Virginia Anymore
Though the rest of you has slipped away
Your scent still fills the room
The taste of you still coats my tongue
Like the ghost of your perfume
I’m starin’ at the ceiling
Watchin’ shadows wash the walls
Hearin’ sounds of happy couples
Their laughter shakes the halls
Chorus
Will I see you again Virginia
On these stolen afternoons
Twisted up in bedsheets
In hide-away hotel rooms
Though I’d-a never known this side of love
If I’d-a never known the pain
Tryin’-a hold back the feelings
Is like tryin’-a dry the rain
Will I still see you Virginia
Any-more
Yeah will I still see you Virginia
Any-more
Unformed words that lie on lips
Like a song never sung
Never whispered in your ear
They just died on my tongue
As our tightly woven tangled webs
Created to deceive
Wound their way to other’s ears
On paths we conceived
Chorus
Can I still see you Virginia
On these stolen afternoons
Twisted up in bedsheets
In hide-away hotel rooms
Though I’d-a never known this side of love
If I’d-a never known the pain
Tryin’-a hold back the feelings
Is like tryin’-a dry the rain
Can I still see you Virginia
Any-more
Can I still see you Virginia
Any-more
In moments shared in afterglow
That vanish in the dark
We tell ourselves it’s the last time
’Til death do us part
You’ll go back to yours again
And I’ll go back to mine
Until another liar’s night
When we swear it’s the last time
Chorus
Yeah I’ll still see you Virginia
On these stolen afternoons
Twisted up in bedsheets
In hide-away hotel rooms
Though I’d-a never known this side of love
If I’d-a never known the pain
Tryin’-a hold back the feelings
Is like tryin’-a dry the rain
So I’ll still see you Virginia
Ever-more
Yeah I’ll still see you Virginia
Ever-more
Jimmy & Stella (Love Doesn’t Always Play In Tune)
Jimmy was a truck driven’ man, Stella was a star of the night
To see those two together was a really sorry sight
One too many bottles had been pressed to Jimmy’s lips
And one too many men had been drawn to Stella’s hips
Now Jimmy’s eighteen wheels no longer fly from coast to coast
Stella’s days are over as a suburban, housewife host
To say that they were tired and spent was an understatement at best
But in their own kind of special way they shared a little tenderness
Chorus
And they danced to the beat of a different drummer
They tangoed on the dark side of the moon
It’s hard to see what they saw in each other
But love doesn’t always play in tune
No love doesn’t always play in tune
It wasn’t always quite the same, they had different lives back when
Jimmy drove those eighteen wheels for pride and a dividend
Til his wife ran off and took the kids, while his wheels rolled through the West
Then he came back, lived alone, and tried his level best
And Stella kept a house and kids and a mortgage ’round her neck
As long as she could hold back the debt her husband left her with
They built their love out of loneliness, desperation defined their dreams
But no one’s keepin’ score no more, and no one’s givin’ in
Repeat Chorus
Now they’d go out on Friday nights to a local roadhouse bar
Stella’d take the keys from Jim so he couldn’t go too far
Jimmy’d take a seat at the bar and settle in for the night
But Stella she’d get restless, she was really quite a sight
In a tight red skirt that said it all and made the boys want more
Stella’d sit with her back to the bar and her eyes fixed on the door
A tall dark stranger’d saunter in and Stella’d saunter out
And Jimmy’d only notice if his money had run out
Repeat Chorus
While Jimmy’d say bartender – another boilermaker please
Stella’d be out in the parking lot, she was anybody’s squeeze
It might have been a Freightliner, a Bulldog or a Peterbilt
Stella’d be in the back of the cab without the slightest hint of guilt
As the bartender would announce last call, Stella would drift back in
She’d straighten out her skirt and wake up Jimmy with a pat on the chin
They’d venture out in the dark of night, arm-in-arm or hand-in-hand
Each night was about the same, like it was the way things had always been
Repeat Chorus
WHEN THE MAPLES TURN CINNAMON
They bank and turn against the northern sky
As the clouds hold back the rain
When the maples turn cinnamon
From Montreal to the coast of Maine
The geese always come too soon
‘Fore the leaves release their hold
Like the first smoke from the chimney
Before the cold winds blow
When the maples turn cinnamon
From Montreal to the coast of Maine
And the cold winds blow
He watches as they turn in flight
Their positions rearrange
He knows they’ll only stay the night
They’ve come to mark the change
And he wonders as he sees them glide
How they’ll fare this year
Which of them will survive
Will winter be severe
When the maples turn cinnamon
From Montreal to the coast of Maine
They’ve come to mark the change
“Ruth”, he says with a troubled smile,
“It’ll soon be getting cold”
“We’ll ache each time we use our hands.
We’ll miss the children so”
“I know” she says as the first one lands
In the fields they used to sow
“I guess this must be what it’s like
When time takes its toll”
When the maples turn cinnamon
From Montreal to the coast of Maine
When time takes its toll
“We make each other laugh, and cry
To keep from getting old.
But Ruth, my dear, what will we do
When one of us lets go?”
“Stanley”, she says to him
With a twinkle in her eye
“I don’t know about you my dear
But I ain’t fixin’ to die.
Instrumental Chorus
“And though the setting sun may find
New lines upon our brow
We’ll both be standing here I’m sure
One year’s time from now
So come inside the house dear man”
She says and takes his hand
And as those/the last words leave her lips
The geese touch the land
When the maples turn cinnamon
The last words leave her lips
And the geese touch the land
Instrumental – Short
When the maples turn cinnamon
The last words leave her lips
And time takes its toll
For more about my songwriting, upcoming live performance dates, links to my music and more about my life as a singer songwriter check out http://carlrubinomusic.com
Carl Rubino 