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The Weight
(J. R. Robertson)

I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin' about half past dead
I just need some place where I can lay my head
"Hey, mister, can you tell me where a man might find a bed?"
He just grinned and shook my hand, and "no!", was all he said

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And - and - and - you put the load - you put the load - right on me

I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide
When I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side
I said, "hey, Carmen, come on, let's go downtown"
She said, "I gotta go, but my friend can stick around"

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And - and - and - you put the load - you put the load - right on me

Go down, Miss Moses, there's nothin' you can say
It's just ol' Luke, and Luke's waitin' on the Judgement Day
"Well, Luke, my friend, what about young Anna Lee?"
He said, "do me a favor, son, woncha stay an' keep Anna Lee company?"

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And - and - and - you put the load - you put the load - right on me

Crazy Chester followed me and he caught me in the fog
He said, "I will fix your rack, if you'll take Jack, my dog"
I said, "wait a minute, Chester, you know I'm a peaceful man"
He said, "that's okay, boy, won't you feed him when you can"

Yeah, take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And - and - and - you put the load - you put the load - right on me

Catch a cannon ball now to take me down the line
My bag is sinkin' low and I do believe it's time
To get back to Miss Fanny, you know she's the only one
Who sent me here with her regards for everyone

Take a load off Fanny, take a load for free
Take a load off Fanny
And - and - and - you put the load - you put the load - right on me

Up On Cripple Creek
(J. R. Robertson)

When I get off of this mountain, you know where I want to go?
Straight down the Mississippi river to the Gulf of Mexico
To Lake Charles, Louisiana, little Bessie, girl that I once knew
She told me just to come on by, if there's anything she could do

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Good luck had just stung me to the race track I did go
She bet on one horse to win and I bet on another to show
The odds were in my favor, I had 'em five to one
When that nag to win came around the track, sure enough she had won

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

I took up all of my winnings and I gave my little Bessie half
And she tore it up and threw it in my face, just for a laugh
Now there's one thing in the whole wide world, I sure would like to see
That's when that little love of mine dips her doughnut in my tea
Yi-hee

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one

Now me and my mate were back at the shack
We had Spike Jones on the box
She said, "I can't take the way he sings, but I love to hear him talk"
Now that just gave my heart a throb to the bottom of my feet
And I swore and I took another pull, my Bessie can't be beat

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Lo-lo-hoo ....

Now there's a flood out in California and up north it's freezing cold
And this living on the road is getting pretty old
So I guess I'll call up my big mama, tell her I'll be rolling in
But you know, deep down, I'm kind of tempted
To go and see my Bessie again

Up on Cripple Creek she sends me
If I spring a leak she mends me
I don't have to speak, she defends me
A drunkard's dream if I ever did see one
Lo-lo-hoo ....

Rag Mama Rag
(J. R. Robertson)

Rag Mama Rag, I can't believe it's true
Rag Mama Rag, a what did you do?
I crawled up to the railroad track
Let the four nineteen scratch my back

Shag mama Shag, what's come over you
Rag Mama Rag, I'm a pulling out your gag
Gonna turn you lose like an old caboose
Got a tail I need a drag

I ask about your turtle
And you ask about the weather
Well, I can't jump the hurdle
And we can't get together

We could be relaxing in my sleeping bag
But all you want to do for me mama

Is a Rag Mama Rag, there's nowhere to go
Rag Mama Rag, come on risin' up the bow

Rag Mama Rag, where do you roam?
Rag Mama Rag, bring your skinny little body right home
It's dog eat dog and cat eat mouse
You can Rag Mama Rag all over my house

Hail stones beatin' on the roof
The bourbon is a hundred proof
It's you and me and the telephone
Our destiny is quite well known
We don't need to sit and brag
All we gotta do is Rag Mama Rag, Mama Rag

Rag Mama Rag, where do you roam?
Rag Mama Rag, bring your skinny little body back home

Time To Kill
(J. R. Robertson)

The many roads I've covered
The many trails I've burned
But when our paths did cross, love, whew!
My whole world made a turn

And we've got time to kill
What a thrill, June and July
We've got all our love
Buckets of the tears that we cried

Now we don't cry no more
Gonna bolt the door
Don't know what we've got
But it feels like a lot
We don't need no more

When my day's work is done
We can take in a jamboree
But I just wanna sit down by the fire
With my love right here beside me

We've got time to kill
Catskill, Sweet by and by
We've got all our love
The sky above, the twinkle in your eye

Now where the wheel might roll
Is where my love and I shall go
We're gonna plant the seed
There ain't nothing we need
We found our own rainbow

My love wants to have her fortune read
And I know that she's in a hurry
If we go along the straight and narrow
You don't even have to worry

