James Michael Taylor

Maybe I could be a potter
Throwing all the words away
Maybe I could learn the language of the clay

Maybe I could be a potter
Sweep the words out of the way
Let my fingers find the music in the clay

A song for Barbara and Jeff…

When love is late it doesn’t matter
It will flow back thru the cracks
Be it truth or idle chatter
Love shines sunshine on the facts
How many chapters in the story
Or how much time it spends
Be it tragedy or glory
It only matters how the story ends
A love…read more

I QUIT

Nobody has to put up with this shit
You can make your stand and tell the world, “I quit.”
You can do it with a gun. You can do it with a corvette
But nobody has to put up with this shit.

© 2017 Royal T Music

IRON

I’ve got iron for my anemia
A bucket trip to Tanzenia
I’ve got a picture of a lion with a bone
A transfusion in Monrovia
Red blood cells in Angolia
And I wonder if I’m going to make it home

Take a week off from my medicine
Doctor said, “Get back in bed, son.”

There are many suns
There are many moons
But there’s only one you.

Moon light lights the path
The planets do the math
All that’s left for me to do is you

There are many suns
There are many moons
But there’s only one you.

© 2016 Royal T Music

DIGGIN’ A HOLE by Jeff Prince

Diggin’ a hole is a natural thing to do.
Out in Odessa digging for Texas crude.
Or up in the Klondike searching for buckets of
gold. There’s plenty a good reason for a man to
be diggin’ a hole.

Diggin’ a hole. Diggin’ a hole
No good reason I know I’m just…read more

I LIKE POPCORN

I like popcorn
Pour it in the skillet
Turn up the burner
The heat will split it
Shake the popcorn
Building up the pressure
Rattling the cover
Sprinkle on the sugar
I like popcorn

Pop pop pop

I but some popcorn
At the movie
Soaking up the butter
All that candy…read more

Get outta my way, I’m headin’ on down this road
I’m on my way but I got no place to go
I’ve paid my dues. I just want my share
I’ve got the sun in my eyes
and the wind in my hair
But I got nobody

I’ve got no one to run to
No one to see
No one to run to
and no one to run to me…read more

Capo @ 2 in D (E) Dropped D tuning

D G Bb A
A year in jail can change man
You hang on to everything you can
Some things just bound to slip away
I’m stuck in a cell with I don’t know what
Can’t sleep a wink is all I got
One foot on the floor, ten cigarettes a day

The bang of the…read more

I told her I’d give her five years
and if she wasn’t back here
I’d have to give her another five years

Eight years are gone now but I carry on now
It’s lonely…

The tide is going out in Avila
I can feel it in my blood
Here I am in South beach Florida
Just like you knew I would
Florencia, I’ve been waiting for your call
Florencia, you make me feel so small

There’s a place in California
Where the coast is always clear
You said you’d be in Florida…read more

NEW DAY Key A

In the morning when she gets me up
Pours some wake up in my coffee cup
She opens the window, lets the new day in

She says, “Open your heart and embrace it.
Take that frown and erase it.
I whistle a happy song…”
CHORUS

So, when the morning sun breaks thru the clouds…read more

This is a song by Florencia Di Concillio.
I love the lyric and the melody. I never got the chords right but our connection wasn’t good so this is what it is. Not perfect but I think it’s charming… Florencia wrote the major music for DARK BLOOD. We met at the premier in Uthrect Netherlands…read more

Rose of Montreal

Bagging up some berries between the bread and alcohol I swear I think I’d seen it all
I couldn’t help but notice so I made the call
She doesn’t know but she’s the Rose of Montreal

Montreal, Montreal. She is the Rose of Montreal.
Montreal, Montreal. I have found the Rose…read more

When Love is late it doesn’t matter.
It will flow back thru the cracks.
Be it truth or idle chatter.
Love shines sunshine on the facts.

How many chapter in the story.
Or how much time it spends.
Be there tragedy or glory,
It only matters how it ends.

A love that’s late sure beets…read more

Em
Well, some folks got big noses
Some folks got big ass
Some folks stand out in the aisle
Make it hard to pass
Am
Some folks got money
Em
They say, “That’s just how it goes.”
B7 A
They make it hard for folks like me
Am Em
To keep from steppin’ on some toes

Some folks got big old…read more

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though;

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer

To stop without a farmhouse near…read more

Nothin’ much.
Just the most dependable thing in our world.

