"Underdog American Music" is Walker T Ryan's first album on the Vipertoons Label. It features 10 of his original blues based compositions and 4 classic old blues as well.
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Never Forget (The River Song '04) Ryan
The first fish that I caught was in 1954
Over in the river that ran outside my family’s door.
It was just a little thing, barely the limit at best,
But I was only 5 years old, and I was very impressed.
Mama fried it up, it had more bone than meat.
And Grandpa smacked his lips, and thanked me for catching that special treat.
And I fished that river for fourteen summers more,
‘Til I got my call from Uncle Sam to go and fight in his dirty little war.
And I went. And I fought. And I killed, and I came home.
But that’s another story, and folks around here like it left alone.
And Grandpa was gone when I came home, it was Ma and Pa and me
Sittin’ in the house, down at the bend, where the river used to be.
Where the river used to be
Where the river used to be
I’m throwin’ rocks at an old tin can
Where the river used to be.
Sometimes I get so mad I stand on the corner and yell
And people say, “Well, he was in the war", and I tell ‘em they can to to hell.
Then I go upstream, to where the river’s dammed and dead.
And I empty my bottles, and I bust the glass on the banks of the dusty riverbed.
Where the river used to be
Where the river used to be
I’m throwin’ rocks at an old tin can
Where the river used to be.
Thirty some years later, my child went of to war.
And she came home with her leg shot off, and it’s the same thing as before
They say they got no money, no funding for the vet
She’s just another soldier, they’re trying to forget.
Where the river used to be
Where the river used to be
There are those of us who won’t forget
Where the river used to be
Where the river used to be
Where the river used to be
There are those of us who’ll never forget
Where the river used to be
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Burnin' (Like a Kerouac Coyote) (Ryan)
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Statesboro Blues
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Mama Robicheaux (Ryan)
For what I need, don't need to go to Tibet.
Don't gotta get a guru, to get what I gotta get.
Don't need no self improvement tapes
That I can buy or rent or
No tickets to Maui, to no mystic psychic center.
I just go
And I visit, Mama Robicheaux
She's got the way of the woman,
Dancin' in the moon.
I'm just some old coyote, darlin',
Just tryin' to care the tune.
She puts gris gris on the candle,
Walks in the right direction.
Takes me to the river,
Shows me my reflection and much more.
When I visit, Mama Robicheaux
(br)
She's got the power of love
Right there atr her command.
But the power's there for everyone,
That's what she understands.
I've seen the cottonmouths
Just eating from her hand,
And man, you know,
Yes it's so
Oh the eagle cries for Mama Robicheaux.
The eagle cries for Mama Ro.
The eagle cries for what the sisters know.
The New Age ain't nothin',
But the boomers findin' out.
Bout all the mysteries and the magic,
that everybody else always knew about.
We are young we must be humble,
Do you recognize that truth?
Or do you still think Led Zeppalin
Invented the blues?
Ohhhhhhh
You better talk to, Mama Robicheaux.
Now Mama says what's really true
Is in the bible and the hoodoo too.
Some folks talkin' bout the Sermon on the Mount
Others talkin' bout John the Conqueroo.
The camel's stuck in the needle child,
It never will get through.
She said listen to me, honey,
Here's what you got to do, I know you know
You got to let your little light shine
Let your mojo glow
Mama, mama, mama, mama, mama
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MP3
Black Cat at Midnight (Ryan)
I said, “Hey baby.” She said, “What?”
I said, “Is there somethin’ goin’ on?” She said, “No, of course not.”
She looked me in they eye. She said everything is fine.
But I can tell, she’s got something on her mind.
CH: Like a freight train in the fog,
I hear that whistle moan,
Like a Black Cat at Midnight,
It chills me to the bone.
Could it be she’s found another? Could it be her time has passed?
Is she starting in to wonder, if our love will last?
Is there something that I’m doin’? Something I just can’t see?
Is she gettin’ bored? Gettin’ ready to leave me?
CH: Like a freight train in the fog
I hear that whistle moan.
Like a Black Cat at Midnight
It chills me to the bone.
Babe, you know we’ve got to talk, even if we don’t know what to say.
Cause the scream within the silence just gets louder everyday.
Every little problem seems to fester like a sore.
Until, one day in anger, someone’s walkin’ out the door.
CH: Like a freight train in the fog
I hear that whistle moan.
Like a Black Cat at Midnight ( I can’t see it,)
But, it chills me to the bone.
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MP3
Goin' Down to Baghdad Blues (Ryan)
Sand in my bedrole,
sand in my walkin’ shoes.
The sky’s blood red
I got the Bagdad Blues
Minutes seem like days,
Days seem like years.
First you think you see them
And then they disappear.
We went down to the crossroads
And we took the Irish Route.*
They hit us with and IED.
We’re lucky anybody made it out.
Tears on the pillow
Where my head used to lay
Don’t you worry darlin’
I’ll be home someday.
Everyday feels like murder here.
*The road from the Green Zone
to the Airport
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Werewolf Blues (Ryan)
What’s all this red meat
in this deadbeat neighborhood?
What am I doing here ? he said,
my guess is this ain’t good.
Things that I don’t understand.
Blood on my lips and blood on my hands
I cannot think, what did I do?
Runnin’ down the road. Runnin’ from the Werewolf Blues
Child cries out in the night.
Mom and Dad deny the fright.
But the child already knows the verse.
And rushes to embrace it’s curse.
Screams that no one ever hears.
They block their eyes, they break their ears
Helpless, helpless what to do?
You wake up screamin’, you been dreamin ‘bout the Werewolf Blues
Ancient cries beneath the bed
You lie there in your fear and dread
Rememberin’ what your Grandma said.
“You know you hear them.”
Best not leave your soul in park
Seek the shadow, seek the spark
And take along your dancin’ shoes
By the midnight moon, you’ll be dancin’ out the Werewolf Blues
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Corinna
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Taxicab Blues (Ryan)
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Black Velvet Elvis (Ryan)
I work the swap meets, and I make my price,
Selling black velvet paintings of Elvis, and Christ,
The Red Man’s Last Stand, and The Bullfighter’s Prize,
And those skinny little kids with the great big blue eyes.
When it came to love, I’d been down on my luck
When Ramona arrived in her old pickup truck
Selling her tie-dye in the booth next to mine.
She was twenty-eight; I was booth twenty-nine.
Chorus
We were both kind of quiet, both kind of shy,
Which is strange for folks who sell to get by.
And no one ever thought, ‘cause no one ever tried,
To mix black velvet paintings with Deadhead tie-dye.
(Solo)
We traveled together the whole summer through,
Love on the road, and love in the booth,
But one Saturday morning, Pomona State Fair,
Ramona was gone, her booth it was bare.
Chorus
I traveled the circuit just hoping to see ‘er,
Lookin’ for tie-dyed pictures of Jerry Garcia.
But by late September I knew one thing for sure:
I’d probably see Elvis before I saw her.
Black Velvet Elvis, twenty bucks for the King,
Sold by a man who’s been shortchanged on dreams.
A man who is lonely with nothin’ to lose
At a fair in Fontana with the Black Velvet blues.
At a field out in Fresno with the Black Velvet blues.
At a drive-in in Drain with the Black Velvet blues.
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Young Road Blues (Ryan)
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Write Me A Few Of Your Lines
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Blues For Rooster (Ryan)
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Hold On
Underdog American Music
'13'
Singles