Still Strong Lyrics

1 - FAMILY TIES
words and music by Erin Friedman
 
 
Rode his dreams on a westbound train
His California gold was in radio waves
Granddad crafted laughter line by line
From Wistful Vista to the Hollywood sign
 
 
I am a pilgrim in Beachwood Canyon
Harmonies still echo from that mansion
Cousins runnin’, ukuele strummin’
Eva-Iva-Ova-Evaline

 
Chorus:
 
When I feel I'm fallin' to pieces
Scattered like ashes
Fallin’ from the sky
When I feel I’m fallin’’ to pieces
I’m held together by
These Family Ties
 
I’m bound by words, faded with time
Postmarked: Sikeston, 1945
“Dear Son, everyone sends their best to Phil
Hold tight to faith and family on that hill”
 
Hold tight, he did and passed on to me
A thirst for words and his rosary ring
An endless chain of laughter and love
A legacy of roots and wings
 
2 - I’ll Fly Away
Words and music: Erin Friedman
 
I been called a stubborn cuss
Set like cement in my ways
Start too many stories with
"Back in my day"
But my glory days are memories
And the best of me ain't what it used to be
And I won't dig in my heels
When it's time to leave
 
 'Cause I've been loved
  More than I   deserve
  Saved by a good woman and The Word
  Won some high-priced victories
  Made mistakes, made my peace
  And when the choir sings for me
I’ll Fly Away
I’ll Fly Away
I’ll Fly Away
 
Was headed down a wicked road
When she laid her hand in mine
Raised me up with a touch
Made me proud to walk the line
Good times and bad
We're were blessed
From lullabies to empty nest
Ready for what the good Lord's
Plannin' next
 
3 - WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
words and music by Erin Friedman
 
There’s lessons in star thistle honey and dry lightening strikes
Two sides to every story, both of them lies
Match the cat to the sofa, the carpet to Cottonwood clay
The second best time to try something new is today
 
What We Know So Far:
Is the sweetness of cherries on the tongue
The fleetness of seasons quickly over and done
Summers fly by
Winter sets in our bones
Cherries are stains and stones
But we’ll tightly hold
To What We Know So Far
 
 
A long stretch of silence and coffee is how a good day begins
There’s no glory in a song left unsung or a half-hearted win
Only homegrown tomatoes will do for my BLTs
A full house of laughter beats a house full of beautiful things
 
 
You don’t need to shout to be heard when you stand in your truth
Tip well, travel light, hold hands, take the room with a view
Life is short, life is messy let the dust and sleeping dogs lie
If you’re lucky in love, you’ll suffer with every good bye
 
 
 
4 - Cryin’ Highway
words and music by Erin Friedman
 
 
 
I will shed no tears at the table
I won’t cry at the kitchen sink
Won’t sob in the shower
While the water runs down
Won’t drown my misery
 
When I feel tears start a-wellin’
I grab my keys and my George Jones CDs
Turn the stereo up
Turn right toward Red Bluff
For Cryin’ Highway therapy
 
Cry, Cryin’ Highway
Southbound sorrow Highway Five
Cry, Cryin’ highway
Turn me around 
When these tears are dry
When these tears are dry
 
“Still Doing Time” and tears are flowin’ at Bowman
By Corning pain’s pouring down my cheek
But it’s hard to be blue
Where groves of almonds bloom
Like cotton candy trees
 
I am barely weeping by Willows
Head for home in Dunnigan at Bill and Kathy’s Place
And by the Shasta County line
You won’t know I been cryin’
Pull in the drive to “Amazing Grace”
 
Cry, Cryin’ Highway
Southbound sorrow Highway Five
Cry, Cryin’ highway
Turn me around 
When these tears are dry
When these tears are dry
 
 
5 - From Here
            Words and music Erin Friedman
 
Every year it seems
You need more room to breathe
But I can only get so far away
For better or for worse, I said
Lock the door, go to bed
Pray when there’s nothin’ left
To say
 
(Chorus)                       
Are you walking?           
            I’m not walkin’           
Are you running?
            I’m not runnin’                       
Wishing wings to fly
From Here?                                    
What I’m seeing
What I’m sayin’
Looks like something worth saving
From Here
 
I breathe in and out
Whisper when I need to shout
You’re the innocent bystander of the year
If I can be forgiven
If you’ll lean in and listen,
Admit there’s something missing
From Here
 
 
From Here it looks like love
Is still holding on
Forever is worth fighting for
Together we’re Still Strong
 
6 - Cottonwood Calling Me Home
         words and music Erin Friedman
 
 
It’s a Four-Star bull
It’s a  cowboy on an 8-second ride
It’s a rusty metal Main Street cattle drive
It’s a Front Street hitching post                                   
Digger pines and mighty oaks
Charms of the country life I left behind
 
It’s coyote crying
It’s the a red-tail riding the wind
It’s the moon rising in the sky
Where the High Sierra ends
A fiddle tune, a meadowlark
A place that knows my heart by heart
A song I long to hear again,  
 
A lullaby of memories   
Wild like I used to be
Cottonwood calling me
Calling me Home
 
 
It’s the Mother’s Day weekend parade and the Rodeo
It’s a homecoming game, cheering for the cardinal and gold
Stars and stripes at the Legion Hall
Wooden Indian standing tall
Shasta Bally dusted with Spring snow
 
A lullaby of memories   
Wild like I used to be
Cottonwood calling me
Calling me Home
 
I headed south on Highway Five
When I turned eighteen
Now there’s no doubt in my mind
I’m meant to be
 
Where cool is a June afternoon out on Cottonwood Creek
“Welcome Home” is a message on the park marquee
Neighbors wave and lend a hand
It’s still okay to take a stand
The spirit of the  West is runnin’ free
 
