Cowrites

Gold Standard

Recorded by Courtney Patton - What It's Like to Fly Alone (2018)
Music and Lyrics by Kelley Mickwee and Owen Temple

 

Golden bands on their hands in the picture
Fifty years, smiles and tears, they’re a fixture
in the town and on the street
every couple they meet
(says) look at them, her and him - the gold standard

Was a time, you were mine, we were lovers
Drifted apart, broken hearts, there were others
But in the end right on through
my mind runs back to you
Cause for me, you’ll always be- the gold standard

The real deal
Yeah I love you still
Strong enough, aren’t we darlin
It lasts and it’s pure
When you hold it you’re sure
The measure, a treasure
Gold standard

Lost and found all around we meandered
The talk of town, put us down, they lie and slander
Together again
They lose and we win
None better, together, gold standard

The real deal
yeah I love you still
Strong enough, aren’t we darlin?
It lasts and it’s pure
When you hold it you’re sure
The measure, a treasure
Gold standard
You’re the measure, my treasure
Gold standard

Golden bands on their hands in the picture

Cowrites

Don't Get Lonely

Recorded by Lola and the Huntsmen - Don't Get Lonely (2017)
Music and Lyrics by Lauren Hunt, Owen Temple, and Gordy Quist



 

They all ask ‘what you running from?’
‘Why must you live out in the sun’
The desert wind’s what blew me in
Cause it’s just too hard to start again

The rhythm in electric air
never alone and no one’s there
You don’t get lonely do you?
You don’t get lonely do you?

I make the turn for the hundredth time
Down the road that left it all behind
Without light it’s frightening
I close my eyes and still I see

the desert floor the magic starts
my eyes adjust to the dark
the rhythm in electric air
never alone, but no one’s there

you don’t get lonely do you?
you don’t get lonely do you?
you don’t get lonely do ya?
you don’t get lonely do you?

All alone by the light of the moon
I found some pleasure in the solitude
All alone out here
I’m all alone out here
I’m all alone out here
So alone

you don’t get lonely do you?
you don’t get lonely do you?

Cowrites

Reno

Recorded by Lola and the Huntsmen - Don't Get Lonely (2017)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Lauren Hunt



It’s cruel and unusual the loving game
he gave me a ring, but we’re not the same
he said 'let’s get married before we get old
get out of town, forget what we’re told
go to Reno'

El Camino from Kansas, a hundred dollar bill
he said 'we’d figure it out but we never will'
he picked out a city that promises gold
forever’s a long time to have and to hold
in Reno

Cassette player's broken with hours to steal
He sang Born to Run just tapping the wheel
he thinks we’re two lovestruck kids
our family said don’t, but anyway we did
drive to Reno

skyline ahead, mile marker twenty five
he said ‘we made it’ but I said ‘just drive’
at the cheapest hotel that money could buy
clerk saw my white dress and she winked an eye
in Reno

he opened the door and he set down the keys
but I picked them up and kept them with me
He said 'the chapel opens at four'
I said 'stay here, I’m gonna run to the store'
in Reno

I'm not checking the rear view, not looking behind
More than him, more than Reno’s what I had in mind
when stale water is all you've had to drink
champagne is all you can think
leaving Reno
leaving Reno

Cowrites

Cracking the Code

Recorded by The Band of Heathens - Duende (2017)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Gordy Quist



 

A window to the world in hand
Tablets, books, the tools of man
Take a picture quick, remember it
Gates and Jobs and walls of fame
They’re here and gone and back again
Just like Lazarus, faking it

We’re cracking the code again
Making all kinds of friends
Together we're all alone
When the master serves a machine too long

Read the writing on the wall
Say too much, reveal it all
Toss your dreams in the stream
I don't need to touch your skin
I saw your face in a book you’re in
So popular, love so pure

We’re cracking the code again
Making all kinds of friends
Together we're all alone
When the master serves a machine too long

Keep your profile up to date
How you feel, what you ate
Your foolish grin, everywhere you been
Am I who I say I am?
Zeroes, ones, the tools of man
It’s open source so use the force

We’re cracking the code again
Making all kinds of friends
Together we're all alone
When the master serves a machine too long

