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Lyrics and Mp3's

ALL SONG LYRICS:

Carbon-Dated Love

From Topanga to the sea
You took a walk with me
To be free
To be free

Halfway down the trail
We were sprung from our jail
I see a whale
You fill your pail

With the spirits of the bees
And the heat above the trees
You love flowers
You feel their powers

This old fern is our friend
Our love will never end
Carbon dated love
Tragedies unfold
My heart's made out of coal
Carbon dated love

And there's a fossil of a fern
When we open up the earth
Still glowing green
Down in the seam

There's 300 years of coal
But it took so long to grow
Black as pitch
It flipped the switch

And in the dungeon down below
A forgotten miner's glove
Waits its turn
Just like the fern

This old fern is our friend
Our love will never end
Carbon dated love
Tragedies unfold
My heart's made out of coal
Carbon dated love

It started in the sun
But when we were done
The shade had taken hold
Under cottonwood trees
The wet canyon breeze
Mud seeps through our clothes

When we finally reached the shore
There stood an oaken door
Out in the foam, calling us home

Finally feeling brave
We stepped into the waves
We stepped right through
Me and you

This old fern is our friend
Our love will never end
Carbon dated love
Tragedies unfold
My heart's made out of coal
Carbon dated love

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Keep It In A Bottle

Well we walked fast and we walked slow
We saw a bear and a buffalo
Dry grasses up to our knees
You said, have you been hearing about the bees?

I said yes I have but that's all right
Nothing can stop the blue of the sky

To which you made a wordless reply
You reached to the earth and you reached to the sky
Handful of dirt and a handful of sky
you said

Let's keep it in a bottle
Let's keep it in a bottle

We found a flower
On top of the ridge
You said it looks like a natural bridge
You took a photo and you picked it too
You said it looks a little bit like you
And then you said

Let's keep it in a bottle
Let's keep it in a bottle
Let's keep it in a bottle
Let's keep it in a bottle

Then a cloud laid a soft and purple glow on the rock and the feather
And the cool of a new Montana rain claimed the weather
and the line of the ridge and the peak
tied us together

Then the July sun hit the yellow hills
Soul connection is such a thrill
102 and there ain't no shade
My tiny shadow is a window pane
You said
The hills are dry
The hills are ripe
The hills can bring on
A lifetime
So give it to me
Give it to me now
Water from your well

Let's keep it in a bottle

Then a cloud laid a soft and purple glow on the rock and the feather
And the cool of a new Montana rain claimed the weather
and the line of the boulder and the creak
tied us together

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In the Garden

Well the botanist and the astrophysicist
Got into a terrible fight
The flowers trembled and some stars fell from the sky
And the snakes watched silently
The bees imperious from their place in the divine
As ambitious noise from urban toys
Bothered paradise again

In the garden
The world is still a tree
In the garden
The lilies in the field
In the garden
Consider you and me

My three masted schooner was loaded for sea
With a load of lumber to trade for tea
But the harbormaster said your passage is not free

Then the breeze blew in from SMC
And the quad was filled with brilliant teens
Drawing fabulous fire through invisible wire
And I joined them in the trees

CHORUS

CO2 is bringing weather like this town has never seen
October thunderheads are black and red on Sunset in a dream
Two Angelinos in gray hoodies are jacked up about the rain
The farmer's market in EP has an organic ex-Marine
He sorely wants to meet my dad to talk of 1953
Now all ye hunters and ye gatherers prepare
For wild blue wandering
Wild blue wandering

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Yolo County Airport

I'm drunk, I'm stoned, and I'm tired
but pretty soon I'm gonna be wired
On the love from the crowd
that makes me feel so proud
I'm flying in to the Yolo County Airport

Well we got a big gig at the Palms in Winters tonight
Everybody in the crowd is feeling all right
We were hanging with Mick and Keith
on Ibiza just last week
Now were flying in to the Yolo Country Airport

If you want to fly high all right
flying in to Yolo County tonight
If you want to fly high well alright
baby I'm coming home to you tonight

Well we Hawks finally caught our break
after seven long years thinking it was all just a big mistake
Now were caught in a bidding war
our picture's on the wall at the Apple Store
We're flying in to the Yolo County Airport

CHORUS

We partied hard in the Tyson family yard
Playing catch and release with the chicken and geese
Out in the pond there's a lot going on
It's not flat at all, there's a 20 ft elevation we can see it all

Well our big jet plane hit a bad pocket of air
we dropped like a rocket woke up in the docket
of the repossession hearing
they were taking away the Yukon
cuz we couldn't pay Barbossa
when the transfer case was broken
see the deal that was sub rosa
went awry in Mariposa
Still we're flying in to the Yolo County Airport

CHORUS

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Highway Down

Highway how much I need you
Highway wind across the land
Take me away from all my troubles
Give me my two feet on the ground

Big Sandy Mountain's there to welcome me
Sweet desolation highway 93
Lay my bag out on the Carson Sink
I can't be 1000 miles from anything

Oh won't you take my down easy
Bring me all the way down
Oh won't you take my down easy
Bring me all the way down
Oh won't you take my down easy
Bring me all the way down
I could get addicted to the Highway Down

I get all up in my head too much
Stressed out about things that were said and such
I should be lying in my bed till dusk
A bed of flowers overlooking the San Joaquin

CHORUS
I'm gonna heal my afflictions on the highway down

Lord knows I love this Valley
Though it's as wounded as an alley
I see the weddings and the rodeos and the worn out fields
From a bed of flowers overlooking the San Joaquin

CHORUS
I could be addicted to the Highway Down
Talking to my devil on the Highway Down
Getting on the level on my Highway Down
Dig my grave with a shovel
on the Highway Down

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Hallowed Ground

Hallowed ground was burning up my feet
I was standing out in your street
Right beneath your window
Watching your candles glow

Hallowed ground was burning up my soul
I was halfway up the telephone pole
I was calling out your name
That hallowed ground will never be the same

Hallowed ground, hallowed ground
I'm standing making not a sound
Hallowed ground, hallowed ground
We got to get back on hallowed ground

Well the romance went the usual way
You're in the kitchen with nothing left to say
There's a child and a mortgage sleeping in our bed
I'm wide awake with these worries in my head

