“Go Down to the Well”

"Go Down to the Well"

Lyrics

The album song list:

She Could Be Kind
Alone Again (Blue Moon)
Old Poole Farm Dream
Newman Tompkins
Ballad of the Open Stage
Two Moons
Worn Out Man Blues
Let Me Be Your Lover (Tonight)
Death in Ohio
Go Down to the Well

She Could Be Kind

Chorus:

She could be kind, she could be gentle,
Or she could tear the soul from right out of your heart.
To win her love, you must forget the past
Begin another day from the start.

To win her love you must be crazy

Because that's exactly what she is.

Why would you risk a life of pain and mental anguish

When you could leave that girl and heal your wounded heart?

Chorus.

She's certifiable. It's undeniable.

Why don't you face the truth, it's reliable?

Why don't you have your head examined by a professional,

Then dump that girl and heal your wounded heart?

Alone Again (Blue Moon)

I left my family in a hillside shack,

Going to the city, I ain't coming back,

Now I'm on my way, I'm gone.

Took me a ride on the new freeway.

I got to the city, that's when I had to pay..

I was on my way and gone.

Chorus:

Blue moon and I'm alone again,
Blue moon, you're my only friend,
Now I'm on my way, I'm gone.

That New York woman in the low cut gown,

She took me up, then she let me down,

I'm on my way, I'm gone.

Chorus.

Made a play for the money, win, place or show.

Lost my head, I lost my whole bankroll.

I'm on my way, I'm gone.

Chorus.

Going down to the river, I'm gonna take a swim.

Gonna go out, but I won't come in.

I'm on my way, I'm gone.

Chorus.

Old Pool Farm Dream

A man from Florida, and another from New York,

Met a third in a Pennsylvania town.

On the Old Pool Farm, music going round,

It's a lost weekend, we're sleeping on the ground.

Some thought we were crazy to sit out in the rain

Just to hear a young man sing the blues.

But the words rang true, and when the song was through,

We just wiped the mud off of our shoes.

Staying up all night, morning what a sight,

People walk around all in a daze.

Open up a beer, pass one over here.

I've got no where to go, I guess I'll stay.

Listen the music as it saturates the air,

Sit and watch the grass around me grow

I know I should get out of my chair

But I'm living like I wish I did all year.

Living like I wish I did all year.

When you've spent the night in a campfire light

Things are never quite the way they seem.

Drums begin to play, the women start to sway

Stars fall, men begin to dream.

This happened here, this happened there,

This happened while you were asleep.

You might have thought it was all in a dream,

But this is what we dreamed about all year.

This is what we dreamed about all year.

Neuman Tompkins

They found out that he paid for the knife

With the money he stole from the woman next door.

Wedding rings, TVs and things,

Were what he'd exchange for the pills in his veins

And the knife to kill Newman Tompkins.

Christmas neared as he reached for the knife,

Put on his white pants, and went out in the night.

And the cost of his living, the price he put on life,

Was the quarter they found on the ground

'Neath the body of Newman Tompkins.

Newman Tompkins went down to the bar

Where he'd been every night since his wife passed away.

He was alone and when he started home.

He was tracked from the back by a man with a knife

Who was looking for Newman Tompkins.

His cries of help turned to cries of pain

As he turned and tried to run again,

But the knife slit him deep

And he started to weep

At the cold of the steel and the burning inside.

Alicia and John, they were home alone.

They just finished dinner and put the TV on.

And to cries in the night, they saw a man with a knife,

Bend over a body and take out a life,

The life of Newman Tompkins.

And the two who had seen stepped into the dream,

And talked to policemen who gave out their names,

And asked for descriptions, where had they been,

But the kids only told us that we should have seen

The body of Newman Tompkins.

Down at the market they talk of the murder,

And the women speak of their sons and their fathers.

Someone said later that they saw Newman's daughter

She said "Oh, what a lovely Thanksgiving we had,

When Newman was here."

Newman Tompkins is a new man tonight;

The star that he followed went out like a light.

He got weary of life, he went off on his own;

He got weary of death; he went out like a song.

Ballad of the Open Stage

Annie and I we used to go the bars.

She'd let me take her anywhere under the stars.

She used to come along when I'd go out to play.

I heard about a place, it wasn't too far,

So I picked up my lady and grabbed my guitar

And this is how I came to write a song about the Open Stage.

But when I walked in that Tuesday evening what was I to see

My good friend Eddie with a woman who was a stranger to me.

Well it's a song about a place with an open stage

Where I went down, they were gonna let me play

In between the sets of the Rhythm Rockers Band.

They'd go off and I'd go on

To entertain the waitresses making their rounds

And everybody's gonna love to hear what I have to say;

But to see my good friend Eddie there, it took me by surprise

Staring into the universe of a woman with stars in her eyes.

It's also a song about love in disguise,

The danger of a woman when you look in her eyes,

The danger of a song when it's sung up on the stage.

'Cause later that night when the house lights dimmed,

The Rhythm Rockers got up to do their thing,

I was to see a side of Eddie I thought I'd never see.

But before this whole thing happened, I stepped up to the bar,

Said "Hello" to Eddie and the woman who was hung on his arm.

At first it was like he didn't know I was there

Then he turned around and gave me a stare

Then he smiled and put his hand upon my arm.

I asked about his job and ordered a beer,

I didn't bother asking if his wife was here,

He was introducing me to the lady by his side.

He said her name was something else, I could not believe the rest;

Nothing was as embarrassing as when Eddie put his hand on her breast.

I looked away, I said I'll be right back,

I went out to have a smoke

I talked to the man who set up for the band.

