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In the Slanting Light

by Frank Gayer Martin

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1.
Water 03:10
Water ©2002 Frank Gayer Martin Three feet of snow should've had ten It was gone by June Just robbed by the wind Never filled up the creek Nor the reservoir Now all the tanks are dry And there ain't no more Water, water There's no water down here Had a little well Just 40 feet down Pulled sweet, clear water Pulled year around Until that day in August Summer of '01 With 500 head of cattle That dreaded day had come without... Water, water There's no water down here But if you've got money And you're willing to pay A handful of lawyers You might find a way From ditches and the river We sold our water rights It's better than foreclosure Bankers did advise Oh, It looked okay on paper Back in '89 But developments are thirsty Now they're first in line for… Water, water There's no water down here
2.
She Never Gave In ©2002 Frank Gayer Martin She was a black-haired beauty Been married a week When they rolled the car Her husband died in the street And her heart stopped beating But it started again Cause she never gave up and she never gave in Well, her back was broken She was bleeding inside And the doctor discovered She was with child Long after the funeral She brought a little boy in Cause she never gave up and she never gave in When she fell in love We all hoped the best Both for the boy And a wedding dress Her man never showed up On his knee with a ring But she never gave up and she never gave in Some people let go and get on with their lives Some people let God and find peace inside Some people move on when they know they can't win But she never gave up and she never gave in Now there’s talk going 'round Oh, the kind you'd expect Seems an old girlfriend Just wasn't done yet There was scene in the town But it wasn't the end Cause she never gave up and she never gave in Well, it came to blows And it lasted years Midnight death threats And public jeers I though she'd leave him He started playing both ends But she never gave up and she never gave in On the night it all ended She caught 'em in bed She was all done talking There were bullets instead She still writes him letters From her cell in the pen Cause she never gave up and she never gave in Chorus
3.
I Was the Man Who Played Mandolin Words and Music by Frank Gayer Martin I had a cabin in woods near a stream I had a house on cul-de-sac street Now an apartment, one bedroom, two kids I was the man who played mandolin My reputation is know far and wide Here on the bottom and there in the sky If you don't know me perhaps you knew me when I was the man who played mandolin Everyone who looks sees another side of you Then there are those who say they see right through I made a vow to love you to the end But I was the man who played mandolin I'm a mother's son and sister's dear brother A lover, a husband and some worse to others Still a stranger and still a pilgrim I was the man who played mandolin The Blackberry Blossom, The Knoxville Girl Ashes of Love and the Grievous Angel I laid it down, but I may once again I was the man who played mandolin
4.
I Need You 03:35
I Need You Words and Music by Frank Gayer Martin I need a pot, I need a pan, I need a knife I need a day, I need a night without a fight I need a pillow, I need a towel, I need a chair I need a roof, I need walls, I need air I need you I need a dresser, I need a drawer, I need a light I need a bed, I need a dream every night I need a shower, I need water, I need soap I need a mirror, I need a shave, I need hope I need you I need a cupboard, I need flour, I need yeast I need a measure of all things in the least I need sugar, I need salt, I need wine I need a oven, I need heat, I need time I need you
5.
Mollie 03:17
Mollie Words and Music by Frank Gayer Martin She plays the fiddle, she calls the tune Make hers a reel in the month of June And all the songs that I have sung All said Mollie was the one To think of her still hurts me some She is fine and she is fair With pretty brown eyes and soft brown hair She is my charm I cannot break Her loving spell, now I have to wait To think of her still hurts me some I loved her once, she was bound to leave I loved her twice, she had enough of me And all the songs that I have sung All said Mollie was the one To think of her still hurts me some
6.
(I’m a) Freeborn Man ©2001 by Frank Gayer Martin All this rain pouring down — it doesn’t bode well It’s been coming on, coming a long, long spell After sitting ‘round, sitting ‘round, I gotta go I gotta meet my baby tonight in old Thibodeaux I’m dogging it, dogging it as fast as I can If I make it over, baby I’m a freeborn man River’s running high, river’s running red And it doesn’t look any better on up the road If that red mud flows, they’re gonna close the road If I don’t see my baby, I’m gonna explode I’m driving by little white crosses on the side On day like today it’s no surprise someone died If I die in a ditch put a marker at my head “Good love killed him, he’s better off dead”
7.
Rebecca 03:55
Rebecca ©1996 Frank G. Martin Raised with the gospel in old time tradition I was sixteen with marriage at hand We planned to marry when he made the dowry My father said nay, he is poor man We thought to eloping, our families abandon No where to go but to leave Pennsylvania Full moon at moonlight, first week in April I tried to seem patient, but inside I trembled My name's Rebecca, I pilot this flatboat River's my sister, Ohio I lift my voice I sing and I praise But life with no husband is sorrow On the night of our leaving I took a dark mare It was my brother's — my father's revenge He shot my David in charges of stealing I had the money and off I ran A riverman found me and he took me in Kept me the summer, I learned about men We never married, he was drunk most the time One night I pushed him down in a river's deep bend
8.
Fire Burning Still Words and Music by Frank Gayer Martin A Sampson-like redemption And a jawbone of doubt Gonna swing it at the heavens ’Til they put the lights out Going to war with a plowshare From the last to the first Going to wrestle with an angel ’Til somebody gets hurts There’s a light in your eye There’s a light on the hill Under my bushel There’s a fire burning still Your body is a temple Your wife is a crown A clatter in the kitchen And it all falls down Down in some hollow Where the sun never shines Gonna pick up all the pieces And try it one more time An audience with the Pope And all the saints in a line They argue in my head They argue all the time On the principles of angels And the dark side of men You can rebuild the temple We’ll tear it down again
9.
Old Black Mud © 2002 Frank Gayer Martin Black water flowing without a sound Boy on a bayou with one eye on the ground Looking for the copperhead and that black cotton mouth Better watch your step in the old, deep south And that old black mud Yes, that old black mud That old black mud Back when a quarter buy a gallon of gas Sign of prestige was a gold Cadillac Driving down the blacktop with the AC on Drive past the shanties and the sharecropper farms And that old black mud… Southern white Baptists got the lock on the land Count yourself lucky if you’re part of the clan Something not spoken, but it’s well understood Pass on the knowing, like it’s all for the good Of that old black mud… Maybe I’ll finish with a surprise end Tie it all together with a band of love Maybe I’ll drift off like a fading memory Disappear forever in that old black mud In that old black mud…
10.
Redwings 03:24
Redwings Words and Music by Frank Gayer Martin Along the water ditch in the slanting light On the ranching fields I walked out of sight Of a congregation left behind my back I shade my eyes to watch redwings rise from the thatch I could love this land, smelling soil every day Biding on the moon 'for harvesting the hay I could settle down like a fence post set in tight But I'm walking in the sun watching redwings taking flight I hear voices in the yard and water in the ditch And the birds and all their songs and I know for certain which Side of the fence where shadow lies Oh, to be alone where the redwings fly Oh, to be alone where the redwings fly

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released August 1, 2002

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Frank Gayer Martin Glenwood Springs, Colorado

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