Big Mack
I have always been a trucker
I was raised on diesel fumes,
And I smoked two packs of Lucky's
From daybreak to afternoons,
While I ate at roadside diners
From a plate that swam in grease,
And I downed two mugs of coffees
In my cab, the one I leased.
My Big Mack, my eighteen-wheeler
I once drove through western plains,
Then I hauled hogs out of Denver
And I shuttled freight to Maine,
And I kept my eyes wide open
As I popped those purple hearts,
I could feel my heart keep pounding
As I rolled beneath the stars.
It's a great and grand old country
From New York to Idaho,
From the Rockies to Vancouver
And then down to Mexico,
And I've seen Tornado Alley
With a twister coming down,
And then through Louisiana
Where I've stopped, and gone to ground.
I was hauling hogs to Houston
Eighteen hours on the clock,
I was five hours past the limit so
I couldn't fill my Log,
And the Bears were getting hairy
On the highway, going down,
I was too much in a hurry,
Took the rig the back way round.
It was getting on for midnight
And the night was more than black
As I found the off-road highway was
Just nothing but a track,
There were headlights in the distance
So I pulled off to the side,
Thought I'd wait for them to pass me
On that long and lonely ride.
But the lights approached me slowly
And they pinned me in their beam,
As I squinted through the darkness
Not believing what I'd seen,
So I flicked the headlights up again
To see what they revealed,
And it struck me like a pickaxe
That this ‘truck', it had no wheels!
I sat frozen in my cabin
As this thing began to glow,
And it raised itself above me
Lit me up there, down below,
Then the eighteen-wheeler lifted
And without the slightest sound,
I was up there in the darkness
In the air, and looking down.
It could well have been a twister
Picked me up and flung me round,
I have seen whole trucks in twisters
Lifted up, clean off the ground,
But this thing that was above me
Took me on some drunken ride,
Skimming trees and fertile pastures
Shallow lakes and mountainsides.
It was some hallucination
From the pills I'd popped that day,
It was my imagination
Well I thought so, anyway;
But the cabin door flew open
And I leant out, looking down,
This was no imagination,
I was miles above the ground.
I slammed the door and took a slug
Of bourbon, of Jim Beam
That I'd hidden in the cabin,
All it did was make me dream,
With the pills, it must have hit me
As I crashed out in the cab,
And I didn't wake ‘til morning
Frozen stiff, and feeling drab.
The Mack sat to its axles in
A field of pearl white snow,
A farmer looking up at me,
And willing me to go,
I asked him where I was, and then
I phoned the base, back home:
‘He said that I'm in Greenland!
Yeah! God-dammit! - Who would know? '
I smoke three packs of Lucky's
Sometimes four, it all depends,
On whether I've passed out on Beam,
I'm not one to pretend,
I shudder when I see a rig
That night is with me still,
I never drive at night, and hey!
I bet I never will!
David Lewis Paget
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Roll On
(chorus)
Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till you get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on (roll on)
Its monday morning, hes kissin momma goodbye
Hes up and gone with the sun
Daddy drives an eighteen-wheeler
And hes off on a midwest run
As three sad faces gather round momma
They ask her when daddys comin home
Daddy drives an eighteen-wheeler
And they sure miss him when hes gone (yeah they do)
Ah, but he calls them everynight and he tells them that he loves them
And he taught them this song to sing
(chorus)
Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till ya get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on (roll on)
Its wednesday evening, mommas waitin by the phone
It rings but its not his voice
Seems the highway patrol has found a jacknifed rig
In a snow bank in illinois
But the driver was missin and the search had been abandoned
For the weather had everything strong
And they had checked all the houses and local motels
When they had somemore news theyd call
And she told them when they found him to tell him that she loved him
And she hung up the phone singin
(chorus)
Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till ya get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on
Momma and the children will be waiting up all night long
Thinkin nothing but the words just comin
With the ringin of the telephone
Oh, but the man upstairs was listening
When momma asked him to bring daddy home
And when the call came in it was daddy on the other end
Askin her if she had been singin the song, singin
(chorus)
Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till ya get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler
(chorus)
Roll on highway, roll on along
Roll on daddy till ya get back home
Roll on family, roll on crew
Roll on momma like I asked you to do
And roll on eighteen-wheeler roll on (roll on)
Eighteen-wheeler
Eighteen-wheeler
Eighteen-wheeler
Eighteen-wheeler
Roll on
Roll on
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Highway Junkie
Album: Black Dog (Original Soundtrack) [MCA] 1998
Track 4
A hundred cups of coffee,
Five hundred cigarettes
A thousand miles of highway
And I ain't forgot her yet
But I keep on movin',
I keep movin' down the line
There ain't nothin' in my mirror
Just a cloud of dust and smoke
What do you expect
When some ole trucker's heart gets broke
Yeah, a trucker's heart gets broke
But them big wheels of rubber
Gonna rub her off my mind
Well I'm a highway junkie
And I need that old white line
Ten miles outta' Nashville
I was doin' a hundred and one
State boy pulled me over
He said Where's the fire son?
