1. |
Lonely Night
01:56
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Everything's silent, everything's gray
The colors don't shine like they did in the day
When we were together, but now you are gone
And the silence is taking the place of my song.
It's hard, oh it's hard when lovers must part
And one ends up breaking the other one's heart
The loneliest dove that mourns in the pine
Is never so lonesome as I feel tonight.
I talk to the stars, the stars don’t reply
I look for the answers, the questions still lie
In the strange empty places that love used to fill
I try to forget you but I love you still..
It's hard, oh it's hard when lovers must part
And one ends up breaking the other one's heart.
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2. |
Bittersweet
03:03
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Hot summer day in my little hometown
House needs paint, kinda tumbledown
Just like me, tryin' to hold on
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
Dusty dark room at the top of the house
Air so still, quiet as a mouse
Years of my life in a cardboard box
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
Reached inside for the letters he wrote
Handful of dust and a trace of hope
Should I read 'em, burn em, hold em close
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
Lookin' at the pictures in my hand
Heartstrings pullin' to beat the band
Never gonna feel the same again
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
Little piece of ribbon round a lock of hair
Ticket stubs from the county fair
Can still hear the laughter in the air
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
Funny how the mem’ries come to call
When you're lookin' at the writin' on the wall
And it breaks my heart to leave it all
Bittersweet, bittersweet.
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3. |
Sweet South Anna River
05:06
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On the sweet South Anna River
Where the leafy waters flow
She whiled away her childhood days
In the sweet long ago.
Her voice echoes down the river
From the distant shores of home
Remember me, I am a queen
Don’t you cry when I’m gone.
CHO: And let the river carry me on
Past the redbud and the pine
And won’t you sing to me as I take my leave
You're gonna miss me all the time.
And when my life on earth is ended
And the music fades away
Don't lay me down in the cold dark ground
In some lonesome old grave
On the sweet South Anna River
Where soft breezes fan the air
Just lay me down in a silvery gown
Wild flowers in my hair.
Along the banks of the sweet South Anna
As far as eyes can see
As I pass by old friends of mine
Will wave goodbye to me.
Then goodbye my sweet South Anna
There's nothing can compare
Remember me, I was a queen
Wild flowers in my hair.
Remember me, I was a queen
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone.
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4. |
Tell Me Their Story
03:32
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Whose footsteps walked this garden path
Now tangled vines and weeds
Whose face looked out this darkened window
What did she see?
Did she run to meet a lover
Did she watch for his return
Tell me, oh tell me—their story again.
Whose voices rang from room to room
Now empty, still, and cold
Whose roughened hands soothed fevered brows
And quietned troubled souls
Who lived, loved here now are gone
As though they'd never been
Tell me, oh tell me—their story again.
What friends and neighbors gathered here
To lend a helping hand
What witnesses to well-lived lives
Who witnessed at the end
Just an old, torn curtain hangin'
In this broken window pane
Tell me, oh tell me—their story again.
Just an old, torn curtain hangin'
In this broken window pane
Tell me, oh tell me—their story again.
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5. |
Somebody Have Mercy
04:07
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Somebody have mercy on my soul
If it’s the lord that’s good as gold
But I’m not choosy cause this hole
I’m in it sure is dark & cold.
Every time I start to climb
I think of how I let him mess my mind
How he lied and he cheated, lordy back I slide
It sure is an awful place to hide.
Monday, Monday I went down
Tuesday, Tuesday lost a little more ground
Wednesday Wednesday I got a grip
But his memory got a hold
& Thursday I slipped
Friday Friday lost my mind
Saturday Saturday no respite
Today is Sunday hear my moan
Somebody have mercy on my soul.
Ain’t no elevator, ain’t no stairs
Great big sign – no exit here
Lotta wrong way streets, too many dead ends
Deepest old hole I’ve ever been in.
Every time I start to climb
I think of how I let him mess my mind
How he lied and he cheated, lordy back I slide
It sure is an awful place to hide.
Monday, Monday I went down
Tuesday, Tuesday lost a little more ground
Wednesday Wednesday I got a grip
But his memory got a hold
& Thursday I slipped
Friday Friday lost my mind
Saturday Saturday no respite
Today is Sunday hear my moan
Somebody have mercy on my soul.
Today is Sunday hear my moan
Somebody have mercy on my soul.
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6. |
Maybe This Time
03:38
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Here I go again
Falling in love again
Just when my boat of life had reached an even keel
O Lord it’s hard to know
If I’m headed for the undertow
And my lifeless form will ride the surges swell.
But maybe this time I’ll swim to shore
Or maybe wild waves will lift me o’er
Stowaway, castaway, come what may
Maybe this time love will find a way.
Here I go again
Giving my heart again
Hold it gently, don’t let it slip away
Into the stormy deep
And a dark and silent sleep
Til bruised and bleeding it’s tossed upon the shore.
But maybe this time the storms will pass
And maybe still waters will come at last
Stowaway, castaway, come what may
Maybe this time love will find a way.
Maybe this time love will find a way.
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7. |
Unexpected Love
02:15
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In unexpected places
In unexpected ways
After many hard fought battles
Game you learned how not to play.
In unexpected faces
At unexpected times
Unexpected love walks through the door
And take you by surprise.
CHO: And don’t you let it go now
Don’t you let it get away
Open up your heart now
Let love find it’s way to you, you, you, you.
In the unexpected quiet
Under unexpected skies
To an unexpecting heart love comes
In unexpected guise.
