1. |
Whose World Is This
04:22
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four winds, seven seas
relative humanities
everywhere I look I see
some one looking back at me
nation states and border lines
divided states of mind
politics comes to blows
and everybody wants to know
whose world is this?
First World riding high
Second World standing by
Third World under fire
funny how we all conspire
we don't know 'cause we can't see
how such a way could come to be
riding on a spinning wheel
soon enough will be revealed
whose world is this?
what kind of world will our children receive
after all is said and done?
what kind of creed have we come to believe
that they may never receive one?
what kind of world will our children receive
after all is said and done?
what kind of creed must we come to believe
if they are ever to receive one?
four winds, seven seas
relative humanities
everywhere I look I see
some one looking back at me
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2. |
Take Our Culture Back
03:24
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let’s take our culture back
let’s take our culture back
get the monkey off of your back
and take our culture back
we’ve been here for a million years
music fillin’ up the people’s ears
and we always sang our own song
until the music business came along
now, I don’t know, I could be wrong
but I ain’t about to just tag along
behind somebody with a bankroll hangin’ out
tellin’ me what I can sing about
they got the radio, they got the TV screen
they got the great muddy waters of the main stream
with a dollar bill hangin’ on to every word
you’re never gonna get your message heard
but some little buddy with an extra buck
can buy a transmitter and try their luck
pirate airwaves democracy
that seems like a good idea to me
Hollywood spectacle and promenade
think of all that money just waitin’ to be made
an all you gotta do is go
and you’ll be sittin’ up pretty on gangster’s row
well, it ain’t smart to be misled
by some Beavis and Butthead
you can have your hip Seattle slacker
just give me a good computer hacker
you gotta get inside to break it out
you gotta be outside to know what I’m talkin’ about
two heads and a million eyes
and we can cut this thing right down to size
now, culture is a weaponry
in all our great humanity
and survival is a counter attack
so let’s take our culture back
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3. |
Righteous
04:52
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here's a little song that you might get along with
all about a natural seed
growin' wild by the side of the roadway
its nature's wonderful weed
been around so long it's hard to tell
why anyone would think its new
love it or hate it, however you relate it
I'll leave that up to you
(chorus)
isn't that righteous
isn't that good enough
ain't that just the way it oughtta be
isn't that righteous
isn't that good enough
righteous is good enough for me
history's locked in a cardboard box
and it's hard to take a look
with side-track frills and fantasies
all written all over the book
everybody tells you what to think
and they've got their reasons why
you gotta pick reality up by the scruff of the neck
and look it right in the eye
the same people that are spreadin' the fear
are the same people that scare me the most
some of 'em look like they'd just as soon
like to hang you from a lamp post
they talk about what it does to your brain
well I just have to react
'cause Hitler never touched the stuff
and that's an actual fact
George Washington was the father of our country
and he had a hemp plantation
Betsy Ross used it to make the flag
that flew above the baby nation
they wrote their declarations on paper
from that same hemp fiber press
I don't know what they smoked when they were takin' a break
but I got a pretty good guess
it'll calm you down when you're too up tight
and it just might make you smile
use the seed oil in your engine
it'll lubricate the miles
glaucoma and chemotherapy
they say it smoothes out the track
so next time you meet a cancer patient
ask 'em what they think about that
I don’t know why some people get so upset
when you say to legalize it
they'd rather build more jails, arrest more people
and spread more crazy lies, it's
like talkin' to a brick wall
you know they just don't get the facts
I think they oughtta try a little of that Betsy Ross
it just might help 'em relax
so I'll be on my way now
guess I've taken just about enough of your time
I know there's a lot of people out there
just don't like my state of mind
but I got mine and you got yours
we give what we can take
so next time I need a breather
I'll might just take a little smoke break
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4. |
Stranger In Me
05:29
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I took a bus to Broadway to see the street lights shine
the rustle of the windy breeze and the shadows in my mind
feelin' like a stranger in my own home town
I knotted up my collar and I walked it around
oh stranger can't you see
there's a stranger in me
open up the door
don't be a stranger anymore
lately I been thinkin' about the holes inside of me
and what it takes to fill 'em up and keep 'em company
everybody needs to know the difference it can make
but such a stubborn disposition is a hard one to break
last time I saw your face you were turning it away
my mouth was empty, there was nothing I could say
with you away in your world and me away in mine
we coulda crossed it over but we never took the time
standin' at the crossroads, whichever way you go
some one will be waiting, maybe some one you should know
