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1. |
Leaving Traces
03:34
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2. |
Why Did You Pluck Me?
03:10
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wasnt the reddest apple on the tree.
I was too old to be anything but me.
You knew all along I was a catastrophy.
So why did you pluck me?
I was hanging tough from a tender branch.
I couldnt take the slaughter at your family ranch.
Why couldnt you just have let me be?
Why did you pluck me?
You say you know what I like
And you like doing it
But you are going to lose
If you keep on pursuing it
There was no reason for me to be gagged and bound
Soon enough I would have fallen to the ground.
You could have waited until I fell out of my tree.
Why did you pluck me?
I wasnt the reddest apple on the tree.
I was too old to be anything but me.
You knew all along I was a catastrophy.
So why did you pluck me?
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3. |
For Peace
05:53
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The judge is a lion
The prosecutor is a big bad wolf
Twelve jurors make a coven
There is a sniper on the roof
Broken concrete for a staircase
Leading pst him to the tower
Innocence is never innocent
And the rose is not a flower
Isnt anybody praying for peace any more?
Isnt anybody singing for peace any more?
Isnt anybody marching for peace any more?
No...everybodys praying, everybodys singing
Everybodys marching back to war
Testimonies well rehearsed
To support the prosecution
Cross examinations struck out
As harrassment elocution
Every article is faulty
Just a premise in the rear
Assumptions and presumptions
In and out of deafened ears
Isnt anybody praying for peace any more?
Isnt anybody singing for peace any more?
Isnt anybody marching for peace any more?
No, no no...everybodys singing, everybodys praying
Everybodys marching off to war
Give the infantry its guns
Give the navy back their ships
The sun gets hotter every day
What we need is an eclipse
Down with the word!
Down with the flesh!
If you try to stop us now
We will wipe your memory clean
If you try to stop us now
We will wipe you out
We’ll wipe you out!
Gonna wipe you Out!
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4. |
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What happened to my ride?
What happened to my dough?
The party is over
Ive no place to go
All of times markings have disappeared
Will somebody show me the way out of here?
You cant take the high road because of the fog
You could follow the river were it not for the dogs
The best route to take is the pathway concealed
But dont shut your eys when crossing the field
Oh lord, if a cloud be your window
Oh lord, if youre watching over me
Please send some rest. Im so weary
But dont let me fall to sleep
My homeland lies beyond the bend
If I sleep, my journey ends
And Ill never make it home
I lift my face up from the grass
And try to join the crowds that pass
But I am passing into stone
Oh if a cloud be your window
If youre watching over me
Just send a little rest to the weary
But dont let me fall to sleep
What happened to my friend
who promised to return?
Did he fall asleep in the courtyard
Where the winter flames still burn?
What happened to the music?
Why did the lights go out?
Who stole the water from the river
And set their face against this house?
Oh lord, Oh lord , Oh lord
Listen to my prayer
If a cloud be your window
If youre watching over me
Send a little rest for the weary
But dont let me fall to sleep
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5. |
Because I Never Came In
03:59
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In the sparkless rays of starlight
The sun is breaking through
Nothing ever gets older
Because nothing is ever new
Still I can hear you calling
Sensing your wicked grin
But Im not coming out, my friend
Because I never came in
The moon doesnt seem so far away
When it is reflected at the top of the ceiling
When you break through the top of the tent
It is an entirely different feeling
In the sparkless glory
Of an embered star
We see but cant remember
Who we were, who we are
Will there be another flesh
Arraying you and me?
Or are we just broken glades of phosphorous
Dissolving in the sea?
