Tag: song lyrics

BrooksLooks@ Delirium

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

DELIRIUM

YOU TRIED TO LEAVE
YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL
NOW IT’S YOU WHO’S IN THE HOLE
SEEMS YOU WERE JUST A BRIDGE FOR US
A HERE-TO-THERE WITH TOO MUCH FUSS
YOU TRIED TO GET THE SHIP TO SINK
NOW IT’S YOU WHO’S SUNK, ‘S WHAT PEOPLE THINK
YOUR MACHINATIONS WORE MIGHTY THIN
NOW YOU’RE OUTSIDE LOOKIN’ IN
LET ME GET MY VIOLIN
NOW YOU’RE OUTSIDE LOOKIN’ IN

WATER RISING IN A SHIVER
YOU HELPED US CROSS A LITTLE RIVER
YOU ROSE AND PEAKED A SHORT TIME LATER
WE SMILED AT EACH ALLIGATOR
AS WE REACHED THE OTHER SHORE
YOU TAPERED OFF TO BUT A SLIVER
OVER SUCH A SLOW AND GENTLE RIVER
BOTH SIDES OF YOU ARE NOW MUCH CLEARER
TAKE A LOOK INTO THE MIRROR
HOLD OFF ON YOUR FINAL BOW
YOU WERE BUT A PATH FROM THERE TO HERE
A BRIDGE ACROSS THEN AND NOW

YOU TRIED TO LEAVE
YOU SOLD YOUR SOUL
NOW IT’S YOU WHO’S IN THE HOLE
SEEMS YOU WERE JUST A BRIDGE FOR US
A HERE-TO-THERE WITH TOO MUCH FUSS
YOU TRIED TO GET THE SHIP TO SINK
IT’S YOU WHO’S SUNK, S’ WHAT PEOPLE THINK
YOUR MACHINATIONS ARE MIGHTY THIN
NOW YOU’RE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
HOLD OFF ON THAT GREAT BIG GRIN
NOW YOU’RE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
I’LL ROSIN UP MY VIOLIN
NOW YOU’RE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

LIFE’S HARD ENOUGH WITHOUT TWO FACED LIARS
PERHAPS YOU SIMPLY CROSSED YOUR WIRES
BUT LIFE CAN BE A LOT MORE FUN
NOW THE BASTARDS ‘R ON THE RUN
CAN FINALLY SEE THE SHINING SUN
NOW THE BASTARDS ‘R ON THE RUN
TRAPPED IN THE SILKY WEB THEY’VE SPUN
BASTARDS ARE FINALLY ON THE RUN
AND OUR SPIRITS WON’T COME UNDONE
NOW THE BASTARDS ‘R ON THE RUN

© 2014 Brooks Bradbury | Brooks Looks

BrooksLooks@ Chiricahua Cowboy

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

CHIRICAHUA COWBOY
Brooks Bradbury
September 2013

the cook reported longhorns
were coming in the gate
buckaroos at breakfast
some were in the bunk house
some were sleeping late

prit’ near eight mean corriente
ambled right up the old dirt road
pointy horns a glinting
they lumbered to and fro
they were free range beef with attitude
and in one by one they filed
danged if they didn’t git past the cattle grates
like a farside cartoon gone wild

chiricahua cowboy
he’s on his horse again
we never know why
we never know when
but he’s the hope of arizona
least from gleeson to portal
the chiricahua cowboy
he’s the one that gets the call
any time ‘r oyster’s are up against the wall
the chiricahua cowboy, he will save us all!

one was udderly female
it was plainly clear to see
queen of the rodeo heifers
another rather bullish one
he kept eyeing me

the chiricahua cowboy
he sauntered into view
he wore his leather jacket with fringe
smelled like beer and last night’s stew
boxer shorts and cowboy boots
his pants still in his room

he had spurs, a whip, two forty-fives
and he was itching for a feud
the chiricahua cowboy
lost big at poker and love last night
he was one big angry dude

he was ready to settle the score
and put those beeves back in the pen
a beefly duel was coming on, it seemed
while in the sage, fresh cowpies steamed
the heifer huddled the others then
weight was shifted
horns were pointed
the beeves they thundered in

all of a sudden the brawl commenced
bull whip cracked and bullets flying
eight corriente turned tail to run
in the end they met their bovine match
chiricahua cowboy was smilin’
as he blew smoke from the end of his gun
chiricahua cowboy rounded ‘em up right then
they were beaten like hamburger and locked in the pen

“next time you come round here
the butcher’ll make it cut and dried
and make little parts out of those carcasses
and wallets from yer hide!

chiricahua cowboy
he’s on his horse again
we never know why
we never know when
but he’s the hope of arizona
least from willcox to portal
the chiricahua cowboy
he’s the one that gets the call
any time ‘r oyster’s are up against the wall
the chiricahua cowboy, he done saved us all!
chiricahua cowboy–no one rides as tall!