After all the poems and the plans
The recipes, the documents, the wedding bands
Put Mike Stinson on the stereo
These two lonely hearts need a place to go

CHORUS

Little bird outside our window
You said listen, he never sings the same
We listened for hours and hours
Little bird flew us away to

Our hallowed ground where our story began
Let's make breakfast with our hallowed pots and pans
The ridge has got a dusting of snow
Let's pack up the little one and go
Cause the little one has never seen the snow

CHORUS

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Environmental Children of the Future

The environmental children of the future
Are making green plans for tomorrow
The environmental children of the future
Don't need to steal or borrow
From their grandchildren's rain
From their grandchildren's sun
From their grandchildren's mountain
The way that we have done

The environmental children of the future
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The environmental children of the future
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
The environmental children

There's a willowy lass who was first in her class
At the architecture school in the city
With recycled materials she built towers filled with dreams
Based on the pattern of a spinning falling leaf
After graduation she moved away to Maine
Now she's building hay bale shelters in the cold October rain

CHORUS

Well the hundred year floods came in September
Then the hundred year floods came in November
And the hurricanes and flames came down on the plains
And the children of the future said "remember!"

CHORUS

The environmental children of the future
Took their elders by the hand
They said the earth is a self-regulating organism
Let us help you understand
And the willowy lass lay down on the grass
Singing prayers for the Great Barrier Reef
And the sky overhead was her feathery bed
Now floating freely like a spinning falling leaf

CHORUS

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Ever Since the Grid Went Down

Went back to smoking Marlboro Reds
Now I don't worry about getting dead
I sleep when I'm tired and I eat when I can
I'm finally living like an honest man
Like an honest man

Out in my back yard I set up my TV
I painted it with symbols like it was 800 BC
Got down on my knees and prayed to this God
Got up on my roof and covered it with sod
Covered it with sod

Ever since the grid went down
I'm through acting like a clown
I sleep when the sun goes down
Ever since the grid went
Ever since the grid went down

I killed a man for batteries
I killed a man for gas
I almost killed a soldier for talking to fast
Talking too fast

I use my Telecaster to paddle my boat
My G5 tower's a milking stool
For milking my goat
I go fishing in the reservoir and forage in the dump
I charge admission to my Andy Gump
To my Andy Gump

CHORUS

Caught my neighbor tapping into my well
Loaded up my sling shot and sent him to hell
Now his wife is my wife and his whiskey too
His three little children are sewing my shoes
I gotta hit the mountains for some winter meat
Feed my brand new family a tasty treat
Oh it may sound wicked but the logic is sound
Ever since the grid went, Ever since the grid went
Ever since the grid went, Ever since the grid went
Down

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Pale and Troubled Race

We took a little trip with Tony and Kip
Far across the sea
To our fathers' land with their troubled stand
In the world's great comedy

And the garrison stood like trees in the woods
Midst the hunters and the prey
We shook off the fright, sparked up a light
Back to Amerikay

The pale and troubled race
Finding a home in this golden place
The pale and troubled race

North of the Tyne my ancient mind
Woke inside of me
The air on my skin was like an old friend
Just like a memory
And the blood that was spilled in these green and gray hills
Flows inside of me
I stand in the water and look at my daughter
In the shadows of the family tree

CHORUS

In the Belladrum wild we discovered our tribe
All the colorful tents in the meadows
From the teepees rose a blue peat smoke
And the whisky did flow from the river

And we sang of the Golden Girl
And the dancers did twist and swirl
in the muddy black summer soil
we were oh so alive and our spirits did thrive
on the edge of the Arctic circle

The pale and troubled race
Finding my home in this golden place
And I take a taste
And the first one's strange
and the second is plain
and the third gets better
and the hills in grow wetter
with the mists in the heather
and I climb with my daughter
to the falling water
and the sky overhead
is purple and red
and I sing what I said
diddle di de de dode de di
diddle do de di diddle de di

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The Salty Sea

The shallow blue Pacific
And the continental shelf
Soon gave way to the black and gray
Of the mid-sea trenches with their scaly wenches
And their tales of the mountain elf
Tales of the mountain elf

Me oh my, there's a tear in my eye
Big as the salty sea
Come on down, we'll all drown
Down in the salty sea

They laughed and they danced and they fiddled
They sang their ancient songs
They pulled me into the circle
And said laddy, come along
The black and the gray did soon give way
To the tops of the waves and the sun dappled caves
On the volcanic sands of a virgin land
In the 18th century
In the 18th century

Five hundred nights of drinking
With my dancing fairy friends
I came out of the fog of the gentry's grog
Woke up in the sand of Van Dieman's land
In a planter's chains with a brand new name
And they yoked me to the plow
They yoked me to the plow

I burned the eucalyptus
And I carried off the stones
For fourteen years I worked the fields
And my fingers to the bone
And then one night the planter
Plucked me from my toil
He said I understand you're a dancing man
And fast with a fiddle, and smack in the middle of
The parlor I lept for the Queen
I lept for the visiting Queen

Well the planter he was very well pleased
And kind disposed to me
He invited me in to his cozy den
For cigars and porter and the social order
Was the topic of his drunken screed
The topic of his drunken screed

And he told me:

It took slavery to tame these wild lands
It took slavery to train ten thousand hands
To redirect the river
To build the Grand Canal
The cotton fields, the pyramids, the well

Now I ask you to forgive me
For I struck a devil's deal
My sheets are clean on this packet of steam
For the Cape I am bound and Dublin town
With southern gold in the bottom of the hold
And my star crossed soul to trade for a load
Of Fenian rebels and Carlow boys
And a captain I will be
Yes a captain I will be

CHORUS

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Getting Home Tonight

I've been hanging on to a dream
I've slept in the dirt for a week
Jerry's gone but his guitar's still ringing
I have followed sights and sounds
I have froze on Hunger Mountain
Telluride was kind and we were singing

And the tattered unbowed tribe
Can be found from time to time
Will you share this bowl with me I think it's raining
Well the campus was a breeze
But I have fled into the trees
Where the wanderers look down upon the city

She said I wonder how I'm getting home tonight
She had a sleeping bag and a sweet and subtle smile
She handed a tab to me
And I simply had to agree
I wonder how I'm getting home tonight

We were lying in the sand
And God reached down his hand
And said I now pronounce you Wanderer and Rainbow
And the sun electrified the park
Like a shaman kept in the dark
We witnessed the rise of the sun for the very first time

I said do what you will to me
Take me, take me, take me
Let me climb your glorious rainbow to my awakening

She said I wonder how I'm getting home tonight
She had a sleeping bag and a sweet and subtle smile
She handed her heart to me
And I simply had to agree
I wonder how I'm getting home tonight

Let me climb your glorious rainbow to my awakening
Let me climb your glorious rainbow to my awakening
to my awakening
to my awakening
...

