song list

Here's a list of song lyrics and recordings posted so far:

from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet':

1. a country & wesson supermarket tragedy mp3
2. my big toe
3. wash that trouble mp3
4. go to bed early mp3
5. the skunk song (psychoanOWLysis) mp3
6. wonder woman mp3
7. the jumblies mp3
8. i gotta stop smokin (if it kills me)
9. money to be made
10. the church of the universe
11. the billy who has nine toes mp3
12. i like to rise mp3
13. grey county mp3
14. wandering aengus
15. late for you
16. the mad gardener

more details about this CD are here

other songs:

born at the bottom animation
the owl and the pussycat animation
great dream from heaven mp3

profile in a flash: I was born at the bottom of a lake, when I was in my teens...

profile in a flash: this animation may take a minute to download...

born at the bottom

I was born at the bottom of a lake
when I was in my teens
I was a terrible hardship on momma
I was a fright for the poor sardines

my dad took me home in a shoebox
that he kept under lock and key
brought it out Sunday morning
and made my sister polish me

o sister don't rub so hard so hard
don't rub so hard on me
I ain't a magic lamp or a filthy tramp
don't you rub so hard on me

now of course my momma wasn't all that bad
and she took me out for walks
she was considerate enough to cut four holes
and tie a string through the old shoebox

I had a cellophane window for my eyes
and two funnels stuck in my ears
and Sparky and Duke rode up on top
and made out like they were engineers

now momma don't pull so hard so hard
don't pull so hard on me
you slipped that string right through my nose
when you tied that thing to me

when I got bigger they let me out
to sleep in the orange crate
well it beat the socks off a smelly box
but on the other hand it wasn't that great

cause everyone throws their orange peels
and seeds into my bed
and when I get up each morning
I pull sprouts right outta my head

oh people don't dump so hard so hard
don't dump so hard on me
hey it's tough enough without all your stuff
don't you dump so hard on me

now momma don't pull so hard so hard
don't pull so hard on me
you slipped that string right through my nose
when you tied that thing to me

o sister don't rub so hard so hard
don't rub so hard on me
I ain't a magic lamp or a filthy tramp
don't you rub so hard on me

I was born at the bottom of a lake
when I was in my teens
I was a terrible hardship on momma
I was a fright for the poor sardines

and the tuna too...

all music/lyrics copyright 2003 randy sutherland

the sky starts at your feet

I have a collection of songs called 'the sky starts at your feet' : songs about beauty, work, love, feet, acceptance, skunks, resolve, handguns, spring, smoking, perseverance, sieves, driving, toes, mad gardeners, laughter, corruption.

I live in Guelph, Ontario and started writing songs when I was 15......thanks to the encouragement and support of my friends I've recorded some of these songs... I hope you like them.

...some lyrics

1. a country & wesson supermarket tragedy
2. my big toe
3. wash that trouble
4. go to bed early
5. the skunk song (psychoanOWLysis)
6. wonder woman
7. the jumblies
8. i gotta stop smokin (if it kills me)
9. money to be made
10. the church of the universe
11. the billy who has nine toes
12. i like to rise
13. grey county
14. wandering aengus
15. late for you
16. the mad gardener

randy sutherland: vocal,guitar,banjo,mandolin
sarah farquhar: vocal,accordian,dulcimer,mandolin
tony darmon: vocal,hand drums,harmonica

with nik cherry: udo & mike kosir: slide guitar(10)
art: randy & anwen sutherland

all lyrics/music/etc copyright 2003 randy sutherland
except 7:learics by edward lear, 12:traditional,
14:lyrics by w.b.yeats, 16:francois couperin & lewis carroll

the mad gardener

The Mad Gardener

he thought he saw an elephant that practiced on a fife
and he looked again and found it was - a letter from his wife
at length I realize he said the bitterness of life

he thought he saw a rattlesnake that questioned him in Greek
he looked again and found it was - the middle of next week
the one thing I regret he said is that it cannot speak

he thought he saw a banker's clerk descending from the bus
he looked again and found it was - a hippopotamus
if this should stay to dine he said there won't be much for us

he thought he saw an albatross that fluttered round the lamp
he looked again and found it was - a penny postage stamp
you'd best be getting home he said the nights are very damp


lyrics by Lewis Carroll
music by Francois Couperin
arrangement copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

late for you

An asphalt field holler.
More people are killed each year in car accidents than in wars.

