1. |
THEY DON'T PAY ME
02:47
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I come to this town two months ago,
Got me a job but don’t you know
They don’t pay me – hey hey, they don’t pay
Work like a dog, finger to bone,
Come to find out when I get home
They don’t pay me – they don’t pay
I try to make it up on Saturday night
But there ain’t enough booze in this town to make things right
And they don’t pay me – they don’t pay
How can you say I got myself to blame
When every town is just the same
From Pontiac Michigan down to Sugarland
Ain’t a soul that I meet don’t understand
They don’t pay you, they don’t pay
Factory floor, air’s full of fumes,
Ain’t a single fan in the whole damn room
And they don’t pay me – hey man they don’t pay
I work 40 hours, can’t feed my kid
They keep tellin me it’s something I did
But they don’t pay me, hey hey they don’t pay
I went to join the union but the union’s gone,
I ain’t gonna make it on my own
From California to The Gulf of Mexico
Ain’t no one I meet that don’t know
They don’t pay you – hey hey, they don’t pay
You heard all about the trials of Job,
But people breaking down wherever I go
And they don’t pay me, hey man they don’t pay
Trouble may come, trouble may go,
One thing for certain, don’t you know
They don’t pay you, hey hey they don’t pay
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2. |
WHEN THE RIVERBOAT COMES
02:11
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When the riverboat comes
I’m gonna change my mind
And leave those blues and demons
In the dust so far behind
When the riverboat comes
I’ll put down the plow
And make the Mississippi home
At least for now
Locusts sing
Praises to the sun
They don’t care a thing
Which way that old river runs
When the riverboat comes
You’ll see it through my eyes
How could you believe
Those rumors and lies
I been bound by sorrow
I’ll change my way
Come tomorrow
At the break of day
When the riverboat comes
Down around the bend
We’ll be reunited
With our comrades again
The music’s sweet
Don’t need no words
And when we meet
We’ll sing like the birds
When the riverboat comes
I’m gonna play it straight
Ain’t gonna argue
Never going to hesitate
Hollow hopes
Made me wander like a ghost
Till I was a stranger
To them I love most
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3. |
GOIN' DOWN TO GEORGIA
03:33
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Once I thought I loved you, I took it as a fact
Now the smoke is clearing and I can’t react
I’m watching strangers’ faces from the window of a train
I’m going down to Georgia ‘fore the devil brings the rain
They say faith moves mountains across the barren waste
So I look for a fountain where I can get a taste
But can what’s lost ever be regained
‘Fore I go down to Georgia and the devil brings the rain
I’m walking through the city, the city of tombs
Down blank boulevards, the city of ruins
Been alone such a long time I barely know my own name
And I’m goin’ down to Georgia ‘fore the devil brings the rain
There’s beauty in the dawning of a summer day
There’s beauty in your face when you look at me that way
I’ve loved you such a long time you only bring me pain
I’m goin’ down to Georgia ‘fore the devil brings the rain
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4. |
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I’m a pushover baby, got a creampuff brain
I’m a long-gone daddy in the house of pain
What’s the matter with me? I just don’t know
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
Down on the plains I seen locust and flood
Suns down low in skies of blood
I dreamed last night of faceless foes
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
But you got a face I can’t forget
You’re smoking me like a cigarette
Let the bully winds bluster, let the bully winds blow
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
Got hounds in my hall, corn in my cup
A still in the clearing that don’t let up
I’m lost to the world but I’m true to my code
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
Been chained to the past, chained to the plow
Chained to my hopes, they’re behind me now
Nothing is true ‘less I say it’s so
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
Ghost on the highway points a finger at me
Says behold I come for thee
But I’ll live forever if my brain don’t explode
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
Got a bird that talks but she don’t fly
I cut her loose bye and bye
One for my baby, one for the road
A million miles from nowhere and nowhere to go
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5. |
WERE YOU THERE?
03:37
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Were you there, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Were you there, were you there when they crucified my Lord?
