Lyrics

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Whatcha Doing

 

She’s out on the street standing on heels

She’s looking for adventure she’s looking for a deal

She’s another in a long line of girls from Texas

She’s looking for that road that leads to excess

I said hey whatcha doing 

I said hey whatcha doing

 

He’s got himself a car he’s got himself a gun

He’s somebody’s darling he’s somebody’s son 

But his eyes are on fire from all this madness about

He’s a badge of trouble ready to bust some heads out

I said hey whatcha doing

I said hey whatcha doing

Doing to me

 

Well you’re selling me lies you’re selling me hate

You keep me in line with all your monkey faith

I can’t believe all your laws I can’t believe all your money

Can’t believe how you make all this killing seem funny

I said hey whatcha doing

I said hey whatcha doing

Doing to me

 

Well one of these days one of these nights

I’m gonna make up my mind I’m gonna get it right

I’m going to shed this skin going back to the well

Gonna find a new heaven find a new hell

I said hey whatcha doing

I said hey whatcha doing

Doing to me

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High Stake Gambling Town

 

You got touchdowns and homeruns and instant replays

Quick stops and shopping malls and six lane highways

You got million dollar lotteries and no cut contracts

Health spas and doctors computers to get your facts

But you better win

When you lay your money down

Cause they don’t like losers 

In this high stake gambling town

 

You got rock stars and quarterbacks and Hollywood dreams

Cola’s and surfboards and chauffeured limousines

You got gold medal winners and five-minute meals

Candidates and comedians and Wall Street deals

But you better win

When you lay your money down

Cause they don’t like losers 

In this high stake gambling town

 

You got credit cards and videos and satellite TV

Dunk shots and lawyers and insurance companies

You got evangelists and stock cars and organized crime

Skin heads and deadheads and protest signs

But you better win

When you lay your money down

Cause they don’t like losers

In this high stake gambling town

 

You got headphones and blue jeans and miracle miles

Hotels and theme parks and newsmen that smile

You got hit songs and hit shows and horse racing bets

Hot tubs and playgirls and special effects

But you better win

When you lay your money down

Cause they don’t like losers

In this high stake gambling town

 

 

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Concrete Love

 

Hot sun shinning down

Lunch hour’s daily parade

I sit above this town

Construction that’s my trade

 

Pretty girls passing by

I see them come I see them go

When there’s one that catches my eye

I put my lips together and blow

 

She works the office across the way

I noticed her just last week

The way she moves is a game she plays

Sometimes she smiles at me

 

Come on baby give me a sign

You know what I’m thinking of

In this world of changing minds

I’ll give you some concrete love

 

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Need I Say More

 

Bum on the corner

He’s chewing on gum

Don’t care if you’re bright baby

Don’t care if you’re dumb

Don’t care if you stay

Don’t care if you go

Don’t care about your business baby

Or the people that you know

He don’t care about what’s wrong

He don’t care about what’s right

He’s just looking for something baby 

To make it through the night

Bars on the windows 

Locks on the door

Temperature is dropping baby 

Need I say more

 

We’re all going to die

Like it or not

You can keep the blindfold on gal

But you’ll still hear the shots

It can hit you when you’re sleeping

Hit you when you are awake

Cut you into a million pieces baby

Bury you at the bottom of the lake

You can run to the mountains

You can bow down and pray

But you’re only free now baby

As long as you pay

Refugees on the high seas

Bodies on the shore

Pig meat on the TV baby

Need I say more

 

Bum on the corner

Now he’s chewing on a rat

Don’t care if you’re sexy baby

Whether you’re skinny or fat

Don’t care about no boss man

No gossip magazines

Don’t care about no boyfriend baby

Or all his criminal little schemes

He ain’t looking for salvation

Ain’t asking you to think

He just wants a quarter baby 

He just wants a drink

Church bells tolling 

On the streets of the poor

Times are hard baby

Need I say more

 

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Ballad of the Rockabilly Trash

 

Walking down the street I’m a real gone cat

Snapping my fingers like a train on a track

Shaking a leg skipping a step

Singing a song running through my head

People stop and stare as I walk pass

Saying hey there goes that rockabilly trash

 

