When the Night is Through, 1998
sunny day
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can stand the rain
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can face this pain
i woke up this mornin’
took a look around
my situation only brings me down
spent the night a-cryin’
in my lonely room
somebody’s sweet love couldn’t come too soon
oh but i hear voices
yeah and i see signs
gonna leave this empty life behind
open up the windows
open up the doors
i never seen this kind of light before
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can stand the rain
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can face this pain
i used to wait for somethin’
still don’t know what it was
but you see all the good that waitin’ does
it only leaves you guessin’
’bout what might have been
you wind up bitter cold and broken at the end
now i’m on this highway
and i don’t really care
where i’m goin’ or if i ever get there
it’s only half the battle
it’s only half the fight
workin’ in the day will get you through the dark night
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can stand the rain
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can face this pain
get in the truck you got a long long way
get in the truck you got a long long way
get in the truck you got a long long way
get in the truck you got a long long way
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can stand the rain
ain’t it good to be alive on a sunny day
only way that i can face this pain
she can’t let go
well you can tell her that he’s gone forever
she’ll just say he’ll come back tonight
and you can tell her that he don’t care about her
but that old love light’s still burnin’ bright
another day and she wakes up alone
another night and she cries
there was a year or two he really loved her
at least that’s the way it looked from here
but after while it all faded to nothin’
she would never let us see her tears
another dyin’ dream a desperate heart
she’s got her lie she believes
she can’t let go
she can’t let go
she’s holdin’ on to a memory
she can’t let go
don’t wanna know
she still believes in what used to be
and there’s somethin’ to say for her way when you’re lookin’ at
nothin’ worth havin’ to hold
she can’t let go
she remembers what it’s like to be lonely
with no one at all there to dream about
she says she’d rather keep on thinkin’ about him
than let that old fire of love go out
’cause it’s a cold world when you can’t remember
the nights that you spent safe and warm
she can’t let go
she can’t let go
she’s holdin’ on to a memory
she can’t let go
don’t wanna know
she still believes in what used to be
and there’s somethin’ to say for her way when you’re lookin’ at
nothin’ worth havin’ to hold
she can’t let go
she comes home from work as i stand at my window
so many people got it worse than her
she can’t let go
she can’t let go
she’s holdin’ on to a memory
she can’t let go
don’t wanna know
she still believes in what used to be
and there’s somethin’ to say for her way when you’re lookin’ at
nothin’ worth havin’ to hold
oh there’s somethin’ to say
oh yeah
when you’re lookin’ at nothin’ you’re’ lookin’ at nothin’
there’s somethin’ to say
oh yeah
’bout havin’ somethin’ to hold
she can’t let go
no she can’t let go
no no
no she can’t
no she can’t
no she can’t
she can’t let go
sweet promise of love
well i came in here
not lookin’ to find me nothin’ special
just neon and beer
not lookin’ to do me too much wrong
but you’re lookin’ so invitin’
you’re lookin’ at me with your eyes of lightnin’
suddenly i don’t know why i’m fightin’
i’m just holdin’ on to your
sweet promise of love together
sweet promise of love tonight
sweet promise of love together
a promise can’t be broken
if it’s only for one night
well i found my life
curled up in the corner of a lonely station
and i can read the signs
they say the train’s a long time gone
so i’m sittin’ here a-drinkin’
make a little pool for my heart to sink in
don’t wanna do no more thinkin’
i’m just holdin’ on to your
sweet promise of love together
sweet promise of love tonight
sweet promise of love together
my heart can’t be broken
if it’s only for one night
tired and thirty
heady days of wonder give way to nights of darkness and despair
but won’t nothin’ calm my fever anyway; there ain’t nobody there
i’ve squandered all my love upon too many men who never could be mine
now i’m tired and thirty; fallin’ when i wish i could be flyin’
there’s someone i remember from dreams of lovin’ many years ago
but i could not find the courage in my heart so i had to let him go
tho’ sometimes with a stranger i can feel the fire that i chose not to burn
it only makes me surer of my path; i know that i will not return
that ain’t no way to go on livin’
but i suppose that i’ll get by
my own special brand of givin’
serves to occupy my mind
big wheels upon the highway take me someplace i ain’t never been
ah but every road’s a circle; somehow i always end up home again
a little older, never wiser; even though i’ve tried to learn a thing or two
but all i’ve got to show for all my trouble is just a deeper shade of blue
that ain’t no way to go on livin’
but i suppose that i’ll get by
my own special brand of givin’
serves to occupy my mind
miss you #3
on a road without a number followin’ a river with no water and no name
