Amy Armstrong

Borrowed the title from Michael Shaara’s first novel, and wrote the first verse and chorus driving through Habersham County, Georgia. It’s sort of life in a nutshell…

There’s an old tree in an Ansel Adams photo,
Gnarled and twisted by the wind.
And where the limbs have snapped it has healed back over–
Never to be broken again.
In the same way our spirits are shattered
With each foe we contend.
And our hearts grow callused,
And our heads grow thick,
And our patience grows alarmingly thin.

Chorus:
But we grow stronger in
The broken places–
Broken places mend.
We grow stronger in
The broken places–
And hope we don’t get hurt again.

Like a favorite pair of jeans,
Old and faded,
Just the lightest shade of blue.
But the fabric holds where the patches are–
They find another place to wear through.
So, we bob and weave, we dance around the ring,
With every round that we spar.
And the glove never touches us the same place twice–
Until we finally drop our guard.

Chorus

So we turn the other cheek,
And we turn the other cheek,
Until we run out of face.
And we learn to forgive,
And we learn to forget,
But not at the same pace.
Because it’s hard to heal
When a wound is fresh and
You’re trying not to bleed.
But the hole will close and
The pain will stop,
Just as surely as you breathe.

Chorus

©1993 by Delma Carl Suggs
Published by Hurricane Hole Music, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

The thing I love best about the beach: I Stop Thinking. Everybody needs a special place to go and be stupid.

Drove all night just to get here,
Been on the road too long,
Out where little things grow
And you lose all sense of perspective.
And I worry too much about paying the bills,
Fighting these battles and climbing these hills,
Running so hard, until I’ve got to sit down.

Chorus:
I’ve got a magic chair.
It’s sits on the beach and
It takes my cares away.
I’ve got a magic chair,
Sit down beside me.

It looks just like I left it…
Sea oats anchor the shore
And the sand crabs shuffle
Just like some people I know.
I get working so hard I start feeling delirious,
This is just life– it ain’t nothing serious.
And I’ll run hard, until I have to sit down.

Chorus

I can’t stay here forever.
The sun is sinking low and
The tide’s rolling in–
It’s gonna wash us away.
Buddy, I’m soaking it in because I know it won’t last.
Life is so short you’ve got to move fast.
And I’ll run hard until I’ve got to sit down.

Chorus

©1993 by Delma Carl Suggs
Published by Hurricane Hole Music, ASCAP
All Rights Reserved

That’s not the beginning of the end
That’s the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
Love
Devotion
Feeling
Emotion
Love
Devotion
Feeling
Emotion
Don’t be afraid to be weak
Don’t be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny.
Don’t care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don’t give up and use the chance
To return to innocence.
That’s not the beginning of the end
That’s the return to yourself
The return to innocence.
Don’t care what people say
Follow just your own way
Follow just your own way
Don’t give up, don’t give up
To return, to return to innocence.
If you want then laugh
If you must then cry
Be yourself don’t hide
Just believe in destiny.

Songwriters: M.C. Curly
Return To Innocence lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC