1. |
Westbound
03:41
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Rolling across the prairies, and I’m crying out a tune
Rolling across the prairies, and I’m howling at the moon
I had to leave my home back east, I just couldn’t hang around
Now I’m rolling across the open plains on a CNR westbound
Rolling across the prairies, and I’m moaning out the blues
Rolling across the prairies, under sky-blue prairie hues
I had to leave my home back east, even though I love that town
Now I’m rolling across the open plains on a CNR westbound
Rolling across the prairies, and this train is singing too
Rolling across the prairies, hear the whining woo-hoo-hoo
I had it all at home back east, but things were looking down
Now I’m rolling across the open plains on a CNR westbound
Rolling across the prairies, hear the clicking of the rails
Rolling across the prairies, as the locomotive wails
I’m sad to leave my home back east, but I love these lonesome sounds
Now I’m rolling across the open plains on a CNR westbound
Rolling across the prairies, and those steel wheels start to roar
Rolling across the prairies, as they stand up to the chore
I’m glad I left my home back east, ‘cause now my rhythm has been found
‘Cause I’m rolling across the open plains on a CNR westbound
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2. |
Down By The Creek
02:58
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Hear that babbling brook go bubbling by
I’m finkin’ of finding some fish to frippity fry
Down by the creek, whether weather’s bright or bleak
Just a rod and a line, some tackle and time, each day of the week
Wigglin’ and a-wagglin’ through the water and they don’t ask why
Makes ‘em mighty tasty oh me oh my oh my
Heat bug hookety-hooked that’s my fishing fly
Patience now please while papa’s playin’ out his lie
See that silly sucker teeth sunk on the line
Got some good grub for me and that gal of mine
Smothered in sputterin’ butter in the frying pan
Better than baking up beans in a battered tin can
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3. |
La Belle From Quebec
03:07
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Ma Belle, Ma Belle, Ma Belle from Old Quebec
Ma Belle, Ma Belle I haven’t found her yet
I took a vacation in La Belle Province
Found me a sweetheart and I asked her to dance
We were smiling and swaying to the fiddler’s reel
But I don’t think Ma Belle ever knew how I feel
We were dancing a two-step in Riviere du Loup
When I whispered so softly Ma Belle I love you
She said “’scusez moi, I don’t quite understand’
And after the dance then she let go my hand
Well I guess I might know why she’d treat me the same
I loved her and lost without knowing her name
So I searched from Rimouski to Riviere Ouelle
But I never did find her my sweetheart Ma Belle
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4. |
Trail to Liard
04:08
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We’re rumbling down the road and we got eight more hours to go
Pulled from Yellowknife and we’re just hitting Behchoko
Tearing up the tar we got a driver driving hard
Racing through the Deh Cho on our way to Fort Liard
There’s a rattle in the engine and a squeaking in the floor
I must have broke the muffler when I tried to close the door
Bumper’s falling off you know that everything’s gone wrong
It’s just another rambling roadtrip driving country song
We pulled her into Providence the wheels were coming loose
From dodging all the buffalo and running down a moose
I don’t know why we got to get to Fort Liard today
We got no reason for this random roadtrip anyway
And I don’t know if we’re ever gonna get there
And I’m not sure if I really even care
Didn’t get very far, got a flat tire….
And there’s not much air in the spare
So we crossed that mighty river there and then we hung a right
Hit a rock that busted what was left of our headlights
Thumped along on rotten tires right past the Jean Marie
If we make it to Fort Liard it’ll be a shock to me
We turned her south at Checkpoint heading down the Liard Trail
Past the Lindberg Landing and the Blackstone Park as well
Raced along the riverbank between the growing hills
We’re barely going to make it cause we hardly have the will
We pulled into Fort Liard, we’re all breathing more or less
The van’s a little choked but it’ll make it home I guess
We ground her through the gears in trying to make it to this town
But there’s nothing much to do so we’ll just have to turn around
And I don’t know if we’re ever gonna get there
And I’m not sure if I really even care
Didn’t get very far, got a flat tire….
And there’s not much air in the spare
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5. |
Manitoba Blues
04:38
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Up in Manitoba, don’t know where to go
Going back to T.O. down in Ontario
I’ve been defeated, in my western quest
Gonna head back to Toronto, place I love the best
Left a factory job, spent my only dough
On a third class ticket out of Ontario
I can’t believe it, that they would treat me so
Stopped me at the station, said that I can’t go
Manitoba, you make me feel so blue
Manitoba, what's a man to do
Don’t know where to go now, can’t afford a room
I’m stuck here in this flop house with a mop and a broom
I feel so cheated, it makes me want to scream
Life here is a nightmare, far from the western dream
Spent the night in prison, charged with vagrancy
Bulldogs and the bedbugs kept on biting me
I’ve been unseated, from my native home
Never will I ramble, never more to roam
Manitoba, you make me feel so blue
Manitoba, what's a man to do
They dragged me down to skid row, told me where to go
Threw me on a freight train back to Ontario
I’ve been mistreated, I’ve been misunderstood
Left behind the sorrow, tried to make it good
Manitoba, you make me feel so blue
Manitoba, what's a man to do
Up in Manitoba, don’t know where to go
Going back to T.O. down in Ontario
I’ve been defeated, in my western quest
Gonna head back to Toronto, place I love the best
(Gonna head back to Toronto, so much for the west)
(Gonna head back to Toronto, oh what a mess)
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6. |
Hitchhiker's Blues
02:51
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Standing in the road I wasn’t doing any wrong
Never woulda thought it coulda took so long
Sitting there waiting as the night rolled on
I started to write this pretty little song
I’m sick, of trying to hitch
I’m sick, of being in the ditch
I’m sick, it’s the latest news,
Got them hitch, hitchhikers blues
Thought that waitin’ couldn’t do me any harm
But I was jumpin' up and down just tryin' to keep warm
Jumpin’ with my feet and spinnin' my arms
I guess that I’ve lost all my lucky charms
And I’m sick, of being in the road
I’m sick, of carrying a load
I’m sick, ‘cause I always lose
Got them hitch, hitchhikers blues
I’m gonna ride a bus I’m gonna catch a train
‘Cause I’m sick of standing in the rain
And then I’ll sing one last refrain
But I’m never ever ever gonna never ever do it again
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7. |
Boxcar Bertha
03:50
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Well did you know that long ago, there was a sister on the road . .
