Music From Northern Michigan

Feedback?  Questions?  Contact Dennis.

	Purchase this CD.
Cedar Tree	Bling Bling
Emma's Waltz	On Her Way
More	Shalda
To Be There	Justine
Cherrytown	Cedar Run
Dakota Dream	Little Rivers
Closer	Sky Dancer
Sailor's Song	Bottom with the Blues
Wood & Wire	Alder & Aspen
The Space Between	The Space Between
Everlasting Love	Solon Swing
Early October	Only Words
Seasonal DisorderLament	Timberdoodle
	Migration
	Upland

All rights reserved dennis palmer 2009 BMI

Many Thanks to the Friends & Family who helped out on this Project.
You made the songs come to life, and the process much more fun.

(Dennis - Vocals,Guitar,Keys,Bass,Percussion on all unless noted)

1.DREAMS AGAIN
Sandy Blumenfeld-Slide Guitar, Allison Palmer-Vocals, Sarah Allis-Vocals

There you go chasing dreams again
Hellbent and hardass times two
If you held success in your hands
Would your heart still be blue

How you ever going to make amends
When you can’t make up your mind
Will your dreams justify the end
After trading love for lies
After trading love for lies

Chorus:
Dreams, dreams again
Dreams, dreams again

Changing names is just a game you play
Somebody, somebody knew
How many times must you ring the bell
Before it finally rings true

You wear your pride like a coat of steel
to save yourself from attack
so many chances to share your soul
burning bridges at your back
burning bridges at your back

(Chorus)

(Instrumental Verse)
you’re so engaged with what you want
you can’t see what you’ve got
you love the thought of what could be
and hate yourself for what you’re not

And when you find that you’ve pissed away
All your reason for rhyme
Don’t your dreams seem so bitter sweet
When all we really have is time
All we have is time

2.THIS ROAD

Maybe we could take a drive down to the park the way we used to do
You could tell me all about your day and I would say sweet things to you
it shouldn’t be so hard for us to regard our feelings in a natural way
what used to be clear is clouded with fear and sinks from the weight of the day

But old love songs and fairy tales make all the rest untrue
Somewhere down this road we’ll find love like we once knew

did we miss a turn along the way, was it too steep to make the grade
the bridges we’ve crossed all the tolls and the costs, our hearts should be so brave
we can drive this car all through the night and have nowhere to go
and though the signs are there for anyone to see there are things we don’t want to know

But old love songs and fairy tales make all the rest untrue
Somewhere down this road we’ll find love like we once knew

Now the words won’t flow cause that rivers too low and smiles never seem to last
And though it might sound true when the moment is thru what’s it worth if you have to ask

I can see from your eyes you’ve got something inside something you’ve been meaning to say
if the timings not right when exposed to the light the picture just fades away
so lets go down to the park hand in hand the way we used to do
you can tell me all about your day and I’ll say things you never knew
Cause old love songs and fairy tales make all the rest seem true
And somewhere down this road, somewhere down this road, we’ll find love like we once knew

3.THE CARDIAC KID
Dennis-Octave Mandolin, Paul Rose-Vocals

He rubs the sleep from his eyes, the dog begins to whine
She knows the routine and this is her time
Some old blue jeans, and a torn sweatshirt
He laces up the boots, and kicks off the dirt
Foot steps echo on an old wood floor
at the break of dawn, they’ll be out the door
He didn’t buy the farm just a pretty close bid
Now he’s running for his life, the Cardiac Kid

He thought he was cool with his head in the sand
What he refused to see his heart made him understand
Now he’s fit as a fiddle and full of himself
Got a 6 by 9 of his heart on the shelf
He’s gonna look for the good, learn to forgive
The glass is half full for the cardiac kid
(Chorus)
(Instrumental Bridge)
He’s got a fire burnin low and snow on the roof
He might tell you a lie but never bend the truth
Long in the tooth, short on hair
Just another boomer rising up for air
He’s gonna look for the good, Learn to forgive
The glass is half full for the Cardiac Kid

4.SHUT UP AND PLAY
Andre Villoch-Vocals

I am a victim of a curious mind
Gotta know everything all the time
Can’t seem to stop it, though I know that I should
Just because there’s news doesn’t mean that it’s good
I read the papers and I go online
Gotta be informed if you’re gonna speak your mind
But nobody seems to want to hear a word that I say
It’s just, hey man shut up and play
I check the planets the alignment of the stars
There’s new speculation about life on Mars
I can talk about the dollar, the position of the yen
And this latest war we ain’t ever gonna win
I read the papers and I go online
Gotta be informed if you’re gonna speak your mind
But nobody seems to want to hear a word that I say
It’s just hey man, shut up and play
(Instrumental bridge)
I’m kissing her and She’s feeling inclined
And I start thinking about the latest headline
Politics as usual, the bias of the press
How that famous diva got in such a mess
I ask for her opinion, it’s my personal survey
She just says Hey Babe shut up and play

I can tell you who’s expected in the final 4
Just what your uvula is for
The mating habits of the chimpanzee
I watched them do it on discovery

5.THE REMINDER
Kurt Westie-Mandolin, Allison Palmer-Vocals

Aching bones & graying hair, children grown beyond our care
Those we’ve lost along the way, remind us of a life in play
Where setting suns and turning leaves, paint the days that we all see
We make excuses we make our plans, as if we hold life in our hands
And as the hours shake our grasp, we have all these memories of the past
Until we’re standing there alone, Heart & Soul, Blood & Bone

