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1. |
Border Blues (Disc 1)
05:11
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Border Blues
m.litton
You started out one morning, you faced the dust ‘n wind
The desert sun was bearing down, you swore you’d never bend
You passed by many pilgrims fallen in the sand
Their skull ‘n bones and broken dreams line the borders of this land
You’ve got your regrets, yeah, you’ve got your deceits
You’ve been on the trail so long, you’ve forgotten what you seek
The moon is on the skyline, the wind is howling low
The shadows of nightfall echo the borders of your soul
(chorus): You’ve got the border blues, border blues
Stare into the bottle, fade in the ruins
Of those border blues, border blues
She’ll find another victim and never leave a clue
You met out on the edge one night, she offered you her flesh
Her movements so catlike it stole your very breath
She whispered for you to come, to come to her and play
And feed her your passion on the border where she lays
Now you enter her heartless room up that back-alley stair
Where the door eclipses the light of day, you search but she’s not there
The depot is silent, and the train no longer comes
From day to day you pace ‘n wait on another border run
(chorus)
The memory keeps gnawing like a rodent in the wall
A melody, an imagery that shatters as you fall
You gather all the pieces like drops of gutter wine
To dull the bitter ache of these lonely border nights
She stood there at the window as the evening sky burned red
She reached to draw the curtain and nothing more was said
Now the past is on you and gaining every day
Best hide your tracks, ride hard, boy, slip the border, get away
From those border blues, border blues…
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2. |
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Pretty Mary
m.litton
In a pickup with my brother, driving down a country road
He said, A buffalo hunter farmed this land once long ago
There’s mosaic in the wheat this year, the harvest is looking poor
Like a curse been hanging on this land since that hunter hung his faithless whore
They say he was a mean man and mighty handy with a gun
He’d sooner shoot a man down as watch a rabbit run
They never even dared come after him when he made his pretty wife a ghost
For running off with the hired man ‘n five thousand in gold
(chorus): Her name was Mary, pretty Mary, see that dust devil in the wind
Her name was Mary, pretty Mary, still dancing her last dance for him
He caught them by the river, there he let the man go free
Then he hung a lariat rope from the limb of a cottonwood tree
He said, You’ll dance this dance for me, you’ll dance never more for him…
As her dancing feet left the ground, he watched her struggle end
Then he left her body hanging, but her spirit trailed him home
As he poured a glass of whiskey, he swore he saw her shadowed form
He locked each door behind him, still she followed room to room
Soon the mansion he’s built for her was closed up like a tomb
(chorus)
No, he never went to prison, he hired a lawyer to get him off
But he signed his land all over to cover the legal cost
He died insane in a poorhouse, now he’s buried in a pauper’s grave
His hanging whore has cursed this land to our very day
Her name was Mary, pretty Mary…
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3. |
Between the Wars
07:41
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Between the Wars
m.litton
He served in a squad of brave young men trained hard as tempered steel
They knifed right in, fell ‘n bled like oil from a busted wheel
Now they lay up in those boneyards, and on that great black marble wall
Behind their names you’ll see his face still haunted by it all…
When Johnny came marching home, he was crazy from the time he served
He walked outside the bus depot and sat alone upon the curb
In the Far East Asian jungle, victory finally crumbled
So they shipped the army back home in the dark
One by one the boys returned to the factories, streets and farms
On the uniform in the photograph there’s a silver star and a ranger badge
But his smile is twisted angry like scar
On Veteran’s Day the old parade but no one shouts “Hip-hip hurrah!”
They keep the windows rolled up on the cars
O Johnny, just what did you expect
They’ll never march in step between the wars
Love of country was the curse that carried you off to war
Peace becomes a bitter word when you don’t know what you’re fighting for
If you can’t live for Jesus, make up any reason
Pick an easy number to divide
Throw away your memories, man, it’s time to come alive
Yeah, you can make it happen, it only takes adapting
To the motorcycle cowboy disguise
If you’re tired of your burden, drop it like a curtain
Show the world your silhouette then fly
O Johnny, you’re running with the wind
You never break, you bend between the wars
They can’t tame you, rambling man, but it’s true you have to pay the toll
They may fence ‘n farm the land, but that ol’ dust will always blow
Staring at the sun too long, drifting till you can’t hold on
Dodging every hurdle in your path
When you feel your thoughts start closing in, you simply shoot the gap
Smugglers roam the highways, plowmen trod the bi-ways
Through the ditches stray a dog ‘n a brown-eyed calf
While overhead the cocaine moon overhears your hard-luck tune
His face is too numb to weep or laugh
O Johnny, you’re blowing up against
That ol’ blizzard fence between the wars
Yeah Johnny, just cut the deck ‘n deal
They give you time to heal between the wars
Once your illusions die you’re running on willpower
And a unicorn won’t get you buy when confusion fills the hours
Neons flash ungodly verse as rays of meaning dim ‘n blur
Upon the retina of your bloodshot eye
Truth is just a baited hook that tears the mortal mind
The flesh hangs fat upon the bone, there’s little left to feed the soul
Upon a prison diet it must dine
If that spirit maiden who stands between appearance and the shape of things
Ever sheds her gown you’ll surely die
O Johnny, there’s nothing in the air
God ain’t even there between the wars
Yeah Johnny, for all you left behind
You search but never find between the find
Swear you’ve been gone so long you can’t remember why you left
And looking back it all dissolves like a vapor trail behind a jet
You can die laughing, and you can die crashing
In a flaming tailspin to earth
And you can live so long my friend that life becomes a curse
Along a desert highroad, beside a buzzard crossroad
The motorcycle cowboy missed the turn
Now his cry is silent as the boredom yields to violence
And the burden of his flesh is finally burned
O Johnny, the years begin to fly
And that’s the ways you die between the wars
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4. |
Marijuana Fields
04:29
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Marijuana Fields
m.litton
When I was a little bitty lad, used to run down a cattle path
Through the marijuana fields back home
Down near where the ol’ creek ran dry
The wild hemp grew over twelve feet high
In those marijuana fields back home
When it came time to milk the cows they could most all be found
In those marijuana fields back home
Our ol’ dog, he’d sic ‘em, send ‘em home with hooves a’clickin’
From those marijuana fields back home
Here come the cows! Sic ‘em, boy!
