1. |
The Claim
03:43
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The Claim
He was downtown yesterday staring at the courthouse door
Sitting like a fool in the rain.
It was not his disposition to feel the judge had done him wrong
He’d done his part and promises weren’t kept but hey, ok.
They said it was hard to prove that all he alleged was true.
And law don’t reach beyond the sea-to-shining-sea, plus, you know, the economy.
He turned in his chair and rolled down to the VA square
For a drink and a smoke antidote.
He got the news from the doctor and a ticket to the USO.
That’s more than you could say for all the grunts that he left there.
Further, we’re bound to find this waiver of rights that you signed.
Don’t you see how unjust it could be if we let you break your promise now?
There’s warm air that blows from a vent in the station lot.
Makes a good place to sleep when it’s cold.
Where you can watch the people passing back and forth to God-knows-where,
Places he’s sure he’ll never see again.
To families and driveways and beds, to children and their stories.
To trust in the faith that history’s arc is long, but it bends to justice.
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2. |
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Last Green River Rendezvous
The fur trade is dead in the Rockies.
We are done with this life in the hills.
We are young yet but shall not return to the States.
Let’s go down to the Willamette and farm.
Kit Carson was born in Kentucky,
But he started his living in Taos.
Til the mountainous spires drew him farther up north
To the Green River Rendezvous.
All he wanted to do was live gloriously,
Have as much pleasure as the country could give.
When the voyage is made and the boys have been paid,
They think not of the dangers they’ve passed.
John Jacob would capture the western trade,
With lines of credit he strung from New York,
And caravans of whiskey and goods to sell
At prices that left them all broke.
But gathered they round at the Rendezvous
Were Flathead, and French, and the Americ-ay too,
And the greatest scoundrels the world ever knew
The American Fur Company.
It ain’t no secret where the fur trade went.
When you slaughter a continent wide,
And butchering profits to line the pockets,
For this all the animals died.
But Hudson Bay Co. they knew how to manage
The beaver up Canad-ee way
Only south of the 49th they went on a rampage
To keep the Americans away.
Pierre-Jean De Smet was a Jesuit
Who performed the last rites at the faire.
Surrounded by boughs and garlands of flowers
We sung hymns in tongues I swear.
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3. |
Jubilee
03:59
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Jubilee
It’s been a dry, mild winter
And there’s good things up ahead
You owe it to yourself to dream a dream along the way
Well it’s time for innovation
Time to let that freedom ring
Get a better life to live: Jubilee
Look beyond your shackled past
Make a habit to succeed
There’s no such thing as failure here
Small steps are everything
Use the moment! Change the course
Think profit and reward
Every person rush to Jubilee
It’s been a dry, mild winter
And there’s good things up ahead
You owe it to yourself to dream a dream along the way
Well it’s time for innovation
Time to let that freedom ring
Get a better life to live: Jubilee
Well the crisis will continue, lord
Don’t hide amid the news!
A massive wave of suffering
Approaches from the storm
Hoist your sail high to the wind
Grab all that you can carry
Raise your anchor, aim for Jubilee
It’s been a dry, mild winter
And there’s good things up ahead
You owe it to yourself to dream a dream along the way
Well it’s time for innovation
Time to let that freedom ring
Get a better life to live: Jubilee
Hoist your sail high to the wind
Grab all that you can carry
Raise your anchor
Aim for Jubilee
Climb the ladder of your neighbor’s
Wreckage in the night
Don’t think about the flailing hands
Don’t think about the fight
It’s been a dry, mild winter
And there’s good things up ahead
You owe it to yourself to dream a dream along the way
Well it’s time for innovation
Time to let that freedom ring
Get a better life to live: Jubilee
It’s been a dry, mild winter
And there’s good things up ahead
You owe it to yourself to dream a dream along the way
Well it’s time for innovation
Time to let that freedom ring
Get a better life to live: Jubilee
Get a better life to live: Jubillee
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4. |
John Brown's Raid
04:29
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John Brown's Raid
A man came from the mountains walking to his grave.
He held a rifle in his hands and fire in his gaze.
He said, Will you follow me to the promised land?
O, I’m headed for Virginia where a man must make his stand.
