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1. |
Absolutely Emily
02:46
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Absolutely Emily
I’ll come back when you call on me
The days are getting shorter
But I’ll be back before long
I promise, Emily
Do you miss me, Emily?
I spend the night with you in my dreams
The days are getting colder
But we’ll be warm before long
I promise, Emily
Please forgive me, Emily
I have to stay just one more week
To make some extra money
But I’ll spend it all on you
I promise, Emily
I did something, Emily
Can you come post the bail for me
I’ve got a little money saved
So don’t you worry, babe
I promise, Emily
And pack your bag up, Emily
I know a place that’s far away
We’ll live high on a hilltop
And we’ll never go to town
I promise, Emily
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2. |
Wasting Gas
04:12
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Cleaned out my desk at work yesterday
I haven’t told Caroline, don’t know what to say
So I get dressed up in my shirt and tie
She fixes me a lunch and kisses me goodbye
And I drive around, but I’m going nowhere
Down county two lanes that lead nowhere
Through endless fields of Bermuda grass
Just spinning my wheels and wasting gas
It’s two weeks now since they let me go
Still telling lies when I come home
When we go to bed she reaches for me
I turn my back, pretend that I’m asleep
And I drive around, but I’m going nowhere
Down county two lanes that lead nowhere
Through endless fields of Bermuda grass
Just spinning my wheels and wasting gas
A month gone by now, and I think she knows
Cuz when I get dressed and ready to go
She fixes me lunch and kisses me goodbye
Trying to hide the tears in her eyes
Sometimes I find myself down on Hilton Head
Among the mansions, where Emily lives
I think about us seventeen years old
As I see her looking pretty through her window
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3. |
Working for a Living
03:03
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8 bucks an hour is what I’m worth
Putting shingles on houses that I can’t afford
That’s 64 for an 8 hour day
A family of 4 can’t live that way
So now I’m working nights, parking cars at the club
On a good night I make fifty bucks
I take it all home and I add it all up
Somehow an 80 hour week just ain’t enough
Something ‘bout this math just don’t add up
Something ‘bout this math just don’t add up
I’m working for a living, I’m working for a living
I’m working for a living, and it’s turning me cold
I’m working for a living, I’m working for a living
I’m working for a living, and it’s turning me cold
My wife says, “Babe, we really need a vacation”
But she don’t know our situation
I’m falling, falling, falling behind
Sir, don’t make me look like a loser in my baby’s eyes
I never used to be so cold and cruel
I never used to be so cold and cruel
I’m working for a living, I’m working for a living
I’m working for a living, and it’s turning me cold
I’m working for a living, I’m working for a living
I’m working for a living, and it’s turning me cold
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4. |
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Working a job that I can’t stand
For less than I’m worth, but all that I can command
Boss looking for a volunteer to stay on late tonight
I can’t wait to leave, but I need the overtime
I take every shift I can cuz I’m in deep
Been falling behind since the Chevrolet went dead
I built her back up myself, but parts ain’t cheap
I just can’t seem to get ahead
They say if you work hard, there’s some ladder you’ll climb
But I’m not convinced there’s any ladder to find
Burying my dreams, drowning in debt
I just can’t seem to get ahead
I don’t desire any fancy things
Riches and wealth and the bitterness they breed
But it’d be nice to take my baby out to dinner now and then
Or buy her some roses just for no reason
When I get home tonight she’ll be asleep in bed
Ten years older than the day we were wed
Things didn’t turn out how I promised they would be
Oh I just can’t seem to get ahead
They say if you work hard, there’s some ladder you’ll climb
But I’m not convinced there’s any ladder to find
Burying my dreams, drowning in debt
I just can’t seem to get ahead
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5. |
The Last Coast
03:47
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Made nothing from nothing, made shit from shit
Come home to an empty apartment, and that’s as good as it gets
I was raised by strangers five miles from here
If I never see those people again I won’t shed a tear
By the light of the palmetto moon I’m busting out of this godforsaken cage
I’d rather be lost out there than lost at home, least I’ll be lonely in a different place
Mom and Dad, I hope you understand
That you can’t lose something that you never had
So I’m bound for the last coast, for the last coast, for the last coast
Best friend from school lost a leg to an IED
Come home to his wife and baby, hung himself with the dog leash
I’ve heard it said you can’t outrun your ghosts
But if they wanna take a ride with me, baby, then I’m-a drown ‘em on the last coast
