1. |
Blue Laws
04:40
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This town loves the sunrise
But for so long it’s been dark
If I could see what’s going on
I could get started
Living
In my hometown
You saw me running in here
With my shirttails hanging out
And since you put my face up
I’ve been down
So down
I’ve been down
You got the law on me
I guess on Sunday
You can’t be a debutant
Funny only when you’re down and out
Do you know what you want
And I know
What I want
I brought you water from the river
And silver from the bank
The red and blues are getting bigger
Tell me whom I should thank
Tell me who
No one can ring’em like you
I ain’t no greaser
And I ain’t no soc.
Some might tell you
I’m a little of both
Yeah, that’s right I’m black and white
And blue
I know you've done your research
Since this town got its start
Found someone before me
Left you with a broken heart
Tell me who
Who done you in
This town loves the sunset
If it will ever show
You keep it up any longer
I’m gonna go
Beyond
The crosses on the road
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2. |
McCunn's Blues
03:29
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I passed a hanging tree with a white dove cooing
I can hear her tell the preacher she don't know what she's doing
I passed a hanging tree and heard a white dove tell
Some things ain't meant to be and some things hit the shell
I crossed my laces I crossed my chest
I crossed my fingers when I crossed the river with no help
I crossed my fingers when I said fare thee well
I guess some things ain't meant to be and some things hit the shell
I had a good run I had it all planned
Funny when there ain't no money there ain't no empty hands
I thought I had it planned 'til it all went to hell
I guess some things ain't meant to be and some things hit the shell
You know I love you baby love you so much
Sometimes I say it's like a weight and I feel I'm getting crushed
I love you baby but where I'm bound I can't tell
I guess some things ain't meant to be and some things hit the shell
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3. |
Squatter
05:28
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In '71 I returned from Vietnam
With a couple of scars and a sling on my arm
My Daddy took me aside early one morn
And said, " Life don't begin only when you're born."
So I took a job laying that southbound track
Put away some money and I headed north
Where there was talk of some oil field
And a pipeline in '74
Local 942 was taking everyone they could
They stuck me in a warehouse where it was understood
The tools got you more sold back in town
And everything was easy when the pipe went around
And if you didn't like the way they cooked your steak
You could transfer to another camp
With so much money in one State
You think it will last but it can't
The smell in the air changed from green to black
When the oil flowed they gave me the axe
So I drifted further north looking for something else
And met a little girl at the Fox Roadhouse
She soon got tired of my lovelessness
She called me her walking wishing well
And I got tired of begging for her forgiveness
From taking every coin to the bottle
Some years later I found myself standing in a line
Filing for a homestead of some kind
I didn't like anything that I saw in their books
So I went out to get a better look
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4. |
Cold As Hell
04:21
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Hey, bartender, pour me whiskey
A double will do me well
Cause it's twice as cold as last night
And the music is half as loud as the church bells
It's cold, cold, cold as hell
I spent six months breaking the rocks in the mountains
Working for the man of Rothwell
I come down to the valley I thought was my home
Where I was told everyone has their own angel
I won't be giving you the good times or good time smiles
Or kisses between the bars of my cell
Don't expect I'll be here any longer
When I'm cold as hell
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5. |
Copperton
06:33
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In 1911, it was a squatter's land
To cross rivers we removed gold rings from our hands
Boots, bracelets and watches and jade filled crosses
Someone left theirs on and never knew they'd lost it
We came across Barrett on our way to Kennicott
He owned the land at the end of the rail just newly wrought
He made it a town site cause he did not like us squatters
Named it for a friend who'd sank beneath the waters
Won't you burry me in copper town
Where the trees never make a sound
And neither will I in my time
You'll only hear the sun under the weight of azurite skies
Won't you burry me
Down in Cordova they're having themselves a tea party
You can hear their work song all the way up to McCarthy
Where the holy rollers and dissidents make their living off Kennecott
Where little boys carry wooden guns and little girls wear Sabots
