Born at the End of the Line

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) 12/22/2023

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals | Mark Anderson: Bass | Peter Borne: Percussion, Accordion
Lisa Fuglie: Fiddle | Brin Petersen: Mandolin | Mabel Houle & Doyle Turner: Harmony Vocals

I was born at the end of the line in a little prairie town, in a much simpler time
When the trains came in, they’d turn ’em around and send ’em back down the line
But the trains don’t run out here these days, the tracks are pulled up and gone
And the depot is a museum now like a lot of my old hometown

Walking along the old railroad bed in the footsteps of my younger days
The hot prairie wind brings me the sweet familiar smell of fresh cut hay
As a kid I made my money and found my strength throwing those bales around
But machines do all of that work now, what do kids do in this town

Chorus: And I hardly know anyone who lives here anymore
Some I used to know, lost touch with long ago
And the generation that raised me is mostly dead and gone
As I walk the streets of this village, somehow this place still feels like home
This town is more than where I’m from, it’s a part of who I am

The Catholic church still stands — it was the center of so much of my youth
There was comfort in the ritual and confidence in knowing God’s own truth
In the graveyard behind the church, we laid Dad to rest so many years ago   
Mom will lay beside him, when it’s her time to come home

Parkers Prairie

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) and Tim Stafford (Daniel House Music, BMI)
12/22/2023

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals | Tim Stafford: Fingerstyle Guitar
Peter Borne: Bass, Accordion, Percussion

She was raised on Lake Adley in the town of Parkers Prairie
Her mother called out, Don’t be too late Mary
The perfect place to be a kid
Summer days spent  riding bikes and swimming at the beach
Everyone knew everyone and everything you did

Her first job was bussing tables at the Doghouse Bar and Grill
She got that first paycheck, it was such a thrill
Now that seems like a million years ago
All she ever wanted was to leave Parkers Prairie
But the town just wouldn’t let her go

Chorus: Everybody here lives to be a hundred
The obituaries all look the same
She wonders if she’s staring at her future
Is this what it’s gonna look like, when the paper lists her name

Will anyone take notice of my passing
Who will even care that I’m gone
Will I leave behind anything that’s lasting
A poem, a story or a song

Now she shows up at three, just like every other day
Hums a little tune along the way
The one she used to sing back when she dreamed
Of leaving Parkers Prairie for fortune and fame
But time slips away and changes everything

Chorus

She was raised on Lake Adley in the town of Parkers Prairie
Her mother called out, Don’t be too late Mary

The Attic

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) 10/12/2023

Tom Peschges: Guitar and Vocals | Nathan Fjeld: Guitar | Mark Anderson: Bass
Lisa Fuglie: Fiddle | Brin Petersen: Mandolin | Peter Borne: Synth Pads

Up there in the attic where momma said “Don’t go”
In the darkness of the shadows, lie secrets never told
Behind silver webs spun by spiders long since perished
Under years of dust, treasures she once cherished

A brown teddy bear, a blue baby’s rattle
A white rocking horse with a red plastic saddle
Aside from years of dust each item looked brand new
With every new discovery the mystery just grew

Chorus: Whose toys were these? They weren’t meant for me
Left here in the dark for no one else to see

In the bottom of a box, lies a blue baby book
My heart raced as I picked it up and my hands shook
The pages were all blank, only one held a message
A bill from her doctor for her miscarriage

Up there in the attic where momma said “Don’t go”
In the darkness of the shadows, lie secrets never told

A Bad Idea

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) 10/2023

Tom Peschges: Lead Vocals | Cindi Peschges: Guest Vocals | Mike Arturi: Drums | Peter Borne: Bass, Piano | Nathan Fjeld, Mabel Houle & Andy Crooks: Harmony Vocals | Randy Casey: Electric & Acoustic Guitar | Danny Hochalter: Fiddle

Her momma wasn’t around when she went out on the town
You could tell by the outfit that she chose
A white cowboy hat, and long blond hair flowing down
A white mini skirt and a top she couldn’t close

