THE WALKABOUTS

THE WALKABOUTS

RAG & BONE / CATARACT (1989)

RAG & BONE

  1. The Anvil Song
  2. Ahead Of The Storm
  3. Medicine Hat
  4. Wreck Of The Old # 9
  5. Mr. Clancy
  6. Last Ditch

CATARACT

  7. Whiskey XXX
  8. Hell's Soup Kitchen
  9. Whereabouts Unknown
10. End - In - Tow
11. Bones Of Contention
12. Home As Found
13. Smokestack
14. The Wicked Skipper
15. Drille Terriers
16. Specimen Days
17. Long Back Veil
18. Good Bye (To All That)

THE WALKABOUTS

RAG AND BONE / CATARACT

RAG AND BONE

1. THE ANVIL SONG

Lose your coat and roll your sleeves
This is demolition time
Inventions full of spit and blood
With blinders for the faint of heart
Fortune's ashes crowd this map
But if I lose, well I don't care
As long as I get good and gone

Let the anvil break
Steal door lies into a whisper
Now who can wait for the perfect fit
I'm hearing the anvil sing
I'm hearing the anvil sing

Machine he took a picture of
Of himself for children's walls
For forty miles the word went out
That he would someday drown us all
Deep inside this vodka clear

But if I lose then I don't care
As long as I get good and gone

Let the anvil break
Steal door lies into a whisper
Now who can wait for the perfect fit
I'm hearing the anvil sing
I'm hearing the anvil sing

Let the anvil break
Steal door lies into a whisper
This is demolition time
And if I lose, well I don't care
I'm hearing the anvil sing
I'm hearing the anvil sing.

2. AHEAD OF THE STORM

Gotta trust my name
No fork in my tongue
Gotta trust my name

Never saw it blow
Never saw it blow
The clouds rained money
Never saw it blow
The clouds rained money
Never saw it blow

Shoulda locked my jaw
The words are devils
Shoulda locked my jaw

It wasn't what I saw
It wasn't what I saw
Their barrels pointing
Wasn't what I saw
Their barrels pointing
Wasn't what I saw

Ahead of the storm
Is where I belong
Ahead of the storm
With thunder laughing

Gotta trust my name
But it can't be done
Gotta trust my name
But it can't be done

The clouds rained money
Never saw it blow
The clouds rained money
Never saw it blow

Ahead of the storm
Is where I belong
Ahead of the storm
With thunder laughing
On and on and on...

3. MEDICINE HAT

Steal it from the yard
Medicine hat she wore
Mother's protection
Protection from the open sun
What is gone was never here
And what is here is second-hand

Trust in only shadows
'Cause they never know they're wrong
Steal it from the yard
Medicine hat she wore
What is gone was never here
And what is here is second-hand

Medicine Hat
Medicine Hat

You could all but disappear
At the drunk electric show
Just fall into the whirlpool
That's spinning on the Grange Hall floor
Then go outside and burn the fence
That splits into the coal-black sky

Got more strength than weakness
Got the strength to tell this lie.
You could all but disappear
At the drunk electric show.

Medicine hat 4 x.

4. WRECK OF THE OLD # 9

T'was a cold wintry night
Not a star was in sight
And he north wind was howling down the line

Went a brave engineer
With a sweetheart so dear
With an order to pull Old # 9.

His heart hung with his song
And his train rolled along
Black smoke was pouring from his stack

His headlight it seemed
To brighten his dream
Of tomorrow, when he'd be coming back

Well he sped round the hill
And his brave heart stood still
A headlight flashing in his face

He threw only air
And he murmured a prayer
'Cause he knew this would be his final race

(The crash...)
In the wreck he was found
Lying dying on the ground
And he asked them to raise his weary head

As his breath slowly went
This message he sent
To the maiden who thought she would be wed

"I leave a white home
That I bought for your own
And I dreamed we'd be happy by-and-by.

I'm gonna leave it all to you
'Cause I know that you'll be true
'Til we meet at the pearly gates -- good-bye."

5. MR. CLANCY

If you're ready and the creek don't rise
If you're ready with the furnace full
Trees were shakin' and the break was good
Finally lost him in the neck of the woods
If you're ready and the creek don't rise

Mr. Clancy was a dog of prey
Took the decent and the laughin' sheep
Mr. Clancy took his hand to you
But I'm not waiting just to prove it's true
If you're ready and the creek don't rise

There's something you must do
With head turned off and you knew (?)

If you're ready and the creek don't rise.

