| Disc 1 | ||||||
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| 1. |
| 4:29 | 
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I saw her standin′ on her front lawn just twirlin′ her baton
Me and her went for a ride sir and ten innocent people died From the town of Lincoln Nebraska with a sawed off .410 on my lap Through to the badlands of Wyoming I killed everything in my path I can′t say that I′m sorry for the things that we done At least for a little while sir me and her we had us some fun The jury brought in a guilty verdict and the judge he sentenced me to death Midnight in a prison storeroom with leather straps across my chest Sheriff when the man pulls that switch sir and snaps my poor head back You make sure my pretty baby is sittin′ right there on my lap They declared me unfit to live said into that great void my soul′d be hurled They wanted to know why I did what I did Well sir I guess there′s just a meanness in this world |
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| 2. |
| 4:00 |
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Well they blew up the chicken man in Philly last night now they blew up his house too
Down on the boardwalk they′re gettin′ ready for a fight gonna see what them racket boys can do Now there′s trouble busin′ in from outta state and the D.A. can′t get no relief Gonna be a rumble out on the promenade and the gamblin′ commission′s hangin′ on by the skin of its teeth (Chorus) Well now everything dies baby that′s a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back Put your makeup on fix your hair up pretty And meet me tonight in Atlantic City Well I got a job and tried to put my money away But I got debts that no honest man can pay So I drew what I had from the Central Trust And I bought us two tickets on that Coast City bus (Chorus) Now our luck may have died and our love may be cold but with you forever I′ll stay We′re goin′ out where the sand′s turnin′ to gold so put on your stockin′s baby `cause the night′s getting cold And everything dies baby that′s a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back Now I been lookin′ for a job but it′s hard to find Down here it′s just winners and losers and don′t get caught on the wrong side of that line Well I′m tired of comin′ out on the losin′ end So honey last night I met this guy and I′m gonna do a little favor for him Well I guess everything dies baby that′s a fact But maybe everything that dies someday comes back Put your hair up nice and set up pretty and meet me tonight in Atlantic City Meet me tonight in Atlantic City Meet me tonight in Atlantic City |
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| 3. |
| 4:05 |
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There's a place out on the edge of town, sir
Rising above the factories and the fields Now, ever since I was a child I can remember That mansion on the hill In the day, you can see the children playing On the road that leads to those gates of hardened steel Steel gates that completely surround, sir The mansion on the hill At night, my daddy'd take me and we'd ride Through the streets of a town so silent and still Park on a back road along the highway side Look up at that mansion on the hill In the summer, all the lights would shine There'd be music playing, people laughing all the time Me and my sister we'd hide out in the tall corn fields Sit and listen to the mansion on the hill Tonight, down here in Linden town I watch the cars rushing by home from the mill There's a beautiful full moon rising Above the mansion on the hill |
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| 4. |
| 3:39 |
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Well, they closed down the auto plant in Mahwah late that month
Ralph went out lookin' for a job but he couldn't find none He came home too drunk from mixin' Tanqueray and wine He got a gun, shot a night clerk, now they call him Johnny 99 Down in the part of town where when you hit a red light you don't stop Johnny's wavin' his gun around and threatenin' to blow his top When an off-duty cop snuck up on him from behind Out in front of the club Tip Top, they slapped the cuffs on Johnny 99 Well the city supplied a public defender but the judge was mean John Brown He came into the courtroom and stared poor Johnny down Well the evidence is clear gonna let the sentence, son, fit the crime Prison for 98 and a year and we'll call it even, Johnny 99 A fist fight broke out in the courtroom, they had to drag Johnny's girl away His mama stood up and shouted "Judge, don't take my boy this way" Well, son, you got any statement you'd like to make Before the bailiff comes and forever take you away Now judge, judge, I got debts no honest man could pay The bank was holdin' my mortgage and takin' my house away Now I ain't sayin' that make me an innocent man But it was more'n all this that put that gun in my hand Well, Your Honor, I do believe I'd be better off dead And if you can take a man's life for the thoughts that's in his head Then won't you sit back in that chair and think it over, judge, one more time And let 'em shave off my hair and put me on that excecution line |
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| 5. |
| 5:37 |
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My name is Joe Roberts, I work for the state
I'm a sergeant out of Perrineville barracks number 8 I always done an honest job as honest as I could I got a brother named Franky and Franky ain't no good Now ever since we was young kids, it's been the same come down I get a call on the short-wave, Franky's in trouble downtown Well, if it was any other man, I'd put him straight away But when it's your brother, sometimes you look the other way Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would Man turns his back on his family, well, he just ain't no good Well, Franky went in the army back in 1965 I got a farm deferment, settled down, took Maria for my wife But them wheat prices kept on droppin' 'til it was like we were gettin' robbed Franky came home in '68, and me, I took this job Yeah, we're laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', teach him how to walk that line Man turns his back on his family, he ain't no friend of mine Well, the night was like any other, I got a call 'bout quarter to nine There was trouble in a roadhouse out on the Michigan line There was a kid lyin' on the floor, lookin' bad, bleedin' hard from his head There was a girl cryin' at a table and it was Frank, they said Well, I went out and I jumped in my car and I hit the lights Well, I must've done a hundred and ten through Michigan county that night It was out at the crossroads, down round Willow bank Seen a Buick with Ohio plates, behind the wheel was Frank Well, I chased him through them county roads 'til a sign said Canadian border five miles from here Pulled over the side of the highway and watched his taillights disappear Me and Franky laughin' and drinkin', nothin' feels better than blood on blood Takin' turns dancin' with Maria as the band played "Night of the Johnstown Flood" I catch him when he's strayin', like any brother would Man turns his back on his family, he just ain't no good |
