Wilco

Walt Whitman's Niece

Last night or night before that,
I won't say which night
A seaman friend of mine,
I'll not say which seaman,
Walked up to a big old building,
I won't say which building,
And would not have walked up the stairs,
not to say which stairs,
If there had not have been two girls,
leaving out the names of those two girls.

And I recall a door, a big long room,
I'll not tell which room,
I remember a deep blue rug,
but I can't say which rug.
A girl took down a book of poems,
not to say which book of poems,
And as she read I laid my head,
and I can't tell which head,
Down in her lap, and I can mention which lap

My seaman buddy and girl moved off
after a couple of pages and there I was,
All night long, laying and listening
and forgetting the poems.
And as well as I could recall,
or my seaman buddy could recollect,
My girl had told us that she was a niece
of Walt Whitman, but not which niece,
And it takes a night and a girl
and a book of this kind
A long long time to find its way back

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie 1946
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, clavinet, Farfisa organ, drums
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Ken Coomer: drums and percussion
John Stirratt: acoustic bass
Jeff Tweedy: electric guitar, harmonica
Wilco plus Jonathan “JP” Parker: answering vocals

California Stars

I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

I'd love to feel your hand touching mine
And tell me why I must keep working on
Yes I'd give my life to lay my head tonight
On a bed of California stars

I'd like to dream my troubles all away
On a bed of California stars
Jump up from my starbed and make another day
Underneath my California stars

They hang like grapes on vines that shine
And warm the lovers' glass like friendly wine
So, I'd give this world
just to dream a dream with you
On our bed of California stars

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP] Words: Woody Guthrie [no date] Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 1997 Jay Bennett: piano, backing vocal Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar Ken Coomer: drums and percussion Corey Harris: lap steel guitar Eliza Carthy: violin John Stirratt: electric bass, backing vocal Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, lead vocal

Way Over Yonder In The Minor Key

I lived in a place called Okfuskee
and I had a little girl in a holler tree
I said, little girl, it's plain to see,
there ain't nobody that can sing like me

She said it's hard for me to see
how one little boy got so ugly
Yes, my little girly, that might be,
but there ain't nobody that can sing like me
Ain't nobody that can sing like me,

way over yonder in the minor key
Way over yonder in the minor key,
there ain't nobody that can sing like me

We walked down by the Buckeye Creek
to see the frog eat the goggle eye bee
To hear that west wind whistle to the east,
there ain't nobody that can sing like me

Oh my little girly will you let me see,
way over yonder where the wind blows free
Nobody can see in our holler tree
And there ain't nobody that can sing like me

Her mama cut a switch from a cherry tree
and laid it on the she and me,
It stung lots worse than a hive of bees
but there ain't nobody that can sing like me

Now I have walked a long long ways
and I still look back to my tanglewood days,
I've led lots of girls since then to stray
saying, ain't nobody that can sing like me

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie 1946
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: Hammond B3, bouzuki
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Eliza Carthy: violin
Ken Coomer: drums and percussion
Natalie Merchant: backing vocal
Elizabeth Steen: accordion
John Stirratt: electric bass
Peter Yanowitz: chorus drums

Birds and Ships

The birds are singing in your eyes today
Sweet flowers blossom in your smile
The wind and sun are in the words you say
Where might your lonesome lover be?

Birds may be singing in my eyes this day
Sweet flowers blossom when I smile,
But my soul is stormy and my heart blows wild,
My sweetheart rides a ship on the sea

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG
Songs [ASCAP]
Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Billy Bragg 1997 Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar Natalie Merchant: vocals

Hoodoo Voodoo

Hoodoo voodoo, seven twenty one two Haystacka hostacka, A B C High poker, low joker, ninety nine a zero Sidewalk, streetcar, dance a goofy dance Blackbirdy, bluejay; one two three four, Trash sack, jump back E F G, Biggy hat, little hat, fattyman, skinnyman, Grasshopper, greensnake, hold my hand Hoodoo voodoo, chooka chooky choochoo, True blue, how true, kissle me now Momma cat, Tommy cat, diapers on my clothes line Two four six eight, I run and hide Pretty girl, pretty boy, pony on a tincan, I'll be yours and you'll be mine Jinga jangler, tingalingle, picture on a bricky wall Hot and scamper, foamy lather, huggle me close Hot breeze, old cheese, slicky slacky fishy tails Brush my hair and kissle me some more Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/Warner- Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]/Poeyfarre Songs [BMI]/500 Ft. Toe Music [BMI]/BMG Songs/Koolhot Muzik [ASCAP] Words: Woody Guthrie  [no date] Music: Wilco/Bragg/Harris Jay Bennett: organ, Farfisa bass pedals Billy Bragg: electric guitar Ken Coomer: drums Corey Harris: electric guitar John Stirratt: electric bass, piano [bass] Jeff Tweedy: vocal

She Came Along To Me

Ten hundred books could I write you about her
Because I felt if I could know her
I would know all women
And they've not been any too well known
for brains and planning and organized thinking
But I'm sure the women are equal
and they may be ahead of the men

Yet I wouldn't spread such a rumor around
because one organizes the other
And some times the most lost and wasted
attract the most balanced and sane
And the wild and the reckless take up
with the clocked and the timed
And the mixture is all of us
and we're still mixing

But never, never, never,
Never could have it been done
If the women hadn't entered into the deal
Like she came along to me

And all creeds and kinds and colors
of us are blending
Till I suppose ten million years from now
we'll all be just alike
Same color, same size, working together
And maybe we'll have all of the fascists
out of the way by then
Maybe so.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Warner-
Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music
[BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie 1942
Music: Billy Bragg/Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1998
Jay Bennett: electric bass, slide guitar, acoustic guitar, harmony vocal
Billy Bragg: lead vocal
Ken Coomer: drums, percussion
Bob Egan: slide guitar
John Stirratt: Hammond B3, acoustic guitar
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, harmonica

At My Window Sad and Lonely

At my window sad and lonely,
oft times do I think of thee
Sad and lonely and I wonder,
do you ever think of me?

Every day is sad and lonely,
every night is sad and blue
Do you ever think of me my darling,
as you sail that ocean blue?

At my window, sad and lonely,
I stand and look across the sea
I, sad and lonely,
wonder do you ever think of me?

Will you find another sweetheart
in some far and distant land?
Sad and lonely now I wonder if
our boat will ever land?

Ships may ply the stormy ocean,
planes may fly the stormy sky
Sad and lonely but remember
I will love you till I die.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]/Warner-
Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]

Words: Woody Guthrie 1939
Music: Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: Hammond B3, dulcimer, backing vocal
Billy Bragg: bazouki, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: electric bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, lead vocal

Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman,
let's go make a picture
On the island of Stromboli, Ingrid Bergman

Ingrid Bergman, you're so perty,
you'd make any mountain quiver
You'd make fire fly from the crater,
Ingrid Bergman

This old mountain it's been waiting
All its life for you to work it
For your hand to touch its hardrock,
Ingrid Bergman, Ingrid Bergman

If you'll walk across my camera,
I will flash the world your story,
I will pay you more than money, Ingrid Bergman

Not by pennies dimes nor quarters,
but with happy sons and daughters,
And they'll sing around Stromboli,
Ingrid Bergman

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie 1950
Music: Billy Bragg 1996
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar and vocal

Christ for President

Let's have Christ our president.
Let us have him for our king.
Cast your vote for the carpenter
that you call the Nazarene.

