HYMNS 201–211 · RISEN DOUGH RECORDS

Not Now

1997 · Risen Dough Records · 11 tracks

First studio album, recorded in Greensboro over four days booked for mornings only. Eleven songs. "Pull In" was played on regional Christian radio and on two college stations that did not usually play anything recorded before noon. The title track closed every show from 1997 on.

1. 01Not Now3:07

   Title track. Closed every show from 1997 on.

   Words

   Five in the morning, there's a light down the road
   Everybody in this town knows what that light means
   It means now, it means warm, it means come while you can
   And I've been up for it every Sunday since I was twelve
   
   Seventeen, there was a boy with his daddy's keys
   And a cooler in the trunk and a party by the river
   He said the night won't wait, it's now or it's never
   And I said I've got somewhere to be at five
   
   The sign down the road says come on now
   The boy by the river says come on now
   Same word, two different roads
   And you already know which one I chose
   
   Not now (not now)
   Not tonight and not ever
   I've got somewhere to be at five
   Not now (not now)
   Some things you get up for
   Some things you let slide
   
   Twenty-four and I'm still up before the light
   Danny's got the van and the kids are half asleep
   Some of them are seventeen, and the river's still there
   And some boy still has his daddy's keys
   
   The sign down the road says come on now
   The boy by the river says come on now
   Same word, two different roads
   And you already know which one I chose
   
   Not now (not now)
   Not tonight and not ever
   I've got somewhere to be at five
   Not now (not now)
   Some things you get up for
   Some things you let slide
   
   When the sign says now, I'll be there
   When the river says now, I'll be gone
   No sin, not now, not ever
   No sin, not now, not ever
   
   Not now (not now)
   Not tonight and not ever
   I've got somewhere to be at five
   Not now (not now)
   Some things you get up for
   Some things you let slide
   
   Not now!

2. 02Pull In3:17

   The single. Written the week the van died on the shoulder before dawn, fall 1995, and a man in a pickup stopped. Marcus sings the bridge.

   Words

   Five fifteen on a Sunday and the van just quit
   We rolled her to the shoulder with the flashers lit
   Eleven kids asleep with their coats pulled tight
   Two miles from the donuts and an hour from light
   
   Headlights over the hill, one, then two, then ten
   Every one slowed down a little, then sped up again
   Most folks keep their eyes on the road ahead
   Mama raised me different, here is what she said
   
   Pull in, pull in
   When the lights are on, pull in
   Don't you drive on by
   Telling yourself someone else will stop
   Pull in, pull in
   You don't need a reason why
   Somebody's out there waiting
   With the hood up in the cold
   
   Then a pickup with one headlight eased in behind
   Old man with the cables said it happens all the time
   Wouldn't take a dollar, wouldn't give his name
   Said a man stopped for me in sixty-five, now you go and do the same
   
   Pull in, pull in
   When the lights are on, pull in
   Don't you drive on by
   Telling yourself someone else will stop
   Pull in, pull in
   You don't need a reason why
   Somebody's out there waiting
   With the hood up in the cold
   
   I've driven past more flashers than I care to count
   Told myself somebody's coming, and I kept my eyes ahead
   I'm not asking much of you this morning
   Just slow down, and turn in
   
   Pull in, pull in
   When the lights are on, pull in
   Don't you drive on by
   Telling yourself someone else will stop
   Pull in, pull in
   Somebody stopped for you once
   Now it's your turn
   Pull in

3. 03Peace Haven Road
4. 04Hammond on a Dolly
5. 05Hood Up
6. 06Sugar Cake3:08

   Duet. Wes did not tell Leigh Anne who it was about until the second take.

   Words

   Midnight to five and Old Salem's asleep
   Brown sugar and butter, I press 'em in deep
   One pan for the bakery, a small one on the shelf
   That one's for you, but I keep it to myself
   
   Four-thirty in the morning and the van's at the curb
   There's a white paper bag and there isn't a word
   No name and no note, just the warm in my hands
   Somebody stayed up all night for a girl in a band
   
   Sugar cake, sugar cake
   Something sweet that takes all night to make
   Flour on my shirt, but I won't be late
   I'll be there with sugar cake
   
   Folks say it's for Christmas, but I bake it every week
   I can't find the words, so I make you something sweet
   You were singing in the fellowship hall with the morning coming through
   And I lost my place in the song looking at you
   
   Sugar cake, sugar cake
   Something sweet that takes all night to make
   Flour on my shirt, but I won't be late
   I'll be there with sugar cake
   
   Three years of Sundays, and I never said a word
   You left it on the seat and let the sugar say it first
   
   Sugar cake, sugar cake
   Something sweet that takes all night to make
   Flour on my shirt, but I won't be late
   I'll be there with sugar cake

7. 07Every Light in Forsyth County
8. 08Kids in the Back
9. 09Clemmons
10. 10Before the Light
11. 11Ardmore