1. |
Sharecropper's Son
04:45
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A quarter pasture on a rich man’s farm
Turn the rich man’s soil
I left school when I was young
To turn a rich man’s soil
And we ran water all through the fields
A dime for a dollar
We prayed for rain and autumn’s yield
A dime for a dollar
In the summer months we steeled our will
Dreaming of the snow
Our landlord sat up on his hill
Dreaming of the snow
We shucked that corn and ground that wheat
Bloody on the brow
We culled the herd for autumn feed
Bloody on the brow
Mama died in early June
A shadow in the dark
And soon my daddy followed suit
A shadow in the dark
I started out at the fields and trees
The only life I’d known
I begged the landlord for the deed
And the only life I’d known
He said, “No, no boy; you know you’re just fifteen
You ain’t got the wits in you to make a dime for me
I’m calling in the suits, they’ll know what to do
So pack up what you need and leave the keys out on the stoop.”
A bible for to keep my prayers
And whiskey from the jar
And a ribbon from my momma’s hair
And whiskey from the jar
And a thirty aught six, a thirty aught six
And a pocket full of shells
I made my way up to the ridge
With a pocket full of shells
A quarter pasture on a rich man’s farm
Turn the rich man’s soil
Six feet deep and six feet long
Turn a rich man’s soil
I turned a rich man’s soil
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2. |
Pale Rider Blues
02:27
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Well I took a ride down a canyon road
Yes I took a ride down a canyon road
Where the rocks and the rivers all shine like gold
And the dogs all bark at the mountain snow
Have you seen that rider like a thunder rolls
Cause I seen that rider like a thunder rolls
Got a white collar neck, 6 bullet holes
And he come for a ride down a canyon road
Mean mister called the marshal and he come for blood
That dirty old marshal, he come for blood
So they dam up creeks, and dry up the floods
‘Til the hacks and the buggies wade in the mud
6 deputies dyin’ on the canyon floor
6 deputies lyin’ on the canyon floor
6 bullets in the back, can’t take no more
That poor old marshal got blood for sure
Pale rider blues
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3. |
The Last Daughter
03:36
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If you please it's forty five degrees
And it looks like it's only getting hotter
I won't lie I would be obliged
If you could spare just a little cup of water
Old Mr. Baer and his mean old mare
And five of his pretty little daughters
Went down to the river while the sun burned high
To fill five barrels full of water
He went around the bend with his gun in hand
Hoping that he'd shoot a couple otters
There was one in the grass and she was fast
But Mr. Baer pulled the trigger back and shot her
With his mood improved he went to find his brood
With his arm slung firm around his slaughter
But to his surprise one of the pails was dry
And he was down one pretty little daughter
Mrs. Baer took her remaining heirs
And sat ‘em all so prim around the table
She put the pan on the heat for to fry the meat
When a little grease dribbled on her apron
She bent and reached for a jar of bleach
And was shocked when she couldn't find the bottle
She turned around and that bleach she found
And they were down yet another pretty daughter
Then three young gals and a schoolyard pal
Went out walking Miller’s Ridge
The friend bent down for to fix her gown
And a Baer girl went over the edge
Old Mr. Baer, he put a team together
And they all went searching ‘round the bottom
And as the story’s told the trail went cold
And they never did find his little daughter
Bad times come in threes
Sometimes the bad times never go
When something oh so sweet decides to let a little darkness show
In the morning the sheriff, he pulled up to the Baers’
Said I think it's time we speak
Don't you find it suspicious that you and the missus
Have lost three babies in a week
As he spoke he turned and choked
And saw a Baer girl brandishing a knife
Pointing at the breast of a Sunday dress
She was aiming for to take her sisters life
Well Mr. Baer that's your trouble there
Grabbed her arm and threw her in the car
One was safe but it was far too late
For the other three pretty little daughters
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4. |
Reesor County Fugitive
05:41
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I’ve been east and west
From the lowlands up the mountain’s steps
And back beneath a prairie sun
I was born to shoot and raised to run
From the willow to the cedar’s shade
In the darkness where I work my trade
In the snow and sleet come wintertime
In the wetlands where I set my lines
Well if I was an honest man, you know I’d hold a losing hand anyhow
This livin’ ain’t a winning game, it’s mostly only ice and rain anyhow
And who the fuck are you to say
What a man like me can do today anyhow?
I got run out of Reesor County
Chased off by the Mounties
Damn strikers just kept coming ‘round
So we staked out a shipment and shot ‘em down
Well I said I’d give up farming
I loaded up my Browning
And I settled down in this here place
And if the money’s good, to me, it’s all the same
Ain’t got no shame and I got no fear, I got twenty sides of whitetail deer out here
Got beaver hides and otter pelts, a skinning knife swings from my belt out here
And who the fuck are you to say
What a man like me can do today out here?
