Willis Alan Ramsey - Northeast Texas Women - [1972]

'Northeast Texas Women' [video | lyrics] off the only album Willis ever graced us with, is a song about how perfect the women in Northeast Texas despite being overlooked by the Beach Boys. Willis' style is much cooler than theirs anyway and this song is an excellent, crazy, country (but the older, good kind of country) jam to end his now legendary 1972 LP. (Rhea, capo on 3 C-F-G-C, its fun as hell) 

 In addition to his trademark lyrical genius, this song features an array of cool instruments according to the back of the record.  No drums on this song, in their place we got: A Coke crate, a bottle, 'the south wall', Mike Sexton's knees, and Willis' dog Oblio playing 'carpets and hallways' as well as laying down some uncredited vocals at the end.

I've listened to it so many times now that I finally had to map out of the towns he mentions to get an idea of exactly where he was picking up chicks back in his day. "Old Cowtown" seems to be associated with Fort Worth from what I can tell, and it makes sense to me so I'm going with it...looks like he got around.  

"North of Amarillo, East of old Dime Box
You can find your Cinderella or a genuine Goldilocks ...

North of Waxahachie, East of Old Cowtown
Them Dallas women standin’ up beat the others lyin’ down
Well God bless The Trinity River and any man who is unaware
Of the Northeast Texas women and their cotton candy hair
 If your taste in women is strange, 
go on and spend your money 
my friend down in old La Grange"

  I'm generally not a fan of Texas, their politics, and apparent love of executions, but his description of the state makes it sound like a single man's dream. And that line! "Them Dallas women standing up beat the others lying down" What a huge compliment to the women of Dallas that Willis would rather just have a conversation with one of them, than sex with any other non-Dallas ladies.  I hope this song got him lucky a few times in NE Texas.

James Brown - King Heroin - [1972]

"King Heroin"  [video | lyrics] off his 1972 album There It Is, has got to be one of the least funky tunes he ever wrote, but damn is it powerful. He starts out describing a dream he had, though actually its a poem written by a friend, where he finds himself  in a bar where heroin itself has somehow managed to get up on stage and start talking about its history and power.

"I'm a world of power and all know it's true
Use me once and you'll know it too
I can make a mere schoolboy forget his books
I can make a world-famous beauty neglect her looks
I can make a good man forsake his wife,
Send a greedy man to prison for the rest of his life
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag
Some think my adventure's a joy and a thriller
But I'll put a gun in your hand and make you a killer"

Yea, its depressing shit no doubt, but it somehow made it to #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March of 1972! Also, there is a positive element here that he quickly glazes over and really has nothing to do with the rest of the song:

"In cellophane bags I've found my way

To heads of state and children at play

I'm financed in China, ran in Japan

I'm respected in Turkey and I'm legal in Siam"

Not only are poppies "respected" in Turkey, the government actually subsidizes the farming operations, which have been prevalent throughout the countryside for centuries, but only somewhat recently condoned by the national government.  Despite the many efforts of Nixon and the US to intimidate Turkey into criminalizing poppy production throughout the 1970's, while the US was embroiled in the Watergate scandal ('74), a newly elected PM of Turkey took the opportunity to ignore the previous demands of the US and instead, teamed up with the UN to, "set up strict monitoring and diversion controls"* for rural poppy production to ensure the poppies grown in Turkey weren't diverted to the Black Market.

Within five years, the production was up and running and the UN had Turkey on the international list of "traditional producers" so other countries could legally buy their opium for use in medical products. By 1981, even the US was buying 80% of its medicinal opiates from Turkey, and still does, which is a pretty amazing turn around given our previous hard-line stance on the issue.

While inevitably, SOME opium makes it through to nefarious sources, the turn around from Turkey being the number one supplier of illegal opium, to one of the top 2 (next to India) suppliers of medical opium is incredible, and brings hope that similar systems could be setup in Afghanistan where they now face the same issue Turkey did in the 1970's. 

[*]Source

The Clash - (White Man) in Hammersmith Palais - [1977]

The Clash song '(White Man) In Hammersmith Palais' [video | lyrics] off their eponymous first album is full of cool historical references. The title itself refers to a popular venue in London that was built as a ballroom, used as a tank factory during WWII and converted to a tram repair station/hockey rink until it started being used for musical acts in the 1960's. 

