No Prophet Here

Divided by Zero

Dreams of the Ghost

She Dreams of the Ghost

Energie - A Rock Opera

Victoria Falls

The band performs a wide variety of songs from rock to jazz to blues, caught at the Silver Spring Black Box Theatre on 25 April 2021

Chaos Theory Live

Windows & Doors by Mark Baughman copyright 2017 All rights reserved

Version with only vocal and piano track

Windows And Doors Vocal and Piano only

Nearer to Nowhere
Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman

There's a high mass in the subway
There's a salon on the street
A crowd is giving witness
They drop at your feet
And all this went by while you
Waited for a sign
Eyes fixed on something shiny
It made you go blind

A stranger circling 'round you
Looking for his chance
He spied the situation
And he put you in a trance
He recognizes
Weakness and fear
I can see that he's drawing you -

Nearer to nowhere, further from where we started, remember? I know it's hard, but just close your eyes and try to feel what you felt when you held my hand

They opened up the prisons
But you stayed in your cell
The guards and the warden
Didn't treat you so well
The bars are in your memories
Stronger than steel
The lock's your confusion
'Cause none of it's real

Directions that go
To a place that's not there
And the driver you called
Just sits there and stares
You climb in the back
But the car, it won't move
And you find yourself desperate to - 

Prove to yourself, or the people who love you so much, but you don't seem to know they're right there, around you, just waiting to touch you if you'd hold out your hand

Open the envelope
Take out the papers
Fold them up neatly
And put them away
Pick up the pieces
Put them together
No misdirection
To lead you astray

Tear up the papers
Tear up the envelope
Crush in your hands
And set them afire
Sweep up the ashes
Throw to the wind
And ask yourself, honestly:
Want or desire?

They're dousing the candles
And crossing themselves
And the prophets of the sidewalk
Their books on the shelves
You stood up and ran
Down the alley in the dark
From the light that laid you out -

Stark - all the things that you know but still you can't face that it's hard and you need someone to cover for you while you find your place and station in time

Nearer to Nowhere

The May Pole

Words & Music Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman
All rights reserved

What in the world is a woman like you
Doing in a state like this?
How could anybody rescue you
When you live like you barely exist?
Make your promises before breakfast
Say your nursery rhymes before bed
If I gave you the chapter and verses
Would you do anything I said?

Who are these people you're calling your friends?
They took everything you brought
They stand out of view and they start at the end
Knowing that they'll never get caught
I promised I'd leave you in silence
Now you rattle 'round in my room
Wander alone down and empty road
You're a song without a tune

But none of this gets to the bottom
Of what it was that turned you in circles
Tied to a May Pole
A ribbon so colorful
Fantastic and beautiful
But you're tangled and you're nowhere
I'm pretty sure that a woman like you
Wasn't born into this world for that
No, I'm pretty damn sure that w woman like you
Wasn't born into this world for that.

And all that I wanted
Was to get to the bottom
Of what it was that turned you upside-down
Miles in the air
Tied to a limb
And that ribbon, it won't break your fall
I'm pretty sure that a woman like you
Deserves a whole lot better than that
Yes, I'm pretty damn sure that a woman like you
Wasn't born into this world for that

What in the world is a woman like you
Doing in a state like this?

The May Pole

Currency
Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman ASCAP All Rights Reserved

f. Marco Cremaschini on piano

"You don't get to know me, and you never did"
That was her last line of defense
I barely heard the sound
Felt a sting, hit the ground
Laid out in my state of penitence

"You don't get to have me," like she needed to say
But she wanted me to stay down this time
She stood over the kill
Just to show me her will
Then she fled from the scene of the crime

Well I didn't know a thing of her fragility
And I don't know how I fell into this trap
Should a lover or a friend
Meet this kind of end?
Cornered, she turned and attacked

She used her hurt and loneliness like currency
Minted in some dark place in her mind
Maybe only I could see
But it was counterfeit to me
Taken as payment in kind

Currency

Seven Years at Sea

Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman/Working Theories Publishing ASCAP
All rights reserved

I Just got my legs underneath me
After seven long years at sea
I was longing to be back on the dock
Where I sat and I longed to be free
The ship deserted the captain
And the first mate, he came and he went
We swore that we'd go the distance
But we didn't know what we meant

My first port of call was a siren
Dressed in another man's shirt
She said, "Throw your fate to the winds,
But saying a prayer might not hurt"
So I walked down a path to a chapel
That hundreds had walked down before
I spoke to a stone in a garden
And wondered what it was there for

I wish I had known that this was just
The quiet time before the storm
But sitting there, thinking it over
The opinions I shouldn't have formed
Well, I couldn't say I wasn't warned

A character I read in a novel
I ghost I saw in a play
Just when I came to the precipice
She turned up with something to say
I went to her, put out my arms
And she vanished like dark in the night
So I carried on with my loneliness
Chasing the dimmest of light

Well, I lost my sense of contrition
And fell in with hustlers and thieves
They payed life like it was a card game
With more than an ace up their sleeves
But somebody's only a winner
'Till the dealer puts out a new hand
You don't really know where you are
When you don't really know where you stand

With all the conditional friendships
Not even my hand was warm
With all of their manifestos
And all of their movements reformed
I couldn't say that I wasn't warned

I don't know what's more important - 
Where I went to or where I came from
The souvenirs I collected add up to
A whole lot less than the sum
And the girl I left on the pier
On that morning I went out to sea
She's in love, or she's in denial
While she's unweaving her tapestry

I made some inquiries and there's no passage back
And there's nowhere to stay around here
It won't do just to ride along
But I won't mind if someone else steers
Everything comes to me bittersweet
My heart so exquisitely torn
And now my home's the relentless pursuit
Of a vision so beautifully formed
I know - I was told
With fanfare and scold
So I couldn't say I wasn't warned.

Seven Years At Sea

In Time for the Rain
Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman /Working Theories Publishing ASCAP
Al rights reserved

Sandy in the parking lot
Taking orders, checking stock
Pay-per-view to look down her shirt
Aways checking her makeup in the mirror on the side
Learned it all by reading memes
Tiny hat, bigger dreams
"Why do all these people go to work?"
In the afternoon her mommy used to make her play outside

She says "Hold tight!
My daddy says I'm totally cool
And sooner or later, I'l end up in somebody's pool"

Billy in his dream jet
Plays with his train set
Money when he pushes the bell
All he ever wanted was the spoils that come with the win
Ditched that old chaperone
Doesn't like to be alone
Gonna find out how deep is this well
The pilot gives him cover 'cause you don't know where that thing has been

He said "Dress right!
And watch what you get on your shoes
'Cause the people behind you
Just might be counting the clues."

Peaches in the boudoir
Reading up on caviar
Cousin draw Kabala in the bath
Everybody watches and everybody tries not to look
Draw a line, set the height
Get the temperature right
Or Cous is gonna feel the wrath
Peaches get want she want, and nobody's off the hook

And it's all night -
Of posting pictures of her privates in Tweets
It's all she has to do to fill up the seats

Took a shot to the head
All those things that I read
Subtle, but the point wasn't missed
It's not like I couldn't guess that the author was you
Well, I'll get back to you
In a husband or two
If the fever and the anger persist
'Til we cross paths again, this will give you something to do

You know, you lose sight
And you think it's just a game that you play
But I can't help wondering
Who you're going to worship today

I think it's not right
The way they got this thing arranged
But the weatherman just got here
In time for the rain

In Time For The Rain

Cut Throat Razor
Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman, Working Theories Publishing ASCAP
All rights reserved

I could paint you another picture
And wonder what it was that you saw
A blank or colorful canvas
Would you see anything at all?

