Denise Jordan Finley

god bless the poor musicians in the old string bands

when people come to listen to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin and the girl on the rhythm guitar

now tune up for the dancing 

gonna turn that crowd around

with a reel and a waltz and a gospel song

for when we pass the hat along

well i'll eat that's how i'm paid

then i'll lay my body down

and dream of songs till the sunup comes

and it's off to another town

god bless the poor musicians in the old string bands

when people come together to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin and the girl on the rhythm guitar

well i should have been a farmer's wife

but i could not stay at home

with the music in my head and the rhythm in my heels

well it only made me ramble and roam

i yodel when i'm happy

i sing the blues when i'm alone

but i belong to no one

and i can carry everything that i own

god bless the poor musicians in the old string bands

when people come to listen to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin and the girl on the rhythm guitar

mccurdy was an outlaw

his name was known by few

robbed a train for forty bucks

and some whiskey too

he heard the posse's horses

the baying of hound

he said he wouldn't go alive

so they shot him down

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

and when his life was over

no one came and cried

no one came to mourn him

when mccurdy died

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

now when the undertaker got him

despite his crime

when he laid the body out

mccurdy looked fine

and when the funeral was over

mccurdy was alone

the undertaker kept him there

till he turned to stone

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

two bogus brothers claimed him

took him one day

showed him for a quarter on a carnie midway

and when they lost him in a card game

mccurdy went out west

hanging in a fun house

mccurdy took his rest

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

now when that fun house fell to ruin

mccurdy would astound

they saw that he'd been once alive

when they took him down

police investigators

learned who was to blame

mccurdy waited sixty years 

till they dug his grave

and they made for him a headstone

engraved it with his name

and finally after sixty years

mccurdy found his fame

in towns by the ocean the children all know

their seafaring families agree

there are no sundays at sea they all sing

there are no sundays at sea

when he boarded his ship for her last run to liverpool

grandfather's age was the age i am now

he's been still on the deep since the day i was born

grandmother's telling me how

monday's cargo sailed tuesday and wednesday and thursday

friday the waters went white

they weathered the squalls all saturday

and were lost in the blue the next night

there are no sundays

there are no sundays at sea

on land sundays come after six days of work

no days of rest on the waves sailors say

except when at anchor or snug in a harbor

or docked in a mole at the mouth of a bay

there are no sundays

there are no sundays at sea

at age ninety four she stands still at the door

on mid-winter days when the breezes blow warm

dismissing the news from the merchant marine

not believing him dead in the storm

monday's cargo sailed tuesday and wednesday and thursday

friday the waters went white

they weathered the squalls all saturday

and were lost in the blue the next night

there are no sundays

there are no sundays at sea

i'm following grandmother up the back stairs

up to the roof where she's come all these years

she steadies herself at the rail

gazing through glimmering tears

i'll always remember the sound of her singing

there are no sundays at sea

there are no sundays

there are no sundays at sea 

her engine stands in waist-high weeds 

her iron heart is chilled

no more her whistle echoes

through the sleepy silver hills

now miles away he longs to go and climb her rusty side

to take her throttle one more time

and make their moonlight ride

my father's train

his dreams are dusty now

my father's train

he hears her pulling out of town

my father's train

she rolls through time and space 

with thunder, fire and grace

my father's train

he drives her windy cab that sways

six feet above the ground

her jingling valves and pounding rods 

he knows her soulful sound

he sees her in her heyday hauling hard her precious freight

she's white-lined on a rip track now

she's just dead weight

my father's train

his dreams are dusty now

my father's train

he hears her pulling out of town

my father's train

she rolls through time and space

with thunder, fire and grace

my father's train

the clickety sound of the southbound freight

and the high speed hum of the passenger train

become a part of the soul and the heart and the mind

of the boy that's raised by the railroad line

the sound of the whistle at the cross in the road

and the tanks and the trucks and tractors on the flat car load

become a part of the soul and the heart and the mind

of the boy that's raised by the railroad line

and the big round penny that you laid on the rails that the wheels smashed flat

and a glimpse of the faces of the ladies and the man in the engineer hat

and the brakeman waves from the red caboose

he's a part of the past that never really broke loose

he's a part of the soul and the heart and the mind

of the boy that's raised by the railroad line

wake up wake up darlin' cory

what makes you sleep so sound

those revenue men are comin'