The beginning of the song is about a show Joe Strummer went to see there with a badass lineup:

   "Dillinger and Leroy Smart
Delroy Wilson, your cool operator"

...but he didn't really like it too much.  Apparently too showy and not gritty enough:

"But it was Four Tops all night 
with encores from stage right... 

Onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel"

Then he goes on to rip on some of the new "punk" bands for being pussies:

"Punk rockers in the UK

They won't notice anyway

The new groups are not concerned

With what there is to be learned

They got Burton suits, ha you think it's funny

Turning rebellion into money" 

The Burton suits line refers to the Burton Clothing Company which has been an English staple for about 100 years. They even landed a government contract to supply every soldier returning from WWII with full three-piece suit with waistcoat, which became known as "The Full Monty".  

I love the image of these new "punks" wearing the clothing of not only one of the most historic symbols of the mainstream British culture, but more insultingly, the same stuff their parents most certainly wore.  This type of shit is unsettling to Joe and he makes sure to point out that while amusing, its really not "funny".  These "new groups" are going against everything punk music has come to stand for, while exploiting the sound and subject matter to be rich and famous.

Eminem - Guilty Conscience - [1999]

"The song 'Guilty Conscience' [video | lyrics] has gotten such rotten responses"* even Eminem knows this song is thought to be pretty fucked up from a content perspective, but it's actually pretty tame compared to this blatant reference to a pretty nasty event, even for an ex-NWA member, delivered via the biggest punch line in the song.  This exchange form the last verse covers it:

 [Eminem]

Okay, Thought about it, still wanna stab her?
Grab her by the throat, get your daughter and kidnap her?
That's what I did, be smart, don't be a retard
You gonna take advice from somebody who slapped Dee Barnes?

[Dr. Dre]
What'chu say? 

 [Eminem]
What's wrong? Didn't think I'd remember?

[Dr. Dre]

  I'ma kill you motherfucker!

[Eminem]
Uhhh-aahh! Temper, temper!

Apparently Dre didn't approve of how the group was portrayed in Barnes' interview with Ice Cube about why he left NWA in 1990. So when he ran into her at a party and had this to say about their encounter:
"People talk all this shit, but you know, somebody fuck with me, I'm gonna fuck with them. I just did it, you know. Ain't nothing you can do now by talking about it. Besides, it ain't no big thing-- I just threw her through a door." 

Others say it was worse than just that and she eventually sued for an insane amount which was settled by Dre out of court.  Would have loved to have seen the look on Dre's face when Em came up with those lyrics.

[*]From"Whatever You Say I Am" on the Marshall Mathers LP

Sizzla - Babylon Cowboy - [1997]

Sizzla tends to be a polarizing figure in mainstream music circles and even amongst reggae fans.  He has been banned from performing in Europe a couple times due to his homophobic lyrics, yet is a local hero praised for his undeniable eloquence on other important social matters.  In the first verse of 'Babylon Cowboy' [video | lyrics*], he is essentially reminding kids what the ultimate price is for leading a life of guns and crime, and he's pretty damn convincing and pissed off while doing it.   I love his lyrics here and can go on forever about this song, but this is the cool history reference:

"For rights, not justice, you no bust it for none
Well since ya slaughter,  Selassie I come
Emperor sit down 'round de biggest machine gun
Mussolini test and get them skull turned down"

 Here Sizzla invokes a painful part of Ethiopian history and explains that the people doing the killing of local youths in Jamaica today, have just as little justification for their actions as Mussolini and the Italians did when they invaded Ethiopia in 1935. 

I love this image of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I behind "the biggest" machine gun, just mowing down the invading troops and according to Sizzla, the same figurative fate awaits those who "slaughter" innocent people.  

 But Ethiopia was just plain outgunned overall when Italy invaded in 1935, so I assume the just plain badass phrase "skull turned down" stating Selassie's army destroyed Mussolini's troops, Sizzla is referring to the one bright spot for Ethiopia in the war, The Christmas Offensive in which they were finally able to kick a little Italian ass (~3000 according to them). Despite Selassie's now famous pleas to the League of Nations to stop the fighting, they refused to help him and he was forced into exile in England.

