Get Used To It
music and words Lance Harrison

Life is tough, big stones in my way,
It seems to get harder each and every day,
My luck could change you can never tell,
But I doubt it, so I might as well...

Get used to it, get used to it
Get used to it baby
Cause ainít nothing gonna change

Well, you get a job, and you go to work.
everybody treats you like some kind of jerk.
Youíre worth nothing to them, so thatís what youíre paid.
When your review comes, You donít get a raise.
So, get used to it...

Still you go to work, and you slave all day,
You come home to your wife with your miniscule pay,
She meets you at the front door, with martinis in her hands,
While out the back door slips some other man.
Get used to it...

No matter what you do, you canít get it right
And even though youíre tired, you canít sleep at night
Nobody ever hears you, No matter how loud you yell,
Havenít you figured it out yet? This is Hell !
So, get used to it...

You once were an angel, but youíve fallen from grace
Thatís why God has put you in this place
To squirm in torture for your every sin
And once you die...You get to come back again!

So, get used to it

Eilza Jane
© Lance Harrison

Poor olí little Eilza Jane
Didn't have the sense
to get out of the rain
Her heart throb
was Jimmy Bob
A boy so smart
he could keep a job
She smiled at him
and he turned red
Asked her to marry
and they did
Yes, somehow
they made their way
Pushing through from day to day

Now Jimmy Bob
had an idea, he did
So Eliza Jane
had a couple of kids
It wasnít easy
they worked real hard
Rented a house
with a tree in the yard
She smiled at him
He smiled at her
and time moved on
like a colorful blur
Loving and laughing
Saddness and tears
They held each other
through the passing years

Then it came
one passed away
The other sat there
Nothing left to say

And so it goes
The circle of life
Its the common story
Of a man and a wife
Since the beginning
It goes on still
One after another
And it always will...

City
© Lance Harrison

I always though how wonderful
to be out on my own
Leave this hick town on a greyhound
to the city lights alone
So, I hopped one at the depot
I paid my fifty dollar fare
Said goodbye to the backwoods
straight my tie and I combed my hair

'Cause I'm going to the big town
where the women like to dance
Everything is beautiful
And nothings left to chance
The cars are big & life is wild
The streets are paved with gold!
And I believe that it's all true
'cause that's what I've been told

I left the good life for the green grass
on the other side of the fence
Now I'm stuck on forty-second street
When and where did I lose my sense?

The women dream of romance
with the businessmen in suits
rings and roses, dining out,
then counting up the loot.
The men all pay it willingly,
Just to get what they want.
An evening in the city
edge is sharpened, never blunt.

All I want to do is get back home again.
I miss the good life, I miss my friends
This town looms over me
with the thought of what's to come
There's no pity in the city
Everybody's numb!

I Know Every Train
music and words Lance Harrison

I know every train
that passes this way
Where theyíre goiní
how long the delays
Where to run
and where to hide
so the bulls donít catch me
when I catch a ride, yeah.

Iíve got a little shack,
off that cold steel track
A place to sleep
aní a fire out the back
I can hide it
so you canít see a thing
aní it keeps me dry
and out of the rain

I like to go fishiní
and play my guitar
Drink my whiskey
from a Mason jar
Ainít no place
I would rather be
It seems to be a
pretty good life to me

If you see Wallace
tell him Iím doiní fine
Just a little up
on that L&N line
Summerís over, Lord,
Lord itís gettingí late
Believe itís time for me
to hop another freight

Only Memories
© Lance Harrison

Somehow time
stole you away
but in the echos
of today
I still feel you
pressing ever close
close to me
In the faded
evening light
I still feel you
holding me tight
but itís only
only memories

I sit around
and tell myself
that you never
really cared
But the past
keeps reminding me
of all
the love
weíve shared

In the faded
evening light
I still feel you
holding me tight
but itís only
only memories

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Nine Foot Sack
© Lance Harrison

I drag a nine foot sack
like a ball and chain
Though itís blistering hot
I donít pray for rain
Should a rain come
I could never forget
I may be a free man
But enslaved by debt
I may be a free man
But enslaved by debt

I got a little chunk of land
But can't plant nothing to eat
I gotta fill it full of cotton
For my quota to meet
Pay my debts
From the year before
Ahead by a Jefferson
But not much more
Ahead by a Jefferson
But not much more

They say Iím a good boy
but Iím a man
Providiní for my family
The best what I can
Blood and sweat
And a sunburnt back
Iím dragging my hopes
in this nine foot sack
Dragging my hopes
in this nine foot sack

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Iím Bad
© Lance Harrison

Only the good die young
At least that's what they say
And as that's true, I'm telling you
I'll live forever and a day

'Cause Iím bad
Deeper than your darkest fears
Iím bad,
Harbinger of pain and tears

Black cats donít cross my trail
Storms every where I go
Careful not to look me in the eyes
'Cause you might lose your soul

I'm bad

Satan says he don't want me around
says the competition is too tough
If I decided to take control
Things would really get rough

'Cause Iím bad

The things I do you canít imagine
To know would break your head
If we should happen to meet someday
Iím sure that you
would wish you were dead

'Cause Iím bad

Back on You
© Lance Harrison

You stay out drinking
until all hours
come home drunk
and trample Mammaís flowers
Then you go and try
to put the blame on me
'til she finally breaks you down
With the 3rd degree

It serves you right to suffer
when you act the way you do
All that mess that you be making
going to all come back on you!

The bank come knocking
on my front door
Had to fib tell 'em
You donít live here no more
Sayís you owe them somethiní
like a thousand bucks
So they sent around a man
to take your pick-up truck
It serves you right to suffer ...

Neighbor man called
Says you better run
'cuz he be huntin' you
with his big old gun
his wife done told him
what you did last week
and it ain't like we're talkin'
'bout no kiss on the cheek
It serves you right to suffer ...

I'm glad to say that
I ain't in your shoes
A man like that
sure be livin' the blues
Might of had some fun
In my younger day
Guess that's why
I can stand here and say
It serves you right to suffer ...

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If You Could
© Lance Harrison

I've been knocking on your door
for seven long years
with a box full of smiles
for bucket of tears
You can't say
I never did treat you good
And I know you'd surely love me
if you could

With a soul of rust
and a heart of lies
still a man wonders
why he even tries
You can't say
I never did treat you good
And I know you'd surely love me
if you could

I tell you that I love you
and I show you when I can
You told me how I thrill you
and that I was your man
Now your phone just rings for hours
and I'm banging on your door
I'm tired of this, I've had enough
I can't take it no more

I'm in my prison
I'm doing time
Loving you baby
has been my only crime
You can't say
I never did treat you good
and I know you'd surely love me
If you could

Chicken Shack
© Lance Harrison

Iím going down to Luther's
get me a bootleg sack
I said, Iím going down to Luther's
get me a bootleg sack
And then its over to Miss Sally's
Shake it down by the Chicken Shack

Them bones be flip 'n flying
In the air and on the floor
I said, them bones be flip 'n flying
In the air and on the floor
Shimmy it down, baby
'Til I canít stand it no more

Iím crying at you, baby
When you going to treat me right?
I'm crying at you, darling, baby
When you going to treat me right?
I give you all my hard earned money
Come near each and every night!

Bad Water
© Lance Harrison / Donna Howley

Bad water in the well
Not much wood out the back
And I'm rattle-tooth cold
In this stack stone shack

No jingle in my pocket
My shoes are wearing thin
My next meal is coming
but I don't know when

If I just had me a woman
keep me warm at night
Some sweet little mama
would make everything all right

I could do the cooking
I could even clean
And I swear, I swear, I swear
I'd never treat her mean

Well there's only one
depression in my bed
It's a big one
Lordy, It fills up my head
Maybe when winterís over
and the work returns
I'll be like a millionaire
with money to burn!

But, there's bad water...

I'm Going Home
© Lance Harrison

If I should live to see the day
Death come 'round to take me away
Then, you can tell my friends
Iím going home

I've been wandering o'er this earth
ever since the day of my birth
Now, you can tell my friends
I'm going home

Have a party, make some sound
when you put my body in the ground
Don't shed no tears for me
'cause I'm going home

I have been here, it can be said
but someday I will be dead
And you can tell my friends
I'm going home

(for "Uncle Slimi" 1956-2003)

Better Than Dead
© Lance Harrison

I'm sick of being lied to
mistreated and abused
I've kept my mouth shut
and lived on hopes & prayers
but the answer always seems
you can't just live on dreams
sometimes you have to
clean up these affaires
well, I trusted in you once
I guess I was just a dunce
to believe that anything
you said was true
well, you took you never gave
I was no more than your slave
you left me all mixed up
and so confused

But, it's not my desire
to put you to a trial by fire
but if you push me
that's just what we'll do
you better make things right
or you'll disappear one night
and you'll wake up
with one hell of a tattoo

No, I wouldn't kill you dead
but there'd be written
across your head
in a permanent message
for all the world to see
how you cheated and you lied,
stole, robbed & denied
just how bad you treated me!

Home Again
© Lance Harrison

On some long lost lonesome highway
Thousand miles to the nearest town
My old ride finally gave it up
I had to lay her down

The night was black as lampsoot
No stars or moon at all
Only straight ahead or somewhere else
Which wayI turned I donít recall

Donít know how far Iíll have to go
To bring me here once more
All that I can say
is I hope and pray that
I can find my way back home again
home again, home again

After years of walking blindly
I met a shimmering light
More than a glimmer of inspiration
Split the night

Donít know how far Iíll have to go
To bring me here once more
All that I can say
Is I hope and pray that
I can find my way back home again
home again, home again, home again