Late For You

everyone's running late
everyone's nose is in my plate
everyone's driving round like they're the only one in town
talkin on the phone and looking great
everyone's late for something, I'm late for you

everyone's looking down the road
for forty fifty feet or so
everyone's full of petrol smells, retro yells, taco bells, URLs
everyone's late for something, I'm late for you

late for you

everyone's pushing their envelope
and they want you to lick it
everyone's taking up too much room
but they're living on the edge (of doom)
everyone's late for something, I'm late for you

everyone likes to swallow
nobody wants to chew
everything feels so hollow
till you fill my view
everyone's late for something, I'm late for you

everyone's running late
everyone's pushing on my gate
everyone's taking the upper hand
and giving me back the finger
everyone's late for something, I'm late for you


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

wandering aengus

One of two poems by W.B.Yeats I've written music for. The other is A Drunken Man's Praise for Sobriety.

Wandering Aengus

I went out to the hazel wood
because a fire was in my head
and cut and peeled a hazel wand
and hooked a berry to a thread
and when white moths were on the wing
and mothlike stars were flickering out
I dropped the berry in a stream
and caught a little silver trout

when I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame
but something rustled on the floor
and someone called me by my name
it had become a glimmering girl
with apple blossom in her hair
who called me by my name and ran
and faded through the brightening air

though I am old with wandering
through hollow lands and hilly lands
I will find out where she has gone
and kiss her lips and take her hand
and walk among long dappled grass
and pluck till time and times are done
the silver apples of the moon
the golden apples of the sun


lyrics by W.B.Yeats
music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

grey county

Many of my fondest childhood memories arose during the summers I spent in Grey and Bruce counties with my aunts and uncles. Ostensibly helping out around the farm although I seem to remember it being a lot more fun than work. Also my earliest memories of live music - going with my Dad to visit a bachelor friend of his, Wilfred Philips, who played old time fiddle. At the time I remember being somewhat more excited by his two Studebakers - A Gran Tourismo and a Golden Hawk.

Listen here

Grey County

Grey County was all blues and greens
filled the summers till my early teens
skies of diamonds and fields of gold
crystal waters wash across your soul

Grey County was October reds
the smell of wood smoke, clean linen beds
to harvest home you must plant your boots
it's so nice to have some rural routes
like #1 up in Holland Centre

Ralph would squirt the kittens while he milked the cows
they ate the hay we pushed down from the mows
sometimes they burped, sometimes they did worse
one stepped on my foot and it really hurts

the worst job there was cleaning out the gutter
the best was separating cream for butter
in either case I learned to plant my boots
it's so nice to have some rural routes
like #1 up in Holland Centre

Grey County was all blues and greens
a groundhog heaven and a fish's dream
we watched the hummingbirds from grandma's side
the earth stood still while the world was quiet

Grey County was October reds
the smell of wood smoke, clean linen beds
to harvest home you must plant your boots
it's so nice to have some rural routes
like #1 up in Holland Centre

Grey County was all blues and greens
filled the summers till my early teens
skies of diamonds and fields of gold
crystal water springing free and cold
it's #1 up in Holland Centre




all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

I like to rise

Sarah, ma blonde, sings this traditional paean to country life.
She and the Black Sheep Morris have been singing this song since way back in the last millennium each May Day morning after dancing the sun up at Goldie Mill in Guelph.
Here she's squeezing out a stick dance.
Listen by clicking here.




