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The Things We Take For Granted

by Silas Lowe

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1.
Rabble Rouse 02:07
Ain't you had enough disappointment Ain't you had enough from your boss Well you say you can't afford to walk off the job But if you stay it will be at what cost We need to rabble rouse We need to rabble rouse Leave your post and join the crowd We need to rabble rouse Well you got you a job on the night shift But your check it don't go very far And they say they can't afford to pay you no more As they drive off in their new German car If they ain't gonna treat us like equals Owners and the bosses alike Now six words of protest will ring through the air It's time for a general strike
2.
Kickin' the can down the road Oh it's easier to suffer than to face the great unknown We're living in a house that ain't a home We're just kickin' the can down the road We haven't loved each other maybe since forever Side by side livin' alone together We built a prison with the sweat of our own hands We're shackled to our little golden bands Oh we're shackled to our little golden bands Now a mantle lined with pictures of empty memories Smiles masking hearts, longing to be free Shelves and drawers filled with years of never letting go You think by now the two of us would know You think by now the two of us would know Now you started in to saying everything's my fault But honey we both know how well you played your part And maybe the only thing we ever really shared Was walking through this life so damn scared Was walking through this life so damn scared
3.
Centralia 03:24
Well the roads don't go to Centralia anymore And the streets were devoured by a fire down below Well is this the price of progress and the fruits of what we've grown When the fuel that drives our country's driving people from their homes Now it started way back in 1962 In a trash heap down an anthracite coal mine A fire that would last two hundred fifty years Nature's way to pay us back in kind Well now nothing could be done to dose the embers underneath As the poison sauntered gently through the air What had once been the home of two thousand living souls Began to crumble into ruin and despair Then the government came making everybody leave But a few stayed to haunt the old ghost town 'Cause at forty bucks a ton with millions left untouched Someone's coming for that fortune underground Now people went to church there and children went to school And it was any place across the USA Do the things in our lives we take for granted Cost us double when it comes time to pay
4.
Well now when I was a young man I drank whiskey by the glass Never thinking that the young girls and the good times wouldn't last Well now I am much older, but no wiser for the wear Thee game's the same, but I have changed with the passing of the years I had it all, but I squandered the gifts that I'd been blessed Pretty women, money, prestige, and happiness I never thought I'd let the loose ends ever slip so far 'Til I saw my reflection in the mirror behind the bar Well a bad break then another made the rounds go down with ease Well a good woman left me, but the bottle never leaves Now my boots are scuffed and tarnished as I fall from dive to dive It's a wonder that I ain't in jail and it's a wonder I'm alive Well the cracked and shattered shards that run across my face Tell the story of a foolish man's endless fall from grace A cautionary tale of waxed wings poised to touch the sun A man who traded the valuable in favor of the fun
5.
There's a brand new song for the old folks It's a song about forgetting and a song that don't get sung There's a brand new song for the old folks It's a song that don't pay no mind to all the things they done Now if Grandma starts to cryin' you know she must be crazy and if Grandpa's telling stories, well you know he must be lyin' Put 'em in a home out of sight out of mind but you'll know how they feel when your time comes to be the one the one that's left behind Well the bills are too damn high and the children cost too much and you couldn't find the room, well even if you tried they're probably better off with folks of their own kind but you'll know how they feel when your time comes to be the one the one that's left behind Now if Grandma starts to cryin' you know she must be crazy and if Grandpa's telling stories, well you know he must be lyin' Put 'em in a home out of sight out of mind but you'll know how they feel when your time comes to be the one the one that's left behind Yeah you'll know how they feel when your time comes to be the one the one that's left behind
6.
All that I can give you is a mighty good time Take my time, I'll buy the wine All that I can give you is a mighty good time And you can be the pearls to my swine But you won't ever bother my mind Why you wastin' your time on a man like that when you can waste your time on me. Well now I don't wanna buy the cow, but I'll take the milk for free. You might be workin' on a rich man and a life of luxury Why not take just one night off to keep me company Can we go back to your place well my place is a mess Oh you're livin' with your boyfriend - well then my place sounds the best He might treat you nice and kind, but honey I can do that too Just as long as long as you are on your way before the morning light shines through Can we take your car honey, well mine's up at the shop Well it ain't so much it's broken, I had to have it shot You might think that I ain't too fine and that I'm way below your par All that I need is an hour or two to show you just how right you are
7.
