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It Used To Be A City

by Anthony Oscar

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1.
Little Bit of Love 03:12
lyrics
Come you ladies and you gentlemen, a-listen to my song. Sing it to you right, but you might think it's wrong. Just a little glimpse of a story I'll tell 'Bout a Gulf Coast city that you all know well. It's hard times in the country, Livin' down in New Orleans. Got a lotta people talkin’ ‘bout a lot goin’ on, but if you don’t have love, you ain’t got nothin’ at all. You don’t need a name, no power or fame You just need a little love in your heart. I’m sitting down here by Burgundy Street I see all these people a-shuffling their feet I’m trying to keep the rhythm while they walk to the beat Yeah, and feel a little love in their hearts. It sure is nice down in New Orleans Got lots of cars, but less and less trees. We got City Park to fill up our lungs We need that golf course like we need more guns. Yeah, it's hard times in the country, Livin' down in New Orleans. You can holler about justice & You can yell against war- If you sing about peace you know you got my support. I’m trying to make a difference with a little bit of love I don’t want to sing these blues anymore. ‘cause it's hard times in the country, hard times for you & me yeah, it’s hard times in the city Livin' down in New Orleans.
2.
We Go Home 02:30
lyrics
We walk through Places abandoned by people we never knew & we go home later than we probably should this is fun I know it isn’t going to last too long But just tonight We can pretend like nothing’s wrong It’s okay Whatever happens after today we can run away or fall down on our knees & pray & you feel fine until you find you’ve run out of time so drink more wine do anything just to keep from crying
3.
Mississippi 03:20
lyrics
This river is a wild woman Independent from all the rest She's used to a hard living & she puts everybody to the test She comes from Minnesota The cold heartland of the North Makes her way through about a dozen states To find the Gulf shore Mississippi They call her Mississippi The Great River of the land Try to tell her what to do She just follows her own command Powerful, Perseveres Full of wonder, Full of fear Mississippi Her temper is a thing of beauty She fills with rage in the Spring each year She doesn’t like the dams or levees One day, I know, she’s gonna breach right here She gives a mighty bounty Wants love in return Look at all this exploitation Will we ever learn? Mississippi
4.
Electric Night 03:31
lyrics
I’ve been walking a lot I remember what you forgot What time I’m supposed to be home waiting for you Another electric night Storm, key & kite Read by candlelight in my room, in my room Full moon rising Later tonight Sad wolf crying Out of sight I remember everything you forget I remember everything you’ve ever said I’ve got a memory that keeps getting me in trouble again & again Another one up your sleeve Please don’t lie, don’t make believe I want to have all the answers that you need Sad wolf crying Another one tonight Full moon rising Be all right
5.
May Day 06:37
lyrics
I was born with a broken heart & I felt lost from the very start I grew up mean, but I grew up smart First I rambled near, then I rambled far I caught a train down to New Orleans To drive a spike into Jim Crow’s machine ‘cause of all the sights I’d ever seen nothing was quite like that New Orleans So many men sitting on their stoops There’s lots of work, but none to do Tell me what’s a strong man to do When his chances feel worse than the blues Now they say the river might finally rise & when it does, so will the guys ‘cause you hear their thoughts louder than their cries & you know they’re thinking keep your eyes on the prize Now I live down in New Orleans I still feel lost & I still feel mean But I share a vision realer than a dream That together we can take down the oil-slickened dark money-driven Jim Crow-addicted prison industrially complicated trying to keep us under-educated in the name of the filthy, dirty, rotten, rusted system called the capitalist machine Yeah, together we can take back New Orleans Together we can take back New Orleans Together we can take back the river Together we can take back the streets Together we can take back our public schools Together we can make ends meet Together we can bring them to their knees
6.
Recreate It All 03:48
lyrics
Some people spend a lot of time Drinking cheap whiskey & beer & living holed up inside their homes with all their fears I cut a line, you cut me some slack You built a wall between You & me & you painted it black Now you only love a machine 1, 2 everybody knew that you were not to be trusted with that 3, 4 trying to find some more of the gold & the glory that everybody had before thunder claps & you try to relax thinking of the lights in the sky reflections of the stars in the billboards & the cars & the river keeps passing you by 5, 6 building out of sticks a box to pack away the thoughts I thought I hid 7, 8 will keep from being late & somehow find time to recreate it all
7.
It Used To Be A City 03:43
lyrics
I took a fountain pen drained it all on you me & my mountain men have got some explaining to do i broke into town with fire in my soul everything was shut down like a gilder without the gold it used to be a city now it's just a film it used to be so pretty I don't know if it ever will be again systemic changes & everything starts to rust now I'm out chasing pavement dodging cars & parts of us all those early fall days with all those changing trees I think that it was always Nothing more than another day dream it used to be a city now it's just a film I want to be so pretty I don't know if I ever will
8.
Julius Caesar 04:11
lyrics