I’ve been thinking of what’s ahead, do we lead or are we led
Still the choices that I’ve made, line this strange and blue parade
I hear voices in the night, there is laughter talk is light
While I wait here in the dark, for someone to open up my heart
Keep the love that’s there inside, you can cut away my pride
My legacy is still quite unknown, Heart & Soul, Blood & Bone

Today the robins left for good, time to cut and stack the wood
Rake the leaves clean up the yard, winters coming some say hard
I think before it gets too late, I’ll take the dog down to the lake
She likes to run there in the sand, I love the waves upon the land
This is my favorite time of year, the crowds have gone the beach is clear
And then we’re standing there alone, Heart & Soul, Blood & Bone

6.DIAMONDS

Jenny moved to Grayling in the Fall of 82’
She took a one room cabin had a wood stove and a view
She needed time and open space to heal what she’d been thru
And all the stars around her show like diamonds thru and thru
like diamonds thru and thru

he might have saved his soul and found a way to stay
but love can be forgotten and still get in the way
instead he left the table while his cards were still in play
And all the stars around him show like diamonds thru and thru
like diamonds thru and thru

(Instrumental Break)

Like oil upon a canvas changing what we see
We’re lost there in the forest still looking for that tree
Gray Skies December and the creek lies frozen still
There’ll be no laughing waters till March has had her fill
And all the days around us shine like diamonds thru and thru
like diamonds thru and thru

7.OVER THE BRIDGE

Over The Bridge, Over The Bridge
Over The Bridge, Over The Bridge,Over The Bridge
I can walk through the rivers
Lake wind makes me shiver
Don’t want to talk about the weather
If it’s June pack a sweater
I’ll be treated more fairly
Snow is gone just barely
Over The Bridge, Over The Bridge
Over The Bridge
Run & jump in the big lake
Stop at Clyde’s for a Milk Shake
I can face all my fears
I might have a few tall beers
Maybe buy some smoked fish
There’s a Finn to kiss
(Chorus)
From watersmeet to sault ste marie
It’s where I go when I’m good to me

I can get my religion
no need to try and fit in
the colors all run truer
saints and sinners are fewer
I can do the seney stretch
Take a pee in the ditch
(Chorus)
I can sleep a little longer
The coffee’s always stronger
My guitar sounds sweeter
I’ll catch a tree with my leader
Sit and sweat in the sauna
Take off my shorts if I wanta
Think I’ll go for the money
Just tryin to be funny

8.LIFE & TIMES
Jonah Powell-Fiddle, Sarah Allis-Vocals, Allison Palmer-Vocals

What will they say about us when we all pass our prime
I Hope there is some laughter, the facts will do just fine
When they talk about our living,Will they read between the lines
What will they say about us, and our life & times

My father was a farmer’s son before he joined the war
He became a sailor and fought off distant shores
And when the war was over he found freedom on the road
Behind the wheel of a big rig his life was bought and sold
My mother grew up city poor it was 1928
There was a fire the house was lost, they managed to escape
All except the family Dog who perished in the flames
and sure as I’m my mother’s son, Bingo was his name oh
(Chorus)
I have two younger brothers, and sisters there are three
We fought when we were children, but it was plain to see
that we really stuck together, when times they got hard
now we’re thrown like broken glass, I’m just another shard
(Chorus)
Life is made of moments, when everything gets said
And it’s more than just bad manners to speak poorly of the dead
there’s sure to be some judgment around our family tree
We were something special, At least it seems that way to me
(Instrumental Chorus)
I think if you look closely you’ll see we’ve left our mark
And every raging fire begins with just a spark
Daughters become Mothers making Fathers of the sons
And we may never know the lengths to which our shadows run

9.LIFESAVER MAN
Dennis-Octave Mandolin, Hohner Melodica

Orange & lemon, cherry & lime
24 flavors in all
stacked and then sorted, wrapped with such care
the candy smelled sweet in the air, the candy smelled sweet in the air

for 31 years he worked 8 to 5 the heart of the lifesaver crew
Ed sampled the candy as part of QC
making sure just the best would get thru, only the best would get thru

he raised up a family with his wife Margaret Ann
their children now had all grown
too old to start over too young to retire
the factory was all he had known
making candy was all he had known

where do you go when they’ve taken away
your life from Monday to Friday
the heart has no place when there’s profit at stake
with a drop of a hat they moved out of state

Orange & lemon, cherry & lime
24 flavors in all
stacked and then sorted, wrapped with such care
the candy smelled sweet in the air, the candy smelled sweet in the air

on April 11th 2003 the last were all rolled up and bagged
wintergreen mint read the tag

10.YESTERDAY'S ROSE
Dennis-Octave Mandolin, Chris Palmer-Flute

Sundays you’ll see her in the old part of town
Looking thru windows where life can be found on display, everyday
Sometimes she’ll stop and she’ll reach for the door
Or look for the key that her life could be more than just dreams, only dreams

Evening advances and all of the chances she tried
Giving up what’s inside, for those that she knew, if she knew
Pretending to shop she will walk down the block
To the garden with the flowers in rows, but it’s just suppose for yesterday’s Rose

From the fountain she’s counting young lovers embraced
time slips between them and the years are erased, heart & soul, heart & soul
She thinks of the girl with the world in her eyes
When everyday came with a shiny new prize, inside, all inside

Evening advances and all of the chances she tried
Giving up what’s inside, for those that she knew, if she knew
Pretending to shop she will walk down the block
To the garden with the flowers in rows, but it’s just suppose for yesterday’s Rose

11.AT LAST
(written by Warren/Gordon EMI)
Allison Palmer-Vocal, Kurt Westie-Mandolin, Dennis-Guitar
Recorded 12/08 at Horizon Books Traverse City,MI by Jan Waling