Rise Up Singin'

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Rise Up Singin'

1. How long is it gonna take?

Weeks, days, months... to shake

dying to be saved

It is the darkness that I craved.

Could mine be a life He'll save?

to keep me from an early grave.

[CHORUS:]

Rise up singin' - hmm- mm--

Bells are ringin' - whoa-oh-oh-oh - oh-oh-oh   mm--

Souls uplifting, minds are shifting

and the world can't do me no harm------

2. My magic magnifying mind

where the blind leading the blind

I'm confessing now

fall down on my knees, take a vow

in everlasting life, His will

is my destiny to fulfill.

[CHORUS]

[BRIDGE:]

Now I see and hear and feel

I have nothing to conceal

A choir of gospel singers stand

I'm just a singer in his heavenly band--- oh---

of life--- love--- liberty--- oh, free me now!

love--- liberty--- oh, free me now!

love--- liberty------

Sing out for the sinners--

Singin' for the suffering souls--

Sing out for the winners--

Sing the force of rock and roll--

Rejoice! Rejoice!  We have a voice!

A choice to sing it loud---

So the world can't do us no harm--- oooh---

Rise up singin' oh-----  A-men 

The Wolf

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The Wolf

1. The Delta blues was his badge of shame (in rhythm and power)

A fount of power brought him fame (in rhythm and power)

Singin' to the ears of the world

from the Deep South to Chicago

Field-hollerin pickin' cotton grew (in rhythm and power)

the blues commander they all knew (in rhythm and power)

Hard-driving running from the law

and lonesome times in Arkansas

 

[CHORUS]

Hyp-no-tizer -- let it loose!

At the pleasure palaces

Howlin' in the cotton fields

Howlin' Memphis, Tennessee

Howlin' in Chicago, too

Singin' out to be set free

 

2. Mourning words - straight from his past (in rhythm and power)

sang freedom and the truth at last (in rhythm and power)

Honest, lurching power cries

intensity - the hollerin' rise

His message heard from near and far (in rhythm and power)

He blew his harp, played his guitar (in rhythm and power)

teasing, bending, ragged romp

boogied-down shuffles and the stomp

 

Hyp-no-tizer -- let it loose! yeah--

 

[BRIDGE]

Burstin' out the radio

and the record machines

The hoodoo never lose

Paid the devil all his dues

to live and sing the blues [rep]

 

[CHORUS/SCAT]

a-woo-hoo---

Can’t you hear him cryin’

a-woo-hoo---

Can’t you see him flyin’

Down Highway 49 at night

The Howlin' man was such a sight

a-woo-hoo--- [Can't you hear him cryin'] [rep]

Graffiti Train

 

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Graffiti Train

1. I want you to love them, I want you to care

I want you to give them hope and save them from despair

[Get on the ghost train now...]

I want you to respect them, I want you to feel their pain

I want you to walk into the pouring rain

Get on the ghost train now-- now-- now---- ooh---

2. Too many starts and stops in the worst part of the town

My life is a lonely hell and I am ghetto bound

[Here comes the lonesome train...]

There is too much poverty in the city all around

Crushing all the life of what was once profound

But now I'm homebound-- home bound-- home bound--- ooh---

[BRIDGE:]

He wanted me to ride the old graffiti train

He wanted me to witness and to feel their pain

But nothing'll ever save them if they don't save themselves

No free ride will ever pull them up from a living hell

ooh---  ooh---  ooh---  ooh---

3. Angels perched on high; in rhythm they all cry

to save our souls from judgement day before we die

[And the ghost train's soul...]

I want you to save them from the old train tracks

Box cars shelter from the cold and race attacks

Graffiti train... train.... train a-ride-- 

Train... train... train a-risin'--

Train... train... train alive----

Riding on the broken trains of the dying America

hmmm---

Ride on to another day

Another chance, another way

Outlaw on the train... I am free... Oh, Lord!

To paint my Graffiti train... wooo--wooo-- oooh---

Sun Studio, Memphis, TN

 

I recently visited Memphis - the main attraction for me - Sun Studio on Sam Phillips Avenue where Sam Phillips made history back in the '50s having discovered so many incredible musicians.  I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the stories the young man who was the guide told us... I'd felt like I had been there a thousand times in another lifetime.  I loved reading this book about Sam Phillips and with the help of YouTube was able to listen to every side he recorded in the old days - Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock 'n' Roll