1. |
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Two Cherokee scouts were tracking General Rutherford’s march through the Swannanoa hills
The Yanks got wise and poisoned Caney Creek and one of them braves got killed
He’s buried sitting beneath an oak tree
Sitting up so he can keep his watch over Hominy Valley
I think he’s watching me
And all I’ve got to go on is three lines in a book that nobody reads
And the gash in the crook of the tree that never heals
Sure enough there’s a rise about three feet high
And I can follow the line of his eyes out across the field
Across Hominy Valley
I think he’s watching me still
The neighborhood fought it when some money from Charlotte bought up that riverbend
The church owned the land and they needed the cash and their lawyers got an easy win
So look who’s moving in now
Who am I to run my mouth about Hominy Valley
I think he’s watching me now
And all I’ve got to go on is three lines in a book that nobody reads
And the gash in the crook of the tree that never heals
Sure enough there’s a rise about three feet high
And I can follow the line of his eyes out across the field
Across Hominy Valley
I think he’s watching me still
The gate by the road stays locked but you can still walk up to get to where he sleeps
A tree crew is making their way through the hood
They’re doing hard work and doing it cheap
Now one of those guys speaks English alright
And I asked him if they had their sights on that oak on the hill
Over Hominy Valley
And all I’ve got to go on is three lines in a book that nobody reads
And the gash in the crook of the tree that never heals
Sure enough there’s a rise about three feet high
And I can follow the line of his eyes out across the field
Across Hominy Valley
I think he’s watching me still
I think he’s watching me still
I think he’s watching me still
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2. |
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Hung up the phone and I hit the ground running
Gotta jump like you want it when the good things are coming
Packed up my dirty laundry right off the floor
Battened down the hatches and locked the front door
Bought a suit so I'd look real good
And pointed out west towards Hollywood
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
Find out quick if I'm sinking or swimming
Long ago threw caution to the wind and
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
I've been charging ahead since I was a child
Grab a tiger by the tail and hold on tight
Doesn't take but a crack in the doorway
I'll be pushing through running blindly
What's up ahead is better than what's behind me
You say the word and watch out I'm coming
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
Find out quick if I'm sinking or swimming
Long ago threw caution to the wind and
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
I've never known when to stop
Here I come, ready or not
Like a bull in a china shop
Take no counsel for the moves I make
Stand back, make room, get outta my way
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
Find out quick if I'm sinking or swimming
Long ago threw caution to the wind and
I'm the guy who jumps in the deep end
Deep end
Deep end
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3. |
Second in Line (Junior)
03:32
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I was raised at the right hand of the big man
I learned young to kiss that ring
And pretty soon that ring will be on my finger
So you better think twice how you're treating me
Yeah, sister dear she is a beauty
Mama's long since cast aside
Come to think, she's just a half-sister to me
So it ain't half wrong that she's my bride
And we can count our riches in the middle of the night
Look at them diamonds shine
All you sorry sons of bitches wouldn’t ever understand
What it is to be the man standing second in line
Is life too short for the world to learn
Just the way I like to drink my gin
And if someday I should return
You can put on the suit you're getting buried in
And if you wonder how I got this way
It's the same as my daddy done
I got a big fat check when I turned eighteen
And kept the working man under my pretty little thumb
And we can count our riches in the middle of the night
Look at them diamonds shine
And all you sorry sons of bitches wouldn’t ever understand
What it is to be the man standing second in line
Yeah, a man like me in the land of the free
Don't you know I have a mighty good time
I count my riches in the broad daylight
Look at them diamonds shine
And all you sorry sons of bitches wouldn’t ever understand
What it is to be the man standing second in line
What it is to be the man
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4. |
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5. |
Harvest Queen
04:45
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It's a day's walk on blacktop from here any way that you choose
Stand still for too long and the wind piles the dust on your shoes
If you call me handsome and I call you beautiful
If we keep saying those words it might just come true, who knows
So lay your hand in mine
And waltz me in the cradle of three-quarter time
Come wipe this dust bowl clean, Harvest Queen
We grew up never knowing we were children of the worst hard times
Where the wind held us down every time we thought we might fly
And the steel in your eyes is a little too familiar to me
Then I catch my reflection and I know what you wish we might be
So lay your hand in mine
And waltz me in the cradle of three-quarter time
Come wipe this dust bowl clean, Harvest Queen
I go between praying for rain and staying out of the wind
Am I such a fool as to trust all this dry dust again
I still dream of a horse in the stable and hay in the barn
Four chairs ‘round a table and a song and you in my arms
So lay your hand in mine
And waltz me in the cradle of three-quarter time
Come wipe this dust bowl clean
Come wipe this dust bowl clean
Harvest Queen
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6. |
Ghost of Glasgow
04:44
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Stuck in the rain
Too late for the 10:30 train
I got a ticket for one
How is it that you’re still tagging along?
