1. |
The Weekend Song
04:18
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Well the waves are crashing in and I'm washed up on the shore
I been swimming for my life since she threw me overboard
Never did I think that I'd make it out alive
With her spirit trying to drown me, hangin round inside my mind
Her spirit trying to drown me, hangin round inside my mind.
So hallelujah to the weekend,
Hallelujah to sin,
Hallelujah to the death-defying shape that I'm in
I could use another blessing,
Maybe one more round
So hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
Hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
The devil dances in your pockets when there's lust on your lips
And she's pulling back her belt to show the tattoos on her hips
She's blowin in your ear cause you're singin her song
But you can't have a future when you're thinking that it's wrong
Man, you'll never have a future if you're thinking that it's wrong
So hallelujah to the weekend,
Hallelujah to sin,
Hallelujah to the death-defying shape that I'm in
I could use another blessing,
Maybe one more round
So hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
Hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
Some are looking for a thrill, some are looking for a kill
And there's pretty girls who'll tell ya that they won't, but they will.
And things'll get ugly when you start coming down
And you wanna get out of this one horse town
Man, you're so sick and tired of this one horse town
So hallelujah to the weekend,
Hallelujah to sin,
Hallelujah to the death-defying shape that I'm in
I could use another blessing,
Maybe one more round
So hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
Hallelujah to the whiskey that'll put me in the ground.
Hallelujah.
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2. |
These Pills
03:11
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I got a place out on the west side
I got a woman who treats me right
I still play rock-n-roll
and get to sleep about every night
But just when I thought that your ghost
Had passed on through
Ah, these pills... they remind me of you.
I take one in the morning
I take three before bed
Two go to my heart
And the others to my head
And I've got no trouble now
Sorting out what is true.
Oh, but these pills... they remind me of you.
I saw you on the east side
Decked out in your leopard dress
You asked if I'm still crazy
And if my life's a mess
And I said "Honey...
I never even think about those high heeled shoes."
But these pills, they remind me of you.
Just when I think I'm straightened
And that nothing could go wrong
And my typewriter's on fire
And I write a hundred songs
And I think that I've forgotten
Every little thing you put me through.
Ah, these pills, they remind me of you.
Yeah, these pills, they remind me of you.
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3. |
The Countin Blues
02:48
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Sand and oil stickin in the spinnin engine blades
Sun so hot it's been rising for days
You count the holes for the laces in your shoes
When there's bombs goin off and there's nothin to do
And ya 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
All good children stay alive
Ya 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Ain't nobody comin back again
There's echoes in your ears of the whispers in the alley
Notchin with your knife as you burn up the day's tally
And ya count down the marks that you made out of fear
When there's bombs goin off and ya pluggin your ears
And ya 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
All good children stay alive
Ya 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Ain't nobody comin back again
The butcher's boys are holdin out mirrors from the shadows
And your wonderin why they're out there since ya three months from the gallows
And ya count the copper shells flyin outta your gun
When there's bombs goin off and ya shootin for fun
And ya 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
All good children stay alive
Ya 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Ain't none of us comin back again
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4. |
Diggin Up the Graves
03:17
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Far too many times you hold and tow the line
Even when you're caught finding out how bad it can be.
And you get brought down to your knees.
Well I heard you got a thirst for truth
My friends have got some work for you
You may be gone a day or two and awake with the rising sun.
Might even get to hold a gun.
That's the way we're paid:
Diggin up the graves.
La di da di da
La di da di da.
So it might seem like your work's cut out
And your judgement may cloud up with doubt
But when that feedback makes that moanin sound
Bet your lips will curl to a smile
And you'll feel lost for a while.
Then you'll be prayin for the seventh curse,
For the river to run in reverse
Cause everything always gets worse
Before it ends.
And the last S.O.S. gets sent.
That's the way we're paid:
Diggin up the graves.
La di da di da
La di da di da.
Now don't ask how we came up with it
Just shut your mouth and read the script
Another diplomat gets blown to bits
And then, the picture's gonna fade
Smile, babe, we're all "self made"
And there ain't nothin but fake gold and jewels
In the hearts of those that follow you
But without us, how could you, how could you...
How could you get along?
C'mon, have we ever steered you wrong?
That's the way we're paid:
Diggin up the graves.
La di da di da
La di da di da.
That's the way we're paid:
Diggin up the graves.
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5. |
What Luck
03:24
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She's a silky smooth beauty
She's a lonely man's darling
She's a concrete king's dream
Of what he thinks must be starlight
She's the full moon at midnight
She's why the watchmen keep waiting
She's the flash of inspiration
In the great masters' paintings
She's the nails in the door frame
She's that urge to applaud
She makes the madmen climb mountains
To get closer to God
She's the tide on the rocks
She's why the Queen wears pearls
She's the ambition in men
To take over the world.
