Time Between Trains

Time Between Trains 1998

Quintessentially Nashville and rich with stand-out performances that highlight Susan Werner’s strong songwriting. Produced by guitar wizard Darrell Scott, features the likes of upright bassist Viktor Krauss and legendary timekeeper Kenny Malone.

Released 1998. Bottom Line Records. Recorded in Nashville.

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  • 1 Time Between Trains 3:45 Lyrics

    Time Between Trains - Lyrics

    I'm waitin' at the station

    I can choose my destination
    I'm a free soul, I got no chains
    But it's a long time between trains

    I took a long nap, I read a whole book
    I got nice legs, I got decent looks
    And I'm not one who complains
    But it's a long time between trains

    And who'd have thought it all those years
    That I would find myself back here
    Feelin' restless and ignored
    Starin' at the schedule board
    Wonderin' why the fates above
    Always route love through Miami

    And somewhere lovers smile their smiles
    While I count the ceiling tiles
    And well give or take a few
    There's one thousand fifty-two
    But that depends if you include
    The eighty-eight out in the hall

    Yes I'm waitin' at the station
    With my old friend sublimation
    You know the Wright boys designed planes

    Must have been a long time...

  • 2 Old Mistake 4:26 Lyrics

    Old Mistake - Lyrics

    It was another birthday party
    That Tina threw herself
    She said that you would be there
    So I came armed with someone else

    And everybody turned to greet me
    McGee and all the rest
    'Cept you turned toward the TV
    Distinctly unimpressed

    'Cos I speak such diamonds
    But you know me for a fake
    You see right through me
    'Cos I'm just your old
    Mistake

    And time does not undo it
    It's been three years or more
    Since those most famous kisses
    On my living room floor

    But those most famous kisses
    Were as far as we got
    I froze 'cos you were perfect
    I froze 'cos I was not

    And I poured the champagne
    While McGee served up the cake
    And you walked right past me
    'Cos I'm just your old mistake

    I'm just a mistake in judgement
    One that you will not make again
    Just a mistake in believing
    I'd do more than waste your time
    My friend

    But it was nice to see you
    Even from afar
    Even as you drove away
    In your new lover's car

    'Cos you still move the planets
    And you still pull the strings
    And you still make me want to fade
    Into the panelling

    'Cos I blew my chances
    Yeah I froze up like a lake
    And you just skate on by now
    'Cos I'm just your old

    I'm just your old mistake

  • 3 Bring 'Round The Boat 3:36 Lyrics

    Bring 'Round The Boat - Lyrics

    Judy turns fifty. Three days later her husband takes seven thousand dollars from their joint account and buys a diamond ring for his much younger mistress. A week later Judy discovers all of this and, quite upset, she calls him at work for an explanation. And he says, "Yes but the check didn't bounce..."

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of year

    Sheila tells the policeman, "I've got all of his phone messages here on a cassette marked 'Death Threats'. No, he never sent any letters, he's dyslexic so he doesn't like to write anything, ever. It's funny, he always said how that made him more compassionate..."

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of year

    White sand, beaches and emerald seas
    Palm trees swayin' in the Mediterranean breeze
    Sunshine every day of the week
    And all the signs are in Greek

    Linda's boyfriend walks in the door. He just drove the fourteen-year-old babysitter home and his tie is untied and his shirt's buttoned up all wrong. He puts the keys on the table, looks up at Linda and says, "Oh did we need milk?"

    Bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    From what I hear
    The island's very nice this time of

    Year

    Bring 'round the boat, bring 'round the boat, bring 'round the boat
    Bring 'round the boat, girls
    'Cos the island's very nice this time of year

    Anchors away

  • 4 Sorry About Jesus 3:09 Lyrics

    Sorry About Jesus - Lyrics

    Hello Amy Miles
    I'm surprised to see you
    Do you live here now
    Are you married
    Do you have some kids
    Are you still painting
    Oh, that's good, that's good
    You really were good at it

    Yes I'm fine, I'm fine
    I live in Houston now
    I have a son
    His name is Tyler and he's three years old
    His dad and I
    We couldn't work it out
    But really that's okay

