1. |
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Wakin' up cozy in the arms of my girlfriend
Body's happy and my heart's so full
Make a little breakfast for my Love and her husband
He's a poet and an intellectual
Slicin’ onions for my partner and her partner
Crackin’ eggshells and grindin’ beans
Wouldn’t wanna change her, wanna show her how I love her
So when I bring her coffee cup she’s knows what it means
I couldn't know the ways we'd get connected
I know it's not what my folks were thinkin' of
And you may feel ya gotta be what is expected
But ya gotta
Tell the truth and shame the devil with your love
Mornin' trio, in the early city sunlight
Sittin' by the window, gazin' at the sky
Gettin' so peaceful, as I sit with somethin' so right
Get a little coffee buzz with my love and pride
I couldn't know the ways we'd get connected
I know it's not what my folks were thinkin' of
And you may feel ya gotta be what is expected
But ya gotta
Tell the truth and shame the devil with your love
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2. |
Party Like Willie
03:12
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Well Willie quit drinkin’
That shit made him crazy
He’d pawn his guitar
And get wasted and lazy
Ol’ Willie’d get violent
And then catch a beatin’
Thank Goddess that chapter
Of drinkin’ was fleetin’
He decided the green stuff
Could win on the merit
Cocaine sped his ego
And cigs killed his parents
So to learn from the Stranger
How to while away the hour
Gonna party like Willie,
Put my flame to the flower
Well Gram changed my journey
Redirected my pilot
No need to hurry
Slow drive in the quiet
A song for your Grama
A song a’ wild careenin’
Thank Goddess these borders
Have a-limited meanin’
But I’m sorry to say it
And still it’s heartbreakin’
The bottle and the needle
Stole the sound he was makin’
And it’s a hard thing to know
But I am what I am
Gonna party like Willie
Blow kisses to Gram
Love you Gram!
Well it’s good for the writer
The painter, the dancer
It’s good for my Dad
In a fight against cancer
Gonna bike my canal
In my New Amsterdam
Gonna party like Willie
Blow kisses to Gram
Yeah party like Willie
Blow kisses to Gram
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3. |
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My Daddy’s Dad he caught a ride
On a ‘Magic Carpet Ship’
Rode home in 1945
With a bullet in his hip
He woulda followed Eisenhower to the belly of the sun
Fought a nasty conflict with the bottle, another war he won
He never liked to talk a lot
About the things he saw
But he hated nazis even more
Than he loved Omaha
I’m sorta glad he’s not around
To see ‘em rise from the underground
Good God his anger woulda been profound
To see the soul of his Party gettin’ dead and drowned
Go from something good to something Oh So Bad
Grampa woulda been so mad
Gramps woulda been so mad
My Mama’s brother had real long hair
And he smoked that silly stuff
And even though he felt that it wasn’t fair
Well his number wasn’t high enough
His hair was short and his heart was scared when he landed in Saigon
And in the end he lost a leg, but he found his best friend John
They never liked to talk a lot
About the things they saw
But John and Jacob loved to laugh
About basic in Louisiana
Well John passed on by his own hand
And now Jacob has a hard time understanding
‘They said our dumb war was to take a stand
Keep a Russian dictatorship from expanding
Now the new boss loves the new Russian lunatic
Good God it woulda made John sick
God it woulda made John sick
Well good ol’ Kate she was my prom date
But she never was more than a friend
She went for ROTC at State
I studied art at the U of M
Something changed in both of our brains on the day the towers fell
And war gave us different kinds of urgency, ringing out like a bell
She never liked to talk a lot
About the things she saw
But one drunk night she opened up
About the Battle of Baqubah
It sure is hard to overstate
How it broke my heart to hear how she hated
The new people coming into our state
And the border wall that she advocated
And it made me think ‘What has happened to my friend?
And how is this gonna end?
How is it gonna end?