It’s a shame you’ve come to find me
And I know you’re bound by duty
I got one thing left to say here son
You oughta run
Cause there’s living yet for you
I can’t say the same is true for me
I’ve known death as long as life
And I’ve flushed the lights out from many sets of eyes
Listen: guttin’ a man ain’t all that different, guttin’ a man ain’t all that different to me
And the law don’t mean a goddamn thing, the law don’t mean a goddamn thing to me
And who the fuck are you to say
What a man like me can do today anyhow?
And if today the good lord’s burning hand
Should take me to the promised land
At least I know I’m going home
Either way I’m going home tonight
To the fields up north where I was raised
My brothers rolling bales of hay
Or maybe just down the road a ways
It’s hard to say
And who the fuck are you to say
What a man like me can do today anyhow?
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5. |
Wicked Lines & Veins
04:15
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I have marked the land
Watched the foothills shape the sand
Where a dead man made his stand
In the Tansey's faded light
Foreign soil on my feet
But damn the borders, damn the beast
Laws be left out in the east
And as I've read, eye for an eye
Wicked lines and veins
Mark the north side of the plains
They've got nothing left to claim
Not even God, his eternal right
Wicked voices tempted me
Said "Cut 'em down before they flee"
They've got nothing left to bleed
Only dark left for the night
Little Soldier pleaded peace
Stolen horses be set free
Bootleg whiskey let it be
This blood's worth more than all the price
But I saw something on that plain
Like a fire within my veins
You can't expect something to gain
Without offering sacrifice
We burned that cabin down
Ashes smoldered to the ground
Headed south, Montana bound
Sobered up, I start to writhe
Moments passed more like a dream
Broken thoughts I can't unsee
As the coyotes crossed the stream
Sad and bruised, I pondered life
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6. |
Goodnight, Irene
03:17
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Me and my brother Jimmy, we made a thousand dollars
Rolling delivery trucks on Highway 17
Jimmy spent his cut all on whores and coke and discount liquor
I had other schemes
I took my five I bought a gun and stole my cousin’s pickup
Made it to Bayfield before I dumped it at the pier
I thought I’d hole up in a motel for a couple days
That’s when I met Irene
Irene was hard, she packed a knife,
and she swore like a trucker
She ran the scams on all the boys in from the bay
She wore her hair in Monroe curls and boys she was a beauty
I could not look away
Next day she moved her things into that room where I was staying
That old grey motel all the way down Legion lane
We spent our days in that double bed wrapped ‘round each other
Boys I felt no pain
And every Tuesday evening we’d go down to Miller’s Pool Hall
We’d find some sucker sitting lonely at the bar
She’d take him to the men’s room, get his pants down to his ankles
I’d wait in the car
And when she’d finished and she’d snuck off with that bastard’s wallet
She’d hop in the car and we would flee the scene
It didn’t bother me the things she did at Miller’s Pool Hall
I knew she loved me
After three odd months when we’d amassed a tiny fortune
Little by little through our various charades
We kept it hidden in the top drawer of our motel dresser
Hollowed out King James
Friday morning I went into town to get the paper
Stopped for a carton of her favourite cigarettes
When I got home that old King James was out and he was empty
I had lost my breath
Well I went through the dresser drawer and found her clothing missing
That she had cleared all her belongings off the sink
Well it was then I found my world had gone and crashed around me
I couldn’t even think
Irene, goodnight
Irene, goodnight
Goodnight Irene, goodnight Irene
I’ll see you in my dreams
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7. |
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I’ve always been a gambler, I always play to win
I kissed the lips of Harlem queens, shook hands with crooked kings
You may not know me now son, but it’s time that we begin
Cause I can tell that you’ve been ‘round too long
I’ve broken hearts in England, and I killed a man in Spain
That posse chased me off them shores and sent me home again
But not without the parting words a lonely bullet said
Well I can tell that you’ve been ‘round too long
The spread of scars upon my back, the tungsten in my veins
like Christ upon the mountain top I fell and rose again
But unlike Him I never could forgive my fellow man
The hour’s getting late, I guess it’s time to show my hand
Now the cuckoo, she’s a pretty bird, she warbles as she flies
Just like that little hand of yours, it trembles when you lie
You can play the Jack of Diamonds on the fourteen of July
But I can tell that you’ve been ‘round too long
I’ve always been a gambler but I never can recall
If I ever shed my wicked ways or worn them, thorns and all
’Til your very image slighted me, the blood boiled in my veins
You play the part of Abel, now it’s time I raise the Cain
I’ve always been a gambler, I always play to win
And I’ll be sure to cut your throat if I see you again
Won’t you lay your money down,
now won’t you make peace with your sins
Cause I can tell that you’ve been ‘round too long
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8. |
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Well I’m afraid this train’s gonna set me down
Some place that I know
And if I get seen you’d best believe
Lord, I’m swinging from the rope
But all I know is this freighter’s headed south-southeast
And it’s burning coal and just like my soul
It’s running on the heat
