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Polk County Line

by Ryan Sheeler

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1.
Polk County Line - words and music by Ryan Sheeler VERSE 1 These are 500 square miles of the most lonesome roads around There’s a thousand cars out there just tryin’ to settle down Every time I drive here I can’t help but cry It feels like I’m crossin’ an electric fence…it’ll burn when I try CHORUS Now I drive the roads on the Polk County line; I wish you were still sittin’ on my lap Passin’ time in each other’s eyes like the rides we used to have. What happens when the place you’re goin’ is the same place that you’ve been? Does it matter what the road signs say when your heart’s out of things to spend VERSE 2 Summer just became a nightmare…I ain’t never be gonna be the same The problem is you and both know it didn’t have to be this way Did you know I could have turned back? My engine light came on We didn’t have to meet that day; I should have turned around CHORUS VERSE 3 I grew up not far from here - Just up on 35 It’s funny the longer you live here the less you feel alive These roads seem so familiar but I can’t always see The map is different now there’s nothin’ where her love used to be c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
2.
Witness 04:38
Witness – Ryan Sheeler Daddy I’m here lyin’ on my bed in a house too dark and too cold To stop 7 months of searin’ pain that hasn’t grown old I’ve talked to you ev’ry night since it happened I think you’re whispering Maybe sins fuel the silence ‘cause you haven’t said a thing (…so maybe I’ll tell it again) VERSE 1 It was another trip down ’35 that day the end of June He didn’t know at all that it’d end way too soon She is there brushin’ her teeth; he had his guitar and a smile With one and a thousand dreams ‘bout walkin’ down the aisle CHORUS It was just the two of us, sir -- Lovers brilliantly disguised ‘cause somehow we didn’t see the other pair of eyes Daddy, I know you smiled when you saw us two kids in love with rain Livin’ life like a movie that keeps playing itself again VERSE 2 They loved and lost themselves together in the summer sun Fought to the end and tempers flared when love should have won Then she got scared and ran and three doors down cops arrived Between the end of nowhere and the corner of Polk City Drive INTERLUDE VERSE 3 As he left her house that day in the back of the police car He saw his love walk across the lawn with new scars inside her heart Tears they came like fountains when he found out what’d he’d lose Love became a ghost when the day turned into the local news CHORUS Daddy, you were the witness to a crime that day But it wasn’t any knife or gun it was words they didn’t say… c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
3.
6AM to Nowhere – Ryan Sheeler VERSE It’s the home of shattered dreams A place where hope goes to die They’ll say it’s for the public good Keeps ‘em buried under lies The clock strikes 10:30 End the day by watching TV as the world goes by outside where their lives used to be CHORUS 24 hours seems Like a lifetime in here As you slowly say goodbye To anything you held dear Soon you’ll realize That they don’t really care The clock’s part of the system And it’s 6AM to nowhere VERSE 2 Time stops for no one Tryin’ to survive Stop themselves from wonderin’ Who’ll remember if they’re alive Their worn-out faces tells stories Of what’s left inside their cup As they say “old age is just a Young man givin’ up” c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
4.
Johnny Fire 03:00
Johnny Fire - words and music by Ryan Sheeler Last year was harder than he’d ever seen So many things went wrong It started when his best friend drowned-Now he’s long gone He’s only 17 years old in there with men two or three times his age the ones of silent desperation all stuck in the same cage The guys walked the upper aisle talking about their cases Day after day, the toll it takes shows itself on their faces But this one kept to himself ‘cept for once in a while Soon a few of the guys named him Johnny Fire BRIDGE “we were only having fun” -- Playing around and burned down a house 10 counts and sentenced him to juvy could have gotten a lot worse waiting for his mama’s call, with the rest waiting for their turns at the phones I knew how scared he was so I tried to be his friend just to help him know he ain’t alone When life gets this dark it seems like there ain’t no redemption in here Where silence won’t even be your friend feels like God himself aint’ there BRIDGE 2 Sir I ain’t guilty they’ve got it all wrong I ain’t got no record and don’t wanna be in here too long They don’t understand it ain’t his heart that’s bad they just lost what’s free to find Instead of rehabilitatin’ the system left them behind call him Johnny Fire… c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
5.
It’s All Just a Game – words and music by Ryan Sheeler Angry faces say so much weathered hands they cannot hide the scars inside of all these men Living from underneath their pride Yesterday’s dinner one more time The cards come out to play Who’s gonna win it all tonight before its “lights out” again? CHORUS It’s all just a game Night turns into mornin’ Before it all starts again Lay ‘em down one more time See which falls, black or red Don’t you know its all a game …Goin on inside your head?... VERSE 2 Spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts Trump each other when the medic calls Time to take the nightly poison And wait to see one fall Redemption flickers on the small screen As the bible study meets on Thursdays Saving souls lockin’ them inside And watching the cards they play c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
6.
Remember Me 03:39
Remember Me – words and music by Geoff Dresser VERSE Remember Mercy, Remember your love Remember not my sins Remember compassion, Your lovingkindness Remember Your promise to forgive REFRAIN I confess I deserve to hang on the cross The nails, the thorns, the shame Abandoned to the grave When Your kingdom comes…remember me c. 2008 Geoff Dresser ALL RIGHTS RESERVED used by permission
7.
Just Beginning – words and music by Ryan Sheeler VERSE 1 He wasn’t more than 18 years old I don’t remember his name He walked in and sat down with us, hardened men twice his age He said it was first time…like all the rest Got caught up in a fight I wondered who his parents were, If they’re cryin’ for him tonight? CHORUS What’s between me and him I asked myself as the TV blared If our ages are so different Maybe it’s the prison we all share Me I never planned on bein’ here, but I pulled a knife, the police came runnin’ Now I’m playin’ cards with some new friends My life’s endin’ and this kid’s is just beginning VERSE 2 What made me hurt so bad, was how he wanted to be like us. It’s a new kind of Technicolor life When your days run out of luck Something shook me so hard When I found out his age Barely 18 and he’s way too young To be livin’ in this place CHORUS c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music ASCAP