The only way we can ever beat
these crooked politician men
Is to run the money changers out of the temple
And put the Carpenter in

O It's Jesus Christ our president
God above our king
With a job and pension for young and old
We will make hallelujah ring

Every year we waste enough
to feed the ones who starve
We build our civilization up
and we shoot it down with wars

But with the Carpenter on the seat
away up in the capitol town
The USA would be on the way prosperity bound!
Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc./Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music [BMI]/Titanic Majesties Music [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1997
Jay Bennett: banjo, piano, clavinet
Billy Bragg: National guitar
Ken Coomer: drums and percussion
John Stirratt: acoustic bass, bass pedals
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocal

I Guess I Planted

I guess I planted some long lonesome
seed of a song
Way down inside me long ago
And now I can't remember when it was
But it joined up with the rest of them and grows
It's such a little song it don't compare
With all your big ones you hear everywhere
But when it dawns way in the back of your mind
The big ones are made up of the little kind

Union song. Union battled.
All added up. Won us all what we got now

I can't even start to look around me here
Without hearing this song
And seeing all of us first separated,
Hurt, apart and afraid
And hungry for the union
And so we kept on
Singing and working, fighting till we got it.
And this is the big union song I guess I hear.

We fought there at your place
We fought there on your ship
And I guess if you missed out on
the fight for our union,
You missed out on one awful big step
Us people took.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.
[BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, Hammond B3
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: electric bass
Jeff Tweedy: electric guitar
Everybody and Corey Harris: backing vocals and handclaps

One By One

One by one the teardrops fall as I write you
One by one my words come falling on the page
One by one my dreams are fading in the twilight
One by one my schemes are fading fast away

One by one the flowers fade here in my garden
One by one the leaves are falling from the trees
One by one my hopes are vanished in the clouds clear
One by one like snowflakes melting in the breeze

One by one my hair is turning gray
One by one my dreams are fading fast away
One by one I read your letters over
One by one I lay them all away

One by one the days are slipping up behind you
One by one the sweetest days of life go by
One by one the moments stealing up behind you
One by one she'll come and find not you or I

One by one I hear the soft words that you whispered
One by one I feel your kisses soft and sweet
One by one I hope you'll say the words to marry
One by one to one by one forever be

Words: Woody Guthrie 1939
Music: Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, organ
Ken Coomer: drums
Bog Egan: pedal steel
John Stirratt: electric bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocal

Eisler On The Go

Eisler on the go, Eisler on the move
Brother is on the vinegar truck
and I don't know what I'll do

I don't know what I'll do,
I don't know what I'll do
Eisler's on the come and go
and I don't know what I'll do

Eisler on the farm, Eisler on the town
Sister in the tickly bush
and I don't know what I'll do

Eisler on the boat, Eisler on the ship
Daddy on the henhouse roof
and I don't know what I'll do

Eisler in the jailoe, Eisler back at home,
Rankin scratch his head and cry
and I don't know what I'll do

Eisler him write music, Eisler him teach school,
Truman him don't play so good
and I don't know what I'll do

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. [BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, melodies, percussion
Billy Bragg: National guitar, banjo, vocal
Ken Coomer: percussion

Hesitating Beauty

For your sparkling cocky smile
I have walked a million miles
Begging you to come wed me in the Spring
Why do you my dear delay,
what makes you laugh and turn away?
You're a hesitating beauty, Nora Lee

Well I know that you are itching to get married,
Nora Lee
And I know I am twitching for the same thing,
Nora Lee
By the stars and clouds above,
we can spend our lives in love
You're a hesitating beauty, Nora Lee

We can build a house and home
where the flowers come to bloom
Around our yard I'll nail a fence so high
That the boys with peeping eyes
cannot see that angel face
Of my hesitating beauty, Nora Lee

We can ramble hand in hand
across the grasses of our land
I'll kiss you for each leaf on every tree
We can bring our kids to play
where the dry winds blow today
If you’ll quit your hesitating, Nora Lee

Words: Woody Guthrie 1949
Music: Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: piano, electric guitar, backing vocal
Billy Bragg: electric guitar
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: electric bass
Jeff Tweedy: lead vocal

Another Man's Done Gone

Sometimes I think I'm gonna lose my mind
But it don't look like I ever do
I loved so many people everywhere I went
Some too much, others not enough

I don't know, I may go down or up or anywhere
But I feel like this scribbling might stay

Maybe if I hadn't of seen so much hard feelings
I might not could have felt other people's
So when you think of me, if and when you do,
Just say, well, another man's done gone
Well, another man's done gone

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc.
[BMI]/BMG Songs [ASCAP]

Words: Woody Guthrie [no date]
Music: Billy Bragg 1998
Jay Bennett: grand piano
Billy Bragg: vocal

The Unwelcome Guest

To the rich man's bright lodges I ride in this wind
On my good horse I call you my shiny Black Bess
To the playhouse of fortune
to take the bright silver
And gold you have taken from somebody else

And as we go riding in the damp foggy midnight
You snort, my good pony, and you give me your best
For you know, and I know, good horse,
'mongst the rich ones
How oftimes we go there an unwelcome guest

I’ve never took food from the widows and orphans
And never a hard working man I oppressed
So take your pace easy,
for home soon like lightning
We soon will be riding, my shiny Black Bess

No fat rich man's pony can ever overtake you
And there's not a rider from the east to the west
Could hold you a light
in this dark mist and midnight
When the potbellied thieves
chase their unwelcome guest

I don't know good horse,
as we trot in this dark here
That robbing the rich is for worse or for best
They take it by stealing and lying and gambling
And I take it my way, my shiny black Bess

I treat horses good and I'm friendly to strangers
I ride and your running makes my guns talk the best
And the rangers and deputies
are hired by the rich man
To catch me and hang me, my shining Black Bess

Yes, they'll catch me napping one day
and they'll kill me
And then I'll be gone but that won't be my end
For my guns and my saddle will always be filled
By unwelcome travellers and other brave men

And they'll take the money and spread it out equal
Just like the Bible and the prophets suggest
But the men that go riding to help these poor workers
The rich will cut down like an unwelcome guest

Words: Woody Guthrie, 1940
Music: Billy Bragg, 1996
Jay Bennett - grand piano, melodica
Billy Bragg - acoustic guitar, lead vocal
Ken Coomer - drums
Bob Egan - pedal steel
John Stirratt - electric bass
Jeff Tweedy - acoustic guitar, harmonica, harmony vocal

Airline to Heaven

There's an airline plane Flies to Heaven every day
Past them pearly gates If you want to ride this
train Have your ticket in your hand Before it is too
late. If the world looks wrong And your money's
spent and gone And your friend has turned away
You can get away to Heaven On this aeroplane
Just bow your head and pray.

Them's got ears let them hear Them's got eyes let
them see Turn Your Eyes to the Lord of the skies
Take that airline Plane It will Take You Home again.
Yes, to your home behind the skies.