everybody is a stranger here, we're wrapped in our disguise
reflecting faces from the mirror of our eyes
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5. |
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my grandfather's hands were so high strung
just like that old German wall clock I saw when I was young
and I remember looking up from the place where I would stand
at the shiny bright silver dollar in my grandfather's hand
he was the first generation in the City By the Bay
raised up on the hard work and judgement day
and about the old country little much was said
you gotta leave it all behind sometimes if you want to get ahead
then came the Great War, America was fighting over seas
and his own son, my father, in the skies over Germany
back home you had to hide your ancestral seeds
you had to pledge allegiance to the shiny bright creed
you had to prove yourself over and over again
his first wife went crazy from the visions that she saw
his second wife was stronger, we called her Grandma
and maybe times were better then, and maybe they were best
he always drove a brand new car to prove of his success
and he held on to the dream when even it was jaded
and he wrapped himself around it till all his feeling's faded
he never gave it up, even when it disappeared in smoke
and in a last brittle moment it broke
we never talked about the old folks much when I was young
it was pretty much a mystery for all that we'd become
but I'll always remember though I may not fully understand
the shiny bright silver dollar in my grandfather's hand
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6. |
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the car’s gassed up and I'm ready to roll
I got one eye open for the highway patrol
I got the other eye open for the freeway sign
300 miles and I’m makin’ good time
my stomach’s growlin’ but my head’s been fed
I'm goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
tape deck’s blowin’ out a rattlin' sound
in a sympathetic rhythm to the wheel-go-round
sports cars eat me up half-alive
this thing don’t do more than 55
but I can sleep in the back, it’s a roadside bed
I'm goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
everybody needs a little break sometimes
life gets too precise
put a little twist in the old straight line
and take some strange advise
rollin' into town I'm all eyes and ears
look at all those people I ain’t seen in years
tripped out hipsters, rag and bone
young neophitic tie dye, cellular telephone
Sister Salina and her Uncle Fred
they're goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
there's 40 thousand people in a great big bowl
they're all rockin' to the rhythm of the roll
some are fallin' in love, some are countin' their money
some are spinnin' in circles till their eyes get funny
ain't it just about the way they said
I'm goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
goin' into the parkin' lot I might get lost
best place in the world to get your wires crossed
reality shatters when you leap and shout
some people go in and they never come out
ain't never been the same since my senses fled
goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
everybody needs a little break sometimes
life gets too precise
put a little twist in the old straight line
and take some strange advise
now you can take my work week and throw it away
I’ll put a penny in a parkin’ meter any day
hang out the phone bill and let it fade
landlord’s gonna have to wait to get paid
I ain’t got no use for your overhead
I'm goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
my stomach’s growlin’ but my head’s been fed
I'm goin’ down to Eugene to see the Grateful Dead
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7. |
Sound Of A Guitar
03:15
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all these years, I still don’t know
crossroads standing wherever you go
my maps of astronomy, I steer by the stars
the humming of the universe, the sound of a guitar
I was raised in a box of artificial life
too young for wisdom, too scared to face the knife
I remember the first time the walls began to bend
it was only a sound but it was my best friend
somebody had to take the chance to roll the magic dice
to peek behind the curtains of impossible paradise
no one knew the danger, we could never see that far
all we knew was unknown but the sound of a guitar
coming of age in the 1960’s
there were no limits that we could not assault
danger and euphoria, the genie in the bottle
seemed like the whole world was living on an earthquake fault
30 years later and the bottle gets broken
ceremony of the word is spoken
you are the genie, I am the genie
and the genie is us
time passes slowly as the cycle unwinds
and some people go and leave the others behind
goodbye to a lover, goodbye to a friend
farewell to a journey when it comes to an end
the news came early on a sad summer’s day
and we cried in our laughter as they laid him away
and we danced to an orchestra of shimmering stars
and all the world was music and the sound of a guitar
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8. |
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9. |
Right To Be Wrong
04:05
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its fun to be a ganster when you're a kid
just think about what Al Capone did
all that fast life, guns and money
shootin' people down 'cause they look at you funny
like a big shot way high up on a stump
you can snap your fingers and watch everybody jump
it's a power dream sometimes comes true
'till you meet somebody's got more power than you do
