MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
SHOOTING STRAIGHT IN THE DARK
(Columbia FC-46077)
September/1990
Produced by John Jennings & Mary Chapin Carpenter
John Jennings - guitars/bass/vocals
Peter Bonta - guitar/keyboards
Mike Auldridge - dobro/steel
Tommy Hannum - steel
Rico Petrucelli - bass
Robbie Magruber - drums/percussion
Dave Palmar - drums
Matt Rollings - piano
John Carroll - keyboards
Michael Doucet, Mark O'Connor - fiddle
Jimmy Breaux - accordeon
Billy Ware - percussion
Background vocals:
Don Dixon, Marti Jones, Mike Cotter, John Carroll, Shawn Colvin, Herb Pedersen
Recorded 1990, Bias Studios, Springfield
1.
GOING OUT TONIGHT
(Mary Chapin Carpenter - John Jennings)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP / Obie Diner Music, BMI »
I'm going out tonight to find myself a friend
I need a welcome smile and the grasp of a knowing hand
Gonna sit for hours in a small dark place catch up with a long lost face
And talk about how long it's really been
I'm going out tonight with perfume on my wrist
I need to find someone to show me what I've missed
And when I see that someone sittin' there gonna tell your mem'ry I don't care
If he offers something more than just a kiss
Underneath the moon so bright I wanna fall tonight beneath a spell
Underneath the sky so clear I wanna find someone waiting there
Who used to know me well
I'm going out tonight without a chaperone
I'm gonna leave that meddling heart of mine at home
Cause it don't like crowds or closing time neon blues or pickup lines
It makes me spend my Friday nights alone
Underneath the moon so bright
Underneath the sky so clear
I'm going to tell myself that someone I adore
Is the one I'm with ain't that what friends're for
Cause my empty arms're open wide I'm long on spite and short on pride
And the old way isn't working anymore
I'm going out tonight to find myself a friend
**********
2.
RIGHT NOW
(Al Lewis - Sylvester Bradford)
« © '58 Sovereign Music, ASCAP / Sylbee Music, ASCAP »
I'm all alone so come on over baby right now right now
I'm all alone so come on over baby right now right now
Oh don't make me wait child don't you hesitate come on along come on along
I want to dance I need romance baby right now right now
I want to dance I need romance baby right now right now
Oh don't let me down child don't you mess around come on along come on along
Let's think of something to do and let's do it let's think of somewhere to go let's go
And when you put your lovin' arms around me oh you know how I love you so
I need a thrill say you will baby right now right now
I need a thrill say you will baby right now right now
Oh don't let me down child don't you mess around come on along come on along
[ piano - guitar ]
Let's think of something...
I'm all alone so come on over...
I need a thrill say you will...
**********
3.
MORE THINGS CHANGE
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
Well I think of you sometimes at night and sometimes it's still the same
The way that it was when I was the keeper of your flame
We all have our ghosts all have our doubts I'm no different with you or without
But one thing's certain only the names have changed
And I think of you sometimes baby when an old friend gives a call
And to hear us talk you'd think I felt nothing at all
Cause nothing remains that used to be yours we all have our way of closing the door
But it takes some time to get up when you fall
But I'm the same sweet girl you couldn't get enough of
Way back when you pledged your love
And you'd drive to find me through the pouring rain
Now I hear all about your running round man you're a legend all over town
The more things change the more they remain the same
[ piano - guitar ]
Sometimes I wonder if you've ever heard the sound of a broken heart
It ain't real pretty it ain't the thing that nice folks talk about
And the hardest thing you'll ever have to do is face the one who's done it to you
His eyes like an angel's they're so devout
But I'm the same sweet girl...
Now I hear all about your running around man you're a legend all over town
The more things change the more they remain the same
The more things change the more they remain the same
**********
4.
