1. |
A Good Cry
04:19
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oh you can't go on the road
when you haven't said goodbye and
you can't leave your home
when you haven't had a good cry
even though you know it's time, time
even though you'd rather believe a lie
you can fight the good fight and
pretend it doesn't hurt
you can wrestle with the angel and
pretend that it'll work
even though you know it's lost, lost
even though you know the price and the cost and
somehow you know
that there's an end and
in the end's a beginning
oh oh
you can part as friends
while your heart shakes and rends
you can say farewell
while you're making your amends
so send him all your love
show her all your tears
hold her in your hands like a little dove and
you kiss away those fears and
somehow you know
that there's an end and
in the end's a beginning
oh oh
you can't go on the road
when you haven't said goodbye and
you can't leave your home
when you haven't had a good cry
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2. |
Crosswind
03:26
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he keeps thinking of the crosswind at Crossroads
where his family's tavern stood
two roads the sign of the cross
the lines in his Nana's forehead
there's no tavern there now
cornfields dust from the roads the wind
dust in the crosswind
leather sweat and tanned faces
baseball boys off the field
jangling bottles Sunday after church
the tired lady's hands on the glassy counter
a mirror stained with age
pain not spoken
dust in the throat
dust in the eyes
blind in the crosswind
they called his grandpa Budweiser Bud
a bottle and a baseball and a Cardinal's cap
best seats in the stadium
hotdogs cokes and Bud for Bud
Brock steals third there's a foul off of Wynn
baseball like a meteor falls on him
rolls away down three aisles
a guy grabs it Bud yanks it back
"Give my that ball -- it's for my grandson!"
grandpa we lost you that night on the crosswind
smashed into beer looked like a truck
gravestones at the crossroads
crosswind at the crossroads
dust
dust in the throat
dust in the eyes
blind in the crosswind
he keeps thinking of the crosswind at Crossroads
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3. |
Rabid Dog
03:29
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i'm a rabid dog foamin' at the mouth
someone come and give me a shot
there's a rope around my neck and
i'm tied to a pole and
i bite the ones the ones i love a lot
i told you people yesterday
that i'm ready to kill
i see the m-16 bullet holes in the wall and
i can't stand to stand still
foamin' at the mouth
lord i'm seein' red
i think i'm gonna cry
comin' down the road ahead
this is my voice i speak in a growl
i like this moon it makes me howl
don't you give me those tender eyes
they look a lot like lies believe me
i ain't no hound dog ain't high class
i ain't no dog in the manger
you tell me that you have love me
but you look a lot like a stranger
foamin' at the mouth
lord i'm seein' red
i think i'm gonna die
comin' down the road ahead
i bite through the rope
i clear the fence now
i'm comin' down the road
don't you throw me any old bone
if you think you can tame me
with a little dish a food and water
let me tell you my bite's as bad as my bark
i'm no mutt you can kick in the butt
i got a coat that sleek and shiny pearly teeth
you say you got a pedigree as far as you can see
you're dressed like a wolf but you're really a sheep
i bite and bark just look at me drool
i'm a rare diamond a precious jewel
you think i'm some flee-bitten cur
let me tell you you're a turncoat fool
foamin' at the mouth
lord i'm seein' red
i think i'm gonna cry
comin' down the road ahead
did you feed the dog? she's just a dog
go and put out in the dog house
put a scrap in a doggie bag and
throw in a little doggie biscuit
take her for a walk put her on a leash
she's just a dog a dog-faced bitch
a stray dog a faithful dog
sit roll over play dead
i'm sick as a dog dog tired dog mad
dog sick as a dog dog tired dog mad dog
of this world
i'm sick as dog as a dog tired dog mad dog eat dog
of this world
this is a dog song
beware of dog
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4. |
Back Porch Heart
03:07
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outside the clothes sway on the line
we say it seems a century there's still no time
nothing burns so bright as the star that burns itself
to make nothing of the night
oh i press the dark to my backporch heart
outside there's the lilacs and sycamore trees
the clock counts a day we count an hour
Cassiopeia lost her diamonds in the woods to get me home
oh i press the dark to my backporch heart
outside there's the ground where once i lay
outside there's the ground where you lay me down
the ground will be our shelter
the stars will light our bed
oh i press you to my backporch heart
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5. |
Goin' Down to Wanda's
02:42
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goin' down to Wanda's Wanda loves good news
heard enough of me wailin' out the blues
found a place called Easy Street got me love to burn
been shakin' down the money tree luck just took a turn
goin' down to Wanda's no wolves at my door
i step out on the bandstand no blood on the floor
sun shines something fierce no one ever said
that you could get up out of here when you was half dead
this a sure thing shoo-in zappy dappy cat-bird seat
teamin' up the pea patch oh the cake's so sweet
doll it up la dee da put on your glad rags
ritz and spritz and spruce it up now angel face
goin' down to Wanda's Wanda's real downtown
always hears the lowdown good news gets around
