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Words and Music: Amy Ray
My friends they wash the windows they shine in the sun
They tell me wake up early in the morning sometimes see what a beautiful job
we've done
I said, "let's put on some tunes, sing along, Doolittle all day"
Go down to the riverside take off our shoes and wash these sins away
The river said, "la la la shame on you"
River said, "la la la" it said "shame on you"
I go down to Chicano City Park cause it makes me feel so fine
And when the weeds go down you can see up close in the dead of the wintertime
But when the summer comes everything's in bloom and you wouldn't know it's there
And the white folks like to pretend it's not but they're music's in the air
You can hear 'em singing la la la shame on you
And you can feel 'em dancing la la la shame on you
My friend Tanner she says, "y'know me and Jesus we're of the same heart
The only thing that keeps us distant is that I keep fuckin' up"
Come on down to Chicano City Park and wash your blues away
And when the beautiful ladies walk right by y'know I never know what to say to
them
And they say ooooh la la la la la la la la la shame on you
And they'll be dancing la la la they say shame on you
Shame on you
Let's go roadblock tripping in the middle of the night up in Gainesville town
There'll be blue lights flashing down the long dirt road when they ask me to
step out
They say, "we're looking for illegal immigrants can we check your car?"
I said, "it's funny I think we were on the same boat back in 1694"
And I said ooooh la la la la la la la la shame on you
and they'll be dancing la la la they say shame on you
And I said ooooh la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la i said shame on you
And I said, I said, shame on you
They'll be dancing la la la they said shame on you
Shame on you
Roadblock trippin' in the middle of the night in Gainesville town
(Blue lights flashing down the long dirt road)
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
The saddest sight my eyes can see
Is that big ball of orange sinking slyly down the trees
Sitting in a broken circle while you rest upon my knee
This perfect moment will soon be leaving me
Suzanne calls from Boston the coffee's hot the corn is high
And that same sun that warms your heart will suck that good earth dry
With everything its opposite enough to keep you cryin'
Or keep this ol' world spinning with a twinkle in its eye
Get out the map, get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
We'll leave the figurin' to those we pass on the way out of town
Don't drink the water there seems to be something ailing everyone
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
Joni left for South Africa a few years ago
And then Beth she took a job all the way over on the west coast
And me I'm still trying to live half a life on the road
Seems I'm heavier by the year (heavier by the year) and heavier by the load
(heavier by the load)
Why do we hurtle ourselves through every inch of time and space
I must say around some corner I can sense a resting place
With every lesson learned a line upon your beautiful face
We'll amuse ourselves one day with these memories we'll trace
Get out the map, get out the map and lay your finger anywhere down
We'll leave the figurin' to those who pass on the way out of town
Don't drink the water there seems to be something ailing everyone
I'm gonna clear my head (I'm gonna clear my head)
I'm gonna drink that sun (I'm gonna drink that sun)
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
I'm gonna clear my head
I'm gonna drink that sun
I'm gonna love you good and strong while our love is good and young
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Words and Music: Amy Ray
115 you are 17
Itchy trigger and venomous
You're growing longer you're growing stronger
So shed your skin babe now shed this
Come on over now
Come on over baby
Tell me it's holy holy
I don't know what it is come on over now
Let's call it the fullness of time
I don't know what it is come on over now
Hey holy console me
Some power controls me
Remorse it I force it
Can't free it so be it
I'm speaking in tongues handling you
I got religion now look at it
The days grow longer as we grow stronger
So shed your skin baby let it rip
Come on over now
Come on over baby
Tell me it's holy holy
I don't know what that is come on over child
Let's call it the fullness of time
I don't know what it is come on over now
Hey holy console me
Some power controls me
Remorse it I force it
Don't free it just be it
Just be it
Just be it
I been lucky to find you
But it's a little too late too soon
When I look in doubt and fire
The spirits I abuse in you
In you
In you
I got the hangman I got milagro
I got the celebration too
Your flesh is strong, my spirit's stronger
So shed your skin baby let it through
Come on over now
Come on over baby
Tell me it's holy holy
I don't know what it is come on over child
I wanna call it the fullness of time
I don't know what it is come on over now
Hey holy console me
Some power controls me
Remorse it I force it
Can't free it so be it
Hey holy console me
Some power controls me
Come on over baby
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
It's alright forty days of rain
My skin stretched out from the growing pain
And it'd be nice to have an explanation
But it's alright
And it's alright if you hate that way
Hate me cause I'm different and you hate me cause I'm gay
Truth of the matter come around one day
And it's alright
I look at this lifeline stretched way out across my hand
I look at the burned out empty like a plague across the land
And for everything I learn there are two I don't understand
That's why I'm still on the search through the weather-strewn church
I'm doing the best that I can
And it's alright
It's alright though we worry and fuss
Can't get over the hump, can't get over us
Seems easier to push than to let go and trust
And it's alright
We get a little distance some things get clearer
Oh give them their space some hearts will grow nearer
I ran as hard as I could I still ended up here
And it's alright
So look at this lifeline stretched way all across my hand
Look at the fires of hatred burning on the bounty of this beautiful land
I know I'm small in a way, but I know I'm strong
And it's my thirst that brought me to the water
I give it all up and y'know she'll carry me on
And it's alright
And it's alright though we feel afraid
Our plans in pieces, our plans mislaid
It's the will of the way (will of the way) will of the way (will of the way)
The will of the only way that could have brought me here today
And it's alright
Yeah it's alright now
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
Caramia
Blank notebook in a back pocket fade
You used to mock me sometimes I would cry
When I was home later
Cause you hurt my feelings
Why, why, why
I said write it down in your notebook, my wannabe,
Harriet the spy
And some say your genious
Is in your madness
Will you get better
And then will you leave us?
