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LYRICS
SOUVENIRS
I set out like Kerouac
In my American car
Carryin’ a dream and a road map
Deep in my American heart
But where’s them mountain majesties
Where’s those waves of grain
Billboards from sea to shining sea
Man, it ain’t the same
I’ve been searching for the promised land
But it’s just another neon come-on roadside stand
Little tin toys that fall apart
That’s all they got here
I come all this way to find my heart
All I get is souvenirs
They got Mount Rushmore on a cup
Everybody needs one of those
For a dollar more they’ll fill it up
You can drink out of Lincoln’s nose
They got the Hard Rock T-shirts
They got Elvis too
Sooner or later mark my words
They’re gonna get you
Chorus
Baby I believed in you
I thought you believed in me
I thought we had a love that’s true
Not a close facsimile
Now I don’t want your dime store ring
Turns my finger green
I don’t want your dimestore love
I want the real thing
Chorus
© 1991 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
IN A PERFECT WORLD
Baby I’ve been thinking about me and you
Baby I’ve been dreaming like we used to do
Things ain’t what they used to be
I can’t change them anyway
But the world would be a better place
If I had my way
Superman would win the fight
Everyone would do what’s right
And I would always be your girl
In a perfect world
Maybe we were crazy
Breaking all the rules
Maybe we were dreamers
Maybe we were fools
Maybe it was madness
To believe that we could win
But boy I would give anything
Just to feel that way again
Chorus
Maybe this is all there is
Maybe we just pack it in
Spread our wings and fly
But baby that don’t make it right
That don’t get me through the night
I still believe in a perfect world
Chorus
© 1998 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music, badams music, ltd.
I DON’T KNOW
Quit my job and cashed my check
Pawned the pearls around my neck
And kissed it all goodbye
Gassed my car and fixed my flat
Told that boy just where it’s at
And had a real good cry
I got this feelin’ in my bones
It’s time for me to leave the comfort zone
I don’t know if I’m fallin’ or flyin’
I don’t know if I’m laughin’ or cryin’
I don’t know if I’m hurtin’ or healin’
I don’t know how I’m feelin’
But it sure feels good
Waitress pours my coffee black
Windshield wiper beats ’em back
And the road goes on and on
These are things that I can see
These are things that set me free
And keep me movin’ on
I got this feelin’ in my bones
It’s time for me to put some distance on
Chorus
How long have I been asleep
Are these my tears upon my cheek
Well I just don’t
Know is this my hand upon the wheel
I always wondered how I’d feel
If I just let go
Chorus
© 1997 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
LOVE AND TEXACO
I had a big black pontiac
She burned a little oil but she flew
We had it all there in the back
Baby I burned for you
We were bulletproof
We were bathed in the neon glow
Underneath the stars of love and Texaco
You had a long dark history
Some of it was even true
Baby you were enough for me
And I tried to be enough for you
We were bulletproof
Nobody ever told us no
Didn’t need nothin’ but love and Texaco
And every night when the trucks’d go by
We’d gas her up, a kiss for luck and we’d let her fly
I have a sweet sweet memory
Of a boy I used to know
And baby it’s still a mystery
How I ever could have let him go
But we were living proof
That life is a long hard road
And you can’t run forever on love and Texaco
Just a little cash for cigarettes
And gas, love, and Texaco
© 1998 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
LOVE IS A DRUG
Baby where are you tonight
I’m lookin good I feel alright – yeah yeah yeah
I ain’t really missin you
It’s just a kind of deja vu – yeah yeah yeah
Me I’m out here in the clutch, I’m hangin on to nothin much
I’m hungry for that human touch, yeah yeah
Love is a drug, love is a drug, love is a
Oh yeah
Love is a drug, love is a drug, love is a…
Romeo’s on the internet
He’s searching for his Juliet – yeah yeah yeah
Got her picture in his head
He’s got her poster by his bed – yeah yeah yeah
And Juliet she’s looking cute and he just needs a substitute
For all of this forbidden fruit, yeah yeah
Chorus
Give us a kiss, give us a hug
Give us a fix, love is a drug
Up there on the senate floor
They’re kickin down the bedroom door – yeah yeah yeah
CNN is keepin score
Hey all is fair in love and war – yeah yeah yeah
So tell us how it’s come to this
We wanna share your carnal bliss
Yeah give us all our daily fix yeah yeah
Chorus
© 1999 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
