Sidetracked conveniently five steps from the mainline
Fresh off a grain porch drinking swill
Down from picking up in maine
Counting change
"oh how I, I would do anything for that old junktrain to turn manifest
And highball, yeah I'd sing that railroad song by the time the sun is setting
In the west"
No time or purpose as embers smolder
Holed up in pines of green
Pablo writes "dos" where mouths don't share what their eyes have seen
"see those days are gone and I can't stand one more
I've fought this war counting miles alone
I've seen it all, every goddamn state
Out here son it's as rough as I have known"
All I have known with sky above as home
And ground beneath as bed is to ride fast
Live slow and without regret
"I've got no time for regret
Those thoughts solve nothing in the end
I've got blistered hands
And lived full through rejection
Long endured
'cause I came up poor
"hell no I, I wouldn't change a thing, those old junktrains all turn manifest
And highball, yeah I'll sing that railroad song by the time
The sun is setting in the west"
[words derived from conversations with "old bill", a railroad bum,
At the acca train yard on a cold, drunk December afternoon]
Fresh off a grain porch drinking swill
Down from picking up in maine
Counting change
"oh how I, I would do anything for that old junktrain to turn manifest
And highball, yeah I'd sing that railroad song by the time the sun is setting
In the west"
No time or purpose as embers smolder
Holed up in pines of green
Pablo writes "dos" where mouths don't share what their eyes have seen
"see those days are gone and I can't stand one more
I've fought this war counting miles alone
I've seen it all, every goddamn state
Out here son it's as rough as I have known"
All I have known with sky above as home
And ground beneath as bed is to ride fast
Live slow and without regret
"I've got no time for regret
Those thoughts solve nothing in the end
I've got blistered hands
And lived full through rejection
Long endured
'cause I came up poor
"hell no I, I wouldn't change a thing, those old junktrains all turn manifest
And highball, yeah I'll sing that railroad song by the time
The sun is setting in the west"
[words derived from conversations with "old bill", a railroad bum,
At the acca train yard on a cold, drunk December afternoon]
Lyrics submitted by skacore_dude
West Wye Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © TERRORBIRD PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is just a hard core, post-punk, crusty take on "big rock candy mountain"
off on a rail siding from the main line
Just got off the platform on a type of rail car called a "grainer" (for transporting grain) and drinking cheap beer.
Picking berries in Maine, a seasonal job for migrants.
pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.
A "junker" is a train with the lowest priority. "manafest" has the highest.
A high ball is a railroad signal, a raised ball signifying it's ok to go ahead.
Basically, camping in the woods
Fred actually talked about this in an interview, reading the graffiti under a bridge in Spanish. He said it said not to stand under the bridge as it's federal property, instead to stand waiting for the train at another location near by.
The video for this song has the camera zoom into the graffiti "Dirty Old South", so that's what D.O.S. means.
(There's not really much more in this song to puzzle out)