8.
Blood On The Lilies – words and music by Ryan Sheeler VERSE 1 What were your favorites? it wasn’t a surprise. I knew before you said it…you told me with your eyes I stopped by the local shop and looked in all the beds The Lady said “these are the only ones” they were white with specks of red CHORUS I’ll always see them on your table, your friends’ eyes opened wide I knew you were happy; I could tell by the way you cried Do you know I still pray for you? - I think about where you are I stay awake every night and wonder what you keep inside your heart VERSE 2 Did you ever ask what happened, and whose fault it was after all? Was it something your grandma told you from her picture on your wall I wanted to believe you at the end when you said you loved me The distance in your eyes betrayed you and your last kiss guaranteed VERSE 3 When I left in the police car that day and all the colors faded into one Its then I thought that those lilies meant you were leavin’ me all alone So I guess all that’s left are flowers: memories of love’s yesterdays And maybe the blood on those lilies is words we didn’t say c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
9.
Highway 141 03:39
Highway 141- words and music by Ryan Sheeler VERSE 1 Interstate exit 10 miles outta here Catch a new ride and dance with my fear Turning off 1st Street where I bought my car I found the devil’s silence wasn’t very far CHORUS I’m sorry sir, I lost control it’s the truth ain’t no excuse The harder I try to keep it in, the pain inside wants loose It’s my conscience I’m tryin’ to outrun down this stretch of Highway 141 VERSE 2 Looking ’cross the street I can see the city park The county sheriff’s over there waitin’ in the dark He’s watching me drive round the neighborhood Minding my own business like a blameless man always would VERSE 3 You think I deceived you I’ll bet you have your doubts I ain’t no believer if I’m driving by your house By now you know it all she was your best friend Told you all about me hurting her at the end It scares me worse than it does you so I drive and pray that my heartache isn’t true c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
10.
Redemption Blues – words and music by Ryan Sheeler Sittin’ here in the dark – wonderin’ what to pray Lord why didn’t you save me – let me go through hell I know you were watchin’ me when I fell VERSE 1 Sure this’ ain’t what it feels like to let go Sure this’ ain’t what it feels like to let go Sleepwalk talkin’, driving down the road VERSE 2 Write it on the road, where I hoped to die Write it on the road, where I hoped to die I spent so many hours – tryin’ to hang my head and cry VERSE 3 Lord tonight I’ve been praying for the things you used to say Lord tonight I’ve been praying for the things you used to say life’d be so much sweeter if you said loved me VERSE 4 Maybe I’ll go back out there tonight an’ drive those lonely miles Maybe I’ll go back out there tonight an’ drive those lonely miles Being alone aint too safe – I still wish I could see your smile c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
11.
Pictures 03:14
Pictures – words and music by Ryan Sheeler VERSE 1 They’re so neatly arranged - sitting near the chairs Nestled in the bedroom, up and down the stairs Friends and memories: Glossy 8 X10s Graduations, weddings, and verses - reminders of time well-spent VERSE 2 In her bedroom it sat there: dust on it growin’ old sitting on an old corner chair, a story waiting to be told from frame split in two, just like her childhood was in one she’s five, the other she’s thirteen: innocence defined and lost VERSE 3 Then there was the one of her and I she stuck in her cupboard door The joy in that picture wasn’t in her heart any more…. She took it down in cold desire just before she left that night She said she was just cleaning but I knew something wasn’t right VERSE 4 Those were memories he relived when he looked her window And stood there reliving something that’s lost in the snow That’s me living in the past - the safety in those frames Feels better than a future without her but it’s still the past all the same VERSE 5 He turned to walk away when the light caught his eye A picture he’d never seen before now he wondered why The artist must have been the Master ’cause He drew them face to face The years and anger faded and left was a picture of grace c. 2011 Ryan Sheeler/Highway 30 Music (ASCAP)
12.
Leave a Light On – words and music by Greg Ferguson VERSE 1 Leave a light on for me; I don’t know if you remember But we’ve gone by each other a time or two before Leave a light on for me; I drive by this church so often I pull up for just a moment and I look inside the door Leave a light on for me ‘cause I’ve been a lot of places And I’ve learned a lot of lessons and the lessons take their toll Leave a light on – so I can look for what’s left of my soul VERSE 2 Leave a light on for me ‘cause my world keeps getting bigger But my heart’s been getting smaller and it chills me to the bone Leave a light on for me ‘cause I thought I had the answers But now I’ve got these questions that won’t leave me alone Leave a light on for me ‘cause I’ve always been a fighter But I never knew how much of life was out of my control Leave a light on - ‘cause now I can’t see where to go BRIDGE I don’t know why I keep on driving by your door I’m not exactly sure just what I’m looking for Is there a candle burning in the hope of my returning? Do you mean to shine a light…or to just keep out the night? I wanna know…I wanna know VERSE 3 So leave a light on for me; shine it out into the darkness So I can always see it in the corner of my eye Leave a light on for me; so when I drive by tomorrow I’ll believe the door’s still open and I might go back inside Leave a light on for me – I’ve kept my distance from religion But I always hoped there might be someone watching over me Leave a light on and maybe this time… Leave a light on and maybe this time... Leave a light on and maybe this time...I’ll believe c. 1999/2001 Greg Ferguson/Willow Creek Music ASCAP ALL RIGHTS RESERVED - used by permission

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released July 12, 2011

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Ryan Sheeler Ames, Iowa

Guitarist and songwriter from Central Iowa

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