 It wasn't until 1941 and World War II that European powers had a reason to want the Italians taken out of North Africa, and Selassie was ultimately able to return and rule very successfully for over 30 years.

* I recommend reading the lyrics if you bother listening to the song

Spearhead - Oh My God - [2001]

In recent years, Michael Franti, though still an effective social activist, has begun writing songs that are mostly upbeat, musically poppy and less politically dense than on earlier albums. The Stay Human album 'Oh My God' [video | lyrics] comes from is the last album of angry, sharp-witted lines that are not only satisfying in their convincing indictments, but also highlight broader social problems that few other musicians have the balls to address.   

  The whole song is just pure anger expressed in the best possible way.  The most interesting line to me though has got to be this one from the second verse:

"The CIA runnin' like they're Jones from Indiana
but they still won't talk about that Jones in Guyana"

 He's clearly saying the CIA is going full steam like Indie running from the stone ball and then he goes on to blame the Jonestown massacre on them.  He is referencing an intriguing theory that is based on the fact that once "The People's Temple" had been forced out of California and relocated to Guyana, but had begun talks with Russia about emigrating there.  Amongst other evidence, one of the few survivors from the colony only lived so he could deliver money to the Soviet Embassy after the incident.  Naturally, the CIA would not have taken kindly to that, so the conspiracy begins there...

   Interestingly, the man sent to inspect conditions at the Jamestown 'colony' in Guyana, was Congressman  Leo Ryan.  He was an outspoken critic regarding the lack of CIA oversight Congress had, and rolled into Jamestown with an unarmed posse made up of family members of Jamestown residents, most of whom were reportedly killed by the residents.

Fun stuff eh?

Burning Spear - Christopher Columbus - [1980]

Like most historians these days, Burning Spear is not a huge fan of Christopher Columbus to say the least. In fact, he goes so far as to say he is a "damn blasted liar" in this classic song which bears his name [video | lyrics], which I was lucky enough to see him perform at Red Rocks a few years back while on a business trip to Boulder.  Needless to say it made my week.

To me, the interesting part of this song is his mention of the Arawak Peoples or 'Arawak Indians' as he refers to them, and the fact that they were entirely wiped out by the arrival of the Spanish. Both infectious disease and slavery contributed to their demise, but by 1517 they were completely exterminated regardless of the methods used.  So for obvious reasons, Burning Spear takes issue with Columbus' claim of discovering Jamaica.

"He is saying that, 
he's the first one
Who discovered Jamaica
I and I say then,
What about the Arawak Indians ...
The Indians couldn't hang on no longer"

Once the Arawak were gone, the Spanish began importing slaves from the Gold Coast of Africa into Jamaica to farm their fields and basically do any other shitty jobs they didn't feel like doing. 

Some slaves, later dubbed 'Maroons', were able to escape the plantations and make their home in the thick, wooded Blue Mountains of Jamaica, just out of reach from initially the Spanish and later the British army who eventually arrived on the island to take it from the Spanish.

Its pretty astounding that this relatively tiny community of slaves, untrained and without formal education, were able to force Britain, arguably the most powerful nation in the world, to grant them their autonomy in 1739 after essentially conceding there was no way to effectively penetrate the thick woods and treacherous Mountains.

I can go on and on about the Maroons, but I won't.  The point here is, like every other place Columbus "discovered" it came at the expense of a peaceful Indian tribe who tried to be helpful, and was exterminated for their efforts.

So yea, FUCK Columbus day, he's a "dyam blasted lyar" who is more of a criminal than a hero.

Jimmy Buffett - Jamaica Mistaka - [1995]

I know, I know, most people aren't Jimmy Buffett fans. But even if you don't like his music, if you know anything about him at all, you know he leads a very cool life and spends his time in the places we all wish we could (Kozlowski parties aside of course).  Jimmy spends a lot of time island hopping all over the Caribbean in either his boat or sea plane, but he prefers to fly.

Anyway, this tune [video | lyrics] off the Banana Wind (1995) album tells a pretty cool story about one of his flights into the bay of Negril that went slightly awry. 

