1. |
Leaving New York
04:17
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I’ve got to leave New York before I fall in love
I’ve got to leave New York, this place got a magic touch
All the busy people on the underground train
Takes you anywhere and back again
I’ve got to live in the woods, and I ain’t never gonna give that up
But the big apple been good to me, I just can’t get enough
Four o’clock in the morning and the place never rests
Cab line on the corner and I’m not even dressed
Kids in graduation gowns,
getting on the uptown
down in midtown
doctors, lawyers, engineers
you can’t tell me the future
ain’t whats happenin’ here
in Manhattan
I’ve got to leave New York, I just don’t know how to tell her
In love from the bottom floor to the top of the Rockefeller
full length blond apparition on the corner (blue-eyed blond)
heart so big and warm, but it’s only a loaner
I’ve got to leave New York, before I fall in love again
I’ve got to leave New York, say goodbye to an old, old friend
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2. |
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If I had my way I would sleep right through the night
override this torture as the shadows turn to light
I’d never cave, I wouldn’t care, I’d be immune to a womans’ bite
And I’d heal my heart in the morning light
If I had my way I’d get on that train and ride
I might even face my fears and flat out learn to fly
I might get a little spendy on somebody elses dime
See how the other half lives before I die
I went down to the crossroads tried to flag a ride
I went down to the crossroads tried to flag a ride
Nobody stopped for me, everyone passed me by
I went down to the crossroads fell down on my knees
I went down to the cross roads fell down on my knees
I said lord have mercy, have mercy, if you please
You can run you can hide, go tell my friend Bo Billy Brown
You can run you can hide, go tell my friend Bo Billy Brown
Run go quickly tell him believe I’m sinking down
If I had my way, I’d run every red light
I’d be in a hurry just to start a fight
I’d make trouble for The Man, goddamn you know I’d get that right
I’d be anti-FBI before I die
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3. |
Choptaw
05:06
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We was cruisin’ the bay near the mouth of the Choptaw
four hundred hours on the old Yamaha
fishing on the drift so the crabs wouldn’t mess with us
but something didn’t feel right to the captain or the rest of us
the sky was still, there were no seagulls flyin
the tide was slack, there was no sea line
we come around the bend with a little bit too much juice
wrong time and place, and all hell broke loose
I grew up on these waters, I am generation four
I know every ship that sails, every family on shore
there were strangers in our cove, and it would have been OK
but they didn’t look like farmers, and I doubt them bales was hay
but there’s a custom on the Choptaw, its the unspoken word
you come in slow without a wake, hardly even heard
but we flooded out that Phantom, put their product in the drink
then the Uzi’s come out poppin’, and the day began to stink
That old Yammie sputtered, she picked a fine time to die
in a twenty foot Carolina skiff, there ain’t no place to hide
I been dodging bullets all my life, but this didn’t look so good
we held out under water, long as we could
There was lots of commotion, propellers overhead
I thought I heard a chopper or else I was already dead
I was pretty sure this was the end, my lungs about to blow
until the U. S. Coast Guard pulled us up and said: “Boys, do you need a tow?”
I recognized that captain, we went to school at old St. Pete’s
got ourselves in trouble once and I took all the heat
Now I’m married to his sister, and on the bay that’s not unique
not a word about them smugglers, in the ocean they would keep
news travels fast on the Choptaw, like sound on the watertop
prettiest thing you’ll ever see was waiting on the dock
she got a sly sense of humor, about how the fish ain’t on the bite
and there’s nothing in our live well, but at least we’re all alive
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4. |
Who May Your Master Be
03:04
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Who may your master, who may your master be
who may your master, who may your master be
He looks at you, and he calls your name
You’re never gonna get out without having to pay
I got power, I got loads of dough
I got power, I got loads of dough
20 hour days, and nothing more to show
I know I’m alone
I know I’m the only one
I’m the worst of the best
in a field of only one
I been down, til it look like up to me
I been down, til it look like up o me
you might be happy, but there’s no consolin’ me
I hailed a taxi, but the police was all that came
I hailed a taxi, but the police was all that came
I flashed a smile, but they’s unhappy just the same
Who may your master, who may your master be
who may your master, who may your master be
He looks at you, calls your name
You’re never gonna get out without having to pay
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5. |
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The State Trooper told me yesterday, “time to be headin’ south.