And by the light of the palmetto moon I’m busting out of this godforsaken cage
I’d rather be lost out there than lost at home, least I’ll be lonely in a different place
Mom and Dad, I hope you understand
That you can’t lose something that you never had
So I’m bound for the last coast, for the last coast, for the last coast
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6. |
The Thief
03:55
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I’m a Christian, and I don’t believe it’s right for someone to steal
But I’m a man with a family to provide for, that’s the deal
If I could find a way, an honest way
I swear to you I’d take the job today
But they don’t want me or nobody like me
With a tenth grade education and a rap sheet
So I take unnecessary things
From those who can afford to lose their necklaces and rings
I ain’t no Jesse James, I just looked my options through
I got two kids and a wife who deserve a decent life
So I do what I gotta do
There’s a guy up near Bakersfield who likes what I got to sell
So I ain’t scraping by no more, cleaning toilets in some rich man’s hotel
But sometimes when I’m winding through the grapevine
Driving north across that Kern County line
I keep hoping for blue lights coming up behind
Coming to relieve all this pressure in my mind
And yet I take unnecessary things
From those who can afford to lose their necklaces and rings
I ain’t no Jesse James, I just looked my options through
I got two kids and a wife who deserve a decent life
So I do what I gotta do
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7. |
Central Valley
02:52
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Deep in the valley
I was raised to be a man
Great central valley
Where a man ain’t worth a damn
They cut my pay
To minimum wage
How is a family
Meant to survive on ten an hour
A wife and a baby
And a man with no power
So yes I’m guilty
But I ain’t sorry for what I done
I needed the money
More than the men I took it from
I didn’t mean
To hurt no one
So what’s gonna happen
Mister, to my wife and son
When I go to prison
I didn’t mean to hurt no one
Deep in the valley
Where the grapes of wrath are sown
Great central valley
Where the weeds are overgrown
And they burn
And they burn
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8. |
Too Dark to Tell
03:45
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In this dark night it’s too hard for me to say
If the rays of hope will shine again someday
And if I might be spared as the tempest starts to swell
At this point it’s just too dark to tell
Was the stars guided me to God’s shores
Was the devil set me drifting once more
Will these clouds ever lift and the map again reveal
At this point it’s just too dark to tell
If these green eyed blues would lighten up
If my nature would shake this wicked spell
If this midnight sky would brighten up
If my ears could hear a voice saying all will be well
Then all is well, all is well
I once was found, but now again I’m lost
On merciless waves I am tossed
I would tell you of His grace, and how it was I fell
But some tales are just too dark to tell
If these green eyed blues would lighten up
If my nature would shake this wicked spell
If this midnight sky would brighten up
If my ears could hear a voice saying all will be well
Then all is well, all is well
I once was found, but now again I’m lost
On merciless waves I am tossed
I would tell you of His grace, and how it was I fell
But some tales are just too dark to tell
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9. |
Untroubled Mind
03:06
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Call me Abraham if you don’t mind
That’s my only request as I reach my dying time
I’ve known wretchedness that words can’t tell
I’ve seen the darkest hell when I looked into myself
I’ve done things You can’t forgive
I turned from Your grace when You tried to give me sight
Now I pray Your grace You’ll give
May I pass through the night with an untroubled mind
May you never know what you will find
In a concrete prison cell on the execution line
All the wickedness that ever was
Is living in your heart and running in your blood
I’ve done things You can’t forgive
I turned from Your grace when You tried to give me sight
Now I pray Your grace You’ll give
May I pass through the night with an untroubled mind
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10. |
If I Were in a Novel
03:00
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If I were in a novel
I wouldn’t be the hero
I wouldn’t have the grand romance
Or conquer mighty foes
I wouldn’t be the villain
And hatch an evil plan
I wouldn’t be the rebel
I wouldn’t be the wise man
I would be the nameless clerk
A shadow passing by
Unnoticed in the milling round
Among the faceless crowd
If I were in a movie
I’d have no lines to say
I’d be out of focus
In the distance on the edge of frame
I would be the background
A shadow passing by
Unnoticed in the milling round
Among the faceless crowd
If I were a magician
And could really disappear
Not a soul would notice
And none would shed a tear
If I were to vanish
It would bring no joy
To an audience of no one
No witness to the void
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