Tenth Avenue Freeze-out
The Angel
The Big Muddy
The Ghost Of Tom Joad
The Line
The Long Goodbye
The New Timer
The Price You Pay
The Promised Land
The River
The Ties That Bind
This Hard Land
This Land Is Your Land
Thunder Road
Tougher Than The Rest
Tunnel Of Love
Two Faces
Two Hearts
Used Cars
Valentine's Day
Walk Like A Man
War
When You're Alone
With Every Wish
Working On The Highway
Wreck On The Highway
You Can Look
(But You Better Not Touch)
Youngstown
Tear drops on the city
Bad Scooter searching for his groove
Seem like the whole world walking pretty
And you can’t find the room to move
Well everybody better move over, that’s all
’Cause I’m running on the bad side
And I got my back to the wall
Tenth Avenue freeze-out, Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Well I was stranded in the jungle
Trying to take in all the heat they was giving
The night is dark but the sidewalk’s bright
And lined with the light of the living
From a tenement window a transistor blasts
Turn around the corner things got real quite real fast
I walked into a Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out
And I’m all alone, I’m all alone
And kid you better get the picture
And I’m on my own, I’m on my own
And I can’t go home
When the changes was made uptown
And the Big Man joined the band
From the coastline to the city
All the little pretties raise their hands
I’m gonna sit back right easy and laugh
When Scooter and the Big Man bust this city in half
With the Tenth Avenue freeze-out, Tenth Avenue freeze-out
Tenth Avenue freeze-out...
The angel rides with hunch-backed children, poison oozing from his engine
Wieldin’ love as a lethal weapon, on his way to hubcap heaven.
Baseball cards poked in his spokes, his boots in oil he’s patiently
soaked
The roadside attendant nervously jokes as the angel’s tires stroke
his precious pavement.
The interstate’s choked with nomadic hordes
in Volkswagen vans with full running boards dragging great anchors
Followin’ dead-end signs into the sores
The angel rides by humpin’ his hunk metal whore
Madison Avenue’s claim to fame in a trainer bra with eyes like rain
She rubs against the weather-beaten frame and asks the angel for his
name
Off in the distance the marble dome
reflects across the flatlands with a naked feel off into parts unknown.
The woman strokes his polished chrome and lies beside the angel’s bones.
Billy had a mistress down on ’A’ an 12th
She was that little somethin’ that he did for himself
His own little secret didn’t hurt nobody
Come the afternoon he’d take her wadin’
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start out standing but end up crawlin’
Got in some trouble and needed a hand from a friend of mine
This old friend he had a figure in mind
It was nothing illegal just a little bit funny
He said "C’mon don’t tell me that the rich don’t know
Sooner or later it all comes down to money"
And you’re waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up crawlin’
Well I had a friend said "You watch what you do
Poison snake bites you and you’re poison too"
How beautiful the river flows and the birds they thing
But you and I we’re messier things
They’re ain’t no one leavin’ this world buddy
Without their shirttail dirty
Or their hands bloody
Waist deep in the big muddy
Waist deep in the big muddy
You start on higher ground but end up somehow crawlin’
Waist deep in the big muddy
Men walkin’ ’long the railroad tracks
Goin’ someplace there’s no goin’ back
Highway patrol choppers comin’ up over the ridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin’ ’round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin’ in their cars in the Southwest
No home no job no peace no rest
The highway is alive tonight
But nobody’s kiddin’ nobody about where it goes
I’m sittin’ down here in the campfire light
Searchin’ for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin’ for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box ’neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleeping on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin’ in the city aqueduct
The highway is alive tonight
Where it’s headed everybody knows
I’m sittin’ down here in the campfire light
Waitin’ on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now Tom said "Mom, wherever there’s a cop beatin’ a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where there’s a fight ’gainst the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me Mom I’ll be there
Wherever there’s somebody fightin’ for a place to stand
Or decent job or a helpin’ hand
Wherever somebody’s strugglin’ to be free
Look in their eyes Mom you’ll see me."
