Get all 7 Saro Lynch-Thomason releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Woody Nightshade, I Have Known Women: Songs by Si Kahn Celebrating Women’s Lives and Struggles, I Want to be Down in the Valley, Breathing as Best We Can, I'm So Glad Today I'm Ready, Vessel, and Blair Pathways.
1. |
I Caught the Sheriff
02:21
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I CAUGHT THE SHERIFF
Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel
That’s how it’s written down
Well, I delivered half
Of all the people in this town
Miners and mill hands
Bankers and bums
I birthed those babies
Caught ‘em every one
CHORUS
Riding by the tipple
Past the one room school
Here comes the granny woman
On her flop-eared mule
Naked as a jaybird
Perfect as a pearl
Hello, child
Welcome to the world
The sheriff caught my cousin
Running off that corn
And I caught the sheriff
On the day that he was born
He popped out so fast
No time to take my stand
I just stretched over
And caught him with one hand
CHORUS
Late in the evening
Early in the night
I’ve delivered babies
Brown and black and white
Every shape and size
Every shade and hue
The Lord delivered Daniel
Daughter, I’ll deliver you
CHORUS
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2. |
Ten Thousand Miles Away
02:58
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TEN THOUSAND MILES AWAY
He is walking down the jetway
With the shackles on his hands
He is leaving from Hawaii
His home and native land
He is going from this island
Where justice runs and hides
Transported to South Georgia
To a prison built by lies
CHORUS
Ten thousand miles away
Ten thousand miles away
I am dreaming of my child
Ten thousand miles away
Ten thousand miles away
Ten thousand miles away
I am dreaming of my child
Ten thousand miles away
For the crime of being hungry
For the crime of being poor
For the crime of wanting something
For the crime of wanting more
For the crime of being angry
For the crime of being seen
For the crime of on the outskirts
For the of in between
CHORUS
I will go down to the water
I will sit down on the sand
I will listen for the distance
I will listen for the land
I will listen for the ocean
I will listen for the wind
I will listen for his voice
That I will never hear again
CHORUS (2x)
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3. |
Aliens
03:28
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ALIENS
You call us 'aliens'
Just like from outer space
I am a citizen
But of another place
Over the mountain
Across the water
Each lonely immigrant
Is some land's native daughter
We all have accents
When someone's listening
We all seem alien
When someone new is watching
When you say immigrants
Are not like others
What are you saying
About your own grandmothers
Over the mountain
Across the water
Each lonely immigrant
Is some land's native daughter
Though every nation
Will guard its 'purity'
We all were immigrants
Some time in history
We guard our borders
Lest 'they' invade
Those who arrived last year
Are standing at the barricade
Over the mountain
Across the water
Each lonely immigrant
Is some land's native daughter
What is this impulse
To separate our kin
We build new houses
Then will not let our neighbors in
These jagged borders
Are sharpest in our minds
The human family
Is not made up of different kinds
Over the mountain
Across the water
Each lonely immigrant
Is some land's native daughter
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4. |
Conductor
03:54
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CONDUCTOR
"I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.” –Harriet Tubman
I’m the conductor on a railroad
That has no tracks or ties
That heads out after midnight
Beneath the cloud-black skies
There are no rocks or gravel
There is no slate or stone
The conductor on a railroad
That runs on hope alone
I drive this train through swamps
By the long dry riverbed
The conductor on a railroad
That carries the living dead
Through black and thorny woods
Heading always towards the light
The conductor on a railroad
That only runs at night
Refrain: I will guide this train
I will bring it home
No one should ride this train alone
Going slowly through the dark
Traveling mostly underground
The conductor on a railroad
That never makes a sound
We run through dead of winter
When nights are long and black
Through harsh and bitter weather
Never ran it off the track
We go silent through the fields
Up and down the living hills
