Robert Stanley

When my wife first visited me, she arrived by train. She looked so beautiful and confident as she walked in the station. When I wrote this song I thought of that moment I saw her (and many things since). When she left, I ran into the train and announced to everyone that I loved her. It was romantic but not like the movies. Everyone looked at me like a tree full of owls.

"BABY'S LIKE A TRAIN"

Well, my baby's like a train
Rollin' all night long.
Yeah, my baby's like a train
Rollin' all night long.
She runs twenty-four hours,
Seven days a week, strong.

Love, love, love,
She's the only locomotion that I'm thinking of.
Her love is like a new day dawnin'.
I know she been sent by the Lord above.
She know I got a one-track mind.

Well, I head to the station
For the ten-0-five.
Yeah, I head to the station
For the ten-0-five.

Love, love, love...

I saw you in the station
You were…steaming.
Sleek and smooth.
Clean, shiny, oh yeah.

I'm her twenty-four hundred
HP diesel man.
I'm her twenty-four hundred
HP diesel man.

Love, love, love...

This is an evolving story beginning when I first met my wife, who was a jazz and ballet dancer. She certainly caught my attention and I never forgot her after that.

"WHO THAT GIRL?"

Who that girl walkin’ in the room,
With the long blonde hair and the cute boom boom?
Who that girl slidin’ up to me? Tell me.
Who that girl? Who that girl?

Who that girl with the flashin’ eyes?
Hot as fire, cool as ice.
Who that girl callin’ out my name? Tell me.
Who that girl? Who that girl?

She my girl! She my girl! My baby!
Can’t be satisfied with no one else.

Who that girl with all the style?
Grab my soul like a crocodile.
Who that girl got all my love? Tell me.
Who that girl? Who that girl? She my girl!

She my girl...

And when she touch me,
And when she hold me,
And when she love me, it’s too much.
I can’t say no, don’t wanna say no, ain’t gonna say no.

Who that girl comin’ home with me
Sweeter than a honey bee?
Who that girl got all my love? Tell me.
Who that girl? Who that girl?

She my girl! She my girl...

This is an autobiographical song about my life's journeys. No regrets for the road I took.

"ROLLIN' HOME"

Turned my back on a one-way track
Scraped off layers of old shellac.
Rotten beams, tore 'em down.
Said "Go to hell, y'ol' hellhound."
Cuz I'm rollin', rollin', rollin' home.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' home.

Started walkin' down the way.
Gone five miles more than yesterday.
Cross a bridge, burn it down.
Cuttin' off that hellhound.
And I'm rollin', rollin', rollin' home.
Rollin', rollin', rollin' home.

I can smell a garden, sweetest flowers grow
Like when I was a child those many years ago.
Winter's night has melted, spring, it fills the air,
Sun shines warmly down on me,
Feel it everywhere.

And I don't regret a single word I've said,
And I won't apologize for where I make my bed.
And I don't care if I've walked a million miles;
If I walk a million more it'll all be worthwhile.

A song about how I deal with challenges. If we were perfect, we wouldn’t need to change. I do.

"CHANGES"

How long? It's been so long;
Longer than I can recall.
Though time may erase all the stains of the tears,
I still have to fight all the shadows and fears.

Changes; Patterns and figures and changes
Forging the mettle for me,
Etching that face in my eyes
So that's all I can see.

Time, time dragging behind,
All of those memories review.
Let sleeping dogs lie and they'll lie very well,
But here in my mind they'll have nowhere to dwell.

Changes...

Time, time dragging behind,
All of those memories review.
The sleeping dogs lie as the dead in their hell,
So vanquished by light of my heart's citadel.

Changes; Patterns and figures and changes
Forging the mettle for me,
Etching that face in my eyes
And that's all that I see.

She love incarnate! She's “like a train”, she's “that girl.”

"SHE KNOW HOW TO LOVE ME"

Got me a woman who understands
The greatest thing since the world began:
She know how to love
And I shake all over.
She know how to love me,
Sometime gotta cool me down.

