|
• Home • Current Notes • Coming Events • Biography • Media Reports About Rick • Song Lyrics • Writing by Rick • Message Board • Photo Archive • Join e-mail list • Links • Contact • Store |
The Killaloe Rastaman - Lyrics
- Respect
- Big Fuss
- Welcome to Guantanamo Bay
- Waltzing's for Lovers
- The Devil and Me
- Easter Sunday
- Who Do You Think You're Fooling, George?
- When God's Through With Us
- Hear the Music
- Why Can't We Learn From History?
- Bridges
- Paperman
- Stop
- The Killaloe Rastaman
Respect
Respect - makes the world go 'round
Respect - don't put others down
Respect - a necessity
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - and you can't be fooled
Respect - it's the golden rule
Respect - pure simplicity
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Once I'm walking down the street
Want to get a bite to eat
But I look a bit run-down
Waiter in a restaurant
Looks at me, says: "What you want?
We don't need no bums in town."
Doesn't hear a word I say
Turn his back and walk away
Wouldn't let me have one sip
He thinks I don't have a buck
But it's him that's out of luck
He could've made a nice big tip, if he'd showed
Respect - 'specially for the old
Respect - can't be bought or sold
Respect - it's a simple plea
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - love your fellow man
Respect - do the best you can
Respect - it'll keep us free
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
I don't want obedience
I don't want to build a fence
This is not about control
This is just a simple thing
Every man can be a king
No man has a bigger soul
So even if you die of thirst
Pass around the bottle first
Share it with your fellow man
If you show a little trust
Give it back he surely must
And put upon it what he can, 'cause you showed
Respect - look me in the eye
Respect - don't go walking by
Respect - face reality
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - put your fears aside
Respect - live your life with pride
Respect - it was meant to be
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
When you see a stranger's face
Show that we are all one race
Show some warm instead of cold
You know what Bob Marley said
You must share your daily bread
Life is worth much more than gold
You don't have to do too much
Give a smile, a gentle touch
Many ways to make a start
Meet your neighbours north and south
Use your ears before your mouth
And leave a little room for heart, and you'll show
Respect - you must give it first
Respect - never fear the worst
Respect - let your heart be free
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - you must always choose
Respect - you will never lose
Respect - trust your destiny
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - for the big and small
Respect - for the good of all
Respect - for serenity
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Respect - live it every day
Respect - it's the only way
Respect - all humanity
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Big Fuss
What's the big problem? What's the big fuss?
What in God's name you trying to do to us?
Busting down doors when there's kids inside
Shooting people and dogs, I hope you're satisfied.
What's the big problem? What's the big fuss?
We're just people smoking herb and there's a lot of us.
Leave us alone, and I promise for true
We're gonna do the very same for you.
Let me understand what you're trying to say
That I'm an evil man for smoking herb every day?
Go join the line-up for your Victory Gin
'Cause I really don't mind the shape I'm in.
Get your wicked new drugs at the corner store
For a fistful of prescription and a few dollars more
Money goes straight to the U.S.A.
Freedom of choice just kind of fades away
Listen now, people. We all gotta rise and say:
"We're not the problem here! Decriminalize!"
Look at all the people overstanding this song.
It isn't all the people, it's the law that's wrong.
God created ganja, and men make booze
And each of us has gotta have the right to choose
Ganja been around for a long, long time
Never did no harm, and shouldn't be a crime.
What's the big problem? What's the big fuss?
What in God's name you trying to do to us?
Busting down doors when there's kids inside
Shooting people and dogs, I hope you're satisfied.
What's the big problem? What's the big fuss?
We're just people smoking herb and there's a lot of us.
Leave us alone, and I promise for true
We're gonna do the very same for you
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
We'd like for you to have a nice stay, now
Friends of the Man, stay well to the right
Friends of Osama gonna have a rough night
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
Step right up and get your X-ray, now
We'll give you a prayer mat and some airplane food
If you don't wanna talk we'll put you in the right mood.