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Open Door

I'm not gonna sit around
Talk about how you let me down
I'm not gonna drown myself in tears
I'm gonna walk right through that open door

I'm going to leave you behind the open door
Call my name, I won't come back no more
I'm going to leave you behind the open door
I'm gonna leave you behind the open door

How can you look me straight in the eye
Tell me that you love me
Tell me that you'll try
I swore to myself that I'd be good
But seeing you to night is making me
So damn confused

CHORUS

I'm not going to be untrue
For anyone, not even you
I've got better things to do
Than sit around and be blue
On you

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Never Alive

There's a breathless view painted blue
And I cannot be true, not like you
So I walk away, everyday
Let the years explain my lovely pain

I throw a rock into the water
and no ripples arrive
like the snow up on the mountain
I was never alive

I know you're strong as we circle the pond
Smell the cabin fire, snap the ice on the wire
And you run ahead, on a cold white bed
Down the orchard row, frozen apples in the snow

I throw a rock into the water
and no ripples arrive
like the snow up on the mountain
I was never alive

And it's just one night, watching embers die
And your hand's so warm, as we weather the storm
There's a breathless view, painted blue
And I cannot be true, I'm not like you

I want to walk to the sunrise
Let the mountain decide
Let the searchers discover
I was never alive

I throw a rock into the water
and no ripples arrive
like the snow up on the mountain
I was never alive

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Good and Foolish Times

Red canyon walls and waterfalls
On my color TV

Late night call
Grab your shawl
You're 800 miles away from me

Didn't we have some good times
Some good and foolish times
Didn't we have some good and foolish times
Didn't we take some long rides
Some long and winding rides
Didn't we take some long and winding rides

Goddam this telephone
Now I'm feeling more alone
I can't call you again

I break down and drive all day
Sunset on the Great Salt Lake
I knew I'd find you at the Red Iguana Café

CHORUS

Then we have our same old fight
Underneath the disco lights
You're out the door and then

Clear corn liquor in a jar
Locked in my brother's car
Bet we'll do it all again

CHORUS

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Motorcycle Mama
Sometimes I know how to find my way
But I don't
Sometimes I know just what to say
But I won't
Plastic ponies in a pastel field hanging on my wall
She gave it to me and then she hit the road
And I'm still waiting for her call

CHORUS:
I tried to ride with the Motorcycle Mama
but the motorcycle let us me down
I tried to ride with the Motorcycle Mama
but the/my Mama she let me down
Let me down

I tried and tried to ride but it just ain't right
I don't look so good on a hog or a trike
Someday soon that dude's gonna come along
On a flair painted Indian singing all the words to her song

CHORUS
She's riding free above the trees
crossing over the Great Divide
I'm down here with my years and fears
but I know some day I'll ride
I know some day I'll ride
In the side

I packed up all my things in a plastic bag
I drove to the mountain top and I lit the rag
Plastic ponies turn to smoke and sift into the sky
I threw my heart into the flames and the sparks flew in my eye

I tried to ride with Motorcycle Mama
but she can't be with anyone
She's gonna ride and ride and ride and ride
and ride til she hits the sun
She's gonna ride and ride and ride and ride
and ride til she hits the sun

Oohh
lay your big spike down
Oohh
lay your big spike down

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Raised by Hippies

RAISED BY HIPPIES

She was born in a school bus on the Blue Ridge Parkway
Her parents had driven from the San Francisco Bay
It was late December of 1968
The skies was filling with the darkness of hate

Bobby and Martin were long gone
The Flower Children had sung their very last song
Nixon was heading to that big White House
and bombs would soon be dropping on the children of Laos

But a beautiful little girl was born on Christmas day
away from the madness that had driven them astray
she carried a sparkle right there in her eye
it shined through the night and it filled up the sky

She was raised by hippies
in the hills of Tennessee
raised by hippies
so wild and so free
raised by hippies
they did some things wrong
but they raised their children right
and they did it for a song

Her family moved to Chicago in 1982
Reagan was president no one knew what to do
Izods and argyles made her feel strange
she missed the hippie children and their earthy nature names

All the boys fell in love with her on the first day of spring
She went to class with no shoes on her feet
But her teachers tried to break her of her hillside hippie ways
they made her sit inside on the sunniest of days

CHORUS

When the Bobs fell on Baghdad
Her daddy wept and raged
Wrote Kill Whitey on a rest stop on the Natchez Trace
Oh Daddy don't forget Bobby and Martin up above
remember the songs you sang in the Summer of Love
Summer of Love

She's all grown up now with kids of her own
she teaches them the songs of her hillside hippie home

and that old school bus is battered but her engine's good and strong
tomorrow's sun will find us furthur along
the song book is dusty but they/we remember the tune
her uncle's in the back reading the Chronicles of Dune

CHORUS

Run old Molly run . . .

