1. |
What Ails You?
03:31
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I never thought you'd be so confused
By these lost-in-the fog hesitation blues
Delirious foam pours from your mouth
Your keel's in the mussels, your mind's gone south
WHAT ails you, what ails you?
Why can't you know the right thing to do?
Here you are another bright cold day
Bustin' your way through an ice choked bay
You're workin' in town again today
When you get there late they'll probably say
WHAT ails you, what ails you?
Why can't you know the right thing to do?
Like a crime scene of feathers blowin' in the wind
You thought you were clever, but you just sinned
You thought you were smart, even profound
They found out later you were screwin' around.
WHAT ails you? What ails you?
Why can't you know the right thing to do?
You let her train roar up the tracks
You can't tell an angel from a snake in the grass
Like a moth on the windshield of a tanker at sea
You can't tell when you're awake or asleep.
WHAT ails you? What ails you?
Why can't you know the right thing to do?
© Boris McCutcheon, 2010
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2. |
Clan Of The Sunflower
04:42
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Headless collars at first just crowns of jade, delivering the omniscient eye of the maker,
In the riches of luxurious coffee grounds wading, till jesters of golden chandelier have been made.
Clan of a one –eyed thousand eye counting each chariot that roams the sky.
Could be Jack's beans were magic plants with the leafy ears of an elephant?
Their faces bent like shower spouts, their minds completely turned inside out.
Some can no longer hold up their heads, they kink their windpipes like the elephant man.
Clan of a one –eyed thousand eye counting each chariot that roams the sky.
Could be Jack's beans were magic plants with the leafy ears of an elephant?
" Reach for the sky!" said the little lord, holding a tomato stake like a sword.
"Who shall be the fiery king? I want to know about everything!"
Clan of a one –eyed thousand eye counting each chariot that roams the sky.
Could be Jack's beans were magic plants with the leafy ears of an elephant?
Magic flowing up a huge stem, if plants could ponder it would be them.
Brightest of lions knowing only one thing Jack's bag of beans were sunflowers!
Clan of a one –eyed thousand eye counting each chariot that roams the sky.
Could be Jack's beans were magic plants with the leafy ears of an elephant?
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3. |
Boxspring Plow
04:28
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Wheelbarrows full of chicken, joints in every hand, softball picnics and solar-powered bands.
Lightning bursting the bark from the tree, little baby Viking bezerking on my knee.
I'll build a boxspring plow when the snow comes down, a boxspring plow try to get my neighbor out.
It is what it is. "What is it?" It's a boxspring plow, I built it when the snow came down.
O boxspring plow, boxspring plow, I'm gonna build me a boxspring plow.
A boxspring plow, here and now. I'm gonna build me a boxspring plow.
I'm just a dinosaur and not much more, living in the land, praise the lord.
Just a dinosaur and my head's in the clouds, chasing water through an old Spanish town.
O boxspring plow, boxspring plow, I'm gonna build me a boxspring plow.
A boxspring plow, here and now. I'm gonna build me a boxspring plow.
And I hope I don't have to turn this thing around, it's hard to turn around with a boxspring plow.
"Bad road good people". That's what the wise man says.
And old fashion wisdom is getting scarce these days.
I'll build a boxspring plow when the snow comes down, a boxspring plow try to get my neighbor out.
It is what it ain't. "What is it?" It's a boxspring plow. Not much of an invention, it was layin' around.
O boxspring plow, boxspring plow, I'm gonna bulid me a boxspring plow.
Boxspring plow, here and now. I'm gonna build me a boxspring plow.
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4. |
No Place To Fall
03:46
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If I had no place to fall and I needed to
could I count on you, to lay me down?
I'll never tell you no lies I don't believe it's wise
you got pretty eyes won't you spin me around?
I ain't much of a lover it's true.
I'm here then I'm gone and I'm forever blue,
but I'm sure wantin' you.
The skies full of silver and gold try to hide the sun
but it can't be done,
at least not for long.
And if we let each other grow while the light of day
smiles down our way,
then we cannot go wrong.
Oh time she's a fast old train,
she's here then she's gone
and she won't come again,
won't you take my hand?
If I had no place to fall and I needed to
could I count on you
to lay me down?
"No Place to Fall"
Written by Townes Van Zandt (1978)
Katie Bell Music c/o Bughouse % Bug Music Inc., /ASCAP
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5. |
Mullein People
03:59
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Strange trees stand tall in the headlights,
The mullein people swarm the road at night,
Velvet tunics vivid green, silver hands catching,
any rain that falls, any rain that falls.
