Words and music by Marty Rosen.
Performed by Hound of the Buskervilles
lyrics
“Ashes and Smoke” )
By Marty Rosen
Me and Jack, we made one last ride, before he got so weak.
We shared a bottle and we built a fire down by Muddy Creek.
The moon spilled down the mountainside. The fog was ankle deep.
Jack said, I’ll take the night watch.
He said, I ain’t got time for sleep.
He said, They come to me in the small of night, the ghosts that haunt this ground, Talkin’ how I can I can make three wishes, before they take me down.
I remember the rivers runnin’ free and wild,
Before we built those dams.
If I could see that one more time,
I’d be a happy man.
Gold, they say, We can offer you gold. And all the things money can buy.
But a thaw in the spring, and the rush of the flood.
Wish I could hear these canyons sing.
There was a girl one time down in Bowling Green, dark eyes and a honey voice.
She offered her hand and she asked me to stay – wish I’d made a different choice.
We can make you live on in dots on a map,
In stories and poems and songs.
But a swing on the porch, and a garden out back,
Wish I’d found the place where I belonged.”
We sat and watched as the fire died down, sparks falling into the fog.
If I could do just one thing different said Jack, I’d burn just like that log
I wish I had lived like a roaring flame, hot and hungry and bold,
Leaving nothing behind but ashes and smoke, all used up before I went cold.
All used up before I went cold.
credits
from Ghosts out in the Rain,
released July 3, 2020
Dan Boone, mandolin; Eddie Hysinger, harmonica; Phil Ragland, lead guitar; Marty Rosen, vocals/guitar.
Produced, recorded, and mixed by Dan Boone.
Recording licensed through easysonglicensing.com
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