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Midnight in Orlando

It's midnight in Orlando
Disneyland is done
they closed up Snoopy
and they sent him on the run

The planes in the sky above
shooting across the darkened blue
Someone in Space Mountain
has got the heart sick flu

It's midnight
It's mid, midnight in Orlando

I flew all this way
to listen to a man
who told us he could fill us up
with his six-week master plan

I'm listing all my losses
in this air-conditioned room
Locked up with a to a guru
in a Radisson Cocoon

It's midnight
It's mid, midnight in Orlando

Well I'm so sorry that I traveled so far away
Did you notice that I didn't even call today

So I'm climbing into my car
and I'm heading for the gate
I've had enough of this Disney land
I've had enough to think

I'm heading for the swamp land
where at least I know what's dead
where the animals don't greet you
they just eat you instead

and I'm coming to free you
and I'm coming to get your child
I'm going to take you for a ride away, away, away

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Slash From Guns N' Roses

Well he walked into the party
Blew everyone away
With his long curly black hair
And his California shades

He picked up a guitar
He was just about to play
When someone came up to him and
That someone said "Hey,
You're Slash from Guns N Roses"

Well he didn't say a word
But he put his guitar down
He gave out his cell phone
Now he's at every party in town

And all through the summer
word was getttin' round
Well the women came a seekin'
And the men
they threw the sweet leaf down
For Slash from Guns N Roses
Slash from Guns and Roses

At the very top of the highest hill
In hills of Hollywood
Two mansions were competing
To see who could
Throw the biggest, raddest party that this town has ever seen
2690 Beachwood said we've got slash
2693 Beachwood said oh yeah?
Well so do we
Yeah we've got Slash from Guns N Roses
SLASH! SLASH!
Slash from Guns and Roses
SLASH! SLASH!

As the DJs raged from the two back yards
There was fighting in the street
The attorney and the publicist pulling hair and gnashing teeth

Well, Slash came out of the mansion
To see what was all the fuss
From the other house Slash came out too
Wow, what a rush

Well the people cried it's a miracle, like the days of Galilee
But no, said Slash, let's show this bash
We'll just have to pick up our guitars and see
Which one's Slash from Guns N Roses
SLASH! SLASH!
Slash from Guns and Roses
SLASH! SLASH!

Well the crowd carried their heroes
Through the Beachwood mansion walls
Two Marshall stacks were waiting
In the golden banquet hall

Then a bright light split the heavens
o'er the Cinerama Dome
Did Al Qaeda did that nuke in?
Or was it Jesus coming home?

Thunder rolled up the canyon
Fire filled the sky
One Slash hit the highway
The other stayed to die

It was Slash from Guns and Roses
SLASH! SLASH!
It was Slash from Guns and Roses
SLASH! SLASH!
It was Slash from Guns and Roses

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California Country
I am a child of the Golden State, grew up in the orchards and fields
Seen farm towns become commuter alleys
Seen shopping malls eat up the trees
Sometimes I wish for a simpler time
When you could drink right out of the stream
The loneliness around me
freeways just surround me
I'm thirty miles from a field of green

CHORUS:
But I'm still standing in California Country

My dad moved us to Victorville in June of '82
All summer long I traversed the Mojave, went swimming in the river water pool
On a beautiful farm sloping down to the river, September I was back in school
The bulldozers stripped the topsoil
Little flags marked the mile
I never crossed that river again

CHORUS X 2

BRIDGE:
Here I land with no plan
And only now I understand
that I could never leave this land
I'm a California man

SOLO

Well the radio announced the annual meteor shower starting late tonight
so we drove up to 2 to the Angeles Crest to get out of the city light
the traffic jam started down in Glendale
lit the mountains bright as day
we turned the car the other way
headed back to L.A.
disappeared into the streets

CHORUS X 4

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Golden Girl
I feel in love with a golden girl
A wild, young beauty with golden curls
But a streak in our hearts ran a deathly black
I took her to Whitewater
But she won't be coming back

When I first met her she was just 17
Singing in the choir of the Holy Nazarene
As we bowed our heads in prayer she gave me a wink
I knew our book was written in the devil's ink

My own wife had left me on Christmas Eve
Standing by the tree, I begged her not to leave
But that golden child gave me a start
A flower bloomed inside my cold, cold heart
Can a flower bloom inside a cold, cold heart?

Then she asked me to buy her a bottle of wine
So her and her friends could have a real good time
Beneath those fluorescent lights of Red's Liquor Store
She giggled and whistled and made me love her more

She showed me the pleasures of the loose and the wild
she snuck into my bedroom most every night
she found me a pistol and loaded it too
She wanted money what else could I do

CHORUS

I picked up my brother and she rode in the back
she waited in the car in case we were attacked
20 minutes later at the Navaho Bar
We took $1500 dollars from the Chief's jar

But he was standing in the shadows as we headed for the door
He lowered his rifle and settled the score
My brother collapsed when the round hit his chest
I carried him to the car and I laid him down to rest
Oh brother farewell, for he loved you the best

SOLO

and I cried, I cried, and I cried, I cried, I cried

I hit the gas and she giggled a bit
said looks like now it's just a two way split
raised up my pistol told her to get quiet
she didn't listen, I felt myself fire it

Then things were silent except for one sound
of a cold soul leaving the golden ground
I took her still body out of the Caprice
Carried her off into the tall pine trees
I set her sit in a chair of spoiled stones
No cushion for her flesh, no frame for her bones
And I asked God to put us both on trial
Sat at her feet and I waited a while
Then the sky opened up and the rain did fall
And I buried her body by the waterfall

I feel in love with a golden girl
A wild, young beauty with golden curls
But a streak in our hearts ran a deathly black
I took her to Whitewater
But we won't be coming back
I took her to Whitewater
But no one's coming back

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Byrd From West Virginia

Byrd from West Virginia
Byrd from West Virginia
Byrd from West Virginia
Senator Byrd
Ooh

Born in Carolina to a family of miners
Flu of 1918 took his mother away
Couldn't go to college in the depths of the Depression
The valedictorian pumped gasoline instead

He burned the cross of Jesus in the West Virginia night
The darkness of America blinded his sight
Baptized in the blood of our national sin
The Ghosts of the Conquest rise again and again

Fifty years in Congress passed before his eyes
The building of the empire, its burdens and delights
Did the suffering of the world or the folly of the day
Change a stubborn old heart to see a better way?

And when a reckless young President came calling for war
Old Bird from West Virginia
Sang out the score:

"The doctrine of pre-emption is radical and deadly"

Who will sing the song when the bird flies away
Vanished o'er the hillside at the end of the day

A lone voice a cryin
A lone voice a cryin
A lone voice a cryin
Senator Bryd
Ooh
Senator Byrd

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Jackpot!