When I was in college my room mate told me a STORY about a traveler who arrived at the gates of a city in a strange land. Seeing a beggar at the gate he gave him a coin and asked him a question: “What kind of people will I find in your city?” The beggar’s reply was to ask him what kind of people…read more

Rocka my brain. Rocka my soul
Rocka my body in a six foot hole
Don’t leave me here to face this night alone

Rock me in the evening. Rock me at night
Rock my body in the broad day light
But don’t leave me here to face my life alone

You took the key. You took the car
You took the map…read more

GRUMBLE RUMBLE

Grumble rumble goes the ski
Spitting water in my eye
Whhhhhhhhhhh goes the wind
Time to call the children in

That’s no rumble from the sky
Those are guns with barrels that glow
And the freezing water in my eye
It’s spraying from a water hose.

© 2016 Royal T Music

Always Young In My Dreams capo at 5

G      D           G     GbassG#

I’m always young in my dreams
Am AmbassG AmbassF# D
My horse is always Old Shane
Am D D#dim Em

So proud and strong as we canter along
Am D G
I’m always…read more

Howling At The Moon capo @ 1 in E

E E^ E
E A E A E
I pull on my jeans and tighten up my buckle
E^^ B7 B7^ B7
If I’m not crazy now, I will be soon
E A E A E
I close my fist. It whitens…read more

CATFISH FISHIN’
a song by my buddie,
Guthrie Kennard

Three days of rain
Mud between my toes
First day of sun
Cut me a cain pole

I’m goin’ catfish fishin’
I’m goin’ catfish fishin
Catfish I’m fishin
Catfish fish fishin’

Lilly Mae’s in the kitchen
Makin’ somethin’ outta nothin…read more

INFATUATION UNREQUITED

They say it’s just infatuation
I only wish that it was true
Infatuation unrequited
feels like love to me for you

And then they say, “Silence is golden,”
and I don’t know what to do
The Autumn leaves the branches holdin’
Feels like love to me for you

Feels…read more

Irish Potatoes

BAND - FOOTBALL SEASON

Well, it must be football season
The band is on the field
The music trembles in the tree tops
as it tumbles down the hill
It echoes off the black top
as the drummers do their drill
I feel your breath on my shoulder

There’s a bell hangs out the window
When the…read more

I KEEP MY RADIO ON

I keep my radio on
From sunset to dawn
Keeps the spooks at bay
Scares them all away
I keep my radio on

I guess some folks got no problems
Some folks got no regrets
Don’t know how they do it
I’m not there yet

…

I guess some folks got no demons
They never…read more

EVERYTHING

Everything you know or think you know
Everything you know is wrong
Life ain’t no hootenanny
and you don’t have to sing along
You can laugh and you can mumble
You can hold your breath

Take a little piece of my heart now honey
Take a little piece of my mind
Put a little…read more

PAPER BOAT

I’m a paper boat
Down the gutter I float

It’s not clear
who put me here…

ULTRA VIOLET

Maybe I could fill the tank
Head on down. What do you think?
I could be there in about three hours…

You could talk and I could listen
Walk you outta Depression Prison
Turn that thunder storm into an April Shower

We could trip across the pasture
Down to the lake…read more

THE LESSON

I saw her in a music store in Fort Worth, Texas
I’d driven in to buy some strings
It was like getting hit by a little fist in my solar plexis
when she said, “Can you help me tune this thing?”
She had a smile. A thin disguise
One big question mark hiding in her eyes

I met…read more

My version of a song written by Guthrie Kennard

CATFISH FISHIN’

Three days of rain
Mud between my toes
First day of sun
Cut me a cain pole

I’m goin’ catfish fishin’
I’m goin’ catfish fishin
Catfish I’m fishin
Catfish fish fishin’

Lilly Mae’s in th kitchen
Makin’ somethin’ outta…read more

A PICTURE I CAN’T THROW AWAY Key C

            C         G            C

I have a picture I can’t throw away
C C+ F
A pretty girl with a smile on her face
F C walk down to Am
On the back it just says 1978
C…read more

BEANSPILLER

I’m a beanspiller
I’m a squeaky wheel
I’m the guy that speaks up
and ruins the deal
and when you get hurt
I say,“Ouch!”
I’m the change
you loose in your couch
I’m a leaky faucet
I’m a tree that weeps
I’m a tattle tale
I’m a canary that sleeps
I can see you coming
before…read more

It’s a small town event. Woodlake, California. East side of the San Joaquin Valley. 14 miles from where all those “Lindsey” olives you see on your grocery store shelves come from. The Woodlake Echo, says, “In the foothills of the Sequoias”.

