This Time

Various versions of original songs, in a periodically changing order. 

Featuring myself, Robert Darlington, Dakini Keene, Geoffery Welchman, Brian Chaney, John Bachelor, Dayna Cohen and possibly others on various tracks.

Originals

Studio Stuff

Uploaded April 29, 2022. Newest mix May 9, 2022.

I WISH I'D KNOWN

Pour that morning coffee and roll that cigarette
Pickin' up the paper see another friend's gone dead
Starin' through the window to the sky
and shake my head
Thinkin' all the things I ought to say I ain't said yet

My eyes are full of memories that
See through me yet
Reveries and enemies
Itineraries of debt
A hobo heart's arrival
Stories of redress
Ghosts of old truth be told until they're laid to rest

I wish I'd known
These blues yesterday   
I would have phoned
I thought I had time to wait
Now you're gone
There's no more chance to take
Words on a stone
I wish I'd known

If I were so divined to know
The hour that you'll depart
I'd tear down every wall
To beat a path into your heart
Lay bare my confession   
Of envy fear and blood
And the fool I was alone with you the first time we made love

I remember you out on the bluff
And the deal we almost struck
But I wouldn't give enough
Words in stone
I wish I'd known (repeat instrumental)   

Pour that morning coffee and roll that cigarette   
The archives of another day receive me as a guest
I walk in this procession but every single step
Reminds me all the things I oughta say I ain't said yet

I wish I'd known
These blues yesterday   
I would have flown
Let nothing in my way
Now you're gone
There's no more chance to take
Words on a stone
I wish I'd known

I Wish I'd Known

Uploaded July 16, 2022 - mix last tweaked, July 29, 2022.
___________________________________________________

AWAY

Look out tonight the sky is wide open
I'm packing up everything still left inside
All I believed, all that I've broken 
Pounded my fists couldn't bring it alive
Back from the rooms of lilacs and thunder
Gardens and sirens, streets littered with glass
Celluloid frames in a turret apartment 
Leather bound books in that old wooden house

Away Go away
Away
Everything's going away

Necklace of teeth, light of a lantern
Newest of moons blackest of nights
Beyond the trees the sound of a wagon
The dogs and the cattle go quiet
Arranged in the air are six invitations
Left behind in the back of my throat
Five are for triumph one for salvation
All disappear at daylight's approach


Away Go away
Away
Everything's going away

Seeds of tomorrow that grow in my sleep
Point to horizons unknown 
A messenger whispers there's nothing to keep
I turn to look and he's gone

Away
Go away
Away
Everything's going away

I see how you are with the birds in the morning
Your tenderness showing at the end of the world
I stood my ground but I couldn't stop turning
Now I'm throwing away every flag I unfurled
Away with the smoke ramparts and towers
Fragrance of jasmine on letters I kept
Clocks of the world and their stampeding hours
My prodigal stance at the only door left

Away
Go away
Away
Everything's going away

Away

Parallel Lives 2023

Originally written and recorded in 2018, this updated version has an added lead guitar track from the original sessions and a couple other new tracks - remixed and remastered. Robert Darlington on lead guitars.

PARALLEL LIVES

Ain’t it amazin’ all the people I meet online
But people I see out on the street
Won’t look me in the eye
You tell me we’ve seen better days
As we watch it all slip away
I know. That ain’t no lie
It’s like we’re livin’ in parallel lives

Every night it gets a little bit darker inside
I rock myself, I knock myself out
And I wake up terrified
I read all your thought balloons
Comin’ from the other room’s WiFi
‘Talking to ourselves in parallel lines

CHORUS:
Every day we go our separate ways
And then we wonder why
Everybody got mean and distant inside
Ain’t it great in these United States now
You hear it far and wide
Everybody’s livin’
In the Great Divide

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE
Now why don’t you tell me where we’re goin’ from here
Are we livin’ too well, are we goin’ to hell
Before we just disappear
One thing that’s clear to me as
These algorithims of destiny unwind
It’s like we’re living in parallel times

CHORUS
Every day we go our separate ways
And then we wonder how
Everybody got a chip on their shoulder somehow
Ain’t it great in these United States now
You hear it far and wide
Everybody’s livin’
In the Great Divide

Ain’t it amazin’ all the people I meet online
But people I see out on the street
Won’t look me in the eye
You tell me we’ve seen better days
As we watch it all slip away
I know. That ain’t no lie
It’s like we’re livin’ in parallel lives

