| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
| 1:52 | 
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| 2. |
| 4:14 | 
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Downtown
My darling dime store thief In the War of Independence Rock 'n' roll rang sweet as victory Under neon signs A girl was in bloom And a woman was fading In a suburban room I said take me to the dance Do you want to dance? I love to dance And I told him They don't take chances They seem so removed from romance They've been broken in churches & schools And molded to middle class circumstance And we were rollin' Rollin' Rock 'n' rollin' Downtown The dance halls and cafes Feel so wild you could break somebody's heart Just doing the latest dance craze Gail and Louise In those push up brassieres Tight dresses and rhinestone rings Drinking up the band's beers Young love was kissing under bridges Kissing in cars Kissing in cafes And we were walking down Main Street Kisses like bright flags hung on holidays In France they kiss on Main Street Amour, mama, not cheap display And we were rollin' Rollin' Rock 'n' rollin' Downtown In the pinball arcade With his head full of pool hall pitches And songs from the hit parade He'd be singing "Bye, Bye, Love" While he's racking up his free play Let those rock 'n' roll choir boys Come and carry us away Sometimes Chickie had the car Or Ron had a car Or Lead Foot Melvin with his hotwire head We'd all go looking for a party Looking to raise Jesus up from the dead And I'd be kissing in the back seat Thrilling to the Brando-like things that he said And we'd be rollin' Rollin' Rock 'n' rolling x2 Rollin' Rollin' Rock 'n' rollin' |
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| 3. |
| 4:10 |
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The big man arrives
Disco dancers greet him Plainclothes cops greet him Small town, big man, fresh lipstick glistening Sophomore jive From victims of typewriters The band sounds like typewriters The big man he's not listening His eyes hold Edith His left hand holds his right What does that hand desire That he grips it so tight Edith in the ring The passed-over girls are conferring The man with the diamond ring is purring All claws for now withdrawn One by one they bring His renegade stories to her His crimes and his glories to her In challenge they look on Women he has taken grow old too soon He tilts their tired faces Gently to the spoon Edith in his bed A plane in the rain is humming The wires in the walls are humming Some song-some mysterious song Bars in her head Beating frantic and snowblind Romantic and snowblind She says-his crime belongs Edith and the Kingpin Each with charm to sway Are staring eye to eye They dare not look away You know they dare not look away |
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| 4. |
| 4:57 |
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No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance I'm up all night in the studios And you're up early on your ranch You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail While the sun is ascending And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel There's no comprehending Just how close to the bone & the skin & the eyes And the lips you can get And still feel so alone And still feel related Like stations in some relay You're not a hit and run driver No no Racing away You just picked up a hitcher A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway We saw a farmhouse burning down In the middle of nowhere In the middle of the night And we rolled right past that tragedy Till we turned into some road house lights Where a local band was playing Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor And the next thing I know That coyote's at my door He pins me in a corner and he won't take no He drags me out on the dance floor And we're dancing close and slow Now he's got a woman at home He's got another woman down the hall He seems to want me anyway Why'd you have to get so drunk And lead me on that way You just picked up a hitcher A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway I looked a coyote right in the face On the road to Baljennie near my old home town He went running through the whisker wheat Chasing some prize down And a hawk was playing with him Coyote he's jumping straight up & making passes He had those same eyes just like yours Under your dark glasses Privately probing the public rooms And peeking through keyholes in numbered doors Where the players lick their wounds And take their temporary lovers Their pills & powders to get them through this passion play I'll have no regrets Coyote I just get off up aways You just picked up a hitcher A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway Coyote's in the coffee shop He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs He picks up my scent on his fingers While he's watching the waitresses' legs He's too far from the Bay of Fundy From appaloosas and eagles and tides And the air conditioned cubicles And the carbon ribbon rides I'm spelling it out so clear Either he's going to have to stand & fight Or take off out of here I tried to run away myself To run away and wrestle with my ego And with this flame He put here in this Eskimo In this hitcher In this prisoner Of the fine white lines Of the white lines on the free free way |
