1. |
Bankoland
02:30
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VERSE 1
The place where it hurts most
Is deep in your pocket
A smart in a spot
That you hold so dear
For anything less now
You’d never fire your rockets
War, women or witchcraft
Could never stir your fear
CHORUS
Now someone has taken your money
And you know you ain’t getting it back
You might not think that it’s funny
But they’re laughing in Bankoland
And toking on big cigars
VERSE 2
You trusted in God like
It says on the dollar
‘Till the eagle swooped down and
Took it from your hand
And feathered its nest with
Faith from good fellas
Now the time was ripe for
Preying on all the land
CHORUS
Who is it that’s taken your money…
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2. |
Wartime Blues
02:44
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(Adapted from the Blind Lemon Jefferson original)
What you gonna do when they send your man to war?
What you gonna do, send your man to war?
What you gonna do when they send your man to war?"
Gonna drink muddy water, gonna sleep in a hollow log
What you gonna do when the coffin gets to your door?
What you gonna do when his coffin gets to your door?
What you gonna do when his coffin gets to your door?
Gonna take a picture and hang it on the parlor wall
What you gonna do when the soldiers get to your town?
What you gonna do when the soldiers get to your town?
What you gonna do when the soldiers get to your town?
Rapin’ and pilligin’ and burning your whole house down
What you gonna do when your leaders ask you for more?
What you gonna do when your leaders ask you for more?
What you gonna do when your leaders ask you for more?
Put your hand in your pocket and hang your head down low
What you gonna do when they send your man to war?
What you gonna do, send your man to war?
What you gonna do when they send your man to war?"
Gonna drink muddy water, gonna sleep in a hollow log
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3. |
Motorway
02:32
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Eyes were made to see
So I took a look
My eyes were hungry
My thirst was you
Motorway
Carry me home
I’ll drive all night
Across your surface stoned
From across the world
I took the next flight home
My ears were burning
My warmth was cold
Runway
For this seven-four-seven
I’ll drive all night
With my jet lag trailing
On a railway bridge
High friction steels
Cross-beams flying
In my minds eye reel
Tunnel deep
Into my half-closed eyes
I’ll drive all night
Until your train arrives
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4. |
A Thief's Cant
02:39
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Verse 1
Standing accused of not being yours
Neither hum to your song nor dance to your tune
I’ve been down that road too often before
Now there’s no good reason for a bad excuse
In spite of myself I gave you something to keep
Some words to hold close to your heart
While mountains may fall and rivers may creep
Be as true at the end as they were at the start
Verse 2
A Judas, a thief, of the faithfully blind
Their money was more than just simply good
They ran out in front and fell way behind
I ran all around them collecting their dues
In spite of myself I gave you something to keep
Some words to hold close to your heart
While others may blow or just Indian Give
Mine will forever last
Verse 3
When the memory gnome knocks at your door
And sketches out time to see where you’ve been
Both winners and losers might take to the floor
And dance a St. Vitus to wake from the dream
In spite of myself I gave you something to keep
Some words to hold close to your heart
While fathers may moan and mothers may weep
Like children they’ll be the stars
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5. |
Ahmed
03:44
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VERSE 1
Ahmed knows what time it is, the burning sands rain down on his loved ones
Britannia winks at Uncle Sam and they go flying in the sun just to burn them
A feller from the Union Bank says I can change the whole wide land, I deal in solutions
But first you gotta swap your God for this one that the dollar's got to but your munitions
And before too many minutes tick by wagon wheels are rolling
And out come some uniform men in square metal hats
VERSE 2
Ahmed reads inside men's hearts, he sees an end about to start, it's all in the timing
The West believes that it is best, the Reds are gone, where are the enemy hiding?
Corporations take the lead making everything we need, convince politicians
To open doors and close frontiers, to turn blind eyes and install fear like backroom magicians
Before too many minutes tick by wagon wheels are rolling
And out come those uniform men in full metal hats
They're getting ready to kill...executing somebody's Will
VERSE 3
Ahmed sees the time to come before the burning of the sun, Jihad is calling
When souls of men can feel no pain it's no disgrace to see the enemy falling
Understanding is chipped away by words created just to say what only a few want to
Will no one shake the language tree so words may fall for all to see what lies behind them
They're getting ready to kill...executing somebody's Will
Ahmed knows what time it is
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6. |
The Moaning Light
02:41
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VERSE 1
I could not see you right for eyes
That fixed their gaze on you
You moved among them mesmerised
Oblivious to the view
-----
All night long I heard you talk
In somebody else’s voice
I wondered if you’d blown a fuse
Or if the voicing was your choice
CHORUS
Come to me in the morning light
When the dark has cast its veil
Don’t you worry, it’ll be alright
If everything else has failed
VERSE 2
The songs that you sang years ago
Are now relics of the past
All those heartfelt joys and pangs
Don’t work the same with cash
-----
You sold your soul for money
And a step up to the stars
Now pricks and sparks and basking sharks
Have swallowed up your heart
CHORUS
Come to me in the morning light
When the dark has cast its veil
Don’t you worry, it’ll be alright
If everything else has failed
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7. |
Indian Giver
02:17
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VERSE 1
Life someone said was an Indian Giver
Gives it right out takes it back again
Took everything that this poor boy could give her
Took the Joy and the love
Left the Loss and the Pain
CHORUS
In sleeping you sleepwalk
In waking you wakewalk
O’er Earth, Sea and Sky
Sometimes just feeling
Nearly always believing
That yours is the truth, everything else is a lie
VERSE 2
Those early years of a life in the making
As moments tick by at a slow daily rate
You learn what’s for giving, you learn what’s for taking
Falling is easy
Just get up again
VERSE 3
Say what you like It won’t hear what you’re saying
It’ll laugh, grip and squeeze if you say you don’t know
Sharpens its scythe and hooded it enters
Says only once
It’s time now to go
Chorus
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8. |
Witch Embrace
03:16
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VERSE 1
Lover came to me last night
With a pocket full of moonlight
In her eyes a fire all set to burn
We lay down to spend the night
Thinking it might be alright, but
So many things I never did understand
CHORUS 1
Love-yearning look upon her face
Drew me into
Her witch embrace
Her head turned round and round again
And her ghost came in
From the pouring rain
-------
VERSE 2
The light came with the morning sun
The moment ceased to make demands
And we could fake it easy for a while
But like ships that cross in the night
I went left and she went right
Best that I could do was wave and smile
CHORUS 2
She said her destiny was plain
She took souls in
And put them out again
Her cool, calm beauty all aflame
Just washed away
In the pouring rain
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Rob Ross Algeciras, Spain
Written, played and sung with a number of bands and musical friends since the seventies in Scotland and in Spain.
Rob Ross recommends:
Songs Of Resistance 1942 - 2018
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Pertinent, visceral, rebellious, eclectic. Love it
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