MARIGOLDS ALBUM LYRICS

1500 TIMES

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – Standard – capo 6th fre

1500 times I walked past the raggedy old man
1500 times I told him no
Then one day he sat me down, he took my hand,
Traced a heart inside my palm and then he let it go

Every now and then, someone comes along
Opens your eyes just a little bit
They climb inside your head like an old country song
And it hits you where you live

You can live between the numbers on your grandfather hall clock
You can live between the lines on the long highway
But any old way you live it’s the same fine line that we all walk
Between satisfaction and regret at the end of the day

Every now and then, someone comes along
Opens your mind just a little bit
They climb inside your head just like an old country song
And it hits you where you live

It hits you all at once – you’ve got so much to be grateful for
It hits you all at once – there’s a price for always wanting more

Every now and then, someone comes along
Opens your heart just a little bit
They climb inside your head just like an old country song
And it hits you where you live

RIGHT ON TIME

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DACGCD – capo 2nd fret

I need direction, I get ambiguity
I need a clear way, I get blurred lines
I take a lesson from what you said to me
You said, “Hold on tight and what you need will come right on time.”
Right on time

I see your picture in a frame upon my shelf
A stolen moment, the candles shining in your eyes
I’m such the richer version of myself
Just for having known you, and you were right on time
You were right on time
You were right on time

And I would never claim to be the superstitious kind
To think destiny might pass me on the street
But then one day, you came and you were just in time
And since that day, we haven’t missed a beat

We strive and we struggle just to make it through
But we have each other and somehow that makes it alright
It’s just a puzzle, some pieces hidden from our view
Every now and then you find one and it’s right on time
Right on time
Right on time

And I would never claim to be the sentimental kind
To believe in fate and serendipity
But then one day, you came and you were just in time
And since that day, we haven’t missed a beat

You were right on time

SKELETON TREE

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DADGAD – capo 3rd fret

Took a ride out to the skeleton tree
Looking like the very heart of me
Standing steadfast and so threadbare
Smack dab in the middle of nowhere and everywhere

Past those little crosses on the highway
Reminding me of all the things that can’t stay
Punctuated by a hawk on the wing
Smack dab in the middle of nothing and everything

Skeleton tree, I need some sympathy
And you look like you could use a friend
Skeleton tree, erase my memory
Help me see everything will be alright again

Granddaddy’s house burned in 1943
Nothing left here but this skeleton tree
I come here to remember and when I need to forget
To contemplate all the things that happened and haven’t happened yet

Skeleton tree, I need some sympathy
And you look like you could use a friend
Skeleton tree, erase my memory
Help me see everything will be alright again

Skeleton tree, must be my destiny
To sit here and sing into the wind
Skeleton tree, thanks for the company
I know everything will be alright again

Standing alone here among all the debris
Granddaddy loved you, ol’ skeleton tree
And I see now how your fates were intertwined
Granddaddy always knew he was a rich man, but he never had no dime

SOMEDAY SOMEBODY WILL

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – Standard – capo 2nd fret

Grandma always said you were a hell-child
Jumping fences, running wild
Shooting everything that moved with your bee-bee gun
Including your little sister Kate
You were a hazard she learned to navigate
She stayed out of your way, you were the restless one

Grandma just shook her head
Grandma always said
She wished she could hold you still
She never could hold you… still,
She wished she could hold you still
Maybe someday somebody will
Somebody will

That summer that you turned eighteen
You tore out like a page from a magazine
You never turned around, you never looked back
My mama was waiting tables at Milo’s Bar
You walked in like a movie star
She said you were half saving grace, half heart attack

Mama just shook her head
Mama always said
She wished she could hold you still
She never could hold you… still,
She wished she could hold you still
Maybe someday somebody will
Somebody will

If you ever find your peace of mind
Would you please remember
all the love you left behind

Now, daddy, I am nearly grown
Trying to save some money, living at home
I wonder if you ever think about me
I have that picture from the time you came
You took me to the circus in the rain
And even in that photograph you are moving

I just shake my head
For all the tears I’ve shed ’cause
I wish I could hold you still
I never did hold you… still,
I wish I could hold you still
Maybe someday somebody will

