FRED MOORE
     20th Century Folks

            Song                         File         Size                       Song                        File            Size
20th Century Folks 20thcent.ra 325k You Get It Still yougetit.ra 314k
Reagan Rag reagnrag.ra 332k Appearance Of A Flame flame.ra 486k
Phone In phonein.ra 511k Connecticut Yankee ctyankee.ra 322k
Pelle Lindberg pellelin.ra 414k Valentines Day valentin.ra 361k
Vietnam Wall vietwall.ra 471k Once Over Lightly onceover.ra 337k
Rain Fallin rainfall.ra 395k Born To Be Blue borntobe.ra 457k
Everything Else Aside everythn.ra 350k Too Little Too Late 2little2.ra 263k
One Day At Time onedayat.ra 309k Billie's Blues billiesb.ra 497k
Choose To Booze chooseto.ra 278k November Song/
Menstrual Blues menstral.ra 378k Willie Mays Rag novwmays.ra 524k

 
Clicking a song title will take you to the lyrics for that song.  Clicking on the audio file for a song will allow you to download an audio file of that song.  A three minute song (a 360k file size) takes about three minutes to download.  Real Player, available as a free download from Real Audio, is needed to play the audio file.  All songs are copyrighted by Fred Moore.  e-mail  [email protected]

Other Fred Moore albums:  Highway Honky Tonk

20th Century Folks Lyrics




20TH CENTURY FOLKS

What are we gonna do
When the ozone aint no more
What are we gonna do
When you cant walk out the door
 Without the fear of bein fried
 By that awful sun outside
 What will we do then
 When we cant get it back again
What are we gonna do
When the ultraviolet light destroys
All of our food
And all of our little girls and boys
 Well sit around and mope
 And blame it on those dopes
 The twentieth century folks
 Who wasted the world away

What are we gonna do
When the roentgens get too high
What are we gonna do
When the world begins to die
 When nothing can survive
 In the poisoned air outside
 What will we do then
 When we have to seal ourselves in
What are we gonna do
The writings on the wall
Soon well be through
Weve been given the last call
 Will there be any room for hope
 Or will we continue just to cope
 The twentieth century folks
 Who wasted the world away

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THE REAGAN RAG

 Ronnie Reagan aint makin money on me I've got the key to this city
 Down the corner of Vine and Eighth I've got my own cast iron grate
 I'm all dressed up in yesterdays news aint got to worry bout domestic blues
 Got my belongings in a Gimbles' bag doin the Reagan Rag

 When they let me out of the looney bin they said I wasnt gettin in again
 Thats the sanest thing I'd heard  shot em a moon and a dirty bird
 Jacket on my back shoes on my feet  found a spot on a city street
 On the bum just a crazy wag doin the Reagan Rag

  I'm a free and fancy feller a homeless center city dweller
  I dont pay no board I dont pay no rent I live above my own steam vent
  I dont shave and I dont shower I dont pay for gas or power
  Life's just a bottle and a pack of fags doin the Reagan Rag
 

 Summertime I'm pickin corn pick tomatoes and peaches
 Evenin time I'm sippin wine down the corner of Eighth and Vine
 I've got friends every block we each got a piece of the rock
 Some dress straight some dress in drag doin the Reagan Rag

 Spring and fall are best of all when the weather is peaceful
 When the air is clear and fair strollin through the city without a care
 Checkin out the dumpsters checkin out the trash  checkin out the phones for some ready cash
 Checkin out the crowd at the Swig & Swag doin the Reagan Rag

                              (Back to the top)
 

PHONE IN

  He took a poll to find out where he stood
  He found out he wasnt doin too good
  And hired him an agency to get his image changed
  They told him all he lacked was confidence
  They put him on a track that made some sense
  And pointed out some little things that needed to be rearranged
   They started with his head they cut his hair
   They said there's much too much of your nose there
   Then they went and pulled out all his teeth
   And put in a new set to fill out his cheeks
  Then they looked down at his skinny chest
  And said you've had a little too much rest
  And recommended that he get his body nautilized

  He went down to his neighborhood health spa
  They said we dont give a damn who you are
  We fix you up in just six months or we give you back the fee
  Three nights a week until the hour was late
  You'ld find him there pushin and pullin weights
  And doin lots of different things to help build up his shoulders and his knees
   They put the pounds on where they ought to be
   And asked him how he liked what he could see
   He said you guys are good they all agreed
   Needless to say they didnt refund the fee
  He left that place he was trim and fit
  And nothing physical hurt him a bit
  I guess you could say he was a real good lookin guy

  Next on the list was his carefree wardrobe
  They thought he ought to go with something bold
  Like pink and green with just a little yellow thrown in
  They looked down at his dirty running shoes
  And put him in Italian two tone blues
  And told him go out on the town if you have any trouble phone in
   He hit the street his confidence was high
   And everybody looked at him as he walked by
   But no one recognized just who he was
   He crossed the street and got run over by a bus
  His nose was twisted in an awful mess
  His plastic teeth imbedded in his chest
  He was pink and green and yellow and blue with a whole lot of red blood flowin
  And his very last words were I gotta phone in ...........

