WE'RE ALL ALIKE
by Jack Williams and Geoff Bartley
We’re all alike, we’re all alike
We all know the diff’rence ‘tween wrong and right
We all put the baby in the cradle at night
We all need love and that’s all right
We’re all alike
It’s always rainin’ when the tire goes flat
The dog comes in when you put the cat
We’re all gettin’ older – no way around that
If it ain’t one thing, it’s gonna be another
Take a hold of my hand, I’m runnin’ for cover
Brothers and sisters can get so mean
Put my ukelele in the washing machine
It don’t play no more, but it sure is clean
The uke ain’t nothin’ but nylon and wood
My family’s all of my flesh and blood
People ‘round here put their foot in my mouth
Makes me think of packin’ up, movin’ back south
With everybody named “Bubba”, nobody named “Ralph”
Sittin’ on the back porch, sweet as you please
Spittin’ watermelon seeds on my baby and me
Red and yellow, black and tan
All the world’s children got to understand
It’s gonna be the fire or the fryin’ pan
We can make it all better if we work together
With an open heart and a willin’ hand
WHY YOU BEEN GONE SO LONG?
Words and music by Mickey Newbury
Every time it rains, Lord, I run to my window
All I do is wring my hands and moan.
Listen to the thunder, Lord, and hear that lonesome wind moan.
Tell me baby why you been gone so long.
Somebody said they thought they saw you roaring out in Reno
With a big ol’ man from San Antone
They tell me I’m a fool to pine for you but what do they know
Tell me baby why you been gone so long.
Tell me baby why you been gone so long.
You been gone so long
Tell me baby why you been gone so long.
Wolf’s scratchin’ at my door, Lord, Lord, Lord
Hear that lonesome wind moan
Tell me baby why you been gone so long.
There’s nothing I’d rather do than just go back home
Let the honeysuckle wind run through my hair.
Jump in my old Chevy, Lord, and run that freight train down
Goodbye Tenaha, Timpson, Bobo and Blair.
LONG BLACK VEIL
Words and music by Marijohn Wilkin and Danny Dill
Ten years ago, on a cold, dark night
There was some man killed ‘neath the town hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me
The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi?”
If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die
I spoke not a word, though it meant my life
I had been in the arms of my best friend’s wife
She walks these hills in a long, black veil
She visits my grave where the night winds wail
Nobody knows. Nobody sees.
Nobody knows but me.
The scaffold was high and eternity near
She stood in the crowd but she shed not a tear
And sometimes at night when the cold winds moan
In a long, black veil she cries over my bones.
BLOW ME DOWN AGAIN
It's Carolina cotton time
I hate to leave these fields behind
Thumbin' down to Mobile Bay
I'll bet I'll be walkin' all the way
Hurricane blowin' in the Gulf
Alabama's had enough
They've all gone to higher ground
No place for me to hide in Mobile town
East to West
There goes the sun
Goin' 'round and 'round
Till time is done
North and south
Here comes the wind
To pick me up and blow me down again
Billboard says I'm half a man
There's less of me than a girl can stand
I limp around and now and then I cry
On one bum leg and one good eye
Old man sittin' in front of the store
Wonderin' what his thumb is for
It'll get you outta town, I said
He just spit, and the Georgia dirt turned red
I don't know what I'm gonna do
I've lost my ride and I've lost you
This pavement feels like molten steel
This must be how road kill feels
Twelve black buzzards in a tree
Cast their stinkin' eyes on me
I'd throw a rock but they won't even fly
They know they'll get me by and by
FROG IN THE KITCHEN
There’s a frog in the kitchen, a frog in the kitchen
There’s a frog in the kitchen laughing at the fools we be.
The little frog jumped from the coffee cup
Mama screamed and ‘bout throwed-up
Now she’s got all the windows and the door nailed up
There’s a frog in the kitchen laughing at the fools we be.
There’s a skink in the bedroll, a skink in the bedroll
There’s a skink in the bedroll laughing at the fools we be.