Said Where's the fire son?
I said man there ain't no fire
I'm just runnin' from a flame
So go on an write your ticket, man,
But I aint the one to blame
That county judge tried to rob me blind
But them big wheels of rubber
Gonna rub her off my mind
Well I'm a highway junkie
And I need that old white line
--- Instrumental ---
So I rolled on down to Memphis,
I had nothin' left to loose
Wanted to hear some rock n' roll
But all they played was blues
I didn't wanna hear no blues
So I went to call up Elvis
But Roger Miller grabbed the phone
He said drive that eighteen wheeler boy
You're the king of the road
Said I was the king of the road
But them big wheels of rubber
Gonna rub her off my mind
Well I'm a highway junkie
And I need that old white line
I said I'm a highway junkie, man,
And I need that old white line...
song performed by by Gary Allan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Leave My Heartache Behind
Pat Simmons
Soquel Songs (ASCAP)
The hardest thing I've ever done
Is say goodbye to you.
But even though I love you baby,
I know you can't be true.
I walked down that country road
Out to the big highway
I caught a ride on an eighteen-wheeler
And I'm takin' it all the way.
Takin' all these blues to the highway
Tryin' to get her out of my mind.
When I'm out on the open road
With the wind in my face,
I'll leave my heartache behind.
Raindrops on my window,
Teardrops from my eyes,
I thought our love was sacred
Now I know that's just a lie.
So I pack my suitcase
And head out that old front door.
Better take a long last look now baby
'Cuz I won't be back no more.
Takin' all these blues to the highway
Tryin' to get her out of my mind.
When I'm out on the open road
With the wind in my face
I'll leave my heartache behind.
Guest Artist:
John Cowan - Bass
song performed by by Doobie Brothers
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Demon Horse On The Carousel
The trucks came in with the travelling show
To the heart of our western town,
They set their tents in the twilight glow
And circled the wagons round,
While we, the boys of the neighbourhood
Were watching with minds alight,
The girls in the pearl bikini’s
Who would brave the trapeze that night!
The light sprang out of a million bulbs
In yellow and pink and green,
Lighting the booths of the grinning clowns
That you rolled a ball between,
A Carny carolled, ‘A Penny a shy! ’
And leered, with his gold-capped teeth,
Like a hungry shark at the fattest Mark,
But with eyes of a petty thief!
And then the music began to stir
Like a grind from an organ song,
The puffing steam of the calliope
As the crowd began to throng,
While horses bucked and lowered their heads
The Carousel went by,
Riding on into the future as
It left us, high and dry.
I stayed all night by the Carousel,
Watching the people ride,
Off to a magical future where
No-one grew old, or died,
The organ stuttered its music
And the steam puffed by in clouds,
As a big black horse by the inner rail
Stood wrapped in a sheet-like shroud!
Nobody rode that noble horse,
Nobody even tried,
The Barker motioned the folks away
When they strayed to the horse’s side,
But I stood still and hypnotised
To watch as it rose and fell,
Its mane a-stream like the darkest dream,
As dark as the deepest well!
I waited until they called - ‘Last ride,
The last ride for the night! ’
I paid my money and climbed aboard
And went for the horse - ‘Midnight! ’
The Barker stood with his back to me
Was calling the ride aloud,
So I hid beside the great black horse,
Pulled off the enveloping shroud!
