1. |
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Ain’t got a nickel, ain't got a dime
I’m broke and hungry all the time
Ain’t nobody got the blues like me
And if you can’t make me better, why don’t you let me be?
I had someone, said they loved me too
but since they quit me, I don’t know what to do
Ain’t nobody got the blues like me
And if you can’t make me better, why don’t you let me be?
Ain’t got a thing to call my own
I always get the short wishbone
Ain’t nobody got the blues like me
And if you can’t make me better, why don’t you let me be?
Gonna quit this house, I’m gonna leave town
Going to that high bridge, gonna jump and drown
Ain’t nobody got the blues like me
And if you can’t make me better, why don’t you let me be?
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2. |
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A little walk with you sure would go good,
a little talk with you sure would go good
A little table where the candles glow,
down at the little place we used to go
To hold your hand in mine, just like the old times,
baby, that sure would go good
A little music and lots of time,
a little dancing with your cheek close to mine
A little laughter and some little sighs,
the love light shining in your pretty eyes
The way they used to shine, just like the old times,
baby, that sure would go good
Baby baby, baby baby,
why don’t you come back where you belong?
I miss you in the morning,
I miss you when the day is done, and all night long
A little walk with you sure would go good,
a little talk with you sure would go good
To hold you in my arms so lovingly,
with everything the way it used to be
To feel your lips on mine, just like the old times,
baby, that sure would go good
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3. |
Mama Cry
03:57
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Why, tell me why, did you make your mama cry?
Why, tell me why, did you make your mama cry?
You carry a hurt from long ago
And you can’t let it go
It rules all that you do
Makes a slave out of you
You’re fighting ghosts again
And that’s a fight that you can’t win
They are long-gone from this Earth
Yet you cling to them for worth
And so you hurt the one whose heart
You’ve owned right from the start
You tongue, it is a sword
Drawing blood with every word
Child, lay down your blade
For there’s no wound that you have made
That hasn’t cut both ways
You’re both the hunter and the prey
Why, tell me why, did you make your mama cry?
Why, tell me why, did you make your mama cry?
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4. |
My Last Go-Round
04:09
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What sweet love have I come by, on my last go-round?
Soft caresses, tender sighs, have my heart unbound
I have wandered, lost and wild, onto sacred ground
I have loved just like a child on my last go-round
Riding down those rusty rails of my memories
Those honky-tonks and whiskey rivers all flow back to me
We drank the rivers, we rode the twisters, we tumbled down to the ground
but we’ll rake and ride, we’ll spur to glory, on our last go-round
And when my wandering should shall rest, and my last song is sung
I’ll find the brightest and the best on my way back home
All my long-lost friends and lovers, once again they will be found
And I’ll kiss all their shining faces on my last go-round
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5. |
O The Wind and Rain
04:12
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Early one morning in the month of May, O the wind and rain
Two sisters went a-fishing on a hot summer’s day, crying the dreadful wind and rain
Two sweet sisters side-by-side, O the wind and rain
Both of them want to be Johnny’s bride, O the dreadful wind and rain
Johnny gave the young one a golden ring, O the wind and rain
He didn’t give the other one anything, O the dreadful wind and rain
The sisters went a-walking by the water’s brim, O the wind and rain
The older one pushed the younger one in, crying the dreadful wind and rain
She pushed her in the water to drown, O the wind and rain
And watched her as she floated down, crying the dreadful wind and rain
She floated till she came to the miller’s pond, O the wind and rain
Father, Father, there swims a swan, O the dreadful wind and rain
The miller ran for his drifting hook, O the wind and rain
He pulled that poor girl from the brook, crying the dreadful wind and rain
He laid her on the bank to dry, O the wind and rain
A fiddler then came a-walking by, O the dreadful wind and rain
He saw that poor girl lying there, O the wind and rain
He took thirty strands of her long yellow hair, crying O the dreadful wind and rain
He made a fiddle bow of her long yellow hair, O the wind and rain
And he made fiddle pegs of her little finger bones, O the dreadful wind and rain
He made a little fiddle out of her breast bone, O the wind and rain
With a sound that could melt a heart of stone, O the dreadful wind and rain
And the only tune that fiddle would play, O the wind and rain
The only tune that fiddle would play was O the dreadful wind and rain
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6. |
Old Friend
04:18
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Old friend, you just grow dearer
The lines grow deeper, the paths grow clearer
I recall your every look—
Each of them an open book
And though long miles may separate us
My love for you endures
With warm regard and in fond affection
I am truly yours
Old friend, we’ve seen so much together—
Stormy days and windy weather—
And like a cloak against the cold
I wrap myself in friendship’s folds
Old friends like warp and woof entwine,
Each crossing defining the design
And though in places frayed and worn
The fabric remains untorn
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7. |
Rooster Crow
02:54
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I heard the rooster crow last night as I lay in my bed
I pulled the covers up over my eyes, my heart was filled with dread
I could not stop my racing mind a-running ‘round the room
Chasing its tail and doubling back like some old crooked fiddle tune
I thought of you so far away and yet within my reach
But I could not stretch my hand to you or break the quiet with speech
I know not if you feigned your sleep or in dreams you did abide
And if so, where your dreams might go and if I might be by your side
Where are the dreams we used to share? Have they been left behind,
Or turned to mist when waking cares drive them from our minds?
