No Depression 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 No Depression. I've included unofficial fan transcriptions of those songs below.


Graveyard Shift

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


That Year

The thousand times I lived before were just in my dreams
Well, I woke up to realize it didn't mean a thing
I've seen several better places, several better times
Somehow all those memories got left behind

Give me back that year, good or bad
Give me back something that I never knew I had

I guess what it all boils down to is just a second guess
It was so god damn long ago it's hard to feel I did my best
And I think of our relationship and all its distant ties
And why I can't see that anymore in your eyes

Give me back that year, good or bad
Give me back something that I never knew I had

Well, I sit and watch it go by
I sit and watch shit go by
Go by

That year


Before I Break

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


No Depression (Carter Family)

Fear the hearts of men are failing
For these our latter days we know
The Great Depression now is spreading
God's word declared it would be so

I'm going where there's no Depression
To a better land that's free from care
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble
My home's in heaven
I'm going there

In this dark hour, midnight nearing
The tribulation time will come
The storms will hurl the midnight fear
And sweep lost millions to their doom

I'm going where there's no Depression
To a better land that's free from care
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble
My home's in heaven
I'm going there

I'm going where there's no Depression
To a better land that's free from care
I'll leave this world of toil and trouble
My home's in heaven
I'm going there


Factory Belt

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Whiskey Bottle

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Outdone

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Train

Its a quarter after two
Sittin' in my car, watching
Waiting on a train
Ninety-seven flatcars
Loaded down with troop trucks and tanks
Rolling by

I'm twenty-one and I'm scared as hell
I quit school, I was healthy as a horse
Because of all that I'll be the first one to die in a war

The whole damn town was sleeping
Dreaming the same dream
The radio was playing
Roger McGuinn singing
"To each and every thing there is a time and a season"

I'm twenty-one and I'm scared as hell
I quit school, I was healthy as a horse
Because of all that I'll be the first one to die in a war

Guess I have no right to say
We all die anyway
But I'd just like to know
Where does my dying go?
What for?
What for?

It's a quarter after two
Sittin' in my car, watching
Waiting on a train
Ninety-seven flatcars
Loaded down with troop trucks and tanks
Rolling by


Life Worth Livin'

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Flatness

Beer makes you weary
But you need something to get along
As you stare at the flatness
From inside your dark home
Well "not me," you whisper;
"This isn't where it ends."
Your hand holds the bottle
Which has become your last lonely friend

I've lost all hope
But there's hope for you
If not just in the possibility
Of a better next day
If not just in the simple fact
There's no other way

You lie on that couch
And try to dream once more
But your only goal is to sleep
Until the news is over
Outside the leaves are all changing
But you drink to forget
Someone you once met
Stands blocking the bright orange sunset

I've lost all hope
But there's hope for you
If not just in the possibility
Of a better next day
If not just in the simple fact
There's no other way

So open up those curtains
And drink up the daylight
Just by the brightness
Of opening your door wide
'Cause things don't get better
But some people do
There's darkness in this life
But the brighter side we also may view
There's darkness in this life
But the brighter side we also may view


So Called Friend

Never again, to a so called friend
Will leave you sick and dry
This friend has a name
Knows the gutter and shame
This so called friend of you and I

Oh great soul, the long-term goals
Are to leave this friend behind
He knows what I lack
Is a place under the sack
And every other tie that binds

This last night on the town
Might be your last above ground
And you think to yourself
There must be a better way than the same routine
For more than once, you pay
More than once, you pay

Butt full of lead, stuck in your web
Held captive by the stream
The thoughts in your head
They made a nice bed
And you still had time to dream

This last night on the town
Might be your last above ground
And you smile at things and wave goodbye
More excuses to never even try
As you wave goodbye

Forget what I said, your friend's not dead
He's only gone for a while
Come back to that crack
Between what's white and what's black
And give you one last smile

This last night on the town
Might be your last above ground
And you think to yourself
There must be a better way than the same routine
For more than once, you pay
More than once, you pay


