Max's Music Place, Song Lyrics for Show 2.

Ownership of these lyrics

Except for those songs labeled as "Traditional" these songs belong to me. They are my property and I own them. You may print out a copy for each member of your family who wants to sing along. But you may not hand them out at the mall, sing them in a public place, record them on any media and sell or give them away or any other means of distribution. Some people think that it's ok if you don't make money on it. Suppose you stole a car and gave it to a stranger or a friend. You wouldn't be making any money on it but IT WOULD STILL BE STEALING! If you don't want to be a thief then don't rip me off. In the case of those traditional songs, they belong to all of us so help your self.

Thank you

If You Bypass My Heart.

(Max Robinson)
July 14, 1998.

I've known you since high school
We were friends and more
But when I stood in front of you
You made a small detour
You ducked, dodged and zigzagged
Keeping me on the go
And when I thought you'd answer yes
That's when you'd tell me "no!"

I've been out to win your love
But you kept us apart
I know someday you'll be sad
If You Bypass My Heart.

Bridge:

When I asked you the reason why

you made me stand and wait
You told me when I came near
you couldn't concentrate.

Now you are a doctor
And I'm an engineer
My work gives me lots of stress
But It's a good career
Until I had a heart attack
It was going fine
I need you to operate
But you decline.

I know you are the best
I've known that from the start
I'm sure I'll live longer
If You Bypass My Heart.

Table of Contents

Lyrics Main Page.

Home

A Place To Play.

(Max Robinson)
December 5, 1992.
Revised Feb. 24, 1995.
Revised Oct. 4, 1997.
Revised Jan. 31, 1999.
Revised Aug. 10, 2000.
Revised Oct. 1, 2001.

A wind break is a row of trees
you find on many farms
In winter time it sheltered us
from winds that flung their arms
The summer turned that spot into
a secret hideaway.
When I was small it was
the perfect place to play.

That wind-break was a spaceship

I would fly to distant worlds
To help a slave rebellion and
I always got the girl
Or sometimes I would pilot
a one-man submarine
To the bottom of the sea
to dance with a mermaid queen.

The corn field was a place where I

could hide and not be found
In that field all I could see
was corn, blue sky and ground
Lying on warm soil I did not know
what such peace was worth
I felt as if I was the only
human on this earth.

On cloudless days the heavens were

so blue it hurt my eyes
On other days the cloud like dragons
chased across the skies
Inside my private world
my dreams went on and on
Not knowing in a few short years
the wonder would be gone.

Hard times forced us to sell the farm

when I was only ten
Soon I was to learn the phrase
"you can't go home again"
The buyers didn't like our home
and so they tore it down
Then built themselves a house you
might see in any town

They do not love the land the way

my ancestors did
There's no place left on that farm
to entertain a kid
The places where I used to play
are just a memory
The only way I can go back
is in my reverie.

Table of Contents

Lyrics Main Page.

Home

Joe's Tree.

(Max Robinson)
September 19, 1993.
Revised Oct. 15, 1994.
Revised June 2, 1997.
Revised Dec. 30, 1999.

We were following a truck on the highway;
It was carrying the bones of an ancient tree.
A storm had blown that tree down yesterday;
For years it had watched over one family.

It was planted by a father one bright Kentucky morn,
And on that fine spring morning his son Joe was born
Proud papa would sit on the porch with young Joe on his nee
And say to him, "You know, my son, that is your tree."

The boy and the tree grew up together
Joe guarded it as he watched it grow
With his help it survived Kentucky weather
Through the years it seemed the tree was watching over Joe.

When he married at age twenty-two his dad gave him the farm;
He sat underneath the tree with Jenny in his arms.
The doctor gave them news that twins were on the way
She had a son and daughter on the thirty-first of May.

The tree stretched its branches over Joe's family
Like a guardian angel watching over all
Protecting them from every little tragedy,
Now in full maturity more than seventy feet tall.

Joe made a swing for his grandchildren tied to a stout limb;
It was a happy time when they'd come to visit him.
Yet another generation played on that swing
When Joe's grandkids brought their own kids and came a-visiting.

