Singin' the Blues or any other durn thing ya want.

[Delmonico]

We had a music thread a while back and it died with a good friend, so I am going to start a new one since we have been doin' this on and off in other threads. 

This one I first heard one late night out riding around in the winter of 75-76, it awed me then, it still does but a lot of Al Stewarts music has a historical bent.


They crossed over the border the hour before dawn
Moving in lines through the day
Most of our planes were destroyed on the ground where they lay
Waiting for orders we held in the wood - word from the front never came
By evening the sound of the gunfire was miles away
Ah, softly we move through the shadows, slip away through the trees
Crossing their lines in the mists in the fields on our hands and our knees
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the smoke on the breeze
All summer they drove us back through the Ukraine
Smolyensk and Viyasma soon fell
By autumn we stood with our backs to the town of Orel
Closer and closer to Moscow they come - riding the wind like a bell
General Guderian stands at the crest of the hill
Winter brought with her the rains, oceans of mud filled the roads
Gluing the tracks of their tanks to the ground while the sky filled with snow
And all that I ever was able to see
The fire in the air glowing red silhouetting the snow on the breeze
In the footsteps of Napoleon the shadow figures stagger through the winter
Falling back before the gates of Moscow,
Standing in the wings like an avenger
And far away behind their lines the partisans are stirring in the forest
Coming unexpectedly upon their outposts, growing like a promise
You'll never know, you'll never know
Which way to turn, which way to look, you'll never see us
As we're stealing through the blackness of the night
You'll never know, you'll never hear us
And the evening sings in a voice of amber, the dawn is surely coming
The morning road leads to Stalingrad, and the sky is softly humming
Two broken Tigers on fire in the night flicker their souls to the wind
We wait in the lines for the final approach to begin
It's been almost four years that I've carried a gun
At home it'll almost be spring
The flames of the Tigers are lighting the road to Berlin
Ah, quickly we move through the ruins that bow to the ground
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
And all that I ever was able to see
The eyes of the city are opening now it's the end of the dream
I'm coming home, I'm coming home
Now you can taste it in the wind, the war is over
And I listen to the clicking of the train wheels as we roll across the border
And now they ask me of the time
That I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner
"They only held me for a day, a lucky break", I say;
They turn and listen closer
I'll never know, I'll never know
Why I was taken from the line and all the others
To board a special train and journey deep into the heart of holy Russia
And it's cold and damp in the transit camp, and the air is still and sullen
And the pale sun of October whispers the snow will soon be coming
And I wonder when I'll be home again and the morning answers
"Never"
And the evening sighs and the steely Russian skies go on forever

[litl rooster]

  This one is so blue I had to get a pair of Dockers and some dark sunglasses...........yeah right



No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.

'Cause - 'cause - 'cause I remember when a we used to sit
In a government yard in Trenchtown,
Oba - obaserving the 'ypocrites - yeah! -
Mingle with the good people we meet, yeah!
Good friends we have, oh, good friends we have lost
Along the way, yeah!
In this great future, you can't forget your past;
So dry your tears, I seh. Yeah!

No, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry. Eh, yeah!
A little darlin', don't shed no tears:
No, woman, no cry. Eh!

Said - said - said I remember when we used to sit
In the government yard in Trenchtown, yeah!
And then Georgie would make the fire lights,
I seh, logwood burnin' through the nights, yeah!
Then we would cook cornmeal porridge, say,
Of which I'll share with you, yeah!
My feet is my only carriage
And so I've got to push on through.
Oh, while I'm gone,
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right-a!
Everything's gonna be all right!
Everything's gonna be all right, yeah!
Everything's gonna be all right!

So no, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
I seh, O little - O little darlin', don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry, eh.

No, woman - no, woman - no, woman, no cry;
No, woman, no cry.
One more time I got to say:
O little - little darlin', please don't shed no tears;
No, woman, no cry.

[Trinity]

I love that one!  It's a great song already, but Peter Rowan plays it well in his style.

[Ozark Tracker]

this one was always a good drinking song in days gone by


Everybody's sings the blues sometimes and
Everybody knows the tune.
And everybody knows the way I'm feelin', 'cause
Everybody's had the blues.

A lonely, song someone is gone,
A story old as time.
Love, hate, or want and wait
Till misery fills your mind.
And everybody knows the way I'm fellin',
'Cause everybody's had the blues.

--- Instrumental ---

A lonely, song someone is gone,
A story old as time.
Love, hate, or want and wait
Till misery fills your mind.
And everybody knows the way I'm fellin',
'Cause everybody's had the blues.

Everybody's had the blues...

[Tensleep]

T for Texas, T for Tennessee
T for Texas, T for Tennessee
T for Thelma
That gal that made a wreck out of me.


YODEL: O-de-lay-ee-a-lay-ee-o-lay-ee


If you don't want me mama
You sure don't have to stall
If you don't want me mama
You sure don't have to stall
'Cause I can get more women
Than a passenger train can haul.


YODEL


I'm gonna buy me a pistol
Just as long as I'm tall, Lawd, Lawd
I'm gonna buy me a pistol
Just as long as I'm tall
I'm gonna shoot poor Thelma
Just to see her jump and fall.


YODEL


I'm going where the water
Drinks like cherry wine, sing 'em boy, sing 'em
Lawd, I'm going where the water
Drinks like cherry wine
'Cause the Georgia water
Tastes like turpentine.


YODEL


I'm gonna buy me a shotgun
With a great long shiny barrel
I'm gonna buy me a shotgun
With a great long shiny barrel
I'm gonna shoot that rounder
That stole away my gal.


YODEL


Rather drink muddy water
Sleep in a hollow log
Rather drink muddy water
And sleep in a hollow log
Than to be in Atlanta
Treated like a dirty dog.


YODEL

[Ozark Tracker]

Here's an interesting site, this fella went through the Ozarks, Ark and Missouri and recorded all these people singing all the songs they could remember from years ago,
one of my relatives sent it to me because my Grandmothers Uncle has some recording on it.
Fred High is his name,  if you listen to you'll see why he ran the Post Office instead of singing fer a living.

http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/singerfj.html#anchor3

I think most of them were recorded back in the 50's

[Trinity]

Uhhh. OT, is he by chance related to the Highs of the High's ice cream chain?  If he is, can I have some free ice cream?

[Russ T Chambers]

Ok Del, I'm not sure why this one just popped into my head, but:


I'm just mad about Saffron
Saffron's mad about me
I'm just mad about Saffron
She's just mad about me

{REFRAIN}
They call me mellow yellow
Quite right, Slip
They call me mellow yellow
Quite right, Slip
They call me mellow yellow

I'm just mad about Fourteen
Fourteen's mad about me
I'm just mad about Fourteen
She's just mad about me

{REFRAIN}

Gonna have forever to fly
Wind velocity nil
Born high forever to fly
If you want your cup I will fill

{REFRAIN}

So mellow, he's so yellow

Electrical banana
Is gonna be a sudden craze
Electrical banana
is bound to be the very next phase

(REFRAIN)

Do we know the artiist?  I do.

[Delmonico]

Some guy named Donavin.

[litl rooster]

Russ T maybe it's cause


He turned 35 last Sunday
In his hair he found some gray
But he still ain't changed his lifestyle
He likes it better the old way.

So he grows a little garden
In the backyard by the fence
He's consuming what he's growing
Nowadays in self defense
He gets out there in the twilight zone
Sometimes when it just don't make no sense.

He gets off on country music
'Cause disco left him cold
And he's got young friends and a new way
But he's just to frickin old.

And he dreams at night of Woodstock
And the day John Lennon died
How the music made him happy
And the silence made him cry
Yeah, he thinks of John sometimes
And he has to wonder why.

Chorus:
'Cause he's an old hippie
And he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new.

He's and old hippie
This new life is just a bust
He ain't trying to change nobody
He's just trying real hard to adjust.

He was sure back in the sixties
That everyone was hip
Then they sent him off to vietnam
On his senior trip.

And they forced him to become a man
While he was still a boy
And behind each wave of tragedy
He waited for the joy
Now this world may change around him
But he just can't change no more.

Chorus:
'Cause he's an old hippie
And he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new.

He's and old hippie
This new life is just a bust
He ain't trying to change nobody
He's just trying real hard to adjust.

Well, he stays away a lot now
From the parties and the clubs
And he's thinking while he's jogging round
Sure is glad he quit the hard drugs.

'Cause him and his kind
Get more endangered everyday
And pretty soon the species
Will just up and fade away
Like the smoke from that torpedo
Just up and fade away.

Chorus:
'Cause he's an old hippie
And he don't know what to do
Should he hang on to the old
Should he grab on to the new.

He's and old hippie
This new life is just a bust
He ain't trying to change nobody
He's just trying real hard to adjust.

