Threads CD
Produced & arranged by Joni Bishop / A collection of warm, country-folk arrangements of 13 original songs about love, family, and roots. It includes many of Joni’s most representative songs to date, and is supported by some of Nashville’s best musicians including Tammy Rogers (Dead Reckoning Records) on fiddle & mandolin / Steve Grossman (Gibson-Miller Band) on drums / Chas Williams (Wynonna) on dobro / and Adie Grey & Jill Grossman on back-up vocals...an Americana classic! Tracks: * Threads * A River & A Road * Stone By Stone * Portrait Of A Fool * Mississippi Moonlight * Ain't That Love * Waterwheel * Wild Blossoms * Blue Bouquet * Grandma's Garden * Down To The River
Lyrics
| THREADS |
| There's an old patchwork blanket, my Grandma handed down It was torn and just a little tattered, but all these years it's kept me warm I would sit sometimes for hours watching her sewing those colored scraps Full of joy and full of wonder and all those questions that children ask Will it all fit together? Brown & Yellow, Black, White & Red? Will the pieces make a pattern When you gather up all those Threads? There were squares and triangles and pretty pieces from dresses she once wore In every size and shape and color and I said Grandma, now, tell me are you sure? Will it all fit together? Brown & Yellow, Black, White & Red? Will the pieces make a pattern When you gather up all those Threads? Now, there's no ending to my story, though Grandma's handwork was finally unfurled 'Cause the design goes on forever, a patchwork blanket that wraps around the world! And it all fits together Brown & Yellow, Black, White & Red All the pieces make a pattern When we gather up all those Threads Words & Music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ACSAP / Adm: MCS America, Inc. |
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| A RIVER & A ROAD |
| You and I, we're like a river & a road Side by side, touching as they go Where we meet is never far Parallel is what we are Winding, binding, a river & a road. You stay where the road signs show I just trust the feeling, I let it flow Now and then we might seem lost But farther down our paths will cross In perfect timing,binding, a river & a road. I raced on a head and left you behind But what I was chasing was here all the time So let me lean on your shoulder And love will flow over You and I, we have found a home Rolling together, we're never alone In fact we are quite the same One direction, different names Entwining, binding, a river and a road. Words & music by Joni Bishop & Sally Barris / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP, Adm: MCS America, Inc / c Wrensong Publishing Corp. BMI |
| STONE BY STONE |
| My father was a builder He took pride in the things he made With every nail he hammered A little corner-stone was laid And if the life of things was measured In patience, sweat & tears Then the house that I grew up in Would be around a million years 'Cause he built it stone by stone by stone Made the foundation good and stong He turned that house into a home Brick by brick, stone by stone. I never really thanked him When we were busy being kids For the bookshelves in my bedroom And all the broken toys he fixed But if love was somehow measured up In memories, I suppose..... That ol' house that i grew up in Would be the one I love the most CHORUS A mansion will crumble And a castle turn to dust Unless it's built with a labor of love... Now, our things are all in boxes But I still can't quite believe That we found the house we've been dreamin' of And we're movin' in next week And tho' we don't have much of anything Except this love that's yours & mine If we build our house from the inside out It's gonna stand the test of time! If we build it stone by stone by stone Make the foundation good and stong We'll turn this house into a home Brick by brick, stone by stone Brick by brick, stone by stone. Words & music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm: MCS America, Inc. |
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| PORTRAIT OF A FOOL |
| I went out today and bought a pretty box of paints And a canvas in a hand-carved wooden frame I'm gonna paint myself a masterpiece in blue And call it my Portrait of a Fool I'll paint eyes that didn't see that I was wrong And empty arms that still can't believe you're gone And two hands that let a good love slip Right through their foolish fingertips And I'm gonna call it my Portrait of a Fool A picture's worth a 1000 words they say Just take one good look at me since you went away And you'll see a life-size masterpiece in blue A sad and sorry...Portrait of a Fool A picture's worth a 1000 words, it's true Just take one good look at me since I lost you And you'll see a a real-life masterpiece in blue Someone who walked out on love...a Portrait of a Fool. I'm gonna paint my Self-Portrait of a Fool. Words & music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm: MCS America, Inc. |
| MISSISSIPPI MOONLIGHT |
| All along the Mississippi, sun goes down like marmalade Folks get out and they dress up pretty, walk along the promenade Cajun moon and a fiddle tune is all you need to feel alright And when that band plays dixieland you're bound to dance all night Chorus: 'Cause when that Mississippi Moonlight's shinin' on the water You'll get caught in the spell of the delta tonight So Darlin', put on your new shoes let's step out to the music That they're makin' on the Bayou 'neath the Mississippi moon. The days are long and the days are lazy, waitin' for that sun to set Moon comes out and the nights get crazy in front of that Hotel Lafayette Cajun songs play all night long and folks come out and spend their pay On a bottle of wine and a good ol' time and they dance the night away Chorus Jean-Pierre combed his hair And he walked on up to sweet Claudette Took a chance, asked her to dance Said "voulez-vous dancer?"... She said "OK" Chorus Words & music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm:MCS America, Inc. |
| AIN'T THAT LOVE |