Chorus
Welcome I say, have a nice day
Uncle Sam says welcome to Guantanamo Bay
Beautiful nights in the floodlights
Please go easy on me boys, I had a rough flight.
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
Don't get busted trying to pray, now
'Cause when you belong to the land of the free
You don't need no Koran, you've got photo I.D.
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
Serving you for four hundred days, now
We'll drag you from your cage and ask a question and then
We'll put you back and wait a month and ask you again.
Chorus
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
Don't be doing yourself away, now
We'll get some pharmaceuticals to deal with that rage
And twice a week we'll take you to the exercise cage
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
Don't be asking how long you'll stay, now
You and I know you never had it so good
You'd probably move to Michigan if only you could
Chorus
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
We make all the rules for the play, now
American Justice can't do much for you today
You're way too unlawful and you're too far away
Welcome to Guantanamo Bay, now
We don't know how long you will stay, now
It'll be over when the fighting all ends
And you'll be back at home with lots of greenbacks to spend.
Chorus
Waltzing's for Lovers
Waltzing's for lovers, it's always been so
One, two, three, one, two, three, mind how you go
Save the last dance for the love of your heart
Don't do your waltzing three-quarters apart
Waltzing can bring you as close as you get
One, two, three, one, two, three please don't stop yet
Play one more song for my lover and I
We'll waltz till the stars tumble out of the sky
Chorus
She said: "Dance with me, dance with me - spin me around.
I'll dance till the night turns to day."
But while we were waltzing, her feet left the ground
And her heart spun forever away
Eyes on your partner, feet on the ground
One, two, three, one, two, three move to the sound
Don't twirl your partner too fast or you'll find
She's spinning away in three-quarter time
Chorus
Waltzes and blessings come straight from the heart
One, two, three, one, two, three feel the beat start
Count all your blessings, but whatever you do
Don't count on your partner till the waltzing is through.
Chorus
The Devil and Me
Well here's a little picture of the Devil and me
He's the one that looks as if he's trying to get free
The greatest trick he ever pulled was proving that he didn't exist.
Fell all the way from heaven with a smile on his face
Landed smack dab before the human race
Stole our tongues away from us before we even knew we'd been kissed.
You think you're going to know him by the horns on his head
You think you're going to know him 'cause his skin's all red
I'll tell you brother don't be running 'round him now to look for a tail.
You'll find him down at Starbucks wearing red, white and blue
Don't be staring at him now or Hilfiger you
He'll hit upon your weakness and you know that your resistance will fail.
At first he seems kind of like a regular Joe
But there's warnings at the back of your neck
Part of you is nauseous but you think you're over-cautious
So you jump right in and say: "What the Heck!"
You sign on the line and you think you're in Heaven
And the deal you made is really swell
Fate comes and takes away your rose-coloured glasses
And you're standing at the gates of Hell
Lucifer, Beelzebub, it's all the same
Call him what you will, he's had a million names
When Christ was a cowboy, he was shouting Yippiekayay
He's the one who pointed out the apple to Eve
He's the one that's always got an ace up his sleeve
So don't try to bluff him 'cause he ain't giving nothing away
Well, that's the game up until the current time
I'm losing but I'm waiting on a friend of mine
He'll front me some money, and I'll be right back in the game
I know he's behind me 'cause I'm feeling hot
I'll shake this infernal bad luck I've got
So lay those papers on me, and show me where to sign my name.
So that's a little picture of the Devil and me
A game that's gonna last for all eternity
Like those poker-playing dogs, smoking 'round a table of green
Kings and little ones, and one-eyed Jacks
We're born on our knees, we die on our backs
We face the Devil twice, and we're living in between.
We face the Devil twice, and we're living in between.
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday, read the news
Everybody's got the blues
Everybody'd like to share
If you go first, I'll meet you there.
Praise the father, praise the son
Christ, he died for everyone!
But if he saw the world now, Jack
I bet he'd roll that boulder back
Sit inside his cave and ponder
What in Christ goes on out yonder
So much stuff around to share
Folks with nothing, everywhere
On Easter Sunday.