6. LAST DITCH

This is the last ditch ever I dug
Once there were motives but they have been lost
Dig through the sand still you end at the rock
This is the ditch that I dug

These are the blankets that we should have worn
Now marrow is soaking and taken with cold
Us rag and bone merchants have just greed to lose
This is the ditch that I dug

The ditch it lies empty and waits for your laugh
My head was your shovel and I was your back
And sweat made the river that cut through the flat
This is the ditch that I dug
This is the ditch that I dug

The crows haven't eaten the scraps they were fed
The crows they stay honest and keep to themselves
Their silence infected my stitches gone loose
There will be rain today, yes
There will be rain today.

CATARACT

7. WHISKEY XXX

Whiskey hold me well
And never let me spill
From the blind man's bluff
Across the frozen lake

Oh chance me, chance me not,
With the last chance that you've got
Keep it rising like the river
And sinking with my fear

Somewhere out of these
Somewhere out of these woods
Somewhere out of these
Somewhere out of these woods

Whiskey hold me well
Ain't nothing you can't kill
Now the pain is just forgiveness
In a borrowed suit of clothes

Agree to disbelieve
Leave the thinking for the thieves
Left my empties at your doorstep
Left my judgement on your trail

Somewhere out of these
Somewhere out of these woods
Somewhere out of these
Somewhere out of these woods.

8. HELL'S SOUP KITCHEN

Rolled in the mud
But I could never come clean
Counting blessings on my middle finger
There in the back shed
Pricing heads to the pound
Told to shut up, I was only breathin'

Hell's soup kitchen
There you're listening now
Heard you coming
I heard you deep in the ground

The job was dizzy on the carnival wheel
Coins a-flipping a siren's screaming
Told quit the ride
And you'll go straight to the dogs
But dogs they come home
And dogs they listen

Hell's soup kitchen
There you're listening now
Heard you coming
I heard you deep in the ground

And my nerves were wire
And the shots they fell wide
Pearls of wisdom dripping from my forehead
Crawled in a sleeping bag
And watched them close in
Tires spitting all my trust to the sky

Hell's soup kitchen
There you're listening now
Heard you coming
I heard you deep in the ground.

9. WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Cross your heart gently
The best days are with us
Don't be dark-hearted
You'll just disappear

Trust you won't stumble
I trust you won't walk blind
Trust you won't miss
What has never been found

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Fortune it tells you
It's time for the good news
Came on the porch
And poured gasoline down

Time for the razing
The great leap fast-forward
How can I miss you?
You never were found.

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Love is the crank on a black-water well
Don't turn for pleasure
It's turning deeper(?)
Know you'd believe it if we ever met
Know you'll believe it when you're finally found

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Cross your heart gently
The best days are with us
Don't swim black water
You'll just disappear

Love is the crank on a black-water well
Don't turn for pleasure
It's turning deeper(?)
Know you'd believe it if we ever met
Know you'll believe it when you're finally found.

(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone)

Whereabouts
(no compass, no bearing)
Whereabouts unknown
(leave it alone).

10. END-IN-TOW

Storm it shook ya down
From the burial ground
There was mud on your face
Barely lost and barely found

And the shrunken heads around your neck
Just replicas of thoughts
Whose day had finally come

You drag it fast
You can drag it slow
But don't drag it this way
End-in-tow

Walked beneath the river bridge
And grabbed the ol' rope swing
Said "Out there
You'll see the bottom
And it swallows while it sings

And the only gold you'll find there
Are caps on these two feet."
Dead dogs float on by

You drag it fast
You can drag it slow
But don't drag it this way
End-in-tow

Better graves than ditches
On this we will agree
There is good earth on the west bank
Good nails and rope and pine

You can picnic at the Cataract
Or paddle to the shore
But you'll join the diggin' party
Just like you did before.

You drag it fast
You can drag it slow
But don't drag it this way
End-in-tow
End-in-tow
End-in-tow.

11. BONES OF CONTENTION

Well the fires are tended
And my blood it just boils
(Hey there pass your hat)
And the fruits of hard labor
Have been drowned in snake oil
(Hey there pass your hat)

The dead are thin
Their houses fat
Once you steal you can't give back
From the scaffold greed explodes
Down to nothing
Down where nothing brings you down

Well we've all been to heaven
And we've all been to hell
(Hey there pass your hat)
And the door-to-door salesmen there
Have nothing left to sell
(Hey there pass your hat)

And the poison you choose
Is the source of my confusion
And I spend all my time
Trying to figure what you're using

Well the bones of contention
Are at the top of your stairs
(Hey there pass your hat)
And they'll shake and they'll rattle
'Til somebody cares
(Hey there pass your hat)

The dead are thin
Their houses fat
Once you steal you can't give back
From the scaffold greed explodes
Down to nothing
Down where nothing brings you down

And the poison you choose
Is the source of my confusion
And I spend all my time
Trying to figure what you're using

Please pass your hat X5
Won't you pass your hat.

