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Kingdom Come Blues

by Michael Tarbox

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1.
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
2.
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
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
9.
10.
OREGON 02:28
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
11.
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

about

Recorded June 27 and June 28, 2020

credits

released July 7, 2022

Guitar and Vocals: Michael Tarbox
Mastering: Pete Weiss
Cover Art: William Schaff
Design: D. Norsen

World Gone Wrong written by The Mississippi Sheiks
All other songs written by Michael Tarbox

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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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