We’re cracking the code again
Making all kinds of friends
Together we're all alone
When the master serves a machine too long
When the master serves a machine too long
When the master serves a machine too long

Cowrites

Trouble Came Early

Recorded by The Band of Heathens - Duende (2017)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Gordy Quist



 

The only speakeasy in a hard neighborhood
She said "hanging round there, I know you're up to no good"
Singles and doubles, seven years aged
It's a rich man's playground, a working man's cage
So what's so wrong it's just one or two
It's been a long day and I'm coming back home to you
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late

I gotta good hearted woman, but she's ready to split
Yeah she says that she loves me but she's tired of my shit
Well I try so hard just to slow down
But it's too little too late, she's through waiting around
I came home right on cue, she was packing my bags
I've had nothing left to lose
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late

Well I woke up faded in a hammerhead spin
I can't remember, did I fall, did I sin
Some call it justice, other's blackmail
But it's the hair of the dog that keeps chasing his tail
The Cost so high to live so low
I lost it all and all I really know
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late
Trouble came early, trouble stayed late

 

Cowrites

My Gospel

Recorded by Paul Cauthen - My Gospel (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple, Paul Cauthen, Beau Bedford, Nik Lee



 

Son are you weary with the troubles in life?
You take your heartache with a glass of wine?
Are you haunted by the ghost you know?
Pay them off with kindness, the debt you owe

Father are you tired? Full of despair?
Fish out of water, gasping for air?
At the mercy of your troubled soul?
Prop up a ladder, pay your toll

This is my gospel, this is my truth
A soul keeps wading in the fountain of youth
You should listen to the good news
This is my gospel, this is my truth

Wealth of the world has been compressed
With hard times for the rest
We're survivors of blood and lead
Ain't got no answers, ask him instead

This is my gospel, this is my truth
The soul keeps wading in the fountain of youth
You should listen to the good news
This is my gospel, this is my truth

Mama come and join me in the tower
Where the king and queen hold the power
Break out the dresses, I'll wear a suit
Lord just tell me what I should do

This is my gospel, this is my truth
A soul keeps wading in the fountain of youth
You should listen to the good news
This is my gospel, this is my truth
Oh this is my gospel
And this is my truth

 

Cowrites

Be There Soon

Recorded by Paul Cauthen - My Gospel (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple, Paul Cauthen, and David Beck



 

If I were to walk down this road would I find you?
Waiting there for me to stop the noise and break on through
Oh I could always call but that ain't the same
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

Out here in the hills I can see the plains where you reside
Safe from all the thrills, living like a saint with nothing to hide
Oh I could always run, oh I could always fly
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
Oh I'll be there soon
Be there soon

We'll tell all of your friends that you're running late
I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon
Yeah, I'll be there soon
I'll be there soon

Be there soon
Be there soon
Be there soon
Be there soon

 

Cowrites

The .22 Long

Recorded by Thom Shepherd
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Thom Shepherd



 

This was my grandpa's favorite shirt
He got it in Fort Worth
He loved the pearl snaps and the piping on it too
You see this embroidered rose
Well, in the center there's a bullet hole
that matches the one in the back where it went clean through
And he's gone now, rest his soul
And I'm the reason this bullet hole
Is in this very shirt here that I wear
Oh I loved him but I'm the one that put it there

With that .22 long he bought in Arkansas
that hung above the mantle on his living room wall

Well, he'd take it to the shooting match
He won turkeys and he won hams
And he kept his family fed when times were lean
When his eyes got bad enough
Well, he just hung it up
Right there on the wall for all to see
And as they moved from state to state
It always held its special place
And for over forty years it rested right up there
I told him one day I'd like to have it
He said, "well son it's yours go grab it"
So I went and got a kitchen chair

To take down that .22 long he bought in Arkansas
that hung above the mantle on his living room wall

I still recall the sound
The crack of that fateful round
As my finger brushed the trigger
As he helped me take it down-

You know it dang near grazed his ear
Hell that gun had been loaded for forty three years
And this story might sound a bit hard to believe
But that bullet passed through his closet wall
And all his clothes, clean through ‘em all
And even this, favorite shirt of his that he left to me

And now that .22 long he bought in Arkansas
Hangs above the mantel on our living room wall

