Jack Hammer  
HOME | ABOUT | ALBUMS | LYRICS |GIGS | PHOTOS | REVIEWS | CONTACT
 
Jack Hammer
Highway 13
Lyrics


Highway 13


1. Eden's Lost

I came up here to see the wise man
to find out how much it would cost
to get back to eden
and then he told me
eden's lost

Only a fool and his money
dreams that he will be able to buy
himself a new world
up there somewhere
in the broken sky

But still the empires keep building
highways and towers that reach on high
crash and burn they will by the fire
and then they'll wonder why

I came up here to see the wise man
to find out how much it would cost
to get back to Eden
then he told me
Eden's lost.

2. Mr. Midnight

never thought that she would leave me
that's the kind of fool that i am
too late for tears she cried
look at me now here i am
all alone
with Mr. Midnight

Mr Midnight you and i
and a sky full of rain
here we are again
Mr Midnight here we are
underneath the moon and stars
still the journey has no end

welcome to paradise
we all get fooled once or twice
but i'll never get fooled again
stay right here
with my best friend
Mr Midnight,
how about that ?

Show me where the answer lies
i have traveled far and wide
to find my shoes all filled with sand
but i 'm glad when you come around
falling rain is the only sound
Mr Midnight you and i
and a sky full of rain

3. Highway 13

April came and all the leaves
were falling round my door
you know i'll always love you
but you don't love me anymore

I cannot remember
places that I've been
I got lost forever
out on highway 13

but I'm not complaining
by now that road belongs to me
bad piece of real estate
if you know what i mean
you'll never get back
what you paid for
it's the drunkard's dream
empty bottle of whiskey
broken cigarette machine

If i am the river...then you are the sky

So if you're ever
out there all alone
deep into the night
long way from home
and the road has
a number for a name
the only way back
is the way that you came
oh i wouldn't worry my friend
hearts will break dreams will end
rain will fall like numbers in the wheel
9 10 11 12 13

If i am the river then you are the sky

4. Rear view Mirror

No papers needed
not where you are going
if only you had
a little more time
by the Potter's field
beggars are singing
there are some things
that money can't buy

There are markers
in my rear view mirror
mark the miles
like the pages in a book
and if you're lucky
and you find her
tell her that's how long it took

one day at a time

breaks my heart
to see the river
the poison was made
by greed and for gold
what will you tell
your children's children
one day when the truth
must be told?

5. This song is old now

This song is old now
old like the wind

who of you will stand up
when the man comes around
who of you will speak out
speak for the crowd
"not i said the teacher,
it could never be me,
not i said the sailor
i belong to the sea"

this song is old now
old like the wind

who of you will go out in the night
to the city that is burning
to find the lonely child
and save her from falling

"not i said the preacher
there are souls must be saved
not i said the soldier
there is money must be made"


this song is old now
old like the wind

"i will go said the blind man
even i can see
you have no courage
you have nothing that we need."
" I'll take your hand",
said the beggar man
"and together we shall go.
To beg for forgiveness
for people we don't know."

this song is old now
old like the wind

6. The Haunting

Devil stay away from my back door
devil stay away from my back door
you keep coming round
and i really don't know what for
the people that you want
they don't live here anymore

will there be redemption ?
I don't know
the color of the sun was red
in the evening glow
red was the color of her blood
on the ground so cold
deep and dark
the mighty river flows

now he has to go across that deep deep water
nobody came to say their last goodbye
only the preacher and he didn't give him any money
pray tell me how must he pay the River man ?

