Live 1975-1985

I come from down in the valley where mister when you're young
They bring you up to do like your daddy done
Me and mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen
We'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green

We'd go down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
Oh down to the river we'd ride

Then i got mary pregnant and man that was all she wrote
And for my nineteen birthday i got a union card and a wedding coat
We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest
No wedding day smiles no walk down the aisle
No flowers no wedding dress
That night we went down to the river
And into the river we'd dive
On down to the river we did ride

I got a job working construction for the johnstown company
But lately there ain't been much work on account of the economy
Now all them things that seemed so important
Well mister they vanished right into the air
Now i just act like i don't remember, mary acts like she don't care
But i remember us riding in my brother's car
Her body tan and wet down at the reservoir
At night on them banks i'd lie awake
And pull her close just to feel each breath she'd take
Now those memories come back to haunt me, they haunt me like a curse
Is a dream a lie if it don't come true
Or is it something worse that sends me
Down to the river though i know the river is dry
Down to the river, my baby and i
Oh down to the river we ride

In the summer that i was baptized my father held me to his side
As they put me to the water he said how on that day i cried
We were prisoners of love a love in chains
He was standin' in the door i was standin' in the rain
With the same hot blood burning in our veins
Adam raised a cain

All of the old faces ask you why you're back
They fit you with position and the keys to your daddy's cadillac
In the darkness of your room your mother calls you by your true name
You remember the faces the places the names
You know it's never over it's relentless as the rain
Adam raised a cain

In the bible cain slew abel and east of eden he was cast
You're born into this life paying for the sins of somebody else's past
Daddy worked his whole life for nothing but the pain
Now he walks these empty rooms looking for something to blame
You inherit the sins you inherit the flames
Adam raised a cain

Lost but not forgotten from the dark heart of a dream
Adam raised a cain

I'm driving in my car, i turn on the radio
I'm pulling you close, you just say no
You say you don't like it, but girl i know you're a liar
`cause when we kiss, fire

Late at night i'm takin' you home
I say i wanna stay, you say you wanna be alone
You say you don't love me, girl you can't hide your desire
`cause when we kiss, fire

You had a hold on me, right from the start
A grip so tight i couldn't tear it apart
My nerves all jumpin' actin' like a fool
Well your kisses they burn but your heart stays cool

Romeo and juliet, samson and delilah
Baby you can bet their love they didn't deny
Your words say split but your words they lie
`cause when we kiss, fire

Well a great black river a man had found
So he put all his money in a hole in the ground
And sent a big steel arm drivin' down down down
Man now i live on the streets of houston town

Packed up my wife and kids when winter came along
And we headed down south with just spit and a song
But they said "sorry son it's gone gone gone"

Well there's men hunkered down by the railroad tracks
The elkhorn special blowin' my hair back
Tents pitched on the highway in the dirty moonlight
And i don't know where i'm gonna sleep tonight

Parked in the lumberyard freezin' our asses off
My kids in the back seat got a graveyard cough
Well i'm sleepin' up in front with my wife
Billy club tappin' on the windshield in the middle of the night
Says "move along man move along"

Well big limousine long shiny and black
You don't look ahead you don't look back
How many times can you get up after you've been hit?
Well i swear if i could spare the spit
I'd lay one on your shiny chrome
And send you on your way back home
So if you're gonna leave your town where the north wind blow
To go on down where that sweet soda river flow
Well you better think twice on it jack
You're better off buyin' a shotgun dead off the rack
You ain't gonna find nothin' down here friend
Except seeds blowin' up the highway in the south wind
Movin' on movin' on it's gone gone it's all gone

I stood stonelike at midnight suspended in my masquerade
I combed my hair till it was just right and commanded the night brigade
I was open to pain and crossed by the rain and i walked on a crooked crutch
I strolled all alone through a fallout zone and came out with my soul untouched
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said `sit down' i stood up
Ooh-ooh growin' up

The flag of piracy flew from my mast my sails were set wing to wing
I had a jukebox graduate for first mate she couldn't sail but she sure could sing
I pushed b-52 and bombed `em with the blues with my gear set stubborn on standing
I broke all the rules strafed my old high school never once gave thought to landing
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said `come down' i threw up
Ooh-ooh growin' up

I took month-long vacations in the stratosphere and you know it's really hard to hold your breath
I swear i lost everything i ever loved or feared i was the cosmic kid
Well my feet they finally took root in the earth but i got me a nice little place in the stars
I swear i found the key to the universe in the engine of an old parked car
I hid in the clouded wrath of the crowd but when they said`sit down'i stood up
Ooh-ooh growin' up
Ooh-ooh growin' up

Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
I'm on fire

Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that i do
I can take you higher
I'm on fire

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby
Edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley
Through the middle of my soul

At night i wake up with the sheets soaking wet
And a freight train running through the
Middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
I'm on fire

Well i came by your house the other day, your mother said you went away
She said there was nothing that i could have done
There was nothing nobody could say
Me and you we've known each other ever since we were sixteen
I wished i would have known i wished i could have called you
Just to say goodbye bobby jean

Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their noise
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes
We told each other that we were the wildest, the wildest things we'd ever
Seen
Now i wished you would have told me i wished i could have talked to you
Just to say goodbye bobby jean

Now we went walking in the rain talking about the pain from the world we hid
Now there ain't nobody nowhere nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did
Maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there'll be a radio playing
And you'll hear me sing this song
Well if you do you'll know i'm thinking of you and all the miles in between
And i'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say i miss you baby, good luck goodbye, bobby jean

Got a wife and kids in baltimore jack
I went out for a ride and i never went back
Like a river that don't know where it's flowing
I took a wrong turn and i just kept going

Everybody's got a hungry heart
Everybody's got a hungry heart
Lay down your money and you play your part
Everybody's got a hungry heart

I met her in a kingstown bar
We fell in love i knew it had to end
We took what we had and we ripped it apart
Now here i am down in kingstone again

Everybody's got a hungry heart...

Everybody needs a place to rest
Everybody wants to have a home
Don't make no difference what nobody says
Ain't nobody like to be alone

Everybody's got a hungry heart...

In candy's room there are pictures of her heroes on the wall
But to get to candy's room you gotta walk the darkness of candy's hall
Strangers from the city call my baby's number and they bring her toys
When i come knocking she smiles pretty she knows i wanna be candy's boy
There's a sadness hidden in that pretty face
A sadness all her own from which no man can keep candy safe
We kiss my heart's pumpin' to my brain
The blood rushes in my veins fire rushes towards the sky
We go driving driving deep into the night
I go driving deep into the light in candy's eyes
She says baby if you wanna be wild you got a lot to learn, close your eyes
Let them melt let them fire let them burn
`cause in the darkness there'll be hidden worlds that shine
When i hold candy close she makes these hidden worlds mine

She has fancy clothes and diamond rings
She has men who'll give her anything she wants but they don't see
That what she wants is me, oh and i want her so
I'll never let her go no no no
She knows that i'd give all that i got to live
All that i want all that i live to make candy mine
Tonight

Driving in to darlington county
Me and wayne on the fourth of july
Driving in to darlington county
Looking for some work on the county line
We drove down from new york city
Where the girls are pretty but they just want to know your name
Driving in to darlington city
Got a union connection with an uncle of wayne's
We drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop
We got rock and roll music blasting off the t-top singing

Sha la la la la la la la la, sha la la la la la la

Hey little girl standing on the corner
Today's your lucky day for sure all right
Me and my buddy we're from new york city
We got two hundred dollars we want to rock all night
Girl you're looking at two big spenders
Why the world don't know what me and wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the world trade centers
For a kiss and a smile i'll give mine all to you
Come on baby take a seat on my fender
It's a long night and tell me what else were you gonna do
Just me and you we could

Sha la la...

Little girl sitting in the window
Ain't seen my buddy in seven days
County man tells me the same thing
He don't work and he don't get paid
Little girl you're so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
And we'll leave this darlington city
For a ride down that dixie highway

Driving out of darlington county
My eyes seen the glory of the coming of the lord
Driving out of darlington county
Seen wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper's ford

Sha la la...

One soft infested summer me and terry became friends
Trying in vain to breathe the fire we was born in
Catching rides to the outskirts tying faith between our teeth
Sleeping in that old abandoned beach house getting wasted in the heat
And hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
With a love so hard and filled with defeat
Running for our lives at night on them backstreets

Slow dancing in the dark on the beach at stockton's wing
Where desperate lovers park we sat with the last of the duke street kings
Huddled in our cars waiting for the bells that ring
In the deep heart of the night to set us loose from everything
To go running on the backstreets, running on the backstreets
We swore we'd live forever on the backstreets we take it together

Endless juke joints and valentino drag where dancers scraped the tears
Up off the street dressed down in rags running into the darkness
Some hurt bad some really dying at night sometimes it seemed
You could hear the whole damn city crying blame it on the lies that killed us
Blame it on the truth that ran us down you can blame it all on me terry
It don't matter to me now when the breakdown hit at midnight
There was nothing left to say but i hated him and i hated you when you went
Away

Laying here in the dark you're like an angel on my chest
Just another tramp of hearts crying tears of faithlessness
Remember all the movies, terry, we'd go see
Trying to learn how to walk like heroes we thought we had to be
And after all this time to find we're just like all the rest
Stranded in the park and forced to confess
To hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets
We swore forever friends on the backstreets until the end
Hiding on the backstreets, hiding on the backstreets

Yesterday i went shopping buddy down to the mall
Looking for something pretty i could hang on my wall
I knocked over a lamp before it hit the floor i caught it
A salesman turned around said "boy you break that thing you bought it"

You can look but you better not touch boy
You can look but you better not touch
Mess around and you'll end up in dutch boy
You can look but you better not no you better not no you better not touch

Well i came home from work and i switched on channel 5
There was a pretty little girly lookin' straight into my eyes
Well i watched as she wiggled back and forth across the screen
She didn't get me excited she just made me feel mean

You can look...

Well i called up dirty annie on the telephone
I took her out to the drive-in just to get her alone
I found a lover's rendezvous the music low set to park
I heard a tappin' on the window and a voice in the dark

You can look...

Take me now baby here as i am
Pull me close try an understand
I work all day out in the hot sun
Stay with me now till the mornin' comes
Come on now try and understand
The way i feel when i'm in your hands
Take me now as the sun descends
They can't hurt you now
They can't hurt you now
They can't hurt you now

Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us
Because the night belongs to lovers
Because the night belongs to us

What i got i have earned
What i'm not i have learned
Desire and hunger is the fire i breathe
Just stay in my bed till the morning comes
Come on now try and understand
The way i feel when i'm in your hands
Take me now as the sun descends
They can't hurt you now
They can't hurt you now
They can't hurt you now

Because the night...

Your love is here and now
The vicious circle turns and burns without
Though i cannot live forgive me now
The time has come to take this moment and
They can't hurt you now

Because the night...

Well papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say is gonna change anything now
I'll be leaving in the morning from st. mary's gate
We wouldn't change this thing even if we could somehow
`cause the darkness of this house has got the best of us
There's a darkness in this town that's got us too
But they can't touch me now and you can't touch me now
They ain't gonna do to me what i watched them do to you

So say goodbye it's independence day
It's independence day all down the line
Just say goodbye it's independence day
It's independence day this time

Now i don't know what it always was with us
We chose the words and yeah we drew the lines
There was just no way this house could hold the two of us
I guess that we were just too much of the same kind

Well say goodbye it's independence day
All boys must run away come independence day
So say goodbye it's independence day
All men must make their way come independence day

Now the rooms are all empty down at frankie's joint
And the highway she's deserted down to breaker's point
There's a lot of people leaving town now
Leaving their friends their homes
At night they walk that dark and dusty highway all alone

Well papa go to bed now it's getting late
Nothing we can say can change anything now
Because there's just different people coming down here now
And they see things in different ways
And soon everything we've known will just be swept away

So say goodbye it's independence day
Papa now i know the things you wanted that you could not say
But won't you just say goodbye it's independence day
I swear i never meant to take those things away

Rosalita (come out tonight)

Spread out now rosie doctor come cut loose her mama's reins
You know playin' blind man's bluff is a little baby's game
You pick up little dynamite i'm gonna pick up little gun
And together we're gonna go out tonight and make that highway run
You don't have to call me lieutenant rosie and i don't want to be your son
The only lover i'm ever gonna need's your soft sweet little girl's tongue and rosie you're the one
Dynamite's in the belfry playin' with the bats
Little gun's downtown in front of woolworth's tryin' out his attitude on all the cats
Papa's on the corner waitin' for the bus
Mama she's home in the window waitin' up for us
She'll be there in that chair when they wrestle her upstairs `cause you know
We ain't gonna come
I ain't here for business, i'm only here for fun

Rosalita jump a little lighter, senorita come sit by my fire
I just want to be your lover ain't no liar, rosalita you're my stone desire

Jack the rabbit and weak knees willie you know they're gonna be there
Ah sloppy sue and big bones billie they'll be comin' up for air
We're gonna play some pool skip some school act real cool stay out all night it's gonna feel alright
Rosie come out tonight, rosie come out tonight
Windows are for cheaters chimneys for the poor
Closets are for hangers winners use the door

Rosalita jump a little...

Now i know your mama she don't like me `cause i play in a rock and roll band
And i know your daddy he don't dig me but he never did understand
Papa lowered the boom he locked you in your room
I'm comin' to lend a hand
I'm comin' to liberate you confiscate you i want to be your man
Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny
But now you're sad your mama's mad
And your papa says he knows that i don't have any money
Tell him this is last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance
Because a record company rosie just gave me big bucks

My tires were slashed and i almost crashed but the lord had mercy
My machine she's a dud out stuck in the mud somewhere in the swamps of jersey
Hold on tight stay up all night `cause rosie i'm comin' on strong
By the time we meet the morning light i will hold you in my arms
I know a pretty little place in southern california down san diego way
There's a little cafe where they play guitars all night and day
You can hear them in the back room strummin'
So hold tight baby `cause don't you know daddy's comin'

Rosalita jump a little...

They're still racing out at the trestles
But that blood it never burned in her veins
Now i hear she's got a house up in fairview
And a style she's trying to maintain
Well if she wants to see me
You can tell her that i'm easily found
Tell her there's a spot out `neath abram's bridge
And tell her there's a darkness on the edge of town

Everybody's got a secret sonny
Something that they just can't face
Some folks spend their whole lives trying to keep it
They carry it with them every step that they take
Till some day they just cut it loose
Cut it loose or let it drag `em down
Where no one asks any questions
Or looks too long in your face
In the darkness on the edge of town

Some folks are born into a good life
Other folks get it anyway anyhow
I lost my money and i lost my wife
Them things don't seem to matter much to me now
Tonight i'll be on that hill `cause i can't stop
I'll be on that hill with everything i got
Lives on the line where dreams are found and lost
I'll be there on time and i'll pay the cost
For wanting things that can only be found
In the darkness on the edge of town

I had skin like leather and the diamond-hard look of a cobra
I was born blue and weathered but i burst just like a supernova
I could walk like brando right into the sun
Then dance just like a casanova
With my blackjack and jacket and hair slicked sweet
Silver star studs on my duds like a harley in heat
When i strut down the street i could feel its heartbeat
The sisters fell back and said "don't that man look pretty"
The cripple on the corner cried out "nickels for your pity"
Them downtown boys sure talk gritty
It's so hard to be a saint in the city

