Travis Meadows

first cigarette

SIDEWAYS
by Travis Meadows

If I could buy myself a conscience that wasn’t broken
Mend every fence I drove my hard head through
Re-lock all the doors I wish I never opened
Unlearn the things I wish I never knew
And it came out through the bottle
It came out through my fists
It came out way too early
I wish it never did

Push it down, it comes out sideways
Push it down, it comes out sideways
Bitter roads turn into highways
Push it down it comes out sideways

I have days where it’s just nose above water
Keep it together while I fall apart
I have moments when I act just like my father
The only man that ever broke my heart
And it comes out in my silence
Sometimes unwanted tears
Comes out disguised as anger but it’s really fear

Push it down, it comes out sideways
Push it down, it comes out sideways
Bitter roads turn into highways
Push it down, it comes out sideways

PRAY FOR JUNGLELAND
by Melissa Peirce . Drew Kennedy . Travis Meadows

Eighteen, felt like love
Me and Debbie couldn’t get enough
Something in us was opening up for the first time
I kissed those lips that taste like smoke
At every light on Terry Road
Yes meant yes and no meant no,
But she never said no
I smelled like daddy’s Old Spice
She looked just like paradise

When you’re livin’ on the edge of your seat
And you’re waiting on something,
Anything, to happen
Her in those tight jeans
Wearin’ out the Dairy Queen
Waitin’ on Springsteen, stereo blastin’
Too much magic to understand
It’s all Friday night, world on fire
Desire burnin’ up your hands
(When you’re that young, you do what can, when you can)
And pray for Jungleland

Summer came and summer went
A summer like that’ll leave a dent
You an’t buy back your innocence
If you could, you probably wouldn’t take it
Cuz you learn from where you’ve been
Some songs take you there again

MCDOWELL ROAD
by David Ramirez . Travis Meadows

That road ran like a river
Through the middle of our town
It keeps my memories spinnin’
Just like car wheels on the ground
It’s a fight I never finished
A friend I almost found
Spent my childhood in it
Till it almost pulled me down

All those years I took for granted
When you’re young, you don’t think about gettin’ old
I used to think I’de live forever
Drivin’ up and down McDowell Road

I was smilin’ bright as lightning
Didn’t take time to wave
They all cussed my ass for leaving
I just laughed at those who stayed
I left all that behind me
Let sleeping memories lay
Sometimes they still remind me
I was younger yesterday

All those years I took for granted
When you’re young, you don’t think about gettin’ old
I used to think I’de live forever
Drivin’ up and down McDowell Road

Some roads take nowhere
Some make you walk alone
Some just leave you standin’ there
Cuz you know you can’t go home
The ones you leave behind you
Man, they haunt you like a ghost,
But the ones you never found
Are the ones that’ll kill a man the most

All those years I took for granted
When you’re young, you don’t think about gettin’ old
I used to think I’de live forever
I used to think we all would live forever
Drivin’ up and down McDowell Road

FIRST CIGARETTE
by Jeremy Spillman . Travis Meadows

I’ve been hungry like a stray dog
In an old abandoned town
Went runnin’ just for runnin’ sake
Cuz I couldn’t settle down
I have dined with kings and princes,
Been granted all three wishes,
That just left me wishin’ I had more

I - I keep tryin’ to get high,
But the need for satisfaction
Leaves me so unsatisfied
I - I am a little more content
A little more content with
Who I am then who I was
And I have learned to love the comfort when it comes
Like a first cigarette in the mornin’ buzz

It takes a whole lot of movin’ on
To not be where you’ve been
I’ve got lessons on my shoulders
Where the Devil used to live
And as long as I’m confessin’
I’m more curse than I am blessin’
But I can look at my reflection and see hope

First cigarette in the mornin’ buzz

TRAVELIN' BONE
by Drew Kennedy . Travis Meadows

I got a flesh and blood connection to the future
That made it way across the ocean floor
From the gates of Ellis Island, generations wait behind him
To see what all the travelin’ was for
That spirit of my Granddad, it still lingers
The need to leave it better for my son
I keep reaching out with calloused, hungry fingers
So he don’t have to do the work I’ve done

I got a travelin’ bone
Travelin’ bone
Pushes me outside myself
Keeps me here alone
I gotta believe there’s a reason
For the leavin’ and the gone
Keepin’ me movin’ on
Sendin’ kisses on the telephone
Travelin’ bone
Travelin’ bone

I keep worry in my pocket with the lonesome
The weight can make the stages hard to climb
These folks out on the highway
Seem to like the songs that I play
But my soul stays on the things I leave behind