John Henry doomed us all the day he died Well he might of won that race, but the steam drill had time on its side Ain't no human hands to drive the railroad ties All the things we used to do done been mechanized Is it better to slave away and still be hungry Or starve because there ain't no work nowhere Is it better to collapse out in the beating sun Or because the shelves and cupboards are all bare Well machines don't need to ask for rest or raises But efficiency has come at our expense Well now what's the use of building cheaper, faster If folks can't even afford to pay their rent We pull the levers and keep the wheels a turnin' Telling all the gears to grind our bones But don't expect no gold watch when you're leavin Feel lucky if they cover you with stones
8.
Hey Boss 02:12
Now I never shoulda left my Yankee home by the sea Where the ocean sprays water that's so warm and so sweet Instead I'm stuck here in this penitentiary Swinging this hammer, breaking rocks at my feet Hey boss (hey boss), can I get a drink of water Hey boss (hey boss), I'm getting mighty tired Hey boss (hey boss), can I sit and rest a while Hey boss, I think I'm dyin' Don't ever go to drinkin', don't ever start a fight No matter who the girl is, no matter if you're right Throw yourself a lucky punch, right between the eyes Only just to watch your stranger tremblin' as he dies Now I know my momma loves me and my sister thinks I'm brave But the heartbreak over my sentence put my father in his grave Go on do your ramblin', but you reap just what you sow Cause them southern folks ain't too kind when you kill one of their own
9.
Mt St Helens 03:17
Back in 1980, others lived here too Noone comes around now, they know what it can do they know what it can do I live on old St Helen, don't think that I don't know I live on old St Helen, and it's about to blow Oh, it's about to blow Danger is my fixation, I stare it in the eye It might be a hundred years, or it might be tonight It might be tonight A million tons of pressure, underneath the stone Burning like a fire, tearing up my bones Tearing up my bones
10.
Pretending 02:51
Pretending, pretending Pretending it's our wedding day Sitting alone with a withered bouquet Pretending that honey, you'd stayed A wedding gown laid out on the bed Where a miracle almost began Tragedy struck and you couldn't endure Why you left I can't understand Why you left I can't understand I wander the streets so blind with my grief And deaf to the ramblings I spew A child, a child has ruined it all And stolen the life I once knew And stolen the life I once knew My clothes are all tattered all these years I have worn In the hopes that someday you'll return What has God given me if just to take it away Oh dear God what do I need to learn Oh dear God what do I need to learn
11.
Norman's Folly is a mean old road Well you better watch out and you better roll slow Norman's Folly is a mean old road The edge is steep and the bridge is old And the ice will get you when the weather's cold Norman's Folly is a mean old road It's been raining in Northfield nearly a week and there's folks starving down on Johnson's Creek Preacher said "I'll haul that load" Norman's Folly is a mean old road Chorus Well he started out the break o' day and the howlin winds made the headlight sway Rain and dirt turned to painful hail Broken spokes on the wagon wheel Began to snow as the temperature fell And it was hard to follow that dreadful trail Horse collapsed couldn't go no more And the preacher start to dream about the golden shore Well he took what he could carry as he shook And he shielded his eyes with the holy book If I was a liar I'd soften the blow But that preacher died in the mountain snow Now the folks went lookin' when the springtime came See if Norman's Folly had earned it's name Found the preacher in a ditch With a bible frozen to his chest Chorus
12.
Well they fooled you, thinkin' you had a shot earned your lot, TV and debt was all you got Now it's too damn hard being poor on the losing end of a class war There's a club that you ain't part of and you won't ever be It's a party for the rich, not folks like you and me Still you talk about the poor like they're the enemy When you ain't more than a breath away from livin' in poverty Now you got some dreams of how you think the future oughta go But your kids are gonna struggle like their parents done before Now I can't fault the man for chasing illusionary wealth Just remember that the rich only look out for themselves Now you waste your days and break your back to pad your boss's purse His life's getting better and your life's gettin' worse The lies that you've been eatin' are now tearing through your skin And if we keep fightin' amongst ourselves there's no way we can win

credits

released August 9, 2013

Silas Lowe - Guitar, vocals, mandolin
Jeremy W. Wade - Pedal steel, vocals
Andy Lentz - Fiddle, vocals
Josh Hoag - Upright bass

Recorded and mixed by Jeremy W. Wade at Doghouse Studios in Austin, TX

Mastered by Boo MacLeod in Austin, TX

Album cover design by Eric Redpath at Papercut Press - www.thepapercutpress.com

All songs by Silas Lowe except Mt St Helens written by Jennie Benford

Thanks to: Ron, Tacie, Lur, Loves It, but especially Blue, Howdy, Denis and The White Horse Saloon

Contact Silas Lowe
newdealbooking@gmail.com
www.silaslowe.com

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Silas Lowe Nashville, Tennessee

For a songwriter confronting some of the more unsettling facets of life in contemporary America, Silas Lowe’s songs are highly listenable, witty, and fun. He has entertained crowds at the Kennedy Center, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Northern Lights Boreal Festival, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion, Vancouver Folk Festival, and numerous other festivals throughout the U.S. and Canada. ... more

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