Drinkin' Hard Tonight

I been drinkin’ hard tonight

it’s nothing new for me

my head turns like a distant star

so far that you can’t see

since you left me

I been drownin’ all my bitter thoughts of you

and I only got one question

is there anything else I can do

does he send you any letters

does he call you on the phone

does he tell you all those pretty little lies

I never told you when you were mine

since you left me…

I been lookin’ to find a lover

I been lookin’ to find a friend

been lookin’ to find a lover

and a love that will not end

since you left me…

1982

Drunkard's Prayer

lord if you’re there

please answer this drunkard’s prayer

turn water into whiskey 

whiskey into time

get this voice in my head to whisper you’re doing fine

amen

wind o wind won’t you breeze

a little trouble from a trouble-laden tree

bring a mighty storm to sweep me outside

so I can melt back in the rain into the deep and wide

amen

lord sketch my face in the cloud

lay me out on a sunset shroud

perhaps I’ll be spared if I've brought joy to one heart

anyway no one else would want to play this part

amen

river of gold bathe this lamb

I confess I’ve forgotten who I am

dry hymnal mouth I kiss the bottle like a wife

transparent 

hollow 

a man 

a life

amen

lord hear my prayer

if you’re there lord if you still care

for a peat smoke smudge in a mirrored hall

obsolete dime waiting for your call

amen

amen

amen

Echo

okay I’ll be quiet I won’t say a word

anyway anything I say is something you’ve already heard

alright I’ll be quiet I’ll be a good little boy

there’s a bare branch wants my leaf and thread so you don’t want my joy

I won’t share my joy

he who dies last dies with the most stories to tell

you die with your boots on you can get away fast at the final bell

all around my window the dark calls so clearly

gonna keep my little light gonna keep it here with me

I won’t share my joy

I won’t share my joy with any flickering candle wick

I won’t beg you to listen that won’t make this beauty stick

I said I would be quiet now here’s where this path has led

you wanna feel the sunlight step in to my garden bed

kind of a resolute calm kind of a stickman grin

I kind of know what’s going on I’m sorry ‘bout your broken wing

you say apples and oranges I say delicious tangerine

I see you haven’t got the time for all the things my hands have seen

I won’t share my joy

though my mouth may fill with bees my heart be a knot of asps

I will not speak a single one I only speak when I am asked

I said I would be quiet I mean what I say

credo of the echo is live to sing another day

okay I’ll be… I won’t say…

music and lyrics © Noah Zacharin

Faint Footprint

something ‘bout some trouble you caused or you tried to avoid

the day you handed her a string of pearls and promised her a baby boy

something ‘bout some wisdom you searched for but did not find

gotta walk a big footstep

gonna leave a faint footprint behind

something ‘bout the moon and sun one’s always there when the other’s not around

this little world keeps turning your heels keep wearing it down

something ‘bout some wisdom says the balance is so delicate and fine

gotta…

might be some holy gate

a little Persian smoke

words from a monkey skull or from a man dangling from a rope

might be a little wisdom

vivid visions of the blind

something ‘bout a heavy heart

nine dollars and a half a tank of gas

tornado coming takes a moment to suck up all your past

something ‘bout some wisdom in the cursive script of the vine

gotta…

might be a tiny prayer

a sestina if you got the time

a stroll in a winter wood

snowfall covering up the crime

might be a little wisdom

an ounce from a ton of ore refined

something ‘bout the children laughing

blonde saplings in the rain

the way their voices sing through time as you bend to tuck them in again

something ‘bout some wisdom running down the mortal spine

gotta…

Feel Like a Jukebox

(with the Record Scratched)

