You Can’t Bark the Rain Away Bubba Patrick — Porch Wisdom with Bubba & Trigger [Intro — Gentle rain, acoustic guitar] [Spoken] Trigger, I checked the forecast. It says rain. You’re welcome to get a second opinion, But quit hollering at the gutter. [Verse 1] You were standing by the screen door, Had your morning all worked out. Take a lap around the neighborhood, See what folks had put about. Then a raindrop hit your whiskers, And you backed up mighty quick. Gave the sky a formal warning— Sky didn’t answer it. [Chorus] You can’t bark the rain away, Can’t growl the clouds to blue. That weather’s got a schedule It didn’t clear with you. We can sit here on the porch awhile, Let those puddles have their day. Son, I’ve tried it several different ways— You can’t bark the rain away. [Verse 2] You kept pacing past my rocker, Like I ought to call someone. Like the fellow with the weather map Could switch us back to sun. I said, “Boy, you’re wasting effort.” Then I saw that leaking spout, Grabbed a bucket, bumped my elbow, Said some things we’ll leave out. [Spoken] Well, that’s different. I was talking to the bucket. [Verse 3] You sat down beside my muddy boots, Gave me quite a sideways stare. I’d been lecturing you on patience, Now I’m fussing at a chair. Seems the wind had blown my hat off, Sent it rolling through the yard. I was halfway down the porch steps When that thunder cracked real hard. [Chorus] You can’t bark the rain away, Can’t growl the clouds to blue. That weather’s got a schedule It didn’t clear with you. We can sit here on the porch awhile, Let those puddles have their day. Son, I’ve tried it several different ways— You can’t bark the rain away. [Instrumental — Harmonica solo with piano answers] [Bridge] Moved the chair away from the drip, Put a towel beside the door. Found your ball beneath the table, Rolled it halfway ’cross the floor. You brought it back and dropped it, So I sent it out again. Pretty soon we had a good thing going, Hadn’t checked the sky since then. [Verse 4] When it finally quit that afternoon, We went walking down the street. You found something in a puddle That smelled wonderful to me— Well, apparently it didn’t, But you seemed mighty impressed. I let you take a little extra time. That’s between you and your nose, I guess. [Final Chorus] You can’t bark the rain away, Can’t growl the clouds to blue. But a rainy afternoon Can have a little room for you. We can play here on the porch awhile, Take that walk a little late. Keep a towel beside the screen door— You can’t bark the rain away. [Tag] That old hat’s out by the roses, We’ll retrieve it on our way. Right now I’m busy throwing this ball— You can’t bark the rain away. [Outro — Spoken] Well, look at that. Sunshine. Now don’t go taking credit, Trigger. [Pause] He thinks he handled it. [Harmonica flourish and band finish]