Then came years of boom ‘n bust, days were low, mean ‘n rough
In those marijuana fields back home
And when the roads weren’t too damn muddy,
We drove out, me ‘n my buddies
To those marijuana fields back home
Picked that hemp…yeah, picked it till the cows came home
Once or twice I’s nearly caught, several times nearly shot
In those marijuana fields back home
But I got away so guess I’m lucky
Though I never made all that much money
In those marijuana fields back home
When that female hemp put on her seed you could pick alotta weed
In those marijuana fields back home
It was up below Nebraska, tell ‘em that, son, if they ask ya
Those marijuana fields back home
Let’s pick us some!
The raccoon loves his sweet field corn, the milk cow loves her ol’ milk barn
And we all love them former days we roamed
And now ‘n then when the full moon shines
I long again for my high ol’ times in those marijuana fields back home
Yeah, when that female hemp put on her seed…
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5. |
Summer Days Are Long
05:07
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Summer Days Are Long
m.litton
Little boy tossed a toy hand grenade in the kitchen as we sat sippin’ lemonade
The sun through the west slowly decade, the cattle lolled in the shade
Just another lazy Sunday afternoon, flies a’buzzin’ room to room
Ol’ dog wouldn’t hardly even move from the flower bed when she got the broom
Now she’s fryin’ up the catfish, Lord, I speared in the creek with the potato fork
Horses are fed ‘n all the chores are put away till tomorrow morn
(chorus): And it’s the same ol’ story, gotta disc that field, kill them morning glories
There’s thistles all through the pasture, flood-gate’s gone from the big spring storm
Cattle stray, guess the fences need lookin’ after once again
But then these summer days are long, don’cha know it, boy
These summer days are long, long, long
Summer days, summer days, summer days
Nearly had the bottom plowed, tractor choked, another breakdown
Shot yesterday runnin’ all around, parts won’t come till the bus hits town
Went swimmin’ this morning down below the falls
Where the cedars grow upon the bluff so tall
Where that young man died cuttin’ wood last fall
When a dead limb fell ‘n crushed his skull
Ya know his parents still take it mighty hard
I stopped by the other day in their yard
We spoke leaning up against the car
Time heals all wounds but leaves a scar
(chorus)
Last night I swore it was gonna rain
Woke with the whistle from the northbound train
Thunder ‘n lightnin’ crashed and came, cooled the air then rolled away
Hell, we could use an inch or more ‘n hell could us a revolvin’ door
My wife a new dress from a fancy store, wonder what the use is anymore
When rhe noon-day sun burns your skin ‘n the farm report predicts the end
Might move to the city ‘n start again
But there’s wheat to sow ‘n the hay ain’t in
And it’s the same ol’ story…
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6. |
Holly 'n the Drifter
05:06
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Holly ‘n the Drifter
m.litton
In the 1880s in northern Tennessee,
In a coal town Onieda lived my great-grandaddy
And one cold night a drifter shot him down
Since that day my family has roamed
I’d sink a ship for all its gold
I’d sign with the Devil for a home
(chorus): O Holly, I’ve been this way before
I’ve been robbed, shot at ‘n I’ve been poor
So Holly, don’cha follow out the door
Cause I can never marry you
I’m a drifter, a drifter, yeah a drifter
Holly, stand aside ‘n let me pass on through
I met her in a bar, boys, I was twenty-one
She had the eyes of a coyote runnin’ wild from a gun
A French-fan blew back her auburn hair
Her sad tender shadow danced upon the wall
She said she couldn’t sleep when the moon was full
Piano music filled the hall
(chorus)
My night’s they shadow me like the scent of smoke
Ol’ dogs hear me comin’, stir, then watch me go
My heart’s as empty as an early morning town
The memory of Holly clothes the minutes of my day
O’er the river it patterns every wave
Cruel midnight makes me wish I’d have stayed
O Holly, I ‘ve been this way before…
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7. |
Golgatha
06:01
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Golgatha
m.litton
Time tics above the mantle, the moth dies in the flame
The old cat climbs the screen door, whiskey divides the brain
Have you ever tried to sleep on nights when the sweat fills each pore
And the silence fills each moment with its ghostly nevermore
And you’ve mutinied the dream captain with his cat’o nine and its claws
O it’s a long way to Golgatha when you carry your own cross
You open your eyes to the man shadow, he has no face, no arms
He changes into a mythical moth to suck the blood from your heart
Then three great demon stallions leap from your father’s corpse
They trap you in a narrow room with no window, without a door
And you cannot find your razor, your noose won’t hold a knot
O it’s a long way to Golgatha when you carry your own cross
The ol’ Deceiver in the shadows, lying low as a snake
You may miss him, you may step on him
Ah but he sees you just the same
Black clouds mount the curving earth, blasting caverns in your mind
We’ve been sentenced to live in error and you wonder what was our crime
For it seems we all are governed by both hell and heaven’s law
O it’s a long way to Golgatha when you carry your own cross
The leprechaun lightning teases you with ghost images of Christ
Drawing energy out of matter, planting truth beneath each lie
And Einstein rides a chariot, Saint Nickolas of the stars
Seeking the Master Dealer, and it’s true he traveled far
But it all remains so relative if you can bend the light of God
O it’s a long way to Golgatha when you carry your own cross
Like Napoleon who burned his eagles and put a torch to each bridge
To survive we’ll burn our souls out to the very edge
And perhaps when night had passed us and the sun reigns supreme
By some small decision we’ll cut a path through this dream
And end on Easter Island with the fallen kings of Nod
O it’s a long way to Golgatha when you carry your own cross
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8. |
Breakaway #2
04:23
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Breakaway
m.litton
Late night closes round a little prairie town
Lone car out on the highway, moon cuts through the clouds
Two young hearts, they’re trying to break free
Take my hand, girl, come breakaway with me
Feeling hunted like two shadows on the run
Only wanting to escape this dead-end where we’re from
Feel your long hair blow against mine
Don’t want to die till I reach the sky
(chorus): Where does the road lead beyond the distant hill