Where Heney stopped the Snoose Strike with a single case of whiskey
Placed at the end of the line it can keep a man busy
With all the lights and smiling faces it's like heaven on earth
But if you breathed too much ammonia you'd never come back to work
These days it's been so empty hardly a soul at all
Right down the middle of Main Street you could fire a cannonball
And I'll soon be the seventh victim of a man called Louis Hastings
He gunned down my friends in a town built on tailings
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6. |
Strings
02:39
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I been low in the valley, I been high up in the mountains
Been to that broken rock and drank from it's fountain
Watching people come and watching them go
If they break anymore strings they won't be coming home
Now don't you cry my love when you have my everything
Your love knocked the wind out of me and put it under my wings
I'll take you with me now where God only knows
When we break all our strings we won't be coming home
I know people here they know people there
Everyone must know someone somewhere
I'll put you in my hands if you'll make the mountain my stone
When I break all of my strings I won't be coming home
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7. |
Dry Creek
04:43
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I don't wear the fancy clothes like folks in the city
And I don't drink the dry wine but I've got dry creek
I work all day down at the mill and live on the banks
Where the trees all bow low giving their thanks
And on Sundays when everyone's at church
There's nothing I'd rather do
Then sit on my porch and play guitar
And watch the storm clouds gather anew
I saw her lonely eyes one night across the State Fair
And I could tell by the way she carried herself she was beyond compare
We danced through that August night and through the Harvest Moon
And I knew once I asked for her hand to dance I'd ask for the other soon
I may not have much money
Or a wealthy address
But will you be my love
Before love is all I have left
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8. |
Holin' Up
02:54
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If I had a penny I wouldn't have to pawn
If I had a copper head I'd know what side I'm on
I'd know what side I'm on, Lord
I'd know what side I'm on
I come off that mountain chasing a white mule
Ran into Mary and she played me for a fool
Played me for a fool, Lord
Played me for a fool
Gone is all that loveness gone is all that light
Gone like everything I've pawn every day and night
Every day and night, Lord
Every day and night
I'm going back to that mountain holin' up 'til death
Quitting all my searching but don't be holding your breath
Don't be holding your breath, Lord
Don't be holding your breath
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9. |
Road To Ruin
04:58
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Don't know how many times I've driven to the landfill
With my truck so full it's hard to get up that hill
And as I crest the top and come to that hole
How I wish I could leave the things that clutter the soul
All the things people say keep you moving
On the road to ruin
My streets have melted from bridges I've burned but the river is still icebound
And I'm sitting here wondering why I'm writing you a letter from the next town
I got half a mind to walk that river down to you
The other half is wondering where this world is going to
Both sides agree it's our own chosing
Being on the road to ruin
The sky was blue but your eyes were red
And I was going to call you at least that's what I think I said
If you take my hand and we go down the road
We could make it a highway
Don't know how many times I've walked in to the mountains
More than a dozen, hundred, more than a thousand and counting
And as I walk the ridge along the great divide
Down one side tumble my troubles down the other goes my pride
Up here I finally realize the illusion
Being on the road to ruin
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10. |
South Leaning House
05:58
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My Father was a hard rock miner
Something he just could not avoid
He said, "Son, them mountains
Will take the man right out of the boy."
He used to come home late if at all
Smelling of white mule and earth
And when I grew up I followed him down
Them quartz veins
"They'll tell you the work up here is a waste of time
'Cause if it can't be grown it's got to be mined"
I moved away to work the draglines
For five fifty and a shower a week
But my Father was swallowed up by the mountains
So I came home to collect his things
I took his place on tramline one
But soon got the dusty lung
The dynamite used to shake the family pictures in my Father's room
Now mine
The boss man said, "Boy, your grief is a waste of time
' Cause if it don't grow it's got to be mined."
