Western Stars is a 13-song meditation
on the struggle between individual freedom and communal life,
There are two sides of the American character,
One is transient, restless, solitary,
But the other is collective and communal,
in search of family, deep roots,
and a home for the heart to reside,
These two sides rub up against one another
always and forever
in everyday American life,
The barn,
We've got a 100-year-old barn on our property
built in the late 1800s,
and the hayloft is simply a spiritual space,
It has a high cathedral ceiling
that used to be packed with enough winter hay
to reach from the floor to the roof,
Since we've had the place,
we've held barn dances, weddings, harvest parties up there,
So it's a space
filled with the best kind of ghosts and spirits,
When we knew we were going to film Western Stars,
due to the instrumentation, I knew we'd need some place
that could fit a 30-piece orchestra,
Our barn is a structure that speaks to you,
Its natural beauty,
the artistry of its construction,
the aged wood,
It's like a fine instrument itself,
And it sounds good,
It's just got soul,
So for a few days,
we got to play for a few friends and entertain the horses down below,
So come on in,
'cause we're about to start our tale
with a man just standing by the roadside,
To having a great time,
Thumb stuck out as I go
And I'm just travelin' up the road
Well, maps don't do much for me, friend
I follow the weather and the wind
I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Got what I can carry and my song
I'm a rolling stone just rolling on
Catch me now 'Cause tomorrow I'll be gone
Family man gives me a ride
Got his pregnant Sally at his side
Yes, indeed, sir, children are a gift
Well, thank you kindly for the lift
Well, I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Trucker gears his engine down
Says, "Climb on up, son, I'm highway bound"
Well, dashboard picture of a pretty girl
I'm ridin' high on top of the world
I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Gearhead in a souped up '72
Wants to show a kid Just what this thing'll do
Telephone poles and trees Go whizzin' by
Well, thank you, pal She sure can fly
Hey, I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Well, I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Hey, I'm hitchhikin' all day long
Cars,
This is my 19th album,
and I'm still writing about cars,
Writing about the people in 'em, anyway,
Why? I don't know,
I guess the car remains a powerful metaphor for me,
We still live a lot of our lives here in America in cars,
just trying to get from one place to another,
Now I suppose 40 years ago,
they were a potent metaphor for open roads, freedom,
Today, not so much,
At best, they're a metaphor for movement,
When we're in a car, we can feel like
we're always moving forward,
over the rise, around the bend,
into the future,
It can settle the spirit sometimes,
But are we moving forward?
A lot of the time, we're just moving,
It's the same sad story, love and glory
Goin' 'round and 'round
It's the same old cliché A wanderer on his way
Slippin' from town to town
Some find peace here On the sweet streets
The sweet streets of home
Where kindness falls And your heart calls
For a permanent place of your own
I'm a wayfarer, baby
I drift from town to town
When everyone's asleep And the midnight bells sound
My wheels are hissin' up the highway
Spinning 'round and 'round
You start out slow In a sweet little bungalow
Something two can call home
Then the rain comes fallin'
The blues come calling
You're left with a heart of stone
Some folks are inspired Sitting by the fire
Slippers tucked under the bed
When I go to sleep, I can't count sheep
For the white lines in my head
I'm a wayfarer, baby
I roam from town to town
When everyone's asleep And the midnight bells sound
My wheels are hissin' up the highway
Spinning 'round and 'round
Where are you now?
Come on!
I'm a wayfarer, baby
I roam from town to town
When everyone's asleep And the midnight bells sound
My wheels are hissin' up the highway
Spinning 'round and 'round
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
I'm a wayfarer, baby
Wayfarer, baby
Come on, Charlie!
Change,
How do you change yourself?