It was a beautiful day
The kind you want to toast
We were treetop flyin'
Movin' west along the coast
Then we landed in the water
Just about my favorite thrill
When some asshole started firin'
As we taxied to Negril 

Things got considerably worse as they got closer.

They shot from the lighthouse
They shot from the highway
They shot from the top of the cliff
They'd all gone haywire
We're catchin' fire
And there wasn't even a spliff 

I couldn't find out anything about how they got them to actually stop shooting at the plane, but eventually they are able to get into a position to talk to someone. Turns out they had been mistaken for drug smugglers by the authorities who apparently have little tolerance for such things.

Just about to lose my temper
As I endeavoured to explain
We had only come for chicken
We were not a ganja plane
Well you should have seen their faces
When they finally realized
We were not some coked up cowboys
Sportin' guns and alibis

(Chorus)
Come back
Come back
Back to Jamaica
Don't you know we made a big mistaka
We'd be so sad if you told us goodbye
And we promise not to shoot you out of the sky 


Bono and his family were also on board the plane at the time and immediately flew back to the US after the the incident was over.  Jimmy wasn't phased though and stayed in Jamaica, which pleasantly surprised both the government and the locals, and continues to fly his plane in there to this day.

Well the word got out
All over the island
Friends, strangers, they were all apologizin'
Some thought me crazy for being way to nice
But it's just another shitty day in paradise

So even if you aren't a fan of his music, this song if worth a listen just to hear him tell the story. Yea some of his music and lyrics may be cheesy at times, but there is no doubt he is one hell of a storyteller.

The Velvet Underground - I'm Waiting for the Man - [1972]

This version of 'I'm Waiting for the Man' [video | lyrics] off American Poet is much different than the Velevt Underground and Nico version, but I prefer it's gradual crescendo and the lyrics are easier to understand. 

His intro mentions the song is about "riding the subway to go get something" and that something is clearly heroin. As we all know Lou and heroin were quite fond of each other during certain periods and it was a common theme in his music. The second verse always makes me chuckle a bit even though its pretty dark:

"Hey white boy, what you doing uptown?
Hey white boy, you chasing our women around?
Oh pardon me sir, it's furthest from my mind
I'm just waiting for here for a dear, dear friend of mine
I'm waiting for my man"

I love the way he phrases this encounter and how polite he is to whomever is most likely threatening to beat his ass for being in the wrong neighbourhood, or worse, hitting on their local women as the lyrics say he assumes.  Lou sincerely replies "its furthest from [his] mind" because he already has a wife and wrote an eponymous song for her: heroin.  Another reason he truly does not give a shit about women right now as he is, as he mentions in the first verse he is:

 "Feeling sick and dirty, more dead than alive"

Plus he is only there for an innocent visit with a dealer "dear, dear friend". So he can score and go home.  I guess I think its funny because Lou seems to be perceived as some sort of threat to this guy's chances of scoring, but he describes himself as looking so terrible and feeling dead, that this other dude must be hard-up.

He goes on to describe the encounter in a brownstone located right about here, and then drops bit of insight into his state of mind at the time in the last line of the song:

"I'm feeling good, I'm feeling so fine, Until tomorrow but that's just some other time"

I'm always amazed that these types of musicians can be in such terrible places in life, but still have the presence of mind and eloquence to explain what it is like to the rest of us.

U2 - Sunday Bloody Sunday - [1983]

As most of you know, since 1921 the six northern most counties of Ireland have been known as 'Northern Ireland', are governed by Britain and were initially heavily Protestant as a result. The rest of the country was mostly Catholic, and in their name, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) fought the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC) (disbanded in 1922) and all forms of British rule in Northern Ireland endlessly in a seemingly futile attempt to reunify the country.

The song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" [video | lyrics] gets its name from the two separate Bloody Sunday's in Irish history. The first occurred on July 10, 1921 and involved the killing of 16 people, some from each side,  in the IRA vs RIC violence.  The second happened on January 30, 1972 when the British murdered 26 unarmed Catholic protesters during a march after a gate was broken down.

