Martin Rivas :: Lyrics > Pride of the Valley

Pride of the Valley
released 2005

Damn Damn Damn Good Look	Oh, Imagine It	North	Hope	Memphis Pig
Designed to Break	Out in the Shade	Winning, With Flowers	Pride of the Valley	The El is a Rainbow in the Gray
Feeling Worse	But Still

DAMN DAMN DAMN GOOD LOOK
(Rivas)

Take a damn, damn, damn, damn, damn good look around
Take a damn, damn, damn, damn, damn good look around
There's less time than you realize
It's later than you know
Take a damn, damn, damn, damn, damn good look around

OH, IMAGINE IT
(Rivas)

The tenements again
Hi and how you been
Oh, imagine it
Oh, imagine it

The ghosts I chance to meet
On Cross and Orange Street
Oh, imagine it
Oh, imagine it

Dancers spring to flight
In the gaslit night

And from long-dead eyes
Life italicized
Oh, imagine it
Oh, imagine it

Snow in Chatham Square
Melting in her hair

And her skin is then
Soft and warm again
Oh, imagine it
Oh, imagine it

NORTH
(Rivas)

I'm going north
Going where the sun is always bright
Going where I always feel alright
I always feel alright
Tuck me safely in my bed tonight

Throw me where my heart is always light
Throw me where I get to sleep all night
I dream away the night
Tuck me safely in my bed

I wish I could remember everything you've ever said to me
Oh, the pleasure of another hour or two to be with you

I'm going north
Going where the sun is always bright
Going where I always feel alright
I always feel alright
Tuck me safely in my bed

I dreamt that just the same, the morning raged
But nonetheless somehow they found you
You came home where you could finally take your rest
But nonetheless

Where would you rather be?
Let your thoughts collapse upon you
And the echo set you free
Oh my, the sky, the sky is awfully gorgeous
Fly away with me
It's beautiful
Fly away with me
You've got to see it
Where would you rather be?
Let your thoughts collapse upon you
Let your thoughts collapse upon you

What keeps us far apart will surely someday bring us back together
On a day that I'm not meant to comprehend
Once again
I'll see you then

Going north

Going where the sun is always bright
Going where I always feel alright
I always feel alright
Tuck me safely in my bed tonight

HOPE
(Rivas)

Every roadblock out of town has been taken down
I thought you'd be the first one out
I can't believe you're still around

Before anybody implicates you
Use every opportunity that awaits you
I know I'll hear your name
I'll be listening

I hope your jaw is broken, but you can go another round
I hope your ears are bleeding, but still you hear your favorite sound

I hope you're in the time that you feel is best for you
And no one ever gets to make your choices for you
I hope you do all that's meant for you

I hope each morning is an adventure waiting to begin
I hope you wake up and you're psyched, somewhere that you've never been

I hope the Good Lord's willing and the creek don't rise up
I hope the eavesdropper drops his peeping eyes
Somewhere far off when we can meet again
And I'll tell you then

It's alright

I hope you write with lightning, and that your message isn't missed
I hope you're dashing and gorgeous and impossible to resist

The Pan American, I hope it whips your hair
And I hope you're thrilled, 'cause at 5:08 you're there
Here it comes again
On the L&N
WSM

I hope you take the kids out and show them what it's all about
I hope you take the kids out and show them what it's all about
Otis Redding, Sam & Dave

MEMPHIS PIG
(Rivas)

What I say
Wasted day
What I write
Wasted night
Half awake
Haven't slept
There's no rest in my bed
There's no comforting thoughts in my head

except

Memphis Pig
Barbecue
Slowly cooked
Day or two
Mississip
Pulled apart
Like the pig
Like my heart

You can talk, you can say anything you wanna
Anything at all
Chances are you will say anything you wanna
Chances are I'll be saying barely anything along the way

Mind to hand
Hand to mouth
Side by side
Deeper south
7"
45
Ardent, Sun
Stax & Hi
Keep it here
Keep it real
Keep it live

Memphis Pig
Ain't it good
It's the rub
It's the wood
Mississip
Flowing by
Sure as life
As it should

Drop me off, let me out anywhere you wanna
Anywhere at all
I am fully aware of how to get where I wanna
Don't expect a call

In the end
Nothing said
In the end
Nothing said
Swallow words in your head

In the end
Nothing said
In the end
Nothing said
All your hopes lying dead

DESIGNED TO BREAK
(Rivas)

Life is designed to break your heart

Watch it tear your soul apart

Life is designed to break your heart

First you love your mother, sister, and your brother
Then you love another
Hurt and can't recover

Voices disappearing faster than the wind
I know I'll never feel that innocent again

Life is designed to break your heart

OUT IN THE SHADE
(Rivas)

Out in the shade, I found a place I can lay
I came here to rehabilitate, no longer lying in state, or needing to
From where I've been to where I want to go
From what I've been told to what I want to know

A moment, beloved, to barely recover
All thought delayed out in the shade

The sun is at work closing the door on a day I'd rather forget
My fingers should be sparking electricity
They haven't yet
Something that's felt instead of thought, but still very real is all I've sought

A moment extended
Perhaps never ended
Rewound and played out in the shade

Words fail incessantly to describe how I feel now, how I always
Up and down

I came here to tame all that has brought me to shame
Maintain myself
I cannot escape
My thoughts are committed to tape
Reclaim myself

Can it be years? I've barely walked a day
Harmless but puzzling
Is that it? Do I just tick away?

