1. BALLAD OF A WELL KNOWN GUN

I pulled out my Stage Coach Times
And I read the latest news
I tapped my feet in dumb surprise
And of course I saw they knew

The Pinkertons pulled out my bags
And asked me for my name
I stuttered out my answer
And hung my head in shame

Now they've found me
At last they've found me
It's hard to run
From a starving family

Now they've found me
Well I won't run
I'm tired of hearing
There goes a well-known gun

Now I've seen this chain gang
Lord I say let me see my priest
I couldn't have faced your desert sand
Old burning brown backed beast

The poor house they hit me for my kin
And claimed my crumbling walls
Now I know how Reno felt
When he ran from the law

Now they've found me
At last they've found me
It's hard to run
From a starving family

Now they've found me
Well I won't run
I'm tired of hearing
There goes a well-known gun

Now they've found me
Lord I say at last they've found me
It's hard to run
From a starving family

Lord I say now they've found me
Well I won't run
I'm tired of hearing
There goes a well-known gun

Lord I say now they've found me
At last they've found me
It's hard to run
From a starving family

Now they've found me
I won't run
I'm tired of hearing
There goes a well-known gun


2. COME DOWN IN TIME

In the quiet silent seconds I turned off the light switch
And I came down to meet you in the half light the moon left
While a cluster of night jars sang some songs out of tune
A mantle of bright light shone down from a room

Come down in time I still hear her say
So clear in my ear like it was today
Come down in time was the message she gave
Come down in time and I'll meet you half way

Well I don't know if I should have hear her as yet
But a true love like hers is a hard love to get
And I've walked most all the way and I ain't heard her call
And I'm getting to thinking if she's coming at all

Come down in time I still hear her say
So clear in my ear like it was today
Come down in time was the message she gave
Come down in time and I'll meet you half way

There are women and women, and some hold you tight
While some leave you counting the stars in the night.


3. COUNTRY COMFORT

Soon the pines will be falling everywhere
Village children fight each other for a share
And the 6:09 goes roaring past the creek
Deacon Lee prepares his sermon for next week

I saw grandma yesterday down at the store
Well she's really going fine for eighty four
Well she asked me if sometime I'd fix her barn
Poor old girl she needs a hand to run the farm

And it's good old country comfort in my bones
Just the sweetest sound my ears have ever known
Just an old-fashioned feeling fully-grown
Country comfort's in a truck that's going home

Down at the well they've got a new machine
The foreman says it cuts man-power by fifteen
Yeah but that ain't natural well so old Clay would say
You see he's a horse-drawn man until his dying day

Now the old fat goose is flying cross the sticks
The hedgehog's done in clay between the bricks
And the rocking chair's creaking on the porch
Across the valley moves the herdsman with his torch


4. SON OF YOUR FATHER

I'll catch the tramline in the morning
With your leave Van Bushell said
He had further heard the cock crow
As he stumbled out the shed

Then blind Joseph came towards him
With a shotgun in his arms
He said you'll pay me twenty dollars
Before you leave my farm

Van Bushell saw the hook
Which replaced Joseph's hand
He said now calm you down my brother
Let's discuss this man to man

It's no good you getting angry
We must try to act our age
You're pursuing your convictions
Like some hermit in a cage

You're the son of your father
Try a little bit harder
Do for me as he would do for you
With blood and water bricks and mortar
He built for you a home
You're the son of your father
So treat me as your own

Well slowly Joseph well he lowered the rifle
And he emptied out the shells
Van Bushell he came towards him
He shook his arm and wished him well

He said now hey blind man that is fine
But I sure can't waste my time
So move aside and let me go my way
I've got a train to ride

Well Joseph turned around
His grin was now a frown
He said let me just refresh your mind
Your manners boy seem hard to find

Well there's two men lying dead as nails
On an East Virginia farm
For charity's an argument
That only leads to harm

So be careful when they're kind to you
Don't you end up in the dirt
Just remember what I'm saying to you
And you likely won't get hurt


5. MY FATHER'S GUN

From this day on I own my father's gun
We dug his shallow grave beneath the sun
I laid his broken body down beneath the Southern land
It wouldn't do to bury him where any Yankee stands

I'll take my horse and I'll ride the northern plain
To wear the colour of the greys and join the fight again
I'll not rest until I know the cause is fought and won
From this day on until I die I'll wear my father's gun

(Chorus)
I'd like to know where the riverboat sails tonight
To New Orleans well that's just fine alright
'Cause there's fighting there and the company needs men
So slip us a rope and sail on round the bend

As soon as this is over we'll go home
To plant the seeds of justice in our bones
To watch the children growing and see the women sewing
There'll be laughter when the bells of freedom ring

(Chorus...)