Kim took to panic when it got in her hair
The zipper got stuck, she couldn’t go nowhere
Now she rocks in a rocker with a vacant stare
There’s a skink in the bedroll laughing at the fools we be.
There’s a snake in the johnboat, a snake in the johnboat
There’s a snake in the johnboat laughing at the fools we be.
Gus gave a holler and he grabbed his gun
He blowed that johnboat to kingdom come
Now he’s waist deep in water, feeling dumb
There’s a snake in the johnboat laughing at the fools we be.
Bugs ‘n spiders ‘n slugs ‘n things
Torment housewives, cops and kings
Swifts in the chimney break all the rules
Great God Almighty there’s a gator in the pool!
There’s a limpkin in the gully, a limpkin in the gully
There’s a limpkin in the gully laughing at the fools we be.
Tourists hate the racket that the limpkin makes
They dredge the channel and drain the lakes
There’s nothing left but rats, ‘skeeters and snakes
And limpkins in the gully laughing at the fools we be.
There’s a woodpecker peckin’, a woodpecker peckin’
There’s a woodpecker peckin’ laughing at the fools we be.
He pecked a big hole in my grandpa’s porch
He lit some rags and made a gasoline torch
Now there’s nothing left but the chimney and the horse
And the woodpecker peckin’, laughing at the fools we be.
Laughing at the fools we be.
THE OUTLAW'S DREAM
I ride alone through endless hours,
Cursing all my fading powers,
Never resting, never seen,
No need to hide,
I'm lost inside
An outlaw's dream.
I raise my hand against the sun.
I drain the fire from my gun.
Through shifting sands and barren stream.
No place to stand,
No fellow man
In an outlaw's dream.
No eagle's cry.
No desert rose.
No canyon wren.
No prairie wind.
No drifting snows.
No cooling rain.
No scorpion's sting.
No grace of God.
No shepherd's rod
In an outlaw's dream.
I search in vain for sacred places,
Recalling love in gravestone faces.
The vandal moon betrays the scene.
All hope is gone.
There'll be no dawn
In an outlaw's dream.
ASPHALT BLUES
Rollin' down the freeway at dawn.
Nothin' but your memory on.
Dog-tired, red-eyed,
Wondrin' what I did that was wrong.
Sunrise in Kentucky, maybe I'll get lucky.
Don't know where my baby has gone.
Drivin' through the desert out west,
Chasin' everything in a dress.
Headache, for god's sake,
Beatin' down the pain in my chest.
Up and down the valley, boulevard and alley,
Got to keep my head up I guess.
Asphalt -
Road-doggin' the white lines.
It's my fault -
No coverin' up my crimes...
This time...
Asphalt blues.
Sleepin' in the truck by a lake.
Don't know how much more I can take.
Desire, hell-fire,
This longin's gonna keep me awake.
Every devil mile wears an evil smile...
I'm hopin' for a dream that won't break.
MAKE ME A BELIEVER
At the dark end of a one-way street
Strange faces of mystery,
A young boy's imagination runs away.
Legends flower, lives are sold,
Lies believed, tales are told,
The curious may never again
See the light of day.
Make me a believer,
Make me a believer,
Make me a believer and I'm yours.
Make me a believer,
Make me a believer,
Make me a believer and I'm yours.
One day you must turn the page,
Light your lamp and come of age,
Look into those alien eyes at last.
When you finally walk that darkened street,
Shadows fall away from your feet,
And all uncertain fearful years
Fade into the past.
Lovers, friends and brothers may
Hold you close then turn away...
How can I take all that love as real?
I'm hiding in my wildest dreams,
Trusting you to rescue me,
And lead me to an ecstasy
That even I can feel.
WATERBUG
Big old frog below my feet,
Lookin' for somethin' small to eat.
I never paid no mind till when
He ate me whole and I'm gone again.
I never paid no mind till when
He ate me whole and I'm gone again...gone again.
Things been goin' bad to worse
For the center of my universe.
I can't hear the truth be said,
Livin' alone inside my head.
