1. |
Pat Do This
03:10
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Pat Do This
Pat do this, Pat do that
Without our shoes, without cravat
Nothin' in the world but an old straw hat
To work along the railroad
Roog sug-aroo, suga-sugaroo
Sugar in the cream jar how do you do
I'm just on the railroad fod-a fod-a-ray
Johnny come picking on the banjer
Eighteen hundred forty-two
I didn't know what I should do
Sail across the ocean blue
To work upon the railroad
Eighteen hundred forty-three
I sailed out across the sea
I didn't expect to see poor me
Working on the railroad
Eighteen hundred forty-four
I landed on a foreign shore
I didn't expect to see me more
Working on the railroad
Railroad dawn, we'll take a ride
Here we go side by side
Here we go side by side
Johnny comes picking on the banjer
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2. |
Troy
03:51
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Troy
On rising one morning and walking out the door
I came to a place I'd not been before
I'm no longer a child playing with toys
Today I conquer Troy
The castle is mighty and I am so small
But with a will to love I will scale that wall
And raise a ragged flag of blues and greens
So that it can be seen
chorus
And I'll see the world through this city's changing skies
And know the lives built so many stories high
Since I was a child I've known that I would try
I mean to conquer Troy
The shadows and the echoes are comforting
In the empty sanctuary of the streets
I begin to notice faces way up high
And shadows watchful eyes
Granite and copper fading green
Meant to last forever meant to always be
A refuge for the worker and family
And for the family
chorus
I hear the clock ticking upon the shelf
And though I am alone I'm not by myself
For we can be an army that walks for peace
Together we can find peace
Boys hand me my sword and don't you take long
I'm off to make some choices I will be strong
There's no fairy tale ending when looking for joy
I mean to conquer Troy
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3. |
Chautauqua Day
03:30
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Chautauqua Day
Running like a thread through the eye of a needle
Stitching up time with my hands on the wheel
Oh Chautauqua day
Take me to the blessing of the next café
I'm a rubber tramp and I'll make you a barter
I love what I do and I ain't no martyr
Send me out on faith
I go 500 miles for a 100 dollar day
There's rusted bridges over concrete crumbling
Semi's make that distant rumbling
Oh the rivers of wind
Running both ways on an asphalt vein
I see the buffalo grass and the ragged cattails
Standing knee deep in an April rain
Mississippi's high
Geese fly north on a west bound sky
Billboards blow about places distant
They say get your fill here, you don't know what you're missing
Roll me over again
For a night of cable I will be your friend
I'm running like a thread through the eye of a needle
Stitching up time with my hands on the wheel
Oh Chautauqua day
Take me to the blessing of the next café
Take me to the blessing of the next café
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4. |
The Trade
03:03
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The Trade
One hand to give, one hand to take
A body to love, one to awake
A heart of abundance, the heart of a flower
One heart to leave, within the hour
That is the trade
The space that we give for what takes shape
That is the trade
A handful of words, these are my tools
I'll drive for miles, I'll be the fool
An empty sky, a long stretch of road
Are just as familiar as any home
That is the trade
The distance we go for the connection we make
That is the trade
That is the trade
What we let go of for the things that stay
That is the trade
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5. |
Ballad Tree
03:47
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Ballad Tree
We've made our village here beneath the live oak
Set within the bosom of the central Texas hills
Vulnerable to the wind and weather
Willing to the changes that open hearts instill
We're camped between the juniper and thistle
soon covered by the clay that's bourne upon the air
We sleep beneath the feathered lady mocking
Who's loudest in the morning when the sky is fair
I heard that there was breath here found for breathing
And branch by branch the ballad tree revealed
That I could leave behind the endless fists a' knocking
For the safety and abundance of this glowing field
There's time to listen to the songs of elders
Time enough to lend an ear to lyric in the rough
Stroll among the colored lights and vendors
Or fill your cup on campfires until you've had enough
I trust in you to catch me unexpected
The muse will come and draw me in and steal into my heart
Simple kindness finds you unprotected
I'll bring it home tomorrow, today we made a start
We take with us the taste of our communion
And all those voices ringing in my ears
I look forward to our moments of reunion
In this home away from home, year after year
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6. |
Anderson Grade
02:37
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Anderson Grade
Anderson grade, Anderson grade
I got my made on the Anderson grade
Got me a pan and a steady mule
Gonna strike it rick inthe Siskiyou
Tell me 'bout hard lessons won
I'll show you the state of Jefferson
Deliver now from poverty
These boomtowns of last century
Jackson, Humboldt, Siskiyou
Del Norte, Shasta, Modac too
Josephine, Josephine
Got the prettiest coast you ever seen
Water come down from Shasta high
South California drink me dry
We'd be rich, we'd have wealth
If we had statehood for ourselves
Humboldt hemp, Humboldt hemp
Don't ask me how I pay my rent
In Trinidad you stole my trees
Sold them all out overseas
Sold them all our resources
And wonder what the deal is
Anderson grade, Anderson grade
I got it made on the Anderson grade.