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| 5. |
| 6:04 |
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When Charlie speaks of Lester
You know someone great has gone The sweetest swinging music man Had a Porkie Pig hat on A bright star In a dark age When the bandstands had a thousand ways Of refusing a black man admission Black musician In those days they put him in an Underdog position Cellars and chittlins' When Lester took him a wife Arm and arm went black and white And some saw red And drove them from their hotel bed Love is never easy It's short of the hope we have for happiness Bright and sweet Love is never easy street! Now we are black and white Embracing out in the lunatic New York night It's very unlikely we'll be driven out of town Or be hung in a tree That's unlikely! Tonight these crowds Are happy and loud Children are up dancing in the streets In the sticky middle of the night Summer serenade Of taxi horns and fun arcades Where right or wrong Under neon Every feeling goes on! For you and me The sidewalk is a history book And a circus Dangerous clowns Balancing dreadful and wonderful perceptions They have been handed Day by day Generations on down We came up from the subway On the music midnight makes To Charlie's bass and Lester's saxophone In taxi horns and brakes Now Charlie's down in Mexico With the healers So the sidewalk leads us with music To two little dancers Dancing outside a black bar There's a sign up on the awning It says "Pork Pie Hat Bar" And there's black babies dancing... Tonight! |
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| 6. |
| 4:33 |
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I'm down to a roll of dimes
I'm stalking the slot that's hot I keep hearing bells all around me Jingling in the lucky jackpot They keep you tantalized They keep you reaching for your wallet Here in fool's paradise I talked to a cat from Des Moines He said he ran a cleaning plant That cat was clanking with coin Well, he must have had a genie in a lamp Cause every time I dropped a dime I blew it He kept ringing bells nothing to it.. He got three oranges, three lemons Three cherries, three plums I'm losing my taste for fruit Watching the dry cleaner do it Like Midas in a polyester suit It's all luck, it's just luck You get a little lucky and you make a little money I followed him down the strip He picked out a booth at Circus Circus Where the cowgirls fill the room with their big balloons The Cleaner was pitching with purpose. He had Dinos and Pooh Bears And lions, pink and blue there He couldn't lose there Des Moines was stacking the chips Raking off the tables Ringing the bandit's bells This is a story that's a drag to tell (In some ways) Since I lost every dime I laid on the line But the cleaner from Des Moines Could put a coin In the door of a John And get twenty for one It's just luck |
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| 7. |
| 6:40 |
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I was driving across the burning desert
When I spotted six jet planes Leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain It was the hexagram of the heavens It was the strings of my guitar Amelia it was just a false alarm The drone of flying engines Is a song so wild & blue It scrambles time & seasons if it gets through to you Then your life becomes a travelogue Of picture post card charms Oh Amelia it was just a false alarm People'll tell you where they've gone They'll tell you where to go But till you get there yourself you'll never really know Where some have found their paradise Other's just come to harm Oh Amelia it was just a false alarm I wish that he was here tonight It's so hard to obey His sad request of me to kindly stay away So this is how I hide the hurt As the road leads cursed and charmed I tell Amelia it was just a false alarm A ghost of aviation She was swallowed by the sky Or by the sea like me she had a dream to fly Like Icarus ascending On beautiful foolish arms Amelia it was just a false alarm Maybe I've never really loved I guess that is the truth I've spent my whole life in clouds at icy altitude And looking down on everything I crashed into his arms Amelia it was just a false alarm I pulled into the Cactus Tree Motel To shower off the dust And I slept on the strange pillows of my wanderlust I dreamed of 747s Over geometric farms Dreams Amelia Dreams & false alarms |
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| 8. |
| 3:11 |
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This is my solo...Excuse me Sir...would you please take your seat, I'm playing my solo... no I'm serious can't you see I'm playing a solo here?...Hey buddy sit down so I can concentrate on my solo....Ok that's it, you would think that an artist could play a solo once in a while without any interuptions. Here...you take my guitar and show us what is so important...What? You work here, you're the usher? Oooook, sorry , soooo I'll just play my solo then.
