Get all 27 Eric Blowtorch releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
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1. |
First Taste of Freedom
02:16
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First Taste of Freedom (E. Beaumont)
We were the brothers at the bottom of the totem pole,
taking all the trash the town was talking
Then we heard the secret signal that saved our souls
Man, until tonight I was only sleepwalking
So, with all the love we’ve got to give
and for all the life that’s left to live,
we taste freedom for the very first time
Shout it loud around the block, shout it proud around the planet
Freedom for the very first time
I’m ecstatic and you know you had a hand in it
I want to run around the city in exhilaration,
take out the trash from the past
I want to savor every second, every single sensation,
blow out boredom with the barium blast
Now you’ve way too much sense of humor
to be just another consumer
Breath deep, breathe heavy and hard, my brother
Take us out of this town, sayonara to the schoolyard
Freedom for the very first time
Shout it loud around the block, shout it proud around the planet
You’re gonna seize thine, no one’s gonna disperse mine
When did it end?
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2. |
The Great Space Shield
01:59
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The Great Space Shield (Beaumont/Belsha/Tanzilo)
Screaming comes across the sky – a brand new kinda scream
rigged to do us all in and it will do its duty
Will you do your duty?
Yeah, will you do your duty and will I do mine? Fine!
Dreaming from the five-cornered cabal – a brand new beam
made to make contractors grin and it will do its duty
Will you do your duty?
You should not do your duty and I should not do mine! Rewind!
X-rays, lasers, particle beams
Best brains inviting chaos in their wildest schemes
They want to start wars because they never fought wars – let them fight their own
This is it, honey – this isn’t funny – there is no neutral zone
Cry, die, or what the hell it is you do
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3. |
She's a Pro
02:26
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She’s a Pro (Beaumont/Belsha/Spangenberg/Tanzilo)
She don’t come cheap with the chump change
Don’t dump on that dame – are you deranged?
She don’t want to love the man until he get old and die
The man is quaking in his suit and his powerful tie
She looks him in the eye
and he’ll day down and die
So long, baby, goodbye
The man is quaking, shaking, baking
‘cause she’s a pro, she’s appropos
She’s a pro – don’t you know? – she got the flow – you gotta go
She’s a pro – she swing solo
She’s no po-mo give-and-go, she’s no hit-the-floor-really-doe quickie ho’, Joe
Takes no shorts no more
She’s a P-R-O
She bat eyelashes and the big guy crashes
his knife upon the plate – his life – it flashes
She says, “The sun is sinking in the sky,
so let’s dance and do the dog and then goodbye”
The man is loosening his tie
His roving eye
‘cause she’s a pro, she swing solo
She’s no po-mo give-and-go, she’s no hit-the-floor-really-doe quickie ho’, Joe
Takes no shorts no mo’, she’s apropos
She’s a a pro – act like you know – she got to Go! Go! Go!
Get hip, take a trip, and catch the swinging door
She don’t need you when she have piano
Bless your soul when you go below
On your marks, men, get set, go
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4. |
Best of Times
03:08
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Best of Times (E. Beaumont)
You say you’re
so downhearted
Life is war
and your heart is darkened
Look up, look up: clouds done parted, brotherman
Rich white folks
drive you mad,
stealing votes
to storm Baghdad
Look out, look out – you got heart and soul they never had
Best of times
These could be the best of times
so, if your life is blessed like mine,
thump your chest two times
War is hell
So is love
Can’t get no help
from above
Look ‘round, look ‘round – the living you’re still part and parcel of
You can die
any old day
Clock them kids
asleep, at play
Seek and ye shall find many, many, many reasons to stay
Unprecedented pain
Unending stress and strain
but, if your heart and soul ain’t buried,
then, hobo, you can ride this train
Please pardon
the expression
but we’ve all known
great depression
Stop, look, and listen – pity party’s out of session
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5. |
O Caminho de Pedras
01:55
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O Caminho de Pedras (D. Hanrahan/E. Beaumont)
Chegar à praça numa tarde vazia
o sol batendo na terra sem parar
e conversar com un senhor estranho
e darl-lhe uma notae mal lembrar quem é
Organizar e esperare vadiar tranqüilo: se perder
e contemplar e resonhar numa tarde vazia: a vida
Organizar e esperar e vadiar tranqüilo: maravilhar
Recontemplar a vida
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6. |
Don't Jive Me, Marlene
02:49
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Don’t Jive Me, Marlene (E. Beaumont/D. Cusma)
You are my lucky charm, Milwaukee’s favorite girl
with a sense of humor clear out of this world
Only 15 with a chance to survive
If I have to move Heaven, you’ll make it alive
Now I’m on a journey; you belong back in school
Approach me on 1st Street? You’re breaking the rules
I left you back in Milwaukee but now I feel lucky
What are you doing in New York?
