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Better Son

by Tom Rhodes

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Rachel V Harvey
Rachel V Harvey thumbnail
Rachel V Harvey I fell in love with Tom Rhodes the comedian, and he has a radio show. On one show he interviewed Tom Rhodes the musician and I discovered that he is awesome! I'm not sure how many awesome men are named Tom Rhodes, but this guy is definitely one of them!
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1.
Well I was begging for forgiveness in the galley of a ship out on the great Atlantic Ocean. I'd left my mother's house off the southern tip of Baltimore where I was looking for a dream and a way. I had given up the job of being all my brothers keepers and I'd left them to the streets to learn their own life lessons but now here we are, all drowning under life and under water with our hands raised to the heavens with a fist full of dollars and I said Momma Momma, I'm sorry that I left you on your own. Well that storm it raged and it tossed around the little ketch that I had boarded You see the mast was badly broken and we were taking water and the waves they were relentless just like how I had held onto my pride. Right then and there I realized the err I had commited I'd gone and left my mom and family at a time when I was needed. And I'd done done grown to be a man, but I'd been acting like a child set loose into a market with a fist full of dollars. and I said Momma Momma, I'm sorry that I left you on your own. Well I looked up to the heavens and I swore that if I did survive it I would just turn back to that island from which I had departed I'd crawl up to my mothers house and I'd beg her won't you let me lend a hand. Right then the seas laid down, the sun came out, and skies they parted and I realized once again that I might see my mom and brothers I could be the man they needed to keep our heads above these waters and I'd show up every Sunday with a fist full of dollars and I said Momma Momma, I'm sorry that I left you on your own.
2.
My River 03:32
I got me a river, but Lord knows it's wide I got me a river, but Lord knows it's wide But I'm not going back, no, over to the other side. You know I'm not going back, no, over to the other side. I got me a boat and painted her blue and white I got me an old boat and painted her blue and white I'm gonna take her down to the riverside and take my boat for a ride Yeah I'm gonna go down to that riverside and take my boat for a ride and you can come on, come on. I got me a river, she runs right downtown I got me a river, she runs right downtown Gonna jump on in to her muddy water to see if I just don't drown. I'm gonna throw myself to her muddy water, to see if I just don't drown Cause I got me a river, Lord knows it's wide I got me a river, Lord knows it's wide. But I"m not going back, no, over to the other I ain't going back no, over to the other, no I ain't going back over to the other side.
3.
I was standing on a corner browning out in Carolina the rain it just kept pouring down and the sky was black as mud. I was sure that you were leaving and headed back down to New Orleans that you were ready for that old life I was sure that your new one was done But then you came around my corner and you were carrying your smile and I knew I was mistaken as my knots came undone I'm just a lost and lonely sailor and you were my breath as I laid drowning in that Carolina downpour I got lost in your Carolina love.
4.
Wishing Well 04:05
Well hello, do you remember me it's been years gone by but you look like a photo from my memory. And goodbye, that's how we let it be. There was so much to say when you just turned away and you walked from me. like Baby don't go, don't leave Well I know what I did and I was only a kid tugging at your sleeve. And maybe we can go back to that place where we knew but we'd never tell we were hiding in the trees in your old back yard with the wishing well and oh my baby, now I wish you well. Let me roll, let me roll down memory lane We were only two kids and we were trying to play at a grown-ups game. Let me go, let me go home again. There was so much to say when we just walked away cause we didn't win like Baby don't go, don't leave Well I know what I did, and I was only a kid playing make believe And maybe we can go back to that place where we knew but we'd never tell hiding in the trees in your old back yard with the wishing well. and oh my baby, now I wish you well. They say that time makes your feelings go away. But somehow I still feel the way that I felt that day. And I know that I should put my memories to bed but I'm left living with the echos of those words unsaid all those words that I never said. like Baby don't go, don't leave Well I know what I did, and I was only a kid tugging at your sleeve And maybe we can go back to that place where we knew but we'd never tell we were hiding in the trees in your old back yard with the wishing well. and oh my baby, now I wish you well. And maybe we can go back to that place where we knew but we'd never tell we were hiding in the trees in your old back yard with the wishing well. and oh my baby, now I wish you well.
