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Tattered Map

by Michael Sessoms

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1.
Train Town 03:50
"Train Town" Whistle blows, the brakeman screams against the tracks People pass on through but they never look back And it's hard to be a switchman's son When everyone you meet here wants to run The only work in this town Are the few railroad jobs on that freight yard ground So one day when I come of age I'm gonna go And I'll leave this train town and I won’t look back I've spent my whole life on this one-way track Gonna catch that outbound, see what I can find And I'll try to leave the past and this train town Behind Grandpa shoveled coal on the old steam lines Now Daddy switches rails when the trains come in to sight So I guess the only job for me Is a brakeman working under a conductor's lead But I won't be tied down The trains leaving here have to be somewhere bound So one day when I come of age I'm gonna go And I'll leave this train town and I won’t look back I've spent my whole life on this one-way track Gonna catch that outbound, see what I can find And I'll try to leave the past and this train town behind Gonna leave this train town I've spent my whole life on this one-way track Gonna catch that outbound And I'll try to leave the past and this train town Behind Leave it behind Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
2.
“Dry Creek Saloon” Swingin’ doors, and we have plank-board floors And horse thieves are the company that we keep Straight blades where there’s poker played And bullets fly every night of the week Oh do drop in And won’t you Come back soon To the Dry Creek Saloon Late nights, and we have barroom fights The ragtime man will play your favorite tunes And Madam Mae will let you have your way With a pretty girl who’ll take you to her room Oh do drop in And won’t you Come back soon To the Dry Creek Saloon We have gunfights out front And cheap whiskey inside Our only request Should you ride by Oh do drop in And won’t you Come back soon To the Dry Creek Saloon Oh bring all of your friends We’ll see you soon At the Dry Creek Saloon Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
3.
“Sweet Virginia” Sweet Virginia, where have you gone? Sweet Virginia, you left me all alone Why did you leave me? Why couldn’t you stay? Oh, Sweet Virginia, why did you go away? Did you go back to the city Where your folks still stay? Did you move out to the country Or somewhere far away? Lord, I’ve cried and cried most every night Ever since you’ve been gone Sweet Virginia, why did you leave me alone? Sweet Virginia, where have you gone? Sweet Virginia, you left me all alone Why did you leave me? Why couldn’t you stay? Oh, Sweet Virginia, why did you go away? Sweet Virginia, where have you gone? Sweet Virginia, you left me all alone Why did you leave me? Why couldn’t you stay? Oh, Sweet Virginia, why did you go away? Sweet Virginia Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
4.
Loaded Gun 03:45
“Loaded Gun” A six gun and a saddle are two of my best friends The other one’s a horse named Gypsy, she can run like the wind For six months or maybe longer, this posse’s been on my trail See, there’s a price on my head to shoot me dead or to take me back to jail ‘Cause I’m a wanted man from here to Wichita And my picture’s on every poster, and they call me an outlaw And the last ten men I’ve killed had me on the run I’m warning you son ‘cause it ain’t no fun looking down the barrel Of this loaded gun They’ve been writing about me in the dime novels of the west With their stories told of me chasing me with badges on their chest The last thing I read, the count was up to twenty five Oh but they don’t know I’ve taken over forty men’s lives But that’s why I’m wanted from here to Wichita And my picture’s on every poster, and they call me an outlaw And the last ten men I’ve killed had me on the run I’m warning you son ‘cause that ain’t no fun looking down the barrel Of this loaded gun I jimmy’d a bull on my first take after the war And ever since then, trouble has come around So I sleep with one eye open and my hand on my pistol ‘Cause them Pinkerton boys just may gun me down ‘Cause I’m a wanted man from here to Wichita And my picture’s on every poster, and they call me an outlaw And the last ten men I’ve killed had me on the run I’m telling you son ‘cause that ain’t no fun looking down the barrel Of that loaded gun Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
5.
“Longleaf Pine” Down Highway 501, past old-man Pate’s land Way beyond the cotton fields where the old paper mill stands You’ll see a riverbank where you will find John Miller laid to rest beneath that longleaf pine I came home from work one day, I heard my Emily cry I made my way to her room, I had to find out why John Miller, he had my little girl pinned on her bed So I pulled my .38, put a bullet in his head I dragged his body down to the riverbank that night I can still see the blood where it ran down and dried between his eyes I have no guilt or shame for the deed I’ve done He hurt my little girl, and deserved to die by my gun I came home from work that day, I heard my Emily cry I made my way to her room, I had to find out why John Miller, he had my little girl pinned on her bed So I pulled my .38, put a bullet in his head Yes I pulled my .38, put a bullet in John Miller’s head Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
6.
Gone 03:40
