The Last Train Home
Lyrics

List of Sorrows
Long Time Gone
Angelina
The King Is Dead
Sentimental Value
Your Loving Arms
Who Could Blame Me
I Recall Thinkin'
Heartache Express
Sugar
Tonight
St. Elmo's Blues
Liner Notes

LIST OF SORROWS
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)

Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 Put me on your list of sorrows
Go on and write me down
I'm telling you I'm gone tomorrow
I'm leaving this southern town

We've been going on a year and I wonder
Night after night, lying in bed
With your silence loud as thunder
Why won't you tell me what runs through your head

I used to think forever with you

A voice in my head says boy, you got to go
A voice in my heart says stay
Sometimes with you I can feel so alive
But it's killing me today

You push me and pull me and push me away
I don't know how much a man can take
Give me time, is that what you're trying to say
I'll give you days and days and days

I'll give you all the time in the world

A voice in my head says boy, you got to go
A voice in my heart says stay
Sometimes with you I can feel so alive
But it's killing me today

Put me on your list of sorrows
Go on, write me down
I'm telling you I'm gone tomorrow
I'm leaving this southern town
I'm leaving this town

LONG TIME GONE
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)

Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 I knew what everyone said
We married too young
But what did they know, and what did we care
The light in your eyes was my lucky star
But that light doesn't shine on me anymore

 When I leave I'll be a long time gone
We won't have the time to talk about it later on
When I leave I'll be a long time gone

 Little lies accumulate, they fill up space
Where my heart used to be
I remember promises of days to come
Now they're a fading memory
Not so long ago I believed in you

 When I leave I'll be a long time gone
Funny how I used to think we'd always get along
When I leave I'll be a long time gone

 There's a train every other hour
And buses all the time
By morning I could be 500 miles away
But that's just a distance of a different kind
So if something's on your mind, you'd better say it this time

 When I leave I'll be a long time gone
We won't have the time to talk about it later on
When I leave I'll be a long time gone
 

ANGELINA
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)
 Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

You look so far away, across the room
I wish I could tell you what's been running through my head
Wish I could cross the floor and hand you a ticket
To fly away with me, to fly away with me

 My angel, Angelina, hold my hand
With your alabaster fingers, I hope you'll understand
My angel, Angelina, kiss me now
Put your cool lips on my brow

 Would you fly across the sky with me, sit by my side
Would you lean across the armrest and whisper all your secrets
Every time I catch your eye I wonder what's behind it
I don't know where happiness hides, but I'm game to try to find it

 My angel, Angelina, hold my hand
With your alabaster fingers, I hope you'll understand
My angel, Angelina, kiss me now
Put your cool lips on my brow

THE KING IS DEAD
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)
 Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 I went out walking, snow on the ground
I went out walking wearing my paper crown
Ice on the river went floating by
Crows turning circles in the sky

 I didn't know where I was headed
But I turned up at your door
I went through all the letters in your mailbox
Then I rang the bell a half dozen times

 I kept on walking to the railroad bridge
Then I saw you walking on the railroad bridge
We met in the middle, I could see your breath
I was hoping for a smile from you but I guess you had none left

 You said: Did you walk all this way to say you're sorry?
Well sorry, sorry's not even the point
Your words of regret are only words
The barn door's open and the horses they're all gone

 So I kept on walking across the railroad bridge
The tracks were shining like the fender on a brand new bike
I remembered the paper crown sitting on my head
I threw it in the river, now the king is dead

 The king is dead, the king is dead, his kingdom for a horse
To saddle up and ride
He'll catch her if he hurries and if she'll let him
If she wants him riding by her side
 

SENTIMENTAL VALUE
(Bill Williams, Poop de Ville, BMI)

Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 All this sentimental value that you've attached to me
For you this sentimental value is all that's left of me
When I think of life without you
It's not sad just hard to picture
Because of all this sentimental value
I'm just a permanent fixture

 Consider myself a part of the furniture
A worn out old armchair you can't bear to part with
That's why the hold is so hard to relinquish
Although any flame has long been extinguished

 Don't spare me the pain, believe me when I tell you
Don't do me any favors
All that's left is sentimental value
When love becomes a labor

 It's time for a yard sale, a spring cleaning
Throw out all these things that have lost all their meaning
You keep piling up all the things that you treasure
You horde like a packrat, you guard your own pleasure

 Don't spare me the pain believe me when I tell you
By now it makes no difference
All that's left is sentimental value
When love stops... when love stops paying...
When love stops paying interest
 

YOUR LOVING ARMS
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 I'm alone tonight
In a hotel room tonight
Unwrap the soap and wash
Unwrap the glass and drink

 What I wouldn't give, what I wouldn't give
To fall asleep in your loving arms
To fall asleep in your arms

 Too much distance between
Too much for a telephone line
Turn on the TV and watch the news
Turn it off and close my eyes

 What I wouldn't give, what I wouldn't give
To fall asleep in your loving arms
To fall asleep in your arms

 There's just one pillow
And that pillow's hard as a rock
The temptation to get up and go is strong
The temptation to get up and go is you

 What I wouldn't give, what I wouldn't give
To fall asleep in your loving arms
To fall asleep in your arms
 

WHO COULD BLAME ME
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 I hope you remember what we talked about
For hours and hours on the wire
Your words had wings
They flew aroudn my head, they flew around my heart

