Re-Mastered TSR Set List Songs
Louder and Prouder!
Lyrics/MP3s
The Set List - Mastered
Johnny ran a parlor down Flamingo Road
About a half mile down from the strip
My sister loved Johnny and I never knew why
I guess she figured he’d be a father to their kids
Well Johnny was a crazy one that’s for sure
Always hanging around the dealers and the clowns
And I told myself if my sister ever got hurt
That I would be there with a bat to bring ‘ol Johnny down
Johnny used to gamble and he had a big debt
It was due on the fourteenth of May
When the date came and went the mob sent in some men
And in the Flamingo Road parlor eight dead bodies lay
The mob kidnapped my sister at the grocery store
‘Cause they knew that she was Johnny’s wife
And the boss called Johnny up and said “Now let’s make a deal
You either come up with the money or we take her sweet life”
Well I guess you could call Johnny a lot of bad things
But he still had the guts to go down there that day
And they let my sister go but they shot Johnny dead
I guess I’ll never think of him in quite the same way
It just goes to show you how we judge someone
Before we really know what they’re like inside
Not everyone has a face that’s so easily read
And more often than not it’s the good things we hide
I used to follow her everywhere
“Anastasia,” I said
“Your name derived from the rising
Of Jesus Christ from the dead
She said, “Go away, you don’t understand me
You don’t know what I’m about”
There’s something missing in her life
I hope she figures it out…
Born on a Sunday in April
It didn’t mean much, I guess
Some kids are showered with love and affection
Some kids aren’t quite so blessed
Nobody knew much about him
But we could still not believe
The day he laid down by the tailpipe of his Ford and
Breathed a sigh of relief…
Dilsey’s sweaty palm gripped the cross around her neck
The tears streamed down her face
She had just come from the Church of Redemption
Where she redeemed her faith
She said she’d always been searching for something
It waiting just around the bend
“I seed the beginning a long time ago,
And now I see the end…”
(Words and music-Rowan Bishop)
I took a last sip of my smooth Kentucky bourbon
It was deep in the dead of night out by the firelight
I got to thinkin’ of all the hell that I’d been through
Family and friends all gone, mine’s such a lonely song
All my dreams ended up being shattered
And all my accomplishments just don’t seem to matter
I don’t know why but I just keep on trying
This life is just so harsh sometimes I feel like dying
They filled me full of buckshot in one of those silly wars
The land was painted red, by all the countless dead
I returned home only to find my house consumed in flames
It burnt right to the ground, my wife was never found
Into the starlight I stare and I wonder
If this life is drowning me why don’t I stay under?
Everything important to me has been taken
I’m just a leaf-less tree that’s still being shaken
And now I feel the earth splitting asunder
Could Satan have unleashed his demons of thunder?
The plains all around me don’t provide the escape I need
Angel of death in a buffalo stampede
And now I face the onslaught of around ten thousand head
My fate is sealed for good I’d change it if I could
My heart pounding in my chest I’ve never felt so alive
I can’t believe it’s true; the herd has split in two
Buffalo hurricane, you gave me strength at last
Live for today and forget about your past
My life has taken a whole new direction
It feels as though there’s been some sort of strange resurrection
Silver-haired lady can you see
what does the future hold for me
and will I rise up from this gloom
you see I prayed to the Lord above
it didn’t work I fell in love
she left me just this afternoon
Now I’ll give you all my money-I just hope you understand
I have no place left to turn- my life’s a wreck, it’s in your hands
Young man just sit right down
I’ll turn your life around
Lady May deals in cures
hold out your hand and it’s yours
Incense smoke is burning thick
crystal balls and candlesticks
what is the cure you have in mind
will you recite an ancient spell
and call a demon straight from hell
or will the stars give you a sign
Now I’ve put my trust in you-oh lady please don’t let me down
give me the cure to change my life- what is the secret you have found
Young man just sit right down
this is the cure that I have found
your cards were easy to read
moonshine is all that you need
Give yourself peace of mind
And turn your fears away
Embrace your life with the warmth
Of sunshine on your face
Though the world seems a whirlwind of hatred
There’s just no reason for you to take part
Look in the mirror you’ll find a solution
You may fall down but the first step’s a start
Harry sipped the last of his gin
The third pint of the day
Unfocused eyes searched the room
For his wife who had passed away
So many people are drowning their sorrows
Killing their spirits and numbing their minds
There’s no miracle cure gonna save you
Just straighten up and start towing the line
Nobody said this was gonna be easy
Can’t face the storm with your back to the wind
Pick yourself up off the ground and remember
This time you won’t get knocked back down again
Alicia had hoped for the best
But it turned out for the worst
Her marriage ended in turmoil
Ten years felt like a curse
She had a dream to live out in the country
To raise her kids somewhere so far away
She sold her ring in a pawnshop in midtown
Packed up the car and they’re leaving today
(Words and Music - Rowan Bishop)
A starry night falls over silken skies
Shimmering blue it slowly fades to gray
A torch light calls you to an open field
A flame you hope will burn your pain away
Take it away...
