100sMerchandise
The new CD by The 100s,"Echoes", available 12.05.08
Order a copy from CD Baby
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Copies of the debut CD, "Take The Gravel Home", still available from CD Baby
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'Take The Gravel Home'
Song Lyrics
Right In Here
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
You'd think by now
We'd used up all the questions
Why not now
How come, what for, where to
I guess that's how
We finally learned our lesson
Don't ask how
Don't ask, don't tell, don't see
But when will you know
CHORUS:
They say words are cheap
But I know I will always keep
Everything you said
Right in here
Right in here
The place you left
In such a mess
Everything you said
Is right in here
Let's take our bows
Congratulate each other
Nice job now
Well done, way to go, good work
I guess that's how
We hesitate to discover
Don't look now
Don't look, don't hear, don't speak
We'll fool ourselves once more
(CHORUS)
Are you satisfied
Are you
Or are you pacified
Are you satisfied
Yes, you
Who did you sacrifice
(CHORUS)
Katy Did
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2004
West bound and down on a rebuilt freeway
These wheels will turn if you're going my way
Gravity is so real it feels like home
Bar the door and cap that wine
Here comes Katy she looks so fine
Reality and she don't co-exist
CHORUS:
Katy did
Slammed the door with a flick of the wrist
Keeps it hid
She's in your face, you're on your heels
A subtle look, but how's it feel
Say her name and try to find the rhyme
Another day and there's one more show
Hit the chord, I think you'll know
To raise your glass it's time to lift the lid
CHORUS:
Katy did
Hit the gravel, sent my mind in a skid
Keeps it hid
She looked up at me and said she won't ever go alone
Grabbed a piece of my heart, said she'd never been far from home
Home, far from home
West bound and down on a rebuilt freeway
These wheels will turn if you're goin' my way
Gravity is so real it feels like home
CHORUS:
Katy did
Hit the gravel, sent my mind in a skid
Keeps it hid
Katy did
Slammed the door with a flick of the wrist
Keeps it hid
Chickasaw Dreamer
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
The sky always looks darker behind the windshield
Tinted cab keeps out the skin cancer rays
Sitting here spinning, plowing the fields
Bury the tires about half-way
CHORUS:
Chickasaw dreamer, what were you thinking
That your hopes would rise up as high as the corn
That hard work would keep you from going out drinking
That you'd start making hay in a thunderstorm
If we keep going all night we'll be done by morning
And then that's when the worrying begins
Early June frost don't give you no warning
Might have to plant 'em all over again
CHORUS:
Chickasaw dreamer, what were you saying
About plans that are tangled like cockleburs
About chores that ain't done and weeds that need spraying
About me sowing mine and you sowing yours
Farmer's almanac says knee-high by the fourth
Knew from the start that we'd miss that mark
Looks like some showers off to the north
Better keep going, soon'll be dark
CHORUS:
Chickasaw dreamer, where are you heading
Still more to do after you finish these rows
The pigs need rings and the cows need bedding
Why waste your time chasing off crows
Why waste your time chasing off crows
Why waste your time, they're only crows
Take The Gravel Home
(Kemper, Pedersen)
©2003
The crickets and the trains
Are you writing songs again
Pull them pretty words out
See how long they last
Some trinkets on the sill
The sink it's always overfilled
Tap your cigarette out
Sure do burn up fast
CHORUS:
Who said we would not get far
Stars shine through the night
Who said too little too late
Wait 'til morning light
Take the gravel home
Struggle to say something
That don't amount to nothing
Button up your collar
Try hard not to blink
Some papers on the table
Get to 'em when I'm able
Chase the mighty dollar
Never stop to think
CHORUS:
Who said our fates have been sealed
Deal me another round
Who said we must live in fear
Ear close to the ground
Take the gravel home
Happy On The Farm
(Kemper, Pedersen)
©2003
I like driving tractors
I like baling hay
I like hearing the birds sing
At the start of a summer's day
CHORUS:
I'm happy on the farm
I'm happy on the farm
I'm happy on the farm
I'm happy on the farm
I've got 40 acres
With a little pond
Dug myself a fire pit
Out on my front lawn
I've got me a machine shed
And an 1894 barn
Field mice keep my cat fed
The prairie is my yard
(CHORUS)
Don't need me no Beemer
Just need my old truck
It'll get me to Waubeek and back
With a little luck
City folks too busy
Elbows in the crowd
Traffic makes me dizzy
Rather stare at the clouds
(CHORUS)
Crickets and cicadas
Listening to their call
Sweet corn and tomatoes
Pumpkins in the fall
(CHORUS)
Shakytown
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
Let's all go to Shaky Town
We'll ride in on the 10
Take what we can of ol' 66
Until the coast starts to bend
Looking through the hazy skies
