"I was talking to my dad once about the opposite sex and it dawned on me that no matter how old we get, we (men) never will totally understand women (I'm sure it works the other way too). It’s the one mystery we go to our graves having never solved."

Words and Music Dottie Moore and Rob Heath
©2002 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN, Moore Luckey Songs/BMI

I’ve climbed the tallest mountains
Walked the ocean floor
Seen the many wonders
Shaped by those who came before
I sought out life’s great secrets
Searched the whole world through
But nothing under God compares 
To the thrill of holding you

I believed that I had answered
All the questions that there are
Thought my odyssey was over
Till I set sail for your heart
That’s where you keep the secret
And when I’ve done all I can do
I’ll still be looking for the answer to
The mystery of you

I’ve seen the indigo of oceans
The azure of the skies
I’ve never seen them shimmer
Like the sapphire in your eyes
Found wonder in the heavens
And rapture in your kiss
Nothing short of your love
Ever humbled me like this

The more my soul surrenders
The more you dazzle me
You’re a maze within a riddle
Wrapped inside a fantasy

"We all have our good days and our bad days. I started this song on a bad day and finished it on a good day. What began as a fairly dark song wound up being a reminder to myself that if you don't like the weather out the front door then look out the back."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2004 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

She had that smile old barkeeps get, like there’s an inside joke
They’re sharing with God, she’d crack the cold ones
Their troubles all poured out, she’d just listen and nod

The guys were almost twelve pints deep in conversation
About how life was rough
They played that sad song complete with violins
Until she’d heard enough

She said, “Yeah life ain’t fair boys, so what’s your second choice?"

Sure there’s some days feel like Mondays
When just getting up can get you down
Some surrender, just remember
When every silver lining has a cloud
Its still one more day above ground

We all get one brief Happy Hour
And we can celebrate or cry in our beer
Before we know it
Hell its closing time, and last call is here

And after all well, who knows what’s after all

You got to laugh at life
Cause if you don’t get the joke
You’re gonna just hate the punch-line”

"I wrote a poem for my daughter to tell her that she doesn't have to be perfect for people to accept her, an attitude many young women fall prey to. That poem grew into this song."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2004 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

Its not because you’re always at your best
As if the world won’t allow you any less
Baby it’s not the perfect picture you try to paint
No one is a saint

Its not awards; its not applause
Sometimes it’s the flaws

Though you sparkle when the spotlight’s on
For me you shine the brightest when it’s gone
Those private moments when you’re hiding nothing
The struggles when you’re feeling low
Tears that you try not to show
It’s what I see when you don’t know . . . 
I’m watching
(That’s what makes me love you so)

It’s how you’re willing to go against the flow
And do the right thing when your heart says so
It’s in those moments when you often forget yourself
To cry for someone else

To think that’s weak would be so wrong
That’s just what makes you strong

That’s the part that fills my heart with pride
Till I can feel it well up in my eyes

"On my second album there is an open letter from a young boy to God called “Dear God. Yours Truly...”  is my imagination of how God might have responded."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2006 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

Some argue that I’m on their side
That I’m against the rest
They say the name they chose for me
Is the one that I like best

Careful you don’t buy into their sibling rivalry
When they run each other down and say they’re quoting me

Every dogma has its day
From a Stone Age idol, to Jim and Tammy Fay
I am all things
So does it matter really what you call me?
Yours Truly, God

I respond to many names cause you are all my own
But you must stand together or you will fall alone

Yehweh, Allah, Jehovah
Manitou, Zeus or Brahma
The Alpha and the Omega
All merciful Almighty

Amon Ra, Nymbakulla
Supreme creator of Buddha
Big guy, Big Cheese, Big Kahuna
The Notorius G.O.D
Odin father of Thor
Also known as the Lord
And CEO of the board
Of Eternity

"Towards the end of a long relationship I was looking for something to feel hopeful about. Although it was hard to believe at the time opportunity sometimes comes disguised as misfortune."