    And by the way
    I'm sure that you remember I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    When I memorized the Bible I went overboard
    And I prayed for your soul and you were saved, you said
    And I was glad to tears you wouldn't go to hell
    With everybody else
    Oh I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I try to just forget about it all

    So how is your mom
    Yeah she was funny
    Yeah she made me laugh
    And she smoked Camels
    I remember that
    She drinks a lot
    Oh yeah I guess she does
    I guess she always did

    Yeah my dad's alright
    He's got the house out by the reservoir
    I only see him maybe once a year
    My mom's in Tulsa with her husband Bill
    Who doesn't beat her up

    And by the way
    I'm sure that you remember I was weird in school
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I'm hardly like the person that I was back then
    I never read the Bible
    I don't pray to God
    I'm not real sure he listens, you know what I mean
    But I really hoped he did when I was seventeen
    I'm sorry about Jesus and all that you know
    I try to just forget about it all
    I try to just forget about it all
    I try to just forget about it all

  • 5 Petaluma Afternoons 3:52 Lyrics

    Petaluma Afternoons - Lyrics

    Sonoma County on a Sunday
    Not a cloud in the California sky
    Cement Buddha in the backyard
    Unperturbed by the ants crawling up his thigh

    T.J. sittin' in a deck chair
    Smiles her easy smile from ear to ear
    Maura standin' in the doorway
    Says, "You really ought to move out here"

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin is
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons
    Yeah

    Put your book up on the table
    Stretch yourself back underneath the sun
    Close your eyes and let the daydreams
    Dance across your forehead one by one

    Troubles fade into the distance
    The Doobie Brothers on the radio
    Maura reads the weather for ya
    Says, "New York City got another three feet of snow"

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin is
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons

    Feel the healing golden rays
    Feel them warm your frozen bones
    Listen as the music plays
    And the serotonin flows in

    Goodbye kisses 'round sundown
    Gas and coffee by the Interstate
    Due in Vancouver in the morning
    Safe to say you're gonna be just a little late

    But Portland's nothing but a downspout
    Seattle is only sailboats in the rain
    So drag your feet in California
    God knows you got nothing to explain

    Petaluma afternoons
    When the light comes pouring in
    The buttered sunshine on your skin's
    Full of love and vitamins
    And they always end too soon
    These Petaluma afternoons

    These Petaluma afternoons
    These Petaluma afternoons
    These Petaluma afternoons

    Feel the healing golden rays
    As the serotonin flows in

  • 6 Courting The Muse 3:30 Lyrics

    Courting The Muse - Lyrics

    Well I lit up all the candles
    And I turned out all the lights
    And I waited up all hours
    But she did not come by last night
    She is beautiful as music
    But jealous to the bone
    And she will only love you
    If you love her alone

    And she used to sleep beside me
    In my narrow single bed
    When I took public transportation
    And I was badly underfed
    And she loved me more than a lover
    More than anyone I've known
    Yes she will truly love you
    If you love her alone, yeah
    But then came some fame and fortune
    And I got to feelin' pleased
    And I paid her less attention
    As my situation eased
    So she left me for a busker
    On the Spanish steps in Rome
    And I could see that she loved him
    'Cos he loved her alone

    Now every night I light the candles
    And I pray that she'll return
    For I have learned the double lesson
    That all her suitors learn
    Don't get too much lovin'
    Don't care what you own
    'Cos she will only love you
    If you love her alone
    Love her alone

    You must love her alone, yeah

  • 7 Montgomery Street 4:59 Lyrics

    Montgomery Street - Lyrics

    The air is still sweet on Montgomery Street
    Where the road bends around to the west
    The flowershop waits for the five-thirty train
    And the wives wait around for the rest

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that you keep to yourself

    The books that you read at the side of your bed
    And the turn at the top of the stairs
    The sound of my name in the sound of your voice
    The beginnings of grey in your hair

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that keep to yourself

    The air is still sweet on Montgomery Street
    But the moon is unbearably bright
    The ache unmistakably somebody else
    Where you sleep in her arms every night

    There are loves that you wear in a ring on your hand
    In a frame on the living-room shelf
    There are some that you sing to the wide open plains
    There are some that you keep

