Bill Nash Music

Looking out a Picture Window - Bill Nash & Susan Miles

Track 1 - New Mexico – Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 3 -  4:08

Every day I wake to find I’m still breathing 
It always shocks me I’m still here  
To take a waking breath again is very comforting 
Another day, another sky so clear          

The sun chokes are blooming everywhere    
Funny what a little rain can do        
Jack rabbits and prairie dogs are quite a pair 
And the hummers are all here too          

Chorus
It’s a lovely morning, a great day to be alive  
Trees are dancing in the wind        
Lizards are making the cats cry        
He’s hoping for a glimpse of their Cheshire grins   
It’s a lovely morning in New Mexico     
Birds are chirping, and eating well         
The sugar water is all ready to go        
It’s a wonderful place to dwell (2X)  

Autumn will return on some near future date   
The elk come down to blare their trumpets       
They come each year to find their mates          
And it’s almost like they use a compass      

With winter snow, it gets quiet as a mouse         
And the star canopy at night shows everything 
We’ll stay inside our comfortable house         
Drink our coffee, and hold on for spring    

CH

Track 2 - On the Wings of Geese – Susan Miles/Bill Nash  - DGDGAD Tuning – Capo 5 - 4:32

A flock of geese flies in a V formation
High above my home, throughout the day
I sometimes find I wish that I could join them
But I’m here on the ground with feet of clay

Sometimes we don’t stay the same forever 
Things happen and can change us where we stand 
If we’re lucky with our lot our hearts get bigger 
And we learn to grow and thrive right where we land

On the wings of geese my soul leaves my window 
And I am perfect as I once was long ago,
There are no limits to this body or it’s shackles,
For I am flying on the wings of geese I go

When I see those geese above me in a blue sky
I wonder where they’ve been and where they’ll go
When the winds bring the bitter cold of winter
They fly to places I will never know

I know a woman who is living in a wheelchair
She did all the things an active person does
A sickness came and took away her power
And everything she ever thought she was

But on moonlit nights her soul leaves her window 
She is graceful as she once was long ago
There are no limits to this body or it’s shackles 
For she is flying on the wings of geese she goes

There are those who know our bodies don’t define us
It’s what’s inside that makes us who we are
For when we carry love along this journey
Although earth bound, we will have traveled far

And this story finds me joining many others 
As my body struggles just to walk or stand 
But in my dreams I’m moving like I once was
And I’m looking for that one last place to land

And on frosty nights my soul leaves my window 
I am just as I was once long ago 
There are no limits to this body or it’s shackles 
For I am flying on the wings of geese I go

Track 3 - Spilled a Little Blood – Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 3 - 3:33

My grandpa worked the steel mills of northern Illinois 
Phoenix Steel Company, till he retired from his employ
Forty seven years he’d go to work early in the morn    
He’d bend horseshoes all day, ‘till the sound of the horn

Then he’d come home to Grandma, but first to take a shower     
To remove the grime and the grit of a day’s work in an hour    
Then he’d work out in the field till the sun set in the west    
He’d tend the garden to bring the food to the table to be blessed

Chorus
Grandpa was a quiet man, he never had a lot to say         
A pipe wrench in his hand, he’d work on the car in the driveway 
Sometimes he would curse, expletives in a flood    
And he only felt a job was done if he spilled a little blood      

Now Grandpa never learned how to read or write in school
He did things his own way, always followed the golden rule
But a wiser man you’d never meet in your time on this earth
He knew how to fix things from the moment of his birth

I learned how to use a saw, and a hammer and a nail
I watched him and my Dad build our house to every detail
They spent all their free time to get the house just right
To have a place for the boys and the girls to sleep at night

(Ch)

Now as a young man, I never learned how to swear
But I heard a bunch from Grandpa, all that he could spare 
And I used them sometimes, just hoping against hope
I would not get my mouth washed out with Mom’s Ivory soap  (Ch)

Track 4 - Taos Mountain – Susan Miles/Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 4 - 4:08

She held him in a painter’s light      
Full of promise, shiny bright             
She knew of all the gifts he had        
None quite touched her like the music had 
She thought of him the most at daybreak  
When the sun shines through the aspen trees 
As she’s gazing back across the river     
He’s the empty space a shadow leaves  

Chorus
Let the wind blow all the snow (3X) off Taos Mountain

Soon with the coming of the Spring 
Gone like footprints in a stream
Down the dirt road in the high desert
She knows there’s no other place he’d rather be
A song he left behind is now a whisper
In the river where the horses drink 
An imprint of a hand upon a window
A cup left behind in an empty sink

CH

Bridge
Sometimes we think a heart’s half empty         
On nights we feel the heavy full moon’s pull    
Remember our thoughts may be deceiving
For it’s really a heart that’s full  (CH 2X)