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| 9. |
| 7:45 |
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I'm travelling in some vehicle
I'm sitting in some cafe A defector from the petty wars That shell shock love away There's comfort in melancholy When there's no need to explain It's just as natural as the weather In this moody sky today In our possessive coupling So much could not be expressed So now I'm returning to myself These things that you and I suppressed I see something of myself in everyone Just at this moment of the world As snow gathers like bolts of lace Waltzing on a ballroom girl You know it never has been easy Whether you do or you do not resign Whether you travel the breadth of extremities Or stick to some straighter line Now here's a man and a woman sitting on a rock They're either going to thaw out or freeze Listen... Strains of Benny Goodman Coming through the snow and the pinewood trees I'm porous with travel fever But you know I'm so glad to be on my own Still somehow the slightest touch of a stranger Can set up trembling in my bones I know - no one's going to show me everything We all come and go unknown Each so deep and superficial Between the forceps and the stone Well I looked at the granite markers Those tribute to finality - to eternity And then I looked at myself here Chicken scratching for my immortality In the church they light the candles And the wax rolls down like tears There's the hope and the hopelessness I've witnessed thirty years We're only particles of change I know, I know Orbiting around the sun But how can I have that point of view When I'm always bound and tied to someone White flags of winter chimneys Waving truce against the moon In the mirrors of a modern bank From the window of a hotel room I'm travelling in some vehicle I'm sitting in some caf? A defector from the petty wars Until love sucks me back that way |
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| 10. |
| 4:39 |
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It's a long, long way from Canada
A long way from snow chains Donkey vendors slicing coconut No parkas to their name Black babies covered in baking flour The cook's got a carnival song We're going to lay down someplace shady With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland Walter Raleigh and Chris Columbus Come marching out of the waves And claim the beach and all concessions In the name of the suntan slave I wrapped that flag around me Like a Dorothy Lamour sarong And I lay down thinking national With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland Goodtime Mary and a fortune hunter All dressed up to follow the drums Mary in a feather hula-hoop Miss Fortune with a rose on her big game gun All saints, all sinners shining Heed those trumpets all night long Propped up on a samba beat With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland Tar baby and the Great White Wonder Talking over a glass of rum Burning on the inside With the knowledge of things to come There's gambling out on the terrace And midnight ramblin' on the lawn As they lead toward temptation With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland In a plane flying back to winter In shoes full of tropic sand A lady in a foreign flag On the arm of her Marlboro Man The hawk howls in New York City Six foot drifts on Myrtle's lawn As they push the recline buttons down With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland La, La ... African sand on the trade winds And the sun on the Amazon As they push the reline buttons down With dreamland coming on Dreamland, dreamland Dreamland, dreamland |
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| 11. |
| 0:50 |
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| 12. |
| 5:04 |
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Old Beale Street is coming down
Sweeties' Snack Bar, boarded up now And Egles The Tailor and the Shine Boy's gone Faded out with ragtime blues Handy's cast in bronze And he's standing in a little park With a trumpet in his hand Like he's listening back to the good old bands And the click of high heeled shoes Old Furry sings the blues Propped up in his bed With his dentures and his leg removed And Ginny's there For her kindness and Furry's beer She's the old man's angel overseer Pawn shops glitter like gold tooth caps In the grey decay They chew the last few dollars off Old Beale Street's carcass Carrion and mercy Blue and silver sparkling drums Cheap guitars, eye shades and guns Aimed at the hot blood of being no one Down and out in Memphis Tennessee Old Furry sings the blues You bring him smoke and drink and he'll play for you lt's mostly muttering now and sideshow spiel But there was one song he played I could really feel There's a double bill murder at the New Daisy The old girl's silent across the street She's silent - waiting for the wrecker's beat Silent - staring ar her stolen name Diamond boys and satin dolls Bourbon laughter- ghosts - history falls To parking lots and shopping malls As they tear down old Beale Street Old Furry sings the blues He points a bony finger at you and "I don't like you" Everybody laughs as if it's the old man's standard joke But it's true We're only welcome for our drink and smoke W.C. Handy I'm rich and I'm fay And I'm not familiar with what you played But I get such strong impressions of your hey day Looking up and down old Beale Street Ghosts of the darktown society Come right out of the bricks at me Like it's a Saturday night They're in their finery Dancing it up and making deals Furry sings the blues Why should I expect that old guy to give it to me true Fallen to hard luck And time and other thieves While our limo is shining on his shanty street Old Furry sings the blues |
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| 13. |
| 2:49 |
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Why do fools fall in love?
