He don't know how to lie or undermine you
He don't know how to steal, how to deal or deceive
So leave him alone, set him free
'Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel that only he can see

You'd say he's so helpless, but what about you?
You don't pull the string, don't you know
anything?
Leave him alone, let him be
'Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel that only he can see

Would you teach him 'bout heaven?
Would you show him how to love the earth?
Would you poison him with prejudice from
the moment of his birth?

He in the name of love, he in the blood of lamb
He that never lays blame, he don't even
know his name
So leave him alone, set him free
'Cause he's speaking with the angel
Speaking with the angel (the very one)
that spoke to you and me
Oh Do you remember?

THE KID
by Buddy Mondlock

I'm the kid who ran away with the circus
Now I'm watering elephants
But I sometimes lie awake in the sawdust
Dreaming I'm in a suit of light
Late at night in the empty big top
I'm all alone on the high wire
Look he's working without a net this time
He's a real death defyer

I'm the kid who always looked out the window
Failing tests in geography
But I've seen things far beyond just the school yard
Distant shores of exotic lands
There're the spires of the Turkish Empire
Six months since we made landfall
Riding low with the spice of India
Through Gibralter
A We're rich men

I'm the kid who thought we'd someday be lovers
Always held out that time would tell
Time was talking guess I just wasn't listening
No surprise if you know me well
And as we're walking toward the train station
There's a whispering rainfall
Cross the boulevard you slip your hand in mine
In the distance the train calls

I'm the kid who has this habit of dreaming
Sometimes gets me in trouble too
But the truth is I could no more stop dreaming
Than I could make them all come true

SHADES OF GRAY
by Robert Earl Keen

We made Oklahoma a little after three
Randy his brother Bob in my old GMC
We had some moonshine whiskey
Some of Bob's homegrown
We were so messed up we didn't know if we were drunk or stoned
Randy was a sad sack tall kinda frail
Bob was a ravin' maniac, crazier than hell
They'd been kicked outta high school several years ago
For kickin' over porta-cans at the 4H rodeo
Since then they done their little dance right outside the law
Popped twice in Oklahoma and once in Arkansas
And I don't know what possessed me to want to tag along
Cause I was raised a Christian and I knew right from wrong

CHORUSRight or wrong black or white
Cross the line you're gonna pay
In the dawn before the light
Live or die by shades of gray

We stole two charolais heifers
From Randy's sweetheart's pa
And sold them at the livestock sales outside of Wichita
We got nine hundred dollars and never did suspect
The world of hurt we'd be in once we cashed that check

Next day we heard the story on the local radio
And made our plans that very night to go to Mexico
And I swear we would've made it if it wasn't for the shine

I got sick about the time we crossed that Kansas line

CHORUS

I was lying in the bar ditch praying I would die
When a light came on above us
And a voice called from the sky
A half dozen unmarked cards came screeching to a halt
They grabbed Bob he started screaming that it was my fault
There were men and dogs and helicopters flying all around
They had the brothers on the pickup hood
And me on the ground
Then Bob flew all to pieces but Randy he held tight
When a black man in a suit and tie stepped into the light
He told his men to turn us loose
And they put down their guns
He said these are just some sorry kids
They ain't the ones

CHORUS

They left us by the roadside downhearted and alone
Randy got behind the wheel said boys I'm going home
So we turned round and faced our fate hung over but alive
On that morning Oklahoma late April nintry five

LORD, I HAVE MADE YOU A PLACE IN MY HEART
by Greg Brown

Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
among the rags and the bones and the dirt.
There's piles of lies, the love gone from her eyes,
and old moving boxes full of hurt.
Pull up a chair by the trouble and care.
I got whiskey, you're welcome to some.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart,
but I don't reckon you're gonna come.

I've tried to fix up the place, I know it's a disgrace,
you get used to it after a while -
with the flood and the drought and old pals hanging out
with their IOU's and their smiles.
bare naked women keep coming in
and they dance like you wouldn't believe.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart,
so take a good look - and then leave.