I was the king of the alley i could talk some trash
I was the prince of the paupers crowned downtown at the beggar's bash
I was the pimp's main prophet i kept everything cool
A backstreet gambler with the luck to lose
And when the heat came down it was left on the ground
The devil appeared like jesus through the steam in the street
Showin' me a hand i knew even the cops couldn't beat
I felt his hot breath on my neck as i dove into the heat
It's so hard to be a saint when you're just a boy

And the sages of the subway sit just like the living dead
As the tracks clack out the rhythm their eyes fixed straight ahead
They ride the line of balance and hold on by just a thread
But it's too hot in these tunnels you can get hit up by the heat
You get up to get out at your next stop but they push you back down in your seat
Your heart starts beatin' faster as you struggle to your feet
Then you're outa that hole and back up on the street
And them south side sisters sure look pretty
The cripple on the corner cries out "nickels for your pity"
And them downtown boys sure talk gritty
It's so hard to be a saint in the city

I got a sixty-nine chevy with a 396
Fuelie heads and a hurst on the floor
She's waiting tonight down in the parking lot
Outside the seven-eleven store
Me and my partner sonny built her straight out of scratch
And he rides with me from town to town
We only run for the money got no strings attached
We shut `em up and then we shut `em down

Tonight tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em off in my first heat
Summer's here and the time is right
We're goin' racin' in the street

We take all the action we can meet
And we cover all the northeast state
When the strip shuts down we run `em in the street
From the fire roads to the interstate
Some guys they just give up living
And start dying little by little piece by piece
Some guys come home from work and wash up
Then go racin' in the street

Tonight tonight the strip's just right
I wanna blow `em all out of their seats
Calling out around the world
We're going racin' in the street

I met her on the strip three years ago
In a camaro with this dude from l.a.
I blew that camaro off my back and drove that little girl away
But now there's wrinkles around my baby's eyes
And she cries herself to sleep at night
When i come home the house is dark
She sighs "baby did you make it all right"
She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born

For all the shut-down strangers and hot rod angels
Rumbling through this promised land
Tonight my baby and me we're gonna ride to the sea
And wash these sins off our hands

Tonight tonight the highway's bright
Out of our way mister you best keep
`cause summer's here and the time is right
We're goin' racin' in the street

Crazy janey and her mission man were back in the alley tradin' hands long came wild billy with his friend g-man all duded up for saturday night
Billy slammed on his coaster brakes and said anybody wanna go on up to greasy lake
It's about a mile down on the dark side of route 88
I got a bottle of rose so let's try it
We'll pick up hazy davy and killer joe and i'll take you all out to where the gypsy angels go
They're built like light
And they dance like spirits in the night (all night) in the night (all night)
Oh you don't know what they can do to you
Spirits in the night, in the night
Stand up now and let it shoot through you

Well now wild billy was a crazy cat and he shook some dust out of his coonskin cap
He said "trust some of this it'll show you where you're at or at least it'll help you really feel it"
By the time we made it up to greasy lake i had my head out the window and janey's fingers in the cake
I think i really dug her `cause i was too loose to fake
I said "i'm hurt" she said "honey let me heal it"
And we danced all night to a soul fairy band
And she kissed me just right like only a lonely angel can
She felt just right just like as sweet as a spirit in the night
In the night baby don't know what she do to you
Spirits in the night, in the night
Stand up now and let her shoot right through you

Now the night grew bright and the stars threw light in billy and davy
Dancin' in the moonlight
We were down near the water in a stone mud fight
Killer joe'd passed out on the lawn
Well hazy davy got really hurt he crawled into the lake in just his socks and a shirt
Me and crazy janey were makin' love in the dirt singin' our birthday songs
Janey said "hey little brother don't you think it's time now we go"
So we closed our eyes and said goodbye to gypsy angel row felt just right
Together we moved like spirits in the night, all night
Baby don't know what it do to you
Spirits in the night, all night
Stand up now and let it shoot right through you