Wood River Song List 1. Wood River 2. Outlaw 3. Sleepy Little Town 4. Can t Go Back 5. Modern Lullaby 6. Canoe Song 7. Bird on a Wing 8. Harsh and Unforgiving 9. Just a Little Dream 10. Hymn for Pincher Creek 11. Spring on the Prairies 12. Margaret s Waltz 13. Grandmother s Song 14. Saskatoon Moon 1992 Song 1 Wood River Oh won't you come with me Where the Wood River flows We'll watch it meander slowly As the sky turns from red to dark And as that sun goes down We'll throw our arms around Each other and tell the dreams That are deep in the heart Because the heart is bigger than trouble And the heart is bigger than doubt But the heart sometimes needs a little help To figure that out So won't you come with me Where the Wood River flows
The little Wood River knows That it goes to nowhere but That doesn't stop it going Or them willows growing Or all the lovers showing Their hearts to each other there So won't you come with me Where the Wood River flows The little Wood River knows Comments: The wood river runs through southern Saskatchewan. It comes out of the Wood Mountain hills and goes to Old Wives lake. It is an old river that winds and twists its way along. It is traditionally the local picnic spot and necking spot in the Gravelbourg Assiniboia area. I lived on the bank of the wood river for a while. I think this is one of my favourite songs. The melody was written first while I was in Toronto. I was renting a room in a house where a lot of Mauler was being played and I think I wrote it to balance the musical palate. But the lyrics came later when I was back home and needing a little solace. Song 2 Outlaw You're an outlaw A desperado And you could steal a woman's heart Just passing by You're an outlaw A desperado Another notch in your gun And another woman cries But even an eagle has to nest sometime Even a freight train stops somewhere down that line Even an outlaw must lose his heart sometime And you're gonna lose yours boy And you be looking for mine It was a dark day in September When I rode into your life It had been as long as you could remember That a woman hadn't fallen for one of your lies Well I can ride and I can shoot And I know when to shut up
And when to speak my mind And you know that an outlaw he need someone He can trust with his quiet time Even an eagle has to nest sometime Even a freight train Stops somewhere down that line Even an outlaw must lose his heart sometime And you've lost yours boy And I just might I just might give you mine Song 3 Sleepy Little Town In a sleepy little town In a two bit cafe That s the place where dreams are started And they take you away But you come back someday And I hope that you're not broken hearted 'Cause the world is so grand When you don't understand How the lessons of life are learned And the way people care And the dreams that they share Are the reasons that dreamers return To the sleepy little town And the two bit cafe And the clock flipping ads on the wall You stood in that door Years before When you said good bye to it all But oh, oh the road gets longer The further down it you roam And oh, oh the feeling gets stronger For home, home, home And the sleepy little town And the two bit cafe And the houses that now seem strange But there's a hope in your heart That you were right from the start That things in this town never change
Song 4 Can t Go Back There's a kind of light in the sky sometimes That makes me think of the coolies in July And the call to return to that simple life Is something that I cannot deny There's note on the bass That sounds just like the wind Pushing the willows on the ridge above But what pushes me to leave all that Is stronger that pleasing the ones I love I can't go back I can't go back I have my own life In a different place I can't go back I can't go back But I can't seem to tell you face to face You're sitting there in your dusty clothes With your big hands resting so still There are things that you'd love to demand of me But I know that you never will How you gonna stop the wild thoughts Of a young man bent to roam And those city nights and those city lights They dim the call for home I hear the call of the music I feel the rhythm to the bone And If I don t follow that How can I call my life my own I thought of you on a Paris street How you say we're held together by the earth beneath our feet And I know you hang on in case I change my mind someday How can you work your life for something and then throw it all away? Comments: I had written this for Paul Campagne (my husband) to sing. He was the only son of a farmer and had expected all his life to be farming. The decision to choose music over
farming was not an easy one and to his father s credit he never asked him to reconsider even though he would have loved to have him come back. This is a common theme in anyone s life I think, making decisions for yourself even though it might disappoint your parents. Song 5 Modern Lullaby Daddy didn't have a penny to his name And mama's only got a dollar or two Daddy was a drifter, and he'll always be the same Well he packed his bags when he heard about you Mama doesn't have a chance She was young and she fell to romance Baby doesn't have a chance But mama's going to find one Mama's going to find one Mama's going to find little baby a chance I got no home, none to run to No warm fire, no backyard All I've got is some love to give you Just keeping you fed is gonna be hard All you little stars twinkling up above You will be my diamond ring You sparkle bright for us tonight 'Cause we need all the luck that you can bring Yes, all you little stars twinkling up above Gonna help mama find little baby a chance Song 6 Canoe Song Take me where the loons are calling Mist in the morning, smell of pine Whiskeyjack wake me up Send me out with a fishing line
Give me a canoe and let me go Up past Waskesui to the Wabano Give me a canoe and let me go Take me where the loons are calling Lake like glass and a starlit sky Smell of a small campfire burning Sit and watch the embers die Give me a canoe and let me go Song 7 Bird on a Wing If you buy her a dream, She'll follow you anywhere To any old truck stop That this world might bring She's a heart held down By this little town She's looking to find A bird on a wing Bird on a wing Bird on a wing She knows in her heart She was destined to fly Like a bird on a wing Bird on a wing She's waiting for you to fly by She makes a small hole In the frost on the window She's looking out past old familiar things She lets her mind slip From the small change and napkins Her heart's looking up for a bird on a wing She stacks up the cups And counts out the few tips But she's humming a tune That a drifter might sing She gets to thinking That she's tired of waiting
Maybe she'll be her own Bird on a wing Comments: I wrote this in a Husky truck stop in northern Alberta. I think I still have the napkin that it was written on. Song 8 Harsh and Unforgiving I come from a land that is harsh and unforgiving Winter snows can kill you And the summer burn you dry When a change in the weather Makes a difference to your living You keep one eye on the banker And another on the sky But oh I get caught by those wide open spaces Caught by the sight of those straight horizon lines Caught by the sight of those lined open faces Weathered over trouble and time 'Cause that big old flatland She doesn't suffer fools lightly Watch yours step if you're new around Brown broke down in a blizzard last winter Tried to walk and froze to death fifty feet from town But oh I get caught by those blue spring ditches Farmers seeding hoping it will pay Hoping that July won't see their hearts Caught in that topsoil Watching the wind blow it away You can work all year You can get it in the bin There's no telling what price you get or if it sells You just hope you can hold on so You don't end up like the neighbors Him and her they're weeping as the auctioneer yells Comments: I wrote this on a drive out of Winnipeg to a concert in Balder, Manitoba. I had just come back from Boston and I was thinking about where I was from and what makes me the way I am.