He said the rhythm rockers were about to go on

So I might as well relax and wait for my turn,

So I joined sweet Annie at a table along the wall.

I could see my good friend Eddie there in the corner of my eye,

One hand on a mug of beer, the other on the lady's beautiful thigh.

I thought about Linda who was Eddie's wife,

I thought about the woman that he was holding tight,

And I thought Annie who was sitting' by my side.

I thought about the thrill of love in disguise,

The danger of a woman when you look in her eyes

And the band started playing an old Hank Williams song. . .

"Your cheatin' heart. . ."

Soon everything was happening at once,

The band was cookin' startin' to jump

When a cold breeze came in through the open door.

There stood Linda in a cloud of surprise,

Eddie was looking her straight in the eye

As he released the lady from a deep embrace.

Her eyes lit up like the rising sun, his heart set in his chest;

Linda picked up the nearest bottle and threw it straight at Eddie's head.

The first bottle nearly pinned his head to his ear,

The second one broke off and fell in his beer,

The third one knocked him clean across the bar.

Buy this time Annie had me by the arm,

Out in the street, into the car,

And we pulled out before the door swung closed.

The sound of breakin' bottles is all that I recall;

I can't forget I was soakin' wet with the smell of wasted alcohol.

Well I never got a chance to sing that night,

Eddie never got a chance to set things right with Linda.

She got married to another man,

Eddie's still goin' with a one-night-stand

And I'm still up here singin' my songs for free.

Well the moral of this story, if there's one that must be had,

You never have a chance to be good, until you've had a chance to be bad.

Two Moons

We touched down on a foreign world, just to dig the mines.

I put my hands into the earth, left my heart behind.

Annie was a kitchen maid, the only comfort there.

She's doing well, that's what I hear.

Leaving home for a better life, we crossed the Milky Way.

Sleeping in the freezing hull, get drunk every day.

Playing cards on credit, 'till our sun was far away.

When we came into phase I owed them two year's pay.

Chorus 1:

Love is a stone that you carry to your grave.
Sometimes like a good luck charm, sometimes a weight.
If only Annie would come back here again
I would do anything, we could ship out for the moon.

Going to the mine each day, the first moon is on the rise.

Coming home in the dust at night, the second is in the sky.

Someone said there is a time they cross about mid-day.

Well I don't know, I never see the light of day.

Chorus 2:

Two moons are always in my eyes;
One that glows in the morning mist, one that sets at night.
If only Annie could come back here again
I would do anything, we could ship out for the moon.

Sometime back in my seventh year I finally got ahead.

Got myself a private room, a kitchen and a bed.

A letter from a lawyer came, it said that I was dead.

Well I don't know, it was addressed to me.

Chorus 1.

Annie shipped out years ago I was working in the mine.

Nothing left to hold her, nothing left behind.

I look out on a crowded sky with nothing left to lose,

She's doing well, I just can't move.

Chorus 2.

Chorus 1.

Worn Out Man Blues

Chorus:

He was a worn out man living in a can of blues.
She was a worn our woman walking in worn out shoes.
They had a worn out love,
Then they got the worn out blues.

He said she was young, he said she was pretty,

He thought that she was the queen of the city.

He said that he thought that she would be ok.

At least with her he wouldn't have to pay

the price of the ride.

He was a man of the world, and easily fooled

By the sight of a beautiful girl.

She thought the world was made our of dollar bills.

He thought that love was made out of endless thrills,

deep in the night.

Chorus.

She said: "You take me to bed, you play with my head,

Did you mean all the things that you said?

What made you think I would be a fool for you?

And what made me think I could ever risk your love

by going away?"

But later they learned the tables were turned.

She was as hot as the bridges they burned.

And he was as cold as the words she heard him sing.

But the song only said "I hope you find a love

one of these days."

Let Me Be Your Lover (Tonight)

First you say you love me, then you say you don’t.

Honey I’m so hung up on you tonight.

Think about the crackling fire, and don't say you won't,

Think about me in your arms tonight.

Sleeping in another room, sitting looking at the moon

I didn’t mean to cause you so much pain.

Smoke another cigarette and think about your loneliness

Take another walk in the rain.

First you say you love me, then you say you don’t

Honey I’m so hung up on you tonight.

Sad to see you lonely, didn’t want to make you cry.

All I did was ask you for a ride.

I don’t want to take your jewels, your precious diamond rings.

I don’t think that you could stand the loss.

I don’t want to take your world and fill it up with things.

Only wanted to be your lover tonight.

Death in Ohio

I never meant to take the knife against you.

I never meant to hold it to your heart.

I never meant to hold I blade against your soul.

I only meant to hold you near touch your hair

and hear you call me "Dear."

Chorus:

How can you sleep at night knowing that my body lies
Beside the river in the dark?
How could you walk away, how could you turn and lay
The knife, bloody, on the banks of the Ohio?

I followed you that day you went out walking.

All along the river we were talking.

I told you of my love but that was not enough.

You only looked at me and laughed, tossed your head

and turned to walk away.

Chorus.

I sat beside your body by the river.

Blood flowing like it was water.

I watched you as you flowed into the Ohio.

I watched you as you looked in fear, eyes fading,

lips moving....Why?

Chorus.

Go Down to the Well

Chorus:

Go down to the well
Go down on your own
Go down to the well
Bring that water home

When I saw him lying

Lying in his death bed

When I heard his spirit leaving

This is what he said.

Chorus.

That song was sung for peace

That song was like a friend

That was sung for justice

That song it has no end.

Chorus.

When an old friend comes to see you

And he leaves you with a song

You cannot turn your head

You've got to sing along.