I'm hot from the road
I'm hot from the highway
this time things'll go my way

Three shows in Idaho got money to burn
Cash in my pocket, I'll never learn
My old lady's got to pay the rent
I got $700 and 57 cents

We got 36 hours to get to Grand Junction
The St. Regis Hotel for a 6 night function
Looks like we gotta slice a corner off Nevada
Hit the tables, think we oughta

I was wrong, I was wrong
And I did go back to Jackpot again
I was wrong, I was wrong
I did go back to Jackpot again

Now I'm sitting in the back of a Chevy van
Things didn't go like I planned
Talking to my lady on a busted cell phone
There's nothing in the fridge but a lonely ham bone

Had a crazy conversation with lady luck
Before the boys pulled me back in the truck
Was $1200 up, now I'm sitting $800 down
I owe a hundred to the drummer that'll never be found

I work hard at night though I sleep all day
Country music just don't pay
6 sets a night no meals no nothing
If I rob a bank I'll come home with something

I was wrong, I was wrong
And I did go back to Jackpot again
I was wrong, I was wrong
I did go back to Jackpot again

Breakdown, breakdown,
breakdown on a desert highway
Breakdown, in Provo town
my band's going their way and I'm going my way

I'm gonna climb the red mountain
wade the alkali sea
till the far away lights are shinning down on me
I'm gonna lay my last $20 on the 30 and 10
do a mind bend while they give the croupier a spin
I'm gonna take my little stake to the black jack line
double down on Sevens blow the dealer's mind
and you can hit me, hit me, hit me again
because I thought I was a looser but I'm build up the chips

And I was wrong, I wrong
I did go back to Jackpot, Jackpot
And I was wrong, I wrong
I did go back to Jackpot, Jackpot

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The Donkey Song
Just got out of county
caught up with me in Downey
It took fourteen country Mounties
to put a tail on this donkey
The Donkey Known as Me

Well I'd just come down from Frisco
Sold out of my disco
just a front for selling crystal
to some closeted ex-Marines

And my fine young bride
Stepped into save my pride
when they tired to tattoo the Semper Fi
On the donkey known as me
The Donkey Known as Me

CHORUS:
I am not a donkey
I am not a donkey
but the donkey is me
The Donkey Known as Me

Well it started out in French Lick
Daddy was the House Dick
the carrot and the big stick
were all I ever knew

No matter my decision
with science-like precision
Daddy laid the discipline
on the donkey known as me
The Donkey Known as Me
CHORUS

So I'm headed to Hawaii
where no one can surprise me
if you want to find me
sing oh, ma liki nigh yee
Molokai, Molokai, Ukulele, Ukulele, Kona Kai, Look a Lady low

I'll be out there on my new turf
galloping through the blue surf
the only surfing donkey
on the shores of Waikiki
Shores of Waikiki

I am not a donkey
I am not a donkey
now the donkey is free
The Donkey Known as me
the donkey's finally free
The Donkey Known as Me
F-R-E-E FREE!

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Houston Romance
Exchanged insults, traded blows
and the wounds don't even show
you're self-reliant, a perfect tyrant
I guess I always knew you'd never be my fire-hydrant

Well I knew this would end up like it did
At least we didn't have a kid
I'm leaving behind this gray infested swamp
with its poisonous water snakes and it's toxic golf course lakes

CHORUS:
Corpus Christi
Texas City
It's not the humidity, it's the humanity
it's not the insensitivity, it's the insanity
Corpus Christi, Texas City

I remember wishing I was dead
Like the peanut shells on the floor of the Ruby Red's
A stranger in a strange land
a beautiful girl tugging on my hand
trying in vain to drain the water off my brain

CHORUS
SOLO

A couple of hundred meals
and this is how it feels
Baylor and Rice and everything nice
Guess I'll think about her maybe once or twice

Texas Cityyyyyyyy

Say goodbye to U-totem's, say goodbye to Kroger
gonna fly the coup before I get much older
Cause I don't like clams and I don't like oysters
I don't like the locals when I'm drunk and boisterous
I don't like the Astros and the Oilers are gone
Not even a reason to sing this song
about a town where you broke my heart
It's time for a brand new start
Texas City, Corpus Christi, Goodbye X 3
I'm going back to California, back to California, Goodbye

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Hard Times (Are Here Again)

Well the moon is on a slow rise
like ever other dark night
since the waters receded and the grass began to grow

Helicopters circle
buzz and shine and circle
and the pistol waving prophet is finally on TV

He's dreaming that I'm OJ
finally feeling OK
And you're watching because you're stuck and you're at home

And once the bastards finish me
You'll flip the channel once again
And walk into the kitchen and pour yourself some gin

Hard Times Are Here Again

The CIA has bugged the door
Close the blinds, Katie bar the door
I'm locked and I'm loaded waiting for 'em to storm in

The people have spoken
I thought they were joking
But it's just not the funny
The second time around

So I'll listen to you whisper
secrets from the twister
that's blowing in to flatten our home

There's no ink in my printer
It'll be a long, long winter
but flowers only bloom if the spring is coming soon

Hard Times Are Here Again
Ohh Hard Times Are Here Again

Some say "Bring It On!"
Some reach for the bong
Others say they saw it coming all along

Doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo

Well the the song is almost finished
And my prospects are diminishing
Wonder how the money's coming in
as the show heads for the floor

The Republic had a short run
Sure did get a lot done
But the world is full of messengers
who aren't afraid to die

They've cordoned off the perimiter
access is limited
and he's bathing in the TV copters lights

And once the bastards finish him
He'll rise into the smoky wind
Take off on a ride
Like a Jesus suicide

Hard Times Are Here Again
Ohh Hard Times Are Here Again
Ohh Hard Times Are Here Again

Some say "Bring It On!"
Some reach for the bong
Others say they saw it coming all along

Doo doo doo doo
Doo doo doo doo

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Barrier Reef
Well I haven't smoked pot in a week and a half
come on baby kill the fatted calf
because paranoia's driven me wild
my self esteem's that of a small child

And the power of the leaf is the barrier reef to my sanity
Ohh

The common man has an unusual plan for psycostomy
write a song get behind the bong it's a philosophy
now say a prayer for the man who can only
lift the weight of a stoney, stoney, stoney
Now here's a reference to the Mountain Pony
Mounatain Pony!

