{"id":3228,"date":"2012-05-18T15:55:53","date_gmt":"2012-05-18T20:55:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/?page_id=3228"},"modified":"2014-11-10T18:40:49","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T23:40:49","slug":"spotted-mule-lyrics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelgaither.com\/home\/spotted-mule-lyrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyrics – Spotted Mule"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cHighway 17 roadtrippin\u2019 sarcasm and storytelling from the local Americana singer\/songwriter.\u201d (Good Times Santa Cruz)<\/p>\n

Buy CD from CD Baby<\/a> | Download tracks from iTunes<\/a><\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Click a title to jump to lyrics<\/strong>
\nStill Walkin’<\/a>
\nSpotted Mule<\/a>
\n Highway 17 <\/a>
\nTakin’ Baby Steps <\/a>
\nGood God Man How Big a Car Do You Need? <\/a>
\nJack of All Trades <\/a>
\nEntertaining an Angel<\/a>
\nBroke <\/a>
\nNot Stubborn Not My Mule <\/a>
\nOld-Tyme Heaven<\/a>
\nHigh and Lonesome <\/a><\/p>\n

Still Walkin\u2019<\/a><\/strong>
\nI learned to walk on two small feet
\nKept on walking to the end of my street
\nWalked a path that always lead home
\n\u2018til I found the nerve walk on my own
\nI\u2019m still walking<\/p>\n

Walked in places where I used to play (but you)
\nCan\u2019t go back \u2013 everything\u2019s changed
\nWalked down roads I knew I shouldn\u2019t
\nWalked up hills I thought I couldn\u2019t
\nAnd I\u2019m still walking<\/p>\n

Walked with people I\u2019m glad to have met
\nAlong with a few I\u2019d best forget
\nI\u2019m sure I\u2019ve had the same effect
\nA few good breaks, a few regrets
\nStill walkin\u2019<\/p>\n

Out walking my dog at the end of her leash
\nA black and white world is all she sees
\nMan, I wish it were simple that way
\nBut this whole world is just shades of grey
\nI wouldn\u2019t have it any other way
\nAll I can do until I call it a day<\/p>\n

Is keep walking
\nI\u2019m still walking
\nI\u2019m still walking<\/p>\n

Spotted Mule<\/a><\/strong>
\nSaw him out on Larkin\u2019s Farm
\nStanding in the rain
\nThey take in horses to raise and train
\nThis odd beast was just standing in a field
\nI think I know how he feels<\/p>\n

Spotted mule on Old Adobe Road
\nDad was a donkey \u2013 momma was a roan
\nPass him every day on my way back home
\nWonder if he feels alone<\/p>\n

He\u2019s no Silver or Trigger you see
\nWon\u2019t be in the movies or up on the TV
\nBut if I had my way, I\u2019d saddle him and say
\n\u201cHeigh-Yo spotted mule, away\u201d<\/p>\n

Spotted mule on Old Adobe Road\u2026<\/p>\n

Pegasus rose from the blood of Medusa
\nSpotted mule\u2019s mom was a brown Appaloosa
\nA mule doesn\u2019t breed \u2013 he\u2019s one of a kind
\nIf you\u2019re a misfit, friend
\nYou\u2019re a friend of mine
\nSpotted mule on Old Adobe Road\u2026<\/p>\n

Yeah, he\u2019s unique like you and me
\nand everyone I know
\nWonder if he feels alone<\/p>\n

Highway 17<\/a><\/strong>
\nHigh-strung yuppie in an SUV
\nHits the brakes in front of me
\n6:00 a.m., highway 17
\nMotorcycles splittin’ lanes
\nEven in the pourin’ rain
\nPeople ain’t too bright, on highway 17<\/p>\n

Out the door in the dark again
\nFirst thing in the morning, coffee in hand
\nGetting ready to make that dreadful drive
\nSee there’s this windy road on the way to work
\nPeople goin’ to fast and they don’t even look
\nWhile the rest of us wonder if we’ll make it back home alive<\/p>\n

Gravel truck spittin’ rock
\nThe guy behind him cuts me off
\nEvery day on highway 17
\nThere’s some guy changing a flat
\nEverybody slow down – take a look at that
\nSo much to see on highway 17<\/p>\n

It’s a perfect picture of the human race
\nThere’s a chick on the phone
\nSome guy shaving his face
\nOnce I saw a driver in the fast lane watching TV
\nWe’re just going to work
\nIt shouldn’t be that hard
\nYou just keep up with traffic
\nLook out for cars
\nEverybody play nice
\nLike when we were three<\/p>\n