Words and Music Sue Fink and Rob Heath
©2000 Terre Music/ASCAP and Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

Who can outrun
The setting sun
The night is just a part of every day
The light will dim
The trail will end
A dream that seemed so clear
Can all but disappear
And you may fear that you have lost your way

Oh you may feel your every wish
Lies burning in the twilight’s afterglow
But just beyond its dying light
If only you are brave enough to go
The brightest stars shine down the darkest roads

You never know 
What’s in you’re soul
Till all that’s left are shadows everywhere
The plans you made
May swiftly fade
But like the setting sun
They’re not the only ones
Look up you’ll find a billion more out there

Through uncertainty
Lies possibility
The universe will chart
New journeys for your heart

"This song is a celebration of not conforming to the norm."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2002 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

There were all kinds of birds tattooed on Dad’s skin
And I’d sit on his knee and I would point to them
He’d say they’re just like us, some are drab and pale
Me I’m that big one with the dazzling tail

Peacocks strut chickens cluck
When we live life out loud
People will always talk
Some follow the heart
Some follow the crowd
Can't always be like them
And if you don't fit in
Then why not stand out

My first month at school all the kids would gawk
Every time we would roll up on Dad’s Harley Hog
They’d cackle to themselves, he’d say don’t pay ’em no mind
Must ruffle their feathers just to watch us fly

One day Dad stripped down to his pants
Did a kind of tattooed belly dance
We watched him make that peacock prance

Then the strangest thing; first one kid joined in
Then we all went parading round the schoolyard with him

"My mom bought me my first guitar when I was in my teens. I was in and out of trouble a lot, giving both my folks more grief than they really deserved. That guitar started a love affair with music that has lasted my whole life. It’s gotten me through a lot of bad times and never let me down. Both of my parents are extremely creative and so I grew up with that around me. The guitar my mom bought and now the guitars my dad builds for me are only a part of the greater gift of artistic creativity they passed on to me, one which in turn has found its way to my children."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2003 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

He was a kid who had tried, all the wrong ways to fly
With a future in windows with bars 
She was close to the edge, the day that she said
Son I bought you this old used guitar

With a body of white spruce and rose wood
Strung together by six wires of steel
To the untrained eye it will never fly
No cockpit, propeller or wheels

In the right hands it’s really a vessel
Take you higher than you’ve ever dreamed
To soar up and down at the speed of sound
On the wings of a finely tuned flying machine

She overheard him one day as he secretly made
The first solo he ever tried
And each halting note brought a lump to her throat
As he practiced this new form of flight

She knew every journey from darkness
Had to start with a shot for the sky
With guitar on his knee
She prayed he’d find the key
To break free of his turbulent life

Now I’m standing right here before you tonight
And I‘ve got you to thank that I made out all right
And you’re watching me as I’m playing this
But just you and I know what it is

"I saw a newscast on CBC about the practice of several officers on the Saskatoon Police force of driving inebriated natives out of town and letting them walk off their drunks by forcing them to trek back. This was a common enough practice that they euphemistically called them Starlight Tours. Twice it resulted in deaths from exposure when young native men were driven out of town in the dead of winter and left to freeze to death. This song is about one of those young men."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2000 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

He laughs out loud at the crunching sound, his socks make in the snow
The stars light up the long walk home, on this winter’s road
He wonders who’s gonna stop for a half drunk full blood Cree
Hitchhiking down the highway in a T-shirt and jeans
Two headlights speed by, he sticks out a frostbit thumb
Sometimes too much to drink, still ain’t enough

Well it was down on the strip where every day’s another Saturday night
Two human impersonators noticed he wasn’t white 
Well liquor talks mighty loud when it gets loose from the jug
He floated like an anchor, stung like a lady bug
Woke up in a squad car, charged with starting a fight
Though history belongs to the winner, they seldom get it right

On the way to the drunk tank cops made a little detour
Drove him miles out of town, place not on the brochure
Then they took off the cuffs and said go walk off the Coors
A little less paperwork for sure, then they said bonjour
They call ‘em Starlight Tours

Well it might be the beer but suddenly
He doesn’t mind the storm
His eyes start feeling heavier and everything gets warm
On concrete pillow and sheet of snow
He lays is head down, face to the sky and hunters moon
Back to the ground then just before the hereafter
One breath from paradise, he leaves his body one last time
To tour the starlit sky

"In my early twenties I met a Canadian who'd volunteered to go to Vietnam. He came back with a steel plate in his head and a lot of demons."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©1999 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

And I thought the last bullet was spent
And the wounds of the war had all healed
But you say you were back there last night in a dream
And the bombs and the blood were so real
We all watched on TV
Your tragic black-comedy
All the kill-crazy fools
Were just kids as a rule
That belonged in High School