[Tensleep]

Now they make new movies in old black and white
With happy endings, where nobody fights
So if you find yourself in that nostalgic rage
Honey, jump right up and show your age

Chorus:
I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
The boston blackie kind
A two toned ricky ricardo jacket
And an autographed picture of andy devine

I remember bein buck-toothed and skinny
Writin fan letters to sky king and penny
Oh I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could solve some mysteries too

Then its bandstand, disneyland, growin up fast
Drinkin on a fake i.d.
Yeah, and rama of the jungle was everyones bawana
But only jazz musicians were smokin marijuana
Yeah, I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could solve some mysteries too

Then its flat top, dirty bob, coppin a feel
Grubbin on the livin room floor (so sore)
Yeah, they send you off to college, try to gain a little knowledge,
But all you want to do is learn how to score

Yeah, but now Im gettin old, dont wear underwear
I dont go to church and I dont cut my hair
But I can go to movies and see it all there
Just the way that it used to be

Chorus:
Thats why I wish I had a pencil thin mustache
The boston blackie kind
A two-toned ricky ricardo jacket
And an autographed picture of andy devine

Oh, I could be anyone I wanted to be
Maybe suave errol flynn or the sheik of araby
If I only had a pencil thin mustache
Then I could do some cruisin too

Coda:
Yeah, bryl-cream, a little dabll do yah
Oh, I could do some cruisin too

[litl rooster]

   Sky King use to be one of my favorite shows       was in lust with Penny long fore ole Mary Ann on Gilligans

[litl rooster]

Tenzzz, you made me put a Jimmy Buffet CD in the truck.............Here's anutha Pagain Ritual song of his


Chorus:
Now i don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

Chorus:
Let me say now i don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

Ground she's movin' under me
Tidal waves out on the sea
Sulphur smoke up in the sky
Pretty soon we learn to fly

Chorus:
Let me hear ya now i don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

Now my girl quickly say to me
Mon you better watch your feet
Lava come down soft and hot
You better lava me now or lava me not

Chorus:
Let me say now i don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

-- spoken: "mr utley..."

No time to count what i'm worth
'cause i just left the planet earth
Where i go i hope there's rum
Not to worry mon soon come

Chorus:
Now i don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

Chorus:
One more now i don't know (ah he don't know)
I don't know (he don't know, mon)
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

But i don't want to land in new york city
Don't want to land in mexico (no no no)
Don't want to land on no three mile island
Don't want to see my skin aglow (no no no)

Don't want to land in commanche sky park
Or in nashville, tennessee (no no no)
Don't want to land in no san juan airport
Or the yukon territory (no no no)

Don't want to land no san diego
Don't want to land in no buzzards bay (no no no)
Don't want to land on no ayotollah
I got nothing more to say

Chorus:
I don't know
I don't know
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

Chorus:
Just a one more, i don't know (he don't know)
I don't know (i don't know, man)
I don't know where i'm a gonna go
When the volcano blow

[Arcey]

Oh Mama, I'm in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Law man has put an end to my running and I'm so far from my home
Oh, Mama, I can hear you ah cryin' you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
This'll be the end today
Of the wanted man

Oh Mama, I've been years on the lam and had a high price on my head
Lawman said 'Get him dead or alive' and it's for sure he'll see me dead
Dear Mama I can hear you cryin', you're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the gallows and I don't have very long

The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
The judge'll have revenge today
On the wanted man

The jig is up, the news is out
They finally found me
The renegade who had it made
Retrieved for a bounty
Never more to go astray
This'll be the end today
Of the wanted man

[Delmonico]

Oh boy that brought back memory's of early 1979 and a certain body shop and an old beat-up radio.

[Delmonico]

I love Harry Chapin music, the man knew how to tell a good story and make it rhyme.

It was an early morning bar room,
And the place just opened up.
And the little man come in so fast and
Started at his cups.
And the broad who served the whisky
She was a big old friendly girl.
And she tried to fight her empty nights
By smilin' at the world.

And she said "Hey Bub, It's been awhile
Since you been around.
Where the hell you been hidin'?
And why you look so down?"

But the little man just sat there like he'd never heard a sound.

The waitress she gave out with a cough,
And acting not the least put off,
She spoke once again.

She said, "I don't want to bother you,
Consider it's understood.
I know I'm not no beauty queen,
But I sure can listen good."

And the little man took his drink in his hand
And he raised it to his lips.
He took a couple of sips.
And he told the waitress this story.

"I am the midnight watchman down at Miller's Tool and Die.
And I watch the metal rusting, and I watch the time go by.
A week ago at the diner I stopped to get a bite.
And this here lovely lady she sat two seats from my right.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was alright.

"Well, she was so damned beautiful she could warm a winter's frost.
But she was long past lonely, and well nigh onto lost.
Now I'm not much of a mover, or a pick-em-up easy guy,
But I decided to glide on over, and give her one good try.
And Lord, Lord, Lord she was worth a try.

"Tongued-tied like a school boy, I stammered out some words.
But it did not seem to matter much, 'cause I don't think she heard.
She just looked clear on through me to a space back in my head.
And it shamed me into silence, as quietly she said,
'If you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
Cause I know I'm going nowhere, and anywhere's a better place to be.
Anywhere's a better place to be.'