WHEN SHE'S GONE
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
She threw her purse upon the bed she looked around and shook her head
There's really nothing left she said there's nothing I ain't done
She wore your favorite dress tonight she hoped her hair would catch the light
And you just sat there gettin' tight on double shots of rum
You don't care what people say they're gonna say it anyway
You don't hear what you can't use it's always been the same old news
You don't beg and you don't plead or miss a thing that you don't need
She knew by the way you kissed her when she's gone you won't miss her
[ piano ]
Morning comes on an old cat's pews and when the sun hits the walls
The light's as bright as it ever was after or before
And you wince as waking pounds your head and you drag your arm across the bed
And the tangled sheets and the twisted spread fall onto the floor
And the kitchen table finds you silent if you had a thought now you can't find it
You take a long drag on your smoke and taste your coffee growin' cold
She didn't beg and you didn't plead she knew exactly how to leave
The way she knew as you kissed her when she's gone you won't miss her
She didn't beg and you didn't plead she knew exactly when to leave
The way she knew as you kissed her when she's gone you won't miss her
**********
5.
MIDDLE GROUND
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
For years she's lived on her own in a corner of the city
Twice a year she gets back home playing catchup with the family
She tells her folks what they need to know her mother says she's much too thin
Her sisters ask about her beaus her dad inquires how's bussiness been
She's thirty three this time around she's always been real good at listening
Her sense of humor never lets her down except sometimes there's something missing
Hey middle ground a place between up and down
She could be safe and sound oh to know middle ground
[ guitar ]
For years she's been on her guard she's kind of tense around the shoulders
She wonders why she works so hard she counts the days till they promote her
She'll take a weekend now and then to stay in bed and watch the reruns
She'll turn the phone off when guilt sets in
But Sunday always kind of leaves her let down
Hey middle ground a place...
She gave her heart away on time and says that she hasn't seen it since
Love's a puzzle in her mind the pieces mutch but don't quite fit hey
[ guitar ]
And these days run thick or thin it never rains or else it's pouring
All her single friends are men she thinks married girls're so damn boring
Hey middle ground a place...
Hey middle ground a place...
Oh to know middle ground oh to know middle ground
**********
6.
CAN'T TAKE LOVE FOR GRANTED
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
When I spoke what was on my mind I wasn't thinking of your heart
I wasn't thinking when I said those things that landed us so far apart
Now my world is ending with a chance remark you can't take love for granted
And you look at me with your wounded eyes and I look back with fear
There used to be such faith between us now it's just not here
The door was slammed hours ago but it's still ringing in my ears
You can't take love for granted
It was a funny way to show I love you a funny way to care
It's a funny thing to be without you as empty as you stare
And you can't take love for granted it's got its own free will
It's got a mind of its own when it wants one and looks that can kill
One day you're in heaven darling the next you feel like hell
You can't take love for granted
[ guitar + piano ]
You can't speak what's on your mind if you've got a gambler's heart
You can be the truth incarnate you can shoot straight in the dark
You can pull the moon down baby with a lasso made of stars
But you can't take love for granted no you can't take love for granted
No you can't take love
**********
7.
DOWN AT THE TWIST AND SHOUT
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
Saturday night and the moon is out I wanna head on over to the Twist and Shout
Find a two-step partner and a Cajun beat when it lifts me up I'm gonna find my feet
Out in the middle of a big dance floor when I hear that fiddle wanna beg for more
Wanna dance to a band from a Louisian tonight
And I never have wandered down to New Orleans
Never have drifted down a bayou stream
But I heard that music on the radio and I swore some day I was gonna go
Down a Highway 10 past a Lafaytte there's a Baton Rouge and I won't forget
To send you a card with my regrets cause I'm never gonna come back home
Saturday night and the moon is out...
[ accordeon ]
They got a alligator stew and a crawfish pie a gulf storm blowin' into town tonight
Livin' on the delta it's quite a show they got hurricane parties every time it blows
But here up north it's a cold cold rain and there ain't no cure for my blues today
Except when the paper says beou-so-leil is a comin' into town baby let's go down
Saturday night and the moon is out...
[ guitar ]
Bring your mama bring your papa bring your sister too
They got lots of music and lots of room
When they play you a waltz from a nineteen-ten
You're gonna feel a little bit young again
Well you learn to dance with your rock and roll you learn to swing with do-si-do
But you learn to love at the fais-do-do when you hear a little Jolie Blon
Saturday night and the moon is out...
