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lyrics

8) Shoeless Joe Rag - m.litton

Back before “Big-Chief Buffalo Nickel” and
“Hey Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime…?”
A dime was hard to find in the hills of Caroline
Born around Greenville, he worked in a cotton mill
From the tender age of six
Now famous for the 19 ‘n 19 baseball fix
He battled Ty Cobb for the title while Babe Ruth stole his swing
“Give ‘em ‘Black Betsy’, Joey…!” the crowd would sing
Cause the boy could hit that thing
He slammed them ‘Blue-Darters’, those ‘Saturday Specials’
While the crowd filled his little brothers’ hats
With Liberty dimes and Indian nickels

Chorus: “Hey Joe, say it ain’t so…”
“Sorry kid, I swear that it’s true…”

Shoeless Joe Jackson swung a mighty bat, son
In that World Series play
There in 19 ’n 19 he had twelve hits to his name
But ol’ Judge “Kenneshaw Mountain” Landis
Thought Joey was a ‘slacker’ sure
So he banned him from baseball forevermore
Now a stitch-in-time might save nine, I guess
But why did the White Sox Black Sox boy confess
Well I’ll take all bets that if you’re waitin’
For justice to flow down from the rich
You could thread a camel through the eye of a needle
Before this ol’ world’s gonna mend one stitch
(chorus)

Bridge: They laid down the law, let them gamblers testify
Why, ol’ Chicago Charles Cominsky, who never spared a dime
While Shoeless Joe ‘n the unlucky seven all caught hell
Charlie went to heaven
(chorus)

Now there ain’t no Buffalo nickels, boys,
And there ain’t no Liberty dimes
And those black clouds ain’t silver, they’re uranium lined
But the law was a mutant bastard, boys
Long before the atom split
I’d wager Sholess Joe would swear to it
So now we’re White Sox Black Sox veterans all
From the top of a ladder ain’t no good place to fall
Hell no, I’d rather crawl
But just like Shoeless Joe we’re a Cinderella story
Once you get your glass slippers on
You’re walkin’ on broken glass, so sorry
(chorus)

credits

from Bare Bones, released October 2, 2020

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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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