He came to free the people who were trapped in bondage chains.
He knew his work was righteous, like a saint from olden days.
His voice was like a prophet’s, in the wilderness it rang:
If I don’t die for my people, I will have died in vain.
When the rich don’t pay their taxes and the workers don’t get paid,
With the politicians whorin for the money from the banks,
Then the greedy corporate bastards give themselves a raise,
You gotta stand against injustice, and remember John Brown’s raid.
There’s a war along the border, people fighting every day
For a chance to move as freely as the goods they’re told to make.
But the thugs who write the laws are blinded by their hate.
When the hands of justice tick backwards just remember John Brown’s raid.
Well Jesus fed five thousand with a couple hunks of bread.
John would spark rebellion with a couple dozen men.
You don’t got to gamble when your best bet is to lose.
One pure act of faith is all you need to make that mountain move.
They hung him from the gallows to prove that they were right,
That you can’t change the system, just one man in just one night.
But the fuse he lit exploded in a war to free the slaves.
O, he paid in blood for justice but he didn’t die in vain.
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5. |
Land of Lincoln
05:18
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Land of Lincoln
The road I’m walking is a lonesome road.
The trees are swaying but they’re swaying no one.
The night finds me holed up in a juke joint on Makanda Row.
Singing songs about the heartland for some junkies up from Cairo.
I’ll write, said I a long time ago.
Stayed with a fella who rode the rails he said.
On the freight train from New Orleans back in Sixty-seven.
And the companies they’d let you, wouldn’t give a damn about you, my friend.
You could camp where you wanted, be a tramp and still anointed and fed.
That’s not the way it is anymore.
In the dawn I started walking toward the river plain.
To the big black muddy waters of old Huck Finn.
This tortured highway of our memories sweeps me under like a child, raise me up from all my sins and cleansed.
Lead me forth where I may go, down this long and empty road, I swear
To return to you again.
On the banks I feel it coming, this mighty flood.
Oh the times they are a-changing, but they’re changing no one.
If God wills that it continue till all the wealth of all the ages be sunk,
Till every drop of blood we drew shall take another by the sword, it’s said,
The Lord is right and true.
I’ve made up my mind, I’m coming home to you.
Where we’ll plant the wild rye in the morning dew.
This endless road has took its toll, left me old and moving slow I know.
Please forgive me all my pride, all the years that I denied my soul.
I’ll go. I’ll follow you.
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6. |
Last Rose of Summer
05:09
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Last Rose of Summer
Well they have called, and I am sworn to answer.
Before the fall I will be shipped to war.
But by my oath on this last rose of summer
Sweet Mary Mitchell I offer you my hand.
And though to me it seems unworthy
To fight and die in another’s land
Comfort me that I am not unworthy
And in thine eyes that I am still a man.
Those times we shared along the river kissing
By me shall never be forgotten to the sea.
And when I cross that desert battle blazing
Our secret words upon my lips shall be.
And though to me it seems unworthy
To ask your hand when I’m already gone,
Stay with me and home I soon will be,
Then tangled roots we will sink into this ground.
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7. |
My Heart is in Montana
06:40
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My Heart is in Montana
My heart is in Montana, in her forests evergreen
Sitting with my lover by a stream
And a fisher casts his fly out in a sparkling evening
Pulls a cutthroat to pay for patient waiting
Don’t you think it’s sad to see them go?
Don’t you think it’s sad that there are metals in the snow
That taint the water and all who feel its flow?
My heart is in Montana, where they’re drilling through the snow
To find the oil that’s waiting down below
To ship to market and to burn it into tiny particles
That trap the sunlight and make the melting go.
Sad to think they’re leaving don’t you know?
Sad to think they’re melting, all those glaciers and the snow
And leave the passes bare where the bighorn used to go.
My heart is in Montana, where the cattle ranchers vote
To keep the wolves down and businesses afloat.
I’m not saying it’s not tragic, if not saying it is right
To let those wolves go down without a chance to fight.
Don’t you think it’s hard to see them go?
Don’t you think it’s hard when all those hunters lay them low?
If there was a way I sure wish I could know.