We reach the horizon, we’re standing here still
Why is there no answer when the question gets real
Stab me in the heart, ask me how I feel
Caught like a tumbleweed in a barbed wire fence
Tremble without moving just touching your skin
All my life I’ve been trying to break free
Take my hand, girl, come breakaway with me
Red fox in the headlights trots along the road
His eyes flash yellow as he jumps the ditch to go
Deep into the night to vanish in his dream
He answers no one, he always been free
Let it all pass away, it’s all been said before
Take what we got today, don’t need nothing more
Take you in my arms, draw your breath o mine
Don’t want to die till I reach the sky
Where does the road lead…
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9. |
Cold Ohio City #2
07:30
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Cold Ohio City
m.litton
With a grubstake from Ohio he went there long ago
Brought a pack mule, a pickax, and a pan to search for gold
Bullet casings, tobacco tins, coffee cans, and bones
Are the remnants left behind his log/sod mountain home
Moss-roofed and fallen now on a high granite slope
Where a lone pine stands sentinel by a dynamite-cratered hole
Gold! was a booming cry in 1900 or so
Gold was a fever
There was gold in Colorado
But the stillness reigns like starlight
And near a dying patch of snow
Lie the rusting, bleaching remnants
Of bullets, tobacco, coffee, and bones
The night was just rolling in
When I finally reached the west end of town
I drifted on down the far side of the street
And the people I did meet in silence passed me by
For I cruelly stared ‘em each one in the eye
The season was late autumn and the wind blew uncommonly hard
As I stepped up to the bar of the “Gold Creek Sporting House”
Where the chorus gals in gowns waved from the balcony
And swarmed about the fair, raven-haired queen
Of cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
She was know as the Bluebell of Beau Simone I clearly do recall
She dazzled ‘em all with her warm and liquid eyes
Blue as the mountain sky above a late evening silhouette
A night with her a mortal man could never forget
She leaned upon the shoulder of a handsome gambler
Name of Beau Simone
The cigar he smoked never left his lips
He wore a pistol on his hip and silver-plated Spanish spurs
Suffice it to say he was dressed beyond words
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
I knew ‘em both by other names from a situation I’ll explain in time
The months now number nine since their whereabouts was known
And a bitter seed had grown
I’d come to play the card of revenge
Against this lady, my wife, and this gentleman, my friend
I sat down at their table with a Winchester cradled in my arms
All the others drew apart as I called the cheatin’ pair
They straightened in their chairs
But when he went for that ace up his sleeve
Lord, he never knew what hit ‘im when my hammer hit the breach
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
Through Denver the word was spread
Next morning as they read the telegram
A drifter killed a gambler and his belle
But the drifter died as well
For when he knelt at the dying lady’s side
She shot him with a derringer holstered on her thigh
The mining shacks all are gone
As the breezes blow beyond the Great Divide
And where the stream runs behind the old Hickory Mill
Up yonder on a hill beneath a lone white Aspen tree
There lay the bones of Bluebell, Beau Simone, and me
In cold Ohio City, Colorado gold mining town
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10. |
O Big Magic Moon
06:15
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O Big Magic Moon
m.litton
His daddy made whiskey and his momma made pretend that she was a riverboat queen
The passion that held them was the hope one day to trade the chessboard for a king
You can run ‘n hide, cry ‘n cry, then try to fly like a crow
Ya still won’t make it anyway but so
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
One cold night the wind was howling, the horse was neighing in his stall
She dealt some cards down on the old chessboard told her son that he would grow tall
Cause you’re the lion in the riddle, the bow on the fiddle
The light in the middle of the stone
One day your heart is bound to fill with gold
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
It was raining outside, the sky was black came some men with a lantern to the door
His daddy was drunk as he rose to his feet, dead when they shot him to the floor
And with open eyes the old dreamer dies waiting for the light from above
To come make true, so true his love
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
By the light of the magic moon all silhouettes are revealed
The mother and the child ride this night away out in the hills
And as the wind plays through the trees, casting shadows o’er their trail
They chance to meet the ghost of one they once knew so well
Twenty odd years down the road from that time the son rode with Robert E. Lee
He fought like a badger for them Southern hills, caught a shell in ‘63
You can run ‘n hide, cry ‘n cry, then try to fly like a crow
Ya still won’t make it anyway but so
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
They laid him to the room with his uniform penned with medals of golds
His old momma cried as her warrior lay there one last night at home
He was the lion in the riddle, the bow on the fiddle
The light in the middle of the stone
One day his heart was bound to fill with gold
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
With the memory of her man there dead on the floor, her son just fresh to his grave
She takes the pistol off the old chessboard, tries so hard to be brave
And with open eyes the old dreamer dies waiting for the light from above
To come make true, so true her love
And O-O-O big magic moon, come listen to my blues
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11. |
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Yellow Rose Hotel
m.litton
I love Texas when it’s hot, Lord, and dusty
And that gusty ol’ wind comes blowin’ out of hell
I follow my memory on a high lonesome journey
To a long ago evening at the Yellow Rose Hotel
She wore a dress colored yellow
In the pale moonlight she glowed
As the wind played a reel through the pastures and hills
I held her close…down at the ol’ Yellow Rose
(chorus): Where she lay in the shadows awaiting
Like a dream that fades at dawn
Then we made love as the neon flower glowed
And that neon flower was the bright yellow rose
And it’s bloomed in my dreams ever since that night
I love Texas but a young man must wander
Though his love he may plunder on a dream he cannot find
I left her in Amarillo, took a harvest flotilla
