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The Nickle Ride

by Bill White

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The Fishermen & the Priestess
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1.
Old Road Sycamore Street 03:49
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She lives in an abandoned hotel near the carnival grounds On old road sycamore street Shes got a part time job Making sure the children don’t fall off the carousel But I remember her walking in the London rain We were walking all night long dreaming of the world to come But now shes living in that crummy hotel near the carnival grounds On old road Sycamore street Shes got a circle of friends they meet in a sideshow tent Pulling sheets over their heads getting plastered in a big round bed But I remember her saying lips that touch liquor will never touch mine She left her ideals behind for a Nixonion state of mind And she is living in a haunted hotel near the carnival grounds On old road sycamore street Last time I saw her was in Lincoln park On a tear gas night when everything just broke apart But I remember when she and her sisters said yes to boys who said no And we said hell no we aint gonna go Someone told me she was living in that old hotel near the carnival grounds on old road sycamore street. I said that can’t be true nobody has lived there since 1973 He said that’s right it’s just a place old ghosts go What they do in there we will never know But I remember a silver night when we were walking in the rain Talking about the days to come the days that never came
2.
Witches of the Northern Shore 03:45
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I made love to the Mother of the Air While I was sleeping, she tried to cut my hair Now Im falling into knives in the grass Now Im running from guns in the trees Into the desiccated arms of the witches on the the Northern seas Some things never change in Salem The witches still fly like kites across the sky I should have caught the meat wagon to Boston Because no more trains are pulling out of here tonight Venus in Sodom Penis Uprising I was swallowed in the earth when I thought I was rising She led me through a secret door Now I am under the curse of the witches of the Northern shore Some things never change in Harlem There will be fire next time as there was fire before You can take the sky ride up Kisco Mountain But you can never escape the witches of the Northern shore Three billion blind mice See how they run to the top of the world and down the other side Caught in a cauldron of four and twenty runes She mashes up their heads with a wooden spoon Some things never change in the canyon Eat the rich or be eaten by the poor Take the meat wagon to Bakersfield Or spend another Black Sabbath with the witches of the Northern shore Venus in Sodom Penis Uprising I was swallowed in the earth when I thought I was rising She led me through a secret door Now I am under the curse of the witches of the Northern shore I made love to the Mother of the Air While I was sleeping, she tried to cut my hair Now Im falling into knives in the grass Now Im running from guns in the trees Into the desiccated arms of the witches on the shores of the Northern seas
3.
The Nickle Ride 04:15
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Sometimes we played it gentle Sometimes we played it rough You want to go through it one more time But me, I’ve had enough After 16 trillion incarnations I still can’t get it right So put away your nickels Im getting off this ride From star to star I’ve followed you But it was all a lie And Ill put a bullet in your skull Before I take the nickel ride I don’t care if you have pictures And compromising tapes You can take them to the precinct Tell them I escaped Say my fingerprints are everywhere On the windows and the walls I’ll be waiting for your friends Upstairs from Kingdom Hall And I’ll tell you this, old partner As our two worlds collide I’ll kill your whole damn family Before I take that Nickel Ride Someday some night I will go down Beneath the Chelsea Bridge Where we dumped the bodies After burning off their skin You were such a bad ass I thought you were the king But neither of us turned out To be much of anything Before you put your nickels on my eyes Ill have you stripped and tied And Ill cut you the fuck up like a fucking piece of linoleum Before I take that nickel ride
4.
The Day I Beat the Hangman 02:56
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Since the day I beat the hangman July 1853 I don’t mess with the law and the law don’t mess with me I keep my body straight on every crooked trail I ride And if trouble comes my way I lay down my gun and hide In the pavilion of women I am welcome any time They have a remedy for every sin and a prize for every crime But if you overstay their kindness they’ll cut you down like a tree Its happened to many a wanted man but never to me I’ve wriggled like a baby through every country on the map I got no respect for borders or any of that fascist crap I have no fealty or allegiance to any president or king I don’t lick nobody’s boots and I don’t kiss nobody’s ring Through this old world I’ve rambled for 260 years 16 trillion incarnations …what the hell am I doing here? I’ve blown through anti matter galaxies shared the exile of the popes And seen many a pirate hanging from piece of royal rope And from the day I beat the hangman July 1951 I’ve been running from the holy ghost, the father and the son Against the laws of heaven I have crossed many a sword The blood of my salvation from the cup of wrath is poured So watch for me at midnight in my chariot of flame There is an army at my back without a weapon to its name So I will raise the skull and crossbones to the skeletons decree And I don’t give a damn about the devil chasing me Comments
5.
Let Them Believe 03:25
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Calling numbers one through five Five men die five men die Calling numbers six through ten Five more dead five more dead Before they fall Never to rise again Let them believe they will live Out of the water onto the beach They cover their heads and run for the trees Before each one of them is blown to hell Let them believe they will live Frontal attack into the fray Never to see another day Before the splash Of blood in the head Let them believe they will live All they ever wanted out of life Was to find the thing they loved And live forever Their bellies ripped by bayonets piercing dust and smoke and skin They are gone forever Calling numbers ninety to ninety five They are the last five men alive the last five men alive When the time comes for them to die Let them believe they will live Right up to the unhappy ending Until the muscle of the heart breaks after bending Let them believe They will live!
6.
The Night the Moon Disappeared 02:20
