Thaddeus Dale Johnson - Ghost Town
No Prayers Or Curses
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- From John Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath
And when that crop
grew and was harvested no man had crumbled a hot clod in his fingers and
let the earth sift past his fingertips. No man had touched the
seed or lusted for the growth. Men ate what they had not raised,
had no connection with the bread. The land bore under iron and
under iron gradually died; for it was not loved or hated it had no
prayers or curses.
Big Muddy Blues -
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Way out here
Nothing much grows
Nothing comes back
But sagebrush and bones
The heat waves rise
And blurs out the road
It’s a stinging your eyes
And the sun passes slow
As the big muddy flows
Round the river the land
Looks like a starving old man
Crawling far for a drink
Reaching out with his hands
Coming shy in the end…
It’s too thick to drink
Too thin to plow
And if you come this far
It’s too late now
There’s nothing to gain
And nothing to lose
And no way around
The big muddy blues
The eagle shits on Thursday
And we’ll be leavin’ town
Leave the keys in the ashtray
We’ll be two states by sundown
I’m not hangin’ round
This dead-end town
Had enough of someday
And my patience wearin’ thin
This job feels like a sentence
Dig a hole and fill it in
And I’ll be turning round
From this dead end town
Don’t keep me waiting darling
You know I’m on a roll
I’ll meet you here on Thursday
And down the road we go
Gone without a sound
From this dead-end town
Heart of Hearts -
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The surface is calm
But the current is strong
The skies are all blue
But the storm rages on
The trees are all still
But a hard wind blows
Sunshine on the skin
But it’s cold down in the bones
Things ain’t always what they seem
There’s a lot more going on
And you know what I mean
And you know who you are
In your heart of hearts
You keep searching on
For what you haven’t found
Your path runs through your dreams
Always brings you back around
You’ll never see a tear
But when he rains he pours
The rivers high this year
Going back home to the source
Blue Rose -
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She put a blue rose over the tattoo
That used to be his name
She set fire to the curtains
And the dream went up in flames
But nothing every grew there
Nothing ever changed
When she got up and walked out
Nothing ever was the same
He enabled her to need him
Someone to keep her safe
Sometimes he took her pretty places
But he kept her locked away
And she lost all her colors
To a world of black and grey
And something started missing
A little more every day
She put a blue rose over the tattoo
That used to be his name
Never knew she had it in her
Till she found it there one day
Cause nothing ever grew there
Nothing ever changed
When she got up and walked out
Nothing ever was the same
What the Day’s Gonna Bring -
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After all this time
I’ve known you so well
I could fill in the blanks
By the stories you tell
I can see where it’s going
I can see where we been
But there’s no way of knowing
What the day’s gonna bring
I’ve known you so long
And all we’ve been through
Can tell the roads that you took
By the lies that you choose
So many good reasons
But there ain’t no excuse
To hide what you’re feelin’
Cause it’s gonna find you
After all this time
And all we’ve been through
When I look in your eyes
Do I recognize you
I can see where we’re going
I can see where we been
But there’s no way of knowing
What the day’s gonna bring
I’ll shed this town
Just like a skin
Been here before
And I’ll be gone again
I’ll take your hand
And I’ll let you go
Nothing’s for free
But I’ll meet you somewhere down the road
I’ll leave this car
Beside the road
I’ll leave the keys
To everything I own
I’ll wear these boots down through the sole
Nothing’s for keeps
But I’ll meet you somewhere down the road
I’ll shed this town
Just like a skin
Been here before
And I’ll be gone again
You’ll take my hand
And you’ll let me go
Nothing’s for free
But you’ll meet me somewhere down the road
Ghost Town -
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We do the work that’s
never done
And the long days all bleed into one
We stoked the fire but we can’t keep warm
We set the feast but we’re not hungry anymore
We turn to dust and feed the wind
And in the end we’re back again
We search for things that’s never found
Stop and see our old ghost town
We go the way we’ve always gone
And the streets here all lead into one
The buildings fade and the hinges rust
These old things of ours collected us
We turn to dust and feed the wind
And in the end we’re back again
We search for things that’s never found
Welcome to our old ghost town
Anonymous -
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He crawled way back
in a cave
Laid his cheek on the cool stone
There in the dark he said goodbye
Time to give it up for gone
He’d been crawlin’ half his life
To find someplace to rest his bones
Somewhere he could be anonymous
Somewhere that feels like home
And all the ages-flashed before him
All the laughter and the tears
All the faces-long forgotten
All the in between years
He crawled his way out of the cave
Stood there smiling in the sun
Much too soon to say goodbye
It seemed his life had just begun
He’d been searching half his life
To find a reason to go on
There was always something missing
But it’s been there all along
And all the ages – still before him
All the laughter and the tears
All the faces – still unborn
All the unforeseen years
Junkyard Blues
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I found a phone...out at the dump
Out underneath…a pile of junk
I heard a ringing…I dug it up
Set myself down on a fridge…and dusted off
I said…hello what you want
He said its me…you know the one
And I’m just callin’…to keep in touch
You know your payments been overdue…for many
months
I’d harbored hope…for a change of luck
But it’s no use…my ship was sunk
No luck with women…no luck with guns
Well I had nowhere left to go…nowhere but up
Buried the phone…back in the dump
Back underneath…a pile of junk
And I’ll be leaving…soon enough
But you know I still haven’t left…and I ain’t
quite gone
Jailbird
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I dreamed of escape
I dig with a spoon
While everyone sleeps
I scrape my way through
I marked every day
Above this old bed
But I ran out of walls
And I ran out of lead
I can smell the season
Though I lost count of days
I almost taste my freedom
Though it feels a long long way
And I’ll just walk forever
Through the trees and wind
And when my heart expires
Well I’ll just walk again
I dreamed of escape
I dig with a spoon
While everyone sleeps
I scrape my way through
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