The ride was off and away, I leapt
And clung to the horse’s mane,
Its head was tossing so high and proud,
This horse had never been tame!
The stars were high in the midnight sky,
The Moon was up and about,
But then the music began to change,
And the lights of the ride went out.
The wind blew up and the world went by
And the Carousel spun round,
I couldn’t see past the horses head,
We seemed to be far from the ground,
The horse got rid of its wooden pole
Whinnied, while shaking its head,
Then turned to look at the boy on its back,
And the glass in its eyes glowed red.
The music suddenly turned around
Ran backwards around the rig,
Just like a mad asylum sound,
It seemed like a whirligig,
While ‘Midnight’ galloped on through the stars
And bucked and pranced in the air,
And I grew sick with a deadly fear
I’d be thrown off its back out there!
The ride continued for hour on hour,
We travelled down to the core,
I saw some visions of what might be…
I don’t want to see any more!
‘Just take me back to the town, ’ I cried,
‘Just let my nightmare be! ’
The horse looked on me with glowing eyes,
I’d swear that he pitied me!
The lights came on in the Carousel,
The horse, it came to a stop,
I slipped and fell from the horse’s back,
And the Barker helped me up.
I felt so stiff I could barely move,
The man said – ‘and that’s why…
We never let fellows as old as you
Take the Demon Horse for a ride! ’
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Wheels Are Turning
Written by gerry beckley and dewey bunnell, 1998
Found on human nature.
Albuquerque will be there in the morning
Purple mountains will rise up from the floor
After that you can just lift up the curtain
And the whole world will be there at your door
Down the road you see the heat waves a waving
All the signs are telling you where to go
And for you, this is a bold invitation
Its all you need, you dont need any more
Those wheels are turning once again
Now the sun is rising out of the ocean
Diesel trucks are flying by on the shore
Yes thats your spirit inside you just waiting
Its time to move, now that much you must know
Step outside and take a breath of the morning (step outside the door)
And the wind will tell you which way to go
You are the needle on the compass for certain
The missing map has come back to your door
Those wheels are turning once again
Thunder in the canyon waking up the night (waking up the night)
Black crow with an indigo glow on the highway
Albuquerque will be there in the morning
Purple mountains will rise up from the floor
After that you can just lift up that curtain
And the whole world will be there at your door
Those wheels are turning once again
Thunder in the canyon waking up the night (waking up the night)
Black crow with an indigo glow on the highway
Barking in the canyon waking up the night
Black crow with an indigo glow on the highway
Those wheels are turning once again
Theyve always been your truest friend
song performed by by America
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Shaky Town
Ive witnessed those one night stands
Must have played in a thousand bands
But Im just here tonight, tomorrow Ill be gone
Seen folks show their blacker sides
Seen them die just for foolish pride
And those drivers always ask to hear that same old song
Thats a big ten-four
From your back door
Just put that hammer down
This young man feels
Those eighteen wheels
That keep turning round to take me down to shaky town
Ive heard all those hard luck tales
From all of you u.s. males
Ive heard you tell those lies about the love youve know
And Ive followed those highway signs
And Ive run down those thin white lines
Like those drivers this old road is all I call my own
Thats a big ten-four
From your back door
Just put that hammer down
This young man feels
Those eighteen wheels
That keep turning round to take me down to shaky town
song performed by by Jackson Browne
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sweet Melinda
This song was first released on the john denver album. it is the only album it has been released on.
Pulled out of linden, texas
Two days and nights ago
Ive been livin on pills and burgies
Till the whites of my eyes dont show
Southbound headlights are makin me blind
Im too damn tired to blink
My toes are numb and my brains gone numb
And I can just barely think
Sweet melinda, my wife
The lonesome moan of this eighteen wheeler
Cuts through me like a knife
cept for you, sweet melinda, my wife
I been ridin on empty
Most all of my life
Two more hours of daylight
Its startin to rain again
A sign up ahead says welcome to paradise
Population ten
Well me and this truck and that old white line
Stumblin on and on
Like three old drinkin buddies
Comin home at dawn
song performed by by John Denver
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Good-Bye, Little Cabin
O dear little cabin, I've loved you so long,
And now I must bid you good-bye!
