Get all 143 Samm Bennett - Polarity Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Spoken Four, Read the Room, Crosswalk, Route 66, Do You Know the Way to San Jose, My Dreams Are So Boring They Put Me To Sleep, Involuntary, Decoy, or, A Duck's Lament, and 135 more.
1. |
Fifty One Buckets of Mud
04:13
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FIFTY ONE BUCKETS OF MUD
fifty one buckets of mud
that’s what I got to haul uphill
if i don’t carry it up myself
won’t nobody else will
fifty one buckets of mud
i gotta get’em up there by noon
they need that mud at the top of the hill
i better get started soon
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
why do they need all this mud up there?
tell the truth, i wouldn’t know
i suppose there must be a reason
anyway, I just do what they say so
my job is to not ask questions
that’s just asking for trouble, bud
now if you’ll excuse me i gotta start hauling these
fifty one buckets of mud
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
lord have mercy on me
lord have mercy on me
lordy lord have mercy on me
won't you please have mercy on me
i'm gonna whistle while i work
well now it’s bout a half a day later
i hauled all the mud to the top
and i tell you, friend, I’m exhausted
i feel like i’m about to drop
but now the boss man told me what I got to do
seems the working man can never win
i reckon you mighta guessed by now
i got to haul it all down again
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
fifty one buckets of mud ... fifty one buckets of mud
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2. |
Collapsing Star
03:06
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COLLAPSING STAR
i was floating down that lazy river
just floating on my little raft
saw the people working hard
all along the shore
and i thought
“those fools are daft”
so busy with their manual labors
and me? i’m just happy to drift
but then a distant star collapsed, you see
and I felt the current shift
felt that current shift
my raft was drawn to the riverbank
crashed onto the rocky shore
my little vessel of freedom was all smashed to bits
i thought “that won’t float no more”
so i crawled off the rocks, stepped onto the land
it was dry and barren and cold
i looked at my hands, they were gnarled and wrinkled
and i realized i’d grown old
realized i’d grown old
and now i’ve been old for what seems like forever
haven’t seen that river for years
sometimes I think I could’ve made a brand new river
if i’d only saved up all of my tears
but at least i’ve got some sweet, sweet memories
of my raft, and that river afar
and i know the way things went
was beyond my control
it was all on that collapsing star
all on that collapsing star
out in the far, far reaches of space
that collapsing star
all on account, on account of that collapsing star
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3. |
Mental Institution Bound
03:49
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MENTAL INSTITUTION BOUND
things are getting dark in my head
i'm thinking i need a headlight
i ran into a friend on the street the other day
he said "brother, you just don’t look right"
two and a half weeks ago i went out
to buy a pack of cigarettes
i shoulda been back home in five minutes time
but i ain’t been back home yet
and now i’m way across town
where down is up and up is down
in circles i’m goin’ round and round
it looks like i'm mental institution bound
i been saving little pieces of string
i got ‘em here in my pocket you know
i’m gonna tie ‘em all together then tie one end
around the wings of a big black crow
i’m gonna hang on to the other end of the string
i’m gonna hold on tight
and then you’ll see me people, up in the sky
as soon as that crow takes flight
i’ll be flying all across town
where down is up and up is down
in circles i’ll be flyin’ around
oooo! believe i’m mental institution bound
i'm gonna have me a brand new home
why would i ever want to roam
you can come and visit once a month my dear
you could maybe even come live with me here
live with me here
now i know there’s a lotsa people looking for me
the FBI and the CIA
this information was revealed to me
i just received a coded message yesterday
the message came from a dog passing by
communicating by telepathy
it’s only just a matter of time, he said
before they get their institutional hands on me
and they’ll take me way across town
where down is up and up is down
in circles they’ll march me around and round
looks like i'm mental institution bound
hey hey, mental institution bound
they're coming to take me away
a-haha ,a-hoho, a-hee-hee
mental institution bound
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4. |
Miss Lucy of Louisiana
06:55
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MISS LUCY OF LOUISIANA
Louisiana is hot today
humidity... ah you could cut it with a knife
the air smells like gasoline and fried green something
you see that fat man sweatin’ in a suit and tie?