                                     (Back to the top)

PELLE LINDBERGH

  He was peddle to the metal on the Summerdale Road
    Comin to the school house bend
    Couldnt make the turn hit the cement wall
    Pelle wont be playin goal again
    Pelle wont be playin goal again
    His short life's come to an end
    His Porshe was his pride
    In his Porshe Pelle died
    He won the last game he's gonna win

   The news wasnt good on the Sunday Radio
   We couldnt believe the words that were said
   There'd been an awful crash in a South Jersey town
   Pelle Lindbergh's lyin brain dead

   He left a bar in that South Jersey town
   A little after five A M
   In his turbo-charged Porshe 930 car
   Takin home a couple of  friends

   Some say he was the quickest goalie ever been seen
   But a turbo Porshe is quicker still
   You get to mixin alcohol and fast gasoline
   Look out that mixture will kill

                                         (Back to the top)

VIETNAM WALL

  There's a wall in Washington with the names of  sixty-thousand men
  Who fought in the Vietnam War and never made it home again
  The names are etched in granite cut into the green hillside
  Sixty-thousand names put in the order that they died

  Do you have someone on that wall
   Someone who went to Vietnam and got the call
   For whom the country's flag became the heavy funeral pall
   Do you have someone on Vietnam Wall

  People stand in silence only memories remain
  On a chevron of granite fingers touch familiar names
  From  Hue down to Siagon to Phnom Penh they fell
  Paying the final price in a war that wouldn't sell

  See the Viet veteran with an awful tale to tell
  Still haunted by the memories vivid images of hell
  The names of dead comrades are written on that wall
  Some gave their lives that others wouldn't fall

                                     (Back to the top)
 

RAIN FALLING

  Rain fallin on a hot tin roof in the summertime
  Rain fallin chasing the blues away
  Time-out for the rain beating up against my window pane
  Lord knows its nice to get some rain

  Rain fallin on a city street steam climbs
  Rain fallin chasing the heat away
  Pitter patter in trees feels so mighty good to me
  Lord knows its nice to get some rain

   Rain rain dont you know
   Rain rain nice to get a little H2O

  Rain fallin on a hot tin roof in the summertime
  Rain fallin chasing the blues away
  Time-out for the rain beating up against my window pane
  Lord knows its nice to get some rain

                                     (Back to the top)

EVERYTHING ELSE ASIDE

  I walk by people say
  Hows it going today
  I say all right
  Im doin fine
  Weathers nice seasons changed
  They dont mention your name
  They know I'll need more time
  So we talk for awhile
  Till they fear that I'll
  Do something that's way off the wall
  I can feel the tension ease
  As I turn and leave
  Theyre all watching how far Ill fall

 But I cant even see bottom yet
 No I've just barely gotten wet

   I've a long way to go
  To the end of skid row
  I'm not betting Ill make it alive
  But I'll drown these memories
  Or I'll drown me
  I'm setting everything else aside

                                 (Back to the top)

ONE DAY AT A TIME

 One day at a time
 Thats what Ill do
 One day at a time
 Till Im over you
 Takin the cure
 Signin the line
 Im playin it pure babe
 One day at a time

You became a habit
That I could do without
Climbin into windows
To get in my own house
Aint the kind of livin
That I was lookin for
Gettin quit of you babe
Will let me use the door
 

If you see walkin
With my head held high
Dont stop for talkin
Let me walk on by
If I slip and call you
Dont answer the phone
Then the deal wont fall through
Ive got to leave you alone

                            (Back to the top)

