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THE FLAT BARITONE
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Form a ring and wind and twine
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Round the ol' grape vine
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Heavy on the wire from the house
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Salt the cow and kill the calf
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Meet yer lonesome with a once and a half
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Gent©ös on the east and ladies on the south
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The solemn boy carries his silver damage
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Sold but for, the number and the image
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His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
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Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
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Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
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When he sings he slurs
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& uses the meat of his thigh
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T©öhold the book he wrote when he was lame
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So wrapped up in his flat baritone
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No castrato could woo him in from the rain
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For he never raised his voice when his britches
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Was spillin©ö over with that honey truck richness
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His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
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Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
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Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
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Well the stylus hit the patches
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As he spit on the splashes
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& sought out the scratches in the vinyl
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'Neath a needle topped with nickels
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To keep the tunes a-goin'
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Cracklin', croonin' & crowin'
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Multi-colored, hard-boiled & hidden
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In the corners, with the dogs rusty remnants
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His eyes have saddened making wine from the stems
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Empty ears longing for the wood and the skins
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Paper yellowed from the salt and the failure
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THE FLAT BARITONE
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The Gourds |