Azalea Lyrics
Hornet Hawkins
Written by Jefferson Ross and Charlie Pate ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Vistaville Music (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
Hornet Hawkins went out walking down his property line
He said I’ll be danged if that old bank will take this land of mine
So he bought a kettle of stainless metal and a coil of copper line
Cooked a stash of sour mash as smooth as sweet red wine
He started small as I recall selling after church
After all that brimstone a man gets a powerful thirst
Word travelled fast, it flew first class from here to Birmingham
Everyone was looking for it especially the treasury man
(chorus)
Run, Hornet Hawkins, the devil is on your tail
He’s waving a badge, a 45 and a ticket to county jail
The last time I saw him hornet was making tracks
He was 40 yards ahead of the g-man
With a 50 pound sack of sugar on his back
For about two weeks the state police searched and combed these pines
But not one trace not one taste did those law men find
Some people said he may be dead or up in Tennessee
All I know is that I wish he’d left a batch for me
(repeat chorus)
(tag)
He was a half a mile away from the g man
With a 50 pound sack of sugar on his back
Change
Written by Jefferson Ross and Stan Swiniarski ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), UpCellar Music LLC (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
There’s a reason why a man picks up a bottle
There’s a reason why a man puts it down
He’s trying to escape from a world that’s spinning him around
There’s a reason why a man considers cheating
There’s a reason why he gets down on one knee
It’s more than just the loneliness trying to find a new reality
(chorus)
Change, change
We’re driven by running from the
Same old same
Whether we find pleasure there or
Pain, pain
Doesn’t really matter
All we think we need is
Change
One man steps in the river to take his own life
While another does the same to be baptized
They can’t go on the way they have and right or wrong
Each one of them cries for
I Was Here
Written by Jefferson Ross ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
IF I DIED TOMORROW LET ME SAY TO YOU
LIFE WAS SUCH A HOOT UPON THIS EARTH
I FOUND SOME TRUE COMPANIONS AND A BETTER HALF
YEAH, WE CRIED AND LAUGHED FOR ALL IT’S WORTH
WHETHER PEELING SHRIMP IN GEORGIA, GETTING OYSTERS SHUCKED
OR IN NASHVILLE AND NEW YORK CITY TRYING TO MAKE A BUCK
(CHORUS)
I WAS HERE
CAN YOU HEAR ME Y’ALL
ALL SIX FEET ONE
IF I DIED TOMORROW LET ME SAY TO YOU
LIFE WAS SUCH A HOOT UPON THIS EARTH
I FOUND SOME TRUE COMPANIONS AND A BETTER HALF
YEAH, WE CRIED AND
HALF GYPSY (PAINTER) HALF SOUTHERN DRAWL
(POET)
(PIRATE)
SAYING PRAYERS DRINKING BEER (CRACKING JOKES LOUD AND CLEAR)
(EATING WORDS DRINKING BEER)
I DIDN’T DO EVERYTHING THAT I SAID I’D DO BUT I WAS HERE
I SANG ALL HIGH IN LONESOME UP IN OLD BERLIN
THE WALL CAVED IN BEFORE MY EYES
I ROAMED THE STREETS OF PARIS IN THE LATE NIGHT HOURS
BEHIND THE EIFFEL TOWER HOW THE SUN DID RISE
I GOT MORE LOVE THAN I GAVE GOD KNOWS IT’S TRUE
AND WHEN YOU’RE LOVED THAT SWEETLY
IT’S HARD TO LIVE UP TO
BUT
(BRIDGE)
AND WHEN NO ONE’S LEFT TO SHED A TEAR
THERE MAY NOT BE ONE FOOTPRINT LEFT BEHIND
BUT I WAS HERE.
(SOLO)
(REPEAT CHORUS).
