STEEL WOOL Band

All the Love in the World
Harmony powered acoustic world folk-rock

Song List (click song name for lyrics):

1. My Country Fair / Nhemamusasa
2. I See You
3. Muddy Water Rising
4. All the Love in the World
5. Fat Jesus on a Bicycle
6. Candy
7. Here in the Middle
8. I Can't Tell You (9/11)
9. The Conjurer
10. Fill My Heart
11. Rainbow
12. I'm Not Sleeping
13. I'm Coming Home

All songs by Tim Mueller
*from Zimbabwean traditional music **w/Maria Wolf
Guitars & vocals - Tim Mueller
Bass guitars & vocals - TR Kelley
Percussion, mbira, & vocals - Nel Applegate
Drums - Randy Hamme
Photography - Aradia and Brandon Farmer
Cover graphics - Tim Mueller
Buick sounds - Randy Hamme and Aradia Farmer
Produced at Don Ross Productions, Eugene, Oregon by Steel Wool, with Don Ross

Special thanks to: my daddy George P. Mueller, Musekiwa Chingodza and Nel's Shona teachers, Mike Kraemer, Diana Robson, Blake Padilla, and Randy Hamme (who thanks his mom) for his extraordinary dedication during this recording.

Steel Wool

I was 9 years old, standing on Main Street on the 4th of July. The marching band went thundering by, the big bass drum vibrating through my whole body. That's when I learned there are some things you just can't NOT do: making music - it fills me up, keeps me sane, sustains me - immersed in the stream of sound, with it all around me, all my senses reeling.

Steel Wool began performing in 2012, hoping to have a good time making music that could connect people to rhythm, sound, and fire. Each of these players brings their experience in world music, country, folk, blues and rock, and melds it with their experience as parents, grandparents and citizens of the planet. That experience fills these songs - songs about love, joy, confusion, struggle, hope - with truth and life. Let them inside. You'll know… – Tim Mueller

'Nhemamusasa' is an ancient Shona mbira song about creating temporary shelter (kutsinhira.org). 'My Country Fair's (oregoncountryfair.org) lyrics refer to continuing an 11,000 year old tradition of temporary communities on our Fair land. Combining these two creates our unique blessing for gatherings. – Nel Applegate

A song in a composer's head, in its vibrantly beautiful, elemental and nonexistent perfection, can bring joy and love to its creator.  My deepest calling is to help draw rhythm, tone, feel and harmony out of the composer's head and into the air, so that same joy and love can dance around in your head, too. – Randy Hamme

In 2003 I discovered that my unusual skill-set was called "Asperger Syndrome". In search of info & kindred, I found KindTree (kindtree.org), and Tim & Nel. Music followed. Then we followed the music. Blessed be. – TR Kelley

My Country Fair

Copyright 2012 Tim Mueller / GreyWolf Projects

You get the sleeping bag, I’ll get the tent
You get the flowers, they’ve got the power
I think we’re ready, got all that we need
Don’t need much to wear at my Country Fair
OH------ How do you feel tonight?
The sun is shinin’ but rain’s on the way
Everyone say “We want the rain to go away.”
You want your coffee from sweet Liberty
I want ice tea and Mickey’s Gumbo for me
OH------ How do you feel tonight?
Everyone’s dancin’, dancing in the rain
You were there too, along with quite a few
Music was playin’ we’re all spinning around
Kinda like now, you all know how, c’mon
OH------ How do you feel tonight?
Everything’s hazy, sun in my eyes
Got to lie down all covered in sound
But it picked me up and tossed me around
Hands in the air at my Country Fair
OH------ How do you feel tonight?
When it’s all over I don’t want it to end
I want to pretend it won’t ever end
So I’m still singin’, still dancin’, still laughin’ yea
Here we are now, all together now
OH------ How do you feel tonight? 