Well, a lot of people guess Some say no and some
say Yes Will it take some and leave some behind?
But you will surely know When to the airport go To
leave this world behind

Oh, a lot of speakers speak And a lot of preachers
preach When you lay their salary on the line But to
bow your head and pray Is the only earthly way
That you can fly to Heaven on time. That you can
reach Heaven on time.

Your ticket you obtain On this heavenly airline
plane You leave your sins behind You have got to
take this flight Might be daytime, might be night,
But you can't see your way if you're blind

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1939
Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: 12-string acoustic slide guitars, backing vocals, shakers, saw, claps
John Stirratt: backing vocals, claps
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, acoustic guitar, Mellotrone, claps

My Flying Saucer

My flying saucer, where can you be Since that sad
night that you sailed away from me? My flying
saucer I pray this night You will sail back before
the day gets bright

My flying saucer fly back for home! You will get lost
in the universe alone! My flying saucer, end all my
fears Sail back tonight, love and kiss away my tears

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1950
Music: Billy Bragg 1995
Jay Bennett: electric guitars, baritone guitar, 12 string acoustic
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, vocals
Ken Coomer: tape box, tambourine
Mike Henry: backing vocal
John Stirratt: electric bass, Nashville guitar
Jeff Tweedy: cabassa

Feed of Man

If you beat up, you butcher, and you bleed a man You bang up and badger and blood-let a man And then I come along On the feet of man And halfway laugh and cry About the meat of man
And I do what I can To bale string and tie Some ballad truths Up and cured out For the feed of man
Folks try to tell That it's on God's orders That you bleed your man It's on God's good word that you Bleed your man On God's plan print That you dead a man Or spit and curse and whip your man
I say I'll help you squeeze and fix yourself up a A new kind of God of some kind
One that tells you Fertilize and multiply One that tells you Outsow and outblow Outplant and outgrow Outdo, and outrun, and outclimb, and outspread Every other tree and bush And brushy fruits and flower petals Outfruit them all For the feed of man
Outstalk and outhunt and outthink For God's own sweet sake, outthink! Outthink! Outthink the fruits Outgrow these animal kinds and shapes of man It you miss and go down Your dust will turn up on that long hot job Once more again
To help in the feeding and the seed of man And not in the bleeding and the end of man
  Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI) Words: Woody Guthrie (Date Unknown) Music: Jeff Tweedy 1998 Jay Bennett: B3 organ, Leslie guitar Billy Bragg: resonant guitar Ken Coomer: drums John Stirratt: bass Jeff Tweedy: vocal, acoustic guitar, electric guitar

Hot Rod Hotel

I'm a porter and a night clerk at the old Hot Rod
Hotel I clean and scrub the lobby down and thirty
one rooms as well I wax and shine their boots and
shoes, I brush down their crinkly clothes I meet
the buses and trains and show you to your door

Bell bottom pants brought two boys in at six
fourteen last night Two girls checked in at ten
o’two I flipped on the light The lamrods wife
looks in their doors and finds one terrible sight
Those boys and girls got bawled up in their doors
and rooms last night

A bloody flood could never mess these rooms
up any worse It looked like Moe had used this
room to grease and breed a horse Old gum and
hairs and sticky rags, old bottles on the floors
Gobs of spit and condom rubbers on the windows,
walls, and doors

The lammy tried to make me clean out that crappy
mess Or else he'd fire me off my job and let me
starve to death I laid aside my polish rag and
downed my dusting pan And I've not seen the old
Hot Rod nor that old town since then

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1949
Music: Billy Bragg 1996
Jay Bennett: Farfisa organ, mandolin, electric guitar
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, vocals
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: electric bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar

I Was Born

I was born at Half Past 12, Almost One in the
morning; I was born at Half Past One, almost Two
in the morning. Now my birthday comes again and
I don't know how old I am; Half past One or Two
or Three, almost 4 in the morning.

I was born at Half Past Four, almost 5 in the
morning; I was born at Half Past Six, almost 7 in
the morning; How old am I, you ask of me? One yr
younger than I used to be; Half Past 7, Half Past 8,
Half past Nine in the morning.

I was born at Half Past Nine, almost Ten in the
morning; I was born at 1/2 past Ten, almost ‘Leven
in the morning; Today my age is Tweedle and ‘twee
I’M prettier than I used to be; Half Past ‘Leven,
Half Past ‘Leven, almost 12 in the morning.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1950
Music: Billy Bragg 1996
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar
Natalie Merchant: vocal

Secret of the Sea

Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can
guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the
secret of my love for you We both could know the
secret of the sea

Tell me, could you ever tell the secret of the sea?
Of these high rolling waves along the shore? The
footprints of the lovers that come here to love, By
the tides washed away forever more

Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can
guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the
secret of my love for you We both could know the
secret of the sea

You claim to know the secret of a kiss and a hug
And the secret of the grass and of the trees And if
you can tell the secret of a warm friends hand
Then we all would feel the secrets of the sea

Who can guess the secret of the sea? Who can
guess the secret of the sea? If you can guess the
secret of my love for you We both could know the
secret of the sea

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1939
Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 1999
Jay Bennett: pianos, acoustic guitars, organ, tambourine, baritone guitar, slide
guitars, electric sitars, backing vocals, electric guitars
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, 12-string acoutic guitar

Stetson Kennedy

I done spent my last three cents Mailing my letter
to the president I didn't make a show, I didn't
make a dent So I'm swinging over to this
independent gent Stetson Kennedy Writing his
name in

I can't win out to save my soul Long as Smathers-
Dupont’s got me in the hole Them war profit boys
are squawking and balking That's what's got me
out here walking and talking Knocking on doors
and windows Wake up and run down election
morning And scribble in Stetson Kennedy

I ain't the worlds best writer nor the worlds best
speller But when I believe in something I'm the
loudest yeller If we fix it so you can't make
money on a war We'll all forget what we’re killing
folks for We'll find us a peace job equal and free
Dump Smathers-Dupont in a salty sea Well, this
makes Stetson Kennedy the man for me

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1950
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: electric guitar and solo
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass

Remember the Mountain Bed

Do you still sing of the mountain bed we made of
limbs and leaves: Do you still sigh there near the
sky where the holly berry bleeds: You laughed as I
covered you over with leaves, face, breast, hips
and thighs, You smiled when I said the leaves
were just the color of your eyes.

Rosin smells and turpentine smells from
eucalyptus and pine Bitter tastes of twigs we
chewed where tangled woodvines twine Trees held
us in on all four sides so thick we could not see I
could not see any wrong in you, and you saw none
in me.

Your arm was brown against the ground, your
cheeks part of the sky, As your fingers played with
grassy moss, and limber you did lie: Your stomach
moved beneath your shirt and your knees were in
the air Your feet played games with mountain
roots as you lay thinking there.

Below us the trees grew clumps of trees, raised
families of trees, and they As proud as we tossed
their heads in the wind and flung good seeds
away: The sun was hot and the sun was bright
down in the valley below Where people starved
and hungry for life so empty come and go.

There in the shade and hid from the sun we freed
our minds and learned Our greatest reason for
being here, our bodies moved and burned There
on our mountain bed of leaves we learned life's
reason why The People laugh and love and dream,
they fight, they hate to die.