The Prophet Elijah
Written by Jefferson Ross and Alison Mellon ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Dream Catcher All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
ACROSS THE FIELD FROM GRANNY’S PLACE WHERE THE TWO LANE RUNS
ELIJAH WAITED ON HIS PORCH TO GIVE ME CHEWING GUM
HE’D TIP HIS HAT AS CARS DROVE BY SMILING AT EACH ONE
HE SAID THE LORD DONE ME THAT A WONDROUS DAY WILL COME
HE SAID SINCE I WAS A YOUNG BOY I’VE SEEN THE WHOLE WORLD CHANGE
I CAN ONLY DREAM OF WHAT YOU’LL SEE WHEN YOU REACH MY AGE
IT COMES WHILE I LAY SLEEPING SOMEWHERE IN THE NIGHT
A VISION OF THE DAY WHEN FOLKS WILL TREAT EACH OTHER RIGHT
(CHORUS)
AND THE PROPHET ELIJAH PROPHESIED
THAT SOMEDAY THERE’D BE PEACE UPON THIS EARTH
THE LAMB WILL LIE DOWN WITH THE LION
AND THE LAST ONES WILL BE FIRST
AND I BELIEVED THE FIRE IN HIS EYES
WHEN THE PROPHET ELIJAH PROPHESIED
WELL, EVIL WORE A HOOD ONE NIGHT AND LEFT AN EVIL SCAR
THEY BURNED A FIERY WOODEN CROSS IN ELIJAH’S YARD
HE DIDN’T TRY TO STOP ‘EM AS FLAMES AROUND HIM FLEW
HE CRIED FATHER PLEASE FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO
(CHORUS)
(BRIDGE)
THERE’S A LITTLE CONCRETE HEADSTONE AND IT’S OVERGROWN WITH GRASS
ELIJAH RESTS BENEATH IT FREE AT LAST FREE AT LAST
THESE WORDS ARE CARVED UPON IT THOUGH THEY’RE WORN DOWN NEARLY SMOOTH
IT SAYS I BELIEVE IN LOVE AND I BELIEVE IN YOU
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Azalea
Written by Jefferson Ross ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
Azalea, girl, you bloom so beautiful in my eyes
You shimmer like Savannah stars and fireflies, shine on
I’m gonna tell ya
You’re sweeter than a mason jar of rhubarb jam
A truck load of peaches south of Birmingham
Your name’s like honey in my mouth
And I love you deeper than the south
Azalea, you’re like Louisiana in a cotton gown
Under spanish moss that sashays around
Your gumbo always knocked me out
And love you warmer than the south
(bridge)
I can see your hair blowing in a grove of pecans
And you’re standing in your brown bare feet
You’re humming a hymn and it touches my soul
Like a trumpet on bourbon street
Then I feel your scent like a jasmine wind
And I haunt you like I always do
Azalea, I’m calling you
(solo over verse pattern)
(repeat bridge)
Azalea, life is forever, it goes on and on
I’ll love you here and in the world beyond
Beyond the shadows of a doubt
Our love’s eternal like the south
We’re more eternal than the south
Azalea
Azalea
Azalea
Flippin’ That Hog
Written by Jefferson Ross ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
I shot him and I cut him
Cleaned him and I gut him
Split him and I hung him
Two feet off the ground
The burning ground
I been up all night
Flippin that hog around
I took a half a liter
Of pepper and paprika
Garlic, dry mustard and salt
And rubbed him down
All red and brown
I been up all night
Fippin that hog around
(bridge)
ooh, them crimson coals
ooh, that carolina gold
ooh, gazing up at the stars
Ain’t bout time to pass that mason jar
(solos)
(breakdown verse)
Daddy love chicken mama love meat
They got four hands and five kids to beat
Aw, honey, settle them young’uns down
I been up all night
Flippin that hog around
(repeat first verse)
(tag)
Been up all night flippin that hog
Sippin and a dippin and a kickin them logs
Look here honey
Here come the folks from town
I been up all night flipping that hog around
Stillwater, OK
Written by Jefferson Ross and Matthew Dame ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Sony ATV (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
If I could stack up all the stupid things the thoughtless things that I’ve done to you
I’d pile up the apologies so you could see I know I was a fool
It would rise like a mountain of regret above these plains
From Arkansas to Texas they’d see me climb it calling out your name
(chorus)
The wind would nearly knock me down at 30,000 feet
The view would stretch from here to California
I’d stand all whipped and ragged way up on a snow bound peak
Get down on my knees and, girl, I’d phone ya
From a mountain top outside
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Yeah, I could look down on the path I walked where I went wrong with choices that I made
Remembering the nights you cried the times you tried but I just turned away
All the things I thought important would seem so small up there
Throw away my foolish pride and watch it vanish right into thin air
(repeat chorus)
(instrumental half verse then..)