I've filled you with laughter, I've thrilled you with song,
And sometimes I've wished I could cry.
Your walls they have witnessed a weariful fight,
And rung to a won Waterloo:
But oh, in my triumph I'm dreary to-night --
Good-bye, little cabin, to you!
Your roof is bewhiskered, your floor is a-slant,
Your walls seem to sag and to swing;
I'm trying to find just your faults, but I can't --
You poor, tired, heart-broken old thing!
I've seen when you've been the best friend that I had,
Your light like a gem on the snow;
You're sort of a part of me -- Gee! but I'm sad;
I hate, little cabin, to go.
Below your cracked window red raspberries climb;
A hornet's nest hangs from a beam;
Your rafters are scribbled with adage and rhyme,
And dimmed with tobacco and dream.
"Each day has its laugh", and "Don't worry, just work".
Such mottoes reproachfully shine.
Old calendars dangle -- what memories lurk
About you, dear cabin of mine!
I hear the world-call and the clang of the fight;
I hear the hoarse cry of my kind;
Yet well do I know, as I quit you to-night,
It's Youth that I'm leaving behind.
And often I'll think of you, empty and black,
Moose antlers nailed over your door:
Oh, if I should perish my ghost will come back
To dwell in you, cabin, once more!
How cold, still and lonely, how weary you seem!
A last wistful look and I'll go.
Oh, will you remember the lad with his dream!
The lad that you comforted so.
The shadows enfold you, it's drawing to-night;
The evening star needles the sky:
And huh! but it's stinging and stabbing my sight --
God bless you, old cabin, good-bye!
poem by Robert William Service
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Brother Trucker
Breaker number nine big buddy
Put your ears on me now
This trucker got to have a big lie tonight
Come on sucker
Come back brother trucker
I keep seeing double
Unless I close one eye
And Ive got to roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Sure enough a shame bout the shape Im in
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Im back on my wheels again
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Someone to love the truck driving man
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Im back on my wheels again
Im a driving fool
I make my own rules
One part man and one part mule
One part fossil fuel
I got the heart of steel
I pull eighteen wheels
Mister nine to five in his coup de ville
No, never know how it feels
To really roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Holding my own just the best as I can
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Im back on my wheels again
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Outward bound from south bend
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Im back on my wheels again
Moon over new jersey
Big state police
Well, Im in a hurry
Could you let me go in peace
Im an independent
I dont make no teamster dough
cause the a.f.l. and the c.i.o.
Still dont own the road
And the only man telling me where to go
Is the man who owns my load
And he says roll, roll, roll brother trucker
I say where and you say when
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Get back on your wheels again
Turn the goddamn thing around and do it again
Roll, roll, roll brother trucker
Im back on my wheels again
Fat bucket, Im back on my wheels again
song performed by by James Taylor
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Testify
Come a little closer it's a feeling that I can't deny
I was weak, but I never thought I'd speak about the darker side
Is that a ten? I could repent on the side of the road
But, I kept on going yeah I headed for another load
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
I was laid upon the grave by a preacher's hand I cannot lie
And, I forsake many vows I made to be with you tonight
Could you be the salvation cause I never felt like this before
And, could you lend me your hand because I'm falling back on the floor
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
On a road outside of nowhere, in the middle of the night
Well I guess I hit rock bottom and the dawn was not in sight
And a Tempest made of fire, onset the sky aglow
And a sweet young thing called out my name
And this is how it goes, she says...
Choir:
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
Meatloaf: And I got down on my knees
Choir :"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
"Go boy, can you hear them?
Are you falling through the cracks in your eyes?"
Meatloaf (over the top of the choirs last two repititions):
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Meatloaf & Choir:
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Meatloaf:
Every cut that heals reveals a scar that you can never hope to hide
All the pain that you restrain keeps building up deep inside
If you think you're above it then it's you my friend that I implore
You've got to talk before you run
See the night before the dawn
Before you pull yourself off the floor
I get up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Choir Singer: Up from the ground yeah, I testify
Meatloaf & Choir:
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground and I'm falling back down
Up from the ground and I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
Up from the ground in the middle of the morning
Up from the ground in the middle of the evening
Up from the ground in the middle of the night
Oh, I testify
song performed by by Meat Loaf
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I Must Have Been Sleeping
'Where are you going, ' I heard her say
As the dream took me straight to the core,
We parked at the side of a very long road
And I got out the driver's door;
'I've never known that, ' I replied, and she sat
On her hands, with the pain of surprise,
'So what you've been saying has never been true! '
The tears rose up in her eyes!
