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Sarah McLochlan
Born: 1968 in Halifax, NS
McLachlan, a Halifax native, spent years studying classical piano, guitar and voice, before being discovered fronting the band October Game in 1985 by execs at Nettwerk Records. She was 19, and had no experience writing any original material, but they signed her to a development deal which would cultivate the young artist's talent over a 3 year period in a new environment - Vancouver.
With the assistance of drummer Darryl Neudorf (54.40) and keyboardist Darren Phillips (After All) she made her recording debut with 1988's 'Touch'. With its ethereal lead off single, "Vox", the disc went gold in Canada.
While enthusiasm grew with her next album, 1991's 'Solace', Sarah was gaining a reputation as part of the new movement of female acoustic folk acts. Her stunning videos for the hits "Drawn To The Rhythm" and "Into The Fire" made her artistic creations part of the MuchMusic popular visual domain as well (read: she had been drawn into the MTV culture club).
Her audience was swelling underground and her popularity as a performer was being confirmed as she moved from opening act to headliner and 1993's 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy' would establish her as a contender in the eyes and ears of the US market. The solid foundation of the album was built on the strength of the radio hits "Hold On", "Possession" and "Good Enough".
Another 3 years passed before McLachlan was able to once again offer her rabid fanbase a new original platter. In defence, while the peddles were spinning, Nettwerk offered up two curios in the 1994 "live-off-the-floor" 'Freedom Sessions' disc (which featured a version of Tom Waits' "Ol' 55"), followed by a collection of rarities and besides including McLachlan's version of "Dear God" from an XTC tribute album.
1997's 'Surfacing' was the result of a long dry bout of writers' block following the long touring schedule from the previous 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'. The album took 8 months to produce and featured the additional help of McLachlan's newlywed husband, Ashwin Sood (drums), Brian Minato (bass, guitar), Pierre Marchand (keyboards, bass), and the Barenaked Ladies' Jim Creeggan (bass).
In the summer of '97 she launched a 35 date travelling concert caravan known as Lilith Fair conceived by McLachlan herself and was designed to highlight other female artists and their accompanying acts on two stages featuring the likes of Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls, Paula Cole, Dayna Manning and Tracy Chapman among others. The tour gained steam and North American media exposure made it necessary to add a second leg.
With The Lilith Fair being one of the top grossing concert draws of 1997, by year's end McLachlan had sold five million albums worldwide which was only capped by her four Juno win at the 1998 Juno Awards in Vancouver.
Hot on the heels of a double live CD for Lilith Fair, McLachlan took the show on the road again in 1998 with a new roster and new exposure to untapped audiences. She appeared on two more volumes of Lilith Fair performances, released in May 1999, and put together her own live album, 'Mirrorball', on June 15, 1999. In yet another indication of McLachlan's commercial stature, he Internet giant amazon.com began taking pre-orders for the album more than two months prior to its release; first-week orders immediately catapulted 'Mirrorball' into the No. 1 spot on the company's music charts. She also announced that Lilith Fair '99 would be the final outing for the popular festival.
Ice
The ice is thin come on dive in
underneath my lucid skin
the cold is lost, forgotten
Hours pass days pass time stands still
light gets dark and darkness fills
my secret heart forbidden...
I think you worried for me then
the subtle ways that I'd give in but I know
you liked the show
tied down to this bed of shame
you tried to move around the pain but oh
your soul is anchored
The only comfort is the moving of the river
You enter into me, a lie upon your lips
offer what you can, I'll take all that I can get
only a fool's here...
I don't like your tragic sighs
as if your god has passed you by well hey fool
that's your deception
your angels speak with jilted tongues
the serpent's tale has come undone you have no
strength to squander
The only comfort is the moving of the river
You enter into me, a lie upon your lips
offer what you can, I'll take all that I can get
only a fool's here to stay
only a fool's here to stay
only a fool's here...
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Building A Mystery
you come out at night
that's when the energy comes
and the dark side's light
and the vampires roam
you strut your rasta wear
and your suicide poem
and a cross from a faith
that died before Jesus came
you're building a mystery
you live in a church
where you sleep with voodoo dolls
and you won't give up the search
for the ghosts in the halls
you wear sandals in the snow
and a smile that won't wash away
can you look out the window
without your shadow getting in the way
oh you're so beautiful
with an edge and a charm
but so careful
when I'm in your arms
(chorus)
'cause you're working
building a mystery
holding on and holding it in
yeah you're working
building a mystery
and choosing so carefully
you woke up screaming aloud
a prayer from your secret god
you feed off our fears
and hold back your tears
give us a tantrum
and a know it all grin
just when we need one
when the evening's thin
oh you're a beautiful
a beautiful fucked up man
you're setting up your
razor wire shrine
chorus
repeat chorus
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Into The Fire
Mother teach me to walk again
Milk and honey, so intoxicating
I'm reunited
Into the fire
I am the spark
Into the night
I yearn for comfort
Open the doors that lead on into Eden
Don't want no cheap disguise
I follow the signs marked "back to the beginning"
No more compromise
And into the fire
I'm reunited
Into the fire
I am the spark
Into the night
I yearn for comfort
Free the water that carries me to the sea
You, I see as my security
And into the fire
I'm reunited
Into the fire
I am the spark
Into the night
I yearn for comfort
I will stare at the sun until its light doesn't blind me
I will walk into the fire 'til its heat doesn't burn me
And I will feed the fire
Into the fire
I'm reunited
Into the fire
I am the spark
Into the night
I yearn for comfort
Into the night, Into the fire
Into the fire
I'm reunited
Into the fire
Oh, I am the spark
Into the night
I yearn for comfort
Into the fire, Into the fire
into the fire
I'm reunited
Into the fire
I am the spark fade
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Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
All the fear has left me now
I'm not frightened anymore
It's my heart that pounds beneath my flesh
It's my mouth that pushes out this breath
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
and if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won't fear love
Companion to our demons
They will dance, and we will play
With chairs, candles, and cloth
Making darkness in the day
It will be easy to look in or out
Upstream or down without a thought
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won't fear love
Peace in the struggle
To find peace
Comfort on the way
To comfort
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won't fear love
I won't fear love
I won't fear love...