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People push and people pull They send each other flowers when the moon is full people fly people fall Some people bash their heads against the wall But it don’t do them no good to say goodbye when they should be treasuring the years Because the time is gonna come when the moon is gonna disappear And so she tells me her feelings didn’t last Whats done is done Whats past is past So just hang up the phone And leave me the hell alone Go take a walk with rin tin tin and never call me again I don’t even want to be your friend I just want this thing to end Ok then.. I wont fly I wont fall I promise you I wont call And I wont push if you dont pull But I will send you a rose when the moon is full Every month through every year Until the night the moon disappears For thirty years there has been no moon But the dish is still chasing the spoon. Across the the sky where the lovebirds flew But now the color of the night is black and blue The referee made his call Everybody was having a ball Except the ones whose love had died They went and took the nickel ride Darkness fell and the audience cheered On the night the moon disappeared
7.
Death Came for the Hangman 04:32
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Death came for the hangman On the night I was to hang Im looking down on the Rio Grando With the Riders on the rain To the charges set against me The judge asked for my plea Are you guilty or not guilty I answered You know that better than me Death came for the hangman On the night I was to hang He rode on 16 hoofbeats Like a Rider on the rain A dog barked in the prison yard He was only skin and bone He looked up at my window Like he was searching for Saint Joan As the sun sets over Memphis A priest comes to my side Asks me for my last request I say Get me some cyanide The priest he started laughing Then he looked at me and sighed Sorry but I cant do that But heres the cross upon which our savior died You can hold it in your fist When the rope is on your throat And you are reading the letter that your father wrote Death came for the hangman On the night I was to hang Now Im over the Rio Grando Riding high above the rain Death he kept on riding The hangman was riding too I crossed the Rio Grando To get one last word with you Don’t eat the fruit that’s falling From the huckleberry sky Don’t go near the water When the ship of fools goes by Don’t go to the station When you hear the whistling train Its just four strong winds escaping From the fires on the plain I can tell you just as sure as sin In a voice as true as pain Since I walked away from the gallows pole Ive been riding on the rain Now I see three ships a sailing On a cold and ragged sea Death came for the hangman On the night he came for me
8.
Old Men and Old Women 01:50
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I once new a girl She was sweet as a peach We passed many nght Snuggled up on the beach I saw her last week after many a year She sprayed me with mace When I put my tongue her ear Old men and old women They snarl and they hiss They take you to court Just for stealing a kiss Once they were high flying kids Who would laugh sing and play These old men and old women who have called it a day Theyll pay 5,000 bucks to see the Stones in the park As long as its over Before it gets darrk Old men and old women Fall asleep in their chairs Then lay awake all night Terrified in their beds They pine for the times When they were kids Black people were panthers Policemen were pigs You raised your flag high when they called you a freak You turned into a nerd And your children are geeks Old men and old women I dont mean to offend but its hard to believe That you once were my friends
9.
Mama Never Saw 02:56
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On a Sunday in December Mama saw the Japanese planes She watched them bomb the harbor And her daddy the admiral explained Why they had to zigzag to the mainland In a submarine Mama saw the start of world war two It was the worst thing shed ever seen Mama never saw the 100,000 Drowning in the sea Because no one would let them come ashore They were dangerous refugees Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw The missiles of October Were a terrible thing to see Children hid beneath their beds Just as scared as anyone could be Somehow nothing happened They were all alive at the end of the week But mama saw the world was in trouble And its future was looking bleak Mama never saw the wall of fear Running from sea to shining sea Mama never saw the radiated fish When the fire came out of the sea Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw Mama saw two depressions Mama saw the farms disappear When the bankers started taking the country She still believed it couldn’t happen here Mama got slapped by drunkards She was the victim of a naked kiss Mama saw the worst side of helltown But she ever saw nothing like this Mama never saw a war so profitable It couldn’t be allowed to end Mama never saw the land of plenty Become the land of Lets Pretend Mama never saw Mama never saw I hope my baby never sees The things my mama never saw
10.
Farewell My Friend 02:04
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Farewell, my friend Who came before me And went into the night So quietly Farewell my friend Farewell forever Greater distances We shall never see Farewell, my friend Who came in winter When the road Was hard and cold Farewell, my friend Farewell forever Where you go I do not know In separate times we have entered In separate times we will Farewell, my friend Farewell forever The light comes in The waves recede
11.
Missing Everyone 02:47
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12.
Holes in the Sky 05:17
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Grandma and grandpa are resting Together side by side Daddy and mama are scattered Across the countryside Down at the old cemetary Hangs a No Vacancy sign Nobodys resting in peace anymore They just burn a hole in the sky Are these the pastures of plenty Where wheat fields and orchards once stood If God took a look at these Monsanto fields Would he still say this is good Where once pure water was flowing Black gold oozes down the pipeline And the cool ocean breeze Is getting too hot to breath Yet were still burning holes in the sky Armies amass at the border Invading their own country Taking by force what was lost in the course Of elections that never are free This world cannot stand for much longer Its singing its own lullaby And when it finally dies Will a new earth arise Or will it just leave a hole in the sky Some say that nothing is sacred In the shell of a thing that is dead your While you live youre alive You lose it all when you die You cant even keep the eyes in your head They paved over the old cemetary Where grandpa and grandma did lie Theres no resting place in this world any more We are just burning holes in the sky
13.
Tim Hardin - COVER Hang on to a Dream 03:16

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released December 16, 2017

All songs written and performed by Bill White

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