5.
Friend 02:24
If someone were to ask you if you have a friend would you know that the answer is yes? Someone who'll love you till the bitter end, and be your shoulder when you need a rest. But I hate to see you go home to a home that you know without me, so I promise to be where you need me to be till you can be back here with me. And I hate to see you go home to a home that you know without me, so I promise to be where you need me to be, and I promise to be who you need me to be, and I promise to be everything you could want me to be till you can be back here with me.
6.
Texas 03:55
Well I gotta get out of Texas cause they won't have me here. It seems I've made a pretty girl cry over something that wasn't really there. And her father says he'll kill me, and I might deserve to die, but I had meant every word that I had said at the time. I just such a fine line. such a fine line. Now you probably think I'm crazy in some ways you might be right but don't let my wild eyes fool you, I keep 'em wide to keep from crying cause she was one sweet senorita she had a heart like honey wine and I swore it was the drinks that made me cheat her, but the fault was mine. but it's such a fine line such a fine line But now I keep my head down I bow my eyes real low and I keep wondering just how far my fine lines gonna go. Cause I know that I've wronged her and I wanna say I'm sorry. And God I hope that I can fade from her mind or she can forgive me in time. it's such a fine line it's such a fine line there's such a fine line there's such a fine line
7.
My World 04:46
There's a light that I've seen, it's gold and it's green in the sky. And that's a thought that I've had in the back of my head, but now it's gone. oh woe. oh woe. There's millions of dream floating up through the trees every night. But night turns to day and the sun melts them away every time. every time. So I sit in my bed in my house on my street in my town and this my world. And don't you try to be slick or sneak into my door cause I know you're out there and I can hear you breathing. I see that you came out of the gold and green in my thoughts down through the trees and you're gonna burn me all away But this is my world it's faded and grey it's folded and tattered but this is my world languid and lost and devoid of all meaning but this is mine. Yeah this is my world faded and grey folded and tattered, tattered this is my world languid and lost and devoid of all meaning this is my world this is my world this is mine.
8.
Better Son 04:37
Oh now Momma don't you look my way and close your ears to what I have to say I've finally met my dying day my body will hang and my feet will sway. I was born into this world in the dead of night and begged from the darkness into the light told to turn a cheek to a strangers strike but I guess I never learned that lesson right. Better son, better son Lord I wish I'd been a better son I wish I never did those things I done Lord I wish I'd been a better son A better son becomes a better man but Lord I only am just what I am And a better man comes from a better son so Lord I wish I'd been a better son. Well how I do regret that fateful day when Sheriff John Browne he learned my name it come off the lips of his lover who lay beaten and bruised from his angry ways If I could turn back time, or stop a clock I never would have gone and fired that shot. And I know that he earned the things he got but it's turned my soul to stone and rot. Better son, better son Lord I wish I'd been a better son I wish I never did those things I done Lord I wish I'd been a better son A better son becomes a better man but Lord I only am just what I am And a better man comes from a better son so Lord I wish I'd been a better son. Now as that morning sun rises in the east I pray the Lord my soul release and I be born again, but new and young and Lord I'd be a better son. A better son, a better son Lord I wish I'd been a better son I wish I never did those things I done Lord I wish I'd been a better son A better son becomes a better man but Lord I only am just what I am And a better man comes from a better son so Lord I wish I'd been a better son.

credits

released January 1, 2011

Tom Rhodes - Guitar, Vocals, Lap Steel, Keys
Mike McGreevy - Drums, Percussion,Vocals, horns
Marcelo - Bass, Vocals
Sean Lynch - Vocals
Jake Phillips - Guitar on My River
Niels Hempel - Accordion

All songs written and produced by Tom Rhodes
Engineered at Bluewater Sound by Niels Hempel

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Tom Rhodes Oakland, California

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