THE GHOST OF TOM JOAD

Men walkin long the railroad tracks
Goin someplace theres no goin back
Highway patrol choppers comin up over the bridge
Hot soup on a campfire under the bridge
Shelter line stretchin round the corner
Welcome to the new world order
Families sleepin in their cars in the southwest
No home no job no peace no rest
The highway is alive tonight
But nobodys kiddin nobody about where it goes
Im sittin down here in the campfire light
Searchin for the ghost of Tom Joad
He pulls a prayer book out of his sleeping bag
Preacher lights up a butt and takes a drag
Waitin for when the last shall be first and the first shall be last
In a cardboard box neath the underpass
Got a one-way ticket to the promised land
You got a hole in your belly and gun in your hand
Sleepin on a pillow of solid rock
Bathin in the city aqueduct
The highway is alive tonight
Where its headed everybody knows
Im sittin down here in the campfire light
Waitin on the ghost of Tom Joad
Now tom said mom, wherever theres a cop beatin a guy
Wherever a hungry newborn baby cries
Where theres a fight against the blood and hatred in the air
Look for me mom Ill be there
Wherever theres somebody fightin for a place to stand
Or a decent job or a helpin hand
Wherever somebodys strugglin to be free
Look in their eyes mom youll see me.
Well the highway is alive tonight
But nobodys kiddin nobody about where it goes
Im sittin down here in the campfire light
With the ghost of old Tom Joad

KING RAT

The song is supposedly based on James Clavell's novel of the same name that was released in 1962. The late Heath Ledger directed the video. The song features the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.



If you have the opportunity, check out the Dirty D. They are a good night out. I saw them at Smith's Olde Bar a few years ago, and it was time well spent.

THE WHALE SONG by MODEST MOUSE

I guess I am a scout
So I should find a way out
So everyone can find a way out

They keep us in
To pull us out
I'm rising up
Wish I was sinking down
And it's not like
There was warning
We were happy
And it's not like
There was mourning
In the warning

I know I am a scout
I should've found a way out
So everyone can find a way out

I know I am a scout
I should've found a way out
So everyone can find a way out

Instead of seeing a neighbor out
God, I wish I would've found a way out
It's the last time
We were happy
Ever happy

I know I was a scout
I should've found a way out
So everyone could find a way out

Well I know I was a scout
I should've found a way out
So everyone could find a way out

Well I know I was a scout
I should've found a way out
So everyone could find a way out

I first heard this song at the Tabernacle show last March. I wrote in my notebook at the time: "Mmm...tastes like jam." Now that I've heard it as a studio release, my impression still stands. This seems like a song that came together in a studio jam session, but it is infectious. And yes, the riff does sound like a whale.