The smell of your hair I know is still there, if most
of our leaves are blown, Our words still ring in the
brush and the trees where singing seeds are sown
Your shape and form is dim, but plain, there on
our mountain bed I see my life was brightest
where you laughed and laid you head...

I learned the reason why man must work and how
to dream big dreams, To conquer time and space
and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled
with my emptiness now and look at city and land
And I know why farms and cities are built by hot,
warm, nervous hands.

I crossed many states just to stand here now, my
face all hot with tears, I crossed city, and valley,
desert, and stream, to bring my body here: My
history and future blaze bright in me and all my joy
and pain Go through my head on our mountain
bed where I smell your hair again.

All this day long I linger here and on in through
the night My greeds, desires, my cravings, hopes,
my dreams inside me fight: My loneliness healed,
my emptiness filled, I walk above all pain Back to
the breast of my woman and child to scatter my
seeds again.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1944
Music: Jeff Tweedy/Jay Bennett 1999
Leroy Bach: piano
Jay Bennett: organ, nylon-string guitar, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, 12-string acoustic guitar

Blood of the Lamb

Are your garments all spotless? Are they white as
the snow? Are you washed in the blood of the
lamb? Is your soul all spotless? Is it clean as the
snow? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

I am washed, yes I'm washed I am washed in the
blood I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb I'm
all clean I'm all spotless I'm all pure like the snows
I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb

Have you laid down your burdens? Have you
found peace and rest? Are you washed in the
blood of the lamb? I've laid down all my troubles
I've found peace and rest I'm all washed in the
blood of the lamb

Have you learnt to love your neighbors? Of all
colors, creeds and kinds? Are you washed in the
blood of the lamb? I've learnt to love my peoples
Of all colors, creeds and kinds I'm all washed in
the blood of the lamb

I am washed, yes I'm washed I am washed in the
blood I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb I'm
all clean I'm all spotless I'm all pure like the snows
I'm all washed in the blood of the lamb

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing
Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)/You Want A Piece Of This Music (ASCAP),
administered by Bug Music

Words: Woody Guthrie 1955
Music: Jay Bennett/Jeff Tweedy 1997
Jay Bennett: Farfisa, Leslie piano, B3, backing vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: upright bass
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, acoustic guitar, slide baritone guitar
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar

Aginst Th' Law

It's aginst th’ law to walk, It’s aginst th’ law to talk
It's aginst th’ law to loaf, It’s aginst th’ law to work
It's aginst th’ law to read, It’s aginst th’ law to write
It's aginst th’ law to be a black or brown of white.

Ever’thing's aginst th’ law
I'm a low pay daddy singing th’ high price blues

It's aginst th’ law to eat, It’s aginst th’ law to drink
It's aginst th’ law to worry, It’s aginst th’ law to
think It's aginst th’ law to marry or to try to settle
down It’s aginst th’ law to ramble like a bum from
town to town

Ever’thing's aginst th’ law
I'ma low pay daddy singin’ th’ high price blues

It's aginst th’ law to come, It’s aginst th’ law to go
It's aginst th’ law to ride, It’s aginst th’ law to roll
It's aginst th’ law to hug, It’s aginst th’ law to kiss
It's aginst th’ law to shoot, It’s aginst th’ law to
miss.

Ever’thing's aginst th’ law
I'ma low pay daddy singin’ th’ high price blues

It's aginst th’ law to gamble, It’s aginst th’ law to
roam It's aginst th’ law to organize or try to build a
home It’s aginst th’ law to sing, It's aginst th’ law
to dance It’s aginst th’ law to tell you th’ trouble on
my hands

Ever’thing in Winston Salem is aginst th’ law
I'ma low pay daddy singin’ the high price blues

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1947
Music: Billy Bragg 1995
Jay Bennett: banjo
Billy Bragg: electric guitar
Ken Coomer: drums
Bog Egan: resonator slide guitar
Corey Harris: acoustic guitar and vocal
John Stirratt: upright bass
Jeff Tweedy: bass
Jeff Tweedy: mandolin

All You Fascists

I'm gonna tell all you fascists you may be
surprised The people in this world are getting
organized You’re bound to lose, you fascists
bound to lose

Race hatred cannot stop us this one thing I know
Your poll tax and Jim Crow and greed have got to
go You're bound to lose, you fascists bound to lose

All of you fascists bound to lose You fascists
bound to lose All of you fascists bound to lose
You're bound to lose! You fascists! Bound to lose

People of every colour marching side by side
Marching ‘cross these fields where a million
fascists died You're bound to lose, you fascists
bound to lose

I'm going into this battle and take my union gun We’ll
end this world of slavery before this battle’s won
You're bound to lose, you fascists are bound to lose

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1942
Music:  Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: slide guitar, harmonica
Billy Bragg: electric guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: electric guitar

Joe DiMaggio Done It Again

Joe Deemaggyo done it again! Joe Deemaggyo
done it again! Clackin’ that bat, Gone with the
wind! Joe Deemaggyo’s done it again.

Some folks thot Big Joe was done! Some jus
figgered Joe was gone! Steps to the platter with a
great big grin; Joe Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

I'ma gonna tele ya jist th’ way I feel; Man cain’t run
without his heel; Watch that raggypill split the
wind! Joe Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

All three fielders jumped their best; Tryin’ ta climb
that highboard fence; They all growed whiskers on
their chins! Joe Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

Up along them clouds where the eagle roams: Joe
cracked that ball to whine and moaann; His
buddies laugh as they trot on in, Joe
Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

Grandmaw's home by the radio On the telleyevizzion
awatchin’ Joe; She jerks the beard offa grandpaw's
chin; Joe Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

The puppydog barked at the pooseye kat; How
does it look from where you set? Looks like a
cyclone slidin’ in; Joe Deemaggyoe’s done it again!

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1949
Music:  Billy Bragg 1995
Jay Bennett: banjo, acoustic guitar solos, backing vocal
Eliza Carthy: violin
Ken Coomer: percussion, backing vocal and holler
John Stirratt: double bass, backing vocal
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, lead vocal

Meanest Man

If the folks next door to me wasn’t so good I'd do
all the mean things anybody could I'd drink and I'd
gamble and I'd louse around I'd be the meanest
man in this whole town

If I hadn't seen the light in that old lady's eyes I'd
try to be a man you would hate and despise
I'd rave and I'd rant and I'd scream and yell And
I'd chase my neighbors from here to hell

If I hadn't heard those kids laugh playing games
I'd have nervous fits and I'd go insane I'd
turpentine cats and tin can dogs And I'd smother
people to death inside of holler logs

If the people around me wasn't so nice I'd freeze
my heart into a cake of ice I’d steal money from
soldiers and working folks too I'd lend you a dollar
and take back two

If my wife didn't kiss me the way she does I'd
carry four or five daggers and three or four guns
I'd shoot craps and ramble and hang out late And
I'd steal baby buggies and Cadillac Eights

If my friends didn't write me those letters I get I'd
get to be a dictator and be the worse one yet I'd be
the only smart bird and you'd all be fools And I’d
send you all away to war and I'd set home and rule

If it wasn't for them songs I hear all you all sing I'd
put a crown on my dome and I'd say I'm your king
I'd kidnap some and blackmail others I'd peddle
black market stuff and rob sisters and brothers

