David Allan Coe

Chorus:
Haul the jib sail down, boys; Haul the jib sail down
Turn this ship around, boys, before we run aground
The fish ain't biting today, boys, the fish ain't biting today
I'm gonna lay on my bunk and get drunk as a skunk
'Cause the fish ain't biting today.

Well there are six foot waves and my stomach craves some of that good old demon rum
I put some away for a rainy day and I believe the rain is starting to come now.

There's a northern wind and the lights are dim I'd like a good fresh Cuban cigar
I've got me a hunch where I might find a bunch in the Captain's pickle jar.

A lot of the songs I sang have a decidedly nautical theme. Some of my most wonderful moments have been on or in the water. Other songs seem to extol the virtue of alcohol. My very few moments of excess with that poison have been forgettable. Remember, I'm not the I in the song, mon! Just a vessel.

Don't that wind blowing over my shoulder make you high?
Don't the breathing it make you stop and wonder why
You've got to go so far away?
But Lady I know you'll be back again someday

And then the moon glowing over my shoulder will make you sigh
And you'll be happy to know I don't even want to try
To hold you down, or make you mine,
squire you around, or put a claim on your time

And if it feels right maybe we'll sleep together sometime
You've got to follow your heart, your body, and your mind
Follow the streams of your life, flowing
Follow your dreams and make the scenes with the pretty people you're knowin'

And knowin' that you're my friend makes me glow
And when the night ends, we can take it right on through another day;
Or recognize when it's depleted, in our eyes that it's been sweet
It ought to last us quite a while anyway.

So just go on and take that plane across the bay
You brought a lot and you won't be taking it all away
You might be leaving for more than a while,
But I won't be grieving, I'll be thinking about your smile

And if that city or some romance get you down
You've got at least one friend back in this lonely town
You got the number, you got the wheels,
And you got me going just knowing how our loving feels.

I wrote this for a friend at her going away party, at Dave Flanagan's house on Appleton Ridge. It came pouring out all at once. I've often had to write a song before I knew how I felt about someone.

P. Desjardins, A. Sandler, G. Tourangeau,
V. Mancuso, B. Boege, B. Wheeler

We don't know where we're going, can't remember where we've been
We'll never get to heaven on a sea of sailor's sins
Off to starboard, out at sea, we spy the devil's fins
And off to port, upon the reef, the sirens sing…

Chorus:
Signal flags are panty hose, cocaine's our compass rose
Customs agents came on board and died of an overdose
All through the Caribbean everybody knows
On the decks of the Terpsichore anything goes.

We've run the islands out of rum and the women all ran to hide
But two, they've hidden in the forward cabin, and we're leaving with the tide
In just a little while we'll be a mile out to sea
And then there's one for Capt. Bill, and one for you and me.

Chorus

Half of life's a monastery floating on the sea
The other half's upon the shore, with all hell breaking free
We've been run out of every port in all the BVI's
And every story that you've heard is true - a sailor never lies.

Chorus

I got this song from The Shawmut Minstrels, a group from Vermont who followed me into a 6-week gig at the Outrigger in St. Croix and then imploded. I'm not sure which of them wrote what parts, but Rob, Mike Burd and I added the "hey-ho up she rises" and Jim Lyna dreamed up the idea of adding the Gilligan's Island bit. A truly Cruzan collaboration.

I miss you Caribbean, Your flamboyance I'm seein'
Dreaming in the bougainvillea I think I feel your trade winds blow

I think I've been in old New England too long
It's not that it don't suit me, don't get me wrong
But when the cold gets in the ground, I'd rather sail your islands round
And soak up your salt water, sand and sun

I miss you Caribbean Your flamboyance I'm seein'
Dreaming in the bougainvillea I think I feel your trade winds blow

I think I'll take the North Star down to St. Croix
The rum and sun can make a happy boy
O little town of Christiansted don't divorce my body from my head
I have just nine more brain cells to destroy

I miss you Caribbean, Your flamboyance I'm seein'
Dreaming in the bougainvillea I think I feel your trade winds blow

We'll plot a course that will take us well to the east of Vieques
You've got to follow your own dream - oh you can't go wrong in the Gulfstream
So when your life starts to bore you, risk it - it will be good for you
And hear what this song is saying -- I hear a steel band a-playing

I miss you Caribbean,. Your flamboyance I'm seein'
Dreaming in the bougainvillea I think I feel your trade winds blow.