I never lost a passenger
God grant I never will
Through towns named Good and Evil
'Cross roads called Hate and Fear
We will reach our destination
Thousand miles North from here
Refrain (2x)
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5. |
Nobody's Body But Mine
02:49
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NOBODY’S BODY BUT MINE
There’s war in Afghanistan
War in South Yemen
War in Somalia
War still in Syria
They tell us all wars
Are far off and foreign
But in the United States
There’s a war against women
Take to the streets
Lift up your voice
Fight for your life
While you still have a choice
Tell them
Nobody’s body but mine
This is nobody’s body but mine
Tell them nobody’s body but mine
This is nobody’s body but mine
They bow down to laws
That protect private property
While a woman’s not safe
In the home or the factory
They tell us the courts
Are solemn and sacred
But in front of the law
Only women stand naked
CHORUS
Though manners and banners
Are often expedient
The most civil act
Is to be disobedient
It may be Ohio
Or in Mississippi
But no jail, no law
Will lock up our bodies
CHORUS (2x)
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6. |
Red Haired Becky
03:43
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Red haired Becky stepped out on a soft May morning
Rifle in her hand
Saying, I will walk these Allegheny Mountains
‘Til I find who stole my man
She went ‘til she came to a fresh cleared field
Stumps piled up by the side
And there she saw her own sweet Joseph
Talking with his new young bride
She leaned her rifle behind an oak
Stepped out on the fresh cleared land
Saying, How do you like your new built cabin
How do you like my man
Then Joseph spoke in a voice of anger
Edge as sharp as a knife
If you’ll take off that ring I gave you
I will give it to my new young wife
I will take off this ring you gave me
Though I will surely die
But I will go behind this oak
So she will not see me cry
She turned around with a look of sorrow
Went behind that tree
Then she stepped out with her red hair blazing
Rifle against her knee
Red haired Becky went from village to village
Saying, have you seen my Joe
Some say he’s gone to California
To dig the yellow gold
We have not seen your own sweet Joseph
He’s vanished into air
Perhaps he’s gone to the western country
To seek his fortune there
Red haired Becky sits on the porch of her cabin
Baby on her knee
Saying, how do you like this new plowed field
Some stranger cleared for me
There’s a deep dark hole in the bend of the river
Where the rapids rush by the creek
The trout swim by a rusting rifle
Whose voice will never speak
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7. |
I Have Known Women
04:04
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I have known women
Who lived on their hands and their knees
Scrubbing the floors in the mansions where riches are born
I have known women who sewed ‘til their fingers were bleeding
Stitching the gowns for the dances where power is worn
I have known women who slaved all their lives
Asking no more than the chance to survive
Will their lives be better because we have votes for the women?
Will their work be easier if they pass suffrage at last?
Upper class ladies all necklaced and jeweled
Well-chosen language, manners so fine
Who will they vote for? A proud union miner?
Or their husband’s good friend who invests in his mine?
I have known women whose bodies were broken by violence
There in the factory, the laundry, the home and the mill
I have known women who suffered their lives out in silence.
Who will speak out for them? Who will stand up with them still?
I have known women who stood by their men
Only to lose them again and again
Will their pain be less now because we have votes for the women?
Will their spirits be healed by the men who take office next time?
Elegant ladies with poodles and furs
Springtime in France, summer in Spain
Who are they friends to? The working class woman?
Or the owner whose leather-gloved fist holds the chain?
I have known women who slept on the floor in a blanket
Giving their bed up so I could have rest for the night
I have known women who marched against high-powered rifles
Stared down the barrels and dared them to fire and fight
I have known women whose courage and anger
Won them a moment of honor and pride
Should they give up the allegiance to class that sustained them?
Their faith in the strike and each other that held back the pain?
