1. |
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On Black Friday at the Walmart I met Jesus
He had a special kind of sadness to his eyes
As people ripped each other into pieces
Over 40 inch TV’s and house supplies
I know the doctors all call me schizophrenic
My brain is broke what I see ain’t authentic
Like that devil laughing down in aisle 20
Black Friday Sun was shining like a penny
Through Walmart’s doors
And I lit a cigarette in the parking lot
Membered everything that I forgot
Sang a Tom Petty song real loud
Are you a father to each dollar
And a stranger to your son?
Hey eh eh when the day is done
I said, “Jesus you’re on sale in aisle seven.
You come with inflatable gates of heaven.
I hate to see you sad let’s get outta here man
Up on the hill I got a tent on a patch of sand
He said, “No one even looks up at the stars anymore
A billion lights hiding above this town
I feel like all them lost people would be alright
If they just soaked in a little starlight.
I said, “Amen” “I hear you friend”
And I lit a cigarette in the parking lot
Membered everything that I forgot
Sang a John Prine song real loud
Someone’s looking up to you
Don’t let that person down
Hey eh eh when the sun sets down
Up on this hill above Walmart
As all them shoppers fill their hearts with their shopping carts
Me and Jesus are hatching a plan
They say I’m this crazy guy
Cause I all I need’s right here inside
Hey eh eh when the day is done
Are you a father to each dollar
And a stranger to your son?
Hey eh eh when the day is done
Do do do do do do da loo loo
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2. |
Where the Good Buzz Goes
03:34
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He's walking alone down a strip mall road in Daytona
All he’s got to his name is his wallet and jeans and his phone
Straight up ahead he sees a 7/11
Two cold beers he’s back on the road
The telephone rings his
daughter’s on the line
Members the time he bought her
that yellow Slip n’ Slide
Thinks about his ex-wife
things were good for a while
Two cold beers he’s back on the road
He only knows
where the good buzz goes
Like milk to the baby
Turkey to gravy
Got a beer and a breeze
A hotdog with cheese
He only knows
where the good buzz goes
Dip in his lip
A glide in his stride
nothing to do
Gonna go play poker at the VFW
He’s pretty sure the moment
he went crazy
Is when he gunned
that Vietnamese family
They came outta nowhere on a mud path
Pulled that trigger couldn’t take it back
That night he held the bottle like a baby
Weeping by that Vietnamese family
Sometimes he goes to the grocery store
Just to feel that cart rolling on the floor
It makes him feel like a human being
Two cold beers he’s back on the road
He only knows
where the good buzz goes
Where that Florida sunshine
Drips red as wine
Out on the pier
No need to fear if you see
Private first class Joe Mcgee
Out on the pier
Please shake his hand if you see
Private first class Joe Mcgee
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3. |
Graduation Day
03:54
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We felt the cool touch of the aluminum chairs
Our graduation caps over our hair
The mysteries of being 18
The open road a blank page for dreams
We spent all summer by the reservoir
Making love making plans making sure
We’d never let our love fade away
We’d never let the night fade to day
The morning moon broke through
We watched it fade to blue
And I knew I’d always love you
When we took the corner by the lake too fast
I slammed the brakes we spun the water crashed
Like a stone we sank beneath the sun
It was rising like a thief on the horizon
Window smashed I somehow set you free
Can’t forget you looking down on me
You were rising in a stream of golden water
When the angel of death came I fought her
Morning moon broke through
You disappeared to blue
And I knew I’d always love you
By this lake for 60 years I’ve lived a ghost
You still won’t set me free won’t let me go
And all I see is our graduation day
The sunlight shining on your face
The morning moon broke through
And I danced with you
When I first knew I’d always love you
When I first knew I’d always love you
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4. |
Mary
04:14
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On a plaid couch in a pink house sits Mary
Hairy arms and a mole on her cheek
Beneath all that weight she carries
Is a little girl still dancing in the creek
That red bike in the barn
Her Grandma left her when she died
Swears one day she’ll go give it a ride
Mama’s always got some new man
Yeah It’s hard sometimes just to feel
Free
Free
Hmmm hmm hmm hmm mmm
When the whole house still reeks of him
The wall papered walls that dead deer
And it’s one more page
Mary’s writing down
How to let a devil disappear?
Now Mama’s got a new man
With the same look in his eyes
Whiskey in the kitchen
Mary’ll kill em if he tries this time
Yeah all Mary’s got is that story she’s been writing
The final chapter that she titled
Free
Free
Hmmm hmmm hmm hmmm hmmm
Was it way the her story ended
With the little girl riding away?