And the power of the leaf is the barrier reef to my sanity
Ohh
The keeper of the weed is the owner of the deed to my sanity
Whoa

SOLO

And the power of the leaf is the barrier reef to my sanity
Ohh
The keeper of the weed is the owner of the deed to my sanity
Whoa
Whoa X 4

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Take My Rest
Well I don't have anything left to confess
there's nothing eating away inside my chest
I've think I've passed
the most important test
so soon
I'm gonna take my rest

Well I've been all the way to New Orleans
Got lost in that city and saw
all that could be seen
walked down by the river
watched the sun set in the west
so soon
I'm gonna take my rest

Well I met her on a street in big LA
She loved me for a month and a year
before she went away
what's the use in looking for another
once you've had the best
so soon
I'm gonna take my rest

Bridge:
Now I don't need no money
Don't need to be a star
Don't need to spend anymore time
playing this guitar
I don't need to show off
In front of all my friends
Because in the end
No one wins
and we all go back in the dirt again

Well I believed that one day the revolution would come
All the poor folks would rise up and finally get some
But Justice is for the rich man and Jesus is for the rest
So soon,
I'm gonna take my rest X 2

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Hope Against Hope
I know we'll never see
The trees that used to be
Blanketing Ohio
The panther and the Iroquois

and geese that used to fly
And blacken autumn skies
South across Ohio
South towards Mexico
not long ago

CHORUS:
Gives me Hope Against Hope
Hope Against Hope
Hope Against Hope
Hope Against Hope

I know that you and I
Will never spark prairie fires
or walk to Oregon
But we still soldier on and on

To take a hopeless stand
on wild Dakota land
After you and me
The Snake and Colorado will run free

CHORUS:

Montana blue
Illinois gold and green
tears from your eyes
I don't want to fight
but I can't sleeo

Hope Against Hope

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Humboldt
Half a mile from the county line
Half a mile and I'm feelin fine
In Humboldt, Humboldt

Spark it up and let it out
Breathe it in, what it's all about
40 pounds in the back of my van
It's all a part of the master plan
In Humboldt, Humboldt

When I cross that line I'll be feelin fine in Humboldt

Chopper's up in the sunny sky
Law enforcement is on my mind
I'd be glad to plant corn in the ground
But corn don't go for $3000 a pound
In Humboldt, Humbold

Sweet mama walking through my field
Her feet are sticky with a bountiful yield
Don't need no technology
Just the moon sun stars and sea
In Humboldt, Humboldt

When I cross that line I'll be feeling fine in Humboldt
Cool my mind, I won't do time in Humboldt

If I beat the DEA
Just ten stoney hours to my friend in L.A.
Next stop is a jumbo jet
Fly me to the fields of Tibet

Bye bye Bush, I'm outta here
Tibet is my new frontier
I quit my job at the 7-11
Now I'm headed off to a stoney heaven
Humboldt, bye bye Humboldt

When I cross that line I'll be feeling fine in Humboldt
Let the bonfire burn and the children learn in Humboldt
When the weed is high, I hope I die in Humboldt
Hope I die in Humboldt

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Libre Road
Old man sitting staring at the sea
Winter sun makes a shadow on a fallen tree
Breathing his last air
Going the way of the Grizzly Bear

Young man traveling from town to town
Wheels on the road make a singing sound
For no one

Then the young man moves to Mexico
Starts waiting for the monthly checks to show
Good old reposado
Everything is so slow

CHORUS
Down the old untolled libre road
Half way time to pay it's getting cold

Prescription drugs in the Juarez rain
Trying to forget the family name
Substitute the shame
Lost fifty dollars on a Hi-Li game

Ninety days til the river flows
Pawn the silver and the stereo
For one last go

Late October when the lawyer calls
Meet the banker at the City Hall
Deed is done
Never have to answer to anyone

CHORUS

Money comes in ten grand a month
Now he orders up a taste of the expensive stuff
Watching Mexican TV
In the back of a tricked out SUV

Got a little honey and she loves the clothes
Credit card crunching in the Zona Rose
Hot and cold
Teeth a grinding on the streets of gold
CHORUS

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What's Done is Done
:::spooky psychedelic steel:::

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Texarkanada
TEXARKANADA
Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!
That's my home
That's my home
That's my home

Caleximexico
Mexicalexico
Caleximexico
Mexicalexico
That's my home

Well I can't stay here
I won't go back there
I feel like a monkey
sitting in a chair
My mind ain't right
I ain't where it's at
I don't know where to hang my hat

Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!

East west north and south
Your feet are in your shoes
and your teeth are in your mouth
But brother where are you
Still trying to find out
Busting out of Tustin
Look Out!

Calinevazona, Calinevazona, Calinevazona, Calinevazona
Going all the way to California
In a Ford station wagon
Going all the way to California
In a Ford

Minnesota, North Carolina
looking for the family in a truck stop diner
Strange turf, Evil Earth
Don't forget what the graveyard's worth

Hey, Hey Jimmy Carter
Never left Plains, Georgia
Walks the land, dirt in his hand
Ashes to Ashes
Do you understand?

Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!
Texarkanada!

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Salesman
Oh the salesman is a bright shiny spirit
or maybe you've just had a bad day
or maybe your baby's gone and left you
and that's why you're driving away

In a 1971 Chevy Nova with a 501 and a 12-to-1 etc, etc

Oh the salesman is a bright shiny spirit
his face filled with vigor and vim
just close the deal with a handshake
he'll transfer that love
that gift from a above
to the object that winds up on your table

CHORUS:
And what are you in for now?
Oh, what are you in for now ?
And what are you in for now?
Oh, what are you in for now ?

Well the salesman takes a break and drinks his coffee
looks up into the night sky
and just like that other fallen angel
he asks his father why

bridge waltz:
did you lead me through the dark
to the land of sunny parks
to the days before your expectations
broke me heart, broke my heart, broke my heart

Oh, the TV is a red ruby Satan
broadcast to your soul from below
and the salesman has a bright shiny vision
that tattooed bar code
from which all riches flow
from Wall Street to Frankfurt to Tokyo

CHORUS

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Hitchhiker
The ice is on the windows and the snow is on the street
And the soot and sawdust mingle on the floorboards at the trucker's feet
and his boots are made of leather, and his gloves are made of hide
And the woman that he's missing's not the woman that's his bride

Chorus:
And there's a rightness in the rhythm of a man behind the wheel
And all his troubles fall behind him like old dust on a window sill
And if you ask him if he'll take you
Yes he will

Well I'm sitting there beside him now warming up in the cabin heat
And he's talking about California and all the people he'd like to meet
And the 80's radio station lingers lowly in the air
And I settle into my seat to sleep without a worry or a care

Chorus

Then he told me about the hookers and the pipe
And his born again decision and his God that fits just right
And how he drove to New York City for the Bicentennial
High as a kite

Well he let's me off in Fresno and I thank him for the ride
And he looks through the door down at me with a father's kind of pride

And he says these few words to me as he turns down the Steely Dan,
"It's a lonesome road ahead son step off it while you can."