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobody’s kiddin’ nobody about where it goes
I’m sittin’ down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad
I got my discharge from Fort Irwin
Took a place on the San Diego county line
Felt funny bein’ a civilian again
It’d been some time
My wife had died a year ago
I was still tryin’ to find my way back whole
Went to work for the INS on the line
With the California border patrol
Bobby Ramirez was a ten-year veteran
We became friends
His family was from Guanajuato
So the job it was different for him
He said "They risk death in the deserts and mountains
Pay all they got to the smugglers rings
We send ’em home and they come right back again
Carl hunger is a powerful thing."
Well I was good at doin’ what I was told
Kept my uniform pressed and clean
At night I chased their shadows
Through the arroyos and ravines
Drug runners farmers with their families
Young women with little children by their sides
Come night we’d wait out in the canyons
And try to keep ’em from crossin’ the line
Well the first time that I saw her
She was in the holdin’ pen
Our eyes met and she looked away
Then she looked back again
Her hair was black as coal
Her eyes reminded me of what I’d lost
She had a young child cryin’ in her arms
I asked "Señora is there anything I can do ?"
There’s a bar in Tijuana
Where me and Bobby drink alongside
The same people we’d sent back the day before
She said her name was Louisa
She was from Sonora and had just come north
We danced and I held her in my arms
And I knew what I would do
She said she had some family in Madera county
If she her child and younger brother could just get through
At night they come across the levee
In the searchlight’s dusty glow
We’d rush ’em in our Broncos
Force ’em back down into the river below
She climbed into my truck
She leaned toward me and we kissed
As we drove her brother’s shirt slipped open
And I saw the tape across his chest
We were just about on the highway
When Bobby’s jeep come up in the dust on my right
I pulled over and let my engine run
And stepped out into his lights
I felt myself movin’
My gun restin’ ’neath my hand
We stood there starin’ at each other
As off through the arroyo she ran
Bobby Ramirez he never said nothin’
Six months later I left the line
I drifted to the central valley
And took what work that I could find
At night I searched the local bars
And the migrant towns
Lookin’ for my Louisa
With the black hair fallin’ down
My soul went walkin’ but I stayed here
Feel like I been workin’ for a thousand years
Chippin’ away at this chain of my own lies
Climbin’ a wall a hundred miles high
Well I woke up this morning on the other side
Yeah yeah this is the long goodbye
Hey yeah this is the long goodbye
Same old faces it’s the same old town
What once was laughs is draggin’ me now
Waitin’ on rain hangin’ on for love
Words of forgiveness from some God above
Ain’t no words of mercy comin’ from on high
Oh no just a long goodbye
Yeah yeah just one long goodbye
Well I went to leave twenty years ago
Since then I guess I been packin’ kinda slow
Sure did like that admirin’ touch
Guess I liked it a little too much
The moon is high and here I am
Sittin’ here with this hammer in hand
One more drink oughta ease the pain
Starin’ at that last link in the chain
Well let’s raise our glass and let the hammer fly
Hey yeah this is the long goodbye
Hey yeah this is the long goodbye
Kiss me baby and we’re gonna fly
Hey yeah this is the long goodbye
Yeah yeah this is the long goodbye
Hey yeah this is the long goodbye
Kiss me baby ’cause we’re gonna ride
Yeah yeah this is the long goodbye
He rode the rails since the Great Depression
Fifty years out on the skids
He said "You don’t cross nobody
You’ll be all right out here kid."