I could write out these words in my little book
The verses seem to have no end
Rhymes and reasons for page after page
In a letter I couldn't send

In one direction or another
In circles, then doubling back
Too late when I found I was
Tied down, helpless

If I wrote you a song, would you listen?
Is it the melody or words that you hear?
Or maybe that note of dissonance
Is what came to your ear

I asked then I begged, then I reasoned
I put it all out, naked and real
Wounded - sharp, like from a razor
That was too fast to feel

Cut through one part, then another
So deep it's never going to close
I look in the mirror, and I
Don't recognize me
Don't know what I want
Don't know where I am

Tied to a May Pole
A ribbon so colorful
Fantastic and beautiful
But we're tangled, and we're nowhere

Cut Throat Razor

Jackie

Copyright 2022 Mark Baughman / Working Theories Publishing ASCAP All rights reserved

Jackie, give it a minute and let it sink in
Then get on with what you were doing
She doesn't give you a second thought
So tell me who's doing the fooling
In a minute or two
It will be midnight
And we get to start it again

You act like it's a mystery, 
Like you couldn't see this coming
Posing, indifferent, pretending you don't care
So tell me - where were you running?
In an hour or two
Need to make some choices
Are you listening to me?
Do you hear voices?
Oh, why can't you see that it's all laid out there for you?

C'mon now, stop looking down
Your feet will go where you lead them
You've been giving her the best things you have
But she doesn't seem to need them
I know it's not easy
But in your heartest of hearts
You know it's true

My friend was so confused
He caught a train in every direction
He carried himself with such certainty
All we saw was his perfection
In a year or two
He had it all figured out
Then the footing gave under
And he crumbled in doubt
I wish he could see we were leaving the light on for him

He got lost, and figured that
All doors closed behind him
He disappeared without leaving a trace
We looked, but we couldn't find him
But we gave up too easy
So we came up short
It's sad but it's true


Jackie, you're on your own, just let that sink in
And forget 'bout the time that you threw away
Her house has been burning and you want to rush in
But what good could you do her anyway?
In a lifetime or two
You'll make it all make sense
Maybe rationalize
In the interest of self-defense
For all you can be we've been leaving the light on for you

Come on now and stop looking back
There's nobody there behind you
Pick up your bags and get on with it
And leave us a trail to find you
I know it's not easy
But in your heartest of hearts
You know I'm right

I know it's not easy, 
But in your heartest of hearts
You know it's true

I know it's not easy

Jackie

Ordinary People
Copyright 2022 Mark Baughman / Working theories Publishing ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

Ordinary People

You didn't see it coming
But I did
It may be hard to believe
How much he hurt me too

You see he doesn't love you
But I do
It's an impossible world that I'm in
I just try to get through

You've seen this show before,
Have you?
Why'd you think it would end
Any different than those times before?

You've been in a room like this
Have you?
With all the walls closing in
And you couldn't find a door

Ordinary people
They look through you as if you're not there
Like something is trying to tell you
You don't belong anywhere

I think you saw it coming
Like I did 
But as hard as I tried, 
I couldn't turn away

Ordinary people
They don't know what
They can't see
They think you may be broken
But you're perfect to me

I didn't see you come in
Like you did
I tried to get you out of my heart
But you just stay

I think you saw this coming
Like I did
I may have braced myself
But he hurt me too

You know he never loved you
Like I do
An impossible world that we're in
And I just try to get through

Ordinary People

Go the Distance

Copyright 2022 Mark Baughman / Working Theories Publishing ASCAP

I have never seen a sunrise
That made me want to meet the day
I had never known a woman
Who made me want to turn around and stay
I wasted all my wishes
On dreams I knew would never come true
Too fantastic to imagine
Like the distance between me and you

I have never heard a sermon
That made me want to lay my burden down
I've had my share of heartaches
Then I watched the circus come to town
I weighed all of my choices
Made a few mistakes
Did things I'm not proud of
I have to bend it 'till it breaks

I've never been so ready
Never been so unprepared
You could make me go the distance
If you just told me that you cared
I gave up on my future
Threw away my past
I heard all of your answers
And still I have to ask

Go The Distance

Mariupol

Copyright 2022 Mark Baughman /Working Theories Publishing ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

I could hear the engines starting
Saw shadows moving quickly through the trees
Held my breath said a prayer
And quietly got to my knees
A short burst on the radio
And we came out of the wood
Where I saw a familiar plain

Waves across the field
Tanks rolling slowly at our back
Coiled and cocked on the crest
Waiting for the sign to attack
A flare flew high above us
It's tail split the sky
Then the cannons and artillery
I had to close my eyes
The air was full and deafening
And the night dropped its disguise

When I was a boy, I came here
My uncle had a farm with a lake
An orchard - rich and exotic
We picked all we could take
The summer nights we layout out in this field
With my cousin and her friend
We watched the stars rolling slowly by
We wished this night would never end

A sentinel for Motherland
Was what I thought I'd be
A marker out of history
A beacon to the sea
But the bodies of the innocents
Is all that I can see

Our shells have no morality
Raining down on hospitals and schools
And the ones that made this possible:
Peacocks, they jabber like fools
The tractors and machines
Are turning up the field
Burying the evidence
That cannot be concealed
And waiting for a reckoning - 
The harvest we yield

Mariupol

Ghosted (Second Demo)

Time and Space 
Copyright 2024 Mark Baughman.Working Theories Publishing ASCAP

You said you see 
The trees for the woods
I held my tongue
While you held the goods
I did what you asked
And I'm waiting

You take it all in 
But it's never enough
You can put a man down
Without laying a glove
I see the picture
You're painting

Open your eyes
You can't see when they're closed
These are all lies
You repeat to yourself to keep up the pose
They're keeping you warm like the Emperor's clothes
You look at the ground and stay so composed
Like nobody knows

There's a time and space for us and everything
It's time you placed your trust in one true thing
Open up your mind to everything
Your heart desires

You said you needed 
A place to hide
So I opened the door
And you came inside
And now it seems
Like you're staying

You give nothing away
And it's still too much
You say it's tender
To the touch
Now I'm bored with the game
That you're playing

You're always surprised
That things get the way they do
It wasn't a prize
I had on my mind when I came back to you
Left me no choices, one thing to do
Over the edge in a moment of truth
I already knew

There's a time and space for us and everything
It's time you placed your trust in one true thing
Open up your mind to everything
Your heart desires

The lows and the highs
And we wind up kicking the can
Just look in my eyes
I tell you your fortune - show me your hand
First thing - you lose what you carefully plan
Next thing - you think you don't know if you can
I stood on that ground and it gave way like sand
The room's full of ghosts and there's nowhere to stand
Let's jump out the window and see where we land
I know that you can

There's a time and space for us and everything
It's time you placed your trust in one true thing
Open up your mind to everything
Your heart desires