© Brooks Bradbury / Innspired Hospitality

BrooksLooks@ Native Son

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment
Native Son 
November 2013   
 
the generation after the greatest one 
grew up as proud daughter and son 
heir to their own brave new world 
in a new time their lives unfurled   
 
fresh challenges and future shock 
nuclear ticks on a doomsday clock 
mindful of the price once paid 
for freedom earned with blood in trade 
 
perplexed at today’s reality  
perhaps the greatest regret what they have done
in this tear-it-down mentality 
what are the feelings felt by its native son? 
 
still these are the days 
of a future gratefully sought 
do the greatest ones regret
what they have wrought?  
 
pachyderm rule over a herd of red asses 
vigilant guardians of a racist view 
native sons shocked at what passes
democracy led askew 
 
they have endured the age’s new ways
techno gifts of a digital dawn
old minds turn negative and stiff 
wherever has ‘what’s right’ gone? 

© 2013 Brooks Bradbury / Innspired Hospitality

BrooksLooks@ Back of Beyond

~ Brooks Bradbury / BrooksLooks ~ Leave a comment

Slow Western Ballad – Key of G – 6/8 or slow 3/4 time  (Intro – soft fingerpicked G – Em – C – D – G) [Verse 1]
G Em
beaten up by life itself,
C G
it’s finally run me down
G Em
time to get a cowboy fix,
C D G
leave this one-horse town

G Em
the chaparral is calling me,
C G Em
to find myself, redirect—
C G
heading out to the back of beyond,
Am D G
in perfect silence, resurrect

[Chorus]
Em C
feel like I’m falling,
G D G
i drive on and on and on
C G
way out here,
Am D G
to the back of beyond.

[Verse 2]
G Em
through diamondbacks, coyote packs,
C G
ocotillo, prickly pear
G Em
here I’ll savor stillness,
C D G
every sunrise, heaven’s glare

G Em
under the cottonwoods,
C G Em
i reset, regroup, reprise,
C G
taking first deep breaths
Am D G
of rare fresh air beneath open skies

[Verse 3]
G Em
i fire up the Farmall,
C G
leave my troubles far behind
G Em
out on the purple sage,
C D G
an Arizona state of mind

G Em
tell ’em anything you want to,
C G Em
tell ’em I absconded—
C G
to the great wide open,
Am D G
i drove on and on and on

to the back of beyond

[Chorus – variation]
Em C
i’ll fire up the Farmall,
G D G
leave my troubles far behind
C G
i’ll savor perfect stillness,
Am D G
in the morning sun I find
Em C
heaven can’t compare,
G D G
re
C G
i’m never leaving here
Am D G
till the end of my time

[Bridge – spoken or softly sung]
Em C

G D G
softened by the years—
Em C
in the quietness I hear them,
G D G
their sadness crystal clear

Em C
they fought for their freedom,
G D Em
knew a soul’s fiercest thirst,
C G
safe once in Cochise’ stronghold,
Am D G
where they walked the land first.

[Verse 4]
G Em
i love it way out here,
C G
borrowed land, still untamed.
G Em
i know its wild fragrance,
C D G
before the monsoon rain.

G Em
these days I spend out here,
C G Em
no longer dreams at all.
C G
sanity reappears,
Am D G
in the balance of the call.

[Outro / Refrain]
Em C
across the far horizon,
G D G
my heart rides in its sway.
C G
it’s the back country that holds me,
Am D G
in its wild western way

Em C
helps me carry on and on,
G D G
to return again and again,
C G
to the back of beyond—
Am D G
where silence is a friend

(Instrumental outro – G – Em – C – D – G … fade with soft steel or fiddle)

© 2025 Brooks Bradbury | BrooksLooks