UNDERDOGS
by Cactus Moser . Travis Meadows

Orphans and renegades
Rednecks and trucker shades
Loners on holidays
Old men chasin’ glory days
Young lovers with broken hearts
Old soldiers missin’ parts
Yeah, we all got battle scars
Maybe that makes us who we are

We are – we are
We are the underdogs
We are – we are
We are the underdogs
We may fall behind,
But we rise, we climb
And we shine like broken stars
We are – we are
We are the underdogs, yeah

We’re just a little outside the gates
Fall down seven, get up eights
Makers of great mistakes
Lovers of what others hate
Big gloves on feather weights
You’ll be surprised at the punch we take
We bend, we bruise, but we never break

We are – we are
We are the underdogs
We are – we are
We are the underdogs
We may fall behind,
But we rise, we climb
And we shine like broken stars
We are – we are
We are the underdogs, yeah

PONTIAC
by Lori McKenna . Jeremy Spillman . Travis Meadows

Pontiacs and daydreams
Cigarettes and magazines
Backseat full of memories
I can’t let go of
Classic rock radio
Polyester winter coat
Crushes that gave up the ghost
Snow is fallin’ school is closed
I still remember I still know

And I hope you get your heart broke
At least once before you fall in love
I hope you wind up flat broke
At least once before you have enough
Hold on to some innocence
Through the almosts and the could have beens
Put an anchor in somethin’ that will bring you back
I hope you keep the Pontiac

Kisses laced in cinnamon
Copper tone on summer skin
Wasted time you can’t unspend
County roads and bumper dents
Nothing’s insignificant

HUNGRY
by Connie Harrington . Travis Meadows

I stay hungry, hungry all the time
There’s always somethin’ outta reach
Another set of stairs these feet just wanna climb
All this yearnin’ and burnin’
Keeps turnin’ this motor of mine
I stay hungry, hungry all the time

I stay hungry, that’s just what you do
When you’re stuck here in the middle
Between what you want and what you don’t wanna lose
I used to say this hunger’s killin’ me,
But baby it’s what’s keepin’ me alive
I stay hungry, hungry all the time

My good intentions never got me much,
But the stubborn part of me that pushes
Things that will not budge, yeah
That’s the me that keeps on dreamin’
When the other stops believin’
And neither one is ever satisfied
I stay hungry all the time

That’s the reacher that keeps reachin’
Life’s a teacher that keeps teachin’
I’ve got at least a million reasons why
I stay hungry all the time

BETTER BOAT
by Liz Rose . Travis Meadows

I ain’t lonely,
But I spend a lot of time alone
More than I’de like too,
But I’m okay just staying home
My how the last few months have changed
I’m smiling more despite the pain

I breathe in
I breathe out
Got friends to call who let me talk about
What ain’t workin’
What’s still hurtin’
And all the things I feel like cussin’ out
Now and then, I let it go
Ride the waves I can’t control
I’m learnin’ how to build a better boat

I hate waitin’
There ain’t no patience in these hands
I ain’t complainin’
Sometimes it’s hard to change a man
I think I’m stronger than I was
I let God do what he does

GUY LIKE ME
by Travis Meadows

I ain’t rich, but I got money in my pocket
Got a little corn in the fridge
A little fire in my slow rollin’ rocket
A few friends I didn’t burn with a bridge

I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, far as I can see
I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, for a guy like me

Got a beautiful girl that laughs at all my jokes
Hell, I even get along with my ex
Startin’ to get a name from some of those folks
That used to give me no respect

I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, far as I can see
I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, for a guy like me

That’s my song on the radio
Baby dancin’ with her daddio
Good cigar on my patio
Man, it looks like everywhere I go

I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, far as I can see
I’m doin’ alright
I’m doin’ alright, for a guy – like – me

LONG LIVE COOL
by Jeremy Spillman . Travis Meadows

Jerry Lee played mean rock ‘n’ roll
They say Robert Johnson sold his soul
Some fires you just can’t control
Long live cool

Moonshine made a faster car
Muscle came and raised the bar
Some are born to speed like shooting stars
Long live cool

Wayward preachers looking for Devils to fight
Tightrope walkers on the sharp end of the knife
Shinin’ hope to all us broken lights
It’s alright – it’s alright
It’s alright – it’s alright
Long live cool

It’s the moves inside those blue suede shoes
And hurt behind the lovesick blues
A little untamed mixed with attitude
Long live cool

So run a needle through some old forty-five
Grab every gear in whatever car you drive
Do what you got to do to keep that part of you alive
It’s alright – it’s alright
It’s alright – it’s alright…
Long live cool
Long live cool