16 Horsepower - Teachers

(leonard cohen)

I met a woman long ago
Her hair the black that black can go,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Soft she answered no.

I met a girl across the sea,
Her hair the gold that gold can be,
Are you a teacher of the heart?
Yes, but not for thee.

I met a man who lost his mind
In some lost place i had to find,
Follow me the wise man said,
But he walked behind.

I walked into a hospital
Where none was sick and none was well,
When at night the nurses left
I could not walk at all.

Morning came and then came noon,
Dinner time a scalpel blade
Lay beside my silver spoon.

Some girls wander by mistake
Into the mess that scalpels make.
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to break.

One morning i woke up alone,
The hospital and the nurses gone.
Have i carved enough my lord?
Child, you are a bone.

I ate and ate and ate,
No i did not miss a plate, well
How much do these suppers cost?
We'll take it out in hate.

I spent my hatred everyplace,
On every work on every face,
Someone gave me wishes
And i wished for an embrace.

Several girls embraced me, then
I was embraced by men,
Is my passion perfect?
No, do it once again.

I was handsome i was strong,
I knew the words of every song.
Did my singing please you?
No, the words you sang were wrong.

Who is it whom i address,
Who takes down what i confess?
Are you the teachers of my heart?
We teach old hearts to rest.

Oh teachers are my lessons done?
I cannot do another one.
They laughed and laughed and said, well child,
Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?
Are your lessons done?

16 Horsepower - Bad Moon Rising

(creedence clearwater revival)

I see a bad moon rising
I see trouble on the way
I see earthquakes and lightning
I see bad times today


Chorus:
Don't go 'round tonight
Well it's bound to take your life
There's a bad moon on the rise

I hear hurricanes a blowin'
I know the end is comin' soon
I feel rivers overflowin'
I hear the voice of rage and ruin

Hope you've got your things together
Hope you are quite prepared to die
Looks like we're in for nasty weather
One eye is taken for an eye

16 Horsepower - Day Of The Lords

(joy division)

This is the room, the start of it all
No portrait so fine, only sheets on the wall
I've seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained
Where will it end?

These are your friends,
From childhood through youth
Who goaded you on, demanded full proof
Withdrawal pain's hard, it can do you right in
So distorted and thin, distorted and thin
Where will it end?

This is the car at the edge of the road
There's nothing disturbed,
All the windows are closed
I guess you were right, when we talked in the heat
There's no room for the weak,
No room for the weak
Where will it end?

This is the room, the start of it all
Through childhood, through youth,
I remember it all
I've seen the nights, filled with bloodsport and pain
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained
Where will it end?

16 Horsepower - Fire Spirit

(gun club)

I can see clearly from my diamond eyes
I'm going to the mountain with a fire spirit
No one will accept all of me, so the fire will stop

And for the straights that got fire cars
I'm going to the mountain with a fire spirit
No one will take all of me, and the fire will stop

I will be cheating the whole ritual
I'm going to the mountain with a fire spirit
No one will accept all of me, and the fire will stop

Someone weird read: "pen down a circle"
Yeah, someone left on a burned out world
Someone knows i'm dead as hell
Where the old north wind blows through southeast hell, yeah

And then john was betrayed by the machine
A proper circuit was a promise to me
I'm going up to the mountain to see
How blessing will set me free, yeah

I had to do something
I was wearing down
I was going down

Why can no one ever touch a fire spirit?
Why can no one ever hold a fire spirit?
Why can no one ever feel a fire spirit?

I am going to the mountain

Yeah, i can see clearly from my diamond eyes
I'm going to the mountain with a fire spirit
And no one will accept all of me, so the fire will stop

With too much patience and too much pain
I'm going to the mountain with a fire spirit
To make amends for all of me, and the fire will stop

16 Horsepower - Straw Foot

I guess you didn't hear me
When i told you for the first time
Well don't you worry
It won't be the last
All i need a floorboard
An' a wooden shoe
Step aside an' let my lady through

Hey foot, straw foot
Low we lay 'em down
Hey foot, straw foot
Up an' back around

See the high priest
He took my place
When the judge looks to me
He saw his son's face
Not gonna join you in
Your tower of babble, boy
Tired o' that talkin'
I'm sick o' that noise

Hey foot, straw foot
Low we lay 'em down
Hey foot, straw foot
Coverin' ground

I'm not alone
An' looks can be deceivin'
When we get down to it
You're talkin' when you
Should be leavin'
I've been to nebraska
It reminded me of spain
All the questions loaded
All my answers same

Hey foot, straw foot
Low we lay 'em down
Hay foot, straw foot
Coverin' ground

Let us not mince our words
Let's say it true this time
I need your forgiveness
Just like you need mine
Tell me how it is that
You don't want what he's given
It ain't no sin son
To be forgiven