The year you were born the fires came
And I'd finally reached the wagon
But it was so damn dry and my feet started dragging
So I'm telling you now don't forget who you are
Let your actions speak louder than their accent
And each town of stone you go to look for me
You will see where the love went
Some will tell you that love is a waste of time
But if it can't be grown it's got to be mined
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11. |
Birdman of Alcatraz
02:40
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Close your eyes my love
I will lull you to sleep
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
To them golden shores
On them white wings
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
See that fallen tear
See that water dry
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
I'll be gone by morn
I have no alibi
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
When you rise and shine
See that morning light
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
Hear that work bell ring
Hear that caged bird sing
I'm going to, I'm going to fly
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12. |
Stampede
04:39
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Dorothy sends greetings by phone
Cause she ain't on-line
"Hey, Pop, I can't graduate
I can't afford the parking fine
But if you send me a little cash
I'll pay you back in the fall
My yellow brick highway
Has now become my wall."
If I had my way
I'd leave this crazy stampede
How can everybody want
What only some of us really need
Casey's on the road somewhere
Listening to the radio
It's something from '71
And it reminds him of home
He's had a few painkillers
He's smoked a well-fed snake
He's just looking for a rest stop
Just looking for a break
Christopher loves his freedom
The Supertramp burns all his cash
Boards a bus across the border
Now he ain't coming back
Saying "If I had my way
I'd leave this crazy Stampede
How can everybody want
What only some of us really need."
Now put on your dancing shoes
And that dress that looks so right
Put aside all your worries
I'll be your escape tonight
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13. |
Loosestrife
02:50
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14. |
End Of The Highway Town
03:03
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All the kids hide out at the end of Mission Road and light their smokes
Their years can't be seen in their eyes only heard in their jokes
And I know you would have drove here if it wasn't for a friend
It's just life I know living at this end
All the streets of you run north and south but it's the avenues I walk
Tell me a story of your hometown and I'll tell you something you got
Show me a smile in the crowd and I'll find you again
It's just life I know living at this end
The drunkard in the bar and the lover on the hill
Know what it's like to see something they love disappear
So dry your tears this is where things begin
It's just life I know living at this end
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15. |
So Long, Too Soon
04:38
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An uncommon addiction has taken it's toll
On a body absent; on a preserved soul
Where you are and where you've been
Makes the diagnosis seem so thin
The air, too, take a breath
You'll be all right
You've traveled so long
You left too soon
You always knew what isn't for you
Godspeed your wellness done
Ascending a straight line
Is as easy as standing down here in the sun
The myth of age and hard times
Was summed up in a few lines
Voices of songs forgotten pasts
Pile up and blend
Roll up one forty-five
Days above tree line
Now where the road is a straight line
It meets with a mad end
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16. |
Moving Dirt
05:28
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Joe didn't like the war and he didn't trust the government
He was fired from his job for talking shit about the President
But he liked the feel of steel in his hands and he liked his whiskey, too
It was enough in common with Alaska to move here in '42
With a law degree to his name and no labels in his shirts
He took a liking to mining or what he'd call "moving dirt"
Working 50 years in Alaska for a real American dream
Then he felt akin to Jefferson and started the A.I.P.
Three times he ran for Governor, but the voters just shot him down
But I'm here to tell you, boy, there's more like him around
Well, Joe shot off his mouth - he wanted secession from the Union
He pissed alot of people off with all the words he was using
One was Manfried West - some called him "Cartoon Freddy"
And in May of '93 he felt like Joe was ready
They found Joe's body one year later in a gravel pit behind a school
Wrapped in blue tarp and duct tape - Alaska's fix-all tools
Hey, Joe, I want to know are we still being sold?
Is the red, white, and blue still coming for you through the faded blue and gold?
Are you at peace across the border or does it still hurt?
Is the freedom of speech buried? Are we still moving dirt?