Left my family in Pennsylvania
Searchin’ for work I hit the road
I met Frank in East Texas
In a freight yard blown through with snow
From New Mexico to Colorado
California to the sea
Frank he showed me the ropes sir
Just till I could get back on my feet
I hoed sugar beets outside of Firebaugh
I picked the peaches from the Marysville trees
They bunked us in a barn just like animals
Me and a hundred others just like me
We split up come the springtime
I never seen Frank again
’Cept one rainy night he blew by me on a grainer
Shouted my name and disappeared in the rain and wind
They found him shot dead outside of Stockton
His body lyin’ on a muddy hill
Nothin’ taken nothin’ stolen
Somebody killin’ just to kill
Late that summer I was rollin’ through the plains of Texas
A vision passed before my eyes
A small house sittin’ trackside
With the glow of the savior’s beautiful light
A woman stood cookin’ in the kitchen
Kid sat at a table with his old man
Now I wonder does my son miss me
Does he wonder where I am
Tonight I pick my campsite carefully
Outside the Sacramento yard
Gather some wood and light a fire
In the early winter dark
Wind whistling cold I pull my coat around me
Heat some coffee and stare out into the black night
I lie awake I lie awake sir
With my machete by my side
My Jesus your gracious love and mercy
Tonight I’m sorry could not fill my heart
Like one good rifle
And the name of who I ought to kill
You make up your mind, you choose the chance you take
You ride to where the highway ends and the desert breaks
Out on to an open road you ride until the day
You learn to sleep at night with the price you pay
Now with their hands held high, they reached out for the open skies
And in one last breath they built the roads they’d ride to their death
Driving on through the night, unable to break away
From the restless pull of the price you pay
Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can’t walk away from the price you pay
Now they’d come so far and they’d waited so long
Just to end up caught in a dream where everything goes wrong
Where the dark of night holds back the light of the day
And you’ve gotta stand and fight for the price you pay
Oh, the price you pay, oh, the price you pay
Now you can’t walk away from the price you pay
Little girl down on the strand
With that pretty little baby in your hands
Do you remember the story of the promised land
How he crossed the desert sands
And could not enter the chosen land
On the banks of the river he stayed
To face the price you pay
So let the game start, you better run you little wild heart
You can run through all the nights and all the days
But just across the county line, a stranger passing through put up
a sign
That counts the men fallen away to the price you pay, and girl before
the end of the day,
I’m gonna tear it down and throw it away
On a rattlesnake speedway in the Utah desert
I pick up my money and head back into town
Driving cross the Waynesboro county line
I got the radio on and I’m just killing time
Working all day in my daddy’s garage
Driving all night, chasing some mirage
Pretty soon little girl I’m gonna take charge.
The dogs on main street howl,
’cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain’t a boy, no, I’m a man,
And I believe in a promised land.
I’ve done my best to live the right way
I get up every morning and go to work each day
But your eyes go blind and your blood runs cold
Sometimes I feel so weak I just want to explode
Explode and tear this town apart
Take a knife and cut this pain from my heart
Find somebody itching for something to start
The dogs on main street howl,
’cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain’t a boy, no, I’m a man,
And I believe in a promised land.
There’s a dark cloud rising from the desert floor
I packed my bags and I’m heading straight into the storm
Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain’t got the faith to stand its ground
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart
Blow away the dreams that break your heart
Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted
The dogs on main street howl,
’cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain’t a boy, no, I’m a man,
And I believe in a promised land
I believe in a promised land...
I come from down in the valley
Where mister, when you’re young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and Mary we met in high school
When she was just seventeen
We’d drive out of this valley down to where the fields where green
We’d go down to the river
And into the river we’d dive
Oh down to the river we’d ride
Then I got Mary pregnant
And, man, that was all she wrote
And for my 19th birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse
And the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles, no walk down the aisle
No flowers, no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river we’d dive
Oh down to the river we did ride
