Levee Town
Produced by Mike Post, R.S. Field and Sonny Landreth

Levee Town

 Sunlight blinking through the cypress knees
Lays shadow steps in front of Jacob and me
As if we're guided by the heavens' eye
On a ladder road down to the levee town

Quick as lightning, news is frightening
Kayla, my neighbor, where you running to?
Yelling, "Thunder! The prophets have not blundered
The great locks are opening soon."

The river is high and the sandbags are sinking low
Whoa, they're rocking the cradle
But some day we'll rock-a-bye and roll
Out the red carpet 'long the Atchafalaya
And we'll snake up the river and rejoice in style
Break out a bottle of fine gulping wine
And raise Cain down in the levee town

I heard old Moses was hired to go
By the Corps of Engineers to run this show
Out of the Basin, two by two
Just ask Noah, he knows what to do

The river is high and the sandbags are sinking low
Whoa, they're rocking the cradle
But some day we'll rock-a-bye and roll
Out the red carpet 'long the Atchafalaya
And we'll snake up the river and rejoice in style
Break out a bottle of fine gulping wine
And raise Cain down in the levee town

In the eye of the storm, we will face our fears
At the reckoning place, all channels wind up here

Live oaks point the way with twisted trunks under mossy drapes
So pull back the curtain, the Devil be damned
Into the fog, we will make our stand
But the word gets around, so don't be surprised
At who shows up down in the levee town

The river is high and the sandbags are sinking low
Hey, they're rocking the cradle
But some day rock-a-bye and roll
Out the red carpet 'long the Atchafalaya
And we'll snake up the river and rejoice in style
Break out a bottle of fine gulping wine
And raise Cain down in the levee town

This River

Right here at the mouth of this river
Where we stand today
I swear I can hear everything
That I had long been wanting to say
So take your deepest breath and ask
Will we last and why
Truth is, the answer runs
Right through our town
And the rest of our lives

Here on this river
On a course for keeps
After all these years
We're still here
This river runs deep

My mind can wander off
Scattering thoughts out there
In a world gone adrift
I get tangled up and I get scared
But we tied our soul strings
To stand the test of time
So when you feel me pulling away
Just give me a tug back home on the line

That's here on this river
On a course for keeps
After all these years
We're still here
This river runs deep

It can't be dammed by beast or man
Or swallowed by thirsty land
Twisting, winding but running true
I'll brave the turns with you

Here on this river
On a course for keeps
After all these years
We're still here
This river runs deep

The U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

You can feel the horses under the hood
Through thick and thin pull us out of the wood
She's the smoothest ride, yeah, you'll ever feel
She's the Delta slide of automobiles

Double clutchin' on the backseat
I hear you, yeah, with your main squeeze
Playing triple row accordion fills
In the U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

Port of Call Opelousas
Port of Call Lawtell
Port of Call Frilot Cove
In the U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

Mardi Gras run block the road
Park the car and join the show
Get up on the trunk and dance at will
Aboard the U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

Port of Call Opelousas
Port of Call Lawtell
Port of Call Frilot Cove
In the U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

Yeah, Spirit moves through everyone
We have faith and we have fun
God bless the turning wheel
Of my U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

Port of Call Opelousas
Port of Call Lawtell
Port of Call Frilot Cove
In the U.S.S. Zydecoldsmobile

(road chant)
Come ride with me in my Zydecoldsmobile
Double clutchin' with me in my Zydecoldsmobile
Hip shakin' with me in my Zydecoldsmobile
Come ride with me in my Zydecoldsmobile

Love and Glory

Spider-Gris caught Evangeline grinning
After one of his tales left her pretty head a spinning
As if to awake from some weaving dream
Lifting her spirit till it's busting at the seam

"Your free falling reveries, sir, rescue me
From the deep end of doubt that puts vision to sleep
But do your wild thoughts simply break formation
On a wing and a prayer or sure navigation?"

"Ma'am, I have no delusions of prescient truth
And I call to account without prophecy or proof
But I propose a course from a simple observation:
Some roads are paved with conversation

'Cause it takes two sides of a story
To make a tale of love and glory."

Evangeline turned to Spider-Gris
And said, "The drag of apprehension is releasing me
You have shared a wealth of information
With pearls of wisdom and infectious revelation

That two sides of a story
Can make a tale of love and glory."

Try to follow the bliss every step of the mile
Don't break the trance
After all, what better way to wear the while
Won't you take this dance?