I sometimes think my luck should change 'cause I stand up here on stage

boot-heels tapping the rhythm of the sad and the sweet love songs I play

I sometimes wish my heart could ring clearer than the guitar string

'cause I'm not common' through 'cause I know when I go I'll be going home alone again

and I feel like a jukebox with the record scratched

singing' th', singing' th' singing' the same damn lines

won't someone take me home

won't someone hold me warm

won't someone lie to me and whisper tonight they're mine

I always watch the lovely faces planted like seeds in the dark

and wonder which one will grow a flower of love to place in my heart

but I always catch the wilting of smiles the fading of interested eyes

as soon as I'm done with all of my songs and they turn the house-lights up bright

and I feel like a jukebox…

now I try to figure the reason why I get silence for a lullaby

and hands of the deepest darkness to hold me and rock me into the night

I try to whistle and believe a change comes like a wave to sweep me away

but the tide ebbs faster than the speed of sound and the moo begins to flicker and fade

and I feel like a jukebox…

Noah Zacharin

Find My Baby

the clock is ticking but I got no time

the hook is sinking but I got no line

to find my baby

got to find out where she’s gone

I got to find my baby

got to find out where she’s gone

looked in windows and I’ve peeped in doors

searched in places I ain’t been before

to find my baby…

well you live a moment live a life

no difference ‘tween the two

and it’s all too long and all too fast

when no one’s next to you

birds are singing as if nothing’s changed

bees are buzzing like she’ll come again

got to find my baby…

words and music Noah Zacharin

Fries With That

do you want fries do you want fries x2

do you want fries with that?

they come with a kiss and a paper hat

they come with a side of slaw

that’s sure to slide right down your craw

do you want fries…

do you want fries do you want fries

don’t sputter none of that lo-cal jive

don’t say ‘extra lean’

we’ll have no notion of what you mean

do you want fries…

our sign said OPEN now it says OPE

we ‘ope you know we’ve served two presidents and a pope

our sign said EATS now it says ATS

‘at’s a fine gut you got you want fries with that

do you want fries…

morning hon’ do you want fries

from our delectable paradise

fresh as fresh can be

picked this morning from the ‘tater tree

do you want fries…

do you want fries do you want fries?

with a slice or two of  these mmm-mmm pies

do you want fries you want fries y’all?