"I drove her to my boarding house, and I took her up to my room.
And I went to turn on the only light to brighten up the gloom.
But she said, 'Please leave the light off, for I don't mind the dark.'
And as her clothes all tumbled 'round her, I could hear my heart.
The moonlight shone upon her as she lay back in my bed.
It was the kind of scene I only had imagined in my head.
I just could not believe it, to think that she was real.
And as I tried to tell her she said 'Shhh.. I know just how you feel.
And if you want to come here with me, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I've been oh so lonely, lovin' someone is a better way to be.
anywhere's a better way to be.'

"The morning come so swiftly as I held her in my arms.
But she slept like a baby, snug and safe from harm.
I did not want to share her or dare to break the mood,
So before she woke I went out and brought us both some food.

"I came back with my paper bag, to find that she was gone.
She'd left a six word letter saying 'It's time that I moved on.'"

The waitress she took her bar rag, and she wiped it across her eyes.
And as she spoke her voice came out as something like a sigh.
She said "I wish that I was beautiful, or that you were halfway blind.
And I wish I weren't so doggone fat, I wish that you were mine.
And I wish that you'd come with me, when I leave for home.
For we both know all about emptiness, and livin' all alone."

And the little man,
Looked at the empty glass in his hand.
And he smiled a crooked grin,
He said, "I guess I'm out of gin.
And know we both have been so lonely.
And if you want me to come with you, then that's all right with me.
'Cause I know I'm goin' nowhere and anywhere's a better place to be."

[Arcey]

Somehow I figgered ya'd use this one for Harry:

At first I did not think it could be you.
But you're the only one that got off the train.
So you must be my wife Miss Annie Halsey
Yes, I guess I am your husband, Hello I'm Harry Crane.

Mail Order Annie, never mind your crying.
Your tears are sweet rain in my empty life.
Mail Order Annie, can't you see I'm trying
To tell you that I'm glad you're here,
You are the woman who's come to be my wife.

You know you're not as pretty as I dreamed you'd be,
But then I'm not no handsome fancy Dan.
And out here looks are really not important.
It's what's inside a woman when she's up against the land.

Mail Order Annie, never mind your crying.
Your tears are sweet rain in my empty life.
Mail Order Annie, can't you see I'm trying
To tell you that I'm glad you're here,
You are the woman who's come to be my wife.

You know it's not no easy life you're entering.
The winter wind comes whistling through the cracks there in the sod.
You know you'll never have too many neighbors.
There's you Girl, and there's me, and there's God.

You know I'm just a dirt man from the North Dakota plains.
You're one girl from the city who's been thrown out on her own.
I'm standing here not sure of what to say to you
'Cepting Mail Order Annie, lets you and me go home.

Mail Order Annie, never mind your crying.
Your tears are sweet rain in my empty life.
Mail Order Annie, can't you see I'm trying
To tell you that I'm glad you're here,
You are the woman who's come to be my wife.
Lyrics > Harry Chapin Lyrics > Harry Chapin Mail Order Annie Lyrics

[Delmonico]

I like that one also, but heck, I like most everything he did.  Saw hin in 1977, one of the best shows I ever saw.

[Delmonico]

Like John Prine also.

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own 

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own 

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own

[litl rooster]

At a truck stop in San Angelo
I saw a billboard 'bout this rodeo
Last weekend out in El Paso
So I signed up to ride

I drew a bull called Original Sin
I heard he'd killed a couple of men
I figured this was somethin' I could win
Cause the devil was on my side

I was havin' myself one hell of a ride
But I ended up disqualified
That danged old bull just up and died
Before they blew the whistle

When I got them north Texas blues
Thought I'd paid all my dues
Then them south Texas blues
Told me son you ain't through
Had them east Texas blues
And them west Texas too
I've done all I know to do
Tryin' to lose, tryin' to lose
These lone star blues

Got laid off at Brown & Root
Then on my way back to Cut and Shoot
Lost my wristwatch and my boots
Shootin' dice with a dude from Houston

Ain't no jobs here workin' cattle
So I got on part time haulin' gravel
With some outfit from Seattle
Down here buildin' custom homes

When I got them north Texas blues
Thought I'd paid all my dues
Then them south Texas blues
Told me son you ain't through
Had them east Texas blues
And them west Texas too
I've done all I know to do
Tryin' to lose, tryin' to lose
These lone star blues

Gassed my truck and packed my clothes
Turned in my key and hit the road
I said Cowtown's where I'll go
You never know I might get lucky

Got a friend there turning knobs
At a place called Billy Bob's
He said he could get me a job there
Workin' as a bouncer

First night on the job was just insane
Some ol' boy got all deranged
Hit me in the head with a Harley chain
To this day my ears still ring

When I got them north Texas blues
Thought I'd paid all my dues
Then them south Texas blues
Told me son you ain't through
Had them east Texas blues
And them west Texas too
I've done all I know to do
Tryin' to lose, tryin' to lose
These lone star blues