Stop the bus
I wanna be lonely
When seconds pass slowly
And years go flying by
You gotta stop the bus
I’ll get off here
Enough’s enough
I’m leaving this factory

All she wants
Is food on the table
I won’t be able
To bring it home
All she wants, come on,
All I need is free
I’m a factory

(chorus):
Did Mother Nature tell you
Boy you come and go as you please
That’s what she said to me
Big brother got the keys
And I got Jackson Cannery

Millionaires and mill rats live side by side here,
Messed up my brother’s mind
He’s far from earth
What’s he worth
The same as you or me
In this factory

(chorus)

It’s 4 in the morning
Mother don’t know
That I’m going far away
She’s whispering to the moon
I hope he don’t join you soon

Baby boss
Climbs up on his soapbox
But Great Caesar’s ghost
Knows what’s best for me
He says stop the bus

(chorus)

I was down in Nashville just payin’ my dues
Headed for Ohio when I read the news
‘Bout the people demonstrating ‘gainst the President’s views
Four were shot down by the National Guard troops
Just like Uncle Sam I put on my fighting shoes
School shot down cause there’s no more to lose
Now we’re headed to D.C. two by twos
Cause those low down, profound, killin’ four blues

Lookin’ for my Congressman to make it well known
But the politicians already won’t answer his telephone
Making in his office while they’re shooting kids down at home
Worried about the voters but he won’t be worried long

Silent majority still glued to the tube
Say CIA ain’t lookin’, FBI come unglued
Shot some more in Jackson just to show the world what they can do
While we’re marching to D.C. cause there’s too much to do

Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance
There’s no turnin’ back my friend
There’s no turnin’ back

When the President said that the tear gas is gone
The army’s pulled out leavin’ blood on the ground
The streets are empty and the crying’s died down
You can be President if no one’s around
Just like Kow Kow, you’ve heard it before
Get back gangster, don’t you open that door
Space Cowboy’s back to tell you the score
Nothing any good is gonna come from a war
Got those low down, profound, killin’ four blues

Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance
Give peace a chance

Jacky Don Tucker was my daddy’s little brother
And at seventeen he jumped the fence
He joined a rock ‘n roll band, got a tattoo on his hand
Granny said he never had a lick of sense
‘Cause by the time he turned seven he was a stealin’ watermelons
Playin’ house with the girl next door
Drinkin’ muscadine wine by the time he was nine
Sneakin’ out and smokin’ cigarettes under the porch

Chorus:
He was a melon stealin’, cop-a-feelin’, daredevil fool
A do-it-anywayin’, playin’ hooky from school
A water tower poet, class of ’73
He’d say by God you better know it if you’re runnin’ with me
‘Cause I’m a skinny dippin’ finger flippin’ song of a gun
Play by the rules, you gonna miss all the fun

He was always drag racin’ and he kept the sheriff chasin’
But they never caught ole Jacky Don
‘Cause he was nobody’s fool, the definition of cool
He even cut a donut on the courthouse lawn
He created quite a scandal that the locals couldn’t handle
When he took up with the preacher’s baby girl
They bought a new double wide and on their wedding night
Aunt Jenny went to rockin’ Uncle Jacky Don’s world

Repeat Chorus

Play by the rules, you’re gonna miss all the fun
Play by the rules, you’re gonna miss all the fun

The clouds prepare for battle
In the dark and brooding silence.
Bruised and sullen stormclouds
Have the light of day obscured.
Looming low and ominous
In twilight premature
Thunderheads are rumbling
In a distant overture…

All at once, the clouds are parted.
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams…

Follow men’s eyes as they look to the skies.
The shifting shafts of shining weave the fabric of their dreams…

Jacob was a dirt poor farm boy
Raised at the fork in the road in a clapboard house
And Rachael was a land baron’s daughter
Born with a silver spoon in her mouth
Her daddy said he wouldn’t stand
For Rachael to waste her life with a common man
He tried hard to keep them apart
But you can’t draw lines in a young girl’s heart

