1. DRY COUNTRY

Across the border they turn
Water into wine
Some say it's the devil's blood
They're squeezing from the vine
Some say it's a savior
In these hard and desperate times
For me it helps me to forget
That we're just born to die

I came here like so many did
To find the better life
To find my piece of easy street
To finally be alive
And I know nothing good comes easy
And all good things take some time
I made my bed I'll lie in it
To die in it's the crime

You can't help but prosper
Where the streets are paved with gold
They say the oil wells ran deeper here
than anybody's known
I packed up on my wife and kid
And left them back at home

Now there's nothing in this pay dirt
The ghosts are all I know
Now the oil's gone
The money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

In the blessed name of Jesus
I heard a preacher say
That we are God's children
And He'd be back someday
And I hoped that he knew
Something as he drank his cup of wine
I didn't have too good of a feeling
As I head out to the night

I cursed the sky to open
I begged the clouds for rain
I prayed to God for water
For this burning in my veins
It was like my soul's on fire
And I had to watch the flames
All my dreams went up in ashes
And my future blew away

Now the oil's gone
And the money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

Men spend their whole lives
Waiting praying for their big reward
But it seems sometimes
The payoff leaves you feeling
Like a dirty whore
If I could choose the way I'll die
Make it by the gun or knife
'Cause the other way there's too much pain
Night after night after night

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive


2. STRANGER IS TIS TOWN

Hey mister can you tell me
What this world's about
It might just help me out
I used to be a dreamer
But my dreams have burned
You know how luck can turn

Sometimes it's hard to find a
friendly face
Feel like a stranger to the human race
It's such a lonely, lonely place

I walk alone in the darkness of the city
Got no place to call home
I might be dyin'
But you can't hear a sound
'Cause midnight rain is comin' down
I'm just a stranger, a stranger
in this town

Everybody loves a winner
Till the winners lose
And then it's front page news
Nobody loves a loser
When you're down and out
You know there ain't no doubt

I'm just a victim of circumstance
Please mister give me a helping hand
Brother won't you understand

I walk alone in the darkness of the city
Got no place to call home
I might be dyin'
But you can't hear a sound
Midnight rain is comin' down
I'm just a stranger, a stranger
in this town
I mean no danger, I'm a stranger
in this town

I'm just a victim of circumstance
Please mister give me a helping hand
Brother won't you understand

I walk alone in the darkness of the city
Got no place to call home
I might be dyin'
But you can't hear a sound
'Cause midnight pain is comin' down
Midnight pain is coming down
I'm just a stranger, I'm a stranger
in this town

I mean no danger, I'm a stranger,
I'm a stranger
I'm a stranger in this town...
I mean no danger, I'm a stranger...


3. BLOOD MONEY

Hey Patty Garrett that's what I used to call you
They tell me you want me but I hear they've got you
They made you a lawman with a badge made of silver
They paid you some money to sell them my soul

Chorus:
But you say this ain't about me, this ain't about you
Or the good and the bad times we've both been through
When the lines between brothers and justice have changed
You do what you've got to cause you can't walk away

I wonder what would have happened
If you were the killer
And I was the hero
Would things be the same
Or would I have traded
Your life for my own life
Would I have paid
Your debts in your place

Chorus

Blood money
That's what I call it
'Cause money for blood ain't no fair exchange
Blood money
Bought and then sold you
But your conscience is all you can take to your grave


4. DRY COUNTRY

Across the border they turn
Water into wine
Some say it's the devil's blood
They're squeezing from the vine
Some say it's a savior
In these hard and desperate times
For me it helps me to forget
That we're just born to die

I came here like so many did
To find the better life
To find my piece of easy street
To finally be alive
And I know nothing good comes easy
And all good things take some time
I made my bed I'll lie in it
To die in it's the crime

You can't help but prosper
Where the streets are paved with gold
They say the oil wells ran deeper here
than anybody's known
I packed up on my wife and kid
And left them back at home

Now there's nothing in this pay dirt
The ghosts are all I know
Now the oil's gone
The money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

In the blessed name of Jesus
I heard a preacher say
That we are God's children
And He'd be back someday
And I hoped that he knew
Something as he drank his cup of wine
I didn't have too good of a feeling
As I head out to the night

I cursed the sky to open
I begged the clouds for rain
I prayed to God for water
For this burning in my veins
It was like my soul's on fire
And I had to watch the flames
All my dreams went up in ashes
And my future blew away

Now the oil's gone
And the money's gone
And the jobs are gone
Still we're hangin' on

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive

Men spend their whole lives
Waiting praying for their big reward
But it seems sometimes
The payoff leaves you feeling
Like a dirty whore
If I could choose the way I'll die
Make it by the gun or knife
'Cause the other way there's too much pain
Night after night after night

Down in dry county
They're swimming in the sand
Praying for some holy water
To wash the sins from off our hand
Here in dry county
The promise has run dry
Where nobody cries
And no one's getting out of here alive


5. IT'S ONLY ROCK'N'ROLL

If I could stick my pen in my heart
And spill it all over the stage
Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya
Would you think the boy is strange? ain't he strange?

If I could win ya, if I could sing ya
A love song so divine
Would it be enough for your cheating heart
If I broke down and cried? if I cried?

I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it
I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do
Oh, well, I like it, I like it, I like it
I said can't you see that this old boy has been a lonely?

If I could stick a knife in my heart
Suicide right on stage
Would it be enough for your teenage lust
Would it help to ease the pain? ease your brain?

If I could dig down deep in my heart
Feelings would flood on the page
Would it satisfy ya, would it slide on by ya
Would ya think the boy's insane? he's insane

I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it
I said I know it's only rock'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do
Oh, well, I like it, I like it, I like it
I said can't you see that this old boy has been a lonely?

And do ya think that you're the only girl around?
I bet you think that you're the only woman in town

I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it
I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it
I said I know it's only rock 'n roll but I like it, like it, yes, I do
Oh, well, I like it, I like it. I like it...


6. WALTZING MATILDA

Wasted and wounded, it ain't what the mood did, I've got what I prayed for
now
I'll see you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

I'm an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I'm tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and everything's broken, and my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

Now I lost my Saint Christopher now that I've kissed her
And the one-armed bandit knows
That the maverick Chinaman with his cold-blooded style
And the girls stand by the strip-tease shows, go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

Now I don't want your sympathy, the fugitive says
That the streets ain't for dreaming now
Manslaughter dragnets and the ghosts that sell memories,
want a piece of the action anyhow
Go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You'll go waltzing Mathilda with me

It's a battered old suitcase in a hotel someplace,
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donnas, the perfume is on
It's an old shirt that's stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen, the flame keepers
Goodnight Mathilda, too
And Goodnight Mathilda, too