Julius Caesar was struck down last March His good friend Brutus & one hundred broken hearts (One hundred broken hearts- it only takes one to start & there’s no one among us who can always stand on guard) His blood spilled in the Capitol & pooled into the streets it filled up the Tiber & then the Tyrrhenian Sea (the Tyrrhenian Sea was blood-red for a week & all the fish there swimming were nowhere to be seen) & no one can blame Brutus for the choices that he made he was just another piece in a game he never played (the game he never played, never knew to be afraid & now poor Caesar’s body lies a-mouldering in its grave) A thousand years before us & a thousand more to come Still backsliding backstabbers, still no wars are won (no wars are ever won, no matter who holds the gun. When someone thinks they’re losing, they just go start another one.)
9.
Willowy Woman 04:00
lyrics
Willowy woman won’t you wait for me? I’ll wait for you We’ll get through this soon We never got to talk about The night everyone turned around But we might just be all right See, it’s all coming on down Is this fair, you ask me I don’t care, you tell me as you walk on down the road Your glasses are fogging up You take them off for dramatic effect You leave them off – I don’t know what to expect Willowy woman won’t you wait for me? I’ll wait for you – We’ll be through this one soon Arts and crafts on a Sunday afternoon Pressing cheeks and lips against the window panes As we watch the rain stream down & far, far away Willowy woman won’t you wait for me? I waited so long for you to come home Willowy woman won’t you tell me “We’ll be through this one soon, We’ll be through this one any day now.” You tell me I’m a broken record I can’t help it, I didn’t break myself You tell me I should pack my bags I fake it & I crawl back into bed Willowy woman won’t you care for me? I keep my stare off of you as you cross my street Willowy woman can’t you hear it from my voice? You’re all I ever wanted Willowy Woman Now what do I do Willowy Woman Without you
10.
Stay Woke 03:19
lyrics
late in the evening put the children to sleep sit on a porch swing and stare at my feet there’s a sliver of sunlight left low in the sky and a young mourning dove trying to learn how to fly come along my loved one sit down with me let’s go on a walk down the path to the sea no, we’re not gods we’re not trying to be we’re human, we’re learning what it means to be free we’re human, we’re troubled & we want to be free so lay down your burden & pull up a chair there’s plenty of room for everyone here come sit by the fire 'cause the day has been long the blues are your anthem so sing us a song yes, the blues are your anthem won’t you sing us your song we’re human, we’re troubled & we’re trying to be loving & acting compassionately we’re growing into someone we want to be who values justice, mercy & equality now i lay me down to sleep i pray the lord our souls to keep save us in this darkest night we’ll stay woke in morning light & if we live another day let us live in a loving way
11.
Conversation 03:33
lyrics
If I hear even one more time, “We just need a conversation.” There’s people dying all the time & we need more than just a conversation Tin soldiers coming, but something’s missing ‘cause now we’re used to all their lying this summer it feels no different Nine dead in South Carolina Some people blame the government & some government blames the people Who’s going to stop all this hate? Now that a boy shot up a steeple Might be a wolf or a lost sheep Either way the trouble is systemic Racism is a disease & it’s always been epidemic I can’t say more than I know but all this hatred has got to go intimidation demonization mass incarceration oppression racism this conversation is about to blow
12.
Sunshowers 04:27
lyrics
waking up, it's barely morning the sun is up & the air is hot spin a lie into a story you ask me why, but i forgot the wind is blowing, cars are going cross the bridge & a parking lot pick some flowers off the highway a handful of forget-me-nots the devil beats his wife with a walking stick his wife, she cries & the sunshine drips into the streets & into my house & god beats the devil for beating his spouse those sunshowers give me pleasure that sweet & sunny Louisiana rain this mixed-up New Orleans weather fills my heart with aches & pains
13.
Ghosts of Civil Wars 02:40
lyrics
Standing outside in the cigarette heat Trying to find myself a place to sleep So in the morning I can finally meet you downtown Royal is a lonesome street Full of watery memories & you say you’ve got a ghost for me to track down but I don’t know if I can do this anymore digging up the haunts of your civil wars something you don’t want to see creates a better side of me but I know you’re not one to repeat dangers please tell me what you believe empty what’s filling up your sleeves we don’t have time to play as if we’re strangers now I’m asking what I’m doing all this for covering the lies of your civil wars just help me – fill up my flask I’ve done everything now that you’ve asked I just need a drink to help me through this I’ve filtered fragments of the past & found those sounds were bound to last I guess we’re not the first to try to do this at least I’m not hearing voices anymore leaving what I’ve found of your civil wars
14.
Hospital Bath 03:26
lyrics
Big Oil treading water in the Gulf of Mexico Meanwhile city slickers play golf & let it go Dark money fills our pockets with the ashes of what could have been In the shadows wars are waged between the forces of grace & sin Dirt drives our endless lives & we gather up new grapes of wrath We slide down under filthy water to wash in one great hospital bath How many miles must we march before we start to learn? How many hours of ancient sunlight do we have to burn?

about

recorded at home, new orleans, september 28, 2015.
physical, hand-screenprinted format available - email anthonyoscarsound@gmail.com

credits

released October 28, 2015

all songs written, performed, recorded by anthony oscar.
album designed & printed by anthony oscar.

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Anthony Oscar New Orleans, Louisiana

folk songs
joke songs
news songs
blues songs

new orleans, la

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