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7. |
Lazy John
03:25
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Lazy John
I got a gal, she lives up the road
Eyes are crooked and her legs is bowed
But we sure have a lot of fun
Won't you go away lazy John
chorus
Lazy John, lazy John
Won't you get your day's work all done
You're in the shade, I'm in the sun
Won't you go away lazy John
Goin' to a dance on Saturday night
Goin' to dance 'til the mornng light
Then I'm gonna bring my little baby home
Won't you go away lazy John
chorus
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8. |
Rainbow Sign
03:18
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Rainbow Sign
If I get through this weary day
I'll make it through this week
If I find one good word to say
Then I can surely speak
My heart's been a thicket dark
And trouble's on my mind
But let me take you on a lark
The pleasure will be mine
chorus
There's a rainbow sign
It's been here all the time
It tells me what to do
To give this gift to you
I rambled o'er a mountainside
Toward some wishing pool
I found naught but a desert dry
And proved to be the fool
But a rambling fool I'd rather be
With stories full to tell
There we'll find the water sweet
From a deeper well
chorus
You say you've got some money dear
You say you've earned some wealth
Better put it in your mattress dear
And rest there by yourself
'Cause never love can money buy
Though bring to me some part
Some fruit of toil from your day
Some gift that's from your heart
chorus
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9. |
Somebody Loves You
03:32
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Somebody Loves You
That dime store frown on you is growing thin
Time to get off that street corner where you've been
Somebody loves you, somebody loves you
Time to get off that street corner where you've been
It's been too long since you've had new shoes
Too long holding on to that hard news
Somebody loves you, somebody loves you
Too long holding on to that hard news
Young leaves are pushing out of the downtown trees
People are laughing and talking out on the sunny green
Somebody loves you, somebody loves you
People are laughing and talking out on the sunny green
You'll forget about the winter and the hard times you had
And rise like the sun over what made you feel sad
Somebody loves you, somebody loves you
And rise like the sun over what made you feel sad
Somebody loves you, somebody loves you.....
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10. |
Crossing The Platte
01:31
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11. |
Counting Freights
04:08
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Counting Freights
I've been waiting all night long to hear the whistle blow
It's the sound of a loved one that's come by to say hello
The sound of your voice changes as it's coming nigh
From a high and hale greeting to a soft and distant cry
A distant cry
They wail across the distance as leviathans possessed
One moment is a howl in pain, the next sound a caress
They call out to each other as if they go by name
And though I'm made of flesh and blood our hunger is the same
Is the same
Hunger for the open spaces, hunger for the sky
Hunger for the shunting cars and the rhythm as they ride
Hunger for the prairie air, hunger for the night
Hunger for the endless vistas where magpie takes it's flight
Takes it's flight
I wake before the sun rises and find the coast is clear
Onto empty streets I pull and move up through the gears
Will last nights apparition tell me anything
About counting freights along the line or how I come to sing
I come to sing
From Laramie to Omaha, it's parallel I drive
With long steel rails and short cross ties, the Platte river besides
Steadfast company they keep through the balance of the day
I find there's time enough to count the freights along the way
Along the way
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12. |
Little Sadie
02:30
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Little Sadie
Went out last night making my rounds
met little Sadie and I shot her down
I went home, went to bed
forty-four smoker rocking under my head
I woke up half past nine
guns all rolling down the line
I got to thinkin bout the deed I done
found my hat and away I run
Made a pretty good run but a little too slow
Sheriff overtook me down in Baltimore
I was standing on the corner reading the bill
and up stepped the man from Louisville
He said young man is your name Brown
Are you the man who shot Sadie down
No sir, No sir my name is Lee
If you got any papers don't you read 'em to me
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Dana and Susan Robinson Cabot, Vermont
"From Cabot, Vermont – Americana-roots and folk duo, Dana and Susan Robinson combine vivid, songwriting with fiddle tunes, oldtime banjo, elegant melodies, and rich harmony singing."
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