In November of 1980, an intrepid group of friends delivered the 80' charter yacht North Star from Ft. La-di-da to St. Thomas. It was not the roughest journey imaginable (though we did run clean out of Pouilly Fuisse, and the Mona Passage offered a rough spot or two). It was an unforgettably fun trip, and along the way I wrote this song, which is dedicated to Capt. Bret, Capt. Scarlett, Capt. Dave, Capt. Mark, Capt. Martha, Capt. Dan, Capt. Lisa, and Capt. Katy.

Billy Joel

I work nights in the Spanish part of town. I've got music in my hands
Work is hard to find, but that don't get me down, Rosalinda understands.

Chorus:
Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I've been searching for you everywhere
And though I'll never be there I know what I can see there
I can always find my Cuban skies in Rosalinda's Eyes.

When she smiles, she gives everything to me; when she's all alone, she cries
I'd do anything to take away her tears because they're Rosalinda's eyes.

Chorus:
Senorita, don't be lonely I will soon be there
Oh Havana I've been searching for you everywhere
I've got a chance to make it - I know that I can take it
And I'll return before the fire dies in Rosalinda's Eyes.

All alone in Puerto Rican band Union wages, wedding clothes
Hardly anyone can see how good I am, but Rosalinda says she knows

 Chorus:
Crazy Latin dancing solo down in Herald Square
Oh Havana I've been searching for you everywhere
And though I'll never be there I know what I can see there
I can always find my Cuban skies in Rosalinda's Eyes.

Mike Abbott got me to learn this when he and Mike Burd and I had the New Confuzion Trio. That's Lance Burpee on drums. This is one of the tracks I had completely forgotten having ever played. It demonstrates that my occasional claim that we never rehearsed was false when I was working with musicians who challenged me. I'm sure I frustrated them, but hey - the checks cleared, right?

She's been hustled by so many guys
And just a fraction of them turn her eyes
And she knows that in the end what you take home is what you spend
Move over casanova, the lady's with me

She's seen barrooms and she's seen the crowds
She's heard the volume turned up way too loud
She's seen that momentary passion build;
She's seen it flourish and she's seen it killed.
Move over casanova, the lady's with me

Just 'cause she's sitting alone, I'm in the Band
She's stood a whole lot more than this one-night stand
She'll do a solo Bossa nova, then go home with me

She's a million-dollar friend of mine
She's seen the front row, and she's stood in line
And what she can't do, she can do without
She can make me dance and make me shout
Move over casanova, the lady's with me.

The band stand was a great place to meet girls, but to have a real special one come to the club to see you play, that was dangerous. She'd sit at the bar and get hit on incessantly. What was I to do? Sing another song, fool.

Windy & Warm

© Chuck Kruger, Lingering Music, BMI 1977

I want to rock you, babe, it's a morning born for flying
A little windy and warm but there's a damn site more in trying
And if you think we should we'll wallow in the early rays
and following our lazy ways we'll chance to stray
And I will call the weather and the woman so windy and warm.

I want to rock you babe your fortunes shine like diamonds
On a midnight sea in the middle of July
You make me lazy, make me hazy, catch me turning crazy phrases
And I'm feeling so damn fine
I will call the weather and the woman so windy and warm.

But who are you that came this way today?
And who are you make me feel this way?

I want to rock you babe in the early morning hours
And on a good northwest wind out on Penobscot Bay
I won't be minding if you're finding that my winding makes you tired
But I feel it, so you ought to know that
I will call the weather and the woman so windy and warm.