Screen Door

Down here, where we're at
The weather changes, that's the way it goes
Sometimes it snows, when everything's wrong
Sometimes it snows, but when it does, it doesn't last long

Down here, where we're at
All we do is sit out on the porch
And play our songs, and nothing's wrong
Sometime friends come around, they all sing along

Down here, where we're at
Everyone is equally poor
Down here, we don't care
We don't care what happens outside the screen door

Down here, where we're at
Sweat drips from the tip of your nose
You wear loose clothes, and you try to stay cool
We all still have a lot of fun, never saw much school

Down here, where we're at
Everyone is equally poor
Down here, we don't care
We don't care what happens outside the screen door


John Hardy (traditional, copywrited by Leadbelly)

John Hardy, he was a desperate little man
Carried two guns every day
Shot a man down by the West Virginia line
They saw John Hardy get away
They saw John Hardy get away

They cornered John Hardy on the Tombstone bridge
He thought that he was free
'Til a deputy sheriff came and grabbed him by the arm
Said "Johnny, come along with me"
"Johnny, come along with me"

John Hardy, he stood inside his cell
Tears running down his eyes
Said "I've seen the death of many a poor boy
Now I'm ready to die
Now I'm ready to die"

Well, I've been to the east and I've been to the west
I've been the whole world round
I've been to the north and I've been to the south
Now I'm going to my hanging ground
I'm going to my hanging ground


Extra songs included on the 2003 reissue


Left in the Dark (The Vertebrats)

In an article about this song, Jay Farrar mentioned that UT made up some of their own lyrics because they couldn't decipher all of them from the Vertebrats recording. Below is my best guess at the lyrics of UT's version.

Left here, right in the dark
Slouched in the corner, tryin' to make a new start
Not getting any warmer, you got a cold heart
Icicles falling, the points are so sharp

'Cause the next one's going to be the best one
Get my attention, a ?? in the ocean

Left here right in the dark,
Not a clue to my name, you sit and throw darts
With uncanny aim at my open heart
Got a new flame, don't think he's so smart

'Cause the next one's going to be the best one,
Get my attention, a ?? on the ocean

Tell me baby, what's his name?
Speak to me honey, or are you ashamed?
I'm a little uneasy, a little bit pained
To see you there
The perfect pair
How could you dare?
I've been framed

Lights out, everybody hide
Just pretend that nobody died
Close your eyes and let everything slide
Plug your ears, you won't hear us collide

'Cause the next one's going to be the best one
Get my attention, a ?? on the ocean

Tell me baby, what's his name?
Speak to me honey, or are you ashamed?
I'm a little uneasy, a little bit pained
To see you there
The perfect pair
How could you dare?
I've been framed

Left here right in the dark
Left in the dark
Right in the dark
Left in the dark
Right in the dark
Left in the dark
Left in the dark


Here are the lyrics to the original version by the Vertebrats (thanks to Ken Draznik from the Vertebrats for sending these).

Left here right in the dark,
Slouched in the corner,
Trying to make a new start.
Not getting any warmer,
You got a cold heart.
Icicles form, the points are so sharp.

The next one's gonna be the best one,
Get my attention, a pearl from the ocean.

Left here right in the dark,
Not a clue to my name,
You sit and throw darts
With uncanny aim
At my open heart.
You got a new flame,
Don't think you're so smart.

The first time I saw you in the bar line,
Goin' out of my mind, thinking 'bout your new find.

Tell me baby, what's his name?
Speak to me, honey, or are you ashamed?
I'm a little uneasy, a little bit maimed
To see you there, the perfect pair,
How could you dare?
I've been framed.

Lights out, everybody hide,
Just pretend that nobody died.
Close your eyes and let everything slide,
Plug your ears, you won't hear us collide.

There's a live wire burnin' near my front tire,
Screamin' like a mad choir,
You're a little misfire.

Tell me baby, etc.

Left here right in the dark, left in the dark . . .


Won't Forget

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.


Sin City (Gram Parsons & Chris Hillman)

Read the lyrics on Gram Parson's official website.


Blues Die Hard

Read the lyrics on Jay Farrar's official website.