Jim Croce - The Faces I've Been
Chain Gang Medley
Chain Gang - Written by - Sam Cooke
He Don't Love You - Written by - J. Butler, C. Mayfield & C. Carter
Searchin' - Written by - Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
All day long they work so hard till the sun is goin' down
Working on the highways and byways and wearin', wearin' a frown
Hear them moanin' their lives away
Then you hear somebody say
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
He don't love you, like I love you
If he did he wouldn't break your heart
He don't love you, like I love you
He's trying to tear us apart
Gonna find her, I'm gonna find her, I'm gonna find her
Oh, if I have to climb a mountain, you know I will
And if I have to swim a river, you know I will
And I might find her hidin' up on Blueberry Hill
How am I gonna find her, child, you know I will
Cause I'm goin' searchin'
I'm goin' searchin'
Searchin' everywhere
Just like some Northwest Mountie
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
All day long they work so hard till the sun is goin' down
Working on the highways and byways and wearin', wearin' a frown
Hear them moanin' their lives away
Then you hear somebody say
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang
That's the sound of the men working on the chain gang (5 x's)
She was just a country girl
Didn't have those New York City ways
When she hopped a bus in Ohio
Headin' for the crowded streets where no one says a word
She was just a country girl living in the lonely city
Met a man who learned her name
She became a woman on a rainy New York night
Chorus:
There's a new day dawnin' in the city
She calls her Mama collect
Sayin' Mama send bus fare back to Ohio
Have somebody meet me at the depot
She was just a country girl
Spent some time in New York City
Now she tells her friends about lonely New York City
And her lonely New York night
Chorus
She was just a country girl
She was just a country girl
I remember Mary, she was so hard to find
Or was I blind
People said be wary
She'll take your heart if you're kind
Then she'll take your mind
But she said if you're lonely
You have only to come runnin' down to my place and see me
Just come runnin' down anytime and see me
Come and see me if you can
I went down to Mary
She said you're spending your time, wasting mine
I went down to Mary
I got a long way to climb for what I want to find
She said lover you touch just a bit too much of my world
You need someone you can be sure of
I know one thing you don't need more of
You don't need more of me
Lord I'm weary
I spend my life wastin' time, wastin' time
Lord I'm ready
About to spend my last dime, my last dime
If you're lonely you have only
To come runnin' down to my place and see me
Just come runnin' down any time and see me
Come and see me if you can
He struggled so hard to be king
Working night and day
Dreaming of only one thing
Never a holiday
Somewhere along the way
He forgot she was only a girl
Now his kingdom has fallen
And it's really quite a tragic tale
Cause he built a castle to harbor his queen
But the queen claimed he built her a jail
He struggled so hard to be king
He wanted everything
He built her a house by the sea
Just to keep her in
Somewhere along the way
He forgot she needed a friend
Now his kingdom has fallen
And it's really quite a tragic tale
Cause he built a castle to harbor his queen
And the queen claimed he built her a jail
It happened so quickly before he could know
She was gone, far gone
Far from the castle, the diamonds and things
She had worn to the ball
There was a note that she carefully wrote
Signed it best wishes to all
Oh you struggled so hard to be king
Working night and day
Dreaming of only one thing, never a holiday
Somewhere along the way
You forgot that I needed a man
When they found him they took him back where he belonged
And his family and friends saw him annually
And they say it's a shame what's become of the king
Smoke another cigarette, have another drink or two
Sit by the telephone 'til morning
She never tells me where she's goin'
But I think it's mighty plain
Maybe tomorrow
She'll be back home again
She wasn't like this when I met her
Whatever made her change?
