Mike Brown's new album, Just A Little, features 14 of his own handcrafted compositions, perfectly captured in the studio by Mike, along with some of Texas' finest session musicians. If you like good homegrown Texas Music, then Just A Little will feel as comfortable as a well-worn flannel shirt. Mike's smooth, earthy baritone voice is reminiscent of some of country music's legendary vocalists, yet as unique as the inventive melodies and honest lyrics he delivers on these tracks...
Click on each title (or scroll down) for audio clips and lyrics.
CHORUS:
It’s just a little, just a little,
just a little bit more...
It’s just a little, just a little,
just a little bit more.
It’s just a little bicycle, won’t hurt you if you fall,
just a little conversation, sayin’ “how you all?”
It’s just a little rock ‘n roll, it will not kill your soul.
It’s just a little time before you grow old...
REPEAT CHORUS
It’s just a little give and take that gets you through the day.
It’s just a little traffic that gets in your way,
just a little trouble, got you runnin’ from the law.
It’s just those little insults that get stuck in your craw...
REPEAT CHORUS
It’s just a little time before your clock runs out.
It’s just those little questions that will fuel the doubt.
It’s just a little love, got you tied up in knots.
It’s just a little drama that will thicken the plot...
yeah, just a little...
a little bit more.
REPEAT CHORUS
(Writer: M. Brown)
Where does Superman hide when the Kryptonite comes out?
Where do rainbows go in the middle of a drought?
Where does a whisper hide when it turns into a shout?
That’s where you find me...
That’s where you find me...
That’s where you find me...
all alone.
All alone... that’s where I’ll be...
All alone... till you come back to me.
Where does the sun hide in the middle of the night?
And where does the darkness go when all you see is light?
And where does kindness go when love turns into spite?
All alone... that’s where I’ll be...
All alone... till you come back to me.
All alone... that’s where I’ll stay...
All alone... till you come back my way.
All alone... that’s where I’ll be...
All alone... till you come back to me...
Yeah, all alone.
(Writer: M. Brown)
Even though I’ve kissed another woman,
and yes, it’s true I’ve took some by the hand,
and even though I may look into their eyes as they cry,
when they realized that all I said were lies,
I’ll never hold one the way that I hold you,
so much love between me and you...
The way I’ve treated you, it’s got to be a sin,
and lookin’ at it now, what a fool I’ve been.
I’ll never find another woman like you,
so much love, enough to see us through...
A love like yours is oh so hard to find,
that’s why I’m lucky just to say that you’re mine...
if you will.
I’ll never find another woman like you,
so much love, enough to see us through...
A love like yours is oh so hard to find,
that’s why I’m lucky just to say that you’re mine...
if you will...
if you will...
be mine.
(Writer: M. Brown)
Mornin’ met me on the bathroom floor,
still cryin’ from the night before,
that old brown bottle must’ve got the best of me,
but that old brown bottle ain’t numbin’ the misery.
My head is achin’ and my teeth are sore,
a hundred proof, I come back for more.
That old brown bottle, Lord knows, I should give it up,
but that old brown bottle, I just can’t get enough.
CHORUS:
‘Cause that old brown bottle is my best friend,
we’ll be together till the bitter end.
The old brown bottle helps me to unwind,
and helps me hide the pain I feel inside.
I got holes in my shoes, nothin’ left to lose,
a devil I can’t refuse,
so I’m payin’ the dues for the life I choose,
these old brown bottle blues.
Even though I know it’s killin’ me,
I just can’t set it free.
That old brown bottle, Lord knows, I should put it down,
but that old brown bottle, we go ‘round and ‘round.
REPEAT CHORUS
So I’m payin’ my dues for the life I choose,
these old brown bottle blues...
old brown bottle blues.
(Writers: J. Rutherford/M. Brown)
There’s an old worn out bible by the bed,
it’s dirty, it’s dog-eared, and it’s read
every night by a man who knows just what to do
when life gets a hold of you.
And he reads it in the still of the night
when the house is dark and everything is quiet.
What he finds in the pages is a gift of the ages,
it’s God’s unending love.
CHORUS:
And that bible’s about his best friend,
and he’s read it time and time again,
and it’s been there with him through the good times,
and it’ll be there with him till the end.
And every word that he reads
draws him nearer, God, to Thee,
and he cries when he reads of Mount Calvary,
and how Jesus died to set him free.
And that old bible on the stand,
well, it’s made him a better man,
‘cause he reads with his heart and listens with his soul
for the wonders of God to unfold.
REPEAT CHORUS
There’s an old worn out bible by the bed,
it’s dirty, it’s dog-eared, and it’s read
every night by a man who knows just what to do
when God puts his hand on you.
