Lyrics

Little White Lies

I’ve got a truckload of curses, that I keep driving ‘round

If ever I get lost I swear to god I hope I’m never found

I carry loads of grudges, constantly weighing me down

If I could just let go I guess my feet will hardly touch the ground

Still there ain’t nothing further from my mind

than leaving you behind to cry

or tell another little white lie..

I’ve got a tongue that gets twisted

twisted when I’m bound to the truth

I got these chords one two and three

but I’m so confused

I’ve got a few good memories

and far too many bridges to burn,

each time I turn around I’ve forgotten

what I should have learned..

I’m just a washed up, dried out, getting nowhere,

no good and I’m getting nowhere fast.

If ever I should learn to put my mind on something..

it ain’t ever gonna last

Oh baby that’s my best…

I wrote some songs that’ll make you,

make you believe I’m all that.

But I’ve got news for you babe

I don’t know where I’m at..

I’ll tell you love’s all that matters

I’ll tell you what you most like to hear

but when push comes to shove I’m right out of here

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Jericho Walls

I thought the road was easy to see but now I’m confused

I had my future laid out for me but there were only wrong turns

I’ve got your name upon my arm, your taste upon my tongue

I thought that we could overcome all that was said and done

But like the Jericho walls came down

I never heard such a lonesome sound

I had to pick my heart off the ground

I see a maiden once so fair now all tired and worn

still I could not foresee her love would turn to scorn

But like the Jericho walls came down

I never heard such a lonesome sound

I had to pick my heart off the ground, ground, ground

I thought my eyes could clearly see what was in her heart

I never saw the roses’ thorn could be a poisoned dart

I see a young man ageing slow one with a future bright

How was he to know he’d be heartbroken overnight

But like the Jericho walls came down

I never heard such a lone-some sound

I had to pick my heart off the ground, ground, ground

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Ballad of a Song and Dance Man

When I heard the Man sing: ‘Hard Nose the Highway’

I knew there and then that the road could be my way

So one summernight I packed my bags

and left for adventure and followed the tracks

of every single Song and Dance man

that passed thru’ before me and played every bandstand

I followed the words that made up my song

and I lived on the dreams that pushed me along

When I heard the Man sing: ‘Hard Nose the Highway’

And I read a poem and I made up a tune

that I’d sing everyday by the light of the moon

and those were the moments of magic and grace

like a song takes you back and puts a smile on your face

and folks by the road would smile when they heard

every sweet melody that I put into words

And the women would dance and smile with their eyes

to the Song and Dance Man’s hearts delight

When I heard the Man sing: ‘Hard Nose the Highway’

And now that I’m weary, without alibis

and I’ve had my share of hello’s and goodbye’s

my maps are all torn and this battered guitar

still rings in my ears and it carries the scars

of every hardship down the road

of the blood that I spilled, all the money I owed

Of the hearts that were broken and promises too

And all of the tears that I shed just for you

When I heard the Man sing: ‘Hard Nose the Highway’

I met this woman who says she will have me

and I’m thinking of staying as my load gets too heavy

But I wish I could swim like back in the days

with my head in the clouds on the airwaves again

When I heard the Man sing: ‘Hard Nose the Highway’

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Soften the Ground

I keep digging her up out of frozen ground

She refuses to show doesn’t want to be found

And I long for that moment kind of like spring

she keeps holding back, she stays locked up within

Why am I here? Where can I go?

She doesn’t know cause she’s locked herself

deep in the ground

and I can’t pretend to laugh when I cry

and I never said I was doing her right

Just to soften the ground untill snowflakes fall

soft and warm, soft and warm

My nails are torn and my fingers are black

She haunts my dreams and she breaks my back

there was a time or wasn’t it real?

that I thought I could change all she could feel

Why am I still here? Where can I go?

She doesn’t know cause she’s locked herself

deep in the ground

and I can’t pretend to laugh when I cry

and I never said I was doing her right

just to soften the ground

Just to soften the blow

untill snowflakes fall

soft and warm, soft and warm

Words & Music: Mo van Hal & Eric Devries


 

Time is All

I’m riding down this this road so fast

burning bridges that were meant to last

driving hard at the speed of sound

humming while the wheels are spinning ‘round

Starting fires as I’m burning up

using all that once filled my cup

shifting gears and I don’t look back

Burning miles and running out of track

Can’t slow down I need this pace

to stop right now means losing face

can’t be bothered looking left or right

keep on chasing dreams overnight

And time is all there ever really is

time is wasted and time is bliss

you’re growing up and then losing ground

Love’s burning up and pain is watered down

Here’s to all that wanna grow up fast

you gotta know that nothing lasts a lifetime

here’s to throwing caution to the wind

one step up and two steps back again

I don’t know what the moral to this story is

time is all there ever really is

it maybe tomorrow it maybe today

time passes slow untill it’s taken away

There ain’t no profit there’s none to take

holding on may be a big mistake

to share the loving while we come undone

maybe the thing to make it worth the run

And time is all there ever really is

time is wasted and time is bliss

you’re growing up and then losing ground

Love’s burning up and pain is watered right down

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Matters Of Love

She said: Maybe I’ve always been trying to hard or maybe it’s me?

What else is there but to follow your heart? And why can’t they see?

She gazed in the mirror and followed the trace

to every new line she saw in her face

wondering how she felt so out of place in matters of love?