| It can move a mountain, melt a heart of stone Make a man give up his money, make a king walk away fron his throne It's the rarest of treasures this world has ever known But you try to hold it too tightly and it's gone Ain't that love, pure and simple Ain't that precious stuff And ain't it just amazing, all the wonders that it does! So precious, pure and simple Aint that love. Now we can complicate it, give it others names We can endlessly debate it, but it is and will always remain Just as tried and true and constant as the twilight or the dawn But you try to hold it too tightly, and it's gone. Chorus Now the world can keep its money, all its silver and its gold I'd rather have the treasure of lovin' arms to hold 'Cause it can move a mountain, dry an ocean of tears It can bring two hearts together, keep 'em faithful through the years And it's still the rarest treasure there is or ever was So precious and it found it's way to us Precious, pure and simple ain't that love ...ain't that love... And ain't it just amazing, all the wonders that it does! So precious, pure and simple Ain't that love. Words and music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm: MCS America, Inc. |
| WATERWHEEL |
| I was just a barefoot kid with lots of time to kill I'd spend my summer afternoons down by Walker's Mill The river would slowly wind and the waterwheel would turn For this 9 year old country kid there was a lot that I would learn And that old millkeeper used to sit there all day long Talkin' to the river and singin' this here song He said "Now, Life's like a waterwheel Keeps turnin' round, that waterwheel River runs, river flows Round & round & round it goes And it keeps on turnin', like a waterwheel Now, I remember later, a little farther down the line That waterwheel kept spinnin', it turned a few more times And me & Bobby Joe, we'd go down by the riverside And we fell in love with the moon above shinin' down one summer night There we made a promise for forever and a day Now it's just a memory that the river washed away Ain't it just ike a waterwheel Keeps turnin' round, that waterwheel River runs, river flows Round & round & round it goes And it keeps on turnin' just like a waterwheel The years have come and gone, they tore that old mill down And everything has changed, I hardly know my own hometown But I still wander down there every now and then I hear that old millkeeper's song whistlin' int the wind He said "Now Life'slike a waterwheel Keeps turnin' round that waterwheel River runs, river flows Round & round & round it goes And it keeps on turnin' just like a waterwheel It keeps on turnin' just like a waterwheel Words & music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm: MCS America, Inc. |
| WILD BLOSSOMS |
| Twelve lovely roses in a blue crystal vase All arranged so neatly, every petal in its place I can't deny their beauty, but they will never move me Like those wild blossoms by the banks of the river Like those wild blossoms by the banks They raise their arms to heaven and they bend in gentle rain They grow in sweet abandon, their passion unrestrained And give themselves completey, tossing caution to the wind I want to live to love you like those wild blossoms by the banks of the river Like those wild blossoms by the banks So what can I offer, how can I express? My heart wants to love you with everything I have Not like captured roses that wither in my hands I want to love you like those wild blossoms by the banks of the river Like those wild blossoms by the banks.... So free and open like those wild blossoms by the banks. Words and music by Joni Bishop & Lisa Aschmann / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP, Adm: MCS America, Inc. / c Nashville Geopgraphic ASCAP |
| VIVA LA LOVE |
| Bullfrog in the swamp serenadin' his girl Oysters in bed busy makin' pearls The crows in the pine trees, all snuggled up All the world over Viva La Love! Roses are red, darlin', violets are blue Sugar is sweet, now ain't that the truth! I don't know who wrote it but I'll tell you what All the world over Viva La Love! Long live romance and the moon up above May there always be lovers somewhere fallin' in love... And here on the porch swing it's just you and me Oh, what an evening! Now, don't you agree? Here's to whoever invented the stuff All the world over Viva La Love! Words and music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm:MCS America, Inc. |
| GRAMDAMA'S GARDEN |
| Grandma had a garden, a little patch out in the back She gave that garden love and care and the garden gave it back In the springtime there were roses, in the fall stalks of corn I can't forget what Grandma said about the secrets of growin' It takes sun and the good Lord's rain Sometimes a strong back and a guiding hand Most of all you've got to know It takes love to make a garden grow Grandma read the Bible, I still recall a verse or two About the harvest being plentiful, but the laborers are few She said 'Don;t you shy away, child, put your hands down in the earth Because to make a sprout grow strong and tall is gonna take a little work' It takes sun and the good Lord's rain Sometimes a strong back and a guiding hand Most of all you've got to know It takes love to make a garden grow Now, Grandma was amazing, 'bout as strong as a tall oak tree And every flower in the garden cried when she left at ninety-three But I know that she'd be happy to see I got some flowers of my own I take the chldren through the garden, teach 'em all the secrets of growin' It takes sun and the good Lord's rain Sometimes a strong back and a guiding hand Most of all you've got to know It takes love to make a garden grow Words and music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm:MCS America, Inc. |
| DOWN TO THE RIVER |
| There's a mighty river that flows right through here It's deep and never-ending and the water's crystal clear And if you wanna find the place where that mighty river starts You gotta look a little deeper, to the bottom of you heart Let's go down to the river, honey, let's jump right in We can walk down to the water and let the river pull us in Let's go down to the river, the one I'm thinkin' of Let's dive into the waters of the mighty river of love Some come to the river and they try to build a dam To hold the waters back or to keep the waters in But the river's strong and mighty and it'll wash away the walls And the power of love is great enough to make all the fences fall Chorus Now, I know the Mississippi can move a lotta sand And I know that canyons are carved by the Rio Grande I've crossed the wide Missouri, stood on the banks of the Ohio But that river of love I'm speakin' of is the mightiest river I know Chorus Words and music by Joni Bishop / c Mountain Glen Music ASCAP / Adm:MCS America, Inc. |