Straight And True

(album: From Coffee House To Concert Hall - 1999)

At Lincoln Center, a freak o' weather brought a taste of sea
And I was back in Nova Scotia and all my friends were there with me
And they were drinking Diamond, singing Carter and passing them from mouth to mouth
It sounded like "goodbye" and I knew that I was headed South, the bitter South

In my uncle's kitchen the songs are bitching, or some Hank Williams' blues
And I can hear my cousin's voices singing, the very best that they can do
And it doesn't matter what we're drinking, the ocean brings the flavor through
And if none of this is fancy, the love is always straight and true

Straight and true
There's something about it, I can't live without the Coast
The rhythmic ocean, the clean wholesome motion of most of my friends there
Swaying by the trees, singing of the sea, now
City streets, they can't hold me when I'm most alone
I'm going on home

I think I'm ready, my hands are steady, 'though that's something I've not always known
And even if the West rejects me, there's some place I hold for my own
And I soon will be there; do I love it? Yes, I guess that you could say I do
'Cause I'll be picking with my people where the music's always straight and true, straight and true