She got the merchandise, she know it's good.
I only shop in that girl's neighborhood.
She know how to love,
Sometime she drives me wild.
She know how to love me;
I'm gonna die smilin'.

She call my name, the whole world trembles.
What you call love, it just don't resemble.
She know how to love me
And I ain't goin' nowhere else.

Talk about love; she love incarnate.
Got the corner on the market and she know I want it.
She know how to love,
Sometime gotta catch my breath.
She know how to love me,
And I ain't goin' nowhere else.

This song is about the deception we face everyday and whether we'll choose to succumb to the lies that are so subtle at times we don't even detect them unless we open our eyes and choose to fight.

"I HEARD"

I heard the voice a-callin', like a crystal, clearer still,
With a scent like freshness wakened by the dew.
I asked my friends about it but they hadn't heard a thing;
I say, "asked", but somehow already knew.

I heard the bells a-ringing, as to wake a sleeping Muse.
Could laugh, were not such tragedy
That grips the eyes and ears and hearts
They function not to choose.
My cynicism cannot make them free.

And I hear the mothers crying for the sons who lost their way
With tears reserved for those who never knew.
For had they scraped away the thin
But well-designed veneer,
They'd have seen the shelter sitting near and true.

When will we admit that everything they say is wrong?
Each day another shaving of what's right,
'Til some don't even question cuz we've let it go so long,
And some too scared, or lazy for the fight.
Fight!

I hear the werewolves howling for the blood of the sincere
And conscientious voices of our young.
It takes the silver bullet (Are we wise enough to hear?)
To purge ourselves from all their wretched dung.

A love song to my wife. I was on my back porch and saw her in the garden and I was overcome by her beauty and my love for her.

"ON AND ON"

First light of the morning I see your smiling face
Reminds me of all the reasons I'm thankful for the day.
Tell me that you love me, ask if sleep was sweet;
How could it be otherwise when life is so complete?
It goes on and on…On and on.

Watched you in the garden, sunlight in your hair,
Gentle breeze caressed you with it's sweetly scented air.
Couldn't help my smiling, the beauty so profound.
Eye tinctured with a tear for all the love we've found.
It goes on and on…On and on.

And our love is like a fire. It's aflame within our soul,
And its power can't be conquered,
It can overpower the world.
But it's tender and it's gentle so no force can make it break,
And its strength is in its giving, Fear itself is gonna shake.

I know that you will be at my side eternally.
My love, my dearest friend, I will love you without end.

Think of you throughout the day, picture in my mind.
Even though you're miles away you cause my life to shine.
Later in the evening as daylight fades away,
Plan and dream adventures we'll enjoy one day.
It goes on and on…On and on.

This story is only half-completed in reality but it looks forward to how I expect it to come to pass.

"I COULD SAY I LOVE YOU"

Would you like to look in my eyes?
There's something there that I can't disguise.
How'd you like to see in my heart?
I could try to hide it but I'm not that smart.  Oh, oh.

Do you want to know what I know?
It's getting late, maybe I should go.
Do I have to say what I mean?
Say you won't laugh while I come clean.  Oh, oh.

I could say I love you.
But I'm chokin' on my words
And my heart is palpitating for you.
I really love you.
This is something new to me
But I have to tell you truly, Honey,
I really love you.  It's love, it's love…

Does your mama know about me?
I'd like to know it's a two-way street.
Would you let me walk you home?
Maybe call you later on the telephone?  Oh, oh.
I love you.

I could say I love you.
I'm shakin' in my shoes
But you gotta know it's true, I tell you
I really love you.
It's all so new to me
But I have to tell you truly, Honey,
I really love you.  It's love, it's love…

Seems like only yesterday
We were so young but we turned out OK.
Now our kids are growing up too,
Going through the same things we went through.  Oh, oh.

