1. |
Let the Healing Begin
03:04
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Let The Healing Begin
I’ve been sitting here
For far too long
Staring out at emptiness
Thinking about everything that’s gone
And I keep coming back to things they never told us then
We would see that hate rise once again
Now we’re standing here in the near-ruins of Armageddon
Oh, let the healing begin
So sing this for the grieving mother
The lovers who have lost their best friends
The endless line of people dying
And the workers for whom it never ends
And I keep coming back to things they never told us then
Some of us won’t make it to the end
Now we’re standing here in the near-ruins of Armageddon
Oh, let the healing begin
Oh, let the healing begin
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (5/14/21)
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2. |
A Cross and a Beer
03:57
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A Cross And A Beer
I turn to the mountain, cold wind in my face
Allegiance and memories brought me to this place
A young man forgotten by most in this town
A spirit unsettled still floating around
And each year I come back in the night to this hill
I once made a promise, I honor it still
Same day each November a new cross is placed here
And by the next morning a new bottle of beer
Yeah, times were so different, temptation so great
So much was expended to keep us flying straight
And Dan’s mom was loving, but his father so hard
They gave him two choices, it was country or God
So each year I come back in the night to this hill
I once made a promise, I honor it still
Same day each November a new cross is placed here
And by the next morning a new bottle of beer
And we all had secrets that we kept from our kin
But where do you go to when you never fit in?
Some say that he stumbled, some say that he fell
But I say that Danny found a way out of this hell
So each year I come back in the night to this hill
I once made a promise, I honor it still
Same day each November a new cross is placed here
And by the next morning a new bottle of beer
Same day each November a new cross is placed here
And standing behind it a bottle of beer
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (3/4/21)
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3. |
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We Only Turn Right Around Here
Take the first right down a dusty dirt road, back to my old Georgia home
A sleepy old southern town that time left alone
But lately ’round here things just ain’t the same, ever since that election they stole
Now it ain’t only that mountain got faces of stone
So the Sheriff decreed and the Mayor agreed
They would ban left-hand turns from that day
Down around here we do what we’re told
And most of us like it that way
So don’t come here with your liberal fake news
Or if you look just a little bit weird
We don’t mind taking the long way home
We only turn right around here
Well they held an election and when it was done, none of our people had won
So the men in power decided that things had to change
Down here in Georgia we’re doing our part to make sure all the right people vote
But somehow we keep losing, now who can we blame?
We’re white and we’re right and we’re going nowhere
We’re keeping the home fires lit
We don’t want no government boot on our necks
Until the next hurricane hits
So don’t come here with your liberal fake news
Or if you look just a little bit queer
We don’t mind taking the long way home
We only turn right around here
Yeah, the Sheriff decreed and the Mayor agreed
No more left-hand turns from that day
Down around here we do what we’re told
And most of us like it that way
So don’t come around here with your liberal fake news
Or if you look just a little bit weird
We’re used to taking the long way home
We only make right turns ’round here
We don’t mind taking the long way home
We only turn right around here
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (4/11/21)
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4. |
Long Black Veil
02:58
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Long Black Veil
(By Marijohn Wilkins and Danny Dill)
Ten years ago on a cold dark night
There was someone killed 'neath the town hall light
There were few in the crowd and they all did agree
That the man who ran looked a lot like me
The judge said "Son, what is your alibi?
If you were somewhere else then you won't have to die"
I spoke not a word though it meant my life
I had been in the arms of my best friend's wife
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
The scaffold was high and eternity near
She stood in the crowd and she shed not a tear
But sometimes at night when the cold wind moans
In a long black veil she cries over my bones
She walks these hills in a long black veil
She visits my grave when the night winds wail
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
Nobody knows, nobody sees
Nobody knows but me
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5. |
A World Like This
02:43
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A World Like This
I’m not sure I can live in a world like this
We can’t even hug, we can’t even kiss
And now it’s pushing five hundred days
All mashed together in one long haze
So if you go, don’t forget me
Take me to the Salish Sea
I don’t think I can live in a world like this
There’s so much missing, so much to miss
I’m thinking of turning off all my clocks
Two hundred channels, nothing to watch
So if you’re ready, come get me
We’ll go driving to the sea
There ain’t no fun in a world like this
Miles and miles on the open road
Finding stories never told before
I could heal the deaf, make blind men see
Their voices always came through me, but
I can’t hear them anymore
I don’t wanna live in a world like this
There ain’t much here that I will miss
So tired of seeing these same four walls
So tired of asking is this all?
So If you go, don’t forget me
Take me to the Salish Sea
if you’re ready, come get me
We’ll see how far we go on “E”
You gotta make your own fun in a world like this
There ain’t no fun in a world like this
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (3/27/21)
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6. |
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Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye
(By John D. Loudermilk)
Kiss me each morning for a million years
Hold me each evening by your side
Tell me you'll love me for a million years
Then if it don't work out
Then if it don't work out
Then you can tell me goodbye
Sweeten my coffee with a morning kiss
Soften my dreams with your sighs
After you’ve loved me for a million years
Then if it don't work out
Then if it don't work out
Then you can tell me goodbye
And if you must go, I won't grieve
If you just wait a lifetime before you leave
But if you must go
I won't say no
Just so we can say that we tried
Tell me you'll love me for a million years
Then if it don't work out
Then if it don't work out
Then you can tell me goodbye
Then you can tell me goodbye
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7. |
The Ballad of Julie M.
03:45
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The Ballad of Julie M.
I don’t think I like living in the city
A quiet house in the country would suit me fine
There’s too many people fighting for time
And what’s yours is yours and what’s mine is mine
I know a man who overcame all of that and more
Yeah, he looks like the mouse who squeaked, but you should hear him roar
And what’s his is yours and what’s yours is his
That’s just the way, the way it is
Where are you when we need you, Julie M.?