I like to rise

in the winter when the skies are gray
we hedge and we ditch our times away
but in the summer when the sun shines gay
we go ramble in the new mown hay

I like to rise when the sun she rises
early in the morning
I like to hear them small birds singing
merrily upon the laylum
it's all for the life of a country child
to ramble in the new mown hay

in the spring we sow at the harvest mow
that is how the seasons round they go
but of all the times to choose I may
I go ramble in the new mown hay

in the autumn when the oak leaves turn
we gather all the wood that's fit to burn
we stow and we stack and we pile away
and go ramble in the new mown hay


lyrics/music traditional
arrangement copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

the billy who has nine toes

This is actually a true story recounted to me by my friend Bill who lives in Victoria, B.C. of an incident when his daughter closed her door to end a disagreement.

I wrote a limerick for him as well:

A sorry old man from Victoria
picked a fight with a door and got sorrier
when it slammed itself tight
took a toe with a bite
and said "watch out or next time I'll take more of ya"

Listen here

the Billy who has nine toes
had once as many as we
when they said some day you may lose one
he replied fish fiddle dee dee
Bill was in the middle of an awful squabble
the day that he became partly Pobble
when the door got slammed little toe got jammed
cut off cleaner than a pearl in a clam

Billy did the nine toed jig
and he looked around for the little lost pig
he discovered a shock in the end of his sock
there was the solitary little piggy wiggy
so he took it to the hospital
to get back together with it if it was possible
the doctor said no but we can make a toe dummy
if we dig a little hole take a roll from your tummy

Billy said no no no
think I'd rather go without that toe
don't want a tummy ache in a little dummy pig
think I'd rather learn a nine toed jig!
the Billy who has nine toes
had once as many as we
it takes a balanced soul to lose one
and still jig fiddle dee dee


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

the church of the universe

My home town of Guelph is also the erstwhile abode of The Church of the Universe - a grass roots movement of peace loving pot smoking naturists led by Rev. Walter Tucker. After being chased out of a local stone quarry they settled in an abandoned foundry. Our local paper, The Guelph Mercury, kept us informed about Rev. Tucker's court appearances and the eventual sale of the contaminated property to John Long, another colourful local.

The Church of the Universe

the church of the universe was founded on smoke
and the high priest wore nothing but a hemp hat and cloak
in the church of the universe there was a gag when they spoke
the policeman delivered the punchline but still missed the joke

there's an island of laughter in an ocean of sleep
and a smile on the sky I can read it in heat
there's an island of laughter in an ocean of grief
and the church of the universe was some small relief

the church of the universe was a mercurial quarry
and when we all got Tuckered out there was another Long story
the church of the universe was built in a trash heap
in the ruins left behind after the cash reap

there's an island of laughter in an ocean of sleep
and a smile on the sky I can read it in heat
there's an island of laughter in an ocean of grief
and the church of the universe was some small relief

the church of the universe was founded on smoke
and the high priest wore nothing but a hemp hat and cloak



all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

money to be made

Originally this was a song about multinationals selling baby formula to nursing mothers in the third world. Then the targets started popping up everywhere like at those air gun stalls at the fair.

Money to be Made

take a look around you now
we're mooing like contented cows
just outside beyond the wall
they haven't got the strength to crawl

I sit and watch the TV with my head in traction
swallowing a sleeping pill of cheap distraction
turn up the radio and fill the air
with the grinding and the whining of some millionaire

there's money to be made
there's a formula to steal from the poor
there's money to be made
just got to learn to close the door

you see some people dressed in bathing suits
and others wearing army pants
now some of them will learn to shoot
and others pause then check their tans

and everybody wants to win the lucky draw
they want to be the guy who's singing sha la la
and I don't want to be the one to bring you down
but everybody's got to make a buck somehow

there's money to be made
there's a formula to steal from the poor
there's money to be made
just got to learn to close the door

and everybody wants to win the lucky draw
they want to be the guy who's singing sha la la
and I don't want to be the one to bring you down
but everybody's got to make a buck somehow

