if there was no woody there'd be no dylan 

Woody Sez

better days ________ www.coopradio.org

I Ain't Gonna Kill Nobody

I took a bath this morning in six war speeches, and a
sprinkle of peace. Looks like ever body is declaring war
against the forces of force. That's what you get for
building up a big war machine. It scares your neighbors
into jumping on you, and then of course they themselves
have to use force, so you are against their force, and
they're against yours. Look like the ring has been drawed
and the marbles are all in. The millionaires has throwed
their silk hats and our last set of drawers in the ring. The
fuse is lit and the cannon is set, and somebody is in for
a frailin. I would like to see every single soldier on every
single side, just take off your helmet, unbuckle your kit,
lay down your rifle, and set down at the side of some
shady lane, and say, nope, I aint a gonna kill nobody.
Plenty of rich folks wants to fight. Give them the guns.

Woody Guthrie

http://www.woodyguthrie.org/

This Land

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This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I've roamed and rambled, followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

The sun came shining as I was strolling
The wheatfields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting, a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

As I was walkin' I saw a sign there
And that sign said Private Property
But on the other side it didn't say nothin!
That side was made for you and me!

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

Woody Guthrie

http://www.aboutbaghdad.com

Rumi

better days ________ www.coopradio.org

What Was Told, That

What was said to the rose that made it open was said
to me here in my chest.

What was told the cypress that made it strong
and straight, what was

whispered the jasmine so it is what it is, whatever made
sugarcane sweet, whatever

was said to the inhabitants of the town of Chigil in
Turkestan that makes them

so handsome, whatever lets the pomegranate flower blush
like a human face, that is

being said to me now. I blush. Whatever put eloquence in
language, that's happening here.

The great warehouse doors open, I fill with gratitute,
chewing a piece of sugarcane,

in love with the one to whom every that belongs!

Rumi

from The Soul Of Rumi, translations by Coleman Barks

the road it always helps you to remember

The Road

better days ________ www.coopradio.org

The Road

He walked out one morning, held up a cardboard sign
Forty minutes later he crossed the borderline
Down the old coast highway, Moclips, Aberdeen
Picked up by a trucker said he's headed to Eugene
Tapedeck blarin' Stevie Ray, guitar to curl your toes
Coffee stop in Portland, city of the rose
A little after midnight he saw the Springfield sign
Whispered bless you, Susie, and headed down the line

The road, it always helps you to remember
Things you might wish you could forget
It's a day in May, you're thinking of September
What you've lost and what you ain't found yet

Eureka, California, a strange name for a town
He bought another book to read and didn't stick around
Caught a ride to San Francisco where he had a place to stay
A Kansas gal, old poet pal, with a guitar he could play
Go see the sights and City Lights, poetry and jazz
Sit and play down by the bay, look out on Alcatraz
Sing July, You're A Woman, sing Rose Of The San Joaquin
Sing Good morning, America...and how the hell you been?

The road, it always helps you to remember
Things you might wish you could forget
It's a day in May, you're thinking of September
What you've lost and what you ain't found yet

Two weeks later, Colorado, college town, Trinidad
Ruined shoes and a case of blues, the worst you ever had
For all their beauty those mountains only block the view
For all you know and all you've done, you don't know what to do
And if home was really somewhere, you'd like to go today
Unfold a map on a bluejean lap and start to chart the way
But it's in the arms of someone, that feelin' you can't find
You don't know if she's ahead or a thousand miles behind

The road, it always helps you to remember
Things you might wish you could forget
It's a day in May, you're thinking of September
What you've lost, and what you ain't found yet

DL

when all the love was there 

Lantern

better days ________ www.coopradio.org

John Cash's Lantern

When I saw him singing
I Walk The Line on stage
in that northern prairie town
I was just a boy and my eyes
in fascination were locked to that scar
imagining the fight he suffered it in
broken bottle cutting him before
he connected with roundhouse right
and the other man went down

Or maybe a woman cut him
after he'd let her down
and he had to carry that scar
everywhere he went
answering questions until
the questions bored him
and he made up a new answer
in every town he played

His voice had none of the
singsong lilt of the others
it was a lantern
too heavy to swing around
so he let its iron weight talk
made sure the little light
waving from the center
never went dark

Toward the end he sang
I Still Miss Someone
and my uncle, who took me
buckled when John sang
when all the love was there
and I realized there were
other kinds of scars
you can't see

In his later years
there was rust on that lantern
that brought a tenderness
we already knew by the songs
now present in the voice
it made you stand up and listen
tell friends about his return

When June left him
we knew the wick
of the lantern's flame
got snipped shorter still
for love keeps us living
and June's love
was a primal force
and without her eyes
his loneliness would harden

And did, and John died
and tonight is darker than before
iron lantern heavier still
rust flaking in the wind
as we raise it up
from where it fell

Tonight that lantern
is ours
to light and lift
however heavy
to protect its flame
from rain and wind
our one gift back
in the deepening night

DL

check out mary gauthier's mercy now video at her website below

Dozen CDs

better days ________ www.coopradio.org

A Better Days Dozen

Mercy Now : Mary Gauthier
http://www.marygauthier.com
Mowing The Machair : Fine Friday
http://www.finefriday.com
Why The Long Face : Suzzy & Maggie Roche
http://www.roches.com
Man For Galway : Sean Tyrrell
http://www.seantyrrell.com
Bittertown : Lori McKenna
http://www.lorimckenna.com
Woman King : Iron & Wine
http://www.ironandwine.com
Redbird : Redbird
http://www.younghunter.com/redbird.html
Seven Swans : Sufjan Stevens
http://www.soundsfamilyre.com
The Graceful Ghost : Grey De Lisle
http://www.greydelisle.com
Faultlines : Karine Polwart
http://www.karinepolwart.com
Ollabelle : Ollabelle
http://www.ollabelle.net
Beautiful Dreamer : Various Artists
http://www.americanrootspublishing.org