1. |
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1. Everything is Made in China
Guitars, cars, and I Phones, videos, shoes, melodeons, Everything is Made in China.
Speakers, sneakers, banjos, pants, calculators, belts, and funky lamps Everything is made in China
They make jewel cases, bulbs, and bathroom sandals, Coleman lanterns, and smelly candles, Yes, Everything is made in China.
Adoptable babies, winter hats, fortune cookies, pots and toys for cats, Everything is made in China
So who is buying all this stuff, jock straps and coffee cups, Who’s got the dollars who’s got the yen? When Everything is made in China.
The American flag, sipping straws, plates and forks, handles for doors, Yes Everything is made in China.
Christmas lights, and metal weights, coffee mugs and China plates, Everything is made in China
Thermos jugs, shovels and trowels, queen sized sheets and bathroom towels Everything but democracy is made in China
So who is buying all this stuff, jock straps and coffee cups, Who’s got the dollars who’s got the yen? When Everything is made in China.
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2. |
I'm Getting Older
04:37
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2. I’m Getting Older
Got up this AM heard something crack
It wasn’t in the bed, it was in my achin back
Looked in the mirror, deep into my eyes,
Mirror stared back at me, said, “I never lie”
I’m getting older, older every day,
I’m getting older, and older is getting in my way.
There was a time I could party until 5
Get two hours sleep and still feel so alive
Now by 10 my lids are hanging low,
And by 11 I’m snoring, with no place to go
I’m getting older, older every day
I’m getting older, and older is getting in my way.
When I was younger, my sex life was so fine,
There were women in my bed all of the time
But times they sure are changing, and my sex life is uphill
And when I finally snatch some, I’m the one who takes the pill
I’m getting older, older every day
I’m getting older, and older is getting in my way.
In my way, getting in my way,
These aches and pains, they are ruining my day.
I used to read Playboy, and other sexy books
I used to have big hair and get lots of sultry sexy looks
But now my hair has fallen, and the women turn and flee
And all I read are large print books and Modern Maturity
I used to smoke and drink, eat pizza, meat and fries,
I used to drive a Vette, loved to take it for a ride,
I used to be a man who had nothing to worry about
But now I’ve got high cholesterol and a bad case of gout
I’m getting older, older every day
I’m getting older and older is getting in my way.
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3. |
Six Strings
04:00
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3. Six Strings
These six strings have been my voice
When I could not sing the words
Their melodies have always rung out true
They have played out songs of sadness
laughed when times were good
they have been with me when nothing else would do
Six strings, you can play them hard
Or play them softly if you try
Six strings singing me back home
With a highway lullaby
These six strings have dance with fiddle tunes
And cried out with the blues
They rocked with joy and soloed with pain
And they are my companions when I’m way down the road
My friends till I’m back home again.
My guitar is cracked and worn
A warrior of the road
It held me up when nothing else could.
My preacher, my confessor, my confidant, my wife
Salvation in a box of wood.
This guitar, you can play it hard or play it softly if you try.
This guitar, playing me back home, with a highway lullaby.
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4. |
The False 45
05:03
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4. The False 45
My name is Martin St. Cyr and my brother’s name is Paul
We share the land our forebears tilled divided by a wall
At times the crops were good and we did thrive
In our town of Derby Line, along the false 45
The way the land was granted is a tale worth a tell
Before the American Revolution, they thought they did it well
They walked the line and placed the marks, for clarity did strive
But today the line defines the times, along the false 45
False 45, they drew the boundary wrong,
but it never really mattered before those NY buildings fell
False 45, the line we never saw, life was gentle then, now it’s more like hell
There is a time we all remember living in this place
With friends and family near at hand, and life had a slower pace
Before the guards and Humvees, put life in overdrive
With the border lights and passport controls along the false 45
Now Derby Line was quite a place, the line ran through it fair
There’s Quebec facing Vermont a friendly place to share
But today it’s fair to say the line has grown in size
And we see it as a damn blockade along the false 45
False 45, they drew the boundary wrong,
but it never really mattered before those NY buildings fell
False 45, the line we never saw, life was gentle then, now it’s more like hell
Paul drives trucks for loggers just north of the line,
He built a sturdy home of logs from solid Canadian pine
The old house on the Vermont side here my roots lie
Where Terror and fear, take their toll by the False 45
I used ta just walk up the hill to chat and sing our songs
Now I drive eight damn miles as if I was doing wrong
The border patrol didn’t know my face didn’t care they made me drive
All they wanted was to check my papers to cross the false 45
False 45, they drew the boundary wrong,
but it never really mattered before those NY buildings fell
False 45, the line we never saw, life was gentle then, now it’s more like hell
Paul and his family don’t come to call, they say it’s way too hard
Crossing the border line with all the hassling guards
And I don’t visit them as much, our community has died
The FEDS have made life hard along the false 45.