Why do birds sing so gay And lovers await the break of day Why do they fall in love Why does the rain fall from up above Why do fools fall in love Why do they fall in love Love is a losing game Love can be a shame I know of a fool you see For that fool is me Tell me why Tell my why Why do birds sing so gay And lovers await the break of day Why do they fall in love Why does the rain fall from up above Why do fools fall in love Why do they fall in love Why does my heart skip this crazy beat For I know It will reach defeat Tell me why tell me why Why do fools fall in love? |
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| 14. |
| 5:25 |
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Every picture has its shadows
And it has some source of light Blindness, blindness and sight The perils of benefactors The blessings of parasites Blindness, blindness and sight Threatened by all things Devil of cruelty Drawn to all things Devil of delight Mythical devil of the ever-present laws Governing blindness, blindness and sight Suntans in reservation dining rooms Pale miners in their lantern rays Night, night and day Hostage smile on presidents Freedom scribbled in the subway It's like night, night and day Threatened by all things God of cruelty Drawn to all things God of delight Mythical god of the everlasting laws Governing day, day and night Critics of all expression Judges in black and white Saying it's wrong, saying it's right Compelled by prescribed standards Or some ideals we fight For wrong, wrong and right Threatened by all things Man of cruelty - mark of Cain Drawn to all things Man of delight - born again, born again Man of the laws, the ever-broken laws Governing wrong, wrong and right Governing wrong, wrong and right Wrong and right |
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| 15. |
| 5:03 |
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He is three
One's in the middle unmoved Waiting To show what he sees To the other two To the one attacking--so afraid And the one that keeps trying to love and trust And getting himself betrayed In the plan--oh The divine plan God must be a boogie man! One's so sweet So overly loving and gentle He lets people in To his innermost sacred temple Blind faith to care Blind rage to kill Why'd he let them talk him down To cheap work and cheap thrills In the plan--oh The insulting plan God must be a boogie man! Which would it be Mingus one or two or three Which one do you think he'd want the world to see Well, world opinion's not a lot of help When a man's only trying to find out How to feel about himself! In the plan-oh The cock-eyed plan God must be a boogie man! |
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| 16. |
| 5:09 |
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I came upon a child of God
He was walking along the road And I asked him, where are you going And this he told me... I'm going on down to Yasgur's farm I'm going to join in a rock 'n' roll band I'm going to camp out on the land I'm gonna try and get my soul free We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden Then can I walk beside you I have come here to lose the smog And I feel to be a cog in something turning Well maybe it is just the time of year Or maybe it's the time of man I don't know who l am But ya know life is for learning We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden By the time we got to Woodstock We were half a million strong And everywhere there was song and celebration And I dreamed I saw the bombers Riding shotgun in the sky And they were turning into butterflies Above our nation We are stardust We are golden And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden We are stardust Billion-year-old carbon We are golden Caught in the devil's bargain And we've got to get ourselves Back to the garden |
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