get ‘em with gravy or au naturel

Gonna Drown

something ‘bout the mood I’m in

see the sun sinking down

something ‘bout some place I wanna go

on the dark side of town

washed up here all thirsting

got some splinters got some nails

I got a message in a bottle

only love can fix the hull and fill the sails

I’m gonna drown my sorrows in whiskey

gonna drown that whiskey in beer

gonna drown my aching head for an hour or two

in anyone who is near

like an ancient zen brass bell

the sodden heart does ring

and all the secrets you can’t bear to tell

are so easy to song

gonna drown…

sipping on kerosene

chewing on coal

I’m gonna slow dance with all the wrong I’ve done

I’m gonna grind it into gold

gonna drown…

words and music Noah Zacharin

Good Day for Sun

I am so tired tired and weary 

of the sound of my voice in the morning

coils of mist curl around me   

hanging a wreath or a noose of warning

see I wake in bed like I don’t belong

like common bread and kindness no longer matter

as dawn as a deer comes to lap at my eyes

like a mad thing drawn to poison water

when will we be together again

on these streets newly swept clean

when will we be together

remember what springtime used to mean

I’ve always been good in this solo craft 

never feared thunder or silence

but I feel the gravity as worlds pull apart

and the gulf between each of us widens

strange times indeed smell of burning weeds

set the lungs to coughing

like keats and old hank    and others we thank

for their phosphorus trail to the coffin

when…

wish I was grass growing out of the heart 

of one who lay down in winter 

but robins avoid us no rains raise the blades

the season will not enter      

bent to the wheel I miss my friends

I whistle like a southbound train

it’s safe to say          it’s a good day for sun

will we ever see one again

when…

Mar 2020 - Unrecorded

(Gotta) Cool Down

You got yourself a lover

You probably got one or two

If we made a little trouble

What would that prove

If we made a little fire

Let it brightly blaze

What’s that moment really worth

Ashes on our hands for days

Hotter than the shoes on satan’s feet

We gotta cool down

In the dim light I’m looking

At the diamond in your nose

In the smoky light I’m looking

At the tattooed rose

I’m thinking there’s a briar

Climbing up your spine

I’m thinking of shouting out

Forever would be fine

Hotter than the shoes…

Intoxicating fragrance

The exotic way you speak

You’re a wild sunflower growing

Midst asphalt and weeds

It’s in the ocean

Way that you breathe

Your chest rising falling

In the summer heat

Hotter than the shoes…

Maybe I got a lover

You probably have more than one or two

If we made a little fire

What good would that do

If we lit a little tinder

Singed our fingertips and tongues

What to do with cinders

From the charred bowl from which we’ve drunk

Hotter…

rec. Big Daddy Z

High Lonesome Sound

I listen in the dark to that high lonesome sound

Nothing I’d prefer when my darling’s not around

I tuck my shirt tail in and I pull my Stetson down

I’m gonna be that high lonesome sound x2

A rose in San Antone and a waltz in Tennessee

Nothing quite as sweet as when she was here with me

I can’t sleep so I stay up late wond’ring where she might be

I’m gonna…

Swear I saw heaven in the beauty of her eyes

Swear I heard angels when her voice went way up high

It may never be easy and it may never be true

If you say sky is yellow I’ll say sun is blue

I try to love who I’m walking but if it isn’t you

I’m gonna…

Going down south to see the King of Bluegrass play

He got a box of wood a sweet high voice carry my lonesome away

Take me to the railroad tie me to the track

I had a sweet and a gentle one she ain’t coming back

A little rope a little time a whistle and a smoking stack

I’m gonna…

In Every Way

I can tell you how I'm feeling

nothing seems right

the kettle’s boiling over

it’s the middle of the night

it’s a dream that I can’t wake from

even in the light of midday

I'm perfect for you you’re perfect for me

in every way

I can finger in the socket

I can hand upon the stove

I can head upon the train tracks

o hear that whistle blow

I can speak for the flames

licking my ankles like waves

I'm perfect for you…

I'm tired of talking when you’re not near

you know what I'm saying is not smoke or veneer

call me when you’ll come through

that’s the deal ‘round here babe

I’m perfect for you…

don’t worry ‘bout the hard times

we’ve seen the last of those

this tree will never ever bend again

no matter what sweet wind blows

it’s gonna be a great ride

like the loving we made

I'm perfect for you…

there’s someone at the window counting all the stars

tracing constellations

doesn’t see they’ve moved so far

got lovers got hunters

all kinds of beast and they all say

I'm perfect for you…

In Love Again

look at the stars up above

they are no one else’s stars

they watch us making love

and the birds will sing

when it’s morning again

and they think that we’re in love again

you know the way the pale heart sings

so mournfully ‘til suddenly

it finds its wings

flies from branch to branch

to celebrate a second chance

thinks that we’re in love again

what a little mystery you’ve become

your canvas is a dozen shades of blue

and where sweet mystery did you come from

where do you go when you slip from view

on this cool night come lie with me

where shadow and moonlight

weave in harmony

and remember back when

it was all before remembering

and think that we’re in love again

don’t you think that we’re in love again

music and lyrics © Noah Zacharin

In the Heather

I used to walk in the heather

counting the crows on the line

counting back days when I first met her

and wishing that she were still mine

keep on walking and don’t look back

to where the city’s in flames

believe there’s water just over the hill

and flowers that bloom from her name

roll me over and rock me to sleep

I pray my mind my memories keep

if I should lie about any heartbeat

you sing at the speed of sound

you see at the speed of light

you can step as slow as you’re bound to

you still pass through the night

roll me over…

I used to walk in the heather

combing out my long hair

hoping one day I’d forgive her

now I’m just glad she’s there

music and lyrics © Noah Zacharin

Lay By My Side

my heart ascends a bare and a hidden tower

I carry a sweet bouquet to hand my love next May

it’s breezing like fall

the leaves are coming down

dry things with one thing left to say

lay by my side lay by my side lay by my side right now

I’ll turn my voice into a curl of smoke

I’ll fill a room with ferns and shells and wishing star tails that never fade

and butterfly wings to cool your dreams at night

carry you home when you wake

lay by my side…

beside your breathing the moon’s the only sound

bell of a baritone sax playing for the midnight flower

and I’d be vain as the weather if I thought I brought you here

I just watch the unfolding of the hours

lay by my side…

Lester Brown

bowler and a tie

silk and satin guy

fine italian shoes it's lester brown

you hear the ladies sigh

you know the reason why

word is out lester's back in town

and when he walks by

twirls a stick and winks an eye

the ladies blush like springtime on the rose

steaming apple pie

evening drawing nigh

won't be long before the sunset hour glows

instr.