Oh turn to me my baby, turn and pull me tight
Chase the fear of the coming day back into the arms of night
I heard the rooster crow last night, I heard him in my dreams
He said, “The day is coming soon” and I wonder what he means
Are you still here, or are you gone, or are you going soon
To leave me crying lonesome here—like some old crooked fiddle tune?
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8. |
The Lonely One
04:22
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There’s purple in the sky today—
The kind that says your heart may break
The kind that says you pride may bruise
But if you’re lucky you won’t lose
Every step across the floor
Is a leaden weight that wants for more
Your rusty knees that ache to bend
You heart convinced it cannot mend
I am not the loneliest I’ve been
I am not the lonely one
You won’t see me in crowds tonight
And I won’t be home with the doors shut tight
I may go find the lightning bugs
To tell them what I think of love
Every day I wake to find
My heart strung out on the old clothesline
Someday rain will wash away
Every stain and mark you’ve made
I am not the loneliest I’ve been
I am not the lonely one
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9. |
The Pika Song
03:14
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Way up on a Sierra peak
I thought I heard a pika squeak.
Way up yonder on John Muir Pass
I saw a pika harvest grass.
I said, “Hey pika, set a spell
I’d like to hear the tales you’d tell”
She squeaked and said, “I’ve got no time
I gotta make hay while the ol’ sun shines.
For it’s true the sun shines on us all
But soon the snow may start to fall”
Just like a farmer with his crops
the pika’s labor never stops
She’s got to get the harvest in
before the rain and snows begin.
Beneath the weight of mountain snow
the pika knows just where to go
to find the sweet dry summer hay
she cut and stacked and laid away.
And when the summer months descend
she starts a-haying once again.
Up past the marmots and the squirrels
I climbed into the pika’s world
Just to visit for awhile
for just to see her made me smile
But the pika looked a bit sad-eyed
“what’s wrong?” I asked, and she replied,
“You see there are so many of you,
but as for us, we’re a dwindling few.
The snows don’t fall like they used to do
so I’m off to a higher altitude.”
The pika’s mighty for her size
with two big ears and jet-black eyes,
a nose to match and a powerful squeak
and no tail at all of which to speak.
The pika is a specialist–
She fills one tiny little niche
and should that niche cease to be there
She’ll vanish into the thin air
with few to notice or to weep
except, perhaps, the mountain sheep.
Up past the marmots and the squirrels
I climbed into the pika’s world
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10. |
This is Our Home
05:31
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Gray-green, silver-blue
Always moving, changing hue
Shaped by moon, wave and wind
Rain and snow, wing and fin
Underneath the dappled waves
Little fishes school and play
Seaweed dances in the surge
Below the wheeling, crying birds
This is our home, where we come from
And where we will return again
Salt spray upon my tongue
A taste of tears, a song unsung
Wind and water, shore and sky
Know not that I live or die
But this is my home, where I come from
And where I will return again
Orca calls her children home
Rocks her baby on the foam
Sings to him a lullaby
Of peace and plenty in days gone by
This is their home, where they come from
And where they will return again
Men scrape your floor with nets
Sonars pierce your quiet depths
Corals lose their vibrant blaze
Hunger stalks the empty waves
This is our home, where we come from
And where we will return again
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11. |
Troubled Times
02:33
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Sometimes I feel I can’t go on
and I don’t know why I do
Sometimes I feel like some old song
in need of something to make me new
A voice to sing in harmony, or lead a brand new tune
Sing away these troubled times and make it through
Sing away these troubled times and make it through
Despair is my worst enemy
and I am Fear’s own daughter
The path of least resistance
draws my will to it like water
So neighbor, lend a cup of strength and I’ll pay back twice to you
and we’ll face these troubled times and see them through
We’ll face these troubled times and see them through
Some it seems have strength to run
and some no strength to stand
so when I find I’ve strength to spare
I‘ll offer you my hand
as others gave their hands to me, with hearts more bold and true
and we’ll fight these troubled times and make it through
We’ll fight these troubled times and make it through
We’ll face these troubled times and see them through
Sing away these troubled times and make it through
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12. |
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There are loved ones in the glory
whose dear forms you often miss
when you close your earthly story,
will you join them in their bliss?
Will the circle be unbroken, bye and bye, bye and bye
Is a better home a-waiting in the sky, in the sky?
You can picture happy gatherings
‘round the fireside long ago
and you think of tearful partings
when they left you here below
Will the circle be unbroken, bye and bye, bye and bye
Is a better home a-waiting in the sky, in the sky?
One by one their seats were emptied
one by one they went away
Now your circle has been broken
will it be complete one day?
Will the circle be unbroken, bye and bye, bye and bye
Is a better home a-waiting in the sky, in the sky?
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13. |
You Are My Flower
03:26
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The grass is just as green, the sky is just as blue
The day is just as bright, the birds are singing, too
The hour is just as pure, the sunlight just as free
And Nature seems to say it’s all for you and me
You are my flower that’s blooming in the mountains so high
You are my flower that’s blooming there for me
So wear a happy smile and life will be worthwhile
Forget your tears and don’t forget to smile
When summer-time has passed and snow begins to fall
You can sing this song and say to one and all
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Laurie Lewis Berkeley, California
For fiddler, guitarist, singer, and songwriter Laurie Lewis, the traditions of bluegrass and folk aren’t so much tools in her hands, but burning sources of inspiration that have driven her through a 30+ year career at the forefront of American roots music. A pioneering woman in bluegrass, Laurie has paved the way for many, always guided by her own love of traditional music. ... more
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