Porsche passes me at 85
\nCop gives his partner a big high five
\nPickin\u2019 \u2018em off on highway 17
\nHorns are honking, cars are rude
\nLots of pent-up attitude
\nThen one day, it all occurred to me<\/p>\n

See it took me years to realize
\nSome people just ain’t satisfied
\nUnless they\u2019re doing all they can to get ahead
\nSo you can drive like an idiot, I don\u2019t care
\nThey\u2019ll still have work whenever I get there
\nHurry on by – I\u2019ll take my time instead<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s up at 5:00 and out the door
\nWonder what the hell I\u2019m doin\u2019 this for
\nBut now I have my own philosophy
\nIt ain\u2019t hard, let people pass
\nKeep your eyes on the road, stay off my back
\nWe’ll survive highway 17<\/p>\n

Day after day on highway 17
\nGot my life in my hands on highway 17
\nJust get me home, from highway 17<\/p>\n

Takin\u2019 Baby Steps<\/a><\/strong>
\nBaby Emma
\nOne year old today
\nSee her hit the floor
\nAnd crawl away
\nFinds a sturdy wall
\nTries to stand
\nThat kid\u2019s determined
\nShe has plans<\/p>\n

Should be that easy
\nForty years down the road
\nYou need somethin\u2019 done
\nYou just move forward (but)
\nThings seem difficult
\nThey\u2019re really not that way
\nIf she could talk
\nLittle Emma\u2019d say (just take\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cBaby steps, so you trip and fall (takin\u2019)
\nBaby steps – before you walk, you gotta crawl\u201d
\nIf you stop before you start
\nThat\u2019s as far as you\u2019ll ever get
\nEverything begins with baby steps<\/p>\n

You might feel stuck
\nAfraid to make a move
\nHung up on somethin\u2019
\nIn the past that fell through
\nMight be your daily grind
\nFighting against change
\nYou gotta move (but)
\nEverything remains<\/p>\n

(You\u2019re not takin\u2019)<\/p>\n

Baby steps…<\/p>\n

Every baby learns to walk \u2013 imagine that
\nSmall steps make big ones if you do the math
\nSo walk along beside me
\nYou don\u2019t need to crawl
\nAnd I\u2019ll be there to catch you if you stumble
\nOr you fall<\/p>\n

I\u2019m watching Emma
\nShe finally stands
\nHolding up that wall with her little hands
\nTakes her first real steps
\nHer knees shake a bit
\nWish I had the courage of that little kid (takin\u2019)<\/p>\n

Baby steps…<\/p>\n

Everything begins with baby steps
\nTakin\u2019 \u2013 baby steps<\/p>\n

Good God Man How Big a Car Do You Need?<\/a><\/strong>
\nHeading home
\nLate at night
\nBlinded by two white lights
\nRear view mirror
\nAll I could see
\nBig and bright and it was coming at me
\nThought I saw a UFO
\nTried to run me off the road
\nA blue Suburban
\nSeats fifteen<\/p>\n

Good God man how big a car do you need?<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a Hummer ahead
\nI just don\u2019t understand
\nWhy not just get a Jeep
\nAnd then torch eighty grand?
\nThey\u2019re crowding the highways
\nLined up \u2018round the block
\nI wouldn\u2019t mind it so much
\nIf they\u2019d just learn how to park
\nRoads are such a mess
\nEverybody\u2019s compensating
\nFor something I guess
\nMaybe it\u2019s ego
\nSelf-esteem<\/p>\n

Good God man how big a car do you need?
\nGood God man how big a car do you need?<\/p>\n

When I was younger – cars were cool
\nWe had a \u201949 Plymouth – and an old Malibu
\nNow size is all that matters – apparently
\nGood God man how big a car do you need?
\nGood God man how big a car do you need?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m on the highway
\nRunning scared
\nJust praying I make it from home from here
\nBut I\u2019m surrounded
\nThis ain\u2019t no fun
\nThese mutant station wagons
\nNow they\u2019re blocking the sun<\/p>\n

Not fooling anyone, ya know
\nLike that Lincoln Navigator
\nHas ever been off the road
\nMaybe it\u2019s ego
\nSelf-esteem
\nGood God man how big a car do you need?
\nThat\u2019s about the size of it if you ask me<\/p>\n

Good God man how big a car do you need?
\nGood God man how big a car do you need?<\/p>\n

Jack of All Trades<\/a><\/strong>
\nEver since I was a little kid
\nI always wondered what everyone did
\nAdults so determined to go on their busy way
\nI hopped around from job to job
\nFlipping burgers, washing cars
\nAnd never had an answer
\nWhenever somebody\u2019d say<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t ya got it figured it out, yet?\u201d
\n\u201cWhatcha doing when you grow up son?\u201d
\nWell, I don\u2019t mind being a jack of all trades
\nWish I could master one<\/p>\n

