Rob Boyle

Catch Me If You Can

Rob Boyle

 

Don’t know what I was thinking

When I tried to give up drinking

If I did I wouldn’t be an honest man

But the truth ain’t always fair

So I run drag and cut my hair

Got my cover, come on catch me if you can

 

The old man tried to kill me

And some women tried to fill me up

With bourbon, smoke, and promises

That weren’t part of my plan

So I packed up my old six-string

Jumped a Greyhound toward the next thing

I keep running, baby catch me if you can

 

No matter what the papers said

I’ll stay one cool step ahead

And I’ll be free

Life is long and love is fast

But they’re never gonna last

Don’t you agree

Come on catch me

 

I make my trail colder

With the stories that I’ve told

And if there’s a crack I’ll turn around

To play a different hand

And I ain’t never slowing down

For nothing, come on catch me if you can

Feels Like Home To Me

Rob Boyle

 

I broke down just west of Denver

Trying to climb some hills

I’d been on the road for two weeks

Running from the gin and pills

So I thumbed a ride to Aspen

I think some mountain air will do me good

 

Now I’m waiting on some park bench

Not far from South Mill Street

I’ve got sunshine on my shoulders

And blisters on my feet

Right now, I’d find myself a local

And drink away some memories if I could

 

Memories of a dark-haired girl who saved me

But had to set me free

My constant haze and small town ways

Were more than she could see

Beyond the shadow of a doubt

I’ll love her eternally

She’s gone, but still feels like home to me

 

Looks like the day has finally faded

And the thousand lights that shine

Stay quiet when I ask them

If I ever cross her mind

Guess the Aspen sky, it don't lie

At least it’s never lied to me before

 

I walk around a while to clear my head

While the night keeps getting colder

And I try to remember

All the crazy things I told her

About the good and bad and shameful

A past I won’t be sharing anymore

 

With a dark-haired girl who saved me

But had to set me free

My constant haze and small town ways   

Were more than she could see

Beyond the shadow of a doubt

I’ll love her eternally

She’s gone, but still feels like home to me

 

Go on, go on

I can hear a gypsy voice still saying

Run away, run away

 

From a dark-haired girl who saved me

But had to set me free

My constant haze and small town ways

Were more than she could see

Beyond the shadow of a doubt

I’ll love her eternally

She’s gone, but still feels like home to me

Just Another Highway

Rob Boyle

 

It was just another highway that brought me

To some place I’d never been

It was just another crowded room of strangers

That I found myself in

Time went on till something slowly stirred

Out in the midnight air

I looked toward an empty doorway

And I knew that you were there

 

For years I have wandered and wondered

If we would meet again

I found all the words and sounds and meanings

That you’d leave now and then

Who am I to say that you’re not real

I always knew you were

Somewhere in between the cool of night

And the warm daylight burning

 

The wind moved the curtains, the moonlight

Shuffled in and you were gone

I walked outside to look for you, but only

Found the road that you’d been on

It was just another highway

But one that I think I’d been on before

Traveling beside you to places

That aren’t there anymore

Traveling beside you to places

That aren’t there anymore

Faded Blue Jean Night

Rob Boyle

 

I’ve been catching hell down here in Austin

I came to find some work and find my way

She told me that she’d wait back home in Boston

And maybe we could make a life someday

But I know how that story goes

It’s easy come and I suppose

It’s easy going back to what I knew

 

But she’s too far gone,

And I’m too drunk to sleep

It’s too bad ‘cause it’s too late

To ever make it right

The moon and stars and love that has no scars

Were promises I couldn’t keep

Guess it’s just another faded blue jean night

 

Somewhere out here on the street at midnight

I found the nerve to read it all again

The letter said she found a man that’s just right

He’s nine to five and loves her now and then

But I know how that story goes

It’s easy come and I suppose

It’s easy going back to what she knew

 

I am gonna sit here till the sun comes up

And I quit hearing slamming doors and footsteps

And voices in my head

I could find a sobering direction

Maybe walk that trendy section of this town

And put it all to bed

Maryanne

Rob Boyle

 

This sidewalk stretches on under a harvest moon

His late night shadow dances to a different tune

Second shift is over and he walks inside

A single room apartment he can’t fill

He pores through vinyl records and Alberta rye

Then puts the needle down

 