The bridge was under water
When I made my midnight run
I crossed the Hudson River
with a geiger counter and a gun
In the sparkling rays of sunlight
The sun is coming through
Nothing ever gets older
Because there is never anything new
Still I can hear them calling
Sensing their wicked grins
Im not coming out, my friend
Because I never came in
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6. |
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ve had days in prison
Worse than this
Such days were few
I had a bad haircut
Clothes didnt fit
But the friends I had were true
So down with Freedom, Death to the French
Im parking my ass on this parking bench
Up With People, Coca Cola too
We got a package war to lay on you
Its a little bit of worry
And a whole lot of rock and roll
Dont fuck with me Argentina
Or Ill bounce a bonus arrow
Off the bullets in your rotten soul
Do your time
Stay in line
Dont pay attention to them
If you stay, you are dead
If you leave, condemned
Forever condemned
Its a little bit of worry
And a whole lot of rock and roll
Dont fuck with me Argentina
Or Ill bounce a bonus arrow
Off the bullets of your rotten soul
White smoke
Rises from the mausoleum
The people close and lock their shutters
Assassins dance in Vatican robes
And all the nuns want to be mothers
Its a little bit of worry
And a whole lot of rock and roll
Dont fuck with me Argentina
Or Ill bounce another bonus arrow
Off the bullets in your rotten souDn't
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7. |
2020 Vision
03:02
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I came from you but I cant come to you
I can fall down but I cant fall up
If I had 20/20 Vision
Id put the butter back into the buttercup
You say you come from Spain
I know its Mexico
But we are both in Louisiana now
And thats all they need to know
I dont care where you came from
Or how you pronounce your name
We all grew up with Elvis
And that makes us pretty much all the same
I came from you but I cant come to you
I can fall down but I cant fall up
If I had 20/20 Vision
Id put the butter back into the buttercup
You are Charlie McCarthy
I am Knucklehead Smiff
We both got a slice of the same pie
But its not the same smell that we sniff
There are two dead people
In the swimming pool
Which one is Joey O Leary?
And which one is Leroy Cool?
I came from you but I cant come to you
I can fall down but I cant fall up
If I had 20/20 Vision
Id put the butter back into the buttercup
If I had 20/20 vision.........
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8. |
The Last Exit
04:33
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verse 1....everybody has a special place they'll remember till the end of days
a place they came to find themselves where true frendships were born
its all about the moments that were spent outside of time
leaving traces of ourselves in lovely places
chorus....this is now an express train
if you are not going to pork chop hill get off at the next stop
if you dont want to be roasted like a fully-dressed pheasant
this is the last exit
verse 2 no pictures, no recordings, what happens here remains here
it is ours for a moment and then it disappears
the end of tradition, the birth of innovation
the last exit of escape from a suicided nation
verse 3 .....eve and her coven of cowboys, sit at the table round
the click of the chess board timer the metronome of the underground
on monday the sign ups start early for singers to sing their three songs
on wednesday the poets are hoping to find a place where they feel they belong
bridge ...tor de kon plays the sunlight sonata on the spinet out by the back stairs
charles manson is eating some hot apple pie
while irv eyeballs the hips and the squares
pill popping, table hopping, kilo copping kids
i cant believe we got away with all the things that we did
verse 3.....we started out as fugitives and ended as refugees
writing songs of revolution all thats left is elegys
now at each re-union we sing the songbook for the missing
and we'll keep on singing till the last of us is gone
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9. |
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
03:15
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Greenpoint, Brooklyn
from Lovely Places by Bill White
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lyrics
as long as youve got another butt in the pack
rolled up in in the sleeve of your t shirt
then youve got a friend in greenpoint
as long as youve got cold beers in the icebox
youve got a party going on
but when youve got nothing for your dirtbag neighbors
then youve got no friends in greenpoint
and if youre stuck in the ghetto of greenpoint
with no money for the subway fare
then youre stuck by yourself in greenpoint
you might die in the park on a hot friday night
and you might lie there dead until sunday
unless youve got a friend who discovers you there
and calls the police to remove you from there
and maybe even a doctor will make a quick check
and a good guess as to what caused you to die
on that hot friday night in greenpoint
but if youve got the cash to pick up the beer tab
then you might get a a girlfriend in greenpoint
if you dont mind that shes a stripper
who accepts flowers from men
you might even have a wedding in greenpoint
but me i have chosen to go without friends
they are too costly and most of them are finks
and they will follow you for pizza on two for one day
leaving you only one pizza to eat
and they show up at your house in the morning for coffee
and dont leave til they have smoked your last cigarette
