Country Songs and Ballads

What's interesting is that I don't really listen to country.
Maybe it's easier to write than to listen to...
I have set some of these to music.

Mediocre Love Song
(in vehement protest of the phrase "limpid pools of water")

The birds with nests of babies
Don't sing from stumps of trees,
And the roses in my garden
Are riddled with disease.

The streams are filled with garbage
Oh yes, I know it's true,
And the only thing that's pretty
In this lousy town is you.

(Chorus)
Just a mediocre love song
For a gal who's just first class,
And she's more than just a redhead
'Cause she's got a real nice voice.

Her eyes are like fake diamonds
Her stare could melt Blue Ice,
And her hair is scarlet nylon
I think she's pretty nice.

(Chorus)
Just a mediocre love song
For a gal I love to bits,
And she's more than just a redhead
'Cause she's got fantastic taste.

Just a mediocre love song
Not too good, but just as real,
Though it may not sound romantic
Still it shows the way I feel.

(Instrumental)

(Chorus)
Just a mediocre love song
From a guy who really cares,
To a gal who's really special
With high hopes and many prayers.

Ballad

As the fog banks rolled in on the westerly breeze
An empty-eyed Madeline walked through the trees
Till she got to her rock, where she watched the cold seas
And waited for daylight to wane

And the rock was her fortress; it was her hiding place
With the sunset for candles, and the salt spray for lace
Where the pain that she carried could show through on her face
And none would ask her to explain

For her fortress was distant from the usual trails
From the men on their horses and the ships with their sails
't was a place shared by seagulls and a few solemn whales
And the seasons and stars, and the rain

Then she took out the letter that she'd carefully penned
One that spoke from her heart that she could never send
For she'd waited too long, and she could not pretend
That he would pass by there again

For once he had held her, and he'd brightened her life
He said when he returned, he would make her his wife
Then he sailed on his ship and it cut like a knife
When he left and she had to remain

And she'd waited to see him through her flowering years
With a lump in her stomach from the weight of her fears
But as time kept on flowing she just ran out of tears
And knew that her wait was in vain

But she would not recover and choose one of the rest
So she sealed herself up on her rock on the crest
And the fog banks still roll in on the breeze from the west
In memory of Madeline's pain.

Number One Fan

(chorus)
He may not be perfect, but he's my kind of man
He may not be muscular, he may not be tan
You may think that I'm nuts
But I'm his number one fan
And I try to love him the best that I can.

He may not be honest, (he) may be rot to the core
He may keep me at home while he's out with some whore
You may think he's cheating
But don't tell me the score
Cause just to be spiteful I will love him some more

He don't bring me candy, he don't buy me things
My only new jewelry is his high school ring
You may think that he's cheap
But he gives me so much
Just all of his gifts are the kind I can't touch.

(chorus)
He may not be perfect, but he's my kind of man
He may not be muscular, he may not be tan
You may think that I'm nuts
But I'm his number one fan
And I try to love him the best that I can.

My friends they all hate him, they wish he were dead
Say that, to stay with him I'm screwed in the head
You may think it's hopeless
But he's still my guy
And long as I've heart left I can't help but try

(chorus)
He may not be perfect, but he's my kind of man
He may not be muscular, he may not be tan
You may think that I'm nuts
But I'm his number one fan
And I'll try to love him as long as I can.

Fate Never Fights Fair

'Twas right about near Christmas
I walked out of the bar
Was headed for my pickup
But I didn't get that far.

Cause hitched up to a tow truck
Was my faithful four-by-four
They said I'd missed a payment
And it weren't mine no more.

And as I watched that tow truck
Take all my stuff away
A bum walked up and caught my eye
And this is what he said:

(chorus)
Sometimes you think you're lucky
Sometimes you think you're spared
But you're not thinking clearly
'Cause fate never fights fair.

Sometimes it's not worth struggling
'Cause even though you care
Sometimes you won't be winning
'Cause fate never fights fair.

(he said)
I was once a handsome man
I once had everything
A ranch with fifty horses
A girl with a diamond ring

It wasn't till our honeymoon
I realized my mistake
The diamond in the ring was real
But the girl she was a fake.

The courts split my ranch even
Or so they did pretend
They gave my wife each horse's head
And gave me each rear end.

(chorus)
Sometimes you think you're lucky
Sometimes you think you're spared
But you're not thinking clearly
'Cause fate never fights fair.

Sometimes it's not worth struggling
'Cause even though you care
Sometimes you won't be winning
'Cause fate never fights fair.

It wasn't that she'd lied to me
'Cause I could live with that
It wasn't when she took my fish
And fed them to her cat

It wasn't that she stole my life
Cause with that I could cope
It's that I really loved her
So this once I'd dared to hope.

(chorus)
Sometimes you think you're lucky
Sometimes you think you're spared
But you're not thinking clearly
'Cause fate never fights fair.

Sometimes it's not worth struggling
'Cause even though you care
Sometimes you won't be winning
'Cause fate never fights fair.

The bum he finished off his tale
Of misery and pain
I looked up for a sign from God
And it began to rain.

(chorus)
Sometimes you think you're lucky
Sometimes you think you're spared
But you're not thinking clearly
'Cause fate never fights fair.

Sometimes it's not worth struggling
'Cause even though you care
Sometimes you won't be winning
'Cause fate never fights fair.

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