You know it dang near killed grandpa but the story still lives on
of the bullet hole that I put in my grandpa's pearl snap shirt with
the .22 long

 

 

Cowrites

Watch It Shine

Recorded by Walt Wilkins & The Mystiqueros
Streetlight (2016) and Watch It Shine (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins

 


 

I am one more pilgrim
On this road low and high
Through this land of miracles
I've been traveling all night

I tangled with the darkness
I swear at moments I was blind
Til the dawn came up around me
And I could see the way unwind

I am the road behind me
I am the road ahead
Lifted by this rocky ridge
cradled by the river bed

A harmony of motion
Through the wide expanse of time
Sunlight through the heavens
Watch it shine
Watch it shine

They say there's iron in these mountains
And in bone and skin and mud
They say that iron only comes from stars
So stars are in my blood

Red and blue and purple
The shadows grow and fade
Spreading all directions
From where it all was made

I am the road behind me
I am the road ahead
Lifted by this rocky ridge
cradled by the river bed

A harmony of motion
Through the wide expanse of time
Sunlight through the heavens
Watch it shine
Watch it shine
Watch it shine
Watch it shine

 

 

Cowrites

Ask Her to Dance

Recorded by Walt Wilkins - Streetlight (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins



 

Ask her to dance, look in her eyes
Take her hand, don't be too shy
This whole night may not turn on this one chance
But then again- ask her to dance

Just be yourself, you'll be alright
Stay loose and stay light
And if you're all alone or you walk her home tonight
Just be yourself, you'll be alright

And if she says no, but she won't say no
I guess there's always that chance
Just smile and say, thank you anyway
And later on, she'll give you this glance
If you ask her to dance

A step at a time, that’s what we all do
Into this world, it's all waiting on you
You might stumble and slip and lose your grip
Pull it all back in line- just in time
Just in time and that's all right

So ask her to dance, look in her eyes
Take her hands, don't let this pass by
This whole night may not turn on this one chance
But then again-
Ask her to dance
Ask her to dance
Look in her eyes
And ask her to dance

 

Cowrites

The Painter by the Lake

Recorded by Walt Wilkins - Streetlight (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins



 

I may never be Monet, but I love it just as much
The silence, the canvas, the colors on the brush
It changes every morning, I never know what I might find
Some new mix of sun and clouds that last night left behind

I’m the painter by the lake, I’m out here everyday
Just trying to catch a shade of a slant of light across a wave
Keep it clear, tell a story, get some motion in the scene
And trust the one who sees it next— with the time and space between
This offering from the painter by the lake

I sell them on the weekends, tourists take them home
A frame of borrowed beauty like wine, like a poem
A memory of a feeling, wild and serene
A momentary balance of red and yellow, blue and green

I don’t do it for the money, I don’t do it for the praise
This is who I am and how I make my way
To set down the truth and the beauty that I see
That moves like water, like the wind through these trees

I’m the painter by the lake, I’m out here everyday
Just trying to catch a shade, a slant of light across a wave
Keep it clear, tell a story, get some motion in the scene
And trust the one who sees it next, with the time and space between
With this offering from the painter by the lake

So go and take this with you if you think you’ve got a place
For my best intentions, my humble saving grace
I don’t hold on to these pictures I always let them go
Into the wide creation from this little place I know

This offering from the painter by the lake

 

Cowrites

Crows

Recorded by Walt Wilkins - Streetlight (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins



 

Hungry wolves at my door
Every night there’s one wolf more
I can hear you
Crows all up in my tree
I know you got your eyes on me
I can feel them

And I know you can already taste my bones
I know it’s your job not to leave me alone
It’s the same game for us all
Trying to hold trouble to a draw

There's a snake in the shade playing hard to see
He’d be set for days if he gets hold of me
I’m gonna step lightly
There’s junk in the water and in the air
Man it's everywhere
And it's just looking for a home

And I know you can already taste my bones
I know it’s your job not to leave me alone
It’s the same game for us all
Trying to hold trouble to a draw

It’s a midway walk past the carney’s call
You knock down the bottles or you lose it all
While you’re trying to win that big stuffed bear
Your ex-wife, the taxman, and some fire ants too
They were up on the corner asking me about you
You might take the long way home