Don’t jive me, Marlene, no joking this time
Don’t jive me, Marlene; don’t you know it’s a crime?
Don’t jive me, Marlene; just give me your word
With one word of kindness my blues would be cured
You are not an A student but you’ve an A mind
There’s a part of my heart here that I left behind
She promised me gladness but left me with sadness
You bring me your gladness but you’re just a ghost
Now I’m on a journey; you belong back in school
Don’t approach me on 1st Street? You’re breaking the rules
I left you back in Milwaukee but now I feel lucky
What are you doing in New York?
Don’t jive me, Marlene, no joking this time
Don’t jive me, Marlene; don’t you know it’s a crime?
Don’t jive me, Marlene; just give me your word
With one word of kindness my blues would be cured
I’m ashamed, I feel ruined; what are you doing?
You tell me it’s all right – Marlene, it’s twilight
You’re bringing me lessons from way west of Avenue A
I am the teacher, you are the student
Go back to Milwaukee – do you know what you’re doing?
I have to be happy right here, my dear
Don’t jive me, Marlene, no joking this time
Don’t jive me, Marlene; don’t you know it’s a crime?
Don’t jive me, Marlene; just give me your word
With one word of kindness my blues would be cured
With one word of kindness my blues would be cured
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7. |
Too Close to Heaven
03:27
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Too Close to Heaven (E. Beaumont)
You’ve come so very far, the Far East to the Yankee dancehall
Look out, Miss Five Foot Tall, now you’re very near to a fall
You’ve given your heart to a good man, my feet are leaden with fear
Stop sweeping my off my feet – don’t break your promise here
Don’t dance away the hours
under melodies like showers
It feels like walking on flowers
Seconds turn to minutes, to hours and it’s…
…twenty-two past eleven
This feels too close to heaven
You’re dancing much too close to me
This is too close to heaven
Won’t disrespect my brethren
I’ll send you back, right back into his arms
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8. |
Guzzling Gasoline
03:36
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Guzzling Gasoline (E. Beaumont)
Never knew a life without electric light
Didn’t live through a time of “Brother,…Spare a Dime?”
I slept through the Pleistocene Era
Car frames came as a constant flame
Flickered only in tornadoes and emergencies
I’ve never really had to live with urgency
The first foot on the pedal seldom touches earth
Millionth customer at Citgo knows what life is worth
This bucket is his birthright, blares the bully in the pulpit
Gimme the pump, gimme premium, lemme gulp it
I’m guzzling gasoline, more popular than protein
It’ll take you through your teens – guzzling gasoline
I’m guzzling gasoline and I don’t dress in green
I’m a lean, mean killing machine guzzling gasoline
We’ve burnt a hole in the sky – fly and drive: why do I?
Clear-cutting miles and miles each day – give up lifestyle? Why no way?
They’re dying in the desert and the driving’s less than pleasant
Take the bus to the clubs or break out the dubs
The army’s surrounded by hostile haters ready to repel all invaders
Petrol price drops nine centavos, life goes on en la Estados
Take one day to buy nothing, take another with no juice,
another walking – hardly roughing – three days less with no excuse for
guzzling gasoline….