North through the Dakotas across the Canadian line
Ah but love left alone will only wither
Like the clover will die in the cold
When my letters returned unopened I yearned for her so
Down at the ol’ Yellow Rose
(chorus)
I love Texas when the blizzards drift the ditches
And the thistles and fences glisten in the sun
I’ve seen tomorrow laying like a woman’s sorrow
She’s waiting in the shadows, fading as I come
I gambled and lost her down a highway
Passed my last chance so long ago
I was fuel for the fire
Now I’m the ash where that one ember glows
Down at the ol’ Yellow Rose
Where she lay in the shadows awaiting…
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12. |
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Caspion & the White Buffalo
m.litton
In the year of 18 ‘n 71, Jim Caspion and Sam Tillman did go
Away out on the western Kansas plains to hunt for the wild buffalo
On October 12th in late afternoon, from a view along a ridge
It was Caspion who spied the Great Southern Herd
And a white bull that grazed at the edge
As the sun fell west and shadows grew
Fifty Cheyenne warriors rode out of the blue
The warriors quickly rode Tillman to the ground
He fought but he never had a chance
When the Cheyenne turned to come for Caspion, boys
A scalp was help up high on their lance
Hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya-oh…
First he reined his horse right then he reined him left
And looking back he set both spurs
Then Caspion gave his horse its head
And rode straight into that mighty herd
Now that great brown sea of buffalo roared
As the stampede pressed him in
Before the dust closed around he saw the Cheyenne ride
Upon the crest of the hill where he had been
Like a storm they ran with tongues aflame
As the broad black beast burned all across the plain
Hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya-oh…
There was thunder in the ground as the night came down
As the buffalo drove and rushed
And a prayer on the lips of Caspion, boys
As he rode on blind through the dust
Hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya-oh…
Well the sky blew clear and the full moon shone
And on and on ran the stream
It was then that he spied the white buffalo again
Just before it fell into a deep ravine
There was several hundred head crowded o’er that edge
Before the valley opened wide
Where Caspion reined his horse away
And found some rocks for to bed down behind
In an army blanket made of wool
He lay dreaming of that pure white buffalo
Lay dreaming, dreaming of the white buffalo
In the morning light he rode back to the gulch
Where the buffalo had fallen in
There he found the white bull with a broken leg
So he shot him then he took his skin
Hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya-oh…
He made a robe, a robe of the white buffalo
Made a robe, a robe of the white buffalo
Through five long years Caspion kept that robe
Believing it was good medicine
For he felt that the power of the white buffalo
Had led him safe from the wild Cheyenne
But on a drinking spree out in Fort Lyons, boys
He sold that robe for a hundred dollar bill
And the following spring down in New Mexico
While hunting buffalo Caspion was killed
As the sun fell west and shadows grew
The Comanche warriors rode out of the blue
Hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya, hai-ya-oh…
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13. |
Elmira
04:10
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Elmira
m.litton
I hold my heart in tune to the moonlit night, the song’s delay
In my hands I seek to grasp the soft-colored sky, the ocean’s spray
Yet here I lie in the rolling sand, I’ve folded my legs, folded my hands
I kneel and bow and pray that I might stand
And take and hold and love the spirit Elmira
Elmira is the one I love with all my heart, with all my soul
The dew-silent bird that sings a song I will never know
Elmira walks the blue hills at dawn in a shadow dress, a purple veil
Her image is here then gone, her dancing form soon dispels
O if I could rise above all I’m made, evolve into something like the shade
I’d laugh at all the fools who’ve cried and begged
And take and hold and love the spirit Elmira
Now her vision is gone as a dream will fade into the day
And what was sand and foam, an inland sea, is now sand and clay
O if by song her soul would rise, and if by singing she’d never die
I’d stand and sing and reach beyond the sky
And take and hold and love the spirit Elmira
Elmira is the one I love with all my heart, with all my soul
The dew-silent bird that sings a song I will never know
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14. |
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Creek-Bank Ghetto Boys
m.litton
From the sandy fords of shallow streams to the muddy Marais de Cygnes
We rode the Flint Hills thru the night out to them rolling plains
And we are the Creek-Bank Ghetto Boys, we all are mighty liars
And the sheriff never knows we’re near, hell, we don’t light no fires
Oh sing of the wounded land just below the border
Beneath shade of a native Oak there grows our greenback dollar
Get Grandpa’s old corn-knife unsheathed ‘n put her to the stone
We never take our guns out there ‘cause that’s against out code
And we haven’t come to rob the rich nor aid the helpless pauper
Though we don’t aim to slave all day just to earn a piece of copper
Our brothers of the night they howl like a lonesome distant train
The clouds flap their wings below the moon which shows the way
(chorus): And some would call us outlaws, but that’s a meaner game
For we’re the Creek-Bank Ghetto Boys a’ridin’ down the plains
Yeah, we’re the Creek-Bank Ghetto Boys, we’ll be gone come the break of day
We work within the timeless night where the dawn and evening wed
Where the wall between the dream is gone and we dance there with the dead
And we idolize each other’s sword and graft our souls to legend
And fancy as we flay the hemp, this is the foes green legions
But when the fever leaves the brow and we gather in a nest
With sober words we speak of one who watches o’er the harvest
The dawn is approaching, boys, can’t you see the pumpkin sky
As we stumble thru the trees below, can’t you hear the Blue Jay cry
In a ditch beside the road we wait with our gainful gunny sack
As the headlights halo behind the hill from the car of One-eyed Jack
Oh cut the lights and hit the door, fill ‘er to the jaws, roll
Let’s put a hundred miles between us and the local law
(chorus)
Now later when the split is made, angry words have flowed
For the greedy heart spins heads ‘n tails before that hard-earned gold
One night when the red blood had boiled, Oats up and spoke like this:
“Just what was paid the lad who held the horse for Frank ‘n Jess?”