Time And Space

Never Coming Home

Words & Music Copyright 2024 Mark Baughman/Working Theories Publishing ASCAP

Something through the window
Sent me on that dream again
Standing sentry at your door
Waiting there in vain
I sat down on your steps
Looked up to the empty night
Then I fell down to my knees 
And I prayed to God for light

Tonight I know there's people out there
Sleeping in their beds
Hiding from each other 
With their pillows on their heads
The people in this town
Have their secrets locked and sealed
No one's going to let them out
Let no one be revealed

Summer sun was fleeting
Now winter's in the air
I don't know what she's thinking
But I know she doesn't care
We marched out wearing our colors
And surrendered all too soon
The angels we thought guarding us
Were never in the room

Close my eyes remembering
Was more than I could stand
Bargaining with no one
With nothing in my hand
To feel that night all over
Or feel nothing there at all
Hear my thoughts echoing
Off a chamber wall

Walking down the center of a highway
Late at night, a carpet in the hollow
A car light flashed ahead, just as quickly disappeared
I prayed that this memory wouldn't follow

The smell of summer pine trees
From some forgotten day
Entices and intoxicates
Until I drift away
My friends all say I've changed
But I don't think they know
I'm still sitting on your porch
And you're never coming home

Never Coming Home

Freeze Me Out

Copyright 2014 Mark Baughman

Knee deep
Some creep
Got us started
Broken hearted
Cried for help but no one heard the call
Hold on
Sold on
New messiah
Old pariah
What was all the fuss for after all?

Some day
One way
Or another 
He's your brother
Tells you that you have to take him in
Next town 
Same frowns
Clerks and waiters
Investigators
Want to know what's out and what is in

You freeze me out
Heat me up
Reel me in
Let me down

Ask you
Task you
Smell the leather
Sell the weather
Wait for news to wash up on the shore
Last night's 
Highlights
Out of breath
Out of depth
Why don't we ask questions anymore?

March on
Our lawn
Load the gun
Aim and run
I just can't be bothered anymore
Mercenaries
Don't seem scary
In their suits
Pick the fruits
Frightened moms just drop them on the floor

You freeze me out
Heat me up
Reel me in
Let me down
Freeze me out
Heat me up
Reel me in
Reel me in
Just to let us down


Freeze Me Out (Harv Lester & Jackie Rose voc)

Broken Windows

Words and Music Copyright 2024 Mark Baughman / Working Theories Publishing

Remember when the empty sky
Was the only thing ahead?
We spent our days chasing what
Was only in our heads?
We came upon a town
And the buildings all looked down and disapproved

We broke every window
Painted slogans on the wall
Opened every door and we
Ran down every hall
Exhilarated by the thought
That every blow made the needle move

We used to think that time is a healer
And everything would work out in the end

Holding vigil in your room
Cards taped to the wall
Standing, looking down on you
I never felt so small
Your eyes stare straight ahead
Like some one else is standing in the room

I wonder if you're laying there
Reliving every day
Is your whole life a movie that
Goes by frame by frame?
Are you watching with a crowd of friends?
Are you watching from a decorated tomb?

I don't see how time is a healer
I don't think it's anybody's friend

Hard as the truth can be
Cold as your stare
What holds you to me - I can feel it here, everywhere
Hard as the stones through the 
Windows in the wall
Soft as the gentle push
We always knew that someday we would fall

I can see horizon growing
Slowly in my eyes
I can see the future where this
Highway meets the skies
I car hear the days behind
Rushing up and calling us by name

I can hear the sounds of worlds
Collapsing in my head
I can feel the emptiness of our
Offerings in stead
I can see the foolishness
To come so close, for circling the flame

It seems to me that time is a teacher
The kind that scolds and doesn't care at all

Hard as the truth can be
Cold as your stare
What holds you to me - I can feel it here, everywhere
Hard as the stones through the 
Windows in the wall
Soft as the gentle push
We always knew that someday we would fall

Broken Windows

Brothers In Blues

I Wouldn't Want You

Copyright 2025 Mark Baughman, Working Theories Music ASCAP

When you woke up in the morning
On the wrong side of the bed
Were you wondering how it all came to an end?
Were you wishing I had told you
What you want to hear instead?
Well, if I did I could never be your friend

Are you working on your cover?
Did you tell your friends the truth?
Do you need some time to sit and work this out?
Aren't you getting tired of blaming
The ravages of youth?
Can you get out from the shadow of your doubt?

Look in the mirror
See what I see

Well I followed you around the world
Knowing you were lost
I slept all night outside your window
Woke up with the frost
I was the one who drew the line
You swore you'd never cross
But I wouldn't want you any other way

I'll make a fire you lock the door
Come lay down with me on the floor
Say your secrets in my ear
I'll tell you what you need to hear

I can go on playing
Long as you want
I can go on waiting
Come, now

Were you keeping count-
Was it five shots, was it six?
In the confusion, I lost track myself
You tell me that it's broken
But I know that I can fix
And in no time you'll remember how you felt

Look out the window
See what I see

If it's all the same to you, I'd like to 
Pick where we stopped
'Cause it's all the world to me
And I just can't let it drop
I'll keep on climbing up this face
Until I find the top
And I wouldn't have you any other way

I Wouldn't Want You

White's the New Black
Copyright 2015 Mark Baughman

30 days and I'm out of my head
Needed some help, I was sent here instead
Feeling numb, but I can't say why
Must be something in the water that keeps me dry
Nurses smile and divert their eyes
What do they hear when somebody cries?
What do they say when I turn my back?

30 nights sleeping in my sweat
Who will break first? It's a running bet
Streamline the treatments, Fill out the forms
Take back the blankets in case they get warm
We just exist as a check on the chart
Words on a list, a face with no heart
Everything's inside out, and white's the new black

Greasing the wheels of the healing machine
Culling the files so the record is clean
Looking for answers where none have been seen
Caught in the gears of the healing machine

I've got a stammer, you got Turret's
She got conditions they haven't named yet
He's hearing noises from over the wall
Patrick acts out like he can't hear at all
A cure is a process, just files to be filled
We're all just vouchers, accounts to be billed
Just fodder for forms, and white's the new black

White's the New Black

This is the story of Patrick, an autistic teenager who has just met his new therapist, our protagonist Amy.

Breach in the Wall
copyright 2016 Mark Baughman

(Amy:)
Will you talk to me?
I want to sing to you
Then it all goes wrong
Oh, the wall is strong
Tall and long

(Patrick:)
Oh I was a hostage 
From the day I was born
The rescue they sent
Got caught in a storm
And they all ran away
Instead of my name
They call me a case
Instead of an answer
They long for the chase
It's a game they play

They give me a door
Then lock me back in
My moment is over
Before it begins
And again I fail
I'm not a puzzle
For strangers to play
Not an adventure
You do in a day
Not a wandering trail

There's a breach in the wall
And our hands nearly touch
You could work faster 
Just put down that crutch
And take my hand
Your wounds were directions
That brought you to me
Your trauma a lens that
Allows you to see
What they can't
Take your stand





Breach In the Wall

Army of One
Copyright 2016 Mark Baughman

I'm a soldier in an army of one
With my conscience my shield and my book is my gun
I joined as a child
It's all that I've known
I've fought for the chance
To kneel at His throne
I'm a soldier in an army of one

I'm a soldier awaiting command
But I always get slapped
When I reach out my hand
What part is free will?
What part of it's fate?
What part of it's love?
What's love without hate?
I'm waiting to know where to stand

I lived in a marriage of one
Where I brought to the world
Two girls and a son
I taught and we played
As I pushed back the tears
And I said to myself
Those were not wasted years
I just did what I thought He'd have done

I'm all turned around, my mind is a fog
I fumble the right words to say
Studying the verses and lines in between
Do I lead or do I obey?

