From the recording Saints And Scoundrels
Lyrics
COPYRIGHT 2007 – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I was sitting out on the porch reflecting on my younger days / Countin' my blessin's - to this day I'm still amazed. / At all the debts I owe, to those I know I can't repay / All those saints and scoundrels that helped me find my way.
My Dad shipped out to Vietnam, when I was only eight / My best friend's daddy, Glenn, was there to take the Major's place / He was there to help my mom with me and keep a young boy straight / Taught me how to use a pocket knife, and …play second base
SOME WERE SAINTS AND SOME WERE SCOUNDRELS, TAUGHT ME VIRTUE & VICE / SOME GAVE OPPORTUNITY, SOME JUST GAVE ADVICE / THE HOW TO'S AND WHAT-NOT-TO'S, LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY / FROM ALL THOSE SAINTS & SCOUNDRELS , THESE ARE DEBTS TO BE REPAID
When I was just sixteen my dad shipped overseas / The scoundrel livin' across the street, shared his expertise / I learned how to fix a car and ….use pro-fan-it-y / How to talk to girls & buy beer and booze without a fake ID
There's been a lot of men with different histories / Who shared their life's experience and never charged a fee / Shared the wisdom of their years so un-selfish-ly / Some saints and a few scoundrels who gave their time to me
SOME WERE SAINTS AND SOME WERE SCOUNDRELS, TAUGHT ME VIRTUE & VICE / SOME GAVE OPPORTUNITY, SOME JUST GAVE ADVICE / THE HOW TO'S AND WHAT-NOT-TO'S, LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY / FROM ALL THOSE SAINTS & SCOUNDRELS , THESE ARE DEBTS TO BE REPAID
This song would last a lifetime, if I gave every man his due / So, If you know me fairly well, I wrote this song for you. And when / the good lord lays me down I'd like the stone to say.. / "Here's lies a man who made a difference, and all his debts are paid."
SOME WERE SAINTS AND SOME WERE SCOUNDRELS, MOST WERE ORDINARY MEN / WHO ONE TIME OR ANOTHER WERE THERE TO TAKE ME IN / THE HOW TO'S AND WHAT-NOT-TO'S, LESSONS LEARNED ALONG THE WAY / FROM ALL THOSE SAINTS & SCOUNDRELS , THESE ARE DEBTS TO BE REPAID
And when they put me in the ground, I hope that they will say / He was a man who made a difference and all his debts are paid.
STORY BEHIND THE SONG: I was sitting out on the deck watching the sunset and drinking a beer. As I sat there trying to appreciate the beauty of the landscape, I started thinking about how blessed I have been in my life. I started reflecting on my life and how far I had come from the little duplex trailer I had lived in right after high school when I moved out of my folks house.
Really, it was a regular 3 bedroom house trailer that some enterprising landlord had figured out that he could make more money if he turned these tin cans into one bedroom duplexes. It was a kitchen, a bathroom, and a bedroom, that was the whole damn thing. $150 a month including utilities. (mentioned in the song “Dues I paid”)
Anyway, I was feeling pretty fortunate to have come so far from so far down, and that started me thinking about all the people I had met and come to know over the years.
I found it really interesting that I had learned something from all of them, even the ones I didn’t like. (Sometimes you learn how NOT to behave by watching others behaving badly.) So I thought, you know, this could make a great song.
I started writing, and writing and writing. Well, you know, you start making a list of ALL the people you know that helped you along the way, taught you something, or just by being associated with them made a difference in your life… you’re gonna end up with a pretty long list. This started to look more like a book than a song, and well, I’ve got the attention span of a mesquito, so a book was out of the question.
So…… if you know me better than a casual acquaintance, Saints and Scoundrels is about you, and for you.