It would rise like a mountain of regret above these plains
From Arkansas to Texas they’d see me climb it screaming out your name
(repeat chorus)
Hard to be so Easy
Written by Jefferson Ross and Lisa McCallum ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Murrah Music (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
The blue light of the tv makes this room feel hollow
I’m two steps from moving on and one away from crumblin
Staring at my enemy the phone
When it rings it cuts straight to the bone
I’ll hear your whisper and you know i can’t say no
(chorus)
I’ll say yes just come on over and
My pride will slide three notches lower
You’ll lie and swear you’ll never leave me
How come its easy for you to so be so hard
When it’s hard on me to be so easy
The needle on the record will play that old familiar song
I’ll feel that same old weakness coming on so strong
You’ll be sitting there an arm’s length away
Knowing the price i’m gonna pay
You’ll ask just once for old time’s sake you know just what i’ll say
(chorus)
(solo)
(chorus)
(repeat chorus)
Reality
Written by Jefferson Ross and Lisa Brokop ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Libre Music, (SOCAN) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
Beethoven wrote the greatest music ever heard
But he couldn’t hear the simplest song or the kindest word
Van gogh’s paintings go for millions now
But he died with his pockets empty and his head all full of doubt
Could it be the irony is teaching me that circumstances
Are only lies and they disguise the truth inside the real enchantment
(chorus)
I was meant to walk on water
I’m no slave to gravity
Why do I make it so much harder
Than it really has to be
If I trust just like I oughta
And not rely on what I see
If I believe in being free
That’s reality
Magazines and the television try keep me in fear
That I’m not rich enough and I’m not cool enough when I look in the mirror
It’s crazy to listen to somebody’s view that don’t even know me
I’ve got a mind I’ve got a right to try to fly with the ground below me
(bridge)
Faith is my friend
It says that I can
Lucky Now and Then
Written by Jefferson Ross and Matthew Dame ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Sony ATV (BMI) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
I was born under one unlucky star I admit it
I couldn’t win a raffle if i bought the only ticket
My friends won’t fly to vegas with me anymore
Or stand next to me in a lightning storm
Still you say you love me with that sideways grin
And even I get lucky now and then
(chorus)
They say fish swim and birds fly
Everything has its own nature
That won’t change until they die
But some fish are known to fly
And some birds are known to swim
And even Iget lucky now and then
My softball team’s the worst i’ve seen in all of dear old dixie
We could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory
And yet you sit up in the stands
telling everybody that i’m your man
I take home the trophy though we never win
Even Iget lucky now and then
(repeat chorus)
(bridge)
Lady luck’s cold as can be
But somehow you still bet on me
(repeat chorus)
Scenic Route
Written by Jefferson Ross and Mary Ann Bernicky ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Internal Rhymes Music (ASCAP) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
Old lady selling peaches and tomatoes
From the back of a pick up truck
Right in front of an antebellum mansion
That’s falling down and boarded up
Down the road near the bait and tackle
You can buy soft serve ice cream
You can even hear the bluebirds sings
(chorus)
On the scenic route
Where the kudzu climbs
Up the Jesus Saves billboard signs
Where the tractors crawl
And you must slow down
You can’t go wrong
On the scenic route
Old black man blowing a harmonica
Walking down the railroad track
Smoke rising up above a tin roof
Of an open pit barbeque shack
Children swinging on an old tire swing
Laughing like they don’t have a care
God shows his own true colors there
(repeat chorus)
(bridge)
Free your heart and mind
Roll down your window and take your time
The Last Song
Written by Jefferson Ross and Lisa Brokop ©2008 Curb Songs (ASCAP), Libre Music, (SOCAN) All rights reserved. Used by Permission.
If this was the last song that I got to sing
I wonder what the lyric would say
Stuff like fear is not real but it jacks with your mind
No one can ever take back a lie
Gardens and dogs are the best therapy
If this was the last song that I got to sing
If this was the last song that I got to sing
I’d tell everyone to relax
Red wine and chocolate won’t do you in
Bacon and eggs are not heroin
You don’t have to look like the stars on TV
If this was the last song that I got to sing
(bridge)
And I’d sing about you
The way you laugh
You bring me back to the simplest things
With all we’ve been through
It’s a fact
You’re the reason that I want to sing
If this was the last song that I got to sing
I wouldn’t care if it was hit
Whether I sang it at Carnegie Hall
Or the top of my lungs in our shower stall
As long as you’re right there to hear from me
If this was the last song that I got to sing
(repeat chorus)
Yeah, I’d belt it out and I’d let it ring
If this was the last song
I’d make it last real long
If this was the last song that I got to sing