We flew in from Chicago / go west young man / go west
We stopped off in Colorado / go west young man / go west
On our way to San Francisco / on the red eye express / go west

She was lookin' straight ahead / so deep in thought /
The first time I seen her / at this stop / well I tapped my horn / as I pulled away
Well, she through her head in the air / oh.. and looked the other way /
She looked the other way /

She had her sweats on / kinda' loose and casual / I could tell by her rush / she
Couldn't be rattled / but I took a chance / and I smiled and waived / but she
through her head in the air / oh.. and look the other way / she looked the other way /

So, you've been around the world a time or two / but she's the kind of girl
You want to come home to / and you may never see anyone like her again /

I seen her on a Friday / it was near the Golden Gate / a pink glow from the Sunset /
well now it covered San Francisco Bay / and I pleated for her attention /
But, she looked the other way / I CAN'T STAND IT!

She's a city girl / I can tell by her talk / sophisticated lady / just look at her walk /
Every head turns / as she goes by/ she's my mystery girl / oh..
Tell me her name / Please tell me her name /
She looks like a Candace / or maybe Michele / maybe it's both / how do I tell /
She's the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world / oh! I'll call her oh.. /
Candace Michele / my mystery girl / oh! I'll call her oh.. / Candace Michele /
You take my breath away / you take my breath away / you take my breath away
You take my breath away / Candace Michele, / Candace Michele.

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2. Bad Luck Blues
Words & music by Rod Elliott

I've got 15 bucks / and an ol' pick-up truck / and I'm stuck here on the highway /

I bought an ol' truck yesterday / it's leakin' oil all over my drive way /
It only gets 8 mile's to a gallon of gas / and that's out on the open highway /

CHORUS:

Well, I had a rabbit's foot hangin' from my rear view mirror /
And if this is good luck / then bad luck better leave me alone / oh...

Well, I use to work for the postal service / formally the pony express /
They said, "here's your hat / and over there is your coat, / don't let the door hit you
In the sack-a-willie-ach" /

REPEAT CHORUS:

Well, I can't go back to those Greyhound Lines / you know I went to school to be
A bus driver / but on the last day of class / I slipped and hit the gas / and I ran over my
Instructor / he had a knot on his head / bigger then a tailor made golf ball / with a
Migraine headache / and a VERY bad attitude / oh...

Well, I guess I could go back to ol' Kentucky / and buy me this little farm / and raise me
Some potatoes / tomatoes and turnips / and big ol' yeller eared corn /

REPEAT CHORUS:

Well, I'd get me a cow / some chickens and ducks / I'd buy me a horse / and a brand new truck /
and maybe a goat / I guess that'll do / good luck bad luck I've got the blues /

REPEAT CHORUS:

Well, I all most forgot / I'll need me a biggie / and a ol' hound doggie or two / to lay in
the yard / under the shade / of that ol' weepin' willow tree /

REPEAT CHORUS:

If this is good luck / then bad luck better leave me alone/

(spoken)

"Don't forget my fishin' pole... I see the tow truck comin'"

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3. Ol' Mackey Bend
Words & music by Rod Elliott

In the southeastern part of Kentucky / near a town called Barbourville /
there's a little place / it's called Mackey Bend / and it nestled in the hills /
where Grandma & Grandpa live on a farm / it's right next to uncle Bill's /
and Rodney & Benny are two little boys / With Grandma & Grandpa just over that hill.

Chorus:

Dream, dream me away / take me home again /
like an ol' freight train chug chuggin' along /
carry me home / carry me home.

A river runs by it / that Ol' Cumberland / and look here's the rock bar where we learned to swim /
white water raftin' like Sawyer & Finn / I can hear us a'laughin' / then we both fell in /
huntin' and trappin' is expected when / it puts food on our table / down in ol'Mackey Bend.


Oh... a one-room school house / from first grade through eight /
let's finish ours chores now so we won't be late / take the horse's to water /
just look at their gait / while Grandma's in the kitchen / she's got biscuits to bake /
there's church on a' Sunday / to forgive us our sins /
but raisin' tobacco / well we didn't know then.