one blinkin’ yellow traffic light in this faceless town i guess that i’m the same
radio waves never hit this beach just like your love they’re fallin’ out of reach
and i miss you
well there’s moonshine on the rangeland risin’ up into the dark all slow and lazy
young lovers in the fields tonight just thinkin’ about them brush fires drivin’ me crazy
feelin’ lonely and a little bit scared i’m makin’ good time but i’m gettin’ nowhere
and i miss you
said i miss you
nothin’s stayed the same since you been gone
and i’m so blue
i ain’t hangin’ out i’m just hangin’ on
well there’s a man who says he loves me sleepin’ next to me in this lonely motel bed
and i was tired of just pretendin’ i couldn’t make believe so i made love instead
but i ain’t no woman in red i got an empty feelin’ in this achin’ head
and i miss you
tonight’s the night
well you fight a losin’ battle on the streets of this town
everything we do feels like it’s pushin’ us down
it’s a small town baby; everybody’s watchin’ us
well they wanna see us stumble wanna see us hit the ground
and once we’re in the dirt they wanna drag us further down
till we’re just like them; beatin’ down the younger ones
that ain’t no way to live
baby i feel it i swear
well i don’t know where i’m headed
but i’ll know when i get there
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
yeah and i’ll be long gone out of sight
well i been workin’ at the railroad station downtown
the southbound to miami don’t even slow down
no one wants to know about nothin’ goin’ on around here
but i’m almost 22 i’m old enough to know
’bout the fire in my heart and the fever in my soul
and the voice that keeps sayin’ don’t you waste another year
well i got lots to give
baby and i ain’t scared
well i don’t know where i’m headed
but i’ll know when i get there
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
yeah and i’ll be long gone out of sight
well the steel rails shone in the full moon light
big diesels whine
and i was taillights
well you fight a losin’ battle on the streets of this town
everything we do feels like it’s pushin’ us down
it’s a small town baby; everybody’s watchin’ us
but i’m almost 22 and i’m old enough to know
’bout the fire in my heart and the fever in my soul
and the voice that keeps sayin’ don’t you waste another year
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
yeah and i’ll be long gone out of sight
(tonight’s the night)
well tonight’s the night
(tonight’s the night)
yeah tonight’s the night
tonight’s the night
oh yeah and i’ll be long gone out of sight
and it was bye bye north florida
and i was taillights
highway 59 (let it rain)
i ain’t tryna sign you up now baby
i just wanna hold you for a while
and all those men whose shadows pass before my window
just keep the teardrops from my eye
but the night’s a cold and lonely highway
my truck is old the tires are worn
and all the miles that stand before me in the darkness
offer no quarter from this storm
anymore
i can’t believe the things i say
god help me not to feel this way
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) fall over me
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) come set me free
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) fall over me
let it rain
let it rain
i’m not sure i’ll feel like this tomorrow
when i can stand alone again
so please don’t tell her that you’ve found a new direction
and i won’t tell her where you’ve been
my feelings all my thoughts betray
i can’t believe i feel this way
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) fall over me
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) come set me free
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) let your love
(let it rain) fall over me
let it rain
let it rain
sister cecil
well she was workin’ her way through beauty school
he was tryna keep his fingernails clean
she’d broken up with his best friend
when the traffic light turned green
and i said hey little sister take it slow
don’t get your heart broke again
she said mary you may be older
but you don’t know the first thing about men
sister cecil tell me
why do you dress the way you do?
sister cecil tell me
what makes the boys all run to you?
sister cecil tell me
i wanna know or i think i do
sister cecil tell me
can i really love somebody too?
she used to pick her men up on the highway lord
if she liked the car they drove
she’d pass ’em and they’d pass her back
and into the dark they’d go
and i’d sit in my room each night
and wait to turn twenty-one
and think about headin’ out
but i never had the nerve to have no fun
sister cecil tell me
why do you dress the way you do?
sister cecil tell me
what makes the boys all run to you?
sister cecil tell me
i wanna know or i think i do
sister cecil tell me
can i really love somebody too?
when i was young they said
you’ve got to feel someone’s touch
i tell myself i don’t believe it
i tell myself too much
well i was thinkin’ about my younger days
feelin’ sorry for myself
when a friend of mine came over
lookin’ to stay with someone else
we knew just what we wanted
didn’t have nothin’ much better to do
but it’s an easy thing to kick a man out of your bed
when the night is through
sister cecil tell me
why do you dress the way you do?