My heart is in Montana, at the Independence Mine,
Where they came to find their silver and their gold,
Where they washed away the hillsides with an acid-spraying hose,
And left a ghost town in the valley down below.
Don’t you know it’s growing back again?
Don’t you know it’s coming, if you’d only let it in?
Not sure I know just where I might begin.
My heart is in Montana, with her people fair and free.
They are the kindest people you can meet.
Where there’s farmers and there’s loggers and there’s miners and there’s them
That help the healing and break that cycle’s spin.
Don’t you think it’s possible to sin?
Don’t you think it’s so, yet find a new place to begin,
To help the healing and to break that cycle’s spin?
My heart is in Montana, where the aster meadows grow
Among the cabins that have fallen in the snow.
Among the peaks that stand for ages in their mellow alpine glow
The rust among the flowers growing old.
Don’t you think it’s sad to see them go?
Don’t you think it’s sad, all those people who said no,
And left Montana for the cities down below?
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8. |
Chesapeake Carol
06:57
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Chesapeake Carol
I was a lad on England’s streets,
Without no ale or bread to eat,
Wherefore they brought me to their keep,
And sold me to the Company.
My master say I am not owned,
Except for bond and stowage.
So to America I’ll go,
God grant that freedom I might find.
Baptized they sure required of me,
And clothed in Christ sufficiently.
Provisions for our mortal souls
Could not prepare us for hell’s dark shoals.
They shipped us in their wretched hold
Across the black Atlantic.
Onto the shores of Chesapeake
Where fell we down upon our knees.
Deo gratias, deo gratias Anglia, redde pro victoria
The banner raised and worship done,
They turned us to and work begun.
But winter came so swift and fast,
And shelter hard in that marchland grass.
It was not long ere we had lost
Our first and many after.
I trembled at the stockade wall
While from the fog a dark death stared.
The Powhatans, they came to trade
With furs for beads so simply made.
And we our orders had been given
To treat them fair though they were heathen.
But orders so far from their source
Could not dissuade our muskets.
So took we all we wanted then,
And raped their women and killed their men.
Virginia, O, we knew thee not.
The blood we spilt was blood begot.
There lords, and earls, and baronry
Were slain at loss to the Company.
There was no grace without ending,
No king recalled us savely.
And I, alone, was left to die
Beneath the blood and blackened sky.
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9. |
Windy River
04:40
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Windy River
Twenty eight days ago, I thought it right
To lay my soul on the line
Didn’t know you’d need it too
Twenty eight years have passed and the sun is shining
Through the glass of my solemn perch
To which I keep coming back
We drift along and raise our sails into the wind
Time travels by from far upstream
And it seems as though we’re facing backwards on the boat
Peering out the windy river rolls
Fourteen hours ago I was renting time
From the old dusty corner saloon
Picking pieces to keep in mind
Then when you mentioned to me that we were going
To the land where ghosts are known
I nearly lost all control
We drift along and raise our sails into the wind
Time travels by from far upstream
And it seems as though we’re facing backwards on the boat
Peering out the windy river rolls
Stars and worn out bars and sitting pews
For the deceased to come to mourn
And remember the lives before
Commending unto the trust of another’s hand
To carry on your memory
Was a choice you couldn’t make
We drift along and raise our sails into the wind
Time travels by from far upstream
And it seems as though we’re facing backwards on the boat
Peering out the windy river rolls
Peering out the windy river rolls
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10. |
Boundary Waters
04:57
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Boundary Waters
Down by the water,
You can throw your paddle there.
Pull the canoe in,
Haul up all the gear.
Was she the one who left you,
Or you who ran away?
Did you think you’d find her waiting
On this island border chain?
Get yourself some sleep
See where that cloud hangs, where the moon in silence rose,
And the embers from the fire, on a dark wind whip and flow.
There is our tomorrow, ten portages between
These lakes that pass for ages you never dreamed you’d see.
I waited every evening for her voice to call,
Waited on nights just like this, three months in all.
When a storm is at your back, you can ride the crests of waves.
But if you tack the wrong direction, you gotta swim like hell for shore.