Now she never even says I love you
She just comes a-rollin' in
Never wanting to explain
Maybe tomorrow she'll be back home again
Wish that I could meet him
Just to tell him who I am
I would like to find out what he has
That I don't have
She never says a thing about him but it's plain as day
She's going somewhere every evening
Can't take it too much longer
I think I'm goin' insane
Maybe tomorrow she'll be back home again
Wish that I could meet him
Just to tell him who I am
I would like to find out what he has
That I don't have
She never says a thing about him but it's plain as day
She's going somewhere every evening
Can't take it too much longer
I think I'm goin' insane
Maybe tomorrow she'll be back home again
With just a sleeping bag and an old guitar
I left the band in New Orleans
I did some time with the bottle, some with the river queens
I never thought I would meet a girl
Who could turn my head around
Till I met that Mississippi Lady in sleepy Gulfport town, she was a
Chorus:
Mississippi Lady
My lovin' Gulfport gal
She taught me how to love
And she really loved me well
She took me up to heaven
Then she brought me down
That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown
Hot July in Gulfport
And I was working in the bars
And she was working on the street
With the rest of the evening stars
She said, I never met a guy
Who could turn my head around
And that's really sayin' something
For Sweet Cordelia Brown
She was a
Chorus
Now I'm back in New York City
Playin' in a band
But my mind's on Mississippi
Is it hard to understand
I never thought I would meet a girl
Who could bring me that far down
Like the girl I met in Gulfport
Sweet Cordelia Brown
She was a
Chorus
That Mississippi Lady, Sweet Cordelia Brown
Nobody loves a fat girl
But oh how a fat girl can love
Nobody seems to want me
I'm just a truck upon the highway of love
I'm all alone inside of my form
When ev'ry ounce of me is dyin' to keep somebody warm
Nobody loves a fat girl
But oh how a fat girl can love
Nobody loves a fat girl
But oh how a fat girl can love
Nobody seems to want me
I'm just a truck upon the highway of love
The only game I can get the boys to play
Is to have them sit around and try to guess how much I weigh
Nobody loves a fat girl
But oh how a fat girl can love, pretty mama
Oh how a fat girl can love
Ol' man river, that ol' man river
He must know something, but he don't say nothing
That ol' man river, he just keep rollin' along
He don't plant 'taters
He don't plant cotton
Cause them that plants them is soon forgotten
And ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along
Cause you and me, we sweat and strain
Body all achin' and wracked with pain
Tote that barge, lift that bale
Get a little drunk and you land in jail
But I get weary and sick of tryin'
Cause I'm tired of livin'
That ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along
You and me, we sweat and strain
Body all achin' and wracked with pain
Tote that barge, lift that bale
Get a little drunk and you land in jail
But I get weary and sick of tryin'
Cause I'm tired of livin'
But I'm scared of dyin'
That ol' man river, he just keeps rollin' along
©1927 T.B. Harms Company
It was early last September
As near as I can remember
While strolling down a lane in tipsy pride
Not a word did I utter
As I lay down in the gutter
And this pig came up and lay there by my side
Not a soul was I disturbing
As I lay there by the curbing
When this high toned lady come
And I heard her say
You can tell a man who boozes
By the company he chooses
And the pig got up and slowly walked away
When I was a boy in the days of the train
I'd sit by the tracks on a long summer day
And I'd wave at the brakesman
And he'd wave back at me
While the thunderclouds rolled
Out of East Tennessee
But the dreams of a boy disappear when you're grown
And though I may dream, the railroads are gone
The ties they are rotten
And the tracks shot to hell
Along with my dreams and the old railroad bell
In my dreams I ride the rails to California
Workin' diners and farms along the way
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
With a black eyed girl beside me all the way
Now the mountains are silent
And the railroads are gone
And the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawn
But the train whistle shrills out her memories to me
While the thunderclouds roll out of East Tennessee
In my dreams I ride the rails to California
Workin' diners and farms along the way
Or I'd hop a ride to hide across the border
With a black eyed girl beside me all the way
Now the mountains are silent
And the railroads are gone
And the coal towns no longer hear the miners at dawn
But the train whistle shrills out her memories to me
While the thunderclouds roll out of East Tennessee
The railroads and the riverboats
That bred the mighty men
That we read about and we dream about
The men who built this land
And the farmers and the lumbermen
And the men who work the mills
And the poor hard workin' miners
Who died inside the hill
Chorus:
While the rivers that flow
Are the blood of our land
And the trucks they keep rumbling
On the great concrete band
And the railroads keep pushin'
To be all they once were
And nature is calling
No one's listening to her
And the immigrants by the boat load in a dozen different tongues
Sang of freedom in the new land
Climb the ladder rung by rung
Some to Boston, some to Pittsburgh
Philadelphia and St. Paul
And the old ways led to new days
They were welcome one and all
Chorus
With the railroads and the riverboats
And the breadlines far behind
And the days we sang together long gone but still in mind
And the men who came before us
Men who brought us to today
And the story still unravels from the dreams of yesterday
Chorus
It's been too many years inside this prison
Too many years just for one little fight
He got what was comin'
And I think I served enough time
I'm goin' home tonight
That stone looks mighty cold
And the guard that walks that wall
Is just waitin' to get a convict in his sights
But if I can clear the top
You can bet I'll never stop
Cause I'm goin' home tonight
Chorus:
Because stone walls do a prison
Make iron bars a cage
Any man who says they don't
Never been inside
Cause in time the bars get closer
And at night the walls grow tighter
Do you feel like there's a shackle around your mind?
