Arkansas Traveler

Lyrics

 33 RPM Soul  Come A Long Way

(C7)Consecrate your soul or there's gonna be hell to pay
You've (F)got them where they live(G)
Come the Judgement Day(C7)

(C7)Father, forgive our sins
Mother, forgive us too
(F)Forgive but don't forget(G)
They never meant to hurt you(C7)

She's doing(C7) the widow walk since her ship went down
(F)I've seen her with a pretty (G)boy
On the country side of town(C7)

Her (C7)captain is lost at sea
Her ship is forgotten too
(F)She'd admit she'd been singing(G)
The hellfire brimstone blues(C7)

Should (C7)never have tried to rock
Should never have tried to roll
But (F)damn I don't regret(G)
The 33 RPM (C7)Soul
The 33 RPM (C7)Soul
The 33 RPM (C7)Soul
The 33 RPM (C7)Soul

 I kicked in his door at 5 AM
"I've (F)come for my bike I told the repo man"
My (C)920's gonna go far (Em7)today
You can (F)travel for miles and never leave L.A.

Come a long way
I've come a long way
I've gone 500 miles today
Come a long way
I've come along way
And never even left L.A.

I drive by the Plaza where the gay boys pose
Stand in their windows wearing no clothes
I heard the screams of the dying dark
Through the sweet green icing of MacArthur Park
And then I crossed the river into East L.A.
Pescado mojado me encontre
I've given up on rock 'n roll
And I'm saving up for norteno
The river she runs by the railroad track
I swear I'll never take it back
A train, she cries on the midnight hour
All along the Watts Tower

I gunned it down to San Pedro Bay
I watched my ship sail in, I watched it sail away
The sun was sinking into the sea
But a ball of fire inside of me
Was burning my motor and driving me hard
Past the big hair on the Boulevard
And up Mulholland where I made the scene
Like the one that took little Jimmy Dean
And then I shimmied up Wilshire like a little silk worm
Past the rodeo and the pachyderm
And then I stopped for coffee at an art cafe
I saw the repo man and made my getaway
Doing the Eagle Rock
Heading for the hills
Try and let my engines cool
And it's not my fault that this town shakes
I saw the falling rocks and I hit my brakes

Now you tow it to the repo man's front door
And you give him these keys, I don't need them no more

 The Secret to a Long Life  Contest Coming

 Billy Barlow was a poor boy
That's (F)why he robbed the Union (C)Grove Bank(G)
He was a sweet talking ladies man
(F)That's what he'd have ladies(C) all to think(G)

Oh the (F)secret to a long life is knowing(C) when it's time to go(G)
So when the posse came riding
(F)Billy went (C)hiding down south(G)
Holed up in a shack with Maria
With the black(F) hair and the ruby(C) red mouth(G)

So when this news reached her lover
(F)Billy ran for cover(C), don't you know(G)
And when the bullets started ringing
(F)Billy started singing(C) "Time to go...."(G)
Oh, time to go!

Billy headed north where the sands (F)of the Badlands (C)blow(G)
But in his dreams he's still south
He's still (F)kissing that ruby (C)red mouth(G)
Oh the (F)secret to a long life is knowing(C) when it's time to go(G)

 Sybil sits in a rocking chair
(G)Chewing tobacco and spitting(C) out cares(G) (GCG)
(G)Sound of a fiddle floating thru the(C) air(G) (GCG)
From the (G)Jones boy (D)across the holler(G)
From the (G)Jones boy (D)across the way(G)

(G)Backwoods folks take sides(C) from the middle(G)
(G)Backwoods folks is old (C)and brittle
But they (G)sway like a tree to the sound(C) of the (G)fiddle(GCG)
From the (G)Jones boy (D)across the holler(G)
From the (G)Jones boy (D)across the way(G)

You can hear him late (C)at (D)night(G)
You can hear him in the first light (C)of the day(D) (G) (GCG)
There's a (G)contest coming and a ticket (C)to (G)Nashville(GCG)
And the (G)Jones boy (D)aims to(G) play
A (G)contest coming and a ticket(C) to Nashville(G)
And the (G)Jones boy (D)aims to(G) win


 Over the Waterfall Shaking Hands (Soldier's Joy) 

 I thought I knew what I was doing
I was wrong
Mistakes I've made and lived to tell
I tell(C) them in a( G) song(D)

I (D)knew a river wide and deep
Her banks were very tall
At one end was a mountain stream
The (C)other was a wat(G)erfall, (D)boys (CGD)

I (D)asked the old man by the river
He did not recall
The last attempt to ride a barrel
(C)Over the wat(G)erfall(D)

The ferry(D)boatman, he did tell me
That the chance was very small
None survived who went alive
(C)Over the water(G)fall, boys(D)

