is always on the move
The dust flies up behind them
When all the things you want are out in front of you
Itâs up to you to find them
But you have to love the journey
And the ones who make it easier for you

Chorus
Because life is a road, and you donât get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you donât get them back
Make life your destination

Verse 3
My life is a road winding through big trees and scenery that moves me
Full of twists and turns
Potholes and blind curves opening to beauty
Itâs all about the journey
And preparing your arrival

Chorus
Because life is a road, and you donât get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you donât get them back
Make life your destination
Last Chorus
Because life is a road, and you donât get a map
Just a rearview mirror
Once those miles are gone you donât need them back
When lifeâs your destination



Track 7: WHEREâS CHARLENE?
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD

Eâs insights: The conflicted feelings of someone who is absolutely wild about someone who is, well, absolutely wild! He is certain she would be his if he could just find the right way to tell her. But when she comes near, his eloquence instantly vanishes, and he can find none of the words to make her stay.
This beautiful, gutsy, desirable character is based on two different friends of mine, both named Charlene, and both awesome women.

Verse 1
She stops by for a minute
You feel the words pull at your mouth
Itâs her world and youâd be in it
If the right words would just come out

Chorus
Whereâs Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Whereâs Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling canât you guess the things that you donât know?

Verse 2
You have no great love for money
Anything she wants you would buy
She tries to tell you that you cannot buy her love
That doesnât mean that you canât try
(chorus)

Verse 3
So many things you want to tell her
And it pains you to the bone
Youâre a man who truly can wax eloquent
Every time sheâs gone and youâre alone
(chorus)

Chorus
Whereâs Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Whereâs Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling canât you guess the things that you donât know?
Whereâs Charlene?
On the run again
Have your fun and then darling bring it home
Whereâs Charlene?
What an awful mess
Darling canât you guess someone loves you so?



Track 8: TALK TO ME
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: EADF#AE

Eâs insights: This is a heart-felt request to someone who doesnât care to talk about his feelings, even though itâs the one thing that might heal his world. For some people the prospect of talking things out seems too daunting, too risky. Itâs a pervasive and frustrating situation for a lot of couples and families.

Verse 1
It may be you know the reasons for the things that you are feeling
But you donât ever try to explain
If you feel it you donât show it, donât let nobody know it
You just take it hard and watch what you say

Verse 2
How can silent resolution make much of a solution buried in a secretive man?
The one who wished that he knew better so they might have stayed together
Now he sees the kids whenever he can

Chorus
Talk to me
Talk to me
Know my heartâs with you
Let me hear your point of view

Verse 3
There may be doubts from time to time that lay there heavy on your mind
Nothingâs really different these days
Itâs still so easy to be hurting, so soothing to be talking
But instead youâre only walking away
(chorus)



Track 9: SAY SO
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD

Eâs insights: I love telling stories about sweet people falling in love. This song is all about that, while simultaneously serving as a stark warning about the dangers of junk mail. Beyond being incredibly annoying, junk mail is also hazardous because among all the piles of mail you never wanted to receive there might actually be something really important, say for example, a love letter.

Verse 1
A young man sits down one night
Puts his pen to paper
Street ights on the hill in town look like stars tumbling down
He lets his emotions fly across a sweet and simple letter
They say Godâs in the details
So he puts his faith in the U.S. Mail

Chorus
It says, Baby, little games are not my style
But if you want someone to cherish you
I promise you all you have to do is say so
I canât read your mind
But if you want my love itâs here for you
Just make your move
All you have to do is say so

Verse 2
His letter comes a few days on
Tucked inside all the junk mail
Credit cards, discount stores
She drops them on a table by the door
Amidst the junk his words of love will go unnoticed
Like a kiss she never feels
Like a gift she never opens
(Chorus)

Verse 3
Ten days and nights go by
And every time he sees her she smiles and she says hello
But thatâs as far as it ever goes
Finally to her door, no choice but to confront her
Heâs amazed at her surprise
At the amusement in her eyes
When she says soft and low
Thereâs something you should know

