Anderson's lyric-driven music earned her a slot as a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival, where she performed Horse Sense. All lyrics and music are by Azaima B Anderson Horse Sense You strut like you're on parade and they've loosed your rein. You arch and curl your neck. You shake your bristling mane. You toss out pheromones shouting hot to trot, awaiting adulation for all the things you've got. chorus: This mare's grown wiser. This filly's loping away. Won't trade my horse sense for a roll in the hay. Go sell your wild oats to another store, cause I'm not riding stallions any more. You swish your long tail. You snort and prance. You rub up beside me as if you had a chance. You jump high fences leaving clouds of dust, assuming that you've moved me enough to feed your lust. But I've been bucked so hard I got tired and sore, and I'm not riding stallions any more. bridge Years before, you might have made me swoon with rapture But now I'm grazing peacefully on greener pastures. Go back to your stud farm. Tonight there's no encore. I'm not riding stallions any more. chorus. Time Wasted You're very nice, and your body's warm and your fingers moving. I've seen you twice with your twisted charm and I think I'm losing My stability, respectability. Used to want some help but now I just need myself. Once he was my friend with his luring tales and his strong attraction. Then came the end when I sought him for a different action. Now we can't see eye to eye with body separate from the mind. He thinks his head's elsewhere, and I don't know and I don't care cause chorus I'm waiting. From now on there'll be no more times a-wasted When I cried for more. Didn't look for love or a strong relation, and played the whore and the compromising situation. But I'm through with all you now, and I'll get by somehow. Have possession of myself and rely on no one else, though You're very nice and your body's warm and your fingers moving. I've seen you twice with your twisted charm and I think I"m losing my stability, respectability Used to want some help, but now I just need myself and.... chorus I Can Swim Stroke. Reach. Kick. Turn. A hundred laps, muscles burn. Olympic trials my finest day. We raced in Honolulu bay. Sugar cube for energy. Coach told me the breath's the key. Backstroke's where I reigned supreme on the 1933 swim team. chorus: My record time's on a wooden placque. I see it when I hit the sack. My photo hangs at the gym. Polio took my walk but I could swim. Don't want pity. I'm not sore. I'm cast iron at my core. You can look but if you stare, I'll bark a wise crack in your ear. Out of water, out of touch, I pivot on a wooden crutch. I leave the pool of my renown and toss a few martinis down. chorus. Stroke. Reach. Kick. Turn. Stroke. Reach. Kick. Turn. Stroke. Reach. Kick. Turn. Angel Back where I came from we all had our own guitar. Everyone knew harmony and flew from bar to bar. I sang like an angel. It was true, and so did they. We celebrated sunsets and the dawn of every day. Do do do do do do do. Wings and haloes lose their magic if they're all you ever see. And the richest songs get old when all you know is harmony. So one day I volunteered to set things right outside. I didn't know that I was in for such a bumpy ride. I took off to change the world. I came here to feed the poor. I flew down to free the captives. I could do it. I was sure. I was all set to save this planet from destruction, on God's instruction. I proudly winged God's message of the keys to save you all. I clutched it in my pocket to protect it from the fall. Upon landing, someone stole it, clipped my wings and then they fled. And all I've got to help me now is what's inside my head. I would chase out evil spirits. I'm here to love you all. I'd hold dances in the avenues where drug lords used to brawl. I'd bring you peace without war's interruption, but I lost my instructions. Politicians' answers seem so pale and inconclusive. Solutions lie within me but they're now so damned elusive. I am a goddess with red hair and I promise I'll get through. There's no end to all the ways that I will prove myself to you. I will snuff out all violence and corruption when I find my instructions. I've lost my instructions, but I'll have such power when I find my instructions. You Never Can Tell Sometimes the moon comes up at noon and the sun doesn't shine 'til it sets. Generous folk lead impoverished lives and the evil have no regrets. chorus: My mother said you never can tell if they'll have what you need at the store, If the threads will fit into the needle, if linoleum's right for the floor. My mother said you never can tell if lightning follows thunder's crack, If the raspberries are soft and purple, if the rain clouds will ever come back. I steer through signs and houses. I often lose my keys. I dry clean rayon blouses and shampoo my dog's fleas. chorus Radio says it's party time. My beer has lost its foam. My neighbor's driving on the field. He's found a new route home. chorus The Wall I pound on the wall. I'm black and I'm blue. The bricks won't budge. I cry, "I hate you. I hate you." Do you know what it's like to never feel heard? I wonder, did I open my mouth, or did I not say a word? I pat down my body, make sure that I'm there. You talk right through me like I'm thinner than air. Do you know what it's like to be the next one in line when they say, "sorry we're closed." You've just wasted your time. chorus: I pound on the wall. I kick at the wall. I claw at the wall. I wail at the wall. I flail at the wall. I tear at the wall. I swear at the wall. I pound on the wall. My knuckles are red. I'm breathing out fire. A bomb tick tick tick tick ticks in my head. Do you know what it's like to feel alone in a room of people swinging their partners, and they hand you a broom? I pray that I matter, that life's worth the fight, that the walls will soon crumbie if I hit them just right. But do you know what it's like to pray for what you've never known? All I know is that wall, and I'm pounding alone. chorus Boy Behind the hard fist and the jaw clenching tight is a a sad boy who needs to cry more than fight. Behind the wild eyes of a man on the run, a scared boy just wants to be seen as someone. chorus Come in from the cold. Don't be an outsider. It's okay with me if you're not my provider. Open your heart's door corroded with rust and learn how to love when you learn how to trust. Behind the bravado and menacing glare, a lonely boy aches to find friendship out there. Behind the sharp tongue of the critical voice, a boy's mad cause some one ran off with his toys. chorus bridge Whatever you've done, you've got nothing to hide. Clasp the small hand of that young boy