Where did all the time go?
Our day is almost done
Sittin' here together
Eyes on the setting sun

Like the sky's brilliant colors
Oh we've made our lights shine bright
Listenin' to the frogs & birds
Holdin' hands into the night

Seems like these mangrove roots
Hold pieces of our lives
Needlerush bends with the wind
Yellow moon pulls at the tides

Sittin' in this stilt house
Hear that heron squawk
Sometimes it's all being said
And there ain't no need to talk

Chorus:
Like this river reflects the sky so true
I look into your eyes and I see myself in you
And like this river we've had our ebb & flow
I want to be beside you, dear, until it's time to go  Instrumental & repeat chorus

A porch, a marsh, a river
Oh the peace of common things
Sweet memories they fly on by
On their own spreading wings
Precious memories they fly on by
On their own spreading wings
On their own spreading wings

Its reaching branches held a blue & golden sky
Perched up in that tree I felt that I could fly
All the beauty & the mysteries to see
Wrapped up safely in the arms of that old tree

And because I was a child
Imagination running wild
Oh the things that I would see in that tree
There in branches high & low
Faces, some I used to know
Some seemed from so long ago to me

Spanish moss held to its branches like a beard
Fantastic creatures & strange faces they appeared
Underneath I'd lie there on my back & gaze a while
Sometimes I'd be in tears, other times I'd smile

I swear God lived in that tree He revealed himself to me
His sweet music set me free way back then
Now I know that tree is gone but those feelings linger on
And I'm wanting so to climb it again

When I first climbed that ancient tree
I didn't know that I could feel so wild & free
 

They call me Two Gun Johnson down here in the Glades
I fish a little, hunt some birds, I'm a jack-of-all-trades
Grew up near Flamingo down around Cuthbert Lake
With a rifle or a boat it's a living I must make

I've scouted out some rookeries where the snowy egrets nest
After their eggs are hatched you know their feathers are the best
Feathers for the ladies' hats is what they're for I'm told
And at 35 dollars for an ounce of them you know they're worth their weight in gold

Chorus:
I'm talkin' about plumes- bright explosions of wings
Once I shoot those crazy birds I can buy all kinds of things
They'll just sit right there can you imagine that?
Tryin' to protect their young they're just feathers for a hat

Bridge:
Said he was a game warden as his blue eyes glinted sadly
I'm not proud to say this, but I'm the man who killed Guy Bradley
I'm the man who killed Guy Bradley, I shot him for plumes
Bright explosions of wings, once I shoot those crazy birds I can buy all kinds of things

Instrumental

I guess I've known Guy Bradley nearly all my life
We sat together in Miss Haddie's school, carved a desk up with a knife
He played a decent fiddle in ol' Uncle John's String Band
They'd play at old man Lyman's store or they'd play right in the sand

But I've got to feed my babies so I shot without a word
Crumpled in the bottom of his sailing skiff you know he looked like a bloody bird
He's buried out on the coconut grove there on the east cape
Sending him to protect them birds was a terrible mistake I was after their Plumes (repeat chorus & bridge)
 

I can feel your heartbeat
Loving you's my life's treat
Balmy breezes from this marsh heat
By the river of our lives

Thank you for the romance
My precious partner in this life's dance
You have given me the real chance
To know that I am loved

Chorus:
Do you remember the county fair?
It was oh so long ago
Perfect strangers but I knew
That in just a short time
You were going to be mine
Hearts merging in a love rhyme
How good it made us feel

The kids have made us so proud
We've stayed together just as we've vowed
We'll say it silently or outloud, "Our love will never die."

