Midnight Sun

Joey's Daddy did a stint in prison
But Joey's Daddy weren't one to sit tight
He snuck out with the laundry in the morning
And he slept with Joey's Mama that same night

Law took him back to prison 'fore the Sun came
Leaving Joey and his Mama on the farm where his Mama dwelled
Joey's grandad wouldn't raise no bastard
So Joey pretty much had to raise himself

Joey headed-up a hole-in-the-wall-gang
Train-robbing heroes of the working class
They robbed the wealthy men that owned the railroad
And gave it to the men who laid the tracks

Them sour railroad owners got together
To find a way to get Joey of the scene
They bought out all the lawmen and some outlaws
And promised even more to the man who brought him in

But he was faster than a switchblade and he didn't give a good God-damn
He's got the words "Living Free" tattooed across his hands
Yeah he's as wild as you can get and still be called a man
But he could lay low just like a Midnight Sun
Boy was born for living on the run

Maria, God, now she could light a room
But she was wearing a rich kid's diamond ring
Joy couldn't keep his eyes off of that diamond
And Maria couldn't keep her eyes off him

Joey and Maria lying naked
When the rich kid and his blade bust through the door
That rich kid didn't figure that second to banging Maria
Joey's favourite thing was knocking rich kids through the floor

Yeah he was faster than a switchblade and he didn't give a good God-damn
He's got the words "Living Free" tattooed across his hands
Yeah he's as wild as you can get and still be called a man
But he could lay low just like a Midnight Sun
Boy was born for living on the run

Maria says, "I'm gonna keep this baby"
Joey says, "Well, I ain't gonna stick around"
Maria's Daddy sure looks like he means it
When he says, "I'm gonna put Joey in the ground"

Maria's Daddy bought himself a posse
Maria gone and bought herself a dress
The posse's all got rifles, knives and shotguns
Joey's got a diamond ring and a price upon his head

But he's faster than a switchblade and he didn't give a good God-damn
He's got the words "Living Free" tattooed across his hands
Yeah he's as wild as you can get and still be called a man
But he could lay low just like a Midnight Sun
Boy was born for living on the run

The Hitch-hiker

I'm living in a town where it's easy to get killed
And if death don't get us soon the debt-collectors will,
I say we pack all our things up in this car throw our children in the back.
We don't need no place to go, no plans,
For as long as this car can
We'll go wherever your finger lands
On the map.

I'm sick of owing money to every friend I have,
I swear they only come around so they can claim it back.
I say we pack all our things up in this car and throw our guitars in the back.
We don't need no place to go, no plans,
For as long as this car can
We'll go wherever your finger lands
On the map.

"Hitch-hiker! Hitch-hiker! Get into the car,
We'll go wherever you like…"
"Hitch-hiker! Hitch-hiker! Who do you think you are?!
Put down that knife...
You ain't got no right...
That's my wife…
I'm gonna have to set you right!"...

I don't fancy no life on the road with the cops hot on our trail
And we ain't handing ourselves in 'cos we're too open-souled for jail,
I say we leave all our things here on this roadside and throw his body in the back.
Find ourselves a reservoir or a lake,
Car in neutral no hand-brake,
Then back unto the road we'll take
Except this time we'll have to hitch-hike.

The Night-time's Closing In

The night-time's closing in
The streetlights are coming on again
The telephone's about to ring
And I know who's on the end
They say they got the house surrounded
It's time for me to come out
They wanna kick the front door down
So they can take me in

'Cos this afternoon at the bank
With my Magnum and a skiing mask
I told the cashier to fill these bags
And he did what I said
But that cashier moving frantically
With tears in his eyes so he could barely see
Reminded me of a younger me
Still trying to get ahead

So I said, "Son, let me let you in
On a little secret
I ain't gonna kill no one today
But right now I need you to fill these bags
I got a car outside throw them in the back
Throw yourself in the front
'cos I'm gonna need something to point my gun at when the cops show up at my place"

