1. |
In that Valley Green
05:04
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I
In that valley green
Where my true love waits
The trumpet vines
Weave the iron gates
And their blossom bells
Do adorn her hair
In that valley green
She is waiting there
II
In that valley green
Somewhere far from here
The crystal streams
Run cool and clear
By pick or sword
By prayer or plea
Unto that valley green
Deliver me
III
In that valley green
So I’ve heard it told
The fields at dusk
Flash as flecks of gold
And the autumn leaves
Glow a ruby red
In that valley green
So I’ve heard it said
IV
In that valley green
In some distant land
The lantern stars
By the Lord’s own hand
Are lit aglow
A silver light
In that valley green
To ease the night
V
In that valley green
Where my love doth dwell
In the glistening dawn
Of a dew sweet dell
If I’d but join her there
She says she’ll be my bride
In that valley green
We would as one reside
VI
I have witnessed things
I can not comprehend
Gazed the boundless depths
Of the darkest sins
And the unjust laws
On which the bitter lean
But they’ll be no such things
In that valley green
VII
I have walked the hills
I have rode the rails
I have sailed the seas
And I have snaked the trails
There’s not much to see
That I ain’t yet seen
But I’ve been granted no glimpse
Into that valley green
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2. |
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I
The crackle of the timber
In grandma’s old wood stove
Fire is the only friend I know
Always I remember
Singing to me soft and low
Fire is the only friend I know
Friend I know
Friend I know
Fire is the only friend I know
II
Match boxes still in wrappings
Neith the floorboards where I stow
Fire is the only friend I know
Crimson tongues a lapping
Drinking up the snow
Fire is the only friend I know
Friend I know
Friend I know
Fire is the only friend I know
III
There’s buildings left forgotten
Where I may go
Fire is the only friend I know
‘Less the walls are dry and rotten
Kerosine burns nice and slow
Fire is the only friend I know
Friend I know
Friend I know
Fire is the only friend I know
IV
Such beauty I’m creating
Swaying maidens to and fro
Fire is the only friend I know
The flames of Hell are waiting
A paradise below
Fire is the only friend I know
Friend I know
Friend I know
Fire is the only friend I know
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3. |
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I
I’s brought up here
There’s no way out
Ya gotta fight through the famine, the poverty, the draught
Ya gotta walk that line
Keep straight ahead
Watch your step or you’ll wind up dead
I married too young
That’s what I did
I got a big, fat wife, got an ugly kid
Them Red Mountain mornings
Make ya hard and mean
Cornbread yellow
Tobacco barn green
II
I needed me a job
So I felt no guilt
Prying nails up-out the coffins that the murderers built
They needin’ railway iron
Take and melt them down
Them ten-pennies payin’ 27 cents a pound
I married too young
That’s what I did
I got a big, fat wife, got an ugly kid
I gotta keep her fed
Keep him clean
Cornbread yellow
Tobacco barn green
III
Don’t ya come to Red Mountain
Listen what I what I say
If you need to pass through, you better find another way
Stay off of Red Mountain
Ain’t nothing for you here
The air ain’t pure the water ain’t clear
I married too young
That’s what I did
I got a big, fat wife, got an ugly kid
I got Mason jar
My nicotine
My cornbread yellow
Tobacco barn green
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4. |
the Albamarle Sound
02:40
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I
There’s a dry moon
In the heavens sinking down
And we adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
Ten strong backed men
Couldn’t right the ship around
Now we adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
But we’d be alright
If the wind were in our sails (X3)
We’d row the chariot home
II
We fly our flag
For neither colony nor crown
And we adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
The hull sags fat
From the treasures we have found
Now we adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
And we’d be alright
If the wind were in our sails (X3)
We’d row the chariot home
III
Hard days at sea
Eleven brave men drown
We, adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
Doomed be we
Should the ship, it run aground
We, adrift the waning tide
Of the Albamarle Sound
But we’d be alright
If the wind were in our sails (X3)
We’d row the chariot home
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5. |
Cast My Dreams Aside
02:59
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6. |
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I
I left Lewisburg
With almost nothing
I’s aimed to make a mint
In Morgan Springs
But I had a falling out
With my 3rd cousin
Oh Lord
And I ended up so skint
I pawned my rings
So I lonesome on
And travel
But every town it's just
The same
I’ll be gone soon I know
And I know that when I go
They’ll be no one
Remembers my name
II
By the 64 Highway
In West Virginia
I wed a widow there
And loved her true
But I swear by all the coal
In West Virginia
Oh Lord
The widow fair
Did what any lowdown gal would do
So I lonesome on
And travel
And every town it's just
The same
I’ll be gone soon I know
And I know that when I go
They’ll be no one
Remembers my name
III
On a mud caked sidewalk
In East Missouri
I saw a preacher call his son
To testify
“Not every one can hold
An Earthly mansion”
He said
“But the Lord has readied one
For when you die”
The amber waves
Have gone to seed
A tide of weeds
It grows untame
I’ll be gone soon
I know
And I know that when I go
They’ll be no one
Remembers my name
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7. |
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I
I’m gonna carve my name
In the tree of forgiveness
In the tree of forgiveness
In dark of the night
I’m gonna wash my hands
In the river of sickness
In the river of sickness
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
II
I’m gonna leave no trail
In the sands of confusion
In the sands of confusion
I’m traveling light
I’m gonna make my peace
With the wall of illusion
With the wall of illusion
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
III
I’m gonna wet my tongue
With the wine of commitment
With the wine of commitment
In a moment of spite
I’m gonna settle my debt
In the house of resentment
In the house of resentment
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
If the weather is right
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8. |
Hospital Bell
03:51
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Hospital bell
Oh I loved it quite well
From the moment I first heard it sound
I was walking along
In the dew early dawn
And its call struck my knees to the ground
I rose up and then
I considered the sin
Of the joy the noise had brought me
I so suddenly knew
All things righteous and true
Were unmentioned in lessons they taught me
CH
Let it ring
II
It shivered my skin
As it stuck once again
And again, and again, it went tolling
And the strike wouldn’t cease
Nah, it only increased
Ever-down through the hills it went rolling
The trembling trees
Were stripped of their leaves
And the (twisted) birds (twitched) and dropped from the sky
Though they rattled my bones,
Those thundering tones,
Seduced by their beauty was I
CH
Let it ring
III
Well, as one might assume
By mid-afternoon
The gentry had banded together
There was little debate -
“To the Hospital gate!
