Ghost Town
write down in the summer
what the winter has taken away
make a note of what’s been left for dead
right now to be honest
I don’t care what the people say
or if the summer sun done gone & baked my head
the power’s out downtown tonight
but it don’t matter to me
I’m still gonna walk around tonight
and see what I can’t see
and write it down
this uneven sidewalk
made of stone so blue
has sometimes even tripped me in the day
but right now I can hear it talkin
underneath my shoe
I can hear the long-gone people say:
one thing brighter than a barndance
is the whole barn burning down
then one night we had the chance
to see’em burn the whole damn town
they burned it down
19th century Irishmen
dug that big canal and then
the railroad come & blew it all away
big old German breweries
cigar/shirt/brick factories
only whispered voices now remain
Paddy went uptown to vote
on election day
they hit his head in like a billy goat
sent him to his early grave
his unmarked grave
distant wars and Great Depression
sometimes leave a big impression
but sometimes people bring it on themselves
two-car garage, great invention
chuck in middle class ambition
leave your old downtown a hollow shell
your shining strip mall landscape
seems so clownish now
built to serve one company
then the company moved out
they’re movin south
but right now in the summer
this desolation haze
might be a bit more precious than it seems
‘cause the city folks just found us
they want to make our old downtown
look like them pictures in their magazines
the power’s comin back on tonight
you better walk real fast
enjoy a night out with the ghosts
‘cause it ain’t gonna last
always somethin insidious
been creepin around this town
and now its own facimile
is coming to knock it down
so write it down
write it down
paint a picture
and write it down
Snake Hill
[being a loose homage to “Mickey Finn” by Ernest Jarrold of Rondout, NY published 1899, NY Doubleday & McClure Co.]
maybe it’s just a shack
where my mama & daddy dwell
but I’m gonna be the president
like my daddy says I will
but first I’ll float on this old truck tire
across the creek a spell
and I’m gonna spend all Friday night
alone on old Snake Hill
‘cause the hill it knows
it’s the hill that knows me so well
the hill watched me as a baby
when I took my first steps
it felt me crest its mighty back
when first I found my legs
and the hill blessed the Mahegan
they raised their children here
and pulled fish from the Hudson
for about 10 thousand years
and the hill it knows
it’s the hill that knows me so well
the hill knows I like whiskey
it knows I cuss and smoke
and a couple us taken a girl or two
up the hill to have a go
but if they do to the hill what they say that they will
Lord knows it’d be a sin
I’m gonna fight that damn developer man
sure as my name is Mickey Finn
‘cause the hell he knows
what the hill it knows
and the hill it knows
it’s the hill that knows these things so well
Ask The Dust
I can’t stand back up tonight
I’m not feeling too well
if I could see who turned out the light
her face might ring a bell
if I fall asleep where I fell
who’s gonna tell you?
these things’ll happen every now and then
what’re you gonna do?
I can’t find the strength to bend
and take off my other shoe
and I am thinking of you
as I always do
as I always do
if I wake up in the morning
will I still find this empty room
or did you leave any dust in the corners
to ask for my return?
so what was I s’posed to learn?
was I supposed to learn?
Snow Angel
here we go
my snow angel
I’ve fallen arms open
embraced by your halo
with a red soggy mitten
like on the letters I’ve written you
I trace the letters that make up your name
for all to see, my snow angel
come to me
come to me
I’ve made a place for you
first blush of springtime
the leaves all returning
trees reach their arms out
and wait for the rain
I know how they feel, love
I’ve waited all winter
for a letter that never came
so here you are
my melted angel
for no one to see
except maybe me
no angel
Trickle Down
well you don’t know me
but I live in your town
I’m still here waiting
for the trickle down
I work in the kitchen
of the diner where you eat
well you don’t know me
but I live on your street
I stay with my kind
you stay with yours
your kind don’t find time
for folks who sweep up the floors
but they must think I’m a rich man
down where the buses stop
it’s always most expensive
where the poor people shop
you say I gotta learn English
that’s the way it’s gotta be
so if I learn English
will you stop and talk to me?
you splash right by me
while I’m walking in the rain
and like the muddy water
you’d like to see me flow back down the drain
(from where I came)
you might think it’s peaceful
the place where I’m from
we don’t have a hospital
and we don’t carry guns
my daddy died of a knife wound
at the age of thirty-three
they buried him in the churchyard
but they won’t bury me
you think we’re different
but I’m just like you
we both make decisions
we do what we gotta do
you’re paying your mortgage
to buy your ivory tower
I somehow make my rent
on 3.50 an hour
and you say that slavery
has had its day
well I’m here to tell you
that it’s here to stay
without cheap labor
your empire would be sunk
the wealth of nations only trickles up
the wealth of nations always trickles up...
