Never Forget To Boogie

Jesse Winchester, musician and songwriter died five years ago on April 11, 2014.

And now when I can see myself/ As a stranger by my birth
The Yankee lady's old memory/ To Remind me of my worth

There are those who know the music of Jesse Winchester and those who haven’t heard it. As a singer-songwriter, Winchester held his own against anyone. He composed some of the most beautiful songs. Songs about love, generosity and gratitude, memory and recollection that evoke vivid details of yesteryear, that everybody can relate to. Winchester paints bygone days like no other.

          I think I see a wagon rutted road

          With the weeds growing tall between the tracks

          And along one side runs a rusty barbed wire fence

          And beyond that sits an old tar paper shack

          Mississippi, you're on my mind.

Quiet about it, but they’re not making a Rhumba Man like Jesse anymore.
          If you lit up the occasional candle
          You're allowed the occasional curse.

JesseWinchester playlist here, or your song choice below.

1. Biloxi
Down around Biloxi
Pretty girls are swimming in the sea
Oh they look like sisters in the ocean
The boy will fill his pail with salted water
And the storms will blow from off towards New Orleans.

2. The Brand New Tennessee Waltz
So have all of your passionate violins
Play a tune for a Tennessee kid
Who's feeling, like leaving another town
With no place to go if he did
'Cause they'll catch you wherever you're hid

3. Yankee Lady
I don't know what called to me
But I know that I plain had to go
I left that little old Vermont town
To live down in sunny Mexico
Yankee lady so good to me

4. Isn't That So?
You've got to go where your heart says go
Isn't that so?
Line of least resistance lead me on

5. Dangerous Fun
It takes patience to walk on
And spirit to run
But nothing to pity yourself
But it's dangerous fun

6. All Of Your Stories
You sorry old soldier, go home
You sorry old bad girl, go home
Cause by now you've seen it all
Just relax now and recall
All your stories forever and ever

7. Mississippi, You're On My Mind
I think I feel an angry oven heat
The southern sun just blazes in the sky
In the dusty weeds a fat grasshopper jumps
I want to make it to that creek before I fry.

8. Defying Gravity
I'm riding a big blue ball
I never do dream I may fall
But even the high may lay row
So when I do fall I'll be glad to go

9. Let The Rough Side Drag
Let the rough side drag
Let the smooth side show
While you pull that load
Everywhere you go.

10. Step By Step
All the happy Saints go marching in
And if those Saints step out of line
He'll have to start again
Cause Jacob's golden ladder
Gets slippery at the top

11. Nothing But A Breeze
Some folks like the taste of smokey whiskey
Others figure tea is too strong
I'm the type of guy who likes it right down the middle
I don't like all this bouncing back and forth
Me, I want to live with my feet in Dixie
And my head in the cool blue North

12. My Songbird
Songbird in a golden cage
She'd prefer the blue
How I crave the liquor of her song.
Poor bird who has done no harm
What harm could she do?
She shall be my prisoner her life long.

13. Rhumba Man
I'm the same old guy that I used to be, I haven't changed at all
I got the same old walk and the same old talk that would run you up the wall

14. A Touch On The Rainy Side
Just because you are the sunshine
Please, don't run and hide
Just because I am a little touch on the rainy side.

15. A Showman's Life
A boy will dream as children do
Of a great white way 'til the dream comes true
And a phoney smile in a colored light
And that's all it is to a showman's life
Nobody told me about this part

16. If I Were Free
A line of birds across the sun
Darling it's my fate to follow on the run
But girl this running’s not for me
I would never run again if I were free.

17. That's What Makes You Strong
That's what lets us smile
In our final hour
That's what moves our souls
And that's what makes us sing

18. No Pride At All
But if ever you're caught in the corner
If ever your pride should lead to a fall
Bring it to me
I've got no pride at all

19. Just Cause I'm In Love With You
And it will be so good to smile
Gee, it's been a long, long while
After all that I've been through
Just cause I’m in love with you

20. I Wave Bye Bye
I wave bye bye
I pray God speed
Oh I wish lovely weather
And all the luck than you need
You'll only sail in circles
So there's no need to cry
No, I'll see you again one day
And then I waved bye bye

21. Sham-A-Ling-Dong-Ding
And O the poor old old folks
They smile and walk away
But I bet they did some
Sham-a-lama-ding-dong in their day…

22. All That We Have Is Now
Oh my my, look at the time fly
Sorry I really have to run
Oh I just love being with you
Really the whole thing was such fun

23. Ghosts
And oh, oh, all these old memories can sure get me down
Going through life with these ghosts all around
And oh how they haunt me
They moan and they cry
Oh but I wish these ghosts would die

24. Every Day I Get the Blues
Every day, every day I get the blues
Every day, every day I get the blues
And anybody laughing, that's cause he ain't heard the news
If there's anybody laughing, that's cause he ain't heard the news