'The road has been long, the road has been wide,
I never knew where I could turn.'
'I thought you were happy with me, ' she said;
There was nothing to say in return.
'I must have been sleeping for seventeen years, '
My voice sounded foreign and coarse,
But I couldn't handle the sighs and the lies,
Or the terrible sound of - 'divorce! '
I walked to the wood at the side of the road,
And followed the pathway around,
I couldn't look back now I'd made up my mind
Though I walked unfamiliar ground,
The clearing was quiet, the birds didn't sing,
A mountain rose up in my view,
I suddenly saw there was no going back
To the comfortable life that I knew.
I cast off my shackles and took a deep breath,
To breathe in both freedom and pride,
My strength was returning, and clearer my eye,
I walked with a bounce in my stride,
The years fell away, I was thirty again,
I stopped then, and sat on a stone,
For darkness was gathering there in the gloom
With that terrible feeling - alone!
I thought of the woman I'd left on the road,
Who'd always been faithful to me,
The tears that she'd shed for a love that was dead
Made me sad, and ashamed to be free,
I thought of the comfort she'd given me when
All my world started going insane,
She'd cooked and she'd cared, and she'd loved and she'd shared
And I'd given her nothing but pain.
I turned on the track, and I made my way back
But I couldn't see where I had been,
I stumbled through thickets and walked into trees
And I fell on my knees on the green.
'I am lost, I am lost, ' I cried into the night
Then I heard her voice, dim, by a tree
And woke to her stroking my face and my brow
As I cried… She was waiting for me!
9 March 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Lucky
Scared and lonely
Going out for the night
Shakin all over
And wishing Id never
Come here
He pulled up in a cloud of smoke
So much was said
But nobody spoke a word
So I took a chance
And he followed me home
I knew he wouldnt beg
So I gave in without fighting
Been so long since Ive been this way
Since I loved this way
So I asked him if he would stay for a while
Lucky comes easy
Luckys not shy
And if youre lucky
Youll go for a ride
For a ride
We talked a while
And he told me nice
We laughed and we cried and
I knew that I could love him
He got up to say goodbye
I said where you going,
He said that he must leave
Lucky comes easy
Luckys not shy
And if youre lucky
Youll go for a ride
For a ride
Lucky comes easy
Luckys not shy
And if youre lucky
Youll go for a ride
For a ride
Lucky takes you out for a ride
For a ride
Lucky takes you out for a ride
For a ride
Lucky comes easy
Luckys not shy
And if youre lucky
Youll go for a ride
Lucky come easy
Luckys not shy
And if youre lucky
Youll go for a ride
For a ride
song performed by by Donna Summer
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Pot Farmer
I got out my pipe and stuffed it with pot
You better believe, it held a whole lot.
I whipped out a lighter and thumbed up a flame
Then sucked down that smoke which comforts my brain.
I tried alcohol; and smoked cigarettes
Though, they did nothing, but give me regrets.
My mom had arthritis and couldn't walk around
When I rolled her a joint, she danced on the ground.
I thought I was losing my lovemaking knack
But, after I smoked some, to me it came back.
Soon I decided prices were too high
So I searched for some ground I wouldn't have to buy.
I bargained for seeds from smokers all around
Then, got in my truck and drove out of town.
I walked through the woods where the wild birds nest
And found me the meadow I thought was the best.
I dug up the ground and sowed all my seeds
Then said a small prayer for strong, healthy weeds.
I watered at night with a five-gallon pail
The mosquitoes went hungry for I wore a veil.
Seven months went by; I thought I would die
Till the Halloween moon was high in the sky.
One night I went out, in my camouflage suit
And used a corn knife to chop down the loot.
I hung it up to dry where it couldn't be found.
Then came back and got it, when it had turned brown.