Easter Sunday, ring a bell
Tell the world you wish it well
Blessings for the lower class
But please do not disturb our mass
Absolution for the Queen
Wipe that karma palette clean
Put a chicken in a pot
And tell the poor how much they got on
Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday, rise and shine
Forget about what's yours or mine
There's just one deal that's really true
The love you give comes back to you
In this world there's no equation
To justify this sufferation
Poor don't need no Free Trade Deal,
They need a smile, they need a meal
On Easter Sunday
Easter Sunday, nothing new
More for me means less for you
We'd better learn to face that fact
Or help him roll that boulder back.
Sit inside his cave a while
Don't need no light to feel a smile
Good way to shake these Easter blues
When you've got nothing you've got less to lose.
Maybe He'd repeat the word
The lesson's got a little blurred
Takes some dark to see the light
Maybe we'll come out allright
Next Easter Sunday
Who Do You Think You're Fooling, George?
Chorus
Who do you think you're fooling, George? You say you're gonna set the world free.
Who do you think you're fooling, George? You sure ain't fooling me.
Who do you think you're fooling, George? The muck-a-mucks at NBC?
Who do you think you're fooling, George? You sure ain't fooling me.
Hey, George, I'm so tired of your yapping bunch of hounds
Say whatever's written in the orders coming down
Couldn't give a good goddamn about the human race
Talking Disney crocodiles, the tears run down their face.
Hey, George, did you hear the good one Donald pulled today
Speaking to the press in Pinstripe City, U.S.A.
Told us not to worry that the bombs contain D.U.
Compassion and humanity are packed right in there too.
Chorus
Hey, George, here's a whopper that I heard from Tommy Franks
He's the guy who sits in Doha sending out the tanks
Says he's gonna stop Saddam and liberate the folks
If he weren't so dangerous, he'd really be a joke.
.
General Tricky Dicky Myers really makes me laugh
He's the guy who chairs the Liberation Chiefs of Staff
Calls Iraqis terrorists for fighting for their land
He can never conquer what he will not understand
Chorus
Colin's got the photographs and Ari's got the hype
Cheney's thinking 'bout the oil and where to put the pipe
Wolfowitz and Condoleeza make me want to hurl
Tom's a rigid puppet and behind him's Richard Perle
Hey, George, I guess lying doesn't make you feel too bad
After all, you got the job by lying 'bout the chads
But when your journey's over and you stand before the gates
Do yourself a favour, George, and don't prevaricate.
Chorus
When God's Through With Us
When God's through with us, what she'll do with us is a mystery to us all
People so devout, got it all worked out, hope they're well braced for a fall
Many try to steal their salvation. Many try to purchase it too
If they die on that sword, I say forgive them, Lord
'Cause they couldn't figure out what to do.
When God left us here, she never made it clear, she didn't leave a list of chores
So we took a guess, abandoned tenderness to fight a thousand million wars
For the sake of a better martini, for the want of a new VCR
If we seem a bit bored, I say forgive us, Lord
'Cause we can't figure out what to do
We've got lots of flaws and we clutch at straws and we blame our guilt on fate
There's so much of us seem to miss the bus looking out for pearly gates
It might be really pretty in heaven, but I'd like to look around while I'm here
I don't need no reward, won't you just tell me please, Lord
What it is I should be trying to do.
Have some patience now, Lord
'Cause once we all get on board
We'll be looking exactly like you!
Hear the Music
Lately I've been pondering the old and the new
Wandering between the false and the true
Remembering the music that Mozart made
Wondering 'bout the things Bob Marley said.
Both of them were prophets in a different way
Each knew how to use a simple song to say:
"Music will return the world to sanity because
Music is eternal, always will be, ever was"
Chorus
Music is the magic, music is Bob Marley, music is Mozart too
Music is the healing, music is revealing all the things that may come true
Hear the music now.
Remember all the things Bob Marley told you to do
Stand up for your rights but learn to simmer down too
Mozart had a message for the common man
If you believe in magic you can overstand
Marley had a duppy that he had to fight
Mozart met his father's ghost most every night
You know the duppy conquering had just begun
They never got it finished 'cause the good die young.
