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The Soul of Sundown
If you’re free tonight,
Only, if you’re free tonight
May I suggest, we both trip the light
Across Revolution Square
I have not had a drink in me
Since my jail stretch in '83
That was the only part of me,
Fellow travellers could see
Through storms of life, we sail,
Some of us row, but most of us bail
Our time together, precious dust on the trail,
While journeying, from here to there
So if your free tonight,
Only, if your free tonight
May I suggest that sundown flip the light
And move us on, to who knows where
Flake
I won't flake, I won't flake on yer
I won't flake, or throw a brake on yer
I would not tell you that the cheque is in the mail,
In a week or two, or black was blue
I won't flake on yer, outside of Modoc
With the, snow flying sideways
And the old four wheeler blows the hose
That I told you to take care of, back in Carson
When our luck was snake-eyed
And those Reno women,
Ate the last of our youth
I won't flake, I won't flake on yer
I won't flake, or slip a jake on yer
I would not tell you that the gas left in the tank
Would make us Klamath Falls and run dry at Tule Lakes grain elevators
I won't flake on yer,
At Petroglyph Point
With the wind howling come to me
All you weed smoking cowboys
Those six-packs and shotguns
Will not save you from your doom, on this ancient earth
Your worth has been noted in the Fred C. Dobbs
Back Road Almanac Of Losers, I won't flake
I won't flake, I know I won't flake
I won't flake, no, that kind of dust, just
Never did, settle on me
I won't flake on yer,
Crossing them Lava Beds
With the rain stoning our bones
And criminal history
While in the hue of a Zippo
Your explaining how your taste has always run
For them bad tempered and loudmouthed women
That haunt them bars on the edge of nowhere
I won't flake, no I won't flake
I won't flake, that kind of dust, just
Never did, settle on me
The Magic Powder Of The Valley Vulcan
Hog the homelight, Marmaduke Fullbright,
Cutting more curves than a Pontiac Firebird
All the bar meat is just a bust,
They all turn to dust when their
Crust hits the morning air
It's plainly verbal and mainly herbal,
It flows out a hole in their polyester pant pocket
Crank it up louder, it's all cream chowder,
Shake some magic powder on the, Valley Vulcan
Chorus:
Woo hoo hoo hoo, woo hoo hoo, shake some magic powder
Woo hoo hoo hoo, woo hoo hoo,
Shake Some Magic Powder on the, Valley Vulcan
And there's a cool lemon sky today,
The south bound five is a running like a wire rat
And all that's heating up in my head,
Is where can I find a flasher unit for a, 87 Escort
And then it hits me, right in the hay,
My old man told me kid, always buy Chevrolet
Crank it up louder, it's all dream chowder,
Shake some magic powder on the, Valley Vulcan
Chorus:
Where the weeks gone, I don't know,
The Eagles flying and nobody's lying to me
Think I'll stop off at J.T.s grill,
He fixes my eggs, just, like back in Massachusetts
And Hell's Gate's waiting, like a kick in the ribs,
We'll drag on at midnight, to fry up the night crawlers
Crank it up louder, it's all stream chowder,
Shake some magic powder on the, Valley Vulcan
Chorus:
Rosalinda
Escondido, Montecito
You flew your way, I flew mine
We were younger, had that hunger
For the fruit on life’s vine
Some we tasted, some we wasted
Some we emptied like Russian river wine
Rosalinda, Rosalinda,
Your laugh still lingers, in the pine
El Segundo, South Redondo
I hear you settled in those parts
Hooked up and married, some kinda big shot
Who traded stocks and twisted hearts
They say your daughter is a mirror
Of the girl I knew from the Mendocino Coast
Rosalinda, Rosalinda,
Half a memory and half a ghost
In hungover, Rancho Cordova
I find I'm spending, all my time
No resources, two divorces
Have beat me down without a dime
I'm still looking thru them smoke rings
Blown across some rowdy bar
Rosalinda, Rosalinda,
Of angels near and angels far
Rosalinda, Rosalinda,
Rosalinda, sometimes,
I close my eye's,
And there,
You are.