there’s a sweet magnolia breeze

catbirds in the trees

a little sugar with your lemonade

you can curtsey if you please

hear the cornet melody

lester's back on the basin street parade

and when he walks past

it happens all so fast

he lights ‘em up like match to gasoline

and the setting sun's outclassed

at how that lester lasts

dusk to dawn he shines on New Orleans

Words and Music © 2016 Noah Zacharin

Love Will Not Be Long

come the southern cross come the northern wind

come the eastern sky where each day begins

come the drums of battle the harp of David's song

turning of the earth love will not be long

often I have counted on things to stay the same

often disappointed when blue skies turn to rain

until I hear the children sing the simple song

turning perfect circles love will not be long

think about the kingdom think about the crown

think about the hour when it all comes down

stars go on untroubled pure and clear their song

light in every corner love will not be long

come the southern cross…

Man in the Moon

she says to him

why won’t you hold my hand

he says I always walk alone

she says

then kiss me once and hold me tight

before the stars are gone

before the stars are gone

she says to him

why won’t you shine just for me

he says I’m a single star of black

she says

black light is all that lights my way

don’t let lonely orbit call you back

don’t let lonely orbit call you back

he sings to the summer to stay awhile:

nectar-drunk

dressed in leaves of green

but he really loves the winter

the ice-locked lakes

nights that cannot speak

he says your body’s just another tree

she says

leaf and fruit and bud are yours

he says it’s late

the bark’s been stripped away

we’re cold and wet as the day we were born

we’re cold and wet as the day we were born

he sings to the summer…

don’t cry when seasons change or sun slips away

don’t mark how flowers fade from bloom

how petals fall

into the ash of autumn dreams

there’s no man up in the moon

there’s no man up in the moon

he sings to the summer

…

nights that cannot

Moon On My Side

in my hollow moments when everything's gone still

the room it's like a sea-shell dry of the ocean's swell

and in these hollow moments when everything seems gone

touching your name like a warm wind brings 'em back again

won't you tell me why

anytime of night

standing by the window I got the moon on my side

won't you tell me when

anytime before the dawn

I lay me down with your warm name feel like nothing's gone

the air is dark with night-time ground is hard with snow

ain't nothing in between them ain't nowhere that I can go

in that barren landscape when everything seems gone

breathing your name like a quiet psalm brings 'em back again

won't you tell me why…

don't you worry 'bout time it blows away like any cloud

and it flows like every river clear as crystal merging then and now

and in that crystal stream I see everything will be returned

when I'll give your name to the silence that watches lovers burn

now I can tell you why

anytime of night

standing in the window I got the moon on my side

I can tell you when

any time before the dawn

I lay me down with your warm name know that nothing's gone

know that nothing's gone

know that nothing's gone

words and music by Noah Zacharin

Morning Comes On

morning comes on

through the fog I check my legs they both seem to move right

anew it begins 

commerce and hammers 

hungover lovers caught in the headlights

it’s so good to be here

with a river of love inside me

so many are gone

and the morning comes on

used to be beside me

sometimes I think it might be lying in the next room over

listen to its breathing

in its dreams we’re rolling hot in the clover

it’s so good to be here…

there’s leon and lily

a laundry line staring at a laundry basket

love can grow wild

when you have coffee and the question 

and the courage to ask it

it’s so good to be here…

see that young girl 

you wouldn’t know it to look but her heart has been broken

there’s a young man

you might not think so but his cup is often out of hopin’

it’s so good to be here…

sun’s hard on your tears

they don’t burn off when they gather in the small hours of the morning

I won’t tell you about mine but I’ll xxxx for the right to know when I'm lonely

it’s so good to be here…

stains in the memory

friends I don’t know which road in the wood has been taken

so long since I've seen you

I can only pray for us all when I've awakened

it’s so good to be here…

no slamming of doors

no racing around yelling ‘honey, where are my clean shirts’

state of high flies its blue

song sparrows come in close when I sit quiet

it’s so good to be here…