If it wasn’t for your talking I hear along the street I'd
be the oneriest man that you ever did meet I'd
preach the gospel of hate and I'd drink your blood
But I can't be this bad because my folks are too good

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1945
Music: Billy Bragg 1997
Jay Bennett: Hammond B3
Billy Bragg: resonator guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: gas heater and kick drum, drums
John Stirratt: electric bass, baritone guitar
Jeff Tweedy: electric guitar

Black Wind Blowing

There’s a black wind blowing in the cotton
field, honey There's a black wind blowing in
the cotton field, baby There's a black wind
blowing in the cotton field And O’ how funny
it makes me feel Baby, sweet thing, darling

There's a long black cloud hanging in the
sky, honey There's a long black cloud
hanging in the sky, baby There's a long black
cloud hanging in the sky Weather's gonna
break and hells gonna fly Baby, sweet thing,
darling

Cotton’s pretty thin yonder on the hill, honey
Cotton’s pretty thin yonder on the hill, baby
Cotton’s pretty thin yonder on the hill Won’t
clear a greenback dollar bill Baby, sweet
thing, darling

Work shade and back to the buzzard wing,
honey Work shade and back to the buzzard
wing, baby Work shade and back to the
buzzard wing Clouds are gonna bust and cry
down rain Baby, sweet thing darling

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/BMG Songs (ASCAP)

Words: Woody Guthrie (Date Unknown)
Music:  Billy Bragg 1997
Billy Bragg: resonator guitar, vocal

Someday Some Morning Sometime

Someday some morning sometime, sometime
I'd like to hold your hand in mine,
Someday, some morning, sometime

I'd like to tell you you're pretty and fine,
Your face will smile and your eyes will shine
Someday, some morning, sometime

I'll build you a house all covered in vines, I’ll
bring you a nickel, I'll bring you a dime,
Someday, some morning, sometime

Five six seven and eight oh nine I'll take you
down where the birds fly by Someday, some
morning, sometime.

Published by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. (BMI)/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp./Words-Ampersand Music (BMI)

Words: Woody Guthrie 1948
Music:  Jeff Tweedy 2000
Jay Bennett: drums, upright bass, Delayaphone, bells
Jeff Tweedy: vocal, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer

Bugeye Jim

If I get up and let you in,
I lose my house and my home again;
If I get up and try to come,
I get sent back to the land I’m from.

The cloud came low and the rain did pour;
I hear your hand touch on my door;
The rain has quit and the light of the moon
Shows you standing in my room.

Bugeye Jim, I can’t come;
I can twist and turn, but I can’t come,
I can ache and I can burn, but I can’t come.
I woke up this morning with an aching brain;
Hear you tap on my window pane.

I look at you with a heavy head;
I hear you sit down on my bed;
The storm gets worse and my heart feels bare;
I feel your fingers comb my hair.

The mud it runs and the waters rise;
I feel your hotkiss on my eyes;
The rain it rained and the world did stir;
I sing to you my lovesick word.

Billy Bragg: resonator guitar, vocal
Words: Woody Guthrie (1946) | Music: Billy Bragg

 

When the Roses Bloom Again

They were strolling in the gloaming
Through the roses were in bloom,
A soldier and his sweetheart brave and true;
And their hearts were filled with sorrow
For their thoughts were of tomorrow,
As she pinned a rose upon his coat of blue.

Do not ask me, Love, to linger
For you know not what to say,
For Duty calls your Sweetheart’s name again;
And your heart need not be sighing
If I be among the dying;
I’ll be with you when the Roses bloom again.

When the Roses Bloom again beside the River,
And the mockingbird has sung his sweet refrain;
In the Days of Auld Lang Syne,
I’ll be with you Sweetheart mine,
I’ll be with you when the Roses bloom again.

With the rattle of the battle
Came a whisper soft and low,
A soldier who had fallen in the fray;
I am dying, I am dying, and I know I have to go,
But I want to tell you before I pass away:

There’s a far and distant river
When the Roses are in bloom
A sweetheart who is waiting there for me.
And it’s there I pray you take me
I’ve been faithful, don’t forsake me,
I’ll be with her when the Roses bloom again!

Words: Will D. Cobb (1901) | Music: Jeff Tweedy
Jay Bennett: keyboards
Billy Bragg: guitar
Ken Coomer: drums
Bob Egan: pedal steel guitar
Corey Harris: lap steel
John Stirratt: bass

 

Gotta Work

I gotta work
Or go nuts
I gotta work
Or go nuts
I gotta work
I gotta work
I gotta work
Or go nuts

I get dangerous
If I don’t work
I get mean
If I don’t work
I go screwball
I go loco
I go crazy
If I don’t work

Hurt people
If I don’t work
Kill people
If I go nuts
Hit people
Scratch people
Bite people
If I go nuts

I gotta work
I gotta work
I gotta work
Or go nuts
I go screwball
I go loco
I go crazy
If I don’t work
Hit people
Scratch people
Bite people
If I go nuts

Corey Harris: acoustic guitar, vocal
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar

 

My Thirty Thousand

Paul Robeson he’s the man
That faced the Ku Klux Klan
On hollow grove’s golfing ground
His words come sounding!
And all around him there
To jump and clap and cheer
I sent the best, the best I had
My thirty thousand

The Klansman leader said
That Paul would lose his head
When thirty five thousand vets
Broke up that concert.
But less than four thousand came
To side with the Klan!
But around Paul’s lonesome oak
(My thirty thousand).

A beersoaked brassy band
Did snortle around the grounds
Four hundred noblest souls
(Westchester’s manhood)!
They looked exactly like
Fleas on a tiger’s back;
Lost fish in the waters of
My thirty thousand!

When Paul had sung and gone
And the kids and babies home
Cops came with guns and clubs
And clubbed and beat them!
I’d hate to be a cop
Caught with a bloody stick,
('Cause you can’t bash the brains out
of thirty thousand)!

Each eye you tried to gouge,
Each skull you tried to crack,
Has a thousand thousand friends
Around this green grass!
If you furnish the skull someday
I'll pass out the clubs and guns
To the billion hands that love
My thirty thousand!

Each wrinkle on your face
I know it at a glance,
You cannot run and hide
Nor duck nor dodge them.
And your carcass and your deeds
Will fertilize the seeds
Of the men that stood to guard
My thirty thousand!

Words: Woody Guthrie (1949) | Music: Billy Bragg
Jay Bennett: banjo, melodica, backing vocal
Billy Bragg: guitar, vocal
Eliza Carthy: violin
Ken Coomer: drums
Ben Ivitsky: viola
John Stirratt: bass

 

Ought to Be Satisfied Now

You jacked me up and you run me down 
You nagged at me and you bawled me out 
You made me leave town and I'm Frisco bound 
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

You took my silver you took my gold
You made me believe in every lie that you told 
You left me a standing out there in the cold 
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

You went around with whoever you pleased 
I stood in the rain in my B.V.D.'s 
There was times when I thought I’d freeze 
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

You got a new lover richer than me 
You got you a car and a boat on the sea 
You spend all my money to go out on a spree 
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

I'm down in this gutter I'm hungry, I'm cold, 
You're drinking and gambling and wasting our dough 
You won’t even pay back that money you owe
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

Once I had a fortune that you took away, 
A hundred cold dollars you spent every day
Tonight I'm a bum on a Frisco train
You'd ought to be satisfied now.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1939) | Music: Billy Bragg
Billy Bragg: electric guitar, vocal

 

Listening to the Wind That Blows

There’s a girl as she sleeping
Sleeping in her sweet repose
I’m her broken hearted sweetheart
Listening to that wind that blows.