Voltaire Blues
In the tail lights, of all that's cool,
Eddie drove his sixty-six Impala, out to Isabella
And fired a Camel, by the water’s edge
And seriously thought about drinking it all
Back in L.A., the cops were sore
'Cause Eddie broke down with a forty-four
But he knew what he would tell 'em, he would tell 'em for sure,
It was the songs in his head, that sent him flashing
But the cops would laugh and crank the screws,
Slowly removing, Eddie’s internals
Hardly thinking, heavily breathing
Eddie's migraine was arcing
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, migraine arcing
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, migraine arcing, yer
While in the afterburn of a rockabilly night
Louie kissed his Gretsch goodbye forever
And headed south towards Farmers’ Market
For a shot of Peyote and Taco Colada
And that's the last we seen Louie breathing
He washed up in the bay with his fingers missing
When the word spread through the rockabilly world
Alien beings fell under suspicion
For it had long been known, in duckarse quarters
That rockabilly fingers were the tongues of the gods, yer
Heavenly mobile, humanly fragile
Louie's fingers were trading
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, fingers were trading
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, fingers were trading, yer
So when I'm gone far from here
Another single point failure into the atmosphere
Remember to chain your skull to that pylon, dear
And pray to be pulling
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, pray to be pulling
Seventy-five volts, seventy-five
Seventy-five volts, pray to be pulling, yer..........
Immortals
Construction was booming
Down in Lauderdale, FL.
We were six bits, short of Christmas
And not a snowflake had fell
At sun-up we'd be framing
At sundown we'd be floored
That's when the Atocha Tavern
Piped all us drunks aboard
I was thinking about nothing
But a schooner and Black Russian
Slowly steaming toward
Another alcohol concussion
I was lost in the smoke
Of a drinking man's den
Gone like the bones
Of forgotten men
Ummm, ummm,
God rest you Immortals
The work will be here
When we're all dead and gone
Ummm,ummm,
God rest ye Immortals
May the strength in your arms
Carry you, carry you on....
Now some men get it easy
And some men get it raw
Other men get ass lucky
In the cards we all get to draw
And so it goes and so it goes
All for nothing some are heard to say
Well if everything's for nothing
There's no denying Immortals came this way
I was pulling down a Pall Mall
Roundhousing a lung
When the bar captain yelled
Three closing bells had rung
He may have thrown us to the street
With a curse and a cuss
But we knew the temples of this world
Were born on the backs of men like us
Ummm, ummm,
God rest you Immortals
The work will be here
When we're all dead and gone
Ummm, ummm,
God bless ye Immortals
May the strength in your arms
Carry you, carry you on...
Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes|
On me, it's Christmas
Recollecting when the Nightshade flowers
Across the North's moonlit hours
Smoking weed up in them Cooling Towers
Singing why don't they leave us alone
I'm down on my heart tonight
Way down on my heart tonight
I'm down on my heart tonight,
Christmas Eyes, Christmas Eyes
Now our Saviour, well he's no stranger
He's on the corner in a, replica manger
Glowing like a plastic G.I. Ranger
Still, Mother Mary's got a beautiful smile
I'm down on my heart tonight
Way down on my heart tonight
I'm down on my heart tonight,
Christmas Eyes, Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Jump a train, baby, catch a plane, honey.,
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes,
On me, it's Christmas
Greasing ball joints and rotating tyres
Working off my slow blue fires
To songs that stagger down yesterday's wires
Sung by working class Liverpool boys
I'm down on my heart tonight
Way down on my heart tonight
I'm down on my heart tonight
Christmas Eyes, Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Jump a train, baby, catch a plane, honey
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Sail or glide, baby, flag a ride, honey
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Bring a smile, baby, swing your style, honey
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
Christmas Eyes, Christmas Eyes
Come and lay those Christmas Eyes
On me, it's Christmas...
Standing with the Detainees
Helicopter nightsun
Looking down a light gun
Watching how the rat's run
Chewing gum and walking
Rising at midnight
Street howlers, howling upright
Ahh, half ripped and shirtless, too far gone to tune
Funny how we're all born under the same rebel moon
I'll always be standing
Always be standing
Always be standing
Ahh, Standing With The Detainees
Walk the straight and narrow, boys,
I never could do that
Yes sir, no sir, three bags of bollocks full, sir,
I never could be that
Jumping hurdles and hopping through hoops
Whoops those goes them, rubber tree troops
I'll always be standing
Always be standing
Always be standing
Standing With The Detainees
Helicopter nightsun
Looking down a light gun
Watching how the rat's run
Chewing gum and walking
Howling for the Highway Home
Stars fell on Stockton, a long time ago
Making me think, to get up and go
While burning one down, with Steelyard Joe
Singing smokestacks in the rain
We barely made, the Calgary train
To visit Joe's portly sister Jane
Whose husband and kids had recently, made insane
And buried her bones in Boston
Chorus.