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Possession
Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide
Voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time
The night is my companion, and solitude my guide
Would I spend forever here and not be satisfied?
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after, I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
Through this world I've stumbled
So many times betrayed
Trying to find an honest word to find
The truth enslaved
Oh you speak to me in riddles
And you speak to me in rhymes
My body aches to breathe your breath
Your words keep me alive
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after, I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes dear
Into this night I wander
It's morning that I dread
Another day of knowing of
The path I fear to tread
Oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
Nothing stands between us here
And I won't be denied
And I would be the one
To hold you down
Kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
And after, I'd wipe away the tears
Just close your eyes...
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Sheryl Crow
Singer, pianist and guitarist, born Sheryl Suzanne Crow, on February 11, 1962, in Kennett, Missouri, to Wendell and Bernice Crow. She has two older sisters, Kathy and Karen, and one younger brother, Steve. Crow began playing piano at age six. She graduated from Kennett High School in 1980 and the University of Missouri at Columbia in 1984, where she majored in music education. During college, she spent her weekends performing with a local band, Cashmere.
After college, Crow worked as a music teacher in an elementary school in St. Louis before moving to Los Angeles in 1986. She began recording jingles for advertising clients, including McDonald’s, and worked as a back-up singer. In 1987-88 she sang on Michael Jackson’s “Bad” world tour. She later sang back-up for Sting, Rod Stewart and Don Henley. In 1991 Crow recorded an album for A&M Records which she shelved because it sounded too “slick.” She began playing with the band The Tuesday Music Club, comprised of Bill Bottrell, David Baerwald, David Ricketts, and Sheryl’s then-boyfriend Kevin Gilbert. In 1993 the group released the multi-platinum album Tuesday Night Music Club which included the smash hit, “All I Wanna Do.”
In 1995, she won three Grammy Awards for Best New Artist, Record of the Year (for “All I Want to Do”), and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for Tuesday Music Club. She also performed a MTV Unplugged session in 1995. Crow released the album Sheryl Crow in 1996, winning two Grammy Awards for Best Rock Album and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance. She spent much of 1997-98 on tour, playing select dates on the Rolling Stones’ Bridges to Babylon tour and performing at the 1998 Lilith Fair concerts. She released her third album The Globe Sessions in the fall of 1998, which won a Grammy for Best Rock Album. During 1999, Crow performed in Europe and toured with Lilith Fair throughout the United States. At the Grammy Awards in February 2000, Crow won for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, for her rendition of the Guns 'n Roses hit "Sweet Child o'Mine."
A Change Would Do You Good
Ten years living in a paper bag
Feedback baby, he's a flipped out cat
He's a platinum canary, drinkin' falstaff beer
Mercedes rule, and a rented lear
Bottom feeder insincere
Prophet lo-fi pioneer
Sell the house and go to school
Get a young girlfriend, daddy's jewel
A change would do you good
A change would do you good
God's little gift is on the rag
Poster girl posing in a fashion mag
Canine, feline, Jekyll and Hyde
Wear your fake fur on the inside
Queen of south beach, aging blues
Dinner's at six, wear your cement shoes
I thought you were singing your heart out to me
Your lips were syncing and now I see
A change would do you good
A change would do you good
Chasing dragons with plastic swords
Jack off Jimmy, everybody wants more
Scully and angel on the kitchen floor
And I'm calling Buddy on the ouija board
I've been thinking 'bout catching a train
Leave my phone machine by the radar range
Hello it's me, I'm not at home
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone
A change would do you good
A change would do you good
Hello, it's me, I'm not at home
If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone
A change would do you good
A change would do you good
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Every Day Is A Winding Road
I hitched a ride with a vending machine repair man
He says he's been down this road more than twice
He was high on intellectualism
I've never been there but the brochure looks nice
Jump in, let's go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low,
These are the days when anything goes
[Chorus]
Everyday is a winding road
I get a little bit closer
Everyday is a faded sign
I get a little bit closer to feeling fine
He's got a daughter he calls Easter
She was born on a Tuesday night
I'm just wondering why I feel so all alone
Why I'm a stranger in my own life
Jump in, let's go
Lay back, enjoy the show
Everybody gets high, everybody gets low
These are the days when anything goes
[Chorus]
I've been living in a sea of anarchy
I've been living on coffee and nicotine
I've been wondering if all the thing I've seen
Were ever real, were ever really happening
[Chorus]
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The Book
I read your book
And I find it strange
That I know that girl and I know her world
A little too well
And I didn't know
By giving my hand
That I would be written down, sliced around,
Passed down
Among strangers hands
Three days in Rome
Where do we go
I'll always remember
Three days in Rome
Never again
Would I see your face
You carry a pen and a paper
and no time and words you waste
You're a voyeur
The worst kind of thief
To take what happened
To write down everything that went on
Between you and me
Three days in Rome
