1. |
The #14 Blues
02:31
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i want blue lips like the guy on the video screen
i want to talk to all them gone beauties on the east-side scene
14 is a lucky number, 1 and 4 make 5
5 makes me want to go the distance
keep the beat and survive
like go-man-go!
and i wish i had some money
so i could buy some time
andiwantiwantiwantiwanna be close
whatdoyouthinkwhatdoyouthinkwhatdoyouthink
you want baby?
i don't love so fast 'cause i might explode
i'm real, i'm special
i'm gonna explode
meet me on the church steps
and hold my hand
tell me all kinds of stuff
tell me more than i can stand
andiwantiwantiwantiwanna be close
whatdoyouthinkwhatdoyouthinkwhatdoyouthink
you want baby?
on the way home i stopped into an empty bar
and i belted some whiskey to melt the ice forming 'round my heart
last night me and kirk kelly,
we raved all night long
it was joyous go-man-go
until the sad-bird-chirping-church-steeple-dawn
and i wish i had some money
so i could buy some time
i wanna be close
i wanted blue lips like the guy on the video screen
i wanted to talk to all them gone prettygirls
on the eastside scene
andiwantiwantiwantiwanna be close
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2. |
The Pearly Blues
04:07
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Black is the color
of his true love's clothes
she thinks I want to bed her
I just like looking at her face
and I offer her some pearls
It's dark as a dungeon
way down in the subway
hey, don't hate just because I'm white
I won't hate you because you're not
and come on hang out
check out
my string of pearls
In the sad folksinger night
I almost caught myself wearing my tears like a badge
Instead, I'll fix my broken strings
and thread them through your lives
as you make your way back up to the streets
surrounded by a million bricks
that lay pointing in every direction across the continent
I was jazzing along on the couch with my baby
the bass was the train, the sax played the scenery
she pulled my heart out with her little blue eyes,
kissed it and put it back
she's a sponge
she soaks up my words and makes them into pearls
"...The world is mine because I'm poor",
said the on-the-road alcoholic
the microphone drops to the floor
face down in beer.
Through your sad tv nightlight,
cold wet-shoed in the rain,
the hitchhiker walks past your window
relief on the horizon...
People work hard and end up with nothing.
I ain't got nothing either, but at least I didn't
work hard for it!
ain't got nothing
except maybe a string of pearls
In Amsterdam I slept next to library in the bushes,
sang in the streets
and cheated on bus tickets
never saw Michelle Shocked around
though I hear she was up early in that town.
Back in New York
dead in the water
no-one to blow me away
had to go diving for pearls
"Combat Rock" was blasting
and it had to be a folk song
because everybody knew the words
but this is not folk song
this is not a folk song
this is not a folk song
it's just a string of pearls
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3. |
The Lefty Rhetoric Blues
02:40
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listen to the lefties talking on the radio
they're putting down the government
what the fuck do they know?
they gotta be fools to think they
can get a sympathetic ear here
lefty folksinger rhetoric
has such a boring ring
they make me sick
they over-simplify everything
it's always no more bombs, no more nukes..
...but, then on the other hand
they were right about vietnam
they want of nicaragua, out of el salvador
but what about the fascist commies coming up the back door?
oh no....
...but, then on the other hand
they were right about vietnam
but, then on the other hand
they the only ones who give a damn
listen to the lefties talking on the radio
they're putting down the government
what do they know?
...ever since i heard all that stuff about vietnam
i keep my left ear open
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4. |
The Hitchhiker Blues
03:19
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busted glass against bare souls
highway stained with fear
beautiful trees by the road
watered by god's tears
well, what do you think of your country
what do you know of liberty
do you get a feeling from a rebel song
what can you say about right and wrong?
snowy frost on barren cotton fields
the sun comes up on a southern plain
freedom riders paved the way
with a little help from doctor king
what do you think of their country
what do you know of liberty
do you get a feeling from a rebel song
what can you say about right and wrong?
a lesson learned is a lesson earned
there's something missing in the schools
obscene 'history' books are breeding
a new generation of racist fools
what will they think of their country
what will they know of liberty
will they get a feeling from a rebel song
what will they say about right and wrong?
mother's in the shopping mall
daddy's sitting home watching tv
the kids are beating their heads against the wall
and no one hears the baby cry
what do they think of their country
what do they know of liberty
do they get a feeling from a rebel song
what do they say about right and wrong?
proud to be an american
clinging to the suburban way
the i can't be bothered state
who cares about others when you've got it made?
so, what do you think
what do you know
what do you feel
what do you say?
what do you think of your country
what do you know of anarchy
do you get a feeling from a rebel song
what can you say about right and wrong?