Well you can wave your gun about and at the shadows aim
But best you take the hand you’re dealt when it ain’t but you to blame
(chorus)
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15. |
Bagpipe Blues
06:14
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Bagpipe Blues
m.litton
Drinking wine on the ol’ Montmartre there sat Camus ‘n Jean-Paul Sartre
Talking about life for an illogical while
The former said it was a tragedy, the latter swore it was a history
They both agreed existentially with the boys in the rank ‘n file
But those bagpipe blues, I hear those bagpipe blues
Rock me in my cradle, Lord, sink this ship of fools
I’d trade this modern world in for an old-fashion girl
And philosophy for to know ‘n this politics for a puppet show
Cause I only wanna be bouncing on my daddy’s knee
Taking a pony ride…hell, I’d trade this song for a lullaby
When I’s young I used to think that I would make the cynic blink
I studied on the math ‘n science and ancient Sufi prayer
Now my friends, I simply roll my eyes at exotic gals who pantomime
That age-old striptease of…touch me if you dare
And those bagpipe blues, I hear those bagpipe blues
Rock me in my cradle, Lord, sink this ship of fools
Son, ya gotta take it on the chin, it’s the most unoriginal sin
Woman is simply sugar-fed by little men who’re made of gingerbread
And I only wanna be bouncing on my daddy’s knee
Taking a pony ride…hell, I’d trade this song for a lullaby
Well we’ve lived through many years ‘n Camus’s no longer here
And we bid farewell to ol’ Jean-Paul quite a long while ago
He said there ain’t no exit, boys, but he had a ticket, boys
Still he waved the train on by cause he longer cared to go
And those bagpipe blues, he heard those bagpipe blues
Rock him in his cradle, Lore, sink this ship of fools
If being is nothing then nothing must mean something
I reckon the ol’ boy was confused
Ya know a thinking man can rarely choose
So I scratch my prayer on the pavement stone
And agree with fools down at the loading zone
And sing my Rorschach rhymes for all the world to hear
But tragedy goes against my gain ‘n history’s just a daisy chain
And existence is a casualty to memory and fear
And those bagpipe blues, I hear those bagpipe blues
Rock me in my cradle, Lord, sink this ship of fools
With rhyme ‘n reason hand in hand, I’ll mount the stage a one-man band
A rock-a-bye high up in the wind
To a far-off applause my songs will end
And I only wanna be bouncing on my daddy’s knee
Taking a pony ride…hell, I’d trade this song for a lullaby
|
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16. |
||||
|
The Devil’s Daughter
m.litton
One July evening I was feeling down
I went to the circus that had come to town
Watched all the grand festivities
Though I stayed alone like a guilty thief
I stood by the Gypsy wagon all through the horse parade
Watched the colors flow through light ‘n shade
But when the big-top music had finally died
I noticed this lovely lady dancing at my side
She came to me when the circus closed
In a white silk dress and black silk hose
She had a moonlight rogue and lilac breath
She swayed like a willow underneath her dress
She said, What’s this you’ve got hidden in your eyes
Is it something that I might finalize
I said, Yeah, well maybe…I’m just a country fool
She said, I can read your mind, boy, let’s stop playing by the rules
Now the Devil’s daughter, some say she’s cruel
But she come to me like a gentle girl
She said, I’m out on loan, your gal’s out of reach
If you come with me, my boy, I can make it easy
You know the favorite child of God prayed ‘neath the moon
So why should we not play beneath it too
And press our bodies like his folded hands
You know even the Devil’s daughter sometimes she needs a man
We waltzed through the moonlight, the garden and the feast
We fell ‘neath the lamppost of a late-night street
She pointed to the neon glow, she laughed and said
Is this forbidden fruit or you’re Golden Calf
I said, it’s both then neither nor exactly the same
Just a place where night can’t enter, a torch without a flame
Well she said, If that’s morality, best save it for your ladies
It’s enough you’re gonna die alone but to sleep that way is just crazy
She took me to her wagon, she washed my feet
I felt like a god of ancient Greece
When the light of the morning began to burn
She looked to me and said, You must return
For I knew that you would want to go back home
So I made it easy for you to find the road
Just ride up to the sign that reads Life or Death
Then take the path that leads to the ones you love the best
O the Devil’s daughter, some say she’s cruel
But she come to me like a gentle girl…
|
||||
17. |
Help Me Crossover
03:26
|
|||
|
Help Me Crossover
m.litton
Help me crossover, don’t let me go down
Don’t let me roll under ‘neath the terrible thunder
Please don’t let me drown
A ship in the bottle is lost to the sea
And I’ve let the bottle form its wall around me
It’s dark as a dungeon, cold as a tomb
Just help me crossover, don’t say it’s over
Girl, I still need you
And all of my reasons were whiskey-soaked lies
But babe don’t you leave, please won’t you stay
And help me climb
Over the wall of this hangover hell
Help me crossover, help me crossover
Help me crossover, don’t let me fail
Your love is gentle, to love me is hard
You’re caught in the middle between me ‘n the bars
I’ll make you no promise, that’s the backslider’s line
Just help me crossover and I’ll stay sober
One day at a time
And all of my reasons were whiskey-soaked lies
But babe don’t you leave, please won’t you stay
And help me climb
Over the wall of this hangover hell
Help me crossover, help me crossover
Help me crossover, don’t let me fail
|
||||
18. |
Murder of Bob Rose
09:48
|
|||
|
Murder of Bob Rose
m.litton
While driving down a pavement road, it was a cold day in November