Hey foot, straw foot
Low we lay 'em down
Hey foot, straw foot
All over town

16 Horsepower - Wayfaring Stranger (traditional)

I'm just a poor wayfaring stranger
Travelin' through a world of woe
Ain't no sickness, toil, nor danger
In that bright land to which i go

I'm goin' there to see my father
Said he'd meet me when i come
I'm only goin' over jordan
I'm only goin' over home

I know dark clouds gonna gather 'round me
I know my way it'll be rough and steep
Yet beautiful fields lie just before me
Where god's redeemed did vigils keep

I'm goin' there to see my loved ones
Gone before me one by one
I'm only goin' over jordan
I'm only goin' over home

I'll soon be free from earthly trials
This body rests in the orchard's yard
I'll drop this cross of self-denial
And go singing home to god

I'm goin' there to see my savior
To dwell with him no more to roam
I'm only goin' over jordan
I'm only goin' over home
I'm only goin' over home

16 Horsepower - Silver Saddle

Tonight you've caught your breath
You've lost your american spirit
If only i could catch my death yeah
Jus' give me long enough to fear it

Her talk ain't like the other girls
She takes my livin' at a glance
We hear the locust's rasp back and forth
An' through the thoughts the past does dance

Do i waste my time
Yeah well you know it
An' as i stroll through the room
See my features show it

Feel the hand on my shoulder
Yeah it calls me to dwell
Take a breath hard an' clear yeah
Like a hammer on a church bell

16 Horsepower - Splinters

Self sent a twister
A tearin' after me
Gonna bust my house to splinters yes
An' take all that's dear to me

You say you saw it comin' yeah
But still you did not flee
I was too weak i couldn't move
Held by growth of a tree

An' yes i fell upon that rock
I did not die jus' badly broken
An' in time my healin' it will come yeah
By the words that he has spoken
I fell upon that rock

Who is it now that loves you
Straight in the front door
An' crooked out the back yeah
What is it now you're a slave to
On your knees out in your shack

I fell upon that rock yeah
He's beyond the shadow
Of your doubt an' mine
He's no man's opinion
He is truth divine

Self sent a twister
A tearin' after me
Done bust my house to splinters yeah
An' took all that's dear to me

Who is it now that loves you
Straight in the front door
An' crooked out the back yeah
What is it now that you pray to
As your world begins to crack

I fell upon that rock yeah
He's beyond the shadow
Of your doubt an' mine
He's no man's opinion
He is truth divine

An' yes i fell upon that rock
I did not die jus' badly broken
An' in time my healin' came yeah
By the words that he had spoken

16 Horsepower - Poor Mouth

Is anything as lovely to me
As the truth in love
I'll take it over freedom any day
It brings me ever an' this time to my knees
An' on my knees i run away

Yes i know your sticks and stones they
They will easily break these bones an'
An' all my words come back to haunt me
I will put my strength into
The things left standing
I am hoarse with wild eyes
No debts outstanding

My hands are yours my brother
You can take my coat as well
My eyes are yours sister
And my heart, and my heart
In which he dwells

Heard the voice of my master callin' me
From deep in the hollow
Said that i must follow him there yeah
Is any place darker for me
With all them wolves about
Well it's a poor mouth that i wear

My hands are yours my brother
You can take my coat as well
My eyes are yours sister
And my heart, and my heart
In which he dwells

Livin' from hand to poor mouth
You an' me an' my secret south

16 Horsepower - Praying Arm Lane

Well hey i been down that a way
With a dream on my arm
Yet me an' my love we could not stay
We heard voices of children
An' by little hands were led astray

All the boughs bend for us
All the earth awaits thee
All the stones they will cry out
An' ev'ry tongue confess thee

Oh my dream come an' take me quickly
'fore the struggle take me
Yeah lay me down any way you choose
An' let the voices of our children wake me

The boughs they all will bend for us
An' all the earth awaits thee
All the stones they will cry out
Yes an' ev'ry tongue confess thee

An' though the word yes
It falls on deaf ears
It is spoken jus' the same
The word is stands
Look straight at ev'ry man
From kings down to the lay

Well i told it fast an' glad
The color of a sloe drink
Or so they say
So they say by the light of day
Hidden 'neath their wings
Of black, brown an' grey


The boughs they all will bend for us
An' all the earth awaits thee
All the stones they will cry out
An' ev'ry tongue confess thee

An' though the word yes
It falls on deaf ears
It is spoken jus' the same
The word is stands
Look straight at ev'ry man
From kings down to the lay