She's your grandma's Victrola
She made Pheidippides run
She's the power of an idea
Whose time has finally come
And with all of these empires
Gettin brought to their knees
Oh what luck could have struck
That she'd be standin with me?
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6. |
5 AM
03:16
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Hear the rumblin of thunder down along the mountainside
Steel slappin box-cars colliding side to side
Down below the foothills the boulders are turning
The new leaves are gettin green and the old ones are burning
The brakeman didn't know that the lights had gone out
He pulls down the lever and he lets out a shout
"Hang on tight, hang on tight! This thing's goin off the rails
"Move everybody to the front and put their pictures up for sale."
Jealousy is ugly and fear is overrated
The clearest windows to our souls are the most understated
You couldn't help but turn over the error of your ways
Ain't it strange you never felt happier than you do today?
Hiding behind a mask, you can't keep yourself from laughing
About the fires in the orchards and the demons that are passing.
I may not be smart, but I'm still a good person
So take back those barrels that you keep all your dirt in.
Mama keeps it cool and tries to play it real nice
Even though boys are interrupting when she's givin you advice.
And the fruit trees of Eden hang just about your heads
So reach up and take it instead of waiting til you're dead.
I like steamed rice and chicken beneath my red beans
I like a thirty dollar pair of shoes and dirty old jeans.
And I laugh at anyone who puts their soul in their possessions
Cause something that don't grow ain't nothin to invest in.
I don't mean to preach to you with a cautionary tale
but half the ship is sinkin, the other half is in the whale.
And a country boy ain't so funny when he's wound up and bound
A debutante ain't so pretty when she ain't in a gown,
But the losers and the dreamers keep hanging around
While the poets from the city hang the flag upside-down.
I would, if I could, I would heal up every bruise
But the ocean's waiting quietly for its turn to cut loose
And rise up thick, a hundred feet above our heads
Do you understand what I meant or did you just hear what I said?
Now i don't mean to be pushy, I don't expect you to rush
I'm not angry at what you do, I just expect too much.
Our cheeks are flush and your soft breath is warming
Let's lay like this til the light of the morning.
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7. |
Failures
02:47
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I was walkin through the backwoods where the Clear Fork River runs,
Wrapping regret on my tongue for every stupid thing I've done.
The dark of dusk departed and the red sun broke the sky,
I got a little older, found her shoulder, and I forced myself to cry
Sayin "Darling, I know that this could be
Somethin beautiful for you or for me."
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
I've been drinking too much recently and stayin up too late
I scare myself and get pulled into hysterics of hate.
Last night I got so angry, I tore down all my shelves
And I told everone who loved me they can fuck themselves.
Short of breath now, it's hard for me to stand.
But I swear to God, I can be a good man.
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
I see the devil's face to clearly, it's like she was never gone.
It makes me sick how beauty moves so quick when the lights come on.
And I know there's something evil, lurking in that lace.
She's holding out that red apple, remember how sweet it tastes?
And ya never know what's comin round the bend.
Sometimes the past can be a terrible friend.
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way
It's a shame we gotta let failures get in the way.
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8. |
I Want You
03:14
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I wanna get a girl who's got real high standards
A firecracker who won't take no for an answer
A singer, a painter, maybe a dancer
Who's real good at playing the cards life hands her
But for now, I want you.
I want you, I want you, I want you.
I wanna get a girl who can juggle and whistle
Who's burned out of rose thorns and cuts just like thistle
Who'll bring me my lessons in bruises by the fistful
Who won't chew the fat by tearing out the gristle
But for now, I want you.
I want you, I want you, I want you.
I wanna get a girl who won't keep me busy
By runnin in circles and making me dizzy
Just a sweet little thing, who's real soft and kissy
Someone who'll wait around, someone who will miss me.
But for now, I want you.
I want you, I want you, I want you.
Someday I'll live in a place that's got real nice scenerey
Settle down, raise a family, and give my life meaning
Share feelings in a way that ain't self-defeating
And make love in a way that ain't real demeaning.
But for now, I want you.
I want you, I want you, I want you.
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9. |
Bite the Bullet
02:43
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We ain't gonna mess around with them industry kings
Even though we know the reasons why
All of them blackbirds sing.
The gunfire echo down the hillside
It don't tell no sorry tales
Like the time the things that your mother owned
All went up for sale.
And we all gotta bite the bullet sometime.