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5. |
Earthquake
04:24
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5. Earthquake
There’s a man on the TV, never thought he’d see the sky again
Headed to work on the subway, when the world fell on him.
There’s a peasant in Kabul, lost his one room home
The sky filled with bombers, next moment it was gone.
Earthquake beneath us, shockwaves all around
Trying to hold on to our sanity, as the buildings tumble down.
What’s this going on in China, the Reds are on our side.
Better to join with the Round Eyes, to stem the Jihad tide.
Earthquake beneath us, shockwaves all around
Trying to hold on to our sanity as the buildings tumble down.
Where is it leading? When does it end?
Brothers become enemies, enemies become friends.
There’s spores are all around us, there’s fear in our eyes
The maniacs confound us, while the innocent die
Earthquake beneath us, shockwaves all around
Trying to hold on to our sanity, as the planet tumbles down.
Bin Laden in his lair, destruction is his plan
And Allah is forsaken, by the folly of this man
Earthquake beneath us, shockwaves all around
Fighting wars, killing innocents, as it all falls down.
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6. |
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6. I left A Rose Back In The Snow
I was drinking tequila, under a hot southern sun
Watching the waves, roll in from the bay
The birds were singing, high above on the hill
Air shimmered magenta, all around me was still.
Down here on the Pacific, winter’s a dream
Caught in the current, nothing is what it seems
You eye the senoritas, catch hell from the sun
Drink Corona by day and by night you drink rum.
Mexico is pretty, it’s a place I love to go,
But this time it seemed so lonely
I left a rose back in the snow.
The mountains were silent, as I climbed to the crest
With Texas below me in the southwest
Enchantment engulfed me, as the deer watched me play
In the high crown of peaks, on that warm winter’s day
Texas is pretty, it’s a place I love to go
But this time it seemed so lonely,
I left a rose back in the snow.
Tropical days, steamy nights
A snowbird heads south on a long winter’s flight
In the lands of the sun, winter’s wind never blows
But the flowers seem pale, when I think of my rose
The tropics are pretty, they’re a place I love to go
But this time it seemed so lonely
I left a rose back in the snow.
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7. |
Hackneyed Phrases
04:07
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7. Hackneyed Phrases
Moving down the road, at the end of the day
We must think outside the box, and not get in each other’s way.
In the final analysis, you must do your own thing,
In the long run, we are good to go.
The toothpaste is out of the tube, so throw in the towel
like a knife through butter and an ax to grind
Meaningless phrases, hackneyed and bland
You’ve got to do more with less, cause I’m a man with a plan
Nothing is ventured, there’s no smoking gun
Nothing goes on, When all is said and done
You’re old as the hills and All over the lot
Thrown under the bus, When Push Comes To Shove
You fell by the wayside, If you get the drift
And Going Forward, there’s a Paradigm shift
Meaningless phrases, hackneyed and bland
Just Run it up the flagpole, cause I’m A man with a plan
Take the road less traveled cause Your skill set is good,
Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
So Drink the kool aid with a grain of salt,
and eat that low hanging fruit
It's not rocket science, to Move the needle
With Limited bandwidth, you can do more with less
It's like déjà vu, all over again,
So Bite the bullet, there’s no collusion.