I want to rock you babe in the warm and stormy weather
And when the sun breaks through and it's a bright parade of day
I won't be minding if you're finding that my winding makes you tired
But I feel it, so you ought to know that
I will call the weather and the woman so windy and warm.

I took the title from an instrumental that I heard Doc Watson do one night around '66 at The Mooncusser in Oak Bluffs.

Doug Van Nostrand

Lots of people living in the world today
Lots of wasted energy in the USA
Everybody's telling me that crime don't pay
But a Smile goes a long, long way.

Happiness is peace, so let's go
Listen to what I telling you, I'm in the know
A little rain can fall into your life but you don't have to let it show
Smile goes a long, long way.

Don't wear no frown, man, a smile is your crown man
If you forget now, you're sure to regret now
Hating is easy, scheming is sleazy
Just be yourself now, yes man that's how

A smile is the language that all the world can speak
Be you a straight man or be you a freak
You gotta work a little and play a lot, 7 days a week
Smile goes a long, long way.

Our old pal Doug "Whistler" Van Nostrand gave us all this song in the mid-seventies.

John Denver

Lost in a boat on the ocean
Lost in a ship out at sea
Lost in the dark of misfortune
Where is a light I can see?

Where is the highway to heaven?
Where is the love that we need?
Where is the peace that we long for?
Where is the man who is free?

Chorus:
Here in the heart there is freedom; Here in the heart there is peace
Here in the heart are the answers to questions much deeper than these.
You've got to hold on tightly, let go lightly, it's only surrender, it's all in the game
You've got to hold on tightly, let go lightly, there's always forgiveness and no one to blame.

Some will take fame over fortune
Some will take love over gold
Some will pray only for power
Some never want to grow old.

Some see the day that is coming;
Some only see what is past
Someone will always be first in line
Someone will always be last.

Chorus

Not one of the more prominent songs by John Denver, I heard this groove and found the message irresistible. That's the regular lineup on The Fabulous Prizes - Ron Bouffard, Rob Coffin, and Mike Burd. We were playing with some muscle to an empty room.

©1977 Chuck Kruger & David Jeffers

I know it was only make-believe; I know it was only in my eyes
But when things come so easily, it's hard to prepare for a bad surprise

I had no designs, just desires for a waitress with a face that could tell no lies
She passed me as heart and I fell apart when I read what it said, "Ready Willing and Able"
Then her face turned red

Chorus:
Oh Amanita it was short and sweet and so was she
That we had a chance just to meet

It was just the music I can hear her say
Maybe we got crazy when the concertina began to play
And she danced like a princess across the floor
Like a wind she made me dance one more
You allemande left and you allemande right
All the men left dreamed of her that night

Chorus
Maybe in the movies, maybe on Bayview Street
We will kiss each other once more me and the angel short and sweet

This is from the Duckland sessions, Larry Luddecke playing the synth parts, Radovsky on drums. Dave Jeffers wrote the lyrics for a midcoast girl and I put them to music.

© 1980 Chuck Kruger

You are a woman like I've never known before
And though some fool just pierced your heart and walked right out your door

Ooh Lady Badluck don't you let it close your heart
It'll hurt, It'll hurt, but don't let that steel your senses
There's good love and there's bad love in this good/bad big wide world
But don't go losing good love for good defenses.
And if you feel like being alone just let that spirit fly
I won't come knocking around your house and I won't come asking why.

I'm coming on like a daydream and I know just where I am
I'm coming on to you right through your senses
I'm a friend, I'm an angel, I'm distraction from your pain
I'm tearing down your walls and mending fences.
And easy like a summer rain I'll wash your spirit clean
Open up all those darkened doors and lighten up your dreams

Ooh Lady Badluck is it really what it seems?
Is it lust or is just a mere infatuation?
Is it what you want, is it what you need, is it what you've always dreamed?
Or is it just what you can't have that makes you want it?
And if you feel like being alone just let that spirit fly
I won't come knocking around your house and I won't come asking why.