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| 6. |
| 3:11 |
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New Jersey Turnpike ridin' on a wet night 'neath the refinery's glow
Out where the great black rivers flow License, registration, I ain't got none But I got a clear conscience 'bout the things that I done Mister state trooper, please don't stop me Please don't stop me, please don't stop me Maybe you got a kid, maybe you got a pretty wife The only thing that I got's been both'rin' me my whole life Mister state trooper, please don't stop me Please don't stop me, please don't stop me In the wee, wee hours your mind gets hazy Radio relay towers gonna lead me to my baby The radio's jammed up with talk show stations It's just talk, talk, talk, talk, 'til you lose your patience Mister state trooper, please don't stop me Hey, somebody out there, listen to my last prayer Hiho silver-o, deliver me from nowhere |
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| 7. |
| 3:05 |
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My little sister's in the front seat with an ice cream cone
My ma's in the black seat sittin' all alone As my pa steers her slow out of the lot for a test drive down Michigan Avenue Now, my ma, she fingers her wedding band And watches the salesman stare at my old man's hands He's tellin' us all 'bout the break he'd give us if he could, but he just can't Well if I could, I swear I know just what I'd do Now, mister, the day the lottery I win I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again Now, the neighbors come from near and far As we pull up in our brand new used car I wish he'd just hit the gas and let out a cry Tell 'em all they can kiss our asses goodbye My dad, he sweats the same job from mornin' to morn Me, I walk home on the same dirty streets where I was born Up the block I can hear my little sister in the front seat blowin' that horn The sounds echoin' all down Michigan Avenue Now, mister, the day my number comes in I ain't ever gonna ride in no used car again |
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| 8. |
| 2:54 |
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Well, I had the carburetor, baby, cleaned and checked with her line blown out she's hummin' like a turbojet
Propped her up in the backyard on concrete blocks for a new clutch plate and a new set of shocks Took her down to the carwash, check the plugs and points Well, I'm goin' out tonight. I'm gonna rock that joint Early north Jersey industrial skyline I'm a all-set cobra jet creepin' through the nighttime Gotta find a gas station, gotta find a payphone this turnpike sure is spooky at night when you're all alone Gotta hit the gas, baby. I'm running late, this New Jersey in the mornin' like a lunar landscape Now, the boss don't dig me, so he put me on the nightshift It's an all night run to get back to where my baby lives In the wee wee hours your mind gets hazy radio relay towers, won't you lead me to my baby? Underneath the overpass, trooper hits his party light switch Goodnight good luck one two power shift I met Wanda when she was employed behind the counter at route 60 Bob's Big Boy Fried chicken on the front seat, she's sittin' in my lap We're wipin' our fingers on a Texaco roadmap I remember Wanda up on scrap metal hill with them big brown eyes that make your heart stand still Well, at five a.m., oil pressure's sinkin' fast I make a pit stop, wipe the windshield, check the gas Gotta call my baby on the telephone Let her know that her daddy's comin' on home Sit tight, little mama, I'm comin' 'round I got three more hours, but I'm coverin' ground Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours sun's just a red ball risin' over them refinery towers Radio's jammed up with gospel stations lost souls callin' long distance salvation Hey, mister deejay, woncha hear my last prayer hey, ho, rock'n'roll, deliver me from nowhere |
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| 9. |
| 5:04 |
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Last night I dreamed that I was a child out where the pines grow wild and tall
I was trying to make it home through the forest before the darkness falls I heard the wind rustling through the trees and ghostly voices rose from the fields I ran with my heart pounding down that broken path With the devil snappin' at my heels I broke through the trees, and there in the night My father's house stood shining hard and bright the branches and brambles tore my clothes and scratched my arms But I ran till I fell, shaking in his arms I awoke and I imagined the hard things that pulled us apart Will never again, sir, tear us from each other's hearts I got dressed, and to that house I did ride from out on the road, I could see its windows shining in light I walked up the steps and stood on the porch a woman I didn't recognize came and spoke to me through a chained door I told her my story, and who I'd come for She said "I'm sorry, son, but no one by that name lives here anymore" My father's house shines hard and bright it stands like a beacon calling me in the night Calling and calling, so cold and alone Shining 'cross this dark highway where our sins lie unatoned |
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| 10. |
| 4:08 |
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Seen a man standin' over a dead dog lyin' by the highway in a ditch
He's lookin' down kinda puzzled pokin' that dog with a stick Got his car door flung open he's standin' out on highway 31 Like if he stood there long enough that dog'd get up and run Struck me kinda funny seem kinda funny sir to me Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe Now Mary Lou loved Johnny with a love mean and true She said "Baby I'll work for you every day and bring my money home to you" One day he up and left her and ever since that She waits down at the end of that dirt road for young Johnny to come back Struck me kinda funny seemed kind of funny sir to me How at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe Take a baby to the river Kyle William they called him Wash the baby in the water take away little Kyle's sin In a whitewash shotgun shack an old man passes away take his body to the graveyard and over him they pray Lord won't you tell us tell us what does it mean Still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe Congregation gathers down by the riverside Preacher stands with his Bible groom stands waitin' for his bride Congregation gone and the sun sets behind a weepin' willow tree Groom stands alone and watches the river rush on so effortlessly Wonderin' where can his baby be still at the end of every hard earned day people find some reason to believe |
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