12. HOME AS FOUND

Well it should have been the first place
But instead it was the last
It was a place that only you could love

All the gin was spiked with water
From a fever or a storm
All the business went as usual
Ripped and forever torn

I'm going home as found
Going home as found
I'm going home as found
Going home as found

It was a good day for the panther
It was a bad day for the sheep
It was a shot of certain wisdom
That you could never keep

Threw some cash upon the table
Shot some noise into the phone
Saying all the guilty pleasures
Are not for you alone

I'm going home as found
Going home as found
I'm going home as found
Going home as found.

13. SMOKESTACK

Swept the floor of dreams
Live ones in the cracks
Crawling from the woodwork
Just to break your mother's back

Hail the future king
No surprises left
Formula is widely know by chemists
And the minds they've blown

Smokestack
Smokestack
Smokestack

Count 'em 1 in 10
Can't hold on to those threats
Not-so-distant cousins
Of the nails on which you slept

Amateur contortionist
With pyrotechnic skill
This is not a mob you rule
It's just the family barbecue

Smokestack
Smokestack
Smokestack

Smokestack
Smokestack
Smokestack

Standing on my head
And just in time to see
A promise in each pocket
And a liar in each sleeve
The spoils have been crudely cut
In out of balance halves
Nothing left to peace or calm
That explosions couldn't bring along.

14. THE WICKED SKIPPER
(Instrumental)

15. DRILLE TERRIERS

Every morn at sven o'clock
There's twenty terriers drilling on the rock
And the boss comes round and he says to the (?)
"Come down hard on the cast-iron (?)"
And drille terriers, drille."

Drille terriers, drille
For it's work all day
For the sugar in your tea
Down behind the railway
And drille terriers, drille
Now our boss is Jim McCann
My guardian's the (??)

Drille terriers, drille
For it's work all day
For the sugar in your tea
Down behind the railway
And drille terriers, drille

Drille terriers, drille
For it's work all day
For the sugar in your tea
Down behind the railway
And drille terriers, drille

Finally pay day came around
A dollar short - Jim was found
When he asked why, came this reply:
"You were docked for the time
You spent up in the sky."

Drille terriers, drille
For it's work all day
For the sugar in your tea
Down behind the railway
And drille terriers, drille

Drille terriers, drille
For it's work all day
For the sugar in your tea
Down behind the railway
And drille terriers, drille
And blast
And fire.

16. SPECIMEN DAYS

Oh one night of mercy
Give me one night of merciful
Shocks to the skull
Watching these specimens grow

Small miracles stuffed
In old powder kegs
Can't mix boot leather
With common-sense rags
Watching these specimens grow

I may know nothing
But it never says no
Won't answer in good turn
Earth rumbling below
Got hope in the backseat
And truth on the roof
Look out below
This rumbling needs somewhere to go

All cut up and painless
Brake lights blown out
On the back of your skull
Watching these specimens grow

O misery's daughter
Please know when to quit
Not a hose for the fire
There's a snake in the pit
Watching these specimens grow

I may know nothing
But it never says no
Won't answer in good turn
Earth rumbling below
Got hope in the backseat
And truth on the roof
Look out below
This rumbling needs somewhere to go

One night of mercy
Give me one night so merciful
One night of mercy.

17. LONG BLACK VEIL

Beyond the reach
There are rows of tender hooks
Where nothing seems
To justify a second look
And not a soul is found
To tear them hooks on down

Famous times
Tattooed on this burlap skin
And gun cold days
Shot to pieces above my head
Now tell who's that clown
Who pulled this veil on down

Long black veil
Long black
Long black veil
Long black

If light's a brighter grey
Please then turn it up
This whole town wears its veil down
And wrestles with some all-night clown
And he don't sleep
And he don't sleep

Long black veil
Long black
Long black veil
Long black
Long black veil
Long black
Long black veil
Tell me long black.

18. GOODBYE (To All That)

Wisecracks and hijacks
And contracts to sell
Old wine in new bottles
Times are the same
Diggin' the ditch quick
And quick to escape
The patent is pending
On flood tides and bones
Goodbye
To all that
Goodbye
To all that

Brittle and hollow
And sharp as the hills
It hasn't rained on us
In 25 years
Home fires burning
The branches of trees
No train well
No train has ever stopped here

Goodbye
To all that
Goodbye
To all that

Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up

Short cut to nowhere
Long haul to desperate
Roots in the cellar
And bombs in the pipes.
Don't call me river
I'd rather be nameless
River don't choose
What she carries away

Goodbye
To all that
Goodbye
To all that

Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up
Wake it up.

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