RIVER OF COAL
What do you got my little daughter?
It’s a necklace for my father
Daddy came home on a stage coach
Lying in the back next to his ghost
Bury me deep in a river of coal
Let the black wash over my bones
What do you got my little daughter?
It’s a necklace for my father
What do you got my little daughter?
It’s a necktie for my father
Daddy used to wear it on Sundays
Wore it so much it’s torn and frayed
Bury me deep in a river of coal
Let the black wash over my bones
What do you got my little daughter?
Its a necktie for my father
What do you got my little daughter?
It’s the gun that killed my father
What do you plan to do with it?
I’m going to do to them what they done to him
Bury me deep in a river of coal
Let the black wash over my bones
What do you got my little daughter
It’s the gun that killed my father
-John Hewitt-
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SMOKEY MOUNTAIN RAIN
I wish I was out of the war reading Rimbaud on the shores
Of Lake Superior, in some backstreet lover’s car
In the hallways of the emperor
I’d let liberty go down through the watery eyes
Of a dying American flag, through cigarette smoke
She’ll dance on the edges dressed in drag
All through a Mexican grin, the Alamo came and remembered him
With a shotgun in his hands, barrel smoking
As she clutched at the tuft of the night
No it ain’t right that she should go through all this pain
Smokey Mountain rain
Tearing me apart
Smokey mountain rain
Ripping out my heart
Smokey mountain rain
Heaven help me get her out of the rain
In the Eastern Twilight grill she sits next to him on the hill
With beads of sweat rolling down her face
She’s a Cadillac design in the image of the human race
And mother nature swears that’s it’s not her to blame
But the placed her in the gamblers chair
They tied her down Lord they ripped out her hair
Mother, mother what’s it like up there?
You called out to me and you drag me inside
Between the gutter in the alley and the continental divide
You laced in morphine I swallow my pride
Take me back to Nashville, Tennessee
Smokey Mountain rain
Tearing me apart
Smokey mountain rain
Ripping out my heart
Smokey mountain rain
Heaven help me get her out of the rain
And it’s pounding in my brain
From the Mississippi River to the South Dakota plains
And it’s pounding in my brain
From the Mississippi River to the Nelson Mountain range
And it’s pounding in my brain
From the Mississippi River to the ghosts of the Pontchartrain
And it’s pounding in my brain
From the Mississippi River to the South Dakota Plains
Heaven help me get her out of the rain…
-John Hewitt-
YOU’VE BEEN GOOD TO ME
I was never asked to sing
You said it made your ears bleed
I was never asked to go to the show
I was never asked to dream
Of billboard signs and champagne dreams
I was never asked to go to the show
I’m better on my own
I’m better all alone
I’m bitter on my own
Baby can’t you see?
I was never asked to sing
I was never asked to play
In your room or on your stage
I was never asked to play in your game
Turned down left and right it seemed
Until I got the nerve to leave
And now I’m getting ready for the show
I’m better out here now
I’m better here and how
I’m better out here now
Baby can’t you see
Alberta, you’ve been good to me
It’s been so long
It’s been so long
-John Hewitt-
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ALBATROSS
I took another pint of the Mystic
From aboard your father’s yacht
Bumping elbows with velvet and crimson
And it takes all that I’ve got
Carry me away
Albatross
Carry me away
Albatross
I’ve been having these beautiful nightmares
About the end of all my days
And just when I think I see you
I’m choked beyond the haze
Carry me away
Albatross
Carry me away
Albatross
I come home to find Atticus Weepin’
He says things are not what they seem
He looks at me and he’s pleadin’
He cries it’s all a dream
Carry me away
Albatross
Carry me away
Albatross
-John Hewitt-
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ONLY THE RIVER KNOWS HER NAME
They made it look like an accident
The bills were paid and the money was spent
They made it look rusty, like a two timing automobile
But in the town where the walls caved in
And all dead men look the same
Come my dear,
Only the river knows her name
Back on a fat cats balcony
A heart attack burstin’ at the seams
He’s got an uncle in the senate
So he’ll never get thrown away
And in the town where the sidewalks weep
And the street lamps glow so grey
Come my dear,
Only the river knows her name
They said she was some kind of champion
With a loaded rifle in the poor man’s dungeon
She never met her daddy til she was twenty one
But in the town where the rabid roam
And all the sweet grass grows so tall
Come my dear,
Only the river gives it all
-John Hewitt-
Temptation
I’m on my own
Waiting for the ringing of the telephone
Baby I’ve been waiting, waiting
All my life just for you
I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting
I’ve been waiting for your love
I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting
I’ve been waiting for your love
You get me high
you get me high
You get me high
Tell me I’m fine
Baby if it ever crosses your mind
Maybe tell my brothers and my sisters
They cannot be denied anymore
I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting
I’ve been waiting for your love
I’ve been waiting, I’ve been waiting
I’ve been waiting for your love
You get me high
you get me high
You get me high
-John Hewitt-
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Visions of Emma-Rose
Where are you now sweet Emma-Rose?
I can’t see for fog I can’t feel my toes
Light of my life, light of my life
Light of my life, Light of my life
But it’s all over now
It’s all over now isn’t it babe
Isn’t it babe
Heaven fell straight from your palms
Heaven fell and you remained calm
Remember the days the limestone and dust
Gold crimson sheaves, her Arabian bust
Sweet Emma-Rose
Half drunken shots of wisdom to chase
The sorrow you find that withers away
Bird on the crest, the beads on her dress
The crown in her hair, her “dead to me” stare
Sweet Emma-rose
Where are you now sweet Emma-Rose
I feel I’m fixing to die but that’s how it goes
Light of my life, light of my life
Light of my life, Light of my life
But it’s all over now
It’s all over now isn’t it babe?
Isn’t it babe
How long must I wait for you?
With all I have saved what good will it do?
Oh I can see her corsage in red
Her white satin sheets on her big brass bed
Sweet Emma-Rose
Darkness falls down on the shores
Beauty seeps out every pore
From Hollywood hill to the banks of the sea
I wonder if she, ever thinks about me
Sweet Emma-Rose
Where are you now sweet Emma-Rose?
I can’t feel my fingers I can’t feel my toes
Light of my life, light of my life
Light of my life, Light of my life
But it’s all over now
It’s al over now
Isn’t it babe?
-John Hewitt-
​
Won't Let You Down This Time
​
The shadows are falling
On possessions I once earned
And the tables I'm turning
Like matchsticks they get burned
And I'm wondering where you'll be
And you're wondering if I've learned
But I won't let you down this time
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No I won't let you down
I won't let you down
I won't let you down this time
​
I'm not asking for forgiveness
I'm not looking for acceptance
Cause it's a sinners world that gets us
To do all the things we love the most
I got my foot down on the pedal
And my hands upon the throttle
I promise I'm coming home for good this time
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(Chorus)
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I'm thinking about the silver
Thinking about the gold
I'm thinking about the women
I could have or I could hold
But most of all I'm thinking about you
On this dark and dreary night
And I won't let you down this time
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-John Hewitt-
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