I'd rather remember a kinder September
Content to stay out in the shade

WINNING, WITH FLOWERS
(Bavaro/McGivney/Rivas/Wieland)

Jockey silks presented, colors pressed and recommended
Sharpened heels and ties and handwriting
The Mutuel pool's awaited, combinations anticipated
In the daily number happening

Winning, with flowers

And it won't be long 'til the crowd is cheering
And the record holds, but you feel it nearing
Don't be shy, you'll take it anyway that they'll give it
Come around

The grass is trimmed, the lines are drawn, the diamond's cut, created
Sharpened cleats and bleached white gathering
Angels pulling favors, and they're paid
They're paying angels
Drop you down right where you pay to be

Winning, with flowers

It's a bitter taste, but it's expensive
Eat it
It isn't natural, someone else conceived it
Don't be shy, you'll take it
Don't pretend that you hate it
Come around, come around, come around

Come around

I'll catch you later
I'll catch you later
And when you're gone
I'll won't miss you, there's too much I'm working on

Success is too elusive
Results are too conclusive to ignore
I won't miss you, there's too much I'm working for

You missed the presentation, 'cause you had the realization
That the gains are only temporary
Your hobby's an addiction, it's a family affliction
Face-to-crotch with your worst enemy

Winning, with flowers

Come around

I'll catch you later
I'll catch you later
And when you're gone
I'll won't miss you, there's too much I'm working on

Success is too elusive
Results are too conclusive to ignore
I won't miss you, there's too much I'm working for

PRIDE OF THE VALLEY
(Rivas)

Take your guitar and play another winner
For the folks who came out to see you
Half of whom would rather be elsewhere
And half of whom would rather be you
Miniature engine whimpers to life and stalls in the alley
All this and more monitored by the Pride of the Valley

School is out
They're tying their boots and racing out into the snow
Radio plays to an overcast sky
By moonlight you walk to the glow
Helmets gleam and clash in the lights
A fourth-quarter rally
All this and more monitored by the Pride of the Valley

Sticks are all wet, leaves on the ground
Takes air to make fire and wood
Open the hatch
Smoke turns to flame
How many centuries it stood
Ships are sailing with containers of gold
And crumbs in the galley
All this and more monitored by the Pride of the Valley

Trucks are en route
Unaware of the name of the street which they currently roll down
They hold on their backs important deliveries
For some other important town
Take a right at the blinking yellow light
The interstate rally
All this and more monitored by the Pride of the Valley

THE EL IS A RAINBOW IN THE GRAY
(Rivas)

Every street is a poet
Every being a theater
Brushed clean by pride
Scrubbed by johnny-pump rain

Unaware, unnoticed
In the turmoil of the day
It's delicious skyline veiled
As the city loses its way

Look away and it's torn down
Gone before you have a chance to stare
Farewell, beloved
People in the way
And all they do is care

Doric columns, winged eagles, granite angels
Dumped in a swamp somewhere

Coming from ruins but not ruined
The el is a rainbow in the gray
It never was what we think it was
Just explains the thing we are from day to day

Coming from ruins but not ruined
The el is a rainbow in the gray
It never was what we think it was

FEELING WORSE
(Rivas)

Centuries of adventure beneath the earth
Get your money's worth
Kicking up the dirt as you fly around
Is your visor down

Always feeling worse than I really am
Never felt as good as when I began

US-20 drips with our travel plan
Narragansett can
One accelerator to make you go
One for overflow

Usable routine at the gas machine
Run the classic screen
Standing near the door at the package store
What'cha waiting for?

Always feeling worse than I really am
Never felt as good as when I began

Come on over
Crops are brown
Sky is lit up all around

BUT STILL
(Rivas)

I will heal, yes I will
Everybody heals
But still
If there's a lesson you want me to learn
I ain't getting it

I will laugh, yes I will
Everybody laughs again
But still
If there's a message you want me to hear
I ain't hearing it

Lift back the sheets of thought to summer's wistful glow
The clouds will part
You no longer need to know

I will remember, yes I will
Everybody remembers
But still
Damn memories
Try as they might
Ain't bringing either one of us back

I died along with you