Breathless, Alarmed, & Confused
You brushed up against me
An innocent touch
Yet that overwhelmed me
I’m sure that I blushed
It’s not clear if you noticed
But I noticed you
Now I’m breathless, alarmed, and confused
I could ignore what I’m feeling tonight
Turn off that part of my heart like a light
I could wait all my life
For someone just like you
To come back around into view
Or I could muster up the courage to do
What guys in movies never hesitate to
Brush the chin on your face with the side of my hand
To turn your head just enough
To notice this man
It’s not clear if you noticed
But I noticed you
Now I’m breathless, alarmed, and confused
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
© 2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
Who knows what song was playing
When Mom and Pop first met
Did they dance to Benny Goodman and his band?
I bet they had a favorite singer and a special song
That floated through the moonlight on the night he asked her for her hand and
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Don’t cringe at maudlin melodies
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Without it, might not be no you or me
I’ll go get the bottle of that fine old dusty wine
We’ll get tipsy instead of getting stoned
Dancing to Sinatra with your cheek pressed close to mine
We’ll remember those magic moonlight June-like days we’ve never known
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Don’t think its corny cause its old
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Without it, there might not be no rock n roll
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Don’t cringe at a maudlin melody
Don’t knock the music you were made to
Without it, might not have been no you for me
Music & Lyrics by Fred Koller & Shel Silverstein
Don't Knock the Music
(Fred Koller &
Shel Silverstein)
Forgive Me
Forgive me
For not forgiving you
Forgive me
For not seeing it through
And doing all a friend should do
For failing to mention
The worst of intentions
And not forgiving you
I tried to empathize
With what you were going through
Really no surprise that I was deaf and dumb to you
I never came to terms with the lessons you learned
And the feeling you felt
I’ve been hating your choice
And I’ve been hating myself
Forgive me wherever you are
In a moat of dust or that old North star
and show me how to heal the scars
Left without intention as I find redemption
In forgiving you
It took me years to recognize the fear
Anger clouded what I couldn’t hear
This is a me I’ve never known
Adrift and all alone
Forgive me
For not forgiving you
Forgive me
For not seeing it through
And doing all a friend could do
For failing to mention the best of intentions
I’ve forgiven you
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
© 2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
There was a time that girl would always listen
To whatever I might say
But here and now her sources have been whispering
maybe I led her astray
I’m all hung up I'd never go against her
once true but now just blue
Because the one gal that I could rely on
is telling me that we are through
I've got to wonder what it was that I said
I spin the dial but her line’s always dead
I keep reflecting back on every date
She’s turned into a ghost that just won’t conversate
Apparently, everybody’s talking
But ain't no one heard a thing
No matter how long I say there's nothing to it
Still her ears proceed to ring
We’d make time all the time…it’s a fact
But now she’s knocking me this statue act
It’s a brush off and the girl won't share
All the action going on beneath her hair
out on the dance floor we get alone at last
Out among the Hoyt and Toit
Let them all observe us as the band can serve
We’ll pantomime some swinging joy
I've got to wonder what it was that I said
I spin the dial but her line’s always dead
I keep reflecting back on every date
She’s turned into a ghost that just won’t conversate
I’m all hung up I'd never go against her
once true but now just blue
Because the one girl that I could rely on
is telling me that we are through
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
© 2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
Ghosted
Hands of Dice & Wire
Tire iron grin
Rebar bone within
Etched with every sin
There’s lashes in the lacquer
Temple Pulse reveals
How the deep heart feels
This hammer dulled by moss
Not just an old nutcracker
These parts of I
I find disturbing
These pieces here
Here I’m appraising
And what I was I am not now
How I’ve come I know not how
Beaten copper Tempered Steal
The violence of the making
These hands of dice and wire
These hands of dice and wire
These hands of dice and wire forever shaking
Eyes like anchors
Steady hold
While all else fails
Beneath the folds
Of weathered man
Standing like a specter
Barren truths
Revealed
And the legacy
Crafted and designed
Not even memory
Can hope to keep in mind
These hands of dice and wire
These hands of dice and wire
These hands of dice and wire forever quaking
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
©2023 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
I hear the rattlin’ all the time
I’ve come to understand to pay it no mind
It’s only inuendo served upon a platter
Appealing even though it shouldn’t oughta matter
​
But there’s only so much that a man can take
Before the volume gets his heart awake
Two paper cups and a ball of twine
All you need to start the rattlin’ on the tattlin’ line
I’ve heard rattlin’… Lotsa rattling
There’s been rattlin’ on the tattlin’ line
News hot off the wire Has lit suspicion’s fire
Ram-if-ications dire! What am I do?
Drank a cup of hearsay served up by Sister Fay
Now I’m second guessing everything and everyday
Is the lady going out for tea
Or stepping out with someone who ain’t me
That old green riders on my back this time
Whipping up the rattlin’ on the tattlin’ line
I’ve heard rattlin’… Lotsa rattlin’
There’s been rattlin’ on the tattlin’ line
Quick! Go and get more bourbon
I’ve got to process all the things I’m learning
These strange rattlin’ got my off my game….
