This album "Folkin' Blues" is a part of a triple release called the "Chris Webbe Song Book". I didn't start out to make it autobiographical but as I listened back to the finished result I couldn't help but go back to many of the places and times that inspired this album. Its more acoustic oriented than previous releases but with just as much energy and drive as the early Sweaty Palms tunes. You'll find a few laughs in there as well as some shared memories I hope. The other two titles in the triple release are Eclectia and The Celestial Project which are all very different in nature and content. This is the one that will go well with a few beers and a bourbon or two.
LYRICS
COWSTICK
I ride a bike
Not much chop on a horse
But the Jack and Jillaroos
We love em all of course
I jump on my guitar
and I play the fool
Travel all over this great big land
Meeting people just like you
Big sound rigs on flat top trucks
And a bonfire under the stars
It’s better to play under the Milky way
Than a hundred city bars
No plastic cowboy hats
No it just wouldn’t do
Our way is the highway
And we’re bringing it to you
Long necks under the Southern Cross
With my cowstick in my hand
Howlin like a dingo
And looking for my band
If you’re piston broke on the Nullarbor
The bush telegraph will see you right
And it’s three days from Darwin
To opening night
I’ve travelled a million clicks
We fixed things as we go
Then jump back up on stage
And play like there’s no tomorrow
We’ll get this crowd a rockin
And dancing with a cheer
Then at closing time the publican grins
“Here boys have a some beers”
I’ve eaten lamb with eucalyptus
With the locals at Lighting ridge
Fished for shark in Streaky bay
And even tried to play the didge
Up and down the Hume
Past the dog at Gundagai
Been shafted in the goldfields
And fallen from the sky
Music from all over the world
And so much of it is great
I’ll take on board a line and a chord
But there’s no need to imitate
I boogie, I don’t yodel
It’s just not my thing
I’d rather get my fingers
On a new set of strings
OUTLAW
An outlaw has a need
Like a shift worker who takes speed o
Or a corporation and its greed
Or a slave who wants to be free
It depends where you draw the line
For some it might be fine
For others there comes a time
to leave the rules behind
It’s the same with Govt fools
Who try to bend their own rules
To lock up those on the fringe
The ones that make them cringe
When people are forced to act
If they pay too much tax
Or when they want to know the facts
And when things get out of whack
While those around you conform
And force you into a norm
Speak out and you draw scorn
Then as an outlaw you will be born
When the justice system lets you down
And corruption comes to town
Society has these demands
That will be filled by the outlaw’s hands
Before you get on your high horse
A wrong is not right of course
But a reminder from me to you
Jesus was an outlaw too
I WONT TAKE MY BONES TO HEAVEN
I wont take my bones to heaven,
I don’t care where they lay
I don’t need to turn my amp to eleven,
for God to hear me play
All the stuff in the world,
that would try and make me stay
I’ll just take my guitar
and I’ll be on my way
Birds in the air and fish in the sea
But this giant chair, stands in front of me
The throne is bare for all to see
Who should sit there, maybe me?
All the stuff in the world,
that would try and make me stay
I’ll just take my guitar
and I’ll be on my way
A seat in the mountain, where the giants once sat
With the bay for a bath and the beach for a mat
The sun for a lamp and the sky for a hat
I think I’ll sit here and that’s that
All the stuff in the world,
that would try and make me stay
I’ll just take my guitar
and I’ll be on my way
I sat here yesterday, and I’ll sit here again
Now I’ve taken this chair, wherever I have been
The sun filters down across my face
But is it me, that occupies this space
All the stuff in the world,
that would try and make me stay
I’ll just take my guitar
and I’ll be on my way
HALF A SONG
One half made the food
While the other half ate
One half slept
While the others were awake
One half was good
And the other half was bad
One half wanted
What the other half had
But which half, are you in now
Is it the same i don’t think so somehow
The half your in today might be different tomorrow
Your happiness here may be some one else’s sorrow
If one half knew
What the other half thought
And one half lay down
While the other half fought
And if one half lived
While the other half died
Would one half learn
From what the other half tried
If this half lived
For half a day
Would the other half bend
Half of the way
And if two halves
Were to make a whole
We could crawl right through
And be reborn
COLD COMFORT
It’s a cold comfort
To find out you were right
When everybody’s dead and
Out of sight
It’s a cold comfort
A thought bubble today
I see the trouble coming
And it’s on its way
I stole my shoes
I wore em out
I wanted to scream
I learned to shout
I travelled far
And round about
I did some damage
I have no doubt
Pretty girls
Empty heads
Full pockets
Open legs
You'd think it was
A perfect dream
I’m here to tell ya
Man what a scene
I played the rock
I sang the blues
I mixed the coke
With my juice
We all say things
When we are young
Now i simply wish
I was dumb
It’s a cold comfort
To play with a machine
To find perfection on a
Computer screen
