UNDERBELLY

Songs by Andrea Reising

released 2002, Drunken Buffalo Records

HAPPY HEARTED WOMAN

I’ll tear down the four walls of this home
I’ll leave it all so I can ramble and roam
Don’t try to stop me, you can’t make me stay
By the evening I’ll be gone
Open road goes on and on
I’m the only one I’ll worry ‘bout today
I want this life I want it all
I’d give so much I’d sell my soul
To leave behind these stationary ways

Hallelujah, riding free, it’s the only life for me
Cornfields, mountains, rivers, lakes and streams
I will take my motorcycle ‘cross the country, sea to sea
And a happy hearted woman I will be
(Chorus)

Endless miles up ahead
‘Till the day when I am dead
‘Till I won’t be moving ‘long these interstates
I’ll find some place where I can ride
Down below or in the sky
I’ll cruise those fire pits or pearly gates
Motorcycle made of dreams
More true to life than it might seem
Take me to the open country that awaits

Chorus

Go on and chain yourself to need
All your anger, dirty deeds
They’re the pile of rubbish in your way
You won’t take me down with you
No matter what depths you sink to
From these lofty heights my ideals will not stray
All these years have come and gone
And I’m still singin’ the same song
And I’ll fight to do it better every day

Chorus

MAYBE YOU SHOULD

Maybe you should fly to Mexico
Find a boat to take you ‘cross the Grand Rio
Find someone who you can love and settle down with her
Surround yourself in loving family

And maybe you should swim to Ireland
Wander out and find a girl whose looks can drive you mad
Take her up, be careful not to lose her to the wind
He’ll sing a song that sometimes sends her drifting

So climb from mountain top to valley low
Turn over every rock and look beneath it as you go
Maybe she’ll be there for you, waiting to be whisked away
Maybe you’ll find someone to love some day

And don’t lose your hope if there’s no one there for you
If all the faces lack a lover’s eye
Be thankful that you’ve got a heart that looks for love at all
Even if you don’t love what you find

And I dreamt that I might have you but you’ve not come ‘round for days
What good are dreams to the broken hearted
So I will climb to the mountain top and sink down to the valley
Turn over every rock and look beneath it as I go

And I won’t lose my hope if there’s no one there for me
If all the faces lack a lover’s eye
I’m thankful that I’ve got a heart that looks for love at all
Even if I don’t love what I find
Yeah even if I don’t love what I find

HIGH NOON

High noon must be a good time to go
And I wonder if she knew that as she walked into the road
She pulled a loaded barrel from the back drawer of her jeans
And said “It’s high noon and the time has come, you know”

He had a battle scar across his face
From where a grizzly bear had struck him in a mighty chase
A bristled chin, a crooked nose, belt buckle made of bone
His body planted firm beneath the hot sun as it shone

Her palms were dry, her eyes half wild, her heart as hard as stone
Her temper lit, not scared a bit to meet a deadly foe
She’d kill him without guilt or shame and coldly told him so
She said “My friend, it seems your time has come to go”

She’d pulled the trigger ‘fore he did and kept her promise made
He staggered there, the burning stare within his eyes began to fade
We watched him as he rolled his eyes up to the open sky
And turned away just when we knew he was about to die

Yes high noon is a good time to go
And I wonder if he felt it as he hit the empty road
The sheriff came and locked her hands and hung his head in woe
And said “How does a woman sink so low”

High noon must be a good time to go
And I wonder if she knew that as she walked out of the road
She smiled as she passed like there was something we should know
Something that could make her smile so

High noon must be a good time to go
High noon must be a good time to go
High noon must be a good time to go

ROCKABILLY BOYFRIEND

I want a rockabilly boyfriend
So I can be a rockabilly girl
I want a rockabilly boyfriend
So I can rock his rockabilly world
(Chorus)

I want to speedboat ‘cross the ocean
So I can see the whole sky up above
And I want someone to call me baby
And give me all his rockabilly love

I want a hairdo like my mom had
Except I’d wear more makeup than she did
Higher heels and mini skirts and guitars
I’d show off all the hickeys she would have hid

And I want an old Cadillac convertible
Light blue and white or black with silver trim
Orange and yellow flames across the side doors
Red hubcaps that shoot sparks when they spin

Chorus

I’d pick him up at seven and we’d take off
To the movies or a soda shop
We’d speed away into a burning sunset
Followed by a motorcycle cop

We’d sit in jail and think about each other
I’d stare across the cement to his cell
I’d promise that I’d always be his lover
Even if I had to follow him to hell

JUST FOR LOVE

I'd do almost anything once just to do it
And I’d stick with it just to get through it
I’ll do what needs to be done
But I won’t do anything just for love