And I stand alone
I'll always remember
Three days in Rome
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Redemption Day
I've wept for those who suffer long
But how I weep for those who've gone
Into rooms of grief and questioned wrong
But keep on killing
It's in the soul to feel such things
But weak to watch without speaking
Oh what mercy sadness brings
If God be willing
There is a train that's heading straight
To heaven's gate, to heaven's gate
And on the way, child and man,
And woman wait, watch and wait
For redemption day
Fire rages in the streets
And swallows everything it meets
It's just an image often seen
On television
Come leaders, come you men of great
Let us hear you pontificate
Your many virtues laid to waste
And we aren't listening
What do you have for us today
Throw us a bone but save the plate
On why we waited til so late
Was there no oil to excavate
No riches in trade for the fate
Of every person who died in hate
Throw us a bone, you men of great
There is a train that's heading straight
To heaven's gate, to heaven's gate
And on the way, child and man,
And woman wait, watch and wait
For redemption day
It's buried in the countryside
It's exploding in the shells at night
It's everywhere a baby cries
Freedom
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Shinedown
Jacksonville, Florida has enjoyed a long and stirring rock 'n' roll tradition. From the time the seminal guitar crunch of Lynyrd Skynyrd first put this vibrant city on the rock 'n' roll map, J-ville has played an integral role in the ongoing evolution of contemporary music. Now a young Jacksonville-based hard rock band named Shinedown appears ready, willing, and more-than-able to add another exciting chapter to their home town's noble rock history book.
As proven throughout their debut album, Leave A Whisper, vocalist Brent Smith, guitarist Jasin Todd, bassist Brad Stewart, and drummer Barry Kerch have fully absorbed influences ranging from the classic sounds of Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin to the soulful stirrings of Otis Redding to the likes of Staind and Tool--and have filtered them all through their own unique musical perspectives. The resulting musical brew is a true feast for the senses, blending bold, strident guitar power, blues-driven vocal fury, and cutting-edge metallic mayhem into a swirling cauldron of bubbling rock reactants. This is heavy music that stands head and shoulders above today's field of cookie-cutter rock practitioners.
Such songs as the powerful first single, "Fly From The Inside," the emotive "No More Love," and the overwhelming "Burning Bright" show that in the 24-year-old Smith, Shinedown sports one of the most talented singers and unconventional songwriters currently operating within a hard rock context.
Shinedown delivers their musical goods with passion, power, and a perception that belies their limited time in the spotlight. "I've wanted to do this all my life," says Smith. "Making music and being in a successful band is all I ever wanted to do, but it's never been easy. Music was never a big deal in my family. My parents just didn't understand what it was really all about. They were encouraging...to a point. But I always dreamed of being given the chance to stand up in front of people and try to move them with my music. I'm incredibly thankful every day that I've now been given that chance."
Formed in early 2001 by these fast-found friends--after Smith left his previous band on the eve of landing a recording deal--it hasn't taken long for Shinedown to begin making their mark. First and foremost, there are the songs. Each one stands as a mini-drama unto itself, a full-fledged slice of rock 'n' roll brilliance where the band's varying influences and tastes all magnificently battle with one another for prominence. "We don't like to do anything in a typical way," Smith says with a grin. "To our way of thinking, each song should be different--as far away from a formula as you can possibly get. We pride ourselves in taking some things you might think you know, and then twisting them around. We're not trying to necessarily be different--it's just the way we are. That keeps it interesting for us, and interesting for the fans as well."
Once the members of Shinedown began to fully appreciate one another's talents and fully hit their musical stride, it didn't take long for the labels to take notice. It was early in 2002 that Atlantic sealed the deal, giving the band the opportunity to turn their rock 'n' roll dreams into reality. Shinedown soon found themselves in a Los Angeles recording studio with producer Bob Marlette (known for his work with Ozzy Osbourne, Saliva, and Black Sabbath), laying down the tracks that would eventually form the core of Leave A Whisper.
From first note to last, this is a disc that shows a band in control of the full spectrum of rock 'n' roll ingredients. Heavy without being overbearing, insightful without sounding preachy, the music created by Shinedown is designed to send those proverbial shivers racing up and down your spine. While their approach on such tunes as "45" and "Better Version" can seem rather dark and bleak, there's always a positive thread running through the music, leaving the listener with the unmistakable feeling that this has been a musical sojourn well worth taking.
"There were so many things that we wanted to try on this album," Smith said. "We approached it in as cool and calm a manner as we could, but there's no denying that a lot of the time we were like kids in a candy store. That's how excited we were. I think a lot of that energy found its way into the music, which was our intent from the very beginning. We want each song to carry the listener on a journey, and we want to make sure the ride is as interesting as possible. The best way I can describe it is to say that this band is a celebration of being alive. We all have our problems, but if you're honest with yourself, you can draw from that darkness and turn it into something great."