Well I got a girl and her name is Blue

I love her a lot with a love that’s true

But her daddy he’s a preacher man

And he don’t dig what he don’t understand

He puts me down with the Devil’s class

Says stay away from here you rockabilly trash

 

Driving down the road on a Friday night

Me and my girl just feeling alright

Big flashing cherry passes us by

Sheriff giving me that evil eye

Said son that’s a little to fast

I got you now you rockabilly trash

 

They brought me the courthouse they put me on trial

The judge and the jury looked on with a smile

The sheriff and the preacher said I was no good

A bad influence to the neighborhood

The judge said enough sentence is passed

Jail’s the place for this rockabilly trash

 

Well one of these days I’m going to be a star

Me and my girl in a Cadillac car

People going to come from miles around

To hear my voice and guitar sounds

And all those people who called me trash

Can come and kiss my rockabilly ass 

 

 

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Never Fell From Love The Easy Way

 

Skyscraper lights flashing through the night

Skipping on the street so high

Saxophone singing in a midnight breeze

Taxicabs flying by

Whoa…

What can I do what can I say

Whoa…

Never fell from love the easy way 

 

Faces in the window of an all night stand

Reflections on a last trick show

High heel boys clicking out their aim

Subway trains running below

Whoa…

What can I do what can I say

Whoa…

Never fell from love the easy way

 

Laughing with you talking with you

Baby tell me who was that ghost

Making love beneath angel wings

Didn’t you know I dreamed the most

Girl couldn’t you see

 

The morning rain trembles through the trees

Daylight sneaking up the block

On a park bench an old man sleeps

Footsteps still pounding my heart

Whoa…

What can I do what can I say

Whoa…

Never fell from love the easy way

 

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When Things Get Tough

 

I’m going back to New Orleans tomorrow

Going to get away from this town

I got some friends there I can depend on

I know they won’t let me down

When things get tough

When things get tough

 

Now some people they got a lot of nerve

Take advantage of people in need

But I’ve learn to lay off of those curves

Don’t do no good to do the freak

When things get tough

When things get tough

 

Now I don’t know where I met this girl

It must have been years ago

Now she ain’t afraid of the real world

Don’t hide her head beneath no pillow

When things get tough

When things get tough

 

Well I see these boys of fashion

You know the ones you think got it all

I just wonder who they think they’re kidding

Cause they’re always the first to fall

When things get tough

When things get tough

 

Now I hear that highway and it’s calling

Tonight I got a long way to go

Don’t see no use in all this stalling

It’s best to get back to the things you know

When things get tough

When things get tough

 

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Back Road Blues

 

Had a woman in New York one down in Tennessee

Had a woman in New York one down in Tennessee

One called me a Rebel the other called me a dam Yankee

 

Never needed nobody to tell me what to do

Never needed nobody to tell me what to do

Don’t care if he’s a king or some hobo passing through

 

If the river was whiskey you know I’d drink it dry

If the river was whiskey you know I’d drink it dry

If I had me some wings straight from this hell I’d fly

 

When it rains now baby are you afraid to get wet

When it rains now baby are you afraid to get wet

When I’m in trouble will my name you’ll forget

 

Skull and crossbones nightmares around my head

Skull and crossbones demons around my head

I’m dying with the living and I’m living with the dead

 

Well I’m going to the wall gonna to sing my song

Going to the wall gonna to sing my song

Well don’t wait for me baby I hear that wall is pretty long

 

Well the night is dark night is getting cold

Well the night is dark night is getting cold

Well just thank your lucky stars you’re not on this road

 

Had a woman in New York one down in Tennessee

Had a woman in New York one down in Tennessee

Well sometimes I wonder if they still remember me

 

 

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Tallahassee Baby

 

Well the truck’s on the highway the winds blowing high

I come in from the north under October skies

Oh Tallahassee baby it’s sure good to see you again

Oh Tallahassee baby my one and only dear sweet friend

 