She knew what she wanted, she wasn’t looking for “the one”
She didn’t want to be nobody’s wife (not tonight!)
She’s young and she’s wild and she’s looking for some fun
One poor choice away from the best night of her life

Chorus: Yeah, before you settle down, before you fall in love
You ought to go do something you can really be ashamed of
So grab your best friend and a bottle of tequila
’Cause nothin’ dies harder than a bad idea

Well, he saw her standing there, moving her hips to the beat
That band was really hot, and they were in the groove
He took a shot of courage, and he got up on his feet
He figured, it was time to make his move

He asked her if she’d dance with him and she said “Sure I guess”
He took her hand and they went off to the floor
She was pretty sure this wouldn’t be the last time she’d say yes
In a little while they’d be heading for the door

Chorus

In the blink of an eye 20 years had gone by
She’s married now with a daughter of her own
Dropping her off at college she hands her a box
She said, Open this when you get up to your dorm

Well, she tore that box apart, she couldn’t wait to see inside
At first she didn’t really understand
It was a white cowboy hat and a white mini skirt
Then she saw the note written in her mother’s hand

It said, Before you settle down, before you fall in love
You ought to go do something you can really be ashamed of
So grab your best friend and a bottle of tequila
’Cause nothin’ dies harder than a bad idea

Red Wing Station

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) and Tim Stafford (Daniel House Music, BMI)
10/31/2024

Tom Peschges: Vocals & Guitar | Nathan Fjeld: Guitar, Vocals | Tim Wankel: Bass
Brin Petersen: Mandolin, Vocals | Mary Ellen Fox: Fiddle, Vocals | Phil Nusbaum: Banjo

He turns his collar to the cold, he’s watching down the track
Waiting on the Amtrak to bring his baby back
Coming from Chicago, it’s heading to St. Paul
Most nights it doesn’t stop at all

She boarded the southbound, that bright September day
He begged her not to leave but she left him anyway
Are you coming back, he heard that whistle blow
When she steps off the northbound, then he’ll know

Chorus: He’s at the Red Wing station, every night at nine
With a big bouquet of flowers and a lonesome troubled mind
Hoping she’ll return and release him from his pain
A man could spend a lifetime just waiting on a train

That cold wind is blowing off the Mississippi shore
The first storm of the winter chills him to his core|
But he’ll be back tomorrow same old place and time
All alone just looking down the line

Old Mill Road

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) 1/28/2020

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals |  Peter Bourne: Piano, Percussion |  Mark Anderson: Bass
Lisa Fuglie: Fiddle |  Ken Wilson: Dobro

Well, it’s not much to look at — you might think it’s a dump
It’s been added on to three times and almost burned down once
It sags a little near the middle, it’s a hundred and ten years old
Just this little shack I own out on Old Mill Road

There’s just an acre of land now, but it used to be a farm
Right before I bought it, they tore down that old barn
They sold off lots and built up all these brand-new fancy homes
All around this little shack I own, out on Old Mill Road

The yard slopes to the south where Spring Creek runs through the back
I know every inch of that ground, every tree and bush and rock
In the summertime it’s like a park when the grass is freshly mowed
A perfect place to build a dream, out on Old Mill Road

I thought I’d build a home there when I was in my prime
I’m older now and still somehow, I wonder if there’s time
I know that I should sell the place, but I just can’t let it go
It’s just a dream but dreams die hard, out on Old Mill Road

Maybe I’ll build that home there — I know I have to try
Giving up would be easy but easy’s not my style
What is a man without a dream? I’m sure I don’t want to know
Even if it’s just a dream, I’ll keep on dreaming, out on Old Mill Road
Yes, it’s just a dream but dreams die hard, out on Old Mill Road

Jeb’s Guitar

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) 2022

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals |  Nathan Fjeld: Guitar, Harmony Vocals |  Phil Nusbaum: Banjo
Peter Bourne: Bass, Accordion, Percussion, Harmony Vocals