And he eases the big machine into gear and he steps down on the gas
Brakes lift, 18 wheels move, I'm already part of his past

Chorus

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I Stayed Away
by Clarence Carter

I stayed away too long
I stayed away too long

Well I went down to a house
that I used to know
The grass it had all grown up
and covered up the door

and there was a man standing across the street
he said who do you seek
he told me the girl
she just don't live here anymore

I stayed away too long
I stayed away too long

Now the man her looked at me
he didn't know whether to cry or grin
he said now what were you to her
were you a lover or just a friend?

Cause it was six long months a go
with a tall, handsome guy
that she waved to me
her last good bye

I stayed away too long
I stayed away too long

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Still Want You
Let's do it a little slower
cause I'm hung over
but honey I still want you

We can do it a little longer
when I feel stronger
oh, honey I still want you

Well I drank all night
I got in a fight
I wandered out into a field

I could see my breath
I nearly froze to death
While you were sitting home waiting for me

I still want you
to hold me in your arms
I still want you
to bless me with your charms
I still want you
though I'm a foolish stupid man
I still want you
please love me if you can

I crashed your car
right outside the bar
but honey I still want you

Cop said I'd been drinking
but I was just thinking
about how much I still want you

Your loves fills me up
You make me feel like a pup
who wandered into the perfect home

I don't take you for granted
I'm just a bit slanted
crooked, and broken, and bent

1/2 CHORUS
I still want you
To dream with me about the farm
I still want you
I put your tattoo on my arm

SOLO

let's do it a little slower
cause I'm hung over
but honey I still want you

We can do it a little longer
when I feel stronger
oh, honey I still want you

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Wonder Valley Fight Song
WONDER VALLEY FIGHT SONG

I like rock
And rock gardens
I like to watch materials harden

The desk clerk at the Motel 6
Just past the Marine Base
He said this here is a nice little region, but
Stay away from Wonder Valley

Wonder Valley
Wonder Valley
It's the land where a man can take a stand
Wonder Valley

You don't need a de-louser
Better bring a douser to
Wonder Valley
Groove the land
Take a stand in Wonder Valley

Watch the sunset change the shadows
Watch the food thieves swinging from the gallows
Wonder Valley

Well the desk clerk at the Motel 6
Said he was looking for a 1966 Ford Fairlane
I said come on down to L.A.
He said oh, no
They just want to trick you
Then they'll roll you

Well I stayed up all night watching the sun come up
All I want to do is drink a beer and have a cup
Of coffee
One after the other
You can talk about my guns
Don't talk about my mother

Wonder Valley
Wonder Valley
It's the land where a man can take a stand
Wonder Valley

The desk clerk said stay away from Wonder Valley
They sell the methamphetamine behind the alley
They could go insane
They could kill little Sally

I walked through the town
Like Johnny Cash
Didn't have no trouble
Burning through my stash
in Wonder Valley, Wonder Valley

The marines fly their planes
And the lizards go insane
In Wonder Valley

When the missiles start to fly
Grab the kids, don't wonder why . . .
Better head for Wonder Valley

Watch this

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Harvest
Well I sat down and read the book of revelation today
tried to give a listen to what old John had to say
but I just kept getting bored so I threw that book away
if the end is coming let it come another way

Now are you bold enough to challenge the power of God
when the volcanoes rumble and the wild beasts claw
and the skin on your bones tears away like soggy mud
if the end is coming keep the flower burn the bud

A Harvest is coming
Are you out in the field?
A Harvest is coming
What will your labors yield?

Well all our myths have expired and they no longer tell
the mystery's revealed there's no ring in the bell
so close up your books of history and set them on the fire
they can't keep you from the darkness but they'll burn for a little while

There's a secret in a cave painted on a wall
a magnificent buffalo fourteen feet tall
and if you press your ear to his lips and listen he will speak
but if your heart is not pure destruction he will wreak

A Harvest is coming
Are you out in the field
A Harvest is coming
Will your mortal would be healed?

I'm a lion, I'm a bear, I'm a leopard, I'm a lamb
I'm a lion, I'm a bear, I'm a shepard, I'm a lamb
I'm a leper, I'm a bear, I'm shepard, I'm a man
(or I'm a leper, I'm a square, I'm a liar, I'm a ham)
Playing Tug-O-War with buffalo the rope slipping through my hands

Ohhhh, Ohhhhhh, Ohhhhh, Ohhhhh

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Grapevine
Hang a new clothesline
wait for the sunshine
to climb up the lawn to day

watch the winter sky
turn into the summer sky
watch the flowers try to stay

once again I'm on my way

Up the Grapevine
Up the Grapevine

Call on the telephone
whisper your name alone
you don't ever answer or explain

you don't need to water me
it will not bother me
when you become a shadow again

once again I'm on my way

Up the Grapevine
Up the Grapevine
Ease my own mind
Up the Grapevine
I don't mind
Cause I'm feeling fine
But I lose my mind
everytime I stay

Now the hills are turning green
there's rain in the air supreme
the trails in the sky don't mean a thing

so I drive in my car at night
and I turn off my headlights
and I see if the radio can lead the way

Up the Grapevine
Up the Grapevine
Ease my own mind
Up the Grapevine
Up the Grapevine
Take my own time
past the altitude sign
Up the Grapevine
I don't mind
Cause I'm feeling fine
But I lose my mind
everytime I stay

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Nicotine & Vitamin C
A ragged road
And a setting sun
A big old moon
Mama here I come
I ain't afraid
To be alone
Like you
Like you

Nicotine and vitamin C
Everything is good to me
Ever since I started walking home
Home to you
You