I got a job working construction for the Johnstown Company
But lately there ain’t been much work on account of the economy
Now all them thing that seemed so important
Well, mister they vanished right into the air
Now I just act like I don’t remember
Mary acts like she don’t care
But I remember us riding in my brother’s car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks I’d lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she’d take
Now those memories come back to haunt me
They haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true
Or is it something worse,
that sends me
Down to the river
though I know the river is dry
That sends me down to the river tonight
Down to the river
My baby and I
Oh down to the river we ride
You been hurt and you’re all cried out you say
You walk down the street pushin’ people outta your way
You packed your bags and all alone you wanna ride,
You don’t want nothin’, don’t need no one by your side
You’re walkin’ tough baby, but you’re walkin’ blind
to the ties that bind
The ties that bind
Now you can’t break the ties that bind
Cheap romance, it’s all just a crutch
You don’t want nothin’ that anybody can touch
You’re so afraid of being somebody’s fool
Not walkin’ tough baby, not walkin’ cool
You walk cool, but darlin’, can you walk the line
And face the ties that bind
The ties that bind
Now you can’t break the ties that bind
I would rather feel the hurt inside, yes I would darlin’,
Than know the emptiness your heart must hide,
Yes I would darlin’, yes I would darlin’,
Yes I would baby
You sit and wonder just who’s gonna stop the rain
Who’ll ease the sadness, who’s gonna quiet the pain
It’s a long dark highway and a thin white line
Connecting baby, your heart to mine
We’re runnin’ now but darlin’ we will stand in time
To face the ties that bind
The ties that bind
Now you can’t break the ties that bind
You can’t forsake the ties that bind
Hey there mister can you tell me what happened to the seeds I’ve sown
Can you give me a reason sir as to why they’ve never grown
They’ve just blown around from town to town
Till they’re back out on these fields
Where they fall from my hand
Back into the dirt of this hard land
Now me and my sister from Germantown
We did ride
We made our bed sir from the rock on the mountainside
We been blowin’ around from town to town
Lookin’ from a place to stand’
Where the sun burst through the cloud
To fall like a circle
Like a circle of fire down on this hard land
Now even the rain it don’t come ’round
It don’t come ’round here no more
And the only sound at night’s the wind
Slammin’ the back porch door
It just stirs you up like it wants to blow you down
Twistin’ and churnin’ up the sand
Leavin’ all them scarecrows lyin’ face down
Face down in the dirt of this hard land
From a building up on the hill
I can hear a tape desk blastin’ "Home on the Range"
I can see them Bar-M choppers
Sweepin’ low across the plains
It’s me and you Frank we’re lookin’ for lost cattle
Our hooves twistin’ and churchin’ up the sand
We’re ridin’ in the whirlwind searchin’ for lost treasure
Way down south of the Rio Grande
We’re ridin’ ’cross that river
In the moonlight
Up onton the banks of this hard land
Hey Frank won’t ya pack your bags
And meet me tonight down at Liberty Hall
Just one kiss from you my brother
And we’ll ride until we fall
We’ll sleep in the fields
We’ll sleep by the rivers and in the morning
We’ll make a plan
Well if you can’t make it
Stay hard, stay hungry, stay alive
If you can
And meet me in a dream of this hard land
Well I rode that ribbon highway
I saw above me the endless sky
I saw below me the golden valley
This land was made for you and me
I’ve roamed and rambled and followed my footsteps
Through the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was calling
This land was made for you and me
This land is your land
This land is my land
From California
To the New York island
From the Redwood Forest
To the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me
Well the sun came shining and I was strolling
Through wheat fields waving and dust clouds rolling
And a voice was sounding
As the fog was lifting
Saying this land was made for you and me
This land is your land
This land is my land
From California
To the New York island
From the Redwood Forest
To the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me
The screen door slams
Mary’ dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that’s me and I want you only
Don’t turn me home again
I just can’t face myself alone again
Don’t run back inside
Darling you know just what I’m here for
So you’re scared and you’re thinking
That maybe we ain’t that young anymore
Show a little faith there’s magic in the night
You ain’t a beauty but hey you’re alright
Oh and that’s alright with me
You can hide ’neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I’m no hero
That’s understood
All the redemption I can offer girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now ?