When my good friends gather around me
Where my graveyard flowers grow
In my grave I be there sleeping
Listening to that wind that blows.

Blow, wind, blow, long low and lonesome
Blow, wind, blow, where no heart knows,
I’m your lonesome hearted listener
Listening to that lonesome wind that blows.

On those ocean sands I wandered
Where those whitecap breakers roll
I walked along the beach at midnight
Listening to that wind that blows.

In this great and crowded city
Where the silver dollar flows
Many’s the broken hearted sweetheart
Listening to that wind that blows.

Blow, wind, blow, long low and lonesome
Blow, wind, blow, where no heart knows,
I’m your lonesome hearted listener
Listening to that lonesome wind that blows.

I dreamt last night we lay together
Arm in arm we took a stroll
I woke up and the sky was cloudy
Listening to that wind that blows.

Has it come your time to leave me?
Has it come your time to go?
Always, dear, I’ll be here waiting,
Listening to that wind that blows.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1939) | Music: Jeff Tweedy 
Jay Bennett: keyboards
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: guitar, vocal

 

Go Down to the Water

Go down to the water where oil floats by
Drop your hair down and cry
And write with your finger in the sand
Mail it out with the tide.
Mail it out with the high and the low
Watch the marks in the sand
Listen to the fog on the homeless waves
And feel the salt sea in your hands.

Smell that sea wind, taste on your lips
That foam that rolls over my lost ships
And write your letter once more in the sand
Where the breaker dips and our undertow slips.
Kneel down and feel the water’s edge
Write our names side by side
And look and listen to all those ships
That toss in the fog and in the tides.

Let down your hair when you kneel down there
Let me be the wind that pulls your hair
And you be the man you made out of sand
And let your hands keep making him there.
When nobody is looking kiss your hand
And touch to the nose of your man in the sand
Then lay down with your head on his chest
Be nice, be nice to your man on the sand.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1945) | Music: Billy Bragg 
Billy Bragg: tenor banjo, vocal
Eliza Carthy: violin

 

 

Chain of Broken Hearts

This world looks like a chain
Of heavy broken hearts . . .
It chains my brothers and sisters all apart
Link after link
It clatters thru my land
This long heavy chain of broken hearts.

Selfish pride is one link in this chain
And you better drive it out of your heart –
Brother – sister when you do it’s then that you’ll get loose
From this long heavy chain of broken hearts.

It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
You gotta find your union before you can get free
From this long heavy chain of broken hearts.

Fear is a link in this chain
Of sorrow and trouble and pain . . .
Drive out your fear and you will break apart
This long heavy chain of broken hearts.

Jealousy is a link of the worst
A worry, a blister and a curse . . .
Join our union band and break with your hands
This long heavy chain of broken hearts.

It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
You gotta find your union before you can get free
From this long heavy chain of broken hearts.

It’s when you are free from this chain
Love will come and filled you up again
Show your friends and neighbors how to break away
From this long heavy chain of broken hearts.

It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
It’s this long heavy chain of broken hearts
You gotta find your union before you can get free
From this long heavy chain of broken hearts.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1939) | Music: Jeff Tweedy 
Jay Bennett: mandolin, banjo, harmonica
Ken Coomer: percussion
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocal

 

Jailcell Blues

Mailman walkin by my cell
Mailman walkin by my cell
It’s when you don’t bring me no news
That’s the time when I sing my jailcell blues
That’s the time when I sing my jailcell blues.

When you walk y’r mailpouch
When you walk y’r mailpouch
By me with not one word fr’m you
That’s the time that I’ll weep my jailcell blues
That’s the time that I’ll weep my jailcell blues.

Little leather bag goes by me
Little leather bag goes by me
Not one little peep from you
Only time I cry my jailcell blues
Only time I cry my jailcell blues.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1953) | Music: Billy Bragg
Jay Bennett: acoustic guitar
Billy Bragg: acoustic guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar

 

Don't You Marry

Baby, don’t you marry no farming man
Put a rake and a shovel right in your hand
Don’t you marry no railroad man
When you want him he won’t be on hand.

So don’t go marrying no business man
Got too much monkey business on his hands
Don’t go marry no jellybean man
Got too many women on his hands.

Just take me back
Baby won’t you take me back
I won’t do one little thing
That you don’t like.

O’ don’t you marry no banker man
He’ll take all your money from your hand
No, don’t you marry no finance man
He’ll slap a big mortgage right in your hand.

Just take me back
Baby won’t you take me back
I won’t do one little thing
That you don’t like.

Don’t you marry no travelin’ man
Always bummin’ off round in foreign lands
Don’t you marry no singer man
He’s the brokest feller in the band.

Just take me back
Baby won’t you take me back
I won’t do one little thing
That you don’t like.

Don’t marry no soldier nor sailor man
Always sailing off and drinking in a distant land
Don’t marry yourself no mariner man
Put the invasion barge right in your hands

Words: Woody Guthrie | Music: Billy Bragg 
Billy Bragg: resonator guitar, vocal

 

Give Me a Nail

Give me a nail and I’ll nail it;
Give me a ship and I’ll sail it;
Give me a bugle and I’ll toot it;
Give me a gun and I’ll shoot it!

Give me the work and I’ll do it;
Give me the stew and I’ll stew it;
Give me the bell and I’ll ring it;
Give me the song and I’ll sing it!

Give me the words and I’ll talk ’em;
Give me the miles an’ I’ll walk ’em;
Give me the crop and I’ll grow it;
Give a row and I’ll hoe it!

Give me a life and I’ll live it;
Give me a life and I’ll give it;
Give me a war and I’m in it;
Give me a world and I’ll win it!

Words: Woody Guthrie (1943) | Music: Billy Bragg
Jay Bennett: piano, keyboards
Billy Bragg: electric guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: drums, tambourine, whistle
Corey Harris: lap steel guitar
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, 12-string electric guitar

 

The Jolly Banker

My name is Tom Cranker and I'm a jolly banker, 
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I safeguard the farmers and widows and orphans, 
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

When dust storms are sailing, and crops they are failing,
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I check up your shortage and bring down your mortgage,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

When money you're needing, and mouths you are feeding,
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I'll plaster your home with a furniture loan,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

If you show me you need it, I'll let you have credit,
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
Just bring me back two for the one I lend you,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

When your car you're losin', and sadly your cruisin',
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I'll come and foreclose, get your car and your clothes,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

When the bugs get your cotton, the times they are rotten,
I'm jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I'll come down and help you, I'll rake you and scalp you,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

When the landlords abuse you, or sadly misuse you,
I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I'll send down the police chief to keep you from mischief,
Singin' I'm a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.