it feels good to be bad when its right to be wrong
and a life sentence don't seem so long
its a hard world, concrete and steel
and it' hard to know just how you feel
when every other hero on the movie screen
is an action man with a killing machine
you see the mighty muscles flex and flaunt
seems like they get almost anything they want
politicians in plain criminal view
and if they can do it why not you
it's a childhood world of walled-off yards
metal detectors and armed guards
cops patrolling the hamburger stand
seems like almost everybody's got a gun in their hand
you come rollin' up in your rap machine
adrenalin pumpin' the excitable scene
you can feel the action, you're catchin' the buzz
you gotta make your move before somebody else does
you get caught struttin' down that criminal line
they gonna put you away for a long time
now why'd you want to go and let them lock you down
you know it's the biggest business around
they don't care about how you rehabilitate
you're just a cash-flow, like real estate
three strikes you're out, that's what they say
somebody's gonna get rich while you whither away
when I was a kid I was real dumb
I had no idea how a puppet got strung
I thought I had my own point to prove
I didn't know there was somebody makin' me move
now after all those years apart
now it's time for the puppet to start to get smart
put down that pipe and pick up your brain
we're gonna have to re-invent the rules to this tired old game
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10. |
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it was April 19th, I remember it still
when the bomb went off and all the people were killed
in Oklahoma City in the early mornin’
gone without a warnin’
some short time later and they had their man
he was a right wing with a military plan
a Gulf War veteran come to call
he gave his name, rank, and serial number, and that was all
and the big mouth says “not me, oh no
I’m only talkin’ on the radio”
when he was in high school he learned to play with guns
surfin’ on the internet just for fun
he found some people that he’d like to know
and the chip on his shoulder started to grow
he joined the army in ‘88
he got a bronze star in Kuwait
he read The Turner Diaries when his time was free
and the chip on his shoulder got an ideology
and the big mouth says “not me, oh no
I’m only talkin’ on the radio”
back home in stateside in ‘93
he found organized hatred was the place to be
and the rage that had no focus before
now joined up in the so-called patriot’s war
with a crazed mythological state of mind
Jewish conspiracies and Armageddon times
he swore an oath with a solemn look
and he built himself a bomb just like it said in the book
and the big mouth says “not me, oh no
I’m only talkin’ on the radio”
now I don’t know, I ain’t all that smart
but I think I can see when things are startin’ to come apart
and everybody’s callin’ everybody else names
and there’s a real mean streak in the game
and the radio talks out a constant noise
with a backroom club of good old boys
Oliver North and G. Gordon Liddy
you can hear ‘em all the way to Oklahoma City
it’s like hatred’s climbed out from under its rock
it’s got a radio show and it’s learned how to talk
and talk ain’t nothin’, like the big mouth said
until a hundred and sixty eight people are dead
and the big mouth says “not me, oh no
I’m only talkin’ on the radio”
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11. |
Puritan Seeds
06:20
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a thousand years of darkness fell upon the human race
supernatural architects with a shadowy face
put the devil in the ground and the watcher in the sky
the eternal paranoia of an over-hanging eye
when they first came to this continent it was foreign to their eyes
so they peopled it with demons that they could recognize
and they killed as many of them as their reason would allow
they say it's all over but I think about it now
fear is such a powerful thing
you can make almost anyone do anything
there’s a ghost in the heartland beating on a little tin drum
to resurrect the Inquisition when the time comes
and in the corridors of power where the politicians play
there’s invisible fingers in the modelling clay
see the strange man calling for the righteous to rise
see the armies of a god with blood in his eyes
a doctor to the clinic on his way to face the day
passed the lines of danger where they kneel to pray
and no one saw the gunman ready to attack
until the angel of no mercy shot the doctor in the back
fear is such a powerful thing
you can make almost anyone do anything
I demand a better future, much more beautiful by far
with nothing in between us and the nature that we are
tear away this skin of shame that ties us to the rack
I demand a better future and I will never go back
love is such a powerful thing
you can make almost anyone do anything
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12. |
Tina
03:38
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hands so gentle, eyes so wise
a woman I loved beneath the wild western skies
way out in Duck Valley where the high winds fly
a woman I touched and was taken
and somewhere a wild horse wakens
how I remember the life we made
the eyes of society so afraid
that we might see behind the darkened shade
secrets supposed to be hidden
and somewhere a wild horse listens
and she smiles so reassuringly
across the distant visions of my memory
"you have the eyes, my friend, you can surely see,
don't let me down"
and she smiles, eternity expanding in her hand
sunrise, moonrise, grains of sand