The mullein people greet me in the evening
When the milky way shines bright and fair.
When I'm tired and I don't care they raise their golden spears
Catching any stars, any stars that veer.
Welcome home! Welcome Home! Did you miss this crackling fire?
Is this all what you desire? Welcome home! Welcome home!
Well your roots are sinking deep but now its time to sleep
Catching any dreams any dreams that call.
Welcome home! Welcome home! Did you miss your dog –child and your little Jackie boy?
Welcome home! Welcome home! Did you miss your handsome wife and your bundles of joy and life?
Catching any rain, any rain that falls.
Welcome home! Welcome home! Did you miss this heinous road to hell and paradise?
Catching any rain, any rain that falls. Catching any rain any rain that falls. Catching any rain..
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6. |
Lee Harvey
03:50
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I was born in Dallas in 1952,
Lee Harvey moved across the street on Bentley Avenue,
He used to throw the ball to me when I was just a kid,
They say he shot the president---I don't think he did.
And Lee Harvey was a friend of mine,
He used to take me fishing all the time,
He used to throw the ball to me when I was just a kid,
They say he shot the president but I don't think he did.
I've seen them pictures of him with the family and a gun,
Shadows were pointin' every-which-a-way;
'Twas only just for fun,
Someone faked those photos; that's not the way it is,
They say he shot the president; I don't think he did.
I seen it on the TV when Lee Harvey got gunned down,
Murdered by Jack Ruby---the biggest sleaze in town,
He stuck that gun into his ribs;
Says, "Here's lookin' at you, kid,
Ruby killed Lee Harvey---TV proved he did!!
(Philip Edward Bennison and Jay Cotton)
Bennisongs, BMI. CAE/IPI #: 218741175
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7. |
California
04:07
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My eyes were big and round when I came to California town
And I woke up to the pungent smell of jasmine
Big waves crashing down, down in Monterey Sound... I remember California.
Hippie chicks and artichokes, people didn't seem to laugh at dirty jokes in California.
You said, "California was too young for God to even know it existed."
Stepped off the plane feeling lonesome feeling lame
I brought my own ball and chain to California.
Still I picked up every freak I met along the way
Some Chinese surfer turned me onto Kurt Cobain
Earthquakes and mudslides million dollar houses taking a ride in California
Sweet red apples filled with worms overwhelmed from all the stuff I learned in California
I remember California! (4x)
We found things like a child we got dirty sweet and wild swimming up the Eel in California
But all them golden fields to me felt foreign and unreal
So I left that lovely land called California
Like snow falling on the 4th of July I let a love bloom and pass me by in California
She was sitting under a live oak tree,"There's just too much wine and poetry in California."
My eyes were big and round and I was sleeping on the ground
And I woke up to the weight in the cypress
I stumbled up the road with a pain I could not hold till something said, "let go" in California
Hippie chokes and arti-chicks people didn't seem to like dirty tricks in California
You said California was too young for God to even know it existed
I remember California!(4x)
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8. |
Mark Twain
05:45
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Return with me to a secret place on the banks of a long sad river
The high water mark on the church's wall six feet over a mans head
Her dad staked his claim in the wide flood plain thirty acres with an unbroken view
Name a mistake that he did not make well ok I too am biased of the one...that's
Iris in her night gown fingers tick tacked by the screen
Bidding me to the other town riff raff flows to the unforeseen
He would let us drink yes we drank with him when he passed out we'd slip away
On the oxbow bank she stood in front of me and put the smooth stones in my hand
She was smiling strange with mischievous lips and her eyes were half way gone
She dropped to the ground pulled me down to her up above the train bridge sang
Iris in her night gown fingers tick tacked by the screen
bidding me to the other town riff raff flows to the unforeseen
When we next saw her dad he was crazy eyed I thought it was my time to die
He beckoned me with a steel buck knife to the shed along the side
I held the hanging deer in my spreading arms as he drew the knife straight down
He would not look at me nor speak a word to me there was poison in his mind and
Iris in her night gown fingers tick tacked by the screen
bidding me to the other town riff raff flows to the unforeseen
O Mississippi release her to me
"Mark Twain"
Written by Mark Ray Lewis (2006)
Outside Agitator/ASCAP
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9. |
Peeler
04:40
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She came to town on a spirit trip
didn't tell her mama she danced on the strip
with legs like two shot gun blasts to his brain
she made him insane
henna tattoo's triggered in flames
combat boots and shell ashtray
she called out his name and he was...
strung out, strung out on a peeler strung out on a heavenly peeler dream, strung out.
