Sam Gowdy Music

CAN’T START SOON ENOUGH

All music and lyrics by Sam Gowdy
Copyright 1999 – 2013 Sam Gowdy, Sam Gowdy Music, LLC.  All rights reserved.

LOVE’S DROWNING ME
I thought I’d never let it happen
My lesson had been learned
I was the boy who played with matches
And the last time I got burned
But now you’re leading me to the water
And you know that I can’t swim
I can feel you pulling me forward
And I feel myself slipping in
I’m on a ship that’s going under
Helpless in a raging sea
My heart pounding just like thunder
Love’s drowning me
Storm clouds building, lightning flashing
Blazing in the sky
Rain is falling, waves are crashing
But something caught my eye
Somewhere out on the horizon
I see the distant shore
But you’re my only lighthouse shining
So I swim back out for more
I’m on a ship that’s going under
Helpless in a raging sea
My heart pounding just like thunder
Love’s drowning me
I’m on a ship that’s going under
Helpless in a raging sea
My heart pounding just like thunder
Love’s drowning me
Love’s drowning me

TAKE IT FROM ME
Somebody held you for ransom
Somebody locked you away
Now that you’ve found your freedom
Still you try to escape
You’ve got nobody to help you
You’ve got no need for a man
You never had nobody you trusted
Now you don’t think you can
But you’re trying, you’re trying
You ain’t gonna find what you’re looking for
In the places you’ve looked before
Nobody to give you what you need
Just take it from me
Yeah, take it from me
Some people hang on to money
Some people hang on with booze
Some people hang on to the ones that hurt them
That’s what we call the blues
And you’re crying, and I’m dying
You ain’t gonna find what you’re looking for
In the places you’ve looked before
Nobody to give you what you need
Come take it from me
Yeah, take it from me
Wasting
Wasting time
No more wasting
Wasting our precious time
You ain’t gonna find what you’re looking for
In the places you’ve looked before
Nobody to give you what you need
Come take it from me
Then maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for
A love you never knew before
Somebody to give you what you need
Come take it from me
Yeah, take it from me
Just take it from me
Yeah, take it from me

ANOTHER PRODIGAL
I said ‘Father, give me all that I have coming
So that I might take it with me as I leave.’
I hit the wide and easy path with both feet running
No need to depend on anyone but me
Take Your shackles from my heart and set me free
Release me from Your fold
For every young man needs his independence
A chance to make it on his own
Every time I’ve tried to walk alone I’ve fallen
Every hill too steep to climb
Somewhere from far away I hear my Master calling
From His kingdom that I chose to leave behind
Put Your shackles on my heart and capture me
Lead me back into Your fold
For every sinner needs to find forgiveness
A chance for redemption to take hold
Make me once again a servant to my Father
I’ll seek my only source of refuge in His name
I will not become a slave to all the others
That surround my heart with guilt and sin and shame
Write Your Word upon my heart, empower me
And I will bring another fold
For every believer needs to bear witness
A chance for Your story to be told
Write Your Word upon my heart, empower me
And I will bring another fold
For every believer needs to bear witness
To the greatest story ever told

NEVER AGAIN WITHOUT WOMEN AND HORSES
Another summer alone here in Houston
The heat hot enough to melt stone
Why did I look in your eyes and tell you goodbye
My country girl back on the farm
I guess it’s time to pack it up and move on
Never again without women and horses
I still feel the ring on my hand
Never again without women and horses
The boy wouldn’t stay in the country
But the country sure stays in the man
Another winter alone in Chicago
The wind chills you right to the bone
Saddle my pony and ride somewhere warm with blue skies
A dream I let slip through my hands
I guess it’s time to pack it up once again
Never again without women and horses
I still feel the reins in my hand
Never again without women and horses
The boy wouldn’t stay in the country
But the country sure stays in the man
I said the boy wouldn’t stay in the country
But the country sure stays in the man

LEAVING IS THE NEXT HARDEST THING
Nothing you can say that would make me say ‘I love you’
Nothing you can change that would make me change my mind
Nowhere you can go that would make me go there with you
Leaving’s the next hardest thing to being left behind
So many times I tried to let you walk out easy
I couldn’t find the words that weren’t cruel and unkind
Either way we choose neither one of us would be happy
Leaving’s the next hardest thing to being left behind
It’s hard for me to tell you no when I know how much you love me
It’s easy for a weak man to give in
But that look in your eyes makes the skies just open up above me
I fall into your tender arms again
Lying here awake, staring at the ceiling
I should wake you up and try this one more time
I touch your face but you just keep on dreaming
Leaving’s the next hardest thing to being left behind
Nothing you can say that would make me say ‘I love you’
Nothing you can change that would make me change my mind
Nowhere you can go that would make me go there with you
Leaving’s the next hardest thing to being left behind
Leaving’s the next hardest thing to being left behind

WHEN BLACKBIRDS TAKE TO RED WINGS
Katie was her daddy’s joy
The only girl of four
We worked down in the textile mill
On the sweatshop floor
She hasn’t made her mark yet
But you know she’s gonna try
When blackbirds take to red wings
When blackbirds take to red wings
When blackbirds take to red wings and fly
I asked her to marry me
She smiled and just said ‘no’
She had too many things to see
Many places left to go
And one day she would run away
And never even say goodbye
When blackbirds take to red wings
When blackbirds take to red wings
When blackbirds take to red wings and fly
And I always thought that one day I’d go with her
I had it worked out in my mind
‘Til the morning I saw her machine sitting empty on the line
And blackbirds take to red wings
Blackbirds take to red wings
Blackbirds take to red wings and fly
Blackbirds take to red wings and fly