45
Send away for a priceless gift
One not subtle, one not on the list
Send away for a perfect world
One not simply, so absurd
In these times of doing what you're told
You keep these feelings, no one knows
What ever happened to the young man's heart
Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart
And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45,
Swimming through the ashes of another life
No real reason to accept the way things have changed
Staring down the barrel of a 45
Send a message to the unborn child
Keep your eyes open for a while
In a box high up on the shelf, left for you, no one else
There's a piece of a puzzle known as life
Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight
What ever happened to the young man's heart
Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart
And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45,
Swimming through the ashes of another life
No real reason to accept the way things have changed
Staring down the barrel of a 45
Everyone's pointing their fingers
Always condemning me
And nobody knows what I believe
I believe
And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45,
Swimming through the ashes of another life
No real reason to accept the way things have changed
Staring down the barrel of a 45
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Better Version
Excuse the mess, I didn't see you from behind
I caught a glimpse, but the reflection's only mine
It's almost like I'm paralyzed and locked outside myself
What I don't need is to concede because I won't be someone else
I am not perfect and I don't claim to be
And if that's what you wanted
Well then I'm so sorry
How about a better version of, the way that I am
How about a better version that, makes me understand
How about a better version of, the way that I am
The way I look, The way I speak,
How about a better version of me
Excuse the wall, I put it up from time to time
A silver shade, and the design is all mine
It's just a maze that everyday I seem to be stuck in
It never seems to fade away but I pray for the day it ends
I am not perfect and I don't claim to be
And if that's what you wanted
Well then I'm so sorry
How about a better version of, the way that I am
How about a better version that, makes me understand
How about a better version of, the way that I am
The way I look, The way I speak,
How about a better version of me
Show me my vital signs until I'm realigned
How about a better version of, the way that I am
How about a better version that, makes me understand
How about a better version of, the way that I am
The way I look, The way I speak,
How about a better version of me
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Fly From The Inside
Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders
Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders
On my shoulders
All alone I pierce the chain
And all in all the sting remains
And dieing eyes consume me now
The voice inside screams out loud
I am focused on what I am after
The key to the next open chapter
Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside
Every day a new deception
Pick your scene and take direction
And all in all I search to connect
But I don't wear a mask and I have no regrets
I am focused on what I am after
The key to the next open chapter
Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside
I can't escape the pain
I can't control the rage
Sometimes I think that I'm gonna go insane
I'm not against what's right
I'm not for what's wrong
I'm just making my way and I'm gone
Here's the weight of the world on my shoulders
Cause I found a way to steal the sun from the sky
Long live that day that I decided to fly from the inside
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Lacerated
Turn on the lights, paint me a tapestry
Go start a fire, get close to the gasoline
I followed you to the deep end
I was helpless but still you pulled me in
Now I'm caught in the tide
Lost in the eyes of envy
For whom it concerns
Some never learn
She lacerated me, exposing me piece by piece
She saw a weakness in me, and used it against me
She lacerated me
Turn out the lights, make me a porcelain doll
Whisper your secrets, can't get to the truth at all
I reached out again and again
I could never believe you'd do me in
Now I'm caught in the tide
Lost in the eyes of envy
For whom it concerns
Some never learn
She lacerated me, exposing me piece by piece
She saw a weakness in me, and used it against me
She lacerated me, and now I have nowhere to go
She lacerated me
She lacerated me, and now I have nowhere to go
She lacerated me, release me from all I see
She lacerated me
She lacerated me
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Lost In The Crowd
Should I offer up my hand
And save a wish for once
For all of us
And should I offer up my hand
And lay the guilt on myself
So it's easier , to not stay, to not stay
Because I found you in your corner
I pulled you out of the clouds
You left in such a hurry
Your face got lost in the crowd
Should I open up my eye's or just ignore who you are
And what you could have been
And should I open up my eye's and make believe you will change
So it's easier to not stay, to not stay
(Chorus Out)
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Stranger Inside
This day could be the worst one yet
I just won't relax I can't catch my breath
Because I'm sick and tired of you'll be fine
Well how do you know, can you read minds?
So take it while you can so you can meet demands
My insanity is what you thrive on
So rip it from my soul, so everyone will know in the end
We were never friends
Have you ever felt lost inside so unloved within that you almost die
Have you ever stepped out of the light and realized there's a stranger inside
Don't push your ignorance on me
I'm not unrehearsed to your jealousy
And I know you think I don't see the signs
Well how do you know, do I look blind?
So take it while you can so you can meet demands
My breakdown is what you thrive on
So rip it from my soul so everyone will know in the end
I'm the break you're the bend
Have you ever felt lost inside so unloved within that you almost die
Have you ever stepped out of the light and realized there's a stranger inside
Stranger inside
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Slaid Cleves
Breakfast in Hell
In the melting snows of Ontario where the wind'll make you shiver
'Twas the month of May up in Georgian Bay near the mouth of the Musquash River
Where the bears prowl and the coyotes howl and you can hear the osprey scream
Back in '99 we were cutting pine and sending it down the stream
Young Sandy Gray came to Go Home Bay all the way from P.E.I.
