This song was written on the porch of my house in Santa Margarita. The ancestors moved their message through me for this song and I happen to capture it on my phone. The recording on the album is from the moment on the porch.

by Azere Wilson

Her mind is a train on high Tomorrow is Monday

She was walkin kickin dust upon the road .She was drownin weighed down by her load pressin gravely carvin deep in her soul . She was walkin weighed down by her load 

Her mind is a train on high Tomorrow is Monday

Tryin to figure how to stash that sack. Weighs so heavy with two mouths on her back and these babies need more than she's got. she's tremblin they don’t know what she's fought 

Just to get up at the break of  day means to wake up empty pockets a blaze and her minds sick with disease. To the lord she's beggin him please

Her mind is a train on high. Tomorrow is Monday

She's been down just as low as can be  With clouded eyes she's trying to see But this weight is more than she can bare She's tryin with a life that ain’t fair 

But these chains keep pullin her back  And the rain slicks dirt from her sack and the road kicks up at her knees to the lord she's beggin him please please please

Her mind is a train on high tomorrow is Monday

by Azere Wilson & Brendan Forrest

Kiss dried the tears from your eyes sip from your lips of anguish your chin a bite or two just to distract from the hold she’s got on you

I know the hold she's got on you I know you feel it too I know there's nothing I can do

Back in the bedroom yet again street light creeps through the window stale white walls, an unrequited call echos deep down in my soul But If you take my hand I’ll see your desires Ill intoxicate you Gonna take you on the wildest rideYou'll forget about her in no time

I know the hold she's got on youI I know you feel it too and I know there's nothing I can do Nah honey I know the hold she's got on you I know you feel it too But there’s something I can do Lil somethin I can do

Seek me in seek me out Come see what I’m all about Let me realize your dreams Show you things you ain’t ever seen Well kiss dry those tears from your eyes sip from your lips of anguish Your chin just a lil bitty bite or twoJust to distract from the hold she’s got on you

I know the hold she's got on youI know you feel it tooBut there’s something I can doI know the hold she's got on youI know you feel it tooBut this time it's me and you

I know the hold she had on youI know you felt it too but honey This time it's me and youI know the hold I got on youI know you feel it too baby This time it’s me and you

She knows the hold I got on you And I know you feel it too baby This time it's me and you

by Azere Wilson & Brendan Forrest

You took yourself out You locked yourself up You dragged yourself down You don't know what's up 

Now I ain’t got a doubt I’m better off without you boy You can kick and ya shout but This time I’m walking out this time I'm walking out

I see where you thought this was going I know what I heard you say I heard the lines you been feeding I knew your gonna stray I knew you were gonna stray

You took yourself out you locked yourself up  You dragged yourself down You don't know what's up 

Now I ain’t got a doubt I’m better off without you boy You can kick and shout This time I’m walking out

Now I see where your headed I know where ya done and gone You keep running away from What it is that you really want Ahh tell me now? What is it that you really want? Hmmm I think I know

Facedown is where you’re headed Facedown is where you’ll stay Facedown is where you're headed Down in the cold hard clay 

Face down like you wanted It's why you pushed me away 

Facedown is where you’re headed Facedown is where you’ll stay Facedown is where you're headed Down in the cold hard clay

by Azere Wilson & Brendan Forrest

Bittersweet addiction Just another distraction takin me back from the path to myself

Bittersweet addiction Just livin for passion Gray turns to black on the path to myself

Oh sinner let me be  Oh sinner let me be  Oh sinner let me be  Onto the path back to me

It’s hard to walk the road alone no hand to hold  The wind blows cold a baby cries for their mother

It’s hard to be out on my own While he stays home. Stoned. On another lover 

Oh sinner let me be  Oh sinner let me be  Oh sinner let me be  Onto the path back to me

I’m cravin’ your touch but it can’t ever be enough I’m changing prescription My bittersweet addiction I’m changing prescription My bittersweet addiction

Ohhh sinner let me be .Ohhh sinner let me be. Ohhh sinner let me be onto the path back to me.  I'm on my path back to me

Said I'm on my path back. to. me!

by Azere Wilson & Brendan Forrest

Little birdie told me - you’re headed back my way. Comin down the 101 -  you’re passin by my gate .You can hear her singin - in hopes that you might stay. Little birdie told me your headed back my way

Make me your destination - Make me yours 

That road you're on - the turns you make you act like  you can keep ramblin’ - for all your days You rev the engine - then slam the breaks. Aren’t you tired of making the same mistake? Come back home to mama Back down the 58. Come back down to this old town before it gets too late

Make me your destination - Make me yours  Pull into the station - baby make me your destination

Kicking stones on the road alone becomes a drag in time. So come back home, kick off your boots, and let me make you mine

Said I heard, from a little bird that you’re coming back this way But if you’re heading down the 101 - boy you best be back to stay 

Oooo Best be back to stay

ooh ooo Best be back to stay 

Make me your destination - Make me yours  I ain’t no mans vacation baby make me your destination!

by Azere Wilson & Steve Key

I grew up brown in an all-white town West of LA.The only one there with my kind of hair, I felt out of place.

Six years old, the radio played a song called Show and Tell. Momma said that’s your uncle, didn’t you know yourself?

So many secrets untold to that little girl. For my soul, I had to go, discover a whole new world

People who move like I do, people who sing like I want to I don’t have to explain, they’ve got my blood in their veins.

People who see what I can be, people who see me like family. A side of me I never knew, people who move like I do

I called around, I tracked him down, my uncle the celebrity. He called me, and said I should meet my extended family.

I hesitated, will I relate to these strangers with my same skin. Will they look down at this lonely brown next of kin?

My father didn’t bother to show his girl. These good graces, friendly faces, a welcoming world 

People who move like I do, people who sing like I want to. I don’t have to explain, they’ve all got my last name

People who see what I can be, people who see me as family A side of me I never knew, people who move like I do

by Azere Wilson & Brendan Forrest

I wish for you to wake up smiling again I wish for you to feel like you did back when Those summer nights under our California skies knowin’ peace never question why

I give to you a piece of my heart Forever yours right from the start And yes life’s moons do wax and wane But someday soon you’ll wake up smiling again

I wish for you 

We’ll see this through It’s hard to explain But just like flowers after a summer’s rain The world will shine bright again And you will see  love never ends

I wish for you

I wish for you to hold on your dreams. Even when all ain’t what it seems Keep stargazin on the trampolineAnd Giggle like a child till you're hundred n three

I wish for you  I wish for you I wish for you wish for me too

I wish for you

This is a traditional Black spiritual tune predated long before it was first recorded by Blind Willie Johnson in 1927. It has been performed and recorded time and time again since then, under many names such as Jesus Gon Make Up My Dyin Bed, In My Time Of Dyin, and as I call it, In My Time. My version is the only recorded version I know of featuring a Black banjo player and a Black female vocalist.

This song was recorded on my phone in New Orleans down by the Bayou. After my flight was delayed three times, I was finally able to get down by the water and as I was practicing some new chord progressions I hit record. The lyrics came forward while I was feeling contented in my new found happy place in the city that held me tight and loved me gentle.