(Writer: M. Brown)
Can you help me find my way back to San Antone?
Can you help me find my way back to San Antone?
‘Cause I’m stuck up here in Dallas all alone.
Well, my car won’t start and my baby, she done left me.
No, my car won’t start and my baby, she done left me.
Now I’m broke down in Dallas in misery.
Well, I ain’t got a nickel, can’t buy myself a beer.
I ain’t got a nickel, can’t buy myself a beer,
and these people here in Dallas, they laugh at my tears.
My baby packed up, she done took all of my clothes.
Oh, my baby packed up and she done took all of my clothes.
Why she needs ‘em here in Dallas, Heaven knows.
Well, I hate to bug you, mister, can I have a dime?
Oh, I hate to bug you, mister, can I have a dime?
I gotta get out of Dallas or I’ll lose my mind.
Well, I’m down to my last cigarette.
Yeah, I’m down to my last cigarette,
and it’s pourin’ rain in Dallas, and I’m soakin’ wet.
Can you help me find my way back to San Antone?
Can you help me find my way back to San Antone?
‘Cause I’m broke down in Dallas...
I’m busted flat in Dallas...
I’m soakin’ wet in Dallas and I’m all alone.
(Writer: M. Brown)
CHORUS:
Mornings...
mornings...
mornings come too soon.
I’m drivin’ my tractor like I do every day,
and I’m plowin’ the fields and I’m cuttin’ the hay,
and I’d do anything just to get away from the mornings.
REPEAT CHORUS
I lay awake each night in bed,
thoughts of you runnin’ through my head,
only thing that I dread is the morning.
REPEAT CHORUS
I live my life on the straight and true,
and I’d do anything just to get to you;
I don’t know what to do with the morning.
REPEAT CHORUS
You used to meet me every day at dawn,
nothin’ but your red robe on,
now I can’t believe you’re gone in the morning.
REPEAT CHORUS
It must be morning...
mornings...
mornings come too soon.
It comes too soon.
(Writer: M. Brown)
You can see her most Friday nights
in the glow of the arena lights.
Heavy makeup hides the years,
she’s racin’ barrels and fightin’ her tears.
Been ridin’ since she was a kid,
racin’ barrels is all she did.
Jackpots and rodeos,
a lot of silver and not much gold.
As the years slipped away
to another town, another day,
she thumbs back through the years
of broken hearts and lonely tears.
Racin’ barrels and fightin’ tears,
trophy buckles and Lone Star Beer,
a hat pulled down on her ears,
she’s racin’ barrels and fightin’ her tears.
Life’s just and endless string
of broken promises with no ring.
Guys don’t stay too long
with a girl who’s always gone.
Her old truck and trailer home,
the years have dulled the chrome.
She rides a horse she’s had for years,
he’s the only one to see her tears.
When things go all wrong
she sings a Gretchen Wilson song,
mixes whiskey with her beer,
she’s racin’ barrels and fightin’ her tears.
Racin’ barrels and fightin’ tears,
trophy buckles and Lone Star Beer,
a hat pulled down on her ears,
she’s racin’ barrels and fightin’ her tears.
Fightin’ her tears.
(Writer: M. Brown)
If I could go back in time,
If I could set things right,
that’d be no easy thing to do,
not with the way I’ve treated you.
But I can only live for today...
I’m a different man with different ways,
and your heart is safe with me,
give me a chance and you will see
that life’s knocked the rough edges off of me.
Yeah, life’s knocked the rough edges off of me.
And I can read it in your eyes.
Is this the truth or a thin disguise?
Will he break your heart again,
then disappear with the wind?
If there’s forgiveness in your soul,
please take that hurt and let it go.
Open your heart and you will see
a brand new love, a brand new me.
Yeah, life’s knocked the rough edges off of me.
Yeah, life’s knocked the rough edges off of me.
Yeah, life’s knocked the rough edges right off of me.
(Writer: M. Brown)
You can’t get to Heaven till you get down on your knees,
and you can’t have dessert until you eat your peas.
You can’t hold a love till you’re willin’ to let it go,
and you can’t go fast until you go slow.
You can’t look in the mirror and not see the years,
and you can’t lose a love and not shed a few tears.
CHORUS:
Those are the rules of life
there ain’t no gettin’ around.
That’s the way it’s always been,
that’s just the way that it is.
You can’t go fishin’ without a hole,
and you can’t get nowhere without a goal.
You can’t lead with your heart and not get it bruised,
and you can’t win till you’re willin’ to lose.
You can’t coax fire out of a cold ash,
and you can’t make moonshine without the mash.
REPEAT CHORUS (2X)
(Writer: M. Brown)
Sing me a song from The Bible,
a song that my mama used to sing.