LIKE WATER INTO WINE
Baby open up that bottle
Come and lay down by my side
I don’t have no special reason
Just this ache I feel inside
I wanna lose my inhibitions
I wanna lose those words we said
I wanna drink my fill of you babe
And let it go right to my head
Tonight I want to hold you
I wanna look into your eyes
I wanna watch these broken dreams turn into memories
Just like water, baby
Just like water into wine
Don’t wanna think about tomorrow
Don’t wanna count my last regrets
I can’t hate you anymore babe
And I can’t love you any less
Sometimes I’ve been ungrateful
Sometimes you’ve been unkind
But all the pain and sorrow and all the bitter tears
They’re just water, baby
Just water into wine
So baby open up that bottle
Come and lay down by my side
I can’t think of one good reason
We should not be satisfied
Jesus walked upon the water
Healed the sick, the lame, the blind
We are miracles of science, we are accidents divine
We’re just water, baby
Just water into wine
© 1997 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
EDDIE’S FIRST WIFE
Eddie’s first wife was a vision
The bride on the wedding cake
He thought he was the luckiest man alive
That was his first mistake
He’d found him the perfect woman
That’s what he thought he had
Found him a girl just like the girl
Who married dear old dad
Where have you gone Betty Crocker
Come back Brigitte Bardot
Eddie was in for a shocker
How was he supposed to know
About the secret life
Of Eddie’s first wife
Eddie came home one evening
She met him at the door with a drink
Said I got something to tell you baby
But you better sit down I think
She said I found me somebody
Someone who rocks my world
I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it
And she’s a good old fashioned girl
Where have you gone Betty Crocker
Come back Brigitte Bardot
Eddie wasn’t much of a talker
How was he supposed to know
About the secret life of Eddie’s first wife
She might look like the Venus de Milo
She might be the marryin’ kind
But you can’t judge a book by the cover
You got to read between the lines
Where have you gone Betty Crocker
Come back Brigitte Bardot
Eddie was in for a shocker
How was he supposed to know
About the secret life
Of Eddie’s first wife
© 1999 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
PICASSO AND ME
Picasso’s in the kitchen stirring up a stew
He pours himself a bowl and then he fixes me one too
And we sit out on the terrace
And the birds fly through the trees
And he captures them on canvas
And I capture them in dreams
And we pass a lazy afternoon, as happy as can be
With the brushes and the turpentine, just Picasso and me
He picked me up in Paris; I was scrounging in the streets
He shared his cream for coffee, and I curled up at his feet
And ever since that moment I’ve been his confidante
He says that it’s uncanny how I know just what he wants
But we both like our freedom, and quiet company
In the end we’re not so different, Picasso and me
Sometimes he gets angry when they say he’s just a fraud
And he curses at the canvas, and he shakes his fist at god
Who are these rogues – who are these fools
Who made this game – who made these rules
The critics criticize him and the women come and go
They’ll never understand him; they don’t know what I know
They’re just too damned demanding, they just won’t let him be
And the lazy summer afternoons, the sunlight through the trees
And the brushes and the turpentine and Picasso and me
© 1997 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
LILIES OF THE FIELD
Billy had a yearning and an ache inside
So he got himself a Harley and he learned to ride
Purred just like a baby low and sweet and true
And he aimed it at the place where the blacktop turns to blue
Penny was a waitress down in Tupelo
They said that she was trouble, I don’t really know
But something in her spirit touched something in his soul
And he took her to his heart and he never let her go
She said if i had an ounce of courage I would leave this town
Life’ll get you nowhere til they put you in the ground
But the lilies of the field they neither reap nor sow
I wanna buy me a Winnebago and a map of Mexico
Go rollin down the highway where life’s secrets are revealed
Dancin’ in the wind like the lilies of the field
Penny had a secret growin’ deep inside
And she’d never known a man to love another’s child
Somewhere west of Tucson she just ran out of time
So she made a quick decision and she made him walk the line
She said if you had an ounce of courage,
You would take a stand
Don’t nobody argue with a pistol in your hand
Chorus
