lp discography - covers & lyrics

1.

BALLAD OF IRA HAYES

(Peter La Farge)
« © '63 Edward B Marks Music, BMI »
Ira Hayes Ira Hayes call him drunken Ira Hayes he won't answer anymore
Not the whiskey drinking Indian nor the marine that went to war

Gather round me people there's a story I would tell
Bout a brave young Indian you should remember well
From the land of the Pima Indians a proud and noble band
Who farmed the Phoenix Valley in Arizona land

Down their ditches for a thousand years the waters grew Ira's people's crops
Till the white man stole their water right and their sparkling water stopped
Now Ira's folks grew hungry and their land grew crops and weeds
When war came Ira volunteered and forgot the white man's greed

Call him drunken Ira Hayes...

Well they battled up Iwo Jima Hill two hundred and fifty men
But only 27 lived to walk back down again
And when the fight was over and old glory raised
Among the men who helt it high was the Indian Ira Hayes

Call him drunken Ira Hayes...

Ira Hayes returned a hero celebrated through the land
He was wined and speeched and honored everybody shook his hand
But he was just a Pima Indian no water no home no chance
At home nobody cared what Ira's done and when do the Indians dance

Call him drunken Ira Hayes...

Then Ira started drinking hard jail was often his home
They let him raise the flag and lower it like you would throw a dog a bone
He died drunk early one morning alone in the land he'd fought to save
Two inches of water in a lonely ditch was the grave for Ira Hayes

Call him drunken Ira Hayes...
Yeah call him drunken Ira Hayes but his land is just as dry
And his ghost is laying thirsty in the ditch where Ira died
**********

2.

SHANTYTOWN

(Johnny Cash - June Carter)
« © '67 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
[ with June Carter ]
(I live down in Shantytown where chicken's twenty cents a pound)
And if you live on such solid ground whatcha doin' down in Shantytown
Whatcha doin' down in Shantytown

Well I'm back on your side of the tracks
Have come back for me to take you back
Back to your high society to your coctails and your teas
I'll look up but don't look down cause we got pride in Shantytown

(I live down in Shantytown...
[ guitar ] Behind the walls of your shackled heart beats pure
While the rich have a love to endure
Well is the gold in your crown turning black
Is there something here in Shantytown that keeps you coming back

I live down in Shantytown...
**********

3.

I GOT A WOMAN

(Ray Charles)
« © '56 Unichappell Music, BMI »
[ with June Carter ]
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
Well she's my baby when I'm in need oh she's a real too friend indeed
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
I save my loving early in the morning just for you oh yeah
I save my loving early in the morning just for you oh yeah
You're my big man don't you understand and I love you you're my loving big big man
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
[ guitar ] He's there to love me both day and night
Never grumbles and fusses just treats me right
Never walking in the streets leave me alone
She knows the woman places right there out in our home
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
I got a woman way cross town good to me oh yeah
Well she's my baby don't you understand and I'm her loving man
I got a woman way cross town she's good to me oh yeah
Got me a big man way cross town he's good to me oh yeah
Got me a big man way cross town he's good to me oh yeah
He's my baby don't you understand he's my loving big big man
I got a woman way across town she's good to me oh yeah
**********

4.

PACK UP YOUR SORROWS

(Richard Farina - Pauline Marden)
« © '67 Songs Of PolyGram, BMI »
[ with June Carter ]
Oh but if somehow you could pack up your sorrows and give them all to me
You would lose them I know how to use them give them all to me

No use crying talking to a stranger naming the sorrows you see
Cause there's too many bad times too many sad times
And nobody knows what you mean

Oh but if somehow you could...

No use rambling walkin' in the shadows trailin' a wandering star
No one beside you no one to guide you and nobody knows where you are

Oh but if somehow you could...

No use roaming walking by that roadside seeking a satisfied mind
There's too many highways too many byways and nobody walking behind

Oh but if somehow you could...
You would lose them I know how to use them give them all to me
**********

5.

IT AIN'T ME BABE

(Bob Dylan)
« © '64 Special Rider Music, SESAC »
[ with June Carter ]
Go away from my window leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want babe I'm not the one you need
You say you're looking for someone who's never weak but always strong
To protect you and defend you whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door but it ain't me babe no no no
It ain't me babe it ain't me you're looking for babe
[ harmonica ] Go lightly from the ledge babe go lightly on the ground
I'm not the one you want babe I'll only let you down
You say you're looking for someone who'll promise never to part
Someone to close his eyes for you someone to close his heart
Someone to die for you and more but it ain't me babe no no no
It ain't me babe it ain't me you're looking for babe
[ trumpet ] You say you're looking for someone to pick you up each time you fall
To gather flowers constantly and to come each time you call
And will love you for your life and nothing more but it ain't me babe no no no
It ain't me babe it ain't me babe it ain't me you're looking for babe
**********

7.

