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1. |
Hang me High
02:27
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Oh hang me high
'Cause I wish to go
Where I belong
In that place below
I will not cry
When I see that rope
For he will come
And take me home
And when you see
My unmarked grave
Don’t pity me
'Cause I’m not saved
Oh hang me high
'Cause I wish to go
Where I belong
In that place below
And when you see
My unmarked grave
Don’t pity me
'Cause I’m not saved
Oh hang me high
'Cause I wish to go
Where I belong
In that place below
Then he will come
And take me home
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2. |
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From the corner of my eye
Leaves rustle, birds fly
A strange noise rides the breeze
The rattling of my shaky knees
Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake
Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake
Something's here, it's closing in
This is one fight I cannot win
My blood's cold, I tremble, I sway
My mouth's dry, all I can say is
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
Branches snap, it must be tall
I step back, I stumble, I fall
On my knees I shiver and pray
I look up and hear myself say
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
I count the seconds, the minutes, the hours
I cannot move, I'm in its power
The grass is turning crimson red
The shaking of its massive head
Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake
Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake shake
Hear its roar, hear its roar
Hear its roar, hear its roar
Hear its roar, hear its roar
Hear its roar, hear its roar
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
When it's black, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
Fight back, fight back, fight back, fight back
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3. |
Flowers on her Grave
04:43
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Rosie had a troubled mind
Engaged to Jim, he was the murderous kind
She left him at the altar and he had killed for less
He buried her in her wedding dress
Don’t you go there
When there’s flowers on her grave
Don’t you go there
On her wedding day
Her wedding day
But Jim, in a melancholic wave
Took his guitar to play at her grave
‘Twas a year to the day and remorseful Jim
was found hanging by a guitar string
Don’t you go there
When there’s flowers on her grave
Don’t you go there
On her wedding day
Her wedding day
One year some cattle grazed near her stone
The spooked wrangler passed out, fell and broke his bones
He came by arms and legs tied to four of his cows
One pulled east, one west, one north and one south
Don’t you go there
When there’s flowers on her grave
Don’t you go there
On her wedding day
Her wedding day
They once tried to dig old Rosie up
To take her far away and make this thing stop
Three men armed with shovels, they never came home
Since then there’s four names written on her stone
Don’t you go there
When there’s flowers on her grave
Don’t you go there
Don’t you go there
When there’s flowers on her grave
Don’t you go there
On her wedding day
Her wedding day
On her wedding day
Her wedding day
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4. |
Wolf in Sheep's Clothes
03:28
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From heel to throat
In his wooly coat
His big eyes prying
Three crows came flying
He dropped his cloak
The black birds spoke
‘He don’t hurt a fly
And we never lie’
Look there he goes
Wolf in sheep's clothes
‘Why this attire?’
I then enquired
They cawed loud and shrill
‘It’s the shepherd’s will’
‘He does get mocked
But guards the flock
And to perfect the deceit
He’s even learned to bleat’
Look there he goes
Wolf in sheep's clothes
I felt a chill
When they croaked thrilled
‘You smell of fear!’
Then he came near
I screamed ‘get the shepherd!’
But they just shook their feathers
Then under their breath
‘We only herald death’
Look there he goes
Wolf in sheep's clothes
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5. |
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Ahaaaaaaaahahaaaaaa ahaaaaaaahahaaaaaaa
Ahaaaaaaaahahaaaaaa ahaaaaaaahahaaaaaaa
Ahaaaahahahaaaaahahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahaaaaaaaahahaaaaaa ahaaaaaaahahaaaaaaa
Ahaaaaaaaahahaaaaaa ahaaaaaaahahaaaaaaa
Ahaaaahahahaaaaahahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahaaaahahahaaaaahahaaaaaaaaaaaa
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6. |
Black Dog
02:41
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I saw you prowling, digging for bones
Roaming, scavenging, lost and alone
The sun disappeared, made way for the fog
As I took you in, black dog
Now, you’re a stray so I let you growl
I even let you bark and howl
I leave you be, let you chew your log
Just don’t you bite, black dog
But then you snapped and, out of tune,
started howling at the moon
And after that great monologue
You licked my wounds, black dog
I feel your breathing down my neck
I can’t think straight and all goes black
I shake my head. All is clogged
You’re on my tail, black dog
I spiked your food and your stomach turned
You died and your remains I burned
But I dropped smothered by the smog
On all fours, black dog
They found me near your ash and bones
With foaming mouth I huffed and groaned
Now I’m caged and take the flog
I’m on your leash, black dog
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7. |
Devil's in Town
04:12
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Forever I’ll remember
The scorching fires, the heat
The world glowed like ember
As demons roamed the streets
My ravenous thirst for power
When I saw the beings raid
Made me, in my finest hour
Shout ‘fiend, I need your aid’
When the devil’s in town
Oh, you’d better watch out
When the devil’s in town
Beware, there ain’t no way out
A tapping at my front door
And from the burning streets
A shrieking ‘What is it you crave for?’