there's money to be made
you can turn a madonna into a whore
there's money to be made
just gotta learn to close the door

blackmarket vendors sell their cigarettes
under the cover of the army crews
disco blares in the market squares
they clean their rifles with the laundered news

and everybody wants to win the lucky draw
they want to be the guy who's singing sha la la
and I don't want to be the one to bring you down
but everybody's got to make a buck somehow

there's money to be made
dealing machinery of war
there's money to be made
just got to learn to close the door

there's money to be made
there's a formula to steal from the poor
there's money to be made
just gotta learn to close the door
there's money to be made


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

i gotta stop smokin' (if it kills me)

I Gotta Stop Smokin (If it Kills Me)

I went to a party on Saturday night
there was lots of folks there they were feelin alright
some buddy asked me if I wanted a puff
I said no thanks I've had enough
I've quit smoking for a week now you know and
he says well tell me Randy how's it going

I said well, well
well I've been bouncing off the walls
like a bunch of 6/49 balls
but I'm gonna channel that excess energy
into a more purposeful activity
ya like uh weeding the garden, ya

in the garden of life
you gotta pull that weed
or you'll be pushin up angel's breath
them smokers is a dying breed

I ain't jokin, croakin don't thrill me
all that chokin's a token of what will be
I've gotta stop smokin
I gotta stop smokin if it kills me

it's a good thing you saw me tonight
cause in a week or two you won't even recognize me
I mean, my hair will be blonde
my physique will be supernatural
I'll be five foot thriteen
my brain will go to eleven
(my uh, my uh, my uh,
my memory will improve)
oh ya, and the best part -
at night I'll be able to testify like this

I'm gonna testify, testify

you know my teeth will be white
my gums will be healthy
no longer will I languish
in the land of dental anguish
I'll be rich
I won't smell so bad, so often
(my uh, my uh, my uh,
oh ya I told you bout that))
store clerks will no longer accost me
and accuse me of stealing an AA battery
and stuffing it down my jeans

oh yea, and the best part
at night I'll be able to testify


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

the jumblies

I've always been a big fan of nonsense verse of all sorts, but Edward Lear is a favourite. I've written music for a dozen or so of his learics and hopefully will record them sometime.
I shortened this poem so it would fit into my memory.

Listen by clicking here

The Jumblies

they went to sea in a sieve they did
in a sieve they went to sea
in spite of all their friends could say
on a winter's morn on a stormy day
in a sieve they went to sea
and when the sieve turned round and round
and everyone cried 'you'll all be drowned!'
they called aloud 'our sieve ain't big
but we don't care a button we don't care a fig
in a sieve we'll go to sea!'

far and few far and few
are the lands where the Jumblies live
their heads are green and their hands are blue
and they went to sea in a sieve

they sailed away in a sieve they did
in a sieve they sailed so fast
with only a beautiful pea green veil
tied with a ribbon by way of a sail
to a small tobacco pipe mast
and everyone said who saw them go
o won't they be soon upset you know
for the sky is dark and the voyage is long
and happen what may it's extremely wrong
in a sieve to sail so fast

the water it soon came in it did
the water it soon came in
so to keep them dry they wrapped their feet
in a pinky paper all folded neat
and they fastened it down with a pin
and they passed the night in a crockery jar
and each of them said how wise we are
though the sky be dark and the voyage be long
never can we think we were rash or wrong
while round in a our sieve we spin!

and in twenty years they all came back
in twenty years or more
and everyone said 'how tall they've grown!
for they've been to the lakes and the Torrible Zone
and the hills of the Chankly Bore'
and they drank their health and gave them a feast
of dumplings made with beautiful yeast
and everyone said ' if we only live
we too will go to sea in a sieve
to the hills of the Chankly Bore!'


lyrics by Edward Lear (public domain)
music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

wonder woman

The first verse reflects on Sarah's growing up in Nova Scotia, the second on my summers in Grey County, Ontario. Sarah contributed the inspiring line 'the sky starts at your feet'.

