Man's Job
Mansion On The Hill
Mary Queen Of Arkansas
Meeting Across The River
Murder Incorporated
My Beautiful Reward
My Best Was Never Good Enough
My Father's House
My Hometown
Nebraska
Night
No Surrender
One Step Up
Open All Night
Out In The Street
Point Blank
Pony Boy
Prove It All Night
Racing In The Street
Raise Your Hand
Ramrod
Red Headed Woman
Real Man
Real World
Reason To Believe
Roll Of The Dice
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
Secret Garden
Seeds
Sherry Darling
She's The One
Sinaloa Cowboys
Something In The Night
Soul Driver
Souls Of The Departed
Spare Parts
Spirit In The Night
State Trooper
Stolen Car
Straight Time
Streets Of Fire
Streets Of Philadelphia
 
 
 
 

MAN'S JOB

Well you can go out with him
Play with all of his toys
But takin’ care of you darlin’
Ain’t for one of the boys
Oh there’s somethin’ in your soul
That he’s gonna rob
And lovin’ you baby lovin’ you darlin’
Lovin’ you woman is a man’s man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job

Well now his kisses may thrill
Those other girls that he likes
But when it comes to treatin’
A real woman right
Well all of his tricks
No they won’t be enough
’Cause lovin’ you baby lovin’ you woman
Lovin’ you darlin’ is a man’s man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job

You’re dancin’ with him he’s holding you tight
I’m standing here waitin’ to catch your eye
Your hand’s on his neck as the music sways
All my illusions slip away

Now if you’re lookin’ for a hero
Someone to save the day
Well darlin’ my feet
They’re made of clay
But I’ve got somethin’ in my soul
And I wanna give it up
But gettin’ up the nerve
Gettin’ up the nerve
Gettin’ up the nerve is a man’s man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job baby
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job woman
Lovin’ you’s a man’s job

MANSION ON THE HILL

There’s place out on the edge of town sir
Risin’ above the factories and the fields
Now ever since I was a child I can remember that mansion on the hill

In the day you can see the children playing
On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel
Steel gates that completely surround sir the mansion on the hill

At night my daddy’d take me and we’d ride through the streets of a town so silent and still
Park on a back road along the highway side
Look up at that mansion on the hill

In the summer all the lights would shine there’d be music playin’ people laughin’ all the time
Me and my sister we’d hide out in the tall corn fields
Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill

Tonight down here in Linden Town I watch the cars rushin’ by home from the mill
There’s a beautiful full moon rising above the mansion on the hill

MARY QUEEN OF ARKANSAS

Mary queen of Arkansas, it's not too early for dreamin'
The sky is grown with cloud seed sown and a bastard's love can be redeeming

Mary, my queen, your soft hulk is reviving
No, you're not too late to desecrate, the servants are just rising
Well I'm just a lonely acrobat, the live wire is my trade
I've been a shine boy for your acid brat and a wharf rat of your state

Mary, my queen, your blows for freedom are missing
You're not man enough for me to hate or woman enough for kissing
The big top is for dreamers, we can take the circus all the way to theborder
And the gallows wait for martyrs whose papers are in order
But I was not born to live to die and you were not born for queenin'
It's not too late to infiltrate, the servants are just leavin'

Mary queen of Arkansas, your white skin is deceivin'
You wake and wait to lie in bait and you almost got me believin'
But on your bed Mary I can see the shadow of a noose
I don't understand how you can hold ma so tight and love me so damn loose
But I know a place where we can go, Mary
Where I can get a good job and start all over again clean
I got contacts deep in Mexico where the servants have been seen

MEETING ACROSS THE RIVER

Hey, Eddie, can you lend me a few bucks
And tonight can you get us a ride
Gotta make it through the tunnel
Got a meeting with a man on the other side

Hey Eddie, this guy, he’s the real thing
So if you want to come along
You gotta promise you won’t say anything
’Cause this guy don’t dance
And the word’s been passed this is our last chance

We gotta stay cool tonight, Eddie
’Cause man, we got ourselves out on that line
And if we blow this one
They ain’t gonna be looking for just me this time

And all we gotta do is hold up our end
Here stuff this in your pocket
It’ll look like you’re carrying a friend
And remember, just don’t smile
Change your shirt, ’cause tonight we got style

Well Cherry says she’s gonna walk
’Cause she found out I took her radio and hocked it
But Eddie, man, she don’t understand
That two grand’s practically sitting here in my pocket

And tonight’s gonna be everything that I said
And when I walk through that door
I’m just gonna throw that money on the bed
She’ll see this time I wasn’t just talking
Then I’m gonna go out walking

Hey Eddie, can you catch us a ride ?

