Kicking Against the Pricks Lyrics

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Muddy Water

(J. Bundrick)

Mary, grab the baby, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back the land
The old-frame house, she can't take-a one more beating
Ain't no use to stay and make a stand

Well the morning light shows water in the valley
Daddy's grave just went below the line
Things to say, you just can't take em with ya
This flood will swallow all you've left behind

Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone

Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home
The road is gone, there's just one way to leave here
Turn my back on what I've left below
Shifting land, broken farms around me
Muddy water's changing all I know

It's hard to say just what I'm losing
Ain't never felt so all alone

Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water taking back my home

Won't be back to start all over
Cause what I felt before is gone

Mary, take the child, the river's rising
Muddy water's changing all I know
Muddy water's changing all I know
Lord, this muddy water is taking back my home

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I'm Gonna Kill That Woman

(J.L. Hooker)

Yeah, my baby left me this morning
And I don't care now, I don't care what the people say

Yeah, I did everything that I could, everything I could,
Lord knows I did everything I could
I tried to satisfy her worried mind, that's what I did

You know she was nothing but trouble, trouble
She keep me worried all the time
God knows her movements are killing me

Yeah, my baby stayed out all night long, all night long
She keep me worried all the time

Yeah, I lay down last night I was thinking
Must I kill that woman? Must I kill that woman?
Oh Lord I get down on my knees
They tell me God forgivin' everything you do
But I don't care what the people say
I'm gonna kill that woman,
I'm gonna kill that woman, God knows
I'm gonna get down on my knees

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Sleeping Analeah

(Newbury, Folger)

Yesterday the sun was shining but you're finding the sun it
Don't shine all the time
A winter day suddenly came your way
And you ran into your mind

Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
Do you think you're ready for me?

Oh and yesterday is gone forever and ever, never
To be again
You looked for the sunshine, that brought warmth to your mind
But find only rain

Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
No, you're not ready for me

But when yesterday becomes a memory, a memory
That we uncovered in time
If you still remember that cold September
I reigned in your mind

Sleeping Analeah, Weeping Analeah
Then you'd be ready for me

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Long Black Veil

(D. Del, M. Wilkins)

She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me

Ten years ago, on a cold dark night
Someone was killed 'neath the Town Hall light
There were few at the scene, but they all agreed
That the slayer who ran looked a lot like me

The judge he said: Son, what is your alibi
If you were somewhere else, then you won't have to die
But I spoke not a word though it meant my life
For I'd been in the arms of my best friends wife

Now the scaffold is high and eternity is near
She stood in the crowd but shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold winds moan
In a long black veil she cries on my bones

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Hey Joe

(W. Roberts)

Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?
Hey Joe, where you going with that gun in your hand?
I'm gonna shoot my baby, I caught her messin round with another man

Hey Joe, I heard you shot your baby down
Hey Joe, I heard you shot your baby down
Yes I did I shot her, I went and put her in the ground

Hey Joe, where you gonna run to now?
Hey Joe, where you gonna run to now?
I'm heading way down South where I can be free
I'm heading Mexico way, no hangman's about to put a leash around me

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The Singer

(Cash, Daniels)

As I walk these narrow streets
Where a million passin feet have trod before me
With my guitar in my hand
Suddenly I realize nobody knows me

Where yesterday the multitude
Screamed and cried my name out for a song
Today the streets are empty
And the crowds have all gone home

I pass a million houses
But there is no place that I belong
All I knew to give you
Was song after song after song

All the truths I tried to tell you
Were as distant to you as the moon
Born 200 years too late
And 200 years too soon

I'm a child of this age
Locked into the pages of your book
And when I am but dust and clay
And all the children stop to take a look

Will they marvel at the miracles I did perform
And the heights I did aspire
Or will they tear out the pages of the book
To light a fire

With the rain on my face
There is no place that I belong
Did you forget this fucking singer so soon?
And did you forget my song?

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All Tomorrow's Parties

(L. Reed)

And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
A hand-me-down dress from who knows where
To all tomorrow's parties

And where will she go and what shall she do
When midnight comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's gown
And cry behind the door

And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
Why silks and plumes of yesterday's gowns
To all tomorrow's parties

And what shall she do with Thursday's rags
When Monday comes around
She'll turn once more to Sunday's clown
And cry behind the door

And what costume shall the poor girl wear
To all tomorrow's parties
For Thursday's child is Sunday's clown
For whom none will go mourning

A blackened shroud, a hand-me-down gown
Of rags and silks, a costume
Fit for one who sits and cries
For all tomorrow's parties

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By The Time I Get To Phoenix

(J. Webb)

By the time I get to Phoenix, she'll be rising
And she'll find that note that I left hanging on the door
And she'll laugh when she reads the part
That says: "I'm leaving"
Cause I've left that girl so many times before