FOOTHILLS

There’s a bend in the road
at the…read more

Sadly, Annie and Allan are now divorced…
The games are over…

Annie & Allan

Annie and Allan were having a problem
Made a decision to go their own ways

Annie and Allan made an announcement
Not even knowing how it saddened our day

Annie and Allan were taken for granted
They…read more

New song from GHOST OF JOHN MURPHY
from the POP GOES THE GHOST album

WHEN LAYLA COMES OVER

When Layla comes over everything stops
When Layla comes over I put on my socks
I put on my shoes. I put on my shirt.
When Layla comes over.

When Layla comes over she plays with my sister…read more

My favorite song by Jane Bowers
Sung by The Kingston Trio many years ago

WHEN I WAS YOUNG

When I was young and dreams were new,
I loved a girl who looked like you.
I saw her face in mountains stream.
I lingered there and lost myself in dreams.

But we were young and tossed away…read more

A Facebook Friend posted a picture of a
sign hanging on a tree that had the words
to the first verse. I couldn’t leave well
enough alone…I Googled the verse and
found it was written by Dallas Clayton.

MESSAGE ON A TREE

“She blew a kiss. It missed my face
It drifted into outer…read more

PRETTY GIRL

Pretty girl, pretty dress
Well, I must confess my heart is in a mess
Pretty girl

Some guys can walk up to a girl
Say, “Hey! I love you
They make it look like something
So easy to do

Pretty girl, pretty dress
Well, I must confess my heart is in a mess
Pretty girl…read more

ANNETTE

The creek’s a risin’ and my line is set
Gonna cash in on my catfish bet
My bobber’s a bouncin’ and I’m gonna get wet

She said she’d fix me dinner if I caught a fish
She might suspect that’s my favorite wish
So, I got myself a bucket and some bait and a net

A net, a net…read more

THIS OLD HOUSE Key C

     C           F               C  

This old house has a mushroom on the lawn
F C

This old house is a raincoat I put on
G C
This old house is just an old house since you’re gone…read more

STEPPIN’ ON SOME TOES Key - Em and E

Em
Well, some folks got big noses
Some folks got big hats
Some folks stand out in the aisle
Make it hard to pass
Am
Some folks they got money
Em
They say, “That’s just how it goes.”
B7…read more

HURRY

I’m not in a hurry
I’ve got all day to get there
You don’t have to worry
I learned my lesson out there

I spent all night in Utah
As I make Green River
The chains banged on the exhaust
Til she began to quiver
Asphyxiation creates a situation
Unconscious girl. Dead to the world…read more

© 2015 Royal T Music

You say, “I hope things are going well for you,” and Have a wonderful day.“ Could we just leave these kind of things out of our conversation? I don’t have wonderful days. I have days I stay distracted enough not to shake with the horror of growing old alone. Going well for me is sleeping until…read more

She broke all the rules

Had to love her.
Can’t recover.
Think I’m gonna tell my mother.

© 2015 Royal T Music

RONDA’S THEME

Ronda. Ronda.
In her faded blue jeans
with her guitar she sings
It’s just one of the things
about Ronda.

Ronda was a little girl
Just like you
Once upon a time
But now, but now
She’s RONDA

© 2015 Royal T Music

I doubled all the lines to help me and a friend learn the song.
There is a shortened version on down the page if you don’t want to have to hear every line repeated.

THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS
Capo @ 5 - played in C positions

C F G C G C
If your heart…read more

Girls aren’t like guitars.
They won’t just sit around waiting for you to come up with something interesting to do

Girls aren’t like guitars.
If you’re having problems maybe it’s because
Girls aren’t like guitars

© 2015 Royal T Music

WRITER’S BLOCK

I went out to the stockyards last night. I don’t get out much but I had an invite.
My buddy, Guthrie Kennard was playing.
The place was full. The band was tight. Whitney Raquel opened the night
And the kids from the 2500 Club were out in all their their colors

There was…read more

SNOW MAN

I’ll tell you right now
I don’t cry
You might mistake some sweat
for a teardrop in my eye
But, I don’t cry

In spite of what you might be thinking
I don’t get tired of humble pie
(That’s not a tear drop in my eye)
And don’t you think that I’ve been drinking
I’ll admit…read more

WATER

I was standing there just pumping gas and pissing on my tire
When I dropped my wallet. The situation’s dire
I got water on my wallet and water on my shoe
Standing there at half a tank wondering what to do

It’s kinda hard to zip it up when you’re bending down
The candy in my (coat…read more

THE CIRCLE OF NO REGRETS Key C

C F G C C G C
If your heart must be broken let it be by beauty
C F G C C G C
If thru tears you be spoken let it be by music
Am F C G C
If your silence…read more

IF

If your heart must be broken
let it be by beauty
If in tears you be soakin’
let it be by music
If your silence must be ended
let it be by laughter
If your love must say good-bye
let it be in death

If your pockets must be empty
let it be by giving
If your body be exhausted
let…read more

This is the extended version of the 35 second original…
Guitars and drums are so
helpful when one wants to express
despair and confusion
and despair.

ANY MORE

It was raining in the parking lot
We ran all the way to the door

That’s when you said,
“I love you but I don’t need you…read more

This is the original “song”.

ANY MORE

It was raining in the parking lot
We ran all the way to the door

That’s when you said,
“I love you but I don’t need you any more.”

Svetlana is on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/public/Svetlana-Lazareva

SVETLANA

Svetlana, the prettiest girl in the world
Flew in from Lithuania. Makes me go ho insania
What will I do now? What did I do before?

Svetlania has a video. And about a million photios
What will I do…read more

© 2015 Royal T Music

This song is the concluding song on my RPM Challenge February album. It is a good-bye to the project.
http://www.rpmchallenge.com/

Not a good-bye to Alonetone
or anything else.

SEE YA

It has been a lot of fun
Listening to everyone
But for now I’m out of here
Hope to see…read more

KAWEAH

Kaweah, Kaweah

There’s a place on up the hill
Redwood trees are standing still
The murmur of the river will invite you

Lay your head down on a rock
You’ll forget about the clock
The whisper of the sun will melt the shadows

“Kaweah,” as the crow would say
“Kaweah,” as he…read more

THE COUCH - by James Michael Taylor

Today we put the couch out by the road
My daughter said it’s time to let it go
I’d hauled it all the way from Tennessee.
It was the couch my parents gave to me

She brought me a new one in it’s place
It is very nice but takes up more space
We…read more

This is all me…

VOICES

There is something deep inside that wants to laugh and cry
Something that would like to tell it’s story
There is something deep inside that wants to dance and wants to fly
Maybe you would guess it’s called the voice

© 2015 Royal T Music

LOSER

Did you ever lose your britches
Did you ever lose a shoe
Did you ever lose that sweater
Your best friend gave to you
Did you ever lose that girl you held so tenderly
Well, let me tell you buddy. You’re a lot like me

Did you ever lose a wallet
Did you ever lose a sock
Did you…read more

I’LL NEVER SAY I LOVE YOU AGAIN

I’ll never say, “I love you,” again
I believe in love without end
And I know that it’s true
That I’ll always love you
But I’ll never say, “I love you,” again

I’ll never say, “I love you,” again
You’ll not catch me talking to the wind
You can know that…read more

THERE, I SAID IT

The more you got, the more you got to lose
From the top of your head down to the bottom of your shoes
The things you love. The things you abuse
It’s enough to give a white boy the blues
I said it. There, I said it
It might not be important but it’s the news
Somebody…read more

HOW

I’ve got a friend. He is in trouble
But he just stands there in the rubble
It seems each day his sorrows double
He needs to know. He needs to know

How do you keep your hand from shaking
How do you keep your fear from waking
How do you keep your heart from aching
He needs to know…read more

Dude stole my guitar
so I wrote a song about him…

BICYCLE EDDY

Bicycle Eddy, he rode at night
Had no fenders on his bike
Had a brown streak up the back of his shirt
Eddy don’t care. “It’s just dirt.”

