The Little Red Blog

"American Tune"

“American Tune” (Paul Simon)

Many's the time I've been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I've often felt forsaken
And certainly misused

Oh, but I'm alright, I'm alright
I'm just weary to my bones
Still, you don't expect to be bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home

And I don't know a soul who's not been battered
I don't have a friend who feels at ease
I don't know a dream that's not been shattered
Or driven to its knees

But it's alright, it's alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we're traveling on
I wonder what's gone wrong
I can't help it, I wonder what has gone wrong

And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly

And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying

We come on the ship they call The Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age's most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune

Oh, and it's alright, it's alright, it's alright
You can't be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow's going to be another working day
And I'm trying to get some rest
That's all I'm trying to get some rest

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Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Paul Simon

American Tune lyrics © Sony/atv Songs Llc

Paul Simon - American Tune (Official Audio) (youtube.com)

Cover by Crooked Still: American Tune (youtube.com)

Cover by Radio Heartland: American Tune - 10/14/2017 (youtube.com)

Image by GC Meyers

Sunday Sermon: "I'm Not Afraid to Die"

"I'm Not Afraid to Die" (Gillian Welch)

Nobody knows what waits ahead
Beyond the earth and sky
Lie-d Lie-d Lie
I'm not afraid to die

And there the work of my own hand
Be broken by and by
Lie-d Lie-d Lie
I'm not afraid to die

Sometimes it finds me fast asleep
And wakes me where I lie
Lie-d Lie-d Lie
I'm not afraid to die

Forget my sins upon the wind
My hobo soul will rise
Lie-d Lie-d Lie
I'm not afraid to die

Lie-d Lie-d Lie
I'm not afraid to die

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Gillian Welch - I'm not afraid to die (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Moving Furniture Around"

{This song may best be described as poignant nihilism, delivered in the deadest of deadpan tones.}

Moving Furniture Around (by the Handsome Family)

Took a walk down the alley today
I'm getting used to the smells and the sounds
Don't look out of my windows no more
What's the point? Everything's brown

Sometimes I want to move to the other part of town
But to keep from going out of my mind
I move the furniture around
Moving furniture around

No place to park in my neighborhood
So there's hundred dollar tickets all over the ground
All the cops keep writing us up
And we keep throwing them down

Sometimes I want to move to the other side of town
There's a street over there where the landlords are fair
And a parking space can always be found
But I move my furniture around

Whenever I feel I'm on my way down
I get up and move the furniture around

Guy next door play Dylan until four
I bang on the wall but he won't turn it down
I can't tell by the noise what's going on upstairs
Moving furniture around?

Everybody moved out of my building last week
They threw the stuff they didn't want on the ground
Took a look, I couldn't believe all the wonderful things I found
More furniture to move around

Moving furniture around
Moving furniture around
Moving furniture around

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brett Sparks

Moving Furniture Around lyrics © Music Of Virtual

Moving Furniture Around (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "September When It Comes"

September When It Comes

There's a cross above the baby's bed,
A Savior in her dreams.
But she was not delivered then,
And the baby became me.
There's a light inside the darkened room,
A footstep on the stair.
A door that I forever close,
To leave those memories there.

So when the shadows link them,
Into an evening sun.
Well first there's summer, then I'll let you in.
September when it comes.

I plan to crawl outside these walls,
Close my eyes and see.
And fall into the heart and arms,

Of those who wait for me.
I cannot move a mountain now
I can no longer run.
I cannot be who I was then
In a way, I never was.

I watch the clouds go sailing
I watch the clock and sun.
Oh, I watch myself, depending on,
September when it comes.

So when the shadows link them,
And burn away the clouds.
They will fly me, like an angel,
To a place where I can rest.
When this begins, I'll let you know,
September when it comes.

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: John Leventhal / Rosanne Cash / Roseanne Cash

September When It Comes lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs

Johnny Cash and Rosanne Cash - September When It Comes (youtube.com)

Rosanne Cash - "September When It Comes" - Live From Zone C (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Mole in a Hole"

"Mole in a Hole"

Like the flowers, like the bees
Like the woodlands and the trees
I like the Byrds on their LP's
And I'm a refugee

I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky
I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky

I had a friend who had a friend in Jesus
He used to read the good book every day
But my friend got so friendly with friend Jesus
Friend Jesus took my only friend away

I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky
I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky

Well, my feet are smelly and hair's a mess
My teeth are yellow and I've got bad breath
I may look great but I feel like death
And I'm a refugee

I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky
I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky

My friend he was as wise as Mister Wise Owl
He could count from one to ten, from A to Z
My friend he was so wise he got religion
That's why I'm alive today and he is dead

I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky
I wanna be a mole in a hole, digging low and slow
I wanna be a fly flying high in the sky

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By Richard & Linda Thompson

Mole In a Hole (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Wheels"

Wheels 

We've all got wheels
To take ourselves away
We've got the telephones to say
What we can't say
We've all gone higher
And higher every day
Come on wheels take this boy away

We're not afraid to ride
We're not afraid to die
So come on wheels take me home today
Come on wheels take this boy away

Now when I feel
My time is almost up
And destiny is in my right hand
I'll turn to him
Who made my faith so strong
Come on wheels make this boy a man