How you mixed with the darkness at such a young age
Your chemistry, science and violence turned silence to rage
Why are you dreaming this?
One shoe off and a bridge to cross over
And where is your taxi fare
Are you left by yourself, are you left by your lover?
You know three nights straight now I dreamt I kept both of my shoes
Now I've forgotten my lines and I've misplaced my cues
And there's a sea full of faces and a show to go on
And I'm struck mute at entrance with nothing to draw from
And there were the secrets
The big bang and the bigger joke
But you seemed to know all of them
And injustice makes you red with choke
But you loved like you're desperate
You don't know what love is
And I thought that if there was one thing I could give you, one thing I could
give you,
Then maybe it was this
With your head on the bedboards
The anguished repeat
The sweat of our sadness
The twist of the sheets
I don't want what's best for you where will I be
When you've found it
Y'know I pray a lot bout these bad feelings inside
But I can't pray my way around this
Why are you dreaming this?
One shoe off and a bridge to cross over
And where is your taxi fare
Are you left by yourself, are you left by your lover?
You know three nights straight now I know I've kept both of my shoes
Now I've forgotten my lines and I've misplaced my cues
And there's a sea full of faces and a show to go on
And I'm struck mute at entrance with nothing to draw from
Nothing to draw from....
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Words and Music: Amy Ray
She's got a case against me a jury of my peers
And the rage of the righteous screaming in her ears
I'm not dignified anymore, can't say I didn't call
I say I love you, she don't hear me anymore
Don't give that girl a gun
I said now don't give that girl a gun
She's already won [one?]
She's already won [one]
I made a bad connection she says I went astray
I jumped ship, abandoned my post, I didn't think I'd lost my way
But how the mighty fall I saw her crack a smile
I don't got a chance for redemption she don't believe in the miracle mile
So take the first shot baby it'll be real clean
I'm your girl strong and mean
The second shot baby it'll be real cool
I'm your fool
Don't give that girl a gun
I said now don't give that girl a gun
She's already won [one]
She's already won [one]
I said hold me closer cause something's happening
I just can't get it together
She says, "I doubt you ever will, ever will again"
I said don't give that girl a gun
I said now don't give that girl a gun (give that girl a gun)
She's already won [one]
She's already won [one]
Yeah...(give that girl a gun)
Yeah...(give that girl a gun)
The first shot baby it'll be real clean
I'm your girl strong and mean
The second shot baby it'll be real cool
I'm your fool I'm your fool I'm your
Fool
Don't give that girl a gun
Yeah yeah yeah
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
It's dark at four p.m. in Leeds
The steeples pierce the skylight till the last of it bleeds
The absent sound of another day as it recedes
Into the shadows, until it's nothing
Fax papers slipped under the hotel room door
Like food for the prisoner and the prospect to the whore
Well-fed and halfway drunk I ache myself for more
Until I'm shadows of myself, until I'm nothing
Sixteen black churches burning on the TV
All the way from Texas to Tennessee
Politician locks my eye and says to me
There is no crisis here there's no conspiracy
I crave inertia every move made so I can stop
Whatever this madness is in me spinning like a top
On a bed of anxiety over a deep dark drop
Down into nothingness, into without-you-ness
Was it ever so the evil creeped like ivy
A toehold on the stronger half of nature's dichotomy
I'm beating back a path through nothing more than pure insistence
So here becomes the distance
Hold my head love, I'm sick tonight
Find the open hole and press your fingers there with all your might
Before the last ounce of my spirit bleeds
Onto the pristine sheets of the hotel bed in Leeds
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Words and Music: Amy Ray
Scooter boys and Argentinians
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
Crying about my own virginity
Hey blueblood you're nothing new
You see I come from priviledge too
A chapter of the book on the Americas
You're just another colonial terrorist
Scooter boys and Argentinians
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
Crying about my own virginity
Yeah
Yeah
Way down south where the Maya rained
Zapata reading poetry in his grave
They said "we're stealing from the best to feed the poor"
Well they need more
Scooter boys and Argentinians
Europe shed the blood of the Indians
Here I sit in the land of plenty
Crying about my own virginity
Yeah
Yeah
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
Remember everything I told you
Keep it in your heart like a stone
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
What was once your pain will be your home
All around the table the white haired men have gathered
Spilling their sons' blood like table wine
Remember everything I told you
Everything in its own time
The music whispers you in urgency
Hold fast to that languageless connection