I trimmed off the buds, and stuffed them in bags
Called all my friends and passed out free drags.
In less then a week, my crop was gone!
But, I flew to St. Thomas with love hungry blonde.
poem by Tom Zart (2012)
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Twenty Five To Midnight
Train I ride don't be slow
If your whistle can blow
Fifteen miles down the track
Tell them I'm coming back
Counting poles counting sheep
Don't be slow I won't weep
If your wheels on the line
Were to put me on time
Just a year to the day
Since I went upon my way
To seek my fortune and fame
Be a star change my name
And that's it more or less
Til this midnight express
I know I can't be late
Cause she said she won't wait
She'll just go marry Jack
So there's no turning back
And it's 25 to midnight and fifteen miles of track
Band I had got a break
Just one chance we had to take
Told my girl I'd be back
Left her with my friend Jack
New York City for a spell
Things didn't turn out so well
Every dive that we played
We were lucky we got paid
Mr Train driver please
If your speed you increase
Every cent I have now
Will be yours this I vow
And that's it more or less
Til this midnight express
I know I can't be late
Cause she said she won't wait
She'll just go marry Jack
So there's no turning back
And it's 25 to midnight and fifteen miles of track
We called ourselves the Latino Lovers
Hawaiian shirts and top forty covers
I didn't think I could sink this low
When drugs and booze ate all my dough
This isn't how it was meant to be
There's no such thing as a meal that's free
If I was ever to get out alive
I have to get home on time
Train I ride don't be slow
If your whistle can blow
Fifteen miles down the track
Tell them I'm coming back
And that's it more or less
Til this midnight express
I know I can't be late
Cause she said she won't wait
She'll just go marry Jack
So there's no turning back
And it's 25 to midnight and fifteen miles of track
And it's 25 to midnight and fifteen miles of track
song performed by by Sting
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Telegraph Road
A long time ago came a man on a track
Walking thirty miles with a pack on his back
And he put down his load where he thought it was the best
Made a home in the wilderness
He built a cabin and a winter store
And he ploughed up the ground by the cold lake shore
And the other travellers came riding down the track
And they never went further, no, they never went back
Then came the churches then came the schools
Then came the lawyers then came the rules
Then came the trains and the trucks with their loads
And the dirty old track was the telegraph road
Then came the mines - then came the ore
Then there was the hard times then there was a war
Telegraph sang a song about the world outside
Telegraph road got so deep and so wide
Like a rolling river. . .
And my radio says tonight its gonna freeze
People driving home from the factories
Theres six lanes of traffic
Three lanes moving slow. . .
I used to like to go to work but they shut it down
I got a right to go to work but theres no work here to be found
Yes and they say were gonna have to pay whats owed
Were gonna have to reap from some seed thats been sowed
And the birds up on the wires and the telegraph poles
They can always fly away from this rain and this cold
You can hear them singing out their telegraph code
All the way down the telegraph road
You know Id sooner forget but I remember those nights
When life was just a bet on a race between the lights
You had your head on my shoulder you had your hand in my hair
Now you act a little colder like you dont seem to care
But believe in me baby and Ill take you away
From out of this darkness and into the day
From these rivers of headlights these rivers of rain
From the anger that lives on the streets with these names
cos Ive run every red light on memory lane
Ive seen desperation explode into flames
And I dont want to see it again. . .
>from all of these signs saying sorry but were closed
All the way down the telegraph road
song performed by by Dire Straits
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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You Were Only Talking...
It's four o'clock in the morning,
No sleep for me this night,
I sit on the cold verandah,
And watch for a chink of light;
The wind howls round about me
The moon's not raised its head,
And you are out there walking,
Walking,
Walking,
And you are out there walking,
When you should have been in bed!
I'm shivering in the darkness,
It's colder than the crypt,
The rain that passed right over
Left puddles, where it dripped
My mind sets off to wonder
Why life should be so grim…
You said that you were talking,
Talking,
Talking,
That you were only talking
When I saw you there with him.
I questioned you on Monday,
I questioned you, and then,
You said that he was funny,
You'd talk with him again.
I said I didn't like it,
It wasn't right somehow,
But you just sat there sulking
Sulking,
Sulking,
You sat and faced me sulking
With a crease across your brow.