rainbow around my shoulders set the world on fire
send my troubles south oh root hog or die
it's a blast a gas sittin' pretty in Gas city
zing it up let her rip whoo give it the works
this a belly buster hit it off buddy buddy
toot toot tootsie pretty baby
goin' down to Wanda's dreams done paved that street
got some wheels beneath me shook the dust off of my feet
land of milk and honey think that you had died
died and gone to heaven finally satisfied
no more finger shakin' no more true hearts breakin'
no more crazy makin' no more pillow fakin'
no more mammy jumpers no more bible thumpers
no more fish-eye go by no more chase the butterfly
no more nazi mobs no more robot jobs
no more salvador slaves no more unmarked graves
no more one horse kings no more waxen wings
no more aids goodnights no more off course flights
goin' down to Wanda's Wanda loves good news
goin' down to Wanda's tonight
goin' down to Wanda's Wanda loves good news
goin' down to Wanda's tonight
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6. |
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i'm a daughter of the american revolution and
i play some things blue
my race car father eloped with my mother beauty queen ingenue
blue blood boy and tavern owner's girl make a child accidentally
of course in that war no one escaped the booze-filled insanity
don't know where i'm headed
i don't know i don't know
don't know where i'm headed
but i'm not going back there
i dig deep for the grass roots that spring up
in the sidewalk cracks of the city streets
i'm looking for the place where light and darkness
black and white meet
so go on now grab those steel-tipped boots
and you put them on both feet
i'm following the scent of sanctity and
the sound of a quiet heartbeat
don't know where i'm headed
i don't know i don't know
don't know where i'm headed
but i'm not going back there
i once Jesus standing in a stream of light
in a painting by Caravaggio
velvet hands and blazing white
in that room there were no windows
i came up out of the white side of the East St. Louis ghetto
you know i've had my days when i thought
that love had died a long time ago
don't know where i'm headed
i don't know i don't know
don't know where i'm headed
but i'm not going back there
i'm a daughter of the american revolution and
i play somethings blue
don't know where i'm headed
but i'm not going back there
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7. |
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there once was an old woman at the wishing well
she had the laugh of ancient China
there once was an old woman at the wishing well
she missed her daughters
do you think that she would find them
among the reflections in the water?
the old woman at the wishing well
looked toward the time when they'd return
i can't tell you i can't tell you
i can't tell you when
if you're patient, steadfast and long suffering
your suffering will end
this i promise you tonight
the old woman at the wishing well
sees the light
of the moon on the waters
in the reflections from the eyes from her daughters
everything's alright
quiet silent peaceful night
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8. |
Lucy's Back in Town
03:14
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hey you with the stars in your eyes
the grit in your teeth
the stomp in your feet
you'd better move over 'cause Lucy's back in town
been down and out and struggled a fair road
from the Mississippi to the seven hills of Rome
looking for my home
always had to take things out to get out
now i'm here you know
it's my time my turn my tune my tongue on the line
if you were a skyscraper and i was a rose
you know i'd shake you down to your very foundation
rose is a rose everybody knows
you can smell my earthquake scent as far as the wind blows
when my petals brush up against your feet
explode implode detonation elation
Lucy's back in town
i'm looking glass no longer darkly
i'm not standing in love's lost land no darlin'
i shout my name loud and clear
you got the right to quake in fear
when you see this high strung philly rear
always had to take things out to get out
now i'm here you know
it's my time my turn my tune my tongue on the line
stomp stomp stomp in this African heat
you can stomp feet and let your heart beat beat
i'm a wild elephant raging in a frenzied stampede
you better take cover while Lucy craves new flesh and new meat
for blood boils blood wild and deep
you better move Lucy's back in town
move over Lucy's back
it's my time my turn my tune my tongue on the line
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9. |
My Sweet Rose
02:13
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i wanted to give you
a music box
to sing the whole night through and
comfort you
but i couldn't find the one
to sing the right song
they were all wrong
so i wrote you one of my own
i know sometimes we don't agree
that can't always be
tonight I realize we live different lives
oh but
i wanted you to know
yes it's so
i'll always love you
my sweet rose
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Liz Hamill San Francisco, California
Worked in the folk scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Studied with MacArthur recipient, pianist, Ran Blake and Yiddish- Klezmer music revivalist, Hankus Netsky and jazz guitarist, Mick Goodrick. Producer for Dakini Music. Consulting with Dickinson College about The Allen Tanner Papers, LGBTQ Studies. Currently, returning to work in Folk music and Contemporary Improvisation in San Francisco. ... more
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