Well I’ve been living on the run like a slave through the woods

Pushing this rig from Bangor to Hollywood

Oh Tallahassee baby you still doing the bump and grind

Oh Tallahassee baby girl it’s been a long long time

 

Well the last time I was with you we nearly got caught

Out behind the club in the parking lot

Your boss man with his threats your rich boy with his gun

It’s lucky I left my motor to run

 

Well I can see pretty clear nothing much has really changed

It’s still the same old crowd still the same cheating game

Oh Tallahassee baby they sure got a bag of tricks

Oh Tallahassee baby this world is like an oil slick

 

Well everyday I stop to catch the sunrise

Trying to get a grip on this life blowing by

Sometimes I remember back to Jackson Square

Me with my guitar and you dancing there

 

Well I hear voices calling I guess I better go

There’s so much to say so much we’ll never know

Oh Tallahassee baby it’s so hard to face the truth

Oh Tallahassee baby girl I’m still in love with you

Tallahassee baby… 

 

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Don’t Quit

 

It was four o’clock in the morning I couldn’t sleep no more

In fact I don’t think I ever got started

I was looking out the window at the city lights down below

I was feeling so lonesome and so broken hearted

I was thinking about some old friends and some old days

And all the years in between that have since gone by

I was thinking about the ocean and the Rocky Mountains

Sunsets and rainbows and the color of her eyes

She said baby don’t quit

She said baby don’t quit

 

I use to be one of those freaks you use to see out on the streets

You know the kind you turn away from and try not to pay no mind

I played my guitar down in the subway stations

And hope for some poor working man to throw me a dime

Well she looked like Louise Brooks from one of them old silent movies

I think it was the one where she gets beaten to death

But when her eyes caught mine down in that city of crime

I knew it was a day I could never forget

She said baby don’t quit

She said baby don’t quit

 

Well this world can be so rough this world can be so tough

For somebody who wants to try to do something about it

Cause nobody really wants to hear nobody really wants to care

She said boy sometimes you just got to shout it

We lived in an abandon apartment somewhere off Mott Street

I remember a hot summer and cold wintry nights

But somehow we kept each other warm we kept each other strong

Somehow we kept each other focused on the light

She said baby don’t quit

She said baby don’t quit

 

Well I’ve seen with my own eyes how a few city blocks

Can take the strongest of men and leave them broken and shattered

From those penthouse ladies to those poor boys on the Bowery

God know what any of us were really after

But I can still see the girls smoking in the rain

I can still hear Obie singing and Sugar blowing the blues

And I can still feel that cold wind cutting through my bones

The last time I’d seen her on the avenue

She said baby don’t quit

She said baby don’t quit

 

Now I always start to cough when that sun comes up

You know I got to quit these cigarettes before they kill me

And I got to quit all this drinking and chasing after these women

You know I’m not the young man I use to be 

But I’m still hanging in here still taking notes

Still not afraid to turn and face the fire

Cause I believe everyman every generation got to take a stand

Come hell or high water 

She said baby don’t quit

She said baby don’t quit…

 

 

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Say A Prayer

 

The asphalt’s burning out on the avenue

The girls are dancing the old soft shoe

You can see it coming you can see it go

The rents are up and morale is low

 

Oh baby hold me tight

Oh baby kiss me goodnight

May all our dreams come true

Say a prayer for me I’ll say a prayer for you

 

From the borders of Mexico to Canada

From these tall buildings to the haciendas

Your daddy worked hard and your momma was brave

Now they’re all buried down in that union grave

 

Oh baby hold me tight

Oh baby kiss me goodnight

May all our dreams come true

Say a prayer for me I’ll say a prayer for you

 

It’s a tough life no matter what they say

You do your best and you collect your pay

You read a book you wait for the clothes to dry

You watch with wonder as the years roll by

 

Oh baby hold me tight

Oh baby kiss me goodnight

May all our dreams come true

Say a prayer for me I’ll say a prayer for you

 

It’s funny I never thought I’d see the day

The man on the moon has nothing to say

The mountains are high and the valleys still low

I tell the kids it’s theirs to know

 

