1. |
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A Peasant’s List of Demands
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
I want to know how to turn you on,
how to turn you off like a water faucet.
I want to know what I’m doing wrong
‘cause now this faucet sticks.
I want to know how to make you cry,
how to make you smile,
How to make me feel nice
Warm my feet with blankets soft and fire hot
Tonight you’re on.
I want you to loop the loop.
Me, I want a hoola-hoop
Set on fire for my desire tonight is to see your show.
I want frankincense, gold and mirth
laid at my feet like I was king,
I want banquets in my name for I’m feeling plain.
I want you to serve me well to serve me long
To serve me hard
Even though you say you’re near tonight I’m far away.
I want you to loop the loop.
Me, I want a hoola-hoop
Set on fire for my desire tonight is to see your show.
I want you to know me
And to know that I’m here waiting.
Take the steps, show your love
Even though you’ve shown me before.
If I was humble, if I was poor
would you love me even more?
But for now I’ll rot in pride
And bathe in my selfishness.
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2. |
Storyville
04:36
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Storyville
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Your cracking glory and your crumbling pride
Cornet lips and cataract eyes
I heard a drum roll as you walked away
Thanks to Abel, can’t nothing kill you Cain
But Abel’s blood it’s crying from the ground
A vagabond with a mark on his brow
For comfort sings those cemetery blues
For hope he whistles an onion tune
A silver dollar and a shot gun shell
In a beggar’s alley by a wishing well
You through your gun in and you hoped like hell
But, all your hopes have been broken
You went east into the Land of Nod
Set up residence far from the eyes of God
Times are tough but they’re not so bad
Just sing the blues and work the land
You built a city of rusted steel
Cardboard boxes and crooked deals
Only lies are told in Storyville
Only guilt pays for the man you killed
Remember the time back in thirty-five
We cashed our checks and we rode the blinds
All the saints packed up in railroad cars
Would spend the hours just throwing darts
A silver dollar and a shot gun shell
In a beggar’s alley by a wishing well
You through your gun in and you hoped like hell
But, all your hopes have been broken
These dark nights on the boneyard beat
Hands in my pockets wandering deserted streets
I think about how you went away
How it seems like ol’ Abel killed you Cain
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3. |
If God Wasn't Watching
04:55
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If God wasn’t watching
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
If God wasn’t watching where the water gets wide
I’d cast all my fears from this old riverside
Swim with the angels, I would run and not hide
But God keeps an eye on this high rising tide
If God wasn’t watching I could lie about my name
Get away with murder and still feel no shame
There are undercover angels but I got the devil up my sleeve
Still I’d make God wear a blindfold if left up to me
Would God bless the devil if he was down on his luck
Would God save a sinner if he just couldn’t stand up
Would he send me judgment, a sentence of hard time
If I offered a confession that was really a lie
With God watching I ain’t got no alibis
If God wasn’t watching I could lay down my head
Take rest from my nightmares in a merciful bed
Innocent in dreams but found guilty when I wake
For God keeps an eye on every step that I take
Would God bless the devil if he was down on his luck
Would God save a sinner if he just couldn’t stand up
Would he send me judgment, a sentence of hard time
If I offered a confession that was really a lie
With God watching I ain’t got no alibis
I’ve heard the voice of Jesus say repent ye while there’s time
Lord you know I’ve had bread and bitter wine
Seen the devil laughing and have heard the mother cry
If God were really watching he would know that I’ve tried
He must know that I’m trying
Would God bless the devil if he was down on his luck
Would God save a sinner if he just couldn’t stand up
Would he send me judgment, a sentence of hard time
If I offered a confession that was really a lie
With God watching I ain’t got no alibis
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4. |
Apathy
03:48
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Apathy
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Apathy is a calling me, you know
Apathy is a calling me, you know
It sounds just like a lullaby in the middle of a firefight
Apathy is a calling me, you know
I used to raise my voice above a whisper
I used to find I had something to say
But all the world is aching
It’s looking rather bleak
I can see the world is changing
But I think it’s changing me
What’s the use in even trying to speak
If no one hears a thing
Selfishness is biting at my toes
Selfishness is biting at my toes
It sinks its teeth into the skin of all the saints gone marching in
Selfishness is biting at my toes
I used to fight for dreams I had in earnest
I used to raise me fists above my waist
But all the world is aching
It’s looking rather bleak
I can see the world is changing
But I think it’s changing me
What’s the use in fighting for these dreams
That have long been gone to me
The devil now is dancing next to me
Yes the devil now is dancing next to me
He’s taken my steps down to hell and he’s ringing all the steeple bells
The devil now dancing next to me
I used to say my prayers before I slept
I used to find I had the words to pray
But all the world is aching
And it’s looking rather bleak
I can see the world is changing
But I think it’s changing me
What’s the use in praying anything
If I just don’t believe
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5. |
I'm Alone
03:00
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I’m Alone
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Sally wore her smile just like a hand-me-down