Listen by clicking here

Wonder Woman

look out at the water
you stand there and stare
eyes on the stars above
the wavespray in your hair

makes you feel like wonder woman
makes you feel like wonder man
got a wonderful life ahead
in a wonderful land

I'm looking for bass in the mill pond in Massie
rode the back of the truck all the way to Walter's Falls
take your boots off your feet, put your feet in the water
the cool headwater where the Bighead stalls

makes you feel like wonder woman
makes you feel like wonder man
there's a wonderful life ahead
in a wonderful land

going everywhere that you go
with everyone that you know
and everything that you do there
you've got to start it right now
there may not be a tomorrow

out in the bush garden
the small hand sows the seed
the sun warms the earth
the sky starts at your feet

makes you feel like wonder woman
makes you feel like wonder man
got a wonderful life ahead
in a wonderful land


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

the skunk song

One of the first songs I wrote which I still play... started while reading Aesop's Fables around 1974.

Click to Listen here
The Skunk Song (psychoanOWLysis)

I want to tell you a story about a friend of mine
he was having himself a real tough time
he was feeling low and he couldn't get to sleep
because he smelled so sour and he wanted to smell sweet
but there was a reason he stunk
that was because he was a skunk
now they say a skunk smells his own smell first
well he always did but he thought it was the worst

and soon he started hating himself
and he decided to seek professional help
yes he was almost in a state of paralysis
when he went to see the owl for some pyschoanowlysis
now Mr. Owl tried out the best of his knowledge
that he'd learned from his father and picked up in college
but when my friend the skunk rose up off that bench
he was still in the grips of that horrible stench

yes he was really in a rut
so he bought a big bottle of essence de peanut
and he rubbed it on his body till he filled every pore
and lo and behold he didn't stink any more
oh he was so happy just strutting down the trail
everybody mistook him for a peanut with a tail
no longer could the animals recognize his scent
and he was trampled to death by a hungry elephant

now that's a lesson we all should learn
if you're a fire you're made to burn
if you're a sponge you're bound to drink
and if you're a skunk you're made to stink
one ain't three and three ain't two
you can't be me and I can't be you
the only thing we can hope will save us
is to learn to sing with the voice God gave us

you got one life you ain't got nine
so let me in yours and I'll let you in mine
and when we sing lets sing differently
cause if we're all the same there'll be no harmony
yes that's a lesson to understand
you can't clap with just one hand
if you're an eye you're made to wink
but if you're a skunk you'd better stink


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

go to bed early

Listen here

Go to Bed Early

if I could say one word
to save you from all the sorrow
what would that one word
what would that one word be

if I could do one thing
to help you through all tomorrow
what would that one thing
what would that one thing be

well I've tried and tried
for years and years
and I've cried and cried
all my tears

and I can kiss all my loved ones goodnight
sing a song for a far way friend
and I can wake up fresh in a new world
time moves on in a world without end

but it's too late to
it's too late to
it's too late to go to bed early
too late to go to bed early

I'm going to change all the diapers
I'm going to wash all the clothes
kiss every wound, dry every tear
make a kleenex appear before each runny nose

and I'm going to do all the dishes
unstick every sticky jar
satisfy all the birthday wishes
and learn to program the VCR

I'll straighten every picture
I'll oil every squeaky door
match up all the odd socks, sew on every button
introduce Mr. Clean to Mr. Bathroom Floor

then I'll kiss all my loved ones goodnight
say a prayer for a far away friend
I can wake up fresh in a new world
time moves on in a world without end

but it's too late to
it's too late to
it's too late to go to bed early
too late to go to bed early


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

wash that trouble

Listen to
Wash That Trouble

somewhere deep inside of me
there's a river running free
I'm gonna take a dip and see
just what can be

somewhere deep inside my heart
there's a place where I can start
to wash and to mend my soul
when it's dirty and full of holes

I'm gonna wash that trouble right off my skin
then I'll mend the hole where it got in

somewhere deep beyond control
there's a place I can get whole
there's a current deep within
calling me to jump right in

somewhere down inside my heart
there's a place where I can start
to feed and to warm my soul
when it's hungry and in the cold

I'm gonna wash that trouble right off my skin
and then I'll mend the hole where it got in
I'm gonna ride that river to a deeper sea
and then I'll scan the ocean of possibility


all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

my big toe

You can see the big toe on my right foot there - dead centre bout a quarter of the way up.