Where the weather's rough and it makes you tough, no man's afraid to die
Sandy came a smilin', thirty thousand islands was the place to claim his glory
Now Sandy's gone but his name lives on - this is Sandy's story
Young Sandy Gray lives on today in the echoes of a mighty yell
Listen close and you'll hear a ghost in this story that I tell, boys
This story that I tell
Now Sandy Gray was boss of the men who'd toss the trees onto the shore
They'd come and go 'til they'd built a flow 100,000 logs or more
And he'd ride 'em down toward Severn Sound to cut 'em 'up in the mills for timber
And ships would haul spring summer and fall 'til the ice came in December
One Sabbath Day big Sandy Gray came into camp with a peavey on his shoulder
With a thundercrack he dropped his axe and the room got a little bit colder
Said "Come on all you, we got work to do - we gotta give 'er all we can give 'er
There's a jam of logs at the little jog near the mouth of the Musquash River"
With no time to pray on the Lord's day, they were hoping for God's forgiveness
But the jam was high in a troubled sky and they set out about their business
They poked with poles and ran with the rolls and tried to stay on their feet
Every trick they tried, one man cried "This log jam's got us beat!"
But Sandy Gray was not afraid and he let out a mighty yell.
"I'll be damned, we'll break this jam, or it's breakfast in Hell, boys
Breakfast in Hell!"
Now every one of the men did the work of ten and Sandy scrambled up to the top
He was working like a dog heaving 30 foot logs and it looked like he'd never stop
They struggled on, these men so strong, 'til the jam began to sway
Then they dove for cover to the banks of the river, all except for Sandy Gray
Now with thoughts of death they held their breath as they saw their friend go down
They all knew in a second or two he'd be crushed or frozen or drowned
They saw him fall and they heard him call, just once and then it was over
Young Sandy Gray gave his life that day near the mouth of the Musquash River
But Sandy Gray was not afraid and he let out a mighty yell
"I'll be damned, we'll break this jam, or it's breakfast in Hell, boys
Breakfast in Hell!"
East of Giant's Tomb there's plenty of room, there's no fences and no walls
And if you listen close you'll hear a ghost down by Sandy Gray Falls
Through the tops of the trees you'll hear in the breeze the echoes of a mighty yell
"I'll be damned, we'll break this jam, or it's breakfast in Hell"
But Sandy Gray was not afraid and he let out a mighty yell
"I'll be damned, we'll break this jam, or it's breakfast in Hell, boys
Breakfast in hell!"
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Solomon Burke
None Of Us Are Free
Well you better listen my sister's and brothers,
'cause if you do you can hear
there are voices still calling across the years.
And they're all crying across the ocean,
and they're cryin across the land,
and they will till we all come to understand.
None of us are free.
None of us are free.
None of us are free, if one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
And there are people still in darkness,
and they just can't see the light.
If you don't say it's wrong then that says that it is right .
We got try to feel for each other, let our brother's know that we care.
Got to get the message, send it out loud and clear.
None of us are free.
None of us are free.
None of us are free, if one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
It's a simple truth we all need, just to hear and to see.
None of us are free, if one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
Now I swear your salvation isn't too hard too find,
None of us can find it on our own.
We've got to join together in sprirt, heart and mind.
So that every soul who's suffering will know they're not alone.
None of us are free.
None of us are free.
None of us are free, if one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
If you just look around you,
your gonna see what I say.
Cause the world is getting smaller each passing day.
Now it's time to start making changes,
and it's time for us all to realize,
that the truth is shining real bright right before our eyes.
None of us are free.
None of us are free.
None of us are free, if one of us is chained.
None of us are free.
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Soggy Bottom Boys
The fictional Soggy Bottom Boys are the on-screen personas of George Clooney's rootsy band in the Coen Brothers' 2000 film O Brother, Where Art Thou? The lead vocals and guitar work were actually provided by Union Station member Dan Tyminski, with backing vocals from longtime folk stalwarts Harley Allen and Pat Enright. ~ Zac Johnson, All Music Guide
Zac Johnson
I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow
In constant sorrow all through his days
I am a man of constant sorrow
I've seen trouble all my days
I bid farewell to ol' Kentucky
The place where I was born and raised.
The place where he was born and raised
For six long years I've been in trouble,
no pleasure here on earth I've found
For in this world, I'm bound to ramble,
I have no friends to help me now.
He has no friends to help him now
It's fair thee well, my old true lover,
I never expected to see you again.
For I'm bound to ride that Northern Railroad,
perhaps I'll die upon this train
Perhaps he'll die upon this train
You can bury me in Sunny Valley,
For many years there I may lay.
And you will learn to love another
while I am sleeping in my grave.
While he is sleeping in his grave
Maybe your friends think I'm just a stranger
My face you never will see no more
But there is one promise that is given,
I'll meet you on Gods golden shore
He'll meet you on God's golden shore
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Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn Nicks was born on May 26, 1948 to Jess and Barbara Nicks in Phoenix, Arizona. The family moved often throughout her childhood, living in New Mexico,
Utah, and Texas as Stevie's father moved up the corporate ladder. At one point, Jess was "simultaneously first and second-in-command of Armour Meats and Greyhound respectively." Stevie's mother instilled in her a love of fairy tales and fantasy, and her grandfather, Aaron Jess Nicks, taught her to sing. He was a frustrated, unsuccessful Country/Western singer who lived up in the Arizona mountains. By the time Stevie was four years old, he she was already singing along with him on country classics; she also recalls getting up and dancing on the tables at the bar her parents owned. A.J. Nicks wanted to take his talented, young granddaughter on the road with him, but this idea was squashed by Jess and Barbara.
