1. |
Ahead by a Century
03:12
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First thing, we climb the tree
And maybe then we'd talk
Or sit silently
And listen to our thoughts
Illusions of someday
Cast in a golden light.
No dress rehearsal
This is our life.
And that's when the hornet stung me
And I had a feverish dream
With revenge and doubt.
Tonight we smoke them out.
You are ahead by a century
(This is our life)
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
Stare in the morning shroud
And then the day began
I tilted your cloud
You tilted my hand
Rain falls in real time
Rain fell through the night
No dress rehearsal
This is our life
And that's when the hornet stung me
And I had a serious dream
With revenge and doubt
Tonight we smoke them out.
You are ahead by a century
(This is our life)
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
You are ahead by a century
And disappointing you is getting me down
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2. |
Whisky, Darlin' Whisky
04:33
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CHORUS:
Ya, whisky, darlin’ whisky, I drink it every day (HEY!)
Whisky, darlin’ whisky, it keeps me ills at bay (HOORAY!)
Whisky, darlin’ whisky, I think it’s my best friend (HEH!)
Me and my dear whisky’ll be together ‘til the end
I woke up one groggy mornin’, my girl had gone away
And on the kitchen table was a note and it did say,
“I’m through with fightin’ single malts and rare blends for your heart.”
And from that very moment on I had a grand new start
CHORUS
There’s sherry casked and oaky, smoky, peaty too
And if you’re up for drinkin’ whisky, I’ll have a drink with you
It never, ever judges you or your sorry lot
You better hurry to the bar cuz I’m drinkin’ all they got
CHORUS
It’ll join you when you’re fishin’ or headin’ to the game
And if you’ve had too many whiskies it loves you all the same
It doesn’t care if all you do is hang out with your mates
Now, if you’ll excuse me, with the whisky I’ve a date
CHORUS
There’s sherry casked and oaky, smoky, peaty too
And if you’re up for drinkin’ whisky, I’ll have a drink with you
It never, ever judges you or your sorry lot
You better hurry to the bar cuz I’m drinkin’ all they got
CHORUS
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3. |
The Commute Set
04:55
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4. |
A Long Time Gone
05:48
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In a farmyard full of weeds in a mansion on the prairie
In the ruin of a kitchen lined with crumbling walls,
Groaning in the wind, the house told me a story
Of the portraits in the basement that once lined the halls.
Of the hope that led a family wandering up the trails,
Of the hope they wrought upon the plains in plaster, wood, and nails,
Of the hope that died in dust-bowl dry and sent them down the rails.
And I said, “Why did you tell me?” It said…
Chorus:
It’s a long time gone, a long time gone away.
It’s a long time gone and that hour has passed.
So turn your head away. Leave the pain of yesterday.
Find the joy in nowadays. Live at last.
On a midnight drive in winter, by the moonlight so primordial,
I saw a bus flipped in the snow and stopped to aid.
But lo, the bus had vanished, replaced by a memorial,
And a dozen children’s voices whispered from the shade
Of the crash that took their lives that day thirty years ago,
Of the town that lost its hope that day, buried in the snow,
Of the parents who still mourn that day, unwilling to let go.
And I said, “Why did you tell me?” They said…
Chorus
One night as I lay dreaming I met up with a friend of mine.
I wept to see his face and asked him how he’d been.
I told him what he’d missed. We talked about his slow decline,
The troubled days before he joined the choir unseen.
And I asked him what I could have done to stay his last goodbye,
And I asked him to forgive me when he chose not to reply,
And I asked him why I’d love at all if I must watch it die,
And he said, “Why don’t you tell me?”
Chorus x2
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5. |
The Missing Head Set
03:39
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6. |
Way Down Here
04:27
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The new boss didn’t like my attitude.
I could have been nicer but she was an old prude.
She wrote me up and fired me to win our little feud,
And I sucked down pogey for the last half-year.
I feel like nothing from doing nothing.
I’m handing out random resumes to start a new career ‘cause
Chorus:
I can’t do nothing while I’m way down here.
I can’t do nothing while I’m way down here.
I’ll climb above the pain and the shame and the fear
‘Cause I can’t do nothing while I’m way down here.
I gained thirty pounds since I lost my job.
Eating is too easy as an unemployed slob.
I grew out all my hair and I grew into a blob.
My apartment grew a stinky atmosphere.
I feel like nothing from doing nothing.
Today I’m hitting the track and then I’m trimming my hair and beard ‘cause
Chorus
I started doing anything to numb the pain.
Booze and weed and video games became my bane.
I’m stupid and forgetful and I’m verging on insane
In a cloud of fantasy and dope and beer.
I feel like nothing from doing nothing.
I’m pouring out all the alcohol to get my spirit clear ‘cause
Chorus
In the midst of the pain I lost my date.
She packed it up and left me to my blame and hate.
No-one wants a parasite that’s drunk and overweight.
It was one last kicker to my beat-up rear.
I feel like nothing from doing nothing.
