1. |
Blue Ridge Blues
06:35
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A red dirt road and a smoky sky,
Mountain’s blue and so am I,
Walkin’ along with nowhere to go--
Well I don’t need nowhere to go,
'Cause I don’t care if the cold winds blow,
And I got on my walkin’ shoes,
And I got me the Blue Ridge blues.
Daddy left home when Mama died,
Back in the Winter of ’35.
Got him a job as a whisky man,
Sellin’ that whiskey anywhere he can.
Well I don’t need no place to stay,
‘Cause I don’t care if the sky turns gray.
And I got on my walkin’ shoes,
And I got me the Blue Ridge blues.
I had a girl with long brown hair,
Cool gray eyes and a cold gray stare.
She left town when she got the news,
I was runnin’ ‘round with her sister too.
Well I don’t need nowhere to go,
‘Cause I don’t care if the cold winds blow,
And I don’t need no place to stay,
‘Cause I don’t care if the sky turns gray.
And I got on my walkin’ shoes,
And I got me the Blue Ridge blues.
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2. |
River
06:06
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River runnin’ deep and wide
I’m walkin’ by the river side
Talkin’ to myself because of you.
Well your kisses say you’re tired of me
Listen to the wind whisper in the trees
The willows say it’s time to move along.
Well there’s faces in the river callin’ to me
Ripple in the river on their way to the sea.
Join us as we roll along
Sing with us our siren song
To the sea, to the sea, to the sea
Well now, sometimes a life takes a wrong direction
And the soul can’t seem to turn it around
I never wanted no false affection
Now the deep sweet river keeps pullin’ me down.
River runnin’ wild and deep
My secrets in the river sleep
Rollin’ through the fog and mornin’ dew
And I’m thinkin’ how I courted you
Married you and buried you
And thinkin’ that I could be to blame.
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3. |
One Eyed Jack
05:11
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Well I’m a one eyed jack on the midnight train
Watchin’ out the windows at the pourin’ rain
Leavin’ Baton Rouge at the dark of the moon
Goin’ nowhere and I’ll be there soon.
Well now in every town I see the same old faces
Do the same things in the same old places
Blackjack, whiskey shots, the queen of hearts
Gold, smoke, diamonds
And another game starts.
The longer I ride
Through the dark and rain
The closer I’m drawn
To my final game
This journey’s toll
Is etched upon my face
A lifetime’s cost, a win or a loss
To me it’s the same.
Well now the preacher tells that me I’m goin’ to Hell
But I say to him a livin’ man can’t tell
But when The Devil deals the cards
And they’re all the same
It’s a dead man’s hand that wins the game.
Well I’m a one eyed jack on the midnight train
Talkin’ to the faces in the pourin’ rain
Well I’ve seen a few things rollin’ down these tracks
And now I don’t look forward and I don’t look back.
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4. |
Sweet By and By
04:36
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I got to go off for a few days honey
Got to go off to the western hills
Don’t you worry about me now honey
I’m just takin’ my shotgun
And checkin’ my stills.
Well I got to watch out for those government men
They shot at me once you know they’ll do it again
They don’t understand what a poor man’s got to do
To get by.
In the sweet by and by
The sweet by and by
We will all get together
In the sweet by and by.
In the sweet by and by
The sweet by and by
We shall all be together
In the sweet by and by.
Got to get this corn turned into whiskey
Got to get the whiskey to town
While I’m there I’ll see my little lady
I’ll go to church and pray for my soul
The preacher says whiskey’s for the Devil
But I’ve sold him a bottle or two.
Yeah that’s alright preacher man, just let me tell this one on my guitar--
Well my daddy made whiskey
and my grandpa too
If I didn’t make whiskey what the hell would I do
A man’s got to do the work that falls to his hand
And on
Judgement day
When I stand in front of the good lord
He’s going to say
Son
What did you do?
Did you sell that whiskey that I sent to you
Did you drink that whiskey that I meant for you?
In the sweet by and by
The sweet by and by
We will all get together
In the sweet by and by
In the sweet by and by
The sweet by and by
We shall all be together
In the sweet by and by.
In the sweet by and by
The sweet by and by
We shall all of us, brothers and sisters, get together
Just one more time again
In the sweet by and by.
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5. |
Statues/Recall the Days
08:17
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STATUES
Out of space, out of time
Out of rhythm, out of line. (repeat)
Find the thread that leads you back,
Back to where you lost your way.
Shining orb of bronze by day
Shining disk of steel at night
Shining pale translucent light
Over hills and valleys of a dream
Or some forgotten liquid stream
Or song
Of statues
Buried deep beneath the ground.
RECALL THE DAYS
I recall the days
When fortune lit my way
And every passing wave would carry me
To some forgotten shore
I wanted more.
Now I can’t remember
Where I slept
Yesterday
An alley or a cheap hotel
You know it doesn’t matter anyway.
I remember trips I’d made
Buddha sitting in the shade
Waiting by the Bodhi tree for God
How odd, how odd, how odd
To be waiting for God.
Now I’m walking down the street
I look in every eye I meet
And see we’ve all forgotten the same dreams
What we had we gave away
For something else
Some other day
We don’t even know we’ll ever see.
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6. |
You Tell Me
05:37
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You tell me I’m naïve
When I’m just covering for you
You tell me you’re gonna leave
When I’m just about to say that we’re through
I can’t believe what you’re saying
Even though I’ve heard it a thousand times before
Heard it in my dream
In my dream couldn’t stop it, how could I now?
Blue wave rolling in from the ocean
I feel it from the shore
I, I drift out to meet it, but it passes through me
As if I’m not here
Or there, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
Can you hear me, can you hear me?
Blue wind blowing in from the desert
I feel it from the oasis edge
I, I drift up to meet it
Walk the skies, the eagle flies,
Can you see me?
Can you see me, can you see me?
Can you see me, can you see me?
Can you see me, can you see me?
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7. |
Walk in the Sunshine
05:41
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When the right turns to left
And what’s left is the right
That’s when you can take a walk
From darkness to light.
When the inside is out
And the outside turns in
That’s when your trip from dark
To light can begin.
Well now!
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the morning sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the sun.
Well, it’s easy to be dark
Just as easy to be light
With the power of the sun you can shine, shine, shine
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the morning sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the sun.
Well, it’s easy to forget yourself
Just as easy to remember
That you’re one with the infinite
A clear message from the sender.
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine
Well, I’ll take a walk in the morning sunshine
I’ll take a walk in the sunshine.
I’ll take a walk, I’ll take a walk,
I’ll take a walk
Through the mornin’ sunshine.
I’ll take a walk, I’ll take a walk,
I’ll take a walk
In the mornin’ sunshine.
Let’s take a walk, honey, let’s take a walk,
Let’s take a walk
Through the mornin’ sunshine.
We’ll take a walk, we’ll take a walk,
We’ll take a walk
Through the mornin’ sunshine.
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Johnny Karmah Sarasota, Florida
Johnny Karmah was born in the Deep South around 1897. The exact place and date are unknown. He wrote and recorded "Tales of Desperate Men" over a period of 30 years while he worked as a "drummer," a traveling whiskey salesman, in Depression-era North Georgia. He disappeared mysteriously in 1969 while attending the Woodstock festival and was never seen again. ... more
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