Down The River
the rain dances
down upon my floor
cascading through the door into the yard
I took my chances
on a thirty dollar tarp
never thinking it could rain this hard
I’m giving up
putting buckets where the rain falls
mystified
that I ever cared at all
I’m going down
to the river where she flows
I’m going to lose myself
wherever she may go
my body
once turned 21
and I went running from the fields into the bars
took my chances
on a thirty dollar whore
never thinking I could fall this far
I’m giving up
putting buckets where the rain falls
mystified
that I ever cared at all
I’m going down
to the river where she flows
I’m going to lose myself
wherever she may go
oh they say that
if you want to make God laugh
go and tell him all the plans you have made
in my pocket
is a list from first to last
of all the things I won’t be able to save
and meanwhile
in the valley down below
is the reason we’ve all come here tonight
she’s our lady
she’s the only one we know
but you can never know this same lady twice
I’m giving up
putting buckets where the rain falls
mystified
that I ever cared at all
I’m going back
to the river where she flows
I’m going to lose myself wherever she may go
I’m going to lose myself wherever she may go
and the rain dances
down upon my floor
cascading through the door into the yard
The Night We Snuck Into The Fair
the neighbor kid plugs his guitar in
sounds like he’s learned a new chord
bangin along with his drummer friend
man can that kid count to four
the sink’s been all stuffed up since tuesday
and dishes pile up like the mail
and the dog’s fast asleep in the driveway
too lazy to chase his own tail
it’s a beautiful evening
and we’re going nowhere
and I, I was just reading
that tonight’s the first night of the fair
old joe has been saying all summer
we could borrow his delta 88
if we ever get the notion to take a wander
or go out on an old-fashioned date
your hair comes alive in the wind as we drive
the vinyl seat sticky and torn
and there’s nothing like the feel of 8 cylinders
when you put your foot down to the floor
the crickets in the trees sing a love song
the leaves rustle in the night air
and you’re looking quite fetching in your haltertop
as we make our way out to the fair
the old man at the gate, he’s looking irate
so we pause before going inside
this old fucker’s been grumpy since 1908
we get back in the car and keeping riding
to a thicket up the road past the swimming hole
I seem to remember somewhere
a break in the gate 20 years ago
I’m astonished to find it’s still there
just a strand of barbed wire I hold a little higher
you duck through without getting snared
and we’re laughing like two logs in a fire
‘cause we just snuck our way into the fair
‘neath colored lightbulbs
give me your hand to hold
lost in the crowd
while hucksters call out
the farm kids and horses
and mexican voices
a rickety ride called the Diver Down
snatches us 50 feet off of the ground
and we’re falling together
we’re falling together
and spinning around and around...
we find ourselves parked in a cornfield
while a summer storm gathers in the sky
“Did we leave the windows open over the sofa, dear?”
well, that’s a small price to pay to be alive
the delta 88 feels like velvet when it’s late
a comfortable place, old joe knew it
seems almost like we’re 16 again
‘cept now we both really know how to do it
and if I’m lucky I’ll be beside you
when you’re crowned in your wreath of grey hair
and I, I will always remind you
of the night we snuck into the fair
This Town Will Get Its Due
I believe one day it will come true
I believe one day it will come true
I believe one day this town will get its due
I believe one day it will come true
this town will rise in singing yes it will
this whole town will rise in singing yes we will
we will rise in singing with the ringing from the hills
on that day we’ll rise in singing yes we will
I have seen some hang their heads in doubt
I can see you hang your head in doubt
you do not know the first thing what this town’s about
so go on my friend and hang your dang head down
I need this old town to survive
somehow I need this whole town to survive
this town’s got deep connections with my own sweet life
so come on now little old town please survive
I believe one day it will come true
I believe one day it will come true
I believe one day this town will get its due
I believe one day it will come true...