You left the house at seven,
You said: 'I won't be late! '
You had to do some shopping
And be with your sister, Kate;
But when I phoned your sister
She said there was no trace,
And now the dawn is breaking
Breaking,
Breaking,
And now the dawn is breaking
Across my tear-lined face.
A sudden light at the corner,
I see he's brought you back,
That one last kiss of the morning
Has turned my vision black,
For I am sat in the darkness
Like a statue, frozen, stone,
With a kitchen knife by the awning,
Awning,
Awning,
And I think you'll still be yawning
When I drive the handle home.
22 February 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Rednecks
It was down in Jackson County
Back in 1959,
I was sitting in a parking lot
And necking Peggy Jean,
We'd been breathing hot and heavy,
'Til we misted up the windshield,
Then footsteps started walking round
My Daddy's Oldsmobile.
Peggy buttoned up her top, while I
Sat bolt upright, and listened,
Then the door, it sprang wide open
And a hand came reaching in,
Then it grabbed me by the collar,
Dragged me out, although I hollered,
And this guy began to kick me
Like he wants to do me in!
It was dark, but there was moonlight, and
I saw he wore a jersey with
Those hoops of red and white just like
The college football team,
He was big and mean and dopey,
And he tried to grab and choke me
Then he hit me and he bit me, said:
'You like my Peggy Jean? '
She screamed and ran right over
Slapped his face, and yelled: 'You Doofer!
I ain't never been your gal and you
Ain't never been my man! '
So he stopped and stared right at her
Looking mad, like some Mad Hatter,
Then he mumbled that his Peggy Jean:
'She must have cut and ran! '
I took my wounded shoulder to the
Hospital in Boulder, where
They cleaned it, disinfected it,
Then sent me straight back home.
But my head was fairly spinnin'
And my Peggy Jean was grinnin'
'Cos she thought it cute I'd fight for her -
I drove back home alone.
My shoulder wouldn't fix, it
Wept and burned, I scratched, it itched,
And for some days my joints were stiff
As if he'd given me some spore,
But my eyes were twice as bright, I saw
Right through the dark at night,
And I could run, right out of sight
Like I could never run before!
A month went slowly by, as I
Thought up some alibi for why
I hadn't seen my Peggy Jean,
Or phoned and left a note.
But I didn't want to see her, so
She joined the Cheerleaders, then
Went necking with this football guy
To try and get my goat.
But then one day I saw her, in a
Dress, right off the shoulder
And she had a big red love bite
On her neck - No argument!
So I said: 'Them dang mosquito's
Getting big as hot Darito's,
Why, I guess you're now a Redneck, '
And she knew just what I meant.
I lay low about a month, just
Messed around and played a hunch,
Got my Jerry Lee collection up
And Buddy Holly too,
Then I went off to the Prom to see
Just what was going on;
There were rednecks all around me
Like some great big Redneck zoo!
They were multiplying - Heck!
Great big bites on every neck,
And their eyes had gone all yeller
And their teeth were getting long,
And so over grits and chitlins
I asked Grandpaw, who was whittling,
'Have you ever made a silver bullet, Gramps? '
He said: 'You're wrong! '
(I had thought: 'He's getting old,
But he really should be told...')
But he didn't need no telling of
The Rednecks in the town,
He had seen it all before,
Long before the Second War,
And he looked at me, and says:
'Those pesky Vamps are going down! '
'What you need are wooden stakes,
Ash or aspen's what it takes,
Though I thought we'd killed 'em all in
Jackson County's last big wake,
When your father was a lad,
They were here, and things were bad,
But we staked them 'til they filled
The cemetery by the lake
So I told him what I'd seen,
All the Rednecks, where I'd been,
And we took to walking through the woods
To spy on where they're at,
But the moon above was bright,
In its beam I caught a sight
Of my Gramps, as he turned hairy
Right there, underneath his hat.
He dropped down on all his fours
While I felt my face and jaws,
And I suddenly had paws,
Right beneath the haloed moon,
I was soon, to my surprise
Just a wolf, in some disguise,
So we loped downtown together,
Started howlin' out of tune.
'I knew when you were bit
This would be the way of it,
I knew you'd end up one thing or
Another, so it's cool!
