Ken Lonnquist
Music with a Message

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1. By My Side

 

My baby’s truer than the arrow

Thick and narrow, right or wrong

No need to tip the apple barrow

There ain’t no sparrow with a sweeter song

 

Oh, that Moon he wags a finger 

Through the night

Sayin’ “Boy, it’s late - 

You better say goodnight!”

 

Oh - I know I shouldn’t, but I

Can’t help but want her by my

Can’t help but want her by my side

My heart’s a-pumpin’ and I

Got nerves a-jumpin’ and I

Can’t help but want her by my side

 

My baby’s pretty as a daisy

She drives me crazy all day long

Some say my motives must by hazy

“One of these days, he’s gonna do her wrong!”

 

Oh, that Moon he wags a finger 

Through the night

Sayin’ “Boy, it’s late - 

You better say goodnight!”

 

Oh - I know I shouldn’t, but I

Can’t help but want her by my

Can’t help but want her by my side

My heart’s a-pumpin’ and I

Got nerves a-jumpin’ and I

Can’t help but want her by my side

 

No cup of sugar need I borrow

For tomorrow, I’m well-supplied

My baby sweetens up my sorrow

It’s in the jar, oh, yes - I’m satisfied

Oh, that Moon he wags a finger 

Through the night

Sayin’ “Boy, it’s late - 

You better say goodnight!”

 

Oh - I know I shouldn’t, but I

Can’t help but want her by my

Can’t help but want her by my side

My heart’s a-pumpin’ and I

Got nerves a-jumpin’ and I

Can’t help but want her by my side

 

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​2. Highway You

 

I woke up this morning

Wiped a tear from her eyes

She’d been crying all night long

I didn’t give no warning

I guess she’d read through my lies

In the morning I’d be gone

Highway, don’t you know that it’s wrong?

 

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away

From the one place I belong

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away 

From my home

 

I hear the raindrops falling

Wipers clicking away

She’s probably on her second cup

A fire’s softly burning

She’s hoping I’ll be okay

Trying to keep her courage up

Highway, don’t you know that it’z rough?

 

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away

From the one place I belong

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away 

From my home

 

In the night I’ll call her

Ask her, “How was your day?”

She’ll be fighting back the tears

Then I’ll ache to hold her

And love her sorrow away

’Til I’m home it seems like years

Highway, don’t you know that I care?

 

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away

From the one place I belong

Highway, you 

Got no reason taking me away 

From my home

 

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​3. Make Sweet Love To You

 

By the fire light

When the moon was bright

And the wind was still...

Did you hear that whippoorwill singin’?

And all its singin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

By the ripplin’ stream,

We were swappin’ dreams

And you smiled at me... d

Did you hear that willow tree sighin’?

And all its sighin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

Darlin’, was it the moonlight?

Or just some magic spell?

Was I dreamin’?

Oh, I still can’t tell...

 

But the night grew old,

And the fire grew cold

And you fell asleep

On my shoulder warm and deep.

And darlin’, all your dreamin’ made me want to do

Was lay right down and make sweet love to you

 

 

 

 

​4. Little Lady Luck

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Get a little bit closer. You’re a little too far.

Get a little bit closer than you are.

Get a little bit warmer. You’re a little too cold.

All you need is somebody you can hold.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

Be a little bit bolder. You’re a little too shy.

You could be a bit bolder if you’d try.

Be a little bit braver. You’re a little too scared.

You’re a little like people everywhere.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

Be a little more open. You’re a little too closed.

Be a little more open so she knows.

Be a little more honest. You’re a little too dark.

Ain’t no fire can burn without a spark.

 

Little lady luck is on your side tonight

Lady luck is watchin’ o’er your shoulder

Little lady luck is sayin’ the time is right

Don’t you miss this chance, or you’ll never hold her

 

 

 

 

​5. Pickup Truck Song

 

Daddy hzf a pickup ehern i was young

A rusty, old, leather-beaten one

he ate it out in the noon-day Sun

To waste away

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The proud old pickup was over the hill

it didn't seem to mind sitting' still

It wore a smile on its rusty grill

As if to say:

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I'll settle in the tall grass

Kids off my fenders

Let a robin build a nest in my engine

And surrender

Lifvin' the good life

Underneath a willow

I'll sit and watch the Sun go down

And the world spin 'round

With a flower for my pillow

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The pickup sank and the grass grew high

A piece of chrome sparkled in it's eye

When soft rains fell from the summer sky

It didn't mind

Daddy's hair started turning' gray

He and that pickup across the way

Watched the world hurry by

While they took their time

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To settle in the tall grass

Kids off their fenders

Let a robin build a nest in their engines

And surrender

Lifvin' the good life

Underneath a willow

Sit and watch the Sun go down

And the world spin 'round

With a flower for a pillow

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Daddy's gone, and the pickup, too

But what they taught me, it stuck like glue

Just give me the Sun and a sky of blue

And I'll be fine

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I'll settle in the tall grass

Kids off my fenders

Let a robin build a nest in my engine

And surrender

Lifvin' the good life

Underneath a willow

I'll sit and watch the Sun go down

And the world spin 'round

With a flower for my pillow

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​6. True Love

 

