Saltwater Country (2025)

Cranberry Blossoms

Oh the cranberry blossoms

And my grandfather’s hands

He’d work all day then sleep real good

He was a solitary man

From the first thing in the morning

To the end of the day

You never knew what he’s thinking

I knew he loved me anyway

Summers when I was in high school

And I had to get a job

Got no love for fast food

So I was working on the bog

You get down in them ditches man

You’re bound to touch a snake

There’s me screaming like a little girl

He laughed so hard that he’d shake

In the cranberry blossoms

And my grandfather’s hands

He’d work all day then sleep real good

He was a solitary man

From the first thing in the morning

To the end of the day

You never knew what he’s thinking

I knew he loved me anyway

18 with my first broken heart

I searched all around for comfort

And I went to Jesus for a start

Grandpa caught me praying and he said

“There ain’t no time for hurt.

I got the cure for all of that

It’s just a hard day’s work

In the cranberry blossoms”

As I’ve gotten older

And the vines are still green

He’s out there on the tractor

The man never admits defeat

And we don’t call it helping

I’m just working while he rides

And listening to the stories

That he always kept inside

In the cranberry blossoms

Just a Kid on Parkwood Drive

12 years old, with a guitar in my hand

Tiger Beat over every wall, that was my whole plan

 “Gwen Stefani’s abs, how does she get em?”

As I practice Chopin, 

dreaming ‘bout Hanson- and how I’m gonna get ‘em,

Holding out for a long haired man.

This is nothing like I thought it was,

Late nights, doing my make up in a parking lot

Street tough, giving me side-eye while he looks for love…

Right through me, but doesn’t everyone-

Until the lights come up…

I was Just a kid on Parkwood Drive, 

Singing loud, just to feel alive.

I felt like a nothing, I guess it started something-

Doesn’t everybody feel like this-

Won’t somebody please notice I exist.

Twenty-five, dive bar dark corner with a guitar in my hand

Living the dream, turn it up a little louder over the shouts of a drunk man

 What is success, and  how do you get it

Selling t-shirts outta my van

Dreaming bout the day when I can finally say

I made it man

This is nothing like I thought it was,

Late nights, doing my make up in a parking lot

Street tough, giving me side-eye while he looks for love…

Right through me, but doesn’t everyone-

Until the lights come up…

I was Just a kid on Parkwood Drive, 

Singing loud, just to feel alive.

I felt like a nothing, I guess it started something-

Doesn’t everybody feel like this-

Won’t somebody please notice I exist.

I felt like a nothing, I guess it started something-

Now I’m waiting for the plot twist

Won’t somebody please notice I exist.

