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POKER FACE

by Uncle John

As I rode into this west Texas town

With this dancer and this clown

They were only going to spend the night

Just trying to find a way to their light

And me, I´m just a desert man

A man who has lived his life in the sand

As I walked into the local saloon

Me, this ballerina and this buffoon

They sat down and ordered some whiskey

But me, I just want to be

I just come here to play my cards

And if you´re willing to show yourself pard

I´m just a poker face

A man who likes to play the ace

I sat down with this fellow to play some poker

The fellow turned out to be a joker

So I figured oh what the heck

As I casually stacked the deck

I let him deal and he dealt me an ace

Then dealt himself a very straight face

I knew we were playing for very high stakes

So I couldn´t make any mistakes

We were only playing a single hand

Him, he was betting all of his land

Me, I was betting my life

I figured it wasn´t worth a dime

Then he dealt me an ace of spades

I figured then and there I had it made

And sure enough I had won

When he quickly reached for his gun

I drew quicker filled him with lead

Before the night was over the joker ws dead

So I said to this dancer and clown

You no longer have to wear that frown

Come with me to the land of the free

We´ll begin a new family

We´ll invite our brothers and sisters everywhere

Who are open and willing to share

To come and live with us

We´ll build a land and life of trust

Now I´m no longer a poker face

Just another member of the human race

Before I go I have to play this last ace

My heart which is your face

You´re the love of life so real

I could sing all night to you what I feel

SHOWDOWN

Lyrics & Music by Uncle John

From the edge of darkness

There is a glimmer of light

Leap for the daytime

Leave behind the night

People are afraid of getting old

Because all old people die

Have you wondered why

Time

In your heart of inspiration

Time

To stop discrimination

Time

Look inside to realize

Time

Through space and stars

And follow the weather

Changing

Time

Some have been waiting a lifetime for me to show my hand

Time for the showdown waiting for the band

This midnight gambler

Will become a full time rambler

Singing my heart here now for you

Coming into a deserted town

For the showdown

Yes it all comes around

After the slowdown

The sound

I look in my heart

And there you are

Your magic eyes

And dancing guitar

Our eyes are like windows and mirrors too

That can be like a star´s light of truth

The child can see

And is realized

Waiting to manifest

An inner light

For her name is wonder

Staring through you

The golden gate is open

To the sky & ocean blue

Looking in to the eye of the sun

In order to see

Radiate beautifully

The way to do is to be

For the sea that bore me

Shall free me to be

And this gentle rider

Going to go one higher

Dreaming up a story

Of their morning glory

This began with a bird you know

Begins again here with a show

Surrounded by kind love

And a sunshine rainbow

No longer carrying a frown

I´m coming into town

Going to show up

For the showdown

I been waiting for you

Yes, waiting here for you

Like the sea of tranquil desire

Like the sun with its heart on fire

Like a rose like a rose

Coming home coming home

Like a road like a road

Leading home

SING YOU A SWEET SONG NOW MOMMA

Lyrics & Music by Uncle John

Sing you a sweet song now momma

Sing you all the way back home

Sing through the wind and the rainbows

to the desert sun and the travelling show

Came down the highway

to get ready cause it's getting late

Past waiting mystery

to the heart's gateless gate

As a humming voice is heard

Flying free as a bird

The plan is set in motion

with a sound yet not a word

Looking back to where

the circle began

Where we come all this way

sifting through grains of sand

I wake up my eyes inside one morn

to find a clean new land

Sing past the edge of darkness and night

Sing through here and follow the light

Sing you a sweet song now momma

Sing you all the way back home

Get into your dream

Open up my mind

The dead are asleep

Rise and shine on time

Now the trail has been laid

And we've pulled out the spades

Heading straight to twilight day

But in sleep I have seen

There's more to this here dream

Now do you think you know what it really means

You can't fool the river

So don't push so hard

The dead are awake

Playing the hand and not the card

Like the sea devouring the tower

Those walls of time

Like the man who changes

& learns to be kind

Like the sweet lonesome river

washing away the load

When the reaper brings the harvest

We'll be celebrating in our home

Sing you a sweet song now momma

Sing you all the way back home

Sing past the darkness & the cold

to the everlasting sun's bright glow

Sing you a sweet song now momma

Me & Casey McAllister

Lyrics & Music by Uncle John

Back when the time

That the wheel stood at ten

Me & Casey McAllister

Were brothers from the pen

Now Casey was a good man

Even though he had done time

Even when they treated him badly

He was always kind

Me & Casey would often dream

That there would come a time

When we could live like children

& let everything be so fine

We were playing in the sand

& running under the moon

His momma calls out to him

Said son be home soon

He said now hey momma

He said momma please listen

If I don’t watch my step

I’m gonna end up back in prison

Now this was two years ago

In the town of Ontario

When I jumped over the fence

And ran on down the road

And ran back into Casey

Who says listen here you bird

You might have jumped over the fence

But you can’t jump off the world

And we’d go & gather roses

By the cemetery trail

Rejoicing each & every day

That we’d been out of jail

Now me & Casey were brothers

But not in the usual sense

We travelled to the mountaintop

& shared time in the pen

One day we sat down with a deck of cards

I drew the king he made

But the queen of his heart

Soon came to his aid