But no-one’s coming to save me so I’m clearing my head and shedding the pounds and getting a job and winning a girl and finding my new frontier! ‘Cause…
Chorus x2
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7. |
Crooked Jack
05:24
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To all Irishmen both young and stern with adventure in your souls,
There's better ways to spend your days than working down the hole.
Chorus:
I was tall and true all of six-foot-two but they broke me across my back.
By a name I'm known and it's not my own, they call me Crooked Jack.
And the ganger's blue-eyed boy was I, Big Jack could do no wrong,
And the reason simply was because I could work hard hours and long.
Chorus
And I curse the day that I went away to work at the hydro dam,
The hopes and fears and sweat and tears and all in shuttering jams.
Chorus
And I've seen many men before their days with their faces long and grey.
I never thought so soon would mine hang down the same old way.
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8. |
My Town
05:30
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As you’re driving the plains – don’t blink or you’ll miss it –
There’s a cluster of houses and aspen.
If you don’t know its name I won’t hold it against you.
Believe me friend, no-one is askin’.
If you turn at the sign, you’ll see the hotel/bar,
A store and a rusty old playground.
O, me and this place, two tired old ruins.
I live here. I love it. It’s my town.
Chorus:
So dig me down deep, o dig me down deep,
O dig me down deep in the ground.
When I’m laid to sleep, just dig me down deep
In the grasses so sweet in my town.
O the winters are cruel and seem never-ending
But the sun in the spring blazes high.
It calls forth the grass and the lark in the morning
And chevrons of geese flying by.
In my soldiering days I smelled flow’rs at Messina
And Dutch gardens high of renown.
But there’s nothing so sweet in all of this wide world
As the cottonwoods blooming in my town.
Chorus
My cozy white house has stood for ten decades
And five generations of children.
My hearth and my chair and my neat little garden,
Are my own tiny corner of Eden.
O my rotten kids are plotting to stick me
In a home for old loonies on lockdown.
If they send me a car, I’ll greet it with buckshot.
They won’t take me alive from my town.
Chorus
A Luftwaffe bomb killed my brother Billy.
He’s buried with pals at Ancona.
And my brother Ted got sick of the winters.
He was cremated in California.
But I’ve got a plot in the graveyard in my town.
In death, we’ll have a reunion.
My wife and my parents and six-year-old daughter,
By starlight we’ll hold our communion.
Chorus
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9. |
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10. |
Bully in the Alley
03:38
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Chorus:
Help me Bob, I'm bully in the alley
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Help me Bob, I'm bully in the alley
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Sally is a girl in Shinbone Alley
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Sally is the girl that I spliced nearly
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
I found myself foot under three-o
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
I found myself with time so free-o
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
I walked up to that angel little
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Kicked down the door and walked right in-o
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
I walked up to the barroom counter
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Where I met with Greasy Arty
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
I bought her rum, I bought her gin-o
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
I bought her wine of white and red-o
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
And when I'd spent a folly total
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Off to bed we both did dream 'bout
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
We're open tope-a-low light lark-o
Weigh, heigh, bully in the alley
Upon daybreak the cock did call her
Bully down in Shinbone al'
Chorus
I left my girl to go a'sailing
Way, heigh, bully in the alley
I left my Sal to go a-whaling
Bully down in Shinbone al'
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11. |
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12. |
The Maple Tree
05:12
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Chorus:
O The Maple Tree, o The Maple Tree!
Come shelter beneath The Maple Tree!
O there’s no better life for the gentle and free
Than the shelter beneath The Maple Tree!
My mother’s mother’s parents, came from Yorkshire dales.
After World War Two, Grandad left old Wales.
My Daddy and his brother snuck in on the lam
To dodge the draft for Vietnam.
And my kids play with kids from all legacies,
Be it Milanese or Manilanese or Malinese.
Though we come from many lands we all must agree
We owe our lives to the Maple Tree.
Chorus
If you wish to sit here beside The Maple Tree
You must leave old grudges across the sea.
Vendettas are not welcome so please make your amends
And greet your neighbours as new friends.
For the Hindu, Sikh and Muslim can talk without fear
And the Papist and Protestant can share a beer.
If you love one God or you think that God’s a she
You’ll hear no complaint from The Maple Tree.
Chorus
The Mother of Exiles frowns across the sea
With her back to the land that once was free.
Her poor unhappy country is wracked with hate and fear.
For her children she cries a copper tear.
For the huddled masses are wanted no more,
And bulwarked is her golden door.
Were she made from flesh, from her island she’d flee
To raise her torch by The Maple Tree.
Chorus
The Maple Tree was planted by settling British hands
In the verdant soil of conquered lands.
I’ve listened to the critics astutely slinging mud.
They say that the Maple was born in blood.
We can’t erase our history. Our failings our known,
But from our grief something beautiful has grown.
If you’ll take my hand, we’ll say sorry
And we’ll help to nurture The Maple Tree.
Chorus
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The Residuals Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan's one-of-a-kind Prairie Celtic band, the Residuals, has been playing acoustic folk music for over ten years. Drawing on Irish, Scottish, and Maritime music, they are at the forefront of a living Prairie Celtic tradition.
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