rcj@burl.UUCP (R. Curtis Jackson) (10/19/83)
Mike Cross is a North Carolina native (as is James Taylor) who does country (not the whining "my dog ran off with the mailman's wife" garbage), bluegrass, and Irish music. There are many Irish people in the mountains of North Carolina; Irish fiddle, ballads, and drinking songs are VERY popular there. These are the lyricks (from memory, should be accurate within a couple of words) to a song off his new album, "Carolina Sky". It is called "The Drunkard's Song". It is a fast-paced banjo song that is sung in a fast, lilting, Irish-type voice. The lyricks are reproduced without permission -- I don't think that Mike will mind since maybe it will sell a few albums for him. I would love to see him get more national recognition. I have NO ties to Mike Cross except adulation -- this is NOT an advertisement: The Drunkard's Song from Mike Cross' album "Carolina Sky" One night some friends and I went out to have us a couple of rounds, When who should appear there in the bar but the drunkard of the town. He came through the door with a rush and a roar Drinking more than the bar could bring. Then he ordered up another and another and another and he began to sing: [CHORUS] "Why do I drink, oh, why do I drink; you ask me once again. Well, if I didn't drink then how could I stand the drunkard that I am?" "The Lord takes care of fools and drunks," he said with a smiling face. "And I might not be a fool, you see, so I'm trying to play it safe. You ask me why I don't get sober -- well, I've tried that before. Once I got sober and the old hangover made me drink that much more!" [REPEAT CHORUS] With that he got up and left the bar with many a crash and crack. He stumbled head-over-heels and landed smack In the middle of the railroad track. Then flat on his belly he began to crawl along the old cross-ties, And as he crawled along the tracks, we could hear him cry: [REPEAT CHORUS] We watched him crawl along the tracks for a hundred yards or so, When all of a sudden he stopped and we could hear him start to moan: "Could someone help me down!", he cried, "I'm drunk out of my mind. And this is the tallest ladder that I've ever tried to climb!" [REPEAT CHORUS twice] :-) -- The MAD Programmer -- 919-228-3814 (Cornet 291) alias: Curtis Jackson ...![ floyd clyde ihnp4 mhuxv ]!burl!rcj