And I can’t think of what I could say
That would chase all your devils away
But I am so sorry
So sorry

They died so long ago that you should have forgot
But the faces come back every night
And they won’t go away so you beg them to stay
And have a few drinks till its light
And your Mom’s doing fine
But the girl that you left behind
Is still waiting for
The boy she adored
To come back from his war

"I woke up one morning to find my significant other gazing in a make-up mirror and lamenting her lost youth and I wrote this song for her."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©1997 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

She had this raven hair
Was in a cabaret
And when she saw me stare
I tried to look away
But then she winked at me
With those espresso eyes
The kind that wake you up
And keep you warm inside

It’s not the way that she looked
It’s the way that she looked at me
Like I was the guy that girl
Was waiting to see
I knew right away
Some things are meant to be
By the way I could not look away
From the way she looked at me

This morning I found you
Tissue soaked in tears
Trying to find that girl
In our bedroom mirror
And you can turn back time
With mascara and rouge
But I don't need all that
To still see her in you

So save the lipstick for you
‘Cause I want see the smile that she wore
The same one that, said to me
"You will be mine and I will be yours"

"I read a newspaper article about a Moslem in the Middle East whose son had been shot mistakenly by Israeli troupes when they confused him with a terrorist they were chasing. The child didn't die right away and so the soldiers took him to an Israeli hospital. The parents watched for several days as the Israeli hospital made a valiant effort to save their boy. When their son died the parents donated his organs to the hospital to ostensibly save Jewish lives even though their son was a Muslim who had been killed by Jews. The man's Muslim neighbors were up in arms about this and so the media got hold of it and interviewed the dad who said the reason he had done this was to show the world that not all Muslims are terrorists, that his son had been a forgiving child and that now in his words his son had "entered every Israeli heart". I couldn't believe the strength it would take to do something like that. When I read that article I thought 'there is hope for us'."

Words and Music Rob Heath
©2005 Rob Heath Music Inc/SOCAN

Last week Israeli soldiers shot a young Muslim boy
They didn’t know his rifle was just a toy
They rushed him off to Haifa on the Israeli side
They tried their best to save him, but tragically he died

Some people say with just one life
You can change the world
What if they’re right?

His father said young Ahmed was a forgiving soul
So in the name of peace and of his twelve year old
They would donate his body to save Israeli lives
Ignoring voices claiming that that’s who took their child

In worlds like their’s where violence rules
You turn the other cheek, you’re marked a fool

His dad said, “If we want peace somewhere it has to start
With this my son has entered every Israeli heart
The army said they’re sorry, they braced for violence
This time unlike the others, there would be no revenge

©1998 Rob Heath 

Dear God, My name is Rob
I'm just across the street
Dear God, We live so close
But never seem to meet
I was over to your house
Just after school today
Hoping I could see you
You must have been away 

You got such a handsome home
But you live there all alone
I just wondered if you need...somebody
To keep you company 

Dear God, I bin there
A couple times this week
Dear God, The door was open
I just had a peek
All you got for furniture
Is all those wooden chairs
Must get kinda lonely
'Cause no one's ever there 

You got places just like this one
Everywhere I go
Do you live in all of them
Or are they just for show 

Dear God, I saw homeless children on T.V
Dear God,  Come on over
You can watch and see
So I wrote this letter
'Cause I figured if you knew
You would let them come and share
That empty house with you 

I know that you have lots of us
I wondered if you’ve thought
Instead of making more of us
Just keep the folks you got 

Dear God Today we learned
About the dinosaur
Dear God How come you
Don't make them anymore
Did you just get bored of the
Tyranasaurus Rex
What if you got tired of us?
What would you make next? 

What Rob has to say about the song… 

Rob has supported MSF (Medicines Sans Frontieres) a.k.a Doctors Without Borders for over a decade. MSF Canada will  be a part of the celebration for his next CD coming out this fall. "Dear God" was written from the point of view of a child who's asking God (and by association those who follow God) if he has room in his house for the homeless children the boy saw on TV. The song (not a criticism of God or religion)has in fact been adopted by many in the church (including clergy) who support its message of charity.   