CHOOSE TO BOOZE

 Ill abuse me some beer tonight
 Ill get myself fixed really tight
 Goin out Im gonna tie one on
 Keep it goin till the break of dawn
 Hit every honky tonk in town
 In the mornin look for me in the lost and found
 Ill be clear out of sight
 Practicin my inalienable rights
 Gonna choose to booze
 And abuse me some beer tonight
Now alchohols gettin a bad reputation
Theyre claimin its the bane of the whole damn nation
Theres folks out there lookin to keep it from the likes of me
But their schemin plans aint nothin but wishin
We done found once we cant impose prohibition
We threw that out back in nineteen and thirty-three
 So Ill abuse me some beer tonight
 Ill get myself fixed really tight
 Goin out Im gonna tie one on
 Keep it goin till the break of dawn
 Hit every honky tonk in town
 In the mornin look for me in the lost and found
 Ill be clear out of sight
 Practicin my inalienable rights
 Gonna choose to booze
 And abuse me some beer tonight
  Its party time Im gonna have some fun
  Gonna do it up right and get all undone
  Psycologically Im gonna try a little primal yell
  Howlin like a pack of moonlit hounds
  Come on honey let your hair hang down
  Lets go for bust and raise us a little hell
 Ill abuse me some beer tonight
 Ill get myself fixed really tight
 Goin out Im gonna tie one on
 Keep it goin till the break of dawn
 Hit every honky tonk in town
 In the mornin look for me in the lost and found
 Ill be clear out of sight
 Practicin my inalienable rights
 Gonna choose to booze
 And abuse me some beer tonight

                            (Back to the top)

MENSTRUAL BLUES
 

She's on a diet with the rag on
She's as mad as she can be
I've got a little weekend jag on
She's comin down hard on me

I duck a long winded tirade
Duck a long rollin pin
Lord the enemy is active
Here come the menstrual blues again

 She wont listen to reason
 My pleadings fall on deaf ears
 She seems to have lost her sense of humor
 Why dont she sit and have a beer

She's not responsible for her actions
She's temporarily insane
She'd like to see me up in traction
Lord that woman wants to maim
 

Thought I'd get by doin the laundry
Then I could sit and drink awhile
But now I'm in an awful quandary
Miscalculated by a mile

My other cheek did not impress her
There aint no way that I can win
My levity has been seqestered
Here come the menstrual blues again

 I knelt in humble supplication
 I told her I could sympathize
 I just plain tried to ignore it
 Lord she was fit to be tied

Hasn't something been invented
To take away that woman's pain
Cant I call a toll free number
Here come the menstrual blues again

                             (Back to the top)
 

YOU GET IT STILL

I wonder where you are tonight
Do anothers arms hold you tight
Are his lips kissin you
The same way my lips used to do

Darkness finds me here alone
Your love lights up anothers home
A pillow on an empty bed
Shadows where you lay your head

 You dont care how I feel
 Thoughts come back you never will
 Love is such a precious thing
 But only you can make it sing

My life is filled with regret
Id quit for good but I cant forget
My love for you will never die
You get it still from another guy
 

Though our affair went all wrong
The love we shared lingers on
The past comes back and tortures me
And never sets my heart at ease

When we walked together hand and hand
You were mighty proud to call me your man
Now someone eles holds my dreams
Its torn my heart apart at the seams

 You dont care how I feel
 Thoughts come back you never will
 Love is such a precious thing
 But only you can make it sing

My life is filled with regret
Id quit for good but I cant forget
My love for you will never die
You get it still from another guy
 
 

APPEARANCE OF A FLAME

Jesus had not been long in the country
When the priests and pharisees heard his name
And sent the word that he should be arrested
Put out the first appearance of a flame
They must put out the first appearanc of a flame

They came while he was teaching in the temple
To catch him blapheming within its walls
They brought a woman who was guilty of adultery
Shall we stone her as its written in the law
Shall we stone her as its written in Moses law

He bowed his head and in the dirt wrote with his finger
Trying to think of something he could say
To teach these priests and pharisees a lesson
Then maybe they would turn and go away
Maybe they would turn and walk away

He said let them who havent sinned throw the first stone
Let them who havent erred beat her down
They alone should cast the stones of judgement
And leave this woman bleeding on the ground
Leave this woman cut and bleeding on the ground

He bowed again and in the dirt wrote with his finger
When he looked up only the woman still remained
Where are they has no one condemned you
Neither do I go and do not sin again
Neither do I go and do not sin again

Jesus had not been long in the country
When the priests and pharisees heard his name
And sent the word that he should be arrested
Put out the first appearance of a flame
They must put out the first appearanc of a flame

                                (Back to the top)

CONNECTICUT YANKEE

 Connecticut yankee long and lanky
 Still got the sound of south in his mouth
 Dressin pretty in the city
 He's along way from home he's a yankee now