We've got time to kill
Standin' still, go on, give it a try!
We've got all our love
Mountains of the trees are so high

We don't need no big car
Don't eat no caviar
When we come to rest
We take to the nest
You know where we are

Life Is A Carnival
(R. Danko/L. Helm/J. R. Robertson)

You can walk on the water, drown in the sand
You can fly off a mountain top if anybody can
Run away, run away - it's the restless age
Look away, look away - you can turn the page

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival - believe it or not
Life is a carnival - two bits a shot

Saw a man with the jinx in the third degree
Trying to deal with people, people you can't see
Take away, take away, this house of mirrors
Give away, give away, all the souvenirs

We're all in the same boat ready to float off the edge of the world
The flat old world
The street is a sideshow from the peddler to the corner girl
Life is a carnival - it's in the book
Life is a carnival - take another look

Hey, buddy, would you like to buy a watch real cheap
Here on the street
I got six on each arm and two more round my feet
Life is a carnival - believe it or not
Life is a carnival - two bits a shot
Life is a carnival - life is a carnival
Life is a carnival

Don't Do It
(Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland)

Baby don't you do it, don't do it
Don't you break my heart
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you break my heart

A sacrifice would make you happy if nothing for myself
Now you wanna leave me for the love of someone else
My pride is all gone whether I'm right or wrong
I need you baby to keep on keepin' on

You know I'm trying to my best
Oh I'm trying to do my best
Don't do it, don't you break my heart
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you break my heart

My biggest mistake was loving you too much and letting you know
Now you got me where you want me and you won't let me go
If my heart was made of glass well then you'd surely see
How much heartache and misery, girl, you've been causing me

While I've been tryin' to do my best
Well I've tried to do my best
Don't do it, don't you break my heart
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you break my heart

Go down to the river and there I be
I'm gonna jump in girl, but you don't care bout me
Open up your eyes
Can't ya see I love ya?
Open up you heart, girl
Can't ya see I need ya?

Oh baby don't do it, do it, do it
Don't you break my heart
Pleeeeease don't do it don't you break my heart

My biggest mistake was loving you too much and letting you know
Now you got me where you want me and you won't let me go
If my heart was made of glass well then you'd surely see
How much heartache and misery, girl, you've been causing me

While I've been trying to do my best
You know I've tried to do my best
Don't do it, don't you break my heart
Pleeeeease don't do it, don't you break my heart

originally performed by Marvin Gaye 1964 as "Baby Don't You Do It"


A Change Is Gonna Come
(Sam Cooke)

I was born by the river in a little tent
And just like that river I've been running ever since
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
Cos I don't know what's out there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

And then I go to see my brother
And I ask him to help me please
And he just winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees

There were times when I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die
Cos I don't know what's out there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

originally performed by Sam Cooke


The Promised Land
(Chuck Berry)

I left my home in Norfolk Virginia
California on my mind
I boarded that Greyhound,
Rode in into Raleigh on across Caroline
Stopped in Charlotte to by pass Rockhill
We never was a minute late
We were ninety miles out of Atlanta by sundown
Rollin' out of Georgia state
We had motor trouble that turned into a struggle
Halfway across Alabama
And that bow broke down
And left us stranded in downtown Birmingham
Right away I bought a through train ticket
Got across Mississippi clean
And I was on that Midnight Flyer out of Birmingham
Smokin' into New Orleans
Somebody help me get out of Louisiana
Help me get to Houston Town

There are people there who care a little 'bout me
And won't put the poor boy down
Georgia born, they bought me a silk suit
And put luggage in my hand
And woke up high over Albuquerque
On a jet to the promised land
Workin' on a T-bone á la carte
Flyin' over to the Golden State
When the pilot told us in thirteen minutes
He would set us at the terminal gate
Swing low chariot, come down easy
Taxi to the terminal door
Cut your engines and cool your wings
And let me make it to the telephone
Los Angeles, give me Norfolk Virginia
Tidewater four ten o nine
Tell all the folks back home

It's the promised land callin'
And the poor boy is on the line

originally performed by Chuck Berry

Ophelia
(J. R. Robertson)

Boards on the window, mail by the door
Why would anybody leave so quickly for
Ophelia
Where have you gone?

The old neighborhood just ain't the same
Nobody knows just what became of
Ophelia
Tell me, what went wrong

Was it somethin' that somebody said?
Mama, I know we broke the rules
Was somebody up against the law?
Honey, you know I'd die for you

Ashes of laughter
The ghost is clear
Why do the best things always disappear
Like Ophelia
Please darken my door

Was it somethin' that somebody said?
Honey, you know we broke the rules
Wu somebody up against the law?
Honey, you know I'd die for you

They got your number
Scared and runnin'
But I'm still waitin' for the second comin'
Of Ophelia
Come back home

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