sister cecil tell me
what makes the boys all run to you?
sister cecil tell me
i wanna know or i think i do
sister cecil tell me
can i really love somebody too?
sad, sad world
you had his baby when he said he loved you
well so did that girl in echo park
now he’s run off again and you can’t find him
cecil ain’t it lonely after dark
i know you know that it’s all over
and he won’t be comin’ back around
but it ain’t so easy now just to turn and walk away
’cause he was the warmest thing you’d found
and it’s a sad sad world even after you learn to live alone
it’s a sad sad world even after today
and you can try and you can try to get it right
and you just might not and you just might
but it’s a sad sad world anyway
most every day
you wanted someone you could count on
now you can count the days he’s gone
your sweet little girl don’t need no daddy like that
cecil ain’t no use in hangin’ on
and it’s a sad sad world even after you learn to live alone
it’s a sad sad world even after today
and you can try and you can try to get it right
and you just might not and you just might
but it’s a sad sad world anyway
it’s a sad sad world even after you learn to live alone
it’s a sad sad world even after today
and you can try and you can try to get it right
and you just might not and you just might
but it’s a sad sad world anyway
most every day
rollin’ and tumblin’
i don’t need your bad advice
heard it once don’t need to hear it twice baby
all your talkin’ just brings me down
i won’t be comin’ back around baby
i’m just a-rollin’
rollin’ and tumblin’
movin’ along with the wind
rollin’
rollin’ and tumblin’
movin’ along
movin’ along again
do my livin’ off the land
got a dream and i got a plan baby
you won’t miss me when i’m gone
there’ll be new fools come along baby
two hard roads
i was drunk the night i found you
you were drunk the night you left
and all the days between i can’t recall
you said there’s somethin’ ’bout a woman
makes me love her when i leave her
i said there’s somethin’ ’bout a man that makes me fall
and it’s two hard roads we’re ridin’
that lead us far away from here
and there ain’t nothin’ out there to cling to
i remember how you felt
those nights
and i wonder
if you’re out there somewhere
on your hard road alone
you were fightin’ to forget me
and i could tell that you were losin’
so i smiled ’cause i’d been lost for months it seemed
you said there’s nothin’ worth believin’
’cept whiskey guns and money
and the big sky in montana and these dreams
and it’s two hard roads we’re ridin’
that lead us far away from here
and there ain’t nothin’ out there to cling to
i remember how you felt
those nights
and i wonder
if you’re out there somewhere
on your hard road alone
those nights
yeah and i wonder
those nights
and i can’t hardly sleep at all
those nights
yeah and i wonder
those nights
and i can’t hardly sleep alone
well i was drivin’ thirty hours
drivin’ back to bozeman
countin’ all of haggard’s high line poles
i had KOA out of denver
had a can of copenhagen
and a dream that you passed through not long ago
and it’s two hard roads we’re ridin’
that lead us far away from here
and there ain’t nothin’ out there to cling to
i remember how you felt
those nights
and i wonder
if you’re out there somewhere
on your hard road alone
those nights
yeah and i wonder
those nights
yeah and i wonder
those nights
yeah and i wonder
goodnight dark angel
well you shot her with that .44
and she fell down on the ground
then you turned that gun upon yourself
and you chased your demons down
there were beer cans in the bedroom
whiskey bottles on the shelf
and you had no friends to help you
so you poured the wine yourself
i guess the whole world knew i loved you
such a hard, unbending love
but when you swam out past the breakers
i knew it would not be enough
she was just some lady midnight
so i didn’t mind at all
’cause i had thought that i could catch you
but i could only watch you fall
goodnight dark angel
leavin’ this old world alone
goodnight dark angel
another soldier’s comin’ home
comin’ home
well your telephone kept ringin’
lord but i could not get through
and alone tonight in houston
this ol’ heart’s ’bout broke in two
goodnight dark angel
leavin’ this old world alone
goodnight dark angel
another soldier’s comin’ home
goodnight dark angel
leavin’ this old world alone
goodnight dark angel
another soldier’s comin’ home
comin’ home
CREDITS
words and music by mary cutrufello
produced by thom panunzio
*produced by thom panunzio and elliot scheiner
recorded and mixed by thom panunzio
project coordinator: shari sutcliffe
recorded at groove masters, santa monica, ca, with bob saulcedo;
ocean way recording, hollywood, ca, with mike scotella;
the complex, los angeles, ca, with william faith, claus trelby, adrian gauslin;
and a&m recording, hollywood, ca, with bill appleberry, mike baumgartner, and al lay
mixed at groove masters, santa monica, ca, with sebastian haimerl
mastered by denny purcell at georgetown masters
management: holly gleason for Joe’s Garage
kip lennon, mark lennon, mike lennon courtesy of Vanguard Records
rami jaffee courtesy of Interscope Records
sweet pea atkinson appears courtesy of Point Blank/Virgin Records America, Inc.
