Can't Catch You Catchin' Me Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana Austin, all rights reserved When I'm runnin' after you Yes when I come chasin' after you Don't you slow down one little bit Don't wanna catch you Want you well away from me 'cause I've been happy independently. When I'm runnin' after you Yes when I come chasin' after you Don't you slow down one little bit You know I'm 'fraid of catchin' up afraid I'll make you blue Afraid I'll fall in love with you There was a time when we might have done alright I remember when we lay through the night all night And if I found myself a-lyin' once again in your embrace You know I'd hop up, jump into my runnin' shoes and make tracks from that place. And then when you're runnin' after me Yes when you come chasin' after me I won't slow down one little bit Don't you think for a minute love That I'm in love with you I just can't do it Wouldn't be fair to you.

Little Man Blues Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana Austin, all rights reserved I got a concrete mixer babe It's paid for every cent (repeat) And when I lay some road to you It's long, hard, and straight - not bent. I heard your Laundry Man popped in He just came & went Why settle for a squirt of starch When you can have Portland cement? Oh, woman, woman, you done paid your dues One tumble in my bucket Will cure your little man blues I got me a big ol' nail gun, baby There's no way to improve (repeat) My parquet floors: l'art d'avant garde Sould be featured dans le Louvre I'll lay you out a knotty floor You'll wanna bounce & move 'Cause after every nail I shoot I oil the tongue-and-groove Oh, woman, woman, you done paid your dues A little bit of tung oil Will lick your little man blues I've got the biggest boat in town Oh, you'll hear the ladies talk (repeat) That when my yacht sails in and out The swells will make you rock I got me a pile driver To enhance my wooden dock It pounds and pounds that mighty shaft All around the clock. Oh, woman, woman, you done paid your dues Come sail around the world with me Come sail around the world with me And we'll oh yes we'll put your little man over the fantail... A little bit of tung oil Will lick your little man...Blues

The Laundry Song Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana Austin all rights reserved I met you at the sock hop at Cotton Sturdy High I'd just walked out the boys room forgot to zip my fly You swore your love would never fade then hung me out to dry And I machine wash warm and tumble dry. Low kinda guy. You asked me in for tea and spilled that hot pan on your thigh The color ran from both your cheeks I thought that I would die For under where you dropped your pan tea stains would set and dry And I machine wash warm and tumble dry. Low kinda guy. You've agitated loads of lovers but when they would cry You're so afraid of KitchenAids you conned 'em with a lie Which may deter gents from a snuggle 'tween your downy thighs And I machine wash warm and tumble dry. Low kinda guy. I dreamed we washed up on a bleach and then lay flat to dry But when I told it to my shrink it stretched into a lye I thought we'd have a tumble if your cycle would comply And I machine wash warm and tumble dry. Low kinda guy.

One Part Harmony Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved I find simple pleasure in the way you yield your hand in both of mine. It's fine. And when you send the treasure of your smile above our fingers intertwined, you shine. We've known each other so short a time A soaring, smooth emotional climb But harmony slipped out of tune Your I love you came much too soon. The soft light of the candles mingles with the expectation in your eyes. You sigh your words like velvet vandals softly severing our tentative new ties. That's why: I find I'm lost to find a way To reflect your smile or say Words to bind us, I can't lie. Honesty might mean goodbye. (interlude) A trembling glaze clings to your eye My chance to answer's slipping by I don't know what to say or do I wish I had a tear for you. Coda So I press your hand and almost on cue I close my eyes and say "I love you, too."

The Woman Who Cries Lyrics written by Marilyn Basil Austin Music written and performed by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved The woman who cries peers through long, curling lashes webbed with misty tears. She looks at you while rivulets trickle down, down touching deep her fears. (Refrain) The woman who cries doesn't ask you to hold her but you do. But you do. Her tears she dries on your I Love Yous and sighs I love you. I love you, too. The woman who cries smiles her dewy-morning smile forgetting recent tears. She looks at you with her hazy, sunny eyes drawing you near (Refrain) She looks at you while rivulets trickle down, down touching deep her fears. Coda The woman who cries doesn't ask you to love her but you do. I love you, too.

Lena's Song (post partum impression) Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved She sat on the rug and played At puzzles, pens, and people Within my touch yet far away Her world of make believe. Bow legs' wobble made me smile First steps were a game Toddling falls took just a kiss To make things right again. Refrain Now I know that I was slow To understand how precious is she I recall when she first spoke (With a little prompting) "Daddy I love you." Changing slowly, hard to see The old for new made room Turn my head, the baby's gone I'm watching beauty bloom. (Refrain) I stop in her room at night And watch her smile in sleep Sunlit fields with butterflies I wish her in her dreams. (Refrain)

Shine On Harvest Moon Jack Norworth / Nora Bayes circa 1908 (public domain music) Arrangement and performance (c) Dana Austin, all rights reserved The night was mighty dark so you could hardly see, For the moon refused to shine. Couple sitting underneath a willow tree, For love they did pine. Little maid was kinda 'fraid of darkness So she said, "I guess I'll go." Boy began to sigh, looked up at the sky, And told the moon his little tale of woe Oh, Shine on, shine on, harvest moon Up in the sky; I ain't had no lovin' Since January, February, June or July. Snow time ain't no time to stay Outdoors and spoon; Shine on, shine on, harvest moon, For me and my gal. I can't see why a boy should sigh When by his side is the girl he loves so true, All he has to say is: "Won't you be my bride, For I love you. I can't see why I'm telling you this secret, When I know that you can guess." Harvest moon will smile, Shine on all the while, If the little girl should answer "yes."