They don't really seem to reference any particular events from the Bloody Sunday's other than general violence, but the lyrics pretty clearly state that they aren't taking sides on the issue of the IRA vs Britain:

"But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall"

This battle has been going on for such a long time U2 effectively invokes these terrible events to show that they are only the worst tragedies of this long and ongoing battle that has killed thousands. He also quotes a couple Bible verses and mentions Jesus in an attempt to reach the audience on spiritual level as well as emotional. 

"And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart [Matthew 10:35
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die  [Corinthians 15:32]
To claim the victory Jesus won"

Spearhead - Dream Team - [1994]

In the days before they were called "Michael Franti and Spearhead" they were just plain Spearhead. The change was superficially insignificant, but it did seem to mark the start of a disturbing trend in the content of his music. Spearhead's songs, and The Beatnigs before them, were filled with angry, politically driven almost Public Enemy-ish anti-government lyrics stating African Americans were being intentionally marginalized by the government and demonized in the media. Oh yea and basketball, he loves playing basketball and weaves it in to his lyrics whenever he can.

Regarding the media, he makes a great observation in the first verse of  Dream Team [video | lyrics] off the Spearhead album Home:

"It seemed strange to me, was it strange to you? 
Brother's on the street and everyone is scared a ya
So how could ten Africans represent America?
Bullshit, it didn't mean a thing
'cause in the same year we saw Rodney King"

It all seems so long ago now, but it is pretty amazing that these two events occurred in the same year. Franti then proceeds to put together his "Dream Team" of black cultural heroes, many of whom are very controversial and interesting people that most people don't know much about. It is a pretty badass lineup:


"Well Chuck D's announcing Flava Flav is doing color
Halftime entertainment by Dre and Ed Lover
Malcolm X is the coach he's drawing up the strategy
We're chopping apart all America's anatomy
'cause they're the ones we're up against of course
Our general manager is Chief Crazy Horse
Huey Newton 'cause he was extra hard
He is the one who will be playing at the shooting guard
I dreamed Charles Barkley would be
Played by Marcus Garvey
He'd be throwing people off his back and making
Sure they never got a rebound rebound
He throws it to the outlet
Nat Turner 'cause he can turn the corner when
When he's out there
He be flying through the air and throwing passes like
He really doesn't care 
Behind the back and in
Between the legs
He's handling the rock as gently as an egg
He's throwing it into Angela Davis's neighborhood
She's posting up down in the extra hard wood
She grabs the pill and then she puts her shoulder down
Get out the way 'cause she's gonna throw down now
Boom oh my god! I just can't believe it
Get another backboard or better yet leave it"

If you don't recognize some of these name like Nat Turner or Angela Davis, follow the links above because he has included them with the likes of Malcom X an Garvey for a reason.

In recent years, "Michael Franti and Spearhead" are writing poppy songs with a notably more positive message. This seems to coincide with his trips to many war torn areas to spread his music and message of peace. On Home though, he's at his best going all out and its a classic as a result.

Full Franti Dream Team Lineup: (missing a forward though)

Announcers - Chuck D and Flava Flav
Entertainment - Dr. Dre (nope not the one with shitty headphones) and Ed Lover
General Manger - Chief Crazy Horse
Head Coach - Malcom X
Center- Angela Davis
Forward - Marcus Garvey
Point Guard - Nat Turner
Shooting Guard - Huey Newton
Bench Coaches - Dr. King, Rosa Parks

Everlast - Ends - [1998]

Everlast's Whitey Ford Sings the Blues seemed pretty revolutionary to me at the time and there still isn't really anything else I'm aware of that blends acoustic rock and urban themes as well as he does on this album.  I never heard much else of his I liked after this release, aside from the brief Eminem feud diss-tracks. Which IHMO  Eminem won by destroying him and Fred Durst (hah that name makes me laugh) in "Girls".

The line that I think is subtly disturbing from this album is from the end of the second verse of the singles "Ends" [video | lyrics]

"From The Wetlands all the way to The Apollo if you're broke she's spittin' if you're rich she might swallow for the ends"

The Wetlands is a bar that is now out of business, but The Apollo is still operating.   If you check out this map you can see what every New Yorker probably already understood, that this chick has been sucking dick up and down the entire west coast of Manhattan Island.

Yea, its kind of a gross lyric to choose, but I heard it recently and couldn't believe that there would be any natural wetlands anywhere any Apollo theaters anywhere so it got me wondering.

