Lyrics for 'Vagabond Lullabies' 2004
Track Listings:
(Click on song name to view lyrics)

1. Tell Me A Story
2. Mercy
3. Movin' On
4. Take The Long Way
5. Prairie Girl Gone
6. Poor Girl
7. Poor Girl
8. South Of Nowhere
9. Part Time Poppa
10. Driving
11. Corner Talk
12. I've Got Time
13. Walk On And Sing


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1. Tell Me A Story
(russell) (lyrics by a.russell)
Tell me a story and make it rich,
Please keep in mind I'm very fond of twists
Don't hesitate to contradict
I've been conditioned not to reflect
Never to learn, never to feel
Just to consume and self to conceal
Coated with dust , obscured and shorn
Not to be sought but stumbled upon
Your lips are stone, your breath is harm
Your kisses hurt but your touch is charmed
Steeped in our shame, pickled in pain
Deadened in life we live just the same
Never to learn, never to feel
Just to consume and self to conceal


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2. Mercy
(klein) (lyrics by t.klein)
I was headed for the border, trying to get back on my feet
Though the nights were getting colder, I'm remembering the heat
My desire burning like flame, like the desert wants the rain
Calling like a freight train, coming back to you again
ch
And I say mercy , mercy me, I can't get no peace
I say mercy, mercy me, I can't get no peace
I was feeling so much older, this wicked world seemed cruel and hard
'Til I laid my weary shoulders on a bed of california stars
Was it something in the moonlight ? souls were stirring up the air
Waves were washing on the shoreline, there was magic everywhere
ch


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3. Movin' On
(russell) (lyrics by a.russell)
We just can't seem to get along, and you know we've both been wrong
The time for sorry's come and gone, I think we've reached that old movin' on
The wind blows low through the alley, bears the reek of the chicken factory
And its soft groan is saying surely, I think we've reached that old movin' on
You're so sad when I'm away, when I come home you make me pay
Road calls my name and that won't change, I think we've reached that old movin' on
Slate sky sinks down on this city, it doesn't feel like home to me
My spirit slips its boundary, I think we've reached that old movin' on
You're so lovely and so strong, but you feel weak when I'm around
You just might thank me once I'm gone, I think we've reached that old movin' on
Sea slides slowly up the strand waters dark with the dregs of man
Its cold, cold voice seems to chant, I think we've reached that old movin on
We just can't seem to get along and you know we've both been wrong
The time for sorry's come and gone, I think we've reached that old movin' on


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4. Take The Long Way
(klein/russell) (lyrics by t.klein, a.russell--spoken word by cr avery)
Let's take the long way cause I like the view go by the shoreline look at the moon
Take the long way watch the sunrise listen to the radio all through the night
The rain can't dampen us drive on through til the sun shines on us dries up the dew
Take the long way cause I like the view go by the shoreline look at the moon
Savour the silence and stroke my back
Sing to me softly of secrets and the stories lost between the cracks
This moment is stardust it has already passed
But you are so bright, so bright in my mind and our moonlit mass
repeat vs 1
Lookin for love in all the wrong places I guess I got one of those faces,
Down and out of the window pane leaving the carnegie down on
Hastings and Main, I step out into another bc blizzard, into a yellow cab lizard,
The driver's an old wise somalian wizard, I'm just a
Young mc potty-mouth I tell him to take the back roads headed south,
From the meadow to the ghetto come equiped to the red-light
District after performance I did for nickels and cents,
He says cr you're crazy, I said it doesn't faze me,
My love's not lazy , I'm here to amaze thee,
Heck you amazed at this? bitch, I got a brew like miles davis,
I walked away with that floatin around his head two girls
smiling at what I just said, at m low's after shows
You want a hit of this joint he says okay alright brother just leave it in the ashtray,
Commercial success, sexdrive I lick the honey in the hive,
And I can tribal feel this love vibe as I look into another country's tribe,
I brush my teeth like kool keith I paint in water colours like georgia o'keefe
My graffiti flex kill and that's keepin it brief, those who got will
Get even more if you don't waste you gifts you'll get another four,
Be a spirit not a ghost on the west coast, listen to patti smith and as the clouds shift,
Sun down, big sur, the view is killer by the old homestead of henry miller,
Don't worry bout your final destination you'll get there soon,
Stare at the stars, they're the children of the sun and the moon
repeat vs1