For a small piece of paper without even one woman on it
For a small paper ballot that won’t even mention her name
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8. |
Praise Boll Weevil
02:38
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You can hardly see
The end of the row
Got to be least a mile long
I was chopping that cotton
Half mile to go
Old sun beating down so strong
When suddenly a miracle
Swept me away
Just like a dust-filled wind
I saw boll weevil
End of the row
Staring me down with his grin
And I say…
CHORUS
Praise boll weevil
Praise his ornery soul
Got me out of cotton
‘Fore I got too old
Praise boll weevil
Praise him on high
Got me out of cotton
‘Fore my time to die
I thought I would spend
My life in this field
Planting the seeds every May
Chopping in the summer
Picking in the fall
Cotton, cotton every day
But thanks boll weevil
No more days
Digging away in that mess
The only cotton
Gets near me now
Is the cotton in my Sunday dress
And I say…
CHORUS (2x)
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9. |
The Border
03:03
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For weeks we hid in ditches
For weeks we crawled through fields
For weeks we hid by day
And ran by night
We sweated up the mountains
We shivered through the swamps
‘Til finally the border came in sight
CHORUS
Across the bloody border
Along the barbed wire fence
The searchlights on the towers
Turn and shine
Are you keeping freedom in
Are you keeping freedom out
With your guns and dogs along the borderline
Lying in the bushes
My daughter by my side
I watch the searchlight
Flashing off the guns
Do I tell her to go back
When there’s nothing left behind
Do I tell her just to close her eyes
And run
CHORUS
Now tell me
Who makes the borders
Who draws the maps
Who strings barbed wire through the land
Who buys the bullets
Who pays the guards
Who puts the rifles in their hands
CHORUS
With your guns and dogs along the borderline
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10. |
Truck Driving Woman
02:52
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You see me on the highway
And you nearly shift your load
You take another look good buddy
And you nearly leave the road
Ain’t you never seen a truck driving woman
90 pounds of fire in a five foot frame
And you better move on over
‘Cause I’m right behind you in the left hand lane
When you see me in the truck stop
And my long hair hangs in curls
Don’t you try to buy my coffee
I ain’t your good time girl
No I’m a truck driving momma
Five children waiting when I end my run
And I got to get moving
Got to be in Georgia with the rising sun
So if you see me on the highway
And you hear my diesel moan
Don’t you whistle at me buddy
‘Cause you know I’m not alone
I’ve got my old man beside me
Working together that’s the way we feel
Yeah, I’m a truck driving woman
Night haul from Pittsburgh with a load of steel
Yeah, I’m a truck driving woman
Mmm-mmm
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11. |
1920
04:17
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Have you seen a long long line
As women stand and wait to vote
They’ve been waiting for a long long time
But now the year is 1920
The last petition, the final prayer
The signs and banners stored away
One last cheer lingers in the air
It echoes down to us today
CHORUS
Since they stood tall and signed their names
One hundred years have come and gone
So much has changed, so much remains
We go on, we still go on
The last march ended, one last song shared
The vote for women finally passed
The Constitution now repaired
Suffrage is the law at last
Through years of beatings, torture, jail
They stood their ground, they claimed their rights
They did not yield to scorn and fear
The lamp they lifted still burns bright
CHORUS
Give thanks to those who showed the way
In their history you will find
How fierce love and stubborn strength
Can help you through the hardest times
Hold their courage in your hearts
Sisters, workers, children, friends
We know the vote was just a start
Keep the faith as they did then
Since they stood tall and signed their names
One hundred years have come and gone
So much has changed, so much remains
We go on, we still go on
We go on, we still go on
Did you see that long long line
Young women laughing, filled with pride
They’re about to vote for the very first time
Like in the year of 1920
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12. |
No More, No More
03:03
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I worked in that woman’s kitchen
Scrubbed that woman’s floors
Did that woman’s dishes
No more, no more
I sewed that woman’s dresses
Opened that woman’s doors
Kept that woman’s secrets
No more, no more
No more, no more
No more, no more
New day coming
No more, no more
I hung that woman's laundry
Washed that woman's drawers
Stood still while she beat me
No more, no more
I rubbed that woman's feet
Wrapped that woman's sores
Endured that name she called me
No more, no more
CHORUS
Fought off that woman’s husband
Diapered that woman’s child
Taught that kid good manners
Though he still grew rough and wild
I waited on that woman’s friends
Did that that woman’s chores
Made that woman’s life easy
No more, no more
CHORUS
I walked ten miles to home
‘Til my feet grew red and sore
Endured that woman's anger
No more, no more
I covered for that woman's lies
Heard her rage and roar
Suffered long in silence
No more, no more
CHORUS (2x)
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13. |
Room For All
03:18
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Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the carpenter
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the janitor
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the teacher
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the preacher
In the union there is room for all
CHORUS:
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
There is room for our neighbor
In the union there is room for all
There room for all who labor
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the poor folk
In the union there is room for all
There is always room for more folk
In the union there is room for all
CHORUS
There is room for the thespian
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the lesbian
In the union there is room for all
There is room for the queer folk
In the union there is room for all
There is no room for fear, folks
In the union there is room for all
CHORUS
There is room for community
In the union there is room for all
There is room here for unity
In the union there is room for all
There is room to take a chance here
In the union there is room for all
There is room for romance here
In the union there is room for all
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
Room for all, room for all
In the union there is room for all
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Saro Lynch-Thomason North Carolina
Saro Lynch-Thomason is a ballad singer, song writer, folklorist, documentarian, and illustrator from Asheville, North Carolina. Her passion for traditional music, people’s struggles and Appalachian traditions calls her to perform, teach and produce media that tell the stories and songs of America’s social history. ... more
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