Repeat Chorus:

Roy Rogers / Gene Autry / And Johnny Mac Brown / at the matinee on Saturday /
when we go to town / 25 cents admission / and Mighty Mouse abound /
and there's Popeye and Olive Oil / come blow me down

Oh... Road Runner, Road Runner / where did you go / Wile E. Coyote
and I'd like to know / oh Road Runner, Road Runner / where have you been /
we lost your tracks down in Ol' Mackey Bend.

In the southeastern part of Kentucky / near a town called Barbourville.


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4. One Last Look
Words & music by Rod Elliott

He's a long lost friend / to the ol'friends he had / and there hopin' for eternity /
but for now it's too late / no, time didn't wait /
but oh how they wish it could be / just one more day / can't you see.

With conscience in mind / and honesty, so kind / humor and personality /
all of these things made my heart sing / but he couldn't see
the forest for the trees / no, he couldn't stop his misery

The mails delivered / the forecast predicted / there's more dry weather ahead /
I remember him askin' that ol'weather profit "Hey Liege, do you think it'll rain?" /
And he answered, "You know, it always has."

Fried chicken' and Sundays all went together and Barbourville on Saturdays /
dirt roads with trenches / hill sides with fences / come watch the corn fields grow /
you know, he worked that corn with a hoe.

No shoes til' winter / tough just like leather / bare feet runnin' it's cold /
he built houses and barns / was a black smith and farmed /
share croppin' and did you know / that man use to dig coal.

Long hours each day / time drifts away / I know we had something to say /
but it never got done / cause we run and we run /
but oh how I wish it could be / just one more day you and me.

They say it just stopped / like a rusty ol'clock / left unattended so long /
hearts are not made of stone / "hey, he looks just like his father,"/
said an ol' friend he had / as I walked up to take one last look at my Dad.

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5. Louisiana Shotgun Wedding
Words & music by Rod Elliott

Down in Louisiana / in the swampland of the ol' bayou /
up to my knees in the quicksand and an alligator in pursuit.

Come to my aid Marry Barker / I promise that I'll marry you /
just throw me that rope on the bank over there / and I will say I do / yes I do.

Chorus:

We can build a house with a white picket fence / oh, any ol' thing that you want /
just throw me that rope on the bank over there / and I will say I do /
we can have two or three children / oh, three or four or more /
just throw me that rope on the bank over there / and I will say I do.

Billy Bob / Zob Dob / and Rufus / well, they promised to stand up with pride /
when you and your ol' man walk down the isle / with a shotgun at his side / oh' my...

Please tell your ol' man I'm sorry / we'll name the first one after him /
and if it's a girl not to worry / we'll call her "Frank" my dear with a grin /
or "Frank" and "Frankly" my dears if they're twins.

Repeat Chorus:

Well, if it ain't Mr. Frank Barker, what brings you here?

BANG, BANG, BANG!!!

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6. Working in a Coal Mine
Words & music by Rod Elliott

I'll tell you a story bout' my family
maybe you've heard it many times before,
But baby I've been workin' for such a long time,
so let me unwind, with you.

CHORUS:

I'm workin' in a coal mine
I'm workin' in a coal mine
I'm workin' in a coal mine
"black face where you been?"

I'm diggin' me a tunnel
I'm diggin' me a tunnel
I'm diggin' me a tunnel
"black face where you been ? "

I'm workin' for my money
I'm workin' for my money
I'm workin' for my money
that's where I've been.

It's dark, damp, and sometimes lonely,
it's hard for me to breathe way down there
I sometimes wonder what fate awaits me,
nothin' left, but fear

Repeat Chorus

It's pride, courage, and our tradition
I'm so proud to be my father's son
at 6am I'll be in that Appalachian coal mine
loadin' 16 ton.

Repeat Chorus:

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7. Grover "T"
Words & music by Rod Elliott

I met an old man from Kentucky his name was Grover T.
A house full of chickens, ducks and geese and a strange philosophy.

CHORUS:

"The blues are goin' catch your California."
"The blues are goin' catch your California. "
"The blues are goin' catch your California. "
"And I don't believe in electricity."

The man was a farmer he worked hard every day
his alarm clock was a shamrock rooster, roostin' at the head of his bed.

