"Houses on the Hill"

Well, I found a bunch of letters
They were written for the fellow
Who broke your momma's heart
And the envelope folds smelled of her ancient perfume
I'll bet she didn't know
How to respond to forty blankets of snow
Caught him out wandering alone
With no place to go

There were stars in the sky
There were houses on the hill
There were bottles and pills
That were easy to buy to keep her warm
From the oncoming storm

Well, I found them in the northwest corner of the attic
In a box labeled "Tinsel and Lights"
Didn't know what I was looking for
Maybe just a blanket or artifacts
Eisenhower sent him to war
He kept her picture in his pocket that was closest to his heart
And when he hit shore, it must have been a target
For the gunner-men

There were stars in the sky
There were bunkers in the hill
And there were caskets to fill where he would lie
Shrouded in the red, white & blue with the stripes
There were stars in the sky
There were houses on the hill
There were bottles and pills
That were easy to buy to keep her warm
From the oncoming storm

"Christmas Time in Washington"

It's Christmas-time in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Of things not gettin' worse
Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
Said he cannot seek another term
There'll be no more FDRs

I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
An uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wondering what it means

So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

Followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels of gold
And I'm stuck here in this town

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
The proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio you'd think all was well
But you and me and Cisco know it's going to hell

So come back Emma Goldman
Rise up old Joe Hill
The barracades are going up
They cannot break our will

Come back to us Malcolm X and Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

"Taneytown"

I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
To see what I could see
My mama told me not to go
I'm damn near 22 years old
Sometimes I feel this hollow swallowin' me

She ran off to Gettysburg
Went off with that new beau of hers
I snuck off after dark
It's a long way down the county road
The stars were bright and the moon was low
Down where the black top highway starts

I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
I went down to see what I could see

Now everybody stared at me
You'd think that they ain't never seen
A colored boy before
Well they jumped at me and they called me names
And they whoopped me sure but the sheriff came
I slipped off - ran through the dry goods store

Now I ran down Division Street
And some of them boys followed me
Down to the railroad track
Well there was four of them and I can't fight
But I got my old Randall knife
I cut that boy and I never did look back

Across the fields and woods I run
Like a bullet from a rabbit gun
Back home to my bed
Now Ma come in from Gettysburg
Her and that new beau of hers
"Boy you look like hell" is all she said

A month went by without a word
Somebody down the holler heard
'Bout that boy they hung
He begged those men to spare his life
But I dropped my bloody Randall knife
He picked it up so they thought he was the one
I went down to Taneytown
I went down to Taneytown
I ain't goin' back there anymore