gonna tear your stillhouse down

wake up wake up darlin' cory

quit your hangin' 'round my bed

bad whiskey has ruined your body

pretty women have gone to your head

dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow

dig deep in dark damp ground

dig a hole dig a hole in the meadow

gonna lay darlin' cory down

the raven's not a pretty bird she is lazy

her chickies cry in the treetops like babies

she takes flight midnight

she is crazy

the raven the raven

the raven's not a pretty bird she is scheming

learning words while pretty birds are dreaming

when she walks the raven talks with meaning

the raven the raven

delores walking in the woods is crying

learning that her lover left her lying

from the trees the raven sees delores is crying

crying

come to the window run out and say goodbye

charlotte's jalopy is ready for a ride

she's got her goggles and her bonnet on

and it's a perfect day

charlotte is at the wheel

better open up the way

isinglass side curtains and a top that rolls down

forty miles an hour she's firing out of town

her running boards curl up the front

lanterns on the back

chugging up and down the hills

and across the railroad track

there's been no living with charlotte

since she learned to run that driving machine

she's gonna take on the road today

crank up the model T

in charlotte's jalopy all shiny and black

we passed a twin six packard, a buick and a cadillac

we've been out to patch the tires now

we're frozen to the bone

but we've come fourteen miles already

and now we're coming home

they have never caught me and they never will

they have never known me i am invisible

as ether that surrounds your earth at night i lie unseen

i am not a human being

as i see fit i come and go from hottest hell

the axeman is a spirit and a cunning demon fell

i come to claim my victims from your night and leave no trace

i have not a human face

jouez ce soir le jazz orleanians ici

joyez ce soir le jazz s'il vous aimez la vie

alone the axeman knows it who the prey will be

and each poor soul is sent below to keep me company

my axe besmeared with blood and brains alas the only clues

i am not like one of you

so tell the new orleans police they should not rile me

as a spirit i am fair but it's best not to beguile me

their efforts are a joke to me and all of hades too

and by this i am amused

jouez ce soir le jazz orleanians ici

jouez ce soir le jazz s'il vous aimez la vie

again i shall return and others more shall die

orleanians take cover for you know that it is i

as horrible as this may seem much worse i could bestow

so much worse than you could know

and so to you i'll offer this alternative

when the next time i come stalking if you want to live

one thing on earth that i like best each orleanian has

play for me tonight your jazz

jouez ce soir le jazz orleanians ici

jouez ce soir le jazz s'il vous aimez la vie

i'm cold and so for now i crave my warm tartarus

my axe and i'll be back to slay the fools who care to dare us

but if you will not cross me you'll not be my next repast

allons jouez ce soir le jazz

jouez ce soir le jazz orleanians ici

jouez ce soir le jazz s'il vous aimez la vie 

ozone

thunder through the mountain

ozone

lightning strikes with the sound

ozone 

just a little ionization

that's how they thought you were found

ozone 

they were wrong about you

ozone 

your gaseous allotrope's blue

they think you're just a hole in the sky

don't cry

ozone

poison toxins riding on it

ozone

your oxygen's so compound

ozone

you unstable biatomic so close to the ground

ozone they were wrong about you

your gaseous allotrope is blue

they think you're just a hole in the sky

there's a particular thing that you do and that thing that you do

is it just your way or just your way of saying that particular thing that you say

and i'm wondering hey do you know when you do what you convey

it's not a love-like thing

no no  no  no no no

but i know it happens every time 

and i'm gonna tell you so

there's a particular way that you move and that way that you move

is it just the groove or just your way of dancing that particular way that you do