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8. |
Just A Dog
04:58
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8. Just A Dog (For L.P.)
Winter 83, I took to the road
Driving my old van, many miles to go
He rode beside me, quiet all the way,
Staring out the window following the day.
Heart of the country - I seven-O
Sky like granite, storm began to blow
Holding hard to the wheel, trying to stay calm
He sat there beside me, licked me on the arm.
Just a dog
That’s what people say
Another mouth to feed
Another bill to pay
But I’d rather have been with him
Then most folks that I’ve known
He was just a dog
And Life was just a bone.
Met a lot of people, living from the van,
This bright-eyed pooch, and his hair-thinning man
Two friends on the highway, two for the road,
Two lives together, and too far to go
“Nice dog you got there,” a farmer said one day,
“What will it take, so I can take him away”
I looked at him amazed, our talk had reached its end,
He may be just a dog, but he’s also my best friend.
Just a dog
That’s what people see,
But he was more than tail and fur
To a lonely man like me
Just a dog, not worth a damn
Just a dog, and better than most men
He died one summer’s night, year of 99
Dug a best friend’s grave and there we laid him down
I can still hear him barking and feel his soft warm ear
He may be long gone, but his friendship lingers near
Just a dog
That’s what people say
But they never found a friend
In that dog and people way
Just a dog
Running freely from now on
He was just a dog
And I still miss him now he’s gone
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9. |
Happy Medicare Birthday
03:55
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9. Happy Medicare Birthday
Happy Medicare birthday
You are now 65
You can thank Lyndon Johnson
For keeping you alive
Happy Medicare Birthday
Life gets better every day
You’ll live forever
If the pains don’t get in the way.
When your eyesight goes dim
Then your knees buckle and fail
That Medicare card
Is better than debtors jail
When your prostate goes south
Or you can’t get it up
There’s hope you’ll stay solvent
And won’t need a panhandler’s cup
If you can’t hear a thing
Or you can’t poop or pee
Now you’re in the plan
You’ll have your own MD
Have them sign the right papers
Fill in each blank
Medicare can save you
And keep your money in the bank
When your breakfast is pills
And your meds overflow
Watch out for danger
Avoid that deep donut hole
But when your choppers degrade
You’ll be out of luck
Medicare won’t cover it
It will cost a big buck
Let’s remember Republicans
They say they’re your friend
But they’ll kill you with cuts
And they’ll hasten your end
Happy Medicare birthday
You are now 65
You can thank Lyndon Johnson
For keeping you alive
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10. |
Flight Out of Boston
05:39
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10. Flight Out of Boston
On a flight out of Boston, heading for Montreal
We were two tickets in tourist, I took the seat beside the wall
She asked if the next seat was taken, seems it was a crowded flight
I shrugged my shoulder nonchalantly, she took it for alright
I looked out the window, for a last glance at my home
She took out her copy of the latest Rolling Stone
But I could tell she wasn’t reading, as a tear fell on my hand
So I smiled at her gently, so she knew I’d understand
We left Boston as strangers, on that cold Friday night
We arrived much closer, it was a magic carpet flight.
Seems she’d been discarded, as a lover and a wife
So she bought the ticket, and she hoped a better life
I couldn’t feel but sympathetic, She really felt alone
And I too was on that plane, Canada would be my home.
I said you know it’s not uncommon, and we can only try
Beside the tears you shed are wasted and you’re much too pretty to cry
I guess she knew I wasn’t talking, just to hand her a line
She smiled at me softly, said, the hurt would pass in time.
We left Boston as strangers, on that cold Friday night
We arrived much closer, it was a magic carpet flight.
Life goes on regardless, I told her as we stepped from the plane
She waved at me with confidence, but I can’t say if we’ll ever meet again
We left Boston as strangers, on that cold Friday night
We arrived much closer, it was a magic carpet flight.
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Art Edelstein Calais, Vermont
Art Edelstein is a singer/songwriter and acoustic guitarist. When he isn't writing songs he's working out guitar arrangements of Irish and Scots melodies and Old Time fiddle music.
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