The tree didn't fall the same day Joe died,
Though in years to come people may remember otherwise.
The youngest great grandchild was sure it cried;
Winter's wind through it's branches breathed mournful sighs.

Jenny moved away to town to live her last years out;
The house stood empty now, only ghosts walked about.
One day there was a monster storm with lightning, rain and wind
That was how Joe's mighty tree met its final end.

Developers bought the land where the house sat;
They knocked down everything in sight to build their little boxes.
Neither Joe nor his tree lived to see that
Three sure things in this world are development, death and taxes.

Table of Contents

Lyrics Main Page.

Home

Love and Kisses.

Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8,
By
Grace Haynes Smith.
Stanzas 5, and 6, plus all music,
by
Max Robinson.

Where is the heart that would not give
its drowsy days and nights
For one short hour just to live
brim full of life's delights.

I dream a perfect dream of life --

would that it could come true;
Like a chain letter in the mail
I pass it on to you.

I kiss a girl in evening light,

and before the day
She kisses ten other men
as they pass by her way.

They each in turn kiss ten more girls;

I'm happy as can be,
For won't I be in clover when
the chain comes back to me!

They say if someone breaks the chain

our luck will all be bad.
But when it happened I met you
now my heart is glad.

You are the one for me

chain kissing days are through
Help me find the best way
to say I love you.

When proffered by the hand of love,

red roses have a moral;
They speak of love. You bring a rose
after a midnight quarrel.

But you need no flowers dear or

apologetic letter;
A rose may speak the words of love,
but tulips do much better.

Table of Contents

Lyrics Main Page.

Home

He Plowed His Fields.

(Max Robinson)
March 4, 1994.
Revised September 1997.
Formerly "Within My Memory".
Revised January 5, 1999.

My father spent his life in toil
To scratch a living from the unforgiving soil
Had little schooling but was nobody's fool
He had a wisdom they can't teach in school.

Chorus:

He plowed his fields
Then sowed his seed
And kept us well, my brothers, Mom and me
He always answered every question patiently
Though he is gone he lives within my memory.

He looked forward happily to the coming day
He never worried, that was his way
We lived in poverty and pleasures were few
Yet somehow he always saw us through.

Chorus

He had a thousand dreams that would not come true
Wishing for a change that was overdue
We'd find better times coming 'round our door
I pray his dreams are fulfilled on Heaven's shore.

Chorus

Coda:

He's living on and dreaming still
Deep down inside of me.

Oh there was a lofty ship
And she sailed on the sea
And the name of that ship
Was the golden vanity
And she feared she would be taken
By a Turkish enemy
As she sailed on the Low land low land low
She sailed on the low land sea.

Then up steppes a cabin boy
Just the age of twelve and three
And he says to the skipper
What will you give to me
If I swim along side
Of your Turkish enemy
And sink her in the low land low land low
Sink her in the low land sea.

Oh I will give you silver
And I will give you gold
And the hand of my daughter
If you will be so bold
As to swim along side
Of the Turkish enemy
And you sink her in the low land low land low
You sink her in the low land sea.

So the boy maid him ready
And over board jumped he
And he swam along side
Of the Turkish enemy
And with his little drill
In her side he board holes three
And he sank her in the low land low land low
He sank her in the low land sea.

Then the boy he turned around
And back again swam he
And he hollered for the skipper
To haul him from the sea
But the skipper would not heed
For his daughter he would need
And he left him in the low land low land low
He left him in the low land sea.

Then the crew they hauled him out
But upon the deck he died
And they sowed him in his hammock
So very large and wide
They cast him over board
To drift upon the tide
And he sank beneath the low land low land low
He sank beneath the low land sea.

Now there is a lofty ship
And she sails on the sea
But she sails without a cabin boy
The age of twelve and three
And she fears she will be taken
By a Turkish enemy
As she sails on the low land low land low
She sails on the low land sea.

There is a place that I remember
In memories that shine as gold
A little cabin in the timber
We left when I was ten years old.

