Slip Back Away (Jeffrey S. Laine, Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross)

I know we’re crazy 
You know it too 
But right here, right now  
There’s something we’ve got to do
And we should have done it a long, long time ago
Let’s not waste another day
Let’s not let it slip away

CHORUS
Don’t let it slip away
Don’t let it slip away
Don’t let it slip away
Don’t …let it ...slip …back away

We took the easy way out
And we played by the rules
I know we thought we were smart
But baby, we were just fools
We should’ve been together
But we went our separate ways
Now we’ve got another chance
Let’s not let it slip away
CHORUS
 
The days are getting shorter
And maybe this ain’t wise
But if the sun is getting lower
Maybe the moon is on the rise 
We aren’t getting any younger
We’ve got to take what we can get
It’s never over ’till it’s over
And baby, it ain’t over yet!
CHORUS

American Ghosts

Slip Back Away

You've Got to Pay  (Carl J. Hauser, David B. Budge, Jeffrey S. Laine, Billy Cross 

I've got just one problem with women…
I always seem to marry them, yeah 
Then things really get serious
Hey bro’, you've got to beware!

Chorus 
You've got to pay for the clothes they’re wearing
You've got to pay for the perfumed air
You've got to pay for the car and driver
For the lipstick …for the powder 
…and the freak-streak in their hair
 
I've got just one problem with drinking 
I'm always kind of thirsty, yeah 
But water’s much cheaper than whiskey
And I’m too dry to care!

Chorus
 
I've got just one problem with money
I've always got to work for it, yeah.
The ladies want to help me to spend it
Hey, man, it just ain’t fair!

Chorus

You've Got to Pay

Rock Candy (Carl J. Hauser - Jeffrey S. Laine
 
I took the long way home
I met my Venus on the boulevard
She’s my flame, and her name is Rock Candy
She’s a sweet, sweet girl
In a rough, tough world
I’m alone, take me home, Rock Candy

Chorus
I’m gonna knock 
Knock, knock, knock for Rock Candy 
I’m gonna knock  - come on and open the door
I’m gonna rock 
Rock, rock, rock with Rock Candy 
I’m gonna rock - ‘till my Candy’s gone
 
We’ve got the midnight sky
We’ve got a City of Angels
And the wind cries "Rock Candy" 
She’s got deep blue eyes 
She’s got a heart like a thunderstorm
Open up, take my love, Rock Candy
Chorus

We got Sunday choirs 
Filled with thieves, pimps and liars
And the boys they all love Rock Candy 
It’s a long way home
But I can feel you deep inside of me
Take your time, take your time, Rock Candy
Chorus

Rock Candy

Dance with the Devil (Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross, David B. Budge)

Some men dance for silver, some for gold
Some men dance together, some alone
Some men dance for money, they work the whole night through
I searched all over for the perfect love, I found the perfect you
 
Some men dance ‘till midnight, some ‘till dawn
Some men dance too little, some too long
A man can hit the bottle when he can’t stand no more pain
Or he just might grab a needle when the Devil is in his brain

Chorus
I’m gonna dance with the Devil in my arms
I’m gonna drive with the Devil in my car
I’m gonna talk to the Devils that are in my head
I’m gonna sleep with the Devil in my bed

Sometimes I go crazy with desire
I burn myself all over with the fire
But when I find the Devil 
I’m gonna sing her favorite song
I’m gonna take that Devil in my arms tonight 
...and rock the whole night long. 
 Chorus

Dance with the Devil

Dance With the Devil

Seven Percent Solution (David B. Budge, Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross)
 
There was no denying that my lady was right
We'd stumbled on a half key of China White  
Little boy, horse, spider-blue
Black tar, smack, baby, bitches brew 
So we cooked a nickel deck
And Marie didn’t feel so sick
Chorus
And we’re never going to pay my man no restitution 
It’s just me and Marie and my 7% solution
 
They caught me on the stairs out in front of The Scene
And threw me in the back of a limousine
They tried to make me kick in an ice-cold cell
Thought they could break me, and force me to tell
They hung me up from a half-inch rope 
Well, the rope held out but the dry wall broke 
Chorus
 
They wanted me to tell where Maria was at 
So they burned my feet with a cigarette 
Just when I thought that my eyeballs would bleed
They smiled and said: “I think I know what you need”
So they left me on the floor to die
But the shot just got me high
Chorus
 
Well, I never expected a second chance;
Don't know much about high finance
Back on the street, it don’t hurt me no more
And I know what to do if they knock on my door
We’ve got an iron gate
With a double bolt 
We’ve got a pit-bull, man
I got a snub-nose Colt.
Chorus

Seven Percent Solution

The Deal (Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross, David B. Budge)
 
It was a dark and stormy night the deal went down
There was a whole lot of trouble when Carlos came to town
I had a lump in the back of my throat
I had the goods in the back of my coat
And the cops were moving all that heat uptown
It was a dark and stormy night the deal went down
 
I had my heart in my mouth, I was washing it down with wine
There was a big eyed girl, she went to school on the Main Line
She gave me all her loving
She had money on her mind
And a chilly wind was blowing down my spine
It was a dark and stormy night I drank her wine
 
There was a lightning storm on the night that the deal went through
She was a lover whose loving was a midnight black tattoo
She put a needle in my vein
She had a grown up body but a twisted brain 
And the time had come to pay that devil her due 
It was a dark and stormy night when the deal went through
 
It was a rainy night when the man knocked down my door
I never found out the roof was leaking ‘till water started hitting the floor
So the dogs kept barking all night long
When Steve broke Carlos' jaw
But they never did find the stuff that was in my drawer! 
It was a rainy night when the man knocked down my door
 
It was a dark and stormy night the deal went down
There was a whole lot of money got waved around when Carlos came to town
But there's a feeling that you get in the back of your throat
When the goods are sewn in the back of your coat
And the word is out that the man is bringing that heat uptown 
It was a dark and stormy night the deal went down.

