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Further Down the Line

by Scott Cook

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1.
Aren't some people just famous for being famous? Isn't that about all that they do? And couldn't the radio leave you feeling aimless? Just a nameless person like you But I sure heard the words Woody Guthrie sang Even when they didn't quite rhyme He knew the heart was the stuff, they'd ring close enough Further down the line I've painted houses, mopped floors, and washed dishes Taught kids, cut grass and moved gear Swung hammer, cleaned toilets and dug ditches And I even sang songs to sell beer But it was all for someone else's dream, 'Til I set out after mine Said, "take this hammer, take it to the captain Tell him I'm further down the line" I crossed the Fraser, the Columbia, the Mississippi, The Allegheny and the Ohio Saint Lawrence, Susquehanna, Chattahoochee, The Hudson and the Colorado I saw the big rigs sleeping in the starry desert Saw the snow piled 'round the Yukon pines But I couldn't hang around too long in New York Town Without lookin' further down the line Some of the joints in New Orleans ain't pretty But the waitresses'll call you "hon" And a cop'll stay on the white side of the city 'Cause they paid for his hat and his gun And there's a Gulf War vet by the overpass Who says "Bro, can you spare a dime?" Who's he kidding? These days a dollar won't be getting You any further down the line, boys I saw the stars and bars flying in Dixie And doomsday prophets on capitol hill I saw a fast food mall named after Walt Whitman And Gettysburg ghosts wandering still If our families are so broken, How do we make a family out of humankind? We still got promises to break And miles to go before we wake further down the line I saw the homeless and the houses sitting empty I heard the explanations of learned men Nowadays they'll rob you with a computer 'Cause it's faster than a fountain pen And if smarter people haven't found a gap in the armour Why do I keep trying? I still believe there's a world dying to be born Further down the line, friends Further down the line Aw Woody, I been through all kinds of weather Been searching all the faces for a sign As you know, love's hard to keep together As the miles and the years unwind And you never run out of blacktop Nah, you just run out of time That ribbon of songs keeps on winding along Ever further, down the line
2.
We staggered arm in arm here when we were younger Tried everything they said we shouldn't do And we took as many trips as we took lovers But some of those trips, a dog comes back with you And some of those trysts turned into tricycles And my wild and reckless friends got safe and old Wheeling little buddy homeward on the bicycle With all the hope and joy and poop a bike seat could hold Now the feral festival kidlets keep changing costumes They run in a pack, and dig holes in the ground And they like sleeping under the table just like the dogs do So you watch your step when there's little ones around And I'm a better person, when I'm hanging with dogs and kids Got one thing on their mind at a time, can't keep nothing hid Remind me we're alive, forgive whatever we did I'm a better person, hanging with dogs and kids So we talk about work, and what we're reading Why the bastards keep winning, and where we'd move if they did We talk about who went home with whom at the party last weekend But eventually we just watch the dogs and kids Chasing and sniffing and eating's all they're on about They don't complicate their blues, they just moan They don't think much about themselves, they just freak out! If they got a bone to pick with you, it's probably just a bone My buddy had a string of bad luck and bad choices If it goes bad in court, one of us has to take his pup He's trying to learn to listen to the right voices Hope he don't have to miss his kid growing up We were all bulletproof daydream manifesters But all the bluster just boils down to love Just wanna be a good uncle, be a good ancestor I'm taking better care when there's someone to take care of
3.
Alberta, remember when I held you as the room spun At the harvest dance You had dreams to match my ambition The ridge-lines of your body Rose beneath my hands Oh, kissing slow, whispering low That we'll never part Alberta, you're breaking my heart Northern country, to forge a life This oil town's grey and brown But there's black gold to grab My days are dirty, your nights are lonely Turned to finding comfort In a zip-lock bag Baby, are you sober? Tried to turn it over But it wouldn't start Alberta, you're breaking my heart Midnight gas stop, tryin' to get home The card read declined Please pick up the phone Are you using again? Where's the money? Did you sell off our promise With your beauty Oh, is it just fate? Is it too late For this frail work of art? Alberta, you're breaking my heart Alberta, you're breaking my heart Alberta, remember when? I held you as the room spun At the harvest dance
4.
I'm a brave aviator in the stories that I write A fearless lion-tamer baring it all every night And there's nothing I won't tell when I'm behind my guitar But when I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart When I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart You can say I'm reckless for the chances that I take You can say I'm hopeless for all the losing bets I make You know I'm hell on wheels, not afraid to fall apart But when I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart When I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart I have slain dragons, but none wearing your clothes With all your good intentions and your disarming prose These words are a talisman to protect against love's start When I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart I might well be a fool, but there's one way I am smart When I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart When I'm standing beside you I am careful with my heart
5.
I'm musing on you, baby, just a whiff of you inspires I'm wishing I was with you, singing 'round the fire, drinking cheap wine And I'm jonesin' for a little bit more of your sweet time Your love's a foreign country, baby take the lead I'm carrying no currency, I can't even read the street signs But I'm searching the lanes for a hidden doorway into your sweet time You can bring me home to dinner, I'd even meet your folks I promise to scrub up and laugh at their jokes, you can even meet mine If you'll do a little scrubbin' up too, in your sweet time We're both born lovers, gal, that's understood I know you got others but don't your hands feel good in between mine And won't you keep a little room for me in your sweet time There's a cruel wind blowing, I'm feeling like a ghost This little flame I'm holding, if you guard it close it'll keep fine Could you leave it burning in the window of your sweet time? Some things you can't rehearse, some things you'll never know I'll listen for another verse and pray whatever road my feet find Leads me far and wide and back inside of your sweet time Leads me far and wide and back inside of your sweet time
6.
If he showed up now, you wouldn't know what to do He'd be flat broke as usual, filthy too And the worst thing about it when he comes to town Is the kind of people that he brings around But all of your life you have called him your friend And promised you'd stick by him right to the end So you'd say, do us the honour, have something to eat And he'd say, where were you when I was living on the street? If he showed up now there'd be trouble, I bet He'd be talking revolution, or did you forget When you told him you'd follow him, he said, if you Were anything like me, they'd kill you too. You'd say, I've been calling you, haven't you heard? I live by your name and I'd die for your word And I'd fight to defend it in every detail And he'd say, where were you when I was in jail? If he showed up now, would you recognize him? If he came as a pauper when you expected a king Or as an illegal, scrounging for bills Or a defenceless child in the Syrian hills You'd say I've been fighting your cause all along I studied your pages and sang out your songs And it was in your name that I closed every prayer And he'd say, where were you when I was sick and couldn't get care? You'd say, if I'd known it was you I'd have come I fought for your honour and all that I've done It was under your banner in the name of the Son And he'd say, where were you for the weakest ones? Where were you for the weakest ones?
7.
You got to walk that lonesome valley You got to walk it by yourself Nobody else can walk it for you You got to walk that valley by yourself Now there was a slave girl, Isabella Baumfree Sold three times in her youth She took her child and walked to freedom She took the name Soujourner Truth She took a white man to court and won She said I'll do anything a man can do I'll eat as much as any man, if I can get it If black men'll vote, why can't I vote too? She had to walk that lonesome valley She had to walk it by herself Nobody else could walk it for her She had to walk that valley by herself Now there was a priest named Father Berrigan Tryin' to make sense of what Jesus said He heard his country was burning children He and his friends burned draft records instead He said, now what if you really meant it? Loved your fellowman like you love your Lord? In Pennsylvania they destroyed warheads Making plowshares out of swords Dan Berrigan walked that lonesome valley He had to walk it by himself Nobody else could walk it for him He had to walk that valley by himself Now there was a soldier named Bradley Manning Without a friend, so far from home In a body that never fit right Knowing things no one should know Said what would you do with this information? Wouldn't it help the world if it were known? Got eleven months in Quantico, for starters With the lights on, naked and alone Chelsea Manning had to walk that lonesome valley She had to walk it by herself Nobody else could walk it for her She had to walk that valley by herself If you got to walk that lonesome valley You got to walk it by yourself Nobody else can walk it for you You got to walk that valley by yourself
8.
