1. |
freedom song/birmingham
04:39
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I stand on ashes where once there stood a home
here lived my family, but now I stand alone
you told my papa to move us out of town
but he was a stubborn man, who always stood his ground
he taught his children that only cowards run
from hatred in the eye and a bullet in a gun
now some call me foolish for choosing to return
to face the man who lit the match and watched my family burn
(Chorus)
I saw your face through the smoke and the flames
and I prayed to God I could forget your name
I swore I'd hate you until the day I die
but now I'm back in Birmingham to look you in the eye
you were one of many men who lived your life in fear
that people who don't look like you would take what you held dear
but when you saw what you had done, you hit your knees and cried
and when you heard me screamin' you knew you'd believed a lie
you ran to the sheriff's house and told him what you did
he told you to go on home and not speak of this again
but you chose to pay for the wicked deed you'd done
and after thirty years behind these bars, you ask for me to come
(Chorus)
you tremble before me now as sorrow fills your eyes
and i can find no trace of the man I'd so despised
you asked me to forgive all the demons of your past
there's no time to waste for today will be your last
I've got thirty years of pain still alive inside of me
but before they send you to your grave I choose to set you free
yes, before they send you to your grave I choose to set you free
(Chorus)
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2. |
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my face is so drawn, my eyes are so weary.
and it's been so long since I've had any rest- a good night's rest.
my hands were so soft on the day I got married.
before the depression, before this old war.
my life was so simple, before we was poor.
but now feeding the babies and workin' the fields
has me prayin' for rain and a little cornmeal.
and believin' that somewhere beyond all this pain is a Heaven that hears
and a Jesus that saves.
blessed am I, for I shall inherit
the debts of my fathers, the sins of their youth.
i'm comin' apart and it's all I can do to keep...
feeding the babies and workin' the fields,
i keep prayin' for rain and a little cornmeal.
and believin' that somewhere beyond all this pain is a Heaven that hears
and a Jesus that saves.
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3. |
devil train
03:39
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I sold my soul to a man at the railroad station, sayin "oh, let's go, let's go"
I sold my soul to a man at the railroad station, sayin "oh, let's go, let's go"
I said "I got no money to pay my way, but I'm runnin from the devil, gotta leave today. I'll do anything to get on that train, yeah I'll do anything to go, go, go, let's go.
I'll do anything to go, go, go."
he said "it looks like this is your lucky day, I got a one-way ticket and it's in your name. now I offer you this simple trade. You get the ticket and I get your soul, your soul.
you get the ticket and I get your soul."
before I knew it I had agreed and the ticket man turned out to be
the same scary little devil I was tryin to flee
and he wouldn't give back my soul, my soul.
no he wouldn't give back my soul.
so beware them traps the ol' devil lays and if you're runnin from some trouble,
better know the way. Always check the destination 'fore you board a train,
cause there's some places you don't wanna go, go go.
there are some places you don't wanna go.
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4. |
someday i'll find you
02:30
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oh boy, don’t you make me cry----
cry----
cause I could give my heart to you
but I can throw a sucker punch too
oooo---
please be kind and please be true
you know my daddy’s got his eye on you
don’t make me cry
oh I’d go crazy
if you ever leave me
so if you love me, please promise
you’ll be by my side forever
never stray and never say goodbye
don’t make me cry------
cry-----
say that you’ll be mine for all eternity
and we will be so happy
so very happy
we will be happy
so very happy
and if you ever try to run away
just know some day I’ll find you
and we will be happy
so very happy….