Some say Vogler was a freak others say he was too late
Others still got his bumpersticker right next to their license plate
But it's been my way of thinking to say what's on your mind
Maybe he was a witness to one of the biggest crimes
So, hand down that shovel and let's get the truth outta the ground
If you've got something to say, boy, I want you to say it out loud
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17. |
Drift & Fill
03:56
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Someone's kept their eye on what the State's given you
Come out to the dyke for to take in the view
Pay no attention to the smell in the back
You can surround your life with politics
Compare notes to see what the chart will do next
But it won't be long before it's all boom gone
Hide out where there ain't no more room
Except for what's coming is coming soon
I know you saw it coming, I know you saw it coming
A drifter ain't truly moving until he's standing still
And I know you saw it coming looking for fill
Look for a reason for everything
Look for a reason why they're missing
And you'll be looking for some time
Turn where you live in to a crater
Make an emergency accelerator
You can't turn back but you can turn away
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18. |
Blackie
05:16
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When I was just six years old my Daddy'd let me steer the car
Up and down the Richardson Highway and in to Blackie's Bar
He'd sit me on a stool with a soda and carve his name in the wood
And say "Boy, if you grow up to be like me, you ain't never gonna be any good
"Blackie, Blackie don't know who you are
'til you carve your name in the bar"
Years later I lived on that muddy river where oil made the economy
One day my Daddy's words sunk in when they laid me off at the refinery
My girl was making a wedding dress and my boy was just six months
At night I'd race them boys on the Old Rich. Highway just to feel alive if only for once
Blackie, Blackie I don't know who you are
But someday my name will be all over your bar
Now the trees are all stripped of their color and there ain't no work in this town
And the heavies down at Blackie's Bar know where I can be found
So, tonight when I step outside and watch my breath float up to them darkening stars
I'm going to get in my truck and ain't buckling up and I'm driving straight into your bar
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19. |
Ashland
04:56
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She felt like a ghost town boarded up and burned out
A small town girl population one
She left California where if they don't know ya
They send you right back to where you came from
But Daddy's girl didn't care that she had her mama's stare
And a middle finger like her Aunt Peggy Sue's
She took her Uncle's Ford and put her foot to the floor
Opened it up and drove straight on through
To Ashland, Ashland
No one ain't someone until they are free
We all end up burning what we love
And my sweet Dorothy loved gasoline
It was July 4 th and we fell in love of course
It was the summer I did my best to quit smoking
But the sun was a dying flashlight in a room painted off-white
And no one went outside for fear of choking
Oh, BLM claimed it was going to be a bad one
No one could remember forest fires like this
And newspapers were littered with air quality warnings
But I didn't care when she blew me a kiss
In Ashland, Ashland
No one can hold a candle to thee
We all end up burning what we love
And my sweet Dorothy loved gasoline
Late one night she crept out and turned on the gas
And left me to a never ending dream
But I should have known better when earlier that summer
The fire danger needle was on the extreme
But the roads were closed because of some stupid robber
Held up and robbed an end of the highway town bank
And when a shield stopped her and asked where she was headed
She only had one word to say
Ashland, Ashland
I'm as sorry as a broken heart can be
We all end up burning what we love
And my sweet Dorothy loved gasoline
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20. |
Leveeville
05:00
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Forty years and forty nights
I've been searching for some light
In and empty town for empty people
Five bars for five steeples
We all got our own way here how to prove
Water is no thicker than our own blood
But ain't nothing been dry here since the '67 flood
They say Judgment Day will be hotter than Hell
And if it floods and you don't float grab a hold of your Bible
But who'd want to watch their watermark from the top of some hill
I don't want to know what keeps me still
Living in Leveeville
Have you ever heard the sound
Of the Sheriff's boots on the ground
A dirty nail pounding on your chest
Or a squeaky shield shined with breath
A little cash lifted out of your precious wallet
And the wind knocked out of you just for good measure
And these simple words: "Son, you're just having twice the fun with half the pleasure."