Gather round now one and all, her story will be told;
her story must be told
When Boxcar Bertha was a girl, she played down by the trains
She watched those men and women pass, never to be back again;
they’d ne’er be back again
Her heart was filled with wanderlust, she had an itch down in her soul
She trundled ‘round this whole wide world, as on that boxcar rolled;
And onward Boxcar rolled
No family man could tie her down, she’d rather ride the rods
A Christian anarchist riding in a boxcar to find god;
And Boxcar found her god
Boxcar Bertha rode the line, through all life’s ups and downs
And found salvation for her soul, by tramping out of town;
She tramped on out of town
When finally she met her match, and caught that last westbound
It carried her up high oh lord, where the angels make sweet sounds
Where the angels sing sweet sounds
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8. |
Buckdancer's Choice
03:10
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9. |
Roseville Blues
03:41
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Way down south in old Roseville – How many of you know about Roseville
How many of you wind up singing those Roseville Blues?
Spent fourteen hours in oasis, but the bull knows all the park and places
He’s got me locked up wound up singing them Roseville Blues
Roseville, Roseville, however did I find myself in Roseville?
And why am I stuck here singing these Roseville Blues?!
Even if you go a little further down, down the little trail out back of town
You still gonna wind up singing them Roseville Blues
Met a guy who had his whole armed, slashed by a gangster so he claimed
Now you know he’s singing them Roseville Blues
Just in case you find yourself in Roseville, over by the station there’s a free meal
But you’ll still be singing, singing them Roseville Blues
Roseville, Roseville, however did I find myself in Roseville?
And why am I stuck here singing these Roseville Blues?!
Soup and coffee and oatmeal, I hope you have better luck in Roseville
I’m still sitting here singing them Roseville Blues
I’m still sitting here singing them Roseville Blues
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10. |
The Bargain Barber
02:39
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Well I went to the barber cause my hat don’t fit
Shave and a haircut that cost two bits
But you know when you live in a one horse town
Two jobs for one man and the other way around
Well the barber is the butcher and his mind is sharp
And the butcher is the barber but it’s not too smart
Cause the barber is a bargain till the end of the day
If you bargain on a barber then you’ll never get your way
He opened up a cupboard and he pulled out a book
All the different cuts and you can pick your look
Page 27 that’s the one I like
I wanna look when I'm riding on my bike
He said that’s fine but I’ll tell you what
You’d like much better with a clean crew cut
So he fired up the clippers and before I knew
I was all done up with an army 'do
He started with the razor and he nicked my face
Blood started spraying all over the place
I said “Oh Henry” won’t you please just stop
I came to see the barber not the butcher shop
So I left the old barber and I walked down the street
All chopped up like a slab of meat
If you’re looking for a bargain then you’d better beware
Cause you don’t want a butcher trying to barber your hair
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11. |
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The last time I rode a train, I rode it back to you
I rode it through the rain and snow, back to the skies of blue
I rode it over soaring heights and through deep valleys too
The last time I rode a train, I rode it back to you
I waited seven hours, standing in the rain
Waited by the railroad tracks, for an Eastbound train
When early in the morning, I heard the engine’s roar
I swung aboard that freight train, right through the boxcar door
I left that rainy city, down on the western coast
Rode it through the mountains to the girl I missed the most
I found her there in Cowtown, out on the open plains
And told her that I rode to her upon an Eastbound train
A ride upon the railroad, can leave a poor man’s soul
High up in the mountains, or crushed like dirty coal
I told her that I loved her, told her it was true
The last time I rode a train, I rode it back to you
She said you weary hobo, come in and sit ye down
You rode so many miles, to see me in this town
I’m happy for the gesture, it’s good to be with you
But that is all it is, dear, I’m sorry if you’re blue
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12. |
Snake's in the Fiddle
04:09
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Shake that rattle around ol’ boy you gotta shake that rattle around
Shake that rattle around ol’ boy you gotta shake that rattle around
Well the snake’s in the fiddle an’ the devil’s in the bow
Rattle ‘em up for a do-si-do
Well the snake’s in the fiddle an’ the devil’s in the bow
Rattle ‘em up now here we go
Spider’s in the fiddle an’ he’s webbin’ up a den
Shake around the rattle an’ he’s gone again
Well I learned to play the fiddle ever since I was-a ten
Reeling in the lessons of the older fellas then
Wanna make a rattle then you gotta get a snake
Throw ‘im in the fiddle then you give it a shake
Snake’s in the fiddle make a mighty pretty charm
Give a little drop of honey in your fiddling arm
Some folk claim the fiddle sound a-mighty good
with a Rattlesnake rattling against the wood
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13. |
I Saw the Ice
01:08
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When the sun rises up on the dawn of a day
And the ice measures eight inches thick
We lace up our boots and we all make out way
To cut ice down on Yellowknife Bay
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Ryan McCord Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
I live in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. I’m a window cleaner in my spare time. I learned to play guitar from sitting around the campfire with my friends. When I’m not playing music, I like riding my bike, canoeing, welding, and building castles out of snow and ice. ... more
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