Song 9 Just a Little Dream Just a little dream, Who can blame a person for dreaming Wishing on a star What are stars for anyway Walk beneath the stars Hold your love close to you Set your dreams upon a strong heart And they'll come true Dreams are what brought us out here Dreams of putting our own bread on the table And that s what kept us working To get to the point where we were barely able Then to watch the sun dry up the thing we hold dear And the only thing that the dust left us year after year Close your eyes and imagine Two hand in hand that's you and me And we're walking towards such a pretty little house Look in the window, there's a family And the hedge of green Carraganas is all around the place And there s not a money worry on your face Song 10 Hymn for Pincher Creek I look to the hills from whence cometh salvation I find strength in their quiet roll When I feel myself troubled I look to those hills And the quiet green quiets my soul Oh I never will leave my hills of salvation No you never will get me to roam For all the silver and gold that this world can hold Is nothing compared to a home Oh there's some that say take all you can from this world It's dog eat dog from the start
But what good is your finery if in your last days You cannot find peace in your heart There's power that comes from money and fear Oh what man can do But the power that rests in those God given hills Is the power I know to be true Song 11 Spring on the Prairies Spring in the Prairies Comes like a surprise One minute there's snow on the ground The next there's sun in your eyes Winter stays so long Seems like it always has been Ain't it nice to see that green And feel that warm wind Let the cows out of the barn Watch them a-kickin' their heels Watch them run around the yard That's the way I feel Hey, Joe, what'cha gonna grow? It's nearly time to seed "I don't know, a quarter in oats But the rest it goes in wheat" Song 12 Margaret s Waltz
I'm not the kind to sit and pine For places far away Every town I travel to Has its charm and its delight But something about the moon tonight Sent a longing to my soul To be at a dance with the one I love On a warm prairie night And I can hear that Margaret s waltz That fiddle play so sweet And I can feel the spring of the hardwood floor Beneath my feet I close my eyes and I see the lights of town Twinkling at night They say that home is where the heart is And I guess they're right So please forgive me but tonight My thoughts are far away To the place my memory will go If I give it half a chance I smell the sage upon the air and I'm walking arm and arm With the one I love towards the sound Of an old time country dance Song 13 Grandmother s Song I was a young girl When I came to this land From a country far away To a language I didn't understand And I worked on a farm And I married me a man We got ourselves a homestead On a section of land And blow you old winds of time You've wrinkled my face with your blowing Well you've given me all that I have But you've taken away my youth without me knowing Well we sure had our bad times and our fun And we paid all our taxes to the government of old Saskatchewan And I raised up my kids 'till they finally raised away
And they drop in now and then To visit on their holidays Now they say I'm too old to cook and sew And it's to an old folks home that they want me to go But I'll stay here on my own 'till that wind blows me away I've been through harder times than this On less than pension pay You say that I'm old That I've just been through a lot And the fact that I've lots of wrinkles Just shows how hard I've fought But blow you old winds of time You've wrinkled my face with your blowing Well you've given me all that I have But you've taken away my life Without me knowing Comments: Grandmother s Song. This is an older song of mine. My Grandma Svenning, my mother s mother, or bestemor as we would call her was quite an extraordinary woman. She was strong, resourceful, stubborn and capable. She was a true prairie pioneer. My grandfather would say that she was the fastest stooker he ever had. When her husband died and she was left with two small girls and a farm in the middle of the prairies heading into the depression, she didn t flinch but carried on and raised her two girls working the farm and cattle with hired men. In the later years she lived with us. She had broken her hip and was in a wheel chair by that time and although she did not have to go into an old folks home, I thought of her indominatable spirit while writing this song. So often seniors who have life stories that are amazing, are ignored and not given the respect they deserve. It is our loss. Song 14 Saskatoon Moon That Saskatoon moon Is calling to me It rises so bright In my memory I long to see it shine On the river below And walk arm in arm With this sweetheart I know I had to leave Tried to make a new start When you don't have your heart
I long to hear that meadowlark Sing my favorite prairie tune And hold your hand dear 'Neath that Saskatoon moon I had to leave Tried to make a new start But how far can you go When you don't have your heart I long to hear that meadowlark Sing my favorite prairie tune And hold your hand dear 'Neath that Saskatoon moon I long to hear that meadowlark Sing my favorite prairie tune And hold your hand dear 'Neath that Saskatoon moon