Words and Music: Woody Guthrie 
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, vocals
John Stirratt: bass guitar
Glenn Kotche: drums, percussion (Jim Scott's cash and garden tools)
Mikael Jorgensen: Hammond B3, Leslie cab
Nels Cline: lap steel
Patrick Sansone: harpsichord
Leslie Feist: a garden tool

 

Union Prayer

I hear that prayer and praying
Will change this world around
I fold my hands I bow my head
I kneel down on the ground.

I prayed and prayed by nite & day
And then I prayed some more
I prayed till my tongue was dry as dust
I prayed till my knees had sores.

Will prayer change shacks to decent homes?
Will prayer change sickness into health?
Will prayer change hate to works of love?
Will prayer get me my right to vote?

Will prayer give jobs at honest pay?
Will prayer bring stomach full of food?
Will prayer make rich treat poor folks right?
Will prayer take out the Ku Klux Klan?

Will prayer cut down the hoodlum bands?
Will prayer stop the lynchbug hands?
If all of these things my prayers can do,
I’ll pray till I am black and blue.

If prayer will bring us union love,
I’ll pray and pray and pray some more.
I’ll pray all day from door to door
And fall at nite to pray some more
My prayer with a union label.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1949) | Music: Billy Bragg 
Billy Bragg: tenor banjo, vocal
Eliza Carthy: violin
Ben Ivitsky: viola

 

 

Be Kind to the Boy on the Road

Who is that boy on the white winding highway?
Why does he roam alone?
Is he looking for life on that white winding highway?
For his parents dealt him trouble at home.

You might think he’s wrong standing there on that highway
O’ what a foolish young lad!
But you yourself might be standing on that highway
If you’d had his troubles on your hands.

Don’t point your finger at that boy on the highway
As you travel down this road!
Either give him your help or pass him with kindness
Cause he’s got all the trouble that he wants!

Your policeman discourages that boy on the highway
It's hard everywhere that he goes!
But the best way to help that boy on the highway
Is to fix all your troubles there at home!

I've heard it said ‘bout rolling stone boys
They gather no moss in their life?
I'll tell you the bee that gets the honey
Ain't the bee that hangs around the hive!

Oh be kind to that boy on that white winding highway
As you travel on there alone
Remember the men that wrote your Bible
Are the men who gave up their homes!

Words: Woody Guthrie | Music: Billy Bragg
Jay Bennett: organ
Billy Bragg: electric guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: drums
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: electric guitar

 

 

 

Ain'ta Gonna Grieve

I long to fly away to Heaven
Pass beyond that shining door
See my master and my savior
High away to Heaven soar

I have made myself my promise
Never again to grieve my lord
I will live his gospel story
Sweetest story ever told

Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord any more, not any more

Guess I’ve lived my life in blindness
I have lived a life of wrong
Now my heart runs full with gladness
Singing out my gospel song

Many a faith’s too easy shaken
Many a heart too full of fear
Many an eye is too mistaken
Grievous to my savior dear

Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord any more, not any more

Make today this golden promise
Make this vow forever more
Live the story and the glory
Dwell in peace forever more

Make today this one agreement
Change my thoughts from greed to love
Enter soft into my chamber
Pray for light to show me through

Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord no more
Ain’ta gonna grieve my lord any more, not any more

Words: Woody Guthrie | Music: Jeff Tweedy / Jay Bennett 
Jay Bennett: piano, Hammond B3, Farisa bass pedals
Billy Bragg: mandolin
Ken Coomer: drums
Corey Harris: guitar
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar, lead electric guitar, vocal

 

Tea Bag Blues

Well, it’s awful cold outside
I’m cold at home tonight
Walkin up an’ down by my poor self
God you know this just ain’t right
Gonna boil myself a tea bag
Gonna boil myself a tea bag
And if you moze over my way
I will boil you off a tea bag, too.

Well I’ve come from Oklahoma
Where the dust and gravel blow
I’ve got gals with booseleg rotgut
But man I never did learn to know
Just how to boil me off a tea bag
How to simmer up a tea bag
And if you’ll ease over my way
I will boil you off a tea bag, too.

I rode the trains and the busses
I rode the rods I rode the blinds
Hit every kind of bag and satchel
I used every bait I could find
Never did think about no tea bag
Never did see no tea bag
But if you’ll ooze over closer
Yes, I’ll boil you off a tea bag, too.

I’ve used beer, and wine, and coffee,
Buttermilk, sodie, and rum,
And I’ve rolled them every color
Seen them go before they come
Learnin’ how to use a tea bag
How to dip a tea bag
Babe, if you’ll sneak over my way
I’m gonna strain your little tea bag, too.

Learnin’ how to dip my tea bag
How to soak up my tea bag
And I’m up north in New York City
Singin’ my lonesome tea bag blues.

Words: Woody Guthrie | Music: Corey Harris 
Billy Bragg: backing vocal
Corey Harris: acoustic guitar, vocal

 

I'm Out to Get

I’m out to get your greenback dollar
I’m out to get your silver change
I’m out to get your long black limo
You kept me down on my knees too long.

Now my daddy before me worked like I work
He was worked to death forty years or so
My mammy she died from grieving over him
How old she was I never did know.

I’m out to get your greenback dollar
I’m out to get your silver change
I’m out to get your long black limo
You kept me down on my knees too long.

Now the building you own you won at gambling
On dice and horses and ticker-tape machines
But that’s no sign that you are smarter than I am
I’m going to show you just what I mean.

I’m out to get your easy money
I’m out to get my share of your gold
I’m out to get my whiskey and women
I’m going to get back my life you stole.

We went to the judge and I talked with the tenants
We told him we had no hot water in the sink
He spent a half an hour upon his bench there
To tell us what a fine reputation our landlord’s got.

But I’m out to get your long green tender
I’m out to get your round town car
I’m out to fight and win a good job and wages
And a six room twin bed flat with a built in bar.

We told that judge how you played the horses
How you won this apartment building here
How you took our money and headed to Florida
To lay in the sun with women while we freeze here.

So, I’m out to get your excess bacon
I’m out to get my cut from you
I’m going to walk and talk and tell all my neighbors
How they ought to talk right up for their cut too.

It won’t be with no gun nor gambling wheel sir
That I will use to relieve you of your till
It will be in a nice friendly way with all my neighbors
Smelling and barking brother up and down your hill.

And you can’t hide along no oceans
And you can’t hide in no desert for long
We’re out to get back every penny that you won gambling
Because we can’t live, landlord, on a race horse song.

