Thursday

The Band: Up On Cripple Creek



From the 1992 version of The Band, Up On Cripple Creek is performed on Levon Helm's instructional drumming video: "On Drums and Drumming."

Levon Helm 1940–2012, R.I.P.
Up on Cripple Creek

When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi river, to the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Good luck had just stung me, to the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor, I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

I took up all of my winnings, and I gave my little Bessie half
She tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine, dips her doughnut in my tea

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Now me and my mate were back at the shack, we had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb, to the bottom of my feet
And I swore as I took another pull, my Bessie can't be beat

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama, tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know, deep down, I'm kind of tempted to go and see my Bessie again

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Uriah Heep: The Wizard



Eds note: Great song. Note the cheeseball costumes and hairdos and on-stage teenybopper dancers. 'Twas another time and place, folks.

The Wizard
(Mark Clarke, Ken Hensley)

He was the wizard of a thousand kings,
and I chanced to meet him one night wandering.
He told me tales, and he drank my wine,
me and my magic man kinda feelin' fine.

He had a cloak of gold and eyes of fire,
and as he spoke I felt a deep desire,
to free the world from it's fear and pain,
and help the people to feel free again.

Why don't we listen to the voices in our hearts
'cause then I know we'd find that we're not so far apart.
Everybody's got to be happy. Everyone should sing,
for we know the joy of life, the peace that love can bring.

So spoke the wizard in his mountain home.
The vision of his wisdom means we'll never be alone.
And I will dream of my magic night,
And the million silver stars that guide me with their light.

Tuesday

Bruce Springsteen: Wrecking Ball (Live at Giants Stadium)



Wrecking Ball
(Bruce Springsteen)


Song factoid: this is about the 2010 demolition of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex.


I was raised out of steel here in the swamps of jersey, some misty years
Ago
Through the mud and the beer, and the blood and the cheers, I've seen
Champions come and go
So if you got the guts mister, yeah if you've got the balls
If you think it's your time, then step to the line, and bring on your
Wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball
Now my home was here in the meadowlands, where mosquitoes grow big as
Airplanes
Here where the blood is spilled, the arena's filled, and giants play the
Game
So raise up your glasses and let me hear your voices call
Come on!
Because tonight all the dead are here, so bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball
One, two, one two three four!

[Trumpet solo]

Yeah we know that come tomorrow, none of this will be here
So hold tight on your anger
Hold tight on your anger
Hold tight to your anger, and don't fall to your fear
Now when all this steel and these stories, they drift away to rust
And all our youth and beauty, it's been given to the dust
And your game has been decided, and you're burning the clock down
And all our little victories and glories, have turned into parking lots
When your best hopes and desires, are scattered through the wind
And hard times come, hard times go

Hard times come, hard times go
And hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Hard times come, hard times go
Yeah just to come again
Bring on your wrecking ball
Bring on your wrecking ball
Come on and take your best shot, let me see what you've got
Bring on your wrecking ball

Bring on your wrecking ball (bring on your wrecking ball)
Bring on your wrecking ball (bring on your wrecking ball)
Take your best shot, let me see what you've got, bring on your wrecking
Ball
One, two, one two three four!

[Trumpet solo]

Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho
Whoa-ho-ho