Winter’s come on early, and everybody’s headin’ out.”
I thanked him for his time, his genuine empathy
But winter brings on other things that are waiting here for me
I got no thoughts about tomorrow
Can’t put a name upon your town
warm hearts and old bandanas
That’s how a good man gets around
That’s how a good man gets around
Saw her face in the Northern Lights, her eyes at Telluride
Heard her voice in all its meekness in the canyon down at Bryce
But my clothes are torn and tattered
Someone else’s lost and found
Warm hearts and old bandanas
That’s how a good man gets around
That’s how a good man gets around
I don’t mind the moving, or the memories of my past
I don’t mind the face I see, scraping snow off of the glass
But the streets are paved with people,
and I’m turnin’ back around
Warm hearts and old bandanas
That’s how a good man gets around
That’s how a good man gets around
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6. |
Grandma's Room
03:51
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He showed up in the dead of night, hungry and poor
Leadin’ him a chestnut mare, gaunt and lame for sure
he asked if he could spend the night, the weather cold and harsh
I put his horse up in the livery, and his bags down on the hearth
We struck a deal next morning over coffee and some eggs
I’d shoe his horse for nothin’, he’d work around my place
He wasn’t in no hurry, and that mare could use a rest
It’s how we’d come to do things in the winter out West
First he fixed the steps out front, then he fixed the door
He was handy with a pipe wrench,who could ask for more?
Like the others came before him, with a ladder he did climb
into the loft that was Grandmas’ room, didn’t know what he would find
He could tell that we were fond of her, we’d left everything alone
a rocker by the window that rocked all on its own
an old dog’s bones on the bed, but who would have ever known
and a creaking in the floor boards that sounded like a moan
Last we heard he was on his horse and had galloped out of town
He never said a word to us, out the door he bound
We’d of gladly paid him plenty for the work that he had done
but he got his room and board for free and now his horse could run
She showed up in the dead of night to get out of the sleet
there was a rappin’ on the front door as we were sittin’ down to eat
I looked ‘round at my family, their eyes all filled with jest
Its how we’d come to do things in the winter out west
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7. |
Keep My Worries Down
04:02
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Help me, Lord, for to keep my worries down
Help me, Lord, for to keep my worries down
You know I’m getting up there,
And I hope I’ll soon be found
Help me, Lord, when ol’ Lucius comes to town
Help me, Lord, when ol’ Lucius comes around
Keep my one eye peeled,
Sleep with both feet on the ground
You hear me pray, Lord, but not so much, I know
When I’m cornered, and I got no place to go
You don’t deal, and I know you’re not for show
But I’m gettin’ old
Help me, Lord. Don’t believe a word I say
Help me, Lord. Don’t believe a word I say
You know I got religion
In a bootleg kind of way
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8. |
Shiloh
03:35
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It was the cloud of smoke from the cannon
The deluded cry of war
That broke the peace of my mountain home
On the bloody road to Shiloh
They commandeered my horse
And slaughtered my pigs and my cows
To feed the troups that were headin’ North
On the bloody road to Shiloh
They tore me from my fields
And away from the woman that I loved
And my children asked what could I be doin’
On the bloody road to Shiloh
We were young and divided
A nation misguided by the war
My feet were wrapped in rags
Blistered for more than a week
My canteen filled with tainted water
On the bloody road to Shiloh
I knew my brother beside me
And the black man pullin’ the shot
And the friend of mine on the other side
Of the bloody road to Shiloh
We were young and divided
A nation misguided by the war
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9. |
Stop the Leak
02:19
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Stop the Leak, stop the leak
stop the leak right now
do what it takes, take what it makes
to stop the leak right now
no talking heads, no hungry press
no bureaucratic cow-tow
stop the leak, stop the leak
stop the leak right now
Lets drill the east, Lets drill the south
lets drill the great Northwest
Lets make our own, lets be alone
lets do what we know best
Stop the leak, stop the leak
stop the leak right now
We got so much money, we do what we wanna
We’ve got so much power, we’re bigger than Obama
we got trains, we got planes, we got automobiles
oil fauna
We got trains we got planes
we got automobiles
we got clout