The Clash - Guns of Brixton - [1979]

This song [video | lyrics]makes me, a simple, puss-bag spineless hippie, ready to take on anything the world can throw at me. Before I get to the bit I want to talk about though, let me just draw your attention to these lines:

"When they kick out your front door, How you gonna come? 
With your hands on your head, Or on the trigger of your gun 
When the law break in, How you gonna go? 
Shot down on the pavement, Or waiting in death row?"

The Clash are just so fucking badass it boggles the mind. Just look at the album cover the album cover this song is from:

Anyway, the other bit of the song I wanted to mention is this verse:

"You see, he feels like Ivan
Born under the Brixton sun
His game is called survivin'
At the end of 'The Harder They Come'"

For those of you who have not see the film The Harder They Come starring Jimmy Cliff as "Ivan", this verse doesn't quite have the same impact. It may seem a stretch to some for a white British man to compare their struggles with those of the black youth in Jamaica, but no matter where you live, the "game is called survivin'" and there is no doubt to me, granted a sheltered yuppie, that anyone who has struggled to do so shares a bond in some sense with each other that the rest of us do not.

Bob Marley - Night Shift - [1976]

Admittedly, this is not his best work, but the song Night Shift [video | lyrics] off the Rastaman Vibration  (1976) album give some interesting insight into a little known portion of his life. In the second verse he sings:

"Working on a forklift
In the night shift,
Working on a night shift,
With the forklift,
from A.M. (Did you say that? Why did you say that?)
to P.M. (Working all night!)"

In 1966 at 21 and having just married Rita Marley, Bob traveled to the United States for the first time. He moved  to Wilmington, Delaware and lived with his mother who had left Jamaica in 1962 to avoid the violence that surrounded that year's election.  It's unclear if he actually drove a forklift per his job description, but did work the night shift on an assembly line at the Chrysler factory, which as you can see, is still around, and as a DuPont Co. lab assistant to help support his mother. You know he was tooling around in one of those forklifts bored late night though and having a blast :)

  Sadly while working in the U.S., he was exposed to the tremendous racial inequality that existed in the states witnessing the exploits of the Ku Klux Klan on television and furthering his distrust for governments he was forced to support. After losing his job with Chrysler, and realizing his eligibility for the rapidly approaching Vietnam draft, Bob left the U.S., and returned to Hope Road.

Though brief and rather out of character for him, he even used an alias while at Chrysler, his jaunt into the U.S. certainly allowed him another perspective on the state of global race relations, and may have inspired him to focus on his message and ultimately deliver it to a wider audience.

Tom Petty - Don't Come Around Here No More - [1985]

I was always a big Tom Petty fan in high school, but never really got into the song "Don't Come Around Here No More" [video | lyrics] despite it doing so well on the charts.  It seemed odd to me that it was so electronic and different from the rest of his catalog and just wasn't my style at the time.

Incidentally, the pic below is from the scene my mom happen to see me watching one day and banned me from watching MTV for the rest of my childhood :)

I have recently started to love the song, so when I did a bit of digging about its history I found out why this song has such a different sound. It was co-written with the non-Annie Lennox half of the Eurythmics, and the lyrics are about his failed love affair with Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. She got tired of him and actually said the words :

"Don't come around here no more"

...before kicking him out of her house.

Even the Alice in Wonderland theme for the video was inspired by Stevie's infatuation with Victorian attire at the time. This wikipedia page has some more details if you want some more background.

Culture - Two Sevens Clash - [1977]

This is the title track [video | lyrics] off one of the most famous albums to come out of Jamaica. The 
tree was a spiritual symbol to the locals of Jamaica, so when it final fell down, they believed it was divine punishment for Babylon's ills.

"Look at the cotton tree out by Ferry police station 

See how beautiful it used to be

And it has been destroyed by lightening

earthquake and thunder I say

What! A liv an bamba yay 

when the two sevens clash"

Dropkick Murphy's - Skinhead on the MBTA - [1998]

Skinhead on the MBTA [video | lyrics] has always been one of my favorite Dropkick Murphy's tunes, though I have to admit I pretty much lost interest, with all due respect to him, once Al Barr took over. I just loved Mike McColgan's vocals and his onstage antics too much to be able to make the transition.