Bridge:
Here by the river of morning, here by the river of night

More a friend by my side that when you were as my bride
Tender moments when we've both cried at life's sweet preciousness
If we didn't have long & I could sing but one song
I know it wouldn't be wrong to sing a song of love to you

Do you remember the county fair?
It was oh so long ago
Perfect strangers but I knew
That in just a short time
You were going to be mine
Hearts merging in a love rhyme
How good it made us feel

If we didn't have long & I could sing but one song
I know it wouldn't be wrong to sing a song of love to you
A song of love to you
 

In 1916 Jacksonville
A child was born who couldn't sit still
86 years later with no regret
You know that man can't sit still yet

The Great Depression couldn't get him down
He worked for his Dad's store in town
Collecting money in small amounts
From poor whites and blacks for their furniture accounts

Chorus: Stetson Kennedy wants us all to be free / Stetson Kennedy wants us all to be free

As he collected he would talk to folks
He'd hear legends, tales, songs & jokes
So this fine treasure he'd record & write
He was colorblind- didn't see black & white

Writers Project for the WPA
With Zora Neale Hurston he earned his pay
To crackers & blacks they'd talk for hours
The barefoot history of this Land of Flowers

Chorus: Stetson Kennedy wants us all to be free / Stetson Kennedy wants us all to be free

Bridge: Spent his life fightin' old Jim Crow
Couldn't let it go
Human rights were the seeds he'd sew

Instrumental / Repeat Bridge

Fascism was fought in his own way
Went underground - joined the KKK
Revoked their charter & embarrassed the Klan
On a radio show about Superman

He's had radical friends who admired his might
Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger & Richard Wright
Stetson's declared he won't mellow with age
Tyranny's still met with his outrage  Chorus

The big cat roars, a far mournful sound
He's not the one in pain
His steel-track claws claim family ground
Through eminent domain

He doesn't need the property
It's always been the same
He takes from greed, for gain

A big truck glides through a coastal town
In the cold, gray light of dawn
The bulldozer crawls down to the ground
Cuts a track across the lawn

To the water's edge and a family home
Overrun by the fast lane
It's always been the same

Another Stretch of Coastline gone
A family in pain
What have we done to what God made

Another Stretch of Coastline lost
To the cat, not wind and rain
He takes from greed, for gain

A fat cat snores in his easy chair
As a family is turned away
An ancestral home on a harbor shore
The children cry to stay

Some call it progress
Some say it's a shame
It's always been the same

Another Stretch of Coastline gone
There's no more being made
What have we done to what God made

Another Stretch of Coastline lost
To the cat, not wind and rain
He takes from greed, for gain
He takes from greed, for gain

Harry T. Moore didn't set out to be a hero
He stood for truth & he hated lies
Harry's gone but he'll never be forgotten
You know freedom never dies

Florida in the 1940's
The Klan tried to crush a black man's dreams
Harry became a teacher & dedicated
His life to fight their racist schemes

And he traveled from city to city
Promoting N double A C P
Encouraging foks that their votes mattered
He had a vision of racial equality

Harry T. Moore didn't set out to be a hero
He stood for truth & he hated lies
Harry's gone but he'll never be forgotten
You know freedom never dies

In '51 when the Groveland sheriff
Shot two black men who were in chains
Harry spoke out at the injustice
He spoke out at the hatred flowing in Sheriff McCall's veins

And we can't forget that Christmas evening
The bomb that killed him & his wife
Harry Moore we won't forget you
Your dreams of freedom you paid for with your life

Harry T. Moore didn't set out to be a hero
He stood for truth & he hated lies
Harry's gone but he'll never be forgotten
You know freedom, you know freedom, you know freedom  never dies

We played music for Two Dogs before he died
On a rickety porch of a double-wide
His proud mouth smiled, his tired eyes cried
Music for Two Dogs before he died

Good times you could see them in his face
His art was his passion, his art was his grace
He painted that mural over Welby's place
A half breed's run in this human race

Well he'd been to Viet Nam & other foreign lands
But he loved the water; he loved the sand
Down south is where he made his stand
Butterflies would light right in his hands   Instrumental

He'd work Nelson's shrimp boat when the money got low
The harbor & its breezes he grew to know
Pullin' nets on a long night you reap what you sew
Boiled shrimp, a sore back, cold beer & some dough

Painted fish on a bar wall for tips & beers
His great grandma walked the Trail of Tears
Her eyes were in his when he checked the mirrors
She guided his paintbrush for all those years

Well he'd been to Viet Nam & other foreign lands
But he loved the water; he loved the sand
Down south is where he made his stand
Butterflies would light right in his hands