16 Horsepower - Nobody 'cept You (bob Dylan)

Nothin' 'round here to me that's sacred
'cept you, yeah you
Nothin' 'round here to me that matters
'cept you, yeah you

You're the one that reaches me
You're the one that i admire
Y every time we meet together
I feel like i'm on fire
Nothin' matters to me
And there's nothin' i desire
'cept you, yeah you

Nothin' 'round here i care to try for
'cept you, yeah you
Got nothin' here to live or die for
'cept you, yeah you

As a kid i'd hear it
Yes in church all the time
Make me feel so good inside
So peaceful, so sublime
Now nothin' does remind me of that
Old familiar chime
'cept you, yeah you

Used to run in the cemetery
Dance and run and sing when i was a child
An' it never seemed strange
But now i just pass mournfully by
That place where the bones of life are piled
I know somethin' has changed
I'm a stranger here and no one sees me
'cept you, yeah you

Nothin' anymore seems to please me
'cept you, yeah you
Your love hypnotizes me
An' holds me in its spell
Ev'rything runs by me
Just like water from a well
Ev'rybody wants my attention
Ev'rybody's got somethin' to sell
'cept you, yeah you

I'm in love with you
I'm in love with you

16 Horsepower - Just Like Birds

Little johanna girl of my prairie
Help me fill this house with living words
Further up an' further in
Let 'em fly from our lips
Just like birds
Just like birds

All that dark woods from pakistan
The glory the glory lodged inside
Strive to enter the narrow gate child
To the fountain that flows deep an' wide

He will never leave you
My much afraid
He waits patient
In our prayers unprayed

Now stay close to me
In an' amongst the trees
I'll carry your shoes child
You run an' play beneath the eaves

Our faith will come by the hearin'
A whisper in the leaves
Listen johanna hear his voice
In the drone of the bees

He will never leave you
My much afraid
He waits patient
In our prayers unprayed

16 Horsepower - Cinder Alley

Lovely lovely carol sue
I see the heel of the father
Crush the head of the serpent for you
An' that beast who found
His way up to your room
You know the one the one
Who's colors are never true
Yeah you do

Yet all the while 'neath
His banner you did stand
'neath the shadow of his wing
Do you remember
Sorrow stands near an' close at hand
Sorrow stands an' in sorrow's hand
The burning ember

He'll come a cinder
Fire call the kettle black
The dark can only hinder it
It will not hold you back
Nor tear you asunder

And the good shepherd
Lo he left all the others
An' went to look for you
Yes an' he did find thee
An' with bruised hands
He did unbind thee
Brought you out
Into the light of day

He'll come a cinder
Fire call the kettle black
The dark can only hinder it
It will not hold you back
Nor tear you asunder

O come and stand with me mother
As we wait for the master's voice
An' head that way together

He'll come a cinder
Fire call the kettle black
The dark can only hinder it
It will not hold you back
Nor tear you asunder

16 Horsepower - Clogger

Hey mister with your iron feet yeah
Never waver from your path
You think you got a way with somethin' boy
Well see his hand an' feel his staff
Hey you got a way with words alright yeah
An' quite a way with the ladies
Your thoughts are troubled
As you hang a left
No there ain't no maybes

Come an' sing me down
Give my conscience a poundin'
Come an' shake my ground lord
With the sound of heaven's houndin'

You're thinkin' when this is all over
We'll all sit back an' laugh
Well i don't think so friend 'cause
I done the math
And i ain't lookin' to gain any honor
No, no not among you thieves
I'll be right beside you though
In judgement on my knees

Come an' sing me down
Give my conscience a poundin'
Come an' shake my ground lord
With the sound of heaven's houndin'

Now here you come a draggin'
Jus' couldn't help yourself
Puttin' on your poor mouth an'
Takin' from his wealth
O you come up proper
You ride a faithless steed
Took you down the wrong road
Ye' in word an' in deed

Come an' sing us down
Give our conscience a poundin'
Come an' shake our ground lord
With the sound of heaven's houndin'

Come an' take our crowns lord
Give our conscience a poundin'
Come an' take our crown lord
With the sound of heaven's houndin'

16 Horsepower - Strong Man

the strong man he will kneel down
whalst angels strip him of cloak and crown
through bitter lips come vile breath
he is the last one to confess
there will be no pity for him
we must kill him where he stands
no there will be no mercy for him
nor for any of his klan
let there be no hesitation
get a rope an make it quick
each last breath come from his mouth
i will beat it out with a stick
pray boy you've no reservations
the word will be carried out
he is the one who brought down the son
let there be no doubt
there is power wonder workin' power
in the blood of the lamb
there is power wonder workin' power
in the precious blood of the lamb
he's seated on the right hand

16 Horsepower - The Partisan

(leonard cohen)

When they poured across the border
I was cautioned to surrender,
This i could not do;
I took my gun and vanished.

