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(Ballad of the) Oxbow Inn

from Ray of Hope by Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus

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lyrics

(Ballad Of) The Oxbow Inn
(Jim Patton)

I was up at the Oxbow, playing guitar
When I first met Sherry, standing at the bar
She’d had too much to drink
She asked me if she could sing
And I told her: “Sure!”
“We can play anything!”

Now my brother was mad
He played guitar in the band
And we had a rule:
“Let no Stranger sit in!”
Still, she knew the words to “Cowgirl in the Sand”
And he knew the chords, so we started to jam...

And she sang all right
Her voice was strong
She got a little confused
When we went on and on
But the next time we saw her
She sat in again
My brother agreed with me
Or else just caved in

And that was the moment
That changed my whole life
Cause that was the place
Where I first met my wife
Let’s drink to the night that I let her sit in
Let’s raise a glass to the Oxbow Inn

Now I never much cared for the Oxbow Inn
It was a place we could play, but I never fit in
It was way too expensive for all of my friends
We got fired and I didn’t see her again

The band broke up; we started a new one
My brother and me went auditioning women
And she was at Dave French’s house with a friend
We ended the night at the Oxbow Inn
But I wasn’t with her
I ended up with her friend

But let’s raise a glass to the Oxbow Inn
Let’s drink to the night that I let her sit in
Let’s raise a glass to the Oxbow Inn
Down Ritchie Highway, in Arnold, Maryland

She didn’t get the job
She ended up second
She kept calling my Mom’s house
To see if she could sing backup
Then one day the new girl didn’t show up at all
And my brother said: “Hey, let’s give Sherry a call!”

Thirty years later
She’s still in the band
Whattya say?
Let’s give her a hand!

It still took us a while to get it together
But we became friends and our road changed forever
I asked her to a party but she could not attend
I was pretty sure she had an old boyfriend

Then we had our own party one night after practice
It started to snow and I said: “That looks dangerous!”
“Why don’t you just stay with me for the night?”
“Just to be safe” and she said: “All right”

I don’t need to say more
The rest is now history
Let the reason and why
Remain shrouded in mystery
Let’s drink to the night that I let her sit in
Let’s raise a glass to the Oxbow Inn

Because that was the moment
That changed my whole life
That was the place
Where I first met my wife
So let’s drink to the night that I let her sit in
Let’s raise one more glass to the Oxbow Inn
In Arnold, Maryland

© words and music by Jim Patton(Independent Alligator Publishing Co) (ASCAP)

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from Ray of Hope, released March 1, 2010

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Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus Austin, Texas

Austin folk rock songwriters Jim Patton & Sherry Brokus return with their 7th CD on Houston's Berkalin Records. This time they're leaning toward the rock side of their folk-rock equation with a sound more comparable to Tom Petty or the Byrds.

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