1. |
Rabble Rouse
02:07
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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
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2. |
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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
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3. |
Centralia
03:24
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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
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4. |
Mirror Behind the Bar
03:24
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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
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5. |
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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
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6. |
Mighty Good Time
02:49
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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
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7. |
John Henry Doomed Us All
03:21
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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
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8. |
Hey Boss
02:12
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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
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9. |
Mt St Helens
03:17
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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
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10. |
Pretending
02:51
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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
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11. |
Norman's Folly
03:15
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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
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12. |
They Fooled You
02:34
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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
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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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