Oh Lord, why does the Fall get colder each year?
Lord, why can't I learn to love?
Lord, if you made me, it's easy to see
that you all make mistakes up above.
But if I open the door, you will know I'm poor
and my secrets are all that I own.
Oh Lord, I have made you a place in my heart
and I hope that you leave it alone.

BY WAY OF SORROW
by Julie Miller

You've been taken by the wind
You have known the kiss of sorrow
Doors that would not take you in
Outcast and a stranger

CHORUS
You have come by way of sorrow
You have come by way of tears
But you'll reach your destiny
Meant to find you all these years
Meant to find you all these years

You have drunk a bitter wine
With none to be your comfort
You who once were left behind
Will be welcome at love's table

CHORUS

ALl the nights that joy has slept
Will awake to days of laughter
Gone the tears that you have wept
You'll dance in freedom ever after


CHORUS x2

MEMPHIS
by Cliff Eberhardt

All night long, and half the next day
Oh, I'm in trouble now
All of the pay phones along the interstate
And I am the last to know
All of our memories appear on the road to me
No matter what I do
There's a lot of nice sights from Denver to Memphis
And all I can see is you

I used to be grateful for all of the travel
But now I can't really tell
Away on business, headed for Memphis
Oh but I'm on the road to hell
You put the blame on me for taking the things I need
Some of those things came true
I waited my whole life just to see Memphis
Now all I can see is you

Voices are calling me on
Sometimes the voices you hear can be wrong
I thought of stopping and maybe calling
But I know what you would say
That a whole world of love shared by two people
Some things can never change
It still confuses me, this is why you would leave
Do what you have to do
I saw my choices and I chose Memphis
Now all I can see is you
All I can see is you

NORTHERN CROSS
by Leslee Smith

DOWN BY THE WATER
by Jim Armenti

Down by the water where the big dam is standing,
I met my darling last night.
And while the pale moon was sinking,
we lay there drinking
and listening to our hearts.

Down by the water with the steel turbines humming,
I held my darling last night.
And when the big sluice was opened the river went running,
and turned on the lights.

CHORUS Down by the water, I thought I knew.
Down by the water, quick as the dew.
Down by the water.

Cool was the air through the folds of her hair,
as she told me to listen once more.
And I heard the wind making waves on the water,
that reached for the shore

So many reasons, like drops from a rain cloud,
she could've been talking all night.
Instead she just left me, and I watched the river drain out of sight.

CHORUS

Down by the water where the big dam is standing,
I met my darling last night.
And while the pale moon was sinking,
we lay there drinking
and listening to our hearts.

Down by the water, we fell apart.
Down by the water, right from the start.
Down by the water, quick as the dew.
Down by the water.

I KNOW WHAT KIND OF LOVE THIS IS
by Nerissa Nields

I know what kind of love this is
After all, I was there when we made it
And I know why I did what I did
To end a lifetime of wallflower shade
With Buster Brown
The big man in the town
When no one was around

CHORUS
I know what kind of love this is
I know what kind of love this is
I know what kind of love this is


The man in black said, "You won't mind
It'll be over before you know it
You can pretend that you are blind
If it will help you to get over it"
In my parents' bed
Pretending I am dead
Remember every word he said

CHORUS

And when I wake he will be gone
And I won't see him until the classroom
It's just a tale of right and wrong
That they will whisper inside the bathroom
How she lost the game
She'll never be the same
He doesn't even know her name


CHORUS

THE BALLAD OF MARY MAGDALEN
by Richard Shindell

My name is Mary Magdalene
I come from Palestine
Please excuse these rags I'm in
But I've fallen on hard times
Long ago I had my work
When I was in my prime
But I gave it up, and all for love
It was his career or mine

Jesus loved me, this I know
Why on earth did I ever let him go
He was always faithful
He was always kind
But he walked off with this heart of mine