He heard the dollar signs of the city singin
Left Tennessee for the gray skyline
Now them high rise lights are blinkin
Out across Long Island Sound

But it makes no differnce where he's stayin
He recalls dim cabin lights
With banjos and fiddles playin
Folks gathered round on Saturday nights
 

Got a loving wife three kids a family
Out in the suburbs two car garage
Sailboat down at the landing
He traded in that beat up Dodge

But at times his thoughts wander
Back to the hills of Tennessee
He wished he lingered a little longer
His heart is filled with memories

                                 (Back to the top)

VALENTINE'S DAY

On Valentine's Day our little darlin passed away
An angel here on earth  was Heaven bound
The sorrow we felt there aint no human tongue can tell
We lost a great big part of our hearts on Valentine's Day

She wasnt born strong but she had a spirit a hundred miles long
She loved to see folks laugh the family clown
A gift from above she always brought out nothing but love
She could make a day just as bright as Valentine's Day

 Oh how I miss Daddy give me a hug and a kiss
 Lord it hurt to lay her burden down

We prayed and we prayed that our little darlin might stay
We lost a great big part of our hearts on Valentine's Day

 Oh how I miss Daddy give me a hug and a kiss
 Lord it hurt to lay her burden down

I cried and and I cried I thought the longing would never subside
We lost a great big part of our hearts on Valentine's Day

                                     (Back to the top)

ONCE OVER LIGHTLY

I heard you wanted to meet me I brought myself around
I went for you completely we started painting the town
I thought love had found me you had me feelin so fine
But once over lightly was all you had in mind

 Once over lightly is all you want to do
 Honey you excite me and then you say were through

You got me playin the fool you got me hangin on the end of a line
And once over lightly is all you had in mind
 

We were sittin alone in the candle light
We had a bottle of wine I thought tonights the night
You were gettin real close we were feelin the wine
But once over lightly was all you had in mind

 Once over lightly is all you want to do
 Honey you excite me and then you say were through

You got me playin the fool you got me hangin on the end of a line
And once over lightly is all you had in mind
 

You ought to be in a museum they ought to put you out in a case
Where everybody could see you but dont touch and dont taste
You be the hit of the season heres what they have on the sign
Once over lightly was all she had in mind

 Once over lightly is all you want to do
 Honey you excite me and then you say were through

You got me playin the fool you got me hangin on the end of a line
And once over lightly is all you had in mind

                                             (Back to the top)

BORN TO BE BLUE

 Well I should have known
 That it would never work out
 And Id be alone
 Someday she would walk out
 I should not be so surprised
 At finding tear drops in my eyes
 They were over due
 I was born to be blue

 She won my heart
 The flame still hasnt gone out
 And though were apart
 Shes stlill all I seem to think about
 But now theres only misery
 Wrapped up in these memories
 It only goes to prove
 I was born to be blue

  Blues the lonely color
  The only one I know
  Blue is like no other
  A million shades that glow

 I have seen them all
 I can tell you there is no doubt
 Love will make you crawl
 Till youre all down and out
 Love has done that many times to me
 And left me just as blue as I can be
 The feelings nothing new
 I was born to be blue

                                     (Back to the top)

TOO LITTLE TOO LATE

 Too little too late
 You wanted to wait
 Is what she told me
 But at the time
 I didnt know
 I was on trial

 She was the one
 Wanted to run
 Now shes folding
 Too little too late
 Thats her way
 Of saying goodbye

  Too little too late
  Puts the weight on my shoulders
  Tellin me while I was free
  She pinned alone

 Its nothin but lies
 She never did cry
 Not one tear drop
 Too little too late
 Thats just her way
 Of saying goodbye
 

 Too little too late
 Was a rude
 Rude awakening
 To wake up and find
 I was along
 Just for the ride

 Theres nothin there
 She never cared
 Not even a heartache
 Too little too late
 Thats her way
 Of saying goodbye

                                 (Back to the top)

BILLIE'S BLUES

 Billie I love to hear you singin the blues
 Singin them old time popular tunes
 I love to hear your bitter sweet stories unfold
 They're more than the treasures of diamonds and gold

A Baltimore girl Eleanora by name
So many would use her only for their own gain
But maybe it just had to happen that way
It's part of the mystery that made Lady Day

Saxaphone playin in jazz harmony
The husky voice singin behind him so free
The piano rhythm a table for two
The world in a tear drop that's what she could do

Her records are spinnin they never will stop
Billie's will always be there at the top
She was one in a million so rare and so fine
A Baltimore girl Billie made the big time

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