You’re here with us and you’ll be here ’til we win
It’s never easy being seen on the wrong side
But the only side that’s right is the one we’re on
And there were many times they’d kick you around
But there ain’t no one can keep a good man down
Where are you when we need you, Julie M.?
You’re here with us and you’ll be here like you’ve always been
Where are you when we need you, Julie M.?
On every line, in every struggle that you can attend
Just an ordinary soldier, Julie M.
Now you’re old but still you’re out there fighting
The holiest missionary for the cause
You say “If God exists, then I’m surely dead
And it ain’t no sin to be called a Red….”
Where are you when we need you, Julie M.?
You’re here with us and you’ll be here like you’ve always been
Where are you when we need you, Julie M.?
You’re here with us and you’ll be here ’til the end of your life
And if there is a heaven, Jules, I know they’ll let you in
And you’ll organize the angels, Julie M.
© 1998 George Mann
New York, NY (6/17/98)
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8. |
Maybe Next Year
03:35
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Maybe Next Year
Nothing is working, I think they lied
Nothing is working anymore to keep me satisfied
And I can’t believe it, oh, how we tried, yeah we did, but
Nothing’s been working for awhile
Out in the garden I keep pulling up weeds
Ten days without rain, this cracked earth will not bleed
If I could I’d drown it in this reservoir of tears
Maybe I’ll see you next year
‘Cause you know that I wanna go
Far away from here where the cool winds blow and
You’re by my side
But with all the reflection and the time apart
I wonder if you’re gonna have a change of heart
And leave me behind
(Solo)
I might just drown here in this reservoir of fear
But maybe I’ll see you, maybe next year
Maybe I’ll see you
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (5/21/21)
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9. |
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They All Sang "Bread and Roses”
(By Si Kahn)
Now don't you think it's crazy, this old world and its ways?
Whoever thought the Sixties would be called the good old days?
But like the Weavers sang to us, wasn't that a time?
When we raised our hands and voices on the line
CHORUS
And we all sang "Bread and Roses," "Joe Hill" and "Union Maid."
We linked our arms and told each other “We are not afraid.”
"Solidarity Forever" would go rolling through the hall
"We Shall Overcome" together one and all
The more I study history,
The more I seem to find
That in every generation
There were times just like that time
When folks like you and me who thought
That they were all alone
Within this honored movement
Found a home
And they all sang "Bread and Roses," "Joe Hill" and "Union Maid."
They linked their arms and told each other “We are not afraid.”
"Solidarity Forever" would go rolling through the hall,
"We Shall Overcome" together one and all
Though each generation fears
That it may be the last,
Our presence here is witness
To the power of the past.
And just as we have drawn our strength
From those who now are gone,
Younger hands will take our work
And carry on
And they’ll all sing "Bread and Roses," "Joe Hill" and "Union Maid."
They’ll link their arms and tell each other “We are not afraid.”
"Solidarity Forever" will go rolling through the hall,
"We Shall Overcome" together one and all
"We Shall Overcome" together one and all
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10. |
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I Don’t Miss What’s-His-Name At All
The sun is out, the sky is blue, amazing what six months will do and
I don’t miss what’s-his-name at all
The market’s at an all-time high, and come to think of it, so am I and
I don’t miss what’s-his-name at all
That pompous, gaseous old windbag, made the last four years a drag but
It was so fun to watch him fall
Simplistic, crass, misogynistic, the bully who’s the biggest dipstick
We don’t miss what’s-his-name at all
I sweep the deck, I mow the lawn, then kick back with a beer
Ain’t yelled at the TV once this week, gets me thinking now ain’t that weird?
My wife is liking the new me, we’re happy as two kids can be and
We don’t miss what’s-his-name at all!
He always sounded so off-key, when he’s not here this gig’s a breeze and
No one’s banging their head against the wall
He never really seemed to care, I’m sleeping better now that he’s not there, but
He leaves a hole so big and small
He led a massive insurrection, but took us in the wrong direction,
We don’t miss what’s-his-name at all!
Some people say that’s he’ll be back but we’ve heard that before
They say there’ll be no stopping him in 2024
Defeat again or victory? Until then we’ll wait and see but
I don’t miss what’s-his-name
We don’t miss what’s-his-name
We don’t miss what’s-his-name at all!
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (7/7/21)
Music: George Mann and Doug Robinson
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11. |
Healing Waters
00:38
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Hey! Is that you?
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12. |
The Last Song
03:30
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The Last Song
I’ll sing for you the last song I have written
It might be the last one for awhile
It very well might be the last song I ever sing
So tonight I’d better sing it with a smile
I heard another friend is leaving
To join the many already gone
So close your eyes, we’ll sing for them tonight
Everyone will sing on the last song
Otis left us sitting on the dock of the bay
For Hank it was a cheating heart that took him away
Janis prayed for a TV and a new Mercedes Benz
And though The Fab Four broke apart, they left us “The End”
But me, I’m not ready for leaving
Even though it seems it won’t be long
So close your eyes and sing with me tonight
Everyone will sing on the last song
And as another friend is leaving
To join the many already gone
Close your eyes, we’ll sing for them tonight
Everyone remembers the last song
So close your eyes and sing with me tonight
Everyone will sing on the last song
© 2021 George Mann
Ithaca, NY (7/28/21)
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George Mann Ithaca, New York
A former union organizer, George Mann hails from Ithaca, and has made labor and protest music for more than 20 years. He has worked with and produced albums featuring such folk music legends as Utah Phillips and Pete Seeger. George brings his experience as a union organizer and educator to his concerts-- stories and songs about real events and the struggle for a better life. www.georgemann.org ... more
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