Tracks
1. Forbidden Fruit
2. Hobo Jungle
3. Ophelia (166K)
4. Acadian Driftwood
5. Ring Your Bell
6. It Makes No Difference
7. Jupiter Hollow
8. Rags And Bones
9.* Twilight
10.* Christmas Must Be Tonight
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Track 1.Forbidden Fruit
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A5 A5 D5 A5
High and lonesome out on Times Square
A5 D5 A5
Haven't got a dime, ain't got a prayer
A5 D5 A5
Deliver us, Lord, from this golden calf
A5 D5 A5
People only want what they cannot have
D#o7
Forbidden fruit
D5 E5 A5 D5
That's the fruit that you'd better not taste
A5 D#o7
Forbidden fruit
D5 E5 A5 D5
You've got one life that you'd better not waste
A5 A5 D5 A5
How can I walk with this ball and chain?
A5 D5 A5
How can I land in this hurricane?
A5 D5 A5
Or is this part of man's evolution
A5 D5 A5
To be torn between truth and illusion?
D#o7
Forbidden fruit
D5 E5 A5 D5
That's the route that you'd better not take
A5 D#o7
Forbidden fruit
D5 E5 A5
Just watch out for the sign of the snake
Little brother got caught in the web
He ran off to join the living dead
Been through the mill, seen the cross on the hill
He sold his soul just for a thrill
Forbidden fruit
In hot pursuit out on a limb
Forbidden fruit
Your whole world is closing in
You got the picture but missed the drift
About me workin' the graveyard shift
I never went in for no burglary
But there's a stranger inside of me
Forbidden fruit
Don't you shoot the whole works away
Forbidden fruit
It's too high of a price to pay
How can you hear with a bad connection?
You can't see when there's no reception
Keep your distance, don't fool with taboo
'Cause it'll overtake and undertake you
Forbidden fruit
That's the fruit that you'd better not taste
Forbidden fruit
You've got one life that you'd better not waste
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Track 2. Hobo Jungle
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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C5 G5 F5 F5
There was a chill that night in the hobo jungle
A5 E5 Eb5 D5 G5
Over the train yard lay a smooth coat of frost
C5 G5 F5 F5
And although nobody here really knows where they're goin'
A5 E5 D5 F5 G5 C5
At the very same time nobody's lost
C5 G5 F5 F5
Then the fire went out and the night grew still
A5 E5 E5 Eb5 D5
G5
This old man lay frozen on the cold, cold ground
C5 G5 F5 F5
He was a stray bird and the road was his callin'
A5 E5 D5
Ridin' the rods
G5 F5 C5
Sleepin' under the stars
A5 E5 D5 F5 G5 C5
Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car
C5 G5 F5 F5
She attended the fun'ral in the hobo jungle
A5 E5 E5 Eb5 D5
G5
Long were they lovers though never could they wed
C5 G5 F5 F5
Drifters and rounders and distant friends
A5 E5 D5
Here I lie without anger or regret
F5 G5 C5
I'm in no one's debt
D5 A5
Man goes nowhere
G5 G5
Ev'rything comes like tomorrow
B5 F#5 F#5 F5 E5
A5
But she took that last ride there by his side
D5 A5 G5 G5
He spent his whole life pursuing the horizon
B5 F#5 E5
Ridin' the rods
A5 G5 D5
Sleepin' under the stars
B5 F#5 E5 G5 A5 D5
Playin' the odds from a rollin' box car
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Track 3.Ophelia
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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C5
Boards on the window
E5
Mail by the door
A5 D5
What would anybody leave so quickly for?
F5
Ophelia
G5 C5 A5 D5 G5
Where have you gone?
The old neighborhood just ain't the same
Nobody knows just what became of
Ophelia
Tell me, what went wrong
F5 C5
Was it somethin' that somebody said?
G5 C5
Mama, I know we broke the rules
F5 C5
Was somebody up against the law?
G5 G5
Honey, you know I'd die for you
C5
Ashes of laughter
E5
The ghost is clear
A5 D5
Why do the best things always disappear
F5
Like Ophelia
G5 C5 A5 D5 G5
Please darken my door
Was it somethin' that somebody said?
Honey, you know we broke the rules
Wu somebody up against the law?
Honey, you know I'd die for you
They got your number
Scared and runnin'
But I'm still waitin' for the second comin'
Of Ophelia
Come back home
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Track 4. Acadian Driftwood
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by J.R. Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
For more about this song, see Peter Viney's article.