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow
Back your hair
Well the night’s busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven’s waiting on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We’re riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it’s late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road sit tight take hold
Thunder Road
Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car’s out back
If you’re ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door’s open but the ride it ain’t free
And I know you’re lonely
For words that I ain’t spoken
But tonight we’ll be free
All the promises’ll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they’re gone
On the wind so Mary climb in
It’s town full of losers
And I’m pulling out of here to win
Well it’s Saturday night
You’re all dressed up in blue
I been watching you awhile
Maybe you been watching me too
So somebody ran out
Left somebody’s heart in a mess
Well if you’re looking for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest
Some girls they want a handsome Dan
Or some good-lookin’ Joe, on their arm
Some girls like a sweet-talkin’ Romeo
Well ’round here baby
I learned you get what you can get
So if you’re rough enough for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest
The road is dark
And it’s a thin thin line
But I want you to know I’ll walk it for you any time
Maybe your other boyfriends
Couldn’t pass the test
Well if you’re rough and ready for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest
Well it ain’t no secret
I’ve been around a time or two
Well I don’t know baby maybe you’ve been around too
Well there’s another dance
All you gotta do is say yes
And if you’re rough and ready for love
Honey I’m tougher than the rest
If you’re rough enough for love
Baby I’m tougher than the rest
Fat man sitting on a little stool
Takes the money from my hand while his eyes take a walk all over you
Hands me two tickets smiles and whispers good luck
Cuddle up angel cuddle up my little dove
We’ll ride down baby into this tunnel of love
I can feel the soft silk of your blouse
And them soft thrills in our little fun house
Then the lights go out and it’s just the three of us
You me and all that stuff we’re so scared of
Gotta ride down baby into this tunnel of love
There’s a crazy mirror showing us both in 5-D
I’m laughing at you you’re laughing at me
There’s a room of shadows that gets so dark brother
It’s easy for two people to lose each other in this tunnel of love
It ought to be easy ought to be simple enough
Man meets a woman and they fall in love
But the house is haunted and the ride gets rough
And you’ve got to learn to live with what you can’t rise above if you
want to ride on down in through
this tunnel of love
I met a girl and we ran away
I swore I’d make her happy every day
And how I made her cry
Two faces have I
Sometimes mister I feel sunny and wild
Lord I love to see my baby smile
Then dark clouds come rolling by
Two faces have I
One that laughs one that cries
One says hello one says goodbye
One does things I don’t understand
Makes me feel like half a man
At night I get down on my knees and pray
Our love will make that other man go away
But he’ll never say goodbye
Two faces have I
Last night as I kissed you ’neath the willow tree
He swore he’d take your love away from me
He said our life was just a lie
And two faces have I
Well go ahead and let him try
I went out walking the other day
Seen a little girl crying along the way
She’d been hurt so bad said she’d never love again
Someday your crying girl will end
And you’ll find once again
Two hearts are better than one
Two hearts girl get the job done
Two hearts are better than one
Once I spent my time playing tough guy scenes
But I was living in a world of childish dreams
Someday these childish dreams must end
To become a man and grow up to dream again
Now I believe in the end
Two hearts are better than one
Two hearts girl get the job done
Two hearts are better than one
Sometimes it might seem like it was planned
for you to roam empty hearted through this land
Though the world turns you hard and cold
There’s one thing mister, that I know
That’s if you think your heart is stone
And that you’re rough enough to whip this world alone
Alone buddy there ain’t no peace of mind
That’s why I’ll keep searching till I find my special one
Two hearts are better than one
Two hearts girl get the job done
Two hearts are better than one
My little sister's in the front seat with an ice cream cone
My ma's in the backseat sittin' all alone
As my pa steers her slow out of the lot for a test drive down Michigan
Avenue
Now my ma she fingers her wedding band
And watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands
He's tellin' us all 'bout the break he'd give us if he could but he
just can't
Well if I could I swear I know just what I'd do
Now mister the day the lottery I win I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again
Now the neighbors come from near and far
As we pull up in our brand new used car
I wish he'd just hit the gas and let out a cry and tell 'em all they
can kiss our asses goodbye
My dad he sweats the same job from mornin' to mornn
Me I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born
Up the block I can hear my little sister in the front seat blowin'
that horn
The sounds echo'in all down Michigan Avenue
Now mister the day my number comes in I ain't ever gonna ride in no
used car again
I’m driving a big lazy car rushin’ up the highway in the dark
I got one hand steady on the wheel and one hand’s tremblin’ over my
heart
It’s pounding baby like it’s gonna bust right on through
And it ain’t gonna stop till I’m alone again with you
A friend of mine became a father last night