I won’t do anything just for love
I’ll only do what I have to, I’ll do just enough
To get by and get well when the going gets tough
I won’t do anything just for love

I won’t do anything just for love
Won’t do anything just for love
And I don’t care if you don’t like what this heart is made of
I won’t do anything just for love
(Chorus)

I won’t do anything just for love
There’s gotta be prizes and payments involved
High stakes and lucky breaks to beef it up and top it off
I won’t do anything just for love

And I won’t move to where you are
I won’t worry too much or try too hard
I won’t put you first no matter who you are
I won’t do anything just for love

I won’t give up the things that I’ve gained
Won’t cover the tracks that I’ve made
Won’t come running back down the paths that I’ve lain
I won’t do anything just for love

Chorus

And she’ll change her religion for you
Pick up every bad habit you do
She’ll gather the pieces and hold on to what was
She’d do anything just for love

So you’d better keep her in your life
Get down on your knees and make her your wife
She’ll give you her best and she’ll do it just right
She’d do anything just for love

I'd only be trouble for you
I’d shake your foundations and widen your view
And I won’t accept anything just cus you do
I won’t do anything just for love

THIS SIDE

Well this side keeps fighting with that side
And this issue has already made itself clear and its not gonna die
And we will keep on talking and talking and talking and talking and talking about it
Until some other issue comes and pushes it aside

So make up your mind, what will you decide, which way will your convictions go?
'Cuz it’s blow your winds hard or just let the wild winds blow

And this problem is competing for attention with that problem
And this ailment is trying to take precedence
And all the losers in the world keep fighting
And all the winners bitch if they don’t win

So speak out your mind, you’ve only got a little time ‘till someone else decides it’s their turn
'Cuz it’s be heard now or accept that you’ll never be heard

And what is an answer anyway?
Just a half truth till a new truth comes and blows the past away
And everything we try so hard to count on, in the end
Crumbles to our feet when some new knowledge crashes in

And are you sure of what you have just said?
Was it what you mean or is it only what you meant?
Do you have an alternative plan?
Or do you dare to let go and make good with what you get?

So make up your mind, what will you decide, which way will your convictions go?
'Cuz it’s blow your winds hard or just let the wild winds blow

WISH I COULD SING

I wish I could sing a song about going home to North Dakota
But I don’t have a home in North Dakota
And I wish I could tell you how to live your life
So you don’t have to end up like me
I wish I could sing a song about going home to Minnesota
But I don’t have a home in Minnesota
And I wish I could talk about my plans for the future
But I don’t even know what I want to do an hour from now
Yeah, I wish I could sing a song about going home to Old Milwaukee
But I don’t have a home in Old Milwaukee
Well I wish I could sing a song about going home to some old place
But I don’t have a home any place

FACE DOWN

Face down on the floor again
I guess it’s easier like this
Head down at my chest
You know I’m not gonna bitch anymore
'Cuz bitchin’ is useless

And there are other things I know that I could do
But leaving now would mean leaving without you
And I wonder if I will always be this way
You know I never think I’m gonna make it through anything

Face down on the floor again
I guess it’s easier like this
Head down at my chest
I’m not gonna bitch anymore
'Cuz bitchin’ is useless

SLOW TRAIN

I’ve been hit by a slow train, slow train
Slow train of my love for you
I’ve been hit by a slow train, slow train
Slow train don’t do what you do
(Chorus)

I tried to go back to the city
I packed up my bags and began on my way
But each sign I saw on the highway
Said this love was making me stay

Chorus

And now there are two roads before me
One that you’re on and another all mine
Alone without heartache I’d rather be
Than hoping to have you this time

Chorus

So now I am back in the city
Working the day and playing the night
Better by far with my battles
Than caught in the war that we fight

Chorus

NO EAST OR WEST
(traditional fingerstyle)

MONTANA SONG

I woke up in Montana
A song inside my head
Went to bed in South Dakota
Badlands for my bed
Pushed the pedal back to Ely
Thirteen steps from Canada
Half my life spent leaving there
And half it going back

So why don’t you do what you do to me
Why don’t you do what you do
Why don’t you do what you do to me
Why don’t you do what you do
(Chorus)

Can’t say what’s been on my mind
A lot of dirty stuff
Can’t admit the things I think
I’ve got enemies enough
Can’t keep going on this way
Kneeling at death’s door
L etting sorrow wander in
And lay here on my floor

Chorus

Don’t know why it hurt me
When I couldn’t make him stay
I wouldn’t want someone
Who doesn’t want me anyway
Everybody jumping from
The boat we’re drifting in
I just stand here watching
Like the stormy sea’s my friend

Chorus

HERE WITH ME

I will hold you here with me
And do my best to set you free
I will not clip your precious wings
If you will come to me

