March 16-20, 1992 Lyrics

Jay Farrar has posted the lyrics to all of his songs (Uncle Tupelo, Son Volt, and solo) on his official website.

To my knowledge, official lyrics have not been released for Jeff Tweedy's songs or the covers on March 16-20,1992. I've included unofficial fan transcriptions of those songs below.


Grindstone

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Coalminers (credited as traditional, but written by Sarah Ogan Gunning)

Come, all you coalminers
Wherever you may be
And listen to the story
That I relate to thee
My name is nothing extra
But the truth to you I tell
I am a coalminer
And I'm sure I wish you well

I was born in old Kentucky
In a coal camp, born and bred
I know about old beans
Bulldog gravy and cornbread
I know how the miners work and slave
In the coalmines every day
For a dollar in the company store
For that is all they pay

Mining is the most dangerous work
In our land today
Plenty of dirty, slaving work
For very little pay
Coalminers, won't you wake up
And open your eyes and see
What this dirty capitalist system
Has done to you and me

Dear miners, they will slave you
Until you can't work no more
And what will you get for your labor
But a dollar in the company store
A tumbledown shack to live in
Snow and rain pouring through the top
And you have to pay the company rent
And your payments will never stop

They take our very lifeblood
They take our children's lives
Take fathers away from children
Take husbands away from wives
Coalminers, won't you organize
Wherever you may be
And make this a land of freedom
For workers, like you and me

I am a coalminer
And I'm sure I wish you well
Let's sink this capitalist system
To the darkest pits of hell


Wait Up

Are you surprised it's me?
Hope I didn't wake anybody
Honey, please wait up for me
I miss you more than I need sleep

Guess I'll let you go
Even though I don't want to
Honey, please wait up for me
I need you, and I can't keep up this speed


Criminals

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Shaky Ground

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down (traditional)

Satan, your kingdom must come down
Satan, your kingdom must come down
I heard the voice of Jesus say
Satan, your kingdom must come down

Gonna pray until they tear your kingdom down
Gonna pray until they tear your kingdom down
I heard the voice of Jesus say
Satan, your kingdom must come down

Gonna shout until they tear your kingdom down
Gonna shout until they tear your kingdom down
I heard the voice of Jesus say
Satan, your kingdom must come down


Black Eye

He had a black eye
He was proud of
Like some of his friends
It made him feel somewhere outside
Of everything and everywhere he'd been

Like his brothers
He emptied himself
And played it safe
Like their father
He wanted to remember
But he almost always
Forgot what he was gonna say

Black eye
Black eye

When he realized
That this one was here to stay
He took down
All the mirrors in the hallway
And thought only of his younger face

Black eye
Black eye


Moonshiner (traditional)

I've been a moonshiner
For seventeen long years
And I spent all my money
On whiskey and beer
And I go to some hollow
And set up my still
If whiskey don't kill me
Lord, I don't know what will

And I go to some barroom
To drink with my friends
Where the women they can't follow
To see what I spend
God bless them pretty women
I wish they was mine
With breath as sweet as
The dew on the vine

Let me eat when I'm hungry
Let me drink when I'm dry
Two dollars when I'm hard up
Religion when I die
The whole world is a bottle
And life is but a dram
When the bottle gets empty
Lord, it sure ain't worth a damn


I Wish My Baby Was Born (traditional)

I wish, I wish my baby was born
Sitting on his papa's knee
And you, poor girl, were dead and gone
Green grass growing over thee

I'm not no saint, nor I never shall be
'Til the sweet apple grows
>From the sour apple tree
I still hope the day will come
When you and I will walk as one


Atomic Power (I. Louvin, C. Louvin, and B. Bains)

Do you fear this man's invention
That they call atomic power
Are we all in great confusion
Do we know the time or hour

When a terrible explosion
May rain down upon our land
Leaving horrible destruction
Blotting out the works of man

Are you, are you ready
For that great atomic power?
Will you rise and meet your savior in the air?
Will you shout or will you cry
When the fire rains from on high?
Are you ready for that great atomic power?

There is one way to escape
And be prepared to meet the lord
When the mushroom of destruction falls
There is a shielding sword

He will surely stand beside you
And you'll never taste of death
For your soul will fly to safety
And eternal peace and rest

Are you, are you ready
For that great atomic power?
Will you rise and meet your savior in the air?
Will you shout or will you cry
When the fire rains from on high?
Are you ready for that great atomic power?


Lilli Schull (traditional)

A great crowd has now gathered
All around the jail today
To see me executed
And hear what I do say

Now I must hang this morning
For the murder of Lilli Schull
Whom I so cruelly murdered
And her body shamefully burned

The fire where I burned her
Is again now within my sight
Her lovely face recovering
And the fire that burned so bright

The cries of poor Lilli
Again I can almost hear
As she begged me not to kill her
Her life alone to spare

Now I bow down to Jesus
In penitential grief
And I beg him now to save me
Like he did the dying thief

God bless my aged parents
Who mourn for me alone
And my wife and baby
Who will be left alone

It was then that I heard a whisper
In a most gentle tone
My grave is one sufficient
To save the vilest one


Warfare (traditional)

My lord told his disciples
After I'm risen and gone
You'll meet with troubles and trials
Bear your rebukes and scorns

My warfare will soon be ended
My race is almost run
My warfare will soon be ended
And I'm coming home

You can rebuke me all you want to
I'm travelling home to God
I'm well acquainted with the crosses
And all my ways are hard

They say my lord is the devil
They call his saints the same
I don't expect much more down here
Than grief and scorn and shame

God bless them holiness people
The Presbyterians too
Those good old shouting Methodists
Those praying Baptists too

And when you get to heaven
I wanna see you there
And when I say amen
I want you to say so too

My warfare will soon be ended
My race is almost run
My warfare will soon be ended
And I'm coming home
I'm coming home


Fatal Wound

Don't the lights look empty
When the streets are bare
Almost as empty
As the look you give me
When I'm the only one

And it's a long one
So it brings you down
So say you have nowhere else to go
And nothing to do
So you hang around
You hang around

But you wait around until
You've received that fatal wound

Columns of sunlight
And glorious cities
Oceans of opportunity
And all your decisions seem ancient

But you wait around until
You've received that fatal wound


Sandusky

instrumental


Wipe The Clock

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Extra songs included on the 2003 reissue


I Wanna Be Your Dog (demo) (The Stooges)

So messed up, I want you here
In my room, I want you near
Now I wanna be face-to-face
And I'll lay right down in my favorite place

And now I wanna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Well c'mon

Now I'm ready to close my eyes
Now I'm ready to close my mind
Now I'm ready to take your hand
And lose my heart on the burning sand

'Cause now I wanna be your dog
Now I wenna be your dog
Now I wanna be your dog
Well c'mon