With the night-time closing in
The streetlights coming on again
I called the cops told 'em where I live
And headed on back home
Now armed police have cordoned off the street
They begged me to set the cashier kid free
So I let him go and raised my piece
And took position by the window

Train Wreck

I'd never met a woman
      could shoot a Magnum
            nowhere near as straight as you
And if you need me
      I'll be bleeding
            where the train passes through
With your Magnum, cleaned
      I'll be shooting
At them cans on the rails I filled
      With lighter fluid

You said the train job
      was the last straw,
            that we got what we deserved
The money we'd made
      was marked anyways
            and you was losing your nerve
You said that in the driver's eyes
      was something like a clearing
And when we'd washed that Magnum clean
      you said that I could keep it

There were wreathes made
      out of roses, laid
            for the man who shovels coal
And the daughter
      of the driver
            who was just 12 year's old
Left a postcard
      in her own writing
That read, "If there's a train up there
      Daddy'll be driving"

And now I'm tryin' to steal breath
      from a train wreck
            and the car's covered in ice
And I'm bleeding
      from my forehead
            and my chest is on fire
It's been two days now
      and I'm still bleeding
Wrapped the bullet holes with rags
      but they ain't healing

So I'm gonna drag this
      almost lifeless
            body to Canyon Ridge
Where there's a walkway
      by the railway
            where it runs across the bridge
You know where it is
      and you know I can't swim
But I'm going over the edge
      after I've thrown your Magnum in

Headin' North

I work under bridges
Tryin' to keep my head out of the rain
The cheapest tricks on Highway 6
No holds barred, no shame
I go and get loaded
At the end of every shift
Climbing the walls with these petty criminals
Planning for something big

Got family two states over
A kid that I'm s'pose to support
Got myself into some trouble
And since then I've just kept headin' North
Now in every train window
When it's dark I see his face
And I pray to the Lord I could stop headin' North
And hold my son in my embrace

But as it is all I'm holding
Is this black Colt .45
And the hope that it ain't got too late
To make it out of this bank alive
But the counter glass has risen
And I know the cops are already outside
So I hold the barrel up cold to my temple
And whisper good-bye to my child

Time to move South

I was as hammered as an old nail smoking outside of a bar
When a girl walks up to me with my name tattooed on her arm
She said, "There are people in this life, boy, that were born to do you harm
And I won't let you down".

She took me to where she was staying North of the 401.
She kicked off her boots, took off her shirt, laid down her gun,
Said, "Can I pour you out a whisky, boy? I was gonna pour me one",
Then she laid me down.

I was woken by the desk-clerk of the motel the next day
Telling me the girl was gone and she'd said I would pay.
Then the guy bust through the door before I'd had a chance to say,
"If you bust through that door I'll shoot you down".

I found me a run-down diner where I could eat something
That would calm my nerves, line my stomach, soak up last night's drink.
Had the redhead waitress bring me coffee, home-fries, steak and eggs
And, God, I wolfed it down

I've always liked to move around, I get tired if I stay still
And maybe it's the rate I'll get from dollar to real
Or maybe it's the desk-clerk that someone's gonna find killed
But I think it's time to move South

You don't know what drinking is...

Los No Amados opened the next day
After they swept the broken glass and blood away
If you drink there on your own you'll hear them say
That they still keep the killer's piece behind the bar

There's an old man sitting quiet in the corner
They say's the guy who lost his only daughter
On the day of the No Amados slaughter
They say her lover put a bullet straight through her heart

The old man in the corner lifts his glass
And pours another beer past his moustache
The waitress does;t wait for him to ask
To bring another

When your heart sits in your belly with the weight
Of all your fear, your sadness and your hate
When everything you've loved is laid to waste
Comfort's discomfort

You don't know what drinking is
'less you've sat down with a drink
In a quiet bar to think about what you've lost
You don't know what drinking is
'less you've sat down with a drink
Knowing it's the only thing you've got

They say God works in mysterious ways
I'll never know why He let me get away
But for my sins I'll carry 'round this pain
For all my days in my heart

I don't know who God is keeping quiet
Or if I scared 'em hard enough to keep them silent
Or if the people there were too drunk when I fired
But they still keep my piece behind the bar

Mad Dog

It's been a good day - I've kept myself out of hell.
I'm on the train up town to go and meet my girl.
With blood-spattered stains on my shirt, his back slides smooth down a wall
And Mad Dog says he'd got a job anytime, just give him a call.
Now there's a heist going down not even Mad can do alone
And Jenny says she'll kill me herself if I don't come home.