 

I See You

Tim Mueller, ©2011

I know how to make the sun shine
I can do it anytime
I see, I see, I see you
I can show you how to feel right
Hold still, don’t move, look up, close your eyes.
I see, I see, I see you 
With all of the smoke and the fire
With endlessly twisting wire
Through chill wind and biting rain
With nothing to numb the pain
I’ll go on, put on my dancing shoes
I’ll go on, breathe deep and let it loose
I’ll go on, go on loving you
I’ll go on, go on loving you, loving you…
So much bad news, so what else is new?
This morning, this evening, and there’s always things to do.
I see, I see, I see you,  I see all of you…..

 

Muddy Water Rising

Tim Mueller ©2012

Riding in the Buick on Highway 36
Going over 40, taking a big risk
It runs along the river, rising with the storm
Whitecaps a-dancing, brown water warns.
Muddy water rising, trouble coming through.
Hard to see clearly through the muddy brew.
I think I know bullshit, I can see it left or right
But not so good in this brown flood,
Muddy water rising tonight.
Playing out in Deadwood, real Hippies all around
dancing their hearts out, dance and sing along.
They live on the river, they’ve seen mud before
Sinks to the bottom – that’s what mud is for.
Muddy water rising, trouble coming through.
Hard to see the truth now, through the muddy brew.
I think I know bullshit, I can see it left or right
But not so good in this brown flood,
Muddy water rising tonight.
Count on you, what to do
You can go insane, or you can use your brain,
Maybe you can stop the rain…
Riding in the Buick on Highway 36,
Going over 40, taking a big risk – Zane: SLOW DOWN!
He lives on the river, he’s seen curves before
Hands on the wheel, pedal on the floor.
Muddy water rising, trouble coming through.
Hard to see the truth now, through that muddy brew.
Folks of good intention shining out their light
Hard for us to see them in this
Muddy water rising tonight.
Muddy water rising, trouble coming through.
Hard to see the truth now, through the muddy brew.
I think I know bullshit, I think you do, too
But not so good in this brown flood,
Muddy water rising, muddy water rising, muddy water rising tonight.

 

All the Love in the World

Tim Mueller ©2010

I can see it in your eyes
I can feel it on your fingertips
I can hear it in your laughter, Baby
I can taste it on your tender lips.
All my senses reeling
What a wonderful feeling
When I hold you Baby
I feel all the love in the world
Solve the mystery, solve the crime
Somebody stole this heart of mine
To tell you the truth, I think it’s you, and I don’t really mind
I never felt so fine
All my senses reeling
What a wonderful feeling
When I hold you Baby
I feel all the love in the world
all the love in the world
all the love in the world
all the love …
I’m an oracle, a fortune teller
I can see way into the future
I see a vision of your smiling face
and your soft round shoulders all covered lace
in the foreground of the patterns on the ceiling of your room
All my senses reeling
What a wonderful feeling
When I hold you Baby
I feel all the love in the world
all the love in the world
all the love in the world
all the love ….… in the world
all the love..


FAT JESUS ON A BICYCLE

Tim Mueller AND MARIAH WOLF, copyright 1-96

IN A DRUGSTORE, I WAS PERUSIN’ A LITERARY MAGAZINE--OK
I WAS LURKIN’, I WAS LEERIN’, AT A PENTHOUSE NAKED SCENE
WHEN I SAW HIM, THROUGH THE WINDOW, WITH A BEARD AND LONG, DARK HAIR
HE WAS DRINKIN’ AN ESPRESSO AND HE GAVE ME SUCH A STARE
HE HAD A TATOO ON HIS SHOULDER OF A LADY DRESSED IN BLUE
A SANDWICH IN HIS POCKET ENOUGH FOR ME AND YOU

FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, CARRYIN’ A HEAVY LOAD
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, BETTER USE THE CROSSWALK
[HE DON’T NEED NO BACKTALK]
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, PLAYIN’ OUT HIS GOD-GIVEN ROLE
BABY, WON’T YOU SAVE MY SOUL

I WAS OUTSIDE DOIN’ YARDWORK, ISN’T IT JUST A PAIN?--OK
I WAS PEEPIN’ THROUGH HER WINDOW AT MY FINE NEIGHBOR MARYJANE
WHEN I SAW HIM, THROUGH THE BUSHES, RIDIN’ IN THE CULdeSAC
HE WAS SWEATIN’ QUITE PROFUSELEY WITH THAT WOODEN CROSS ON HIS BACK
AND THE HOUSEWIVES WHO WERE JOGGIN’, THEY LEFT HIM IN THE DUST
I HEARD ONE SAY TO THE OTHER “YOU KNOW NIKE’S ARE A MUST

FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, CARRYIN’ A HEAVY LOAD
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, BETTER USE THE CROSSWALK
[HE DON’T NEED NO BACKTALK]
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, PLAYIN’ OUT HIS GOD-GIVEN ROLE
BABY, WON’T YOU SAVE MY SOUL

OH, MAMA, DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT THIS MEANS
OH, PAPA, DON’T YOU TELL ME WHAT TO THINK
I DON’T NEED NO TEACHER, I GOT MY CHUBBY PREACHER
IT WAS SUNDAY, IT WAS RAININ’, COMIN’ DOWN LIKE CATS& DOGS
IN THE DENNY’S, FOLKS WERE EATIN’, SWALLOWIN’ THEIR CUT UP HOGS
IN THEIR BLUE SUITS, IN THEIR PANSY PRINTS, TALKIN’ ‘BOUT THE MOTHER-IN-LAW
WHILE THE BABY IN HER HIGH CHAIR SAT QUIETLY IN REVERANT AWE
‘CAUSE HE WAS WAITIN’ ON THEIR TABLE, THAT REBEL JEWISH SAGE
TAKIN’ ALL THEIR ORDERS, WORKIN’ FOR THE MINIMUM WAGE

FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, CARRYIN’ A HEAVY LOAD
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, BETTER USE THE CROSSWALK
[HE DON’T NEED NO BACKTALK]
FAT JESUS, ON A BICYCLE, PLAYIN’ OUT HIS GOD-GIVEN ROLE
BABY, WON’T YOU SAVE MY SOUL

Kyrie Eleison

 

Candy

Tim Mueller ©2011

Your momma on your left
Your daddy on your right
Holding your hands
Got ‘em held tight

You’re walking down the aisle
In the grocery store
You know the one I mean
The one your living for

Candy everywhere
Shining like the sun
reds and blue and green
Gotta get yourself some
“Hey mommy”, you could say real nice
With your smile so sweet and your eyes so bright.
Can I have some candy, You know I want some candy,
Can I please have some candy
Please, oh please, oh please, oh please
Wa wa……………..

Give them your sad eyes
Stick out your lower lip
Reach out for the candy
Let a wet tear slip

They said yes
They said OK
You can get yourself some candy
You can have it right away
“Thanks Mommy” you should say it twice.
“You’re so sweet and my Daddy’s so nice.”
Thank you for the candy, I ate up all the candy,
Can I have some more candy
Please, oh please, oh please, oh please
Wa wa……………..
Instrumental interlude
Can I have some candy, You know I want some candy,
Can I please have some candy
Please, oh please, oh please, oh please
Wa wa……………..
Can I have some candy, You know I want some candy,
Can I please have some candy
Please, oh please, oh please, oh please
Wa wa……………..

 

Here in the Middle

Tim Mueller,  ©2011
So many days and so many miles
We scatter behind us like petals of roses
Leaving sweet memories fading as we go
And new days come on us and ask us to choose.
The future will take us, go flying before us
On wings of desire and dreams of our good life
As steady as the diesel with the cruise set on 60
And no place for slow pokes who won’t come along
And we’re here in the middle of future and past
And we can’t hold on
Here in the center of past and future is where we always will be
Forever be
Look at the mountains, red green and yellow
And white clouds make blue sky seem bluer than ever
And look at your, amber and golden
With laugh lines around them like lace on the trees
And we’re here in the middle of future and past
And we can’t hold on
Here in the center of past and future is where we always will be
Forever….
Look at the lake there, all rippled and shallow
And the talk of the mallard and robin and crow
The city awaits us, with the keyboard and the cell phone
And all of the people who share in our lives
And we’re here in the middle of future and past
And we can’t hold on
In the fast moving center of past and future is where, where we belong,
And we’re here in the middle of future and past
And we can’t hold on
Here in the center of past and future is where we always will be, you and me
Forever be

 