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5. |
The West Valley Blues
04:25
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i come from a town in erie county
across the cattauragus creek is west valley
where there's trees, cows, and barns
and in field of green
getty oil built the tallest chimney i'd ever seen
my father took pictures for folks all around
sometimes the guys down at the chimney invited him down
he said the name of the place was "nuclear fuels"
for them he took pictures of secret nuclear tools
governor rockefeller came through our town
he dressed real humble, shook hands all around
he'd of had us believe that the place was safe and worthwhile
i'd like to of seen him work there and keep up that smile
after some time they had to close the place down
never knew that much about it while i lived in my town
a few years later
many miles away
i read that it wasn't over back in west valley
for years they'd made money reprocessing nuclear fuels
and with the land they made money burying old work clothes and tools
"low level waste", that's what it is called
radioactive shitpiles (junkpiles) in fields by the chimney so tall
the rain it did fall and the water did flow
the waste seeped into the valley below
you'd see scientists on back roads driving around
they were testing the creek and testing the ground
springville, ny
in erie county
across the cattauragus creek is west valley
cattauragus is indian for "smelly banks"
back then it was natural gas
now it's west valley waste
the smelly banks
they sure do reek
of politicians and poisons so deep
and of ignorance and lies of deceit
getty oil's carelessness laid at our feet
my father, he died of a cancer rare
as probably will others who lived and worked around there
and yeah, ya can't help but wonder if he did, and they, and I will too
die from the poisons of west valley's nuclear fuels.
Oct. 1990 on WSPQ Springville NY with Fred Haier.
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6. |
The Strange Little Blues
02:38
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this guitar has been played in pompeii
that's where the volcano blew everyone away
i seen the movie
they had it coming
... i use my imagination
oh, oh oh oh
oh, oh oh oh
it's a little bit strange
it's a little bit strange
it's a little bit strange
how you disappeared
i think about your face
and what you said
i'm in the book
i'm in the book
now call me like you said you would
oh, oh oh oh
oh, oh oh oh
'go-man-go' is what cindy lee berryhill's guitar says
mine says newborn babies should be issued banjos
woody guthrie's guitar said,"this machine kills fascists"
and i say,"i could love you, baby",
at least that's the way it feels
but i could be wrong
oh, oh oh oh
oh, oh oh oh
hey, why do you run?
you ain't much fun
she wants me to go with her
she wants me to go with her
she wants me to go with her
but i can't go with any of them
and you don't know,
but you're making me wait
and i don't know
but i'm wasting my time
i use my imagination...
oh, oh oh oh
oh, oh oh oh
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7. |
The Airport Blues
02:40
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i know love when i see it
i get scared when i feel it
but it's no matter now
she left her music on
she left her picture on my wall
my baby's gone to lon-don
go ahead, leave your country behind bay-bee
it's too big around the middle anyway
some people just don't know
some people just ain't thinking
love me
kiss me
leave me
miss me
so how do i appear to you in the night?
am i your mother, am i your lover?
am i the monster of your dreams?
what if loved another and another and another?
let's pretend numbers don't exist
love me
kiss me
leave me
miss me
i want to find out the hard way that money isn't everything
and then i'd like to visit lon-don
mama makes baby laugh on the subway
yeah, i know love when i see it
i get scared when i feel it
leave your music on when you go
hang my picture on your wall in lond-don
love me
kiss me
leave me
miss me...
in lond-don
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8. |
The #16 Blues
02:34
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smokers pulling broken knobs are milking a dry cow
i ain't no poet, if i was, i'd be dead by now
it's bad and getting worse
just wait and see
when i get sick of new york
there'll be no place in america for me
and i gotta get out
i gotta mess with my soul
i gotta go down to sophie's
and go-man-go
i want you to talk honest
don't stall, just tell me what you feel
you could crack me open
inspire me, it's no big deal
i got just what i wanted once
and didn't know what to do
but i did alright
until my dumb luck fell through
and i gotta get out
i gotta mess with my soul
i gotta go down to sophie's
and go-man-go
i know everything, just not always in time
pugnacious i am, i like to joust
it helps me to unwind
i ain't no poet, if i was, i'd be dead by now
smokers pulling broken knobs are milking a dry cow
and i gotta get out
i gotta mess with my soul
i gotta go down to sophie's
and go-man-go
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9. |
The #17 Blues
03:49
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jimmy says, "i don't want no girl that wears leather like that"
me, i don't care so long as she don't smoke while i'm sleeping.
