Portland, OR

On the side of a recently closed taqueria

Short video via Bluesky

LYRICS:

I ain’t been but one little place and lived here all my life

I ain’t known but one woman and now she is my wife

Never been further than up the road to the town and back again

Never known but a handful of folks and them I call my friends

.

Now I’m going to leave here

Now I’m going away

Keep my fiddle tuned for me

I’ll need it some sweet day

.

Well the preacher said to my only son I’ll sign you up for war

You’ll fight for your life far from your home and never come back no more

Well my only son come home one day and we buried him up the hill

Next to his auntie and old grandma and dear old uncle bill

.

Now I’m going to leave here

Now I’m going away

Keep my fiddle tuned for me

I’ll need it some sweet day

.

Now I’m gonna go myself and see what’s it’s all about

Why’d they take a poor man’s son he was all I got

Who’s pockets are filled with gold and they don’t have to fight

Or leave home and say goodbye to their kids and worry on them all night

.

Now I’m going to leave here

Now I’m going away

Keep my fiddle tuned for me

I’ll need it some sweet day

.

I set up camp one day on the street where the rich man lived

He won’t come out and talk to me he don’t have the time to give

But’ll call the cops and say roustabout’s a-living on our place

So take him away and all his kind I don’t wanna see his face

.

Now I’m going to leave here

Now I’m going away

Keep my fiddle tuned for me

I’ll need it some sweet day

.

I wished I’d stayed to home and kept my son there too

You can give to the rich man all day long but he’ll never give back to you

So they can call me roustabout and do it all they please

Never will I stop for them or get down on my knees

.

Now I’m going to leave here

Now I’m going away

Keep my fiddle tuned for me

I’ll need it some sweet day

LYRICS

Thank you, Mr. Officer Great

For all the things you've said to me

For all the good that you have ever done

Without you, what would I be?

You're the gas upon my flames

My love and rage all rolled up into one

For every time your gun goes off

A new rebel is born

So when there's 41 bullets

It's 41,000 thorns in your side

We'll take a ride down to Precinct 29

And we'll sing and dance and break the code of silence

Thank you Governor, thank you Governor

To the Mayor and the commissioner

Your monster is alive now

She's taking to the streets

Crashing through your operahouse

And tearing out the seats

For every time you've signed your name

Someone out there dies

Found a wallet, not a gun

And mother's wiping tears from her eyes

We despise your hollow truths and honest lies

Now you can't sing the monster into slumber

Thanks, bastards!

You made me what I am

Thanks, bastards!

I took the goods and ran

Homeland security vs. civil liberty

I'm studying in the shadows of our state

I've seen the bones they try to hide

Cutthroat living's other side

The flood of U.S. bathwater displaced

The funeral march of all the victims

Of your power war

Rob the rights and steal the nights

And rebels shall be born

Forevermore

You're the storm

We shall play after it pours

And joy is sure to come after your silence

Thanks, bastards!

You made me what I am

Thanks, bastards!

I took the goods and ran