And one day if you say you gotta punch a nazi
Good God I hope you do,
But they say there’s a beast in everyone
I hope you learn to sooth her too
What are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
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4. |
Dolly & Jesus
04:36
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This is a song about a young teacher
A homeless guy roaming the land
A Jewish subversive, outlaw preacher
A writer whose stories were Radical
I’m bringing this up to awake and remind us
They’re using this hippie to beat us
So let me sing loud and let me sing clear
You can’t keep Dolly and you don’t own Jesus
He sure wasn’t white, he sure wasn’t hateful
He knew how to handle his fear
His healthcare was free, his essence was grateful
His giving was never austere
My teacher’s been hijacked by bigots and assholes
By grifters and posers and the KKK
Afraid of the queers and afraid of the border
But we shall overcome some day
He didn’t have much just some bread and some fishes
And friendship and stories and wine
And everyone ate and it was delicious
But pretty punk rock at the time
‘Cause he was reforming his old time religion
Saying ‘Radical Kindness can free us.’
Inviting the outlaws, inviting the ladies
You can’t keep Dolly and you don’t own Jesus
You know they twisted his words
Cut books from the bible
They fought the crusades in his name
He would have been pissed
And overturned tables
He fought against money and judgement and shame
He fought against violence and status and blame
He fought for the crazy and the sick and the lame
And if you came to dinner no matter your name
He wash off your feet, say ‘I’m glad that you came.’
You can’t keep Dolly, you don’t own Jesus
So come to the water, Muslims and homos
Have some bread and fish and wine
Come to the water, trans folk and pilgrims
If you’re broke or broken or wealthy or fine
If you’ve got a body than you are invited
Don’t listen to trolls who won’t give you time
When fascists-in-training say your life is a crime
You can’t keep Emmylou or old Steve Earle
You can’t keep Willie or Waylon or Merle
You can’t keep Dolly and you don’t own Jesus
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5. |
Queer Kids In Red States
03:33
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She was six or seven
And wanna watch the dancin’ on TV
She knew her Mom didn’t like Ellen
But dancin’ was somethin’ she wanted to see
The dancin’ was somethin’ she had to see
The summer he turned thirteen
The minute his folks’d walk out the door
He’d cuddle his dog, wear his Mom’s red shoes and say
We’re not in Kansas anymore
We’re not in Kansas anymore
You may feel alone but I swear it’s not the case
You can make it through I’m talkin’ to you
Queer Kids in Red States
Comin’ ta end their senior year
They weren’t a girl they weren’t a boy
To learn of thing called genderqueer
Well it spiked their senior year with joy
It filled their queer little heart with joy
Won’t ya listen to Uncle Dan
It can get better I know that it can
Don’t ya quit you can make it right
If ya learn to breathe or learn to leave
Or learn how to stay and fight
He came out at seventy
Retirin’ from the university
He didn’t know what would come to be
But I’d never seen him so young and free
I’d never seen him so young and free
You may feel alone but I swear it’s not the case
You can make it through I’m talkin’ to you
Queer Kids in Red States
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6. |
Tomato Christmas
04:26
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August is Tomato Christmas
It is the hap hap happiest season of all
August is Tomato Christmas
A little bit of heaven before the Fall
And in the morning, I am awakened
By that bright tangerine on the water and sky
The birds are fishing, the fish are jumping
And the corn's as high as an elephant's eye
August is Tomato Christmas
It is the hap hap happiest season of all
August is Tomato Christmas
A little bit of heaven before the Fall
And when the chills come, that taste of Autumn
Oh the Summer's ripe in the face of its death
And all the spirits of the departed
Carry our boat over the lake with the force of their breath
August, she will come again
The hummingbirds will hum again
Oh August, let me kiss you
'Cause oh my God I'll miss you
August, die she must.
First you pick one, and then you slice one,
And then you salt and pepper and savor a bite
And then you taste one, and then feel grateful
For all the earth and air and the rain and the light
With August coming to her rest
Soon they’ll drink Octoberfest
And the Dead live in the wind
And the book's more ripe as it nears the end
The book's more ripe as it nears the end.
