Alternate     Angles
 

1   "ALLMAN JOY" (Instrumental)
Those boys from Macon put together a great blues band but songs that inspired this one, like “Revival” from 1971, could be downright joyful. Dickie Betts wrote the song, he said, as a counterpoint to the band’s more melancholy material: “I don't want to write a song that makes you want to go hang yourself in the bathroom." I personally thought that was great until he also penned “Rambling Man,” that sold well but I feel, blew their cool. Duane Allman’s untimely death helped that along too.

2   "I'M THE ONE (WHO MADE A FOOL OF ME)"​​​​​​​​​​​​
      Speaking of the blues, this song is in response to the many songs that have been written about women who have done men wrong or were cold-hearted enough to walk out. It puts the onus on the person who allows him or her self to be taken advantage of or whose affections aren’t reciprocated. 
​
(Chorus)
It wasn’t her
I finally see
Everyone agrees
I’m the one who made
A fool of me

I used to put the blame on her
When I’d just spin my wheels
Head over heals
I know how it feels
To get nowhere
I never stopped to wonder why
She treated me that way
When she’d say "Stop!"
I’d hit go
And now I know
Who’s to blame

The more she’d start to pull away
The more I’d show I care
So eager to please
I’d drop to my knees
In worship or prayer
And then somewhere along the way
I lost a part of me
What once caught her eye
Was everything I needed to be
​
3   "I'LL ALWAYS LOVE YOU"
(Instrumental)

4   "DEAD END STREET"
 You can tell when I run short of unique song topics and resort to a lot of relationship tunes. This one deals with the narcotic of physical attraction and how it often ends up getting you nowhere. But it can be fun, if that’s all both people are looking for.

In the middle of our first kiss
The neighbors must have heard her scream
“Ya know, I could really learn to love this!
The power of suggestion 
Took a hold of me
Two strangers as different
As two people can be

(Chorus)
We’re so warm and tender
Like a choice cut of meat
These rose-colored glasses
Made it so hard to see
We’ve got the pedal to the metal, babe
Headed down a 
one-way, good-bye way
Dead end street

She said “You talk too much
Just shut up and drop your pants
Let’s just have a little fun
With this pseudo romance
Life’s too short
Let’s live for today
Why let where we’re headed
Get in our way?"

5   "IS IT ONLY ME?"
This is about being unsure of the other's affections and afraid of messing things up by saying too much too soon.

I’ve got something on my mind today
If I tell you what it is
Promise me we’ll be friends either way
Is it only me
Or love I see
In those sanpaku eyes?
Is it really too
Good to be true?
Let’s not compromise
If it’s only me
No need to apologize

I’ve tried to show you in so many ways
Afraid to tell you how I feel
It’s time for me to just come out and say
Is it only me
Or love I see
In those sanpaku eyes?
Is it really too
Good to be true?
Let’s not compromise
If it’s only me
No need for your alibis
​
6   "LIFE IS JUST A LEAP OF FAITH'
(Instrumental)

7   "DOMESTIC"
This is a song about childhood physical abuse. My father would get home from work, hear about something I had done to upset my mother, and take off his belt and chase me until he could catch me and give me a few whacks. That worked until I learned to run to the bathroom and lock the door. Some might say it was a sign of the times back in the Fifties, but I think it was more about a pattern of family behavior that could have been handled in more effective and respectful ways. That pattern was broken when I vowed to never hit my sons… and I never did.​

Running to the front door
Running to the back door
Round the table
Sliding cross the kitchen floor
He'd wield his belt 
like a loaded gun
I feel like a fugitive 
on the run

Mom’s a snitch
Can’t be trusted anymore
Even big brother tried 
To grab me at the door 
Hold him down 
I’ll make him pay
Some kids just have 
To learn the hard way

Running through the pantry
Running down the hall
Sliding cross the bed
And bouncing off the wall
Fake to the left
Pivot to the right
Slam the bathroom door
With all my might

It’s so quiet out there
Can I unlock the door?
And when he sees me
Will dad still love me anymore?

​8   "ONE DOOR OPENED"
OK… one more relationship song. This one covers the idea of finding someone new before you’ve gotten past the old.  

Those times when all you’ve needed
Is the last thing you need
Putting pressure on a broken heart 
Never stops the bleed
You can’t get what you’ve wanted
Till you find what you need

(Chorus)
When one door opened
leaves another half closed
Is like tryin’ to gain traction
On a slippery slope
Like trying to surrender
Without losing hope
When one door opened
Leaves another half closed

These nights can drive you crazy
Days pass so slow
When memories leave you stranded
Everywhere you go
The past can make you question
Everything you know
 
9   "BANSURI FROM MISSOURI"
(Instrumental)

10   "WHEREVER I FIND MYSELF"
This was Bob Dylan’s response when asked where he calls home these days. I played off his "Never Ending Tour" theme and how life on the road becomes a way of life for him and others like Willie Nelson. It’s not for me, by the way. Three weeks of vacation, and I’m anxious to crawl back into my own bed.​

I kinda live wherever I find myself
I feel at home every night
In a strange motel
I'm out of place in places
I used to know
When you're lost you'll find
Just where I go

(Chorus) 
Home's just where my heart feels free
That's all I know for sure
No two days are quite the same
On this Never Ending Tour

People say I'm like a runaway train
That everything I do
Runs against the grain
They just can't see their way through life
Without a house, two kids and a wistful wife

11   "TAKE ME TO THE COUNTRY'
I found myself walking through the tall grass around an abandoned property recently when the idea and tune for this little ditty drifted into my head. I do love the solitude and feeling of freedom I get in rural areas, and I miss it if I’m gone too long.

Take me to the country
That's where I long to be
Free of this big-city life
Where I can still see stars at night
Take me to the country

12   "WHEN JENNY COMES MARCHING HOME"
Irish-American bandleader Patrick Gilmore wrote the lyrics to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" in 1863 during the American Civil War. I started the lyrics for this not long after the end of Vietnam War, which saw so many returning from duty with mental and physical handicaps that they would deal with the rest of their lives. So I’m suggesting here that of course we’re happy to have them back, but often at a terrible cost.

When Jenny comes marching homł
You'd better hold back all your tears
Don't let her know she looks the way
You've dreamed her and you've feared
She's lost an arm, she's lost a leg
To find a job she'll have to beg
And we'll all be glad
But feel a little sad
When Jenny comes marching home

When Billy comes marching home
He'll look like nothing much has changed
You'll see it in his eyes and know
He'll never be the same
His dreams will keep him up at night
A battle cry in a losing fight
But we'll be glad
But feel a little sad
When Billy comes marching home
​
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