a&r direction: steve greenberg
a&r coordinator: sue saunders
photography: marina chavez
styling: keki mingus
art direction: margery greenspan
design: jeffdidthis
thanks
for love and/or inspiration: mom, nan, & cecil, the murdocks, holly gleason, thom panunzio, cb howell, rick-o loftus, dave benson, greg rudolf, gavin edwards, david pille, john hobbs, merel bregante, chris wall, thim hill, danny ferrington, casey monahan, craig cunningham, steve hurst, ed seay, terry lickona, steve baker, roscoe and carol c., il moro and i cugini (another usual, please!), rob matwick at the ’dome, houston astros, walt wilson at roy’s cafe, everyone at rudyard’s, everyone who played & sang, roland denney, dana myzer, steve earle, david zimmerman, james hetfield, jimmie dale gilmore, mike crowley, jimmy iovine, benmont tench, mickey raphael, tunin’ tom, willie nelson, mark rothbaum, amy leintz, darin murphy, extravaganza, julie laughlin, steve greenberg, danny goldberg, marty maidenberg, david leach, lauren murphy, sue saunders, scott muni, yale. tech support: gil baldwin at gilbert guitars, hoss at power audio, ronnie at allen speaker, seth lichtenstein at hjth, ed, lonn, and eric at groove masters, charles at arc, john carrick at sand mountain guitars, rick anderson at anderson guitars, mike fuller at fuller’s vintage, steve brown at one world guitars.
sunny day
mary cutrufello: lead vocal, electric and acoustic guitars, fender reverb tank
kenny aronoff: drums, percussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3, fender rhodes, clavinet, celeste
greg leisz: lap steel
roland denney: upright bass
roland denney, dana myzer: background vocals
she can’t let go
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric, acoustic, alto, and baritone guitars
mark schulman: drums, percussion
dave piltch: bass
rami jaffee: B3, vox super continental
kipp lennon, mark lennon, mike lennon: background vocals
sweet promise of love
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric guitar
jim keltner: drums
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3, acoustic piano
roland denney, dana myzer: background vocals
tired and thirty*
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, percussion
kenny aronoff: drums, percussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3, celeste
greg leisz: e-bow steel, lap steel
gary grant, jerry hey: trumpet
larry williams: tenor saxophone
dan higgins: tenor and baritone saxophones
horns arranged by mary cutrufello
miss you #3
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric and slide guitars
kenny aronoff: drums, percussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: vox super continental
matt cartsonis, kipp lennon, mike lennon: background vocals
tonight’s the night
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
kenny aronoff: drums, precussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3, casio SK-1
roland denney, dana myzer: background vocals
highway 59 (let it rain)
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
mark schulman: drums, percussion (including the darkness tambourine!)
bob glaub: bass
benmont tench: acoustic piano
rami jaffee: B3, casio SK-1, chamberlin
sweet pea atkinson, harry bowen: background vocals
sister cecil
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, acoustic and alto guitars
rami jaffee: accordion
matt cartsonis: mandola
matt cartsonis, roland denney: background vocals
sad, sad world
mary cutrufello: lead and background vocals, electric guitars
kenny aronoff: drums, percussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: acoustic piano
roland denney: upright bass
roland denney, kipp lennon, mark lennon, mike lennon, dana myzer: background vocals
rollin’ and tumblin’
mary cutrufello: lead vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, vibra-slap
jim keltner: drums
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: wurlitzer electric piano
kenny aronoff: percussion, slow cymbal
gary grant, jerry hey: trumpet
dan higgins, larry williams: tenor saxophone
horns arranged by mary cutrufello
maxi anderson, alex brown, mark lennon, alfie silas: background vocals
two hard roads*
mary cutrufello: lead and background vocals, electric and acoustic guitras, percussion
kenny aronoff: drums
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3
goodnight dark angel
mary cutrufello:lead and background vocals, electric and acoustic guitars
kenny aronoff, drums, percussion
bob glaub: bass
rami jaffee: B3, acoustic piano, celeste
roland denney: upright bass
maxi anderson, alex brown, alfie silas: background vocals