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F5 C5
The war was over and the spirit was broken
D5 Eb5 G5
The hills were smokin' as the men withdrew
F5
We stood on the cliffs
C5 A5
Oh, and watched the ships
Bb5 G5
Slowly sinking to their rendezvous
F5 C5
They signed a treaty and our homes were taken
D5 Eb5
Loved ones forsaken
G5
They didn't give a damn
F5
Try'n' to raise a family
C5 A5
End up the enemy
Bb5 G5
Over what went down on the plains of Abraham (*)
F5 Bb5
Acadian driftwood
G5 C5
Gypsy tail wind
Bb5 F5 Bb5 G5
They call my home the land of snow
F5 Bb5 G5 C5
Canadian cold front movin' in
Bb5 F5
What a way to ride
Bb5 D5 G5 C5 F5
Oh, what a way to go
Then some returned to the motherland
The high command had them cast away
And some stayed on to finish what they started
They never parted
They're just built that way
We had kin livin' south of the border
They're a little older and they've been around
They wrote a letter life is a whole lot better
So pull up your stakes, children and come on down
Fifteen under zero when the day became a threat
My clothes were wet and I was drenched to the bone
Been out ice fishing, too much repetition
Make a man wanna leave the only home he's known
Sailing out of the gulf headin' for Saint Pierre
Nothin' to declare
All we had was gone
Broke down along the coast
But what hurt the most
When the people there said
"You better keep movin' on"
Everlasting summer filled with ill-content
This government had us walkin' in chains
This isn't my turf
This ain't my season
Can't think of one good reason to remain
I've worked in the sugar fields up from New Orleans
It was ever green up until the floods
You could call it an omen
Points ya where you're goin'
Set my compass north
I got winter in my blood
Acadian driftwood
Gypsy tail wind
They call my home the land of snow
Canadian cold front movin' in
What a way to ride
Ah, what a way to go
F5 C5 C5 Bb5 G5
Sais tu, A-ca-di-e j'ai le mal du pays
[You know, Acadia, I long for the country (I am homesick)]
F5 C5 C5 Bb5 G5
Ta neige, Acadie, fait des larmes au soleil
[Your snow, Acadia, makes tears in the sun (or for the sun)]
F5 C5 C5 Bb5 G5
J'arrive Acadie, teedle um , teedle um , teedle ooh
[I am arriving Acadia (or I am coming Acadia)]
(*): "The Plains of Abraham" refer to farm land owned by Abraham Martin just west of the
Citadel in Quebec City and the site of the battle between the French and the English.
is now a park (also overlooks the St.Lawrence) and is a wonderful place to visit if you
get the chance.
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Track 5. Ring Your Bell
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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F#5 F5 C5
Ring your bell
Eb5 D5 C5
Change your number
F#5 F5 C5
Run like hell
Eb5 D5 C5
You can't hide from thunder
Oh, no
F#5 F5 C5
Ring your bell
Eb5 D5 C5
Get in the wind
F#5 F5 C5 Ebo7 D5 C5
You and me gonna make some medicine
C5 F5 C5
Run that rebel across the tracks
C5 D5 C5
With the Mounties on his trail
Eb5 D5
He was taught:
C5 F5
Don't get caught at the mercy of the man
G5
Land in jail
C5 F5 C5
Meet me, madam , on the high road
C5 D5 C5
We gonna blow the man down
Eb5 D5 C5
I've been totin' a heavy load
F5
And I'm rarin' to clown
G5
Mess around
Ring your bell
Shake your tower
Pump your well
Turn on your power
I'm gonna ring your bell
Glide on in
You and me gonna make some medicine
Smoky bars and souped-up cars
Where we drowned all sorrow
Renegade woman
Love me like there's no tomorrow
Left to borrow
Bloodhounds comb the back streets
With the ramrod close behind
Asphalt justice you gonna find
My ass across
That border line
Ring your bell
Sound the chime
Open up your shell
Get on the line
Come on, ring your bell
Gimme some skin
You and me gonna make some medicine
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Track 6. It Makes No Difference
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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intro
/ / Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5
Bb5
Eb5 D5
It makes no diff'rence where I turn
G5 G5 C5
I can't get over you and the flame still burns
Eb5 D5
It makes no diff'rence, night or day
G5 G5 Eb5
F5
The shadow never seems to fade away
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the sun don't shine anymore
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5
Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the rains fall down on my door
Bb5
Now there's no love
F5
As true as the love
Eb5 C5
That dies untold
Bb5 G5 Eb5
F5
Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
But the clouds never hung so low before
Eb5 D5
It makes no diff'rence how far I go
G5 G5 C5
Like a scar the hurt will always show
Eb5 D5
It makes no diff'rence who I meet
G5 G5
They're just a face in the crowd
C5 F5
On a dead-end street
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5
Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the sun don't shine anymore
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the rains fall down on my door
Bb5
These old love letters
F5
Well, I just can't keep
Eb5
'Cause like the gambler says
C5
Read 'em and weep
Bb5 G5 Eb5
Bb5
Eb5 Bb5
And the dawn don't rescue me no more
F5 D5
Without your love I'm nothing at all
Eb5 C5 7
Like an empty hall it's a lonely fall
F5 D5
Since you've gone it's a losing battle
Eb5
Stampeding cattle
C5 F5
They rattle the walls
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the sun don't shine anymore
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5
Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
And the rains fall down on my door
Bb5
Well, I love you so much
F5
It's all I can do
Eb5 C5
Just to keep myself from telling you
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5
Bb5 Eb5 Bb5
That I never felt so alone before
Eb5 D5 G5 G5 C5
Eb5 D5 G5 G5
F5
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5
Bb5
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5
Bb5
Bb5 F5 Eb5 C5
Bb5 G5 Eb5 F5 Bb5
Eb5 Bb....
