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Lyrics for “California Country” CD

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California Country CD cover
  1. Motorcycle Mama
  2. Raised by Hippies
  3. Midnight in Orlando | Mp3
  4. Slash from Guns N’ Roses
  5. California Country | Mp3
  6. Golden Girl
  7. Byrd From West Virginia | Mp3
  8. Jackpot!
  9. The Donkey Song
  10. Houston Romance
  11. Hard Times (Are Here Again)
  12. Barrier Reef | Mp3
  13. Take My Rest

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 Bombs 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

senator byrd.jpg
Byrd from West Virginia
Byrd from West Virginia
Byrd from West Virginia
Senator Byrd
Ooh

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

Ooohh

He found himself a sweetheart in Erma Ora James
The Coal miners daughter with the odd middle name
he labored in the shipyards during World War II
Welding Liberties and Victories for me and for you

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

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

ooohh

As a young man in Congress he studied law at night
For ten long years, he burned a different light
Presented with his J.D. by John Fitzgerald Kennedy
just before the young president was escorted into history

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

Fifty years in Washington just 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?

oohh

And when a reckless new 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

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

A lone voice a cryin
A lone voice a cryin
A lone voice a cryin
Senator Byrd
Ooh
Senator Byrd
byrd.jpg

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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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