just don’t make me cry
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5. |
whiskey to forget
03:51
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your papa tunes pianos, your mama teaches school
so you hit every high note and you followed every rule
but one day you got restless and you fell out of their line
you left your papa guessin’ and you made your mama cry
now you gotta have that whiskey before you take the stage
oh, whiskey to forget all the promises you made
oh, whiskey to forget all the promises you made
your baby said she loved you, forever she’d be true
your papa said, ‘I told you so’ when she walked out on you
so you drink a little whiskey before you take the stage
oh, whiskey to forget all the promises they made
oh, whiskey to forget all the promises they made
now everything is broken, all is left behind
every word you’ve spoken, all the times you’ve tried
everything is broken, all but a single glass
you fill with empty confidence and swallow what you lack
now your best friend is your guitar and that bottle by your bed
makes you play your music loud and helps you clear your head
so you drink a little whiskey before you go to sleep
if whiskey was a promise it’s the only one you’d keep
oh, if whiskey was a promise it’s the only one you’d keep
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6. |
five dozen roses
05:06
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I can picture a room full of five dozen roses
I imagine each one of them mine
they were picked my my lover who no one supposes
will ever return here alive
he was carried away by the waves of the ocean
carried away from my arms
but he carried my love in the letters I wrote him
and I carried his love in my heart
oh my lover he promised me he would return
and I promised I’d wait till I die
so I’m carrying on in my room full of roses
and I’ll carry his promise for life
now a story is told of an ill-fated sailor
who leapt to his death in the waves
to recover a letter, blown from his hands
to the water that swept him away
oh my lover he promised me he would return
and I promised I’d wait till I die
so I’m carrying on in my room full of roses
and I’ll carry his promise for life
I can picture a room full of five dozen roses
a rose for each year of my life
I’ve spent waiting and wondering whate’r I will say
to my lover the day he arrives
oh my lover he promised me he would return
and I promised I’d wait till I die
so I’m carrying on, yes I’m carrying on
and I’ll carry his promise…
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7. |
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frozen, broken down in colorado
a lonely mountain road with a town below
snow’s been fallin’ for three long days
children cryin’ “will we ever be saved?’
my true love prayed aloud to his Lord above
I begged for him to stay but a greater Love…
led him out into a blizzard blind
seeking hope for loved ones left behind
I saw him stumble, I saw him fall
would his footprints bring deliverance to us all?
they found him lyin’ there in the early dawn
stiff and blue the life he knew was gone
but his footprints led to their surprise
to a place where we were still alive
I saw him stumble I saw him fall
but his footprints brought deliverance to us all
my true love did what only true love does
my children know the man their daddy was
And I pray someday his sons will choose
to step into their father’s shoes
and they may stumble and they may fall
but his footprints bring deliverance to us all
my love I lost you deep in the fallen snow
I wish that I could tell you, wish you could know
that though you stumbled and though you fell
your footprints led us out of hell
I saw you stumble, I saw you fall
but your footprint brought deliverance
oh I saw you stumble, I saw you fall
but your footprints brought deliverance
brought deliverance
to us all
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8. |
good times, hard times
03:46
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good times, hard times. I just want some sunshine. but that aint what I find knockin at my door.
mama said ‘baby don’t you get so down when you feel those hard times comin’ around. your papa and me, we didn’t have a dime, just a whole lotta love and now we’re doin’ just fine’
good times, hard times. I just want some sunshine. but that aint what I find knockin at my door.
I said ‘mama wasn’t you so scared when the babies were hungry and the cupboards were bare, no food in the kettle and none in sight. we could hear you cryin’ from our beds that night. and didn’t God listen and didn’t He care? you always worked so hard, never got nowhere. all the years of struggle with nothin’ to show. mama I wanna believe but lately I don’t know.’
good times, hard times. I just want some sunshine. but that aint what I find knockin at my door.
mama said ‘babe I’ve had a real good life. I learned how to live, I learned how to fight. the hard times, they made me strong and brave. I see the good times, hard times as one and the same.
good times, hard
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9. |
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twilight sun through the trees
bowing low on its knees
diamond stars one by one cease to hide
burdens weigh on my breast
I will lay them now to rest
here in the light at eventide
chase the shadow from my soul
fill my sky with rays of hope
so I know I’m not alone
darkness fell on paradise
blind and broken here we lie
we need the light at eventide
chorus
when my bones, they grow cold
and the end comes creepin close
your glory light will shine the night away
when the dark closes in
oh my soul will rise again
rise with the light at eventide
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10. |
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I built this house with my own two hands
I built this house with hands of my brothers
built this house on a firm foundation
it won’t be shaken by no storm
oh the wind and rain, they try to overtake us
the wind and rain, they wanna bend and break us
but we’re saved by a firm foundation
and won’t be shaken by no storm
I built this house on a promised land
I built this house through the tears of my mother
built this house though our hearts were breakin’
it won’t be shaken by no storm
oh the floods they come, their waters risin’ high
but I won’t run, no I’ll stay safe and dry
inside this house, it’s on a firm foundation
it won’t be shaken by no storm
I built this house with my own two hands
I built this house with hands of my brothers
built this house on a firm foundation
it won’t be shaken by no storm
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