I Wanna Tell You Something

You and me, a cool drink

On a summer evening

Eyes across the bonfire

Wonder what you’re thinking

I don’t think I’ve said too much

But I can’t keep it together

When we accidentally touch

I can wait

But I can’t wait

Baby this is everything

Lean into me closer cause

I wanna tell you something

I’ve learned how to embrace

All my features

The real me’s hidden underneath

Do you wanna meet her

You have been my great escape

Hands under my covers

Thinking about your face

I can wait

But I can’t wait

Baby this is everything

Lean into me closer cause

I wanna tell you something

What a cruel trick my friend

I hope this ain’t how we end

Used to have my shit together

Now I doubt I’ll ever get better

And I can’t pretend

So here’s the text I never sent

You make every room hotter

I’m drowning, you’re the water

I can wait

But I can’t wait

Baby this is everything

Lean into me closer cause

I wanna tell you something

You and me, a cool drink

On a summer evening

You and me taking it off

Down to nothing

You and Me Talking

Remember when we’d drive around

Cause there was nothing to do in this Podunk town

Restaurants never open late

But Little Harbor never closed the gate

Kids in cars making out

Jealousy we never talked about

Our names in hearts drawn in the sand

We didn’t want too much, just a whole boy band

What I wouldn’t give right now

To meet ya

On that quiet beach on an autumn day

To feel the rocks and the shells ‘neath our feet, yeah

We’re not giving up cause we’re tough

And we’re walking

Just you and me talking

Always trying to lose the weight

To get pretty enough for other girls to hate

Hours at the YMCA

Earning calories for our coffee date

What I wouldn’t give right now

To meet ya

On that quiet beach on an autumn day

To feel the rocks and the shells ‘neath our feet, yeah

We’re not giving up cause we’re tough

And we’re walking

Just you and me talking

Pretty girls who had it all

While we were stuck against the wall

Planning their downfall

We’ll watch their tans turn to wrinkles

We’ll be happy, they’ll be single

Life was that simple

Distance played a funny hand

We’ve forgotten about our old homeland

Sometimes I send a cool postcard

But is a phonecall really all that hard

What I wouldn’t give right now

To meet ya

On that quiet beach on an autumn day

To feel the rocks and the shells ‘neath our feet, yeah

We’re not giving up cause we’re tough

And we’re walking

Just you and me talking

Gloria

There’s a wooden carving of an old fisherman

Yellow rain slicker and a smoke pipe

He’s staring off blindly toward Nauset Light

‘boys I don’t think we’re leaving the harbor tonight’

The sea throws up sick

White caps look like tossed ships

And they ain’t gonna get no reprieve

Gloria, Gloria, say her name, Gloria

Gloria she don’t want me to leave

I came back home for the last time I thought

Just to grab my old cat and some things

Then that sickly sweet voice started calling my name

Boys you ain’t ever heard this girl sing

So roll, roll, roll up your rigging

She ain’t gonna stop

And I ain’t ever leaving

This hell hole town got my heart in it’s hands

Let her win, she’s too strong, I can’t stand

Red sky in the morning when I left my mooring

Calamity I should have seen

But the temptation of finally getting away

From the woman who cuckholded me

The sea throws up sick

White caps look like tossed ships

And they ain’t gonna get no reprieve

Gloria, Gloria, say her name, Gloria

Gloria she don’t want me to leave

It swirls like black ink when ya fall in the drink

There’s no fighting the girl’s current son

Just float like the martyr of all the old salts

Pray you wash up on the shore when she’s done

So roll, roll, roll up your rigging

She ain’t gonna stop

And I ain’t ever leaving

This hell hole town got my heart in it’s hands

Let her win, she’s too strong, I can’t stand

There’s a wooden carving of an old fisherman

And I think that he looks just like me

I’ve grown into the floorboards of this

Godforsaken house

It’s my ghost in the window you see

The sea throws up sick

White caps look like tossed ships

And they ain’t gonna get no reprieve

Gloria, Gloria, say her name, Gloria

Gloria she don’t want me to leave

Who’s Raising Who

I’m gonna be a better parent than my mom was.

Gonna win a golden medal from the PTA.

And my kid will wear his sunblock,

Double knotted sneakers won’t fall off

And he’ll always get good grades

I had organic fresh fruit cut in pieces,

Made smiley faces, ya know, like you do.

But the truth was hard to take,

He went on hunger strike for cake

And I learned early to let go, and bend the rules.

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

Real life ain’t a movie

The sky ain’t always blue.

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

There are days I think I’ll dress up like a lady

But I’ve settled into sweatpants aint it great

Cause you can’t climb in a sandbox in stilettos

And there’s a superhero standoff that won’t wait

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

Real life ain’t a movie

The sky ain’t always blue.

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

As it turns out you don’t need much sleep to make it

Three hours every night for six months straight

And looking in the mirror, my inheritance is clear

I’m so glad that what I see’s my mother’s face

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

Real life ain’t a movie

The sky ain’t always blue.

Who’s raising who?

Who’s raising who?

Real life ain’t a movie

And it seems I’ve stepped into

My mother’s shoes

Who’s raising who?