When we spoke in his voice I could hear the light
Of the skies and the rivers the timberwolf in the pines
And that great jukebox out on Route 39
They say he travels fastest who travels alone
But tonight I miss my girl mister tonight I miss my home
Is it the sound of the leaves
Left blown by the wayside
That’s got me out here on this spooky old highway tonight
Is it the cry of the river
With the moonlight shining through
That ain’t what scares me baby
What scares me is loosin’ you
They say if you die in your dreams you really die in your bed
But honey last night I dreamed my eyes rolled straight back in my head
And God’s light came shinin’ on through
I woke up in the darkness scared and breathin’ and born anew
It wasn’t the cold river bottom I felt rushing over me
It wasn’t the bitterness of a dream that didn’t come true
It wasn’t the wind in the grey fields I felt rushing through my arms
No no baby it was you
So hold me close honey say you’re forever mine
And tell me you’ll be my lonely valentine
I remember how rough your hand felt on mine
On my wedding day
And the tears cried on my shoulder
I couldn’t turn away
Well so much has happened to me
That I don’t understand
All I can think of is being five years old following behind you at
the beach
Tracing your footprints in the sand
Trying to walk like a man
By Our Lady of the Roses
We lived in the shadow of the elms
I remember ma draggin’ me and my sister up the street to the church
Whenever she heard those wedding bells
Well would they ever look so happy again
The handsome groom and his bride
As they stepped into that long black limousine
For their mystery ride
Well tonight you step away from me
And alone at the altar I stand
And as I watch my bride coming down the aisle I pray
For the strength to walk like a man
Well now the years have gone and I’ve grown
From that seed you’ve sown
But I didn’t think there’d be so many steps
I’d have to learn on my own
Well I was young and I didn’t know what to do
When I saw your best steps stolen away from you
Now I’ll do what I can
I’ll walk like a man
And I’ll keep on walkin’
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War is somethnig that I despise
For it means destruction of innocent lives
War means tears in thousands of mothers’ eyes
When their sons go out to fight to give their lives
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War
It’s nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
War is the enemy of all mankind
The thought of war blows my mind
Handed down from generation to generation
Induction destruction
Who wants to die
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
War has shattered many young men’s dreams
Made them disabled bitter and mean
Life is too precious to be fighting wars each day
War can’t give life it can only take it away
War
It’s nothing but a heartbreaker
War
Friend only to the undertaker
Peace love and understanding
There must be some place for these things today
They say we must fight to keep our freedom
But Lord there’s gotta be a better way
That better than
War
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Say it again
War
What is it good for
Absolutely nothing
Times were though love was not enough
So you said sorry Johnny I’m gone gone gone
You said my act was funny
But we both knew what was missing honey
So you lit out on your own
Now that pretty form that you’ve got baby
Will make sure you get along
But you’re gonna find out some day honey
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you ain’t nothing but alone
Now I was young and pretty on the mean streets of the city
And I fought to make ’em my home
With just the shirt on my back I left and swore I’d never look back
And man I was gone gone gone
But there’s things that’ll knock you down you don’t even see coming
And send you crawling like a baby back home
You’re gonna find out that day sugar
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you ain’t nothing but alone
I knew some day your runnin’ would be through
And you’d think back on me and you
And your love would be strong
You’d forget all about the bad and think only of all the laughs that
we had
And you’d wanna come home
Now it ain’t hard feelings or nothin’ sugar
That ain’t what’s got me singing this song
It’s just nobody knows honey where love goes
But when it goes it’s gone gone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you’re alone
When you’re alone you ain’t nothing but alone
Ol’ catfish in the lake we called him Big Jim
When I was a kid my only wish was to get my line in him
Skipped church one Sunday rowed out and throw’d in my line
Jim took that hook pole and me right over the side
Went driftin’ down past old tires and rusty cans of beer
The angel of the lake whispered in my ear
"Before you choose your wish son
You better think first
With every wish there comes a curse"
I fell in love with beautiful Doreen
She was the prettiest thing this old town’d ever seen
I courted her and I made her mine
But I grew jealous whenever another man’d
Come walkin’ down the line
And my jealousy made me treat her hard and cruel
She sighed "Bobby oh Bobby you’re such a fool
Don’t you know before you choose your wish
You’d better think first
’Cause with every wish there comes a curse"
These days I sit around and laugh
At the many rivers I’ve crossed
But on the far banks there’s always another forest
Where a man can get lost
Well there in the high trees love’s bluebird glides
Guiding us ’cross to another river on the other side
And there someone is waitin’ with a look in her eyes
And though my heart’s grown weary
And more than a little bit shy
Tonight I’ll drink from her waters to quench my thirst
And leave the angels to worry
With every wish...
