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Abilene

by Chris Beall

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1.
The building still stood in my hometown; A diner of memories still hangin around. Grandmas and kids just like us And somebody's pictures on the wall hangin up. Plaid shirts and corduroy side by side. Break-out the Polaroid, now, both of y'all smile. We're left with snapshots held up with pushpins Up on the wall of a diner we were in. People remain in an ever-changing world; Some mother's sons and little girls In a small town diner In a Big Blue World. Years they would come and they'd go. That kid in the Polaroid left for Nashville, don't ya know. And there in the plaid---whatever happened to that one? Well he's still around, but the old lady's gone. I felt the rumble, yeah, felt my world shake And I knew it was comin' nine-hundred miles away. After the earthquake, well, that life was dust; The grandmas and kids, that used to be us. But people, they change and they take on the world; Some mother's sons and little girls. Yes, they rise from the ashes In a Big Blue World. When I can't recall, there's a picture hangin' up. As time moves along, one memory gets stuck. And some mother's son someday will see In a plaid shirt in a Polaroid, Grandma and me. And we will remain in an ever-changing world, Some mother's son and a little girl, In a small-town diner In a Big Blue World
2.
You don't know me, but you know my name. I see a picture; you see a frame. Just walk away from nothin'. It's easy to do When it means nothing to you. But if you're gonna go then you'd better get goin'. I can feel the wind and the wheels rushing by. We already know where all of this is goin' Showed-up on your way out when you passed 'em by. I wish it was you or somebody else, But I put it down in a letter to myself Yesterday when I was leavin' Why can't I let the time be Right here with you and me? I know you're gonna go, and you'd better get goin'. I can feel the wind, and the time rushin' by. We already know, but sometimes it don't help knowin' Were we really there when you said goodbye? I know you're gonna go, and you'd better get goin'. I can see the clouds and the storms in your eyes. Did we really know where all of this was goin'? Showed-up on your way out when you passed 'em by. Showed up walkin' out when you said, "Goodbye." Goodbye You don't know me, but you know my name.
3.
Abilene 04:39
Patches on both knees; Toughskin bootcut jeans In a Levi world. We were poor but we had plenty; Just a simple kind of life. I couldn't wait to leave behind Abilene, in my rear view mirror; sundown to the west. I believed I could be from somewhere else. By the time I saw it clearly the decision had come and gone Just like me---down the highway singing your song, Oh, Abilene. Cracked and dried ground; The southwest sun beat down On all my dreams. And the stars that shined above me Were just too far out of reach. The time came to leave Abilene, in my rear view mirror; sundown to the west. I believed I could be from somewhere else. By the time I saw it clearly the decision had come and gone Just like me---down the highway singing your song, Oh, Abilene. I used to think that I had nothin' Just to leave some things behind, But up ahead...just might find Abilene. By the time I saw it clearly the decision had come and gone Just like me---down the highway singing your song. Oh, Abilene, in my rear view mirror; sundown to the west. I believed I could be from somewhere else. By the time I saw it clearly the decision had come and gone Just like me---down the highway singing your song, Oh, Abilene.
4.
New Orleans 04:16
Rolling like a river to the sea, Yesterday's a dream to me now. Water stretchin' out as far as I can see Like a riverboat sendin' me down To New Orleans. New Orleans Slow-moving clouds sharing time with the sun Til September twilight is through. On the porch of a house on the street of our town Is a girl I'm comin' home to In New Orleans. New Orleans The water's risin' up And the years keep goin' by. And I wonder sometimes if we'll make it through New Orleans. Across the sky like the moon at midnight Flyin' me back home to you. There's a promise in the stars and in the mornin' light When the sun makes it's way back to New Orleans. New Orleans New Orleans
5.
For reasons that don't matter I was walking down an alley Heard some music coming through a screen Without really thinking I walked over to the window To a scene that reminds me of a dream She was standing in the kitchen With her face turned towards the ceiling Eyes closed but still they held a light From a battered guitar Came a sound like angels weeping For all the restless spirits in the night I don't know how long I stood there Seemed like many many lifetimes Then I felt the burden just lifted away And walking down the alley I was feeling so much better I knew that I could face another day She was standing in the kitchen With her face turned towards the ceiling Eyes closed but still they held a light From a battered guitar Came a sound like angels weeping For all the restless spirits in the night For reasons that don't matter I was walking down an alley Heard some music coming through a screen Without really thinking I walked over to the window To a scene that reminds me of a dream She was standing in the kitchen With her face turned towards the ceiling Eyes closed but still they held a light From a battered guitar Came a sound like angels weeping For all the restless spirits in the night From a battered guitar Came a sound like angels weeping For all the restless spirits in the night
6.