Close your eyes and fly with me
Slip through your chains and you are free
Like a stream you’ll find a course
And you will run and never fall down
Anger rages in you even still
Stings in your eyes and stains your soul
Your cross to bear in blood one-hundred years
A passion for a life you’ll never know
You’ll never know...
Sing to my fathers - I want to go back home
Sing to my brothers - I want to go back home
And to the skies - I want to go back home
The eagles cry - I want to go back home
All the spirits of a feather joined as one
With this pipe you shall walk upon the earth
Whatever sickens there you shall make it well
Oh thunder nation deliver me from hell
Close your eyes and fly with me
Turn from the dark and you will see
Like a stream you’ll find a course
And you will run and never fall down
(Words and Music - Rowan Bishop)
I hitch-hiked from the west coast
my friends said New York was so gorgeous in the spring
it feels so good to be here, in the streets I’m here to sing
I started out this journey
with a friend of mine who said “Let’s go out for a drive”
he was running from his troubles
I felt great just to be alive
So we drove on till the sunrise
two-hundred miles outside of Santa Fe we stopped
to gaze upon the mesas and climb up on the rocks
This has always been my dream
aimless - travel so serene
sun burns out the darkest fears
drying all the falling tears
don’t know where I’ll be tonight
but I’ll be gone before daylight
I have blossomed from a seed
and now into the wind I’m freed
drawn into the moonlit sky
born to live and never die
Left my friend in New Orleans
the car broke down and I just couldn’t stay around
so I found myself a highway and a trucker northward bound
left my wife and kid in Oakland
I love my baby and I miss my Kaity - Ann
I guess maybe I should call her
but she wouldn’t understand…
MP3
In the town that I grew up in
there was this girl I knew next door
her name was Eileen May Frances Winfield
I called her Ellie just for short
ever since I can remember
we were as close as kids could be
we fished for bull-heads at the culvert
she even climbed that big oak tree
I used to say “Hey Ellie May, won’t you come on out to play
I need you just to hold my hand and tell me stories all day long
hey Ellie May, I’ll just wait out here all day
until you come on out and run with me down through the trees”
Now she was a little older
a little smarter just the same
she used to quote me lines from Shakespeare
while I read aloud Mark Twain
and we savored all the good times
we stuck it out through all the bad
and through the early years of my youth
she was the only friend I had
I used to say “Hey Ellie May, won’t you come on out to play
I need you just to hold my hand and tell me stories all day long
hey Ellie May, I’ll just wait out here all day
until you come on out and run with me down through the trees”
Now around the time I went to high school
Ellie’s family moved out of town
and though we wrote each other every single day
I never, never felt so down
One day the letters stopped coming
and some of mine came back returned
so I took all those of hers that I saved
put them in the fire and watched them burn
How can time ruin friendships?
How can distance play a part?
How can fate be the dull blade that severs the ties
that bind our lonely hearts?
Why do children have to grow old?
Why do old friends always change?
How can something that once meant so much
mean less than anything?
Jainey packed up her bags in the darkness
Crept down the stairs then she slipped through the door
She left a note on the kitchen table
“I’m sorry daddy, I can’t stay here no more
“Because I don’t know about this situation
I’ll never live up to your expectations
I want to see all I can see of this world,
I want to join up in the celebration”
Jeffrey-Lee sits up straight in his wheelchair
Ever since the war he just can’t stop a-drinkin’
“People see me stare and they say that I’m crazy
They don’t understand that I’m just a-thinkin’
“‘Cause I don’t know about this situation
I’m sick and tired of this degradation
I want to stand up and walk through this world
I want to join up in the celebration”
Cheryl cried as she loaded the pistol
Her baby died and her man he had gone
She held the cold steel right up to her temple
The pain was too much she couldn’t go on
Just then the phone rang and shattered the silence
A voice cried out to her “I’ve made some mistakes
Come with me we’ll start a new life together
I’ve got to have your love—no matter what it takes
“‘Cause I don’t know about this situation
Your love to me is such a revelation
I want to take your hand and walk through this world
Let’s join up in the celebration”