It started snowing, she told the story about the murder of Bobby Rose
Now in the Thirtiues the men would gamble, drink ‘n ramble around the county
To make the game many came with money from selling off their cattle
At an old house they’s playing poker , in walks a joker, he’s got a big gun
It’s a game of chance, ya lost your pants, I want every man here to hand ‘em over
He marched them down into the cellar and said, Now fellas, lay on the floor
He crossed the yard then drove a car against the door and he didn’t leave a dollar
They ran the story in the County Times, the men had tried to see his face, but he wore a mask 'n they never asked his name as he didn't seem so kind
Around the cafes and the depot some said, Bob Rose must be the gunman
He always came, that night he missed the game ‘n he’s the one could do it all alone
Bobby Rose ran the creamery, stood six feet, young ‘n handsome
He was well-liked, had a pretty wife, took her dancing down east in Kansas City
And Alice Rose was mighty pretty, and her daddy was the town marshal
Ol’ Bob was lucky, some say too lucky with the cards as well as with the ladies
Two months later around a dim light, the dealer cries, You’ve won again
That’s three outa five you’ve won tonight or dammit will you tell that I’m blind
The other man he just grinned and said, Now men ain’t it a shame
Ya take a chance, ya lose your pants, like taken eggs from a one-legged hen
The dealer growls, Now let’s remember…last September you were him
You just guessing, I ain’t confessing…but all their lips were set hard ‘n thin
They help him up against the wall so he wouldn’t fall as they beat him
They cracked his head, at the ears he bled, he went limp when someone broke his jaw
Come on get up, start acting sober, do as you’re told, come to your feet
Perhaps he dead, the little man said, He doesn’t breathe and I swear he getting colder
The room falls silent as a cave, behind the shade a lantern burns
Through the shadows moves a new ghost, they hear it mumbling all their names
We’ve done a murder, the dealer moans, you see the bone behind his ear
It’s a sad mistake, it ain’t too late, so listen here we’ve still got till early morn
The dealer says, I’ll take the body of poor Bobby, you boys drive his car
We’ll let the train come smash his brain ‘n by nthe stars we’ll swear we saw him drinking
They park the car right on the tracks, then looking back cry, Where’s our friend
The Rock Island Line come flying, they rush away just before they hear the crack
On down the road they find the dealer, his wheels are spinning above culvert
The roads are slick, I jumped the ditch, the car ain’t hurt but you all know how I’m feeling
They dump the body down a cistern then push the car back on the road
When they find that well, they’ll say he fell after roaming from the wreck upon the curve
Three day pass, it starts to snow, it’s on the radio and people wonder
It’s now Thanksgiving, still he’s missing then a hunter finds the body down that hole
The county gathers at the inquest, the death is ruled accidental
Without proof they can’t accuse, says the marshal, Now ya know I done my best
At Bobby’s grave stands his brother with his mother and his uncle
Pretty Alice cries as the service dies ‘n says, A shovel can’t cover up a murder
And there is talk accusing Alice, the women all jealous of her red hair
It breaks her heart, tears her apart, she pays the fare and takes a train to Dallas
But Bobby’s older brother name of Durard claims he’s heard by who the deed was done
There’s a debt, they’ll pay it yet, some are going to hell and that’s my word
Willy Stanton told his friends, I know it’s him there on my phone
When I answer I hear his laughter, he’s in my bones, I can feel him on my skin
They find Willy dead on New Year’s with the fear locked in his eyes
The way he died was suicide, he fired the pistol just above his ear
And ol’ Durard don’t say nothing, keeps staring with those gray eyes
He’s a bear-like man, got giant hands, never smiles when he sees ya coming
Carlin Hill farmed a quarter, he had a dollar in every game
One year later he got a letter, there was no name and it mentioned a murder
They found Carlin behind his house, there ain’t no doubt said the sheriff
He pressed the gun to his heart ‘n lung, he had big debts coming from the drought
And ol’ Durard don’t say nothing, keeps staring with those gray eyes
He’s a bear-like man, got giant hands, never smiles when he sees ya coming
One night they find poor Eddy Rollin, his motor running up in Nebraska
Eddy dies but his date survives, the whiskey his ma claimed was poisoned
And Henry Garth, ten years later, went to the river for the weekend
He’s never found, they thought he’d drowned
But he could swing in any current said a neighbor
And ol’ Durard don’t say nothing, keeps staring with those gray eyes
He’s a bear-like man, got giant hands, never smiles when he sees ya coming
It was down a score of winters from the murder of Bobby Rose
When Pony Hays went insane ‘n told the law that he had been the dealer
By the window he grips the bars, sees his arms grow thin ‘n old
The men in white have saved his life but his soul has fled out to the stars
And ol’ Durard don’t say nothing, keeps staring with those gray eyes
He’s a bear-like man, got giant hands, never smiles when he sees ya coming
|
||||
19. |
Sunday Morning
02:53
|
|||
|
Sunday Morning
m.litton
Sunday Morning I have found crying like a baby
Tear-blue eyes and rolling dice, a ribbon from my lady’s gown
Through the garden willows weave a basket for her hours
She dances softly as a child over memories of flower and leaves
Sunday Morning has no shame, her passion is bold
To Sunday Morning a wild bird sang of love once long ago
The Queen of Hearts, the Joker Wild, fruits are o’er the vine
A kiss of nectar to the sky, her flesh so divine is defiled