I grabbed my hat and fishing pole

I ran down to the fishing hole

Cast my line with a smile, and then

Here’s what I got 

When I reeled it in

 

I got true love for you honey

True love, come what may

True love, for you, darlin’

True love, true love, every day

 

Ran down to the old mill stream

Had myself a pretty dream

I saw you wain’ ‘neath the Sun

And here’s hat I got 

When my dreaming’ was done

I got true love for you honey

True love, come what may

True love, for you, darlin’

True love, true love, every day

 

Come the lightning, come the storm

Blow the cold winds or the warm

It makes no difference where I roam

‘Cause here’s what I get

When I get me back home

 

I got true love for you honey

True love, come what may

True love, for you, darlin’

True love, true love, every day

 

 

 

 

​7. Davey

 

I’m going to Davey

It’s the place where I was born

Going to Davey

Where the sunlight meets the morn

Over clear, blue rivers

And the tall Nebraska corn

I’m going back to Davey

And the house where I was born

 

Everybody knows it’s the cutest place of all

It’s got them little chickens

And the horses in the stall

Got them pretty meadows

And the cattle roamin’ free

And if I could choose one place on Earth

I’d choose my ol’ Davey

 

And I’m going to Davey

It’s the place where I was born

Going to Davey

Where the sunlight meets the morn

Over clear, blue rivers

And the tall Nebraska corn

I’m going back to Davey

And the house where I was born

 

Mama’s cooking supper

And my Daddy’s on the bed

The kids are in the haytloft

And the dogs are in the shed

Grandpa’s on the fiddle

And he’s scratchin’ up a storm

He keeps us all a-kickin’

’Til the early hours of the morn

 

I’m going to Davey

It’s the place where I was born

Going to Davey

Where the sunlight meets the morn

Over clear, blue rivers

And the tall Nebraska corn

I’m going back to Davey

And the house where I was born

 

Now waltzing through the meadow

Comes the sweetest thing of all

A girl with eyes so shiny

You might think the stars did fall

Her cheeks are red and rosy

And her hair is like sunshine

And all the boys are jealous

‘Cause they know that she is mine

 

And I’m going to Davey

It’s the place where I was born

Going to Davey

Where the sunlight meets the morn

Over clear, blue rivers

And the tall Nebraska corn

I’m going back to Davey

And the house where I was born

 

 

 

 

​8. Picking' In My Own Room

 

I don’t know who Waylon is

And I don’t know Willie, too

But they got the money

And they got the songs

And all I got’s the blues

I’m out of money

Got bills to pay

And half a dozen new songs

I wrote yesterday

Oh, woh-woh, no

I got a funny feeling’ that I ought to go on Pickin’ in my own room for awhile

 

Listen, Mister, for a minute or two

There’s a song I’d like to sing

It’s one I wrote just yesterday

When I broke my high ‘E’ string

And for my payment

My one request

Is won’t you tell me which part

You like the best?

Oh, woh-woh, no

I got a funny feeling’ that I ought to go on

Pickin’ in my own room for awhile

 

Playin’ guitar’s lots of fun

It can be your business, too

But how I got to be playin’ here

Is as much a mystery to me

As it probably is to you!

I knocked on wood a bit,

I pulled some strings…

And come audition-time

They said, “Sing, Kenny, sing!”

And I said: “Oh, no

I got a funny feeling’ that I ought to go on Pickin’ in my own room for awhile

Yeah - just 

Pickin’ in my own room for awhile

Not a minute, but a long, long while

 

 

 

 

​9. This Morning's Song

 

Racing down the roads that lead

From here and there to nowhere

Roads I’ve known too well, too long

Sleet so cold it burns my eyes

And yearns me on to go where

I can feel like I belong

 

And it’s you, with your heart like a fire

You, with your voice like the rain

You, you’re my love, my desire

Calling me back again

 

Twisting through the tunnels 

Of the faces and the voices

Voices much too loud to hear

Reaching for a meaning

While I’m juggling the choices

One choice always seems so clear

 

That it’s you, with your heart like a fire

You, with your voice like the rain

You, you’re my love, my desire

Calling me back again

 

Maybe I’m confused

And still unsure of what I’m doing

The light might be to dim to see

But even wandering in the dark

With thunder storms a-brewing

I know where I long to be

 

And it’s you, with your heart like a fire

You, with your voice like the rain

You, you’re my love, my desire

Calling me back again

 

 

 

 

 

​10. Mr. Minstrel / Old Banjo

 

When I wake up in the morning

And I look on down the track

It can’t take me back to where I’ve been

‘Cause the ties that bind the rails

Don’t bind the hours that slip on by

When time goes by you can’t go back again

 

And when I die

There’s an angel above me

Singin’ softly, sweet and low

You’ll hear him cry, ‘cause nobody loves me

Mister Minstrel, Old Banjo

 

Oh, the train yard and the bone yard, babe

It’s all the same to me

A lock without a key that keeps me nowhere

I could hop a freight and not be late

To where I’m bound for next

The road’s my bible text, the rail my creed

Chorus

 

And if dreams are not forgotten

When I leave this world behind

If one child hears a tale I used to tell

Then my bones will rest so easy

When I leave this world behind

Knowing that I did my life’s work well

Chorus

 

 

 

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