Parallel Lives 2023

DANGEROUS WORLD 

Half lotus in the night class
Playing with your hair
The pharmacist would lecture on addiction
I got some yellow jackets I can meet you by the stairs
I knew that we were going to be friends soon
I knew that we were going to be

Everybody wanna be on your arm
Rock 'n' roll never looked better
Every day feeling like a fire alarm
I was hoping we could set em off together
Maybe we could set em off

Oh Susie Susie Susie's blues
What in the world ever happened to you

Yeah, we had ourselves a time till the middle of the year
When you seemed to lose a sense of perspective
Took up with that guy and let him tie you to a chair
Yeah, that's something that you always regretted
Something that you'll always regret

Oh oh Susie's blues
Oh oh Susie's blues
 
You left the celebrations
Leaning on your horn
Passing everybody on the shoulder
Every indication
You were gonna do some harm
Did anybody care enough to warn ya
Did anybody care enough

Oh Susie Susie Susie's blues
What in the world ever happened to you
Never seen such a beautiful girl
Caught up in a dangerous world

Early in the morning
You were calling it a day
Empties sitting on the kitchen table
Boys hoping you'd get high enough to give it all away
Pretty soon you wasn't even able
Pretty soon you wasn't

Oh Susie Susie Susie's blues
Yeah honey what was it happened to you
Never seen such a beautiful girl
Caught up in a dangerous world

Dangerous World

Version History:
1. Uploaded November 12, 2023
2. Revised November 16, 2023
3. Revised November 17, 2023

ORIONS

That blue October morning
You were falling like a star
Into the eyes of two lovers by the ocean
When they saw their own reflection
You were welcomed as a god
For they knew that they were somebody else then
They'd become somebody else

They saw you as a hero
Climbing in the sky
Just like Orion in the Winter
But how could they really know you
How it felt inside
To be the one to carry the sword
You didn't even know yourself

You can't say you were abandoned
When you run away and hide
All your arrows blunted by delights
It wasn't like one morning
You woke up compromised
That doesn't happen overnight 

Some are born iron
Some are born to sing
Some are born a fire in the rain
Some are born lions
Some are born to dream
But we all get here crying just the same
Crying for our name

The night of the Orions
You looked back on the years ￼
And watched the stars fall into the Delta
Everything inside you 
Finally still and clear
You'd become somebody else
Maybe you're just seeing yourself now

Orions

MY LAST FOOTSTEPS (STUDIO)
Growing up in Essex, Maryland in the 50's and 60's.

MY LAST FOOTSTEPS

Some folks’ life like a four leaf clover
Seem like they’re lucky all the time
One thing I learned when I think it over is
That life – it ain’t mine
I come up in Essex Maryland
With the Flamingos and the hoods
Dual carb, double barreled Chevies
Dairy Queens and Thunderbirds
Cuban heels and continentals
Joe College preppies daddy’s cash
India ink tattoos so you know who’s who
If you got a hat pin and a match

I want my last footsteps to keep the beat
I want my last footsteps to be deep
I want my last footsteps to be sweet
I want my last footsteps to go in in peace

Johnny Rebs and Southern whiskey
And pedal steel on the box
Greg knocked over the pharmacy again
This time he ran before he got caught
All crumbled up in the back room
Between the cocaine and the barbs
When the cops walked in shook their heads and grinned
And they put him behind bars

Now Billy’s waxing down the Mustang
He's got a handgun in the glove
He’s got his hair back in a Duck’s Ass
And he’s going out with the one he love
He’s gonna pick her up at Gino’s
Her old man won’t have a clue
If he can’t have her nobody will
Let ‘em fish her out of the lagoon
I can’t believe it every morning
When I put my feet back on the earth
But I can hear my last footsteps
And I can tell they’re gettin’ close

I want my last footsteps to walk in truth
I want my last footsteps to get to you
I want my last footsteps to leave a mark
I want my last footsteps to walk in your heart

I want my last footsteps to keep the beat
I want my last footsteps to be deep
I want my last footsteps to be sweet
I want my last footsteps to go in in peace

My Last Footsteps (Studio)

RENEGADE HEART

Ain't feeling like myself today
I just wanna blow my mind away
I don't wanna wonder why
I don't wanna be this guy 
I don't wanna have this past 
I don't wanna hear it
I don't wanna play this part 
Living with a renegade heart
 
Renegade heart ain't on my side
Don't bring no peace of mind
Always looking for a place to hide
This renegade heart of mine

