Short Sharp Shocked Lyrics

When I Grow Up Hello Hopeville Memories of East Texas (Making the Run to) Gladewater Graffiti Limbo If Love Was a Train Anchorage The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore V.F.D. Black Widow Fogtown

When I Grow Up

When I grow up I want to be an old woman
When I grow up I want to be an old woman
Oh, an o-o-o-o-old, an old, old woman

Then I think I'm gonna find myself an old man
Then I think I'm gonna marry myself that old man
An old, an old, an old, an old, a really old man

We're gonna have a hundred and twenty babies
A hundred and five, ten, fifteen, twenty babies
Uh huh, that's what I said a hundred and twenty babies

We'll raise 'em on tiger's milk and green bananas
Mangoes and coconuts and watermelon
We're gonna give 'em that watermelon when they starts yellin'

Here's what they'll yell...

In the summer we'll sit in a field and watch the sun melt
In the winter we'll sit by a fire and watch the moon freeze
Me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
Me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
I said, me my old man and a hundred and twenty babies
Oh, when I grow up I want to be an old woman
When I grow up I want to be an oooooold...

Hello Hopeville

Down at the Cold War Institute
They were signing new recruits
He went down to the station in his three piece suit
Now she had cried for him to stay
But there was nothing more to say
As she was waving a white kerchief as the train pulled away
Singing bye, bye baby boy I hope they treat you well, well, well

It was another situation as the train left the station
It was hello Hopeville I need a vacation
Now the world's been cruel
This time she really let me down
I thought I'd go back to school
Yeak, try to clean up this town
And now it's hello Hopeville
I know you're gonna treat me well, well, well
Well, well, well
Get gone!

Well, well, well, looky here, looky here
Well, well, well, what have we got here
Got me a runaway kid
Got no money never did
Got the sense to come in out of the rain
Uh, he was waitin' for a station just like some people wait for a train
And I'm singing bye, bye baby boy I hope they treat you well, well, well
Well, well, well
Well, well, well
Well, well, well

Memories of East Texas

Memories of East Texas
And piney green rolling hills
Covered in the springtime
With golden daffodils
Rowing on Sandy Lake come April
Harvesting hay in June
Sitting by the road watching well-fires burn
By an old October moon

I learned to drive on those East Texas red clay backroads
And I mean to tell you my friend
They weren't no easy roads
You had to watch out for all the curves
Down by Kelsey Creek
And detour through the Lindsay's pasture
When the water ran too deep

Memories of East Texas
And Gilmer, county seat of Upshur
Looking back and asking myself
'What the hell'd you let them break your spirit for?'
You know, their lives ran in circles so small
Ah, they thought they'd seen it all
And they could not make a place for a girl who'd seen the ocean

I learned to drive on those East Texas red clay backroads
And I mean to tell you my friend
They weren't no easy roads
You had to watch out for all the curves
Down by Kelsey Creek
And detour through the Lindsay's pasture
When the water ran too deep

Ah, but those memories of East Texas
Those piney green rolling hills
Covered in the springtime
With those wild daffodils
Sitting in those Piney Woods
Playing my guitar
Thinking back on the roads I'd come
Thinking I had not come that far...

I learned to drive on those East Texas red clay backroads
And I mean to tell you my friend
They weren't no easy roads
You had to watch out for all the curves
Down by Kelsey Creek
And detour through the Lindsay's pasture
When the water ran too deep

(Making the Run to) Gladewater

Well, Upshur County's drier than an empty bottle
Since the Mormon's come to town, yeah
And to run out of beer, thats a run to Gladewater
Highway 79 thirty miles on down now
You know, fair is fair but life's a gamble
When it's eleven forty-five, yeah
And it's a toss of the coin to see who's got fifteen minutes
To make a thirty minute drive

Something like this:
It was Saturday night
You was sitting 'round the square
Ohh, small town Texas sons and daughters
But you lost the toss, yeah
That means you're taking up the money
Ohh, that means you're making the run
Making the run
Making the run to Gladewater

Here's what you do:
You hustle all your buddies off the back of your truck
You grab your girl, you say 'C'mon lets...'
You tuck your jeans in your boots (that's what you do)
You slap your gimme-cap on
You turn the country music radio station louder than you oughta
But it's okay, you're on your way
Ohh, you lost the toss, you're taking the money
You're making the run to Gladewater
Run, boy!