MURDER INCORPORATED

Bobby’s got a gun that he keeps beneath his pillow
Out on the street your chances are zero
Take a look around you (come on now)
It ain’t too complicated
You’re messin’ with Murder Incorporated

Now you check over your shoulder everywhere that you go
Walkin’ down the street there’s eyes in every shadow
You better take a look around you (come on now)
That equipment you got’s so outdated
You can’t compete with Murder Incorporated
Everywhere you look now, Murder Incorporated

So you keep a little secret down deep inside your dresser drawer
For dealing with the heat you’re feelin’ out on the killin’ floor
No matter where you step you feel you’re never out of danger
So the comfort that you keep’s a gold-plated-snub-nose-thirty-two
I heard you

You got a job downtown, man that leaves your head cold
Everywhere you look life ain’t got no soul
That apartment you live in feels like it’s just a place to hide
When you’re walkin’ down the street you won’t meet no one eye to eye
The cops reported you as just an another homicide
But I can tell that you were just frustrated
From living with Murder Incorporated
Everywhere you look now, Murder Incorporated
Murder Incorporated

MY BEAUTIFUL REWARD

Well I sought gold and diamond rings
My own drug to ease the pain that living brings
Walked from the mountain to the valley floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward

From a house on a hill a sacred light shines
I walk through these rooms but none of them are mine
Down empty hallways I went from door to door
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward

Well your hair shone in the sun
I was so high I was the lucky one
Then I came crashing down like a drunk on a barroom floor
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward

Tonight I can feel the cold wind at my back
I’m flyin’ high over gray fields my feathers long and black
Down along the river’s silent edge I soar
Searching for my beautiful reward
Searching for my beautiful reward

MY BEST WAS NEVER GOOD ENOUGH

"Every cloud has a silver lining, every dog has his day."
She said "Now don’t stay nothin’
If you don’t have something nice to say
The tough now they get going when the going gets tough."
But for you my best was never good enough

"Now don’t try for a home run baby
If you can get the job done with a hit
Remember a quitter never wins
And a winner never quits
The sun don’t shine on a sleepin’ dog’s ass."
And all the rest of that stuff
But for you my best was never good enough

"If God gives you nothin’ but lemons then you make some lemonade
The early bird catches the fuckin’ worm, Rome wasn’t built in a day
Now life’s like a box of chocolates
You never know what you’re going to get
Stupid is as stupid does" and all the rest of that shit
Come on pretty baby call my bluff
’Cause for you my best was never good enough

MY FATHER'S HOUSE

Last night I dreamed that I was a child out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest before the darkness falls

I heard the wind rustling through the trees and ghostly voices rose from the fields
I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path
With the devil snappin’ at my heels

I broke through the trees and there in he night
My father’s house stood shining hard and bright the branches and brambles tore my clothes and
scratched my arms
But I ran till I fell shaking in his arms

I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart
Will never again sir tear us from each other’s hearts
I got dressed and to that house I did ride from out on the road I could see its windows shining in light
 

I walked up the steps and stood on the porch a woman I didn’t recognize came and spoke to me
through a chained door
I told her my story and who I’d come for
She said "I’m sorry son but no one by that name lives here anymore"

My father’s house shines hard and bright it stands like a beacon calling me in the night
Calling and calling so cold and alone
Shining cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned

MY HOMETOWN

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
into the busstop
to pick up a paper for my old man
I’d sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He’d tousle my hair and say son take a good look around this is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown
This is your hometown

In ’65 tension was running high, at my high-school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night, in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed, in a shotgun blast
Troubled times had come, to my hometown
My hometown
My hometown
My hometown

Now Main Street’s white washed windows
and vacant stores
seems like there ain’t nobody
wants to come down here no more
They’re closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain’t coming back to your hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown
Your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I’m 35, we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up, behind the wheel and said son take a good look around, this is your
hometown

NEBRASKA

I saw her standin’ on her front lawn just twirlin’ her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died

From the town of Lincoln, Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap
Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path

I can’t say that I’m sorry for the things that we done
At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun

The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death
Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest

Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back
You make sure my pretty baby is sittin’ right there on my lap

They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul’d be hurled
They wanted to know why I did what I did
Well sir I guess there’s just a meanness in this world.

NIGHT

You get up every morning at the sound of the bell
You get to work late and the boss man’s giving you hell
Till you’re out on a midnight run
Losing your heart to a beautiful one
And it feels right as you lock up the house
Turn out the lights and step out into the night

And the world is busting at its seams
And you’re just a prisoner of your dreams
Holding on for your life ’cause you work all day
To blow ’em away in the night

The rat traps filled with soul crusaders
The circuits lined and jammed with chromed invaders
And she’s so pretty that you’re lost in the stars
As you jockey your way through the cars
And sit at the light, as it changes to green
With your faith in your machine off you scream into the night

And you’re in love with all the wonder it brings
And every muscle in your body sings as the highway ignites
You work nine to five and somehow you survive till the night
Hell all day they’re busting you up on the outside
But tonight you’re gonna break on through to the inside
And it’ll be right, it’ll be right, and it’ll be tonight

And you know she will be waiting there
And you’ll find her somehow you swear
Somewhere tonight you run sad and free
Until all you can see is the night

NO SURRENDER

We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three minute record than we ever learned in school
Tonight I hear the neighborhood drummer sound
I can feel my heart begin to pound you say you’re tired and you just want to close your eyes and
follow your dreams down

We made a promise we swore we’d always remember no retreat no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter’s night with a vow to defend, no retreat no surrender

Now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold, we swore blood brothers against
the wind. I’m ready to grow young again and hear your sister’s voice calling us home across the open
yards well maybe we could cut someplace of our own with these drums and these guitars

We made a promise we swore we’d always remember
no retreat, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend no retreat no surrender

Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim the walls of my room are closing in
There’s a war outside still raging
You say it ain’t ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover’s bed with a wide open country in my eyes and
these romantic dreams in my head

ONE STEP UP

Woke up this morning the house was cold
Checked the furnace she wasn’t burnin’
Went out and hopped in my old Ford
Hit the engine but she ain’t turnin’
We’ve given each other some hard lessons lately
But we ain’t learnin’
We’re the same sad story that’s a fact
One step up and two steps back