6. WHERE TO NOW ST. PETER?

I took myself a blue canoe
And I floated like a leaf
Dazzling, dancing
Half enchanted
In my Merlin sleep

Crazy was the feeling
Restless were my eyes
Insane they took the paddles
My arms they paralysed

So where to now St. Peter
If it's true I'm in your hands
I may not be a Christian
But I've done all one man can
I understand I'm on the road
Where all that was is gone
So where to now St. Peter
Show me which road I'm on

Which road I'm on
It took a sweet young foreign gun
This lazy life is short
Something for nothing always ending
With a bad report

Dirty was the daybreak
Sudden was the change
In such a silent place as this
Beyond the rifle range

I took myself a blue canoe


7. LOVE SONG

The words I have to say
May well be simple but they're true
Until you give your love
There's nothing more that we can do

Love is the opening door
Love is what we came here for
No one could offer you more
Do you know what I mean
Have your eyes really seen

You say it's very hard
To leave behind the life we knew
But there's no other way
And now it's really up to you

Love is the key we must turn
Truth is the flame we must burn
Freedom the lesson we must learn
Do you know what I mean
Have your eyes really seen


8. AMOREENA

Lately I've been thinking how much I miss my lady
Amoreena's in the cornfield brightening the daybreak
Living like a lusty flower,
Running through the grass for hours
Rolling through the hay like a puppy child

And when it rains the rain falls down
Washing out the cattle town
And she's far away somewhere in her eiderdown
And she dreams of crystal streams
Of days gone by when we would lean
Laughing fit to burst upon each other

I can see you sitting eating apples in the evening
The fruit juice flowing slowly, slowly, slowly
Down the bronze of your body
Living like a lusty flower,
Running through the grass for hours
Rolling through the hay like a puppy child

Oh if only I could nestle in the cradle of your cabin
My arms around your shoulders the windows wide and open
While the swallow and the sycamore are playing in the Valley
Oh I miss you Amoreena like a king bee misses honey

Lately I've been thinking how much I miss my lady
Amoreena's in the cornfield brightening the daybreak
Living like a lusty flower,
Running through the grass for hours
Rolling through the hay like a puppy child


9. TALKING OLD SOLDIERS

Why hello, say can I buy you another glass of beer
Well thanks a lot that's kind of you,
It's nice to know you care
These days there's so much going on
No one seems to want to know
I may be just an old soldier to some
But I know how it feels to grow old

Yeah that's right, you can see me here most every night
You'll always see me staring at the walls and at the lights
Funny I remember oh it's years ago I'd say
I'd stand at that bar with my friends who've passed away
And drink three times the beer that I can drink today
Yes I know how it feels to grow old

I know what they're saying son
There goes old man Joe again
Well I may be mad at that I've seen enough
To make a man go out his brains
Well do they know what it's like
To have a graveyard as a friend
'Cause that's where they are boy, all of them
Don't seem likely I'll get friends like that again

Well it's time I moved off
But it's been great just listening to you
And I might even see you next time I'm passing through
You're right there's so much going on
No one seems to want to know
So keep well, keep well old friend
And have another drink on me
Just ignore all the others you got your memories
You got your memories


10. BURN DOWN THE MISSION

You tell me there's an angel in your tree
Did he say he'd come to call on me
For things are getting desperate in our home
Living in the parish of the restless folks I know

Everybody now bring your family down to the riverside
Look to the east to see where the fat stock hide
Behind four walls of stone the rich man sleeps
It's time we put the flame torch to their keep

Burn down the mission
If we're gonna stay alive
Watch the black smoke fly to heaven
See the red flame light the sky

Burn down the mission
Burn it down to stay alive
It's our only chance of living
Take all you need to live inside

Deep in the woods the squirrels are out today
My wife cried when they came to take me away
But what more could I do just to keep her warm
Than burn burn burn burn down the mission walls


11. INTO THE OLD MAN'S SHOES

I'm moving out of Tombstone, yeah with the sun behind my Back
I'm tired of people talking of things that I lack
Ever since a week ago, the day he passed away
I've been taking too much notice of the things they've had To say

And all they say is you ain't half the man he used to be
He had strength and he worked his life to feed his family
So if that's the way it has to be, I'll say goodbye to you
I'm not the guy, or so it seems to fill my old man's shoes

Like I'm a wicked way of life, the kind that should be Tamed
They'd like to see me locked in jail and tied up in their Chains
Oh it's hard and I can't see what they want me to do Lord, Lord
They seem to think I should step into the old man's shoes


12. MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER (Original Version)

I can see very well
There's a boat on the reef with a broken back
And I can see it very well
There's a joke and I know it very well
It's one of those that I told you long ago
Take my word I'm a madman don't you know

Once a fool had a good part in the play
If it's so would I still be here today
It's quite peculiar in a funny sort of way
They think it's very funny everything I say
Get a load of him, he's so insane
You better get your coat dear
It looks like rain

We'll come again next Thursday afternoon
The In-laws hope they'll see you very soon
But is it in your conscience that you're after
Another glimpse of the madman across the water

I can see very well
There's a boat on the reef with a broken back
And I can see it very well
There's a joke and I know it very well
It's one of those that I told you long ago
Take my word I'm a madman don't you know

The ground's a long way down but I need more
Is the nightmare really black
or are the windows painted
Will they come again next week
Can my mind really take it