Now it's 79 to the county line
It's the Minit Mart with not one to spare
And your friends in Gilmer, are they your friends indeed, why?
Well, you got their money and their six-pack of beer, that's why

Yeah, it was Saturday night
You was sitting 'round the square
Ohh, small town Texas sons and daughters
But you lost the toss, yeah
That means you're taking up the money, yeah
That means you're making the run
Making the run
Making the run to Gladewater

Oh, you are making the run
You are making the run
Oh, you are making the run
Making the run, making the run to Gladewater

Graffiti Limbo

Lay down your burdens
Lay down your cares
The Holy Virgin, she's gonna greet you up there
With a big can of spray paint, yeah
And a big blank wall
And I can guaran-damn-tee you
There ain't no cops around at all

Graffiti Limbo
Where do you go?
Graffiti Limbo
When there ain't no justice

I only speak for myself
But the word around town
Is that something's shaking, yeah
In the underground
I only speak for myself
But the word on the street
Is that the writing's on the wall, yeah
And the cop's on the beat

Graffiti Limbo
Where do you go?
Graffiti Limbo
When there ain't no justice

(Now, I wrote this song for Michael Stewart. Michael Stewart was a young black graffiti artist who was arrested while writing graffiti on a subway wall in New York City. While under arrest, in the presence of eleven white transit cops, Michael Stewart was strangled to death. When his case was heard by the Grand Jury, you know, not one cop was found guilty. The coroner had lost the evidence and those cops are on the streets again.)

Ah, you can have your little style wars, boys
Yes, and you can keep your little dance
But those crazy writers they don't stand a ghost of a chance
No, it's 'Colar them cons'
That's what Mayor Koch said
He said, 'Call it a crime'
And now it's steer clear of the engineer on that Midnight Special Line

Graffiti Limbo
Where do you go?
Graffiti Limbo
When there ain't no justice

Graffiti Limbo
Where do you go?
Graffiti Limbo
When there ain't no justice

Ohhhh...

If Love Was a Train

If love was a train I think I would ride me a slow one
One that would ride through the night making every stop, huh
If love was a train I would feel no pain and I would never get off, no sir
Oh, I'd never get off

If love was a train I think I would ride me a long one, haa ha
Hear me talking, talking fifty boxcars long
Ohhh, what's the use?
Most trains these days ain't got no engine
Much less no caboose
Ain't that right, now?
Woo, woo, woo..., woo...

Ohh, look out here she comes, yeah
And look out there she goes
Woo, woo

If love was a train I'd throw my body down on her tracks
Hey, if love was a train I'd throw my body right down on her tracks
If love was a train I would feel no pain as she rolled right down my back
Right down to my back

(Well this little old Michelle talkin')
Ah, but love ain't no train
More like a broncin' bull, yeah
Hah, and at the most you've got 15 seconds in that saddle
And even if you manage to ride you are all shaken up inside
And it's gonna be a long time, yeah
It gonna be a long time
It gonna be a looooooong time
Before you ride that bull again
(Now, ain't that right)
Yeah, woo, woo

Ohhh, if love was a train
But love ain't no train
No love ain't nooooo train
(We're gonna bring it in the station now)

Anchorage

I took time out to write to my old friend
I walked across that burning bridge
Mailed my letter off to Dallas
But her reply came from Anchorage, Alaska

She said: Hey girl it's about time you wrote
It's been over two years you know, my old friend
Take me back to the days of the foreign telegrams
And the all-night rock 'n rollin'
Hey Chel, we was wild then

Hey Chel, you know it's kinda funny
Texas always seems so big
But you know you're in the largest state in the Union
When you're anchored down in Anchorage

Hey girl I think the last time I saw you
Was on me and Leroy's wedding day
What was the name of that love song you played?
I forgot how it goes
I don't recall how it goes

Anchorage
Anchored down in Anchorage

Leroy got a better job so we moved
Kevin lost a tooth, now he's started school
I got a brand new eight month old baby girl
I sound like a housewife
Hey Chel, I think I'm a housewife

Hey girl what's it like to be in New York?
New York City, imagine that!
Tell me, what's it like to be a skateboard punk rocker?
Leroy says, "Send a picture"
Leroy says, "Hello!"
Leroy says, "Aw, keep on rocking girl"
Yeah, keep on rocking

