Memphis
Queen
(Joe Grushecky)
Johnny, Johnny lives by the railroad tracks
He
packed up his belongings in an old army sack
He left the port of Pittsburgh
bound for New Orleans
Down the muddy water on the mighty Memphis Queen
First
stop was Cincinnati loading iron ore by the ton
Johnny got restless and went
searching for some fun
He drank a little whiskey and raised a little hell
He
spent the night in lock-up down at the county jail
Memphis Queen, oh my Memphis
Wueen
The prettiest lady I've ever seen
Sailing across the water like a
silver stream
Down the Mississippi on the Memphis Queen
She took him to
St. Louie out in the great heartland
Johnny went searching for that brown-eyed
handsome man
He tracked down a girl named little Marie
Who said, "you
can find my daddy down in the penitentiary."
Memphis Queen, oh my Memphis
Queen
The prettiest lady I've ever seen
Sailing across the water like a
silver stream
Down the Mississippi on the Memphis Queen
Standing outside
the mansion with the guitars on the gate
Johnny paid the tour guide to view
the estate
He said a silent prayer for the boy who broke the rules
Lying
buried in the back yard beside the family pool
Memphis Queen oh my Memphis
Queen
Prettiest lady I've ever seen
Sailing across the water like a silver
stream
Down the Mississippi on the Memphis Queen
Memphis Queen, oh my Memphis
Queen
Unsafe
at any Speed
(Joe Grushecky, Bill Toms)
The telephone's ringing it's
1 am
A man says, "hey Freddy, are you ready for me?
Are you ready for
me tonight?
Because I've got some good things for you
Waiting for you- waiting
for you tonight"
So I put on my jacket and slide out the door
I drive
to meet Louie to make my big score
Unsafe at any speed the hunger I have to
feed
I just didn't heed my own advice
It's a slow slow death a matter of
life or breath
Unsafe at any speed unsafe at any speed
It's 2:05 I'm standing
in the rain
And I'm sweating it out is it ready for me tonight?
Here comes
that fat greasy Louie God I hate him so
But please let me know that it's ready
for me tonight
So I pay him my money and I pray I'm not seen
Some people
say it's romantic but I know it's just obscene
Unsafe at any speed the hunger
I have to feed
I just didn't heed my own advice
It's a slow slow death a
matter of life or breath
Unsafe at any speed unsafe at any speed
As I climb
into my car I swear this will be my very last deal
I don't like what I've
become and I hate the way I feel
There's a devil in my pocket there's a demon
here to pay
I just wind down my window and I throw it all away
Unsafe at
any speed the hunger I have to feed
I just didn't heed my own advice
It's
a slow slow death a matter of life or breath
Unsafe at any speed - unsafe at
any speed
The
Biddle Mine
(Joe Grushecky)
I took one last look around and kissed my
Tata good-bye
I'm gonna start a new life in the hills of Pennsylvania
In
the bottom of a steamer ship across the ocean I do ride
Me and my brand new
bride to the hills of Pennsylvania
The sun don't shine down in the Biddle Mine
And
that deep dark hole eats away your soul
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy, Lord
have mercy on me
Well it's two long years gone by
And I can hear my little
one cry
She's going hungry tonight in the hills of Pennsylvania
And I'm
so tired that I cannot stand
To wash the dirt off of my hands
It's a hard,
hard land - these hills of Pennsylvania
And the sun don't shine down in the
Biddle Mine
And they own your soul down at the company store
(Serbian) Lord
have mercy, Lord have mercy,
Lord have mercy on me
And the sun don't shine
down in the Biddle Mine
I don't want to work no more down in that deep dark
hole
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy,
Please have mercy on me
(Serbian)
Lord have mercy, Lord have mercy
Have mercy on me
How
Long
(Joe Grushecky)
I was sitting home at night watching my TV
There's
a man with a smile trying to make a fool of me
He said, "we just got caught
selling bombs to terrorists
But don't worry people, big daddy knows what's
best"
Meanwhile ... Jackie's working in a 7-11 store
He used to be
a factory man, but it ain't there no more
And I heard that market crashing,
well, that's all right with me
If you take away their money, it just might
set them free
I said "God, can you hear my plea?"
"God, I'm
gonna get down on my knees"
"God, this time let's get it right"
Another
dead end street. Another lonely night."
How long do they expect us to
take it?
How long? Is this as good as it gets?
How long do they expect us
to take it?
Another day older and deeper in debt
Angie got two kids and
another on the way
Her husband made a dope deal and they blew his ass away
She
made herself a promise never to regret
But there are things in life that just
are better to forget
She's living in the projects, taking what she can get
Waiting
for the postman and her monthly welfare check
She said, "oh no! I ain't
got no education"
"oh no! I can hardly read or write"
"oh
no! It's a no win situation
Another dirty deed, another lonely night"
How
long do they expect us to take it?
How long? Is this as good as it gets?
How
long do they expect us to take it?
Another day older and I'm deeper in debt
When
I get home from my job there's an angel waiting there
I shut off the lights
and then I climb the stairs
I try not to wake her when I get into the bed
She's
got the TV on and a blanket over her head
But suddenly she hears me she gets
up to say,
"honey are you home? Did you get all of your pay?
I said
"yea baby I guess we did all right
But there weren't that many people
down at the club tonight"
Then she gives me a look I never can resist
And
she holds me so tight and then we start to kiss
I said "God, can you hear
my pleas?"
"God, I get down on my knees"
"God, it took
so long to get it right
But there's no dead end for me and no more lonely nights"
How
long do they expect us to take it?