So late one night by the harvest moon
Jacob climed a ladder up to Rachael’s room
He knew his place, it was right beside her
Step by step up to her world
Head over heels for a brown-eyed girl
And gettin’ caught didn’t seem to matter
‘Cause heaven was waitin’ at the top of Jacob’s ladder

It’ll be five years September
Since her daddy found a ladder and a note on her windowsill
He swore he’d never forgive them
But nothin’ melts a heart like a grandchild will
Now she climbs up on his knee
Says, “Grandpa, tell a story, the one about me”
He thinks back and his eyes shine
Says, “Listen Child, once upon a time”

Late one night by the harvest moon
Your daddy climbed a ladder to your mama’s room
He knew his place, it was right besde her
Step by step up to her world
Head over heels for my little girl
And here you are, that’s all that matters
‘Cause heaven was watin’ at the top of Jacob’s ladder

Oh, an angel was waitin’ at the top of Jacob’s ladder

I met a fan dancer down in southside Birmingham
She was running from a fat man selling salvation in his hand
She said he’s tryin’ to save me
But I’m doin’ alright, the best that i can
Just a pair of fallen angels tryin’ to get through the night

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob’s ladder

Comin’ over the airwaves the man says I’m overdue
Sing a song, send money, join the chosen few
But mister I’m not in a hurry, and I don’t want to be like you
All I want from tomorrow is to get it better than today

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob’s ladder

All I want from tomorrow is to get it better than today
Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, one by one, climbing Jacob’s ladder

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
Children of the world

Every round goes higher higher
Every round goes higher higher
Every round goes higher higher
Children, listen now

Love will lift us higher higher
Love will lift us higher higher
Love will lift us higher higher
Children of the world

We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
We are climbing Jacob’s ladder
Children, listen now

Jacob’s ladder
Like rusty old nails
At the bottom of the sea
Telling no tales
For the good of the Admiralty
You jump when you’re told to
Through the open door
And the King of Norway
He’s the man you all died for
On this Jacob’s Ladder
The only way up is down
Three days in the water
Watching all the secrets drown
Jacob’s Ladder
And they sent him to the wars to be slain, to be slain
And they sent him to the wars to be slain
(Repeats)
A thousand lifetimes
Left standing at the docks
In the bar down in Whitehall
They’re sure the boat won’t rock
In a file marked ‘Secret’
In a drawer kept closed
Nobody wonders
Because nobody knows
About this Jacob’s Ladder
The only way up is down
Three days in the water
Watching all the secrets drown
Jacob’s Ladder
And they sent him to the wars to be slain, to be slain
And they sent him to the wars to be slain
(Repeats)
On this Jacob’s Ladder
The only way up is down
Three days in the water
Watching all the secrets drown
(Repeats)
Jacob’s Ladder
(Repeats)
O Bulldog Leader, sooner or later we’ll dig up the body and try your cadaver (repeats)

I met a fan dancer
Down in South Side Birmingham
She was running from a fat man
Selling salvation in his hand
Now he’s trying to save me
We’ll I’m doing alright the best that I can
Just another fallen angel
Trying to get through the night

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, rung by rung climbing Jacob’s ladder

Coming over the airwaves
The man says I’m overdue
Sing along, send some money
Join the chosen few
Well mister I’m not in a hurry
And I don’t want to be like you
And all I want from tomorrow
Is to get it better than today

Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, rung by rung climbing Jacob’s ladder

when something so special
seems to slide away
the truth is most lethal
it’s breathing in your face.
when you coming to me,
tell me what’s going on
holding your head up high
there’s no shame in letting go
what happened to you and I
thought you would never leave me
when smoke gets in your eyes
trust in me
we all wander out in the night
under starlight
i just need one more fix
to keep me away from it
i beg, i plead for you to
leave me!
cause it’s killing me and dragging me down
cuts and bruises
bruises and scabs
it’s getting really hard to laugh
at these tears as the crystal’s gleam
3 days and still no sleep
i wait for dead to come to me!
if you were to give me your hand
i’d make you understand
if i were to leave you behind
it would only be a matter of time
before we meet again….