and i'm wondering do you know how much i wanna dance with you

it's not a love-like thing

no no  no  no no no

but i know it happens every time

and i'm gonna tell you so

god bless the poor musicians

in the old string bands

when people come to listen

to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune

as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin

and the girl on the rhythm guitar

now tune up for the dancing

gonna turn that crowd around

with a reel and a waltz and a gospel song

for when we pass the hat along

well i'll eat-- that's how i'm paid

then i'll lay my body down

and dream of songs till the sun-up comes

and it's off to another town

god bless the poor musicians

in the old string bands

when people come to listen

to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune

as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin

and the girl on the rhythm guitar

well i should have been a farmer's wife

but i could not stay at home

with the music in my head and the rhythm in my heels

well it only made me ramble and roam

i yodel when i'm happy

i sing the blues when i'm alone

but i belong to no one

and i can carry everything i own

god bless the poor musicians

in the old string bands

when people come to listen

to sing along and clap their hands

sweet music be their fortune

as they roam from near and far

god bless the fiddle and the mandolin

and the girl on the rhythm guitar

mccurdy was an outlaw

his name was known by few

robbed a train for forty bucks

and some whiskey too

he heard the posse's horses

the baying of hound

he said he wouldn't go alive

so they shot him down

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

and when his life was over

no one came and cried

no one came to mourn him

when mccurdy died

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

now when the undertaker got him

despite his crime

when he laid the body out

mccurdy looked fine

and when the funeral was over

mccurdy was alone

the undertaker kept him there

till he turned to stone

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

two bogus brothers claimed him

took him one day

showed him for a quarter on a carnie midway

and when they lost him in a card game

mccurdy went out west

hanging in a fun house

mccurdy took his rest

oh the sheriff's posse shot him

he couldn't be saved

mccurdy waited sixty years

till they dug his grave

now when that fun house fell to ruin

mccurdy would astound

they saw that he'd been once alive

when they took him down

police investigators

learned who was to blame

mccurdy waited sixty years 

till they dug his grave

and they made for him a headstone

engraved it with his name

and finally after sixty years

mccurdy found his fame

my life goes on in endless song above earth's lamentation

i hear the real thought far off hymn that hails the new creation

no storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock i'm clinging

since love is lord of heaven and earth how can i keep from singing

what though the tempest round me roar i hear the truth it liveth

what though the darkness round me close songs in the night it giveth

no storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock i'm clinging

since love is lord of heaven and earth how can i keep from singing

what through the tumult and the strife i hear the music ringing

it sounds and echoes in my soul how can i keep from singing

no storm can shake my inmost calm while to that rock i'm clinging

since love is lord of heaven and earth how can i keep from singing

i heard your voice upon the wind as northerly it came

now i see your face again as you call out your name

when i feel your frosty breath tears will fall like snow

who may melt your heart of ice

who may only know

the musky scent of earth's decay hangs heavy on the breeze

breezes turn to winds today and rock the very trees

when you rage through rusty woods leaves will fall like rain

who may calm your heart so cold

who may only name

when the ring around the moon lends beauty to the night

planets circle round the sun and bask in borrowed light

if a taste of spring should wake what winter white would quell 

who may own the mystery

who may only tell

sleep sweet baby take thy rest

god was watching he knew best

etched upon a headstone telling

words of farewell so compelling

here lies our dear rosemary

died in eighteen hundred and three

one year is all she lived to be

here lies our dear rosemary

sleep sweet baby take thy rest

god was watching he knew best

live we may and die we must

earth to earth and dust to dust

monuments of every war

soldiers buried by the score

they fought so we would fight no more

they're marching still through heaven's door

sleep brave soldiers take your rest

god was watching he knew best

live we may and die we must

earth to earth and dust

frederick my father dear

with others died too soon is here

in memories we hold them near 

in cemeteries year to year

sleep dear daddy take your rest

god was watching he knew best

live we may and die we must

earth to earth and dust to dust

now i'm wondering from stone to stone

treading now on human bone

is life not also ours to own

must god be watching all alone

and when we will take our rest

in this life we've done our best

live we may and die we must

earth to earth and dust to dust