1. |
20 Paces Turn and Fire
02:23
|
|||
|
The first step I take is for my ma
Her kind face and smiling eyes (twenty paces turn and fire)
The second step is for my pa
How he worked hard all our lives (twenty paces turn and fire)
The third step I say a prayer
The fourth step I breath the air
The fifth step is for sister Joan
How she helped to raise me right
The sixth step is for brother Tom
How we'd laugh and play and fight
The seventh is for sweet Renee
The eighth is for our wedding day
The ninth step is for the night
That El Blanco came to town
The tenth step is for the day
That he shot my family down
Eleventh step I wonder why
Twelfth step tears fall from my eye
Thirteenth step for the vow I made
The fourteenth I curse El Blanco’s name
The fifteenth step my eyes are dry
My resolve is strong once more
The sixteenth step is for the years
That we've spent to fight this war
Seventeenth for the men I lead
Eighteenth for the trail of the dead
The nineteenth step I brace myself
I squint my eyes against the sun.
The twentieth step is here at last
So I turn and grab my gun.
|
||||
2. |
||||
|
My Daddy's dueling pistols used to hang upon the wall
He said that they'd belong to me when I got strong and tall
We'd play around the mountain sides, until the year the well ran dry
Still the dueling pistols were hanging on the wall.
My daddy and his brothers took up a brand new trade
with water, corn and sugar a fortune could be made.
They'd sneak through the mountain sides, making stump whiskey by candlelight
And daddy fed his family with the money they were paid.
One day when my mother and I went in to town
we said goodbye to daddy, digging fence posts in the ground
Word came down the mountain side, they said that my daddy died
Revenuers snuck up and they shot my daddy down.
My mother looked to me and said, "Son, you're now a man."
she took down the dueling pistols and she put them in my hand
"Paint blood on the mountain side, avenge your daddy's death tonight!"
I said, "I'll make them suffer, ma, anyway I can."
My daddy’s dueling pistols used to hang upon the wall
He said they’d belong to me when I got strong and tall.
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
On the day that he was born the trees all grew their leaves
the flowers bloomed and the roosters crowed and the mares all went in heat.
Cried so loud he broke the windows out and the geese flew south
When the doctor cut his cord he punched him in the mouth
His mama looked at him and said, "Boy, you'll be a fright."
By the time he turned five he stood 6 foot 4.
When he was 10 his beard grew in so long it touched the floor
He's hungry as a bear and strong as an ox
for breakfast he could eat a thousand bagels and one ton of lox
His mama looked at him and said, "Boy I raised you right.
You'll be a big man, with a hip cannon,
and you bad guys better run and hide."
Spent some time on the line, laying down the track
He could lift a whole damn train up upon his back
Then he stopped the Jenkins gang from robbing the Santé Fe line
The town folks made sheriff, well that suited him just fine.
He strapped a gun across his waist and he stepped into the light
"I'm a big man with a hip cannon
And you bad guys better run and hide."
Hey listen what I say
Don’t get in his way
Oh listen what I say
He’ll cut you fast and shoot you down if you bring your trouble to town
The star they pinned to his chest was bigger than a wagon wheel
They said, "boy we need this town cleaned up so do just what you feel."
He filled the jail up so fast they had to build another floor
the rough town he was born to ain't rough no more
The townsfolk looked at him and said we chose our sheriff right
"He's a big man, with a hip cannon,
and you bad guys better run and hide."
|
||||
4. |
Miss Me
03:18
|
|||
|
Before I leave there's just one thing I want you to say
I want to hear it before I go away
Well I've been crying all night, baby and I want to know
Will you miss, will you miss me when I go?
Will you miss me when I go?
I know I love you more than you love me
I know you care, but do you need me desperately
Well I'm desperate for you baby, as you well know
So will you miss, will you miss me when I go?
Well I don't want to get you irritated
But your stoicism is so overrated
|
||||
5. |
I'm Your Huckleberry
01:39
|
|||
|
Davey oh Davey where have you been
Davey oh Davey I’ve been a waiting
Been waiting for my Davey since he rode away
I’ll be going crazy until he comes home to stay
Davey oh Davey where have you been
Davey oh Davey I’ve been a waiting
He told me that he loved me, he told me we would marry
Said I had lips so rosey and sweet as huckleberries.
