1. |
Man on a Pale Horse
03:01
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The Flag’s flying at the courthouse
A symbol of unity
As the country tears itself apart
From Sea to Shining Sea
We’re putting kids in cages
Half the country’s up in arms
The other half shrugs it off
All they say is “What’s the harm?”
There’s a Man riding on a Pale Horse
He says he’ll make America great
He’s either your hero or villain
In these Divided States
It’s the Fourth of July once again
And fireworks are flying
They’re drowning out the sounds
Of a thousand children crying
Protesters marching in the streets
All across the land
While the President is on his cellphone
And he’s tweeting again
He’s the Man riding on a Pale Horse
He says he’ll make America great
He’s either your hero or villain
In these Divided States
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2. |
Hurry back, Jesus
03:10
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There’s hatred everywhere I look
We haven’t got a prayer
They’re killing children in the schools
They’re killing everywhere
Neighbor hating neighbor
Nations armed for war
Every day seems a little bit worse
Than the day before
Hurry Back Jesus
Cause things aren’t going so well
You said you’d be back again
And we know you will
But if we can last ’til then
Ain’t no one can tell
Hurry Back Jesus
The world is going to Hell
Lawlessness everywhere
Men do as they please
Poisoning the oceans
And the very air we breath
The truth has been forgotten
With the lessons of the past
People greedy everywhere
For things that never last
Hurry Back Jesus
Cause things aren’t going so well
You said you’d be back again
And we know you will
But if we can last ’til then
Ain’t no one can tell
Hurry Back Jesus
The world is going to Hell
Famine, war and hopelessness
Beggars plead for alms
The hungry dying every day
While the world keeps building bombs
Corruption, graft and bribery
Favors bought and sold
While the meek, the poor and helpless
Get left out in the cold
Hurry Back Jesus
Cause things aren’t going so well
You said you’d be back again
And we know you will
But if we can last ’til then
Ain’t no one can tell
Hurry Back Jesus
The world is going to Hell
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3. |
American guns
02:14
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He walks into the school
With his weapons underneath
A nondescript jacket
He’s armed to the teeth
Any sense of humanity
He had has been eroded
His life is empty of meaning
But his guns are all loaded
He gets his reason to murder
From an inner rage
He gets his license to kill
From the NRA
Put your platitudes in the prayer box
They won’t bring back the children
It wasn’t God who took them away
It was AMERICAN GUNS that killed ‘em
Now politicians fret and fuss
And wipe away crocodile tears
Just don’t talk about AMERICAN GUNS
‘Cause they have no ears to hear
They’ve learned to play their roles so well
Their grief is well rehearsed
But they never lift a finger to stop it
May all of them be accursed
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4. |
58 Candles
02:33
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Beautiful woman, Beautiful child
Beautiful man, Beautiful smiles
And now there’s 58 Candles Burning
Picture this, Picture that
Look at all their photographs
And now there’s 58 Candles Burning
How many times have we seen
All this madness before
Sometimes it almost seems
Love’s not enough anymore
So much life left to live
So much love left to give
And now there’s 58 Candles Burning
How many time have we seen
All this madness before
At times like this it seems
Prayers aren’t enough anymore
Beautiful woman, Beautiful child
Beautiful man, Beautiful smiles
Now there’s 58 Candles Burning
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5. |
Jesse Daniels
04:40
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Down in Florida a society matron
Was compromised one night
It was a black man who did it
She saw him clearly in the light
The Sheriff kindly counseled her
Your friends need never know
A black man ever touched your skin
And tarnished such a rose
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
“I was home in bed asleep
By 10 o’clock that night"
They’re taking him to the courthouse
The papers have all been signed
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
Jesse Daniels was just eighteen
And he loved to ride his bike
He never hurt nobody
Or stayed out late at night
But he was kind of slow in school
And that fit the story fine
But mainly he was white enough
To save that woman’s pride
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
“I was home in bed asleep
By 10 o’clock that night"
They’re taking him to the courthouse
The papers have all been signed
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
So they railroaded Jesse Daniels
To the Chattahoochee Home
His father died and his mother cried
And Jesse just grew old
After 14 years of appealing
The verdict was overturned
You see justice moves quite slowly
Against a Sheriff’s word
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
“I was home in bed asleep
By 10 o’clock that night"
They’re taking him to the courthouse
The papers have all been signed
“But Mama, I didn’t do it”
Poor Jesse Daniels cried
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6. |
The meaning of life
03:26
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Drunkards and sages
Down through the ages
Have pondered life’s meaning
There’s not much that they’ve missed
From Shakespeare to Plato
They’ve passed on what they know
The accumulated wisdom
Goes something like this:
It is what it is you won’t always get
All that you ask for on your Christmas list
There isn’t a Genie who’ll grant you one wish
Life is a blessing; It is what it is
Buddah and Jesus
And the mystics all teach us
We’re just passing through
And death is not the end
There’s no foolproof system
On the bumpy road to wisdom
Be kind to fellow travelers
And treat ‘em all like friends
It is what it is you won’t always get
All that you ask for on your Christmas list
There isn’t a Genie who’ll grant you one wish
Life is a blessing; It is what it is
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7. |
||||
Well, my car wouldn’t start last evening
And I lost my job last week
My wife ran off with the mailman
And I stutter every time I speak
They say “everything happens for a reason”
When your life has hit the skids
They tell you some good will come from it
But who are they trying to kid?