Chorus
Music has the charm to soothe a savage breast
Music is the word that will outlast the rest
Mozart knew it many, many years ago
The message is immortal, Marley told you so
Bob and Amadeus jammin' now, I guess
Looking down upon the world and trying to bless
All of the musicians that they left behind
Every note and every song and every time.
Chorus
Why Can't We Learn From History?
Way back at the dawn of time God said: "You can have what's mine
There's just one fruit from which you must abstain."
Well, blame the woman, blame the man, blame the serpent if you can,
But we fell off God's wagon just the same.
Why can't we learn from history, it's really no great mystery
Babylon's not that hard to predict.
The tower almost always breaks, but we don't learn from our mistakes
Some poor sucker's out there buying bricks.
Pandora had a secret box, well secured by great big locks
And clearly labelled: DO NOT OPEN, EVER!
But temptation got the best of us, spoiled things for the rest of us
Just because we thought we were so clever.
Down the ages since Jurassics, we've been reading through the classics
Proudly pointing out what man has learned.
But kids still stick their hands in fires, love gets spoiled by new desires
Hearts still break and fingers still get burned.
Jason told the Argonauts: "Please do not untie these knots,
Leave me bound, no matter how I cry!"
But the boys they disobeyed him, and the Sirens they waylaid him
And the trip became a nightmare by and by.
Why can't we learn from history, it's really no great mystery
Babylon's not that hard to predict.
The tower almost always breaks, but we don't learn from our mistakes
Some poor sucker's out there buying bricks.
Just like every one you know my friend Ken J. Lillico
Took a dare and stuck his tongue to ice.
Well most folks learn that trick at ten and vow they'll not be fooled again
But my friend Ken went and did it twice
Down the ages since Jurassics, we've been reading through the classics
Proudly pointing out what man has learned.
But kids still stick their hands in fires, love gets spoiled by new desires
Hearts still break and fingers still get burned.
Bridges
All of my bridges are burning, and all of my friends have gone home
See the smoke rising, and it's not surprising
That I'm sitting here all alone.
Sometimes you go with the gang, now, and sometimes you gotta break free
Just so you know that when you get feeling low
You're sitting in good company.
So don't go thinking that there's something unnatural
'Bout the way you look or things that you say
Nothing new is under the sun, now
And the sun's been serving billions each day, oh
All of my children are wandering, and none of my children are free
None of my praying, and none of my playing
Can bring back my children to me.
So I watch the parade passing by now, and I try to catch somebody's eye
In the hope that they'll see that I'm just trying to get free
And we'll meet in the sweet by and by
So every time you see the smoke from those bridges
And you wonder why you set them alight
Remember man's been wrestling his conscience
Since God wrestled day out of night, oh
Everybody looks in the mirror, and everyone has moments of doubt
Bridges for burning, and milestones for turning
We're all trying to figure it out.
The greatest of us has a dark side, the smallest can be noble indeed
Down through the years we never conquer our fears
But we get the relief that we need.
So if you see somebody looking uncertain
While they're pondering that fork in the road
You can help them find the right bridges
And you can help them carry that load, oh
All of my intentions were good, now, and all of my sins I confessed
And if some have slipped through, there's not too much I can do
You can't be looking back when you're blessed.
So with all my affairs put in order, and all of my ducks in a row
I'm not looking to see too much that's coming at me
I just know I'll be here till I go.
Paperman
A blinding flash of scissors in the sunlight
And evil is returned from whence it came
No dark smudge can soil our sparkling hero
His lustre and his sheen put them to shame.
Paperman won't leave the fold to suffer
His paper powers are for the good of all
And when a cry for help is heard in Reamsville
Paperman is there to heed the call
But Paperman was once a Paperboy
An ordinary kid with lots of change
But evil men, they killed his mum and dad
Made Phil an introvert, now he's quite strange
He's PAPERMAN!
Phil the orphaned paperboy was lonely
And kindly old Ted Medley took him in
Showed him there's a world wrapped up in paper
Paper's all you need to conquer sin.