There is our tomorrow, ten portages between
These lakes that pass for ages you never dreamed you’d see
There is our tomorrow where the lone pine stands
And rivers blaze the cool white sun upon your hands.
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11. |
Trail through the Forest
04:16
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Trail through the Forest
When you’re out walking out all alone
You might start thinking about your home
Well look up, brother, before you fall
There’s a world that’s calling and it’s calling us all.
You don’t know what that valley might hold
Better go have a look, son, before you get too old.
Now I’m no stranger to the pleasures of the hearth
And I know what it means to be with my wife
And have all around me the ones that I love
A floor below me and a roof above.
Hang on to that, son, don’t ever let it go
But a trail through the forest might just save your soul.
A trail through the forest brings you all kind of things
Creatures with paws and others with wings
Caves with spiders and crawdads and bats
And sunny hillsides that are great for naps.
You don’t know what that river might hold
Better go have a look, son, before you get too old.
When you’re done walking at the end of the day
You gotta find a place where your head can lay
One with people and a fiddle and a fire
Will keep you warm into the chill night hours.
Hang on to that son, don’t ever let it go
But a trail through the forest might just save your soul.
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12. |
Pipestone
04:51
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Pipestone
Down the long highway across Minnesota
And out to the prairie again
We don't know where we're going
except that it's someplace we've been.
They came here from Texas and up from Missouri
and Michigan, Huron and Penn
To lay down their weapons and greet
one another as friends.
Orion, Orion
Put your bow and your arrow away
Pipestone you drew them through centuries calling
back to your fields and your beds
To stones that were chiseled and carved
by the hands of dead men.
Now there's a diner, an A-frame transgression
That howls in the north country wind
And serves all the lowly, the dirty,
the fallen in sin.
Orion, Orion
Put your bow and your arrow away.
The campfire's dyin, the leaves are a-flyin
And winter is coming again
In the stars you can see them,
Their pipe smoke drifting away.
Back on the highway and out to Montana
The radio breathes fire in the night.
It tells you forget and to drive
and to spit and to hate.
Orion, Orion
Put your bow and your arrow away.
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13. |
Four Leaf Clovers
03:38
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Four Leaf Clovers
One sunny day I drew the nightshade in my sleeping room and sighed
As all the town folk passed with sparkles in their eyes
I’m gonna sleep the whole day through and when I wake up, greet the night
With coal stained overalls, and trouble on my mind
Cause when the moon is casting shadows on the sleeping souls at ease
I’m reading gauges on the steam box, jerking water from a stream
When the train runs out of steam, lord, I will lay me down to sleep
I’m gonna pop up four leaf clovers when I die
That heavy rail just keeps on setting toward the sky, lord, toward the sky
I’m gonna bear my final sorrow, then I’ll cry
When the day was young and bright, lord, my dear she came to me
With a yellow flower that she heaved up from the grass
And I set off into the sunset, my head hanging heavily
Just like that sunflower when the night is dark and vast
And I often dream of sunflowers’ petals aimed up toward the light
Shining down on my sweet love at the end of the line
When the train runs out of steam, lord, I will lay me down to sleep
I’m gonna pop up four leaf clovers when I die
That heavy rail just keeps on setting toward the sky, lord, toward the sky
I’m gonna bear my final sorrow, then I’ll cry
By the time the stars have faded and the day is breaking fast
I retire to my old sleeping car once more
And I set off into the sunset, my head hanging heavily
Just like that sunflower when the night is dark and vast
And I woke to sunflowers waving in that western prairie wind
My sunflower standing tall above me as I cried
When the train runs out of steam, lord, I will lay me down to sleep
I’m gonna pop up four leaf clovers when I die
That heavy rail just keeps on setting toward the sky, lord, toward the sky
I’m gonna bear my final sorrow, then I’ll cry
Oh when the train runs out of steam, lord, I will lay me down to sleep
I’m gonna pop up four leaf clovers when I die
That heavy rail just keeps on setting toward the sky, lord, toward the sky
I’m gonna bear my final sorrow, then I’ll cry
I’m gonna bear my final sorrow, then I’ll cry
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Daniel Schramm Washington, D.C.
Two guys, a guitar, a banjo, and a dobro, just sitting by the river.
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