I Can’t Tell You (9/11)

Tim Mueller,  ©2011

We’re driving up the road to see the happy day
The sun was shining bright here in the USA
That’s when we go the news, we’ll never be the same
You looked me in the eye, I said this is insane, yes it is.
I can’t tell you how to live your life
But fire and smoke and death just don’t seem right.
We put our shields up, we tried to hunker down
We let our anger out, we shed our tears and drown
We said our hearts forgive, but forgiveness wasn’t found
And so we grabbed a gun and we’re still spinning round.
I can’t tell you how to live your life
But fire and smoke and death just don’t seem right.
Why is it so hard to see the path to set us free
We all come from one tree and I am you and you are me
And so we argue this and we argue that
I think you’re skinny and You think I’m fat
Got my dark glasses on, you got that funny hat
And so the summers go and they’re still not coming back
I can’t tell you how to live your life
But fire and smoke and death just don’t seem right.

 

THE CONJURER

Tim Mueller COPYRIGHT 6-95>

SITTING IN MY EMPTY ROOM
WEIGHTLESS DEMONS WHISPER DOOM INTO MY EAR
DARKNESS CREEPS IN FROM THE NIGHT
CLUTCHES ‘ROUND MY HEART SO TIGHT, FEEDS MY FEARS
THAT I WILL TAKE YOUR LOVE, AND USE IT UP
BLEED YOU DRY AND SAY,”HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?”

BUT YOU SEE A DIFFERENT MAN
CHARMING, GENTLE, TENDER HANDS, WHEN YOU LOOK AT ME
WHEN YOUR EYES CARRESS MY FACE
THEY SEE MUCH MORE THAN A TRACE OF WHAT YOU NEED
WHEN YOU GIVE YOUR LOVE, ALL TO ME
YOU STILL HAVE MORE TO GIVE, THAT’S YOU LOVIN’ ME

CHORUS:  LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN ON ME, LET IT COVER ME
LET ME HEAR YOUR LAUGHTER RING, WHEN YOU’RE LOVIN’ ME
DRIVE AWAY THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR MAGIC SPELL
AND I WILL BE A CONJURER AS WELL

YOU KNOW I’VE LOST AT LOVE BEFORE
LET A SWEET THING HIT THE FLOOR AND SHATTER
A CLUMSY MAN WITH LOVE, I WAS
YOU’D THINK THAT WOULD GIVE YOU PAUSE, BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER—NO NOT TO YOU
SO I WILL TAKE YOUR LOVE, TAKE THIS CHANCE
AND OUR HEARTS WILL BEAT, WHILE OUR BODIES DANCE

LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN ON ME, LET IT COVER ME
LET ME HEAR YOUR LAUGHTER RING WHEN YOU’RE LOVING ME
DRIVE AWAY THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR MAGIC SPELL
AND I WILL BE A CONJURER AS WELL

OOO  OOO  HOLD ME CLOSE   OOO OOO HOLD ME CLOSE
FEEL MY LOVE

I’M JUST AS HUMAN MAN, TRY TO DO THE BEST I CAN
AS MY LIFE GOES BY
THERE’S SO MUCH MORE LIFE TO LIVE
SO MUCH MORE LOVE I HAVE TO GIVE BEFORE I DIE
I SEE IT IN YOUR EYES
SO C’MON AND HOLD ME CLOSE, DON’T LET GO
WHEN OUR TIME RUNS OUT, BABY, WE’LL STILL BE WANTIN MORE

LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN ON ME, LET IT COVER ME
LET ME HEAR YOUR LAUGHTER RING WHEN YOU’RE LOVING ME
DRIVE AWAY THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR MAGIC SPELL
AND I WILL BE A CONJURER AS WELL

LET YOUR LOVE COME DOWN ON ME, LET IT COVER ME
LET ME HEAR YOUR LAUGHTER RING WHEN YOU’RE LOVING ME
DRIVE AWAY THE DARKNESS WITH YOUR MAGIC SPELL
AND I WILL BE A CONJURER AS WELL

 