Davey oh Davey where have you been
Davey oh Davey I’ve been a waiting
And a crying
Feel like dying
For my Davey
In the Navy
|
||||
6. |
Stand There and Bleed
04:56
|
|||
|
Mister I can see that you're afraid
I can see you won't do shit
Your beady eyes are dilated
Your mouth is full of blood and spit
Your mind is spinning round
You don't know what your gonna do
Should you run out of this town
Or take what's coming down on you
Or will you just stand there and bleed
What a choice indeed
Just stand there and bleed
I know what you need
My daddy taught me young how to take a blow hard down
He said boy you don't need a gun you just need to stand your ground
Because a man who yells and screams ain't the kind you need to mind
It's the one who don't say a thing that has iron in his spine
Go on and skin that smoke wagon mister
Go ahead go ahead go ahead
Go on and skin that smoke wagon mister
skin it and see what happens to you
Your ear may still be burning by the way you've just been treated
Your pride may be in ribbons by the way you just retreated
You may want to get even and shoot me in the back
But you're 10 pounds of coward in a 5 pound bullshit sack
|
||||
7. |
||||
|
You can't have shade if you don't have trees
And you can't learn to run without skinning your knees
You can't make bread without yeast to leaven
And you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
Oh you can't swim a lap in a dry creek bed
And you can't think a thought with a hole in your head
You can't buy a horse if no one's selling
And you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
There's no carriage rides, no boxes of chocolates
no holding hands or kisses on the lips
There's no valentines or gifts so floral
when you're up in heaven and she's corporeal
Oh you you'll never live to a ripe old age
If you're walking round in fits of rage
If you love your gal don't be forgetting
That you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
Oh you can't drink whiskey from an empty bottle
And you can't wear a noose and not get throttled
You can't count a week without counting seven
And you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
You can't kick a stump without jamming your toe
and you can't lose a fight if you don't even show
How you're gonna look there's just no tellin'
but you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
Your girl won't be around to hug you tight
Or in your bed to keep you warm at night
No sweet nothings whispered in your ear
If you're up in heaven and she's down here
Oh you you'll never live to a ripe old age
If you're walking round in fits of rage
If you love your gal don't be forgetting
That you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
You can't read a book without opening your eyes
You can't milk a bull without gettin' a surprise
Some count to ten, you should count eleven
Because you can't court your sweetheart in heaven
You can't get water if you don't have a well
and if you catch a bullet you'll really catch hell
Ask John, Kitt, Brian, Sarah, Collin or Kevin
You can't court your sweetheart in heaven
You may be mad but there's no use
to go setting your big irons loose
You may be right but no one fails
when you holster your guns and cool heads prevail
Oh you you'll never live to a ripe old age
If you're walking round in fits of rage
If you love your gal don't be forgetting
You can't court your sweetheart in heaven
You can't court your sweetheart in heaven!
|
||||
8. |
El Blanco
03:59
|
|||
|
His horse is tall and his pants are tight
His soul is black and his hat is white, He's El Blanco.
His hair is short and his long whip CRACKS
His mustache is shiny from his mustache WAX. He's El Blanco
His eyes like flint and hard as diamonds
If you seek death you know where to find him. Call El Blanco
His knife is sharp his gun is fast
Killed two men today, they won't be the last. For El Blanco
El Blanco he shines like the sun,
from the white clothes he has on
But the stench that he has on his breath
is death
He deals out death like playing cards
He'll break a window then eat the shards. Tough El Blanco
His hands are quick like a rattle SNAKE
He stomps his foot and makes the earth QUAKE. Damn El Blanco
El Blanco can never be stopped
You can't reason with what can't be stopped
You'll have to tempt fate with your gun
or run
He’s El Blanco
|
||||
9. |
On My Way Down
04:11
|
|||
|
Drinking, smoking and hanging around
Walking alone through the bad parts of town
Do you every wonder where I am now
I'm higher than hell but I'm on my way down
Drinking alone is still too much company
Honky tonk sweethearts don't interest me
Do you wonder where I've been since you set me free
I’m killing the pain until the pain kills me
Yelling and screaming outside your front door
Just another reason you don't want me anymore
Drinking, smoking and hanging around
Walking alone through the bad parts of town
Do you every wonder where I am now
I'm higher than hell but I'm on my way down
|
||||
10. |
I'm Here Huckleberry
03:02
|
|||
|
Rode a thousand miles and my thoughts
of your smile keep me warm.
When you asked me if I would kiss
you didn't have twist my arm
Because i love you baby
Oh you know I love you baby
You’re my huckleberry
and we will be together soon
The winter wind is cold but my thoughts
Of your body is keeping me warm.
When you told me you would wait
You didn’t know it’d be so long
Rode a thousand miles and my thoughts
of your smile keep me warm.