And I didn’t know and I didn’t care
I didn’t know if I was here or there
I was howling for the highway
Howling for the Highway Home
Just outside High River, in a Canadian manner,
We flagged down a wired trucker, by the name of John Henry Tanner
We were dreaming of the cotton country, down there by Texarkana
Realizing how Alberta's closed on Sunday's
And John Henry bored us, with the life he'd struck
And how he could have made it, in the fight game, but for a plague of bad luck
When we mentioned his bent face and his inability to duck
He dropped us in Mormon hands in Cedar City
Chorus.
So on the windy plains of Utah, well against our wishes
We swam in Moakie's Diner like two long haired fishes
Hitting the gas pumps and splitting the dishes
Was as close as we could come to freedom
When Moakie ran our numbers up came the Utah blue|
And arrested Joe for warrants outstanding in Jackson and Yazoo
Joe said I'll get ten years, I said you'll be out in two
And I'll meet yer at them old Pen. Gates, one of these bright mornings
Chorus,
If You Owe You Will Pay
Now when there's a ring around the moon
And the silent night shadows fall long
Do your eyes in the mirror cry out
How you done another fool wrong
Well, you know what they say
If You Owe You Will Pay
And in the busy daylight hours
Do your knees buckle and strain
Well that would be the extra weight your carrying
From plaguing another soul with your pain
Yer, you know what they say
If You Owe You Will Pay
Now, I hear you go laughing
At all the losers in this world
But a loser is one thing
And a cold hearted thief, something else
Ahh, but me, I can take it
I'm one of them old school hard boiled cats
And I know the good earth of this planet
Rises up and swallows it's rats
And, you know, what they say
If You Owe You Will Pay
Now, I must admit, I'd seen it coming
A long time ago
But me and others wrote it off
As just another young man, fighting to grow
So let me tell yer something
About the cross and them bones
Soft touches and kind hearts, don't walk among us
To be used as your stepping stones
Oh you know what they say
If You Owe You Will Pay
Fatsticks
And the last time we met, you had your collar felt
For breaking and entering the stockbrokers’ belt
I runs to the court, with some alibi and plea
I get six months for perjury and you bust out free
Ah, but Fatsticks, hey Fatsticks, I's a wishing you were here
We could prop up the bar and roll in the New Year
And the last time you phoned, you were running at large
Legless in Hamburg, you reversed the charge
You rambled of the brass in the streets and city parks
Of the Reeperbahn nights and the pox doctors clerks
Ah, but Fatsticks, hey Fatsticks, I's a wishing you were here
We could pull a few toerags, off Wigan Road Pier
I ain't playing no heart strings, I ain't a-laying none down, no
Fatsticks, it's just for a night on the town
So the last time I heard, you were holed up Fat Feet
Off the Warrington Road, trying to lose a little heat
I call's out my name, I hammered on the door
Till a fist came around and dislocated my jaw
Ah, but Fatsticks, hey Fatsticks, if you hear the record play
It works out expensive, communicating this way
I ain't playing no numbers, I ain't a-laying none down, no
Fatsticks, it's just for a night on the town
Ancient History Now
We looked like choirboys sent from heaven
But we were rough kids sent from hell
And whatever remained of the choir-masters brain
The church fathers weren’t obliged to tell
Singing psalms for pennies
At Saint Mary's In The Pines
Between services and gravestones
We'd share a bottle of beer and five Woodbines
And it rolls around the memory,
Darkly dim somehow
And it's all Ancient History,
Ancient History, Ancient History Now
And I don't want to know it
Don't want to go there
Don't want to see it
Don't want to be there, yer
Don't want to think it
It's Ancient History Now
We stripped the lead from the vestry roof
Blamed it on a gypsy with one black tooth
And only Saint Mary knew the lowdown truth
Low down truth, the low down truth
We looked like young men fresh from school
But we were rough kids who knew the score
And whatever the grade the Youth Employment made
We were all fodder for a factory floor
And I wound up in a shack with an old ship-wright called Jack
On a boatyard in the river till it flooded furious and black
And I loved that old man as my old long gone father
But I lost him in the water as we fought the foaming lather
And it rolls around the memory,
Darkly dim somehow
They say it's all Ancient History,
Ancient History, Ancient History Now
And I, don't want to know it
Don't want to go there
Don't want to see it
Don't want to be there, yer
Don't want to think it
It's Ancient History Now
We buried old Jack, under Saint Mary's pines
Were the rough kids drank their beer and smoked their, five Woodbines
While the bells of Saint Mary's rang and froze our spines
Froze our spines, froze our spines
And I, don't want to know it
Don't want to go there
Don't want to see it
Don't want to be there, yer
Don't want to think it
It's Ancient History Now
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