I went to college part-time-forever
\nTeachers asking me if I knew
\nWhat I wanted to do
\n\u2018til it made me ill
\nThere were office jobs, assembly lines
\nI even wrote for Jay Leno one time
\nBut nothing fun ever seemed to pay the bills<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t ya got it figured it out yet…\u201d<\/p>\n

I never had any definite plans
\nBut I\u2019ve been here long enough
\nTo know that, man
\nYou just work to live
\nIt ain\u2019t the other way around<\/p>\n

Some people chase careers
\nNeglect everything else
\nWaste the years
\n\u2018til the only time left
\nIs when they\u2019re settling into the ground<\/p>\n

A wise man once told me this
\nJobs come and go, give it your best
\nDo an honest day\u2019s work
\nAppreciate the people you meet<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve left some things to chance
\nBut in a hundred year\u2019s no one\u2019ll ask
\nIf I \u2013 became a doctor or wrote my Ph.D.<\/p>\n

\u201cAin\u2019t ya got it figured it out yet…\u201d<\/p>\n

Entertaining an Angel<\/a><\/strong>
\nThe sign said he\u2019d work for food
\nI doubted it
\nhe didn\u2019t look so good
\nBut I gave him a couple of bucks
\nlike everyone did
\nI turned to walk away
\nHeard, \u201cBless you son. Have a good day\u201d
\nThen remembered something I learned
\nWhen I was a kid<\/p>\n

You might be entertaining an angel
\nWhen you give some time
\nTo someone you don\u2019t know
\nEntertaining an angel
\nYou might meet one anywhere you go<\/p>\n

He said, \u201cI could stand here and scream and shout\u201d
\nNobody sees you when you\u2019re down and out
\nI stayed for awhile – saw it again and again
\nWe talked for awhile \u2018til I had to go
\nGave him a twenty, but you know
\nI think he only needed someone to listen to him<\/p>\n

You might be entertaining an angel\u2026<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know where you\u2019ve been
\nWhat you went through or when
\nBut I won\u2019t look away
\nI might need you to look at me someday<\/p>\n

I shook his hand as I turned to leave
\nStill thinking about the angels, and then he\u2026Smiled and said
\n\u201cI read that in the bible, too\u201d \u201cStranger things have happened, son\u201d
\nNever know who\u2019ll you meet when you help someone
\nBut that angel\u2026it might be you<\/p>\n

You might be entertaining an angel\u2026<\/p>\n

Yeah, you might meet one anywhere you go<\/p>\n

Broke<\/a><\/strong>
\nCan\u2019t make an omelet
\n\u2018til you break a few eggs
\nRooster doesn\u2019t crow
\nUntil the breaking of day
\nCan\u2019t get in shape
\n\u2018til you break a little sweat
\nYaeger broke the speed of sound
\nAnd said \u201cYou ain\u2019t seen nothing yet\u201d<\/p>\n

Sounds funny
\nBut it ain\u2019t no joke
\nSome things don\u2019t work
\nUntil they\u2019re broke<\/p>\n

God made Elvis
\nAnd he broke the mold
\nSutter broke a rock
\nAnd he discovered gold
\nGotta break a horse
\nTo ride out on the range
\nIf you never break the rules
\nThings will never really change<\/p>\n

Sounds funny …<\/p>\n

Break a mirror and pay for seven years
\nLike the superstitious say
\nSometimes you\u2019ll bend until you break
\nSometimes you gotta break away<\/p>\n

A man don\u2019t really pray
\nUntil he\u2019s broke down on his knees
\nTo win the race
\nYou gotta break into the lead
\n\u2018til you break a fever
\nYou\u2019re gonna stay in bed
\nIf you\u2019re tired and you\u2019re hungry
\nLet\u2019s break a little bread<\/p>\n

Sounds funny…<\/p>\n

Not Stubborn Not My Mule<\/a><\/strong>
\nI have a friend she lives out back
\nFeed her breakfast from a gunny sack
\nStrap on our bags, and we hit the road
\nThere\u2019s days ahead and miles to go
\nShe\u2019s not a donkey, not a horse
\nThey\u2019re one step back in her family tree (of course)<\/p>\n

They call her stubborn, but that ain\u2019t true
\nShe\u2019s not stubborn, not my mule
\nShe has a reputation
\nIt\u2019s an exaggeration
\nShe sticks to her own set of rules
\nYou get an honest hardworking day
\nShe\u2019ll plow your fields and haul your hay
\nBut she\u2019s not stubborn, not my mule<\/p>\n