Was it the sun shining on that barn door
That sent her peddling that day?
Was it the scars that he left her?
Each one she turned into a page
Past that prison sign somewhere
in North Caroline
Mary’s riding down that hill
With 200 pages about breaking out a cages
Bout finding some goodwill
Bout being free
Free
Mary your free
Free
Mary your free
Hmm hmm hmm hmmm
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5. |
The Armadillo Song
01:25
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There's a dead armadillo on the road
a dead armadillo on the road
My brother nicknamed it Bobby Joe
that dead armadillo on the road
And I said, “Hey there bro
I bet you won't touch it with your toe
I bet you won't touch Bobby Joe
that dead armadillo on the road
My brother said don't be silly
I'll touch that little armadilly
so out came his big toe
and he put it right on Bobby joe
But then Bobby Joe jumped up
bit my brother in the butt
can't believe it jumped so high
that dead armadillo was alive
that dead armadillo was alive woo hoo
that dead armadillo was alive
my brother just ran and cried
that dead armadillo is alive
There was a dead armadillo on the road
was a dead armadillo in the road
but from the dead it rose
and now it's walking on home
from the dead it rose and now I’m just walking on home
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6. |
Yossi the Balloon Man
04:18
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Family photos on the door
Burger wrappers on the floor.
He worked Coney Island til midnight
Yossi the Balloon Man the Italian widows call em’
To his mother he was the cutest in the world
It’s one more Sunday afternoon
Another cocktail at Lou’s
Yossi wonders how they make the liquor green
His balloon animals get the laughs
A pink poodle a blue giraffe
It’s hard to hold onto what’s gone
When it’s gone hmm hmm
Only love will bear the weight of moving on
It’s the spring of 44
He’s a child of the war
Torn from the basement of his family’s home
To a concentration camp
With a body cold and cramped
Separated from his mother by the train tracks
Knock on the barracks door
Where a man covered with sores
Is smuggling him a hard boiled egg
Saying, “Happy Birthday little boy
Your mother wished it could’ve been a toy
Take this blanket for your legs”
And a little salt for your hard boiled egg.”
And he was gone hmmm
Only love’ll bear the weight of movin’ on
On that Coney Island bench
where old hotdogs kick a stench
Yossi listens to the ocean’s lullaby
a pink poodle a butterfly
Pretty soon it’s lunchtime
by his heart’s a hard boiled egg
The high rollers in this town
They just see an old clown
As the ferris wheel goes round and round
While Yossi’s in his mind beneath an Auschwitz sky
Imagining his mother boiling water
With nothing to her name but her undying love
In the Atlantic wind he imagines her above she is saying
“Happy birthday my son you know you’ll always be my little one
Take this blanket for your legs and a little salt for your hard boiled egg
And when I’m gone know that love’ll bear the weight of moving on
Family photos on the door
Burger wrappers on the floor.
He worked Coney Island til midnight
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7. |
Big Old Beard
02:53
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Yeah I got a big old beard
I got a big old beard
Been growing it out for 104 years
My great grandkids use it as a slide
Great grandkids use it as a slide
Out of the kitchen window they ride
Yeah it’s growing all around my house
Growing all around my house
Down in the garden near that crazy mouse
I bet it’s bigger than thirty big pigs
Bigger than thirty big pigs
I can play it like a fiddle and do the Irish jig
Hot cakes on the griddle
With syrup in the middle
Ain’t this a beautiful life
My beard grew a little
In the middle of the fiddle
So says my beautiful wife
She’s only 109
Yeah I got a big old beard
I got a big old beard
Stay away from me with your garden shears
Over in my neighbors yard
There’s a big ole Saint Benard
Looking at me like I’ve lost my marbles
While underneath my pine tree
Just setting my mind free
Singing in the wind don’t live so seriously
Hot cakes on the griddle
With syrup in the middle
Ain’t this a beautiful life
My beard grew a little
In the middle of the fiddle
So says my beautiful wife
She’s only 109
Hot cakes on the griddle
With syrup in the middle
Ain’t this a beautiful life
My beard grew a little
In the middle of the fiddle
So says my beautiful wife
I love you my beautiful wife
I love you my beautiful wife
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John John Brown New Milford, Connecticut
No Depression: "The Road is one of those albums that suggests Brown’s talents have been stirring for some time. A supple and suggestive blend of astute Americana accompanied by a quiet, reflective glow, these ten songs offer up an air of quiet contemplation and wistful contentment." - Lee Zimmerman ... more
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