Let us silence the chiming forever!”
But when they reached the bell
They fell under it spell
Bewitched by the grace of its swinging
Yes, finally they saw
The design of it all
And by sundown the whole town was singing
CH:
Let it ring
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9. |
Hospital Gown
03:32
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I
I don’t mind you
Pacin’ cross the floor
And I don’t mind you
Hangin’ round my door
And I don’t mind you
Racin up the hall
No, your the finest thing
I swear I ever saw
Ch:
It’s all too bright
You dim it down
In your new blue
Hospital gown
II
I really like
The way you look at me
It’s really like
How everything should be
I really like
The way you hold my hand
I really feel
I finally understand
Ch:
I’ll wear a tie
We’ll share the crown
And you’ll wear your blue
Hospital gown
Bridge:
One day when we
Break away
My dear
We’ll run
Until we’re far
From here
CH
We’ll strike a match
And burn it down
You in blue
Hospital gown
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10. |
Leadbelly
03:29
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I
A belch of black smoke
From the throat of a train
Hangs like a burden
‘Neith the weight of the rain
Somewhere Leadbelly’s singing
So strong and clear
And it’s the longest night of the year
The wrenches are rusted
And the hammer’s all worn down
I just never adjusted
To life in this town
This room looks the same
As when you were here
And it’s the longest night of the year
CH:
The longest night of the year
The longest night of the year
Leadbelly’s singing them
“Red River Blues”
It’s the longest night of the year
II
The branches all groan
And bow to the wind
They pray at the alter
And rise up again
There’s echos of laughter
Folks full of cheer
It’s the longest night of the year
No ribbon of moonlight
No glitter of stars
What seeps through my window
Is the passing of cars
There once was a time
When you held me dear
It’s the longest night of the year
CH:
The longest night of the year
The longest night of the year
Leadbelly’s singing
“In the Pines, In the Pines”
It’s the longest night of the year
III
These cold bitter hours
They tear me apart
These oaths of forgiveness wear out a heart
I whisper your name
Hoping you’ll hear
It’s the longest night of the year
I wonder, I wonder
As the night stretches on
Where will my memories
Go when I’m gone?
I’m checking the door
As if you’ll appear
It’s the longest night of the year
CH:
It’s the longest night of the year
The longest night of the year
Leadbelly’s singing the
“Goodnight Irene”
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11. |
Old Home
04:38
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I
It was a humble little house
Painted plain and simple white
Turned dusty brown from
The dirt road it sat by
No neighbours ‘round for miles
It was quiet in the night
Eternal stars lit up
The boundless sky
CH
Was it truly that way?
I can’t rightly say
Time corrodes everything
And memories decay
That’s how I want to picture it
When I think back, now and then
So I never wish to see old home again
II
There were wooden window boxes
That I had helped to hang
And the sundowns in the summer
Stretched forever
The eaves played host robins
Come each morning they would sing
Waking up, our voices rose together
CH
Was it truly that way?
I can’t rightly say
Time corrodes everything
And memories decay
That’s how I want to picture it
When I think back, now and then
So I never wish to see old home again
III
Well worn trails went snaking
Through the endless acre wood
I’d raid the creek for the smooth stones along the bottom
Blackberries plump and wild
Honeysuckle sweet and good
And sacred were the first red leaves of autumn
CH
Was it truly that way?
I can’t rightly say
Time corrodes everything and memories decay
That’s how I want to picture it
When I think back, now and then
So I never wish to see old home again
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12. |
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Mitchell Snow Toronto, Ontario
Singer/ songwriter from Mocksville (and Winston-Salem) North Carolina, currently living in Toronto Canada
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