Words: Woody Guthrie (1946) | Music: Billy Bragg 
Jay Bennett: banjo, high-strung Epiphone guitar, mandolin
Billy Bragg: electric guitar, vocal
Ken Coomer: small drum drums
Corey Harris: electric guitar
John Stirratt: bass
Jeff Tweedy: acoustic guitar

 

2012

Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions (Billy Bragg & Wilco)

iTunes Buy Local

Credits + Notes

Musicians Mermaid Avenue Jay Bennett, piano (1, 2, 9-13), clavinet (1, 9), Farfisa organ (1), drums (1), backing vocal (2, 7, 10, 13), Hammond B3 (3, 7, 10), bouzouki (3), organ (5, 11), Farfisa bass pedals (5), electric bass (6), slide guitar (6), acoustic guitar (6), harmony vocal (6), dulcimer (7), banjo (9), handclaps (10), melodica (12, 15), percussion (12), electric guitar (13), grand piano (14, 15) Billy Bragg, acoustic guitar (1-4, 8, 10, 15), lead vocal (1, 3, 6, 10, 15), electric guitar (5, 13), bouzouki (7), backing vocal (7, 10), vocal (8, 12), National guitar (9, 12), handclaps (10), banjo (12) Ken Coomer, drums (1-3, 5-7, 9-11, 13, 15), percussion (1-3, 6, 9), backing vocal (10), handclaps (10) John Stirratt, acoustic bass (1, 9), electric bass (2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15), backing vocal (2, 7), piano [bass] (5), Hammond B3 (6), acoustic guitar (6), bass pedals (9), backing vocal (10), handclaps (10) Jeff Tweedy, electric guitar (1, 10), harmonica (1, 6, 15), acoustic guitar (2, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15), lead vocal (2, 7, 13), vocal (5, 9, 11, 14), backing vocal (10), handclaps (10), harmony vocal (15) Wilco, answering vocals (1) Jonathan “JP” Parker, answering vocals (1) Eliza Carthy, violin (2, 3) Corey Harris, lap steel guitar (2), electric guitar (5), backing vocal (10), handclaps (10) Natalie Merchant, backing vocal (3), vocal (4) Elizabeth Steen, accordion (3) Peter Yanowitz, chorus drums (3) Bob Egan, slide guitar (6), pedal steel (11, 15) Words by Woody Guthrie. Music by Billy Bragg (1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15); Jay Bennett / Jeff Tweedy (2); Wilco / Billy Bragg / Corey Harris (5); Billy Bragg / Jeff Tweedy / Jay Bennett (6); Jeff Tweedy (7, 11, 13); Jeff Tweedy / Jay Bennett (9) Mermaid Avenue Vol. II Jay Bennett, 12-string acoustic slide guitars (1), shakers (1), saw (1), claps (1), backing vocal (1, 6, 8, 9, 12), electric guitar (2, 4), baritone guitar (2, 6), 12-string acoustic guitar (2), Hammond B3 (3, 9, 13), Leslie guitar (3), Farfisa organ (4, 9), mandolin (4), pianos (6), acoustic guitars (6), organ (6, 8), tambourine (6), slide guitars (6, 11), electric sitars (6), electric guitar [solo] (7), nylon-string guitar (8), Leslie piano (9), banjo (10, 12), harmonica (11), acoustic guitar [solos] (12), drums (15), upright bass (15), Delayaphone (15), bells (15) John Stirratt, claps (1), backing vocal (1, 6, 8, 12), bass (3, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11), electric bass (4, 13), upright bass (9, 12), baritone guitar (13) Jeff Tweedy, acoustic guitar (1, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12, 15), Mellotrons (1), claps (1), vocal (1, 3, 6, 8, 9, 15), electric guitar (3, 11, 13), 12-string acoustic guitar (6), slide baritone guitar (9), mandolin (10), lead vocal (12), Wurlitzer (15) Billy Bragg, acoustic guitar (2, 4, 5, 7, 9), vocal (2, 4, 7, 11, 13), resonator guitar (3, 13, 14), electric guitar (10, 11) Ken Coomer, tape box (2), tambourine (2), drums (3, 4, 6-11, 13), percussion (12), backing vocal (12), holler (12), gas heater (13), kick drum (13) Natalie Merchant, vocal (5) Leroy Bach, piano (8) Bog Egan, resonator slide guitar (10) Corey Harris, acoustic guitar (10), vocal (10) Eliza Carthy, violin (12) Ben Ivitsky, mandolin (12) Words by Woody Guthrie. Music by Jay Bennett / Jeff Tweedy (1, 6, 9); Billy Bragg (2, 4, 5, 7, 10-14); Jeff Tweedy (3, 15); Jeff Tweedy / Jay Bennett (8) Mermaid Avenue Vol. III Billy Bragg, resonator guitar (1, 10), vocal (1, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17), guitar (2, 4), electric guitar (5, 11, 14, 17), tenor banjo (7, 13), acoustic guitar (9), keyboards (11), mandolin (15), backing vocal (16) Jay Bennett, keyboards (2, 6, 11), banjo (4, 8, 17), melodica (4), backing vocal (4), mandolin (8, 17), harmonica (8), acoustic guitar (9), piano (11, 15), organ (14), Hammond B3 (15), Farfisa bass pedals (15), high-strung Epiphone guitar (17) Ken Coomer, drums (2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 14, 15), percussion (8), tambourine (11), whistle (11), small drum drums (17) Bob Egan, pedal steel guitar (2) Corey Harris, lap steel (2, 11), acoustic guitar (3, 16), vocal (3, 16), guitar (15), electric guitar (17) John Stirratt, bass (2, 4, 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 17), bass guitar (12) Jeff Tweedy, acoustic guitar (2, 3, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15, 17), vocal (2, 6, 8, 12, 15), guitar (6) , 12-string electric guitar (11), electric guitar (14), lead electric guitar (15) Eliza Carthy, violin (4, 7, 13) Ben Ivitsky, viola (5, 13) Glenn Kotche, drums (12), percussion [Jim Scott's cash and garden tools] (12) Mikael Jorgensen, Hammond B3 (12), Leslie cab (12) Nels Cline, lap steel (12) Patrick Sansone, harpsichord (12) Leslie Feist, a garden tool (12) Words by Woody Guthrie (1, 3-17), Will D. Cobb (2). Music by Billy Bragg (1, 4, 5, 7, 9-11, 13, 14, 17); Jeff Tweedy (2, 6, 8); Corey Harris (3, 16); Woody Guthrie (12); Jeff Tweedy / Jay Bennett (15) PRODUCTION CREDITS Produced by Wilco and Billy Bragg with Grant Showbiz except “The Jolly Banker” Engineered by Jerry Boys Recorded at: Totally Wired Studios, Dublin / Assisted by Ivan O’Shea, Tom Skerrit, and Keith McDonnell Windmill Lane, Dublin / Assisted by Gordon Jensen and Ciaràn Cahill King Size Sound Laboratories, Chicago, IL / Engineered by Dave Trumfio and Mike Hagler Fort Apache Studio, Boston, MA / Engineered by Matt Ellard and Scott Eisenberg Mixed at Totally Wired Studios, Windmill Lane, King Size, and Private Studios (Champaign, IL) Technical Assistance in Dublin and Chicago: Jonathan “JP” Parker “The Jolly Banker” Produced by Wilco Recorded and Mixed in 2009 by Jim Scott at The Loft, Chicago, IL Additional Recording by Jason Tobias Mastered by Robert C. Ludwig at Gateway Mastering Studios, Portland, ME Design by Evan Gaffney All original Woody Guthrie artwork, lyrics, and photographs courtesy of the Woody Guthrie Archives. © Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Digital image reproduction and licensing by Tiffany Colannino / Woody Guthrie Archives Woody Guthrie lyric transcriptions, licensing, and publishing by Anna Canoni / Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. Photographs by Ken Schles, Lester Balog, Woody Guthrie, and Peggy Plummer Executive Producer: Nora Guthrie Jay Bennett 1963–2009