The last time Stevie and her younger brother, Christopher, moved with the family was from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Stevie began writing songs at age sixteen after receiving a guitar for her birthday, and occasionally provided entertainment at school functions at Menlo-Atherton High. The first band Nicks was in, called The Changing Times, was heavily influenced by the harmonies of the Mamas and the Papas. She met Lindsey Buckingham during her Senior year of High School-- he was a Junior-- and the two, along with friends Javier Pacheco and Calvin Roper, formed Fritz Raybyne Memorial Band. Upon graduating, Stevie attended San Jose State University, where she studied Speech Communication. Since the other members of Fritz were still in High School, Stevie had to commute back and forth almost nightly in order to make the rehearsals and gigs.
In 1968, Fritz began their professional career in the Bay area, opening for acts such as Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and CCR. Watching Janis perform made quite an impression on the young songwriter: "You couldn't have pried me away with a million dollar check...I was absolutely glued to her. It was there that I learned a lot of what I do onstage...I said, 'If ever I am a performer of any value, I want to be able to create the same kind of feeling that is going on between her and her audience.'" While Fritz's manager kept trying unsuccessfully to get a them a record deal, the male members of the group were beginning to feel a little uneasy with all the attention their attractive female singer was receiving. Stevie recalls, "Those guys didn't take me seriously at all. I was just a girl singer and they hated the fact that I got a lot of the credit. They would kill themselves practicing for ten hours and people would call up and say, 'We want to book that band with the little brownish-blondish haired girl.' There was always just really weird things gong on between us. I could never figure out why I stayed in that band. Now I know it was in preparation for Fleetwood Mac."
When Fritz finally broke up in 1971, Lindsey and Stevie remained musically involved, and soon became romantically involved as well. Both eventually dropped out of San Jose State (much to Stevie's parents' dismay) and moved to L.A. to pursue their musical dreams. Eventually ,in 1973, the duo landed a deal with Polydor Records and made the Buckingham Nicks album. Stevie remembers spending her last $111 on a beautiful white blouse to wear for the cover shoot, but the end result was that she and Lindsey both appeared on the album quite bare-chested: "I was crying when we took that picture. And Lindsey was mad at me. He said, 'You know, you're just being a child. This is art.' And I'm going, 'This is not *art*. This is me taking a nude photograph with you, and I don't dig it.'" Despite its intriguing cover, the album was a flop, and Nicks and Buckingham fell on some very hard times financially. They moved in with friend Richard Dashut, whom they'd met while making the album, and Stevie managed to pay the bills by getting a waitressing job at Clementine's, working for $1.50 an hour. Her worried parents began to encourage her to set some limits on this musical career that seemed to be going nowhere fast. Stevie admits that times were very tough: "It's very easy for me to remember having no money...while I was waiting tables, I'd get some money from them (her parents) here and there. But if I wanted to go back to school, if I wanted to move back home, *then* they would support me. If I was going to be here in L.A. doing my own trip, I was going to have to do it on my own."
When the offer to join Fleetwood Mac came from Mick, the two didn't have to think about it very long: "So since I think that we can additionally add something to their band, I think we should definitely do this because we could be dead by next year because of lack of food. " Upon joining the group, Stevie went out and bought all of their previous albums- "...I sat in my room and listened to all of them to try and figure out if I could capture any theme or anything. And what I came up was the word mystical- that there is something mystical that went all the way from Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac straight through Jeremy, through all of them." Nicks added her own touch of mysticism in her song "Rhiannon" which climbed the charts in 1975.
By the time Rumours was completed in February, 1977, Stevie and Lindsey's relationship had come to an end. However, like John and Christine McVie, neither one wanted to bow out of Fleetwood Mac. Stevie recalls, "Really, each one of us was way too proud and way too stubborn to walk away from it...what would we have done? Sat around LA and tried to start new bands? Nobody wanted to do that. We liked touring. We liked making money, and we liked being a band. It was just, 'grit your teeth and bear it.'" Stevie's hypnotic 'Dreams' was to become the band's only number one hit song in the States. Her magnificent 'Silver Springs,' on the other hand, was left off the album in favor of 'I Don't Want to Know,' and never quite received the attention and the airplay it deserved. According to Bob Brunning's biography of the band, Stevie "tore out into the parking lot and screamed with anger, frustration, and shock that the song she wrote about Lindsey was going to be relegated to the B-side of his song about her, 'Go Your Own Way.'" Years later, it was yet another controversy over 'Silver Springs' that eventually drove Nicks to leave the band-- Mick would not give her the song for her 1991 release Timespace and Stevie decided that this was the last straw. Over the years Nicks had embarked on an extremely successful solo career (produced in great part by Jimmy Iovine), and thought she'd simply continue on her own.
