Rock Island Line - Billy Bragg

The Rock island line is a nighty good Road The Rock island line is a Road to Ride The Rock island line is a nighty good Road But if you want to Ride Gotta Ride it like you find it Get a ticket of the Station Of the Rock island line I may be Right Or I may be wrong This mulla gonna miss me When I'll be gone The man at the tall gate is fodin' you Don't give money to the Tall gate man!

Yeah this place is wall to wall, can't barely move, Takes fifteen minutes just to get a drink It's crazy here, this crowd tonight's so loud in here you can hardly think But everything's fading babe, cause you're all I see It's like we're alone in here baby We might as well be on an island, We might as well be on the moon The way you're looking at me baby, can't take my eyes off you Feels like the world is disappearing every time we touch We're so caught up in each other, it's just the two of us We might as well be on an island We might as well be on an island It's just me and you, back corner booth, We're sitting on the same seat Got my hands all over you and, yeah girl, you're all over me Like nobody's watching us baby, let them all see Still that ain't stopping us baby We might as well be on an island, We might as well be on the moon The way you're looking at me baby, can't take my eyes off you Feels like the world is disappearing every time we touch We're so caught up in each other, it's just the two of us We might as well be on an island, We might as well be on an island We might as well be on an island Like we're the last two on this Earth Like we're frozen here in time Like it's empty here tonight We might as well be on an island, we might as well be on the moon The way you're looking at me baby, can't take my eyes off you Feels like the world is disappearing every time we touch We're so caught up in each other, it's just the two of us We might as well be on an island We might as well be on an island We might as well be on an island, yeah

Now this here's the story about the Rock Island Line The Rock Island Line she runs down into New Orleans And just outside of New Orleans is a big toll gate And all the trains that go through the toll gate Why, they gotta pay the man some money But of course, if you got certain things on board You're okay and you don't have to pay the man nothin' And just now we see a train, she comin' down the line And when she come up near the toll gate The driver, he shout down to the man And he say "I got pigs, I got horses, I got cows I got sheep, I got all livestock, I got all livestock I got all livestock" And the man say "well you alright boy just Get on through, don't have to pay me nothin'" And the train go through And when he go through the tollgate The train got up a little bit of steam And a little bit of speed And when the driver think he safely on the other side He shouts back down the line to the man And he said "I fooled you, I fooled you I got pig iron, I got pig iron I got all pig iron" Now I'll tell you where I'm goin' boy Down the rock island line she's a mighty good road The rock island line is the road to ride Yes, The rock island line is a mighty good road And if you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station on the rock island line I may be right, I may be wrong You know you're gonna miss me when I'm gone Down the rock island line she's a mighty good road The rock island line is the road to ride Yes, The rock island line is a mighty good road And if you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station on the rock island line Hallelujah I'm safe from sin The good Lord's comin' for to see me again Down the rock island line she's a mighty good road The rock island line is the road to ride Yes, The rock island line is a mighty good road And if you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station on the rock island line A-B-C W-X-Y-Z The cats on the cover but he don't see me Down the rock island line she's a mighty good road The rock island line is the road to ride Yes, The rock island line is a mighty good road If you want to ride you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station on the rock island line Rock island line, she's a mighty good road Rock island line is the road to ride Yeah! Rock island line, she's a mighty good road And if you want to ride, you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station on the rock island line

Now, this here's a story about the Rock Island Line Well the Rock Island line, she runs down into New Orleans There's a big toll gate down there And, y'know, if you got certain things on board When you go through the toll gate Well, you don't have to pay the man no toll Well, the train driver, he pulled up to the toll gate The man hollered and asked him what all he had on board, and he said "I got livestock, I got livestock I got cows, I got pigs, I got sheep, I got mules, I got all livestock" Well, he said, "You're alright, boy You don't have to pay no toll You can just go right on through" So, he went on through the toll gate, and as he went through He started pickin' up a little bit of speed Pickin' up a little bit of steam He got on through, he turned, looked back at the man, he said "Well, I fooled you, I fooled you I got pig iron, I got pig iron I got all pig iron" Now, the Rock Island Line, she's a mighty good road Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road Well, if you ride, you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line Oh! Cloudy in the west, and it looked like rain 'Round the curve come a passenger train Northbound train on the southbound track He's all right a-leavin, but he won't be back Well, the Rock Island Line, she's a mighty good road Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road Well, if you ride, you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line Well, I may be right, and I may be wrong But you're gonna miss me when I'm gone Well, the engineer said before he died That there were two more drinks that he'd like to try The doctor said, "What could they be?" "A hot cup of coffee and a cold glass of tea" Well, the Rock Island Line, she's a mighty good road Rock Island Line, it's a road to ride Rock Island Line, it's a mighty good road Well, if you ride, you gotta ride it like you find it Get your ticket at the station for the Rock Island Line