A lullaby of memories   
Wild like I used to be
Cottonwood calling me
Calling Me Home
 
 
 
 
 
7 - Beautiful To Me
 
words and music by Craig and Erin Friedman
 
You try to cover up the streaks of gray
Hide the laugh lines with Oil of Olay
You doubt me when I kiss you and I say
“You’re Beautiful To Me”
Heard you sigh at the mirror this morning
Maybe I don’t tell you near enough
Where you see a woman
On the wrong side of forty
I see the woman I love
 
And the woman I love will always be
Beautiful To Me
Seasons come and go
Years will take their toll
But the woman I love will always be
Beautiful To Me
 
Treasured mem’ries, pleasures yet to come
The smile that lifts me up when day is done
The mother of my daughter and my sons
Is Beautiful To Me
I see your soft and gentle ways
Strength I need when times are tough
I look at your face and I see
Goodness and grace
I see the woman I love
 
 
8 - Sundays Rest
 
Words and music by Erin Friedman
 
She’s starin’ down
The barrel of
A week loaded with chaos
Monday morning grindstone
Is wearin’ her away
She’ll carve a path
Through crisis by crisis
Teapots and tempests
For six long days
And when it’s over
 
(chorus)
Sundays Rest
Like an arm around her shoulder
Like a summer rain
When the fields are dry
Sundays are blessed
Sundays Rest her mind
 
When she was young
Sunday was
A country church and cousins
Gathered ‘round the table
At that Minnesota farm
Grateful prayers
Papa’s guitar strummin’
Still hears Mama singin’
“Everlasting Arms”
Mama showed her
 
(chorus)
 
She’ll fill her cup
With faith, hope and love
All week long
She’ll drink it up –
 
(chorus)
 
 
 
 
 
9 - Love and Sweet Dreams
 
            Words and music Erin Friedman
 
 
We get Alex Trebek for our Saturday threesome
Up next: a double dose of Andy Griffith reruns
Our wild night winds down, set coffee up and go
Off to sleep to the sound of people growing old
 
Then we reach
Across tangled sheets
Drink from the spring
Of Love and Sweet Dreams
Skin to skin
Limbs know just where to go
Love and Sweet Dreams
Never grow old
 
With pain, scars, lines of time, and silver in our hair
We bathe in healing waters of the memories we share
Revisit who we used to be, regret the songs unsung
Face the future fearlessly, in dreams forever young
 
When we reach
Across tangled sheets
Drink from the spring
Of Love and Sweet Dreams
Skin to skin
Limbs know just where to go
Love and Sweet Dreams
Never grow old
 
 
 
 
 
10 - From Your Mama’s Heart
 
Words and music © 2013 Erin Friedman
 
 
Little One, your lucky star knows how to shine
Mighty are the mountains
You’ll conquer in time
But you’ll never be far
From Your Mama’s Heart
No matter how high you climb
 
A smile, a twinkle in your eye
That’s the distance
From Your Mama’s Heart to yours
Love will go the extra mile
Then ten thousand more
That’s a promise
From Your Mama’s Heart
To yours


Little One, you will run with the wind in your hair
Light up the world with the grin that you wear
The gift that you are
Came From Your Mama’s Heart
And your laughter is the answer to a prayer
 
A smile, a twinkle in your eye
That’s the distance
From Your Mama’s Heart to yours
Love will go the extra mile
Then ten thousand more
That’s a promise
From Your Mama’s Heart
To yours
 
11 - THE MUSTANGS OF LAS COLINAS
 
Words and music by Erin Friedman
 
Saw a picture in a magazine
Ponies running through a stream
Water splashing at their feet
Cast in bronze, set in stone
 
Nurse called my name, set my wrist
Another clumsy accident
Wait in the parking lot for him
We’ll head on down the road
 
 
Chorus:
And we run like The Mustangs of Las Colinas
Full of fury, fire and frozen in place
But unlike The Mustangs of Las Colinas
I’ll reach the far shore
I’m breakin’ away
 
Fifteen and livin’ in a homeless hell
Friend or foe? – It’s hard to tell
But he rescued me and taught me well
To do what a girl can do
 
Kept his promises with lock and key
Cigarette burns on the sheets
The girl who planned to chase her dreams
Can’t find the strength to move
 
So we run like The Mustangs of Las Colinas
Full of fury, fire and frozen in place
But unlike The Mustangs of Las Colinas
I’ll reach the far shore
I’m breakin’ away
 
Don’t bite the hand that brings your meals
Don’t talk too much, don’t think, don’t feel
But those ponies kickin’ up their heels
Keep runnin’ through my mind
 
Stalled stampede at the starting gate
Slow-motion scene that culminates
With a single shot from a .38
Race is on, the lead is mine
 
And I run like The Mustangs of Las Colinas
Full of fury, fire and frozen no more
But unlike The Mustangs of Las Colinas
I’ll find my freedom
Climb that far shore
 
12 - TUMBLEWEED
 
You rode in on an autumn wind
Bright blues eyes, dimpled grin
Destined for a long walk to Jerusalem
Let the goodbye bonfire blaze
Sparks rise send you on your way
If smoke gets in my eyes I’ll be okay
 
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Into the great unknown
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Where blessed breezes blow
 
Your bloodline rode a North Sea gale
Prairie wind and SP Rail
Carry on tradition, blaze an ancient trail
Tumbleweed seeks Promised Land
Every generation has
An invitation written in His hand
 
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Into the great unknown
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Where blessed breezes blow
 
Always something of a wild weed about you
Easterly won’t leave here without you
Never had any doubt you were born to fly
 
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Into the great unknown
Fly and when you hit the ground keep runnin’
Tumbleweed keep tumblin’
Where blessed breezes blow