I want to know an army of two
I want to know someone 
Who will help me get through
But how will he know me?
How will I know him?
Divine intervention
Do I save him from sin?
I just want to know someone that's true

The years in this desert, the sun bearing down
The mirage plays tricks with my eyes
All of the reasons I fought all these years
For truth - or was it all lies?

Striking me down again and again
But somehow I keep coming back
I'm punch drunk and tired and I can't hear the call
Do I retreat or do I attack?

It's comfort I feel with every sharp blow
There's no part of me that's not bruised
I pray the reward will be more than a medal
I'm weary from being so used

Army Of One

Part of the Rock Opera "Release". 

The patients join in a plan to spring Patrick from the clinic.

Zero to Sixty
Copyright 2017 Mark Baughman

Underneath the radar
We all get in my car
Maybe we won't get far
But one way or another we will get out of here
Run the lights and stop sign
Drive across the centerline
Headlights and you fly blind
If you're gonna be a decoy, you don't disappear
We may not have a mission but we sure have a plan
But we better think twice before we offer a hand

Staying off the Interstate
Motor hot, feel great
A little hard to see straight
With all these distractions from every direction
Combing through the road maps
Looking out for speed traps
Hang on to your boot straps
We're gonna jump this wall - do I hear any objections?
Our only destination's where they're out of our heads
Driving through the night while they're checking our beds

All along we let them think we're crazy
Let them think they got the upper hand
Maybe we should see if this does eighty
What's fast depends on where they stand

Oh, I've been doing time
I stand behind the line
Watching other patients come and go
I could drive that beast
I just want release
Zero gets to sixty 'fore you know

Turn just past the high school
Can you believe those young fools
Teachers were such old tools
I don't know why anyone would listen
That's where it all went wrong
A new verse for the same song
Cant just get along
Be branded or christened
We were on a mission but we didn't have a plan
We would learn to think twice
Before we took someone's hand

They're gaining on the downhill slow at turning
Turn up the music - God I love this band
We've got all night ahead, this rocket's burning
And we don't care just where we land

Zero to Sixty

Too Old to Cry

Copyright 2017 Mark Baughman

If ever a soul deserved mercy
If ever a heart deserved peace
If ever a person imprisoned
Deserved to be released
You taught yourself how to shoulder the load
To smile while you took every blow
To bear unbearable pain
And not let it show

Certain of what you were waiting for
And still such a long way to go
Eyes on the sky, hands in the air
Feet in a place that you know
But something just taught you a lesson
And you have to be wondering why
You had to learn now that
You're never too old to cry

There's a place by a river
It's surface caressed by the breeze
Boats drift in every direction
With currents to different seas
They're not heading for resolution
They're not wanting for warmth from the cold
They're not asking for rhyme or for reason
They're just longing for something to hold

Looking down, I emptied my mind in silence
Looking up, the sun shone in my eyes

I thought I won liberation
With all of the battles I fought
With all of the losses I took on the way
With all of the bargains I bought
I taught myself how to take it all in
Learned how to live on the fly
But l stand here reminded
You're never too old to cry

There's the church by the river
A roof of sun-filtering leaves
The coxswain delivers the faithful
If we do or we do not believe
We're not seeking restitution
We're not looking for medals or gold
We're not after some vain affirmation
We're just longing for something to hold

Too Old To Cry

Nothing is Written
Copyright 2017 Mark Baughman

Deep in the night
Wide awake, all alone
Facing the ceiling
And watching the phone
Cut from my life
Since my cover was blown
And I don't really know where to go

Don't know where I'm headed
No compass or map
Pretty sure once I started
I might never get back
I was fooling myself -
I could chose when to tack
The boat left a long time ago

Now walking so close
To the edge of the wall
Losing my balance
And starting to fall
Wondering aloud
If it's worth it at all
Or if it's just time to go

Nothing is written
When nothing is read
Nothing is spoken
When nothing gets said
It might come from the heart
And it goes to your head
It might tear your world to shreds

When I look down the road
And then back where I've been
I swear I made choices
But I can't see when
Thought I was walking
Along with a friend
Thought I was hearing a call

Look at my hands
And hear what I might play
Look at my face
And hear what I might say
You could look in my heart
If you weren't so afraid
Well; I don't blame you at all

Nothing is written
When nothing is read
Nothing is spoken
When nothing gets said
It came from my heart
It went straight to my head
And it tore my world to shreds

Lost in a dreamland
Keeping it real
Live like you're honoring
Some kind of deal
Would it kill you to tell me
What you really feel?

It's ok

Nothing Is Written

Liar's Poker

Copyright 2017 Mark Baughman

Across the table
Looking at you
I see you wondering
What I might do
Trying your best
Reading my mind
Studying the face
I'm hiding behind

I am hiding

Perfected the smile
Covering for them
Holding the flower
By the thorns on the stem

And it hurts

Paid what I had
Came to the end
Balance was clear
I started again

Did you hear me?
I'm starting again

But my memories pull me - 
The lock of a cage
The bruise of a heel
Unwarranted rage

Aimed at me

Throw down my guard
When I am ready
Who can I trust
To be holding me steady?

Can I trust you?
I don't know
Can I trust you?

I'm not sure I'm ready
I'm not sure I'm free

I threw down my marker
Willing to play
Raising and calling
And bluffing away
Holding for years
I would wait for a way
Where I might see this day...

Here at the table
Liar's Poker
What are you holding - 
Ace or Joker?

I feel dejected
I feel resolved
I feel the freedom
Of being absolved

Can you feel it
Are you free?
Are you loving?

I'm over mountains
Dive to the depth
Barely astir
And I can't catch my breath

And I'm breathing
And I'm real
Are you real?

I may not be ready
But I think it's time

It's harder and harder
To make up the mind
All the deceptions
That made me go blind
The things that they broke
I saved for the day
When I might see the way...

I turn like a weather vane
Loose in a storm
Rise like a vapor
Elusive of form
How do you see me
Clear as the day
When I could see the way?

How do you see me, clear as the day?