Yeah Im back in my back man I just like to Bragg Split you with bullets yeah my bars comes with mags Tossing the flags the yellow the red the white Surrender when Im on the mic Im feeling alright man I just like to brag These rappers aint f with me Thats a fact Over they head so they over react Back in my bag man I just like to brag Yeah Im back in my back man I just like to brag Split you with bullets yeah my bars comes with mags Tossing the flags the yellow the red the white Surrender when Im on the mic Im feeling alright man I just like to brag These rappers aint f with me Thats a fact Over they head so they over react Back in my bag man I just like to brag Back in my bag yeah Im back on my shit though You need to hop up off my dick ho I got a lot of money to show But imma keep it on the low low yeah Dreams getting vivid the styles they copy They might need a printer Up to the top man I feel like a winner Reading the lines in my mind like a scripture I eat em for dinner Im talking about all these beats Got em standing on the seats Out in the streets The realest who they claims to be But we is yet to see the feats Where do they be Me I been bringing the heat Me I been bringing the heat Y'all just finally heard me spinning these words Hating I know that it hurts Back in my bag yeah Im back in my bag Smoking on doobies I feel like Im shaggy Pants they been a little baggy Why your girl calling me daddy Ha, raising the bar Need a hot hook Im the one that they call When you the highest they need you to fall Royal rumble man this s is a brawl Yeah Im back in my back man I just like to Bragg Split you with bullets yeah my bars comes with mags Tossing the flags the yellow the red the white Surrender when Im on the mic Im feeling alright man I just like to brag These rappers aint f with me Thats a fact Over they head so they over react Back in my bag man I just like to brag Yeah Im back in my back man I just like to brag Split you with bullets yeah my bars comes with mags Tossing the flags the yellow the red the white Surrender when Im on the mic Im feeling alright man I just like to brag These rappers aint f with me Thats a fact Over they head so they over react Back in my bag man I just like to brag

Jeane The low-life has lost its appeal And I'm tired of walking these streets To a room with a cupboard bare Jeane I'm not sure what happiness means But I look in your eyes And I know that it isn't there We tried, we failed We tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed We tried Jeane There's ice on the sink where we bathe So how can you call this a home When you know it's a grave? But you still hold a greedy grace As you tidy the place But it'll never be clean Jeane We tried, we failed We tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed We tried Oh, cash on the nail It's just a fairytale Oh, and I don't believe in magic anymore Jeane But I think you know I really think you know Oh, I think you know the truth Jeane, oh No heavenly choir Not for me and not for you Because I think that you know I really think you know I think you know the truth Oh, Jeane That we tried, and we failed That we tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed We tried, and we failed Oh, oh, Jeane

Shirley, it's so exciting to be sleeping here in this new room Shirley, you're my reason to get out of bed before noon Shirley, you know when we sat out on the fire escape talking Shirley, what did you say about running before we were walking? Sometimes when we're as close as this It's like we're in a dream How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team? Shirley, your sexual politics have left me all of a muddle Shirley, we're joined in the ideological cuddle I'm celebrating my love to you With a pint of beer and a new tattoo And if you haven't noticed yet I'm more impressionable when my cement is wet Politics and pregnancy are debated as we empty our glasses And how I love those evening classes Shirley, you really know how to make a young man angry Shirley, can we get through the night without mentioning family? The people from the church agree It's not much of a career Trying the handles of parked cars Whoops there goes another year, whoops there goes another pint of beer Here we are in our summer years Living on ice cream and chocolate kisses And would the leaves fall from the trees If I was your old man and you was my missus? Give my greetings to the new brunette Shirley Greetings to the new brunette Shirley Greetings to the new brunette Shirley Greetings to the new brunette Shirley

Kiss me goodnight and say my prayers Leave the light on at the top of the stairs Tell me the names of the stars up in the sky A tree taps on the window pane That feeling smothers me again Daddy is it true that we all have to die At the top of the stairs Is darkness I closed my eyes and when I looked Your name was in the memorial book And what had become of all the things we planned I accepted the commiserations Of all your friends and your relations But there's some things I still don't understand You were so tall How could you fall? Some photographs of a summer's day A little boy's lifetime away Is all I've left of everything we've done Like a pale moon in a sunny sky Death gazes down as I pass by To remind me that I'm but my father's son I offer up to you This tribute I offer up to you This tank park salute

She said it was just a figment of speech And I said "You mean figure", And she said "No, figment" Because she could never imagine it happening. But it did When we first met I played the Shy boy When she spoke to me for the first time my nose began to bleed She guessed the rest The next day we went on a bus ride to the ferry And when nobody came to collect our fares Well I knew then this was something special I couldn't stop thinking about her And every time I switched on the radio There was somebody else singing a song about the two of us It was just like being on a fast ride at the fun fair The sort you want to get off because its scary And then as soon as you're off you want get straight back on again But all love is strange And you have to learn to take the crunchy with the smooth I suppose She began going out with Mr. Potato Head It was when I saw her in he car park With his coat around her shoulders that I realized I went home and thought about the two of them together Until the bathwater went cold around me I thought about her eyes and the curve of her breasts And about the point where their bodies met I confronted her about it I said, "I'm the most illegible bachelor in town, And she said "Yeah that's why I Could never understand any of those silly letters you sent me" And then one day it happened She cut her hair and I stopped loving her

One by one the teardrops fall as I write you One by one my words come falling on the page One by one my dreams are fading in the twilight One by one my schemes are fading fast away One by one the flowers fading in my garden One by one the leaves are falling from the trees One by one my hopes are vanished in the clouds clear One by one like snowflakes melting in the breeze One by one my hair is turning gray One by one my dreams are fading fast away One by one I read your letters over One by one I lay them all away One by one the days are slipping up behind you One by one the sweetest days of life go by One by one the moments stealing out behind you One by one she'll come and find not you or I One by one I hear the soft words that you whispered One by one I feel your kisses soft and sweet One by one I hope you'll say the words to marry One by one to one by one forever be