Well let’s go pay your tabs
Up and down the road
This cab driver won’t stop talking about the year that the river froze
And a young man fell when the ice broke
He said have you heard of the ghost of Glasgow?
So I made a few calls
Seems all of your friends have long moved on
They sent me downtown to a couple of spots you used to hang around
Well let’s go walk these streets to the banks below
The riverkeep says I remind him of someone he used to know
How they carried him in still soaked to the bone
And he pours out a drink to the ghost of Glasgow
Following the sound of voices laughing
Down an empty street
The first time in a long time
I felt you watching over me
Scotland the Brave, that’s the song they played for the last serenade
It was a king’s farewell
Leaving empties on the steps of a cheap hotel
Well let’s go pay those tabs
And we can call them closed
This bartender swears I remind him of someone he used to know
And he starts to look a little bit closer
And he starts to talk a little bit slower
He says you’re here to find your brother
And walk these streets with the ghost of Glasgow
And share one more drink with the ghost of Glasgow
Yeah and walk these streets with the ghost of Glasgow
And share one more drink with the ghost of Glasgow
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7. |
Above My Burdens
03:09
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Sometimes the path is dark and narrow
With briars and branches closing in
Can't see on to where you're going
You can't turn back to where you've been
Phantoms reach out from the darkness
Memories claw out from the night
But there ahead, through the bramble
Breaks a brilliant morning light
Lift me up above my burdens
I take what courage I can find
Help me trust the pace of nature
Nothing rushed, nothing left behind
There were those who came before me
And their words I cast aside
Spent the best years of my lifetime
Thinking none knew more than I
If there are those with ears to listen
Hear me now, above your pride
Tend to spirit, song and family
Nothing more will you require
Lift me up above my burdens
I take what courage I can find
Help me trust the pace of nature
Nothing rushed, nothing left behind
I will be no more discouraged
With fear and worry I am through
There comes a spring after winter
And the old becomes the new
Lift me up above my burdens
I take what courage I can find
Help me trust the pace of nature
Nothing rushed, nothing left behind
Nothing rushed, nothing left behind
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8. |
Birds of Ohio
02:52
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Have you heard the birds of Ohio
Singing before the dawn
Loud enough to drown out the coyotes
Let me show you before they're gone
I'm not here to cast blame
I can't offer forgiveness
I just want to bear witness to a better deal
There's a slow moving grace
And it's right here with us
I've seen it myself and I know that it's real
Have you heard the birds of Ohio
Singing before the dawn
Loud enough to drown out the coyotes
I want to tell you about that
Let me show you before they're gone
So go on and shout about it
All the beauty before your eyes
And I know that we've only begun
And all I can promise
Is I'm not the only one
And you're not the only one
Have you heard the birds of Ohio
Singing before the dawn
Loud enough to drown out the coyotes
I want to tell you about that
Let me show you before they're gone
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9. |
Alabama Calling
03:36
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Anna Lee, what's in your past
The little town that you've outgrown
You just laugh when someone asks
When's the last time you've been home
The fact that you were one of us
Ain’t as bad as knowing that you still are
You sat beside me on that bus
But I never thought you'd ride this far
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
She needs you now
She needs you now
You always knew how to make a scene
You're the queen of righteousness
Anything to keep your conscience clean
But you sure did leave an awful mess
Wasn't what you told yourself
Hard as hell to believe your eyes
From your heaven all the angels fell
And left you in your lonely sky
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
She needs you now
She needs you now
You were never one to hold your tongue
Always spoiling for a fight
Your daddy's girl since you were young
But what if you can't both be right
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
Alabama's calling, Alabama's calling
Alabama's dragging you down
She needs you now
She needs you now
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10. |
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Down the hill the dogs are barking
In the half-dark, trucks are starting
Coffee’s brewing as the river fog lifts
Heading out for the morning shift
The road is paved with good intentions
And critters that should’ve looked both ways
But even worse than a bad decision
Is never deciding anything
Keep it in the middle
What’s the measure of a man
Little by little
I’m doing the best I can
When I wake up this morning
To when I lay down tonight
I want to know that I’ve done something
I’ve done something right
Somewhere between before and after
Getting there is the hardest part
I’d want to skip ahead a couple of chapters
And get to where the good stuff starts
Keep it in the middle
What’s the measure of a man
Little by little