I've spent my 10,000 hours and then some
learning my musical craft,
But I've spent a lot more time than that,
some 35 years, trying to learn how to let go
of the destructive parts of my character,
They did not go easily into that good night,
For a long time, if I loved you
and if I felt a deep attachment to you,
I would hurt you if I could,
It was a sin,
and I still have days when I struggle with it,
But I've gotten better,
Through the love of my family,
my good friends, I've learned how to love,
and to be compassionate with those close to me,
and to try and live with some small honor,
"Tucson Train" is about a guy
who's trying to follow his better angels,
working in the sun for a new start,
He's trying to change,
One, two,,,
One, two, three, four,
I got so down and out in 'Frisco
Tired of the pills and the rain
I picked up, headed for the sunshine
I left a good thing behind
Seemed all of our love was in vain
Now my baby's coming in On the Tucson train
I come here lookin' for a new life
One I wouldn't have to explain
To that voice That keeps me awake at night
When a little peace Would make everything right
If I could just turn off my brain
Now my baby's coming in On the Tucson train
Well, we fought hard over nothin'
We fought till nothin' remained
I've carried that nothin' For a long time
Now I carry my operator's license
And spend my days Just runnin' this crane
My baby's coming in On the Tucson train
Hard work'll clear your mind and body
The hard sun will burn out the pain
If they're lookin' for me Tell 'em, buddy
I'm waitin' down at the station
Prayin' to the 5:15
I'll wait all God's creation
Just to show her a man can change
Now my baby's coming in On the Tucson train
Waitin' on the 5:15
Here she comes
"Western Stars" is the heart of the record,
It was my reference point,
when I was searching for who my character was
and where he, I, was headed,
You've got a fading Western film star
watching the world change around him,
Watching it pass him by,
He's left doing Viagra commercials
and weekend rodeoing in the desert
east of Los Angeles,
with some Mexican charros who've come across la frontera,
He lives in the Hollywood Hills,
frequents LA watering holes,
where he's the oldest guy in the room,
But he's still got an inner compass
that doesn't allow him to bullshit himself,
He knows exactly who he is, what he's done,
the good, the bad, and the ugly of it,
It's his small redemption,
and he's made a relative peace with himself,
He's losing old friends quickly,
a lot of empty boots,
But he wakes up in the morning glad that his are still on,
I wake up in the morning
Just glad my boots are on
Instead of empty In the whispering grasses
Down the Five at Forest Lawn
On the set The makeup girl brings me
Two raw eggs and a shot of gin
Then I give it all up For that little blue pill
That promises to Bring it all back to you again
Yeah, ride me down easy
Ride me down easy, friend
Tonight, the western stars Are shining bright again
Here in the canyons above Sunset
The desert don't give up the fight
A coyote with someone's Chihuahua in its teeth
Skitters 'cross my veranda In the night
Some lost sheep from Oklahoma
Sips her mojito down at the Whisky bar
Smiles and says She thinks she remembers me
From that commercial With the credit card
Hell, these days there ain't no more
Now, there's just again
Tonight, the western stars Are shining bright again
Sundays, I take my El Camino
Throw my saddle in and go
East to the desert where the charros
They still ride and rope
Our American brothers
Cross the wire and bring The old ways with them
Tonight, the western stars Are shining bright again
Once I was shot by John Wayne
Yeah, it was towards the end
That one scene bought me A thousand drinks
Set me up And I'll tell it for you, friend
Here's to the cowboys
Riders in the whirlwind
Tonight, the western stars Are shining bright again
And the western stars Are shining bright again
Tonight, the riders on Sunset
Are smothered in the Santa Ana winds
And the western stars Are shining bright again
Come on and ride me down easy
Ride me down easy, friend
Tonight, the western stars Are shining bright again
I woke up this morning
Just glad my boots were on
It's Saturday night, let's rock and roll!
You've got to have a Saturday night,
I used to take my bike up into the Santa Monica Mountains,
where there was a weekend club,
Hundreds of bikes, a live band,
folks dancing from afternoon till night,
I'd have a few tequilas and watch the parade,
One, two, three, four!
There's a place out on the highway
'Cross the San Bernardino line
Where the truckers and the bikers Gather every night at the same time
At seven, the band comes in And locals dance the night away
At Sleepy Joe's Café
I drive on down from the big town Friday When the clock strikes 5:00
As the red sun sets in the ocean I start to come alive
Summer girls in the parking lot
Slap on their makeup And they flirt the night away
At Sleepy Joe's Café
Joe came home in '45 And took out a G,I, loan
On a sleepy little spot An army cook could call his own
He married May, the highway come in And they woke up to find
They were sitting on top Of a pretty little goldmine
Saturday night, the lights are bright As the folks pour in from town
Joe keeps the blues playin' At the bar, May lays the beers down
I come through the door And feel the workweek slip away
See you out on the floor
And Monday morning's A million miles away
Sleepy Joe's Café
Sleepy Joe's
Café
Come on, Charlie!