Liar's Poker

She Dreams of the Ghost

Copyright 2017 Mark Baughman

Out of the shadows he drifts through the hall
Up the stairs and into her room
He dances around her fire in the night
As the flames reach up to the moon
While she dreams
Songs fill her head, haunting refrains
Darting, the words on the wind
The fire cracks, sparks spray
As he reaches to touch her skin
While she dreams

The flame lashes out, protecting her
He pulls back his hand, stung
Leans over to whisper a secret
But something is holding his tongue

She closed the door, checking the latch
Pull the covers and turn out the light
She stares straight up at her loneliness
Wondering how she'll get through the night
And she waits
She closes her eyes, turns her mind over
To numbers and colors and sound
The ghost slips in under her counting
Drifting softly around
While she waits

She dreams of the ghost, flames reaching higher
Burning restless and free
She sees him dance, holds out her hand
He studies the flame carefully

They started the fire and left it to grow
Packed it with kindling, it burned hot and slow
She threw on the memories, she threw on the pain
She threw on the hopelessness, searching in vain
The bonfire is brighter, its light in their eyes
Climbing and reaching and burning the skies

The edge of the morning, the dancing gets slow
First light breaks the spell
She brushes her hair and opens her eyes
To nothing and no one to tell
But her dreams
Ghost slips out, smoke floats away
Smoldering scent in his head
He looks at his hand where the flame left a burn
By the scars of things unsaid
And he dreams

The sun hides the fire
And the smoke makes a haze
She lives in distractions
That come with the days

And she lives for the dream

She Dreams Of The Ghost

Energie

Copyright 2018 Mark Baughman

I step off of the ledge
With the wind in my hair
My eyes looking straight in the sun
From zero to flying
A stone through the air
I hope I don’t hit anyone
No I won’t hit anyone
-
Standing atop
I summoned my nerve
I saw my potential alive
I think what I’m getting
Is what I deserve
It comes at the end of the dive

I see the skies igniting
Mountains born out of a fire
-
I’ve been up to the top
I’ve been down to the bottom
And somehow I ended the same
All that I spent on
Nothing that mattered while
Looking for something to blame

Toy in the attic
Left careless behind
Carelessly fell to the ground
Alone in a shell
With parents resigned
Joyful, reacts to the sound
He dances to the sound
-
Looking in darkness
For validation
She lovingly showed me her light
She offered me kindness
Showed me salvation
But I stole away in the night

I saw the fire lighting
I didn’t know it was real
-
I’ve been over the top
I’ve sunk down to the bottom
Prideful and feeling the shame
Energy wasted on
Nothing that mattered
Like I wouldn’t be there again

Pulses and frequencies
Infinite, bound
Echo forever in space
The depth of a feeling
Caught by a sound
Bringing us back to this place
-
I feel the moment exciting
Memories lighting the sky

I’ve been over the edge
I’ve been up to my neck
Always out of my depth
I raced with the sun, looking
Over my shoulder
And never quite catching my breath
-
I jumped to the top
I fell down to the bottom
And always I came out the same
Potential expended
Broken and mended
Then back on the ledge, here again

Energie

Here or There

Copyright 2018 Mark Baughman

From the new rock opera Energie

Here or There

Chaos Theory

Copyright 2018 Mark Baughman

Nikolai:
I am running
Out of my mind
Pilot a rocket
My eyes closed and blind
I am chasing
Ahead and behind
Forgot what I thought
I was hoping to find
I was deciphering
Patterns and signs
Parsing the fractions
Of Infinite lines

I swear I see

Vijay:
I trained to observe
But not to perceive
I know how to sew
But not how to weave
I learned how to make
But not to conceive
I know when I'm wanted 
But not when to leave
I put all my faith
But I don't quite believe
With all of my knowledge 
I'm still so naive

I think I see

Larkin:
I see the patterns
Where they see the fray
I see the colors
Where they see the gray
I glide through the channels
They turn from the spray
I head for the lightning 
While they run away
I think I'm serious
They think it's play 
I work on tomorrow
They live for today

Group:
Get out of this room
If you can't stand the heat
Get back into line
If you can't take your seat
Get out of the band
If you can't keep the beat
Get down on your knees
And stay off of your feet
Don't be concerned 
It's the ends that don't meet
It may not be flowers
It still smells as sweet

Humphrey:
This all has me thinking
My appetite whet
If I back the right horses
And put down my bet
Then find fame and fortune 
In somebody's sweat

Chaos Theory

The Walk Along the Charles

Copyright 2018 Mark Baughman
Vocals by AJ Lewis & Lakieta Bagwell

Vijay:
I was born beside a river
Where our mother washed our clothes 
And she bit hard on the
Stick that broke her back
Never gave in to frivolity
Her purpose always fixed
To get us on the up side of the track
I didn’t understand when they
Put me on that plane
How much of me
There was to leave behind
Taking on what was in front of me
And in the order next
A maze with every corner blind

Alicia:
I was raised inside a classroom 
With everyone I knew
And a window
That beckoned me to fly
Could run around the formulas 
Like chalk lines on the walk
Burn through papers
With my mind lost on the sky 
When I got a chance to get away 
Though still not very old
I jumped, not knowing
How far I might fall
But I landed on my feet
And recklessly I ran
And then I heard an unfamiliar call

Vijay:
The waters of the Ganges
And the tides upon the Thames
Keep flowing in a never-ending stream 
The sea brings them together
Then sends them on their way 
Eternally, forgiven and redeemed 

Alicia:
I was born beside a river
When I walked along the shore
And found you waiting there for me

Vijay:
When I thought of all the time I worked 
While life was running by
I sometimes wondered
Was worth the cost
But then you came and rescued me
From a life of marking time
A life of nothing gained and nothing lost 

Alicia:
If I could do it over I wouldn’t change a thing 
I don’t believe they’re saying
Something’s wrong
Our son was born, delivered
In turn delivered us
And with his simple lesson
Made us strong

The breeze is blowing gently 
On the walk along the Charles 
Cast our lines in
The never-ending sea
That brought us all together
And sent us on our way 
Eternally, forgiven and redeemed 
We were born beside a river 
When we walked along the shore
And found him there waiting patiently

The Walk Along The Charles

Unrelenting

Copyright 2018 Mark Baughman

Sudden lights 
From out of view
I turn and look
But it went dark too fast
While they distract
I miss a sound
I sense it, I listen
But I know it passed
-
How would I know
If it came to me?
Won’t recognize 
I Describe it so well
I walk its shadow
I hear its laughter
I’m lost and i’m living
Under its spell
-
Is it really here?

All the time
Unrelenting
Single-minded
In pursuit
Follow trails
Never-ending
Relatively
Absolute
All the de-
Finitions clouded
Reconstruct to
Suit the day
Lost, alone
Mind is crowded
Rush ahead
Now break away

Suddenly things
I put in perspective
Are distorted and twisted
And blocking my view
Cocky and careless
Then introspective
The stranger I met
Was Someone I knew
-
Keeping the light
Waiting in vain
Resigned to myself
It will never come
Changing the questions
The answers the same
Counting the parts
That make up the sum
-
Is it really here?

All the years
Anticipating
On the edge
Almost in hand
Edge of ruin
Then salvation
Grasping firmly
Holding sand
All the signs to
Wrong directions
Can’t remember
Where I started
Seconds from a 
Missed connection
To a thing that
Just departed

All the expectations
All the machinations
All the aberrations
Is this really?
Is this really here?

All the 
Love lost
For this
Mission
All those
Hurt by
My am-
-bition
Moment 
Here now
I’m not
Ready
Take my
Hand now
Hold me
Steady
-
I think it’s really here

Unrelenting

Windows And Doors (feat. Marco Cremaschini, piano)

From the new rock opera Release

Our physicist Nikolai is working at the whiteboard and it is playing back to him.