When you asked me if I would kiss
you didn't have twist my arm
|
||||
11. |
||||
|
I want your blood cause mine's gone cold
And my heart ain't got the fight
I want your soul cause mine's gone old
Won't be no dawn to break this night
If you recall just what was done
What set us down such wayward roads
Let it whisper from your gun
Remind me how this story's told
I want your blood to paint my lead
As I speed your soul to hell
I cannot feel unknown regret
My story's done, no more to tell
When I see you now old friend
No fury stokes this dying flame
Just the cold that leads the end
And I know you feel the same
We stand alone for one last time
Our shots sing out across the fields
Recall a start to end this line
The cold embrace as vengeance yields
I want your blood to paint my lead
I want to speed your soul to hell
This last regret, what was not said
My story's done, its yours to tell
Ain't got no blood to paint my lead
I pray God speed my soul to hell
|
||||
12. |
||||
|
These bar lights are lower than a casket
But your bright eyes still shimmer from the sun
How can you smell so sweet, when everybody here
Is filled with dark desires and never ending, raging fear.
This small town is empty as your promise
That you'd stay with me til the end of time
The windows are all shuttered and the eyes are all closed
They bump into each other, while you sit so composed.
The locomotive writes your goodbye letter in the air
I hug your pillow close to me so I can smell your hair
Let me go to hell the way I want to
Go to hell the way I want to
You can't save me from the things I do
Let me go to hell the way I want to
My shame is burning hotter than the desert
There's only one way this is going to end
If I looked into a mirror, it'd probably be fatal
this self-destructive fervor has me under the table
By stops and starts my bottle digs a hole for me to fill
If I could pull the goddamn cards, but I never will
Let me go to hell the way I want to
Go to hell the way I want to
You can't save me from the things I do
Let me go to hell the way I want.
You can't save me. You can't save me
You can't save me from the things I do
Let me go to hell the way I want to
|
||||
13. |
||||
|
Whiskey on the bar, and you underground
It's been slow since you were laid low
So I'll have another round
I'd ask you how you felt
but you can't make a sound
Whiskey on the bar, and you underground
Look at that, a Siamese cat, running round my feet
He looks at me so hopefully
that I'll give him something to eat
I ain't fed myself there, puss
For about a week
Look at that, a Siamese cat, running 'round my feet.
When you spend half your life with one thing on your mind
Then you're done, the last race run
you're left with lots of time.
So I'm hitched to this bar stool
drinking whiskey, beer and wine
When you spend half your life with one thing on your mind
I can still see your face
as your life poured out
The savage tear in your breast
My parting gift to you
When your bones were lowered down
My dreams when down there too
Whiskey on the bar and you underground
Life is slow since I laid you low
So I'll have another round
I'd ask you how you felt about it
But we'd both agree
With you down there, and me up here
you feel a lot like me.
|
||||
14. |
I'm Your Huckle Bearer
03:33
|
|||
|
Going down the railway station
Going down now
Going down to meet my woman
One last time
Gonna take her on down Main Street
Where the folks can see
That a woman from the right part of town
Could love a dog like me
I couldn't love you any more than I done and I know you feel the same
I'm your huckle bearer now and forever
You were waiting there for me I know, and I knew when the right time came
I'm your huckle bearer together for the world to see
He asked you for your hand that day
I saw your eyes
You told him you'd be his one true love
I saw your lies
You wanted me that much was clear
You never had to say a word
I made it quick I made it last forever
Down by the station, no one heard
I was yours but I took too long, killing time can't ease my mind
I'm your huckle bearer now and forever
I learned a lot of evil ways on the road, I used them all to make your new love cry
I'm your huckle bearer together for the world to see
I'm your huckle bearer now and forever don't you worry no more on me
I'll be hunted until we're together in heaven
|
||||
If you like Porkchop Express, you may also like:
Weathervanes
by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
The Americana artist returns with songs that cover themes like love, transitions, and the danger of nostalgia.
go to album
Georgia Blue
by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
A charity album that celebrates the music of Georgia sees Jason Isbell collaborate with Julien Baker, Brandi Carlile, and more.
go to album
Live at Macon City Auditorium - Macon, GA - 5/18/16
by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Recorded live at Macon City Auditorium in May 2016, this live set ranks among Jason Isbell's finest, most comprehensive performances.
go to album
Reunions
by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Jason Isbell comes to Bandcamp, bringing his signature alternative country and Americana sound.
go to album
The latest from acclaimed country musician Bonnie Montgomery delivers the raw, rustic sound for which she’s known.
go to album
I Saw the Arkansas
by Dylan Earl
Dylan Earl's blend of honky tonk, classic country music, and Southern rock has a poetic, tender heart.
go to album
Margo Price's latest album tackles loss, failure, and freedom over lush pop, psychedelic country, and rock arrangements.
go to album
