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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Another Man's Done Gone [Woody Guthrie]
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
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
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
This Land Is Your Land [Woody Guthrie cover]