I have changed my name so often,
I've lost my wife and children
But i have many friends,
And some of them are with me.

An old woman gave us shelter,
Kept us hidden in the garret,
Then the soldiers came;
She died without a whisper.

There were three of us this morning
I'm the only one this evening
But i must go on;
The frontiers are my prison.

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
Through the graves the wind is blowing,
Freedom soon will come;
Then we'll come from the shadows.

Les allemands e'taient chez moi,
Ils me dirent, "résigne toi,"
Mais je n'ai pas peur;
J'ai repris mon âme.

[the germans were at my home
They said, "sign yourself,"
But i am not afraid
I have retaken my soul.]

J'ai change' cent fois de nom,
J'ai perdu femme et enfants
Mais j'ai tant d'amis;
J'ai la france entie`re.

[i've changed names a hundred times
I have lost wife and children
But i have so many friends
I have all of france]

Un vieil homme dans un grenier
Pour la nuit nous a cache',
Les allemands l'ont pris;
Il est mort sans surprise.

[an old man, in an attic
Hid us for the night
The germans captured him
He died without surprise.]

Oh, the wind, the wind is blowing,
Through the graves the wind is blowing,
Freedom soon will come;
Then we'll come from the shadows.

16 Horsepower - Ruthie Lingle

blue ruthie lingle take me home
sad eyed suzanna take me home
legs, thighs an navel you're the only one
goddess samantha take me home
black eyed rebecca take me home
here buxom gretta take me home
the curse of those red lips o me
leah samantha take me home
meek mother mary take me home
sweet sister sarah take me home
underneath the floor boards
down here eatin' dirt
seduce me samantha take me home

16 Horsepower - Scrawled In Sap

o the sky grey orange
an the walls stained blue
an i laid right down on the golden satin with you
into sween dark circles of beautiful eyes
i go round
o lord
i go round
will you tell me once again
cream white skin
you are my friend
i seen you walkin' and your white hips sway
o girl i will have you no more
to the moan in your voice
not a charm do you lack
your skin to touch as a black ravens back
but i cannot go far with these words as they rhyme
as to tell, of the pleasure, your hand in mine
an i pray as i say this song in this way
that your eyes they would close an your head begin to sway
an you'll feel how he heals with his blood on our skin
i am yours lady scrawled an thin
will you tell me once again
cream white skin
you are my friend
i seen you walkin' in your husband's way
girl i will have you more

16 Horsepower - Prison Shoe Romp

i've grown tired, of the words of the single man
hangin' lifeless on his every word -- o man
you don't understand dear man
the little angel held out her hand
sayin' father, father i love you
o praise jesus i got her
ok yeah billygoat an we'll play farm
i didn't mean to spirit stiff you
nor to doy you no harm
you say you've got a bone to pick
well, there's plenty showin' on me
come on up yeah bring your temper boy
we'll see, we'll see
yeah you may be the only one come on son
bring your blade and your gun
and if i die by your hand
i've gotta home in glory land
Red Neck Reel
Prison Shoe Romp
are ya listenin' boy the man he hung see
you've heard it said that's what he done for me
did ya hear that girl -- the man he calls your name
you best go to him it's he not me can loose your chains
then we'll commence to walk sometime in prison shoes
we'll walk an walk an walk away our blues
ida done better
from cradle to coffin
in between there's just too much walkin'
i ain't no odd man out -- junk hiding junk
i ain't nothin' to speak of
just put it in the back an leave it off the rack
no i ain't what you're used to
did ya taste that boy
that blood is as sweet as wine
yeh i got it on me all the time
we'll do some runnin' too
you me an ruby-lu
spin black blades an i'll unwind
just let me go to sleep the lord my soul to keep
don't talk just keep it on your mind
can't you see that sun shinin' in your face has the same
he came an took your place
but you don't give a rip an down to hell you slip
you squack and squack boy you lost your grip

16 Horsepower - Heel On The Shovel

i'm diggin' you a shallow grave
an to the sun your face i'll raise
i'm diggin' you a shallow grave
one hundred buzzards buzzin'
i seen death hangin' from the tallest tree
eyes closed no lookin' back at me
ye they came an took him in the night
the one who kissed em was greed
o everyone will see
an everyone will know
boy you reap what you sow
i'm diggin' you a shallow grave
an on your rotten bones i'll raise
yellow daisies
for my true loves hair
one hundred buzzards buzzin'
i see death runnin' from his majesty
o lord where is the fear in me
in between your praying hands
you hold the skeleton key