Chuck Mead

A Long Time Ago

By Chuck Mead & Mark Collie

I pledged my heart to the country
I sold my soul to rock n roll
I told you I’d be back someday
With my pockets full of gold
I played my hand down at the crossroads
Got stoned on Satan’s grass
And I remembered my Mama read from the Bible
“This too shall pass”

But that was a long time that was a long time
That was a long time ago

All I wanted was a living
And someone to share my life
Maybe a song on the radio
Then I would come back and make you my wife
But hopes and dreams and promises
Don’t always come true
On that winding road to the promised land
That led me away from you

But that was a long time that was a long time
That was a long time ago

I burned right through Atlanta
And everybody knew my name
Singin’ “Rainy Night in Georgia”
“Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”
On the wings of an Eagle flyin’ on diesel fuel
I count the miles and think of you
And I wonder if you miss me
The way you used to do

But that was a long time that was a long time
That was a long time ago

I broke down outside of Memphis
In a ’73 Ford van
I got a gig tonight on Beale Street
For my Dixie biker fans
I used to say “I’d give anything
Come win come lose or draw”
But I’ve learned that it takes everything
If you want to have it all

But that was a long time that was a long time
That was a long time ago

No Requests

Written by Chuck Mead/Jon & Sally Tiven

WELL YOU MOVE TO A SPOT
WHERE YOU THINK YOU GOT
MY EAR ON EVERYTHING
AND THAT’S A LOT, BUT MAYBE NOT
BUT MY MIND RUNS FREE
WHEN YOU TALK TO ME
AND YOU TELL ME HOW TO SING
THAT MELODY, JUST LET ME BE

I DON’T CARE HOW LOUD YOU SHOUT
OR HOW BIG A FAN YOU ARE
YOU SHOULD KNOW BY NOW
THAT SONG AIN’T IN MY REPERTOIRE
THIS BAND DON’T TAKE NO REQUESTS

YOU BEAT OUT THE TIME TO MAKE ME MARCH IN LINE
HOW MUCH EFFORT DID YOU WASTE
WHILE YOU WASTED MINE? I AIN’T LYIN
YOU WANNA RUN THE SHOW BUT ALL YOU KNOW
IS HOW FOOT IN MOUTH TASTES
AND EATING CROW—-WOULD YOU LIKE IT TO GO?

ALL OF YOUR INSISTENCE ONLY GETS YOU SO FAR
YOU SHOULD BY NOW THAT SONG AIN’T IN MY REPERTOIRE
THIS BAND DON’T TAKE NO REQUESTS (X2)

FROM THE TOP OF THE GUEST LIST
TO THE BOTTOM OF THE REQUEST LIST

A Song

If there’s a story left to tell
I hope they tell it well
The good, the bad, the ugly, right or wrong
And before this life is through
We’ll leave you with this tune
And at least we’ll be remembered in a song

And every time you hear that far away
Wailin’ in the night
And think of everything we’ll leave behind

After all is said and done
As long as someone sings along
At least we’ll be remembered in a song

When we answered to the call
We knew we’d have to give it all
That’s all that you can ask from anyone
So here’s to all that we believed
And all that we received
I hope we’ll be remembered in a song

And when you howl up to the sky
That you’ve been livin’
And everything is yours and ours and mine

After all is said and done
As long as someone sings along
At least we’ll be remembered in a song

It’s a song about rain, pain
And the joy that we can’t explain
It’s a song about love, laughter
And happy ever after
It’s a song about love
And the moon and the stars above
Everybody sing along
Even after we’re gone
At least we’ll be remembered in a song

It’s a song about you, me
And the way we used to be
Everybody sing along
Even after we’re gone
At least we’ll be remembered in a song

She Got the Ring

By Jon Tiven & Chuck Mead

She said we oughta get married
I told her I wasn’t ready
She said I wanna be with you always
I said we was already steady
She said she needed a diamond but I told her
I wouldn’t give it
She went out and got a fella
Who would come up with it