I've found plenty of ways around
Shoes filled with doubt
Through breaking rocks and breaking noses
And blowing kisses at frozen roses
Ain't no one ever gone find out how I get my fill
Just a backwards life from a backwoods copper still
I can still hear the Preacher say, "Read Proverbs 25:28."
"Sorry, son, but you may be too late."
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21. |
Top Heavy
05:29
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Got my headlights on on this winter day
The crosses on the road remind me I'm running late
But living on the road ain't bad it's either easy or hard
I'm running top heavy - it's better than driving a car
My rig's running smooth and I'm bound to beat that train
I got Corn Nuts, and No Doze, and something else on my brain
But tonight I'm coming home tomorrow I'll be in church
I'm running top heavy - coming to town in my last clean shirt
The road never seem so long to get back to my baby
Since she said"I do" I've been going crazy
With 500 miles between us and five grand in debt
I'm running top heavy - coming to town -"Yeah, you bet"
I never look at the loads that I get from the Classifieds
If I just shut up and shake hands that keeps them satisfied
And if the Heavies want it badly enough I'll get a bonus by midnight
I'm running top heavy - pulling something that don't feel right
It's getting harder to pass even with these yellow dashes
And my eyes are sinking fast from the weight of my lashes
But I got to keep on moving with all this shit on my mind
I'm running top heavy - just trying to leave it all behind
Last thing I heard them say before I left town
Was "You sure got a pretty thing - be a shame to let her down
And like true love and gasoline you don't know what you got 'til it's burned
I'm running top heavy - I only got one more sharp turn
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22. |
Carboy
05:11
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You heard about someone in this town
Was thinking of no longer sticking around
I guess the road just looked too hard to them
So they went looking for another way out
When you walk passed the junkyard grounds
You're reminded of the so-called friends who've kept you in doubt
They think people here make it hard for themselves
But making it here is just a way of life
If you know my town don't think I've been had
The gas ain't so cheap and the roads ain't so bad
And if they keep on talking just smile at their noise
You'll be alright - you keep on singing in an empty car, boy
Some of the bars and churches have the same paint
Some started out as the other and some simply ain't
It's got its turns some good and some bad
Some down the middle may be the best you'll ever have
So let them laugh it up and let them tear it down
And ask them if they know what it's like to live in this town
If everyone everywhere has endured that troubled town myth
They better know why it is they came here to this
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23. |
Close Second
03:45
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Words like ashes sailing around in the wind
I did my best to warn you what will happen
To your one saving grace
To my one track mind
There's no doubt of the outcome when the two collide
I keep looking over my shoulder for things I think I'm missing
At my fingertips is a key-jammed ignition
And I wish with all my tracks
I could take some back
But that picture only shows my front and my side
Leaving to wander is what I do best
Coming home for good is a close second
I'm leaving it up to you
You call me on the phone and tell me the door swings both ways
You tell me it's better to hear silence than nothing nice to say
From your patched up baggage
To your full length coat
I know we're closer than ever before
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24. |
Mariana
07:51
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He worked 4 tens and 3 twelves
Always kept a picture of St. Christopher on a shelf
Didn't have a whole lot just two doors and a set of wheels
Underneath it all he tried to keep it real
He took his pills for the pain chased with his checks
Passing those with everything he didn't feel like himself
He pulled it slow in to the lot of a well-kept bank
Walked in and up to the counter and his heart sank
Mariana went to bed with bitter grace
Mariana painted her nails the color of a rusty Chevrolet
He played it out in his head how it could work
Her eyes would shift and no one would get hurt
He wouldn't have to pull a gun she wouldn't call the cops
Her hands would pass over the money like a train when it stops
He would meet her minutes later by the side door
St. Christopher on the dashboard his foot on the floor
A wad of cash in the glove box her eyes on him
His mind somewhere else where her accent fit in
Maybe they'd reach the Sierra Madres maybe just the Ogilvies
She said "Have a nice day" but he was too far out of reach
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25. |
