RIDIN' ON THE BLINDS

Twilight  (J.Robbie Robertson)   [Albums: Ridin' on the Blinds]

Over by the wildwood hot summer night
 We lay in the tall grass
 til the mornin' light comes shining
If I had my way I'd never
get the urge to roam
A young man serves his country
and an old man stays at home

Don't put me in a frame upon the mantel
'Fore memories grow dusty old and grey
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day

Never gave a second thought, no
never crossed my mind
What's right and what's not
I'm not the judgin' kind
I could take the darkness, oh
storms from your skies
We all got certain trails burnin' up inside

Don't send me no distant salutations
or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day

Don't put me in a frame upon the mantel
'Fore memories grow dusty old and grey
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time of day

   <top>


Dimming of the Day  (Richard Thompson)   [Albums: Ridin' on the Blinds]

This old house is falling down around my ears
I'm drowning in a river of my tears
When all my will is gone you hold me sway
I need you at the dimming of the day

You pull me like the moon pulls on the tide
You know just where I keep my better side

What days have come to keep us far apart
A broken promise or a broken heart
Now all the bonnie birds have wheeled away
I need you at the dimming of the day

Come the night you're only what I want
Come the night you could be my confidant

I see you on the street in company
Why don't you come and ease your mind with me
I'm living for the night we steal away
I need you at the dimming of the day
I need you at the dimming of the day

   <top>


Women 'cross the river  (David Olney)   [Albums: Ridin' on the Blinds]

The women 'cross the river
carry water from the well at break of day
And they talk to one another; God only knows what they might say
You might get an education after years of dedication
You might finally get a glimpse of what is right and what is wrong
But the women 'cross the river; well they knew that all along

Women 'cross the river work with tools that are ancient and hand-made
And they plow their fields in perfect rows and then, they rest beneath the shade
Now we have learned to build out of concrete, out of steel
And our buildings stand a thousand years but then even they are bound to fall
But the women 'cross the river never learned to build a wall

The women 'cross the river are as gentle as the dew upon the ground
How I love to hear them laughing in the rain when it makes that perfect sound
Now a soldier with a gun and a battle to be won
Might kill you with a bullet and you never even know the reason why
But the women 'cross the river; they can kill you with their eyes

Oh the women 'cross the river; they can kill you with their eyes

   <top>


Lie with me  (Eric Andersen)    [Albums: Stages, Ridin' on the Blinds, One More Shot - Molde 1991 bonus disc]    [Comparison of the lyrics on different albums.]

Chorus:
    Lie with me and be my love just for now
    Stay with me all through the night
    Be as close to me as you can be
    Til morning sets you free

When you saw me I was broken,
I was scattered like the dust
Like the way you feel sometimes,
when you feel too much
You put your hands around me,
like a shadow 'round the sun
When I thought that it was finished
it had only just begun

Chorus

You shine above the morning
as I turn to face the east
You showed me how to give away
things I never meant to keep
Your love is rolling like a wave
that breaks right over me
One hand can hold the other
but can never stop the sea

Chorus

Your body looks so golden
standing naked in the sun
Your skin it feels so holy
as close as the earth can come
The sea can wash a stone to sand
and the wind can break your bones
I wonder what you're doing now
when you are alone

Chorus

   <top>


Outside track  (words by Henry Lawson / music by Gerry Hallom)   [Albums: Ridin' on the Blinds]

The port lights glowed in the morning mist
As it rolled on the waters green,
And over the railing we grasped his fist
As the dark tide came between.
We cheered the captain, we cheered the crew
And our mate, times out of mind.
We cheered the land he was going to
And the land he had left behind.

Chorus:
      For they marry and go,
      And the world rolls back,
      They marry, and vanish and die,
      But their spirits shall live on the outside track
      As long as the years go by.

We roared "Lang Syne" in a last farewell
But my heart seemed out of joint.
I well remember the hush that fell.
As the steamer passed the point.
We drifted home through the public bars,
We were ten times less by one
Who sailed out under the morning stars
And under the rising sun.

Chorus

Then one by one, and two by two
They've sailed from the wharf since then.
I've said goodbye to the last I knew,
The last of the careless men.
And I can't but think that the times we had
Were the best times after all,
As I turn aside with my lonely glass
And drink to the barroom wall.

Chorus

   <top>


Baby I'm Lonesome  (Eric Andersen)    [Albums: Stages, Ridin' on the Blinds, One More Shot - Molde 1991 bonus disc]

Chorus:
   Baby I'm lonesome I'm here I ain't going anywhere
   Couldn't you show some
   Some of the love that we shared
   Like you did when I knew you still cared

You say there've  been others who
Made you feel better than me
But I'd rather lose you
Than lose your feeling for me

Chorus

Please don't be mad
I'm tired oh sad I'm just blue
Just when you turn away
It's so hard to say I love you

Chorus

You say for a while
You'd rather be free than be mine
But I turn to stone
Like a mountain alone
If I just could get you off my mind

Chorus

   <top>


Bottle of wine  (Tom Paxton)   [Albums: Ridin' on the Blinds]

Chorus:
   Bottle of wine, fruit of the vine
   When you gonna let me get sober
   Let me along, let me go home
   Let me go back and start over

Ramblin' around this dirty old town
Singing for nickels and dimes
Time's getting rough I ain't got enough
To buy a little bottle of wine

Chorus

Little hotel, older than Hell
Dark as the coal in the mine
My blanket are thin, I lay there and grin
'cause I got my little bottle of wine

Chorus

Pain in my head, bugs in my bed
Pants are so old that they shine
Out on the street tell the people I meet
Won't you buy me a bottle of wine

Chorus

A preacher will preach, a teacher will teach
And a miner will dig in the mine
I ride the rods trusting in God
Hugging my bottle of wine

Chorus

   <top>


© All songs copyrighted by their respective authors, as noted.

Return to the Eric Andersen Page.
Last revised: Jan 2007.