Bicycle Eddy, he slept all day
Had a nest in the bushes up on Riverside Way…read more

I CAN’T TELL

I can’t tell if it’s morning or evening
I can’t tell night from day
I can’t tell if I’m arriving or leaving
Doesn’t mean a thing to me
Since you went away

I can’t tell if it’s sunny or raining
I can’t tell if it’s a cloudless day
I can’t tell if I’m dreaming or…read more

ADOBE & BLOOD

Thanks to David Kneller
for bringing up the subject
and creating that phrase:
ADOBE & BLOOD

I read a lotta stories about a lotta stuff
But I tell ya folks, I’ll never read enough
To block out the memories what’s under mud
at the California missions made of adobe and…read more

Jeff’s version

FLORENCIA

The tide is going out in Avila
I can feel it in my blood
Here I am in South Beach Florida
Just like you knew I would

There’s a place in California
Where the coast is always clear
You said you’d be in Florida
But I can’t find you here

Florencia, I’ve…read more

THE GIFT

An architect in Bakersfield gave him a gift of wine
Napa Valley, California, famous for the vine
When the grape is coupled with the peach, the promise is divine
But he would never pull the cork as he alone would dine

The day they cleaned his kitchen out, on a refrigerator shelf…read more

It’s so dark
she can’t sleep
She needs more
ice in her water
She lost her smile
It went to Nashville

So she sent
me her address
I didn’t know
if I should answer
or go to her
I could call a taxi

Too much wine
Too much coffee
Too much music

© 2015 Royal T Music

Florencia Di Concilio is a composer who lives in Paris. Among other things, she writes music for movies. One of the movies she wrote music for is DARK BLOOD, the last River Phoenix movie. She and I planned to get together and see what we could come up with when DARK BLOOD was showing at the…read more

When you come to the end of the road
and all of the signs just say “No”
You never say, “Quit”
Cause that’s not your bit
You’re not a pup
You never give up…

Capo @ 2 in D (E) Dropped D tuning

D G Bb A
A year in jail can change man
You hang on to everything you can
Some things just bound to slip away
I’m stuck in a cell with I don’t know what
Can’t sleep a wink is all I got
One foot on the floor, ten cigarettes a day

The bang of the…read more

It seems our hunger to express awe is channeled
into petty things early in our life and when we break free we feel robbed because all the mighty expressions are tied up in silly stories about some jealous being making contradictory demands. I chose to take those songs of praise and redirect…read more

“THE TOMMY HOOKER BAND is a regular Wednesday night act at Pearl’s Dance Hall and Saloon in the Fort Worth Stockyards and he packs the house – everyone loves him.”

http://tommyhooker.com/Tommy_Hooker/Home.html
https://www.facebook.com/pearlsdancehallfortworth

ANYTHING…read more

IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY

If it makes you happy I will tie your shoe
If it makes you happy I will tickle you
If it makes you happy I’m telling you true
If it makes you happy I’ll be happy too

If it makes you happy I will wiggle my ears
If it makes you happy I will hide my tears
If it…read more

It seems at every gig people tell me I sound like Neil Young. Well, really? Do I?

PLEASE DON’T TELL ME ANY MORE

capo @ 3 in G
James Michael Taylor 09 26/7 14

VERSE ONE - You said you knew the story would upset me G
That you’d resolved to kept it to yourself G D
You said you knew how hard it would hit me D
You said that you had…read more

IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY KEY - C

C F C

If it makes you Happy I will tie your shoe
C D G
If it makes you happy I will tickle you
F C Am F

If it makes you happy I’m telling you true…read more

DEAR PEGGY

Dear Peggy,I thot you’d like to know
That blue tile in our bathroom you said would have to go
I replaced with the slate that we bought at Home Depot
mmmmm mmmmm

Dear Peggy, The heat has killed the lawn
And water is so expensive I can’t afford to turn it on
We’ll find out…read more