There's a whole lotta uppity women Still ain't satisfied with the deal We let 'em ride right alongside Now they wanna take the wheel And the fellas keep sayin' we got this 'Cause that's the way that it's always been done Don't the scriptures say a woman should obey Didn't a man write every last one? We can take a little lesson from history All the priests, generals and kings There's just nothing like long experience When it comes to making a mess outta things Fellas, get out the way! Fellas, get out the way! We had our turn, we've had our say Fellas, get out the, get out the way Fellas, get out the way! Now they want choice, and pay equality Wouldn't believe it how they rant and rave Back in the day we'd just knock 'em on the head And drag 'em on back to the cave And we're still flexing that privilege Though we find ways to ignore it And ever subtler ways to say She must've been asking for it I thank God that She made women Every time I'm in a crowd of guys They might do just fine without us Without them, we'd be Lord of the Flies Whoever said it's bros before hos I can tell you that's a load of malarkey If there's any hope for this whole show We got to bring on the matriarchy I got a guy friend who's 30 years married He backs her up however he can He says, happy wife, happy life Seems to me he's a reasonable man I got a gal friend who's tougher than me If you cross her there'll be hell to pay When I hold the door it ain't chivalry Nah, I'm just getting out of her way
9.
Well, it might start out with Tuesday night mojitos Squeezin' out that mint and lime Til' someone drops the needle on that Temptations vinyl And it's kitchen dance party time Or you just might be cookin' up some curry With some funky funky Nina Simone 'Fore you know it you're bippin' and a-boppin', poppin' and a-lockin' Kitchen dance party on! We don't need no big sound system We don't need smoke and laser lights We don't need to show ID or wait in line to go pee At the kitchen dance party tonight So don'tcha be a kitchen dance party pooper Come on and grab a good time before it's gone We're just banana bread bakin', booty-ooty-ooty shakin', gettin' our Kitchen dance party on! When you're goofin' with such goofy, goofy people Sometimes it's been known to spill out in the yard If the neighbours get uptight, you gotta fight for your right to Kitchen dance party hard Oh, and even though my face hurts from smiling Won't you play another Stevie Wonder song We're just a-bumpin and a-grindin', yellin' out "rewind!" and "Kitchen dance party on!" Have you heard that new Boogie Patrol record? That band's so hot, man, they're flammable We'll go off to that stuff, come on, cue it on up For these kitchen dance party animals And we'll boogie like our backs ain't got no bone Someone get Chelsea Johnson on the phone! Tell her we're oompin and a-loompin', shakin' our sum'un sumpin There's a kitchen dance party on! We just a-twistin' and a-jivin', fist-bumpin' and high-fivin', Kitchen dance party on! Kung fu fighting and uprockin', chicken dancin' and duck walkin' Kitchen dance party on!
10.
They're all done sweeping up And the chairs are stacked for going While there's drink left in our cups Here's to when they were overflowing And all the good times gone And the urge to tarry on But I'm hungry for the starlight Out beyond the neon glow And that's how I'm learning to let go Good friends, haven't we've had some times? And I've wished that they could linger Oh, but don't they feel sublime? As they run through your fingers Like the last golden dregs of day Or a love you can't make stay When no amount of wanting Will ever make it so That's how I'm learning to let go All the sights that filled my eyes All the wild lands I wandered All the sweetest things I tried All the sweet time I squandered All the loves, the closest ones And the should'ves and the might have dones Will be scattered like our money Like our good friends laid low That's how I'm learning to let go I've seen my big ideas come and go Seen my father in the mirror And I'm fading into everyone I know As the young ones come in clearer May their hearts be wide and true May they find comrades like you And the good seeds that we planted May they live to see them grow That's how I'm learning to let go I've heard about a land beyond the sky Where the righteous go in the end But I don't know how I'd rest there by and by Without all my wicked friends And the land calls to me Someday she'll take all of me And feed me to the flowers That lie dreaming 'neath the snow That's how I'm learning to let go

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released March 24, 2017

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Scott Cook Edmonton, Alberta

Canada's prairie balladeer Scott Cook has managed to distil the stories collected over years of near-incessant touring across Canada, the USA, Europe, Asia, and Australia into straight-talking, keenly observant verse. All the hard miles notwithstanding, he still believes that songs can change your life, and your life can change the world. ... more

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