The world evolves through the light of an ancient fire
Sunday Morning unveiled her breasts in her maiden lair last night
|
||||
20. |
Colorado Gambler
05:21
|
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|
Colorado Gambler
m.litton
Show me to your mansion in the sky and I’ll stay with you one night
On the silver lining of the storm we’ll dance the evening through till morn
In the depot she sat waiting as he swung down from his saddle
He took the hand of this lovely lady, helped her to step across the rail
(chorus): Then the train whistle blows and the proud lady falls
Into the arms of the Colorado Gambler who plays her like a card
And burns his memory in her heart
She smiles as their carriage rocks ‘n rolls, she says
It’s so good to leave the cold, though it seem s to take forever
To cross this Kansas prairie, I long for my green Missouri hills
He was bound from Denver for Cincinnati, he asked her
Might I dine tonight with you, we’ll take an evening
In Kansas City, cut this weary trip in two
(chorus)
They’ve taken Venus from the sky, they’ve placed her sparkle in your eye
The porcelain is not half so fair, the sun through colored glass ain’t so warm
Her velvet dress falls from her shoulder, she leans against the bed to wait for him
She reaches out, they’re standing close, his hands are so cold upon her skin
(chorus): But his breath warms all as the proud lady falls…
The dawn is silver on the lace of the curtain which falls across her face
She wakes to close the window then turns back a tear
For the night is now a shadow in the mirror
He left her a letter signed, My lady…I’ve sailed south for Baton Rouge
I laid down my hand for your heart was winning
And I’ve learned to fold before I lose
(chorus): The steamboat whistle blows as the proud lady falls
Into the arms of the Colorado Gambler who plays her like a card
And burns his memory in her heart
|
||||
21. |
Fractions of Life
04:05
|
|||
|
Fractions of Life
m.litton
So many babies born today, so many stars left the sky
Life goes on like a lazy river drifting through the night
Old, old passions going down, kneeling on one knee
There’s a prophet in your heart, a Buddha in your spine
They are praying
Some old dog is moaning low, some poor man can’t sleep
Like the moon we all walk alone, struggling across dark seas
Hear that broken window, babe, hear that turning key
There’s a thief in your belly, a wolf in your eye
They are listening
Hear the siren of the dragon, girl, making fires through the cold
Hear that mummy whisper so softly once museum doors have closed
There’s cold bread in the oven, warm blood down a six-foot hole
There’s a beggar in your pocket, a poet in your lungs
They are screaming
Beneath the dark moist willow limb a seed has gone to soil
Autumn leaves are falling yellow, hissing as the serpent coils
Frozen o’er the tundra like thoughts frozen in your mind
There’s a dream of life in the corpse of Christ
Believing
O fill this empty bottle, babe, please fill this empty man
Someday I’m gonna leave this ol’ house, babe
This old castle made of sand
Hear that falling coin as it rolls across the floor
The world goes around like a weary ol’ dime
Just spinning
So many babies born today…
|
||||
22. |
||||
|
Montana Bound
m.litton
In April of ’82, along the Rio Grande
I signed on with Don Lovell ‘n the Circle-dot brand
We swam the cattle cross from Matamoros town
The wrangler drove the remuda
Soon we were all Montana bound
Our foreman’s name was Flood, ol’ Fox his segundo
They said the secret to trailing doggies, boys
Is you never let ‘em know, keep ‘em headed
On up the trail, but never show your hand
Spare your mounts, keeps their blankets dry
Cause a man afoot is just one less man
(chorus): Hi-yip hi-yip, Montana bound
Giddy-up head ‘em on their way
Hi-yip hi-yip, Montana bound
Come a cow-ki-yippie-yi-aye!
Across the Nueces up where it doubles round
Fresh from the Atascosa, we made the night’s bed-ground
But the unexpected waits up the Old Western Trail
The cattle jumped from their sleep
Like 3000 demons straight from hell
We whipped our slickers high ‘n fought to make ‘em turn
Fired our 44s so close the powder burned
When we hit the mesquite in that night stampede
I held the pummel and I held the cantle
(chorus)
A dry ol’ desert drive beyond the San Antone
The herd like a dragon curved to the Colorado
We had the trail boss, chuck, the point
The swing, flank ‘n drag
When the rustlers came to cut the herd
We helped the Rangers get ‘em bagged
We braved the raging Brazos
But the Red had shallowed down
On her banks we counted many graves
Of drovers she had drowned
In crossing the Indian land s we battered ‘em some beef
The Comanche trailed to the Cimarron
At the Kansas line we were home free
(chorus)
After months of drought ‘n flood ‘n muddy loblollies
Of prowling wolves and big buff bulls ‘n glorious stampedes
We vied for the ladies’ pleasures and played the gamblers’ odds
The closest we came to the bitter end
Was the night we shot the lights out in Dodge…
On north to Ogallala in a game of Spanish monte
Lady luck was velvet on the Rebel’s jack ‘n queen
But a fortnight on up the trail at 40-Island Forde
A good man drowned ‘n we buried him
And prayed his soul would find the Lord…
Below the Big-Horn Range we rode the Powder to the Yellowstone
At a bar in Frenchman’s Forde where only fools go alone
A boasting Yank toasted General Grant
And got his face slapped with whiskey
Guns were drawn, the Yankee died
As the Rebel cried, Here’s to General Lee…
Squaw Winter in Montana on the Mother Missouri
We delivered our long-horn herd to the Blackfoot Agency
Now the Chinooks blow around the fire
As our stories are told
Hell I wouldn’t trade my trail days, boys
To be bigshot with bags of gold
Hi-yip hi-yip, Montana bound
Giddy-up head ‘em on their way
Hi-yip hi-yip, Montana bound
Come a cow-ki-yippie-yi-aye!