Bird on a wire outside my motel room
But he ain’t singin’
Girl in white outside a church in June
But the church bells they ain’t ringin’
I’m sittin’ here in this bar tonight
But all I’m thinkin’ is
I’m the same old story same old act
One step up and two steps back

It’s the same thing night on night
Who’s wrong baby who’s right
Another fight and I slam the door on
Another battle in our dirty little war
When I look at myself I don’t see
The man I wanted to be
Somewhere along the line I slipped off track
I’m caught movin’ one step up and two steps back

There’s a girl across the bar
I get the message she’s sendin’
Mmm she ain’t lookin’ too married
And me well honey I’m pretending
Last night I dreamed I held you in my arms
The music was never-ending
We danced as the evening sky faded to black
One step up and two steps back

OPEN ALL NIGHT

I had the carburetor cleaned and checked with her line blown out she’s hummin’ like a turbojet
Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks for a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks
Took her down to the carwash check the plugs and points
I’m goin’ out tonight I’m gonna rock that joint

Early north Jersey industrial skyline I’m a all set cobra jet creepin’ through the nighttime
Gotta find a gas station gotta find a payphone this turnpike sure is spooky at night when you’re all
alone
Gotta hit the gas ’cause I’m runnin’ late, this New Jersey n the mornin’ like a lunar landscape

The boss don’t dig me so he put me on the nightshift
It’s an all night run to get back to where my baby lives
In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy radio relay towers won’t you lead me to my baby
Underneath the overpass trooper hits his party light switch
Goodnight good luck one two powershift

I met Wanda when she was employed behind the counter at the route 60 Bobs Big Boy fried chicken
on the front seat she’s sittin’ in my lap
We’re wipin’ our fingers on a Texaco roadmap
I remember Wanda up on scrap metal hill with them big brown eyes that make your heart stand still

5 A.M. oil pressure’s sinkin’ fast
I make a pit stop wipe the windshield check the gas
Gotta call my baby on the telephone
Let her know that her daddy’s comin’ on home
Sit tight little mamma I’m commin’ round I got 3 more hours but I’m coverin’ ground

Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours sun’s just a red ball risin’ over them refinery towers
Radio’s jammed up with gospel stations lost souls callin’ long distance salvation
Hey mr. deejay woncha hear my last prayer hey ho rock ’n roll deliver me from nowhere

OUT IN THE STREET

Put on your best dress baby
And darlin’, fix your hair up right
Cause there’s a party, honey
Way down beneath the neon lights
All day you’ve been working that hard line
Now tonight you’re gonna have a good time

I work five days a week girl
Loading crates down on the dock
I take my hard earned money
And meet my girl down on the block
And Monday when the foreman calls time
I’ve already got Friday on my mind

When that whistle blows
Girl, I’m down the street
I’m home, I’m out of my work clothes
When I’m out in the street
I walk the way I wanna walk
When I’m out in the street
I talk the way I wanna talk
When I’m out in the street
When I’m out in the street

When I’m out in the street, girl
Well, I never feel alone
When I’m out in the street, girl
In the crowd I feel at home
The black and whites they cruise by
And they watch us from the corner of their eye

But there ain’t no doubt, girl, down here
We ain’t gonna take what they’re handing out
When I’m out in the street
I walk the way I wanna walk
When I’m out in the street
I talk the way I wanna talk
Baby, out in the street I don’t feel sad or blue
Baby, out in the street I’ll be waiting for you

When the whistle blows
Girl, I’m down the street
I’m home, I’m out of my work clothes
When I’m out in the street
I walk the way I wanna walk
When I’m out in the street
I talk the way I wanna talk

When I’m out in the street
Pretty girls, they’re all passing by
When I’m out in the street
From the corner, we give them the eye

Baby, out in the street I just feel all right
Meet me out in the street, little girl, tonight
Meet me out in the street
Meet me out in the street

POINT BLANK

Do you still say your prayers little darlin’ do you go to bed at night
Prayin’ that tomorrow, everything will be alright
But tomorrow’s fall in number in number one by one
You wake up and you’re dying you don’t even know what from

Well they shot you point blank you been shot in the back
Baby point blank you been fooled this time little girl that’s a fact
Right between the eyes baby, point blank right between the pretty lies that they tell
Little girl you fell

You grew up where young girls they grow up fast
You took what you were handed and left behind what was asked
but what they asked baby wasn’t right
you didn’t have to live that life,
I was gonna be your Romeo you were gonna be my Juliet
These days you don’t wait on Romeo’s you wait on that welfare check
and on all the pretty things that you can’t ever have and on all the promises

That always end up point blank, shot between the eyes
Point blank like little white lies you tell to ease the pain
You’re walkin’ in the sights, girl of point blank
and it’s one false move and baby the lights go out

Once I dreamed we were together again baby you and me
Back home in those old clubs the way we used to be
We were standin’ at the bar it was hard to hear
The band was playin’ loud and you were shoutin’ somethin’ in my ear
You pulled my jacket off and as the drummer counted four
You grabbed my hand and pulled me out on the floor
You just stood there and held me, then you started dancin’ slow
And as I pulled you tighter I swore I’d never let you go

Well I saw you last night down on the avenue
Your face was in the shadows but I knew that it was you
You were standin’ in the doorway out of the rain
You didn’t answer when I called out your name
You just turned, and then you looked away like just another stranger waitin’ to get blown away

Point blank, right between the eyes
Point blank, right between the pretty lies you fell
Point blank, shot straight through the heart,
Yea point blank, you’ve been twisted up till you’ve become just another part of it
Point blank, you’re walkin’ in the sights,
Point blank, livin’ one false move just one false move away
Point blank, they caught you in their sights
Point blank, did you forget how to love, girl, did you forget how to fight.
Point blank they must have shot you in the head
Cause point blank, bang bang baby you’re dead.