Every now and then I think I might
Run the hell away in the dead of night
I could be somebody else
Feel what I haven't felt
Maybe it's a cry for help
Maybe I'm a fire
Looking for a place to start
Living with a renegade heart

Renegade heart ain't got my back
Won't keep me safe at night
Gotta watch out for a sneak attack
From a renegade heart like mine

Everybody's schooled in their rights and the wrongs
One false move and that's all gone
Can't you hear me crying
Living on the borderline
Maybe I'm the other kind
Maybe I'm a wire waiting for a chance to spark
Living with a renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade heart

Renegade Heart

A new recording of an original song from more than a few years ago.

Uploaded July 13, 2024.

RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME

Here’s that little guy again from down around the block
‘Walks these dirty streets all by himself
‘Last time that he passed me by we had a little talk
I asked him “Ain’t there anybody else?”

I said “Watch your back son, they’ll use you up son, just to bring you down
This town’s a world of trouble on your own.”
He said, “I’m OK, I know my way if I want to turn around.
I’m safe when I’m all alone.”

He’s running away from home tonight
It hurts too much to stay and fight
He might go back in the morning light
But he’s running away from home again tonight

I got this friend who was a happy man until the other night
When he waited for his Better to come home
And when she didn’t show he worried so - he cherished her you know
Now it’s lookin’ like that love will turn to stone

She was running away from home that night
Too hard to tell him things weren’t right
So she left him broken in the morning light
She was running away from home again that night

I knew this gal she’d tell you right out loud she don’t belong to anyone
And she left a trail of men she played the fool
But when she settled down it come back around, yeah you know how it’s done
Her good man went and broke her golden rule

He went running away from home one night
Didn’t care enough to make it right
Now nobody’s there in the morning light 
They’re running away from home again tonight

Now I’m old, I been bought and sold so many times it’s thin
A weary soul trying to turn himself around
Yeah I see the light but just tonight it’s a little bright my friend
My feet don’t know this feel of solid ground

So I’m running away from home tonight
I’ll be right here though, it’s alright
Whiskey bottle in the pale moonlight
Running away from home again…
I’m running away alone tonight 
Out of touch right in plain sight
But I’ll be up and running in the morning light

Running away from home again tonight

Running Away From Home 2024

Time is precious, don't let it pass you by.

THIS TIME

The Ides of March turned cold again
With a heavy frost and a steady wind
Been out here walking on thin ice my friend
But I don't need a place to hide
This time
 
I reach way down into my past
Feel around for the stuff that lasts
Found these scars and photographs 
Some love I lost
And plans I had

I made it through, but I don't know how
Many more were taken down
I’m keeping’ my hand on this gospel plow
Raise something up from this shallow ground
This time
 
You can try to hide your loneliness 
You won't be fooling no one here 
You say your life has been a wilderness
Well that'll make a man want to disappear

The Bible says don’t you do no harm
The Buddha taught can’t you just stay calm
My daddy told me son I'm just a man
My lover whispers take my hand
This time
 
This time is a wheel of fire
This time is a forge
I’m keeping my ear on that gospel choir
This time's a train I'm gonna get on board
This time

(Uploaded new file December 28, 2025 )

SUPERMOON (BMI)

Silver lights my room
It's another super moon 
Oh dream that shakes me wide awake 
Won't you tell me something new
It's been dark in here so long 
Tell me what's gone wrong
I used to say I'd know my way but 
Now those days are gone 

Everything we were together
Ripped from the sky and rent apart
We lay on beds of straw and feathers
And it’s tearing up my heart 

I’m looking for some way out
Calling out for help
But everybody just walks
around talking to themselves
They got their pictures in the air
But there ain’t nobody there
The glory days and passion plays
Are all you'll gonna hear about

Tell me how your arrows 
Will be fashioned into cloth 
Talk to me of sparrows
You have sheltered from the frost 

Deliver us from here
Take us to somewhere
More like home Supermoon

 We wanted to be free 
We thought that we were brave
Do we still believe
Is there something left to save

Oh silver super moon
That lights the avenues  
Won't you stay and guide my way  and tell me something true 
Lift us from the ground 
Help us to be found
Let compromise fall from our eyes Turn this thing around

Maybe every man must wander 
Maybe every star must fall 
Maybe every boat goes under
Until everyone is lost

Deliver us from here
Take us to somewhere
More like home Supermoon

Supermoon

(Uploaded December 22, 2025   BMI)

