The Stray Birds

(Maya de Vitry)

I dream in blue
I drown in dew
I left home on account of you
Always lovin’ someone new
I dream in blue

I gave my time
Dollars and dimes
I left home on account of wine
Makin’ me believe you’re mine
I gave my time

I looked away
Day after day
I left home on account of rain
Slowin’ down my glory train
I looked away

I've seen those crows 
All in a row
I left home on account of snow
Buried all the things I know
I've seen those crows

    

(Oliver Craven) 

Left my home I was seventeen and I was looking for a job
When I met them no good friends of mine
Gave me all kinds of bad advice and they taught me how to rob
Said they'd always be there down the line
Be there down the line

I got my very first twelve-gauge, I got a half of a dozen shells
I'd come to find that one was all I'd need
I didn't waste no time thinking, I got right down to the job
That night a grown man would bleed
A grown man would bleed

There ain't no romance in 25 to life
Still a kid I'll probably die in my cell
At night I worry; no dog, no son, no wife
I did it all with a lone shotgun shell
Whoa shotgun shell

Well I run up into the country store, I demanded the cash
I had a bag in my left hand, a gun in my right
With the feelings I never had before, it all happened oh to fast
That shot rang out as cold as the night
Cold as the night

A dust cloud rose up in the air, the blood flowing from his mouth
He had is eyes wide open they were staring back at mine
The judge come out, put the gavel down, his voice was might loud
You done wrong, now boy you'll do the time
Boy you'll do the time

    

(Maya de Vitry)

I haven’t let my hair down in a while
Since it caught fire in the coals
I turned around and walked a back road mile
With all the ashes in my soul

I haven’t felt a cold dawn in a while
Long time they were all I knew
Been holdin’ on to a newborn child
Whose eyes are askin’ after you

Oh railroad man
I’ve been trying to stand
Where the morning stars might fall
Oh railroad man
Will you do what you can
To remember me at all
To remember me at all

And if you’re lookin’ I might warn you
These tears don’t leave an easy trail
I cut my heart out of my calico sleeve
And I put it up for sale


    

(Oliver Craven)

Work
Work my hands
Work my hands til they're bloody, blistered and damned
Walk
Walk my feet
Walk my feet down the dirt roads, the alleys and the streets
Shine
My light
Shine my light down the dark holes, the tunnels and the nights

You know my name
I feel you nigh
Can you reach me, will you try?

Cross
Cross this land
Cross this land o'er the prairies, the mesas and the sands
Dance
Dance these lines
Dance these lines through the moonlight, the willows and the pines
Take
Take my time
Take my time with the wild nights, the wonder and the wine

I dream of you and I
In the by and by
Can you reach me, will you try?

I got heavy hands and the rings to bear it
It's a foreign tale, I don't often share it
This hungry feeling, still I wear it
It's mine, all the time

I'd rather not wait
Til the day we die
Can you reach me
Will you reach me
Can you reach me, will you try?

    

(Oliver Craven)

I was gamblin' my money
I was smoking my mind
Drinking tequila gettin drug outta bars
Breaking bottles and chasing women
Doing cocaine and wrecking cars 
I woke up in a local infirmary
And the good doctor man come and said
That ain't no part of nothin'
This hard living gonna wind you up dead

Well I said to that doctor man
I think you're alright but
I did not come for your personal advice
Stitch me up and let me out
I gotta be back on the street by tonight
I ran into a man wearing blue and and a badge
And he did not give me time to explain
He said that ain't no part of nothin
And then he took me downtown in chains

Well they gave my my phone call
And I called up my gal
She come to the station and she posted my bail
She said I'm tired of you living this tired old life
Waking up in hospitals or in jail
She let me back in, she nailed my feet to the floor
And she warned me again not to roam
She said that ain't no part of nothing
You got your good gal you're staying home

I said that ain't no part of nothing
Come on baby, throw me a bone

    

(Maya de Vitry)

He rolled in like a river
In search of the sea
With a faraway blue in his eyes
And I knew when I laid down
To hold him that night
I was holding a rolling tide
And I know 
You can’t stop a river
But I had him moving with me
‘Til the morning sun
Dripped down on his cheeks
Like wildflower honey

It ain’t ever easy
For a river to say
Just where he's coming from
But he told me 
He came from the mountain
Where the wildflower honey still runs
I know
There were things that he’d done
Things he was still runnin’ from
‘Cause all he left was his name
Lyin’ on my tongue
Like wildflower honey

Of all the marks
Carved hard on my heart
There’s one man I never can blame
He rolled in like a river
In search of the sea
And he left me with only his name
But when I‘m down where the sea
Whispers over the sand
Where memories come blowing in
I can taste his kiss
So sweet on the wind
Like wildflower honey

    

(Oliver Craven)

My time in heaven is nigh
Let my spirit go to the sky
Take me back to the hill where my brother lies
My body to ruin, my soul to rise

Now my work on earth is done
Oh mother I am your son
Don't you weep for me don't you moan
I am your child, I am coming home

In the land of golden streets
Hand in hand my lord I'll meet
We will sing in the angel band
We will shout in the hills of the glory land

    

(Oliver Craven/ Maya de Vitry)
    

(Maya de Vitry)

My city’s had a lot of trouble sleeping
She’s up all night
Breakin’ through the windows and the ceilings
Scrapin’ stars from the sky
My city’s made a habit out of cryin’
All through the night
They say she likes the harmony of sirens
And the time of the traffic light

But I love my city
My sleepless city
I’ll do her sleepin’ for free
I love my city
My sleepless city
Yeah, she can do my cryin’ for me

My city’s pickin’ fights across the water
With a worn out moon
And I watch her from my honey-colored corner
A quiet room
Where I hung a little picture of my darlin’
Black and white
But it’s been fadin’ on a yellow wall in Harlem
Since she left that night

    

(Oliver Craven)

Is it alright if I dance with you
There ain't no room out on the floor
But we can find a spot for two
Is it alright if I dance with you

Baby I can't help that I wink a lot
See I was born with two good eyes
Now I'm just using what I got
I can not help it that I wink a lot

Love's a game that I ain't playing
I'm walking away, but I ain't complaining
You're going to bed but I ain't staying
Don't think too hard Honey I'm just sayin

Honey won't you tell me your name
No I won't promise to remember
And I'll be leaving just the same
But honey won't you tell me your name

I like when you shake it on the line
Oh baby we don't need no doctor
You and me we're doing fine
I like it when you shake it on the line

Swingin's really all I wanna do
No we don't need to stay together
Least not after one or two
Oh baby come on, let me dance with you!

    

(Maya de Vitry)

I left my heart out in the country
On her own quiet mile
I think she’s on her way
But she said she’d be awhile
Now I’m singing in some city
Ain’t sure who I’m singing for
I’m just a lost song bird
Caught in a green-eyed storm

And there ain’t no easy way to leave
The eye of a storm
Save singing right on through 
The wind and rain

I don’t mind anybody knowing 
I never had a heart of gold
But my mama said I had
A silver lining in my soul
I keep my own fire burning
‘Cause it gets so goddamn cold
To fall asleep holdin’
Just any thing I’m told

I’ve got a shadow on my shoulders
And at my back, a jealous wind
I gotta kneel and kiss the ground
Just to remember who I am
I’ll keep on singing to some city
But they ain’t who I’m singing for
I’m just a lost song bird
Caught in a green-eyed storm