Grover had a dog named Roofen James, the dog couldn't do no wrong
until one day he caught him suckin' eggs and it was bye-bye Roofen James

(REPEAT CHORUS)

All of us folks from Mackey Bend couldn't understand this man,
he always broke tradition he was an innovative man
well he didn't take a bath on Saturday, or even wash his hands,
he said "water is bad for da body" he was and innovative man.

This man bought a milkin' mo-chine to help him with his chores,
but was he surprised when he brought it home... it ran on electricity.

"The blues are goin' catch your California."
"The blues are goin' catch your California. "
"The blues are goin' catch your California. "
"And I better get some electricity."

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8. Country Boy Blues
Words & music by Rod Elliott

kickin' back with holes in my shoes, triple rejections, 10 o'clock news.
Cloudy skies, sad lullabys, stormy Sundays, with tears in my eyes.
Unskilled labor, welfare lines, deflated ego, how much more time.
Pride still showin' on the outside of me, but don't look inside, you frighten me.

Triple rejections, 10 o'clock news, yeah I've got those country boy blues.
If it weren't for her love, and this family, I'd shuck it all and leave.

CHORUS:

Give me those dirty, dusty, roads and barnyard stenches.
Cows and turnin' plows, fixen' ol' fences.
Corn fields and wide open spaces, haulin' hay all day, dinner plus pay
Country stores, sweet smells of chocolate, corn meal and flower, roses in bloom.
Honeysuckles and clear well water, blue skies and no good byes and ol' radio

Super "8", lousy technique few good memories we want to keep.
Anger and violence destroyin' me, guilty, guilty, I can hardly breathe.
One little tear runs down her cheek, thunder and lightnin', she starts to weep.
Oh dear God what's wrong with me, worries unnoticed, way down deep,
pains in my chest, I can't sleep.
Sayin' good-bye sure bothers me,
if it weren't for her love and this family, I'd shuck it all and leave.

(REPEAT CHORUS)

Ending: Country Boy Blues


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9. Kris Kringle
(merry christmas)
Words & music by Rod Elliott

I wrote a Christmas song just for you.
Kris Kringle, / Kris Kringle, / comes out tonight / the night is dark /
but he'll find some light / from shiny little faces reflecting so
bright / helping him find his way tonight. /

December the twenty fourth / it's Christmas eve / be quiet little
children / you must get some sleep / your stockings are hung by the
chimney because / you know they'll be filled by ol' Santa Claus. /

Now if we are lucky, / we'll see him thru the first crack of dawn, /
stockings all hung, / down the chimney he comes, / laughing and joking /
so full of fun, / cheeks are so rosy, / and hair silver white, /
oh what a beautiful sight. /

(Santa speaks)

"I'm so weighted down. I'll just pass these around. I've got to get
back to my sleigh. My reindeers are dancing to Rudolph requesting, for
Santa to get on his way."

Up thru the chimney, / just a little too tight. / Santa, / oh Santa, /
you're gone in the night. / "Merry Christmas" to you / have a
wonderful flight. / See you next year / you're a special delight. /

Kris Kringle, / Kris Kringle, / came out tonight, / the night was dark, / but
he found some light, / from shiny little faces / reflecting so bright, /
helping him say "I love you good night. / Merry Christmas, / Merry
Christmas, / and a Happy New Year. /

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Robert Berry Tribute:
Trying to find the right things to say about someone in the Music and Entertainment Industry that you respect, admire, and look to for advice, you always run the risk of sounding trite. It's all been said before; all the adjectives and accolades, the self congratulatory bull "he or she's the greatest thing since Ben & Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream (boy, that is good isn't it?). So all those words seem to lose their true meaning, that's why I'm struggling here.

For all of you out there, if you're listening, I simply want to say, "Every time I hear my songs, or play them, I think of Robert Berry". His musical talents, his deep genuine feelings, understanding, and respect for my lyrics and music are so overwhelmingly evident in "Appalachia". All I can say is, thank you Robert. I feel like some good luck came my way when I met 'ya. Maybe that rabbits foot hangin' from my rear view mirror is workin' after all.

Life's not always "Bad Luck Blues".

If you would like to see for yourself what I'm "Talkin' Bout", (little word play on one of Robert's hit songs)
check out Mr. Robert Berry and his music at www.robertberry.com

.                                                                                                            Rod Elliott.