I said ‘the world at my feet!’
‘Well I’ve got just the contract
Which, by handing me your soul
Will turn that wish into fact
No need to read it all’
When the devil’s in town
Oh, you’d better watch out
When the devil’s in town
Beware, there ain’t no way out
The devil stood and grinned
While I signed his pact in blood
He said ‘Did you read the small print,
my poor new demigod?’
I saw the cursed footnote
When the pact further unfurled
‘Beyond all time’ and I quote
‘You’ll rule this scalded empty world’
When the devil’s in town
Oh, you’d better watch out
When the devil’s in town
Beware, there ain’t no way out
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8. |
I Saw a Snake
05:05
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Well, how was I supposed to know
that it would end this way?
The die was cast, leave love and home,
no I could not stay
My time ran short, the days were bleak,
stuck at a dead-end job
I saw a snake and I was weak
And that's how I ended up
Alone
It all started on the day
I met up with this man
In a business suit and with eyes that preyed,
and a skin that lacked all tan
He told me ‘you’ve got talent boy
and I can make you big‘
He must have picked up I was coy
Well you know I am a bit
Slow
Back home I gave you my last cheque
And said ‘I am leaving now’
I wondered why you blew your stack
Did I do you wrong somehow?
You really laid it hard on me
Growing red and pale
Still I told you to wait and see
and hold off on those tales
Of woe
Well here I was, girdled by doves,
adored in every town
But as time went by, the new wore off,
and I lost my crown
I am a passing novelty
and soon to be replaced
I still don’t know why I didn’t see
Now I’m left here old and gray
And alone
I tasted the forbidden fruit
And saw it all unravel
The devil in a business suit
is still the fucking devil
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9. |
You Reap what You Sow
04:29
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Well I once had a friend who lived not far from here
Who liked to drink and hunt for deer
He had this shed, with a wall full of heads
Where it smelled of death and beer
After a brawl and too many a sip
He went to his shed with a gun and some clips
With breath like whisky, he woke up a grizzly
It was the last of his hunting trips
It was the last of his hunting trips
Oh well, there you go
I guess you reap what you sow
What do you know
You reap what you sow
Minus a limb but out of the woods
He took to stealing and fencing the goods
He said ‘With God as my witness I run an honest business’
Ruining many a livelihood
It was on a Good Friday when he was caught
And one of his victims, a man of the cloth
Said ‘Since God is your witness here’s for something religious’
And nailed him high on the cross
Oh he nailed him high on the cross
Oh well, there you go
I guess you reap what you sow
What do you know
You reap what you sow
He got married but wasn’t cut for a family life
One dreary evening he took his trapping knife
He gathered his booze and disappeared into the woods
Left behind his poor wife
Early next morning we agreed
To search the woods, his wife and me
We found him there, and that same wretched bear
We buried them under this tree
Oh, we buried them under this tree
Oh well, there you go
I guess you reap what you sow
What do you know
You reap what you sow
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10. |
Dolly Shot
05:52
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I am my own shadow
My inner demon
Like a perpetual dolly shot
I zoom and retreat
Zoom out and come close
Too close for comfort
I see every detail
It’s tiring me out
But it is what I know
I just climb these walls
I slip and forget
I fall and see
The shark is there
Circling beneath
The dog is there
Waiting
And black
Like the crows
That always follow me
I see a shadow
On the walls that I climb
The walls of my mind
It’s me but it’s not
I am my own shadow
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Silas J. Dirge Amsterdam, Netherlands
"Silas J. Dirge offers roots-infused poetry set to sparse arrangements that deftly conveys the hidden beauty behind dark roots music" - Saving Country Music
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