1. |
Don't Ask Why
03:22
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DON’T ASK WHY
(Chas. Duncan)
There’s a lesson in the weather
and a message in the wind
Yeah, and you’ll get the tar and feathers
you mention either one again
You got to keep the wheels turning
“laissez le bon temps rouler”
Yeah, and the fossil fuels a-burning
to light us on our way
A fool and his money,
they very soon will part
You’re gonna fall on your ass man,
if you follow your heart
You’re catchin’ flies with honey:
why would you even try?
Just grab what you can, man
-- don’t ask why
Yeah, it’s too late to stop the water
from rising up above the land
and anyway, why would you bother
until the profit’s in your hand?
And if there’s nowhere else to go now,
go on and keep your trap shut
Yeah, and if we’re reaping what we sow now,
so what?
CHORUS
And high up on old Golgotha
about the break of day,
there once hung a condemned man
who began to pray
And from his heavenly Father
came only this reply:
“Just stick with the plan, man
-- don’t ask why.”
CHORUS
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2. |
Corporation Farm
04:17
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CORPORATION FARM
(Chas. Duncan)
Water’s so smart here that it runs uphill
On the Corporation farm
Ocean’s an ashtray there’s no way to fill
On the Corporation farm
Mountains had better learn to get out of the way
‘Cause us guys don’t care if the skies are cloudy all day
And the buffalo don’t roam unless we say it’s OK, no harm -- OTCF
Your Daddies all worked here since the last World War -- OTCF
Turned out so good we started plannin’ more -- OTCF
We stole the brightest brains from every former enemy
And the stuff they’re comin’ up with is sure somethin’ to see
And we’re bettin’ all we got that the third time will be
the charm for the Coporation Farm
We’re just small-town boys here, but we done real good -- OTCF
Had one road-side stand and now even Hollywood is OTCF
We can suck the bucks out of a rock before you can turn around
We can make a man a king or we can put him in the ground
Shot the astronauts through heaven and brought most of them back down unharmed -- OTCF
We’ve got the largest coaxial cable concern
In the sixteen western states
And we can show you the latest Beirut baby to burn
Or the President’s handsome face
And the water’s so smart here that it runs uphill -- OTCF
The sky is just an ashtray there’s no way to fill -- OTCF
Not even we know how far our influence goes
The smell of us will cling to every single wind that blows
And we’ll keep pushing on no matter how much God grows alarmed
At the Corporation Farm
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3. |
Streets of Gold
04:07
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STREETS OF GOLD
(Chas. Duncan)
The cold wind blows
The steps are hard
The traffic flows
Down the boulevard
And who are these
Without a place
Out on our streets
The night to face?
The daylight dims and on the breeze
Their faces young and old
They’re drifting in like falling leaves
To sleep on streets of gold
“In God we trust”
The dollar says
But when it goes bust
They’ll lay their heads
In alleyways
Where towers gleam
And yesterdays
Are just a dream
The night rolls in and there they are,
Their ragged beds unrolled
Like shadows underneath the stars
To sleep on streets of gold
This land of ours
Of thee we sing
Your eagle soars
On a broken wing
When every night
In every town,
there in plain sight
They lay them down
The day returns and on they roam
Their stories still untold
Like strangers in their family home
To sleep on streets of gold
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4. |
Gunfight on the Beach
04:33
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GUNFIGHT ON THE BEACH
(Chas. Duncan)
Mama, kiss your crucifix and cry
The boys are gonna fight tonight
And someone’s gonna die
Maybe God will listen to your prayers
And let the next one be not one of ours
But one of theirs
CHORUS:
Some pretty little Mona Lisa
Is gonna cry tonight
Another warrior is freezing
In the helicopter light
She has a tattoo on her shoulder
To prove her boyfriend’s claim
He won’t be getting any older
But she will always wear his name
The drive-by came last Friday night, around two:
Reuben died inside the place
And Joe in I.C.U.
Now the boys are past where love can reach
They’ve loaded up their guns tonight
And gone down to the beach
CHORUS
Our Worker tried to make us call it off
But the kind of justice he talks
Just is not enough
We stood more than we should’ve all these months
You know, they can pressure me forever
But they can only kill me once
CHORUS
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5. |
Cancel the Sun
03:54
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CANCEL THE SUN
(Chas. Duncan)
In a world like this
With a heart as sincere as a carnival kiss
At a time like now
When the bitterest news is our regular chow
Don’t it make you wonder
If there’s anywhere a flag that’s worth living under
Can’t you hear the breathin’
Of the only one who thrives in this kind of a season
Nothing is going to stop the man
Who’ll stop at nothing -- understand:
He’d cancel the sun if he could
If he thought it would do any good
Ain’t no high enough rope
Ain’t no big enough gun
For a man who would cancel the sun
In the last few years
While the people ate dust he grew fat on their tears
In the last few nights
While we slept in our beds he may have settled our price
Power lives to increase itself
Even if it pleases Hell
CHORUS
You will know his face
Who has the smile that no atrocity can erase
You will know his voice
Who’s the first to insist that there isn’t a choice
Who conjures up the atomic knife
To stab the world that gave him life
CHORUS
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6. |
We Built This City
04:41
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WE BUILT THIS CITY
(Chas. Duncan)
We built this city
Out of sticks and mud
And paid for it completely
With our sweat and blood
WBTC, on a high place in the swamp
And now it shines so pretty
From the penthouse to the dump
WBTC amid a wilderness
And were taught not to forget we’d be
the ones to build her best
WBTC on mounds of human bones
and with your tears of pity
we could wash her stepping stones
WBTC for the High-and-Mighty’s use
And raised it to civility
With the hangman’s noose
Where a child’s life counts for nothin’
And the Dollar rules
And the House of Justice
Is in a den of fools
And the light of Freedom
Shines from the whorehouse door
And the Police, when you need ’em,
are at the ten-cent store
And the last train to Splitsville
left the station long ago
but the patrons at the Ritz will
ride in limos when they go
WBTC that the One Percent controls
WBTC and we paved it with souls
WBTC, all Creation’s crown
WBTC -- and we can tear it down
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7. |
Not Alone
03:07
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NOT ALONE
(Chas. Duncan)
We’re picking up pieces
Of where we’ve been
Like Buddha and Jesus
We’re passing through
No, and we won’t be back
This way again
Nor will the world we knew
We go one way
We live one life and then we’re gone
We get one try
But we’re not alone
No, we’re not alone
Go down to the station
And look around:
From every nation
They hurry by
-- the people each on
Their own journey bound
And bound to wonder why
CHORUS
So mothers, please love all your children well
Fathers, please do just the same
Let their laughter all the Future tell
Our family name
CHORUS
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Ranchers for Peace California
Doing what we can to make giving a damn cool again.
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