1. |
Cold Cold Rain
04:23
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Lightning struck the day I left
In your defense I do regret
I’d be lying to say I never thought of you
But I had to live another way
If I wanted to live another day
‘Cause I can’t help but do the things I do
And I was standin’
In the cold
Cold cold rain
When a north wind
A north wind blew
My love away, my love away
Whiskey soaked by the firelight
That pale moon was on the rise
And stars shone through the darkest of the night
And I could tell things weren’t quite right
You were gone like a bird in flight
And I couldn’t even lift my hand to fight
When they came to take me down
I was glad that you were not around
But why’d you tell them where I could be found
And clouds filled up that lonely sky
And I will see it by and by
But off into the darkness I did ride
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2. |
Higher Than The Levee
03:52
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Baby stands on his own two feet
His momma played the Rock n’ Roll
His daddy worked for the Union to save his soul
He shed a tear but he never cried
He headed out west and he never tired
He wanted to live his life before he goes…
Before he goes
Before he goes
Before he goes
On down the road
And it climbed higher than the levee
But the damn she didn’t break
And we cried all the way to Texas in the rain
And to lend a helping hand
Was a chance she didn’t take
Now he’s holding back the sorrow and the pain
He had a hammer that he knew how to swing
But the railroad was his daddy’s thing
So he got himself a guitar and he learned to make it sing
He met a girl just the other day
He thought he found love but got shipped away
He wanted to say goodbye before he goes…
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3. |
Brown Eyed Women
05:40
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Gone are the days when the ox fell down
Take up the yoke and plow the fields around
Gone are the days when the ladies said
“Please, Gentle Jack Jones, won’t you come to me”
1920 when he stepped to the bar
Drank to the dregs of the whiskey jar
1930 when the wall caved in
He paid his way selling red-eyed gin
Brown-eyed women and red grenadine
The bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean
The sound of the thunder and the rain pouring down
And it looks like the old man’s getting on
Deliliah Jones was the mother of twins
Two times over and the rest were sins
Raised eight boys only I turned bad
Didn’t get the lickings that the other ones had
Tumble-down shack in Big Foot County
Snowed so hard that the roof caved in
Delilah Jones went to meet her God
And the old man never was the same again
Daddy made whiskey and he made it well
Cost two dollars and it burned like hell
I cut hickory just to fire the still
I had just one drink and I was ready to kill
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4. |
Miss You Now
04:16
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The smile you gave
It outweighed
Any pain
Anyhow
I said that I’d wait
And give you some space
Then you took the next train
Right outta town
But I miss you now
Like the fruit on a tree
You wanna break free
Before you’re ripe enough to eat
Now you’re lying on the ground
I missed you when I was weak
But looking I’m standing up straight
And I don’t wanna wait
‘Til I fall back down
So I’m gonna miss you now
I let you go
So you know
That you’re always free
When your head’s full of doubt
Stuck in the clouds
You can always kneel
The tide of my love
Rose to a flood
Made you run
For fear you might drown
And I miss you now.
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5. |
Dead Heroes
04:32
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What do you do when your heroes are dead
The laughs are out and it’s all been said
What do you do when you’re all alone again
What do you do when the money’s all gone
The trees are cut and the paper’s worn
What do you do when you can’t get blood from a stone
What do you do when the church bell rings
And God’s gone on to finer things
What do you do when you have no songs to sing
You move it on
You move it on
You move it on
You move it on
What do you do when your heroes are dead
The lies are out and it’s all been said
What do you do when your nights are cold and lonely
What do you do when the waters run dry
And tears like rain don’t fall from the sky
What do you do when the only word’s “goodbye”
What do you do when the church bell rings
And God’s gone on to finer things
What do you do when we have no songs to sing
Just as the wheel turns
My heart still burns
And now I’m waiting on the rains to calm my flames
Just as the river flows
My love still grows
Now I’m waiting on you to wait on me
Just as the day is long
My back is still strong
And I can carry that weight all the way home
And you can run
But you can’t hide it
I’m gonna find out what you had in mind.
