Born In The USA

Born down in a dead man's town
The first kick I took was when I hit the ground
End up like a dog that's been beat too much
Till you spend half your life just covering up

Born in the U.S.A. 
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A. 
Born in the U.S.A. 

Got in a little hometown jam
So they put a rifle in my hand
Sent me off to a foreign land
To go and kill the yellow man

Born in the U.S.A. 
I was born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A. 
Born in the U.S.A. 

Come back home to the refinery
Hiring man said "Son if it was up to me"
Went down to see my V.A. man
He said "Son, don't you understand now"

I had a brother at Khe Sahn
Fighting off the Viet Cong
They're still there, he's all gone

He had a woman he loved in Saigon
I got a picture of him in her arms now

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

Born in the U.S.A.
I was born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A., 
I'm a long gone Daddy in the U.S.A. 
Born in the U.S.A., 
Born in the U.S.A.
Born in the U.S.A. 
I'm a cool rocking Daddy in the U.S.A. 

--UP--

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Cover Me 

The times are tough now
Just getting tougher
This old world is rough 
It's just getting rougher 
Cover me, come on baby, cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me

Now promise me baby you won't let them find us
Hold me in your arms 
Let's let our love blind us 
Cover me, shut the door and cover me
Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me 

Outside's the rain, the driving snow
I can hear the wild wind blowing
Turn out the light, bolt the door
I ain't going out there no more

This whole world is out there just trying to score
I've seen enough I don't want to see any more 
Cover me, come on and cover me
I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me

--UP--

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Darlington County 

Driving in to Darlington County
Me and Wayne on the Fourth of July
Driving in to Darlington County
Lookin' for some work on the county line 
We drove down from New York City
Where the girls are pretty but they just wanna know your name 
Driving in to Darlington City 
Got a union connection with an uncle of Wayne's 
We drove eight hundred miles without seeing a cop 
We got rock'n'roll music blasting off the t-top 
Singing 

Sha la la, sha la la la la la ...

Hey little girl standing on the corner
Today's your lucky day for shure all right
Me and my buddy we're from New York City
We got two hundred dollars, we want to rock all night
Girl, you're lookin' at two big spenders
Why, the world don't know what me and Wayne might do
Our pa's each own one of the World Trade Centers
For a kiss and a smile I'll give mine all to you
C'mon baby, take a seat on the fender 
It's a long night and tell me what else were you gonna do?
Just me and you, we could ...

Sha-la la, sha la la la la la ... 

Little girl sittin' in the window
Ain't seen my buddy in seven days
County man tells me the same thing
He don't work and he don't get paid
Little girl you're so young and pretty
Walk with me and you can have your way
Then we'll leave this Darlington City
For a ride down that Dixie Highway

Driving out of Darlington County
My eyes seen the glory of the comin' of the Lord
Driving out of Darlington County
Seen Wayne handcuffed to the bumper of a state trooper's Ford.

Sha-la la, sha la la la la la ... 

--UP--

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Working on the Highway 

Friday night's pay night guys fresh out of work
Talking about the weekend, scrubbing off the dirt
Some heading home to their families some looking to get hurt
Some going down to Stovell wearing trouble on their shirts

I work for the county out on 95
All day I hold a red flag and watch the traffic pass me by
In my head I keep a picture of a pretty little miss
Someday mister I'm gonna lead a better life than this

(Chorus)
Working on the highway laying down the blacktop
Working on the highway all day long I don't stop
Working on the highway blasting through the bedrock 
Working on the highway, working on the highway

I met her at a dance down at the union hall
She was standing with her brothers, back up against the wall
Sometimes we'd go walking down the union tracks
One day I looked straight at her and she looked straight back, so I'm

(Chorus)

I Saved up my money and I put it all away
I went to see her daddy but we didn't have much to say
"Son can't you see that she's just a little girl
She don't know nothing about this cruel cruel world"

We lit out down to Florida, we got along all right
One day her brothers came and got her and they took me in a black and white
The prosecutor kept the promise that he made on that day
And the judge got mad and he put me straight away
I wake up every morning to the work bell clang
Me and the warden go swinging on the Charlotte County road gang

(Chorus)

--UP--

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Downbound Train 

I had a job, I had a girl
I had something going mister in this world
I got laid off down at the lumber yard
Our love went bad, times got hard
Now I work down at the carwash
Where all it ever does is rain
Don't you feel like you're a rider on a downbound train

She just said "Joe I gotta go
We had it once we ain't got it any more"
She packed her bags left me behind
She bought a ticket on the Central Line
Nights as I sleep, I hear that whistle whining
I feel her kiss in the misty rain
And I feel like I'm a rider on a downbound train

Last night I heard your voice
You were crying, crying 
You were so alone
You said your love had never died
You were waiting for me at home
Put on my jacket, I ran through the woods
I ran till thought my chest would explode
There in the clearing, beyond the highway
In the moonlight, our wedding house shone
I rushed through the yard 
I burst through the front door
My head pounding hard, up the stairs I climbed
The room was dark, our bed was empty
Then I heard that long whistle whine
And I dropped to my knees, hung my head and cried

Now I swing a sledge hammer on a railroad gang
Knocking down them cross ties, working in the rain
Now don't it feel like you're a rider on a downbound train

--UP--

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I'm on Fire 

Hey little girl is your daddy home
Did he go away and leave you all alone
I got a bad desire
Ooh, I'm on fire

Tell me now baby is he good to you
Can he do to you the things that I do 
I can take you higher
Ooh, I'm on fire