PONY BOY

Pony boy pony boy
Won’t you be my pony boy
Giddy-up giddy-up giddy-up whoa
My pony boy

Ride with me ride with me
Won’t you take a ride with me
Underneath the starry sky
My pony boy

O’er the hills and through the trees
We’ll go ridin’ you and me
Giddy-up giddy-up giddy-away
My pony boy

Down into the valley deep
’Neath the eaves we will sleep
Sky of dreams up above
My pony boy

PROVE IT ALL NIGHT

I’ve been working real hard, trying to get my hands clean,
Tonight we’ll drive that dusty road from Monroe to Angeline,
To buy you a gold ring and pretty dress of blue,
Baby just one kiss will get these things for you,
A kiss to seal our fate tonight,
A kiss to prove it all night.

Prove it all night,
Girl there’s nothing else that we can do,
So prove it all night, prove it all night,
And girl I’ll prove it all night for you.

Everybody’s got a hunger, a hunger they can’t resist,
There’s so much that you want, you deserve much more than this,
But if dreams came true, oh, wouldn’t that be nice,
But this ain’t no dream we’re living through tonight,
Girl, you want it, you take it, you pay the price.

Prove it all night,
Girl there’s nothing else that we can do,
So prove it all night, prove it all night,
And girl I’ll prove it all night for you.
Prove it all night, prove it all night girl and call the bluff,
Prove it all night, prove it all night and girl,
I prove it all night for your love.

Baby, tie your hair back in a long white bow,
Meet me in the fields out behind the dynamo,
You hear the voices telling you not to go,
They made their choices and they’ll never know,
What it means to steal, to cheat, to lie,
What it’s like to live and die.

Prove it all night,
Girl there’s nothing else that we can do,
So prove it all night, prove it all night,
And girl I’ll prove it all night for you.
To prove it all night...

RACING IN THE STREET

I got a sixty-nine Chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a Hurst on the floor
She’s waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the Seven-Eleven store
Me and my partner Sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money, got no strings attached
We shut ’em up and than we shut ’em down

Tonight, tonight the strip’s just right
I wanna blow ’em off in my first heat
Summer’s here and the time is right
For racin’ in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run ’em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little, piece by piece,
Some guys come home from work and wash up,
And go racin’ in the street.

Tonight, tonight the strip’s just right
I wanna blow ’em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world, we’re going racin’ in the street.

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a Camero with this dude from L.A.
I blew that Camero off my back,
and drove that little girl away,
But now there’s wrinkles around my baby’s eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When I come home the house is dark
She sighs, "Baby did you make it all right,"
She sits on the porch of her Daddy’s house
But all her pretty dreams are torn,
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born
For all the shut down strangers and hot rod angels,
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me, we’re gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands.

Tonight, tonight the highway’s bright
Out of our way, mister you best keep
’Cause summer’s here and the time is right
For racin’ in the street.

RAISE YOUR HAND

If there’s something you need
That you just don’t have
Well just don’t sit there
Feeling bad
Come on now get up
Try and understand
Just raise your hand

Baby here I am
You know I’m standing in line
I wanna give you my love
Please let me try
Come on now get up
Try and understand
Just raise your hand

RAMROD

Hey, little dolly with the blue jeans on
I wanna ramrod with you honey, till half-past dawn
Let your hair down sugar and pick up this beat
Come on and meet me tonight down on Bluebird Street
I’ve been working all week, I’m up to my neck in hock
Come Saturday night I let my ramrod rock

She’s a hot stepping hemi with a four on the floor
She’s a roadrunner engine in a ’32 Ford
Late at night when I’m dead on the line
I swear I think of your pretty face when I let her unwind
Well look over yonder see them city lights
Come on little dolly ’n’ go ramroddin’ tonight

Come on, come on, come on little baby
Come on, come on let’s shake it tonight
Come on, come, come on little sugar
Dance with your daddy and we’ll go ramroddin’ tonight

Hey, little dolly won’t you say you will
Meet me tonight up on top of the hill
Well just a few miles cross the county line
There’s a cute little chapel nestled down in the pines
Say you’ll be mine little girl I’ll put my foot to the floor
Give me the word now sugar, we’ll go ramroddin’ forever more

RED HEADED WOMAN

Well brunettes are fine man
And blondes are fun
But when it comes to getting a dirty job done

I’ll take a red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

Well listen up stud
Your life’s been wasted
Til you’ve got down on your knees and tasted

A red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

Tight skirt, strawberry hair
Tell me what you’ve got, baby, waiting under there
Big green eyes that look like, son
They can see every cheap thing that you ever done

Well I don’t know how many girls you’ve dated, man
But you ain’t lived til you’ve had your tires rotated

By a red headed woman
A red headed woman
It takes a red headed woman
To get a dirty job done