Billy pleaded guilty ninety-nine to life
Penny disappeared into the desert night
Then she took his pistol out on Highway 2
And she aimed it at the place where the blacktop turns to blue
She said if you had an ounce of courage,
You would leave this town
Life’ll get you nowhere til they put you in the ground
Chorus
© 1999 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
WAITING FOR AMELIA
True north is hard to find
These long long nights play tricks upon the mind
I tried my best but I’m lost I guess
What I thought was freedom was just aimlessness
Now I’m waiting for Amelia
To come in from the west
Waiting for Amelia
And the light is fadin’ fast
C’mon Amelia
You have got this battle won
You know that only angels fly into the sun
I have never learned to wait
I yearn for skies my heart can’t navigate
It’s been so long since I held someone
And all my dreams of freedom they don’t keep me warm
Chorus
Maybe the night was dark
And the sky was a starry dome
Maybe she lost her way
Or maybe she just didn’t wanna come home
Chorus
© 1998 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
REVIVAL
I went walking one night on Tupelo Street
All the way to the county line
Heard a sidewalk sermon and a blind man preach
And written on a cardboard sign
Revival, revival
This lamb has gone astray
Revival, revival
Gonna wash your sins away
Now I have done everything that I know to do
But you left a hole that I just can’t fill
And If god can forgive me baby why can’t you
But I guess you never will
Chorus
Baby you were my weakness and my saving grace
My salvation and my sin
And I would give anything just to see your face
Just to see your face again
Chorus
© 1998 sony/atv tunes LLC, purple crayon music
NOTES
Souvenirs Authenticity is hard to come by, but we know it when we find it. It never ceases to amaze and amuse me how we trivialize our greatest icons; reduce them to something we can fit into our suitcases and take home. On the other hand, yes, I do have a fridge magnet from the Grand Canyon.
In A Perfect World Written with Bryan Adams, it’s the first song we wrote together that I recorded. We wrote it in Vancouver while we were writing songs for his On A Day Like Today album, but Bryan insisted that this one would be good for me to sing. I had my doubts until I went in the studio to record it, then I wouldn’t give it back! That’s Bryan singing the harmony vocal.
I Don’t KnowThere are some times when you just want to cash in the chips, blow off your responsibilities, ditch the loser boyfriend and get in the car and drive. This song is for those times.
Love And Texaco The second song I’ve written about my beloved (and long gone) ’66 Pontiac. I paid $50 for that car and it’s given me two songs already. It’s also about what you lose along the way between your first car, your first love and the life you eventually find yourself living. Special thanks go to Mike Severs for coming up with the lonesome tremelo guitar.
Love Is A Drug This was written during the Clinton impeachment trial. I was so angry and astonished at the media and the Congress for bombarding us daily with such nonsense. As the news got more and more surreal, I found myself tuning out the TV and reading a lot more. Eventually I channeled my outrage into this song.
Like Water Into Wine I love a lot of the imagery from the Bible – it’s rich in metaphors, which is the stuff songs are made of. I wanted to write this as a love song on a larger scale; sort of looking at the loss of a love in relation to the bigger picture – who we are, why we’re here and how we ought to treat each other. These two people are in a lot of pain, trying to do the right thing, and trying to find some comfort at the same time.
Eddie’s First Wife I saw a painting in a magazine entitled “Eddie’s First Wife”. It was a hyper-realist painting of a modern 60’s era kitchen, sort of like you’d see in an old Frigidaire ad – sparkling clean and completely devoid of human life. It intrigued me and made me want to fill in blanks – who was she, why did she leave, and what happened to Eddie?
Picasso And Me Another song inspired by a movie – this one focused (too much, in my opinion) on his womanizing and not his artistic life. I felt it was unfair at best to characterize a complicated genius like Picasso without taking into account what was probably the largest part of who he was – his art. It got me to thinking about point of view and what sort of person might have a clearer, more unbiased perspective on him. It turned out not to be a person at all, but a fictional cat who was adopted by Picasso during his time in Paris.