The paper said, “150 miles from anywhere”. And in their own way in a nowhere town The townsfolk talked without sayin' a word. And nothin' good ever came around. Over the hills of Waggoner soared the highway. There was a new west but it's old now. Somethin' else called the townsfolk away Whispered “Nothing good will come around.” We used to have our own downtown. We used to have our own things to do. But nothing good ever came around So it's off to the city and the promise of something new Railway steel rumblin' down the line; Sky above is dark and gray. Just a thin line of light on the horizon And the Iron Horse pullin' away. We used to have our own downtown. We used to have our own things to do. But nothing good ever came around Empty the streets; board-up the windows on the avenue. We used to have our neighbors and friends. We used to have our own things to do. These empty streets and the boarded-up old windows Left us nothin'; nothin' but me and you.
7.
I can see the mountains from this front-porch-view Drinking Coke from the bottle playing gin. Board games, peanut shells on the ground. Remembering when. They say you all are heroes of the bravest kind Left families, sons and daughters in the wind All the places and the faces you left behind Over the mountains and then back home again Echoes of your footsteps through this life we made; A ghost town for only you and me No one else remembers quite the same way It's a side of you only I can see You're my kind of memory Like the wind talks through the switch grass, I heard your voice When the world slowed down as if to try and see The child out on the front porch staring back in time Past the mountains, the prairies, and the sea. Echoes of your footsteps through this life we made; A ghost town for only you and me No one else remembers quite the same way It's a side of you only I can see You're my kind of memory
8.
Movin' into the light Where'd you come from? You were burnin' both ends of the night Shadows trailin in the sun. Where the miles you walked were ours You were carryin' the weight Out among the wildflowers When the sun came up today. See, there on his head? There in his hands? There in his feet? Sorry flowing down. How he loved you and me. Movin' into the light What have they done? You were fighting the good fight and the battle'd just begun. With your life you fought for ours. You were carryin' the weight For people, miles and miles, when they rifled you away. See, there what he said? That what you are---“I have a dream...” There every man, woman, and child Someday will be free. Movin' into the Light Though you are gone You were fighting the good fight When the battle called you home. With your life you fought for ours And we looked for what to say Out among the wildflowers in the fields where you lay. See beyond the hills There is a land for you and me There every man, woman, and child Someday will be free.
9.
I'm gonna ride through the streets of my city Where my Lord's done gone before Gonna sit down on the banks of the river I won't be back no more All my crying will be over I won't have to cry no more I'm gonna sit down on the banks of the river And I won't be back no more We're gonna have a good time when we get there Gonna sit down by my savior's side Gonna sit down on the banks of the river God knows I won't be back no more I can shout and give my God praises Singing glory be to his name Gonna sit down on the banks of that river And I won't be back no more Lead I'll be where no hearse-wheel will be rollin' And I won't have to die no more I'm gonna sit down on the banks of the river And I won't be back no more I'll be where I can be free from trouble I won't be in trouble no more Gonna sit down on the banks of the river And I won't be back no more I'll be where I won't have to be looked-over When I finally reach the other side Gonna sit down on the banks of the river And I won't be back no more Gonna sit down on the banks of the river And I won't be back no more
10.
Sonny 03:34
Sonny left the coal mine In 2013. He'd met some woman online and headed down to Abilene. Hit the highway in December; Headed for the sunshine way down south. The kids were grown and all on their own. And the rest is what he'll make it now. Well he grew up in the Golden Age; Never throwin' nothin' away. Bought and fixed and sold and worked with his hands on somethin' everyday. 'Was a time he talked about leavin'; Get rid of everything holdin' him down. But years are the only thing that went away And the rest is what he'll make it now. 'Cause it's comin' over what you've stacked-up. Knocks you down when you get back up. Takes you out and you can't see how You're gonna do what you gotta do now, But you're gonna do what you gotta do now. Her old man left slowly; The kind of leavin' that don't go away. She thinks about him all the time--- Takes it day-by-day. Says it's hard to hold on to the memory of a man and not the battle that took him down. I just stood there with nothin' to say. The rest is what you make it now. 'Cause it's comin' over what you've stacked-up. Knocks you down when you get back up. Takes you out and you can't see how You're gonna do what you gotta do now, But you're gonna do what you gotta do now. It's comin' over what you've stacked-up. Knocks you down when you get back up. Takes you out and you can't see how You're gonna do what you gotta do now, But you're gonna do what you gotta do now.

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released June 28, 2021

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Chris Beall Austin, Texas

Chris Beall is a singer/songwriter/producer/guitarist who's albums have been featured on numerous Americana radio/music charts. He is a member of the well-established South Austin Moonlighters whose album “Travel Light” went to #1 on the Alternative Country Roots Radio Report in 2019 and reached #61 on the national Americana radio chart. ... more

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