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9. |
Dawning of the Heart
03:43
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Dawning of the Heart (E. Beaumont)
Pilot switches to manual, strips off gear,
steps into sunrise, stops crying in his beer
Gunner walks off the job, jamming in the ranks
Brakes slam on West Bank-bound tanks
This is the dawning of dissent
Hot sun feels like freedom, no goddamn job
Signs – we ought to read ‘em – say Stop grippin’ and slippin’ like stupid slobs
One too many innocent strafed
Man begins new life, conscience chafed
This is the dawning of discontent
This is the dawning of the heart, a brand new start
Might be what sets you and me apart
from lions and hyenas, crimes and misdemeanors
Flying in between us are the sparks
of awakened hearts
He waits in hate in LGBT congregation pew,
trembles, shudders, imagines broken sisters and brothers
Sweats as suitcase ticks Armageddon,
jets with the bomb out the pew – no redrum
This is attack of the conscience
This is the dawning of the heart, a brand new start
Might be what sets you and me apart
from lions and hyenas, crimes and misdemeanors
Flying in between us are the sparks
of awakened hearts
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10. |
Every Star in the Sky
03:24
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Every Star in the Sky (E. Beaumont/B. Foldy/M. Koch/R. Umali)
When I was young she was my great one
She was pretty and witty and wise
One look in those eyes
and I knew she’d always be mine
We met at school, she was no fool
She was ready and steady
and she upset my world
Goodbye, rational reason and rule
Life was sublime
and every star in the sky would shine
One cloudy day she went away
but she wrote me and told me
everything I wanted her to
Every day a letter, sometimes two
She’d always be mine
That much I thought I knew
Your heart still beats after you break it
Love isn’t yours if you don’t take it
The world is yours
when you’re in love, out of your mind
Now I’m much older and I know better
than to tame her or claim her
She was never really that kind
I must have been out of my mind
She never knew it
but she was mine, mine, mine, all mine
We’ll never redo it like when
every star in the sky would shine
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11. |
Set My Woman Free
01:56
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Set My Woman Free (E. Beaumont)
I see you standing
standing in that pose
I see you wearing
wearing my woman’s clothes
I hear you shouting
hateful things below
below my belt
Drop that gun, let my woman go
This is a free country
Set my woman free
I’ve had enough
tribulation, pain
Release my love
Break the shackles, loose the chains
Bring her back
Bring my baby on back to me
Back up across the track
Set my woman free
This is a free country
Set my woman free
You are too cruel
Do you take me for a fool?
You ain’t the one
with whom I had so much fun
You’re insensitive
You must think I am too dense to live
You are evil
She was fine, you are feeble
This is a free country
Set my woman free
You wait, she’ll break free
Set my woman free
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12. |
Bad Dream
03:38
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Bad Dream (E. Beaumont)
Sister, serious shit you been seeing
Twisted bodies flattened on windscreen
Breathing babe and suckling sucked out with recycling
Brutality taking over
Mother, what a bother, what a weeping
The forest flamed out while fireman was sleeping
The poor, poor neighborhood gets no public good
Private interest stepping forward
and your boyfriend, your boyfriend doesn’t phone
and you feel so lonely, lonely, alone
like Margarita with one limp hand
stuck inside the trombone
Bad dream – today was just a bad dream
This terror must subside
You’ll feel better after you have cried
Bad dream – no need to get stoned or pie-eyed
Dad, so sad: sickness and suffering
Enough – the king’s smothering your brethren
The commander’s never fought, ooh, and he’s telling you you ought to
Will you kill for his company?
Brother, can’t you think of another subject for discussion?
Death is just one unending concussion
Happiness you’ve had, so exhort me
I’m going to give it to you shortly
and your girlfriend, your girlfriend doesn’t answer
and you’ve used up your last lucky chance, sir
like Don Cosmic dropped the dime
on Eastern Standard Time
Bad dream – today was just a bad dream
This terror must subside
You’ll feel better after you have cried
Bad dream – no need to get stoned or pie-eyed
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13. |
Back Off, Genius!