One more time around, Charles, Come on!
Whoo!
In "Drive Fast," I had that metaphor
of the stuntman,
Which is always a metaphor of risk
and of this idea that we all have our broken pieces,
What frightens and what exhilarates and inspires us
are often very close together,
Those feelings are the essence of what drives us to risk
in life and in love,
Everybody's broken in some way,
Physically, emotionally, spiritually,
In this life, nobody gets away unhurt,
I wrote a song about a guy
notjust finding the fearlessness to do his job,
but the fearlessness to risk
being with somebody that you love,
We're always trying to find somebody
whose broken pieces fit with our broken pieces
and something whole emerges,
So, it was just a good metaphor for a story like that,
One, two,,,
One, two, three, four,
I got two pins in my ankle And a busted collarbone
A steel rod in my leg But it walks me home
At nine, I climbed high into the boughs Of our neighborhood's tallest tree
I don't remember the fear Just the breeze
Drive fast, fall hard
I'll keep you in my heart
Yeah, don't worry about tomorrow
Don't mind the scars
Just drive fast, fall hard
At 19, I was the king of the dirt Down at the Remington draw
I liked the pedal And I didn't mind the wall
'Midst the roar of the metal
I never heard a sound
I was looking for anything
Any kind of drug To lift me up off this ground
Yeah, drive fast, fall hard
I'll keep you in my heart
Yeah, don't worry about tomorrow
And don't mind the scars
Just drive fast, fall hard
We met on the set of this B picture
That she made
She liked her guys a little greasy And 'neath her pay grade
We headed down to Baja
In the desert we'd make our stand of it
Figured maybe together we could get The broken pieces to fit
Drive fast, fall hard
Keep me in your heart
Yeah, don't worry about tomorrow
And don't mind the scars
Just drive fast, fall hard
I'll keep you in my heart
Yeah, don't worry about tomorrow
And don't mind the scars
Just drive fast, fall hard
I got two pins in my ankle And a busted collarbone
A steel rod in my leg But it walks me home
It's easy to lose yourself,
or never find yourself,
The older you get,
the heavier that baggage becomes that you haven't sorted through,
So you pay the price,
And the older you get, the higher that price is,
But in the past, putting yourself on the line,
putting your heart on the line
has bred nothing but pain and failure, so you run,
I've done a lot of that kind of running,
You lose control of your desires, your appetites, your temper,
and you reap what you sow,
You run until you've left everything
that you've loved and loves you behind,
Guess it was somethin' I shouldn't have done
Guess I regret it now
Ever since I was a kid
Tryin' to keep my temper down Is like chasin' wild horses
Chasin' wild horses
I left my home, left my friends
I didn't say goodbye
I contract out to the BLM
Up on the Montana line
Chasin' wild horses
We're out before sunup
We're in after sundown
There's two men in the chopper
Two under saddle on the ground
In the evenings, we'd hop in the pickup
Head into town for a drink
I make sure I work till I'm so damn tired
Way too tired to think
You lose track of time
It's all just storms blowin' through
You come rollin' 'cross my mind
Your hair flashin' in the blue
Like wild horses
Just like wild horses
A fingernail moon in a twilight sky
I'm ridin' the high grass Of the switchback
I shout your name into the canyon
The echo throws it back
The winter snow whites out the plains
Till it can turn you blind
The only thing up here I've found
Is tryin' to get you off my mind
It's like chasin' wild horses
Chasin' wild horses
Oh!