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6. |
Silent Man
02:44
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You’ve been asking for forgiveness
For falling off the trail
You’ve been wanting so much to give this
New life a try and not to fail
Confessing all your weakness
To a silent man on a silent road
Telling him your desire to keep this
New life of smiles, riches, and gold
It’s not easy, my dear
To keep the faith and lose the fear
But it’s easy to see
This is not where you want to be
You’ve been telling lots of stories
About how you loved and how you laughed
About your own conquests and glories
Denying the truth about your past
You can reside with your comforts
Knowing you’ll never be apart
From the silent man of support
Who will continue to break your heart
It’s not easy, my dear
To keep the faith and lose the fear
But it’s easy to see
This is not where you want to be
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7. |
Quiet Star
03:36
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Like a quiet star
I wanna shine on everyone
With nothing to call my own
All I can give is the light of my love
And know that it will shine on
To reach your heart long after I’m gone
I know that I’ve seen you
It’s hard to explain
I know what we’ve been through
Is part of the game
The way that we feel
Is exactly the same
Please don’t be sad
When I leave on that train
The light of my love will always remain
I shined here and there
But you reflect the light back so well
Like a pond that’s clear and still
In you I see myself
So I smile from ear to ear
The way one plays
In front of the mirror
I know that I dreamed you
It’s hard to explain
All that’s old seems to
Be new once again
The way that we feel
Is exactly the same
Please don’t be sad
When I leave on that train
The light of my love
Will always remain
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8. |
Once Or Twice Before
04:06
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I was walking with her shadow
On the sunny side of the road
And I know that she must love him
Or at least that’s what I’ve been told
Then my mind begins to wonder
How this story will unfold
As it has done once or twice before
Or ten thousand times ago
And I withhold my words
So as not to glorify my kind
And I understand these feelings
Are outside the gates of time
And the truth will be revealed
When you hold your hand in mine
But my thoughts they are misleading
And your help I cannot find
Well once or twice before
Or ten thousand times ago
All the lives that I have led
Oh will I ever know
Well my love is hard to bear
You know this I’ve surely shown
At least once or twice before
Or ten thousand times ago.
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9. |
Limbo
04:27
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Do you know that my eyes exhale love
As easy as a flower yields its scent
Take it slow my nightingale moves
As easy as the hour came and went
I guess I never said hello
You never said goodbye
I’m here in limbo
Not sure if I should laugh or cry
Love has a gift it would die to give
But it has to wait for it to be accepted
Love adorns itself and tries to prove
It’s inner joy with outward beauty
If you ask how are you
I will answer how are you
If you’re happy then I’m happy too
Just beyond the land of right and wrong is where
You’ll find a field and I’ll wait for you there
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10. |
Ragweed Rose
03:32
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Ragweed Rose loves the spirits
and the hear-its
Like the “he said” “she said” “sign of the times”
and “the things to come”
She would stay up all night
Drinking wrongs right
Sipping elderberry wine
‘Til the dawn’s early light
She would walk the streets
Calling out for me
But her old man’s a better man
Than I could ever be
She would walk a moonless mile
Just to see me smile
Then take the train back home again
And love him for a while
Ragweed Rose won’t you come to me
She can’t be mine, but she can’t be free
So go on back home, baby
Or be alone, baby
She only loves me when I’m gone
In the spring, we’d climb the hills
To watch the wildflowers grow
And Rose would love me more
Than I would ever know
She would dance among the pines
With the flowers in her hair
And it would seem that life
Would not make fools of us again
I went back to see her
But the hills had turned to gold
The sky had turned to silver
And Rose had grown old
The years had been so kind
To Rose’s peace of mind
Loving this is easy
But the time is hard to find.
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11. |
I Can't Stay
04:31
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I’ve been pushin’ five hundred miles a day
And I could’ve done more but you know
I can’t stay away
And Lord I can’t stay
I wanna do right
Wanna do right
Wanna do right
She said, “I’m gonna phone your mother
Or tell your brother
I saw you outside trying to cause yourself pain
What do I need to do to get you…
To come in out of the rain.”
