We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Copper and Gold

by Bill White

/
1.
When heads of state have their accusers murdered The whole world reacts in shock It's just like Kurt and Courtney We've all been down that block At the very least she tried to buy his murder Eldon was to have been the means to her end But I always had faith in Eldon Before he became such a freak, he was my friend They're dumping tea off greenpeace ships It's the Yin and yang regime The spider is the dreamer We are not the dream The cops in every empire state Doesn't matter if it's red or blue Is free to pick and choose his kill The next one might be you Way down south in Mexico 45 bodies were found They couldn't identify a single one Because they were dug up by the pound. The red sun and the swastika Are the flags of the regime The butcher is the dreamer We are not the dream Everything's a fucking joke to these assholes on TV The man with no hands plays the star spangled banner With nothing but his feet We'll get the copper out of Chili From the pirate with the lowest bid if the mayor is not amenable You can kill his wife and kids There's nothing here but trash and scum From the rooftops to the street The shitter is the dreamer We are not the dream.
2.
3.
Because the system failed You don't exist Your life is up for sale Because of this Look at all that blood Flowing from the city This city that killed me twice When news came of my death My name came off the chair In the hole where I was buried There is no one lying there Without a record of my birth The company denies Involvement in North Korea Or the liquidation of their spies but there is a deeper circle I don't want to go Filled with the facts i don't want to know There's blood in the clouds Above my heads Raining into the fields Where the papers are shred And I'll never return to this city Thus city that killed me twice Face disease against my face Throat disease against my throat In the city This city that killed me twice The first death was by cannonball After I had won the day The second, by concensus, When I was old and in the way They took away my license And shot me in the chest Now I'm off the coast of England And my spirit will never rest I'll never return to the city this city that killed me twice Heart disease against my heart Head disease around my head In the city This city that killed me twice I hear the crying I hear the screaming I hear the killing of innocent men I hear the pleading The pleas for mercy But there is nothing I can do for them Look at all that blood Flowing through the city This city that killed me twice
4.
Close your eyes and go to sleep The curfew falls on ruined streets Rise above your skin and bones The gas rolls in and Lovers stand alone Soldiers march together Strangers in the trenches Chidren throwing stones Seven doors of death And only one will open to the road you hope to find The other six just send you back into the room you left behind Soldiers in the trenches Children throwing stones Strangers flock together Lovers stand alone Piled high on the roof, every pair of shoes you wore Every coat that kept you warm is spread out on the cellar floor Hornets rest inside a nest look how closely they are pressed Like the music to the poem Neither one can stand alone Children in the trenches soldiers throwing stones Strangers close together Lovers stand alone Is this what you want for your sons and daughters another century of slaughter Or can you set your mind to clear All of your ignorace and fear?
5.
6.
We walked on miles of frozen ocean Slept in beds of forest coal Then we fell through a crack in the mountain Where the blue and the green rivers flowed Chorus: Now from this valley we now must be going If we stay, the mountains might fall But remember the red river valley Where we once danced a red river waltz There were houses and huts in the valley We burned them with fire and oil We slaughtered everything under heaven And planted seeds of revenge in the soil Then we built our machine of destruction Aimed it at everyone on the earth We made slaves of those outside our borders And we sold them for what they was worth Repeat chorus We have cut out the heart of the country we have poisoned the air that we breathe The banks of the river are rotten with the dead Will they come back to life when we leave When the last of us has left this valley Will the green trees of life again bloom Or will red rivers of blood keep a-flowing Through every door and into every room
7.
8.
Northern pride, Southern shame Nose to nose breaking out of the gate Shame broke a leg, pride took a fall Skeletons of ash cover us all Southern yankee Northern reb Collapsed and fallen in a river bed Factory children fight pneunomia They are the building blocks of your dystopia The bags of the mule are filled with cotton and coal He's rather see you dead than on the dole In a slaughterhouse the skins are pulled From the backs of the workers in the neighborhood Northern rebel Southern yank It's the blood of you all in the national bank Northern whore Southern belle She will talk but never tell Where she stayed that winter night Or who she was with when her mother died Shedding her skin in the city lights Polishing her nails in pacific tides Crossing herself when the churchbells toll Caressing herself on a country road Southern belle Northern whore Something is scratching at your bedroom door Northern crassness Southern charm A kick in the ass, a shot in the arm A knife in your back, grinning in your face The wages of sin buy a moment of grace In the swamp I fought with a snake She ate all the rats and most of the cake And when she surfaced in the Northern sea The salt was expensive but the sugar was free Southern charm can fool you once But the Northern swine have you on for months Northern agression, Southern defense This country kills all who dissent But history will come to light When we open up all of the graves tonight Northern pride, Southern shame are nose to nose breaking out of the gate
9.
my son, my son how far you have wandered you brave collector of shells from the war and when the lights go down i shall come down from the clouds to build you a shelter at the edge of the sky a man with roots though he die may yet live again while a wandering man goes to dust my son, my son never trust the police especially them with unusual eyes they are not always the good guys you have been staring at blue jays on your windowsill when time is moving faster that's when it seems to be standing still my son, my son when and where did this happen who paralyzed your limbs and cut away your heart Repeat verse
10.
the people are so high The dance with angels in the sky It's the copper and the gold They stole from the river bed that makes them feel so alive They think they are angels in disguise The copper and the gold they stole Has gone to their heads Now the river is dead

about

Songs of war, imperialism, blame-shifting, nature betrayed, lovers and prisoners, spies, spats, and the overwhelming victory of love over hate.

credits

released November 1, 2017

all songs written by Bill White in feb 2015 and feb 2016 except The Argument of Nonsense, written in 2005 and Northern Pride Southern Shame written n 2002.

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Bill White Lima, Peru

contact / help

Contact Bill White

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Bill White, you may also like: