Higher Ground
© 1996 Nick Forster arranged by Marley's Ghost
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Rolling down the old plank road,
rain was pouring down.
Rained all night and rained all day,
time to move to higher ground!

Go up on the mountain,
sunshine all around.
River, she's a rising,
time to move to higher ground!

Not so very long ago,
not many folks around.
Trees are turned to houses now,
time to move to higher ground!

The river is running high and fast,
taking trees and bridges down.
Change is coming and it's going to last,
time to move to higher ground!

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Gabrielle
© 1975 Dan Wheetman
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
Hear me calling soft and low!
Moonlight through the cypress
is shining down on the bayou.

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
You know your mama is asleep.
Come on out of the window,
don't you even make a peep!

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
Won't you come along with me?
I'll take you to the fais do-do
and I will get you home at three.

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
Well, I just want to dance with you.
Let me hold you in my arms,
oh, ma chére je t'aime beaucoup!

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
Now when I walk you home,
you can kiss me in the moonlight
and your mama will never know.

Oh, Gabrielle, Oh, Gabrielle!
You know your mama is asleep.
Come on out of your window,
and don't you even make a peep!

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Sugar Trade
© 1995 Dan Wheetman
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Sweat shines silver on a black man's back.
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
Pain in the breast, cotton in the sack,
"Go along, buddy, don't you work so slow!"

Man needs a rest every once and awhile.
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
They work you harder just to see you smile,
step out of line you don't work no more.

(Chorus:)
And every night, sweet deals are made
when you're working on the sugar trade.

Poppies are swaying in the summer sun.
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
Slit their throat and the black blood runs,
bittersweet sugar just as white as snow.

Dull green leaf of the coca tree,
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
Sold to the children down on the street.
They just want a little, then a little bit more.

(Chorus)

Sister is working out on the street.
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
She's gotta hustle every man she meets,
"Come on sugar, don't you want a little more?"

Take her body, never see her mind.
Working to the rhythm of the knife and the hoe.
The poor man's blood is the rich man's wine.
Just want a little, then a little bit more!

(Chorus)

(Chorus)

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Oh, Mary, Don't You Weep
– Traditional
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

(Chorus:)
Oh Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn!
Oh Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn!
Said, Pharoah's army got drownded,
Oh, Mary, don't you weep!

Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn!
Oh, Mary, don't you weep, don't you mourn!
Cause the Pharoah's army got drownded,
Oh, Mary, don't you weep!

(Chorus)

Now one of these mornings, bright and fair,
I spread my wings and breathe the air,
Cause the Pharoah's army got drownded,
Oh Mary don't you weep!

(Chorus)

Now when I get to heaven, gonna sing and shout.
There ain't nobody there gonna turn me out!
Cause Pharoah's army got drownded,
Oh, Mary, don't you weep!

(Chorus)

Now one of these mornings, twelve o'clock,
this old world's gonna reel and rock!
And Pharoah's army got drownded,
Oh, Mary, don't you weep!

(Chorus)

(Chorus)

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How Will I Ever Be Simple Again?
© 1982 Richard Thompson Island Music
BMI
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

She danced through the streets with the guns all around her,
all torn like a rag doll, barefoot in the rain.
And she sang like a child, "Too-ra-loo, too-ra-letty!"
Oh, how will I ever be simple again?

And she sat by the banks of the dirty, grey river
and tried for a fish with a worm on a pin.
There was nothing but fever and ghosts in the water,
Oh, how will I ever be simple again?

War was my love and my friend and companion,
what did I care for the pretty and gay?
But her smile was so clear and my heart was so troubled,
Oh, how will I ever be simple again?

In a poor burned-out house, I sat down at her table.
And the smell of her hair was like cornfields in May.
And I wanted to weep but my eyes ached from crying,
Oh, how will I ever be simple again?

So graceful she moved through the dust and the ruins,
happy she was in her dances and games.
Oh, teach me to see with your innocent eyes, love!
Oh, how will I ever be simple again?

