1. |
Building a Boat
04:04
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Every man has a story, maybe this is mine, bottled in a mystery
Thirteenth of a dozen, a man left behind, workin’ for the company
Never punchin’ my ticket, punchin’ the clock
No fisherman or captain could I be
Never called when my vessel pulled out from the dock
But don’t feel sorry for me
I am building a boat, building an ocean, waitin’ for the rising tide
With my sailor’s rope my right hand of hope
To pull me over the side, I am building a boat
Every game I tried, was rigged from inside
I fell for every scheme like a fool
I bit on every line for a nickel and dime
By every mother’s thug I was schooled
In my backwater town where brimstone rained down
And the river backs up from the sea
I could only dream one day I would leave
But don’t feel sorry for me
I am building a boat, building an ocean, waitin’ for the rising tide
With my sailor’s rope my right hand of hope
To pull me over the side, I am building a boat
I learned a trick or two, I finally got a clue
Worth two to one from all I left behind
I never kissed the maid when I could kiss the mistress
No moonshine when I could drink the wine
Now I’m cook I am captain, a bo’sun and a mate
A navigator lookout and a crew
The wind and the waves will now be my fate
With my very own sailing boat tattoo
I am building a boat, building an ocean, waitin’ for the rising tide
With my sailor’s rope my right hand of hope
To pull me over the side, I am building a boat
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2. |
Wanderin' Life & Times
03:22
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I would walk all day to Denver
Though I'm here still, it's all uphill, my steps are not so sure
Since I've got a lot to leave behind
I know by now that I will find what I'm not lookin' for
I would / Swim all night to Saginaw
And I know what I'd be gettin' into if I found the one
Follow where the river flows
Down the road where no man goes Just behind the sun
It's a race inside my soul to keep movin'
Pickin' up whatever is mine
I can't win but I just try to keep from losin’
In my wanderin' life and times
If I took a train to Birmingham
That could have been my battle plan if only she had tried
I thought I had a winning streak
Although my will and words were weak my heart was open wide
I would drive to Van Nuys
With moons around my bloodshot eyes and coffee in my veins
Every roadhouse in between, on rubber, gears and gasoline
If I could see her face
Really hoped that I could see her
And maybe watch her walk on by like I don't know her name
Down by where the water rose, that late night poetry comes and goes
But everything's the same
Maybe I will find her someday
I know the circumstances and the secrets have to hide
I'll just keep it all next to the vest, and keep on rollin' to the west
Across that great divide
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3. |
Forever Friend
03:44
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There was a time when we could disagree and still be honest men
Now there's no one left to listen, so brother grab all you can
It was a great run while it lasted, and a true nation's voice
We were always bound by common ground
Now there's nothing left but noise
If I fall help me stand I will be there
When I walk with nothin' teach me how to care
If I stumble make me strong, and raise me up again
I will for you my still forever friend
While the pinstripes stole their fortunes, the factories turned to rust
There's not much left to dream about and nothin' left to trust
Now there are slaves and there are mansions, forsaken and the thieves
Can we change the way the story goes and build what we believe
Sometimes I can remember when a man could find a way
To keep his home and family, now it's barely day to day
Are the best things all behind us, or given up for dead
A simple song to remind us what those came before us said
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4. |
Station Number Nine
03:52
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It was April third, election day, the fifth ward boys and the APA
All hell broke loose at the West Side Bridge, built for the Union line
There was no love lost, they didn’t fight fair, holding back for at least a year
On the corner where I’m standin’ here
At Station Number Nine boys, Station Number Nine
Big Jim, Big Joe, and John O’Neill
They tried to plead one last appeal
But the cops rode in and fate was sealed
At Station Number Nine, at Station Number Nine
The haves on the bluff, the nots in the kill
Vinegar Gulch and Union Hill
Irish blood would surely spill this time
Nobody knows who raised his gun, nobody cared who was the one
It started out as the usual fun, but it all went bad this time
While wounded bled, they counted score
They dragged Callahan to the firehouse door
In fifteen minutes he was dead on the floor
Of Station Number Nine boys, Station Number Nine
They counted votes, what’s done was done
Nobody believed the thugs had won
And the deputy said we won’t get fooled next time
After what went down at Station Number Nine
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5. |
Please Come Home
04:26
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Oh ‘tis time to go what a feast we have been given
With our boys back from this bloody war
Such fine men they are for sure
Oh from many flags and race
Stand side by side they fight for freedom
With tear in eye they saw their comrade’s fall
Their hearts can take no more
What a time it was with all our boys
Many glasses tipped with tears of joy
Their dreams be filled with strife no more
Please come on home
Oh ‘tis time to go what a feast we have been given
With our girls back from this bloody war
Such fine girls they are for sure
Oh from many flags and race
Stand side by side they fight for freedom
With tear in eye they saw their comrade’s fall
Their hearts can take no more
What a time it was with all our girls
Many glasses tipped with tears of joy
Their dreams be filled with strife no more
Please come on home
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6. |
Appalachian Paddy
07:54
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Young Dinny McCann, just a sliver of a man,
He walks down the road with his fiddle in hand.