 You told me that you meant every word you said

 Page after page, we wrote and sent
Opened up and read and read and read again
Hard to believe how easily they fit
In the shoebox at the back of the closet

 You told me that you meant every word you said
And if I believed every word you said
Who could blame me
Who would blame me

 I heard your words as promises
Now they're yours to keep or break

 I took a walk down to the well
I could have quenched my thirst
But I loved my suffering
I stared in to the well to make it worse

 I told you that I meant every word I said
And I hope you believed everyword I said
You told me that you meant every word you said
And if I believed every word you said
Who could blame me
Who would blame me
 

I RECALL THINKIN'
(Scott McKnight, BMI)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 I was standin' just outside your door
When I heard you complain to the wall
And I recall thinkin' you're wastin' your breath
Because the wall can't hear you
And I just don't care at all

 I was sittin' with my pen in my hand
Tryin' to write down a song
And I recall thinkin' what's the point
'Cause you can write all you like
But writin' won't right any wrongs

 All of this thinkin's got me drunker than drinkin'
And I don't want to think anymore

 I was thinkin'... and I don't mean to preach
And I bet you don't want my concern
But what you were doin' is what did you two in
And while that's less than profound
It's a lesson that's true
And one that's too late to learn
One that's too late to learn

 All of this thinkin's got me drunker than drinkin'
And I don't want to think anymore
 
 

HEARTACHE EXPRESS
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds
 

 How many stories of heartache and deception
Are tying up the lines down at suicide prevention
I had to laugh when I heard the news
Because everyone I know has been in my shoes

 I made the usual calls and I wrote a heartache letter
Waiting on a word saying everything was better
I followed you down, I took the train
Why do you run why am I chasing you again?

 I don't want to hurt you
I don't want to bring you down

 Sitting by the window watching miles go by
Thinking now and then there's a fool such as I
I wonder if we'll ever get it back
I lean back listening to the rattling track

 I don't want to hurt you
I don't want to bring you down

 How many stories of heartache and deception
Are tying up the lines down at suicide prevention
I bet you think you know how this one ends
Look over here it's my train coming 'round the bend

 I don't want to hurt you
I don't want to bring you down
 
 

SUGAR
(Michael Hampton, Fat Rabbit Publishing, ASCAP)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 You made your bed so why don't you lie down
You felt the pressure of the moment
But your decisions are so corrupt
They cloud the mind with feigned mistrust
Still it's hard, it's hard to taste the sugar

 Now that you've got what you wanted
Was it all
Now that you've got what you came for
Was it all that you were looking for
Was it all that you were looking for in me

 Resolutions of things without
Time and space, the girl far out
Cloud the mind and make you feel so heavy
But now the veil is pulled aside
Finish with the run and hide
Still it's hard, it's hard to taste the sugar

 Now that you've got what you wanted
Was it all
Now that you've got what you came for
Was it all that you were looking for
Was it all that you were looking for in me
 
 

TONIGHT
(Karl Straub, Clever Bits Music, BMI)
Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 The clouds across the sunset look like bloodshot eyes tonight
I want to turn the porch light out and huddle with the shooting stars
I want to wipe out all the pictures in my head tonight
I wish I could erase them by exposing them to light

 I haven't had a drink since just a week ago tonight
I see your lips with lipstick on, you broke just like a doll
I'll clear away the bottles from the screened in porch tonight
I see a bunch of wet lawn chairs and grass whose owner doesn't care

 The moon is out tonight, tonight
The stars are out tonight, tonight
Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight
My love's gone south tonight

 I see a woman walking slow out on the street tonight
Staring with those eyes you'd get before you'd slip away and cry
Rows of houses crying out to be burned down tonight
They sway like lovers in the air, tonight and every other night

 The moon is out tonight, tonight
The stars are out tonight, tonight
Tonight, tonight, tonight, tonight
My love's gone south tonight
 
 

ST. ELMO'S BLUES
(Eric Brace, Hangtown Songs, BMI)


Acoustic guitar and lead vocals: Eric Brace
Mandolin, more voices: Alan Brace
Electric guitar, more voices: Bill Williams
Pedal steel guitar: David Van Allen
Bass: J. Carson Gray
Drums: Martin Lynds

 Saint Elmo's blue
He's lost his sailing shoes
He couldn't believe it when he heard the news
They took away his fire
The saint's retired

 He walked down to the water
Stopped a passing sailor
And said please don't pray to Peter
You know he stole my fire
He said he was a saint but he's a liar

 He flew over the ocean
To see if it was true
Stopped at every fishing boat
And tried to light the sail
To no avail

 He turned around and he headed home
Still bleeding from his wounds
Wondering just how much does
A saint has to prove
What more can I do?

 Saint Elmo's Blue
He's got a lot of time and nothing to do
Saint Elmo's blue
 

LINER NOTES

This is for all the musicians I've had the pleasure, honor and good luck to play with over the past 20 years, especially my brother, who's shared nearly every note.
--Eric Brace

Recorded and engineered by Richard Krents, EOP Recording, Bethesda, Maryland
August - October, 1997
Mixed by Doug Derryberry and Richard Krents at EOP Recording and Bias Recording, Springfield, Virginia.
Mastered by Charlie Pilzer, Airshow, Springfield, Virginia

Booklet cover art by Chris Sheban
Graphics and cover layout by Jeff Nelson Inside design and layout by William Thompson
All photos by Jim Saah
Adult Swim
P.O. Box 1535
Arlington, VA
22210-0835



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