“Gone” What’s my name? Well it’s a crying shame I’m someone you’ll never get to know Gotta find somewhere to leave behind Another place I’ve gotta go You see, you…you can’t tie me down I’ll pull up my roots and move on I’ve never been anywhere before That’s ever held me too long You can call me Gone My best friend, I’ll never see again I just met him an hour ago Just like me, born to be free He’s a habit of the road You see, you…you can’t tie him down He’ll pull up his roots and move on He’s never been anywhere before That’s ever held him too long You can call him Gone Like a yesterday, like a runaway Never to return Like a time in your past, when there’s no turning back ‘Cause it’s a bridge That you have burned Like the wind I’m up and gone again Headed down another road Always packed, and I never look back ‘Cause this highway’s my abode You see, you…you can’t tie me down I’ll pull up my roots and move on I’ve never been anywhere before That’s ever held me too long You can call me Gone Call me Gone Like the wind I’m up and gone again Headed down another road Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
7.
“Singer of the Blues” I make my living as a singer of the blues Singing songs about nothing to lose I play my guitar for the late-night crowd Just trying to make a nickel Hear them shout it out loud Don’t look at what I’m doing Just listen to the words of my song If you like what I’m singing You’re welcome here to sing along Sing along I’m known around as a traveling man Making music wherever I can And I like to strum across these tight wound strings Sleeping late in the day then writing songs to sing Don’t look at what I’m doing Just listen to the words of my song If you like what I’m singing You’re welcome here to sing along Sing along I’m not a rich man But I’m getting by man With what little money that I make In front of bright lights Into the late night To sing a song about a fool’s heartache Don’t look at what I’m doing Just listen to the words of my song If you like what I’m singing You’re welcome here to sing along Sing along I’m not a rich man But I’m getting by man With what little money that I make In front of bright lights Into the late night To sing a song about a fool’s heartache In front of bright lights Even on cold nights To sing a song about a fool’s heartache Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
8.
“Trail of Tears” Truck stop, cigarette machines I’m filling up with gasoline They tell me coffee’s served here all night long It’s about two a.m. And I can’t remember where I’ve been But I’m gonna crash here until dawn And in the floorboard there’s a tattered map And about a dozen beer bottle caps That rattle around whenever I shift gears And in the rearview there’s a broken man He’s dazed, confused, without a plan And down his face runs a long trail of tears Big rigs firing up And I haven’t slept enough But I wipe the sleep from my eyes I get myself a cup of Joe He use to get me ready to go Now caffeine just won’t treat me right And in the floorboard there’s a tattered map And about a dozen beer bottle caps That rattle around whenever I shift gears And in the rearview there’s a broken man He’s dazed, confused, without a plan And down his face runs a long trail of tears Yes, in the floorboard there’s a tattered map And about a dozen beer bottle caps That rattle around whenever I shift gears And in the rearview there’s a broken man He’s dazed, confused, without a plan And down his face runs a long trail of tears A long trail of tears Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
9.
Home on High 03:04
“Home on High” My crippled hands shall hurt no more My feet won’t bother me I’ll meet my savior at heaven’s door And there my blind eyes will see It seems I’ve come to the end of my road And I’m called by that sweet by-and-by Now I can set down this heavy load I’m bound for my home on high I know I’ll see my mother there Lord knows, she’s prayed for me With her weathered bible in her right hand Shouting the victory It seems I’ve come to the end of my road And I’m called by that sweet by-and-by Now I can set down this heavy load I’m bound for my home on high Oh, I’m bound for my home on high Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music
10.
Highway Son 02:59
“Highway Son” My old man was a trucker, and he loved those white lines Grandpa loved corn liquor so he hauled that moonshine In a ’49 Coupe de Ville That’s how he got his thrill And I’m a highway son, I was born to run Ninety miles an hour from a setting sun It’s true, that’s what I love to do I don’t mind thumbing, lord, I’ll even ride shotgun Baby, I’m a highway son My mama’s great-grandmother was a gypsy on the west plains Her grandson drove a stockcar, living in the fast lane Turning left on a steering wheel In a ’52 Oldsmobile And I’m a highway son, I was born to run Ninety miles an hour from a setting sun It’s true, that’s what I love to do I don’t mind thumbing, lord, I’ll even ride shotgun Baby, I’m a highway son When I leave this world, I’ll be burning rubber With the asphalt under my feet ‘Cause everybody knows, everywhere I go The grass don’t grow under me ‘Cause, Baby, I’m a highway son, I was born to run Ninety miles an hour from a setting sun It’s true, that’s what I love to do I don’t mind thumbing, lord, I’ll even ride shotgun ‘Cause I was born to run Ninety miles an hour from a setting sun It’s true, that’s what I love to do I don’t mind thumbing, lord, I’ll even ride shotgun Baby, I’m a highway son A highway son Written by Michael Sessoms • Copyright © Skeptic Ear Music

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released October 15, 2013

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Michael Sessoms North Carolina

Music heard at the crossroads of Appalachia and Alt-Country

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