So I built(D) myself an oaken barrel
And inside I did crawl
I broke the record but I broke my back
Going over(C) the water(G)fall(D)

And now it's been (D)my luck to live to tell
The only tale I can
It don't hurt you when you fall
(C)Only (G)when you land(D), boys(CGD)

 Shaking (Dm)hands and fingers that do tremble
Soldier's Joy has been a bitter pill
Though in (G)battle, a brave man I (Dm)resemble
Alone I am a coward(A7) without will(Dm)

Pierce McGee(Dm) from the great State of Missouri
To the Show-Me-State militia I belong
And to judge(G) from the pride on the Confederate side(Dm)
I'd say five hundred thousand rebels(A7) can't be wrong(Dm)
A rebel stand(Dm) is no place for a traitor
A loveless Union cannot bend us to her will
Cannot command(G) the soldiers who now hate her(Dm)
Nor demand the fealty of her(A7) generals(Dm)

I took(Dm) a rifle ball in my shoulder
But my entire body filled with pain
I (G)pleaded with them all at the field hospital(Dm)
"Oh, God, another shot(A7) of morphine!"(Dm)
Soldier's Joy(Dm), oh what's the point in pleasure
When it's only meant to kill the pain
Lay down my arms(G) and take the coffin's measure(Dm)
Or take up arms and send me out (A7)to fight again(Dm)

Shaking hands(Dm)...was I a coward, was I brave?
With shaking hands, I took the bitter pill
Now tell the story(G) on my grave, my soul they(Dm) could not save
And what the bullet does not kill, (A7)the needle will(Dm)

 Jump Jim Crow  Hold Me Back (Frankie & Johnny)

 Jump Jim Crow
Jump Jim Crow
How do you, do you walk so slow
Like a little(G) red rooster with one trick leg
(D)Looks like you the one laying the egg
I (A)don't know when but it'll be real soon
I'm(G) going down the road by the light of the moon
I'm(D) going to the city to see Zip Coon
Going to the city to see Zip Coon

(D)Hip Zip Coon you sure look slick
How do you do that walking trick
You got a woman on your left
A (G)woman on your right
You(D) all dressed up like a Saturday night
(A)Strolling down the street, feeling fine
(G)Tipping your hat, saying "Howdy, Shine"
(D)If I knew your secret I would make it mine

(D)Tarbaby, Tarbaby, tell me true
Who is really the jigaboo?
Is it the white man(G), the white talking that jive
Or the black(D) man, the black, trying to stay alive?
You (A)can't touch a tarbaby, everybody knows
(G)Smiling all the while wit de bone in de nose
(D)That's the way the story goes

 Frankie was a good woman
Yeah, (C7)everybody knows(G7)
She (C7)gave her man Johnny(G7) a hundred dollar bill
Just to buy(D7) one suit(C7) of clothes(G7)

Frankie went down to the barroom
She ordered herself a glass of beer
She asked that bartending man
Tell me, now, has my sweet Johnny been here?"

He said, "Frankie, I ain't gonna tell you no story"
He said, "Frankie, I ain't gonna tell you no lie"
He said, "Frankie, I saw your man about an hour ago
Heading over going to see Miss Nellie Bly"

She cried, "Hold (C7)me back!(G7)
Hold me back(C7), take away my gun(G7)
Hold me back(C7), hold me back
Somebody won't you please(G7) hold me back
Don't let me do(D7) what must (C7)be done"(G7)

Frankie went on over to that coke joint
She stood outside, she rang that bell
She said, "Alright, now, Johnny, you're my loving man
And if I find you in here I'm gonna shoot you sure as hell"

Sure enough there Johnny was with Miss Nellie Bly
He seen the gun in Frankie's hand, he said
"Frankie, I swear I won't treat you wrong no more"
Ha! That's for sure, 'cause by the time she was done
With that 44 gun her loving man
Was not gonna treat her wrong no more
Hold me back!

Roll out your rubber tired carriages
Roll out your rubber tired hacks
There's twelve men going to the graveyard
And there's eleven men coming back


 Prodigal Daughter (Cotton Eyed Joe)  Blackberry Blossom

 What's to be done with a prodigal son?
(G)Welcome him home(C) with open(G) arms(D)
(G)Throw a big party, invite (C)your friends(D)
Our (G)boy's (D)come back (C)home(D)

But when a (G)girl goes home with the (C)oats he's (D)sown
It's draw (G)your shades(C) and your shutters(G)(D)
She's (G)bringing such shame to the family (C)name(D)
The return(G) of the (D)prodigal (C)daughter
(D)Singing, oh(G)! (D)Cotton Eyed Joe(C) (D)