Oh baby hold me tight

Oh baby kiss me goodnight

May all our dreams come true

Say a prayer for me I’ll say a prayer for you

 

The asphalt’s burning out on the avenue

The girls are dancing the old soft shoe

 

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Gone To Mexico

 

Low riding Chevy smoking down the trail

Forbidden love out jumping bail

Painted sky desert dawn

It’s too late Papa she’s already gone

She’s gone to Mexico

Gone to Mexico

 

Old men walking down factory lane

Through the black smoke through the acid rain

Boys on the corner sipping the Thunderbird

Say hey boss man haven’t you heard

He’s gone to Mexico

Gone to Mexico

 

I knew this guy who lived on the road

He use to tell me about the days of old

But anyway he use to say to me

If you ain’t rich kid you’re better off free

 

Two lovers laying in the dark

Lighting candles in the temple of the heart

Somewhere north a chain is broken

In golden dreams the gods have spoken

They’ve gone to Mexico

Gone to Mexico

 

 

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Honey, Honey, Honey (How We Need Some Money)

 

Waking in the morning

Another day is dawning

Perking up with coffee

Flipping on the TV

Trouble in the government

Denials from the president

Honey, honey, honey

How we need some money

 

You’ve been out there working

I’ve been out there working

But we’re getting nowhere

Just getting poorer

Guess it’s time we face it 

We’ll never be rich kids

Honey, honey, honey

How we need some money

 

Well where did all the time go

Where did all our futures go

Seems like only yesterday

We were the ones that had it made

Now take a look at us

Driving around in buckets of rust

Honey, honey, honey

How we need some money

 

It’s getting late we better go

Off to work to make some dough

So we can pay our bills 

So we keep our bellies filled

Another day another night

What a way to spend a life

Honey, honey, honey

How we need some money

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Just Have To Go

 

You act like you’re busy

But I know that you’re dizzy

I can see the danger in your eyes

Someday I’ll regret it

Someday I’ll forget it

But now you know better than I

Your body receives me

But your face deceives me

Cause I know you’re not the clinging type

If tomorrow brings sorrow

Then a lover I’ll borrow

Steal it if it feels alright

 

There’s an ocean that waits 

For the fisherman’s bait

There’s a bastard that stands in the dark

There’s a dead man who fought it 

There’s another who saw it 

There’s another who fed it the spark

You learn what you know

I’ll see where it goes

And if I should ever receive

A basket of flowers

That brings back these hours

Then I will smile and believe

 

The tracks of the train

Lay rusting in the rain

Of a teardrop that never will fall

I speak it with heart 

As if I knew it by part

A name that nobody ever calls

You lie on your bed

As if you were dead

Until there’s a knock on the door

It’s a promise of love

You believe it because 

You’re not hearing anything more

 

I’m lost in a dream

I arrive with a scream

Of a child in a frozen nightmare

You’re standing at the door

Saying forever and more

I’m running but I’m getting nowhere

I paid for the worst

I followed my thirst 

And still somehow I came through

You threw me a card 

But it landed to hard

It shook me and showed me the fool

 

Now ladies and gentlemen

They gather as friends

It’s a small price to pay for a thrill

They talk of defeats

They talk of the streets

They talk of the next overkill

But the memory lingers

On the tips of my fingers

As I reach for another release

I see all these styles

I see all these smiles

But I just want some quiet and peace

 

So farewell my lovely

Farewell my sweet

Farewell and goodbye to you

On the corner of buildings

Life isn’t to thrilling

You say what you want it’s all true

And if tragedy loves it

Then liberty will sell it

But I will take comfort to know

That I need no more reasons

No crying or grieving

It’s just that I just have to go

 

 

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River Girl

 

I’ve been down the Mississippi

The Missouri and Ohio to

I’ve seen a lot of pretty women

But I’ve never seen the likes of you

 

Oh river girl

Standing on the shore

Don’t let this rolling river 

Roll me away no more

 

They say love makes a heart shine on

Like the stars above so high

Well that’s where mine be falling from

If you ever say goodbye

 

Oh river girl

Standing on the shore

Don’t let this rolling river

Roll me away no more