REAL MAN

Took my baby to a picture show
Found a seat in the back row
Sound came up lights went down
Rambo he was blowin’ ’em down
I don’t need no gun in my fist baby
All I need is your sweet kiss
To get me feelin’ like a real man
Feelin’ like a real man
Well you can beat on your chest
Hell any monkey can
But you got me feelin’ like a real man
Oh feelin’ like a real man

Me and my girl Saturday night
Late movie on channel five
The girls were droppin’ they’re droppin’ like flies
To some smooth talkin’ cool walkin’ private eye
I ain’t got no nerves of steel
But all I got to know is if your love is real
To get me feelin’ like a real man
Oh feelin’ like a real man

Well you can beat on your chest
Hell any monkey can
Your love’s got me feelin’ like a real man
Oh feelin’ like a real man

I ain’t no fighter that’s easy to see
And as a lover I ain’t goin’ down in history
But when the lights go down and you pull me close
Well I look in your eyes and there’s one thing I know
Baby I’ll be tough enough
If I can find the guts to give you all my love
Then I’ll be feelin’ like a real man
Feelin’ like a real man
Well you can beat on your chest
Hell any monkey can
You got me feelin’ like a real man
Oh feelin’ like a real man
Yeah I been felin’ like a real man
Feelin’ like a real man

REAL WORLD

Mister trouble come walkin’ this way
Year gone past feels like one long day
But I’m alive and I’m feelin’ all right
Well I run that hard road outta hearbreak city
Built a roadside carnival out of hurt and self-pity
It was all wrong well now I’m movin’ on

Ain’t no chuch bells ringing
Ain’t no flags unfurled
Just me and you and the love we’re bringing
Into the real world
Into the real world

I built a shrine in my heart it wasn’t pretty to see
Made out of fool’s gold memory and tears cried
Now I’m headin’ over the rise
I’m searchin’ for one clear moment of love and truth
I still got a little faith
But what I need is some proof tonight
I’m lookin’ for it in your eyes

Ain’t no chuch bells ringing
Ain’t no flags unfurled
Just me and you and the faith we’re bringing
Into the real world
Into the real world

Well tonight I just wanna shout
I feel my soul waist deep and sinkin’
Into this black river of doubt
I just wanna rise and walk along the riverside
And when the morning comes baby I don’t wanna hide
I’ll stand right at your side with my arms open wide

Well tonight I just wanna shout
I feel my soul waist deep and sinkin’
Into this black river of doubt
I just wanna rise and walk along the riverside
’Til the morning comes
I’ll stand right by your side

I wanna find some answers I wanna ask for some help
I’m tired or runnin’ scared
Baby let’s get our bags packed
We’ll take it here to hell and heaven and back
And if love is hopeless hopeless at best
Come on put on your party dress it’s ours tonight
And we’re goin’ with the tumblin’ dice

Ain’t no chuch bells ringing
Ain’t no flags unfurled
Oh just me you and the hope we’re bringing
Into the real world
Well into the real world
Oh into the real world

REASON TO BELIEVE

Seen a man standin’ over a dead dog lyin’ by the highway in a ditch
He’s lookin’ down kinda puzzled pokin’ that dog with a stick
Got his car door flung open he’s standin’ out on highway 31
Like if he stood there long enough that dog’d get up and run
Struck me kinda funny seem kinda funny sir to me
Still at the end of every hard day people find some reason to believe

Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true
She said baby I’ll work for you everyday and bring my money home to you
One day he up and left her and ever since that
She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back
Struck me kinda funny funny yea indeed how at the end of every hard earned day you can find some
reason to believe

Take a baby to the river Kyle William they called him
Wash the baby in the water take away little Kyle’s sin
In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away
take the body to the graveyard and over him they pray
Lord won’t you tell us, Tell us what does it mean
At the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

Congregation gathers down by the riverside
Preacher stands with his bible, groom stands waitin’ for his bride
Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin’ willow tree
Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly
Wonderin’ where can his baby be
still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe

ROLL OF THE DICE

Well I’ve been a losin’ gambler
Just throwin’ snake eyes
Love ain’t got me downhearted
I know up around the corner lies
My fool’s paradise
In just another roll of the dice

All my elevens and sevens been comin’ up
Sixes and nines
But since I fell for you baby
Been comin’ on changin’ times
They’re waitin’ over the rise
Just another roll of the dice

I’ve stumbled and I know I made my mistakes
But tonight I’m gonna be playin’ for all of the stakes

Well it’s never too late so come on girl
The tables are waiting
You and me and lady luck well tonight
We’ll be celebrating
Drinkin’ champagne on ice
In just another roll of the dice

High-rollers lay down your bets and I’ll raise ’em
Well I know the odds ain’t in my favor

Maybe I’m just a clown throwin’ down
Lookin’ to come up busted
I’m a thief in the house of love
And I can’t be trusted
Well I’ll be makin’ my heist
In just another roll of the dice
Just another roll of the dice
Move on up
Come on seven
Roll me baby
In this fool’s heaven

ROSALITA (COME OUT TONIGHT)

Spread out now Rosie doctor come cut loose her mama’s reins
You know playin’ blind man’s bluff is a little baby’s game
You pick up Little Dynamite I’m gonna pick up Little Gun
And together we’re gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don’t have to call me lieutenant Rosie and I don’t want to be your son
The only lover I’m ever gonna need’s your soft sweet little girl’s tongue and Rosie you’re the one
Dynamite’s in the belfry playin’ with the bats
Little Gun’s downtown in front of Woolworth’s tryin’ out his attitude on all the cats
Papa’s on the corner waitin’ for the bus
Mama she’s home in the window waitin’ up for us
She’ll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs ’cause you know we ain’t gonna come
I ain’t here on business
I’m only here for fun