A beggin for sixpence to help pay for boat
To get him to sailin’ high tide
To America he go, away from this hole
That killed his young sister and shattered his soul.
His mother and father he buried in ground
He’ll remember with honor and pride
A long stormy night, a long voyage he sailed
His fiddle in hand was all that he hailed
He played through the night, and saw a smile from a child
Gave hope to the lost and forsaken
As they pray on their knees, many souls lost at sea
The sighting of land will bring tears to the free
With hope in their hearts and screams of delight
They will dance on the decks of the Erin
Chorus; Put your arms around each other
And sing to the angels up high
Shake your fist at the devil and begrudgers
Give a kiss to the one by your side
In a bar on the hill, schlligin’ juice from a still
He hears a young lad play an Appalachian fill
To Dinny he cried what is in that black case
‘Tis me fiddle from my mother Ireland
Well break it on out he declares with a shout
Let’s dig for the gold with our strings and a stout
We’ll play ‘til we bleed or break an ould string
Our ghosts will move on to the new land
Chorus; Put your arms around each other
And sing to the angels up high
Shake your fist at the devil and begrudgers
Give a kiss to the one by your side
I’m playin da string with me father’s bow in a land so far from home
A sippin’ a drop a da potteen, playin’ da music from ma soul
Flannigan, Donnigan, Finnegan’s wake and all the tunes are known
Irish Whiskey Irish music till the morning
Maggie O’Connor jumps up on the table and dances a slippery Jig
Her arms and legs a swinging with her lips wrapped round a cig
Flannigan, Donnigan, Finnegan’s wake and all the tunes are known
Irish Whiskey Irish music till the morning
Well this is our mountain music we be playin here so long
Our plantin’ and a seedin’ all recorded in our song
We work our fingers to the bone and praise the Lord each day
‘Til the sun come up and the moon goes down
drinkin’ moonshine rakin’ hay
Well a simple life we choose to live and treat your woman well
Don’t raise your hand to child nor dog your soul will go to hell
Just work your fingers to the bone and praise the Lord each day
‘Til the sun come up and the moon goes down
drinkin’ moonshine rakin’ hay
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7. |
Seven Years
02:59
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Billy was a blacksmith and a terror of the saints
A rogue among the idle, but he made no complaints
One midnight in a tavern, he gave a reckless vow
If he only had a fortune, he’d be pullin’ Satan’s plow
A hoof beneath his trousers, those telltale signs
Dressed up like a lawyer, drinkin’ red wine
He’d taken up that bargain, but this devil could be had
Forever chained and shackled with a hammer in his hand
Seven years the Devil seven years the man
Seven days counting to work his plan
Nine lucky numbers one soul to save
And send the old boy back to his grave
With a few shots inside ‘em, they finally struck a deal
A gift of girls and money eternity was sealed
When our Billy found his booty old Scratch had disappeared
Not knowing it was the end of his brilliant career
Seven years the Devil seven years the man
Seven days counting to work his plan
Nine lucky numbers one soul to save
And send the old boy back to his grave
He moved on to his finery and sunshiny friends
They were all too glad to have a wad of cash to spend
His door was always open his wallet always wide
With a fair maid or two on the side
In less than half of seven years the money was all spent
The evil one he doubled down he wasn’t yet content
Billy said you’re on my man and the Devil began to pound
And to that magic anvil that demon was … forever bound
Seven years the Devil seven years the man
Seven days counting to work his plan
Nine lucky numbers one soul to save
And send the old boy back to his grave
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8. |
Common Man
03:35
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I am a common Man I am
Working hard all day for pay to feed my family
Hope some left over for my car and my gasoline
Get me to work and plough the fields all day
Breaking back working fingers to the bone
With humble heart I bow my head