Smoke Stain

He walks by my front window every morning

Clutching his soul in a paper bag

His life passed by him quick without no warning

He tells himself it ain’t so bad

Quiet steps to the church basement

Wood paneling been listening

Since 1970

We go round and round and pray that we might change

While the smoke stain stays

For twenty dollars she’s a hand with a haircut

So she can bring her kids to the fast food line

One hand’s a cup of coffee one is searching

For a glass and a box of wine

Quiet steps to the church basement

Wood paneling been listening

Since 1970

We go round and round and pray that we might change

While the smoke stain stays

Sometimes I feel like I ain’t go no mooring

Bobbing about in the open sea

Ignore the dreams I had of a new day dawning

This town always swallows me

Quiet steps to the church basement

Wood paneling been listening

Since 1970

We go round and round and pray that we might change

While the smoke stain stays

Maybe Modern (2023)

My great-grandma’s

Chair’s still standing

Dusty thing, but proud

Her piano’s

Strings still singing

Out of tune, but loud

100 years of living

And it still wants more

Maybe modern

Hearts aren’t meant to last

We just hold on til we’re past

The pain it brings

And we’re all just broken things

That’s my grandpa’s

Old jalopy

You still can turn it on

Out the door

And down the road

Can’t stop us once we’re gone

100 years of living

And it still wants more

Maybe modern

Hearts aren’t meant to last

We just hold on til we’re past

The pain it brings

And we’re all just broken things

Thought I was tough wearing an old punk rock t shirt

Thought I was tough til I knew what it meant to hurt

And my grandad stood there stoic as a wall

I wonder if he felt pain at all

Of course he did-he was just a little kid

Back when we don’t talk about it

This old house

Has seen it’s share

Of hearts broke on the floor

It will be here

After I’m gone

Opening it’s doors

Maybe modern

Hearts aren’t meant to last

We just hold on til we’re past

The pain it brings

And we’re all just broken things

Ghost of It

What did time do

I don’t see you anymore

But I have the scars to tell

The stories of our youth

We ran the world

Our glory days were yet to come

We could be anything

We could be better than

Where we came from

I was so scared

Scared of leaving

When the time had come

Like my grandad

Sitting on the same porch

Like he’d always done

Hometown son

Down the winding road

I used to know

But I’m standing here alone

You can never go home again

You can only see the ghost of it

Here is the church

Where we learned the love the Savior brings

But I never felt believing

Was in my blood

Here is the school

Where we learned the brutal things

People love you one day

And then they go away

It don’t matter how your heart sings

I was so scared

Scared of leaving

When the time had come

Like my grandad

Sitting on the same porch

Like he’d always done

Hometown son

Down the winding road

I used to know

But I’m standing here alone

You can never go home again

You can only see the ghost of it

Here is the door

I used to make my escape

There are voices inside

And I wanna die

Cause I don’t see one familiar face

You can never go home again

You can only see the ghost of it

Saltwater Country

Ain’t got a good reputation

Ain’t had one for a while

Don’t make sense to me

Everybody walks by with a smile

We are the salt of the earth

We are as real as the smile on your face

When you finally give up on the traffic

On the bridge to the Cape

Hey little sister are you coming out with me

Bank account full of nothing

And nowhere I gotta be

 A Cooler and a blanket

And a ring on my toe

Let’s hide out at Little Harbor

Ain’t Nobody gotta know

You’re with me

In saltwater country

We like tradition

We like everything as it once was

Sometimes we go to Walmart

And walk around just because

The Cracks in the sidewalk

Have been there since my mama was young

It reminds her of summer

And her dreams and the songs that she sung

Hey little sister are you coming out with me

Bank account full of nothing

And nowhere I gotta be

A cooler and a blanket

And a ring on my toe

Let’s hide out at Little Harbor

Ain’t Nobody gotta know

You’re with me

In saltwater country

The long-forgotten brother

And the rich man’s son

The girl who needed nothing

But her face in the sun

At the center of town

Our grandfather’s names are etched in stone

We can’t leave the town that made us

Except for maybe Geena Davis

We used to make nails

Now we’re the scapegoat for the drugs in the night

we’re rich in coastline

A Victorian paradise

If  they can’t see the beauty

Hell, that’s their burden to bear

More for you and me

Cause we ain’t going anywhere

Hey little sister are you coming out with me

Bank account full of nothing