His mother stood screaming and crying “Save my son he’s dying”
The sky grew dark and the sun stood still
The sky grew dark and the sun stood still
When they crucified my Lord up on Calvary Hill
The saints rose then and they rolled away the stone
The saints rose then and they rolled away the stone
And they’re walking right here with us till the angels blow their horns
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6. |
MEMPHIS WOMAN
02:09
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Memphis woman, built for speed
Got everything that I need
Always runs hot, never cold
Lord have mercy on my soul
Memphis woman, shotgun shack
Drivin’ me out and draggin’ me back
Memphis woman loves Jerry Lee
What Made Milwaukee Famous Made a Loser Out Of Me
Memphis woman loves Tennessee Three
Rock the house, quarter to three
Memphis woman on the telephone
Trying to wreck my happy home
Memphis woman looking good
Friday night, you knew she would
When she shake meat on the bone
Skinny woman bound to lose her home
Memphis woman ready or not
What I don’t want, she ain’t got
Drink just as much beer as you’re able
Memphis woman gonna drink you under the table
Laugh in your face, ask what’s wrong
Send you right back where you belong
Blood in her eye, sand on her feet
My Memphis woman can’t be beat
Memphis woman she’s my crave
Drive me down to my grave
Says she’s gonna bury me
With a silver spade by the willow tree
Rest in peace, and good luck
If you see her comin’ you better duck
Memphis woman don’t ask much
She only wants everything you got
Memphis woman by the record machine
Making out with my girlfriend Maybelline
Memphis woman 1, 2, 3
Sure done made a mess of me
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7. |
KINGDOM COME BLUES
02:24
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Oh honey babe, where you going to?
Oh honey babe, can I go there with you?
I’m so restless in this bed, can’t raise my head
Doctor says one more shot is bound to kill me dead
Oh honey babe won’t you draw the blinds
I see something I never thought I’d find
We’re heading to the realm of undying love
Just beyond the clouds, right up above
We’re leaving for the kingdom, no we won’t be back
Soon as we’re gone they’re pulling up the track
The brakeman he don’t wait, so don’t be late
Train leaves the station quarter to eight
When we reach that land we will understand
We’ll press through the crowd to touch the savior’s hand
And when we reach the mountain what shall we find?
Likely we’ll see that we have been blind
Every muttered curse is a world reversed
Every twisted cry is an ancient lie
Every kingdom come is another kingdom lost
Don’t get me wrong, I’d gladly pay the cost
Oh honey babe, where you going to?
Oh honey babe, can I go there with you?
We’re leaving for the kingdom, no we won’t be back
Soon as we’re gone they’re pulling up the track
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8. |
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She ain’t the kind to leave without warning
She warned you all along
When you came back home every morning
From where you don’t belong
You never thought that she’d quit you
You never did get wise
Till the moment that it hit you
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
House of lies, house of lies
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
Suddenly you found you were playing the clown
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
You never thought you’d see the day
She would put you down
Now people everywhere all say
She’s with her new man downtown
It didn’t take much you must admit
To cut you down you down to size
Well you best just get on over it
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
House of lies, house of lies
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
The joke’s on you, but what can you do
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
Some women bring sunshine
Other women they bring rain
But your woman don’t want nothing
But to get herself free again
And she don’t care a damn thing about
The tears standing in your eyes
Not since the day that she turned you out
And tore down your little house of lies
House of lies, house of lies
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
Take it like a man, get out while you can
She’s tearing down your little house of lies
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9. |
WORLD GONE WRONG
03:23
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10. |
OREGON
02:28
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I’m goin’ down to Oregon
To draw a line in the sand
I’m gonna pawn everything I own
And leave Ketchikan
In the fading light of empire
It’s every man for himself
I’m going down to Oregon
To become someone else
I been first and I been last,
I been found and left behind
That don’t mean as much to me
As the dream in my mind
I looked across the river,
Seen my soul on the other side
I’m going down to Oregon
While I still got the time
I got a box of photographs
From the time before
Permanent confusion
Arrived at my door
My woman smiles back at me
She was here now she’s gone
I hear she left some time ago
For the coast of Oregon
I been down in the valley
Where the silver river runs
Just beyond the plateau
Way behind the sun
If you been baptized by fire,
By circumstance and fate
You best go down to Oregon
Before it’s too late
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11. |
LOUISIANA DREAM
01:52
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MY LOUISIANA DREAM
Well we’re rolling down the backroad, backroad heading south
From West Tennessee to the Mississippi mouth
Down to Lake Charles on the old gulf stream
Just me and my baby and our Louisiana dream
There ain’t no need to jump, ain’t no need to shout
We used to fight and argue but we figured that out
Ain’t got no money in the pockets of our jeans
Me and my baby and our Louisiana dream
The creek may rise and river roll too
Ain’t no kind of hard time we ain’t been through
But six ways to Sunday that don’t come between
Me and my baby and our Louisiana dream
We broke down in Vicksburg, but a stranger fixed our truck
Wouldn’t take nothing for it, just wished us good luck
So we’re good to go and traveling, ninety miles from New Orleans
Me and my baby and our Louisiana dream
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Michael Tarbox Boston
“Homemade rock and roll with a dose of rattlesnake venom and gospel-drenched howling.” -- All Things
Considered
"Tarbox is the most evocative and distinctive blues-roots artist to come down the pike in ages.” -- The Calgary Sun
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