Rosalita jump a little lighter
Señorita come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover ain’t no liar
Rosalita you’re my stone desire

Jack the Rabbit and Weak Knees Willie you know they’re gonna be there
Ah Sloppy Sue and Big Bones Billy they’ll be comin’ up for air
We’re gonna play some pool skip some school act real cool
Stay out all night it’s gonna feel all right
Rosie come out tonight Rosie come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers winners use the door

Rosalita jump a little lighter
Señorita come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover ain’t no liar
Rosalita you’re my stone desire

Now I know your mama she don’t like me ’cause I play in a rock and roll band
And I know your daddy he don’t dig me but he never did understand
Papa lowered the boom he locked you in your room
I’m comin’ to lend a hand
I’m comin’ to liberate you confiscate you I want to be your man
Someday we’ll look back on this and it will all seem funny
But now you’re sad your mama’s mad
And your papa says he knows that I don’t have any money
Tell him this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company Rosie just gave me big bucks

My tires were slashed and I almost crashed but the Lord had mercy
My machine she’s a dud out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of Jersey
Hold on tight stay up all night ’cause Rosie I’m comin’ on strong
By the time we meet the morning light I will hold you in my arms
I know a pretty little place in Southern California down San Diego way
There’s a little cafe where they play guitars all night and day
You can hear them in the back room strummin’
So hold tight baby ’cause don’t you know daddy’s comin’

Rosalita jump a little lighter
Señorita come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover ain’t no liar
Rosalita you’re my stone desire

SECRET GARDEN

She’ll let you in her house
If you come knockin’ late at night
She’ll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She’ll let you deep inside
But there’s a secret garden she hides

She’ll let you in her car
To go drivin’ ’round
She’ll let you into the parts of herself
That’ll bring you down
She’ll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret gaden, don’t think twice

You’ve gone a million miles
How far’d you get
To that place where you can’t remember
And you can’t forget

She’ll lead you down a path
There’ll be tenderness in the air
She’ll let you come just far enough
So you know she’s really there
She’ll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She’s got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
   A million miles away 

SEEDS

Well a great black river a man had found
So he put all his money in a hole in the ground
And sent a big steel arm drivin’ down down down
Man now I live on the streets of Houston town

Packed up my wife and kids when winter came along
And we headed down south with just spit and a song
But they said "Sorry son it’s gone gone gone"

Well there’s men hunkered down by the railroad tracks
The Elkhorn Special blowin’ my hair back
Tents pitched on the highway in the dirty moonlight
And I don’t know where I’m gonna sleep tonight

Parked in the lumberyard freezin’ our asses off
My kids in the back seat got a graveyard cough
Well I’m sleepin’ up in front with my wife
Billy club tappin’ on the windshield in the middle of the night
Says "Move along man move along"

Well big limousine long shiny and black
You don’t look ahead you don’t look back
How many times can you get up after you’ve been hit ?
Well I swear if I could spare the spit
I’d lay one on your shiny chrome
And send you on your way back home
So if you’re gonna leave your town where the north wind blow
To go on down where that sweet soda river flow
Well you better think twice on it Jack
You’re better off buyin’ a shotgun dead off the rack
You ain’t gonna find nothin’ down here friend
Except seeds blowin’ up the highway in the south wind
Movin’ on movin’ on it’s gone gone all gone

SHERRY DARLING

Your Mama’s yappin’ in the back seat
Tell her to push over and move them big feet
Every Monday morning I gotta drive her down to the unemployment agency
Well this morning I ain’t fighting tell her I give up
Tell her she wins if she’ll just shut up
But it’s the last time that she’s gonna be riding with me

You can tell her there’s a hot sun beating on the black top
She keeps talkin’ she’ll be walkin’ that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway’s free
And I got you, and baby you’ve got me
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’

Now there’s girls melting on the beach
And they’re so fine but so out of reach
Cause I’m stuck in traffic down, here on 53rd Street
Now Sherry my love for you is real
But I didn’t count on this package deal
And baby this car just ain’t big enough for her and me

So you can tell her there’s a hot sun beating on the black top
She keeps talkin’ she’ll be walkin’ that last block
She can take a subway back to the ghetto tonight
Well I got some beer and the highway’s free
And I got you, and baby you got me
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’

Well let there be sunlight, let there be rain
Let the brokenhearted love again
Sherry we can run with our arms open before the tide
To all the girls down at Sacred Heart
And all you operators back in the Park
Say hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’
Hey, hey, hey what you say Sherry Darlin’

SHE'S THE ONE

With her killer graces and her secret places
That no boy can fill with her hands on her hips
Oh and that smile on her lips
Because she knows that it kills me
With her soft french cream
Standing in that doorway like a dream
I wish she’d just leave me alone
Because french cream won’t soften them boots
And french kisses will not break that heart of stone
With her long hair falling
And her eyes that shine like a midnight sun
Oh-o she’s the one, she’s the one