Jenny's here, half-crying, aching to hold me tonight
She says the train-whistle-wind's gon' bring the chill of the night
And there's a feeling in her gut that ain't the thrill of this fight
But I tell her it's alright.
She says, "What's a man gotta do to get a name like Mad Dog?"
She says, "Sometimes I wonder 'bout you, kid, if you ever think at all".
So I think for a minute 'bout how Mad Dog in his stead
Can take the floor from underneath you and the hat from off your head
I said, "There's glory on them battlefields where braver men have bled"
And she said, "The only thing on battlefields are the bullet-ridden dead!"
I said, "Honey, you're mistaken I'll be with you soon again,
I got Mad Dog on my shoulder and a pistol full of lead"
She said, "These whispers in this bed tonight, they fill me full of dread
And, God, I need you so please come home to me again".

The next day was beautiful and that night stars riddled the sky,
I left my room at midnight, kissed my baby goodbye.
I'm doing this all for my baby, I swear with the money I make
I'll get out of the business and we'll move away.
Dawn arrives at usual time and I met Mad down at them tracks.
We jumped onboard where bullets poured after half the train'd gone past.

Bullets flew like songbirds singing straight into your heart
On destined wings that duly bring life's faithful counterpart.
Broken bones with open eyes that used to be the guards
Now lay ripped apart.
And I think, "What's a man gotta do to get a name like Mad Dog?
Is there a point in everyman's life when he has to question it all?"
So I think for a minute 'bout how Mad Dog in his stead
Had beaten both the drivers and left every guard for dead
And I prayed that my Jenny she still be safely tucked in bed
And thought I must be a hero with all this hero's blood I've bled!
So now I'm lying here half-crying aching to hold Jenny tonight
and that train-whistle-wind went and brought the chill of the night.
Now there's a feeling in my gut that ain't the thrill of this fight
No more.

Mad Dog was hit too, but not as bad as I was
In the perfect serenade of the bullet-ridden violence
Still, I can't compare the pain that lightning'd through the silence
As we stared down in the bag at nothing but glass diamonds.

A Happy Song

I've tried drug-lords and street-gangs and prostitution rings
I've tried begging, stealing, selling just about anything
But my hands and my mouth and my feet don't move fast enough
And when you work that kind of job and it all goes wrong
You're on your own, ain't none of your con friends gonna take your fall
And the cops'll be the first to remind you there ain't no one you can trust

So I'm gonna write me a goddam happy song
As soon as something happy comes along
Down life's lonesome road, I suppose you never know what's rolling 'round the bend
All the roads I've been down - nothing happy's shown up yet

I've tried humanitarianism and I've tried vegetarianism
I've tried Buddhism, cataclisms, nihilism and narcissism
But none of that shit seemed to suit me right
I want a six-shooter Magnum and a big ol' hunting knife
A 12-gauge, shots and snares, a big ol' box of fireworks and a rocking chair
I want to make some real noise at night

Well, I've tried loving women but all that I can tell is that they always leave
I've had three wives, four mistresses, a daughter by a priestess and a queen
And with my heart in pieces, sick of women, I got me a dog
Well, that young pup softened me up and I got sweet again
This time with a green-eyed girl by the name of Gemma-Anne
Three months later Gemma-Anne ran off with my truck
And my dog

I won't take no more drinks now boys, I remember last time I took too much
I'll get sick tomorrow morning and I ain't got nowhere to go and sober up
But I thank you for your company the frustration in my life comes from the loneliness
That and I can't get a job 'cos I ain't got no fixed address
And I can't get a fixed address 'cos I ain't got no job
And you want me to write a goddam happy song