Sundown,
A new day in a new town,
I had a gal in New Jersey who broke my heart,
ripped it to shreds, trampled on it,
and sent it to me, COD, in a paper bag,
So, I was out of there
on the first ride west, no looking back,
I was going to build a new life in California,
3,000 miles away from the pain,
But it didn't take long before my luck ran out,
and my money ran out,
and it just wasn't gonna happen, so,,,
Well, this song was my shot,
my tribute to all the great Jimmy Webb songs
about character and place,
Here, we find my brother in heartbreak
a long way from home,
Trying to work it off, sweat it out
over a long, lonely summer
in a faraway town,
I'm 2,500 miles From where I wanna be
It feels like a hundred years Since you've been near to me
I guess what goes around
Baby, comes around
Just wishing you were here with me
In Sundown
Sundown ain't the kind of place You want to be on your own
It's all long, hot, endless days And cold nights all alone
I drift from bar to bar
Here in lonely town
Just wishing you were here with me
Come sundown
Sundown, the cafés are filled With lovers passing time
Sundown, all I've got's Trouble on my mind
So I work all day out here On the county line
I tell myself It's all just gonna work out in time
When summer's through
You'll come around
That little voice in my head's
All that keeps me from sinking down
- Come Sundown - Come Sundown
When summer's through
You'll come around
That little voice in my head's All that keeps me
- From sinking down - Sinking down
- Come Sundown - Come Sundown
I wrote this song quickly at the kitchen table one morning,
It's just about being lost on the highway of life,
Lost is something I'm good at writing about,
Sometimes you've been too beat up or haven't healed enough
of the fear out of you
to know a good thing when you've found it,
Sometimes you just gravitate to the pain,
It's what you're used to,
It's how you recognize yourself,
It feels like home,
It feels more familiar to you than love,
So that's where you go,
You don't know how to hold on to love,
but you know how to hold on to hurt,
Came into town With a pocketful of songs
I made the rounds But I didn't last long
I'm out on this highway With a bone-cold chill
Here, somewhere north of Nashville
I lie awake in the middle of the night
Makin' a list of things That I didn't do right
With you at the top Of a long page filled
Here, somewhere north of Nashville
For the deal I made The price was strong
I traded you for this song
We woke each morning With hearts filled
Bluebird of love on the windowsill
Now the heart's unsteady And the night is still
All I've got's this melody And time to kill
Here, somewhere north of Nashville
Lies,
They will devour everything you have and everything you will ever have,
Faith,
Hope,
Trust,
All those things that are hard to come by,
That's what grows your garden of love,
Lies will try to make a fool out of all those things,
But without them? All you have is stones,
I woke up this morning
With stones in my mouth
You said those are Only the lies you've told me
I pulled my collar to the wind
And spit them on the ground
You said those are Only the lies you've told me
Sat on the edge of our bed In the sun
I felt them gather on my tongue
I woke up this morning
With stones in my mouth
You said those are
Only the lies you've told me
The dirt-brown winter field
A thousand black crows Cover the ground
You say those are
Only the lies you've told me
Those are
Only the lies you've told me
Autumn wind blows through the trees
The dark leaves come tumbling down
You say those are
Only the lies you've told me
Those are
Only the lies you've told me
I walk a highway washed in sun
I feel weight gather on my tongue
I woke up this morning
With stones in my mouth
You said those are
Only the lies you've told me
Those are only
The lies you've told me
Only the lies you've told me
Those are only the lies you've told me
Only the lies you've told me
Those are only the lies you've told me
Only the lies you've told me
Those are only the lies you've told me
I woke up this morning
With stones in my mouth
I woke up this morning
With stones in my mouth
"Miracle" is a Southern California pop symphony
about throwing away the best thing you ever had,
That's the perfect ingredient for an epic pop single,
Love is one of the only miracles
God has given us daily proof of on Earth,
And while we do our best to disprove this idea,
love is there to better us,
But you must work for its blessings,
Love and the creative life it births
is a small, sweet sign of God's divinity within us,
Now my man in this song knows the rules,
Works to abide by them,
But sometimes our fears, our old habits,
and our insecurities get the best of the best that's within us,
And there goes my miracle,
Sunrise, sundown
The streets gone golden brown
Auburn skies above
I'm searching for my love
There goes my miracle
Walking away
There goes my miracle
Walking away
Moonlight, moon bright
Where's my lucky star tonight?
Streets lost in lamp light
Then suddenly in sight
Suddenly in sight
There goes my miracle
Walking away
There goes my miracle
Walking away
Look what you've done
Oh, oh
- Look what we've done - Look what we've done
Look what we've done
Oh, oh
Heartache, heartbreak
Love gives, love takes
The book of love holds its rules
Disobeyed by fools
There goes my miracle
Walking away
There goes my miracle
Walking away
There goes my miracle
Sunrise, sundown
A love song,
It's the redemption of your heart,
Your soul transformed through hard thought,
hard times, and hard realizations,
We drive out of the darkness into sunshine and love,
Quote,
"You fall in love with lonely, you end up that way,"
I wish on you and yours only love,
companionship, God's blessing,
and a guiding light through the dark for all your days,
Had enough of heartbreak and pain
Had a little sweet spot for the rain
For the rain and skies of gray
Hello, sunshine, won't you stay?