The Deal

What a Woman Will Do  (Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross, David B. Budge)

If I could tell what a woman will do, 
I’d be a whole lot smarter and a lot less blue
Every day there’s a brand new need 
I try my best but she’s hard to please 
She tells me what she's looking for, she knows what's on my mind
I thought I knew what I had to do
But she changes all the time 
Chorus
Who knows …who knows?
What a woman will do
 
If I could tell what a woman will say
I’d step aside, get out of her way
It makes life hard for a working man
I'm just trying to do the best I can
You read all them paperbacks about love forevermore
I just want to have a good time, baby. 
What are we waiting for? 
Chorus
 
If I could see with a woman's eyes
I’d disagree but I'd empathize
Baby you're just like gasoline  
You fill my tank and you make me scream
I thought I had it figured, the things that turn you on
Let's not make this complicated
Let's just get it on 
Chorus

What a Woman Will Do

What A Woman Will Do

My Rider is Gone (Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross, David B. Budge)

The police came a-knocking
Do you know what they said?
"Hurry up mister, cause your rider is dead!" 
I picked up my keys and I drove down the road
At the station she was laid out cold
 
The pine box was open for Amazing Grace
I cried when I stood there and looked at her face
I raised up my hands, I walked away 
I’ll see you on the Judgment Day
 
Chorus
My rider is gone, my rider is gone
She left me here forever, didn’t take me along
My rider is gone, my rider is gone
How am I going to carry on?
 
I went to my room – I started to pray
The spirit filled me up and drove my crying away
I didn't feel bad until the sun went down
When my rider she was nowhere around
 
So Lord, have mercy on this wicked soul 
I’ve got to find another rider with a heart of gold
But when my eyes are closed I’m going to see your face
Cause there's no one going to take your place…
Chorus
 
Lord, have mercy on this wicked soul 
I’ve got to find another rider with a heart of gold
But when my eyes are closed I’m going to see your face
Cause there's no one going to take your place…
Chorus

My Rider is Gone

Run for Cover (Carl J. Hauser, Billy Cross, David B. Budge)

Women get angry, you know that it’s true
I've got experience, how ‘bout you?
So when she starts to get mad
Be cool ...and think things through
Brother, run for cover
That’s the best thing you can do
 
Women got feelings they just can’t hide
Men got emotions but we keep 'em inside 
You try to conceal it
But they just see right through
Brother, run for cover
That’s the best thing you can do
 
…You know - I was reminded the other day that youth is wasted on the young. You see, a young friend came up to me screaming and crying about how his wife's love would take him higher and higher, but next day she'd come at him spitting fire. You know, a voodoo curse? I said: "Sticks and stones may break your bones, but love will hurt you worse!"
 
Women get nasty. Have you talked to my wife?
She’s my one and my only - the light of my life
But if I get out of hand
She cuts me through and through 
Brother, run for cover
That’s the best thing you can do
 
Boys roar like lions, girls sing like birds
Men, we got muscles. Women got words. 
The winner depends on 
What's your point of view.
Brother, run for cover
That’s the best thing you can do
…Look out!

Run, run, run, run for cover!
Run, run, run, run for cover!
Run, run, run, run for cover!

Run For Cover

This song was inspired by a ‘traditional’ prison farm chain-gang chant of the same name recorded by Alan Lomax in the late 1940s. http://research.culturalequity.org/get-audio-detailed-recording.do?recordingId=10707
We started from that chant to tell the story of a poor man who 'gets in trouble with the law’ and leaves his love behind to go to prison. There he dreams of freedom. But more than simply wishing for freedom for himself and expecting her to wait, he wants to set her free to find another man in the hope that she can survive. The song is meant as a 'soul ballad' that could have been done by Sam Cooke or Solomon Burke. But we decided to move the  music back into a country-blues style, where the lyrics are narrated and the melody itself is supplied by the underlying resonator guitar line.

The Prettiest Train (Billy Cross, Carl J. Hauser)
The prettiest train I ever did see
Runs from Jackson, Mississippi down to New Orleans
And the prettiest gal I ever did see
Was on Rampart Street and she was looking at me
 
I walked out of Jackson in my Sunday clothes 
And I went to New Orleans shooting dice in the hold
I was drinking, I was fighting and I was fooling around
And when the sun came up your man was workhouse bound 
 
Now I’m going back to Jackson when I get my parole
I'm going to stand on the levee and hear the big boats blow
But baby don't you wait for this convict man 
Get yourself a fella, do the best you can
   
The prettiest train I ever did see
Runs from Jackson Mississippi down to New Orleans
And the prettiest gal I ever did see
Was on Rampart Street and she was looking at me
She was on Rampart Street just a-looking at me
You were on Rampart Street and you were looking at me

The Prettiest Train

The Druids are a Garage Blues band that was renamed 'The Druids of Stonehenge' by UNI Records in 1967. American Ghosts is our first ever, all-original album, where ten grooving, menacing, and darkly funny songs tell the  story of America in the 20th Century through Rock and Roll.

The Druids of Stonehenge

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