And by the time I get to Albuquerque, she'll be working
And she'll take off time just to give me a call
And she'll hear that phone keep right on ringing and ringing
On the wall, yeah oh, that's all

And by the time I make Oklahoma, she'll be sleeping
She'll turn softly in her sleep and call my name out low
And then she'll cry just to think that I'd really leave her, I left her
But time after time after time I tried to tell her so
But she just didn't know That I would really go
That I would really go

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The Hammer Song

(A. Harvey)

Oh please don't send me out
Said the man with the hammer, hammering the anvil
I been walking on a road of rocks
And I keep on hammering, keep on hammering, keep on hammering,
Hammering the anvil

Don't let the sun go down
Said the man with the fire, firing the furnace
I been buried in the snow
And I keep on firing, keep on firing, keep on firing,
Firing the furnace

Oh don't talk to me
Said the man with the chisel, chiseling the surface
I been sleeping far too long
And I keep on chiseling, keep on chiseling, keep on chiseling,
Chiseling the surface

I don't know what you mean
Said the man with the shovel, shoveling the ashes
I been digging in the frozen ground
And I keep on shoveling, keep on shoveling, keep on shoveling,
Shoveling the ashes

Shoveling the ashes
Chiseling the surface
Firing the furnace
Hammering the anvil

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Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart

(Greenaway, Cooke)

Something's gotten hold of my heart
Keeping my soul and my senses apart
Something's gotten into my life
Cutting its way through my dreams like a knife
Turning me up and turning me down
Making me smile and making me frown

In a world that was small
I once lived in a time there was peace with no trouble at all
But then you came my way
And a feeling unknown shook my heart, made me want you to stay
All of my nights and all of my days

I gotta tell you now
Something's gotten hold of my hand
Dragging my soul to a beautiful land
Something has invaded my nights
Painting my sleep with a colour so bright
Changing the grey and changing the blue
Scarlet for me and scarlet for you

I've got to know if this is the real thing
I've got to know what's making my heart sing
You smile and I am lost for a lifetime
Each minute spent with you is the right time
Every hour, every day
You touch me and my mind goes astray

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Jesus Met The Woman At The Well

(Traditional, Arr. The Alabama Singers)

Jesus met the woman at the well
Jesus met the woman at the well
And he told her, everything that she'd done, that she'd done

And he said, woman, look-a here woman,
Tell me where is your husband?
She said whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't have one

He said, woman, look-a here woman,
They tell me you have five husbands
And that man you have now sure ain't one

She went running, crying, God help me
She said whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, you must be the prophet
Because you told me everything that I've done

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The Carnival Is Over

(T. Springfield, F. Farian)

Say goodbye, my one true lover
And we'll steal a lover's song
How it breaks my heart to leave you
Now the carnival has gone

Oh my love, the dawn is breaking
And my tears are falling rain
For the carnival is over
We may never meet again

Like a drum my heart was beating
And your kiss was sweet as wine
But the joys of love are fleeting
For Pierrot and Columbine

Now the cloak of night is falling
This will be our last goodbye
Though the carnival is over
I will love you till I die

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Running Scared

(Orbison, Melson)

Just running scared, each place we go
So afraid, that he might show

Yeah, running scared, what would I do
If he came back and wanted you?

Just running scared, feeling low
Running scared that you love him so

Just running scared, afraid to lose
If he came back, which one would you choose?

And then all at once, he was standing there
So sure of himself, his head in the air
While my heart was breaking, which one would it be?
Then you turned round and walked right out on me

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Black Betty

(Leadbelly)
A
traditional version is also available.

Look-a look-a yonder (3x)
Well the sun done gone

The captain can't hold her (3x)
The way I do now

Ada got a gold mine (3x)
Way above her knees

The shiv (?) is golden (3x)
Above her knees

Look-a look-a yonder (3x)
Well the sun done gone

Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty had a baby, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was crazy, bam-e-lam (2x)
Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Oh, Betty Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty had a baby, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was crazy, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty didn't mind, bam-e-lam (2x)
Damn thing was blind, bam-e-lam (2x)
Wohoh, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Black Betty, Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)
Jump steady Black Betty, bam-e-lam (2x)

That Monday, I was arrested
Tuesday, I locked up in jail
Wednesday baby, my trial's tested
On Thursday, nobody could blow my bail

Yes, I'm almost done (3x)
And I ain't gonna yell against no bells

On Monday, baby I went a-walking
Tuesday, I .... asked to go
On Wednesday I sat down a-talking
On Thursday she hock all a my clothes

Yes, I'm almost done (3x)
And I ain't gonna .... no more

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