Molly Coddled

Tints and Tones

The Tints and Tones

F                                             Bb 
My folks keep giving me the hassle 
            F                     Bb 
‘Til I gotta get out of here 
F                                 Bb 
Nothing seems to be going right 
            Dm                   C 
And the air won’t ever clear 
            Dm                   C 
No, the air won’t ever clear 

I’ve got no time to hear them 
No time to reminisce 
No time for their arrogance 
Their phony holiness 
Their phony holiness 

C		Dm	Bb
I might need to go, and turn down this town to know
C		Dm	Bb
I might need to go, and turn down this town to know
C		Dm	Bb
I might need to go, and turn down this town to know
Gm		C
Got plenty of time to postpone
Gm	 	C
Been missing all the tints and tones, every tint and tone

So, I’m leaving now for Harlem 
To toughen up my grasp 
On everything impending 
What’s looming dubious
What’s looming’s dubious


Marionette
capo 2

C
Down the hill, and towards the yard
A wooden doll’s been caught off guard
A toy man in his Sunday best
His evensong at our chirping nest

G		B7		C
Learned how to lie on a radio show
F	C 	F
Oh, Pinocchio
Oh, Pinocchio

As it darkened he planned to embark,
But left a pair of opera glasses at the park.
The smell of wood fires and the swaying trees
Our hidden spectacle in the blowing leaves.

G		B7		C
Learned how to lie on a radio show
F	C 	F
Oh, Pinocchio
G		B7		C
His hands are tied, but even so…
F	C 	F
Oh, Pinocchio
Oh, Pinocchio


Wooden Doll

Hollow Boon

C	C/D	C/E 		F		G

Got a ways to go
Taking chances, God only knows
Sundays slowly blow over
The locals kneel for four leaf clovers

And why they kneel, and what they hope to find
Pitching us a line

The pillars spring up steady
The commons back away, forever ready
For the forecasted rain
It holds the score, the partial campaign

A boundary line marked in yellow twine
To keep us all aligned

Bb		F
What’s dyed-in-the-wool we’ll answer for
Bb		F	Bb
Ingrained, encircled, before…

What’s in store, and the blessings intertwined
With the hollow boon, are pitching us a line


Hollow Boon

A Little Less Confused

	C
Pulling back against the reins
		G	Am
And the short winter days
	Dm		
The draft dims our candles
	F		G
So the shadows daisy chain

The stove’s packed and parched
Like a sun dried Chevrolet
We’re riding out the weather
That’s beavered us away

F				G
If you recover something true
		C	C/B	Am
Let me borrow it from you
		F		G
I’ll come back to greet the world
	C
A little less confused

My moon-eyed shamble up
The ski jump road 
Cut stalks stick headless
In rows out of the snow 

The snow that hides the leaves
And the leaves that hid the ground
And the chain links and postings
And the lights from downtown

A Little Less Confused

Gone to Seed

capo 2

G	C/G	G	D	C
Your tattered farm
G		D
Gone to seed, then 
G		D
Set free solely for a song

C		D
It’s no way to go
Em	D		G
So, woe is me

No harm done
Far afield alone,
Out of tune and oh so long

C		D
It’s no way to go
Em	D		G
So, woe is me

D		C		G
Your rag top is boneless and frayed
D				
As Cleveland’s giving way 
C 
Cleveland’s giving way 

Gone to Seed

Brow Beaten
capo 2

Doubled up at your country seat
Strangers keep strange company
We can’t help it, the swift trip back, a rare breather

Pious Paul, succumbed to fate
Brow-beaten on his own estate
We love him…he can’t resist Violet’s abuse

La, La, la…

Soot and embers, end the night, with
Her propaganda, your Christmas lights
Long-winded, and Violet, and cruel

Olly, Olly, in come free
Fold out the bed quietly
We felt guilty, failed by courtesy

La, La, la…

Brow Beaten

Straw Vote

A wooden span, I’m soil to sand
I’m creosote
I’m just in time to cast aside
My lone straw vote

C			F            
No matter what I try
Bb			C
No matter what I do
			F
No matter where I cast it
Dm		Bb	C
My choice is true…it's true...

In coming rains and daisy chains
And ice cream floats
I’m trying to serve, to bank, preserve
My lone straw vote

No matter what I try
No matter what I do
No matter where I cast it
My choice is true…it's true...

Gm			Bb
I want to cast it right away (2)
 
Plows surround the booming town
And broken oats
The songs decay, they husk and hay
My lone straw vote

No matter what I try
No matter what I do
No matter where I cast it
My choice is true…it's true...

Straw Vote

Some Unlikely May

Tied the blooms by design
Now you’re on the phone, now you’re next in line
A sudden change, one single day
Some unlikely May

Wayward Lou, we’re rooting for you
Your royal line’s sure to pull you through 
It’s out of true when it’s out of view
It’s out of you
 
You gave your word by design
You’re not alone with your doubtful eyes
A sudden change, one single day,
Some unlikely May

Bedroll Lou, how are you?
Another night sleeping in your bowling shoes 
Won’t forget sea-legged Lou
Your wrinkled suit, ocean blue

You tied the blooms by design
Now you’re on the phone, now you’re next in line

You tied the blooms by design
Now you’re on the phone, now you’re next in line

The Mud Violin