Somewhere on some journey
On some unexpected road
Love will overtake you
Unexpected, unbestowed
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8. |
Borderland
03:03
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Little girl laying in your cold cold bed
what’s this a-goin round inside your head
Wind whips a willow branch on the window pane
And Polly cries again.
CHO: Gone to the borderland
Gone to the borderland
Gone to the borderland
Headin’ for the borderland.
Flesh on flesh and bone on bone
Beggin’ for mercy in the room next door
I pray for tomorrow like I done before
A million times or more.
I cover my ears but I still hear
I cover my eyes but the evil’s there
I cover my head but the devil’s near
Hangin’ in the cloud of fear.
A crack in the storm in the black of night
Stillness comes with a crash and a cry
While the hoot owl moans, the cold wind sighs
Polly puts her hand in mine.
Creepin’ across the kitchen floor
Creepin’ thru the kitchen door
No one to keep us any more
Orphans in the storm.
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9. |
The Stranger
03:59
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It's an old memory he can't hold any more
It's a photograph who's edges are faded and torn
It's a look in his eyes as he smiles and he nods
As he smiles at a stranger
And I look back thru the years
And I smile thru my tears
I remember how life used to be
He was the man of my dreams since we were 16
And he smiled at me
I go to see him each day
But he's drifting away
Sometimes he don't know who I am
There's a big empty hole where he once filled my soul
When he smiled at me
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10. |
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Play me a song I can cry to
Sing me a song I can cry to
Cause there’s nothing, no not anything
No, there’s nothing in this whole wide world
Like a sad, sad song.
When I feel so down and out and my life seems so blue
My baby’s gone away or the world just treats me cruel
Then there’s nothing, not one thing,
No there’s nothing in this whole wide world
Like a sad, sad song
I don’t feel so lonesome when I hear Hank sing the blues
Could be that woman down the street’s been a-walkin in my shoes
No there’s nothing, no not one thing
There’s nothing in this whole wide world
Like a sad, sad song.
Play me a song I can cry to
Sing me a song I can cry to.
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11. |
Payday At the Mill
03:19
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I got a swing in my walk, I got a song in my talk
I’m a weekday workin’ woman, weekend queen
Time clock lady with a lazy dream,
I ain’t got no fancy furs, diamond rings or silks,
But I’m just right for Saturday night
It’s payday at the mill.
8 hours sewin up collars and sleeves
The pay’s too little and I gotta live cheap
So I stitch and I sew, I sew and I stitch
And all I get’s tired while the boss gets rich
But look out now I’m countin’ the hours, til I break out of this old jail
I’m just right for Saturday night
It’s payday at the mill.
Hard to be a working woman in a boss man’s world
If I slow down they’ll find another girl
But Saturday’s a-comin’ and the only time I’ll keep, is to the rhythm and the beat
Fancy duds, dancing shoes
Good times where you been hid
I’m just right for Saturday night
It’s payday at the mill.
Now there’s some weary mornings at quarter to 6
When I wish I had a man to bring a pay check in
But can’t have it all and you can’’t disagree that I come when I want, go when I please
So backstep you good old boys, I’m kicking up my heels
I’m just right for Saturday night
It’s payday at the mill.
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12. |
My Once True Love
03:54
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Do you ever think of me when the sun shines bright
Do you ever think of me when it rains
When your footsteps echo on a lonely street at night
My once true love
Do I sometimes cross your mind.
And do you ever think of me when the cold wind blows
When you’re sittin warm and quiet by the fire
In the sweeter moments memory brings into your life
My once true love
Do I sometimes cross your mind.
Now and then a word or deed will take me back in time
And I'll always want to know you're doing fine
For there was a time we thought we couldn't live without each other
And I'd like to think I sometimes cross your mind.
Do you ever think of me in the soft sunrise
As lovers slowly wake from their dreams
Does some fleeting memory linger in its flight
My once true love
Do I sometimes cross your mind.
Now and then a word or deed will take me back in time
And I'll always want to know you're doing fine
For there was a time we thought we couldn't live without each other
And I'd like to think I sometimes cross your mind.
My once true love
Do I sometimes cross your mind.
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13. |
Sun Keep Shining On Me
02:39
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Sittin in the sun feelin sexy
Smilin to myself, downright lazy lord
Got a good feeling
Sun keep shinin on me.
Wonder if my mind is a little bit hazy
Folks might say I was sunstroke crazy, lord
Got a good feeling
Sun keep shinin on me.
I had the can’t eat, can’t sleep
He walked out on me blues
I felt like a loser with nothin to lose
Til you come along and gave me a lift
High as a kite on a southwind drift
It ain’t your good looks or your long and tall
But babe you got something that made me fall
Got a good feeling
Sun keep shinin on me.
I had the can’t eat, can’t sleep
He walked out on me blues
I felt like a loser with nothin to lose
Til you come along and gave me a lift
High as a kite on a southwind drift
Ever since you sauntered thru my front gate
Got a little taste of honey now I can’t wait
Got a good feeling
Sun keep shinin on me.
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Alice Gerrard Durham, North Carolina
A singer and songwriter, Alice’s recordings with Hazel Dickens during the 1960s and ’70s influenced a generation of women musicians from Laurie Lewis to the Judds. Nominated for a Grammy in 2015, she was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Assoc. Hall of Fame in 2017. A documentary film about Alice, "You Gave Me a Song" premiered at the Full Frame Independent Film Festival in 2019. ... more
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