Chorus:

I'm goin' back to Rocky River
I'm goin' to my boy-hood home
These northern winters make me shiver
I swear I will never roam.

My daddy was a poor coal miner
We didn't have the fancy things
My childhood days could not be finer
We had the refuge family brings.

Dad took me fishing Sunday morning
On Rocky River's stony shore
Next day it happened without warning
I was wounded to the core.

The mine caved in and claimed my daddy
Though he was not the only one
They said "We can't dig out his body
We're closing down work here is done."

Chorus

We moved away to Massachusetts
Our mom worked in a textile mill
Life there was hard, grim as it gets
The memory gives me a chill.

Hard times are gone I'm doing better
I have a job a child and wife
I can't forget old Rocky River
Those were the best years of my life.

Chorus

While driving down a country lane
And trying to see through the rain
A sign I saw gave me a pleasant smile.
It seemed so strange and odd to me
Of all the signs that I might see
This one informed me "River one half mile".

I thought about that sign back there
And wondered why I aught to care
How far away that river was from here.
I drove on through the dark and rain
I smiled and chuckled once again
And figured that old river must be near.

Another sign seemed to repeat
Saying "River eight hundred feet"
I was still laughing when I topped the ridge.
To my surprise the headlights showed
A short way down this two lane road
The river all right but there was no bridge.

Table of Contents

Ownership of these lyrics

Thank you

If You Bypass My Heart.

(Max Robinson)
July 14, 1998.

A Place To Play.

(Max Robinson)
December 5, 1992.
Revised Feb. 24, 1995.
Revised Oct. 4, 1997.
Revised Jan. 31, 1999.
Revised Aug. 10, 2000.
Revised Oct. 1, 2001.

Joe's Tree.

(Max Robinson)
September 19, 1993.
Revised Oct. 15, 1994.
Revised June 2, 1997.
Revised Dec. 30, 1999.

Love and Kisses.

Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8,
By
Grace Haynes Smith.
Stanzas 5, and 6, plus all music,
by
Max Robinson.

He Plowed His Fields.

(Max Robinson)
March 4, 1994.
Revised September 1997.
Formerly "Within My Memory".
Revised January 5, 1999.

The Golden Vanity.

(Public Domain)

Rocky River.

(Max Robinson)
August 31, 1996.
Revised Mar. 3, 1999.

River One Half Mile.

(Max Robinson)
January 3, 1997.

Thank you

(Max Robinson) July 14, 1998.

(Max Robinson) December 5, 1992. Revised Feb. 24, 1995. Revised Oct. 4, 1997. Revised Jan. 31, 1999. Revised Aug. 10, 2000. Revised Oct. 1, 2001.

(Max Robinson) September 19, 1993. Revised Oct. 15, 1994. Revised June 2, 1997. Revised Dec. 30, 1999.

Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8, By Grace Haynes Smith. Stanzas 5, and 6, plus all music, by Max Robinson.

(Max Robinson) March 4, 1994. Revised September 1997. Formerly "Within My Memory". Revised January 5, 1999.

(Public Domain)

(Max Robinson) August 31, 1996. Revised Mar. 3, 1999.

(Max Robinson) January 3, 1997.

(Max Robinson)
July 14, 1998.

(Max Robinson)
December 5, 1992.
Revised Feb. 24, 1995.
Revised Oct. 4, 1997.
Revised Jan. 31, 1999.
Revised Aug. 10, 2000.
Revised Oct. 1, 2001.

(Max Robinson)
September 19, 1993.
Revised Oct. 15, 1994.
Revised June 2, 1997.
Revised Dec. 30, 1999.

Stanzas 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8,
By
Grace Haynes Smith.
Stanzas 5, and 6, plus all music,
by
Max Robinson.

(Max Robinson)
March 4, 1994.
Revised September 1997.
Formerly "Within My Memory".
Revised January 5, 1999.

(Max Robinson)
August 31, 1996.
Revised Mar. 3, 1999.

(Max Robinson)
January 3, 1997.