Track 5 - Mae Rose – Susan Miles/Bill Nash - Standard Tuning - Capo 5 - 4:45

She lays his shirt down on his pillow
Every night before she climbs into their bed
She listens and remembers in the darkness 
Recalling all the words he ever said

A house full of blessings and memories
Mountain portraits painted on the wall
Photo albums filled to over brimming
Anniversaries remembered in the Fall

Chorus

Arms embraced and overflowing
Kind words he always spoke, love grows
Looking down on Chicago as it’s snowing
Still holds his true love, Mae Rose

Listen in the stillness we still hear him
In a voice full of softness and so sweet
This warm house reveals his presence
Gathered round the table’s empty seat

Two dozen red roses in a bouquet
Five children in a future down the road
‘I Love you, I always have, I always will’
His final whisper for Mae Rose

Ch  -  Instrumental - Bridge

He left us here to find our own way
Taught us everything we know
She stays right here each and every day
In case we need his light to show  CH

Track 6 - It’s Gonna be a Train – Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 2 - 3:15

Some folks drive their cars to get away
They might go far but it’ll take a few days
It takes a while to get around
Coffee helps bring you to that town
But my first choice will always be a train

When some people run from life, they take a boat
They only get their kicks when they’re afloat
A monsoon can bring vacation pain
Swept away by a hurricane
My first choice will always be a train

Chorus
It’s gonna be a train (He shoulda taken a train)
The best way to get around
It’s gonna be a train
The nicest folks in town
Gourmet food in the dining car
The conductor says we’re going far
My first choice will always be a train

Some people take a plane to get out of town
Fastest way of all to get around
But I find flying in the air inane
Too much speed just drives me insane
My first choice will always be a train

CH

I have a friend who doesn’t like to fly
When he gets up in the air, he says, “Oh my!”
I knew I shouldn’t get on this plane
I doubt my dinner will remain
I guess I should have taken a train

CH

Tag (slow down)

Sitting in the observation car
The conductor says, “I don’t know where we are”
My first choice will always be a train (train sound)

Track 7 - Quilt – Bill Nash – DGDGAD Tuning – Capo on 4 - 3:50

I miss you, on days like this when the winter rolls through my window
I miss you, all those nights you were here, 
I would wrap you around me, my cares would fade away 

I miss you, memories of your love given freely to me I don't feel anymore
I miss you, times you lay on my bed waiting for the next time I caress you

Chorus

Now I know you live far away from me
And someone else holds you like I used to do
I wish one more chance to help you see
I never wanted to be parted from you

I miss you, you slipped right through my grasp
Like a thief in the still of the night
Oh, I miss you, you’re my thread to the past
To touch you, so soft and so light

Ch

Bridge
I’d give a king's ransom if I had it to give, 
I'd hand it away in a heartbeat
How fiercely I’d hold you, I’d never let go, 
I’d cherish no other above you

I miss you, when I think of the hands that made you so pure, 
Stitched with my Grandma’s love
Oh I miss you, I still feel her touch, 
I miss you so much more 'cause she made you

Now that you’re so far away from me, 
I hope someone in need is loving on you
Maybe one day they’ll finally see 
They’ll never want to be parted from you

Track 8 - Puff of Smoke – Susan Miles/Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 3 - 4:42

My footprints fall where yours fell, more than 100 years ago  
One day they’ll all be covered beneath a new fallen snow       
Many years before us, and long after man’s no more    
Haunted by hollow drumbeats of those who’ve gone before    

Campfire flames reflected upon a mustang’s face    
Sound of rumbling hoofbeats, gone without a trace    
Cries and haunting sorrows, still carried on the wind    
In the pine trees you can hear them
For the halls of time can’t mend             

Chorus
Smoke on the prairie speaks of times long ago        
Drifting through the desert, there’s wisdom in the stone
Sage smoke and fire ash along with words we spoke    
We bury all our memories, they’re gone in a puff of smoke

Dark nights at days end, sunrise a new day begins
A hundred years, a thousand fires, time’s ashes on the wind
Pinon woodsmoke lingers, tho a puff of smoke won’t last    
Like footprints in a snow storm, reaching back to days long passed

The mountains hold the secrets, the desert trails won’t tell
Memories drift through the pinion where all the shadows fell
Walking with ghosts in graveyards, years float by like fallen leaves
For the times we don’t remember, sometimes mankind grieves (CH)

Track 9 - Paths not Taken – Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 3 - 3:00

Well, my feet have started moving, I don't wanna pay my dues
I've gotta get down the highway, I don't wanna sing the blues
I've got problems with my aging I no longer can refuse
It's time to run from hecklers who think they know what I should choose

I'd like to sit out on a white sand beach, and watch the world go by
Or high up on a mountain top with nature in my eye
I want to live in the sunshine, puffy clouds rolling by
With all the sky blue atmosphere I can find before I die