That Thunder in your heart
At night when you’re kneeling in the dark
It says you’re never gonna leave her
But there’s this angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her
And tonight you’ll try just one more time
To leave it all behind and to break on through
Oh she can take you, but if she wants to break you
She’s gonna find out that ain’t so easy to do
And no matter where you sleep tonight or how far you run
Oh-o she’s the one, she’s the one

Oh-o and just one kiss
She’d fill them long summer nights
With her tenderness that secret pact you made
Back when her love could save you from the bitterness
Oh she’s the one, oh she’s the one
Oh she’s the one, oh she’s the one
Oh she’s the one, oh she’s the one

SINALOA COWBOYS

Miguel came from a small town in northen Mexico
He came north with his brother Louis to California three years ago
They crossed at the river levee when Louis was just sixteen
And found work together in the fields of the San Joaquin

They left their homes and family
Their father said "My sons one thing you will learn
For everything the north gives it exacts a price in return."
They worked side by side in the orchards
From morning till the day was through
Doing the work the hueros wouldn’t do.

Word was out some men in from Sinaloa were looking for some hands
Well deep in Fresno county there was a deserted chicken ranch
There in a small tin shack on the edge of a ravine
Miguel and Louis stood cooking methamphetamine.

You could spend a year in the orchards
Or make half as much in one ten-hour shift
Working for the men from Sinaloa
But if you slipped the hydriodic acid
Could burn right through your skin
They’d leave you spittin’ up blood in the desert
If you breathed those fumes in

It was early one winter evening as Miguel stood watch outside
When the shack exploded lighting up the valley night
Miguel carried Louis’ body over his shoulder down a swale
To the creekside and there in the tall grass Louis Rosales died

Miguel lifted Louis’ body into his truck and then he drove
To where the morning sunlight fell on a eucalyptus grove
There in the dirt he dug up ten thousand dollars all that they’d saved
Kissed his brother’s lips and placed him in his grave

SOMETHING IN THE NIGHT

I’m riding down Kingsley,
figuring I’ll get a drink
Turn the radio up loud,
so I don’t have to think,
I take her to the floor,
looking for a moment when the world seems right,
And I tear into the guts,
of something in the night.

You’re born with nothing,
and better off that way,
Soon as you’ve got something they send
someone to try and take it away,
You can ride this road ’till dawn,
without another human being in sight,
Just kids wasted on
something in the night.

Nothing is forgotten or forgiven,
when it’s your last time around,
I got stuff running ’round my head
That I just can’t live down.

When we found the things we loved,
They were crushed and dying in the dirt.
We tried to pick up the pieces,
And get away without getting hurt,
But they caught us at the state line,
And burned our cars in one last fight,
And left us running burned and blind,
Chasing something in the night.

SOUL DRIVER

Rode through forty nights of the gospels’ rain
Black sky pourin’ snakes frogs
And love in vain
You were down where the river grows wider
Baby let me be your soul driver

Well if something in the air feels a little unkind
Don’t worry darlin’
It’ll slip your mind
I’ll be your gypsy joker your shotgun rider
Baby let me be your soul driver

Now no one knows which way love’s wheel turns
Will we hit it rich
Or crash and burn
Does fortune wait or just the black hand of fate
This love potion’s all we’ve got
One toast before it’s too late

If the angels are unkind or the season is dark
Or if in the end
Love just falls apart
Then here’s to our destruction
Baby let me be your soul driver

SOULS OF THE DEPARTED
 

On the road to Basra stood young Lieutenant Jimmy Bly
Detailed to go through the clothes of the soldiers who died
At night in dreams he sees their souls rise
Like dark geese into the Oklahoma skies

Well this is a prayer for the souls of the departed
Those who’ve gone and left their babies brokenhearted
This is a prayer for the souls of the departed

Now Raphael Rodriguez was just seven years old
Shot down in a schoolyard by some East Compton Cholos
His mama cried "My beautiful boy is dead"
In the hills the self-made men just sighed and shook their heads

This is a prayer for the souls of the departed
Those who’ve gone and left their babies brokenhearted
Young lives over before they got started
This is a prayer for the souls of the departed

Tonight as I tuck my own son in bed
All I can think of is what if it would’ve been him instead
I want to build me a wall so high nothing can burn it down
Right here on my own piece of dirty ground

Now I ply my trade in the land of king dollar
Where you get paid and your silence passes as honor
And all the hatred and dirty little lies
Been written off the books and into decent men’s eyes

SPARE PARTS

Bobby said he’d pull out Bobby stayed in
Janey had a baby it wasn’t any sin
They were set to marry on a summer day
Bobby got scared and he ran away
Jane moved in with her ma out on Shawnee Lake
She sighed Ma sometimes my whole life feels like one big mistake
She settled in in a back room time passed on
Later that winter a son come along

Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin’ around

Now Janey walked that baby across the floor night after night
But she was a young girl and she missed the party lights
Meanwhile in South Texas in a dirty oil patch
Bobby heard ’bout his son bein’ born and swore he wasn’t ever goin’ back

Spare parts
And broken hearts
Keep the world turnin’ around

Janey heard about a woman over in Calverton
Put her baby in the river left the river roll on
She looked at her boy in the crib where he lay
Got down on her knees cried till she prayed
Mist was on the water low run the tide
Janey held her son down at the riverside
Waist deep in the water how bright the sun shone
She lifted him in her arms and carried him home
As he lay sleeping in her bed Janey took a look around at everything
Went to a drawer in her bureau and got out her old engagement ring
Took out her wedding dress tied that ring up in its sash
Went straight down to the pawn shop man and walked out with some good cold cash