And I know you can already taste my bones
I know it’s your job not to leave me alone
It’s the same game for us all
Trying to hold trouble to a draw
Trying to hold trouble to a draw

 

Covered by Other Artists

Wanna Wanna Bar

Recorded by Roger Creager - Gulf Coast Time (2016)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple



 

A seagull cry, a child laugh, an old man orders a drink
It's been ten years since he got here and it hurts to think
That years ago at this beachside bar a woman held his hand
And he lost his chance for true romance on South Padre Island

The woman's name was Mary Ann and Gary loved her so
He said be my wife for the rest of your life and she said no
Old Gary was from Indiana all his life a traveling man
He had a dog and a boat and he would float and fish around this old island

He's stuck at Wanna Wanna the beachfront bar sipping on Coke and rum
The tide rolls in his dreams die out, he's waiting on a love that won't come
True love never will come

Years ago in California, Gary loved a girl named Sue
She and three more wives told him lies when they said I do
And this last one took the money and the things Gary cared about
She took the dog and the boat, now he can't float ‘cause she walked out

And he's stuck at Wanna Wanna the beachfront bar
Sipping on Coke and rum
The tide rolls in his dreams die out
Waiting on a love that won't come
True love it never will come

Gary looks out at the gulf and squints his eyes
Thinking again of what might have been without them hard goodbyes
But Gary's got lots of stories of people and places he's been
Yeah, I've had a few of them good times too, he said with a grin

Now he's stuck at Wanna Wanna the beachfront bar
Sipping on Coke and rum
The tide rolls in his dreams die out
He's waiting on a love that won't come
True love never will come

Gary's still down there on Padre a little sad but he's alright
And if you head his way on some Sunday he'll drink with you all night

He's stuck at Wanna Wanna the beachfront bar
Sipping on Coke and rum
The tide rolls in his dreams die out
Waiting on a love that won't come
True love it never will come

 

Cowrites

Days

Recorded by Walt Wilkins - A Good Ramble (2015)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Walt Wilkins


 

A place to start and a place to go
A mind a heart and an open road
And it can all go a million ways
And some highs and lows - and days

A fire at home and work to do
Some hard seasons to get through
Some fly like arrows, some feel like a maze
A path wide and narrow - and days

Sunrise, sunset
What’s behind, and what's not yet
A chance to ride the light before it fades
And they’re all gifts - days

You'll make some turns, you'll grow and change
Everything around you will do the same
Life moves in circles, it moves in waves
Blessedly simple - days

A sunrise, sunset
What’s behind, and what's not yet
A chance to ride the light before it fades
They’re all gifts - days

A chance to ride the light before it fades
Each one's a gifts - days
A chance to ride the light before it fades
They’re all gifts - days

 

Cowrites

Winning Hand

Recorded by Cory Morrow - The Good Fight (2015)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple, Cory Morrow, and Brian Keane



 

I don't know where we gonna go
But if you're down, let's go another round or two
Oh and maybe we can stay
Stick around to see this whole thing through

Oh and let's go, let the dice roll
Let's bet it all, I got a winning hand in you

We're gonna take a million chances, dance a million dances
Do it all our whole life through
Don't worry bout tomorrow, you know there's gonna be some sorrow
But if I don't fall, I can't get back up with you

I can't see- where we gonna be
But I got faith in you, you got hope in me
If it gets cold, you got a hand to hold
So don't let go, baby put your trust in me

We're gonna take a million chances, dance a million dances
Do it all our whole life through
Don't worry bout tomorrow, you know there's gonna be some sorrow
But if I don't fall, I can't get back up with you

Oh let's go, let the dice roll
Let's bet it all, I got a winning hand in you
Let's go, let the dice roll
Let's bet it all, I got a winning hand in you

 

 

Cowrites

All I Need Is You

Recorded by Cory Morrow - The Good Fight (2015)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple, Cory Morrow, Brian Keane, John Baumann, and Shane Smith



 

Bought ourselves a broke down, worn out, beat up mess of a home
All the walls are falling down but the foundation’s strong
The first time that I saw her, I went straight down to the bank
All my friends they said I’s crazy but I don’t care what they think
There's something in the wind, like a whisper in my ear
Calling in a voice only I could hear, saying