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Sirey (Sierra) Peaks
© 1973 Gale Garner
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Now way up north in the Sirey Peaks, where the yellowjack pines grow tall,
old Buster Giggs and Sagebrush Sam had a roundup camp last fall.
Any old calf that sported long ears and didn't brush up by day,
got his long ears chiseled and old hide sizzled in a most artistic way.

Now Sagebrush Sam says to Buster Giggs as he throwed his long legs down,
"I'm getting tired of topography and I reckon I'll jog to town."
Well he started off at a right smart lope, cause it weren't no sight of a ride.
And them were the days when a good cowpuncher could oil up his insides.

At the old Kentucky Bar they stopped at the head of Whiskey Row.
And they wound up tight, some time that night, some forty drinks below.
Well, the house turned round and they set 'em up and they started them the other way.
Honest to goodness, tell the truth, those boys got drunk that day!

They started back for the Sirey Peaks, just packing up a durned good load.
And who should they meet but the devil himself come a prancing down the road.
And he says, "Doggone, you cowboy skunks, you'd better hunt your holes!
I am the devil from the Hell's Rimrock come to gather up your souls!"

"Well, Devil be damned!" says Buster Giggs, "Us boys is kinda tight!
But before you corral any cowboy souls, you sure have a beautiful fight!"
And he throws his rope and he throws it straight and it spun down good and true.
Then he roped the devil by his pointed horns and he took his dallies, too!

Sagebrush Sam was a lariat man with his gutline coiled up neat.
And he threw out his rope and he punched him a hole and he roped him the devil's hind feet.
And they stretched him out and they lowered him down as the sizzling irons grew hot.
And they cut off his horns with a dehorn saw and they branded him up a lot!

They tied ten knots in the old boy's tail and they left him there for a joke.
With a beller and cough they loped right off snaked up to a blackjack oak.
If you ever go riding in the Sirey Peaks and you hear one hell of a wail,
it's only the devil just a-yowling and a-growling with the knots tied in his tail!

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I Can See Your Aura
© Mark Graham 1987 Eternal Doom Music
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

I've done lots of spiritual healing,
I'm in touch with all my feelings.
I've read palms and read the stars of kings and queens.
And I hate to bum you out, but you have, without a doubt,
the ugliest aura this poor boy's ever seen!

(Chorus:)
I can see your aura and it's ugly!
Your spirit must be rotten to the core!
To a New Age guy like me, you just bring pain and misery..
So, darling, I can't love you any more!

In some life before, you murdered people by the score.
Your evil is so totally complete!
All good from you is gone you are darkness with no dawn.
Either that or you are eating too much meat!

(Chorus)

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Teach My Heart To Believe
© Dan Wheetman 1995 Happy Skies Music
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Oh, Ezekiel, he looked up and saw the wheel.
The big wheel is turned by faith
and the little wheel is run by grace.
Teach my heart to believe!

Cross that Cumberland Gap,
keep your wagon in that track!
It's a rough road and a dangerous ride,
new life waiting on the other side!
Teach my heart to believe!

Hush! little Katy, dear!
Go to sleep and don't you fear!
Angels stay right by your side
until the morning light.
Teach my heart to believe!

Cross the valley and back again,
I have searched, but all in vain.
When I find it here inside,
these old dry bones came back alive.
Teach my heart to believe!

Hand to your partner, hand to your friend,
around the room and back again!
Hands in the middle and form a star,
where you is is where you are!
Teach my heart to believe!

Oh, Ezekiel, he looked up and saw the wheel.
Big wheel is turned by faith
and the little wheel is run by grace.
Teach my heart to believe!

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Hearts Aren't Made Of Stone
© Mike Phelan 1994 Donora Street Music BMI
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

I can't see you, are you far away from me?
Close behind the wall of stone?
I need you, come out where I can see you.
Don't stay hidden, all alone.