I wish I could hold you still
I want to get to know you…still,
I wish I could hold you still
Maybe someday somebody will
Somebody will

Grandma always said you were a hell-child
Breaking horses, running wild
Shooting everything that moved with your bee-bee gun

THESE GOOD GRACES

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DADGBD – capo 8th fret

The things they try to tell you
They never look you in the eye
The things They try to sell you
Only a fool would buy
They say that time heals all things
We all know that’s a lie
It just plays tricks on your memory
And then the years go by

I demand to know just who They are
I want to see Their faces
I demand to know who put Them in charge
Of these good graces

They say it’s not the destination
But the journey that you take
Without one hint of hesitation
This crazy life will throw on the brakes
They say to reach for your dream
They say to follow your heart
They don’t tell you it’s a balance beam
They don’t tell you about the falling part

I demand to know just who They are
I want to see Their faces
I demand to know who put Them in charge
of these good graces

They say something about a bird in hand
They say you can if you just think you can
and then They tell you love is never enough
it’s easy for Them to talk so tough

I want to see some faces
I demand to know just who They are
I want to trade places
I demand to know who put Them in charge
of these good graces

ORDINARY BIRDS

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – Standard – capo 4th fret

I am in immediate danger of living with a stranger
And the strange part is that stranger is me
I’ve waited up for her at night, I can’t get her in my sites
She comes in, tiptoes around mysteriously

Just when I think she’s disappeared
She comes in and switches all the gears
She’ll say something brave like she’s got no fear
She’s got no doubt, got no insecurity
I’m still searching for the better part of me

Did you ever open up your mouth and something brilliant came right out
And you looked around to see where it was coming from
That’s the better part of you right then and there – I think you two make quite a pair
We should all get together sometime and try to have some fun

Just when you think you’ve disappeared
You come in switching all the gears
You’ll say something brave like you’ve got no fear
You’ve got no doubt, and you always know just what to do
You’re still searching for the better part of you

Hey, maybe our best selves could run away together
They could go off to paradise and stay forever
Meanwhile back at home, we’ll go on being ordinary birds
of an ordinary feather

So if you love who you think I could be, I suggest a different strategy
Because that one will only leave you unsatisfied
We’re all just doing the best we can to do unto our fellow man
But mostly we just try and brace ourselves for the ride

The birds of paradise disappear
They’ll come back around this way next year
Until then, I guess we’ll sit right here
Holding hands and laughing at the mystery
Thinking ’bout the better part of you and me

LITTLE HANDS

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – Standard – capo 3rd fret

Little hands…
Made these clothes that we are wearing
If we are really bearing up to truth
Money’s talking
But I am tired of listening
It’s a rusted out system, just look around for proof

And this message is brought to you
By one who knows not what to do
So many things I’ll never understand
I’ve got my big plans
And little hands

Little hands…
I hold mine up to my father’s
It makes them seem much smaller even though they’re made the same
Oh, my mother
The way she holds hers open
Give her anything that’s broken, she can make it whole again

And I’m just wondering about the little things
And what they all add up to mean
The sum of which I may never understand
We’ve all got big plans
And little hands

And all of these pretty plans that we make
They are all pretty for pretty’s sake
But who knows what the world will make of us all?
Every one of us so small

Little hands…
On all the clocks they keep moving
All these moments we are losing if we pay them no mind
It’s a mixed-up world
But I will never stop trying
The meaning is underlying and the mission to be kind

And this message is brought to you
By one who knows not what to do
So many things I’ll never understand
I’ve got my big plans
And little hands
We do the best we can
With little hands

CHURCH OF MELODY

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – EADGAD – capo 4th fret

At the church of melody
That’s where I worship on my knees
That’s where you’ll find me
Anyone can come
You don’t have to rise with the sun
There’s room for everyone

It’s with me everywhere I go
Because the music tells me so
Amen, I’m singing amen, allelujah, amen.

I bow down to the song
It’s so easy to belong
There’s no right or wrong
So many to revere
You don’t even have to be sober here
Just open up your ears

It’s with you everywhere you go
Because the music tells you so
Amen, we’re singing amen, allelujah, amen.

Won’t you come on down with me
To the church of melody?

At the church of melody
You can pray any way you please
There are no decrees
Most sermons I know of
Are given by losers in love
Aren’t we all losers in love?

