Author: Alex

Lou & Peter Barryman 1988

Holes in the ozone the size of Brazil
Barges of trash in the chewable breeze
Pools of industrial wasteland pate’
Sulfur dioxide dissolving the trees
Pretty soon it will all end with a boom
Why am I painting the living room?

I have the whole day off
Cause it’s a Saturday
There is a bluegrass band
Somewhere along the bay
Look at the lilacs bloom
Why am I painting the living room?

A pinhead evangelist pays for his sin
With a five dollar fine for a black collar crime
Kingpins of industry knowingly nod
Just like lake Erie they’re 12% slime
They wink at the president too I assume
And here I am painting the living room

I hear the bluebird sing
Don’t let the day go by
Look at the blossoms blow
Over the blue blue sky
All with a wild perfume
And here I am painting the living room

Chorus: Why am I painting the living room? (x4)

Ah yes I can see how my tombstone will read
Here lies someone of exceptional worth
Though she did not do a lot for her kind
Or help hold together this crumbling earth
Here lies a woman they’re saying of whom
Sure had a good-looking living room…

Stan Rogers 1981

Now it’s just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the Soo,
And wonder when they’ll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale.

The kid was so damned eager. It was all so big and new.
You never had to tell him twice, or find him work to do.
And evenings on the mess deck he was always first to sing,
And show us pictures of the girl he’d wed in spring.

Chorus:
But I told that kid a hundred times “Don’t take the Lakes for granted.
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted.”
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall,
And her lover’s gone into a white squall.

Now it’s a thing that us old-timers know. In a sultry summer calm
There comes a blow from nowhere, and it goes off like a bomb.
And a fifteen thousand tonne’r can be thrown upon her beam
While the gale takes all before it with a scream.

The kid was on the hatches, lying staring at the sky.
From where I stood I swear I could see tears fall from his eyes.
So I hadn’t the heart to tell him that he should be on a line,
Even on a night so warm and fine.

When it struck, he sat up with a start. I roared to him, “Get down!”
But for all that he could hear, I could as well not made a sound.
So, I clung there to the stanchions, and I felt my face go pale,
As he crawled hand over hand along the rail.

I could feel her keeling over with the fury of the blow.
I watched the rail go under then, so terrible and slow.
Then, like some great dog she shook herself and roared upright again.
Far over-side. I heard him call my name.

So it’s just my luck to have the watch, with nothing left to do
But watch the deadly waters glide as we roll north to the Soo,
And wonder when they’ll turn again and pitch us to the rail
And whirl off one more youngster in the gale.

Final Chorus:
But I tell these kids a hundred times “Don’t take the Lakes for granted.
They go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted.”
But tonight some red-eyed Wiarton girl lies staring at the wall,
And her lover’s gone into a white squall.

Nigel Russell 1973?

Russell was an early bandmate of Stan Rogers, whom he met in college and with whom he had a folk group called The Hobbits. Mudcat says Russell dedicated the song to the city of Bramalea, Ontario. 1973 is when Russell left Rogers' band.

Well, I rise up every morning at a quarter to eight
Some woman who’s my wife tells me not to be late
I kiss the kids goodbye, I can’t remember their names
And week after week, it’s always the same

Chorus:
And it’s Ho, boys, can’t you code it, and program it right
Nothing ever happens in the life of mine
I’m pounding out the data on the Xerox line

Then it’s code in the data, give the keyboard a punch
Then cross-correlate and break for some lunch
Correlate, tabulate, process and screen
Program, printout, regress to the mean

Then it’s home again, eat again, watch some TV
Make love to my woman at ten-fifty-three
I dream the same dream when I’m sleeping at night
I’m soaring over hills like an eagle in flight

Someday I’m gonna give up all the buttons and things
I’ll punch that time clock till it can’t ring
Burn up my necktie and set myself free
Cause no one’s gonna fold, bend or mutilate me 

Florence Reece 1931

Wikipedia: "In 1931, miners and mine owners in southeastern Kentucky were engaged in a labor struggle called the Harlan County War. In an attempt to intimidate the family of union leader Sam Reece, Sheriff J. H. Blair and his men, hired by the mining company, illegally entered Reece's home in search of him. Reece had been warned and escaped but his wife, Florence, and their children were in the house. That night, after the men had gone, Florence wrote these words on a calendar that hung in their kitchen. She claims to have borrowed the melody from a traditional Baptist hymn, 'Lay the Lily Low'"

Come all of you good workers Good news to you I’ll tell
Of how the good ol’ union Has come in here to dwell

Chorus: Which side are you on? (x2)

My daddy was a miner And I’m a miner’s son
And I’ll stick with the union ‘Til every battle’s won

They say in Harlan County There are no neutrals there
You’ll either be a union man Or a thug for J. H. Blair

Oh, workers can you stand it? Oh, tell me how you can
Will you be a lousy scab Or will you be a man?

Don’t scab for the bosses Don’t listen to their lies
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance Unless we organize 

Emma Azelborn 2021

"I wrote this chorus after a joyous musical reunion with dear friends, when we had just begun seeing each other again after the isolation of early covid. Finally, after so long singing to screens in empty rooms, we could sing harmonies together again."