02:31
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Back Off, Genius! (E. Beaumont)
Come on, come out of the kitchen
and into the bright lights,
from a thousand verbal retractions
to positive consumer reactions
Well, the boy said, “Hubba hubba,” not a husband or a man
but, in another time, another land, another rhyme,
it is your day
Turn on the doggone Dictaphone and make it play
Back off, genius! You know I really mean this:
Let nothing come between us
You say you’re not for confinement, convolution, or commitment
You’re just a Citizen for a more Glamorous Environment
You didn’t take a drag or taste his backwash
Said it was like Bigfoot calling Chewbacca Sasquatch
Whenever you leave we always hope you’re coming back
Put me, put me, put me in that punk rock almanac
Saw you today and had a soul attack
We could dance but you would break the Torch’s back
Back off, genius! You know I really mean this:
Let nothing come between us
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14. |
Never Too Far Away
03:57
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Never Too Far Away (E. Beaumont)
I came into this world in the hope of meeting you
33 times it turned, my dearest dream came true
I’ll never trip, I’ll never slip through the ice and out of loving view
You never know where I’ll go, but I’m never too far away from you
The Western suns have set, the empire’s light gone out
On the East Side of town we met – now your whisper’s like a shout
Columbus, Tokyo - None of us really know
Durban, Turkestan - where we can really go
Milano, Moscow - I know that’s how
Charleston, Vatican, Harlesden - how we can
Boston, Beldgrade - often feel sad
Tampa, Topeka, Tupelo - You go
Hyderabad, Baghdad - there and
Neptune, Pluto, Io - I go
Never too far away
Heaven is where your head you lay
In my hear you will always stay
for I am never too far away
Postcards and letters lie if in your dreams I die
Heaven is where your head you lay and I am never too far away
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15. |
You Ain't Mad
03:10
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You Ain’t Mad (E. Beaumont)
Hey, kid, I know the bid is tasting like a naff meal
You’ve watched 50,000 murders, half of them half real
Now you can’t tell good action from the bad
and you can’t talk to Mom or your dad
How many smiles can the conscious kid fake?
How much cruelty can the young heart take?
You ain’t mad, little man, you’re only angry
You’re not crazy, cuz; you’re only looking for the buzz
You’re not insane; you’re only using your right brain
You’re not losing it; you’re just a refusenik
Open up the paper, switch on the radio
Flick on for commentary, click here for slide show
Nobody wants to hear you; they only want to train you,
detain you, contain you, work you while they chain you
WMADs, abortion, slaughter, and extortion
All day your mind is going through contortions
What’s to blame, government or business?
Sin? Religion? What kind of heaven is this?
Televised hand extends itself
but still you’re lonely by ya own delf,
drunk on distractions, aflame with ideas,
galvanized by love, paralyzed by fears
Listen to me, lad, or you can turn the lecture off
The world is mad; believe me, you’re better off
Scream, shout, rant, rave, cry, beat angry congas,
holler at the top of your lungs
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16. |
Paz Para Vieques
01:58
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Paz Para Vieques (E. Beaumont)
Don’t denigrate this; let’s celebrate this
Finally, paz para Vieques
70-year-old grannies stopped the madness,
filled the Puerto Rican population with gladness
Now they’re telling the U.S.
that they love the U.S.
They say they don’t hate us
for nearly killing Vieques
Ain’t that a gasser? Peace for our friends?
About time for the Cold War to end
No enemies left, not even the Cubans
The Puerto Rican people are telling the truth man and
they’re telling the U.S.
that they love the U.S.
They say they don’t hate us
for nearly killing Vieques
This historic date feels great, this
¡Viva paz para Vieques!
70-year-old grannies stopped the madness,
Sixty years of suffering ending in gladness
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17. |
Ghetto Resistance
03:39
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Ghetto Resistance (E. Beaumont/A. Noble/H. McKinney)
You’ve taken us prisoner
shackled our feet and our wrists
seduced artist and scrivener
but ghetto resistance persists
You’ve crafted your camps, sir
caged us with wires and with bricks
but the stars speak and they whisper
you don’t treat my people like this
Lay down? Not quite – we strike, unite
Allies come from far and wide
Cut deeply you might, you know you’re not right
Your body will rot from inside
You call out your dogs now
drunk on blood and confidence
Millions are marching from Moscow
to take the place of your conscience
Abraham’s blood flows like a flood
The sparks of our flight giveth light
Sarah, your pain loosens my chains
The family once more will unite
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18. |
Town for Sale
02:58
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Town for Sale (E. Beaumont)
It’s just not healthy here: dust, noise, the occasional blue plume,
spots on vehicles and all over living rooms,
raspy throats, burning eyes,
sore lips but not from kissing – American Electric wouldn’t listen
At the public meeting the clerk’s lips were bleeding
Sightings of blue cloud, touchdown of blue haze,
spots on vehicles, fly ash release
This is a company town so tell the company clerk to call the company police
Now what can a poor corporation do?