It’s a cold comfort
If you see what I mean
I can’t escape these
Future dreams
FAREWELL BLUES
A lovers farewell this time round
Its the same song with a different sound
In this story there is no wrong or right
No reason to start a fight
Hey babe i loved so much
But i’ve waited, long enough
The games you play, you can play alone
I’ve gone away to find my home
Friends we will be, that’s for sure
But i don’t wish to be your lover anymore
I don’t regret a single day
But it’s time that i was on my way
I don’t want to see you any more
I don’t even want to settle the score
I’ll never come knocking at your door
I’ll never write you name on the wall
When you lust you have no say in it
You hang on for the ride that just the way it is
But when you love you decide that’s what you want to do
And it works much better when the other one does to
TOP 4 COVER BAND BLUES
Well I've been on the road for 2 weeks now
And our agent has promised to show us how
To get to the top and follow the rules
But i cant play any originals songs for these dancing fools
I died my hair cause were gonna go far
But I haven’t learnt to play my new guitar
I feel like a big mac, cold and bland
Look out were the top 40 covers band
Now my big brother told me of a time far away
When people came to hear what the band had to say
Now I've never heard people speak with that voice
But he reckons that people have just lost their choice
I wish i could think of something cool to write
Or do something fresh and outta sight
But i guess i just got the top 40 cover band blues
I feel like I'm trying to fill someone else’s shoes
Well we have nearly finished our first song
Its been three years but our agent says it wont be long
Just pay your dues, the crews and the bills
There’s plenty of other young kids looking for thrills
I bought you all the latest gear
Clothes, haircuts , success is so near
You know with out me you’d make a terrible din
Didn’t i tell you? No of you guys can sing
Well its been five years now and i wasn’t keeping score
But its time to go home i just cant take it anymore
I’ve lost my dreams and my mind is wrecked
Everyone else is rich and I've lost my self respect
If I had only known back at the start
That a top 40 covers band has no heart
Cause its dry its tasteless its always been that way
If you want to listen to the top 40 go and see the dj
THE SCENE
These scenes are getting me down
I know cause I’ve been around
Get your feet back on the ground
Its the not the fashion its the sound
Tell me where would you be
Across the land and the sea
Far away from your family
Or up, some bloody tree
And all this fuss and bother
About judging one another
Today they’ll be your lover
And tomorrow its another
About wearing hats and boots
Or driving trucks and utes
Then bagging young recruits
For more tribal disputes
TV is the same
you’ve got to remove half your brain
its just a game about
Money beer and fame
Scenes are everywhere
In music, food and hair
its easy to compare
So just be different if you dare
It seems no ones immune
just walk into any room
They’re all singing the same tune
The end result is gloom
Occasionally you’ll find
an individual mind
who escaped this daily grind
and left us all behind
ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS
I’ve been round this country maybe 20 times or more
So don’t mess with me son you don’t know the score
I don’t think you're smart you're simply rude
Your words are filled with envy , you got a bad attitude
I don’t have a record company pushing my case
And i don’t use the media , to run my race
Got something to say, well say it to my face
Or keep your mouth shut and learn to keep your place
Why don’t you go and join the cue at the end of the bar
With all the other bludgers that could have gone far
After all your such a big star
A jealous bunch of pricks is all you are
Weekend warriors the working bands curse
Lounge room experts there’s really nothing worse
Me i just do what i have to do
And that means i don’t take any shit from you
Actions speak louder than words
Before you criticize you gotta pay your dues
Actions speak louder than words
Same ol story its yesterdays news
I see it in your eyes, you really can’t get a grip
Was i really there or is it just a trip
Don’t worry kid, one day you’ll get hip
So what i’ll do now is give you a little tip
When it comes time to leave this local scene
And all the wannabes are turning green
When you get to town and they question your worth
Its actions that speak louder than words
OLD SCHOOL BLUES
I don't nee a butterscotch Tele
To play and sing the blues
Its just a bit of fun
For me and you
Just stamp your feet
On the stony ground
Do old school blues
To the new age sound
The new look today
Is a tad retro
I guess i just don't know
about tomorrow
I'll put a green bullet
In your pork pie hat
If you think that fakery
Is where its all at
Now look here junior
You lill scamp
I see you bought yourself
An all valve amp
I hope you got a license
To use that thing
And by the way
Who told you that you could sing
If you don't wanna be
A consummate sap
Don't buy into
This cultural trap
Just give them fingers
A snippety snap
And keep real blues
On the musical map
These old school blues are handed down
These old school blues are passed around
Just stamp your feet
On the stony ground
Come and join the old school blues
With the new age sound