and if you are lucky and have a job
they will wait til youve left in the morning
then come over and take what they want whlle your gone
yeah, life is a con in greenpoint
if your taking the train from manhattan
this is where all the white folks get off
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10. |
Alabama Bound
03:51
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Shakespearem He said it all before
The Bible said it too
But they were talking to someone else
This is me talking to you
There is a high wind rising
It blows from east to west
Blowing all the birds
Back into their nests
Now mama bird said to papa bird
I swear I heard a snake
Papa bird searches every branch
Using his beak like a rake
He combs through each leaf most carefully
No snake can be found found
But down below there is a man in the back of a truck
Singing “Alabama Bound”
“Alabama Bound” “Alabama Bound”
I swear I heard Leadbelly singing, “Alabama Bound”
On the streets of Burmingham
The scene is so much worse
A woman was walking through a no-cop zone
When a pelican stole her purse
The mayor believes that dogs can talk
And elephants can fly
But he doesnt belueve it s such a big deal
When a million honey bees die
Taking a walk to the grocery store
Takes an iron will
What goes up doesnt always go down
Just ask the ghosts on Pork Chop Hill
Some old whore tries to get me to touch her
She is all infected and dirty
She wants us to talk about the good old days
When she was exceptionally pretty
Trying to get to the Carolinas
Driving with Texas plates
But the highway patrol blocking the border
Wouldnt let me into the state
So instead I headed for Florida
Thunking Id slice a little sand
But the beaches were lined with refrigerated trucks
Taking the dead to a better land
The love birds and the hate birds
Are learning new songs every day
All the songs they used to sing
Are being thrown away
Two ears can pick it up in stereo
One ear listens to mono
And the birds that flew out of Frisco
Never made it to Capistrano
Im “Alabama Bound” “Alabama Bound”
Im looking down
And I swear I heard Leadbelly singing, “Alabama Bound
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11. |
Just Like You
03:48
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I was reading a book on the fire side
When I remembered I left something on the stove
I made a beeline to the kitchen
You said I moved like a bee
From one place to another
Noticing nothing in between
You never liked the way that I did things
But Im just like you
and you are just like me
Im just like you
and you are just like me
We just grew up differently
You said I never showed you anything
I never pointed out constellations
I never taught you the names of flowers
That were planted in your fish house
You didnt know fettuccini from lasagna
Or a salmon from a trout
But you never hung around long enough for me to figure that out
And Im just like you
and you are just like me
Yeah Im just like you
and you are just like me
But we just grew up differently
I saw you racing down the highway
With your new boyfriend smiling
He was like a crazy baboon
who thought he invented the wheel
I never had the money
to change all four tires in one day
But I bought a new one every month
and none of them tire fell off
And Im just like you
and you are just like me
Im just like you
and you are just like me
But we grew up differently
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12. |
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Its raining in the mountains
There is fire on the plains
Aint no place safe any more
And there is no one left to blame
No more buses leaving
I cant even take a train
Its raining in the mountains
and I cant go home again
Down into the Maple Valley
To where the Cedar River flows
We used to swing across it
Hanging from a piece of rope
It wasnt hard to catch a salmon
Using both of your hands
with the morning sun a rising
Feet planted deep in the sand
I found water in the deset
Where there was none to be found
I found love in the asylum
Now its buried in the ground
Its raining in the mountains
There are fires on the plain
Aint no place safe anymore
And I cant go home again
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13. |
From Hell to Hollywood
03:10
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I left my wife and kids in the house of the rising sun
Found a dead man in the swamp his pockets were full of junk
Jumped a riverboat to Memphis then caught a bus heading west
At a rest stop in El Paso I got sloppy drunk
A copper found me in an alley Shook my shoulders good
He said boy whats your story? I told him I was on my way from hell to hollywood
He put me back on the greyhound where I passed out on Seagrams 7
Came to in a desert town 200 miles east of heaven
When I said I came from Memphis, my seatbelt beat me senseless
Said we both got on in Texas and I couldnt argue with that
He told me he was from Durango born in a whorehouse parlor
Married a luckless cinderella who never lost her shoes
He stuck around to help her out like a good husband should
But he got fed up and hit the road from hell to hollywood
When we pulled into the final station a bunch of cops were waiting
They cuffed my buddy then they chained him and dragged him by the hair
Seems he escaped from a Juarez prison Swam across the rio grande
Caught a bus out of E Paso headed west to the promised land
Me I found a flophouse in a rundown neighborhood
I was also on the run from hell to hollywood
Why hollywood? you ask whats so special about that place?