And if all goes well I’ll blow this hell
Never ride again
Cause when you done the thing I done
It’s the gallows or the pen
It’s the gallows or the pen
It’s the star-hearted men
The bottle or the brick
The rifle or the stick
It’s a dead man on the ground
And the living all around
And a candle burning low down the wick
My one regret is my sweet Yvette
She died on the floor
She was sweet and she was mine
Lord I owed her more
If I could bring that Waylon Green
back to life again
I’d do so just to kill him twice
And then I’d lay my head
Understand I’m a wanted man
This freight car is my cell
Cause when you done the thing I done
It’s a one-way road to hell
It’s a one-way road to hell
It’s the flowers in the dell
The needle or the chair
Bullets in the air
It’s a dead man on the ground
And the living all around
And a priest come ‘round to say a prayer
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9. |
Cold Bartender's Wife
03:37
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Well, eighteen years I've been cleaning this gun
But it ain't make a lick of sense
I can shoot damn straighter than any grown man could
By the cotton on my dress
Now the trouble and strife of a barkeep's wife
You don't hear much anymore
When you settle right down in a one horse town
It's the bottle or the floor
It was round last year when the pass was clear
And the winter all but done
The bar was filled with drink and cheer
And Cain, the lumberman's son
Now Cain and Bill, that man of mine
Could not see eye to eye
And he saw his chance to end it all
But he did not see my knife
She held him up on a cool clear night
And she robbed him of his life
You may pass through town but don't mess around
With the cold bartender's wife
Now young Nadine was a pretty little thing
With locks upon her head
And any man who'd pay the price
Could take her to his bed
But the night I found that bastard Bill
Well, he paid a price or two
With a corkscrew pin in my good right hand
I stuck them through and through
She held them up on a cool clear night
And she robbed them of their lives
If you have your fun you will come undone
By the cold bartender's wife
So they found the bodies all wretched and cut
The sheets were stained and red
And the fear and shock and restless thoughts
Went running through my head
You see, something snapped that night I found them
Loving and entwined
I thought of Cain and that sweet Nadine
And I damn well lost my mind
So I hacked and cut my way through men
The rich and poor and meek
The look of fear upon their face
Sent me laughing in a shriek
But I finally felt the cudgel blow
And the gash across my cheek
And my throat was cut but with any luck
They'll be cleaning it for weeks
Cause they held me up on a cool clear night
And they robbed me of my life
There's no jailhouse cell but a place in hell
For the cold bartender's wife
For the cold bartender's wife
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10. |
Shaking Off The Dust
03:04
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He wore a tattoo
It read “hard as stone”
Underneath his chin and just above his collarbone
Six foot two, and he drank Walker Red
Towed around his wife who hung on every word he said
That skinny little wife
She made her living dancing
To pensioners and veterans who'd stick dollars in her panties
They'd go out and she'd drink Cuervo Silver
He'd shoot pool and lose and then he'd go home and he'd hit her
That was their life
Such as it was
Spending all her money on lingerie and cover-up
Tongues of silver
Hearts so cold
Wash it all away out in the hemlock grove
Shaking off the dust until I shine like gold
It's gonna shine like gold
Even her mama said that she should leave him
The next day he'd be sober, say he'd changed and she'd believe him
She'd buck up, put something on with sleeves
Sit down in that chair and close her eyes and make believe
Cars rolling by
Young couples in love
The winds come blowing and they’re kicking up the dust
He wore a tattoo that read “hard as stone”
One day she woke up and found some fire of her own
There went his life
Such as it was
Sometimes enough is just enough
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11. |
Abilene
04:11
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Once I had a darling wife
Her name was Abilene
She had hair like ravens’ feathers
And eyes of olive green
If she ever looked at me with sadness
Her sadness I would end
And if she'd cried for nothing
I'd fire into the wind
I could not spare a thought for those
Who could not understand
That evening we went walking
And I asked her for her hand
She was my religion
And I loved her like a sin
How could we have know of all the trouble we'd be in
I've never been a man who’s took to weeping
But I cried like a child when she wouldn't leave our bed
It seemed her very soul had took to grieving
She couldn't shake those memories from her head
When she was finally void of hope
And I found her hanging from that rope
It took all the strength I had to cut her down
And I packed my horse and rode off into town
I knew how to find them
I knew where they hung around
So I showed up and barred the doors and I burned them to the ground
Now all has turned to ashes
And that smoke hangs thick and still
The shell that is my body is all that's left to kill
Once I had a darling wife and I'll see that girl again
When I hear the riders coming I'll fire into the wind
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Murder Murder Greater Sudbury, Ontario
Northern Ontario’s Murder Murder are a full string band with suitcase percussion who create a unique blend of bluegrass and outlaw country. Their virtuosic musicianship and evocative songwriting are backed by a wealth of original and traditional murder ballads. ... more
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