Too many complaints of too much blue
from 221 residents,
down from 222
Town for sale, town for sale
Here’s 20 million dollars
Now get lost and never bother
American Electric in your miserable lives again
Town for sale, I tell you no tall tale
Get on the track now, y’all don’t come back now
Times Beach and Love Canal –
this won’t be like them at all
87-year-old lady won’t move
Neighbors played her cheap and they know it’s true
Well, company procedures won’t improve
Lord watch over that old lady – you know that she won’t move
Town for sale, town for sale
Here’s 20 million dollars
Now get lost and never bother
American Electric in your miserable lives again
Town for sale, I tell you no tall tale
Get on the track now, y’all don’t come back now
Times Beach and Love Canal –
this won’t be like them at all
Town for sale, town for sale (repeat)
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19. |
Hatred of Captivity
03:14
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20. |
Rich Man Friend
02:28
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Rich Man Friend (E. Beaumont)
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend, let’s not pretend
you give away your money or that you even lend
Rich man friend, don’t try to defend:
what puts you in that bracket puts the poor man in the pen
and puts him to pressure and pain you can’t imagine
Rich man friend, tell me, tell me true
why everyone struggles and strives except for you
Rich man friend, are you happy in your house?
Inside your iron gates it’s quiet as a mouse
It’s a good thing you have cable and that you have gin
Rich man friend, how can you say you’re lonely,
rich man friend, after all the things you’ve shown me?
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend, friend of the rich man,
do you ever see a starving baby, maybe want to switch, man?
Rich man friend, put down the pistol
Your life ain’t so rotten; I must insist
all profit and plunder can be refunded
Rich man friend, how can you say you’re lonely,
rich man friend, after all the things you’ve shown me?
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
Rich man friend
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21. |
Lonesome Larry Hoover
03:33
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Lonesome Larry Hoover (E. Beaumont/K. Roderick)
I’m overdrawn by hundreds in my checking account
but I’ve got friends who can front necessary amounts
Still I wish my doggone job paid me enough so rent don’t bounce
Times like this I wish I was a mover like lonesome Larry Hoover
I got my freedom and my name, a good game with no shame,
broke as a joke with no one to blame
I love to eat more than my means can meet
I feel no more an improver that lonesome Larry Hoover
Larry sold rocks around the clock and ruled the block, boom shock-a-lock
Now he clock heavy dough in escrow – that much we know
In the end he might never have a friend or Disciple ears to bend
You say he’s a zero, some say a hero
I loved a woman so I sent her all my arrows straight and narrow
She send them all broken back to me, C.O.D.
Larry’s lady ran out of block and turned him in, so what the fuck?
Can’t buy me love or liberation
So now Larry sings the blues and so do you and so do you
So what’s new? I sing the reds, we all get dead
On the G – O – D you keep swearing you are free
in the land of the free and lonesome Larry
Larry sold rocks around the clock and ruled the block, boom shock-a-lock
Now he clock heavy dough in escrow – that much we know
In the end he might never have a friend or Disciple ears to bend
You say he’s a zero, some say a hero
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22. |
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Song from the Saturation Zone (lyrics: T. Pynchon, music: E. Beaumont)
Oh, don’t let it get you – it will if they let you
but there’s something I’ll bet you can’t see:
it’s big and it’s nasty and it’s right over there
It’s waiting to get its sticky claws in your hair
and the dustman is tying his tie
and it all goes along to the same jolly song
with a peppermint face in the sky
With a peppermint face in the sky
and a withered old dream in your heart
you’ll get hit with a piece of the pie
with the pantomime ready to start
Oh, the tommy is sleeping in the snowbank tonight
and the jerries are learning to fly
We can fly to the moon, we’ll be higher than noon
in our polythene home in the sky
Pretty platinum pins in your hand
Oh, your mother’s a big bad machine gun
and your father’s a dreary young man
Oh, the manager’s sucking on a corncob
and the bankers are eating their wives
All the world’s in a daze while the orchestra plays
so turn your pockets, get your surprise:
There was nobody there after all
and the lamps up the stairway are dying
It’s the season just after the ball
The palm trees whisper on the beach somewhere
and the lifesaver’s heaving a sigh
Those voices you hear, Boy and Girl of the Year
are of children who are learning to die
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23. |
First We Take Manhattan
03:23
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First We Take Manhattan (L. Cohen, arr. E. Beaumont/M. Koch)
They sentenced me to 20 years of boredom
for trying to change the system from within
I’m coming now, I’m coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
I don’t like your fashion business, mister
I don’t like these drugs that keep you thin
I don’t like what happened to my sister
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
I’d really like to live beside you, baby
I love your body and your spirit and your clothes
but you see that line that’s moving through the station?