7. Don't let your love fade away

I must leave here tomorrow
and you cannot go with me
please don't cry you know
i will be back someday
you just wait and you'll see

And i will look for you and find you in the stars
and i will hold you in my heart
and you must do the same
if you don't the magic fades

don't let your love fade away

We must go across this mountain
to the city by the sea
play our music for the people
and you never can tell and if all goes well
we make a lot of money

don't let your love fade away

8.Pharaoh's Blues

If you ever go down to the devil's house
dreams of gold will turn to dust
old blackjack and the silver wheel
all the souls and the money that they steal
don't you ever go down there unless you must

if you ever go down to madam Rosa
leave your wheels outside in the rain
beautiful broken angels
falling down a golden staircase
don't you ever go down there unless your lonely
every time i turn around
another bridge comes tumbling down
some were built by friends and some by fools

the whole wide world wants to play
but the poor man he don't fit the game
and the rich man he's the one
who makes the rules
just keep me rolling rolling rolling
alone with the night and the silver moon

If you ever go down that road to fame and fortune
brother you must be careful where you go
all them colored lights
they don't shine so bright
when you find out
you're just working for the pharaoh

9. Carmelita (Warren Zevon) (circa 1976)

I hear Mariachi static on my radio
and the tubes they glow in the dark
i 'm there with her in Encinada
and i 'm here in Echo Park

Ch: Carmelita hold me tighter
i think i 'm sinking down
and i 'm all strung out on heroin
on the outskirts of town

Well i 'm sitting here playing solitaire
with my pearl-handled deck
the county won't give me no more methadone
and they cut off your welfare cheque

I pawned my Smith and Corona
and i went to meet my man
he hangs out down on Alvarado street
at the Pioneer Chicken stand

10. Stay at the wheel

alone on the road we stop for a while
in the middle of the night
no use in counting miles anymore
i know the score

all the dreams i had were sold on a highway
and the promises i could not keep
i come here to make a new deal
the wind says no i have to blow
you must stay at the wheel

places have names but the names keep on changing
how i wish they could do the same for me
and then the road
can keep those memories

the love i had i gave to Diana
i haven't found her
i never will
i come here to make a new deal
the wind says no i have to blow
you must stay at the wheel

11. Broken promises

where are the angels
that kept watch over you ?
They have all left now
just like they said that they would

the darkness is not their friend
but it seems to be yours
too many broken promises

where is rose of your heart
where is your true love ?
There comes a time when
enough is enough

and there is nothing you can do or say
what it is man ,what it is
too many broken promises

And now your children
have left the land of their birth
and in your heart you know
they will not return

12. Jozi Town

My name is Virtue and my age is thirty three
my brother's name is Honest
he looks a lot like me
we coming from Zimbabwe
all the little money that we had
pay the taxi man
take us to Johannesburg
take us to Jozi town
lot of bad deals are going down

But they don't want us here
they send us back again
everybody knows the refugee
goes on the train
but i don't want to go
want to stay right here
in the land of milk and honey
i want my share
take us to Jozi town
lot of bad deals are going down
dead men come out to play from the mine shafts,
the tunnels that they made,
building go up in the sky,
government don't want to hear the people cry.
Baby's cold and the baby's hungry,
mother's sick and got no money, refugee
got no place to go and so they go dancing with ghosts ...
with the dead men down here...

who worked all their lives so rich men can tell more lies
day after day from the pages of history
it's the same faces that i see
looking down on me
prime ministers and presidents
and kings and queens
all come to Jozi town ...
lot of bad deals are going down

All songs by J.P. Botha except 'Carmelita' by Warren Zevon. All lyrics supplied by Piet Botha, June 2008.


ллл Back



Discography

  • Wheel Of Fortune (single)
  • Bushrock 1
  • Horings Op Die Stoep (EP)
  • Jack Of All Trades
  • The Judas Chapter
  • Ghosts On The Wind
  • Death Of A Gypsy
  • Suitcase Vol Winter
  • Jan Skopgraaf
  • Anthology
  • Bootleg (live)
  • Die Hits
  • Die Mamba
  • Live At The Nile (live)
  • The Pilgrim
  • TuksFM Sessions
  • Highway 13
  • Handful Of Rain

  • Piet Botha The Early Years
    (Raven, Wildebeest)
  • Piet Botha Solo
  • Jack Hammer
  • Compilations (Various)
  • Sessions & Collaborations
  • Google Search

    Google

    Search The Web
    Search Jack Hammer

    Sponsors

    The South African Rock Encyclopedia
    This website is part of the
    South African Rock Encyclopedia
     
    й2001-2016 Jack Hammer. All Rights Reserved. Designed and maintained by Brian Currin.