I know it’s so hard sometimes
You don’t know what to do
You lay awake too sad to make
Your body try to move

So I will hold you here with me
You do not have to say a thing
Let the earth her furies bring
If you will come to me

And you are not the only one
Who sometimes needs to rest
In arms that know the weary ways
Of too much loneliness

Yes I will hold you here with me
And we will let the whole world be
And you can go when you need to leave
If you will come to me

And there are good things on the way
To turn these tides around
And what is so unsettling
Soon will settle down

But I will hold you here with me
And kiss your head so tenderly
I’ll give you all the love you need
If you will come to me

Yes I will hold you here with me
And we will let the whole world be
Stay as long as your heart needs
If you will come to me

FOUND OUT

I guess I just found out I am fighting a battle
Some war I might have known that I was getting into
And my fingers are working the triggers
But I don’t know which way to shoot

Somebody once told me to fight back
To give back each hit that I received
But something in me tells me just to let it pass
And I don’t know who to believe

And I know what I want out of this
I know what I want
You don't have to bother asking twice
Cus I know what I want
(Chorus)

I’m climbing up to reach rock bottom
And the dirt keeps filling in
My hands are breaking just to hold on
Keep off the coming of my burying

So now I know that I don’t want this
Fate I’ve taken up
Just let me go back and start again
And I promise I will try not to mess it up

'Cus I’m tired of this struggling
Just so I can squeeze by
Of running to the edge of every limit
And knowning that I've got to jump off to survive

Chorus

So come a little closer
I like it better when you’re here
I don’t say much but I am listening
To your movements when you’re near

And neither of us show much
I bet you don’t even know
And so I wait for some sweet second
When I can let these feelings show

HAVEN’T GOT THE TIME

You said you would be here
I guess that here meant over there
You can run off, I don’t really care
Losing you is the least of what I fear
And you said let’s see what tomorrow brings
And I imagined all kinds of things
If tomorrow comes and I am all alone
I won’t worry, no, ‘cause I’ve been there before

And you’ve done it one more time
You’ve got me wondering why
You’re too afraid to stand up and say goodbye
So get out and take your shit with you
I haven’t got the time
No, I haven’t got the time
(Chorus)

And I knew not to expect too much
And you’ve proved how right I was
The best of you is only in my head
Not in one thing that you have done or said
So do something besides never quite enough
And say something besides all the same old stuff
But we’ve had this talk before
So let’s not talk about it anymore

Chorus

LOOK WHAT I’VE DONE

Look what I’ve done, gone and broken my own heart again
And where will I go, since I’ve burned every bridge to where I have been
And how will I grow, if my roots will never learn to stay
And what do I have, now that I have thrown it all away
(Chorus)

And what will I show for all the work that I have done
I tore it all down and threw myself back to where I’d begun
I thought I was right to say goodbye to all I had done
I let go of too much, let go of the beauty my hard work had won

So put a stop on the clock, I want to go back to before I gave in
I see what I did, and I see what I should have done instead
Believed in myself, and told all the bastards to go back to hell
Held onto my life, the one I’d begun and knew so well

And nothing has managed to take up the place of what was once here
It doesn’t grow back, only emptiness lives in the space I have cleared
No don’t try to hold me, it won’t help at all, you can’t do a thing
I just want my time back, I want back my old angel wings

Yeah, I was once hopeful, I knew what I wanted and just what I’d do
But after I started, I shifted my winds and my dreams shifted too
I guess you can’t always expect to be right with each move that you make
But why all the wrong turns when we’ve only a lifetime to do everything

And I can’t hold it all up, I can’t be the infinite things I would be
If I had a lifetime without the misfortunes that I bring to me
So now I will let go, and let myself go back out and live
Let leave what I've taken from me
And measure my life by the love that I give

Chorus

THE FARTHER OUT

This winter’s nothing next to winters I have seen before
At least I've found some things that I’ve been looking for
I know the summer is not very far away
The winds of spring are bound to blow this ice away

And there’s a wide shoulder on this black hole of a road
A place for me to sleep, that’s good to know
I’m welcoming the company of rest tonight
But still it’s lonesome with all the headlights passing by

So hold your tongue and hold my hand
Don’t assume you understand
Maybe I mis-spoke again
Hell and high waters have not gotten me yet
But I’m an easier target the farther out I get
Yeah I’m an easier target the farther out I get
(Chorus)

It’s sober thoughts that always seem to get me down
And so I’ll raise my glass, then I’ll buy another round
Why don’t you turn away so I can walk on out the door
Cuz it’s the same way that I’ve left before

Walking home in the dark again
Back from a long day and a long day’s end
Something in the way he held his head
Something in the words that were not said

Chorus
 
 

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