I told you, I told you, I told you that I was one of those
I’m guided by a signal in the heavens
I’m guided by the birthmark on our skin
I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
You loved me as a loser; will you love me if I win?
You know the way to stop me, but you don’t have the discipline
How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin
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24. |
Ghosts of Stonewall
04:52
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Ghosts of Stonewall (E. Beaumont)
Winter morning in middle America
The money machine moves on, unaware of you
It’s cold, my friend, to the one in ten love we send
Pick yourself up once again
Don’t crack, don’t break, don’t bend
Remember the fury of 1969, though
Officer Unfriendly descended on disco
Outside it was war, officer blood pour
You couldn’t take it anymore
It started on the dancefloor
Vocȇ caiu da cerca
Eu estou caindo
Nós devemos cair da cerca
Vocȇ caiu da cerca
Estou caindo
But 1969’s oh so long ago,
too long since you kicked over that door
in self-defense, no more polite pretense
Sermons make no sense
when you’ve fallen off the fence
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25. |
Drums of Life
02:06
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Drums of Life (New Orleans version) (E. Beaumont)
Deep from the distance, I hear the drums of life
I hear industrial pistons, I think I love this life
Down in the dungeon I hear the drums of pain
The smell of death so pungent, your debit is the devil’s gain
I need, I need for you to give me some
The beat, the beat, the beat of the living drum
Drunk with the spirit, I hear the drums of love
Death? I don’t fear it; I’ve got my family’s love
Down on the dancefloor I hear the drums of war
Let’s scratch the record and hear the lions roar
But I shall not, shall not refrain
So sweet the beat, so sweet the pain
Deep from the distance, I hear the drums of life,
rhythmic resistance, I think I love this life
I think I love my life, try to not trife
Put away switch knife, no more struggle or strife
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26. |
Last Day of School
03:53
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27. |
Throw Open Your Arms
02:35
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Throw Open Your Arms (E. Beaumont)
Throw open your arms
I’ll throw down my spear
Throw open your heart
I’ll throw down my fear
I love your arms
I’m happy inside
Inside your arms
I’m sanctified
I used to spar, I used to spear
Now I’ve gone fishing on fighting this year
Throw open your arms
I’ll throw down my arms
Throw at me your charms
Do you no harm
Throw open your arms, your arms to me
I’ll stand up to any rivalry
Throw open your arms, your arms to me
I’ll stand up to any riflery
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28. |
W-2 Blue
02:34
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W-2 Blue (E. Beaumont)
Up in the morning at five,
so tired I’m barely alive
At six I pick up the sticks
that my baby built into a house last night
6:15 I rouse my girl
Into the cold water our bodies we hurl
I quit the university – nutrition ain’t free
and my child’s depending on me
6:30 a.m. and breakfast we bolt,
to the bus stop, no time to revolt
I want her to walk before she fall
Day care’s not caring at all
and I could cry
because I care for my baby
and you know and I know but why
did we let the wealthy privatize their own lives
and drag us out into the street?
No time for complaining, no time to eat
This workplace is stifling with heat
9:30 a.m. I’m ready to drop
9:30 tonight I’m home, closed is the grocery
Who’s going to feed my girl?
We’re always so hungry, I’m hating this world
Too tired to read but I try
I tell my sweet, sweet child about cats in the sky
and of fiddles, of cows, slaves and of plows
Alarm rings and I rouse
and get the hell out of the house
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29. |
Best of the West
03:37
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Best of the West (Belsha/Beaumont)
“Is this all there is?” you ask
as you look down at your cracked old crown,
consumed by lavish spreads,
your heart worn down to threads
No matter how hard you try,
you always wake up alive in the morning,
singing that song to make me cry
My sympathy turns to public scorning
Is this the best of the West?
Where is your beauty?
Is this the best of the West?
Where is your dignity?
Same thing day after day
How much can you take?
Bus, train, work, hit the hay
How much can you take?
No long tortured at school,
you learned to nurture self-ridicule
No matter how hard you try,
you always wake up alive in the morning,
singing that song to make men cry
My sympathy turns to public scorning
Is this the best of the West?