Sometimes it's like someone took a knife baby edgy and dull and cut a six-inch valley through the middle of my soul
At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet and a freight train running through the middle of my head
Only you can cool my desire
Ooh, I'm on fire

--UP--

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No Surrender 

We busted out of class had to get away from those fools
We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school
Tonight I hear the neighborhood drummer sound I can feel my heart begin to pound
You say you're tired and you just want to close your eyes and follow your dreams down

We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat baby, no surrender
Like soldiers in the winter's night with a vow to defend
No retreat baby, no surrender

Well now young faces grow sad and old and hearts of fire grow cold
We swore blood brothers against the wind I'm ready to grow young again
And hear your sister's voice calling us home across the open yards
Well maybe we’ll cut someplace of our own with these drums and these guitars

We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat baby, no surrender
Blood brothers in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat baby , no surrender

Now on the street tonight the lights grow dim the walls of my room are closing in
There's a war outside still raging you say it ain't ours anymore to win
I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lovers bed
With a wide open country in my heart and this romantic dreams in my head

We made a promise we swore we'd always remember
No retreat baby, no surrender
Like riders in the stormy night with a vow to defend
No retreat baby , no surrender

--UP--

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Bobby Jean 

Well I came by your house the other day 
Your mother said you went away
She said there was nothing that I could have done
There was nothing nobody could say
Now me and you we've known each other ever since we were sixsteen
I wished I would have known 
I wished I could have called you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean

Now you hung with me when all the others turned away turned up their nose
We liked the same music we liked the same bands we liked the same clothes
Yeah we told each other that we were the wildest 
The wildest things we'd ever seen 
Now I wished you would have told me 
I wished I could’ve talked to you
Just to say goodbye Bobby Jean

Now we went walking in the rain talkin’ ‘bout the pain from the world we hid
Now there ain't nobody nowherer nohow gonna ever understand me the way you did

Maybe you'll be out there on that road somewhere
In some bus or train traveling along
In some motel room there'll be a radio playing
And you'll hear me sing this song
Well, if you do, you'll know I'm thinking of you and all the miles in between
And I'm just calling one last time not to change your mind
But just to say I miss you baby 
Good luck, goodbye Bobby Jean

--UP--

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I'm Goin' Down 

We sit in the car outside your house
I can feel the heat coming 'round
I go to put my arm around you
And you give me a look like I'm way out of bounds
You let out one of your bored sighs
Well lately when I look into your eyes 
I'm goin down 

We get dressed up and we go out, baby, for the night
We come home early burnin’, burnin’, burnin’ in some fire fight
I'm sick and tired of your setting me up
Setting me up just to knock-a knock-a knock-a me down 
I'm goin down 

I pull you close now baby but when we kiss I can feel a doubt
I remember back when we started
My kisses used to turn you inside out
I used to drive you to work in the morning
Friday night I'd drive you all around
You used to love to drive me wild
But lately girl you get your kicks from just drivin’me down 
I'm goin down 

--UP--

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Glory Days 

I had a friend was a big baseball player back in highschool
He could throw that speedball by ya, make you look like a fool boy
Saw him the other night at this roadside bar I was walking in he was walking out
We went back inside, sat down, had a few drinks, but all we kept talking about

(Chorus)
Glory Days, yeah they'll pass you by
Glory Days, in the wink of a young girl's eye
Glory Days, glory days

There was a girl that lives up the block, back in school she could turn all the boys heads 
Sometimes on Friday I'll stop by and have a few drinks after she put her kids to bed
Her and her husband Bobby, well they split up, I guess it's two years gone by now
We just sit around talking about the old times, she says when she feels like crying she starts laughing thinking about

(Chorus)

Think I'm going down to the well tonight and I'm gonna drink till I get` my fill
I hope when I get older I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably will
Yeah just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of
But time slips away and leaves you with nothing, mister, but boring 
stories of

(Chorus)

--UP--

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Dancing in the Dark

I get up in the evening 
And I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the moring 
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired 
Man I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help

You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark

Message keeps getting clearer 
Radio's on and I'm moving round the place
I check my look in the mirror 
I wanna change my clothes my hair my face
Man I ain't getting nowhere I’m just living in a dump like this
There's something happening somewhere 
Baby I just know that there is

You can't start a fire, you can't start a fire without a spark
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark

You sit around getting older 
There's a joke here somewhere and it's on me
I'll shake this world off my shoulders 
Come on baby the laugh's on me

Stay on the streets of this town 
And they'll be carving you up alright
They say you got to stay hungry 
Hey baby I'm just about starving tonight
I'm dying for some action 
I'm sick of sitting 'round here trying to write this book
I need a love reaction 
Come on now baby gimme me just one look

You can't start a fire, sittin ‘round crying over a broken heart
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark
You can't start a fire, worring about your little world falling apart
This gun's for hire even if we're just dancing in the dark

--UP--

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My Hometown 

I was eight years old and running with a dime in my hand
Into the bus stop to pick up a paper for my old man
I'd sit on his lap in that big old Buick and steer as we drove through town
He'd tousle my hair and say son take a good look around
This is your hometown

In `65 tension was running high at my high school
There was a lot of fights between the black and white 
There was nothing you could do
Two cars at a light on a Saturday night in the back seat there was a gun
Words were passed in a shotgun blast troubled times had come 
To my hometown

Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores
Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more
They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks
Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to
Your hometown

Last night me and Kate we laid in bed talking about getting out
Packing up our bags maybe heading south
I'm thirty-five we got a boy of our own now
Last night I sat him up behind the wheel and said son take a good look around
This is your hometown

--UP--