I can say I love you
I'm still chokin' on my words
And my heart's still palpitating for you.
I really love you.
There ain't been nobody else,
I'm still smokin' and I'm burnin' for you.
I really love you.  It's love, it's love.

An instrumental. Don't worry if you don't hear any vocals. Perhaps you should be concerned if you do hear some. This is a love song with all my wonderful children in mind. My happy thoughts.

This is about not letting the trees hide the forest. Peace and love are here but most people walk right by it. I find it ironic that they then complain about not having it.

"SWEET PEACE, SWEET LOVE"

Can you feel it all around tonight?
No one has to make a sound tonight.

We've been waiting for so long.  Tonight
Is the breaking of the dawn…Here's light.

When you see it clear and it makes you strong,
It will change your world, and it won't take long.

Can you feel it growing here tonight?
There's no room for any fear tonight.
Sweet peace, sweet love for you, for us.

When you see the light flood your heart and soul,
All the darkness fades, you can take control.

And I don't know why,
Why anyone wouldn't want the things we see.
And they're willing to throw away,
Throw away the only remedy we'll ever have.

It's strength, it's sight, it's free, it's right,
It's yours, it's ours, it's love, our power.

This was originally written as a psychedelic song before I actually focused on coming up with lyrics. Nothing seemed to move me so I totally revamped the song while keeping the chord progression - two chords, some progression. It's the old adage about leading a horse to water...except I'm not interested in a horse.

"THE MOUNTAIN AND THE VALLEY"

I was standing on the mountain
Looking on the valley below.
There were roads and a pathway
Goin' nowhere.

When the rain started fallin',
It did not rain on me.
It rolled down off the mountain
To the valley.

There were friends, there were loved ones,
There were strangers down below.
I had once lived among them,
Many years ago.

Never much thought about 'em.
Seemed no longer my kind.
When I moved to the mountain
Left 'em all behind.

Well, that rain kept on fallin'
With its own strategy,
And it rolled off the mountain,
Pourin' down to the valley.

Then I heard them folks a-cryin'
In the valley down below.
Hit the roads and the pathways…
Hey, look, you got nowhere, nowhere to go.

I went down to the valley,
Cuz I knew they needed me.
I said, "Come up to the mountain,
You'll be safe up there with me."

Some, they listened, started climbin'.
Others listened, said, "Roll,
We've been long in this valley
And it owns our soul."

There will always be a mountain
And a valley beneath.
We can't make no one's choices,
But we must give the opportunity.

They're all pretty much aliases for the same thing—a dead end. When you're in the maze, you grope blindly. Someone needs to be able to look down on the maze. There's always a way out.

"So Many Roads"

So many roads called by so many names;
You traveled them all and they're all the same.
Of living, afraid, of dying, you're scared,
Have you figured out you're going nowhere?

Torment and pain, what will you choose?
What can you gain?  What would you lose?
Is there a hunger?  What would you taste
With the sand's running out, to be feeding your face?

May I be of help to reveal it?
Grope a lifetime, still you'll never feel it.
No, no, you're cold as ice.

Was it your mother, was it your dad?
Maybe a friend gave a glimpse or a tad.
Do you remember?  How did it feel?
Did you ever consider, what if it's real?

I walked a path on the mountain
Drank from a free-flowing fountain.
You're getting warmer.

Don't be afraid, don't be alarmed,
One more try can do you no harm.
Forget all the lies.  Don't look back.
All your walls are about to crack!

Soon the door will be closing and I must go away.

There'll be a key on the doorstep,
But why put yourself through the pain
When there's everything to gain?

You can read Mark Boudreau's Rock and Roll Report Podcast Description of "Baby's Like A Train" below. I enjoyed the difficulty he had describing the style of music. That's because IT'S ROCKABLUESIC!

"This is really interesting stuff.

You know if you use that kind of the term, a swampy, I don't know, swamp rock almost, very bluesy, swampy, ha! swamp rock, I don't know.

You'll know when you hear it. I think you'll understand what I'm trying to get at. But this is really cool stuff…it's just really well done."