You know I always liked My walking shoes
But you can get a little Too fond of the blues
You walk too far You walk away
Hello, sunshine, won't you stay?
You know I always loved A lonely town
Those empty streets No one around
You fall in love with lonely You end up that way
Hello, sunshine, won't you stay?
You know I always liked That empty road
No place to be and miles to go
But miles to go is miles away
Hello, sunshine, won't you stay?
Yeah, miles to go is miles away
Hello, sunshine, won't you stay?
Hello, sunshine
Here we are,
When Patti and I got together,
there was nothing guaranteed,
We didn't know where our love was gonna take us,
All we had was the next day,
and the shaky faith that it would lead us somewhere,
We had to sneak around, so I'd meet her on the same bench
in Chelsea, across from the Empire Diner,
when I came into New York City,
I'd bring some beer in a paper bag, and we'd sit and talk,
That was the bench I proposed to her on,
and where we brought our first son, Evan,
and carved our initials into the wood,
That was some 30 years ago now,
And marriage still doesn't bring along its guarantees,
Just the faith and love you have in one another
and the next day,
There's a place On a blank stretch of road
Where nobody travels and nobody goes
Deskman says these days 'round here
Well, two young folks could Probably up and disappear
Into rustlin' sheets A sleepy corner room
Into the musty smell
Of wilted flowers And lazy afternoon hours
At the Moonlight Motel
Well, the pool's filled With empty eight-foot deep
Got dandelions growin' up Through the cracks in the concrete
Chain-link fence half-rusted away
Got a sign says, "Children, be careful how you play"
Your lipstick taste And your whispered secret
I promised I'd never tell
A half-drunk beer Your breath in my ear
At the Moonlight Motel
Well, then it's
Bills and kids and kids and bills
And the ringing of the bell
Across the valley floor
- Through the dusty screen door - Dusty screen door
Of the Moonlight Motel
Last night I dreamed of you, my lover
And the wind blew through the window
And blew off the covers
Of my lonely bed I woke to something you said
It's better to have loved Yeah
It's better to have loved
As I drove There was a chill in the breeze
And leaves tumbled From the sky and fell
Onto a road so black As I backtracked
To the Moonlight Motel
She was boarded up and gone Like an old summer song
Nothing but an empty shell
I pulled in And stopped into my old spot
I pulled a bottle of Jack Out of a paper bag
Poured one for me And one for you as well
Then it was one more shot
Poured out onto the parking lot
To the Moonlight Motel
Yeah, let's move on,
That was good, Tommy, that was good,
But the one last night,,,
You never know what's going to happen with new music,
Especially when it's played live,
I love collaborating with people from my past,
but I also love the challenge
of finding and working with new collaborators,
Now, during the filmmaking process,
we took some chances,
and a certain kind of magic took place,
Just the right amount of mistakes happened,
And as you hoped it would,
the music began to take on a life of its own
as it bounced around the wooden shell of our old barn,
So when the music's over at the end of the day,
life's mysteries remain and deepen,
Its answers unresolved,
But if your heart is open,
and you're thinking hard, and living and loving in good faith,
the questions you are asking yourself grow deeper, better,
So you walk on,
in pursuit of those better questions,
tentatively putting one foot in front of another,
through the dark,
Because that's where the next morning is,
Travel safe, pilgrim,
One, two, three, four,
I've been walkin' these streets so long
Singin' the same old song
I know every crack In the dirty sidewalks of Broadway
Where hustle's the name of the game
And nice guys get washed away Like the snow and the rain
There's been a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where The lights are shinin' on me
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Oh, riding out on a horse In a star-spangled rodeo
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Getting cards and letters From people I don't even know
And offers comin' over the phone
I really don't mind the rain
A smile can hide all the pain
But you're down When you're ridin' that train
That's takin' the long way
And I dream of the things I'll do
With a subway token and a dollar Tucked inside my shoe
There'll be a load of compromisin'
On the road to my horizon
But I'm gonna be where The lights are shinin' on me
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Riding out on a horse In a star-spangled rodeo
Like a rhinestone cowboy
Gettin' cards and letters From people I don't even know
And offers comin' over the phone
Like a rhinestone cowboy