We played music for Two Dogs before he died
On a rickety porch of a double-wide
His proud mouth smiled his tired eyes cried
Music for Two Dogs before he died
We played music for Two Dogs before he died
 

Read about him in the papers as they dog his ass around
Finding their bit of humor oh let's kick him when he's down
What he feels doesn't matter- our local character to abuse
We'll publicize his failures just as long as they amuse

He's our clown to kick around
His feelings they don't matter so don't you make a sound
He's our clown to kick around

Filled with laughter, dancing eyes, a smile for all to see
Choices that he's made reflect the best things in life are free
Safely from the shore we'll observe both day & night
Watch him live his life until he sails on out of sight

He's our clown to kick around
His feelings they don't matter so don't you make a sound
He's our clown to kick around
 

I wish I could walk along
An old back road and see
That old guitar, that pony
The young boy that was me
I couldn't play that guitar
But I carried it around
If only I could tune it up
I knew I'd like the sound

The pony was a throwback
To another time
A constant companion
A good friend, a pal of mine
It was a perfect picture
Of peace of mind
That life is not forgotten
But everyday it gets harder to find

Memories that linger in your mind
If I could paint a picture
If I could make a rhyme
Years go by, I wonder what happened to the time
That old guitar, that pony
These memories are mine

The pony's name was Tonto
He carried us around
He drug us through the swimming hole
Me and the boys who came out from town
He wore a hat and overalls
And with a little luck
Pull back the reins and he would rear
Pull his tail and he would buck

Memories that linger in your mind
If I could paint a picture
If I could make a rhyme
Years go by, I wonder what happened to the time
That old guitar, that pony
These memories are mine
 

Amadou was a vendor, he worked out on the streets
It was there he made his living from the people he would meet
Left his native Africa for this promised land
With the hope of tomorrow that lay right there in his hand
 
Well, the bust was over and the paperwork was done
It was time to reload and ride off into the sun
Sometimes you question your value and your worth
When you’re running herd over the scum of the earth
 
            Chorus:
            Freedom has a price
            Paid by you and me
            Blood spilled in plain sight
            Who claims victory?
 
He was talking on his cell phone as the day turned into night
Standing in a vestibule without any light
A car screeched to a halt and guns were drawn
He thought this must be a robbery I’ll give them what they want
 
            Chorus
 
What the hell is this, the officers did cry
A black man with a cell phone dealing drugs in plain sight
Let’s teach him something, let’s put the hammer down
We’ll stop right here and bust his ass and drag him downtown
 
The officers approached him with their weapons drawn
Got to be careful ‘cause he just might have a gun
Amadou reached for his wallet and Lord, what a sound
Forty bullets later he lay dead on the ground
 
            Chorus
 
When it went to trial it was all cut and dried
The officers were guilty of that there was no lie
The day came and the verdict was decreed
The whole world watched in horror as four killers walked free  Chorus x 2

Mexican wedding shirts with the pockets at the waist
Loose fitting, comfortable ? perfect for Frank’s taste
Unfiltered Lucky Strikes, an old Gibson guitar
He may not look like much but to us he is a star

Proud as a live oak reaching for the sky
His mission’s been so clear no reason to ask why
Grown whole in this flowered land at peace and in place
Smile as big as Okeechobee spread across his face

Florida songs growing everywhere
So much due to Frank’s loving care
Frank & Ann make quite a pair
Ambassadors for Life

Thank you for teaching us
Thank you for reaching us
Your loving encouragement’s made a difference in
A difference in our lives

Sittin’ on an easy porch like in the days of old
Frank’s songs & stories- more precious than Spanish Gold
Of Florida flatwoods, barefoot artist Guy LaBree
And of the Seminoles & Stetson Kennedy

Hundreds of songs he wrote but never wrote one down
He’s been a leader all along but would never accept a crown
Encouraging others like a stone thrown in a pond
See all those ripples reaching to the great beyond

Thank you for teaching us
Thank you for reaching us
Your loving encouragement’s made a difference in
A difference in our lives