Are you in love with the man with the covered eyes
The sweet mornin’ dew or the starry twilight
Now it could be wrong or it could be right
But what do I need to do to get you…
To get you home tonight
I’ve been out there on the road
And I find myself alone
The place where I’m forgotten
Is the place that I’ll call home
Little red barn
Down at Anna’s farm
I never meant to hurt you
I never meant to do you harm
But what do I need to do to tell you
In the morning I’ll be gone.
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12. |
River King
06:19
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And she said,
“What’s the matter, son
Don’t you play me no sad, sad song
Well come a little closer, now
You know I can’t do you no wrong.”
“Are you trying to find yourself
or lose yourself
Maybe you don’t know which
But don’t try to be something else
Cause baby, you know it don’t
pay to switch”
“See the lizard walks on the rocks
And the sun don’t burn his feet
It just goes to show
That wherever you go is the
place to be”
“But it seems like these days
Everybody wants to be
somewhere else
It seems like these days
Ain’t no body want to be themselves”
And she said,
“Here’s a dollar, boy
Won’t you lie to me”
I said, “I’m gonna walk away
So I can finally be free”
But I guess even an honest man can
lose his word if he’s hungry enough
Then she said
“Be like the wind
Don’t you let nobody tell you
when or which way to blow
Cause if you worry too much
about how you’re gonna get there
Then you might never go”
“And it seems like these days
There ain’t no money in the truth
And it seems like these days
Ain’t no body know what to do”
All I wanted was a taste of freedom
But all I got was old memories
Though she wanted to be received
I wouldn’t have changed a single thing
And she said,
“What’s the matter, son
Don’t you play me no sad, sad song
Come a little closer, now
You know I ain’t gonna do you
no wrong”
“Are you trying to find yourself
or lose yourself
Maybe you don’t know which
But don’t try to be someone else
Cause honey, you know it don’t
pay to switch”
“You see the River King knows one thing
That we all don’t understand
You gotta go with the flow
You can’t let the hand of the man
dam you up”
“And it seems like these days
We all could use a drink from
a lovin’ cup
And it seems like these days
We all could use a drink from
a lovin’ cup!”
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13. |
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There is moonlight in the distance
Throwing shadows on the ridge
Tree lying on the the ground
River and the wind
And I don’t make a sound
For I am not alone
I am not alone
It’s easier
to ask for your forgiveness
Than to ask for your permission
It’s easier
to ask for your opinion
After the decision
But I find myself wishing
That you were here with me
So you could set me free
I’ll find my way
I’ll find my way
I’ll find my way
Back home
Where I belong
Where I belong
Where I belong
We’ll meet again
We’ll meet again
We’ll meet again
Down the road
Where we began
Where we began
Where we began
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14. |
Thief
06:42
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I’ve got you and you’ve got me
We’re so chained, we think we’re free
These things in life don’t have to be
Leave it to you to leave it to me
Money is funny and you say it’s a game
Where the winners and losers are all the same
Money is funny and you say it’s a joke
Well keep on laughing, we’ll all be broke
So I went down to the old race track
To see if I could win your money back
But I bet on a three-legged dog to bring it back home
And he just rolled like a rolling stone
No room for a thief in this place
He’ll steal that smile right from your face
Shows no remorse when he steals your gold
Don’t care if you’re rich, don’t care if you’re old
Like stealing candy from a baby’s mouth
The north wind blows and he’s headin’ south
I went home to see my kin
And let them know the shape I’m in
I can’t stand to see my momma cry
So you pushed me down and kicked my eye
You know you can’t always get your way
You wanted to leave, but I wanted to stay
You know you can’t always get your way, baby
You wanted to buy, but you didn’t want to pay
I’ve got you and you’ve got me
We’re so chained, we think we’re free
These things in life don’t have to be
Leave it to you to leave it to me
But I got no time so what can I do
Well, leave it to me to leave it to you.
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The Giving Tree Band Yorkville, Illinois
"A traveling band must be able to channel their hometown and aura into a space. It's sometimes difficult to conjure the backroads and nature so often sung about in Americana music. The Giving Tree Band has mastered this quintessential aspect of performing live. They are able to accomplish what great writers have long proven..." Appoet.org ... more
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