And nowhere I gotta be

A cooler and a blanket

And a ring on my toe

Let’s hide out at Little Harbor

Ain’t nobody gotta know

You’re with me

In saltwater country

One Becomes Two

Sometimes I buy coffee cause I’ve got nothing to do

Every single quiet moment reminds me of you

You got it all figured out

You’re moving out your mama’s house

And I’m still waiting

For the moment to move me

To get out of my own way

Everybody asks me if I’m doing ok

I say yes but honestly

There’s no place I wanna be

I’m holding on to

Comfort to get me to the evening time

So I can drink it down

It’s just a little glass of wine

One becomes two

So I can forget you

The World is turning slowly

all the world is moving before me

Remember when you told me I was innocence defined

You’d laugh at my naivete

With your sophisticated mind

I’d play along so you could be

The big man that you wanna be

I’d bite my tongue

It isn’t like I didn’t know you took the best of me

Your words wrapped in pretty paper snowballing so quickly

One day I’m my own woman the next day I’m beholden to you

Why was I holding on to

Comfort to get me to the evening time

So I can drink it down

It’s just a little glass of wine

One becomes two

So I can forget you

The World is turning slowly

all the world is moving before me

Drink it down slowly

Drink it down sane

Til I forget who I am again

Drink it down slowly

It’s still a choice

I forget the sound of my own voice

Comfort to get me to the evening time

It’s just a little glass of wine

One becomes two

So I can forget you

The World is turning slowly

all the world is moving before me

Beer in a Teacup

Everybody fits in

Everybody gets it

Everybody’s looking at me

I’m all kinds of awkward

Don’t know how to talk first

Hide my face in a magazine

Might feel like I did

When I was just a little kid

But ain’t no reason

Not to dive in

No fancy dresses or leather boots

Little rough around the edges in my tennis shoes

But I can dress it up and put on a show!

Just pour my beer in a teacup and let it go

Ladies in their lipstick

Working out at Crossfit

Girls got legs for days

Living for that beach life

Happy wife’s a good wife

Baywatch in the waves

Ain’t no toned arms here

But hold my beer

There ain’t no reason

Not to dive in

No fancy dresses or leather boots

Little rough around the edges in my tennis shoes

But I can dress it up and put on a show!

Just pour my beer in a teacup and let it go

And I let it go

Yeah I let it go

I pour my beer in a teacup and let it go

Here’s a little secret

I ain’t gonna keep it

There’s no such thing as cool

Everybody’s messed up

Might not wanna fess up

The perfect man’s a fool

We fight against the clock

It’s insecurities that talk

Don’t we all just

Hide our own mess

with fancy dresses and leather boots

Little rough around the edges in my tennis shoes

But I can dress it up and put on a show!

Pour my beer in a teacup and let it go

Heartbreak Hell

I broke up with a guy cause he spelled Saturday wrong

Had it been Wednesday maybe I could understand

But he was cut like stone

And I felt less alone

In the arms of a brick of a man

I’m kind of a coward so I ghosted his ass

Now I’ve heard he’s saving lives with his bare hands

There was nothing wrong with him

It was always me

Time’s not wasted

Though it didn’t go too well

Self-inflicted heartbreak hell

But I walked away a little closer to myself

I met my dirty Danny in 9th grade French

And he had this kinda bad boy thing

We’d make out in his car and he’d take it too far

But at least he liked the way I sing

The lines got blurred with his hand up my shirt

I didn’t give him enough so my heart got hurt

Was there something wrong with him

Or was it me

Time’s not wasted

Though it didn’t go too well

Self-inflicted heartbreak hell

But I walked away a little closer to myself

He liked history and I like history

And it should have been as simple as that

He was cute and smart, played bad guitar

And he really liked to pet my cat

It took a little while to find a chink in the armor

Could have overlooked his temper, could have tried a little harder

There was something wrong with him

It wasn’t me

Time’s not wasted

Though it didn’t go too well

Self-inflicted heartbreak hell

But I walked away a little closer to myself

Poor Man’s Daughter

I know poor like the Devil knows the fiddle

Leaves ya cold at night and hungry in the middle

It took to me like moss to stone

Poverty is in my bones

Fear made me do bad things

Bad things

Tryin’ to claw my way out

I know it’s just a memory

But it sends me back

To hopeless, helpless

In a hand me down dress

I been down to the river, down to the river

But some things don’t wash away with water

So I’ll always be a poor man’s daughter

I know want like a lonely tomcat

Howling in the night singing “where my girls at”