Blue Cycle (infidelity) Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved Well I think I should not like the things you do. Well I think I - oh you know I should not like the things you do. Well I think I should think you been untrue Refrain 'Cause when I knock on your door you come downstairs with open arms but when you see it's only me well your smile fades You're making me so unhappy, you know you're making me so sad Oh you're making me so unhappy, oh you know you're makin' me so sad But when I think of you in the arms of another man Oh it makes me mad.

Geronimo! Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin Your mind is always racing toward tomorrow You start to work today on every dream Forget about today's responsibility Then wonder why we start to scream Refrain Geronimo! I'm bailin' out God knows I'm sorry but I just can't stay Geronimo! Don't think it's easy The choice is not in black and white But ugly shades of gray. You say you think that everyone's against you You just can't see you bring it on yourself But when you're pistol-whipped by actuality You whine, "It's not my fault!" We yell: (Refrain) Interlude Self destruction is a selfish self indulgence when supported by the selfless sacrifices of your family and friends When you love someone it hurts to see him hurt himself; we've got to save our sanity; it's agony to leave but then it's worse to stay We've got to say: (Refrain) We start to wonder if your actions come from Some shrouded sado-masochistic streak Our sympathy begins to fester angrily We've had enough; we start to shriek (Refrain) (don't try to stop me 'cause I'm on my way)

The World's Shortest Musical Music and Lyrics by Dana Austin (c) Dana Austin, all rights reserved This excerpt from an in-progress musical comprises two songs: "Seven Words" and "Still, Through It All..." Seven Words ----------- On this day we take our vows Before this host within God's house We pledge to make each other strong And love for all our lives then longer In each other's eye we glimpse eternity And promise in our heart To honor love And cherish with compassion So what God has joined together here No Earthly force can pull apart (spoken) The secret of marital happiness and success Does not lie in mundane acts of mutual respect Thoughtfulness And charity Though those things are important The secret is a magic incantation Seven words long Begun by either of the partners in marriage And finished by the other The power in these spoken words is ineffable They heal They recreate They stop the earth Yet the words are simple And common And impotent if uttered thoughtlessly Or without sincerity One of the partners in marriage says I love you And the other responds I love you too Seven words And for that brief moment during which the Earth And all Earthly things on it stop The partners in marriage may glimpse the beauty And the joy Of being married in the eyes of God forever (sung) In each other's eye we glimpse eternity And promise in our heart To honor love And cherish with compassion So what God has joined together here No Earthly force can pull apart Still, Through It All... ------------------------ Well I been dirty And I been drunk And I been torn from the arms of Jesus But still, through it all... Well I been beaten And I been robbed And I been torn from the arms of my family But still, through it all... Well this song's for the ones who never... They always... And this song it's for the times that we... We really... Didn't we? And this song is for the very special... That made me see: That still, through it all... Well I been... And I been... And I been torn from the breast Of my mother But still, through it all... Seven Words (reprise, last act, last scene) ------------------------------------------- On this day we say goodbye And I shall miss you when you die For all the times you've made me strong And held me while I cried Then longer Don't be scared I'm afraid enough for both of us But I promised not to show Last goodbyes are wordless prayers the living trust Will grant the unsurpassed peace that comes When nothing's left to know

George's Song (every song and every child is different) Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved Do you remember when we went to the circus with the windshield wiper clown? Windshield wipers going swish-swish-swish while the other clowns hosed him down And the times that we went to the park just the two of us frisbee, ball, and kite? Deep left, runner's coming, throw him out at home from the wall, with all your might. Lose our bait and skip pebbles over the lake At Como, Lake Como, "we're here because we're here." Critters hide in the bush when we go for a ride And look in the gully -- well did you see the deer? Then you're six-foot-three like a tree strong and solid and standing on your own (well almost...) fifteen years of stuff we saved, your Mom an' me, remind us how you've grown. Schoolwork, paintings, crafts, awards, and baby clothes, report cards, all the rest are in a great big box in the attic near the front that we call your treasure chest. Now and then we open it up and begin A journey inside us, it's easy to restore memory's page gone a little bit yellow with age Then each time we put back a little something more.

Last Call (self medication) Music and lyrics written by Dana Austin (c) Dana L. Austin, all rights reserved We all like to party but it's over for the night So if you think you drank too much to make it home all right put a note out on your car I'll tell you what to say, "I drank too much. I took a cab. Don't tow my car away! Refrain Please don't penalize me For using my good sense We don't need drunks out on the road Causin' accidents I'm tired. I want to go home and get myself to bed But I don't need eternal rest I'm too young do be..."