JACKSON

(Billy Ed Wheeler - Gaby Rogers)
« © '65 Bexhill Music, ASCAP »
[ with June Carter ]
We got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout
We've been talkin' bout Jackson ever since the fire went out
I'm goin' to Jackson I'm gonna mess around
Yeah I'm goin' to Jackson look out Jackson town

Well go on down to Jackson go ahead and wreck your health
Go play your hand you big talkin' man make a big fool of yourself
Yeah go to Jackson go comb your hair
And I'm gonna snowball Jackson see if I care

When I breeze into that city people gonna stoop and bow
All them women gonna make me teach 'em what they don't know how
I'm goin' to Jackson you turn loose my coat
Cause I'm goin' to Jackson goodbye that's all she wrote

When they laugh at you in Jackson and I'll be dancin' on the pony keg
When I'll lead you round town like a scalded hound
With your tail tucked between your legs
Yeah I'll go to Jackson you big talkin' man
And I'll be waitin' in Jackson behind my Japan fan

Well now we got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout
We've been talkin' bout Jackson ever since the fire went out
I'm goin' to Jackson and that's a fact
Yeah we're goin' to Jackson ain't never coming back
Mhm we got married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout
Honey we've been talkin' bout Jackson ever since the fire went out
**********

8.

GIVE MY LOVE TO ROSE

(Johnny Cash)
« © '57 House Of Cash, BMI »
I found him by the railroad track this morning
I could see that he was nearly dead
I knelt down beside him and I listened
Just to hear the words the dyin' fellow said

He said they let me out of prison out in Frisco
For ten long years I paid for what I done
I was trying to get back to Louisiana
To see my Rose and get to know my son

Give my love to Rose please won't you Mister
Take her all my money tell her buy some pretty clothes
Tell my boy that daddy's so proud of him
And don't forget to give my love to Rose
[ guitar ] Won't you tell 'em I said thanks for waitin' for me
Tell my boy to help his mom at home
Tell my Rose to try to find another
Cause it ain't right that she should live alone

Mister here's the bag with all my money
It won't last them long the way it goes
God bless you for findin' me this morning
Now don't forget to give my love to Rose

Give my love to Rose...
**********

9.

AUSTIN PRISON

(Johnny Cash)
« © '66 Anne Rachel Music, ASCAP / Song Of Cash Music, ASCAP »
They had a warrant out for me all over the country
And I was trying to beat the raps in Idaho
I was breaking into a schoolhouse Sunday morning without warning
When I saw the sheriff coming for me slow from down below
His steel grey eyes were blazing when he saw me
His hand was on his gun when he rode up
He said you killed that woman I know you shot her why'd you do it
I'm taking you to Austin then I'm gonna lock you up
Well he tied me with a plow line the next morning
And he had me deep in Texas the next day
A crazy screaming lynch mob waited in the streets of Austin
But he put me in the jailhouse and he threw the key away
[ guitar ] A jury found me guilty three months later twelve evil men with murder in their eyes
They even took me out and said now show us where you killed her
And that wicked judge said now I here by sentence you to die
But here I am far away from Austin prison my friend the jailer handed me a file
Now all I want between me and there are a lot of friendly people
And miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles and miles
**********

10.

DANNY BOY

(Fred Weatherly)
« © '53 Boosey & Hawkes Music, ASCAP / House Of Cash, BMI »
Back about 1918 my father Ray Cash was in the army in France
Along about armistice day he was one of the proud men to stand inspection
By General John J Pershing
Less than a year later my dad was back on a cotton farm in Southwest Arkansas
And you know the way of life didn't change very fast back home
He rode a horse about ten miles every Sunday to see Miss Carrie Rivers
In those days when everyone in the country either rode a horse or wagon or walked
You were probably a stranger if you were five miles away from home or less maybe
Sometimes life was pretty tough so some of the people were tough too
That's why my dad had a Colt 45 stuck in his belt every Sunday
The first thing he always did was to lay his pistol on the mantle
Of the fireplace at grandpa Rivers
When my parents got married my mother Carrie Rivers was sixteen
After that it wasn't long till dady wasn't considered a stranger
So he made friends with most everybody around
Daddy tells about an Irish immigrant on a railroad where he worked
The cotton belt line whonever stopped talkin' about goin' back to Dublin
One of the first stories I ever remember my dad tellin'
Was one that the Irish immigrant told him
And according to that particular source of information
There's this boy named Daniel McKinney workin' in the fields one morning
And across the fields came his sweetheart Rosalee
She came crying with tears in her eyes
Later someone put down into a song some of the things that Rosalee told Daniel
She said Daniel there's a bloody war a ragin'
And I've come to tell you that they're wantin' you to fight
So fight for Ireland but come back to me Daniel I'll be witin'

Oh Danny Boy the pipes the pipes are calling
From glen to glen and down the mountain side
The summer's gone and all the roses falling
It's you it's you must go and I must bide

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valleys hushed and white with snow
I'll be here in sunshine or in shadows
I'll be here oh Danny Boy I miss you so

But if you fall as all the flowers are falling
And if you're dead as dead well you may be
I'll come and find the place where you are lying
And kneel and say and an Ave there for Thee

But come ye back...
**********