It’s with us everywhere we go
Because the music tells us so
Amen, we’re singing amen, allelujah, amen.
Amen, we’re singing amen, allelujah, amen.

LOUISE

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DADGAD – capo 4th fret

Louise, you can count on me
Please, you won’t you count on me

I know where your daddy went to high school
I knew you when your mama came apart
When you gonna learn to trust this old fool?
I know where you used to keep your heart
And now it’s tearing me apart

Louise, you can count on me
Please, won’t you count on me

No one in this town knows what to do with you
You wind up here near every other day
Sitting on the roof just like the birds do
Mumbling something about here tomorrow, gone today
Won’t you hear what I have to say?

Louise, you can count on me
Please, you won’t you on me

And what makes me sad is I have known happiness
I only ever wanted it for you
But you never could find it, it was hiding like a diamond
Tossed into a swirling sea of green and blue

You told me once you fear nobody sees you
You’re just walking like a spirit through the world
The truth is that the truth is like a worn-out old shoe
You don’t want to wear it even though it fits you, girl
Won’t you let your fists uncurl?

Louise, you can count on me
Please, you won’t you on me
Louise, you can count on me
Please hold your hand out to me

GOOD FOR YOU

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DADGBD – capo 6th fret

Studies show what we already know
Love is just a knotted rope, we hold on until we let go
I never could let go of anything
So I’ve got this room full of feathers, bottle-caps and cracker-jack rings

Is she good for you?
Is she good for you?
Is she good for you, well, good for you

I’ll wrestle with these memories until I win
I will march my sad-eyed writer’s tears down to hell and back again
Somehow you were always the one who knew
The real story of a sunset is the clouds behind you

Is she good for you?
Is she good for you?
Is she good for you, well, good for you

We only did what we could do
I only wanted good for you

The real story of a sunset is the clouds behind you

Is she good for you?
Is she good for you?
If she’s good for you, well, good for you

COMPLETELY (BABY GIRL’S LULLABY)

Words and music by Beth Wood
Tuning – CGDGCD

This is a new day for precious things
This is a new day for waking, and for dreams
I have nothing to give you but the moon and the sky
And a baby girl’s lullaby
So you don’t have to cry

Baby girl, you don’t have to break your own heart
Because the world will do its part, believe me
Baby girl, it’s such a dark and scary place
But you can hold on to your grace completely.

You will see your fair share of dark days
And some of them will imprint themselves as lines on your face
But a strong woman will wear them with pride
And a twinkle in her eye
because there is nothing there to hide and

Baby girl, you don’t have to break your own heart
Because the world will do its part, believe me
Baby girl, it’s such a dark and scary place
But you can hold on to your grace completely.

HURRICANE CAROLINE

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning – DADGBD

We all had a front-row seat
To Caroline’s demise
But you never get to keep the receipt
When it’s a story nobody buys
I wonder where she is tonight
Who’s trying to save her with all his might

Close the windows and draw the blinds
Here comes Hurricane Caroline

We couldn’t believe our eyes
They came and took her away
She cried wolf so many times
But what a beautiful mess she made
She’ll tell you that she’s a natural disaster
And the wind’s coming faster and faster

Close the windows and draw the blinds
Here comes Hurricane Caroline

She was gone just as fast as she came
Nothing left but the hush and a bucket of rain

Raise the windows and open the blinds
There goes Hurricane Caroline

MARIGOLDS

Words and Music by Beth Wood
Tuning: DADGBD

All the letters that I never sent to you
With all the words that you never read
They are not sitting at the bottom of your coffee cup
They are not blowing in the back yard in the wind

All this negative leaves a tiny hole
In the everything, in the everything
Still I see dragonflies and marigolds
In the everything, in the everything

All the times that I stopped myself from speaking
All the sighs that never blew across your face
They are not gathering to fill up your back pockets
Of the jeans you always meant to throw away

All this negative leaves a tiny hole
In the everything, in the everything
Still I see dragonflies and marigolds
In the everything, in the everything

It’s like the kisses from my lips just subtracted you
So you vanished by degrees just like a season
And now I’m standing next to vapors in the shape of you
And I miss you much too much to ever breathe in