Tom Ghent is in Songwriters Corner because he is a famous songwriter. Truthfully? OK, he’s here because he writes lyrics about emotions I feel or situations that I’ve been in – He just says it a whole lot better than I ever could.
Alley Cat from Retroflect
RETROFLECT is Tom Ghent’s fourth album -This 2010 release (Sutherland Records) could have been recorded anytime between 1960 and next year. Easy on the ear, tight on the heart and curly on the lips – Exactly like the atmosphere that it conjures up. This IS Greenwich Village in the sixties.
Stop. just listen. This is soothing. It makes me feel like I’m sitting still on a high velvet-covered stool (very still, so I don’t fall off) wearing a black silk top and denim jeans with pearls – Thinking about life and how interesting it is. There are so many stories, emotions and things that don’t matter that we simply cannot live without.
Tom Ghent – On Alley Cat
Just before I left NYC, I often sang at the legendary Fat Black Pussycat, where Shel first brought Kris to hear me. Every night this one young lady would sit in the front row and make goo-goo eyes at me. One night after our nightly, after hours, jam session, frequented by many very prominent musicians, John Stauber, Eartha Kit’s long-time guitar player, invited me to his place. After a few hours of me playing leads by ear to his outrageous jazz chords, most of which I’d never seen before, he wandered off to his bedroom, and I camped out in his living room trying to teach my fingers to make some of those new strange chords, and wrote this song for Miss Goo Goo Eyes. The next morning, I played it for John and he loved it!
Dedicated to Kris Kristofferson
About 20 years ago, Kris told me how much performing his songs meant to him, and how anxious he was to live out his days doing exactly that… For that reason, I dedicate this song, which I wrote in 1977, to him… Btw, I feel precisely the same way…
Tom Ghent
Lust for the Road
Words and music Tom Ghent
THIS HIGHWAY’S AN OLD FRIEND FROM LONG AGO
WHEN I KNEW NO TOMORROW, ROLLED WITH THE FLOW
HOW I GOT BACK HERE SOMETIMES I DON’T KNOW, FOR CERTAIN
BUT, I’VE GOT THIS DREAM BURNIN’ INSIDE OF ME
MIGHT SOUND LIKE FREEDOM, BUT, LORD, I AIN’T FREE
‘CAUSE I KNOW WHAT I’M LEAVIN’ AND YOU’D BEST BELIEVE, THAT IT HAUNTS ME
CHORUS: SEE, I THOUGHT I’D GOT OVER MY LUST FOR THE ROAD
NOW I’VE GOT A HOME WHERE I NEVER GO
AND I’M JUST A VOICE AT THE END OF THE PHONE, HELLO, HELLO, HELLO
ONE LIFE’S HARD ENOUGH, BUT WHEN YOU LIVE TWO
IT DOUBLES THE HELL YOU HAVE TO LIVE THROUGH
AND, LORD, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M GONNA DO… ABOUT HER
AND THIS WHITE LINE GETS LONGER THE FURTHER I GO
BRIGHT LIGHTS AN’ LATE NIGHTS WITH NOTHIN’ TO SHOW
BUT THIS TRUCK THAT NEEDS FIXIN’ BEFORE I MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SHOW
AND IT USED TO BE EASY TO PACK UP MY BAGS, STEP ON THE GAS, LORD,
AND NEVER LOOK BACK
I MUST BE GETTING OLD.. I’M LOSIN’ MY KNACK FOR FORGETTIN’…
CHORUS:
TAG: LORD, I DON’T KNOW WHAT I’M GONNA DO… WITHOUT HER
© 1978 Treaty of Ghent (ASCAP)
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