Shooting Straight In The Dark

(mary chapin carpenter)

Well i think of you sometimes at night
And sometimes it's still the same
The way that it was
When i was the keeper of your flame
We all have our ghosts we all have our doubts
I'm no different with you or without
But one thing's certain
Only the names have changed

And i think of you sometime baby
When an old friend gives a call
And to hear us talk
You'd think i felt nothing at all
'cause nothing remains
That used to be yours
We all have our way of closing the door
But it takes some time to et up when you fall

But i'm the same sweet girl you couldn't get enough of
Way back when you pledged your love
And you'd drive to find me through the pouring rain
Now i hear all about your running around
Man you're a legend all over town
The more things change the more they remain the same

Sometimes i wonder if you've ever heard
The sound of a broken heart
It ain't real pretty
It ain't the thing that nice folks talk about
And the hardest thing you'll ever have to do
Is face the one who's done it to you
His eyes like an angel's they're so devout

But i'm the same sweet girl you couldn't get enough of
Way back when you pledged your love
And you'd drive to find me through the pouring rain
Now i hear all about your running around
Man you're a legend all over town
The more things change the more they remain the same

(al lewis/sylvester bradford)

I'm all alone so come on over baby
Right now right now
I'm all alone so come on over baby
Right now right now
Oh don't make em wait child don't you hesitate
C'mon along c'mon along

I want to dance i need romance baby
Right now right now
I want to dance i need romance baby
Right now right now
Oh don't let me down child don't you mess around

Let's think of something to do and let's do it
Let's think of somewhere to go let's go
And when you put your lovin' arms around me
Oh you know how i love you so

I need a thrill say you will baby
Right now right now
I need a thrill say you will baby
Right now right now
Oh don't let me down child don't you mess around
C'mon along c'mon along

(mary-chapin carpenter)

I'm standing here freezing at a phone booth baby
In the middle of god knows where
I got one quarter left your machine packs up
But baby i know you're there

And i just start crying

(mary chapin carpenter)

For years she's lived on her own
In a corner of the city
Twice a year she gets back home
Playing catch-up with the family
She tells her folks what they need to know
Her mother says she's much too thin
Her sisters ask about her beaus
Her dad inquires how's business been

She's 33 this time around
She's always been real good at listening
Her sense of humor never lets her down
Except sometimes there's something missing

Hey middle ground
A place between up and down
She could be safe and sound
Oh to know middle ground

For years she's been on her guard
She's kind of tense around the shoulders
She wonders why she works so hard
She counts the days

(mary-chapin carpenter)

Chorus:
Saturday night and the moon is out
I wanna head on over to the twist and shout
Find a two-step partner and a cajun beat
When it lifts me up i'm gonna find my feet
Out in the middle of a big dance floor
When i hear that fiddle wanna beg for more
Gonna dance to a band from a-lou'sian' tonight

Well i never have wandered down to new orleans
Never have drifted down a bayou stream
But i heard that music on the radio
And i swore some day i was gonna go
Down highway 10 past lafayette
To baton rouge and i won't forget
To send you a card with my regrets
'cause i'm never gonna come back home

(repeat chorus)

They got a alligator stew and a crawfish pie
A golf storm blowin' into town tonight
Livin on the delta's quite a show
They got hurricane parties every time it blows
And here up north it's a cold cold rain
And there ain't no cure for my blues today
Except when the paper says: beausoleil is coming into town
Baby let's go down

(repeat chorus)

Bring your mama, bring your papa, bring your sister too
They got lots of music and lots of room
When they play you a waltz from 1910
You gonna feel a little bit young again
Well you learned to dance with your rock'n'roll
You learned to swing with a do-si-do
But you learn to love at the fais-so-do
When you hear a little jolie blon

(repeat chorus)

(mary chapin carpenter)

She threw her purse upon the bed
She looked around and shook her head
There's really nothing left she said
There's nothing i ain't done
She wore her favorite dress tonight
She hoped her hair would catch the light
And you just sat there getting tight
On double shots of rum

You don't care what people say
They're gonna do it anyway
You don't hear what you don't use
It's always been the same old news
You don't beg and you don't plead
Or miss a thing that you don't need
She knew by the way you kissed her
When she's gone, you won't miss her

Morning comes on an old cat's paw
And when the sun hits the wall
The light's as bright was it ever was
After or before
And you wince as waking pounds your head
And you drag your arm across the bed
And the tangled sheets and the twisted spread
Fall onto the floor

And the kitchen table finds you silent
If you had a thought now you can't find it
You take a long draw on your smoke
And taste your coffee growing cold
She didn't beg and she didn't plead
She knew exactly how to leave
The way she knew when you kissed her
When she's gone you won't miss her

She didn't beg and she didn't plead
She knew exactly when to leave
They way she knew as you kissed her
When she's gone you won't miss her