Baby, little games are not my style
But if you want someone to cherish you
I promise you all you have to do is say so
I canât read your mind
But if you want my love itâs here for you
Just make your move
All you have to do is say so
Just say so



Track 10: WHEN LOVE IS LIKE THE RAIN
© 2006 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD

Eâs insights: This song looks at love as a force of nature. But as we all know, nature isnât always kind. For example, rain can be a blessing or a curse, depending on the amount of chaos in the storm delivering it. When love is like the rain, but itâs rain thatâs not even close to being a good thing, itâs time to find some dryer weather quick.

Verse 1
Sure was cold and cruel
He was walking down the road
His face was wet with tears
His face was wet with raindrops
He did not have a prayer or the right kind of clothes
To save him from this kind of weather

Verse 2
Now, a man may want the rain falling gently on his fields
Putting food up on his table
But when it turns relentless
And the river crests and floods
That's the way it is when love
Makes you sorry for the things you wished for

Chorus
When love is like the rain
Give up, give up
When love is like the rain

Verse 3
At first she gave him spring
Showered him with things
That grew up all around him
But then one day she changed
And now her love was falling on everything but him
There was nothing he could do but watch it rain

Verse 4
Sometimes its hard to know when to cut your losses
Turn and run for cover, find another lover
Keep hoping for the best
But it turns out to be less
Than what it really takes to keep you going

Chorus
When love is like the rain
Give up, give up
When love is like the rain

Bridge
First all the predictions
Said she was the one
But everything's gone cloudy
And you cannot see the sun
You want to turn off all those feelings
You want to make them stop
You can't take another minute
No no not another drop

Chorus
When love is like the rain
When love is like the rain

Verse 5
Sure was cold and cruel
He was walking down the road
The raindrops felt like tears
When at last he'd had enough
H e turned and headed home
He was ready for a change of weather



Track 11: DURANGO
© 2001 Eileen Hemphill-Haley / H2 Tunes (ASCAP)
Tuning: DADGAD

Eâs insights: Hereâs a story about two people, both out wandering around the West, too focused on their own lives to realize that in fact they are each actually quite lost. They happen to meet by way of an automotive breakdown, followed by becoming trapped by a storm. By the time the weather clears, well, everything is different.
This is the one and only song of mine with a geologist as the protagonist. I love geologists! Theyâre so⦠earthy (heh, heh).

Verse 1
Out of Four Corners
Down a two-lane road with a one-track mind
Eyes ever forward
Not a thought askew, not a glance behind
Cool wind blowing, pushing me hard in the direction of Durango

Verse 2
Now me, I know these highways
I know the lay of the land that theyâre drawn across
I am a mapmaker
Iâm not capable of getting lost
But there I was stranded just a few short miles from Durango

Chorus
Durangoâ¦
Durangoâ¦

Verse 3
I met him on the roadside
Apparently Iâd run out of gas
One of lifeâs little metaphors
I see that now, thinking back
Would he take me to the next town?
He said, what is the next town?
I said, Durango

Verse 4
The snow started blowing before weâd made it even two more miles
The roads were getting treacherous and it was clear weâd have to stop for a while
He said, letâs find a cup of coffee
See what we can learn about the weather in Durango
Durango⦠Durangoâ¦

Bridge
He was working on a novel about love gone right in a world gone wrong
Satellite positioning
Thatâs what I was working on
He said, this storm is getting vicious
Maybe we should find a place to sleep
A satellite wouldnât get a fix on us again for seven weeks

Verse 5
If love wants to find you it doesnât need a compass or a map
Donât have to draw me a picture
Believe me, I know all about that
I am a mapmaker
And every map I make now leads to Durango

Verse 6
And me, I known these highways
I know the rocks and the hills and the canyon lands
If anyone can find you
Darlinâ you know I surely can
I know where to find you, yeah
I know that I will find you in Durango