Rust On The Rails  
© 2019 Janice & Bud Merritt
Photo of Bud at eight years old :)
https://www.janiceandbud.com
Janice: vocals, arrangement and melody
Bud: RealTracks, RealDrums, lyric, engineering, mixing/mastering
An autobiographical song....

Verse 1
A child sits on a worn store bench next to his daddy
he stares at the dirt path leading to the train station
nearby the postmaster loads the wooden mail cart 
the kid waits to chase him in the hot Georgia sun 

Verse 2
when older the boy rides his bike down to the station
sittin’ on the loading dock he eats a brown bag lunch
men in fedoras ‘n mama’s with strollers  wait in  line
the conductor’s circled by colored dots from his punch

Verse 3
years later the young man visits the station house
his old postmaster’s there hanging a mailbag on a crane
the freight train slows down but no longer stops
its hook snatches the bag, he sees little stays the same

Bridge 
now an old man, eyes grown dim, he gazes down the line
the rusting rails shimmer and taper into distant pines 

 Turnaround 

Verse 4
standing in the shadow of the leaning water tank 
his thoughts are broken by a crow with its caw
the tracks bear no train, only faded memories
a station house that’s nothing but crumbling brick walls

the tracks bear no train, only faded memories

05/21/2019

Rust On The Rails

We enjoy writing and producing Americana songs.  Janice's 2018 Americana album All Over The Map, her 2020 blues album Am I Blue Enough and her 2023 blues album Deep In The Domain are streaming on Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon,  Youtube and other platforms.  We appreciate you checking them out!