He gazed into the palm of her outstretched hand
As if to read the future of a noble plan
Then looked into her eyes making welcome to the heart
And heard a door open that had kept them each apart

It takes two sides of a story
To make a tale of love and glory
It takes two sides of a story
To make a tale of love and glory

Broken Hearted Road

Weary head, lay on my pillow
Come rest your troubles with my troubles for a time
I know, I know the feelin' that I'm seein'
When you lay your body next to mine
Well, the quest for love is lonesome
For the pilgrim on broken hearted road

Just a sigh, you tell a story
Echoing town after town you leave behind
I know, I know the feelin' that I'm feelin'
When you lay your body next to mine
Well, the quest for love is lonesome
For the pilgrim on broken hearted road

Gypsy eyes, your tears are fallin'
I hear the rain beating down a path for you outside
I know, I know the feelin' that I'm feelin'
When you lay your body next to mine
Well, the quest for love is lonesome
For the pilgrim on broken hearted road
Yeah, the quest for love is lonesome
For the pilgrim on broken hearted road

Spider-Gris
(instrumental)

Godchild

Drawn to the light like a moth to a flame
He saw the columns from the bayou, that dark and muddy drain
In the belly of the mansion, he swallowed a prayer
Then like the shadows on the Teche, he went a creeping up the stairs

Was that the murmur of voices or just a mournful wind?
It was strangely familiar, so he leaned to listen in
As if old conversations still lingered up there
With the smoke of spirit candles swirling in the air

Godchild, what makes you roam
Through the cracks in time and the walls of this home?
Godchild, don't you know?
You are caught between worlds
Let go and return to the fold

Nothing of this earth had prepared him at all
For his reflection in a window with all that he saw
Suddenly upon him, it's a scene from the past
Then like a sigh on a mirror, it melts into the glass

Godchild, what makes you roam
Through the cracks in time and the walls of this home?
Godchild, don't you know?
You are caught between worlds
Let go and return to the fold

In the thicket, twiney fingers slapped at his retreat
When it struck him to ask, "Am I the dreamer or the dream?"
'Twas the burning question that made him turn back
And he was yearning for a sign when he froze in his tracks

Through the fog, the old mansion was paled in the dark
Like a face in the moonlight brooding over the marsh
That window was a glimmer against a deepening night
He saw it blinking like a signal with the winking of an eye

Godchild, what makes you roam
Through the cracks in time and the walls of this home?
Godchild, don't you know?
You are caught between worlds
Let go and return to the fold

Turning With The Century

In the evolution of you and I
Living under the everlasting sky
From a smoke signal to a cell phone
And call waiting where the buffalo roamed

Free spirited gypsy souls
Shedding Eden on a serpentine road
Tires hissing with a mystic drone
Can't you hear that flat snake moan?

Well that's the road rolling out from under our feet
Turning with the century
Like the road rolling out from under out feet
We are turning with the century

Like a sleepy town with a runaway train
We had a full head of steam and fitful dreams
But didn't we make rhythm of the roughest rides
On the back of the beat, side by side?

On the road rolling out from under our feet
Turning with the century
Like the road rolling out from under out feet
We are turning with the century

From an ear to the ground to the info age
And a run in the jungle to a walk in space
The big picture is straining my eyes
But I dig the view and I'm mesmerized

By the road rolling out from under our feet
Turning with the century
Like the road rolling out from under out feet
We are turning with the century

Soul Salvation

When the world comes down on me
I don't feel each and every pound on me
Because there's something that I know
That lightens up my load
Here it is:

Mama, you're my soul salvation
You are my soul salvation

Only you
Pray for me the way you do
Even when I need help
To save me from myself
Yes, indeed

Mama, you're my soul salvation
You are my soul salvation

Whatever the burden that darkens my brow
You pull the curtain that lets me see out
And if my glass is half empty, too
I raise it half full just because of you

So here's to you
For loving me the way you do
Just to see it in your eyes
Sets my spirit to rise
And if I should slip at all
You break my fall
With a smile

Mama, you're my soul salvation
You are my soul salvation

Angeline

I get down 'cause nothing will last
You say this too shall pass
Good times come after the bad
The best yet to be had

Angeline
You make me believe
Our ship will come in
Like a wish on the wind
Oh, Angeline
Angeline

That night the big boat went down
Bells ringing all over town
We got there, the people were saved
Feels good when it happens that way

Angeline
You make me believe
Our ship will come in
Like a wish on the wind
Oh, Angeline
Angeline

Those nights I'm drowning and lost
You save me whatever the cost
You lead me back to my soul
With you I can let it roll

We'll dance by the river tonight
Just laughing and holding on tight
Lose our hearts in the music they play
Let our worries fade away

Angeline
You make me believe
Our ship will come in
Like a wish on the wind
Oh, Angeline
Angeline

Deep South

Caught wind of the legend when we were kids on the banks of the Gulf Coast
About the pirate gold left hidden here way back ago
Then in a rage, Hurricane Audry, she blew down the secret of the sheltering oak
They found Captain Lafitte's buried treasure, yeah anything goes
In the Deep South

We drive close tonight to that very site on Lake Peigneur road
Past the tin top shacks that shimmer with the corrugated waves from the glow
Of a howling moon I'm soon to realize I must oblige
Especially with the wild blue yonder that I'm seeing in your eyes

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I'll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

Like a chef on a mission in the kitchen with seductive recipes
Let the spice in my life be the magic that surrounds and entices me
Like when you feed the juke box all my silver at Maison Creole
Till we feel the levitation of the dance floor down in our soles

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I'll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

Now, only our eyes can follow the trail of serpentine smoke
From the bonfire under the stars for the blessing of the boats
You know, a healer in the swamp said the stars guide us back and forth
Like campfires burning on a steep and distant shore

I tell you, Azalea
When they lay me down, child
I'll still be under the spell of
The sweet keep of the Deep South
The Deep South

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