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Working Songs for the Drinking Class

by Cletus Got Shot

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1.
Gravedigger 03:20
If you are the grave digger, Who's gonna dig your grave? Set down your beer and listen clear To the question for your ears. Have you lost your job, Are you poor are you broken down? Come one all you Workers And sing along with me. I once met a man who lost his hand working for the man. I that was you, You're gonna have choose A better plan. Are you working hard for a cause That you can't stand? Then come on all you workers Sing along with me. I got one more thing to say Before I leave this stage. It's time we all make a stand Fight for our fellow man. Come on all you workers Sing along with me.
2.
What if Martin Luther King was a Mexican? Would he march would he sing For his fellow immigrant man? Would he preach to the crowd We should all have a meal Turn your smile to a frown When he asks to be part of the deal. Oh my god It's a brand new day With a whole new set Of problems for us all. Oh my god for us all. What if Jesus was a man In a factory Working hard for his pay Fighting for the rights Of you and me. Would he have a Union card And stop the dirty work Meet you in a bar And have a plan for those corporate jerks. I've got some news for you If you haven't heard It's down to me and you But we flew the coop With the birds. So it's time we make a stand And we find our voice So we started this band And we made this fight our choice.
3.
I heard about a man from Tennessee He got a one way ticket to Vegas To live a dream. With a roll of the dice He sacrificed Every bit of sanity I saw the lights of Vegas Sweep him clean. We sing: Oh Lord Takin my pay Oh Lord No where to stay Oh Lord Just bummin around today. I heard about a man in Arkansas He told me he was looking for a job Tried everything he could Did what they said he should But I saw Arkansas Take it all. I saw a gal Standing in some town Holding up a sign for down town. Looking for some work She just needs a little perk I saw society let her be. I've been to every town across this land I try to see the beauty The best I can but I look to the East and I look to the West Every chain has raped your land The best they can.
4.
Congressman 03:46
The mailman came by With a look in his eyes Nothing but bills for you So I mailed out a note And this is what I wrote No joke From me to you. Congressman, Won't you be a man? Fight for the working man, too? Just say no, Don't you sell your soul, Stand up and fight like a man. I got a letter you see Straight from D.C. With a coupon for a washing machine They told me to buy With all of my might This county is counting on me. So I went out and I bought The machine that I thought Was the best that money could buy. But lo and behold I was told That the CEO of General Electric Was none other than your congressman And mine That dirty rotten guy Congressman, Won't you be a man? Fight for the working man, too? Just say no, Don't you sell your soul, Stand up and fight like a man Fight for the working man, too.
5.
Well pour me another one before I go Make it a whiskey and a cup of joe 'Cause me and my friends Are gonna stay out All night long We're headed into the streets We're gonna march on by to the beat With a new song sung For the poor And broken down. I've been all over this land From the lakes to the desert sand It's the same old story I hear Day after day I lost my job last week And Uncle Sam turned his back on me And the guy with all the money Just took my very last dime. That might be you my friend But don't ya worry 'Cause it ain't the end There's people like you and me All over this world If you open up your eyes and see We have the power to be One people One voice And a brand new life
6.
Well it ain't no easy life Working for a price That never gets you out of debt It only makes you fret. Singin low Singin high Tomorrow is another day So I'm singing just the same I won't stay any place 'Cause traveling is my grace The tougher the road is Under my feet The stronger I will be I don't know where I'll go Just want to say hello To my fellow workers everywhere Telling stories with a flair I can't go singin free It ain't no thing to me The law man may be in my way But my voice is here to stay. Singin low Singin high Tomorrow is another day So I'm singing just the same
7.
Saw Mill 02:24
No work at the saw mill today, boys The bankers done took that away. They're probably working On Wall Street this morning but there's no work at the saw mill today. It all trickles down That's what Reagan says but it seems like it's trickled away And that ain't raindrops Falling on my head No somebody's been trickling on me. There's always been rich folk Always been poor folk There ain't nothing wrong with that Now the rich spend their money on Pills to stay skinny While we eat cheap food And get fat there's plenty of work in China If you want to be a dead coal miner And there's plenty of work in Taiwan If you want live in another pollutin Fish killing factory town. No work at the saw mill today, boys.
8.
Charlie Jones he don't take No guff No more Pick up your hammer And swing away You're working for the man next door Charlie Jones you don't take No guff No more Say goodbye To Uncle sam You're working For the man next door
9.
Mountain Top 03:14
I'm going to the mountain top I'm gonna see everything they got Hear every sound See every town I can I got a bookshelf full of words That no one has ever heard And the TV screaming at me Telling me how to be But when I look around my town It's nothing but a big old frown It's not as simple as the people On the TV make it out to be. I met a man along the way Who taught me how to pray And a teacher teaching me There's no god but you and me And a father working hard To keep the family farm And a banker telling me How to make a quick buck or two I met a man way down south With an elephant in his mouth And a jackass to the north That'll bore you to a snore And a town up in the west With a whole lot of socialists And a bit of anarchy In the big city
10.
Working Poor 02:55
I found a dollar That was blowing down the street So I went down to the deli To buy something to eat I waited in line 'Til it finally came my turn Then the deli man said Oh, son, why can't you learn You can't get nothing For a dollar anymore So would you kindly Show yourself to that door You can't get nothing for your dollar anymore You get nothing to eat If you're the working poor So I took my dollar to the banker On down the way They said he'd be open Later in the day I bided my time And I waited by patiently Then the banker man said Oh, son, why can't ya see You get nothing in the bank If you're the working poor So I took my dollar To the town's highest hill I said good luck Now blow where you will I watched it float away 'Til I could hardly see I hope it has some better luck than me You get nothing to eat Nothing in the bank Nothing in your pocket If you're the working poor
11.
This cold Is creeping in To my cell Once again Two more years Of winter Before I go I wish I had A whiskey For my soul I dream at night Of being free On the banks Of an open sea If you asked me I'd tell you true That this old place Is nothing new I am a man With a story For this land Beaten down Black and blue The life Of the radical man Is true Justice is my name And I'm taking All the blame Of the tears And the fears Of the fascist You call lovely Uncle Sam My name Is every man From coast to coast That this homeland Has made a ghost The FBI took me in And NPR Made me a sin
12.
What would you say to the child With hope and glee in his eyes What would you say of the future Of man and society He has a duty to the pocket Of the business man And a duty to the wealth Of a nations land All the hope in the world Couldn't change anything but dreams And all the lies in the world Couldn't help mankind to be What would you say to the man Who works his hands to the bone What would you call his life When he comes to the end of the road That he worked for the pocket Of the business man That he worked for the wealth Of a nations land All the work in the world Couldn't save him from wage slavery And all the lies in the world Wouldn't pay for his Funeral to be. What would you saw to the mother Who lost her only son What would you saw to the father With no name to pass Through this world That he fought for the pocket Of the businessman And he fought for the wealth Of a nations land All the guns in the world Couldn't fight for freedom's name And all the lies in the world Couldn't help a mother's pain What would you say if I told you None of this had to be The answer to that question's Here with your friends And not in DC This ain't just a honky tonk show Friends don't you worry You're not alone Take a good look Around this room And tell me what you see Every revolution starts with People like you and me Every revolution starts with People like you and me
13.
Come on everybody Let's take out the Fascists Come on everybody Let's reclaim the streets Come on everybody Just lift up your hands Lift up your hands And take down the man I've got my eyes closed tight To the people on the TV And my ears open wide To the world all around Like a whisper in the wind I hear the people in the corner Singing lift up your hands And take down the man Lift up your hands And take down the man And then a man In the back of the room Jumps on his chair The crowd turns around To see his face With eyes glowing red he says Lift up your hands And take down the man One by one The voices of America get louder They run through the streets With their eyes open wide They scream at the top of their lungs Lift up your hands And take down the man Lift up your hands And take down the man
14.
Don't ya blame me, son For the mess that we're in I've been looking for work Since two thousand ten I try and I try To do what is right That's why I'm out singing 'Til dawn's early light My Father was poor Like his father before It's a long long road That I'm fighting for I'm headed out On the road once again Singing these songs About the hell we are in Don't you ever give up, son On what you believe in Try hard to be Everything you can be To this mess we are in I'm sorry I don't Have enough for us all What I've got I'll give to you Always stand tall Three kids a wife And a mortgage to pay Trying my best Working hard every day I swallowed my pride And I asked Uncle Sam Any help you could give Would be mighty grand Uncle Sam he stood On the porch by the door He said beat it ya bum I've got guests here at four Don't you ever give up, son On what you believe in Try hard to be Everything you can be To this mess we are in

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Working Songs for the Drinking Class is the third full length album from Cletus Got Shot

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released April 27, 2012

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Cletus Got Shot Fayetteville, Arkansas

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