I think it’s true that he did love me

All I could see was the money

Fear made me do bad things

Bad things

Tryin’ to claw my way out

I know it’s just a memory

But it sends me back

To hopeless, helpless

In a hand me down dress

I been down to the river, down to the river

But some things don’t wash away with water

So I’ll always be a poor man’s daughter

I might be what you’d call white trash

Don’t throw anything away cause we might need that

White bread Sunday, White bread Monday

Ima be a big wheel someday

Fear made me do bad things

Bad things

Tryin’ to claw my way out

I know it’s just a memory

But it sends me back

To hopeless, helpless

In a hand me down dress

I been down to the river, down to the river

But some things don’t wash away with water

So I’ll always be a poor man’s daughter

Avoiding Confrontation

My life’s motto since 1992

Is “Avoid the confrontation”

Might not be the healthiest trick

That I have ever used

It’s just self preservation

I don’t wanna hear you tell me that I’m wrong

Maybe we’re just singing different words to the same song

If we all can’t get along

I’ll sit alone and I’ll read every book

Happy in my library nook all day

I got a couple friends I hardly ever see

Except for “hey how are you doing”

Presidential politics, we agree to disagree

But I don’t respect their opinion

And I don’t wanna hear ‘em tell me that I’m wrong

Maybe we’re just singing different words to the same song

If we all can’t get along

I’ll just sit alone and I’ll read every book

Happy in my library nook all day

How can we all be friends

When can’t even pretend to be civil

Id rather walk alone again

Or get a block of wood and start to whittle

Cause This living

Ain’t for chickens

He fell in love with alcohol and hiding it from me

I was afraid to hurt his feelings

So I stuck around a year or two and tried to set him free

It was a lonely state of being

He didn’t want to hear me tell him he was wrong

We were singing different words it was barely a song

Gave up on getting along

So I sit alone and I read every book

Happy in my library nook all day

Cause my life’s motto since 1992

Is “avoid the confrontation”