She’d sing me the stories of The Bible;
it saved my soul and made the heavens ring.
CHORUS:
Oh, sing me a song from The Bible,
a song about The Savior’s love,
then send it up to my mama
who’s singing with the angels up above.
She sang a song about Lazarus
who laid in the grave and obeyed Jesus’ call.
She sang the sweetest songs about Calvary,
and how Jesus, he saved us all.
REPEAT CHORUS
Sing me a song from The Bible,
a song that my mama used to sing.
She’d sing me the stories of The Bible;
it saved my soul and made the heavens ring.
REPEAT CHORUS (2X)
(Writer: M. Brown)
I was siftin’ through the wreckage of someone else’s life,
I was at a garage sale in the middle of the night.
That’s where I saw it, about as worn as it could be,
an old guitar case, and it was callin’ me.
I was drawn to that case just like a moth to a flame;
as I got closer I thought I heard it callin’ my name.
So I asked the man, “hey, buddy, what’s the story on this case?”
That’s when the wind turned cold and the color drained from his face,
and he said, “it holds an old guitar my grandpops used to play;
ain’t nobody played it since he put it away.
My dad passed it on about 1973...
he said he thought it was cursed when he gave it to me.”
Well, I opened that case just to see what I could see,
and what happened next, well, I still don’t believe.
That guitar was wrapped like a mummy and all covered in dust;
the strings were all still there but there was not a speck of rust.
I held that guitar in my hand and it cast a magic spell;
I couldn’t tell if those feelings I had were from Heaven or Hell.
I swear I heard Hank singin’ all his old melodies,
watched each note played on that fretboard just as plain as could be.
Hank’s music poured out of that guitar like an old radio;
the reception was crystal clear and each song was solid gold.
Stuck to the back of that old guitar I was holdin’ in my hand
was a setlist and playbill from Hank’s Driftin’ Cowboy Band.
I think somewhere deep in that guitar them boys are still alive,
playin’ music and singing their songs, just kinda frozen in time.
So I asked the man just how much he wanted.
He said, “hell, gimme five bucks, I think that damn thing is haunted.”
Well, I put that guitar away, I was still feelin’ kinda strange,
so I gave him a hundred dollar bill, but didn’t stick around for the change.
(Writer: M. Brown)
Well, I’ve been a lot of places in this crazy old world.
I’ve been to the county fair, I rode the tilt-a-whirl,
but you took me places I ain’t never been before
when you opened the door to my heart.
Now, I’m a simple man, I do not make much pay,
but I work like the dickens both night and day,
and you’re always on my mind now that I find
that you’ve opened the door to my heart.
CHORUS:
The door to my heart was opened just for you.
The door to my heart, it’s no longer painted blue.
The door to my heart is full of love for you
since you’ve opened the door to my heart.
You’re the sweetest thing that I ever have seen,
you walk through my days, but you pass through my dreams,
and I’ll always love you - oh, now you’re stuck with me
since you opened the door to my heart.
REPEAT CHORUS
(Writers: M. Brown/L. Brown)
Well, I saw him on TV with his hair slicked back and maybe
I just thought he was tryin’ to save some souls
with a bible in his hand, frontin’ a rock ‘n roll band,
I said, “he’s reachin’ out to sinners on this show.”
He was sellin’ salvation through the gift of your donation,
now, he called it tithing, don’t you know...
where a twenty-dollar bill would cure most all your ills,
but a hundred-dollar bill would save your soul.
CHORUS:
Just a closer walk with Thee,
precious Savior, hear my plea.
Lay your hands on your TVs...
and pray.
As he ran across the stage, he was dancin’ in a rage,
he was castin’ out demons as he goes.
Had a strange look on his face, but not a hair was out of place;
he was listenin’ to Jesus, so we’re told.
I don’t know what Jesus said, but that preacher dropped like lead.
Was he struck by The Spirit? Heaven knows.
They said, “if you want the preacher back, you’re gonna have to send more cash;
start dialin’ for Jesus on your phone.”
REPEAT CHORUS
Well, I started to dial, but then I thought for just awhile,
I said, “I think I have already seen this show...
what Jesus teaches is not what this guy preaches,
‘cause you can’t trade your money for your soul.”
If you want salvation, it’s a simple invitation,
you just open up your heart and let him know.
REPEAT CHORUS
I’m down on my knees to pray.
(Writer: M. Brown)
Recorded, Mixed, and Mastered at:
Production/Engineer:
Bass, Keyboards, Background Vocals:
Acoustic Guitar, Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Dobro, Fiddle, and Viola:
Lead Guitar and Acoustic Guitar:
Drums and Programming:
Special Thanks to: