Sunday Concert

Boss man boss man what do ya say
I gotta get you alone in the mine some day
Boss man boss man turn it around
If you don't look away how can i sit down
Look at this load upon my back
Gotta get this wheel back on the track
I can't hold on but i can't let go
And i can't say yes i can't say 'no'

Holes in my pockets and holes in my shoes
If you're ready for me i'm ready for you
The company plan takes all my pay
Got a child in july and another last may

Boss man boss man what do ya say
Gonna get you alone in the mine some day
Push your face down in the coal
'cause you got no heart you got no soul

Country life's the life for me
In ten more years i'll a pensioner be
The younger lad knows when the girls are out
But you might say he's a rural sprout

Boss man boss man what do ya say
Gonna get you alone in the mine some day
Boss man boss man clear the track
You're gonna tear the skin right offa my back

Boss man, boss man what do ya say
If you can't lend a hand then get outta my way
It'll be murder in the first degree
If you ever lay your hands on me

Boss man boss man pay my rent
A dollar i've earned is a dollar i've spent
The company plan takes all my check
For breakin' my back and riskin' my neck

Boss man boss man what do ya say
I gotta get you alone in the mine some day
I can't hold on but i can't let go
And i can't say yes i can't say 'no'

Upon the bitter green she walked the hills above the town
Echo to her footsteps as soft as eider down
Waiting for her master to kiss away her tears
Waiting through the years
Bitter green they called her
Walking in the sun
Loving everyone that she met
Bitter green they called her
Waiting in the sun
Waiting for someone to take her home

Some say he was a sailor who died away at sea
Some say he was a prisoner who never was set free
Lost upon the ocean he died there in the mist
Dreaming of her kiss

Bitter green they called her
Walking in the sun
Loving everyone that she met
Bitter green they called her
Waiting in the sun
Waiting for someone to take her home

But now the bitter green is gone, the hills have turned to rust
There comes a weary stranger, his tears fall in the dust
Kneeling by the churchyard in the autumn mist
Dreaming of a kiss

Bitter green they called her
Walking in the sun
Loving everyone that she met
Bitter green they called her
Waiting in the sun
Waiting for someone to take her home

I'm not sayin' that i love you
I'm not sayin' that i'll care if you love me
I'm not sayin' that i'll care
I'm not sayin' i'll be there when you want me

I can't give my heart to you
Or tell you that i'll sing your name up to the sky
I can't lay the promise down
That i'll always be around when you need me

Now i may not be alone each time you see me
Along the street or in a small cafe
But still i won't deny you or mistreat you
Baby if you let me have my way

I'm not sayin' i'll be sorry
For all the things that i might say that make you cry
I can't say i'll always do
The things you want me to
I'm not sayin' i'll be true but i'll try


Ribbon of darkness over me
Since my true love walked out the door
Tears i never had before
Ribbon of darkness over me

Clouds are gatherin' o'er my head
That chill the day and hide the sun
That shroud the night when day is done
Ribbon of darkness over me

Rain is falling on the meadow
Where once my love and i did lie
Now she is gone from the meadow
My love goodbye

Oh how i wish your heart could see
How mine just aches and breaks all day
Come on home and take away
This ribbon of darkness over me

Yes come on home and take away
Ribbon of darkness over me

I looked into a windowpane
Last evening in a city far away
I was feelin' sad and blue
I wondered then if i should really stay
Wanting someone to be with me in the light of this uncertain time
Waiting by the window for the man inside
To please make up his mind

Will you be one who passed through but never saw
Never knowing never feeling anything
Will you live your whole life through never knowing what to do
Will you be one who passed through but never saw

I walked along the roadway to a fountain
Where lovers come to meet
A hobo walked up to me, i could tell
He didn't have enough to eat
He said, "good sir you look so kind
And though the years have stripped me to the bone
It seems i am the better man
For in this place i've never walked alone

Will you be one who passed through but never saw
Never knowing never feeling anything
Will you live your whole life through never knowing what to do
Will you be one who passed through but never saw

"where will you be, my friendly, when your
Telephone ain't givin' out no calls
And when the seasons come to haunt you
Will you still find springtime in the fall
And when you're on your island
Will you wave at every ship that passes by
And will you feed a hungry man
I thank you, sir,
Now i'll just say goodbye"

Don't you be one who passed through but never saw
Never knowing never feeling anything
Will you live your whole life through never knowing what to do
Will you be one who passed through but never saw

Will you live your whole life through never knowing what to do
Will you be one who passed through but never saw

Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses
Rainbows in the woodland, water to my knees
Shivering, quivering, the warm breath of spring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Catbirds and cornfields, daydreams together
Riding on the roadside the dust gets in your eyes
Reveling, disheveling, the summer nights can bring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Slanted rays and colored days, stark blue horizons
Naked limbs and wheatbins, hazy afternoons
Voicing, rejoicing, the wine cups do bring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

Harsh nights and candlelights, woodfires a-blazin'
Soft lips and fingertips resting in my soul
Treasuring, remembering, the promise of spring
Pussywillows, cat-tails, soft winds and roses

There was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real
But time has no beginnings and hist'ry has no bounds
As to this verdant country they came from all around
They sailed upon her waterways and they walked the forests tall
And they built the mines the mills and the factories for the good of us all

And when the young man's fancy was turnin' to the spring
The railroad men grew restless for to hear the hammers ring
Their minds were overflowing with the visions of their day
And many a fortune lost and won and many a debt to pay

For they looked in the future and what did they see
They saw an iron road runnin' from sea to the sea
Bringin' the goods to a young growin' land
All up through the seaports and into their hands

Look away said they across this mighty land
From the eastern shore to the western strand
Bring in the workers and bring up the rails
We gotta lay down the tracks and tear up the trails
Open 'er heart let the life blood flow
Gotta get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Bring in the workers and bring up the rails
We're gonna lay down the tracks and tear up the trails
Open 'er heart let the life blood flow
Gotta get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow
Get on our way 'cause we're movin' too slow

Behind the blue rockies the sun is declinin'
The stars, they come stealin' at the close of the day
Across the wide prairie our loved ones lie sleeping
Beyond the dark oceans in a place far away

We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Livin' on stew and drinkin' bad whiskey
Bendin' our old backs 'til the long days are done

We are the navvies who work upon the railway
Swingin' our hammers in the bright blazin' sun
Layin' down track and buildin' the bridges
Bendin' our old backs 'til the railroad is done

So over the mountains and over the plains
Into the muskeg and into the rain
Up the st. lawrence all the way to gaspe
Swingin' our hammers and drawin' our pay
Drivin' 'em in and tyin' 'em down
Away to the bunkhouse and into the town
A dollar a day and a place for my head
A drink to the livin' and a toast to the dead

Oh the song of the future has been sung
All the battles have been won
O'er the mountain tops we stand
All the world at our command
We have opened up the soil
With our teardrops and our toil

For there was a time in this fair land when the railroad did not run
When the wild majestic mountains stood alone against the sun
Long before the white man and long before the wheel
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real
When the green dark forest was too silent to be real
And many are the dead men too silent to be real