Because a man can go unrecognuzed unless he has a famous face
People on the highway dont usually last too long
Running from the law or just the shame of doing wrong
Everones up to something Mosty its no good
We all keep a running from hell to hollywood
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14. |
Fatima, Fatima!
03:40
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I left my wife and kids in the house of the rising sun
Found a dead man in the swamp his pockets were full of junk
Jumped a riverboat to Memphis then caught a bus heading west
At a rest stop in El Paso I got sloppy drunk
A copper found me in an alley Shook my shoulders good
He said boy whats your story? I told him I was on my way from hell to hollywood
He put me back on the greyhound where I passed out on Seagrams 7
Came to in a desert town 200 miles east of heaven
When I said I came from Memphis, my seatbelt beat me senseless
Said we both got on in Texas and I couldnt argue with that
He told me he was from Durango born in a whorehouse parlor
Married a luckless cinderella who never lost her shoes
He stuck around to help her out like a good husband should
But he got fed up and hit the road from hell to hollywood
When we pulled into the final station a bunch of cops were waiting
They cuffed my buddy then they chained him and dragged him by the hair
Seems he escaped from a Juarez prison Swam across the rio grande
Caught a bus out of E Paso headed west to the promised land
Me I found a flophouse in a rundown neighborhood
I was also on the run from hell to hollywood
Why hollywood? you ask whats so special about that place?
Because a man can go unrecognuzed unless he has a famous face
People on the highway dont usually last too long
Running from the law or just the shame of doing wrong
Everones up to something Mosty its no good
We all keep a running from hell to hollywood
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15. |
I Used to Dream
03:12
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I used to dream of giving you
A red shoes tickle and a judo chop kiss
I used to dream that I could fly
In formation with the people I missed
I used to dream of a time when getting stoned
Meant living in a world of laughter
The colors were brighter, the air was always lighter
And the cold was just a draft
I used to dream I was in love
With people I never knew
But I woke up from those dreams
When I fell in love with you
Today I walked beneath a rainbow
The rainbow said, “Hi there”
But I kept on walking
Because I didnt care
I never thought songs would be out of date
I thought people would always be singing
Even when armies tore down the houses of the gods
I expected the bells to keep ringing
I used to dream of evil
And the christening of doom
Every time I woke up
I felt the devil in the room
Still I dream of a time
When everyone agrees
That no one has the right
To take another persons life
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16. |
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You are my friend
We do not agree
I am in accord
With the enemy
Looks can be deceiving
But if seeing is believing
Then everybodys plane s leavng
Except mine
Danger in the land
You think its about to pass
But your freedoms are done
The worst is yet to come
You put a man in power
You think he rules alone
But the shadows that surround him
Used to work for Al Capone
You have been cheated You have been lied to
You get what you have got
You havent had a decent leader
since Kennedy was shot
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