Of all the things that coulda happened
Why’d it have to be this
If everything happens for a reason
Why won’t they tell me what the reason is?
Well I went to the doctor this morning
And he gave me the bad news
You should put your affairs in order
You’ve only got a week or two
So I went to see the lawyer
Who handled my divorce
Everything happens for a reason
Is what he said of course
Of all the things that coulda happened
Why’d it have to be this
If everything happens for a reason
Why won’t they tell me what the reason is?
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8. |
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Candy hearts and paper flowers
Lovers talking on the phone for hours
Please don’t break this heart of mine
Will you be my Valentine?
She smiles at him he smiles at her
She wonders how she can be sure
Please don’t break this heart of mine
Will you be my Valentine?
He never thought he’d fall in love again
She never thought she’d ever fall for a guy like him
When two hearts fit just like a glove
You might as well just call it love
Please don’t break this heart of mine
Will you be my Valentine?
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9. |
Cherokee Joe
03:09
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Nobody knew what his real name was
He had a tattoo on his arm of a mourning dove
He hung around places where the homeless go
Everybody called him Cherokee Joe
They’d drop their tips into a hardshell case
While Cherokee Joe sang ‘Amazing Grace’
He’d work the street in the heat of the day
He’d end each gig singing ‘Ira Hayes’
Cherokee Joe, Cherokee Joe
Where did you come from?
Where did you go?
He came with the sun
And left with the snow
I’ll never forget Cherokee Joe
I was 14 getting nowhere fast in school
In a great big hurry to break all the rules
I saw him on the corner one day when I was bored
He showed me his guitar and a couple of chords
So I bought a guitar - I was just acting out -
With the money I earned on a paper route
When I showed it to him all he had to say
Was Good Luck kid, now go learn to play
On the day I learned to play my very first song
I went looking for him but they said he was gone
All that was left was the sun in the sky
He left nothing behind not even goodbye
We never met again but I learned how to play
I learned it’s easy to just walk away
I learned how to laugh and I learned how to cry
But I never learned how to say goodbye.
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10. |
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The old dog is howling at the moon just like he knew
Old friends of mine ask me if it’s true
‘Cause nothing travels faster than bad news
And it seems like everybody’s crying over you
The sky has eyes and just like yours they’re blue
The trees have ears when the wind whistles through
The grass can’t hide the early morning dew
It seems like everybody’s crying over you
As days elapsed my grief had passed
For you or so it seemed
But love and grief play tricks on me
At odd moments when I see
An old dog howling at the moon just like he knew
Or a couple holding hands like we used to do
You’re gone five years and I bet you never knew
That everybody’s crying over you
And the old dog’s still howling at the moon
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11. |
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It’s 3 o’clock in the morning
The radio’s turned down
The dog cocked its ear and growled
When he heard the cat meow
The refrigerator’s humming
But the phone hasn’t made a sound
I guess she’s not gonna call tonight
Or she would have called by now
It’s 3 o’clock in the morning
I can hear a car go by
The wind rattled the window pane
And the radio just died
The refrigerator’s humming
But the phone hasn’t made a sound
I guess she’s not gonna call tonight
Or she would have called by now
I need to hear her tell me why
She hasn’t called or come around
But silence is running deep tonight
And faster than the speed of sound
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Dan Sullivan Kalamazoo, Michigan
Some people like gardening, working on cars or woodworking. Others enjoy knitting, collecting stamps or coins. That kind of thing. I like writing songs.
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