To my God we pray to you just keep us strong
And tip a glass to all the lads who fight for the right cause
Wear your uniform with pride and grace
You have to know this world was built from the
Blood, sweat, tears and broken bones of all the Common Men
Passing by the fields each day
The broken fences all the horses gone
No money for the working man to pay
To the fat cats, who steal their houses, send them to their wars
You have to know this world was built from the
Blood, sweat, tears and broken bones of all the Common Men
From humble earth my title came
No King or Queen shall bow their heads to me
Respect the rights and freedom of this world
We shall stay strong
Take a stand let no man take you down stay firm
You have to know this world was built from the
Blood, sweat, tears and broken bones of all the Common Men
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9. |
What a House
03:54
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Burning riches in our name, pulled by unseen hands
With no bounds and no shame, deceiving honest men
If we worked and played, ‘til every man could have his fill
Oh, what a house we could build
Eleventh hour is gone, it’s close to midnight
Fists and fortunes rage on, struck with stage fright
Brick by brick, hand by hand, if we only had the will
Oh, what a house we could build
What a place to leave our children
Want a home to make us proud
What a place to leave our children
Want a home to make us proud
Spend time building walls not mending fences
Searching for clever ways to build defenses
If we ever brought the harvest home and gathered what we spill
Oh, what a house we could build
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10. |
Orange Plank Road
04:19
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My friend I am a teacher, to history I’m called
To shake the hand of every ghost that saw those cannonballs
Virginia was my journey, to track those battles down
The one down in the crater, they called it hallowed ground
Colored troops engaged the Rebels, a hundred thousand all
Turned right at Spotsylvania saw Petersburg fall
Then a month of mud and standoff, dying all around
Emancipation led them to this hole in the ground
Though Mister Lincoln gave them freedom, it was still open season
And barely time enough to shout reload
Battle for the Wilderness at Orange Plank Road
I can still hear the enemy camped out in the pines
Eatin’ grass, dirt, and leather when they can
With nothin’ left to steal out there, nothin’ left to find
This new freedom they began to understand
They lived on superstition, got low on ammunition
They killed that bastard rooster when he crowed
Battle for the Wilderness at Orange Plank Road
Those pretty flags and uniforms are now all burned and frayed
Soon be used for bandages or buried in a grave
No crimson badge of courage will dry a widow’s tears
That scar upon this nation will last a thousand years
Riding shotgun with a ghost, they fired no hollow boast
All the way to Richmond then they rode
Battle for the Wilderness at Orange Plank Road
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11. |
Whiskey on the Fire
04:07
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There’ll be nothing left but the ashes
We’re already wound like a wire
Guess we never learn how our fingers get burned
Pourin’ whisky on the fire
Though wounded from the last time
Couldn’t call the stakes any higher
Still we double down, ears ringin’ from the sound
Pourin’ whisky on the fire
It’s a dangerous game to fan those flames
A refrain that rusted in rain
A cruel lost cause, it was what it was
A love only useless and vain
When the cinders are slowly dying
Apologies and quid not required
No pro and no quo, but always we’ll know
We’re forever pourin’ whisky on the fire
Guess we never will learn how our fingers get burned
Pourin’ whisky on the fire
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The Elders Kansas City, Missouri
The Elders were founded in 1998 by six musicians with a passion for music rooted in Irish jigs & reels & American folk rock. Their original songs offer delightful story lines, with vibrant narratives that explore history, legends, tall tales and true-life experiences ... more
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