Hey Chel, you know it's kinda funny
Texas always seems so big
But you know you're in the largest state in the Union
When you're anchored down in Anchorage
Oh, Anchorage
Anchored down in Anchorage
Oh, Anchorage

The L&N Don't Stop Here Anymore

When I was a curly headed baby
My daddy set me down on his knee
Saying, "Son you go to school
You learn your letters
Now, don't you be no dusty miner, boy, like me"

Oh, I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
Now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore

I used to think my daddy was a black man
With scrip enough to buy the company store
But now he goes to town with empty pockets
And, Lord, his face is white
As the February snow

I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore

Never thought I'd live to learn to love the coaldust
Never thought I'd pray to hear those temples roar
But, God, I wish the grass would turn to money
And then them greenbacks
Would fill my pockets once more

I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore

Last night I dreamed I went down to the office
To get my payday like I done before
But them old kudzu vines, they was covering over the doorway
And there was leaves and grass
Growing right up to the floor

I was born and raised at the mouth of the Hazzard Holler
Where the coal cars rolled and rumbled past my door
But now they stand in a rusty row of all empties
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Because the L&N don't stop here anymore
Aw, the L&N don't stop here anymore

V.F.D.

Me and my friend and this boy named Eddie
We was bored one afternoon
We was sitting in the hay
It was a hot Texas day
And we was playing with matches like some kids do

We would throw our matches in the high dry grass
Close our eyes and count to ten
And then race the burning field
Doin' the toe and heel
We'd die laughing
We'd do it all over again

I'm singing
Where there's smoke there's sure to be a fire
Ready, steady, go, it was down to the wire
We was racing inevitability
We was making trouble for the V.F.D.
(That's the Volunteer Fire Department, now)

Oh, I'm sure that you know how this story goes
Our little fire ran out of control
Somebody called for the V.F.D.
It was not me, it weren't me, Jack

A-ha, they drive from fifteen miles away
So when they arrive, I'm sorry to say
That the field was black
Yes, and the sky was grey
And you know those barns they store hay in...?

A-ha, the volunteers all shook their heads
And then I recall one of them said
"This fire was no accident
No, this fire started with a match"

I slowly backed into the crowd
Me and Eddie we looked at each other
We never mentioned it to this day
But my friend, she went and told her mother all
Jesus!
(Can you believe that?)

She said
"Where there's smoke there's sure to be a fire
Ready, steady, go, it was down to the wire
We was racing inevitability, ma
We was making trouble for the V.F.D., ma
We was raising insurance premiums, ma
We was spreading fear of arson
We was spreading fear of arson
All around Kelsey"

Black Widow

Time is red
Time is deadly
Time under glass
Time will tell
Time will tell

The tale of the widow
Who walks her web
Mourning the night
Mourning the dead
Mourning the dead

Aw, did you lose him to a broom
Trapped in a corner of the room
Or was it under the foot
Of the marching black boot
The marching black boot

Is it the loneliness of night
That makes you reach out and bite
The unawakened flesh
You lady in distress
Oh you poor poor suffering
Murderess

Time is red
Time is deadly
Time under glass
Time will tell
Time will tell
Time will tell
Time will tell

Fogtown

A red sun rising early in this ghetto
Full moon rising late last night
But you would not know, no you were fast asleep
You only see this city in the broad daylight

Fogtown
Fogtown, I'm down and out on your streets
I would run if I only had a place to run to
Oh Fogtown

Her name was Ruby Red
She was a hard time hooker
Had a man named Juan
He tried to keep her clean
But late last night when the heroin took her
There was one less siren when the sirens reached the scene
Reached the scene

Fogtown
Fogtown, I'm down and out on your streets
I would run if I only had a place to run to
Oh Fogtown

When a city's got the charms of a painted lady
When survival bites like a black-haired bitch
You're gonna find yourself on the closest corner
You want to stay, you want to go, you got the Fogtown itch

Fogtown
Fogtown, I'm down and out on your streets
I would run if I only had a place to run to
Oh Fogtown

It was a red sun rising early in this ghetto
Was a full moon rising late last night
But you would not know, no you were fast asleep
You only see this city in the broad daylight
In the broad daylight
In the broad daylight