**********
8.
HALLEY CAME TO JACKSON
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
Late one night when the wind was still daddy brought the baby to the windowsill
To see a bit of heaven shoot across the sky the one and only time daddy saw it fly
It came from the east just as bright as a torch
The beighbors had a party on their porch
Daddy rocked the baby mother said amen when Halley came to visit in 1910
[ ac.guitar ]
Now back then Jackson was a real small town
And it's not every night a comet comes around
It was almost eighty years since its last time through
So I bet your mother would have said amen too
As its tail stretched out like a stardust streak
The papers wrote about it every day for a week
You wondered where it's going and where it's been
When Halley came to Jackson in 1910
[ fiddle ]
Now daddy told the baby sleeping in his arms
To dream a little dream of a comet's charms
And he made a little wish as she slept so sound in 1986 that wish came round
It came from the east just as bright as a torch
The neighbors had a party on their porch
Daddy rocked the baby mother said amen when Halley came to visit in 1910
[ guitar ]
Late one night when the wind was still
**********
9.
WHAT YOU DIDN'T SAY
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
I can read your eyes just like a book
You tell me different but I know that look
I don't have to guess what's between the lines
So what in the world am I still doing here
You push me away when I get too near
Saying love's too simple to analyze
Why do I feel confused why do I feel so used
Like a wornout thought that you threw away
It wasn't what you said it's what you didn't say
Where are the windows where are the doors
I haven't the key to your heart anymore
I haven't a clue to what's gone wrong
Cause you look at me sometimes as if I weren't there
You say you're listening but you never hear
The strains of silence have grown so strong
I never wanted to doubt you but I'd be better off without you
I'm no good at looking the other way
It wasn't what you said it's what you didn't say
So look at me one last time with eyes that still know how to shine
Hold me like you won't let go but you let go anyway
[ steel ]
No one belongs where they're not wanted
You're just a ghost and my heart is haunted
When I said goodbye you didn't even beg me to stay
It wasn't what you said it's what you didn't say
No baby it wasn't what you said
**********
10.
YOU WIN AGAIN
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
I'm standing here freezin' in a phone booth baby in the middle of God knows where
I've got one quarter left your machine picks up but baby I know you're there
And I just start crying cause it makes no sense
To waste these words and twenty five cents
On a losing game baby you win again
I've been turning it over and over again like a stone I'm waiting to wish on
I've been holdin' my breath just wondering when you'll make some sort of decision
To let me in or to let me go I'll always lose if I never know
Where I fit in baby you win again
I can't be right if I'm always wrong I can't stand up if I'm always kneeling
At your altar or at your throne you could show just a little feeling
For who I am baby you win again
[ guitar ]
Last night I dreamed we were standing here on the corner of love and heartache
You jumped into your car you found first gear and baby I left the earth shake
And I woke up trembling with my heart in my throat
Cause there's never a look a word or a note
At the bitter end baby you win again
I can't be right...
Baby you win again baby you win again
[ guitar ]
**********
11.
MOON AND ST. CHRISTOPHER
(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
« © '90 April Music, ASCAP / Get A Real Job Music, ASCAP »
When I was young I spoke like a child I saw with a child's eyes
And an open door was to a girl like the stars are to the sky
It's funny how the world lives up to all your expectations
With adventures for the stout of heart and the lure of the open spaces
There's two lanes running down this road and whichever side you're on
Accounts for where you want to go or what you're running from
Back when darkness overtook me on a blind man's curve
I relied upon the moon I relied upon the moon
I relied upon the moon and St Christopher
[ piano - guitar ]
Now I've paid my dues cause I have owed them but I've paid a price sometimes
For being such a stubborn woman in such stubborn times
I have run from the arms of lovers I have run from the eyes of friends
I've run from the hands of kindness I've run just because I can
But now I've grown and I speak like a woman and I see with a woman's eyes
And an open door is to me now like the saddest of goodbyes
When it's too late for turning back I pray for the heart and the nerve
And I rely upon the moon...
I rely upon the moon...
To be my guide
**********