|
||||
23. |
Christmas Song
03:57
|
|||
|
Christmas Song
m.litton
The snow lay deep o’er the many hills
The stars shone bright in the sky
The winter wind which bends the trees
Was calm that Christmas night
Daddy played his mouth-harp low
While momma made some bells ‘n bows
To decorate the cedar tree
We’d cut that day out in the cold
Then daddy sang a Christmas song
Away in the manger he lay
Then daddy sang a Christmas song
On this silent night, this holy night
When joy returns to the world for a day
The flame in the lamp was turned to glow
Till like a halo it seemed
And he told us of the savior’s birth
That first cold, cold Christmas Eve
See the stars through window
Framed by the frost on the pane
There was once a great star
That guided the wise men who came
They entered the manger and saw
A babe wrapped in rags, lain on the straw
And daddy sang a Christmas song
Away in the manger he lay
And daddy sang a Christmas song
On this silent night, this holy night
When joy returns to the world for a day
|
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24. |
Indian Land
04:11
|
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|
Indian Land
m.litton
From the far horizon a great thunderhead has sent
Red clouds before the warriors descend
There’s thunder in the valley, there’s lightning in the sky
But they don’t bring no tears to the little boy’s eyes
Cause he ain’s scared of thunder, Lord, no he ain’t scared of storm
He ain’t scared of the Devil with his pitchfork and his horns
Cause late in the evening he’s heard the stories told
About the Plains Indians so brave and bold
(chorus): And it’s Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ee-ya-a-aye
You can hear them sing when the wind begins to play
And if you don’t wear s shirt or a glove on your hand
Son, you’ll turn red in this Indian land
When the ol’ potato wagon goes a’rolling o’er the bridge
That’s what makes the thunder sound up overhead
And when the ol’ man makes his great big wagon whip go crack
It sends the lightning crashing on the Devil’s back
He’ll teach me how to fiddle, Lord, he’ll teach me how to ride
Dad’ll take me huntin-fishin with him by and by
And when he tells me something, I always listen good
So I can go way down yonder in the woods
(chorus)
The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cold
Jack Frost is coming and he’ll bite your nose
The brush of Indian Summer has painted all the leaves
Gotta get a jack-o-lantern cut for Halloween
Now all the leaves are falling, the firewood is stacked
The birds fly south but they’ll soon fly back
Daddy makes a teepee when he stacks the stokes of cane
And we hide there in the middles from the cold wind ‘n rain
Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ee-ya-a-aye
Gotta get the pick ‘n shovel, gotta dig a hole real deep
Cause the ol’ dog died last night in his sleep
Daddy says the grave will one day set our spirits free
And we’ll roam in the clouds between the sun and the sea
We’ll ride the high wind over distant hills
Leave these valleys where we’ve toiled ‘n tilled
And there will be no hunger, no worry anymore
As we sail the great storms shore to shore
(chorus): And it’s Hey-ya, hey-ya, hey-ee-ya-a-aye
You can hear them sing when the wind begins to play
And if you don’t wear s shirt or a glove on your hand
Son, you’ll turn red in this Indian land
|
||||
25. |
War Wind
06:06
|
|||
|
War Wind
m.litton
Late one night in early July with the wheat harvest done
My grandpa and I watched the far fields burn
As he spoke of World War One…
The best of those days was the baseball I played
While we trained under General Wood
And the time my mules stopped the victory parade
On the grounds where ol’ Pershing stood
Then after the war that night in Coblenz
When me ‘n the Swede we got drunk
Too drunk to climb back up in the loft
We bedded down in a cattle bunk
(chorus): And I heard the war wind moan
Through the salient at Saint Mihiel
It blew through the Battle of Belleau Wood
And when the Argonne Forest fell
I served as a medic in the old 89th
We were known as “The Middle West”
Farm boys shipped off to France
We thought the war would be a grand jest
My only wound was a wine-bottle scar
I caught there in a French saloon
Got a week in the brig for a brawl with the Brits
Met the German lads all too soon
(chorus)
Down Roman roads the caissons they rolled
Till the mud covered hub ‘n wheel
The air was filled with suffering cries
Of horse ‘n men being killed
That first dawn at our jumping-off lines
When the shells had shattered the mist
Our heart leapt then sank as we ran
Into battle like you’d fall from a cliff
(chorus)
(bridge):The village bells they were ringing
As all fell quiet along the front
And through those silent nights
While we watched o’er the Rhine
We still heard their cries
And in our dreams back home
The war wind still moaned
Tell me, I asked, what was it like
To see the wounded men die
His silence made me ashamed
I saw the agony fill his eyes
Son, you’re young but it’s time that you know
There are questions you never should ask
We cared for the wounded, buried the dead
Marked a cross on all who were gassed
(chorus & bridge)
|
||||
26. |
Late in the Winter
03:08
|
|||
|
Late in the Winter
m.litton
Late in the winter the sun sets through the south
And as I labor through the cold
I watch the trees touch lavender clouds
And long for the chorus of slumber
The voice of the river pines to the sea
As the night o’er the lowland descends
I’m wanting no more than never to have been
To know not of age nor sorrow
The lattice of the years they form the glades
Where the wolves will hunger and moan
There beneath the grass my bones will be laid
And my children will harvest the suffering
Now the night and the winter and the century are one
In the life of the river and its journey
I carry my weariness back to my home
And wait to be buried by history
Late in the winter the sun sets through the south
And as I labor through the cold
I watch the trees touch lavender clouds
And long for the chorus of slumber
|
||||
The Gothic Cowboy/The Border Band Lawrence, Kansas
I'm a creekbank ghetto boy. Began my singin' near half a century ago in Canada, then hit northeast, down thru Nashville, Austin, out to Colorado and back to Kansas where I started out and will likely remain. My influences are Leadbelly, Jimmie Rodgers, CCR and The Band, while the juices of a hundred others flavor my music, not to mention the devil himself if that's what it takes to make a song... ... more
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