A mule\u2019s smart – she just don\u2019t like change
\nIf it were up to mine
\nThings would stay the same
\nBut she does the work and don\u2019t complain
\nLike a postman
\nThrough the sun, and snow, and rain<\/p>\n

She has a reputation…\u2026<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t make a horse who\u2019s not thirsty drink
\nBuy a man a book and he still won\u2019t think
\nCan\u2019t count chickens before they hatch through
\nBut my mule\u2019s a rock
\nShe\u2019s dependable, that\u2019s true<\/p>\n

She has a reputation…\u2026<\/p>\n

She keeps going \u2018til the sun goes down
\nMy mule\u2019s a good ole girl to keep around
\nShe\u2019s not impulsive \u2013 she thinks things through
\nStick around \u2013 you might learn a thing or two<\/p>\n

She has a reputation
\nIt\u2019s an exaggeration
\nTrust me \u2013 she\u2019s nobody\u2019s fool
\nYou get an honest hardworking day
\nFor a handful of grain and a little hay
\nBut she\u2019s not stubborn, not my mule<\/p>\n

Old-Tyme Heaven<\/a><\/strong>
\nClimbed onboard a ship last night
\nI was lost at sea
\nThe sails were trimmed and pearly white
\nA hand came down to me
\nDidn\u2019t have no money
\nBut a man said \u201ccome on board\u201d
\n\u201cYou won\u2019t be a wayfaring stranger anymore\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the music started
\nAnd I knew the sound
\nIt was old-time gospel
\nI was back on solid ground
\nWhen I hear those old, old songs
\nI didin\u2019t feel alone
\nWe were off to old-tyme heaven
\nII was going home
\n(and they sang\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away\u201d
\nLet\u2019s go \u201cDown to the River to Pray\u201d
\nHeading off to \u201cCanaan\u2019s Land\u201d
\nWhere the soul of man don\u2019t die
\nIn old-tyme heaven the circle lies unbroken
\nBye and bye<\/p>\n

Saw Mother Maybelle Carter
\nDaughters by her side
\nJune was holding Johnny\u2019s hand
\nHe looks good in white
\nMahalia Jackson led the choir
\nAnd asked us all to stand
\nCarter Stanley played along
\nIt was a real live \u201cAngel Band\u201d
\n(and they sang\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

Woke up this morning
\nOld-tyme heaven was a dream
\nBut the captain told me \u201cstay on course\u201d
\nA and he\u2019ll come back for me
\nNever been a perfect soul
\nI know I\u2019ve sinned
\nBut when I lay me down to sleep for good
\nI hope my ship comes in
\n(and I\u2019ll sing\u2026)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll Fly Away\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

High and Lonesome<\/a><\/strong>
\nMet her at a festival on one hot summer day
\nDancin\u2019 in the meadow
\nTo a bluegrass band onstage
\nStanding in the beer line, saw her and I knew
\nThe body of an angel, a face like Emmylou<\/p>\n

Waded through the tye-dye
\nAn low-back concert chairs
\nTrue love within my reach
\nAsI saw her standing there
\nMoving past the t-shirt stand
\nI finally made my way
\nWalked up beside her
\nAnd found the nerve to say<\/p>\n

I was high and lonesome
\nSad and blue
\nJust high and lonesome
\nUntil I found you<\/p>\n

We talked about the music
\nAnd it was clear to me
\nFrom Bill Monroe to Newgrass
\nShe knew her history
\nI was singing sad ole songs
\nUntil I found this girl
\nA happy man again
\nI was \u201cSittin\u2019 On Top of the World\u201d<\/p>\n

I was high and lonesome\u2026<\/p>\n

I heard opposites attract
\nI guess the opposite is true
\nI told her how I felt, and then I knew
\nToo sweet to tell me, she took me by the hand
\nPointed out her boyfriend
\nPlaying banjo in the band<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m standing in the grass again
\nHappens every year
\nRemembering how I saw her
\nStanding over here
\nThe music ain\u2019t the same no more
\nIt\u2019s very sad but true
\nAnd everytime I hear a banjo
\nIt just gives me the blues<\/p>\n

I\u2019m high and lonesome
\nSad and blue
\nJust high and lonesome
\nDarlin\u2019 without you<\/p>\n

Yeah darlin\u2019 without you<\/p>\n

All lyrics copyright Michael Gaither \/ MaryLou Tunes \/ ASCAP (except where indicated)<\/strong><\/p>\n