SPIRIT IN THE NIGHT

Crazy Janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin’ hands
’long came Wild Billy with his friend G-man all duded up for Saturday night
Well Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake
It’s about a mile down on the dark side of route eighty-eight
I got a bottle of rose so let’s try it
We’ll pick up Hazy Davy and Killer Joe and I’ll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They’re built like light
and they dance like spirits in the night (all night) in the night (all night)
Oh, you don’t know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night (all night) in the night (all night)
Stand right up now and let them shoot through you

Well now Wild Billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said, "Trust some of this it’ll show you where you’re at." or at least it’ll help you really feel it
By the time we made it up to Greasy Lake I had my head out the window and Janey’s fingers were
in the cake
I think I really dug her ’cause I was too loose to fake
I said, "I’m hurt." She said, "Honey let me heal it."
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
and she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
She felt so nice, just as soft as a spirit in the night (all night)
In the night (all night). Janey don’t know what she do to you
Spirit in the night (all night) in the night (all night)
Stand right up and let her shoot through me

Now the night was bright and the stars threw light on Billy and Davy
dancin’ in the moonlight
They were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer Joe gone passed out on the lawn
Well now Hazy Davy got really hurt, he ran into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and Crazy Janey was makin’ love in the dirt singin’ our birthday songs
Janey said it was time to go so we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row, felt so right

Together we moved like spirits in the night, all night
Baby don’t know what it do to you
Spirits in the night (all the night) in the night (all night)...

STATE TROOPER

New Yersey Turnpike ridin’ on a wet night ’neath the refinery’s glow, out where the great black
rivers flow
License, registration, I ain’t got none, but I got a clear conscience
’Bout the things that I done
Mister state trooper please don’t stop me...

Maybe you got a kid maybe you got a pretty wife, the only thing that I got’s been botherin’ me my
whole life
Mister state trooper please don’t stop me

In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy, radio relay towers lead me to my baby
Radio’s jammed up with talk show stations
It’s just talk, talk, talk till you lose your patience
Mister state trooper please don’t stop me

Hey somebody out there, listen to my last prayer
Hi ho silver-o deliver me from nowhere

STOLEN CAR

I met a little girl and I settled down
In a little house out on the edge of town
We got married, and swore we’d never part
Then little by little we drifted from each other’s hearts

At first I thought it was just restlessness
That would fade as time went by and our love grew deep
In the end it was something more I guess
That tore us apart and made us weep

And I’m driving a stolen car
Down on Eldridge Avenue
Each night I wait to get caught
But I never do

She asked if I remembered the letters I wrote
When our love was young and bold
She said last night she read those letters
And they made her feel one hundred years old

And I’m driving a stolen car
On a pitch black night
And I’m telling myself I’m gonna be alright
But I ride by night and I travel in fear
That in this darkness I will disappear

STRAIGHT TIME

Got out of prison back in ’86 and I found a wife
Walked the clean and narrow
Just tryin’ to stay out and stay alive
Got a job at the rendering plant, it ain’t gonna make me rich
In the darkness before dinner comes
Sometimes I can feel the itch
I got a cold mind to go tripping ’cross that thin line
I’m sick of doin’ straight time

My uncle’s at the evenin’ table, makes his living runnin’ hot cars
Slips me a hundred dollar bill says
"Charlie you best remember who your friends are."
Got a cold mind to go tripping ’cross that thin line
I ain’t makin’ straight time

Eight years in it feels like you’re gonna die
But you get used to anything
Sooner or later it just becomes your life

Kitchen floor in the evening tossin’ my little babies high
Mary’s smiling but she’s watching me out of the corner of her eye
Seems you can’t get any more than half free
I step out onto the front porch and suck the cold air deep inside of me
Got a cold mind to go tripping ’cross that thin line
I’m sick of doin’ straight time

In the basement huntin’ gun and a hacksaw
Sip a beer and thirteen inches of barrel drop to the floor

Come home in the evening, can’t get the smell from my hands
Lay my head down on the pillow
And go driftin’ off into foreign lands

STREETS OF FIRE

When the night’s quiet and you don’t care anymore,
And your eyes are tired and there’s someone at your door
And you realize you wanna let go
And the weak lies and the cold walls you embrace
Eat at your insides and leave you face to face with
Streets of fire

I’m wandering, a loser down these tracks
I’m dying, but girl I can’t go back
’Cause in the darkness I hear somebody call my name
And when you realize how they tricked you this time
And it’s all lies but I’m strung out on the wire
In these streets of fire

I live now, only with strangers
I talk to only strangers
I walk with angels that have no place
Streets of fire

STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA

I was bruised and battered and I couldn’t tell
What I felt
I was unrecognizable to myself
I saw my reflection in a window I didn’t know
My own face
Oh brother are you gonna leave me
Wastin’ away
On the streets of Philadelphia

I walked the avenue till my legs felt like stone
I heard the voices of friends vanished and gone
At night I could hear the blood in my veins
Black and whispering as the rain
On the streets of Philadelphia

Ain’t no angel gonna greet me
It’s just you and I my friend
My clothes don’t fit me no more
I walked a thousand miles
Just to slip this skin

The night has fallen, I’m lyin’ awake
I can feel myself fading away
So receive me brother with your faithless kiss
Or will we leave each other alone like this
On the streets of Philadelphia

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