  • 8 Like Bonsai 4:07 Lyrics

    Like Bonsai - Lyrics

    The lady at the greenhouse said, "That would be seven-fifty please"
    You drove us down the gravel roads, I held it balanced on my knees
    You said we'd keep it inside so the branches wouldn't freeze
    And I asked you what would happen
    If we let it grow
    And you said

    Some trees were meant to reach
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai

    Winters and then summers and then I was seventeen
    We packed up my fall sweaters and my possibilities
    And we cried the day you left me at the university
    And it was something I remember
    As I watched you turn and go

    That some trees were meant to reach, you said
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai, like bonsai

    Some trees we trim back
    Some hands we tie
    Some wings we clip
    Some feet we bind

    Nineteen forty-eight it was and you were twelve years old
    Dreaming about high school and you asked if you could go
    And your mother said
    "Even very clever girls are better off at home"

    Some trees were meant to reach
    Reach up for the sky
    Some trees we trim to keep them pretty
    Like bonsai, like bonsai

  • 9 Can't Let You In 3:44 Lyrics

    Can't Let You In - Lyrics

    I can hear you at the bottom of the stairs
    The sound of breaking bottles, curses splittin' the air
    You're shoutin' up the hallway, shouting down the street
    I have to close my ears, I can't stand the heat
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in, I can't let you in

    And I have a picture hanging on the wall
    Of you in all your tall and handsome just before the fall
    And I have a black mark written in my book
    Of all the times you ripped me off and everything you took
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in, I can't let you in

    Your long sad story breaks my heart
    And no sarcasm on my part
    But if I let you look me in the face
    You'll get the best of me
    You know my weakest place
    And I can't let you in

    And I can hear you cryin' leanin' up against the door
    Cryin' like a lost child that I don't love you anymore
    But love you, yes I love you and that's what this is about
    I can't pick you up, I can't throw you out
    And I can't let you in, I can't let you in...

  • 10 Standing In My Own Way 3:57 Lyrics

    Standing In My Own Way - Lyrics

    ( By Dana Cooper)

    There goes me
    Giving in easily
    Trying too hard to please
    Soft in the middle

    Faithlessly
    Chickening out on me
    Blaming the big machine
    Cursing in riddles
    Frightened and little
    Standing in my own way

    Here am I
    Questioning where, how, why
    Watching my life roll by
    I don't want to blow it, no

    Contrary me
    Begging to disagree
    Making mistakes in threes
    Wrong and I know it
    Too proud to show it
    Standing in my own way
    Standing in my own way

    You naysayer
    Oh you're doing what you do best again
    Get out of my way you betrayer, no
    Don't be so damn sure
    You'll win

    'Cos we are through
    There's not enough room for two
    I'm stepping right over you
    Open that front door

    'Cos here I come
    Banging my broken drum
    I've got you on the run
    I'm winning this old war
    There will be no more
    Standing in my own way
    Standing in my own way

  • 11 Vincent 3:39 Lyrics

    Vincent - Lyrics

    Starry starry night
    Paint your palette blue and grey
    Look out on a summer's day
    With eyes that know the darkness of the soul

    Shadows on the hill
    Sketch the trees and the daffodils
    Catch the breeze and the winter chills
    In colours on the snowy linen land

    Now I understand
    What you tried to say to me
    How you suffered for your sanity
    And how you tried to set them free
    They wouldn't listen, they did not know how
    Perhaps they'll listen now

    Starry starry night
    Flaming flowers brightly blaze
    Swirling clouds in violet haze
    Reflect in Vincent's eyes of china blue

    Colours changing hue
    Morning fields of amber grain
    Weathered faces lined in pain
    All soothed beneath the artist's loving hand

    Now I understand
    Just what you tried to say to me
    And how you suffered for your sanity
    And how you tried to set them free
    They wouldn't listen, they did not know how
    Perhaps they'll listen now

    And no they did not love you
    But still your love was true
    And when no hope was left in sight
    On that starry starry night
    You took your life as lovers often do

    But I could have told you Vincent
    This world was never meant
    For one as beautiful as you