Ironically, Silver Springs was the very song which the band chose to release as their first single when they 'reunited' with the Rumours line-up in May, 1997. After years of devoting herself to solo pursuits, Nicks decided to put the bitterness of the past behind her and join the group and tour once more. Stevie was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on January 12, 1998 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City. She recently finished a United States tour promoting her box set, Enchanted. She currently has another solo album in the works which is being produced by Sheryl Crow and is expected to be released in the fall of 1999.
Straight Back
What can I say this time
Which card shall I play
The dream is not over
The dream is just away
And you will fly like some little wing
Straight back to the sun
The dream was never over
The dream has just begun
The dream has just begun.........dream....
My fingers find the ivory keys
And a song begins to begin
Like a wolf...on the run
And you will find
Wild in the wind
Something that you lost
The dream was never over...no...
The dream was only lost
(hours and hours of waiting for you, so strong and so fleeting)
The dream has just begun
(and hours of waiting for you...in hopes of meeting)
The dream has just begun
(meeting this way)
Well, the dream has just begun!
She remembers how good it can be...
He remembers a melody....
Ah...in the shadow of my shadow....in a gleam...
He remembers how good it can be....
She remembers a melody.....
Well...in the shadow of my shadow....in a dream...whoa....
(hours and hours of waiting for you...so strong and so fleeting)
The dream has just begun
(hours and hours of waiting this way...meeting me...)
And hours of waiting for you
(so strong and so fleeting)
The dream has just begun
(i'm tired of meeting this way)
Straight back now
(hours and hours of waiting...so strong and so fleeting)
Hours and hours of waiting this way
Hours and hours of waiting this way
Straight back
Straight back
Straight back......yeah!!
He remembers a melody...
He remembers how good it can be...
Straight back
Straight back
Straight back......yeah!!
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That's Alright
Meet me down by the railway station
I've been waiting...and I'm through waiting for you
The train sings the same kind of blues
Well I don't know why I always trusted
Sometimes i think i must have....I must have been crazy
Crazy to wait on you baby
Well I turned around and got pushed down, baby
Now I decided yesterday that I would leave you
I'm alright.........
Chorus:
Please...I've been takin' my time
You know, it's been on my mind
I hope you find a love
Your own designs of love
That's alright.....
That's alright
I believe....I believe that I know you
'Cause we've been a long time, and now I've got to show you that I...
Well, i never did believe in time
You know...changin' anybody's mind
Now I can't define love like it should be
That's alright....
That's alright....
(repeat chorus)
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Sting
Never a stranger to adventure either in realms of soul or song, Sting has been having a year of new beginnings.
Certified triple platinum in the United States and nearing worldwide sales of 7 million, Brand New Day has received Grammy Awards for Best Pop Album and Best Pop Male Vocal Performance and continues to weave its spell. A year and a half on the charts, every day it entrances new listeners with its echoes of Miles Davis and medieval plainsong, of Algerian and American country music – all rendered with the singer/composer’s signature originality. And its spirit, of renewal and energy and inspiration, overspills into the rest of Sting’s remarkable career.
Of late, he’s performed at the Superbowl, was awarded a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "My Funny Friend and Me" from The Emperor’s New Groove, the Disney film that’s just crossed the $100 million mark in box office sales. His activism as well as his art has been recognized; for his work on behalf of human rights, Sting recently received an award from the government of Chile.
And the music he makes and the message he delivers compel him forward: with a US Tour in May and a European Tour in Summer 2001, the artist has shown no sign of letting up.
His body of work spanning nearly 25 years and embracing not only rock and reggae but also jazz, country, Celtic and Middle Eastern strains, Sting fashions a soundtrack for our times. Its essence? One of consistent pioneering, risk-taking. "My strategy is to be optimistic, maybe," he has said. "And maybe that’s my job." His creative approach to Brand New Day, for example, typified his desire to test himself. "I composed, finessed and even sequenced the music before I’d even written a word," he says of his seventh and best-selling solo album. "I had to trust that the music would tell me stories, begin to create characters. It’s almost a mysterious process. You have to be patient.It’s a little like sculpting a piece of wood – you begin to see faces in the wood."
The music that has spoken to him, the characters he has created, have been with us ever since he began his life in music. A native of Newcastle, site of English shipbuilders and ancient Roman walls, this former teacher, soccer coach and ditch digger, has made of his art a perpetual quest.
The Police, of course, established him as a world-renowned songwriter and singer: with Outlandos D’Amour, Reggatta De Blanc, Zenyatta Mondatta, Ghost in the Machine, Synchronicity and a clutch of live and best-of sets, the trio Sting headed assumed the vanguard of contemporary music throughout the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. On his own, he has never ceased taking chances. The Dream of the Blue Turtles, Bring on the Night, … Nothing Like the Sun, The Soul Cages, Ten Summoner’s Tales, Mercury Falling and Brand New Day achieve a truly distinctive synthesis of personal expression and universal communication.
Often noted for his work in the field of human rights, Sting views his activism as part and parcel to being a citizen of the planet. He remains active in causes as various as ecology (with his wife,Trudie Styler, Sting founded the Rainforest Foundation), Amnesty International and human rights as a whole. For him, the personal and political fuse; art and action become inextricable. Finally, a complete communicator, Sting explores both sound and image;he’s acted in films from Quadrophenia to Stormy Monday to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and appeared on Broadway in Threepenny Opera.
