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LYRICS

FOOL'S GOLD

 

 

Gathered around, some bar, some town

One More in an endless string of days

Freedom’s just a dream that not many men have seen

Those that do they try to drink the though away

 

What would you say if I told you about a place

Where you could reach down and pull gold right out the creek?

You’d better choose fast this could be your only chance

Let it pass you’ll be forever blue and weak

 

Come on boys, there’s gold to be found

Hiding under northern ground

We’ve got the plan, if you’ve got willing hands

And there’s nothing left for you in your hometown

You could turn your life around

 

Take a boat to a place where there’s no roads

See the footprints of a hundred thousand men

Start the trail with a hundred miles up hill

There’ll be a thousand more until you reach the end

 

There were no claims left to stake when most men reached the place

Where the Klondike and the Yukon rivers flow

Whiskey, whores, and thieves and Canadian police

Thirty thousand men without a hope

 

Sorry boys, there’s nothing to be found

And you’re standing on somebody else’s ground

Make what you can digging for another man

You might be awhile in town

Or you can turn your ass around

 

It all happened so fast, like the burning of a match

And it faded just as quick as it began

For a hundred years and more, we all heard the tale and swore

That never would they take us in again

 

But the fisheries collapsed and the factories hit the tracks

And all the little farms are getting sold

And I heard about a place they pay five hundred bucks a day

Just for sitting in a loader digging holes

 

Come on boys, there’s black gold to be found

Hiding in Alberta ground

We’ve got the plan if you’ve got willing hands

And there’s nothing left of your hometown

You could turn your life around

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SNOWFLAKES IN THE SUN

 

 

It’s cold and I ain’t used to it because it’s been warm awhile

Too long since I’ve seen the light of day

The sun goes down real early now and I’m waking pretty late

But we both never fail to rise back up again

 

You’ll go crazy thinking about the past

You’ll lose your mind, trying to forget

So carry on, there’s nothing to be done

It’s all gone like snowflakes in the sun

 

The city’s frozen solid and the exhaust hangs in the air

Just hovering like a ghost of yesterday

Like the snow upon the concrete, so deep beneath my feet,

Seems her memory is moving in to stay

 

You’ll go crazy thinking about the past

You’ll lose your mind, trying to forget

So carry on, there’s nothing to be done

It’s all gone like snowflakes in the sun

 

There must be a dozen places I would rather be

Than downtown Whitehorse in the winter

Just wandering through these empty streets and freezing to the bone

But I was colder when I was with her

 

Still every step I take in town reminds me of her face

The times we had and the ways that I went wrong

But the ravens talking at me while they’re flying overhead

Make me think it might be time for moving on

 

You’ll go crazy thinking about the past

You’ll lose your mind, trying to forget

So carry on, there’s nothing to be done

It’s all gone like snowflakes in the sun

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THE OLD 98

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It’s darker than sin when you walk through the door

Of that old one-room bar with the uneven floor

The fireplace is burning and the lights are down low

Around nine in the mornings a good time to go

 

Find a stool at the bar, sit yourself down

If you ring that old bell, you’ll be buying a round

Don’t ask for no tab, don’t hold up the line

It’s cash on the bar, one drink at a time

 

It’s a lowdown, it’s broke down,

A reminder of what used to be life in this town

There ain’t too much that time will not change

But they’re still holding on at the old ‘98

 

Most folks that you see here come in everyday

Some folks ain’t allowed to but they try anyway

They’re in from the Junction, or down from Old Crow,

Or hitchhiked from Carcross at forty below

 

It’s a lowdown, it’s broke down,

A reminder of what used to be life in this town

There ain’t too much that time will not change

But they’re still holding on at the old ‘98

 

Most times there’s laughing, sometimes there’s fights

There’s Joe Loutchan fiddling if its Thursday tonight

There’s guns on the ceiling and furs on the wall

And a picture of Barney looks down on it all

 

And it’s a lowdown, it’s broke down,

A reminder of what life used to be in this town

There ain’t to much that time will not change

But they’re still holding on at the old ‘98

Yea they’re still going strong at the old ‘98

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WAITING ON A PAYCHEQUE

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I’ve been working, I’ve been playing

I’ve been working, but I’m still saying

I’m a little short, a little short today

So just lend me some money and I’ll be on my way

 

I just got paid, but it ain’t too clear

Where my money’s gone, how did it all disappear?

I woke up broke, so if you wouldn’t mind

Just buy me a beer, and I’ll get you back in time

 

‘Cause I’m waiting on a paycheque, when I get it I will pay you back

For loaning me the funds I lacked, I’m waiting on a paycheque

I’m waiting on a paycheque, when I get it I will get you back

For buying me the beer I didn’t have, I’m waiting on a paycheque

 

Well I just made rent, I had a couple of bucks

I went downtown, but now I’m down on my luck

It’s the same old song, it happens again and again

So won’t you lift me up, and won’t you help me out my friend?

 

‘Cause I’m waiting on a paycheque, when I get it I will pay you back

For loaning me the funds I lacked, I’m waiting on a paycheque

I’m waiting on a paycheque, when I get it I will get you back

For buying me the beer I didn’t have, I’m waiting on a paycheque

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EVERYBODY DANCE

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Everybody dance, Everybody dance

I take my hat off, give you one more chance

 

Everybody sing, everybody sing

I sit right down here, give you a diamond ring

 

I’m not even angry, feeling misunderstood

So darling let your hair fall down

Feeling bad, ain’t feeling too good

 

Let’s go outside, let’s go outside

It’s a beautiful evening, let’s go for a drive

 

Look at all the trees, look at all the trees

All the pretty lights, lit up for you and me

 

I’m not even angry, feeling misunderstood

So darling let your hair fall down

Feeling bad, ain’t feeling too good

 

Just count to ten, just count to ten

We can start all over, try to do it again

 

I’m not even angry, feeling misunderstood

So darling let your hair fall down

Feeling bad, ain’t feeling too good

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SINCE THE FARM GOT SOLD

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Hear that midnight train, coming down the track

Here it comes, if I get on I’m never coming back

Going where the weather suits my clothes

Ever since the farm got sold

 

Well my daddy was a farmer, my grandad he was too

I was one, but not for long, there was nothing I could do

A letter came that said the bank foreclosed

And then the farm got sold

 

I couldn’t catch a break and I couldn’t catch the rain

The crops all died, the well went dry, and that’s when the banker came

He said sometimes it’s just the way it goes

And then the farm got sold

 

Babies, little babies, three babies and my wife

They’re sitting home waiting on me thinking I’ll be back tonight

Guess they’re gonna wake up all alone

Ever since the farm got sold

 

I couldn’t catch a break and I couldn’t catch the rain

The crops all died, the well went dry, and that’s when the banker came

He said sometimes it’s just the way it goes

And then the farm got sold

 

Well hear that midnight train, smoking down the line

Every mile it goes it gets a little farther from my mind

Guess it just ain’t in my blood to roam

Even though the farm got sold

 

Lord I’m gonna make my way back home

Even though the farm got sold

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WISH

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It’s cold in these trenches, snow’s driving down

It’s piling up inches, that blood tainted ground

 

Wish I had whiskey, I wish I had rum

Should never have been here, should never have come

 

I ain’t seen my family, in two-hundred days

Queenstown couldn’t kill me, we left Blackrock ablaze

 

I don’t know why I bother, I don’t know why I care

Should never have come here, should have never left there

 

I walked in there blindly, unawares, unprepared

The cannon and grapeshot, few to be spared

 

On the way to them rapids, the Redman brought the fight

Our blue blood lay waste there, on our lone Savior’s night

 

Wish I had whiskey, I wish I had rum

Should never have been here, should never have come

 

Now I lay here bloody, froze deep through my bones

I weep for my loved ones, Kentucky my home

 

I wish for my family, a warm Christmas sun

I wish to our Lord, how I wish I could come

 

Wish I had whiskey, I wish I had rum

Should never have been here, should never have come

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DRUNKEN GOODNIGHT

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Babe I’m gonna get gone, I got my boots on

Now all I gotta find is the door

Because I can’t stand to hear you taking his lip

Son of bitch, I’d like to knock him to the floor

 

I didn’t come here looking for no trouble

Lord knows that it’s a small small town

And I’d take a swing if it was just the one thing

But it ain’t, and word gets around

 

You might say it ain’t my place, who’s to say?

Between the both of us I’d guess you’re probably right

I don’t understand, why you hang around with him

but you know you got the right

 

I shouldn’t think so much when I’ve been drinking

I sure as hell ain’t trying to shine you on

It’s just any fool could see, he just ain’t the kind you need

As for me, I just wanted you to know

 

Babe I’m gonna get gone, I got my boots on

I gotta ways to walk to make it home tonight

I might’ve said too much, you know that’s tough

between the both of us we’ll forget it all by daylight

 

It’s just a word from an old friend to another,

I like to see you do the best that you can do

You go do what you like, darling, I’ll just say goodnight

It’s alright, and it’s been nice to see you too

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