LITTLE SISTER
© Chessie 1991 BMI

Sister hear me callin’ you through the corridors of time
I know your name, you sure know mine.
I’ve gone before you through the pain and the tears.
An’ I’ve paved a way for you to pass through all these years.

REFRAIN: Little sister can you hear me? Little sister can you hear me?

Your skin may be yellow, my skin may be black,
Our skin may be red or white but there ain’t no turnnin’ back
We sure have come a long way. We’ve a long way yet to go.
Can you hear me callin’ you? I’ll help you in your road. REFRAIN

We’re the women of the Iroquois Nation, you patterned you government after is.
My name is Harriet, I was someone a slave could trust.
My name is Sor Jauana, I believed we should read and write.
My Name is Amelia, I was the first lady of flight. REFRAIN

We’ve fought for the right to learn, we fought for the right to vote,
We’ve fought for the right to think we had to fight for the right to know.
Look to the future to see what you can do,
Then turn around and lend a hand to the sister followin’ you. REFRAIN

We still have sisters sufferin’ in this and every land.
Their ignorance is killing them, we’ve got to take a stand.
Show them how to till the soil, teach them to survive.
Little sister hear me, let me help you save your life. REFRAIN

Girl put down that bottle, throw those pills away.
He doesn’t have to hit you to show you you’re OK.
Take your dignity and walk tall, it’s there, just look around.
All of us can do it, w3’ve just got to stand our ground.

Little sister can you hear me? I know I can hear you.
Little sister let me help you see what you’re walkin’ through.
Let our past guide you, show you the way.
Little sister let me help you. Hear what I say.

I’ve gone before you through the pain and the tears.
I’ve paved the way for you to walk through all these years.
Look to the future and see what you can do
Then turn around and lend a hand to the sister followin’ you. REFRAIN

written to celebrate Women’s History Month

TROUBADOUR
© Chessie 1992 BMI

A troubadour is what I am, my songs I like to sing.
I perform for every one, for peasant and for king.
A song of love so sweet and true or one of heroes brave.
Just maybe you’d like to hear of a dragon in his cave.

Troubadour, Troubadour, sing for me a song.
Make my day a better one for my path is long.
Troubadour, Troubadour, sing a song for me.
Troubadour, Troubadour, a penny I’ll give thee.

A tale of knights in armor, fair damsels for to win,
Or one about a bloody feud where kin is killing kin.
And if a story that I tell should brighten up your day,
Toss a sixpence in my cup before you walk away.

The life I live carries me from hamlet to town,
Thru the vales and mountain sides, up the hills and down.
All the people are my friends, they like to see me come.
They ask the news, they watch my show, they miss me when I’m gone.

THE SEASHELL
© Chessie 1998 BMI

My brown haired love with eyes of blue, you’ve left me for the sea.
My tow-head love with eyes of green, a ship takes you from me.
You’ve each left on a merchant-man, bound for lands unknown.
An d I am left upon the quay to wait ‘till you come home. To wait ‘till you come home.

One went east, one to the west, O’ tell me seashell do.
Which one do I love the best? The green eyed or the blue?
Which one do I love the best? The green eyed or the blue?

I watch from high on wind-swept dunes to see billowing sails,
The clouds float by in sea-blue skies, my heart within me quails.
Could pirates sink those mighty ships and take my loves from me?
There are so many secrets there, far beneath the sea. Far beneath the sea.

O seashell cast your spell for me as I hold you to my ear.
Let your voice tell of the sea and those whom I hold dear.
Let your voice tell of the sea and those whom I hold dear.

Days have some how become months and months have grown to years,
With still no word from merchant-men, no hope to calm my fears.
Alone I pace the sandy beach as heave seas roll in.
The wind plays tag and pulls my hair, the seagulls wheel and spin.
The wind plays tag and pulls my hair, the seagulls wheel and spin.

O seashell take this love of mine far our ‘cross isle and sea,
And give it to who’s ment to come back home to me.
And give it to who’s ment to come back home to me.

My brown-haired love with eyes of blue has left me for the sea.
My tow-head love with eyes of green, a ship took him from me.
They each left on a merchant-man bound for lands unknown.
And I am left to walk the beach until they come back home, Until they come back home.

For one went east and one went west, O tell me seashell do,
Which one do I love the best? The green-eyed or the blue?
Which one do I love the best? The green-eyed or the blue?

Written because I had a need to write it.

MISSISSIPPI SERENADE
© Chessie 1992 BMI

Crickets are singing out in the wood,
Bullfrogs are callin’ they’re soundin’ real good.
Night breezes blowin’ pushin’ that ol Spanish Moss.

I’m sittin’ here rockin’ on my front porch,
Hear the train rollin’, she’s headed back north.
Sun’s goin’ down in my little town in Mississippi.

CHORUS ; Mississippi serenade, sweet magnolias an’ lemonade
life is good an’ dreams are made in Mississippi.
River runs wide an’ deep, gentle winds rock me to sleep.
My hometown my heart to keep in Mississippi.

Cattle are lowin’ out in the field,
Head to the stock pond with my rod an’ reel
Catfish are jumpin’ skeeters are buzzin on the water.

Children play with an ol blue tick hound,
Car passes by me headed for town.
Squirrels runnin’ ‘round over my head in the pine trees. CHORUS

written to celebrate my home town and home towns everywhere

RATTLESNAKE CREEK (breakdown)
© Chessie 1988 - revised 1999 BMI

Been in the city workin’ all week, take a break out at Rattlesnake Creek.
Come on out an’ ease your mind, share a bottle of homemade wine.
Make a crown out of runnin’ cedar, over head, a red-tailed hawk.
See the deer come down to drink, quiet now, er’he’s sure to balk.