And your eyes of blue
Wondering what I left behind
Was it meant to be true
Let's all go to Shaky Town
Sun will bake you to the core
In this land of sweet excess
Can I have a little more
See that man sleeping on the street
See the mansion on the hill
Wondering what I'm going to find
Or if I ever will
CHORUS:
California
California
Makes me want to stay
In California
Let's all go to Shaky Town
Fertile land for broken dreams
Where the Santa Annas blow that smog
And nothing is what it seems
Making movies down on Normandy
Make it up for the thrill
Make my way toward an exit sign
Think I left against my will
CHORUS:
California
California
Sure you want to stay
In California
Tearing Down
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
They're tearing down what was here before
Close the casket, won't be seen no more
We are all to blame for this excavation game
Say goodbye, it's all the same
The August sun bakes the summer field
Many factors affecting this year's yield
If we just get some rain, everything will be okay
Look to the stars, no one to blame
CHORUS:
On a trapeze
But there's a steady breeze
I'm just one false move from the floor
On a trapeze
I'm hanging by my knees
They're tearing down what was here before
Won't be seen no more
They're tearing down what was here before
Won't be seen no more
Last one standing is now set to fall
You must reach him quick, he must heed your call
The tulips are in bloom, but they'll be dying soon
Vows are made between bride and groom
He looked at her and said, "I do"
(CHORUS)
Buffalo Ridge Waltz
(Kemper, Pedersen)
©2003
Remember those days up on Buffalo Ridge
That summer of Twenty-O-Three
The songs that we made up on Buffalo Ridge
Those simple three-chord melodies
CHORUS:
Out in the barn
Nights sweet and warm
High as the corn
The time that we spent up on Buffalo Ridge
We drank as we cranked out the tunes
The nights came and went up on Buffalo Ridge
Underneath a mid-summer's moon
It's some special place up on Buffalo Ridge
With a sky we could see oh so well
Guitars, drums and bass up on Buffalo Ridge
Bring out the ol' Silver Bell
CHORUS:
Out 'neath the stars
And the red glow of Mars
The songs traveled far
But time it moves fast up on Buffalo Ridge
The hours flew right from the start
Least but not last up on Buffalo Ridge
We played like it came from the heart
Remember those days up on Buffalo Ridge
I Hope It Rains
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
Why can't you leave me
The same way that you found me
Undeterred, without a word
You knew me well enough
So you left well enough alone
CHORUS:
Your secret mission and clever disguise
Kept me wishing for sunny skies
But now I hope it rains
Hard to believe
Not a trick up your sleeve
Dreams faded, so you skated
Always knew I'd lose you
So why did I choose you at all
(CHORUS)
REFRAIN:
Hate to say never
You change like weather
I'd stand for hours
In thunder showers
The long-range forecast
Says dry spells might last
And a cold front
Is not what I want
From you
Too early to tell
If the river will swell
I'll manage the damage
I knew you well enough
Could not leave well enough alone
(CHORUS)
Darwin Adams
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2003
Darwin Adams Senior
Worked eighty acres
For forty-some years
Took four days off in all that time
When he said, "I do"
When little Dar was born
When he thought he caught swine flu
When they placed his wife Nora
In the ground
Darwin Adams Senior
Lost his life partner
Of forty-some years
Figured that was enough for him
To square off his debt
He sold off his John Deere
Left his son all the rest
Put a pistol to his ear
Final round
CHORUS:
Never thought twice
Never meant any harm
Just said goodbye
To the family farm
Darwin Adams Junior
Sold those eighty acres
In forty-some minutes
Right there on the bank's PC
With a click of a mouse
And no guilt on his head
He got rid of the house
And the old machine shed
Falling down
(CHORUS)
Darwin Adams Junior
Drove back to Des Moines
In forty-three minutes
Back to his one-room efficiency
Should have lent Dad a hand
Should have helped with the chores
Could have talked man to man
Could have done something more
All around
(CHORUS)
Never thought twice
Nobody twisted his arm
Just said goodbye
To the family farm
How Much
(Schmidt, Pedersen)
©2004
It's getting to be
That I feel that twitch of anxiety
Every time the phone rings
It's not that I don't like talking
It's just you know and I know
Why you're calling
CHORUS:
How much this time
It's okay
How much this time
No, it's okay
How much this time
Okay
It's plain to see
Situation ain't good for the family
Every time the phone rings
Collection agents are squawking
It's time we admitted
The sky is falling
It's not so easy
And I'm not sure if it helps you or me
All the while the phone rings
It's not that I don't like talking
It's just you know and I know
Why I'm stalling
CHORUS:
How much this time
It's okay
How much this time
No, it's okay
How much this time
How much this time
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