Your dinner candle's a-burnin down
And your beans are gettin cold
And the walls are leakin to the halls
And all your secrets are getting told.
Your lone protector, he got shot out
And well, boy, you know he died
Cause they shut off the lights inside your house
And disconnected your telephone lines.
And we all gotta bite the bullet sometime.
We might let our guard down
To try and love a man
By the raisin of his eyebrows
Or with the wavin of his hand
Now they're getting all their trucks in line
They're paintin them passports blue
And they're pullin down the kings
While the blackbirds sing
Cause that's what they were told to do.
And we all gotta bite the bullet sometime.
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10. |
Small Town Kings
04:59
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Cigarettes and whiskey and spray-painted walls
The out of order toilet makin puddles in the hall
As soon as I was born, I was rock bottom at the fall
If opportunity ain't gonna knock for me
It sure as hell ain't gonna call
And we could be small town kings
With two wheels and an engine
On the back of devil's wings
Oh, we could be small town kings
Drunk and disheveled in the back of a police cruiser
The old small town hero's now a pill-poppin boozer
And it's a hard ride to heaven lookin up from the sewer
When from above you're just lookin like another small town loser
And we could be small town kings
With two wheels and an engine
On the back of devil's wings
Oh, we could be small town kings
Sherry's out dancin, the boys are buyin her drinks again
Leann's man's beatin her up for some little thing she said again
Jimmy's out cruisin in a stolen Mercedes Benz
I guess the party's always harder in the depths of a dead end.
And we could be small town kings
With two wheels and an engine
On the back of devil's wings
Oh, we could be small town kings
Small town trouble over liquor and paychecks
Between wannabe cowboys and fate-bitten rednecks
All the pretty girls are lookin for city boys at the complex
To start some small town rumors about who's gettin out next
And we could be small town kings
With two wheels and an engine
On the back of devil's wings
Oh, we could be small town kings.
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11. |
American Rhymin
03:12
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The dogs are leavin home and the porchlights are on
There's fireflies in the fields and there's kids on the lawn
And they're American rhymin, American rhymin
Mary has buried her heart deep inside
Cause the smallest bit of love is just the biggest waste of time
When you're American rhymin, American rhymin.
I think about heavy my load is today
And I'm just about ready to give it all away
To start American rhymin, American rhymin.
I know Bobby did it, I know Woody did too
And everybody says that it's good for you to do.
To be American rhymin, American rhyming.
I have an ancient map that lays out the stars
You've got the keys and baby, I've got the car
And we're American rhymin, American rhmyin
I know the night is long when you're sittin all alone
But leave a light on so this dog can come home
From American rhymin, American rhymin
American rhymin, American rhymin
American rhymin, American rhymin.
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12. |
Nadine
05:24
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The guards in the watchtowers
Count down the hours
While all of their telephones ring
The power lines catch fire
And smell like burned tires
As the falling bombs whistle and sing.
And I know a girl there
With long curly blonde hair
And I hope she remembers my name.
Cause this ain't our home now
We got nowhere to go now
And ain't nothin ever gonna be the same.
So Nadine, where ya been tonight?
Nadine, it's time to leave.
This town ain't never gonna see us again.
The smokers bum smokes
While the jokers tell jokes
But nobody finds 'em too funny.
The tycoons sell stars
From the trunks of their cars
With their greasy hands all over our money.
And the nurses get frisky
While the doctors drink whiskey
And laugh at the hearbeat machine.
Their scalpel's been sharpened,
Their liquor's been darkened,
They're arguing over Nadine.
Nadine, where ya been tonight?
Nadine, it's time to leave.
This town ain't never gonna see us again.
So the radio plays a song
And we all sing along
But don't recall a single word that we say
But we'll blast out our lungs
Til the gas tank is done
And we'll have to walk the rest of the way
Now there's ears on the road
For a story that's told
And sold to the highest bidder
Some folks are gonna bluff you
Others are gonna cuff you
Nadine'll do both if you let her.
Nadine, where ya been tonight?
Nadine, it's time to leave.
This town ain't never gonna see us again.
It was just about too late
When I jumped the fencegate
And landed in the garden of the queen
My car was turned over
It was burnin on clover
And that's when I found my Nadine
So please loan me some tokens
My wrist watch is broken
Not a single train is runnin on time
And we gotta move fast, baby
Or we'll turn into ash, baby
And be sleepin in the dirt and the lime
Nadine, where ya been tonight?
Nadine, it's time to leave.
This town ain't never gonna see us again.
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Matt Monta Richmond, Virginia
Voice for singing. Guitar for strumming. Harmonica for wailing. Boots for stomping.
Honest songs from a hard-working heartland.
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