Fill My Heart

Tim Mueller ©2011

I’ve been sinking into deep despair
I’ve been growing long, grey, Hippie hair
So many things I believe are true
Are getting lost in the red, white, and blue.
I been searching oh, so many years
For peace and love between the tears
It gets so hard not to just give in
And let the darkness win
Fill my heart, Fill my heart, I gotta fill my heart
Fill my heart with love
In myself, on my own
Try to get it right, try again, try again…
Pain is everywhere it’s not just your own
We share it deep in our bones
Your brother dies when you shoot your gun
There is no place to run.
Fill my heart, Fill my heart, I gotta fill my heart
Fill my heart with love
In myself, on my own
Try to get it right, try again, try again…

I still sing and play and make my noise
I still hope they’ll put away their tough boy toys
Crazy Hippie man, doesn’t understand
Why don’t we just let in the light.
Fill my heart, Fill my heart, I gotta fill my heart
Fill my heart with love
In myself, on my own
Try to get it right, try again, try again…
Fill my heart with love………

 

Rainbow

Tim Mueller ©2012

Rainbow…
Walk out of the world, the world of steel and glass
Walk into the blue sky, don’t ever look back
Your toes in the crystal brook, clear heart water flows
Let the colors shine in your eyes, all the colors in the rainbow,
In the rainbow.
Rainbow…
Summer brings the silver light of popcorn in the pale moonlight
Sparking stars and sparking eyes and wind in your hair so light
Such a pretty peaceful scene of glowing fires and waking dreams
As we all kiss the night and grow all the colors in the rainbow
In the rainbow
Take your child in your tender arms in the meadow gold and green
Let your spirit sing of love in the mountains tall and free
The beetle has silver wings, the eagle a crown of gold
The Mother covers us with shining light all the colors in the rainbow
In the rainbow
Mysteries so deep and strange, echoes of patrolman’s planes
Mingle with the call we strain to send you to relieve the pain
So all of us can be refreshed, one step further from our deaths
Walking with the children so we can feel the colors of the
Rainbow….
Rainbow…
.

I’m Not Sleeping

Tim Mueller,  ©2011

Sitting by the streamside at Custer Camp
Watching bubbles dancing to the sea
Holding still for just a moment, while you watch the sky
I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes.
Children of my children, funny face
He can she can, look at me.
I will reach into the air, while you learn to fly.
I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes.
The road is long and longer still
The load is heavy and the ringing shrill
So take a rest today, but don’t sleep the day away
Omming on the top of crystal hill, omming there…  Ommmmmmm
Cardinal and Blue jay and Taninger
the Robin of my childhood is here, too.
Linger, you bet I will linger, why don’t you com’on and join me here, ‘cause
I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes.
Radio and radar are telling me
Storms are brewing in the stratosphere
Soon I will ride them, but not quite yet ‘cause,
I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m just resting my eyes.
I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping, I’m not sleeping………..

 

I’m Coming Home (for George P)

Tim Mueller ©2012

I know you’re all there looking down on me
I can feel your love washing over me
I can almost feel your hands in mind
But I’m leaving now, you know it’s time
I was born in 1921
On a summer day in the summer sun
My daddy left when I was nine
I’m leaving now, you know it’s time
I was in a war that we fought and won
So I could live my life with my love Joan
When our daughter died my Honey saw her time
And now my Sweetie, I see mine.
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Honey, Sweetie, I’m coming home.
Coming home.
I was awake each and every day
Making my mark on the world stage
I spent my life working overtime
But I’m leaving now, you know it’s time
I was there when you were born
Early one September morn
When the sun came up I thanked the Lord,
Gonna see Him now, you know it’s time


Eighty years and seven more
One last time I’ll close the door
When I think of you I’ll send a sign
But for now, I know it’s time
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Honey, Sweetie, I’m coming home.
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Coming home, I’m coming home.
Honey, Sweetie, I’m coming home.
Coming home.


STEEL WOOL Band
a Division of 
GreyWolf Projects, LLC. 2096 1/2 Arthur St. Eugene, OR 97405 
tim@steelwoolband.com randyhamme@steelwoolband.com / Tim Mueller 541 521 7208

(c)GreyWolf Projects 2012-2017