Ballad of a Teenage Queen on the stereo

Nineteen sixty-five up in Ontario

Tonight he thinks of a girl that he once knew

It’s been some years but feels like yesterday

Maybe it was love, but he couldn’t say

She left when their story began

Maryanne

 

He wrote a couple letters, but he never heard

Composing what they could have been in every word

Her silence made him wonder, was there something more;

Did some new heartbeat make her walk away

He pores through vinyl records and Alberta rye

Then puts the needle down

 

He remembers the sweet smell of her hair

Laid across his shoulder

And the things he told her

When the whole crazy world just stopped

Old Octobers

Rob Boyle

 

Falling leaves and clover

Bring me back to old Octobers

When you were barefoot on the front steps

Staring at the rain

It was a fool’s errand chasing love

In days when the good Lord above

Said that we should chase it anyway

 

They say the thought of growing old

Led you to San Antonio

I wonder what you found there

And why you didn’t stay

It’s a fool’s errand chasing love

I guess that when push comes to shove

Sometimes it’s easier to push away

 

There’s a thousand places we could roam

Maybe someday we can make a home

In old Octobers

 

I’m sitting here in idle

For a moment at this stoplight

Killing time watching the raindrops

Gathering and weaving                         

Through the windshield I see changing trees

The colors all look good to me

October’s still the one thing I believe

Better Alone

Rob Boyle

 

I was born on Sunday, how ‘bout that for twist of fate

Redemption was my lady, but she came a little late

I make my home in jagged boxes sleeping on the floor

Surrounded by a thousand lies and jackals at the door

 

Acetylene and razor wire

Bound to keep me where

I’ll never take what could be mine

After hours and hours, I am tired 

Of thinking up new ways

To walk across a thin black line

You keep on looking out for me

But I’m better alone

 

I tried running narrow, man, and I tried running straight

I paid my share and did my time, but I still had to wait

You go on pretending that there’s light for me to see

Keep me hid behind the glass till I’m the one who’s free

Crazy Way Home

Rob Boyle

 

This back road leaves the sunlight behind me

Driving east keeps the glare out of my view

This beer between my knees is getting warm

Cause I’ve had just a drink or two

 

It’s been a while, but I think I remember

That it’s only ten more miles to the town line

I’ll know that I’m there when I see

That bent up, rusted welcome sign

 

Mama said I should have turned around

And took the highway

Daddy never really said

Because he is long gone

Me, I’m on the slow way back

So I can be alone and take my time

On this crazy way home

 

The engine moans when I turn left down Main Street

Nothing’s changed, and nothing looks the same

I’ll stop for a coffee at the diner

Where a few folks know my name

 

I wonder what this looks like if I’d found you

And we’d made a Jack and Diane memory

Would we think about the aching, and the what if,

And the move on differently

 

Home, where the air is still

I’ll say goodbye and pay my bill

Then step out in the cool and empty street

And walk away

Go to Omaha

Rob Boyle

 

Here I am alive again

A story of revival

Inspired by a script

That’s meant for salvaging these days

I hear your tone vary,

Saying that’s just temporary

Put some miles on that old pickup

Drop your bags and slip away, slip away

 

Go to Omaha, there's a river there

And the current weather's calling

For some cool Nebraska air

Maybe soil and grain 

Can field the cross you bear

Go to Omaha, there's a river there

 

I can’t control my breathing,

When the chemicals are seething

So I drink to get some rest

And then I wake up on my knees

You whisper there you went again

Can’t you see a time and space when

There might be an unending

Soulful remedy; let it be

 

This town can hold on strong

But you can never hold her back

She ain’t the kind of love that you can earn

So go for just a day to turn the earth

And break the ground

Then bring back different roots when you return

Storyline

Rob Boyle

 

She knows what I am                                                       

But still, every morning

She hands me a coffee

And her believe in me smile

 

She knows I’m a man

Who can break without warning

And those times when I’m broken

The thought of her makes it worthwhile

 

She sits by the window

On days when the warm breeze can touch her

Waiting and listening

And easing the passing of time

And I wonder, will she ever know how I see her

She’s a moment of truth, a voice in the night

A slow unending storyline

 

She’s stronger than starlight

She’s softer than rain falling

We fight with a passion

And love like a storm

 

God knows it ain’t easy

To hold on to someone whose ghosts are calling

But she stays with me

And her faith, it ain’t rusted or worn