Emma Azelborn: https://emmaazelborn.bandcamp.com/track/when-we-sing-together

My friends we have traveled far to gather here today
The light is dim, the shadows long our time is slipping away
Our voices blend so easily just like they always do
As we join again in joyful song and let it bring us through

Chorus:
When we sing together it’s like we were never alone
We want to forever believe our music will ring where green things grow
We know it’ll fade so we sing ever stronger, fill up our hearts with home
When we sing together it’s like we were never alone

The air, how it shimmers as we sing in harmony
And we can feel the floorboards shaking underneath our feet
We lean against each other and pretend it’ll never end
For we’ve built this song together and we’ll sing it once again

No matter how much we try this moment cannot stay
Our songs will turn to silence and we’ll go our separate ways
The heartache it will have us as it ever has before
Cause we cannot know where we will go or when we’ll meet once more

And now when we’re in the world, the little things we see
Can bring to mind our times gone by, the ghosts of harmony
The rumbling train, the evening light, a warm cup of tea held near
We all carry with us memories like those we’re making here 

Stephen J. Lawrence & Shelly Miller 1972

When we grow up, will I be pretty? Will I be big and strong?
Will I wear dresses that show off my knees? Will I wear trousers twice as long?

Chorus:
Well, I don’t care if I’m pretty at all
And I don’t care if I never get tall
I like what you look like and you’re nice small
We don’t have to change at all.

When we grow up, will I be a lady? Will I be on the moon?
Well, it might be alright to dance by its light But I’m gonna get up there soon

When I grow up, I’m gonna be happy. And do what I like to do.
Like making noise! And making faces! And making friends like you.

Final chorus:
And when we grow up, do you think we’ll see
That I’m still like you and you’re still like me?
I might be pretty. I might grow tall
But we don’t have to change at all. 

John Tams 1987

Tams wrote a number of songs for plays he was involved with and this was one of them.

‘Round goes the wheel of fortune, don’t be afraid to ride,
There’s a land of milk and honey waits on the other side;
There’ll be peace and there’ll be plenty, you’ll never need to roam,
When we go rolling home, when we go rolling home.

Chorus:
Rolling home, (when we go) rolling home, (when we go);
Rolling, rolling, when we go rolling home.

The gentry in its fine array do prosper night and morn,
While we unto the fields must go to plow and sow the corn;
The rich may steal the power, but the glory is our own,

The summer of resentment, the winter of despair,
The journey to contentment is set with trap and snare;
Stand true and stand together, your labour is your own,

The frost is on the hedgerow, the icy winds do blow,
While we poor weary labourers strive through the sleet and snow;
Our hopes fly up to glory, up where the larks do go,

So pass the bottle ’round, and let the toasts go free,
It’s a health to every labourer, wherever he may be;
Fair wages now and ever, let’s reap what we have sown,

‘Round goes the wheel of fortune, don’t be afraid to ride,
There’s a land of milk and honey, waits on the other side;
There’ll be peace and there’ll be plenty, you’ll never need to roam, 

Penka Jane Čulevski 2020

I’ll drink my whiskey neat again
Sing in chorus with my friends
Wish well to Johnny, our dear bartend
When they reopen all the bars

Chorus:
When they reopen all the bars (x2)
We’ll all shake hands and all link arms
When they reopen all the bars

I’ll give a hug to sweet Colleen
And hear her whistle bright and keen
When all of us may reconvene
When they reopen all the bars

We’ll sit together knee to knee
Sharing tunes and converse free
Passing hours cheerfully
When they reopen all the bars

We’ll gayly greet old Jackie Tar
Hunt the bucks of Orenmore
Banish misfortune when frost’s all ‘or
When they reopen all the bars

We’ll raise a glass, fear to dispel
And one for those who made us well
We’ll raise one more for those that fell
When they reopen all the bars

We’ll gather then, long overdue
All our friendships to renew
I’ll kiss my love there in full view
When they reopen all the bars 

trad 

Bright Wings Chorus: https://brendantaaffe.bandcamp.com/track/when-the-world-comes-to-an-end

Oh the stars they will be falling
Yes the stars they will be falling
Oh the stars they will be falling
When this world comes to an end

Oh, sisters do get ready…For the time is drawing near

Chorus:
Oh there’ll be signs and wonders
Yes, there’ll be signs and wonders
Oh, there’ll be signs and wonders
When this world comes to an end

Oh the sun she will be darkened…When this world comes to an end

Oh the moon she will be bleeding…When this world comes to an end

Oh the stars they will be falling…When this world comes to an end

 

 

trad

When Spring comes on then the birds do sing, The lambs do skip and the bells do ring
While we enjoy their glorious charm
so noble and so gay.

Chorus:
The primrose blooms, the cowslips too,
The violets in their sweet retire, the roses shining through the briar,
And the daffodown-dillies which we admire will die and fade away.

Young men and maidens they will be seen On mountains high and meadows green,
They will talk of love and sport and play While them young lambs do skip away.
At night they homeward wend their way
When evening stars appear.

The dairymaid to milking goes, her blooming cheeks as red as a rose,
And she carries her pail all on her arm
so cheerful and so gay,

Chorus tune:
She milks, she sings, and the valleys ring.
The small birds on the branches there sit listening to this lovely fair
For she is her master’s trust and care, she is the ploughman’s joy.