Deadhorse
04:21
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You took a hit to the chest and went down hard
Put your worries in a gun shell and it took a railroad spike to set them off
Now you're down on the ground writing 'focus' in the dirt
If wishes are horses by now you must be bored
You got to get off your deadhorse
Remember that light you had in your eyes
Setting the night sky to life like a sunrise
Now you're stalled out in front of a deserted fireworks stand
When the road won't give you what you demand
You got to get off your deadhorse
I know someday you won't feel the same
And someday I won't feel this way
You could leave the road if you drove fast enough
You could handle the overflow with one more cup
Are you going to hold on for dear life and never grab it
Breaking hearts ain't like breaking habits
You got to get off your deadhorse
And run
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26. |
Livengood
02:05
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27. |
Northbound
05:32
|
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Hand on ten hand on two
Fog on the road dust on the rearview
Buried nonchalance or old growth can't tell
I can't tell
Sifting through memory from a hand in the wind
Laughing, colors, the sun on the White Mountains
Never saw gold float like that before that day
This day
It's only gold to the beholder
Only rings around the sun and coals
Only peace of mind getting closer
I'm always coming home
You say it's better to go the wrong way
Then it is to stay
If my comfort zone is moving then who's to say
Who's to say
There are things I won't forget I seldom say
Motions we've made that capture the day
I heard it once spoken nothing golden can stay
I can't stay
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28. |
Casey Porter
07:03
|
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The third cold night of 2003 at least the nights were getting shorter
A driver in a rest stop looking for sleep but morning would never come to Casey Porter
It had been a hard winter on the Sterling Highway and the plow's work seemed endless
One truck working at 2 a.m. called the Troopers saying a car looked a little suspicious
Casey was just 30 years old and some said he looked alittle older than that
He'd grown up in Nikiski played football and was a wrestling champ
But soon after all of that he and trouble became close friends
Through misdemeanor crimes like assault and resisting arrest
Casey was no model citizen
But Casey was still a man
Six months before this night Casey was in a car wreck
It left him with uncontrollable movements from a broken back and a broken neck
He couldn't operate the clutch of his car from the spasms in his leg
So walked and drove with the help of a wooden cane
Casey had lots of friends scattered far and wide
But he was living out of the trunk of his car and the bottle of pills by his side
He once worked as a welder and once worked at a cannery on the water
At that time he got a few tattoos one was a flaming "MAD DAWG" and the other was the name of his daughter
Casey kept his car running and shut off the lights
Maybe he heard a prayer from his daughter that night
By 2:07 a.m. on the morning of the 4th
The first Trooper to arrive at the rest stop was an officer Jesse Osborn
Soon after this night Osborn's estranged wife testified his exact words
Of inmates and suspects he "beat up" "they weren't people, they were lower than dirt"
Within seconds Trooper Joe Whittom arrived and Osborn ordered Casey out of his car
But Casey didn't and just said "what's wrong, sir, I was just parked"
Without warning Osborn used his pepper spray and Casey's clutched slipped
His car slowly rolled toward Whittom's and he had less than 58 seconds to live
One night not long after this
I pulled off the road but couldn't rest
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29. |
Boom Gone
05:20
|
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|
Take the gravel from your voice and make the road feel right
Leave behind that burn barrel ground you once knew
It will always be there waiting for you
Seasons will change whether or not you know
Make them a rolling memorial
And they'll expect you when they see you
Start by reading the road and walking that line
Bumpersticker truths are no good from behind
If sticking around means to push the air and stand a little removed
The only way out is through
Hear your brother's words through any given tree
All in the key of C
Take what you know of those two roads and make a third
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Shannon Lay put her unique spin on some favorite songs, from Elliott Smith and Vashti Bunyan to Ty Segall and Arthur Russell.
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Friend of a Friend
by Katie Morey
A new EP from Rochester’s Katie Morey runs the spectrum from ’60s girl-group to bubbling exotica.
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