He said he was born with a travellers’ heart Could not stay in one place

maybe the need for a brand new start is more easy to face

He walked in the room and she captured his eye

as a matter of fact thought he’d give her a try

as always searching for new alibis in matters of love

The room it was clean enough by neon light but they could not care less

With no one to see by the starlight outside they slowly undressed

They must have both felt the solace within

the joining of hands when something begins

they were never so free before in their own skins or in matters of love

She felt his body curled up by her side when she woke the next day

but she could not believe though try as she might she was lucky that way..

He thought she knew what he wanted to say

but he kept his cool and when she laughed it away

And the moment is gone by the cruel light of day as happens in love

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

All I Know How To Do

I’ve been wasting my days, I’ve been a drunk and a fool

there’s truths I’ve forgotten  and I broke every rule

Don’t know what to hold on to or when to let go

when loving you is all that I know how to do

I’ve been spending my money, I’ve been cursed and betrayed

I’ve fallen in love, I’ve seen love turn to hate

Oh I loved more than plenty but I let you go

when loving you is all that I know how to do
I don’t know what we’re here for , I never know what to say
I didn’t want you to leave me so I walked away
there’s a thin line between relief and regret
between to love and to hold or to leave just like that

Now I never think of what live has in store

and all that I had I can’t have anymore

it’s just me and my dreams that I can’t let go

when loving you is all that I know how to do

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Another Round

Boys I’ve got no mind to tell you why I’m here

not sure if even I would lend myself an ear

Not for all the gold and silver

would I turn down the man that buys another round

I can’t say I’m proud of doing what I did

but I ain’t letting out what I’m trying to forget

Not for all the gold and silver

would I turn down the man that buys another round

I’ve got no mind to leave before it’s closing time

and all my senses be drenched in beer and wine

Not for all the gold and silver

would I turn down the man that buys another round

And leave me be don’t pity me

don’t try to cheer me up

Don’t think of intervening

while I’m drinking ‘till I drop

And even if I fall, fall down from my stool

like lazarus I’ll rise in time for last call..

Not for all the gold and silver

would I turn down the man that buys another round

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Don’t let Me Be

When day breaks without reason and leaves me nothing to believe in
and I end up with nothing and no place to go
When darkness falls all around me and it slow but surely drowns me
when everything I do just fails me when I lose my way
when I may have gone too far and keep forgetting who you are
and you find it’s so hard to be around me

I just hope you can find it in your heart
to look my way and don’t let me be

When all the time I’m playing mindgames, I end up lost upon the low plains
you can put me back in my place, cut me down to size
If love is all about receiving and if it’s giving and forgiving
I’m just hoping you could help me
believe in it some day..

When dark clouds appear o’er me
and there ain’t a place they will not find me
and they can’t help but make the rain fall
at the end of a day

I just hope you can find it in your heart
to look my way and don’t let me be

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Mary

I don’t really know you  but I know I want to
and I want to know you well

I don’t know what to say
when there’s so much I want to tell you
But I just can’t find a way

and I can’t say goodbye just yet
give me time to clear my head..
Mary

We’ve got our scars to prove it
and I don’t know how you did
survive with all this pain inside

If we could get around it
and discover that we found it
now would that not be worth a try

For I just can’t say goodbye
if we never really tried
Mary

Let us leave our ghosts behind
and who knows what we may find
Mary

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

But For the Grace ..

Here goes nothing but for the grace of God
Some have purpose I fear that I have not
Here’s to those who are safe and sound asleep
Good luck to you and to the dreams you keep
I’ve got my own

There were times much more than I can count
I was looking where there’s nothing to be found
There were days I was weighed down by sin
I’ve been low but I came back up again
Time and again

So don’t point your finger at me
I’m not ashamed I’ve nothing to my name
Won’t you let me be on my way

Men have gone where others fear to tread
Some have tried and others haven’t yet
Who is to judge and who will sympathize
Some are true and some’ll be telling lies
All of the time

Men have gained more than worldly things
Some let go and others choose to cling
Some will steal to fulfill their every need
Some die rich some die by their own greed
time and again

So don’t point your finger at me
I’m not ashamed
I’ve nothing to my name
So won’t you let me be on my way

Here’s to those and the ones that I forgot
And all of those of those who know not
we all go but for the grace of God

Words & Music: Eric Devries


 

Sunday eve in Amsterdam

When I was just a boy
I used to love to watch the seagulls fly
from a window looking down upon the world below
three stories high
I used to wonder where those birds would go
but answers don’t come cheap in life I know
and now I’m flying home
for Sunday eve in Amsterdam

I take the 13 down to the street where I was born
but everybody’s moved away
The block’s still standing tall but the faces here
I don’t recall from way back when
How come everybody’s always moving out?
or maybe that’s just what life’s all about
But I’m just reaching out for home
on Sunday eve in Amsterdam

I remember how the bridge would open up
to let the ships pass through
The boatman had to pay the man
and made the drop into his wooden shoe
and I have always tried to pay the man
I like to think that I done all I can
Now I’m just trying to pay my dues
on Sunday eve in Amsterdam

There’s a place where water meets the sky
at the tower where the tears were cried
I’m just trying to find some peace of mind
on Sunday eve in Amsterdam

Words & Music: Eric Devries