inside. Just one belief that I'd like to own is to know in your heart that you're never alone. chorus Might be Spring Yellow crocus turns her face to the sky, harbinger of warmer days ahead. I heard a spring peeper yesterday. We can put away the skis and sled. Fluffy white p**sy willows plump on the trees. Tadpoles swim beneath the ice. Sun stays up past supper time and I've gone without my parka once or twice. chorus: But that gale force howl's ferocious outside. They don't know if we'll have snow or more rain. Better keep the plow on just in case. Mother nature takes her time in Maine. The dogs are getting frisky with each other. Eggs are soaked in Easter-colored dyes. Robin flies with twig in beak. Baby lamb bleats and blinks his eyes. chorus bridge: I'm still armored in my winter wear. I'm stir crazy as a coot. My hopes have been dashed so many times, my temper is as crusty as this L. L. Bean boot. The sign behind our driveways says our road's closed. April showers flood our street each year. The four wheel drive is stuck again and I know another mud season's here. chorus Family Values I looked away when you left at five for your wife and family. I pushed the pencil later to inflate my salary. If I'd had three kids who ran to me like they ran to you I'd have fastened up my briefcase, I'd have left work early too. You showed me family values before they turned to dirty words. Took your son, Dan, and a spaniel through the woods to hear the birds. You loved that farm and trout pond. Your dreams had all come true, Singing rounds 'til sun went down with a small girl who gazed up at you. Ten years on, I've got my farm, and my man is smart and lean. My suits are moldy cause I wear them only in a rat race in a dream. You've found a faster woman now with a new one on the side. How about the farm, the trout pond, three kids and perfect bride? How deep did your family values run if you could throw them all away? Is your new life really fun? Do you regret the price you've paid? Would you turn back time and change your mind if you thought you could? Or was it all a mask you wore because you thought you should? I put you on a pedestal. I placed you up so high. But now you've toppled down from there, what kind of a prayer have I? You showed me family values before they turned to dirty words. Took your son, Dan, and a spaniel through the woods to hear the birds. You loved that farm and trout pond. Your dreams had all come true, Singing rounds 'til sun went down with a small girl who gazed up at you. Jim My Jim walked out on me last night, slipped out clandestinely. It wasn't that we'd had a fight. Just call it destiny. I'll own I didn't notice much 'til it was time for bed. I figured he was walking off that great big meal he had. chorus: Oh Jimmy boy, I want you back. It's you that I adore. I'll give you space. I miss your face. Just don't run off no more. I worried so when morning came and Jimmy wasn't there. I cried. I sighed, called out his name, searched for him everywhere. I called the neighbors and police, the laundromat and school, Asked them to keep an eye out please and help this love-sick fool. chorus Finally I found Mr. Wright, our neighbor round the bend. My tragic tale, my tearful plight was coming to an end. He took me to the shelter. I crept inside the door. I knew Jim'd been through hell there sleeping on that clammy floor. chorus I had my pride. I took my time accepting Jimmy back. So I walked by and I said hi to others on his track. 'Til finally when he howled I had to set him free. He licked my face, he jumped for joy. His tail wagged furiously. Oh Jimmy boy I'll take you back, but don't run off no more. It's mighty rude to beg for food at the dog catcher's door. Scenes from a Kitchen Clean and sober, he's respectable, manners and taste impeccable. Income in the comfort zone. To maintain it, he's never home. I ought to be grateful he's faithful to me. He's handsome and he fixes what's broke. But he won't mend my heart when it bleeds out his name for romance gone up in smoke. chorus Wash away what doesn't matter. Rinse away our false pretense. Time could still the idle chatter and let love tear down our fence. She's presentable and finally faithful. Broad smile hides when she's hateful. So much to do and see. My dinner partner's the tv. I ought to be grateful she's faithful to me. She's sexy and she loves me a lot. But she won't have my child cause she needs to be free. What's wrong with this picture I shot? chorus bridge: Rarely together, scared when alone, craving undivided attention We hide behind our separate lives. Can love survive on good intentions? chorus John Workshop leader, planter, weeder, Mr. L.L. Bean, plate collector, wall erector, every year's prom queen Made chatty calls and silly cards for any old occasion. Your healing hands exuded kindness free from hesitation. When we first met, you just had set your family secrets free. Your aching heart was torn apart by truth's austerity. You told me you would beat the odds. I trusted you could do it. Although I'd seen the quilt, I thought you'd find your own way through it. chorus: Whoever linked up two black sheep and told them how to play Please take away my grief just like they took my friend away. The struggle to sustain your life took quality away. The mind sought restoration, but the body won't obey. The lessons of a lifetime, they charged a fatal toll. Plague starved the mortal man, but it could not touch your soul. Fate gently cast aside what other forces could not lift. The splendor of surrender offered freedom as its gift. I saw the strength it took when you decided to move on. The warrior cast aside his shield saying, "I'm enough. I'm John." chorus How Much How Much do you want it? How much do you want it? You'd better know how much you want it or they'll take it away from you. How much do you want it? How much do you want it? You'd better know how much you want it or they'll take it away from you. How much do you want it? It's your dream, girl. How much do you want it? It's your life boy. Better know how much you want it or they'll take it away from you. chorus: You've got to brave voices shouting at you, "take the safe choices," claiming others know what's best for you. You've got to speak and be certain or fate draws the curtain and your bright shining life is through. No no no How much do you want it? Well, well, How much do you want it? You've got to know. Hold on tight to what you want or they'll take it away from you. chorus How much do you want it? Well, well, how much do you want it? You've got to know. Hold on tight to what you want or they'll take it away from you. Don't let them take it away from you. Don't let them take it away from you. Hold on.