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

The Proof

You're Answer's No Good

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman
from the new Rock Musical Energie



My father said
I should be seen and not heard
So I made my mission
To stand out from the herd
A gift for knowing
How to look right
How to lead from behind
How to run from a fight
There was no limit
To the things I could
I strolled into class
Like a prodigy should
They gave back my paper, said
Your answer’s no good

I had to learn 
To take more of these blows
I had to get out 
Of the emperor’s clothes
Living is hoping
I’m never found out
Turning the pages
Seeding the doubt
All just diversions
From seeing where I stood
Go over the numbers?
Maybe somebody should
I hand out the questions
So the answers are good

My mob is on the internet
Stomping on what someone said
Close your eyes and hold your breath
They listen better if they bled
Hanging by the thinnest thread
Start the rumor, watch it spread
Excoriate them in their bed
Make them wish that they were dead

I want to be
Like the guy on the screen
Where I go on talking
Like I know what I mean
I put on my makeup
I put on my airs
I go on attack
As if anyone cares
I’d start up a fire
If I only had some wood
Nothing has changed
Not that I thought that it could
I just don’t get the question
So my answer’s no good

Your Answer's No Good

Buried Treasure

Copyright Mark Baughman 2019

Sitting in the park alone
The winter wind is blowing 
And he doesn’t feel the sting
He looks out through the stand of trees
The sunlight reaches back
But he doesn’t see a thing
He looks down at the paper
With the line that brought him all the way here
His fingers slowly tracing back and forth
He had the wheel but couldn’t steer

Standing on a runway
With the engines roaring by
And he doesn’t hear a sound
All those people coming, going
Watching and he wonders
If they’re lost or if they’re found
The jet wash pulls the paper 
Turning while it dances through the air
Across a field and over and out of sight
To some lost soul on his way to nowhere

In his suitcase all her letters
A box of empty photographs
At the ready all the answers
To the things she never asked
Seduced himself in hot pursuit
The trail is cold and fading fast
He may not be the first one here
He knows for sure he’s not the last

Kneeling in an open field 
Stretched out to the horizon
And he’s straining for a voice
Laying on the grass 
Looking up and asking no one 
If he really had a choice?
He swears he was born innocent
No direction where to begin
He spent his life wanting beyond his reach
Around the bend or deep within

In the suitcase all her letters
A box of empty photographs
At the ready all the answers
To the things she never asked
Seduced himself in hot pursuit
The trail is cold and fading fast
He thinks he’s not the first one here
He knows for sure he’s not the last

Buried Treasure

Willow

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

Took I-40 down to Nashville 
Where I saw the Parthenon
We were dancing in the Bluegrass Inn
That place has come and gone
My memory’s dim on why I thought
Was time for moving on
I was long on motivation
And short on making time
Couldn’t get out of my way
Stand up straight and walk the line

Drove the back road down to Natchez
And a dirt road to a camp
Where we played guitars and sang
‘Till the morning dimmed the lamp
And we slept beneath a willow
Where the ground was cool and damp
And time just seemed suspended
A minute took a day
With space for us to contemplate
How much a word can weigh

And the things you tried to tell me
Were said to avail
By time I teased the lessons out
That tangled in the tale
The signs had lost their meaning
The paint was peeling, pale
Like old decaying buildings
Like tombstones on the trail

Well the dew is hanging heavy
On the willow by the river
I came back to your waters
In hopes I’d be delivered 
I keep on coming back
Just in case you reconsider
The air is sitting thick
And the vines are smelling sweet
Just like the place, when we were kids
Where you and I would meet

And the current’s running fast
‘Neath the river by the willow
Come sit here in the rushes
Take my shoulder for a pillow
We’ll pretend we’re in our house
See the world out through our window
See the breezes take the drifters
Down the river by the willow

Willow

Some Kind of Fool
Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

How many times are you going to leave me
Without saying goodbye
How long are you going to blame me
For something you should know is a lie?
How long are you just going to sit there
On the other side of the door?
Whispering songs to yourself in the night
And staring a hole in the floor

Well, I just keep hanging around here
And you just send me to school
I must be asking for it babe
I must be some kind of fool

What in the world would I have to carry?
Would it be a stone or a cross?
What would I give? What would I lose?
Either way I know what it costs
As right as righteous conviction
As wrong as someone can be
As bold as helpless, as strong as insecure
Lost between prison and free

I just keep walkin' this side of the street
I keep wearing a hole in my shoe
Must be my fault, ain't it babe?
I must be some kind of fool

If I asked you anything
Would you tell me something
Tell me lies, 'cause it's easy
Tell the truth, but don't tease me
I swear this road is ending here

How many times can I fall down
Before I just stay on my knees?
How many locks do have on that door?
Do you really want to throw away the keys?
How many songs can I give you
'Till the truth starts breaking through?
'Till the measures and scale let you out of that jail
Fill the promise overdue

I keep sitting alone in the dark
And I'm being stubborn as a mule
Well, I deserve what I get, babe
I must be some kind of fool

Some Kind Of Fool

Zambezi

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

I see the houses
With all their pretty doors
Their rooms are all empty
What do they have them for?
I meet the people
Lost and alone
Talking to no one
And aching to the bone
My weariness took over
And I finally closed my eyes
I heard a distant symphony
Reflecting off the skies
It was thunderous, majestic
It was singing out in tongues
And underneath a rhythm
That I heard when I was young

They were sending out their thoughts and prayers
Then they scattered like seeds on the wind

When I woke in the morning
In the center of a plain
A cloudburst opened up and it
Washed me with with it's rain
The water off my feet
Cut channels in the ground
Ran to join the others
Desperate to be found
They follow unfamiliar paths
Of choices they don't make
Assuming all the privileges 
Of liberties they take
They didn't see it coming
The river - gentle, slow
The earth broke open, swallowed
To the thunder from below

I sent them all my thoughts and prayers
And like vapor they left on the wind

On the one side of the coin
My friends all tell me
That I'm crazy
Seeing everything 
As part of some 
Complex design
It bugs me that I have this funny feeling
That I'm not alone and
Maybe should be looking harder
Cannot see the signs
I dreamed I saw Jerusalem
It's minarets and churches
And its calls to all the faithful
To come and start again
On the other side I build my house
Above and all around me
It mirrors what I know
It's designed to keep me in

What was the question?
What is it now?

I swam across the river
And crawled up on the bank
Basking and grateful
Not knowing who to thank
I thought of Zambezi
Arrested by the falls
The fate of all the innocents
Who fell over the wall

We sang them all our thoughts and prayers
And like vapor they left on the wind

Zambezi

Who's Been Talking to You?

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

I've been putting it together
What you wrote me in that text
The stuff you thought had happened
And the things you think are next
I swear it's nothing like that
I don't know how you could construe
I get the feeling I'm talking to
Who's been talkin' to you

Don't need a translator
To tell you what I mean
Don't need some kind of editor
To scrub my letters clean
And you don't need to lie about
All the things I mean to you
You can talk to me
Not who you've been talking to

Let me break it down for you
It's like this 
I am not him
Let me lay some truth on you
Something for real
I could play it for you
It's like this

I look behind the lines
Your words don't read the same
They read like you don't know me
Can't even say my name
I'm stranded on the longest limb
What am I supposed to do?
Want to sit down and talk to
Whoever's been talking to you

I'm pulling it together
At least the best I can
I don't know how we got here
This sure wasn't my plan
But you don't need to wonder
If I really thought this through
I wish you'd talk with me
And let me talk with you

Who's Been Talking To You?