Where is your beauty?
Is this the best of the West?
Where is your dignity?
Is this the best of the West?
Is this the best of the West?
Is this the best of the West,
of the Midwest? The best of the West?
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30. |
Some Happy Day
03:01
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Some Happy Day (E. Beaumont)
I’ve had such a happy time with you
You know I say it from my heart
and now the time has come, has come for us to part
so let’s celebrate the good, good times to come
Some happy day
When we’ll all unite
You know you are welcome day or night
In the time we spend between each other having seen
the closer we grow and so good night
This night is not goodbye forever
We go our separate ways together
I’ll cherish your memory, take it everywhere with me
and I’ll remember the good, good times to come
The closer we grow and so good night
The closer we grow and so good night
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31. |
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Song from the Saturation Zone (lyrics: T. Pynchon, music: E. Beaumont)
Oh, don’t let it get you – it will if they let you
but there’s something I’ll bet you can’t see:
it’s big and it’s nasty and it’s right over there
It’s waiting to get its sticky claws in your hair
and the dustman is tying his tie
and it all goes along to the same jolly song
with a peppermint face in the sky
With a peppermint face in the sky
and a withered old dream in your heart
you’ll get hit with a piece of the pie
with the pantomime ready to start
Oh, the tommy is sleeping in the snowbank tonight
and the jerries are learning to fly
We can fly to the moon, we’ll be higher than noon
in our polythene home in the sky
Pretty platinum pins in your hand
Oh, your mother’s a big bad machine gun
and your father’s a dreary young man
Oh, the manager’s sucking on a corncob
and the bankers are eating their wives
All the world’s in a daze while the orchestra plays
So turn your pockets, get your surprise:
There was nobody there after all
and the lamps up the stairway are dying
It’s the season just after the ball
The palm trees whisper on the beach somewhere
and the lifesaver’s heaving a sigh
Those voices you hear, Boy and Girl of the Year,
are of children who are learning to die
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32. |
Mercy
03:35
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Mercy (E. Beaumont )
Mercy, mercy, what a fine time
Mercy ‘pon the bosses and divine crime
Mercy, mercy to the broke man
Mercy – collecting Sprite and Coke can
Mercy! Mercy!
Mercy, Mercy, Mercy – Cannonball
Mercy won’t change investment plan at all
Mercy, mercy in a cold blood age
Mercy, mercy ‘midst the mad dog rage
Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Oh, mercy!
Mercy, mercy to the human race
Mercy in destabilizer stormtroop’s face
Mercy, mercy when your blood boils over
Mercy to the driver in the bulldozer
Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Oh, mercy! Sweet mercy! People, have mercy!
Mercy, mercy to the young guns
Mercy to the sons of bitches, bastard sons
Mercy, mercy on your enemies
Mercy – stop the war and stop disease
Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy! Mercy!
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33. |
Vocȇ Caiu da Cerca
04:52
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34. |
Bass Dream
03:33
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35. |
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Too Close to Heaven (E. Beaumont)
You’ve come so very far, the Far East to the Yankee dancehall
Look out, Miss Five Foot Tall, now you’re very near to a fall
You’ve given your heart to a good man, my feet are leaden with fear
Stop sweeping my off my feet – don’t break your promise here
Don’t dance away the hours
under melodies like showers
It feels like walking on flowers
Seconds turn to minutes, to hours and it’s…
…twenty-two past eleven
This feels too close to heaven
You’re dancing much too close to me
This is too close to heaven
Won’t disrespect my brethren
I’ll send you back, right back into his arms
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36. |
Dance Do the Reggae
02:04
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Dance Do the Reggae (R. N. Marley)
Dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
I wish to hear the music
that rocks my soul
I wish to hear the sweet, sweet music
that rocks the soul
I know we can
dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
Here I am on the balcony
all in pain and agony
but peace be to all mankind
in perfect harmony
I know we can
dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
Dance, do the reggae
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
You’re young and you’re strong – rock all night long
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Eric Blowtorch Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Singer/guitarist/songwriter Eric Blowtorch sings, plays, and writes reggae, ska, rocksteady, soul, rock 'n' roll, funk, Latin, disco, hip-hop, Anglo-Afropop, and jazz songs with rhythm, melody, passion, and original comic timing. E. B. plays solo, in small combos, and with a band, Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards. ... more
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