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5. Prairie Girl Gone
(russell) (lyrics by a.russell)
For my grandmother she was a child of the prairies a daughter of the depression,
Her parents fed the hobos right in the kitchen
Her daddy was a hard man with with few words to spare,
But he was gentle with the clydesdales and always tried to be fair
He'd been a fourteen year old orphan from scotland with his little brother in tow
They came to find themselves a better life in the land of wind and snow
A long walk from nowhere they built a farm out of hope,
Great grand uncle never saw it prosper he died young at the somme
ch:
Long ago and far away, long ago just yesterday
Her mother was a fey one, she knew the ways of beasts and trees
When she was joyous the whole world beamed,
When she was sad it grieved
Great grandpa first saw her when she was just a young girl
He said "I will wait for you to grow up if you'll be my wife in the new world"
She'd been the pride of her brothers, caught on canvas by a famous painter
She never left her small town in Scotland til she crossed the ocean to live amoung stangers
ch:
Long ago and far away , long ago I'm going yesterday
My grandma was a smart girl, she rode her pony star to school
Studied her way off of that farm went to teachers college down in Saskatoon
She and grandpa married young had four kids one after the other,
But he was an artist trapped inside a teacher, she was a teacher trapped inside of a mother
The family moved to Montreal and they slowly fell appart
Grandma had another baby got her phd,
Grandpa met another woman who understood his art
ch
Long ago and far away, long ago just yesterday
Now grandma lives in an old folks home it's such a shame 'Cause she's still so young,
Sometimes she's scared when friends and family come,
Doesn't know who we are or why we won't leave her alone
The life she knew's a shadow grown faint and long, sometimes it wavers sometimes it's strong,
But I sing the songs she taught to me I see her the way that she used to be,
I can still remember all her stories, I'm her living breathing memory, I'm her living breathing memory
ch:
Long ago and far away, long ago I'm going yesterday,
Long ago and far away, long ago just yesterday,
It's all so long ago, i'll see you yesterday


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6. Poor Girl
(klein) (lyrics by t.klein)
I left home when I was fifteen and went to live in a punk rock house
Don't have to tell you times were tough we were smoking grass and living on luck
Nothing in the fridge but a bottle of gin music was my only friend way back then
I felt the weather soaking in the rain felt cold upon my skin
And there was nothing to believe in , there was nothing really nothing
ch
Where does a poor girl go?
I walked all night my feet were sore
And I was right outside your door
Won't you let me in, won't you let me in?
I watched my friends slip away into a drug drenched daze
There was no love there was ony tears, cigarette buts and empty beers
I'll leave this town i've had enough there's nothing left here but the dust
Of these sentimental shoes, these faded unstrung blues, these sentimental shoes
Of these faded unstrung blues
ch X 2


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7. Poor Girl
(sarah rude) (lyrics by sarah rhude)
I'm a poor girl I'm along way from home feel like I ain't got no friends
I'm a poor girl I'm a long way from home feel like I ain't got no friends
What in this world feels as nice as kissing your baby on a cold dark night?
Whispering , whispering right , whispering neath the street light
Take me winding road, curve my troubles away, take me winding road curve these thoughts away
Sll of the lovers they never tried, they just waited for my eyes to dry
Telling me, telling me lies, telling me those sweet, sweet lies
Take me winding road curve my troubles away, take me winding road curve these thoughts away
Let me stay just for one night, I'm poor girl I'm a long way from home
Let me stay just for this night I'm poor girl I'm along way from home
I'm a poor girl I'm along way from home feel like I ain't got no friends
I'm a poor girl I'm a long way from home feel like I ain't got no friends


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8. South Of Nowhere
(klein) (lyrics by t.klein)
When the radio came on, we were somewhere south of kansas staring at the dawn
When we heard that old sweet song we both knew the words so we just sang along
And we were doing fine underneath the open sky, we were doing fine
I was yours and you were mine
When the radio came on, we were somewhere south of nowhere I had nothing you had nothing
The world could have come and gone, but our kisses lingered on dusk to dawn, it was really something
And there's nothing really wrong with doing really nothing all day long
And we were doing fine underneath the open sky, we were doing fine
I was yours and you were mine


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9. Part-Time Poppa
(russel/klein) (lyrics by a.russell)
ch
Part -time poppa don't mean nobody no good, part time poppa don't mean noboby no good
Wouldn't treat you right even if he could
He's supposed to be your daddy but he treats you like a wife
Sweet child watch out that man will scar you for life
ch
He says you're daddy's little girl and he loves you more than life
But all that he is doing is abusing your rights
ch
He'll cheat you of your childhood, he'll crush your young pride
Girl get up and fight it can't just lay down and die
ch
I tell all you part-time poppas you better change, you better change your ways
Tell all you part-time poppas you better change your ways
'Cause your little girl she gonna grow up she won't stay silent, she won't stay silent always
All you part-time poppas you better change your ways
Your little girl gonna grow up she gonna end the charade
Tell all you part-time poppas well you can start counting your days