Robert Owen

Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman all rights reserved

My name is Robert Owen
And I saw the light today
The flash came out of nowhere 
And then it went away
I left my wife and daughter
At her mother's house back east
Where they sewed on cuffs and collars
At a penny for a piece
Didn't want much
Was just hoping
For a tiny piece of pie
Stood in line for
Days on ending
Then they served another lie

My name is Bobby Owen
So they wrote it on a list
One hand begging, open
While another made a fist
I gave a long week's work and
In return a short day's pay
Most every town greets us with 
A sign to stay away
In the railyards
Under bridges
Any shelter in a storm
Old newspapers
Tattered blankets
Not enough to keep me warm

The last of my dignity
I threw away tonight
I won a little money
Then lost it in a fight
The last of my possessions
They took the week 'fore last
They hit me while I slept at night
I'd have given if they asked
Just a locket
With a picture
And a cutting of her hair
Just a memory
Seems so distant
Don't remember who or where

My name is not important
Though it's spelled across the sky
Been sung in church and marches
Though I never figured why
Was recruited in a beanfield
Where the sun had made me blind
We stood firm on the front line
And they shot us from behind
Hallelujahs
Were delivered
By a choir in the back
All the truth of
My existence
Was buried in a sack

My name is Robert Owen
And I saw the light today

Robert Owen

Why Can't You Love Me?
Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

Every night you walk in the door
Right past her, and up to your room
Lost in your books and you fantasies
Well there’s no going back
The rose is off the bloom
Every morning she wakes up alone
Spends the days wishing for change 
You were never mean or hurt her
It’s not like something happened
But you live like you’re estranged
She was trying to understand
What happened to the bliss
And then it came to her
It was always like this
She cried…

Why can’t you love me?
Why don’t you care like I do?
How can you be like that
After all we’ve been through?

The days turn to years, slowly by
And still I’m hung up on you
I gave you my best, you gave your worst
I just had to leave
But we were never through
You're everything I hoped you'd be
You’re with someone else, happy enough
I hang on to your poems
Like you wrote them for me
Turning page after page
Hoping to read my name
Asking again and again
But the answer’s the same

Why can’t you love me?
Why don’t I mean anything to you?
Don’t you know I’d do anything
That you asked me to do?

Why can’t you love me?
I could be so much better than before
Why can’t you see how good it could be
If you just walked through my door?
Why can’t you hear me?
What would it take for you to turn my way?
A part of me just dies a little more every day

Why Can't You Love Me?

Eureka Springs
Copyright 2019 Mark Baughman

At a café on a mountain
In a town that time rolled by
I was thinking about my next stop
When something caught my eye
She was sitting alone at the counter
Looking up and stirring her tea
She slid off the stool, skirt bellowing
She set sail right over to me

She stopped and looked out of the window
Distant, eyes fixed, on a dream
A noise broke the spell and she looked down
And asked if I was what I seemed
She pulled at my arm, then released me
Walking away, then looked back
Watching her dance, I was thinking
Her train’s on some other track

She sat down, took my hand
Reading my palm
I closed it on hers
She was suddenly calm
Said she was an actress
What role would she play?
I felt this compulsion
To take her away

We left through a door in a mirror
To a valley with river and mill
Slowly we walked through a garden
Our way to a house on a hill
A flash – and the house burned to ashes
And the garden turned into dust
So quickly defying description
Whatever had happened to us

 I went to my coffee
She went to her tea
I tried to ignore her
Looking at me
The turned and announced
As she reached for the cream
“I’ve seen it before
He’s not what he seems.”

Eureka Springs

The Fever

Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman
All Rights Reserve

In a sliver of a fraction
Of a little bit off center
She sewed the seeds of doubt in me
Like threads into my sweater
When the instant of a moment 
Had me turning on a pin
Her silver hooks cut into me
And slowly reeled me in

She was pressing all the buttons
And was turning up the heat
I ran out of the kitchen
And then back out on the street
The traffic came from everywhere
Dodging - standing still
She pulled me back into her room
And she bent me to her will

Close your eyes - you see her
Raise your hand - you need her
Trust no one - believe her
Touch and feel the fever
Close your eyes - you see her
Raise your hand - you need her
Trust no one - believe her
Touch and feel the fever
Burns right through you - fever

To the center of the middle 
Of the target on my back
She shot me with the words that were 
Designed to make me crack
But I put up my defenses
To her madness and her method
To her unintended kindnesses 
And all she represented

Close your eyes - you see her
Raise your hand - you need her
Trust no one - believe her
Touch and feel the fever
Close your eyes - you see her
Raise your hand - you need her
Trust no one - believe her
Touch and feel the fever
Burns right through you - fever

The Fever

Skin in the Game
Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman, All rights reserved

I got my flag and my boots
I got my rocks and my sticks
I got me some friends
And they taught me some tricks
I got me no heroes
I got me no shame
If I had what I wanted
It would still be the same

The world is turning over
I'm just tryin' to be prepared
I wear this on my face so
You can't see I'm scared

We beat up some tourists
Broke the glass in their car
We cut up the tires
So they won't get very far
He looked like my dad's dad
A Vietnam vet
They say they never come home
Well, he still hasn't yet

I never understood
Why they signed up and went
Captured in the jungle
Never broke, never bent

We are here 
At the center of the universe
Writing the rules
With no skin in the game
We are standing 
At the center of the world
Our hands on the trigger
We shoot then we aim
We just turn
Everything on its head
We hunt and we kill
Deny and we blame
We are here
At the top of this hill
Dispensing our truth
And staking our claim

I open the window
And wait for a sound
I open the door
Put my feet on the ground
I turn on the news
To see what I think
I got this crazy feeling
That we're all on the brink

The world is spinning backward
Turning day into night
Turning yes into no
Turning black into white  

We are here 
At the center of the universe
Writing the rules
With no skin in the game
We are standing 
At the center of the world
Our hands on the trigger
We shoot then we aim
We just turn
Everything on its head
We hunt and we kill
Deny and we blame
We are here
At the top of this hill
Dispensing our truth
And staking our claim

Skin In The Game

Racing to the Bottom

Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman
All rights reserved

My eyes were tight and burning
When I came to in the cell
With a hundred true believers
Sent to spend the night in Hell
They'll be picking up their ribbons
Disappear into the crowd
And waiting for dispatches
That will come through clear and loud

I walked around a corner
There was something going down
Heard a siren from behind me
Someone threw me to the ground
They were kicking me as I
Curled into a ball
Then the boots went marching on
And the sky began to fall

A soldier rolled me over
I couldn't see his face
His black boot on my throat
While he sprayed my eyes with mace
He was acting on instructions
He was answering a call
He pulled me by the collar
Threw me up against the wall

 He said "Take me to your leader."
I said, "I don't understand
I was only on my way home
Wasn't there to make some kind of stand
It's not Selma, It's not Montgomery
It's not 1968
That show's in syndication
And we already paid the freight."