I (G)went to see a doctor and I almost (C)died(D)
(G)When I told my mama(C), Lordy, how she(G) cried(D)
(G)Me and my daddy were never(C) too close(D)
But (G)he was (D)there when I (C)needed him (D)most

(G)Look, here comes a (C)prodigal son(D)
(G)Fetch him a tall(C) drink of water(G)(D)
But there's none (G)in the cup because he drank(C) it all up(D)
(G)Left for a (D)prodigal (C)daughter(D)(G)

(G)Had not have been for the Cotton (C)Eyed Joe(D)
(G)I'd have been married a long time ago(C)(D)
Oh, (G)I'd have been married a long time ago(D)(G)

(G)Out in the cornfield I stubbed(C) my toe(D)
I (G)called for the doctor, Cotton(C) Eyed Joe(D)
I (G)called for the doctor, Cotton(D) Eyed Joe(G)

 Can you tell me what happened to the blossom
The (C)blackberry (G)blossom when the(D) summertime came
Oh the (G)blackberry blossom the (C)last time (G)I saw one
Was (C)down in the(G) bramble where(D) I rambled in(G) the spring
The (Em)bramble was wild, I was torn by the brier
My (Bm)love, he wooed me as I lie there
With a (Em)flower in my hair and my cheeks aflush
It was a (C)blackberry (G)blossom from the blackberry(D) bush(G)

(G)When I picked the berry I didn't (C)miss the blossom(G)
The (C)blackberry (G)blossom (D)was white as the snow
But the (G)berry that it brings (C)is sweeter than(G) molasses
And (C)black as the(G) wings of an(D) Arkansas(G) crow
The (Em)Arkansas crow is a devil and a demon
(Bm)Known for his cackling and his screaming
(Em)Driving away the swallow and the thrush
From the (C)blackberry (G)blossom and(D) the blackberry(G) bush

(G)I was picking berries when that(C) crow flew(G) above me
(C)Carrying my (G)lover's soul (D)far away
Now (G)each spring I lay (C)a blackberry(G) blossom
By a (C)cold (G)gravestone on (D)the Arkansas(G) clay
The (Em)Arkansas clay is rocky and hard
With (Bm)weeds grown over in the old graveyard
And the (Em)day settles down to an evening hush
Over the (C)blackberry (G)blossom and (D)the blackberry(G) bush


 Strawberry Jam  Weaving Way

 Saturday morning found me itching
To (A7)get on over to (D)my grandma's kitchen
Where the sweetest little berries (E7)were cooking up right
And then we'd(A7) put them in a canning jar(D) and seal them up tight
We were making (E7)jam(A7)
Strawberry
If you want the best (E7)jam(A7)
You've gotta make (D)your own

Now we've (D)got Smucker's, (E7)Welches, Knotts Berry Farm
But a little (A7)homemade jam never (D)did a body no harm
A little local motion(E) is all that we need
To (A7)close down these corporate(D) jam factories
We'll be making (E7)jam(A7)
Strawberry (E7)jam(A7)
If you want the best (E7)jam(A7)
You've gotta make (D)your own

We've got a little revolution(E7) sweeping the land
Now once (A7)more everybody's (D)making homemade jam
So call your friends up on (E7)the telephone
(A7)Invite 'em on over and make (D)some jam of your own
You'll be making (E7)jam(A7)
Strawberry (E7)jam(A7)
If you want the best (E7)jam(A7)
You've gotta make (D)your own

 You had a little drink
Your (F)friends have (C)all (G)gone
(F)Leaving(C) (G)you to find your weaving (D)way (G)home
(F)What more (C)can I (G)do?
There's a (F)chance (C)that I (G)may have to
(F)Stand back and(C) watch you (G)find your own (D)weaving (G)way
It's (F)not (C)the way you (G)talk
That's (F)making (C)me (G)grieve
It's (F)not the (C)way you (G)walk, it's the (D)way that you (G)weave
It's (F)eating (C)you (G)inside
And then (F)tossed out(C) like (G)a bone
(F)Leaving(C) (G)you to find your weaving (D)way (G)home
The (F)sun on (C)the (G)horizon
Was (F)turning (C)dawn to (G)day
(F)By the (C)time you (G)finally found your own (D)weaving (G)way
Oh, I (F)love the (C)way you (G)laugh
When I (F)ask (C)you to (G)leave
I (F)swear that (C)I don't (G)love you for the way (D)that you (G)weave
Forgive (D)me, my(G) friend
Did I (D)forget to(G) mention?
The path that (D)you have(G) chosen
Is paved with (D)your (G)intention
Touch a finger (D)to your (G)nose
I (D)wish you (G)well
Walk a (D)straight (G)line on the road (D)to (G)hell

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