My Big Toe

my big toe is kinda friendly
likes to go wherever I go and incidentally
rain or snow walkin or in a Bentley
he's always down below workin diligently

but some times he gets to feelin low
so I take him for a ride on a Dr. Scholl's
he looks up smiles at the sun
he's so happy to see everyone

but what he really likes when he is able
is to find a pretty toe under the table
and what they do well I won't relate
but it ain't nothing unnatural for a toe his age

ya my big toe is kinda friendly
likes to go wherever I go and incidentally
rain or snow walking or in a Bentley
he's always down below lookin intently

for a pretty toe yes a well formed digit
and when he sees a sandal he really starts to fidget
he's got a mind of his own drags the rest of me along
and to this miss I explain her broken toe strap is to blame

you see my big toe is kinda friendly
he likes to go wherever I go and incidentally
rain or snow walkin or in a Bentley
he likes your toe look at him acting toe friendly

he likes to move in and make a little toe talk
then curl up in an old wool sock
and what they do well I won't go into
but you'd do it too if you were in all winter

my big toe is kinda friendly
likes to go wherever I go and incidentally
rain or snow walkin or in a Bentley
he's always down below workin digigently

music/lyrics copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

a country & wesson supermarket tragedy

Listen here

Fingers don't kill people - bullets do. Any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely tragic. Thanks to Ian Dubelaar for the title. I recorded this originally for a compilation called Sixty Second Songs assembled by Lewis Melville. Don't laugh, it's not funny. Birth is funny.
A Country & Wesson Supermarket Tragedy

I was in the supermarket today
a really awful thing happened
I tripped and fell, my hand gun went off
I killed a man by the napkins

ya it's bad, but it only gets worse
when he fell his gun shot a lady with a purse
when that hit the floor it filled the store clerk with lead
before the whole thing was over - seventeen of us dead

I burn in hell, the fuel is the sorrow
my story is your lesson
when you go out shopping tomorrow
put the safety on your smith & wesson




all lyrics/music copyright 2003 randy sutherland
from the CD 'the sky starts at your feet'

the sky starts at your feet

I have a collection of songs called 'the sky starts at your feet' : songs about beauty, work, love, feet, acceptance, skunks, resolve, handguns, spring, smoking, perseverance, sieves, driving, toes, mad gardeners, laughter, corruption.

I live in Guelph, Ontario and started writing songs when I was 15......thanks to the encouragement and support of my friends I've recorded some of these songs... I hope you like them.

...some lyrics

1. a country & wesson supermarket tragedy
2. my big toe
3. wash that trouble
4. go to bed early
5. the skunk song (psychoanOWLysis)
6. wonder woman
7. the jumblies
8. i gotta stop smokin (if it kills me)
9. money to be made
10. the church of the universe
11. the billy who has nine toes
12. i like to rise
13. grey county
14. wandering aengus
15. late for you
16. the mad gardener

randy sutherland: vocal,guitar,banjo,mandolin
sarah farquhar: vocal,accordian,dulcimer,mandolin
tony darmon: vocal,hand drums,harmonica

with nik cherry: udo & mike kosir: slide guitar(10)
art: randy & anwen sutherland

all lyrics/music/etc copyright 2003 randy sutherland
except 7:learics by edward lear, 12:traditional,
14:lyrics by w.b.yeats, 16:francois couperin & lewis carroll