Now those guards are on my tail
I can hear those sirens wail
But I know that I'll get away and that I'll be alright
Cause I'd rather live on the run
Stand free in the morning sun
Then to spend another lonely prison night
Chorus
Where there is a dream there is a hope for you
Where there is a love there is a way
Coming from the edges of the night to you
Coming from the edges of your day
Waiting in all your towers, keeping all my flowers
If you need me come close now and receive me
While there is a moment there is a time for you
Even though your time is far away
Deep within the night I send my love to you
Reaching for the edges of your day
Spending all my hours, dreaming of your towers
If you need me come close now and receive me
How come we can't talk the way we used to do
Nothin' seems to be the same
Have we forgotten all the things we knew
Was it you or I who changed
Chorus:
We've got to find the answer
Let the secrets fly
Enough of telling stories and our well meaning lies
Things don't seem to be the same no matter how I try
There's no rhythm to the rain
Wind still whispers through the leaves on high
But they no longer sing your name
Chorus
We've got to try to build what we had in the past
Tryin's half the battle if we lose it we can't last
Heard myself just say the things I could never say before
And listened to the rhythm of the rain
Wind just whispered through the leaves on high
And I though I heard them sing your name
We've got to find the answer
Let the secrets fly
Enough of telling stories and our well meaning lies
We've got to try to build what we had in the past
Tryin's half the battle if we lose it we can't last
Heard myself just say the things I could never say before
And listened to the rhythm of the rain
Wind just whispered through the leaves on high
And I though I heard them sing your name
And I though I heard them sing your name
There's ice and snow on the northern roads
And the Jersey Pike is closed
Have to go and do some drivin' tonight
They say I'd be a fool if I would ride those icy roads
But a little storm ain't stoppin' me tonight
Chorus:
I'm gonna wear out the turnpike
Rack up those miles
Keep this rig a rollin', I'm in it every mile
'Cause she's in Oklahoma and
I'm up in Maine
So diesel sing a song that will bring me home again
Doodle doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo
Doodle doo doo doo
There's a red light turnin' behind me
There's a trooper on my tail
I can tell I won't get to New York town on time
If he decides to pull me over
And if he get's me on the scale
I'm gonna have to tell a tale or take a fine
Chorus
With the snow against my windshield
I will run on through the night
There's not stoppin' me once I hit the road
Cause the turnpike's like my second home
And I know it like my hand
So diesel sing a song that'll bring me home again
Chorus
Doo, doo, doo, doo
Doo, doo, doo, doo
We had a quarrel
A teenage quarrel
Now I'm as blue as I know how to be
I can't call you on the phone
I can't even see you at your home
So I'm sending you this present
Just to prove that I'm telling the truth
Dear, I believe you won't laugh when you receive
This rose and a Baby Ruth
(Doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo, doo, doo, doo, ahh)
I could have sent you an orchid of some kind
But that's all I had in my jeans at the time
But when we grow up
Some day I'll show up
Just to prove I was telling the truth
I'll kiss you, too, then I'll hand to you
This rose and a Baby Ruth
(Doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo, doo, doo, doo)
(Doo, doo, doo, doo, ooh)