But these vampires, they need culling
Cause they're always multiplying, and they
Never learn -
In Jackson County...
Werewolves Rule! '
17 September 2008
poem by David Lewis Paget
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Turn Around
I was working all night in my office
When a man I had recently killed
Called me up from a phone near my building
So I looked out the window at him
He had the same obsequious manner
That was the reason I had him killed
So to calm my nerves I sang this song
To him, over the phone
Turn around, turn around
Theres a thing there that can be found
Turn around, turn around
Its a human skull on the ground
Human skull on the ground
Turn around
I was out by myself in the graveyard
I was doing an interpretive dance
When I felt something heavy and pointed
Strike me in the back of the neck
And then the ghost of my dance instructor
Pushed me down into an open grave
And as dirt rained down she played a xylophone
And sang me this song
Turn around, turn around
Theres a thing there that can be found
Turn around, turn around
Its a human skull on the ground
Human skull on the ground
Turn around
We were waving our arms out the window
Of a fast moving passenger train
Acting in an irresponsible fashion
Until the engineer whose back had been turned
And who we thought would find us highly amusing
Quickly swiveled his head around
And his face which was a paper-white mask of evil
Sang us this song
Turn around, (round) turn around (round)
Theres a thing there that can be found (theres a thing there that can be)
Turn around, (found) turn around (round)
Its a human skull on the ground (its a human skull on the)
Human skull (ground) on the ground (round)
Turn around (turn around, turn around)
Turn around, (round) turn around (round)
Theres a thing there that can be found (theres a thing there that can be)
Turn around, (found) turn around (round)
Its a human skull on the ground (its a human skull on the)
Human skull (ground) on the ground (round)
Turn around (turn around, turn around)
song performed by by They Might Be Giants
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Once Upon A Time
The hours late and the lights are low
Im walking home just kicking stones
I waited at the deopt you never showed
You missed the last bus hours ago
I remember the first time
I saw you on the street
You looked so pretty my heart skipped a beat
I cant wait any longer but I still feel the heat
Im down but Im still on my feet
I walked on down the old fairground
Up from the docks blew a lonely sound
I sat for a while on the cold hard ground
Watched the stars slowly turn as the earth spun around
As the past falls behind up ahead theres a crack
Of light shining bright through the night so black
Like a runaway train rolling down the track
From here theres no turning back
Listen to me baby
Once upon a time
My heart was an ocean
You swam against the tide
The time is past for grieving
My tears have all run dry
Ill leave you with my love
And now I say goodbye
The bottles broke the glasses are cracked
The cards are all dealt and the chips have been stacked
The lamp shades busted and the curtains are torn
The door keeps knocking but theres nobody home
I stood by the road brushed a tear from my eye
Cursed the cars and the rain and the rolling grey sky
I turned around turned my back on that town
And I never looked back again
song performed by by Pogues
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Homesick
I’ve lit the Christmas candle,
As we used to long ago
When it shone through cabin windows
On Holly-hedge and snow.
In this fine new house they’ve built me
That is furnished rich and fair-
But I’m hearing now the breakers rolling round the cliffs of Moher,
And my heart is aching, aching for a breath of Irish air.
The wren boys on St. Stephen’s Day.
Went singin’ up and down
With their poor dead wren and thorn bush,
I heard them through the town.
But to-night down lighted city streets,
I hear the distant band,
And when’er they play ‘our own’ hymns or tune of dear old Ireland,
The poor old foolish heart of me is in another land.
‘Twas a lonely hillside chapel,
Where we tramped to midnight Mass,
With the flaring lights we carried
Throwing shadows on the grass.
But to-night my boy will drive me
In his grand new limousine,
And he’ll wrap my furs around me, proudly caring for his Mother,
And I’ll ride to the Cathedral just as grand as any queen.
Ah! No, I’m not repinin’,
And I love this wide new land,
And I’m proud to see the childer
Growin’ prosperous and grand,
But roots strike deep in Irish soil,
Old memories are sweet,
And to-night my heart is yearnin’ for the cabin I was born in,
And I smell the reek of turf-smoke driftin’ up the city streets.
poem by Alice Guerin Crist
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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