Lilies Of The Field More imagery from the Bible. I had only the chorus to this song for the longest time, and couldn’t let go of the line, “I wanna buy me a Winnebago and a map of Mexico.” I finally finished it in 1999. It’s the story of a loner guy and a desperate woman who turns out to be treacherous – although I think Penny is still a sympathetic character. She’s just never had a reason to trust anybody in her life.
Waiting For Amelia During the making of this album, this song was the crux for me, emotionally if not sonically. In some way, all of the songs related to disillusionment, the loss of idealism. Amelia seemed like a beautiful metaphor for hope, which is a hard thing to give up.
RevivalI wrote this in Seaside, Florida, where there really is a Tupelo Street. Although it’s obviously a sad love song, I think of it more like a prayer. After all the songs about disillusionment and treachery, I wanted this bit of hope to be the end of the album.
REVIEWS
Music Row
Monday, April 2, 2001 Gretchen Peters (Valley Entertainment) Producers: Getchen Peters, Green Daniels Prime Cuts: “Souvenirs”, “Love And Texaco”, “Like Water Into Wine”, “Eddie’s First Wife”, “Picasso And Me”, Waiting For Amelia” Grade: ACritique: Even among Nashville’s crowded pantheon of superwriters, Gretchen Peters casts a distinct shadow. Like Hugh Prestwood she mostly eschews co-writing (Nashville’s favorite team sport) and possesses an enviable knack for turning poetic masterworks into hit records. In Peters’ case, those hits have been sung by the likes of Trisha Yearwood (“On A Bus To St. Cloud”) and Martina McBride (“Independence Day”), and though vocally Peters may lack the grandeur of these giants, her own girlish Alice-In-Wonderland instrument provides an ideal guide for exploring her picturesque scenarios and exotic characters. There’s no filler or empty cliches here. Peters’ every line seems weighed and considered with a master jeweler’s squinting precision, her best songs imbuing the sweat and confusion of everyday lives with the serenity of the blessed. “Love And Texaco” unfolds against a sad, mysterious backdrop reminiscent of a David Lynch film. “Like Water Into Wine” offers a starker treatment of an excellent Patty Loveless single. “Eddie’s First Wife” is slightly funky and deliciously ironic, a tale of love, marriage and lesbianism…yep, all the staple country love song ingredients. A gentler surprise is found in the Joni Mitchell-like “Picasso And Me.” Put simply, Gretchen Peters finds this exquisite Nashville songsmith at the top of her game, and that’s damn good indeed.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
Friday, March 16, 2001 Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters(Valley Entertainment)
Alanna Nash
B+ If Peters’ ’96 debut, The Secret of Life, had the answers, her edgier follow-up poses the questions, mostly about how to navigate rough emotional terrain. Full of surprises – “Eddie’s First Wife” has a randy lesbian at its center – Peters brings the pop sensibility of Sheryl Crow to meditations on Amelia Earhart and Picasso’s cat. Easy to see why she’s already captured the Brits.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
by Tom Gardner, AP Writer Gretchen Peters Gretchen Peters(Valley Entertainment) This is not jukebox music – the stuff that exists to fill in the pauses in conversation. This IS the conversation. Gretchen Peters is already known for delivering inspired lyrics to others, including the Grammy-nominated songs “Independence Day” for Martina McBride and “You Don’t Even Know Who I Am” for Patty Loveless. Peters spins some dandies for herself on this 11-tune collection in a voice that’s as understated yet varied as her lyrics. “Souvenirs” is tongue in cheek: “They Got Mount Rushmore on a cup/Everyone needs one of those;” while “Eddie’s First Wife” gives marriage on the rocks a twist guaranteed to push Nashville’s taboo button. And that undoubtedly pleases Peters. While most of her music has been written for country artists, and she says her first album, “The Secret of Life” was compromised to please the folks on Music Row, she produced this one to please herself. It also should please folks who prefer intellect in their lyrics and some pleasant, if ballad-intensive, tunes to go with them.
[…] Well, as Gretchen Peters would say… aim it at the place where the blacktop turns to blue. (See, Lilies Of The Field) […]