Friday night’s pay night guys fresh out of work
talking about the weekend, scrubbing off the dirt
Some heading home to their families, some looking to get hurt
Some going down to Stovell wearing trouble on their shirts
I work for the county out on 95
All day I hold a red flag and watch the traffic pass me by
In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little miss
Someday Mister I’m gonna lead a better life than this
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don’t stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
I met her at a dance down at the union hall
She was standing with her brothers, back up against the wall
Sometimes we’d go walking down the union tracks
One day I looked straight at her and she looked straight back
So I’m working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don’t stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
I saved up my money and I put it all away
I went to see her daddy but we didn’t have much to say
"Son, can’t you see that she’s just a little girl she don’t know nothing
about this cruel, cruel world"
We lit out down to Florida, we got along all right
One day her brothers came and got her and they took me in a black and
white
The prosecutor kept the promise that he made on that day
And the judge got mad and he put me straight away
I wake up every morning to the work bell clang
Me and the warden go swinging on the Charlotte County road gang
I’m working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working down the highway all day long I don’t stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don’t stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock
Working on the highway
Working on the highway
Last night I was out driving
Coming home at the end of the working day
I was riding alone through the drizzling rain
On a deserted stretch of a county two-lane
When I came upon a wreck on the highway
There was blood and glass all over
And there was nobody there but me
As the rain tumbled down hard and cold
I seen a young man lying by the side of the road
He cried Mister, won’t you help me please
An ambulance finally came and took him to Riverside
I watched as they drove him away
And I thought of a girlfriend or a young wife
And a state trooper knocking in the middle of the night
To say your baby died in a wreck on the highway
Sometimes I sit up in the darkness
And I watch my baby as she sleeps
Then I climb in bed and I hold her tight
I just lay there awake in the middle of the night
Thinking ’bout the wreck on the highway
YOU CAN LOOK (BUT YOU BETTER NOT TOUCH)
Yesterday I went shopping buddy down to the mall
Looking for something pretty I could hang on my wall
I knocked over a lamp before it hit the floor I caught it
A salesman turned around said, "boy, you break that thing you bought
it".
You can look but you better not touch boy
You can look but you better not touch boy
Mess around and you’ll end up in dutch boy
You can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not
touch
Well I came home from work and I switched on Channel 5
There was a pretty little girly lookin’ straight into my eyes
Well I watched as she wiggled back and forth across the screen
She didn’t get me excited she just made me feel mean
You can look but you better not touch boy
You can look but you better not touch boy
Mess around and you’ll end up in dutch boy
You can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not
touch
Well I called up Dirty Annie on the telephone
I took her out to the drive-in just to get her alone
I found a lover’s rendezvous, the music low, set to park
I heard a tappin’ on the window and a voice in the dark
You can look but you better not touch boy
You can look but you better not touch boy
Mess around and you’ll end up in dutch boy
You can look but you better not, no you better not, no you better not
touch
Here in northeast Ohio
Back in eighteen-o-three
James and Dan Heaton
Found the ore that was linin’ Yellow Creek
They built a blast furnace
Here along the shore
And they made the cannonballs
That helped the Union win the war
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin’ down
Here darlin’ in Youngstown
Well my daddy worked the furnaces
Kept ’em hotter than hell
I come home from ’Nam worked my way to scarfer
A job that’d suit the devil as well
Taconite coke and limestone
Fed my children and make my pay
Them smokestacks reachin’ like the arms of God
Into a beautiful sky of soot and clay
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
Sweet Jenny I’m sinkin’ down
Here darlin’ in Youngstown
Well my daddy come on the Ohio works
When he come home from World War Two
Now the yard’s just scrap and rubble
He said "Them big boys did what Hitler couldn’t do."
These mills they built the tanks and bombs
That won this country’s wars
We sent our sons to Korea and Vietnam
Now we’re wondering what they were dyin’ for
Here in Youngstown
Here in Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin’ down
Here darlin’ in Youngstown
From the Monongahela valley
To the Mesabi iron range
To the coal mines of Appalachia
The story’s always the same
Seven hundred tons of metal a day
Now sir you tell me the world’s changed
Once I made you rich enough
Rich enough to forget my name
And Youngstown
And Youngstown
My sweet Jenny I’m sinkin’ down
Here darlin’ in Youngstown
When I die I don’t want no part of heaven
I would not do heaven’s work well
I pray the devil comes and takes me
To stand in the fiery furnaces of hell
Go See Lyrics for Songs A-C,
D-L
or M-S
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