SARAH’S LEAVING
She is my Sarah-bear
Running halfway into midnight
A rebel without a care
When will you grow some hair
With your beautiful big blue eyes giving me the stare
How do I tell a shooting star she means the world to me
How do I hold the Southeast wind when it just wants to be free
She’ll be up and gone in just a little while
I’ll be here with nothing left but the memory of her smile
She lets the wind blow through her hair
Running halfway into midnight
A rebel without a care
On a promise and a prayer
With her beautiful big blue eyes giving me that stare
I can’t imagine her being out and on her own
She says she’s brave enough to face the world alone
What can a father do as I try to hide my tears
But wish her love and health and peace through all her years
Since you were a baby bouncing on your daddy’s knee
I knew your prince would come to take you away from me
No matter where you make your home in this whole world
You know you’ll always be your daddy’s little girl
She is my Sarah-bear
Running halfway into midnight
A rebel without a care
So run on, Sarah-bear
Keep running into midnight
You rebel without a care

ARBITRARY CHOICE
I saw you across the room
I can tell you’re hurting too
This whole evening you’ve been sitting all alone
Do you know how much I’d like
To break this string of lonely nights
Put your coat on and let me walk you home
It’s an arbitrary choice, just a simple yes or no
And I’m not of a mind to wait too long
Let me hold you in my arms and I’ll rock you to sleep
And tomorrow morning I’ll be gone
I’m not much for run down bars
Let me and this guitar
Sing you a love song, before I tuck you in
Or will that voice inside your head
Walk you home alone instead
Forever wondering what we might have been
It’s an arbitrary choice, just a simple yes or no
And I’m not of a mind to wait too long
Let me hold you in my arms and I’ll rock you to sleep
And tomorrow morning I’ll be gone
It’s an arbitrary choice, just a simple yes or no
And I’m not of a mind to wait too long
Let me hold you in my arms and I’ll rock you to sleep
We’ll let tomorrow morning end this song
We’ll let tomorrow morning end this song

RIGHT THEN AND THERE

She picked up a bluebonnet and stuck it in her hair
He said ‘You’re not supposed to do that’ but she didn’t seem to care
And the color of the flowers matched the color of her eyes
And much to his surprise
He fell in love right then and there
With the pretty little girl, blue flowers in her hair
And he knew he had found his paradise inside her eyes
Part lawbreaker, part heartbreaker
She’s all of the above
And he fell in love
Right then and there
He said ‘Let’s head back to the car’ and he reached out for her hand
Then standing at the altar, he reached for it again
And the color of her flowers matched the color of her dress
And we all heard him confess
He fell in love right then and there
With the pretty little girl, white flowers in her hair
And he knew he had found his paradise inside her eyes
Part heartbreaker, part homemaker
She’s all of the above
And he fell in love
Right then and there
Well, fifty years gone by, they’re walking that same field
He bends down to pick her flowers, ‘cause she’s much too old to kneel
And the color of the flowers match the color of her hair
Don’t they make the perfect pair
He fell in love right then and there
With the pretty old woman, blue flowers in her hair
And he knew he had found his paradise inside her eyes
Part homemaker, part caretaker
She’s all of the above
And he fell in love
He fell in love right then and there
With the pretty little girl, blue flowers in her hair
And he knew he had found his paradise inside her eyes
Part lawbreaker, part heartbreaker
Part homemaker, part caretaker
She’s all of the above
She’s all of the above
And he fell in love
Right then and there

YOU’RE MY ‘COULD HAVE BEEN’
Holding your hand in the picture show
So much more than friends
We found love on the very back row
I never thought it would end
Then you sat me down with tears in your eyes
Said you needed time
Time to be free, test your wings and fly
In time I would understand
But time
Time don’t mean nothing
It hurts as much now as it did back then
‘Cause you
You’re my once-in-a-lifetime
My forever love
You’re my could’ve been
Don’t the years go by so fast
You still own my heart
And they said that it wouldn’t last!  Huh…
Never mind we’re apart
They say that time changes everything
All it needs is time
But that clock stopped not to move again
The minute you said goodbye
But time
Time don’t mean nothing
It hurts as much now as it did back then
‘Cause you
You’re my once-in-a-lifetime
My forever love
You’re my could’ve been
Time keeps ticking by
Your memory won’t fade away
If I could turn back time one more time
Three little words I’d say (I love you)
But time
Time don’t mean nothing
It hurts as much now as it did back then
‘Cause you
You’re my once-in-a-lifetime
My forever love
You’re my could’ve been

CAN’T START SOON ENOUGH
When you pulled me out to the dance floor
I knew that I’d be yours forevermore
My heart told me you’re the girl that I’d been dreaming of
I was charmed and captivated
Mystified and fascinated
I fell wholly, totally, uncontrollably
Head over heels in love
Can I call you up on Thursday
Make dinner plans for Friday
Have margaritas with you Saturday
With salt and lime and all that stuff
I’ll buy a diamond ring on Monday
Book a preacher for next Sunday
I want to spend the rest of my life with you
And we can’t start soon enough
Maybe giving me your number
Would break the spell that I am under
That magic sparkle in your eyes is like a thousand stars above
I am charmed and captivated
Mystified and fascinated
I fell smack exactly, matter of factly
Head over heels in love
Can I call you up on Thursday
Make dinner plans for Friday
Have sangria with you Saturday,
With fruit and wine and all that stuff
I’ll buy a diamond ring on Monday
Book a preacher for next Sunday
I want to spend the rest of my life with you
And we can’t start soon enough
Can I call you up on Thursday
Make dinner plans for Friday
Micheladas with you Saturday,
With beer and lime and all that stuff
I’ll buy a diamond ring on Monday
Book a preacher for next Sunday
I want to spend the rest of my life with you
And we can’t start soon enough
Yeah, I want to spend the rest of my life with you
And we can’t start soon enough