Chorus
‘Cause paths not taken are paths lost    
There is no reconing the final cost        
Who knows which choice will make it right    
For all the things we choose to do tonight    

Will I always miss the mark on the high road to the future
There are no second chances by any way I can measure
Am I asking too much for the universe to deliver
A few moments of solitude for this cheap skate beginner

So I guess I'll keep on moving, letting mystery take the lead
Continue to pay the piper as much as he may need
Start tilling up the garden and then planting every seed 
You never know how many lost souls you may be able to feed (CH)

Bridge

Now that piper keeps hounding me        
He tries to keep me under his spell
I never knew I was such a prize
But he keeps ringing my bell
I’ve given all I’ve got to give
To make him let me be
But he never stops chasing after
No matter how I try to make him see, that… (CH)

Track 10 - Blink of an Eye – Susan Miles/Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo 2 - 4:03

In the blink of an eye, with the cock of a gun
You lay on the floor where you tried to outrun

The streak of a bullet, the heat from a gun
You were only 20, a life just begun

Chorus
In Boulder, Colorado, peaceful little mountain town
There’s snow on the mountains, there’s blood on the ground

Pausing breath just to listen, hidden corners in a room
A path of bloody footprints, smoke of gunfire looms

Troubled souls prowl the darkness, sometimes see the light of day
Their shots pierce the madness, draining life blood away

CH

Bridge

Do the sirens in the distance come for me
In the clearness of this vision, I can see
That he pulled the trigger, he held the gun
Now we’re held accountable 
For the deeds that he has done

outro

While in Boulder, Colorado, in the flatirons shadowed ground
Shots will echo thru the canyon till all arms are laid down (3x)

Track 11 - Perfect Life – Bill Nash – CGCGCD Tuning – Capo on 3 - 4:15

I used to run with the wolves without a care in the world
I ran the plans like the wind, a beast, my freedom unfurled
We were strong n our pack, we did everythng together
Knowing we couldn't live apart, not without each other

Remember the times we could go anywhere we wanted
To live a life that pleased us, completely unbounded
No matter what the cost of our heart’s desire
Now we run through the forest, like we’re evading a wildfire

Chorus
                       
To be able to live in a perfect world
Never thinking it would ever end
Without any worries about tomorrow
I want to live a perfect life again

Instrumental break  (CH)

Now it's been a long time since we shared the land
Oh, I miss those times with all my friends I'd stand
Now I’m bound to my home, to save my precious life
I sit here all alone, remembering what it was like

Ch

Tag
Without any worries about tomorrow
I want to live a perfect life again (2x)

Track 12 - It’s a Mystery to me – Bill Nash – CGDGCD – Full Capo on 1st fret, 3 string capo on 3rd fret (high note side), 3 string capo on 6th fret (low note side) - 3:53

It’s a mystery to me
To be strangers after being best of friends
How can it be to love so long then never speak again
We spent every night together
Through the laughter and the tears
We came through stormy weather
Stayed together all those years
We felt this love would always be near

It’s a mystery to me
As the years roll by, I still think of you
Now it seems I relive good times
And the bad all fade from view
Soul kisses I remember, hearts tethered on a string
We met in a November, but in our souls it felt like spring
Oh, what the days ahead might bring

My dreams haunt me, they leave only wisps of you
These dreams send me back to places we once knew
What's a dreamer left to do

It’s a mystery to me
How time heals a heart simply by passing by 
Now I see the healing leaves scars, but love stays eternally
Maybe in the future, when you dream about our past
You'll see the love I hold is still tender
And you'll know that it will last
You can rest assured of that

It’s a mystery to me (2X)

(Hidden Track – LIVE) Here today, Still Here Tomorrow – Bill Nash – Standard Tuning - Capo on 3rd - 2:50

My James Goodall to the left, I've got my Larrivee on the right 
Tom Noe's old Taylor on the couch
6 more on the rack within my sight       
Each one set to a different tuning so I can reach for the one
The right guitar for the right moment, all I see is fun, fun, fun

Chorus
You ask me if I’m happy in retirement, I bring up a smile so slow
I plan on being here a mighty, long time
Here Today, Still Here Tomorrow

Where's my second 3 string capo, it works so well in DigidiGAD
With a full capo on the first fret, it becomes my favorite comrade    
If it wasn't for these versatile friends of mine, my life would be a sorrier sight    
They help me fill in a lot of time, making every day so bright        
(Ch)

Bridge
They say when you retire, still do things you love 
So you don't waste your time away
You’ll turn your mind to mush             
When you know you’ve got so much more to say          
So write down the words, pick up the guitar                
Build yourself a masterpiece            
You never know what’s going to happen next    
It’s my favorite way to be released                     

(Whistle saw solo)  

(Ch) (tag)