I'm coming on like a daydream and I know just where I am
I'm coming on to you right through your senses
I'm a friend, I'm an angel, I'm distraction from your pain
I'm tearing down your walls and mending fences.
I think I see you clearer than I think you see yourself
But when I'm thinking about you, I'm out seeing somebody else.

I set out just to write a disco groove song. All this relationship stuff came pouring out, and I think if there's ever a contest for how many words you can pack into a line in a song, this should win. But nobody else will ever sing it. Larry Luddecke had sme great synth ideas on this one from Duckland, too.

© 1981 Larry Luddecke
Straight Up Music BMI

You ask me to stay with you, but I hardly know your name
Love has got to be more than a game
I've got to know more before I know how I feel
'cause in the end I have myself to blame.

Chorus:
I'm not the kind of guy that likes to fool around
I guess it hurts too much you know, I've been around
I can't play at love you know it always gets me down
I'm not the kind of guy to fool around.

You say come on home with you that thre night will work out fine
But girl, you know I'd rather take our time
What I see, I like a lot, but I'd like to find out more
Before I lay my feelings on the line.

Chorus

And if I was to say three words: "I love you"
It might be just what you want to hear
But I can't play at love, myself, I can't pretend to no one else
I hate to see a friendship end in tears.

Chorus

Yeah, right.

Porky's Omaha Blues

© 1972 Chuck Kruger

Well I work six days in Daddy's store
And I await the day I won't have to work no more
And I play guitar and the mandolin
And I sing the songs I find comfort in.

Chorus:
And I want to go to Omaha
I want to do a show in Omaha
I want to get 17 girls from Omaha
And I'll be feeling so much better when I know I've got a home in Omaha.

And I know one day that I'll be a bigger man
Playing lead guitar in a country band
A couple of skinny town girls and a fast sedan
And I'll knock 'em all out at every one-night stand

Chorus

I wrote this song as an exercise. I wanted to write from a totally different point of view, so I started with a character from an old TV show: Porky from the old Lassie show. I grew him up and put these silly ideas in his head. Later, I must have told an abbreviated version of this on stage as an intro, because there are people who believe to this day that I really am the actor who played Porky. Another myth, pierced!

That's Sam Smith on bass, Dave Lewis on steel guitar, Ben Smith on drums, and Willy Kelly on mandolin. Not sure who played the lead break in there.

Under The Boardwalk

Gerry Goffin & Carole King
Originally recorded by The Drifters

When the sun beats down and burns the tar upon the roof
And your shoes get so hot you wish your tired feet were fireproof
Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, that's where I'll be

In the park you hear the happy sounds of the carousel
And you can almost taste the hot dogs and French fries they sell
Under the Boardwalk, down by the sea
On a blanket with my baby, that's where I'll be

Under the Boardwalk, out of the sun
Under the Boardwalk, we'll be having some fun
Under the Boardwalk, people walking above
Under the Boardwalk, we'll be falling in love.

This song always says summer. The Drifters included, when this was originally released, Ben E. King.

Back to Maine

© Chuck Kruger, Lingering Music, BMI 1977

Some folks don't do much but see things through
Others just let time go, and it's true
That I'm always finding roads that keep on winding,
And rolling home is a first-rate thing to do.

So I think I'm going back to Maine
To winter there, where summer's not the same
California Dreamin' can make a man complain
I think I'm going back to Maine

It's a raving, crazy planet we're trying to own
We can't seem to believe it's just a loan
Some wiser things are dying; mostly people trying
To fasten something down that's theirs alone.

But I think I'll go on back to Maine
I've some good friends there; they even know my name
Yes, friends are golden … at times I've been beholden
To roads and dreams that led me back to Maine.

Yes there's somewhere in this world I know I'll go again
To warm and stormy weather, salty wind
And after all this reaching and cloudy minded preaching
It's there I'm landing when my ship comes in.

Yes I guess I'm going to back to Maine
The weather's fine in sunshine snow or rain
And when the wounds are healing, it's nothing - just a feeling
Of all my spirits flowing back to Maine.