We're not afraid to ride
We're not afraid to die
Come on wheels take me home today
Come on wheels take this boy away
Come on wheels take this boy away

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Christopher Hillman / Gram Parsons

Wheels lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Wixen Music Publishing

Flying Burrito Brothers (original): Wheels (youtube.com)

Dwight Yoakam - Wheels (From Return to Sin City) (youtube.com)

Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell "Wheels" (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Holiday"

{Welcome to 1967! This early song from the Bee Gees raises many questions--for instance, who was the mysterious ‘puppet’? What was the point of throwing stones or of the narrator asking for a pillow to be put on his head? The chorus ‘De de de de de de de, de de de de’ perfectly sums up the song's significance.}

Holiday (by the Bee Gees)

Ooh you're a holiday
Such a holiday
Ooh you're a holiday
Such a holiday

It's something I thinks worthwhile
If the puppet makes you smile
If not then you're throwing stones
Throwing stones, throwing stones

Ooh it's a funny game
Don't believe that it's all the same
Can't think what I've just said
Put the soft pillow on my head

Millions of eyes can see
Yet why am I so blind
When the someone else is me
It's unkind, it's unkind

De de de de de de de de, de de de
De de de de de de de de de de de

Yet millions of eyes can see
Yet why am I so blind
When the someone else is me
It's unkind, it's unkind

Ooh you're a holiday
Every day, such a holiday
Now it's my turn to say
And I say you're a holiday

It's something I think's worthwhile
If the puppet makes you smile
If not then you're throwing stones
Throwing stones, throwing stones

De de de de de de de de, de de de
De de de de de de de de, de

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Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Robin Hugh Gibb / Barry Alan Gibb

Holiday lyrics © Crompton Songs, Redbreast Publishing Ltd.

The pathos of this video speaks for itself: Bee Gees Holiday 1967) [High Quality Stereo Sound, Subtitled] (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Weightless Again"

Weightless Again (by The Handsome Family)

We stopped for coffee in the redwood forest
Giant dripping leaves, spoons of powdered cream
I wanted to kiss you but I wasn't sure how
Like those Indians, lost in the rain forest
Forced to drag burning wood wherever they went
They had all forgotten how to start a fire

This is why people OD on pills and jump from the Golden Gate Bridge
Anything to feel weightless again

Those poor lost Indians when the white man found them
Most died of TB, the rest went insane
In our motel room, you're drinking Slice and gin
Reading Moby Dick on the other bed
Remember the first time we slept together
You said it felt like when you learned to float

This is why people OD on pills and jump from the Golden Gate Bridge
Anything to feel weightless again

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Brett Sparks / Rennie S Sparks

Weightless Again lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Music Of Virtual

"Weightless Again" by The Handsome Family fromThrough the Trees (youtube.com)

Sunday Sermon: "Divine Intervention"

“Divine Intervention” (by Matthew Sweet)

I don't know where
I'm gonna live
Don't know if I'll find a place
I'd have to think about it some
Amd that I do not wish to face
I guess that I'm counting on his
Divine intervention

I cannot understand my god
I don't know why it gets to me
One day my life
Is filled with joy
And then we find we disagree
All depending on his
Divine intervention

Alright
We're all counting on his...

Does he love us?
Does he love us?
Does he love us?
Does he love us?
Hmm now he love us?
I look around
And all I see is destruction
We're all counting on his
Divine intervention

When he comes the sun shine
When he comes the sun shine
Sunshine, the sunshine
Here it comes...

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Matthew Sweet

Divine Intervention lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

From the 1991 album “Girlfriend”: Divine Intervention (youtube.com)

Acoustic version: Divine Intervention (Acoustic) (youtube.com)

Examples of divine intervention, including the plague of typographical errors

 

 

Sunday Sermon: "The Last to Know"

The Last to Know (by Alejandro Escovedo)

The last to know, party's over and we won't go
No one to laugh at our jokes anymore
There's the door, don't forget your hat.
The stores are all closed, couldn't buy a break anyway
Saint Jude he couldn't save you or me, I suppose

More miles than money, look at our lives and it's so funny
More miles than money, we fall in love and it's never funny
We're the last, very last to know.

Last to know, we play the jokers in this minstrel show
Cause no one cares in this showbiz crowd anymore.
Got another cigarette, I'm not quite through with this story yet,
Nothing left here that we should fear, I suppose.

More miles than money, look at our lives and it's so funny
More miles than money, we fall in love and it's never funny
We're the last, very last to know.

More miles than money, look at our lives and it's so funny
More miles than money, we fall in love and it's never funny
We're the last, very last to know.

From the cradle to the grave all the memories never saved
Nothing here that we should fear so I'm told.
As the night slips away and we stumble towards another day
There's nothing more that we can say, I suppose.

More miles than money, look at our lives and it's so funny
More miles than money, we fall in love and it's never funny
We're the last, very last to know.

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Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Alejandro Escovedo

Last to Know lyrics © BMG Rights Management

Alejandro Escovedo is one of America’s underappreciated musical treasures: Alejandro Escovedo - Wikipedia

Homemade version: 'last to know' by alejandro escovedo (youtube.com)

Cover by Deanna Varagona and Chris Mills: Chris Mills / Deanna Varagona - Last to Know (youtube.com) Shout out to Bloodshot Records!