Chorus
So she got the ring
I got the finger
She didn’t want to waste her time with no poor-ass singer
She wanted all the bling
That married life would bring her
So she got the ring
And I got the finger

She tried every trick in the book
To wear me down
Years before we met
She already had a wedding gown
New groom looks like a gorilla
But she says he’s cute
She was looking for a man
Who would fit into her monkey suit

Chorus

Out On The Natchez Trail

G. CROWE/C. MEAD

IT STRETCHES ALL THE WAY FROM THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
TO THE SHOALS OF ALABAM
UP THROUGH THE HILLS TO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY
TO THE BANKS OF THE CUMBERLAND
I WAS MAKING MY WAY DOWN TO TUPELO
WHEN I FELT MY ENGINE FAIL
I WAS ALL ALONE AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD
OUT ON THE NATCHEZ TRAIL

CHORUS
A OOOO OO
OUT IN THE NATCHEZ TRAIL
BETTER WATCH WHERE YOU WALK
OR YOU MIGHT GET LOST
OUT ON THE NATCHEZ TRAIL

I SET OUT HIKING BY THE PALE MOONLIGHT
LOOKING FOR THE NEAREST TOWN
WHEN I CAME ACROSS A MAN CALLED CHICKASAW SAM
SITTIN ON AN INDIAN MOUND
HE HAD AN OL’ PEACE PIPE AND AN UN-CORKED JUG
FILLED WITH MAGIC ALE
I TOOK A LITTLE SIP AND MY MIND PLAYED TRICKS
OUT ON THE NATCHEZ TRAIL

CHORUS

I HEARD THE SKY THUNDER
I HEARD THE WIND BLOW
I HEARD A WHOLE HERD OF BUFFALO
THE STARS STARTED SPINNIN
AROUND AND ROUND
I FELT MY FEET COMIN OFF THE GROUND

I WAS FLYIN DOWN THE TRAIL
I WAS FLYIN REAL LOW
AND I FLEW ALL THE WAY TO TUPELO
I SAW THE BOY KING I SAW CHICKASAW SAM
THEN IT ALL WENT BLACK WITH A WAVE OF HIS HAND

I WOKE UP WITH THE SUN SHINNIN IN MY FACE
IN THE FRONT OF MY CHEVELLE
HOW I GOT BACK TO THE DOUBLE BRIDGE
I COULD NEVER TELL

I TOOK A LITTLE TRIP TO THE OTHER SIDE
BUT I LIVED TO TELL THE TALE
IT WAS A STROKE OF LUCK WHEN THAT MOTOR CRANKED UP
OUT ON THE NATCHEZ TRAIL

CHORUS

Gunmetal Gray

I was a buck toothed, white trash, sleepy-eyed milltown kid
Nobody ever took a note of nothing that I ever did
I was sneaking a sip from my Daddy’s corn liquor still
Hiding out by the river with the moon and the whippoorwill

The leaves started cracklin’ in the woods something coming my way
I ducked behind a willow and threw that whiskey bottle away
I heard a voice cuttin’ through the darkness chilled me to the bone
Like a Sunday morning sermon spitting out fire and brimstone

I never saw what happened
I never saw a thing
It went down so fast in a flash
Of gun-metal gray

For the next thirty seconds the crickets didn’t even breathe
Then I bent back the branches ‘cause I knew I had to take a peek
I saw a big black boot on a shovel break the cold hard ground
And a man on a mission making sure there wasn’t nothing found

He never saw me looking
And I never said a thing
But that one night wrong and right
Turned gun-metal gray

Maybe I should’ve run straight to the Sheriff
And sung like a bird said I know what he done
The next day everybody’s talking ‘bout the preacher’s young wife
Skipping town with the deacon’s son

Twenty years later I’m the man no one claims to know
But when they need a little something they know exactly where to go
And as for the preacher he’s still packing them in the pews
Would they be singing Hallelujah if I told them everything I knew

We all got secrets to keep
We’ll all have hell to pay
Nothing ‘bout life is black and white
It’s gun-metal gray