A thread of known that was unknown and unseen seen
Dangling from inside the fifth direction
Boys around the table mapping out their strategies
Kings of mountains one day dust
A lesson learned, a loving God, and things in their own time
In nothing more do I trust
But we own nothing, nothing is ours
Not even love so fierce it burns like baby stars
But this poverty is our greatest gift
The weightlessness of us as things around begin to shift
Remember everything I told you
Keep it in your heart like a stone
And when the winds have blown things round and back again
What was once your pain will be your home
Everything in its own time
Everything in its own time
ooooooooh-oooooooh-oooooooh-ooooooooh
ooooooooh-oooooooh-oooooooh-ooooooooh
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Words and Music: Amy Ray
I'm sitting in Darwin's Theory
You're down in the 48s
I'm practicing politics
You're practicing guitar an staying out late
How'd we get so turned around
Why did we make it so hard
Can't we cut it out we're tender
Give us something good to remember
Hey my my my rock star
I saw your feet leave the ground
You said all I wanna be is loud
How'd you get so turned around
Why did you make it so hard
Can't you cut it out I'm tender
Give me something good to remember
I said cut it out
Cut it all out
Well it's Alaska in the summertime
In the wintertime I'm free
The days are short cold and wasted
Nowhere is warm enough for me
Baby can you tell me what happened
Why did I make it so hard
Why can't I cut it out you're tender
Give you something give you something good to remember
Baby you tell me what happened (why did we make it so hard)
How did i make it so hard (can you tell me what happened)
Cut it out i'm tender (why did we make it so hard)
Give me something give me something good to remember (why did we make it so
hard)
(Why did we make it so hard) (can you tell me what happened)
(Why did we make it so hard) (can you tell me what happened)
(Why did you make it so hard) (Can you tell me what happened)
(Why did we make it so hard) (Can you tell me what happened)
I said cut it out
Cut it all out
Cut it out
Cut it all out
Cut it out (hey my my my rock star)
Cut is all out (how did we get so turned around)
Cut it all out now (hey my my my rock star)
Cut it all out now (hey my my my rock star) (how did we get so turned around)
Cut it all out now
Cut it all out now (hey my my my rock star)
Cut it all out
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Words and Music: Emily Saliers
I am sorry that I set my sights on the things I read
Something meant for your husband maybe you left them under the bed
Once upon a love those words blew free and secret the pages lay around
Drifted to the hands of the publisher and all the greedy generations on down
Burn all the letters (someone is always watching)
Government's on the phone (whether openly or secretly)
Burn all the letters (now breathe life into your story)
Send them on to safer homes (burn them to secrecy)
Burn all the letters
Brand them in you before you go
Soldiers are coming to plunder
But there are some things they will never know
We made our love out of dignity dug our nails in the dirt
Hung our towel soaked souls out on the line we loved so hard that it hurt
To ease the pain I took a pen and paper and incarnate came the bleeding
Send them back before the public eye perverts it in the reading
Yeah yeah
Burn all the letters (someone is alway watching)
Government's on the phone (whether openly or secretly)
Burn all the letters (now breathe life into your story)
Send them on to safer homes (burn it to secrecy)
Burn all the letters
Brand them in you before you go
Soldiers are coming to plunder
But there are some things they will never know
Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey ya hey...
Burn all the letters
Government's on the phone (on the phone)
Burn all the letters
Send them all to safer homes
Burn all the letters
To you and you to me
They're gonna take what they can
But they cannot read
What they cannot see
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Words and Music: Amy Ray
Hey kind friend
Don't know when I'll see you again
On a ferryboat bound to Victoria
Laying down to hide from the wind
Big Dipper hanging over the city
You know everything now is different for me
And there ain't no use in explaining
The scenery
I said, kind friend
Help me forget where I been
Hey kind friend
Remember who I am
Well it was too late in Spokane
So I caught a ride through the Cascade Range
Saw the sun die in Olympia
Running down on Capital Lake
Well I asked you for some relief
And it's one true root that you bring to me
And it's three a.m.
And it's good company
I said, kind friend
Help me forget where I been
Hey kind friend
Help me remember who I am
I said, kind friend
Don't know when I'll see you again
It's okay friend
It's okay friend
Well I'll meet you in New Orleans I'll see you around
Don't know if it's worth coming down
I'm calling from a gold rush town
I said, kind friend
Help me forget where I been
Hey kind friend
Help me remember who I am
I said, kind friend
Don't know if I'll see you again
It's okay friend
I'm okay friend
I said I'm okay friend
I'm okay friend
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