August, die she must
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7. |
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An old folks physician, a small town doc
She gathered the family to talk
She said ‘I’m sorry to say it,
But I’m sworn not to lie:
‘Your father is gonna die.’
Well it must be a comfort
When you tell a hard truth
To know it’s the thing you must do
Like a good pair ‘a headlights
On a long country road
A person has gotta have a code
A DC reporter on a mid-night call
She learns who is takin’ the fall
And if they learn who her source is
He’s out of a job
Not to mention the Russian mob
When they’re angry and desperate
And threatening you
It’s damn good to know what to do
Like a good pair ‘a headlights
On a long country road
A person has gotta have a code
Well it’s sorrowful strange
And it sure isn’t funny
That some people’s codes
Are just ego and money
I think it must feel like a forest at night
Getting lost in the woods with no light
She walks into her courtroom
And everyone stands
The choosing is in her good hands
She says I made my decision
Come to what I must say
And I’m halting this action today
Well I find it a comfort
In this frightening age
Different codes seem to find
The same page
Like a good pair of headlights
On a long country road
A person has gotta have a code
Yeah
A person has gotta have a code
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8. |
Truth & Reconciliation
04:24
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First-born of this American Republic
Son of this American Dream
I hope it’s not the first time you’ve heard this
But Country isn’t what it seems
This land is yours, this land is my land
We’ve all inherited the past
I hope it’s not the first time you’ve heard this
The way it is ain’t built to last
I take my American music cosmic
God knows these American sins run deep
I just want some truth and reconciliation
For this blood-stained bounty we’ve got but we can’t keep
All you need to write a great county song
Three chords and a little honesty
I think that they were trying to write a great country
On a violence they didn’t want to see
I take my American music cosmic
Can’t wish these American sins away
I just want some truth and reconciliation
For this land and labor my ancestors stole
And handed along to me
We’re funded by injustice still today
The thing I want from country music
Is what I want from my country
We’ve gotta find a way to talk through
The fear of our complicity
It’s why we fetishize forgiveness
Because we’ve got a lot to bear
Just want some truth and reconciliation
For this land of hope and violence and despair
Just want some truth and reconciliation
For this land of hope and violence and despair
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9. |
This Too Shall Pass
03:52
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There's a way a body breaks down
When y’ learn a love ain't gonna last
Even as a body melts into the floor
This too shall pass
War is over if you want it
Hope is dark and deep and vast
And it's frightening how powerful we are
This too shall pass
There's a day that's bright and perfect
Your love is lying in the sun
And we're all gonna die but nothing passes away
Love won't be undone
System’s bloodied up and broken
It's a-headin' for a crash
That's a threat but honey it's a promise too
This too shall pass
Remember Time, it ain't a straight line
More like a shattered looking-glass
And the Love we made is never really gone
Time don't work like that
There's a day that's bright and perfect
Your love is lying in the grass
And the universe is humming along
This too shall pass
And a circle has no ending
So you never make it home
But yer' perfect day is still alive somewhere
And you are not alone
Yeah that perfect day is still alive somewhere
And you are not alone
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10. |
Horizon Line Guy
04:27
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I’m a horizon line guy
Take a look in the distance
The endless sky
I grew up on the prairie
So yer quiet won’t scare me
Or make me shy
Please don’t fence me in
Goodbye what might-a been
Again, and again
We make ourselves fine
My thanks, horizon line
That line — she’s a vision so ancient
We’re so young on the planet
It’s humbling me
Goddess, may this little blue spaceship
Make it through ‘til the mountains
Shall crumble to the sea
Please don’t fence me in
Ol’ Blue she’s still in spin
Again, and again
We make ourselves fine
My thanks, horizon line
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Eric Holm Houston, Texas
radical queer country music // Houston via South Dakota // music for very young people as Teacher Eric // inventor of Tomato Christmas
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