Hear the woodpeckers peckin’ logs, see the wood ducks, hear the frogs,
Look! A heron’s glidin’ in, in the puddle is a tiny brim.
Fat turtle swimmin’ a-round chasin’ the fish up the creek an’ down.
Feel the water cold an’ clear, makes me want ta’ stay right here.

Little cabin in the woods, life there is surely good.
** Good friends, good times good meat. Rattle Snake Road at Rattle Snake Creek.
Sun is settin’ an’ it’s time to go. There’s one thing that I know,
· After I’ve been workin’ next week, I’ll come back to Rattle Snake Creek.

REPEAT * AND ** AND END.

Written to remember special friends, times and a very special place.

VIRGINIA MAN
© Chessie 1986 BMI

Virginia man what’s your story?
Are ya’ lookin’ for fame an’ glory?
Sing your songs for me. In your music let my heart fly free.
Each note a hope, each word a dream, let’s me fly or so it seems.

Live my dreams to sing through you, sing your songs babe, sing mine too.
Wanted to sing all my life. All I am is just some man’s wife.
Sing your songs for me. In your music let my heart fly free.
Each note a hope, each word a dream, let’s me fly or so it seems.

Sing your songs babe, sing ‘em for me. In your music let my heart fly free.
Each note a hope, each word a dream, let’s me fly or so it seems.
Sing for me Virginia Man,
Play for me Virginia Man,
Sing for me Virginia Man

written for a musician friend of mine who once said, "I wonder if they listen. I wish I didn’t have to go home alone."

FRANKIE, DON’T GO THERE
© Chessie 1998 BMI

CHORUS) Frankie don’t go there, don’t go there again.
It only hurts you when he lets (takes) you in.
Frankie don’t go there, don’t go there at all.
Oh you’re doin all right till you hit that wall/ you hit the wall.
You hit the wall.

She comes to my house, she’s so drawn an’ thin.
She wants to talk but she’s high again.
She sits on the floor ragged and worn,
Her hair’s dirty, her sweater’s torn. CHORUS

Her faded smile, her tired eyes,
She wants me to sympathize .
She cries and says that she’s such a looser.
Then she goes back to embrace her abuser. CHORUS

I see her the next day, beaten and bruised.
She can’t look at me ‘cause she’s feelin’ used.
She says she can’t take it an’ she’s leaven’ town.
Then he screams her name and she, She turns around! She turns around! OH! GOD!
She turns around!!! CHORUS

written for a friend(s) of mine who have the misfortune to be substance abuse dependent. Please wake up!!

THANK YOU
© Chessie 1991 BMI

I just want to thank you for lovin’’ me
What is there inside that only you can see?
Can you know there’s nothin’ I wouldn’t do
To let the whole world know just how much I love you?

You left all you had an’ knew, just to be my friend.
You said you want to try an’ start all over again,
Find a new place to make that new start,
An’ help me once again to share my heart.

How could you know that I need you,
To hold up the light and see me through?
All the dark times that went before,
They just don’t matter anymore.

You saw my fear an’ turned it around.
You put my life back on solid ground.
When seen through your love, all things are new.
Nothin’s better than seein’ them with you.

I just want to thank you……. Lovin’ me.
Thank you for what you see……. ADLIB TO END.

Just a little message to some one special.

FORGOTTEN PEOPLE
© Chessie 1997 BMI

There is a street by my window. A park bench sits there ‘neath a lamp
The light shines down in a circle. That’s where the old people camp.
They wander out to that park bench, to feed the pigeons or read.
Some of them have friends they sit with. Some of them have friends they need.
Some of them miss friends they need.

The park bench has been there foe ever. The people come just for a while.
Lonely folks getting together, hopin’ to find a stray smile.
They come lookin’ for some one to remember the same things they knew way back when.
They come to find someone to talk to. Someone who grew up with them.
Someone who grew up like them.

Late at night when it’s quiet, I hear voices of those gone.
Just how crowded is that park bench with mem’ries of those who have moved on ?
Each one of them had a story. Each one of them had a song. But how many have some one to remember
That wisdom, that story, that song? Their wisdom, their story, their song,
Or the things that they loved when they were young?

This one was written to remember the ancestors.

WILDFLOWER MORNINGS AND HUMMING BIRD DAYS
© Chessie 1997 BMI

Curled up with a good book, cradled in the limb of a tree,
No one around for miles an’ miles, Just my thoughts an’ me.
Sun wakes the meadow with it’s lazy rays, bees buzzin’ around in a sleepy haze.
These are wildflower mornins’ an’ hummin’ bird days.

Coffee out on the front porch an’ you on the phone.
Long distance visits when I feel alone.
Laughin; at stories of games that we had played, fond mem-o-ries of friends that we had made.
These are wildflower mornins’ an’ hummin’ bird days,

Tubbin’ down the river on a sunny afternoon,
Everybody’s hopin’ that the trip won’t end too soon.
Sun makin’ diamonds dance, out there on the waves. Toes in the water sendin’ ripples out to play.
These are wildflower mornins’ an’ hummin’ bird days,

Fresh trout fryin’ over an open flame.
Fog risin’ of the mountain top, sunshine knows my name.
Waterfall splashin’ down the mountain side. We surprise a dear, it runs away to hide.
These are wildflower mornins’ an’ hummin’ bird days,

I wish for you my friends, all life’s’ simple things.
Mornin’ sun, a good book and the joy that a great day brings.
Waterfalls, meadows, warm fires on snowy nights, fresh trout an’ fireflies who blink their little lights,
An’ wildflower mornins’ an’ hummin’ bird days,

written for all my family, friends and fans