I’m doing the best I can
When I wake up this morning
To when I lay down tonight
I want to know that I’ve done something
I’ve done something right
Might be better if I didn’t remember
And the good old days just never return
I’d clear my head of every reminder
Might be the only way I ever did learn
When I wake up this morning
To when I lay down tonight
I want to know that I’ve done something
I’ve done something right
When I wake up this morning
To when I lay down tonight
I want to know that I’ve done something
I’ve done something right
Down the hill the dogs are barking
In the half-dark, the trucks are starting
Coffee’s brewing as the river fog lifts
I’m heading out for the morning shift
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11. |
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Those loose limbed gals would swing their feet down the airport side of Franklin Street
I watch them in a not quite innocent way
I'm looking at them this evening
Thinking about the plans I put on hold
While the town got smaller and the days unrolled
There ain't but two stories told and this one's about leaving
Well I remember Katy then Rosalie
I was pressing my luck when I tried for three
Some shrink from a shameful deed
Me, I'll do it gladly
If I hand you a line you know that's true
If I give you a couple, it's yours to choose
One story from a total of two has got a good chance to end badly
So fare thee well, Carolina gals
I'm going where you can't find me
There'll be trouble in the days to come
And a lot more fools behind me
Well I was just a lad about yay tall
Sniffing that glue in the Northgate Mall
Down where the anchorman say “you all”
And kindness is a show for strangers
All them b-school boys and old hippie men
Sweating in the sun to no clear end
I made a medium to poor boyfriend
And a pretty good house painter
So fare thee well, Carolina gals
I'm going where you can't find me
There'll be trouble in the days to come
And a lot more fools behind me
From his home, dad's heart couldn't be hewn
Like a simple phrase in a well made tune
The stack-a-lee will sound good on the moon
You don't need a king chair and a hound dog
He'd sing the blues, I’d just smile
I was such a calm and settled child
Thanking the Lord, never dreaming the while
He was laying out my downfall
So with my hair in my eyes and my chest out-swelled
I stood on her porch and I buzzed the bell
Peaking ‘round the blind, knowing full well
That her folks was gone to Boston
And they mean quiet when they say lights out
But that was love making and it made me shout
Daddy would have come home fast no doubt
If he knew what the weekend had cost him
So fare thee well, Carolina gals
I'm going where you can't find me
There'll be trouble in the days to come
And a lot more fools behind me
Now if a cruel word escapes my mind
Don't worry baby, it's just the wine
On second thought it's not the wine
It’s just me talkin’
We men pour out our problems
Like we think that they're unique
They cheer when a baby starts to speak
Ought to give them a prize for stoppin’
Baby, don’t you be too surprised
If I cash in the farm after mama dies
Get a Cadillac and just ride
Where the Pacific meets the bumper
Stop looking at me like I've lost a screw
Like things had to lead where they led to
With the house have gone to kudzu
I'd be lucky to get a clunker
By luck I landed in the upper South
By God, I gotta make my own way out
I should have read the signs by now
I should have heard the locusts buzzing
For old Tommy Thompson's dead and gone
And I've been feeling not so strong
Chapel Hill hasn't done me wrong
It was fine until it wasn't
So fare thee well, Carolina gals
I'm going where you can't find me
There'll be trouble in the days to come
And a lot more fools
Fare thee well, Carolina gals
I'm going where you can't find me
There'll be trouble in the days to come
And a lot more fools behind me
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12. |
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Don't look down and don't look back
No doubt the hounds are on our tracks
They're wailing on the nearest hill
But the silent ones are closer still
Oh love of mine, you can be sure
I'll say your name before I close this door
And if there's wisdom growing old
I don't want to drink my coffee cold
When they start talking, you'll defend me
When the roll is called, you'll recommend me
And if the ocean’s deeper than the waves
Am I anymore than I am this day
And I had hoped that I might wait a while
To face the hounds and stand my trial
When they start talking, you'll defend me
When the roll is called, you'll recommend me
Once I thought that in my arms
This world might never do you harm
And all this time I could not see
It's been you protecting me
So I'll keep walking right beside you
I'll help you fly should you decide to
When they start talking, you'll defend me
When the roll is called, you'll recommend me
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Steep Canyon Rangers Asheville, North Carolina
Steep Canyon Rangers have spent two decades bending and shaping bluegrass, wedding it to pop, country, folk rock, and more to create something original and all their own. The genre-defying band has developed a remarkable catalog of original music that links them to the past while at the same time, demonstrates their ambitious intent to bring string-based music into contemporary relevance. ... more
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