ah, it’s a hell of a life
Louisiana, twice as hot as any jalapeno
you go down there, down there in July
you’re gonna see, gonna see what i mean yo
see what i mean
you'll see what i mean
you’re on your way to Sugartown
in Beauregard Parrish
there’s a hoodoo woman by the name of Miss Lucy
that you need to see
you ask directions from a guy
he's as skinny as a bean pole
he's workin’ on a Chevy
he says “i’ll tell you how to get there,
but once you see Miss Lucy don’t you dare mention me”
you see Miss Lucy’s hoodoo
is twice as strong as any jalapeno
you best watch out for Miss Lucy, my friend
well anyway once you meet her
you’ll see what i mean yo
you'll see what i mean
you'll see what i mean
ah, i believe you will
you get to Miss Lucy’s house
down at the end of a cul-de-sac
it’s a humble little place
but she's got a knocker on the door
looks like it come off some big palace
before you even knock
Miss Lucy opens the door
you see her silhouette
some kinda crazy colored lights
are shining in her room
like the aurora borealis
strange feeling washes over you
twice as strong as any jalapeno
last thing you see before you pass out
is Miss Lucy’s face
you wonder what does it mean yo
what does it mean
you wonder what does it mean
ah, what could it mean?
you wake up later, must be around midnight
you’re out on the side of the road
no money in your pocket
you’re hearing the croak of some bullfrog
some kinda midnight toad
but wait, no no, that’s the laughter of the fat man
he’s talking with that skinny bean pole guy
they're walking together down the road
they don’t hear you, they don’t see you
when you holler they just walk right by
Louisiana hoodoo
twice as strong as any jalapeno
Lucy done turned you into some kinda ghost
lordy mercy that’s what i mean yo
that’s what i mean
yeah, that’s what i mean
ah, Miss Lucy
looks like you maybe should'na oughtta come down
to Louisiana
no no
no no no no no
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5. |
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BALLAD OF A POOR DESPERATE FARMER
i’m so deep in trouble
i’ll never get out
the law’s on my trail and
they’ll find me no doubt
they’ll put me in prison
i’ll die there for sure
but the reason for my crime
was nothing but pure
nothing but pure
i was a humble dirt farmer
a hard working man
to rob and to kill
that was never my plan
ah but fate, well it forced me
to do some bad things
the cold desperation that
poverty brings
that poverty surely brings
when a man has no choices
he does what he must
there came a great drought
turned my farm to dust
my crops they all withered
beneath a mean sun
my children were hungry
what was to be done
what was to be done
i went to a warehouse
in the dead of the night
i knew there was food there
that could help ease my plight
just one sack of flour
i’d take it and be done
i never intended
to harm anyone
to harm anyone
i came through a window
was gonna leave the same way
i promised myself
i'd come back and repay
as soon as i was able
i’d pay for the flour
ah but luck turned against me
in that fateful hour
in that fateful hour
there came a night watchman
hit me with his stick
i saw in his left hand
he was holding a brick
he raised it up high
to aim at my head
and he screamed in a wild voice
"boy you’ll soon be dead"
"boy you’ll soon be dead"
i thought of my children
i thought of my wife
couldn’t let this crazed watchman
rob me of my life
defending myself
was all i was tryin’ to do
no murderous intent
in my heart, yes it’s true
no murderous intent you know it's true
in a single split second
i grabbed a crow bar
i was on automatic
like a soldier in war
i swung at the watchman
i heard his skull crack
blood oozed from his ears
as he fell on his back
as he fell down dead on his back
i knew I could never
make a self defense claim
i’d killed during a robbery
only me would they blame
though the watchman intended
to kill me I know
no way could I prove it
i’d no proof to show
i’d no proof to show
went back to my farmhouse
brought the flour to my wife
i said please bake some bread dear
for our sweet children’s life
next morning the police
arrived at our door
but i’d already left home
that very night before
that very night before
now i’m on the run
i hopped a boxcar
this freight train might carry me
might carry me far
but I got no money
and nowhere to go
it's just a matter of time ‘fore they
find me I know
before they find me I know
fate dealt me a bad hand
that’s all I can say
each night for my children
and my dear wife I pray
i’ll ride these old freight trains
till the law catches me
but even if they don’t
still i’ll never be free
i’ll never be free
i’ll never be free
never be free
be free
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Samm Bennett - Polarity Records Tokyo, Japan
Singer and songwriter, player of unusual string instruments such as 3-string and 1-string guitar, plus jaw harps, mouthbow, electronics and junk, plus all manner of drums and percussion.
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