©2002 Rob Heath

I’ll lie down and I’ll watch the clouds
Play my music way too loud
This time I’ll taste that first kiss
So I can take pleasure in the thrill that is

Couple of times ‘round the sun
Just got going and now its done
Does this ride have to end
Is there a rule that you can bend
(Just this once if you could
punch my ticket then)
I wanna go again; I wanna go again

Forget the meetings and money
All the fights now just seem funny
Important things slipped through my hands
And life just happened while
I was making plans

In a hurry to grow up and old
I missed the mystery unfold
We learn the secrets of life
Far too late to ever get it right

So let me just try it once more
I’ll do life better than I did before
I swear I won’t waste a single minute
No I’ll savor every second in it

Couple of times ‘round the sun
Just got going and now its done
Does this ride have to end
Is there a rule that you can bend
(Just this once if you could
punch my ticket then)
I wanna go again; I wanna go again

©2002 Rob Heath

Princess of the pavement
In the arms of Mr. Jones
Devil in a silk dress
Dancing all alone
The Story of a hard life
In every line along her face
The kind that clothes don’t cover
And make up can’t erase 

She looked just like the shadow of
A girl I used to know
We ran together for a while
A long long time ago 

Fallen Angel
Take me back so I might
Spend my yesterdays in this night
Fallen Angel… Fallen Angel 

She said whatcha lookin’ for there handsome
I said just old memories
She said they sell em by the bottle
At any A and P 

I said I think we’ve met before
Another place or time
She said you wouldn’t be down here
If you had a better line 

Some memories sail the wind
On a trace of perfume
Some memories took my hand
And led me back to her room 

Tried so hard to stop her
But she just undid her dress
She said stolen kisses
Always taste the best 

It was only when she held me tight
Could swear I saw some tears
The kind that comes a-calling when
You stumble on lost years 

Fallen Angel
Take me back so I might
Spend my yesterdays in this night
Fallen Angel… Fallen Angel 

©1995 Rob Heath

I heard someone's revival of an old familiar song
The words had slipped my mind, you know its been so long
It stirred a place inside my heart, a place I used to go
A place I thought I boarded up long time ago 

('Cause) I have faith in my heart
That love will live till death do us part
That love will find a brand new start
And live again till death do us part 

The sun comes shining through my window pane
The weatherman said it could only rain
I find myself believing in some special circumstance
A place where people go who want a second chance

When I wish on the first star I see tonight
My hopes are riding on photons of light
That left their origins a million years ago
Every time I look, I see what might not be there anymore 

I stare across the table at this stranger in my home
Who bears some resemblance to a girl I used to know
But every time I look into her eyes she turns away
I make a mental note to try another day 

©1998 Rob Heath

Jenny is drawing a monster
With a Devilish grin and dark eyes
She says he comes nights for long visits
The kind that make six year olds cry
Other kids draw suns and rainbows
And cute little houses with trees
With the crayons she keeps in her pockets
Jenny just draws what she sees 

There's a lot more to what Jenny draws
Than anyone ever thought there was
Pictures worth a thousand words
No one saw
What Jenny draws  

At fifteen Jenny models her leather
On the corner of Walk and Don't Walk
And what Jenny draws mostly are cat calls
From the college boys cruising the block
Bin spending her nights with Prince Valium
And a few dozen Johns from the hills
She's learned you can draw blanks in the morning
If you kick back some Gin with the pills 

Now at Thirty she's drawing a deep breath
As she walks up and rings the door bell
That monster appears in the doorway
With those eyes she once colored so well 

Then Jenny draws her Smith and Wesson
And a crowd from the neighborhood
When Jenny draws the line in traces of  lead
And wipes that grin off him for good

There's a lot more to what Jenny draws
Than anyone ever thought there was
Pictures worth a thousand words
No one saw
What Jenny draws 

Words: Nicki Berns & Rob Heath / Music: Rob Heath
©1984 Rob Heath Music Inc. /SOCAN 

When I was five I wandered off
From where we'd just moved in
Wasn't long before the dark
And cold and fear set gt;in
When I heard my daddy's voice
I tried to hide my tears
He said, "There's something, Son,
I've learned from all my years"

He said... 
big boys cry, even big boys cry
It don't mean you ain't a man
Hold your head up high
You should never be ashamed
Of how you feel inside
Only empty hearts have empty eyes
And only small men laugh when big boys cry 