I could barely make him out
My eyes all tears and blood
I reached out to touch his face
And he hit me with a club
I heard a woman laughing
Then beckon him away
He gave me one last shove
Then headed back into the fray

Deep inside you hear a voice
Telling you that everything has rotten
Sitting in your living room
Watching as we're racing to the bottom

 
The smoke and tear gas drifted off
I could make shapes out of the dark
They chained me in the wagon
Just for being in the park
I passed out in my filth
And I woke up to a fight
Restless and exhausted
It went on and on like that all night.

On and on.

Racing to the Bottom

Somebody's Daughter
(feat. Mella Barnes)
Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman

The rain on the road crackles all night
It's the loneliest sound I know
I listen to the cars
Rushing by, indifferently
I'm jealous with nowhere to go
And the postman is the only one
Making a path to my door
But he won't bring what I need
Since I told that man
"I can't see you anymore"

I can hardly remember all those stories we read
'Bout being swept up and carried 'cross the water
I can barely remember
What it felt like
To be somebody's daughter

Oh, mother may I - could I lay down here
While you softly sing me to sleep?
Don't start on me about
The things I have to give away
And what I get to keep
Oh, father, will you hold my hand again
And walk me across the street?
Just hold back the judgments
And comparisons
I want to remember you as sweet

I forgot that you
Never threw me a line
When I was in turbulent water
You made it so hard for me
To think of myself
As somebody's daughter

I ended up here in the cold and rain
Piecing together on my own
The one man who really loved me
Was the reason I left home

This is no place for a woman like me
To find herself alone
The wind snaps cold
Everywhere I turn
Could he just come take me home?

My suitcase is closed and packed
Full of betrayal, and loss and lies
I dragged it up the stairs
To this lonely room
Where my dreams came to die
But I keep thinking I'm hearing a melody
From another time and place
I can feel him right here
In this room, next to me
I can almost see his face

I've blocked out so many things
I don't want to see again
I came here through hell and high water
But I remember a man
Who treated me like
I was somebody's daughter

Somebody's Daughter

A Country Like This

Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman, All rights reserved

No sleep, long night
White knuckle plane flight
Runway in sight
Hours before daylight
Well the room packed full with no light
And the windows are closed to keep it air-tight
Everything off, that means our flight
I seen this before, doesn’t look right

All these people 
Gotta get through that one little door
Then they take your papers 
And tell you to sit on the floor

Start the session
They ask us questions
Demand confession
‘Bout some transgression
What you think’s your choice they claim “discretion”
The joy you feel they call “oppression”
How do you rate all those possessions?
Where did you steal those expressions?

All these people
Bending over to give it a kiss
I sure am glad
I don’t come from a country like this

The man at the window
Wants to know where your people are from
“You can be our guest
Just as long as you’re under our thumb”

Late night break out
Into a drought
All night brown out
What’s this about?
Got a room with a bed in some kind of hideout
Taking our turns, someone gonna lookout
Peeling our eyes while we’re spotting the stakeouts
Watching and waiting to see what's gonna shake out

Walking down the street
With our eyes at the back of our heads
Lock us in our rooms 
Out of fear that our virus will spread

Watch what you say
Or you’ll find yourself dismissed
I sure am glad
I don’t come from a country like this

A Country Like This

This River Won't Flow
Copyright 2020 Mark Baughman
All rights reserved

Early in the mornin’
The cloud is layin’ low
Birds sleep in the trees
‘Cause they got no place to go
And the crickets in the tall grass
Singin’ soft and slow
Boys with their fishin’ poles
Soft on the moss
Drifting, half-asleep
They got their fingers crossed
But nothing is biting
And this river won’t flow

Time just stopped 
About an hour ago
And suddenly I forgot
Everything I know
When she told me
She just had to go
Now the sun won’t come out
And the river won’t flow

Staring at the distance
Shots fired at dawn
Lookin’ ‘round the field
To see which side I’m on
My heart was bleeding fire
But I couldn’t let it show
The gaslight and the lies
Drove her ‘till she wrecked
The grooming and the cheating
Did what you’d expect
She was adrift in circumstances
And the current wouldn’t go

Was still lookin’ back when I
Hit the end of the line
Summing up the reasons
She could never be mine
Tore myself to pieces
Thinking where she might go
Well, she’s never coming back to me
And this river won’t flow

I could never be her hero
I could never be right
I could never be the one
Who showed her the light
But I see everything
From the top to below
I did everything I could
To keep her on dry ground
I gave up all I had
So she wouldn’t drown
But she wouldn’t take the line
And she went down slow

Time stopped between
The dark and the day
My mind is full of reasons
But there’s nothing I can say
My face is lost and vacant
I put it on for show
I would fall into the water
But the river won’t flow

This River Won't Flow

Get Me Back to Birmingham
Copyright 2021 Mark Baughman, all rights reserved

I was falling out of my dream 
And my hands began to shake 
And the wind blew through the  
Open windows fast 
One last pack of cigarettes 
I bought to stay awake 
I can only hope what's left 
Is going to last 
Listnin’ to the radio 
I don’t care what they play 
Just got to get me to the 
Jefferson County line 
She said she’d leave at sunrise 
She said this would be the day 
Got to get me back to 
Birmingham in time 

The flags above the rest stops 
And the crosses on the hills 
A dixie call to prayer 
That was and always will 

Everything is possible 
And nothing’s out of reach 
When you’re driving on this road 
This time of night 
A phrase without a sentence 
Her name lit on a screen 
Next thing I know I’m here 
Racing with the light 
I just counted all my blessings 
You know, it didn’t take me long 
Some I know and  
Some I just believe 
Need to get me back to that sleepy town 
Paint my shadow on her door 
And show her why she  
Doesn’t need to leave 

Oh the air is wet and warm 
From the Gulf of Mexico 
Moving up from Mobile 
Where the world is turning slow 

I met her at the fairgrounds 
Right outside the revival tent 
We went down to the river 
And we wondered where it went 
She invited me into her house 
I said I couldn’t stay 
She said she couldn’t leave 
And the wind took me away 

 
The numbers on the highway	
Are counting down to her 
With all the needles 
Riding on the red 
And the cameras are flashing 
But I drive on undeterred 
The truckers making runway lights ahead 

Oh, the steering wheel is turning 
As if it knows the way 
It turns down to her street 
Just in time to meet the day 

And there were all my blessing 
With her suitcase at the door 
She smiled at me and opened it 
Just like she did before

Get Me Back to Birmingham

Does anyone out there still write songs that are interesting, with melodies and lyrics and meaning?  -  Yes!

Mark Baughman is a composer, guitarist, playwright, visual artist and architect (yes, really, an architect). Based in Washington, DC, Mark writes songs that are more than stories - they are movies with vivid characters and real emotions. The songs have carefully crafted lyrics, melodies and song structures. Mark is incredibly versatile and prolific, easily moving from one genre to another to express what's on his mind and in his heart.

Mark has written and produced to stage 3 rock operas - 99, Release and Energie. Each tells a story of complex contemporary adult life. He is presently writing his 4th show, entitled Victoria Falls, and he posts the new songs as they are completed. 

Between the rock operas, Mark has produced 5 other albums - She Dreams of the Ghost, Charmed Life, Victoria Falls, No Prophet Here and Divided by Zero - which further showcase his songwriting dexterity and musicianship. 

Mark's live band is called Working Theory and takes different forms depending on the show  and venue. And he's busy now working on the next thing.

Mark Baughman's Working Theory

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