I can't hear the truth be said,
Livin' alone inside my head.
I'm the waterbug.
A shallow man.
The waterbug don't want to know
'Bout trouble in the water down below.
You got a life I never knew.
I never looked inside of you.
I confess that all these years
I never liked to see your tears.
I confess that all these years
I never liked to see your tears...no tears.
There's a big old world - now I see
The daffodil and the bumblebee.
I wonder who coulda made this bone,
The DNA and the pheromone
I wonder who coulda made this bone,
The DNA and the pheromone
I got a line and I got a pole.
One is a lie and it burns my soul.
That pole is hooked inside my brain.
In a shallow pool I shall remain.
That pole is hooked inside my brain.
In a shallow pool I shall remain.
(add last time)
Skimmin' along all over the land.
TAKE IT OUT BACK
Words and music by Chuck Brodsky
Take it out back, dump it in the river.
Take it out back, throw it in the woods.
Take it out back, chuck it down the hillside.
Keep the front yard lookin’ good.
Ashes from the woodstove fillin’ up the bucket
Spillin’ out the top, now where’m I gonna shuck it?
Take it out back to where I never mow
Find a little spot where no one’ll ever go to.
That old TV quit on me brother
Ten years ago so I got me another.
The first one’s sittin’ out by the porch swing
With the stove and the ‘fridge and a bunch of other things.
Rusty old car, it’s got no motor
If she had any gas I’d try to explode ‘er
Hubcaps, hoods and old transmissions
Throw it in the river – gonna make for good fishin’
The food in the ‘fridge has all turned green
Chicken bones have been picked clean.
Some on the counter, some on the floor
……take ‘em out the back door.
Got to keep up the neighborhood.
FOREVER YOUNG
Words and music by BOB DYLAN
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
MAMA LOU
Early Sunday morning
I'm stretchin' and yawnin',
Shakin' off the night before.
Somewhere in the dwellin'
Somethin' mighty good is smellin',
There's a racket on the kitchen floor.
Papa's choppin' wood,
The fire's burnin' good
And there's a kettle bubblin' on the eye.
There's a ham in the oven,
Mama's stirrin' somethin',
"Son, you touch it and I'll tan your hide."
Oh, Mama Lou!
I'm stayin' here with you.
Cook me somethin' sweet tonight.
The porch swing's creakin',
Mama's teakettle's shriekin'
On a sunny Thanksgiving Day.
I wipe the smile off my face
'Cause Grandpa's sayin' grace,
But any kid would rather eat than pray.
I love my collard greens
And some blackeyed peas;
I want sweet potatoes on the side,
And okra gets my vote
When it slides down your throat,
And, of course, I want my chicken fried.
The tea is double sweet,
And it cools me when I eat.
I smell biscuits risin' slow in the pan.
Mama's cobbler full of berries
Topped with ice cream and cherries
Makes a beggar out of any man.
My memories roam to that old family home
Where it smelled liked heaven all the time,
And Mama never changed
From a fire to a range...
That's music to this heart of mine.
There's a pound cake bakin'...
My taste buds are quakin'...
Mama's tricklin' lemon icing on the top.
I'd still be lickin' that bowl
At a hundred years old
If Mama hadn't ever stopped.
But stop, yes she did,
And us broken-hearted kids
Never let a blessed word go by
That Mama's gentle spirit
Didn't fly by and hear it,
Raising love in us in reply.
WATEREE
I'd like to be your friend and lover.
I'd like to hold your hand in mine.
I want to know if you believe me
When I say what's on my mind...
What's on my mind.
I long to taste your lips of honey.
I long to feel your golden hair.
I long to know if you believe me
When I say I'm in despair.
I'm in despair
Wateree,
You lazy river.
Don't let the sun
Go down on me.
Liberty,
You farmer's daughter
Take my hand
Or set me free.
I want to see the summer sunshine
Pourin' through my cabin door.
And in the light, your heavenly body
Restin' on that earthen floor...
That earthen floor.
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