"comes a time, my friend, we all must make a stand,
don't let me down"
Tina, pretty woman, indigina red
unraveling confusion's heavy thread
entering and leaving, the living and the dead
spirit weaver, your love has spoken
and somewhere a wild horse will not be broken
somewhere a wild horse will not be broken
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13. |
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it's raining outside and the wind blows, oh what a watery squall
rainwater blow through my windows and in through the cracks in the wall
I been all night on the lookout, but I can't remember what for
I can't remember much of nothin' these days now that I'm missing you more
I had a good home but I lost it, there at the dock of the bay
I woke up one mornin' and the money was gone and the banker come
and took it away
left me outside on a limb, sleepin' on the neighborhood floor
thinkin' 'bout somewhere that I'd rather be now that I'm missing you more
the veteran plays the piano in varying tonal degrees
when the drink gets down to his fingers the music is there in the keys
and I feel like that in the meantime, when doing without is a chore
I'd rather be doing with some one like you now that I'm missing you more
the sound of a whistling song bird, a look in the eye of the moon
a spark in the heart of the underdog to laugh at the face of doom
having something worth having depends on what you're having it for
and I think I may've just found that out now that I'm missing you more
the lights are all on on the causeway, the city is a glittering sight
everybody's running in circles, some people never do get it right
me I'm gonna follow my senses and try for the unopened door
I think I know what I'm missing now that I'm missing you more
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14. |
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Beautiful Tear
there’s another one gone
another sad song
another great acre of rage
it’s a mystery tree
why’d this happen to me
a tragedy played on a musical stage
the innocents dance
take their love if by chance
with a glance at eternity’s treasure
planting a seed
with no warning or heed
it’s a weight that’s too heavy to measure
and all of the world’s water
could never rain such a beautiful tear
I held you in my arms last night
and this morning you’re no longer here
oh I stood in the rain
and I whispered your name
and I almost thought that you answered
but it was only a feeling
my dizzy head reeling
I never was much of a dancer
last time I saw you
you didn’t see me
your terminal eyes were unfocussed
like a shadow of smoke
when the bubble was broke
you’ve gone to the plague of the locusts
and all of the world’s water
could never rain such a beautiful tear
I held you in my arms last night
and this morning you’re no longer here
-------------
The Billion Dollar Jaw
I’ll tell you a story ‘bout a talk show host
who’s riding the airwaves from coast to coast
rakin’ in the money like a royal flush
always in a hurry, that’s why they call him Rush
he’s gotta make it to the mic, make it to the phone
he’s mister personality from flesh to bone
he’s got answer for anything you might want to know
and if he doesn’t well, hey, it’s his radio show
Rush Limbaugh, the billion dollar jaw
Rush Limbaugh, there oughtta be a law
his fans are legion I’ve heard it said
and they call themselves “Ditto Heads”
but a ditto is a repeat down to the bone
so a head with a ditto ain’t nothin’ but a clone
he pushes all the buttons that are feedin’ the fear
crawlin’ like a maggot in your inside ear
if brain cells were made out of papier mâché
he wouldn’t know what to do with ‘em anyway
Rush Limbaugh, the billion dollar jaw
Rush Limbaugh, there oughtta be a law
now, it’s a funny kind of cult-like radio thing
some middle-aged frat rat pumpin’ for the right wing
and all those cloned-out echoey heads
hangin’ on to every other word he said
take Mussolini, give him a microphone
let him loose with a show of his own
and like everybody’s favorite brown shirt clown
he’ll have you sidetrack laughin’ when the ax comes down
Rush Limbaugh, the billion dollar jaw
Rush Limbaugh, there oughtta be a law
some people really love him and they can’t get enough
buyin’ T-shirts, bumper stickers, all that stuff
he’s got a best seller on the New York Times
I guess some people just don’t have a lot on their minds
now he’s a household word, a household name
just like the hair in my bathroom drain
like some kind of weird radio lobotomy
but I can tell you right now he ain’t talkin’ for me
Rush Limbaugh, the billion dollar jaw
Rush Limbaugh, there oughtta be a law
I’m gonna shut my radio and send it south
I’m gonna get me some fly paper and put it over his mouth
I’m gonna disconnect his company store
so I don’t have to put up with that kind of stuff anymore
and I’m gonna find me a place where people have brains
and they don’t put up with these virulent strains
and I’m gonna open up, I’m gonna settle down
and if Rush shows up I’m gonna run him out of town
Rush Limbaugh, the billion dollar jaw
Rush Limbaugh, there oughtta be a law
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Jim Page Seattle, Washington
Named by Seattle Metropolitan Magazine as “One Of The 50 Most Influential Musicians In Seattle History.” Originally from California Page has called Seattle and the Pacific Northwest “home” since 1971. Songs covered by The Doobie Brothers, Christy Moore, Dick Gaughan, Michael Hedges, and Roy Bailey. Utah Phillips: “If you’re ever going to get the message, this is the messenger to get it from.” ... more
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