Only a Man

Growing up on Datewood Street

My mama always baking pies

To give us a taste of something sweet

And keep us happy

Oh how she tried

I wish that she had known it

In her bones

Just cause you’ve got four walls

It don’t mean that you’re home

You don’t have to take it

You could up and run away

Over the bridges to the Cape

Cross invisible lines that make you stay

He’s only a man

Only a man

Only a man

At the end of the day

From the smoky rug in the living room

Hiding behind my trains and toys

Wanted to save her from

My lone model of a man

But I was only a little boy

There’s no way to see

Behind a one-way glass

Black and blue, it aint the color of you

Come on and leave it in the past

You don’t have to take it

You could up and run away

Over the bridges to the Cape

Cross invisible lines that make you stay

He’s only a man

Only a man

Only a man

At the end of the day

On My Way Massachusetts

I’m on my way Massachusetts

I’ve still got 3,000 miles ahead

The desert’s singing sweetly but the truth is

There’s no other place I wanna rest my head

You caught my eye Carolina

You’re tempting me Tennessee

But when I think about skipping stones

And winding roads that lead you home

There’s one place I see

So I’m on my way Massachusetts

Can almost feel my feet at the water’s edge

I try to quell the homesick but it’s useless

The summer heat, the sandy feet there in my bed

You caught my eye Carolina

You’re tempting me Tennessee

When I think about autumn’s turn

The way the leaves there start to burn

There’s one place for me

You caught my eye Carolina

You’re tempting me Tennessee

When I think about what it would cost

The magic of the winters lost

There’s one place for me

So I’m on my way Massachusetts

My soul’s made up of your history

I know you like to claim the founding fathers

But how ‘bout mermaid tales, big ol’ whales and piracy

Cobblestones, colonial homes, land of the free

Love or hate her, she’s the state I’ll never leave

Caught up in Your Blue

I didn’t know I could until I did

I just walked out and took a deep breath

I gave everything I had inside

Until I knew there was no “me” left

Words can be as hard to swallow

As a gun

It’s like you handed me one

Then you said

“what you gonna do about it now?

There’s nowhere to run

Baby you’re done done done

Where you going, who you gonna call?

They won’t catch your fall

You left them all”

I don’t think you know I’m not a fool

I just got caught up in your blue

Listen to dark words too many times

You start believing

Like you’re some needy creature

You don’t know your beginning or where he ends

Eyes can be as hard to escape

As a knife

Let me walk away with my life

Don’t tell me

“what you gonna do about it now?

There’s nowhere to run

Baby you’re done done done

Where you going, who you gonna call?

They won’t catch your fall

You left them all”

I don’t think you know I’m not a fool

I just got caught up in your blue

You’re a drug and I’m the user

God, I feel the shame

Might say you’re the abuser

I think I’m the same

Get Along

Hello

How are you

I’ve got something to say

I can’t believe

Things have turned to disdain

Like rocks in my pockets

As I walk to the shore

I just wanna know

If you can’t love me no more

So get along

Little girl

What’s he gonna say

Get along

Little girl

It’ll all be ok

Out of the flames we fly

Get along

Little girl

Just say goodbye

I was a mess

And you made mistakes

Under the rubble

The foundation shakes

Like walking center stage

With no shouts of encore

I just wanna know

If you can’t hold me no more

So get along

Little girl

What’s he gonna do

Say you’re all

He ever needs

And validate you

Out of the flames we fly

Get along

Little girl

Just say goodbye

Even on

The best of days

He’ll just drag you down

So get along

So get along

Little girl

What’s he gonna see

Someone strong

Who moves along

And sets herself free

Out of the flames we fly

Get along

Little girl

Just say goodbye

Wasted

Sometimes I dream about you

Sometimes I pace the floor

Wishing these silent movies

Wouldn’t plague me anymore

I’ve moved on I think

But in quiet moments

Like washing dishes at the sink

I remember

Throwing back a bottle of wine

I was so sure that you were mine

I was wasted all that time

Here I am maturely thinking

That I was so naive

You could’ve said anything

And I would have believed

I’ve moved on I’ve grown

But in my weaker moments

I still go back

And I remember

Throwing back a bottle of wine

I was so sure that you were mine

I was wasted all that time

When I was waiting

For your voice, soft and clear

To tell me what I wanna hear

That it wasn’t wasted time

And you were always gonna be mine

You knew your prey, I know you did

When you brought me home

And you crossed the lines when you wanted to

Once they were drawn

I had no say and I let you take me

Down, down, down

Oh Colorado

You might not know it to look at me

But I’m as soft as they come

Wear my heart out on my sleeve

And watch me come undone

Woman, you found me broken

And searching for a home

Oh fortune, I followed you

To Colorado

You leave me breathless

And I can’t stand no more

You take your shoes off

So free and fearless

I wonder if I should have known

It’s best to let you roam

The Rocky Mountains I could see

For the first time from above

The plane was shaking, I was thinking

“Oh what we do for love”

Omen, I should have listened

What a tremulous way to start

Fortune, I followed you

To Colorado

You leave me breathless

And I can’t stand no more

You take your shoes off

So free and fearless

I wonder if I should have known

It’s best to let you roam

Cautious steps like I was taking

Before you came to my door

Would leave me safe, I’d never know

About life and loss and light and love

And losing

Colorado

You leave me breathless

And I can’t stand no more

You take your shoes off

So free and fearless

I wonder if I should have known

It’s best to let you roam