Anyway, this song is cool because they take such a wimpy old Kingston trio song, a band synonymous with worst of cheese-ball folk music, and turn it into a dark story about a what really goes on on the Boston subways.

Ironically, the Dropkick's more sinister version is probably a much more apt description of what occurs on the subways, even back in those days, as the original song was written at the request of a politician trying to raise awareness about his public transportation program. One of the last lines is pretty damn obvious "Fight the fare increase! Vote for George O'Brien!"



Lyrics and Links to both versions are below


====================================================================

Dropkick Murphy's Version - "Skinhead on the M.B.T.A."

Now let me tell you a story of a big ole' skinhead 
On a tragic and fateful day
He put 10 cents in his pocket kicked his wife and family
Went to ride on the M.B.T.A
Chorus: 
Now, did he ever return, no he never returned 
and his fate is still unknown He may ride forever neath the Streets of Boston 
he's a skinhead who never returned
Skinhead goes down to the Kendall Sq. Station 
and he changes For Jamaica Plain,
the conductor says skinhead I need a nickel, 
skinhead punches him in the brain
(Chorus)
Now all night long skinhead drives through the station 
Wondering "Who can I go and see?"
Can't afford to buy crack in Chelsea or a bundle in Roxbury
(Chorus)
Skinhead's wife goes to the Sully Square Station 
Everyday at quarter past two,
And through the open window she hands skinhead a grenade 
As the train comes a rumbling through
(Chorus)
Now you citizens of Boston don't you think its a scandal 
how the skinhead stole the train? 
(So drive on the fucking streets you fucking bums
Let him drive fucking that train!)
(Chorus)
He's the skinhead who never returns 

==========================================

Kingston Trio Version - Charlie on the MTA: 

Well, let me tell you of the story of a man named Charley 
on a tragic and fateful day.
He put ten cents in his pocket, kissed his wife and family, 
went to ride on the M. T. A. Chorus:
Well, did he ever return? No, he never returned and his fate is still unlearned. He may ride forever 'neath the streets of Boston. He's the man who never returned. Charlie handed in his dime at the Kendall Square Station 
and he changed for Jamaica Plain.
When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel." 
Charlie couldn't get off of that train.
Now, all night long Charlie rides through the station, 
crying, "What will become of me?!!
How can I afford to see my sister in Chelsea
or my cousin in Roxbury?
(Chorus)
Charlie's wife goes down to the Sculley Square Station 
every day at quarter past two,
And through the open window she hands 
Charlie a sandwich as the train comes rumblin' through.
(Chorus)
Now, you citizens of Boston, don't you think it's a 
scandal how the people have to pay and pay?
Fight the fare increase! Vote for George O'Brien! 
Get poor Charlie off the M. T. A.
(Chorus)
He's the man who never returned. He's the man who never returned. Ain't you Charlie?

Matisyahu - Chop 'Em Down - [2005]

This may be very obvious to most, but in the second verse of Chop 'Em Down [video | lyrics] off his Live at Stubb's album, Matisyahu eloquently and succinctly tells the story of Joseph in Genesis Chapter 30-something:

 Joseph descended sold as a slave
 thrown into a dungeon cause he wouldn't be swayed
 Interpreted pharaoh's dreams and Egypt was saved
 Stock piled food for seven years of rain
 sold to all the nations when the drought came
 Joseph rose to power and the Yiddin stayed
 They started to build and success was made
 Pharaohs getting worried let's make 'em pay bound in chains
 First born were sent down to their graves
 Moshe (Moses) was saved and a prince he was raised
 Hashem (God) spoke to him here's a message to relay
 Take my Nation from Mitzrayim (Egypt) I see they're suffering
 Hard hearts ego breaks take sparks and make ways
 Trail blaze through the wasteland breaking the chains

Its also the same story they made a Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway show called "Joesph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat" out of starring Donny Osman as Joseph, which is just fucking terrible.  Nevertheless, the way Matisyahu tells the story here, regardless of your faith, is effective. I've both read the story in Genesis and seen the Broadway show, but I had never really grasped what actually happened in the story until I heard this song. Maybe its just me, but I doubt I'm alone.