she says, "kiss my diamond baby, my father gave it to me, why
won't you kiss it?"
but sweetheart I did kiss your diamond
and the other day I opened the bed for the first time since
the last time
and your scent was still evident
it broke my heart to wash them sheets baby
and since then a small population of cutesters
have helped me to achieve assholedom
we sit
and listen
to me talk
out-of-focus pictures in a black envelope
better late than too soon
and we cried for love
and i moaned for man
sometimes I get this feeling
where i just want to
go back over to france and hug a cathedral
they froze time in them walls
today i saw a girl on the subway and it almost set me free
maybe she was interested
i couldn't tell
she looked straight at me
it felt good as hell
...and i am and i ain't but i need to be
and life is killing me
i'd like to give everyone a little piece of my heart
but what the hell...
i was half kidding when i said, "marry me or die"
"which half, " she asked
i could never look us in the mirror
'cause then i'd see that she wasn't me
she burns me the little snot,
reminds me of everything i'm not
so, where do i belong?
"not with her" she says
seems like i belong nowhere
heh, but wait, nowhere is everywhere
hell, that was easy
it wasn't the first time
i ended up with "the girl everyone wants to fuck"
and it won't be the last.
somehow we were partners in time,
likewise knowing grins
soul twins
yeah, that's what i liked about us
...and i am and ain't but i need to be
and life is killing me
i'd like to give everyone a little piece of my heart
but i guess these songs will have to do
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10. |
Blues for the Chosen Few
03:06
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she smiles at my vulnerability
her friend tries to make me treat her like a man
they say, "go home boy" and start ignoring me
ah, what do you do with friends like that?
i should have taken off all my clothes
but i didn't think of that then,
i just went home.
the bathroom mirror,
my face,
how to save face, that's it
- aw hell, i just wash it instead.
this party's full of people who won't look me in the eye
and i'm so bored with your friends like that
so i step in some guacamole and put some cake in your hair
ant they don't know what to do
so they ignore me some more
where do you find friends like that?
who chooses the chosen few?
the chosen few do
she watches me like a movie
she smiles at my vulnerability
she says, "nobody's stuck with nobody"
and i say, "no! everybody's stuck with everybody"
and i push her off a chair into a bunch of poets
what's she gonna do with a friend like me?
now we are a gang of four sitting on the candlelight floor
late night laughing at the truth
poets are us
i take a pen out of my shoe to write it all down
the pen is my friend
who chooses the chosen few?
the chosen few do
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11. |
The 1010 Blues
02:49
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look out the window, i'm a hundred feet high
the trees in the square sure look different at night
from way up here
and when i leave my shadow on your wall
i know you're gonna tell them all
about me
go ahead sing your little tunes
pretty soon, i'll start singing about you
but if you're gonna win,
you gotta be in the right place
you gotta be willing,
to go the distance
and if you ain't the one,
you ain't the one
last night i walked cold-wind streets of san francisco
and took the bus down to the shore
the moonlight was beautiful on the breakers
i've never seen it this way before
last night i wanted to tell you
that i'd just started to feel it, that lonesome feeling
i'm feeling a feeling,
and it's a good thing, good thing
in the "great american night" i decided where my home is
and it sure ain't where my old-town is
you said it all on the long distance phone
when you said, "baby, when are you coming home?!" (oooxx)
i'm feeling a feeling, and it's a good thing, good thing
look out the window, i'm a hundred feet high...
1010
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12. |
The Sicilian Train Blues
03:53
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i like
riding on these trains
and i like
thinking of your face
rolling hills
and your face
is all i see
riding on these trains
sicilia
sicilia by train
long dark tunnels
i can't see
in the darkness
you come to(with) me
the tunnel ends
in bright blue sky
you take my hand
as tears fill my eyes
sicilia
sicilia by train
i like
thinking of your skin
i like
remembering the feeling
sicilia
sicilia by train
i like riding on these trains
and i like
thinking of your face
sicilia
sicilia by train
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13. |
bo-nus track
06:42
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Roger Manning New York, New York
The first Roger Manning album was released by California punk recording label SST (Black Flag, Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr.). I toured the US and occasionally bits of Europe for over 10 years performing wordy-solo-rock accompanied by bass-heavy amplified 'acoustic' guitar. There's been a bit of re-emergence since 2007 and the album release in December 2014. ... more
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