Casey chased that lady

All the way to Frisco bay

And he came back again

With the sun shining through the day

When we found a balance

That we know we’d never lose

We woke up with the morning

Every day was ours to choose

Now me & Casey were brothers

But not in the usual sense

We travelled to the mountaintop

& shared time in the pen

We’d go riding in our chariot

And let our hearts shine

Now Casey was a good man

Even though he had done time

MOUNTAIN TOP

Poetry by Uncle John

He stood upon balanced rock

In the garden of the gods

A mountain peak in a twilight storm

In a castle with rock and rod

Wander into sunlight

Climbing watching little bear

Sunshine peakin' through the clouds

In the cool big top air

And meet at the summit

Of the pyramid there

Powwow with Red Cloud

In the old roundup you steer

One fresh breath of air

And you know God is near

His handiwork is everywhere

Provides for the birds in the air

And the feathers they wear

We climb a mountain to its elevation

Look to the center core of the eluviation

All along the wall of rock up and down the stairs

Cool wind whistlin' mountain top blowin' her hair

We can go back four centuries

Follow three rivers through the mountains and trees

Two sides of reality

One bright light of an idea suddenly

It is the cool of nighttime beat

The earth rose until the moon set under our feet

The bees and birds and butterfly

All know what to do

Work and stay busy

Always be true

Willing to change for the best you can do

Red rocks and roses

Forever family bustin' poses

Who seen the sun set over the ocean

And the red rising sun in motion

Looking out round and rounder windows

On a ship sailing around the world

With an original creative and wise

Independent girl

Able and mature

Kind to all nature

Paint a picture of her

We rode up and around and around

And around the mountain

And up and around and around

And around hula up

To where you can't climb any more stairs

You can't elevate to the caves in the rocks that are there

Peaceful and aware

Among the tree tops we feel in the cool mountain air

CLUES TO OUR EXISTENCE

Songs by Uncle John

Mystery Rivers*

Sing You A Sweet Song Now Momma*

Poker Face*

Showdown*

The Lover

Let The Good Times Be *

Clues to Our Existence: Part 1 Metamorphosis*

Clues to our Existence: Part 2 Butterfly*

Hello to My Heart*

Home Sweet River

Peace to All Who Enter Here

Wedding Band*

Tombstone (The Fool´s Journey)

Me & Casey McAllister*

Gambling Man

Singing In The Band

Dune*

The Moon

The Awakening Sun

The Journey=

The Dancer

Sunrise Lady*

The Hunter*

Twenty-two Roses⁺

=live reading@ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, California, October 21, 2019

I wrote these songs in the 1970´s, all of them inspired by the Grateful Dead, except for “Dune”, an interpretation of science fiction writer Frank Herbert´s book, Dune.

I am not a musician because I don´t have the ear for music. Whenever I been on stage with a guitar I had to rely on other musicians to tune it for me. Even with the new tuning devices, I still can´t get it consistently precise. I was fortunate to have professional vocal lessons that enable me to be a singer.

These 24 lyrics (light editing of the originals) will be published this year. The songs listed with an asterisk * are the songs I wrote music to and hoping to record these songs. I was inspired to learn the guitar by Chuck Berry. Back then, I saw him at the Golden Gate Racetrack in Albany California one afternoon and this simple man who travelled with a guitar, and relied on local high school musicians to be his backing band wherever he showed up, showed me what was possible. I learned to play “Promised Land”. The chords in his songs were easy to learn and the Grateful Dead added some of his songs to their repertoire. This encouraged me to write music to my poetry and lyrics. The arrangement⁺ for “Twenty-two Roses” is with Bob Weir.

--Uncle John, 3/15/21

https://SpecialPermission.com/

UNCLE JOHN.org

When The Moment Comes

The Embrace by Sergey Gorshkov, Russia

2020 Wildlife Picture of the Year

He set up a camera in the remote wilderness and it captured this picture

WOLF MOON

Photo by John Lund

It´s January 28, and I´m awake at 2 am when I hear this loud whining crying human sound that seemed to come from inside the house, then another sound that is like a growling animal sound, loud, but I´m still focused on the darkness inside, searching for the sound. Then I realize it´s coming from outside, and I open the blinds to look out the front window, and I see a wolf standing at the edge of the sidewalk in front of my door, his long snout angled up, howling at the moon. Wolves are very rare in California, but I know this one resides locally. I listen to the howling like it´s music and I´m surprised no one else is awake. Is this a sign? A few years ago there was a mountain lion in the same spot in front of my doorway. It reminds me of Aldo Leopold´s lesson about wolves in "Thinking Like A Mountain" that characterizes ecological thinking. "Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf." Having once believed that the eradication of predators, the wolf and mountain lion, would preserve the deer, but didn´t recognize the imbalance it caused, Aldo transformed his thinking to recognize the wolf with a sentiment of ecological integrity. He understood the nature and mystery of the howl. I listen for several minutes, amazed that the animal does not go away, and the howling is louder than any other animal I´ve heard outside. I ran to my room to get my phone to realize I could take a picture. I looked through the peephole of the door and he´s in the same position howling, and as soon as I open the door, the wolf runs away. I didn´t realize it was January´s Full Wolf Moon until I read Bob Weir´s twitter feed when I got up:

"Welcoming in the first Wolf Moon of 2021! Occurring in Leo, it's said to be the luckiest and most prosperous day of the year. The sun shares its light with the generosity of Jupiter, marking new and bright beginnings..."