The cotton wood trees shook like tambourines
and he felt like a man in the height of a dream
he followed her down like man possessed
wiping the sparkles off his chest
but she kept on dancing under the tree
shaking her hips so delicately, under the devils' tree
and he was strung out, strung out on a peeler, strung out on heavenly peeler dream
strung out, strung out on prancer, strung out on heavenly dancer dream, (extensive humming)
Well not too long up the river of life he started to lose his appetite
He said, "Oh my gypsy what's behind that smile?
Whatcha been hiding from me for such a long while?"
She did not know, she would not say
So he left that girl in lonely place and filled her with disgrace
and he was strung out, strung out on a peeler, strung out on heavenly peeler dream
strung out, strung out on prancer, strung out on heavenly dancer dream, (extensive humming)
Now how could something that felt so right, die with a whimper and no trace of light!
She bought him a picture with Indian silver a forbidden image of kivas and ladders
But what does it mean what does it matter she's dancing on god's golden river
He's under the devil's tree strung out, strung out on a peeler, strung out on heavenly peeler dream
strung out, strung out on prancer, strung out on heavenly dancer dream (extensive humming)
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10. |
Gila
04:31
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The angry gods of the Gila did not smile upon his drunken dash
Across the muddy creek roaring past
they took his truck up two hundred yards up the canyon
he reached for his coat and the creek had him by the throat
Dashing him senseless in the rocks and debris
Losing his grip in the sycamore trees
in the dark muddy heart of the angry gods of the Gila
They cut him off at the bar I was playing my guitar
his grabbed his hat, turned to leave and he asked me for a light
he said, " I leaving these bar bitches I'm heading home to feed my horses
besides my cat my shit in the house tonight."
Scratching him senseless in the rocks and debris
Losing his breath in the sycamore trees
in the deep my tumble of the angry grumble of the Gila
He was young always right he went looking for a fight and he found one on that dark rainy night
Eighteen times he forded the same swollen creek
his truck was stalling the sky was falling down in sheets
and he was sober for a moment in the branches and the leaves
losing his boots in the roots of the trees
in the deep muddy heart of the angry gods of the Gila(2x)
They found his Great Pyrenees on the banks waiting for him
to rise up and feed him in the light
Well he made it he made it that cowboy he made it half way home to his castle
On that dark rainy night
Dashing him senseless in the rocks and debris
Losing his breath in the sycamore trees
In the deep muddy voice of the angry gods of the Gila
In the deep muddy tumble of the angry grumble of the Gila
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11. |
Bad Road Good People
03:20
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Well I went down to Albuquerque to try to raise some dough
We've been eating too much spam eating too much crow
Well I came back from Albuquerque through the pitch fork blinding snow
I missed my wife and my apple trees but I didn't miss my road
bad road good people, bad road good people
It's a no trespasser it's an oil pan disaster
But that's the way we like it, uh huh
It keeps all the riff raff out, the tourists and the Orcs
Gets worse by the day and we're very proud to say
Bad road good people, bad road good people
I was talking to Fred Kasinski and to me he did explain
If you ain't got a number if you ain't got a name
Well they won't ever find you they won't have a clue
they won't know the bad road things that you do
bad road good people, bad road good people
It's a real ball buster but I've "learned to love the road"
But it's rare if we see humans anymore
Oh it keeps all the riff raff out the grandmas and the Orcs
So we raise our kids alone in the twilight zone
Bad road good people, bad road good people
It's a good place to burn a car or shoot an old washer or dryer
Lollipop cedars water wars and barbed wire
Bad road good people(4x)
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12. |
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Boris McCutcheon Dixon, New Mexico
Mother Ditch (2001) When We Were Big (2003) Turbulent Amusement (live) (2004) Cactusman vs the Blue Demon (2006) Lost Sessions and B-Sides (2006) Bad Road, Good People (2008) Wheel of Life (2010)Utrecht (live) (2011)Boris McCutcheon Sings the Songs of Townes Van Zandt (2012)Might Crash! (2013)I’m Here Let Me In (2017)• 2004 Boston Music Awards best male singer songwriter• 2004 ... more
Boris McCutcheon recommends:
Impossible Machine
by Small Birds of Sound
bionic super nerd rock w/fantastic lyrics
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