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Track 7. Jupiter Hollow
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
See Peter Viney's article on "Jupiter Hollow" for more about this song.
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G5
Jupiter Hollow
C5 G5
Northern Lights
C5 G5 G5
Cast a glow through the window late last night
G5 G5 C5 G5
I went to follow through the sycamore
C5 C5
When I found myself in a place
G5
I'd never been before
C5 G5
There was a unicorn and a dragon queen
D5 G5
Beneath the burgundy sky
C5 G5
I saw an old soldier singin' a love song
C5
He had the distance in his eye
G5
Livin' in another world
C5 C5 G5
Livin' in another time
C5 G5
Like a comet I was hurled
C5 C5 G5
Oh, livin' in another world
Jupiter Hollow
So far, so near
Like a time machine take you out to a different year
Phoebus Apollo played on his lyre
While we danced to the music of the sphere
And as the moon went down and the sun came up
With the mercury risin' too
'Twas then the prophet said the secret of the dead
I'll whisper it to you
Livin' in another world
Livin' in another time
Like a comet I was hurled
Oh, livin' in another world
Jupiter Hollow
In the midnight sun
Well, no man of dreams was ever more outdone
Where the swallows circle over head
And muses gather by the river of the tears we shed
Just like a pioneer in the new frontier
I don't know where to begin
Because nobody cares when a man goes mad
And tries to free the ghost within
Livin' in another world
Livin' in another time
Like a comet I was hurled
Oh, livin' in another world
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Track 8. Rags And Bones
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Northern Lights - Southern Cross
? 1975, 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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F#5
Catch a taxi to the fountainhead
C#5
Blinking neon penny arcade
A5
A young Caruso on the fire escape
B5 B5 D5 D5
Painted face ladies on parade
F#5
The newsboy on the corner
C#5
Singing out headlines
A5
And a fiddler selling pencils
B5 B5 D5
The sign reads: Help the blind
F#5 F#5 D5
Comin' up the lane callin'
B5 C#5 F#5
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
D5 C#5 A5 Ebm7-5
Ragman, your song of the street
D5 E5
Keeps haunting my memory
F#5 F#5 D5
Music in the air
B5 C#5 F#5
I hear it ev'rywhere
D5 C#5 A5 Ebm7-5
Rags, bones and old city songs
D5 E5 A5
Hear them , how they talk to me
Trolley car rings out the morning
Whistle blows at noon
A cat fight breaks open the night
While watch dogs bay at the moon
A preacher on an orange crate
With a Salvation Army Band
And clicking along the cobbled stones
That's the sound of the ice-cream man
Comin' up the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Hear them , how they talk to me
The organ grinder and his monkey
Still walkin' the same old beat
The shoe-shine boy slappin' leather
He puts the rhythm in your feet
Strollin' by the churchyard
List'nin' to the Sunday choir
With voices rising to the heavens
Like sirens screaming to a fire
Comin' up to the lane callin'
Workin' while the rain's fallin'
Ragman, your song of the street
Keeps haunting my memory
Music in the air
I hear it ev'rywhere
Rags, bones and old city songs
Play them one more time for me
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Track 9. * Twilight
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: The Best of The Band
? 1976 Medicine Hat Music
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F5 Bb5 F5
Over by the wildwood
D5
Hot summer night
G5
We lay in the tall grass
C5
til the mornin' light
If I had my way I'd never
get the urge to roam
A young man serves his country
and an old man guards the home
Never gave a second thought
Never crossed my mind
What's right and what's not
I'm not the judgin' kind
I could take the darkness oh
Storms in the skies
But we all got certain trials
burnin' up inside
Don't send me no distant salutations
or silly souvenirs from far away
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Twilight is the loneliest time a day
F5 Bb5 F5
Don't put me in a frame upon the mantel
F5 Bb5 C5 G5
'Fore memories turn dusty old and grey
C5 C5
Don't leave me alone in the twilight
Bb5 - C5 F5
Twilight is the loneliest time a day
Bb5 C5 G5 D5
Bb5 C5 G5 F5
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Track 10. * Christmas Must Be Tonight
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by J.R.Robertson. Album: Islands
? 1977 Medicine Hat Music
See Peter Viney's article for more about this song.
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G5 E5 G5 E5
G5 A5
Come down to the manger, see the little stranger
D5 D5 G5
Wrapped in swaddling clothes, the prince of peace
G5 A5
Wheels start turning, torches start burning
D5 G5
And the old wise men journey from the East
CHORUS:
E5 A5 D5 G5
How a little baby boy bring the people so much joy
A5 A5 C5 A5
C5
Son of a carpenter, Mary carried the light
A5 D5 G5
This must be Christmas, must be tonight
A shepherd on a hillside, while over my flock I bide
Oh a cold winter night a band of angels sing
In a dream I heard a voice saying "fear not, come rejoice
It's the end of the beginning, praise the new born king"
CHORUS
I saw it with my own eyes, written up in the skies
But why a simple herdsmen such as I
And then it came to pass, he was born at last
Right below the star that shines on high
CHORUS
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