They were married thirteen years
And all they seemed to do was fight
Daddy finally packed his bags
One very stormy night
He came into my room and said,
"Son take care of your mom"
It's the first time I had seen him cry
He new it shook me some

He said... 
big boys cry, even big boys cry
It don't mean you ain't a man
Hold your head up high
You should never be ashamed
Of how you feel inside
Only empty hearts have empty eyes
And only small men laugh when big boys cry 

Thirty years have come and gone
Dad ain't been feelin' well<br />Me, my wife, our little son
Have come to say our last farewells 

And as we're leaving grandpas room
My son begins to cry
He turns his head so I won't see him
As he wipes his eyes

And I say... 
big boys cry, even big boys cry
It don't mean you ain't a man
Hold your head up high
You should never be ashamed
Of how you feel inside
Only empty hearts have empty eyes
And only small men laugh when big boys cry 

©2002 Rob Heath and Steve Williams

He said
Remember elementary school
How easily your heart was fooled
Like rabbits from a hat
Infatuations popped up just like that 

But you know how these things go
They’d vanish in a week or so  

When you’re young you see a trick
You think its magic 

I know a house a job and kids
Can blow the flame out of a kiss
Now you’re wondering if love
Was everything you thought it was 

Or if you’ve been fooled once more
By that illusion that you once fell for 

When you’re young
You see a trick
You think its magic
Then you grow up
You see magic and you think it’s just a trick 

Just like magic love can be
Part deception and part mystery
But its up to you and me
Which one we choose to see 

When you’re young
You see a trick
You think its magic
Then you grow up
You see magic and you think it’s just a trick

But in time
You’ll realize the magic’s everywhere
The trick is just to see it there
The trick is just to see it there

©2001 Dottie Moore/Rob Heath

Up at dawn to curl her hair
Slips her best dress on
She goes to her rocking chair
Declares, “Today he’ll come”
I know her son lives near the home
Down the road a mile
She says that he won’t be long
But they say it’s been a while 

She is out there somewhere
In a world of wishes and dreams
Where there are things we can never know
Until we are ready to see 

I try to help her to her room
Near the end of the day
She smiles, “No, I’m going home
He’s just running late"
So I leave her waiting there
To watch each passing car
Although I know the truth
How can I break her heart 

She is out there somewhere
In a world of wishes and dreams
Where there are things we can never know
Until we are ready to see 

When I come back I find her still
You see she was right all along
The one she was really waiting for
Finally did take her home
Now she’s… 

She was right all along
You see in the end someone came for her
And now she is finally home 

She is out there somewhere
In a world of wishes and dreams
Where there are things we can never know
Until we are ready to see  

©1998 Rob Heath

The greatest battles we fight alone
With heart and soul on fields unknown
Like an enemy by night our troubles   seek us out
When we're weak and full of doubt 

I believe from dark comes the dawn
I believe we will shine on
When all is lost tomorrow remains
We will rise again
That's what I believe 

In just one blink of God's eye
We laugh and love; we live and die
We're just fallen angels stranded on this rock we roam
Trying to find our way back home

I believe from dark comes the dawn
I believe we will shine on
When all is lost tomorrow remains
We will rise again
That's what I believe 

When all is black; we can't look back 

Our greatest glory's not in how we've never fallen down
But how we get up off the ground 

I believe from dark comes the dawn
I believe we will shine on
There's a light timeless and true
Burns in me and you
That's what I believe

©1998 Robert Heath

Busted down on the Interstate 5 on the way to Lotusland
With an underage girl and a nose full of go fast in a rust bucket Chevy Van
Funny how chance and circumstance can change everything
If that...belt hadn't gone they would have drove on that cop would still be breathing 
Thirty year veteran with a pension plan it was her last night
Brought a ticket book and Papermate Pen to a pistol fight
Leaves a...husband and son to a twenty one gun salute
They'll get a bag with a flag her blues, badge and boots 
Now there's...TV Cameras at the Five Points Motel bout twenty odd miles away
Spokesman says the kid resisted arrest; that's what five eyewitnesses say
There's a bullet hole right through, his chest tattoo from a rookie's gun
It dots an "i' in the words "Kill me I'll try anything once" 
And you can blame it on the Johns that his mom brought home from time to time
Every one said he was born to become a chalk outline
It just may be we can't get free of our yesterdays
So who's finger was it on that trigger on that deadly highway