I got a mac you got a nine
Everything's gonna be all right
First we stumble, then we fall
You can't call
At all
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba Ba ba ba ba ba Ba ba ba Ba ba ba

Water table's seven feet
That's close enough for me
I'm heading for the canyons of my mind
Through the pines
The pines
Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba baaa

A ragged road
And a setting sun
A big old moon
Mama here I come
I ain't afraid
To be alone
Like you, like you, like you

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Turn That Airplane Around
Miss Winters she raised up twelve wild sons up into the halls of wealth
But when that agent came yesterday she was all by herself
An ice cold hand on her shoulder and the wink of a sorrowful eye
And eighty-six years of breathing right just flashed across the sky
And they cried
Turn that airplane around sir
Please turn that airplane around
Set those wheels back on the ground
Please turn that airplane around

Sweet Lucy was just nine years old a sight for any sore eyes
Life was all about jumping rope and flying kites up in the sky
She never felt that agent's hand and she never felt any pain
A flash of light and a lightning strike now she's on that plane
Turn that airplane around sir
Please turn that airplane around
How could you take our beautiful child
With so much life left to come
Turn that airplane around sir
Please turn that airplane around
Because we can't make it with out her
Please turn that airplane around

I thought I felt the agent's hand, heard him come creeping right by
And I tried to persuade him it was not my time yet to fly
But he just stood there silent and timeless as the sun
There was no use resisting for my time certainly had come
And I cried
Turn this airplane around sir
Please turn this airplane around
It can't be me that you're here to see
With so many things left undone
Turn this airplane around, sir
Please turn this airplane around
Just one more day down on this earth
Please turn this airplane around

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The Beatuiful Narcotic Place I Reside
There's a breeze on the hilltop
And a cloud on the sky
There's a cabin a hundred years older than I
And I know I can get there
But I can't can close my eyes

The beautiful narcotic place I reside

I walk through the forest and I sit in the stream
Trees all around me and I slip into a dream
And I think I hear hear thunder or just a lone F16

The beautiful narcotic place I reside
Ooh ooh ooh

It's over, it's over
It just might be over
Where once I saw greed
I see the innocent tribe

Who's that driving my car it ain't me
Cause I'm a hundred feet up a tree
And you won’t have to dope me, I'm already asleep

The beautiful narcotic place I reside
Ooh ooh ooh

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I See Hawks in L.A.
I see hawks in L.A.
I see hawks in L.A.
If you see hawks
Then maybe we should talk
I see hawks in L.A.

I hear trains in the night
I hear trains in the night
Lonesome sound
Lonesome as this town
I hear trains in the night

One more day on the 605
What if this place got buried alive?
The biggest quake the world's ever seen
Let the snakes take over again

Do you watch clouds disappear?
Do you watch clouds disappear?
If clouds disappear
I'll lend you an ear
Do you watch clouds disappear?

Just as I'm about to leave this town
Clouds roll in and the rain comes down
Just enough to make me laugh
Big tree makes the sidewalk crack

I see hawks in L.A.
I see hawks in L.A.
I see hawks in L.A.
I see hawks in L.A.

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Papa Stopped the Wagon
Lyrics for this song
lyrics for this songs
lyrics for this songs...

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The Mystery of Life
The mystery of life is never ending
Should a man take a wife
Or face the sunrise alone
In the stillness of the night
A voice will come a callin'
No matter what your means
The answer has no price

You may blame forgotten history
You may be ashamed of the treachery of men
But in the end it is each man's destiny
To face the mystery of life alone
Of life alone

A promise never kept and a love affair betrayed
All the tears that you have wept for the righteous and the brave
And the moments that have crept from the spotlight of your memory
Sit like stones beneath a stream illuminating like a dream

CHORUS

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Hecker Pass
Lyrics for this song
lyrics for this songs
lyrics for this songs...

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A Dog Can Break Your Heart Too
Lyrics for this song
lyrics for this songs
lyrics for this songs...

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Duty to Our Pod
It's a long long way
To Californi-ay
And the whales that are gray
Are telling stories along the way
Mama whale's got a lot to do
For that warm water rendezvous

And even if there is no God
She’s got a duty to her pod
Hey, mama
Make a match for me

Fourteen maidens and her hands are full
Riding herd on the clumsy bulls
She's got to make the maidens a match
So they can make a whole new batch

Mama whale said to me
I should ask you to dance
I circled you for a time or two
And thus began a whale romance
In the sunny Mexico waters
We spawned a great gray daughter

CHORUS

Honey, it's our biological duty
To help procreation
Let's drag ourselves over to The Roost
Before it's too late

s...

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To The Snow
Lyrics for this song
lyrics for this songs
lyrics for this songs...

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Don't Bury Me
I'm gonna stay alive when I die
I'm gonna stay alive when I die
Don't fold my hands don't close my eyes
Or I'll give you a big surprise
I'm gonna stay alive when I die

Don't you say your prayers over me
Don't you say your prayers over me
The Father, Son, and Lucifer
They'll have to wait another year
Don't you say your prayers over me

I never died myself, how about you?
How're we supposed to know that it's true?
Just because you laid her in the ground
How do you know she ain't out on the town?

Don't you try to bury me when I die
Don't you try to bury me when I die
I'll sprout wings and learn to fly
I'll rise up and punch you in the eye
Don't you try to bury me when I die

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Baby
Well we've watched six movies
Talked on the telephone one hundred times
Went to breakfast early in morning
And once late at night

Baby Do you mind
If I call you baby

I stopped calling all the other girls I know
I haven't checked my messages or listened to my phone
Looks like I'm staying home tonight

We didn't kiss the first night I slept in your bed
You fell asleep and I stayed up and read
I watched you sleeping
CHORUS

It's October and I'm thinking about what you're doing New Years
What the hell did I do last year?
I think about holding you close when the cold wind comes

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Hear More Hawks

• Humboldt (5:38, mp3 audio) - "it's all part of the master plan"
• Harvest (4:16, mp3 audio) - live at Sea Level Records, L.A.
• SXSW 2003 in Austin, TX - treat from a friend at the show
• I See Hawks in L.A. (5:17, mp3 audio) - full cut from our debut CD
• Don't Bury Me (2:54, mp3 audio) - full cut from our debut CD