Halfway from Tucson to Yuma Arizona
There’s a little desert town called Gila Bend
Main street was not the only street in town
But it seemed like it might as well have been

The only bar in town is by the hotel on the corner
A dingy little dive called Della Mae’s
As dusty as the desert and just as lonesome too
But for a cold one, Della Mae’s would do

Chorus: Hanging from a hook, on the wall above the bar
A relic from another time, an old beat-up guitar
It looked like it was dragged to hell and back
Down a gravel road

The finish was all worn off and it was full of dust
The strap was broke and the strings all had some rust
Della said, C’mon boy let’s see what you can do
Somehow that thing was perfectly in tune

I started playing some old country songs I knew
Nothing very fancy — just three chords and the truth
But I got so lost in the magic of that sound
I tried but I just could not put it down

Chorus

When I looked up that bar was packed with folks from near and far
Word got out that someone was playing Jeb’s guitar
Jeb was Della’s only son, went to war in Iraq
But only his guitar made it back

Chorus

If you are ever in Arizona, between Tucson and Yuma
Make time for a little stop in Gila Bend
Have a cold beer at Della Mae’s and while you’re at the bar,
Play a song for Della, on her son’s guitar

Ten O’Clock Town 

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) and Tim Stafford (Daniel House Music, BMI) 4/2024

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals |  Nathan Fjeld: Guitar, Harmony Vocals |  Mabel Houle: Harmony Vocals | Kenny Wilson: Steel Guitar |  Peter Bourne: Accordion, Cello, Bass, Synth, Vocals

Chorus: This small town ain’t small anymore
It gets bigger and bigger every day
Now the party down on Broadway never really ends
But I remember when it wasn’t that way — in this ten o’clock town

Used to, you could see the stars at night
But now those neon lights burn too bright
Back in the days I remember
This was a ten o’clock town

The shows let out at nine and the shops closed down
Outside the honky-tonks, there was no one around
If you needed eggs for breakfast
You were out of luck in this ten o’clock town

Chorus

Folks would sleep at night and get up at dawn
Worked all day, came home and mowed the lawn
Now it’s hard to find a single blade of grass
Down on Fifth Avenue

Stone and wood gave way to iron and glass
Every new building is taller than the last
Bigger and colder
Than the ones that I knew

Chorus

Change is gonna happen, I can hear ’em say
Only a fool holds on to yesterday

Now and Then, Again

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) and Tim Stafford (Daniel House Music, BMI) 6/17/2024

Tom Peschges: Guitar & Vocals | Nathan Fjeld: Guitar | Mark Anderson: Bass | Lisa Fuglie: Fiddle
Mabel Houle & Doyle Turner: Harmony Vocals | Peter Bourne: All the other magic stuff

Now and then I think of you, everything comes rushing back at me
All the things we used to do and everything we meant to each other
It don’t happen all that often but when it does it takes my breath away
I lose all direction and I don’t know what to say

Chorus: It’s now and then again, same old “Remember when”
I feel so overwhelmed, so out of control again
Should I just give in, one more selfish sin
It comes around and then, it’s now and then again

I think of how it is today, remember how it used to be back then
I’ve built a solid life, a home and loving wife who means the world to me
But when this feeling hits me all the years just seem to fade
And I can’t help but wonder, “Was it really worth the trade?”

When I start longing for the way things might have been
I’ve lived long enough to know, you can’t go back again

A Self Made Man

Tom Peschges (Old Mill Road Music, ASCAP) and Tim Stafford (Daniel House Music, BMI) 7/17/2025

Tom Peschges: Vocals | Tim Stafford: Guitar | Peter Bourne: Percussion

We didn’t want for more
Didn’t know that we were poor
A family warm and wise always by my side
Our reputation was our pride

Chorus: We all had some help along the way
All these hearts and hands
Made me what I am today
A self made man

You’ve always had my back
If I slipped, you’d take the slack
You’d always drop a cue if I didn’t have a clue
How could I have made it without you?

Chorus

If I ever start to think I did it on my own
I’ll stop and remember all the shoulders I’m standing on

Chorus