About the remarkable range of his energies, Sting has wryly commented: "No one’s yet been able to come up to me with a limit. They’ve tried, but I’ve always been able to duck and weave, and I’m still doing that."
Yet there remains a pole star to his questing, a guiding light. Music. Recently selected as an inductee into the National Academy of Popular Music’s Songwriters Hall of Fame, Sting has become synonymous with a kind of musical approach that knows no boundaries, limits, genres. Proud to number Branford Marsalis, Stevie Wonder, James Taylor, as well as Miles Davis arranger Gil Evans and Algerian singer Cheb Mami among his collaborators, Sting has already achieved a legacy of music that, like its creator, resists easy definition. Restless, creatively impatient, he will continue to defy expectations. Singer and songwriter, world citizen and activist, globetrotting adventurer and father of six, Sting greets the future – and its every challenge – indeed as a brand new day.
Fields Of Gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we walk in fields of gold
So she took her love
For to gaze awhile
Upon the fields of barley
In his arms she fell as her hair came down
Among the fields of gold
Will you stay with me will you be my love
Among the fields of barley
We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold
See the west wind move like a lover so
Upon the fields of barley
Feel her body rise when you kiss her mouth
Among the fields of gold
I never made promises lightly
And there have been some that I've broken
But I swear in the days still left
We'll walk in fields of gold
We'll walk in fields of gold
Many years have passed since those summer days
Among the fields of barley
See the children run as the sun goes down
Among the fields of gold
You'll remember me when the west wind moves
Upon the fields of barley
You can tell the sun in his jealous sky
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
When we walked in fields of gold
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Fragile
If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one
Drying in the color of the evening sun
Tomorrow's rain will wash the stains away
But something in our minds will always stay
Perhaps this final act was meant
To clinch a lifetime's argument
That nothing comes from violence and nothing ever could
For all those born beneath an angry star
Lest we forget how fragile we are
On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
On and on the rain will fall
Like tears from a star like tears from a star
On and on the rain will say
How fragile we are how fragile we are
How fragile we are how fragile we are
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Russians
In Europe and in America
There is a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mr. Khrushchev said, ”We will bury you”
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It’d be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy
From Oppenhiemers deadly toy
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent
To put the words in the mouth of the President
There’s no such thing as unwritable law
It’s a law we don’t believe anymore
Mr. Reagan says he will protect you
I don’t subscribe to his point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too
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The Black Seam
This place has changed for good
Your economic theories said it would
It’s hard for us to understand
We can’t give up our jobs the way we should
Our blood has stained the coal
We tunnel deep inside the nations soul
We matter more than pounds and pence
Your economic theory makes no sense
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can’t control
And bury the waste in great big hole
Promised to become cheap and clean
Grimey faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years is carbon 14
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together
The seam lies underground
3 million years of pressure packed it down
We walk through ancient forest lands
And light a thousand cities with our hands
Your toxatomic hills
Have made redundant all our mining skills
You can’t exchange a 6 inch band
For all the poisoned streams in Cumberland
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can’t control
And bury the waste in great big hole
Promised to become cheap and clean
Grimy faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years is carbon 14
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together
And should the children weep
The turning world will sing their souls to sleep
When you have sunk without a trace
The universe will suck me into place
One day in a nuclear age
They may understand our rage
They build machines that they can’t control
And bury the waste in great big hole
Promised to become cheap and clean
Grimey faces were never seen
Deadly for 12,000 years is carbon 14
We work the black seam together
We work the black seam together
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The Strawbs
Autumn
I sense Autumn coming on
The mist has hung low all day
Small birds gather on the wing
Preparing to make their way.
The trees begin to show
A trace of brown among the green
Bringing back the memories
That only you and I have seen.
I sense Autumn coming on
The sun sinking red and deep
The fires burning in the fields
As late Summer falls asleep.
The leaves begin to scatter
As the North wind calls their name
Folding gently back into
The silent earth from which they came.
The Winter Long
(Cousins)
Still waters flow
Sea breezes blow
Wild flowers grow
Abundant at your feet.
Soft falling snow
Warm candle glow
Flushed faces show
The pleasure when we meet.
Hold on to me, I'll hold on to you
The winter long I will always be with you.
Hold on to me, I'll hold on to you
I will be the one who will always see you through.
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Part Of The Union
Now I'm a union man
Amazed at what I am
I say what I think
That the company stinks
Yes I'm a union man.
When we meet in the local hall
I'll be voting with them all
With a hell of a shout
It's out brothers out
And the rise of the factory's fall.
Oh you don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.
As a union man I'm wise
To the lies of the company spies
And I don't get fooled
By the factory rules
'Cause I always read between the lines.
And I always get my way
If I strike for higher pay
When I show my card
To the Scotland Yard
This what I say.
Oh you don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.
Before the union did appear
My life was half as clear
Now I've got the power
To the working hour
And every other day of the year.
So though I'm a working man
I can ruin the government's plan
Though I'm not too hard
The sight of my card
Makes me some kind of superman.
Oh you don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
You don't get me I'm part of the union
Till the day I die, till the day I die.
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