Take me and break me down - build me up like new
I’m a wreck, I’m a mess, I’m a worn out shell
And if you don’t think my best days are through
Well then, all I need is you

Sitting in the driveway of that home is a truck from my youth
She used to shine like a diamond but now she’s black and blue
We used to fly out on that blacktop, man we’d let them horses run
Now it’s like she’s out to pasture, just sitting in the sun

There's something in the wind, like a whisper in my ear
Calling in a voice only I could hear, saying

Take me and break me down - build me up like new
Cause I’m a wreck, I’m a mess, I’m a worn out shell
And if you don’t think my best days are through
Well then, all I need is you

I’ve had blown out tires and I've been through fires, I’ve seen a flood or two
Still I'm down on my knees, I'm begging please
Lord won’t you see me through
Won’t you see me through

Take me and break me down - build me up like new
I’m a wreck, I’m a mess, I’m a worn out shell
And if you don’t think my best days are through
You know there’s a gonna be a lot of work to do
And if you don’t think my best days are through
Then all I need is you
all I need is you

 

Cowrites

Old Child Country Star

Recorded by Adam Carroll - Let It Choose You (2014)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Adam Carroll



 

Down in Palacios drinking Blue Ribbon Beer
Smoking on a Pall Mall, hauling in his gear
Setting up a tip jar, that's a hollow as a drum
Back in 52 he almost made number one

He's an old child country star
He played the Grand Old Opry before he could drive a car
You may not believe it now he's 65
He's an old child country star
Got the twinkle in his eye

He was nine yrs old and the record man offered him that golden deal
Uncle Joe put his foot down said it was not ideal
They walked away from the table, did not sign that dotted line
Went back to third grade, thanks Joe, he did not hit big time

He's an old child country star
He's got a lifetime full of memories parked out in his yard
You may not believe it now he's 65
He's an old child country star
Got the winkle in his eye

Silver tones and steel guitars still ring in his ears
Black and white promo pictures fading through the years
That kid there in the photo, old timers deja vu
He signed autographs for little girls for their mamas too
If you would like his autograph he's got one here just for you

He's an old child country star
He played the Grand Old Opry before he could drive a car
The lady with the fruit cake said that he'd go far
He's an old child country star

That winkle in his eye, he's got one just for you
He's an old child country star, old timers deja vu

That kid there in the photograph is the old man in the bar
He's an old child country star

 

Cowrites

Good Behavior

Recorded by Adam Carroll - Let It Choose You (2014)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Adam Carroll



 

He said you boys ain't the Opry and y'all ain't the Tennesee Three
It ain't no jailhouse rock, but it sounds all right to me
The warden said I feel like I've known you all my life
Would you be so kind as to sign this for my wife

They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
Cause the show must go on

They let him out on work release and he played until the dawn
How could he play that squeezebox with a pair of handcuffs on
He played Jolie Blon and he sang Take My Hand
And I heard it sounded just as good as we practiced in the can

They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
Cause the show must go on

He played the Lafayette State Fair, they heard him down at Beaumont Low
And if he plays his cards right, no telling how far he'll go
You know his orange jumpsuit was provided by the state
The sheriff puts his lights on so Wayne wouldn't be late

They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
Cause the show must go on

He'll walk the straight and narrow and maybe it won't be long
And maybe when he gets out of here, he'll write us a song
He'll sing it two states over, for suffering fools like me
How three chords and the truth can set somebody free

They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
They let him out on good behavior
Cause the show must go on

 

 

Cowrites

Here Tonight

Recorded by Jamie Lin Wilson - Holidays and Wedding Rings (2015)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Jamie Lin Wilson



 

The man on the radio
Said it's never been so cold
And it's coming tomorrow night
It's gonna be a rainy day
I wish that I could stay
Oh you know that's my favorite kind

I don't your need your sympathy
But I'd sure like your company today
So just sit here and talk to me
Cause I believe I'll have to go away

Do you really think she looks like me
That's hard for me to see
But it’s awfully nice of you
How'd she get to be so small
That ain't like us at all
Guess she got some of her daddy too

I remember you that age
I have to say, I always liked you best
Smiling, sweet, without a care
But darling don't you dare tell the rest