The twinkle in her eyes it never fit
Sally walked in angel shoes and
She walked right out the door
I don’t know how she’s doing now or
What she’s walking towards
I’m alone, I’m alone
These days are getting cold
I need somebody sitting next to me
There’s a fire in the den but it feels much colder when
There are two mugs on the table, I’m alone
April was like living in the middle of a storm
The earth became a floating ball of mud
Sally said the sunshine was all she’s waiting for
But by her tracks upon the highway
I could see she’s wanting more
I’m alone, I’m alone
These days are getting cold
I need somebody sitting next to me
There’s a fire in the den but it feels much colder when
There are two mugs on the table, I’m alone
Now home is where I lay my head
When my mind is on the road
The highway is a dark and lovely dream
Sally if you’re walking still
Won’t you walk right home to me
These nights are lit by firelight and vivid memories
I’m alone, I’m alone
These days are getting cold
I need somebody sitting next to me
There’s a fire in the den but it feels much colder when
There are two mugs on the table, I’m alone
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6. |
One Trip Around the Sun
04:02
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One Trip Around the Sun
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
One trip around the sun and
I’m back where I started from
New clothes but same old stains
I guess it shows I haven’t changed
A year’s gone by I’m still the same
I still drive that pickup truck
With the crack in the windshield and one headlight
Got a ticket the other day
I guess it shows I haven’t changed
A year’s gone by and I’m still the same
Summer’s here again, much to my surprise
Same stale air with no breeze blowing by
Same old clouds in this tainted sky
Wipe the sweat out of my eyes
One trip around the sun I’m where I started from
I still play on my guitar
Write songs about shooting stars
It hit me hard one afternoon
The words have changed but not the tune
The words have changed…never the tune
Summer’s sweltering heat and the valley smog
Turn sunsets gold a dirty red
Sullied stars overhead
We sleep on the top of sweat stained beds
One trip around the sun I’m where I started from
Now I sit in my petty sins
My apathy drinking this lukewarm gin
How’d I get to be the way I am
These passing pleasures aren’t worth a damn
No these passing pleasures aren’t worth a damn
A year’s gone by and not much changed
Pretty much everything has stayed the same
One trip around the sun is perfect proof that
I can’t move one
Perfect proof that I can’t move on
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7. |
Daylight Savings Time
04:05
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Daylight Savings Time
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Time will break us everyone
Ours fists are raised up at the sun,
We cry at blood red skies and starry nights
and sadness never gone
Will you remember me when I’ve been gone so long
Time will be a low lament
Sung behind a barbed wire fence
We’ve spent our dollar bills on petty thrills
And cheap red wine
Give me pardon, like daylight savings time
We’ve seen the days get shorter
We’ve seen the nights grow cold
I’m stumbling though I’ve seen the light
I’m quickly growing old
I can’t lay my head down
I can’t lay my head down
‘Till I lay my body in the cold, cold ground
Time will be like bloodshot eyes
As our days finish with a sigh, they’re filled
With empty toil on arid soil
And an old grandfather clock
The work wears on, though time has seemed to stop
We’ve seen the days get shorter
We’ve seen the nights grow cold
I’m stumbling though I’ve seen the light
I’m quickly growing old
I can’t lay my head down
I can’t lay my head down
‘Till I lay my body in the cold, cold ground
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8. |
Fare Ye Well
03:07
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Fare Ye Well
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Fare ye well, my faded glory,
You have broken like a bone
Like a forest, grown in silence,
You have hardened into stone
I broke my heart so not to smile
And found it floating in the bloody Nile
Fare ye well, my faded glory, you have rotted in denial
Fare ye well, you cracking embers,
You have been a cold man’s heat
You have listened through a smoke screen
When I was yelling out my defeat
I lost my mind in the mud and mire
And found it sitting naked on a funeral pyre
Fare ye well, you cracking embers,
You have forced me to expire
Let the wordsmiths lend their voices,
Let the poet have his say
Let ‘em sing in ancient forests
With the lost on the judgment day
I left my soul with a wounded man
Who said he would take it to the promised land
Let the wordsmiths lend their voices,
Let ‘em pray as best they can
Fare ye well, East of Eden, Jesus took me back again
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9. |
Avé Maria
03:53
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Avé Maria
Scott Tyler
© scotttylersongs 2008
Last night I thought I saw Maria in the garden
She was standing ‘neath the moonlight by the wall
I tore between the shadows to Maria
Just to find that she was only a rose
I thought I saw Maria in the alley
In the brick of a two dollar motel
There were cracks in the smile of Maria
But no cracks in the child that she held
If I could just find a prayer from Maria
My legs are weak my voice is almost gone
For the hour hand is ticking fast, Maria
Say a prayer at the hour that I pass on
I thought I saw Maria in the water
When the sunset made the water red as wine
So I left the shore to swim out to Maria
But she had gone with the passing of the tide
If I could just find a prayer from Maria
My legs are weak my voice is almost gone
For the hour hand is ticking fast, Maria
Say a prayer at the hour that I pass on
I thought I saw Maria on the hilltop
She was crying ‘neath a tree of darkest wood
When I got there I couldn’t find Maria
Just a newly planted garden where she stood
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