(Chorus:)
If the walls were made of stone,
we could bring them down together.
Love, we know, will conquer stone and steel.
But to breach the walls inside us
is taking something stronger.
Is it stronger than the love I feel?
Hearts aren't made of stone.

I can feel you just a breath away.
Are we one or two?
Wrap your love around my heart to stay,
feel my love for you.

(Chorus)

Love is waiting in my heart for you,
more than you've ever known.
Two hearts come together to be one,
hearts aren't made of stone.

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Turtle Dove
– Georgia Sea Island Singers
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Turtle dove done drooped his wings. (done drooped his wings)
Turtle dove done drooped his wings. (done drooped his wings)
Turtle dove done drooped his wings,
Went on to Zion and Heav'n to sing.

(Chorus:)
Adam and Eve, Oh, no!
Adam and Eve, don't you tell it to me!
Meet me at the door, don't tell it to me!
Sa-sa-la-do and sa-la-sa-ree...

My name is written on David's line. (on David's line)
My name is written on David's line. (on David's line)
My name is written on David's line.
I'm goin' to Heav'n on the wheel of time.

(Chorus)

When I get to Heav'n, I know the rules. (I know the rules)
When I get to Heav'n, I know the rules. (I know the rules)
When I get to Heav'n, I know the rules:
Keep goin' down to the bathin' pool.

(Chorus)

Turtle dove done drooped his wings. (done drooped his wings)
Turtle dove done drooped his wings. (done drooped his wings)
Turtle dove done drooped his wings,
Went on to Zion and Heav'n to sing.

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Fiddler's Green
– Traditional
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

As I strolled by the dockside one morning so fair
to take the salt water and breathe the sea air,
I spied an old fisherman singing this song,
"Help me now, boys, for my time isn't long."

(Chorus:)
Dress me up in me oilskins and jumper.
No more by the docks I'll be seen.
Just tell me old shipmates, I'm taking a trip, mates.
And I'll see you someday in Fiddler's Green.

Now Fiddler's Green is a place I hear tell
where the fishermen go if they don't go to Hell.
Where the sun always shines and the dolphins do play,
and the cold coast of Greenland is far, far away.

(Chorus)

Where the weather is clear and there's never a gale,
and the fish jump on board with a flip of their tail.
You lie on the decks and there's no work to do,
and the captain's below making tea for the crew.

(Chorus)

When you put into port and the long day is through,
there's pubs and there's clubs and there's lassies there, too.
The girls are all pretty and the beer is all free,
and there's bottles of rum lying under each tree.

(Chorus)

Now I don't want a harp, not a halo, not me.
Just give me a deck and the free rolling sea.
The wind in the rigging will sing me a song,
and I'll play my old squeezebox as we roll along.

(Chorus)

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Rock The Rose
– Traditional
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

What you gonna do when the well runs dry?
Lord, I don't know!
What you gonna do when the baby cries?
Rock the cradle, Joe!

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Them Beautiful Bottles
© Hank Bradley 1997 Mill Gulch Music
from the CD Four Spacious Guys

Hey, good people, come and listen to my noise, I've just come back to town.
Been on the road five hundred miles too long and I've got us a brand new song.
Gonna bring out the fiddle and rosin up the bow, play here all night long.
So, go out and pillage the garden patch, buy out the grocery store!
Ain't gonna live on chili dogs no more, and HoJo's make me sore.
Gonna make a big feast, sit down and gobble, till we just can't gobble any more!

Come look at those beautiful bottles, boys, let's line 'em all up in a row!
Let's stay right here and no more ramblin' go,
and we'll play every song we know.
And we'll play standing up and we'll play sitting down
and we'll play lying out on the floor!

Oh, Judy, Judy!
Oh, where you been so long?
Don't stay outside when the party's going on,
come hear our brand new song!
Gonna take you out where the whippoorwills call and keep you all night long!
I see the party's over boys, I hear the sirens wail.
Police come and carry us all to jail,
and there ain't gonna be no bail.
When the rooster crows to bring on the light,
we'll be ridden out of town on a rail!

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