ASKING THE WIND

I’m just asking the wind 
Will I ever see you again 
Before the last bells on Marluth
chime
Or I forget I've lost my mind 

I used to say no regrets 
Didn’t know how bad it could get
 But time’ll turn the world around on a man
 So I’m asking the wind

Is your heart still that blue harbor
Refuge to a stowaway 
Or has it shallowed
Has it narrowed and 
Forever turned me away

 Those days left you troubled and confused
But you knew I'd always tell you the truth
You belonged to him and I belong with you
Nothing else that I could do

It’s been a while now I guess 
You've put all those monsters to rest
But you know I've seen more than my share of them
So I'm just asking the wind  

Is your heart still that blue harbor
Refuge to a stowaway 
Or has it shallowed
Has it narrowed and 
Forever turned me away

I’m just asking the sky 
Where love goes when it dies 
And could you take me along for the ride
Could you let me step Inside

And see every way that I’ve failed 
Friends lovers and betrayals
If I could well I’d make amends
Just asking the wind
I'm just asking the wind

Asking The Wind

Remastered February 6, 2021.

All tracks me except:

Robert Darlington on lead guitar and second 
vocals
Unindicted Co-conspirator: Bass
Lena June Redding: second vocals

MISS YOU BLUES
 
INTRO:

VERSE:
Oh now baby, it’s been so long
Ask me how it’s going, it’s all going wrong
Everybody’s changing, up and gone
We’re still here just hanging on

But it’s alright
Everybody is just out of sight

VERSE:
Upon a time, we had it made
Less and less now every day
Finally covered so much ground
Losing more than we have found

But it’s alright
The cicadas are singing tonight
It’s nice, but still it feels like something ain’t right

CHORUS:
I’m really gonna miss you
When you go away
Middle of the night, middle of the day
I got this song but it brings me down
Miss You Blues gonna stick around

BRIDGE: 
All this worry is always the same
Don’t abandon me, don’t forget my name
Don’t take my love,
Then leave me alone
Don’t try to make me live down in a hole.

INSTRUMENTAL VERSE

VERSE:
Oh lady, my wife and my girl
Too sweet to me to tell the world
You’re my mother, I’m your father
I’m the desert, you’re the water
I’m the moon, you’re the sea
I feel you moving under me
I’m the mountain, you’re the blue
I could never get over you

But it’s ok
The sun is shining down so sweet today
It’s all good
I’ll try to stay strong like I know I should, but

CHORUS:
I’m really gonna miss you
I know that now
Really like to get you to stay around
Really gonna hit me when you’ve gone away
Then these Miss You Blues, they’ll be here to stay

(right into)VERSE:
You’re the rose, I’m the thorn
You’re the calm, I’m the storm
I’m the smoke, you’re the fire
You’re the preacher, I’m the choir

Chorus to fade……

Miss You Blues (The Premix)

All tracks me. Updated September 13, 2020.

POISON  WORLD
 
I used to like to talk to the sweet barista
At the counter of the coffee shop
Sneak a smoke on break at the corner
Accent from the Eastern Bloc
Spoke soft couldn’t quite hear her
She put up with that
Everything that really mattered
All there in the eye contact

Now dawn is breaking
Here’s another day just trying to end
You know it’s never gonna be the same again
Another night, no one calling
Must not be fair weather again yet
Here we are living in a poison land

I used to like to play guitar at the station
Passengers come and go
Strike up some good conversation
A lot of people I’d like to know
Some stop and listen
Throw a dollar in the guitar sack
Dancers sway to the rhythm 
Hey! Can you show me how you move like that again

Oh no, it’s morning
Blood red sun in a purple haze
Everybody goin’ about their poison ways
Another warning
You can’t get out and they can’t come in
Now here we are just living in a poison land

Oh no, distant drumming
Something wicked comes this way
Looks like trouble’s here to stay
Gonna be a storm a’coming
Might make everything alright 
But first gonna level everything in sight

Ever since I saw the birds drown in oil
I knew we were living in a poison world
Airwaves, rain and soil
Just killing time in a poison world
I used to like to talk to the sweet barista
At the counter of the coffee shop
On break sneak a smoke at the corner
Accent from the Eastern Bloc

Now dawn is breaking
Here’s another day just tying to end
You know it’s never gonna be the same again
Gonna be a storm a’coming
Might make everything alright 
But first gonna level everything in sight

This Time

hank49