I know- there's so much I'm gonna miss
So slow- hard to see it going down like this
Did you hear at the end you see a light
Well my dear, I can see it here tonight

I can see it all so clear
Has it been 50 years
Since the day Kennedy died
That boy sitting next to me
I would not have believed
He'd be here, still by my side

The years came down like falling leaves
New branches on the same old tree
I loved them and they loved me

I know- there's so much I'm gonna miss
So slow- hard to see it going down like this
Did you hear at the end you see a light
Well my dear-

I know- there's so much I'm gonna miss
So slow- hard to see it going down like this
Did you hear at the end you see a light
Well my dear, I can see it here tonight

 

 

Cowrites

Beautiful Accidents

Recorded by Kelley Mickwee - You Used to Live Here (2014)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Kelley Mickwee



 

He had the smell of tobacco smoke on his clothes
Didn’t look a day over seventeen years old
She had the smell of magnolia on her hair
And a southern drawl that stretched from here to there
They didn’t know what they were doing, but they knew it felt good
Turned out they didn’t care about the why or should
He took her to a movie and she took his name
They moved to Texarkana when the baby came

Left turns and right turns get us here
All these beautiful accidents over the years
They look good on you
They look good on you
They look good on you

Right on the line, you grew up like a weed
Swimming in the Red River all elbows and knees
Ten years later and a few states away
My first job got me down the interstate
I stopped into a place, I didn’t know what for
Hands in my pockets, both feet on the floor
I was headin for the door, sick of standing around
Somehow I saw you so I cut through the crowd

Left turns and right turns get us here
All these beautiful accidents over the years
They look good on you
They look good on you
They look good on you

When you said "I do"
I said "I do too"
Beautiful accidents
Beautiful accidents
Beautiful accidents

Look good on you
So good on you
They look good on you
So good on you

 

 

Cowrites

Medicine Man

Recorded by The Band of Heathens
Top Hat Crown and the Clapmaster's Son (2011) / The Double Down - Live in Denver (2012)
Written by Owen Temple, Gordy Quist, and Adam Carroll

 






 

Across the land, I'm spoken of
Wise as a snake, tame as a dove
Just like a wolf in sheep clothes
Shake the dust off before I go

I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man

I walk the land never seen before
I'm on a mission, conquistador
I'll be your slave, I'll be your king
I'll be what you want, be your everything

I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man

Got juju beads and a mojo drum
Got a whole lot more where that come from
I'll make a sign, I'll cross your head
Make you shake and dance gonna raise the dead

I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man

I'll take your pulse, I'll fix your health
Get what you need to save yourself
Might lose your house, might lose your home
But I'll give you back more than you have known
Put you in the black, gonna shake your bones
Your healer, your dealer, your only one

I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man

I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man
I'm your medicine man

 

 

Cowrites

Gris Gris Satchel

Recorded by The Band of Heathens
Top Hat Crown and the Clapmaster's Son (2011) / The Double Down - Live in Denver (2012)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple, Gordy Quist, Ed Jurdi, Colin Brooks






 

Saint John's Eve gone to see Marie on Ponchartrain
Twelve thousand black and white standing in the rain
Gold stars on my forehead, don't need no tarot deck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck

Playing spoons on a box down on Saint Ann street
Hoodoo peppers freed a man charmed the judge's seat
Silver dollar burned a hole, cashed my last paycheck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck

Bonfire on Midsummer's Eve, ashes on my face
You might fall in love tonight or you might fall from grace
Creole on the bayou paying their respects
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck

Money on her resting place, Xs on the wall
Rainbow snake has shed his skin, mark the sparrow's fall
Free from all my burdens, paid up all my debts
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck
Gris gris satchel in my hand,
Cross around my neck

 

 

Cowrites

Can't Take It with You

Recorded by Mark Jungers - More Like a Good Dog Than a Bad Cat (2011)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Mark Jungers



 

There ain't been no moon for the last five days
And there ain't enough rain so there won't be no hay
And the cows can't eat cause the grass won't grow
So they stretch across the fence and eat the gravel off the road

Well, I used to have a chicken but I hit hard times
And I just couldn't eat him so I had to hock him
And I took all the money that I got for the chicken
And I put it on red and lost everything