How long? Is this as good as it gets?
How
long do they expect us to take it?
Another day older and I'm deeper in debt
How
long?
Freedom's
Hall
(Joe Grushecky)
There's a fire that's burning on a dark and stormy
night
When we're not looking someone tries to
Turn out that light
And
there's a place where a child is hungry
You can hear his mother cry
When
the goon squads get out their guns
Another good man will die
Freedom, freedom.
Freedom
Do we answer the call one and all down to freedom's hall
Nicky
worked the mine for ten long years
Digging the coal out of the clay
Then
the company shut down - his wife got bored
And then she ran away
You can
see him on the street by St. Mary's
Standing in line for something to eat
He
sleeps in a box car down 'neath the tracks
Under Smithfield Street
Do we
listen to what they say
Or should we just blow them all away?
Do we answer
the call one and all down to freedom's hall
Freedom, freedom, freedom
Do
we answer the call one and all down to freedom's hall?
brother Jack he was
a good old boy
He wears his heart out on his sleeve
He'll tell you how he
lost everything
And how he was deceived
He sits outside the Golden Eagle
Drinking wine from a paper cup
He beat his head against the wall until
he just gave up
Is the call too great to resist
Or should we pretend they
don't exist?
Do we answer the call, one and all, down at freedom's hall?
Freedom,
freedom, freedom
Down at freedom's hall down at freedom's hall
Freedom,
talk about freedom, freedom, talk about freedom
Out
of My Head
(Joe Grushecky, Bill Toms)
You were only sixteen, so precious,
so fair
Girl, you looked so fine
And I kept my promise just like I said
I would
To get you to the church on time
And your momma was mad because
we were so young
But life's not over girl it's just begun
I'm gonna get
you back again. I'm gonna get you back again
Thirty days and thirty nights
what can a poor boy do?
Those city girls ain't got nothing on you
I'm from
the country down from the hills
Your love burns baby your love kills
I guess
my daddy raised a fool
I always thought we'd be together but you cut my heart
And
let it bleed
I love you baby and that's forever
You may not be the one I
want but you're still the one I need
Out of my head
I found a friend in
the bottle
I'm gonna drown in that cheap perfume
I can't see beyond the
walls of this hotel room
There's another girl to take your place
I don't
know her name I can't see her face
That midnight train will be leaving soon
I'm
gonna climb aboard and ride it right to the river
And lay right down and hide
beneath the reeds
And dream about my little farmer's daughter
I may not
be the one she wants
but I'm still the one she needs
Out of my head
Little
Marie
(Joe Grushecky, Jon Grushecky)
When I saw you, you set me on fire
in the summer sun
I knew you were the one I heard all the stories
About
the boys who were there before
But baby who keeps score
Of all the things
in life
And all the dreams that could be
Baby, baby is there room for me?
I'm
trying to meet you I don't know how to start
You're just a little girl breaking
a big man's heart
My little Marie
All my friends say that you're just too
young for me
And that I should let you be
But I don't care what they say
You
know I'm gonna get you anyway
Enough to do anything just to get to you
Baby,
baby am I getting through?
I'm dying to meet you I don't know how to start
You're
just a little girl breaking a big man's heart
My little Marie
I called you
up you're daddy said you were not home
Then he slammed the phone (how rude)
But
another day I'm gonna get my lucky break
And show you that I've got what it
takes
Ain't
Goin' Down
(Joe Grushecky)
I live down the end of easy street
Working
two jobs just to make ends meet
The police towed away my car
I tried to
leave didn't get too far
Ain't goin' down. I ain't goin' down
The bill collector
called me up
He said "listen boy time to pay up"
Ain't goin' down.
I ain't goin' down
I'm keeping quiet ain't got nothing to say
One day I'm
gonna blow 'em all away
It's two o'clock and I'm dead on my feet
It's a
slow death in the summer heat
Well I bust my back and I ripped my hands
(and
it hurts)
Working a job I could never stand
Ain't goin' down. I ain't goin'
down
Hey, you talking to me?
Rebel
Music
(Joe Grushecky, Art Nardini, Bill Toms, Joffo Simmons)
What ever
happened to that rebel music?
What ever happened to those angry boys?
I
remember when we were younger
We used to make such a frightful noise
Rebel
music
We were a hard living rock and roll playing band
We thought we had
the whole world
In the palm of our hands
When we walked into the room
Everybody
stopped and stared
We used to go where we wanted and do all that we dare
We
all got a little older
We all grew a little colder
What ever happened to
that rebel music?
What ever happened to those angry boys?
I remember when
we were younger
We used to make such a frightful noise
Rebel music
We
used to walk it like we talked it
We tried to reach for everything
But now
my old telecaster needs a new set of strings
Through all the blood sweat and
beers
For oh so many years
We burnt the candle until it all disappeared
It
was never just a pay day
We had to have it our way
What ever happened to
that rebel music?
What ever happened to those angry boys?
I remember when
we were younger
We used to make such a frightful noise
Rebel music
Daddy's
Little Angel
(Joe Grushecky)
Daddy always said "I want more for
you
Than I ever had
Study hard. Stay in school. Keep out of trouble
And
don't break the rules"
But I never heard a word he said
And all we
ever did was fight
But now when I come home there's somebody waiting
Someone
who changed my life
Sleep tight my little angel
Everything's going to be
all right
I'll be right here so don't you worry
Daddy's little angel is
sleeping tonight
Daddy's little angel is sleeping tonight
Daddy's little
angel ... Sshhhh | 
Rock
and Real 
|