It reminds me of this book, and quest for completion:

LAST FLASH OF THE GRATEFUL DEAD

by Uncle John

Excerpt

¨I have a message for you from Jerry¨ Rock Scully tells me.

We´re backstage at the Old Waldorf in San Francisco and we sit down in a booth with musician Warren Zevon. Warren is a small man, quiet, watchful, intense, and he is sober tonight. There is a large unattended bar next to us , kind of like a trophy, no bartender, no drinking, and it reminds me of when Warren fell off the stage drunk and broke his leg, “Bad luck streak in dancing school” was his response and the title of his next album.

Rock, the way he´s dressed, looks just like a wolf, reminding me that Warren is the author of ¨Werewolves of London¨, and across the room from us is Wolfgang, that´s what his mom called him, we know him as Bill Graham, the premier impresario, and this is Bill´s club holding about six hundred people, a place for big stars to play in front of small audiences.

I´ll send Jerry a letter, I tell Rock, and I´ll see Garcia at his show Saturday night. The first time I met Rock, the road manager for the Grateful Dead, was in an elevator in New York City on his birthday, and he arranged an interview for me with Jerry Garcia, in Philadelphia.

The wolf does more than howl to communicate. They whimper and whine, growl and bark, yelp and snarl, smell, about 100 times stronger than our ability , as is their hearing and sight, they are strong with sharp teeth, and they fear humans and tigers, but humans are not their enemies and they will not attack unless provoked or threatened. The wolves can be our brothers, protectors, workers and lovers as their mates and mothers feed their babies with milk.

These wolves come to play, prancing with their fingers, happily, and causing others to dance merrily, rump in the air and bushy tail wagging.

Listening to Warren Zevon, his piano and vocals blasting out ¨When Johnny Strikes Up The Band¨, the notes keep escalating, his voice energizing as an angel´s, lifting us as the crowd eats, drinks, dances, and is merrily living life like a dream.

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Ain´t no time to hate

Barely time to wait

NEWRIVER.run

Hello to my Heart

Lyrics & Music by Uncle John

The movement of the wind
Turn on the night lights
The stars in the sky shine
In sight of the sights

Do you know that time is waiting to become eternity
To see you as happy as you can be
Doing what I can
For you when you are kind
Through all the changes in our mind
Thanks for sharing the time

Playing and bells ringing
Dancing and singing
You know who the Master is
I'm just a working man
Together through our work and laughter
We've been chasing the promised land

Now that we are family
With a vision of liberty
I say to you
Hello to my heart
Goodbye to all the misery

The prophesied time to come
For the troubadour of change
Makes its way around now
This world sure seems strange
The circle is complete
Back on the road
Across the great bridge
Like a boomerang coming home

With calm and patience and strength of all we are
I'm just a season to remember
And a long dream about a star
With a love song and a daydream
Vision of the Guardian of the Planet
And the source of our soul
Our life turns
The new world sung
And love
the masterpiece in the universe´s role

Dawn inside
Take me to your golden land
Put your mind in my hand
Look into your heart child and understand
Now that we are family
With a vision of liberty
I say to you
Hello to my heart
Goodbye to all the misery

"Es lo que es, pero se convertirá en lo que tú lo hagas".

"Northern Lights" by Jerry Garcia

LEAP-YEAR
Part 4
Autumn
by Uncle John

North of midnight
Look at the moon like a kite
And the planets like taillights
As we go through the night of nights

Yeah it's really not the same
The only town and the only game
Full of heart and by name
Hidden like her mits firm as the flame

All the king's horses
Leading all the king's men
The wall of Jericho could not be raised
again

In the sky and in the breeze

Clouds over seas

Leaves rustlin´ trees

North of midnight
Fresh and clear view
Everything will be alright
Turn on the light
Hold the candle and watch the roses fall
Read the writing on the wall

The Same Sky

Lyrics & Music by Marcela Gándara

Uncle John @ Terrapin Crossroads Bar with Terrapin Family Band

All Along The Watchtower

Lyrics & Music by Bob Dylan

THEY LOVE EACH OTHER

Canción de Grateful Dead

(Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia)

Translation: Tania Carrasco & Jhon Ramirez

Performed live in Spanish @

Terrapin Crossroads 12/26/2018

Vocals, Uncle John

Guitars, Ross James & Alex Koford (Terrapin Family Band)

Keyboards, Jason Crosby (Terrapin Family Band)

Bass, Brian Hasrap (Casual Coalition)

Drums, Danny Luehring (Casual Coalition)

¨Box Of Rain" rehearsal 8/1/2020 for RAINDANCE play