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10. Driving
(davies) (spoken word by cr avery)
Standin' in the rain....lately i've been thinkin of wearin myself thin
So let me roll up my sleeves and let us begin I haven't been this
Happy since my daddy took this young mc to the movie dead poet's society at the gloucester cinema
Now I'm staring at the moon and I'm thinkin about my pa those years spent in ottawa
He would drive while I would write and draw, in the shotgun seat let me recite
What I saw before he got married had the responsibilty to carry
Each year he would buy a new car, I remember him driving an old beat-up jallopy, and not blowing his check at the bar
He splurged and bought the family a vcr, his whole body would shake holding back the tears the sad scene in the movie and the reality that it mirrors
That's the trait of him that I love the most I don't see him much now that I'm on the west coast ,
Graveley to Commercial down to Hastings and Main, BC famous for its downpours of rain,
Downpours of rain...downpours of rain, downpours of rain


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11. Corner Talk
(russell/klein) (lyrics by a.russell)
She's been a fixture as long as i've lived here on the corner most every night for the last six years
When she's not there I worry about her and think of all of the women who've disappeared
We've made friendly acquaintance and sometimes we talk she likes the way that I smile and sing as I walk
I like her fabulous outfits, the proud way she moves, she says
"I used to be a dancer some grace you don't lose
I've made some choices, some were made for me for the way I survive I make no apology
It's a hard job and thankless but someone's gotta do it, old lonely's not leaving and neither's my habit
Everybody and somebody don't always meet up, I'm the salvation for those left without
For those left without, those living small lies what I provide can't be measured in nickels and dimes."
I ask, " what about the bad dates don't you ever get scared?" "
Well I've had my share honey but it's fear I can bear
I don't let it rule me it's just one of the risks when the lawmakers won't admit that they've ever been tricks
And hypocrisy flows thicker than oil out of iraq all their so-called morality just makes me laugh
I'm stronger than eggshells, I'm tougher than luck, i've never been despised so much or hit so hard, I couldn't get back up
I couldn't get back up, I couldn't get back up
She's been a fixture as long as i've lived here on the corner most every night for the last six years
When she's not there I worry about her, think of all of the women who've disappeared
I think of all of the women who disappeared, I think of all of the women who've disappeared....


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12. I've Got Time
(klein) (lyrics by t.klein)
Woke up this morning, yeah I woke up much too soon see how the light shines soft into my room
Now I'm pulling back the covers and I'm getting out of bed washing the feeling of the drinks inside my head
ch
Words are just words nothing is essential, everything is sacred everything is elemental
I've got time just enough to live, i've got time just enough to give Then when I heard the news that you were going away I didn't say nothing I didn't have that much to say
'Cause everything changes in so many ways, everything rearranges some things are all the same
ch
And now I'm steppin outside and I'm walking along the truth is just the truth , a song is just a song
And now I'm looking up at the sky hearing seagulls cry thinking yeah it's good to be alive
ch


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13 Walk On And Sing
(russell/klein/davies) (lyrics by a.russell)
I saw an old man laying in the road last night while people angry passed him by
And I asked sir can I help you? no my girl you surely can't I'm just waiting here to die
I've got no family no one to love be loved, I've got no home no sanctuary
I'm a busted wheel without a broke-down cart, unhappy birthday this one marks eighty-three
But I have found the light at the end of a bottle, slipped my soul into that sheath
So do not weep don't cry unless you wanna swell the seas, there are millions more so much worse off than me
Keep on walking, keep on walking, keep on walking
I said I'm drowning in the tides of these crazed times reaching blind for a reprieve
And I'm singing sweet songs just as hard as I can they do stop time grant me a space of peace
I'd like to move on out to some island in the gulf so small no map would ever show
And i'll clothe my sore spirit in a cloud of beauty let all the troubles of this cold world go
And I will lay my head down on my lover's chest, hold him close as close as breath
And we'll take our comfort in the moment and soft kisses, laugh and love and make no false promises
Keep on singing, keep on singing , keep on singing
Keep on walking, keep on walking, keep on walking
Come and sing the songs of freedom, come and sing the songs of change,
Sing of our long suffering, how we shall rise again
come and sing the songs of freedom, come and sing the songs of change,
Sing of hope lost long and lonesome, and of hope come home again,
sing of hope lost long and lonesome and of hope come back home again  


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