But then the wicked smudges took Ted Medley
Because for them he'd neither fold nor bow
Upon Ted's grave Phil placed some origami
And Paperboy, he made his papery vow:
Now I make my solemn pledge
As I sharpen scissors edge
Penmanship shall rule the nation
Paper shall be man's salvation
A fold in time can stop a crime
Pens beat swords out every time
Wicked smudges, be forewarned
Paper rules where evil's scorned
He's PAPERMAN!
At Ted's knee he'd learned the strength of paper
And every day his powers did increase
A sullen boy, indeed and oh so vengeful
He'd cut and paste and type to find release
Then came the day Phil knew that he was ready
To prove that evil never conquers good
He filled his typing case with some utensils
And took the name of: Phil D. Underwood
So Paperman fights crime in Reamsville now
He wants a normal life, and vengeance too
With paper powers he fights for liberty
If you're a wicked smudge, he'll come for you
He's PAPERMAN!
Stop
Chorus
We'd better stop, take a real good look, figure out what's going on
We'd better stop, take a real good look, before the view is gone
Conscious people get ready, a revolution is near
Nothing to lose but our chains now, nothing to fear but our fears,
We'd better stop.
We're getting miles to the gallon, we're getting bang for our buck
We get our chance to spin the wheel of fortune but we're running out of luck
We've got mountains of garbage, we've got rivers of tears
We all know we're gonna have to pay for what we've done for all these years
We'd better stop.
We've got computers a-plenty, life's a video game
We talk to people all around the world but we don't know our neighbour's name
Where we gonna get water when the rivers run dry?
Things are not looking up now, it's raining death from the sky.
We'd better stop.
Chorus
We've burned our bridges and we've burned our forests
And we wonder why we're getting hot
There's a special on guns at the corner store
And we wonder why our kids get shot
There's a nuclear countdown on the doomsday clock
And it's about to strike the midnight hour
Every time we turn down our fellow man
You know the television gets more power
We'd better stop.
We're making deals with the Devil, we're making war on our friends
We're making all the silly, sad mistakes we swore we'd never make again
We're putting missiles in orbit, to keep us safe on the ground
Have we forgotten 'bout the simple rule that what goes up must soon come down,
We'd better stop.
Chorus
The Killaloe Rastaman
(with gratitude and apologies to Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs)
Come, we tell you little story about a guy named Bob
A proud Rastaman, didn't want to steal nor rob
But he had to feed his family, things were getting hard
So he plants a little ganja in his backyard
Pot, that is, Acapulco Gold, Sensi tea
Well, the first thing you know, those plants are getting tall
The neighbours come and suss-suss-suss and look over the wall
They said "Hey, Bob! Growing ganja you can't do!"
He loaded up his seeds and he moved to Killaloe.
Hills, that is, swimming holes, shooting stars.
Well, the folks in the hills liked having Bob around
He grew the finest ganja from here to Wilno town
He lived in the woods, didn't do no-one no harm
And the buds on his plants grew as thick as your arm.
Well, there's just one little mix-up about life in Killaloe
There's way too much police, with not enough to do
When rastaman grows ganja it just takes a little time
Till Johnny Law comes to the scene of the crime
Felony, that is, helicopters, tazer guns.
Well the police find so much ganja, that they can hardly wait
They build a great big fire and begin to eradicate
They tell Bob: "You're lucky we don't charge you for your sin!"
Only trouble is, police are standing downwind
From the ganja fire, that is, second-hand smoke, munchies big-time.
Well, the police get high and they forget to look around
They get their lights a-flashing and they leave for Pembroke town
They eat all the food that Tim Horton's can provide
Every doughnut shop got a cruiser outside
Well, the folks in the hills, they smell the ganja fire
They look upon the burning field and cry and cry and cry
Says Bob: "I got a secret tucked up under my hat.
I got three more fields bigger than that!"
Well, the moral of the story is very plain to see
You needn't be an Einstein to fool the O.P.P.
If you are only conscious and prepared to stand tall
Babylon systems surely must fall!