I’ve heard a strange suggestion 'bout my gal
I didn’t used to question, but look at me now
It ain’t a rumor if the tale is true
The trust of a fool is still the trust of a fool
There’s been rattlin’
Rat – tat- tat -tattlin’
There’s been rattlin’ on the tattlin’ line
Oh I’ve heard rattlin’
Rat – tat- tat -tattlin’
There’s been rattling on the tattling line
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
© 2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
Rattlin' On The Tattlin' Line
Take It On The Chin
I’m red hot
I’m ready to moan
I got a night hawk coming
And I don’t drive alone
A sweet hotcha number
Waiting in the wings
I hear she got a friend or two
and the ladies like to swing
Tell ya’ what brother, it ain’t no sin
If we all come together and take it on the chin
It’s a Fait accompli
Give the groceries some heat
Emancipate ourselves a bottle
Serve it up nice and neat
Take that big round table
Lean it up against the wall
Burn ourselves a hay bale
Get down to spinning that ball
Tell ya’ little sister, She’s in like Flynn
If we all come together and take it on the chin
We’ve all had ourselves some blue days
We’ve all seen some trouble and pain
The bug house is calling, I hung up the phone
Wrong number. Don’t ya call back again
We all walk together
And weather the storm
No brother is better
Then a brother in arms
A hillside of stones
Is as strong as a boulder
Stick with us kid
And you’ll live to be older
If you hear the heat coming, keep it on the slim
Hold your head up, and take it on the chin
When the big man’s calling
Let the workday begin
But this night’s just getting started
Glass or a funnel, my friend?
Don’t raise no sand, we just play to win
we all come together and take it on the chin
Music & Lyrics by Rees SHad
©2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
I came into town like a shot in the dark
A lidless lad in a sharp cut suite made outta shark
I took a chance, I showed them what I can do
Bosses lady she came over and said
“Who the Hell are you?”
Galahad
They call me Galahad
A woeful name if you get it
But ain’t nobody ever gonna forget it
Galahad
She introduced me to the man in charge
You must hear me people
When I tell you that her daddy was large
He looked me up and down
And then he leaned in close
“No disrespect intended
But she’s a fire and your standing too close
Galahad
Who named you Galahad?
Them’s big shoes that you aim to fill
When your hanging round that kind of Jill
Galahad”
Well I needed a some green
Had me some bills to pay
So, I asked the big man politely
how might I help him that day?
He said “if you need the cabbage
I got a roll for you
Watch over that firecracker
Let nobody light her fuse
Galahad
Listen up, Galahad
Won’t be no more foxes in the henhouse
Or mules kicking in that stall
Her Daddy’s feeling quite protective
No black cat bone gonna caterwaul
Galahad”
It started out with the best of intentions
I was a boy scout hungry for badge
It only took a whispered suggestion
For me to tumble right off of that edge
We were slipping into shadowy corners
Dancing close just out of view
Man, they call it a sin because you want to be in
The very places they don’t want you to
Galahad
She used to whisper "Galahad"
Never heard the name sound so nice
Like rum pouring over ice
Galahad
Well who was I to know?
How was I to see?
That girl had a man with a plan
But, man that man wasn’t me
Woke up on the floor
Cracked safe as the ceiling wheeled
Big Daddy standing over me
No chance I could duck his steal
Gal I had
Now they call me Gal I had
Stole the cabbage from the cabbage patch
Hung me out to dry and lit the match
That Gal I had
Woeful name if you get it
But ain’t nobody ever gonna forget it
Gal I had
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
© 2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
The Galahad Blues
With a Smile
Well I wondered what she meant
As she was walking out the door
She said “I guess I’ll see you later than a while.”
It would have struck me funny
But she's always on the money
And anyway, she said it with a smile
Yes, she smiled
Such a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
With a smile
With a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
We were watching that old movie
With a poignant end in sight
(I meant the movie, but I guess you just can’t tell)
She sighed when it was over
I misjudged the tears she cried
I should have simply noticed how she smiled
Yes she smiled
Such a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
With a smile
With a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
Taking advantage is a long-term sort of scam
With hidden fees to help you be the victim
But every time they take a stab
They look down in their hand
To find the knife was never there at all
My back is fine
I pour the wine
One glass at a time
Feeling divine
Yes she smiled
Such a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
With a smile
With a smile
The killing blow is always with a smile
Words & Lyrics by Rees Shad
©2023 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music
Well my lady calls me “Baby” once and a while
And sometimes she even whispers “Honey Child.”
But there’s other times she calls me words
You don’t want to think about
So, I’m working on working it out.
She’s confusing when abusing me so
And there are times my inclination says to go
But I’d be hurting if I rambled
And I’d regret the love I’d gambled
So, I’m working on working on working on working it out
She’s a beauty, and her man will need to heed
I gotta give all the love to get all the love I need
But it’s a fast route from a whisper to a shout
Leaving me working on working on working on working it out
This is a Story that the Many time before has been told
Even Moses Split the water when Zipporah’s Attitude got old
But its them rapids in the river
It’s what the sweetness in the water’s about
That’s why I’m working on working on working on working it out
Oh, yes, I’m working on working on working on working it out
Music & Lyrics by Rees Shad
©2024 by Rees Shad & Shadville Music