we don’t shout
we got shady business deals
stop the leak, stop the leak
stop the leak right now
stop the pleading, stop the bleeding
stop the leak right now
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10. |
Take Out the Devil
03:16
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Took all day, but the sun is finally out
Took all day but the sun is finally out
I been gone
but that’s nothing to be mad about
You’re talking about leaving and it more than a fallin’ out
Talking about leaving and its more than a fallin” out
Shoutin’ and hollerin’,
throw all my things about
I don’t give her everything I can give her
I don’t think she wants my cirrhotic liver
I been trying, God knows I try my best
I been dyin’, I been dyin’ for my rest
take out the devil, aint got nothin’ left
Take out the devil, Lord, aint got nothin’ left
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11. |
Time Off
03:56
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Working for the man, minimum pay
I’d like to quit, but I can’t get away
Got me a wife and bills to pay
3 hungry childs and another on way
My truck won’t start and my dog won’t hunt
Boss man said if you pull another stunt
you can pack your bags and be on your way
lots of time to play your guitar all day
I been working all day long
ain’t nobody here gonna sing my song
sweat keep rollin’ off my back
working all day on the railroad track
playing my guitar in the railroad shack
tryin’ not to be just a broken down hack
Is that the sound of the train that coming back
Aint much money but there’s plenty of fear
dollar’s weak overseas and its weaker here
ain’t no jobs so I’m stayin put
one step ahead of the boss man’s foot
I been working all my life
I got nothing special for my pretty wife
sweat keeps rollin’ off my back
working all day on the railroad track
Playing my guitar in the railroad shack
tryin not to be just a broken down hack
Is that the sound of the train coming back
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12. |
What About Love
03:40
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Cho: What about love
What about love
What about love, love, love
what about love
Out on the highway
Rear view mirror
nothing but cold, cold tears comin down
windshield wipers
clear my slate
sooth my soul and seal my fate
about love
cho
There was a time
I was head over heels
I don’t think you’d ever say the same
Driving in my car
hailed so hard
I couldn't hear the music for the rain
Driving in my car
couldn’t get too far
couldn’t move a muscle in my powertrain
over of love
you want to work your reckless wandering
no matter what the cost
find your destination
and where your sympathies were lost
I don’t want to know what was
I don’t want to know who did
I just want to be naive to the point of stupid
about love
cho
You tell yourself
I’m impossible
I’m stubborn and I just don’t hear
tellin’me
I’m unlovable
And I keep pretending I don’t care
about love
cho
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13. |
Don't Need it Anymore
02:04
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I don’t need it anymore, I don’t need it anymore
I don’t need it anymore, I don’t need it anymore
All this conviction and this God knows what for
I don’t need it anymore, I don’t need it anymore
I don’t need the madness, I don’t need the pain
I don’t need the sadness, I don’t need the rain
Don’t need no trouble If it’s all just the same
I don’t need it anymore, I don’t need it anymore
my tactile sense ain’t what it used to be
my touch ain’t good and my eyes are lousy
I been droppin’ everything that I need to hold on to
Let it fall around me if that’s what it wants to do
Don’t need to fix it, just let it lay
Don’t need to fix it, just let it lay
I’ve had my piece, and at least I’m still here
Don’t need it any more, Don’t need it any more
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14. |
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Peace is at a premium, wings are hard to find
There’s a clearance on kindness, everybody’s in the checkout line
Love is in season, but you can’t buy it on line
Peace is at a premium, and wings are hard to find
Love is in season, sold everywhere
Right next to the hammers and the other hardware
Courage is in the cooler, no need to be scared
You can have a heapin’ helpin’ of heavenly hope, but love you gotta share
Cho: I go down to the market, something we all gotta do
I even shop ahead of time for values that are true
Sometimes I forget my list of things I got to do
you might even see me there, and I hope that I see you
Compassion’s on call, that’s down isle six
Harmony’s in my handcart right next to the kix
This row here has remedies if you really need a fix
But wings are hard to come by, so please, no tricks
cho
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