You can't take it with you and you can't take your phone
And it makes me cry that the money's all gone
And it makes me cry that we all got took
Humpty Dumpty didn't fall, he got pushed
And you can't take it with you
No you can't take it with you

So it's highly unlikely anything would change
And the way I see it, we got more than we need
And it don't seem likely that we won't want more
Cause were pissing all the money all over the floor

You can't take it with you and you can't take your phone
And it makes me cry that the money's all gone
I know that it sounds like another excuse
Seems the more that I have, the more I lose
You can't take it with you
No you can't take it with you

 

Cowrites

John Wayne Cowboy

Recorded by The Trishas - High, Wide, and Handsome (2012)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Jamie Lin Wilson



 

Hands like granite rock
Door you can't unlock
Keeps ticking like a windup clock
Won't ever stop

Comes in like an earthquake
Bends but never breaks
Look you in the eyes handshake
That's all it takes

Plays cards close to the vest
Hard on all the rest
He don't care for second best
Not impressed

If you can
Show me the hand
You were dealt along the way
Heartbreak, pain, joy, John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day

Narrow eyes in the morning sun
Count the days one by one
Never finish 'til it's done
Are you, son?

If you can show me the hand
You were dealt along the way
Heart break pain joy John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day

If you can show me the hand
You were dealt along the way
Heartbreak, pain, joy, John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day, hey

Heartbreak, pain, joy, John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day
Heartbreak, pain, joy, John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day

If you can show me the hand
You were dealt along the way

If you can show me the hand
You were dealt along the way
Heartbreak, pain, joy, John Wayne cowboy
Come to save the day, hey

 

Cowrites

Ramblin' Man

Recorded by Cory Morrow - Ramblin' Man (2010)
Music and Lyrics by Owen Temple and Cory Morrow

 



 

I was a ramblin man when I was young
I'll be a ramblin man 'til my days are done
I left my footprints along the road for y'all to see
Trying to find a ramblin man for to carry me

I still got lightning in my veins
I still smell whiskey when it rains
I'm still tempted by the night
I still don't sleep 'til I see the sun rise
I still fight for what I believe
And I believe a woman is a mystery

I was a ramblin man when I was young
I'll be a ramblin man 'til my days are done
I left my footprints along the road for y'all to see
Trying to find a ramblin man for to carry me

Now Austin is my home
And Houston's where I'm from
I got warrants up in Lubbock
And Acuna, you can just suck it
I still love the college towns
Love it when they say "drink one more round"

I was a ramblin man when I was young
I'll be a ramblin man 'til my days are done
I left my footprints along the road for y'all to see
Trying to find a ramblin man for to carry me

Now, I still love old Willie's songs
I love the burnin in my lungs
I still love jumpin out of planes
I still go barefoot on the stage
I'm still a one woman man
I still get naked when I can

I was a ramblin man when I was young
I'll be a ramblin man 'til my days are done
I left my footprints along the road for y'all to see
Trying to find a ramblin man for to carry me
I hope I find that ramblin man from Galilee

 

 

Cowrites

She Don't Know Where She's Going

Recorded by Cory Morrow - Double Exposure (2003)
Music and lyrics by Owen Temple and Cory Morrow


 

Well the stage was set, so was I the barroom lights were dim
Hank Thompson's on the jukebox, when she came struttin in
She was a honky tonk angel, from the wild side of life
She said I know just how to love you boy but I'll never make a wife

Oh and she wants to be with me tonight
And it might be a sin
She don't know where she's goin
I don't care where shes been

Well she was a bar room dream, jukebox queen, she just about blew my mind
See a problem like her boy, sure is hard to find
Well it weren't her first rodeo, that was plain to see
Yeah but I could ride a bull the way she's lookin now at me

Oh and she wants to be with me tonight
And it might be a sin
She don't know where shes goin
I don't care where she's been

Well, she never had a plan, she just lived it night by night
now lord I know its wrong but dang, she looks so right
and I never had a chance cuz she was more than I could stand
I came here a bar room fool i went home a honky tonk man

Oh and she wants to be with me tonight
And it might be a sin
She dont know where she's goin
I don't care where she's been
N o she dont know where she's goin
I don't care where she's been