FORT DEFIANCE LYRICS
Fort Defiance
(Huey/Schocket)
​The river’s flowing full of tears
And the moon is dripping blood
The horizon is on fire
I got washed out in the Flood
​
I’m going out for one last ride
Midnight’s breath against my skin
Past the hatchet houses of the soul
Through the palaces of sin
CHORUS
I’m going down to Fort Defiance
I’m gonna make a stand
I’m going down to Fort Defiance
Gonna prove just who I am
​
The banshees howl & the fates be damned
Gotta make it to the Promised Land
I’m going down to Fort Defiance...
Heart in hand
Born on the wrong side of the river
Hard by the railway tracks
Learned to dance in Sniper’s Alley
While I was falling through the cracks
​
I walked this hard road far too long
To end dying on my knees
I’m going out with both guns blazing
Not swinging in the breeze
CHORUS
Is the battle ever over?
When will this storm subside?
Since the day I was born
I’ve been fixin’ to die
CHORUS
​
They’re burning all the boats at dawn
Now there ain’t no turning back
The Auglaize has been set ablaze
As the gunfire starts to crack
​
I didn’t always love you the best
But I sure loved you the hardest
Come and say a prayer now
For a love dearly departed
​
I’m going down to Fort Defiance
Ghosts Of The Chelsea Hotel
(Huey/Hillis)
​
When it’s raining all day long
I feel less guilty when I drink
To pass the time or kill the pain
Or just to help me think
I write broken verse along
West Village cobblestones
But the words I scratch won’t bring you back
Or make me less alone
This quest for truth and clarity
Is making me unwell
Soon I’m back to where you left me
In the Chelsea Hotel x2
​
Well they’re raising jars in the lobby bar
To toast the Chelsea saints
And the spirits flow so freely
But no sign of you remains
And the ghosts that haunt these walls
Now dance among us in the night
As I embark to search the dark
For the reason you took flight
CHORUS
You never said goodbye, only
“This ain’t no way to live.
To care so much and yet pretend
You’ve got no fucks to give.”
​
And this quest for truth and clarity
Is making me unwell
That’s why I’m seeking answers
In the Chelsea Hotel x 2
Empty bottles don’t hold wisdom
Any more than unmade beds
As I stagger through the artwork
In the hallways of the dead
​
While the limousines wait in the street
The darkness closes in
Deathbed confessions don’t reach heaven
After a lifetime full of sin
Are you getting high with Nico,
Sid, or one of the Ramones?
Did either of the Dylans
Guide you through the great unknown?
​
Are you with Janis in the lift?
Or Leonard on the stairs?
But as I get close the only ghost
I find is in the mirror
CHORUS
The Hatfield Action
(Huey)
Juke joint jumpin’
On a summer night
Gonna keep on rockin’
Til we see dawn light
Preacher out back
Barkin’ at the moon
Slinging’ whiskey in the kitchen
Like a old saloon
​
Shake that thing
Like a sweepstakes winner
You keep on shakin’
Gonna earn your dinner
Goin’ all night long
Psychotic reaction
Everybody goin’ crazy
for The Hatfield Action
CHORUS
Hatfield Action
Switch to overload
Looking for somethin’
Gonna save my soul
Rotgut whiskey
Make me lose control
Gonna jump, gonna holler
Like you made parole
Miss Liza always said
‘you gotta scald the pot’
A backseat legend
in the parking lot
​
The kind of twist
Put your spine in traction
Even Tightass Trixie’s
Got the Hatfield Action
CHORUS
Shape I’m in
Better bring the paddles
Now you’re whipin’ that ass
Back in the saddle
​
Hit the backbeat hard
Shake it way down South
Gonna put a pretty song
In a sad girl’s mouth
​
Still goin’ strong
In the midnight hour
If we blow another fuse
We switch to candle power
​
Crank it on up
Gimme Satisfaction
Everybody in the place
Has got The Hatfield Action
All Out Of Angels
(Huey/Ambel)​
I’m all outta angels
And so far from home
I’m all outta angels Never
felt so all alone
I got no one to save me
From what I have become
I’m all out of angels…
But I’m dying for one
​
People always told me
That I’m lucky
Like there must be someone
Watching over me
​
But living hard and loving easy
On this Boulevard of Pain
Is the price you gotta pay
For being free
(Or so I’m told)
Now Country music
Crackles through the raindrops
Some new song about
The way things used to be
And I can’t drink away these memories
In this motel room tonight
Or find someone to blame
That isn’t me
​
CHORUS
​
​
​I used to dance
Along the Gates of Heaven
Now it’s been years since
I have heard the church bells ring
I was given gifts so sacred
And I threw them all away
Now there’s no bottle strong enough
To numb the sting
CHORUS
I met the devil
Late one night in Danville
For years I tried
To beat him at his game
But my luck finally ran out
And he left me there for dead
But all he left me
Was begging for some change
​
Now, in my day
I had some angels bless me
Lift me up and
Take me in their wings
But I was young and I was foolish
And they just flew away
Now I’d give anything
to hear their voices sing
(Once again)
​
CHORUS
​
Grievous Angels
(Huey)
​
Grievous angels out there on the road
Searching for that sacred chord
Locked and loaded, roaming town to town
A shot at glory every night along the tour
​
Twang and whiskey raging in your veins
Risk it all for rock-n-roll
Hit the stage with everything you got
Still believing that a song can save our souls
CHORUS
​
It’s still a teenage riot In your rock-n-roll dreams
Strumming hard on your guitars
Til all the young girls scream
Cuz if a song is worth playing
​
It's worth playing ’til you bleed
Leave it all out on the stage
And leave ’em singing in the streets
It ain't all glamor just chasing down your dreams
​
You’re hauling drums and guitar amps
A change of string with a ringing in your ears
And a club that cared less if you come back
CHORUS
This kind of life can turn your blues eyes red
And shave the years right off your life
Makes you wonder if it all can last
But all the doubts fade each time you step into the lights
CHORUS
Grievous angels on the road again
Still proving that your aim is true
All the gear is loaded in the van...
And it’s heading to a town near you
The Things You Left Behind
(Huey)
​Your only key to my front door
A bracelet in the kitchen drawer
An old love letter never sent
A Polaroid from way back when
​
The lipstick that you used to write
“Goodbye” on the mirror last night
That watch that never could tell time
These are some of the things you left behind
​
A biker jacket, a schoolgirl skirt
A cut off Waylon Jennings shirt
Prescriptions for some pills you took
A dog-eared Henry Miller book
​
Where you’d underlined the dirty parts
Sunglasses in the shape of hearts
A Del-Lords record that used to be mine
These are some of the things you left behind
CHORUS
Each item tells the same sad story
of what was, in its faded glory
What a heartbreaking inventory to see
​
You swore you weren’t the leaving kind
But of all the items that I find
The saddest thing you left behind Was me
A plastic bag of trucker speed
A business card you’d call for weed
A collar for your goddamn cat
Where you ever gonna find a home for that?
Your second favorite cowgirl boots
Some hair dye to conceal your roots
That lighter you could never find
These are some of the things you left behind
CHORUS
You once held these things in your hands
The same way that you held your man
To have and hold forever just
Was never meant to be
When you walked out you stole my dreams
And a future I’ll now never see
Now the saddest thing you left behind Was me
Yes the saddest thing you left behind Was me
40 Tons Of Speed
(Huey)
​
My Uncle Jack
Was a truck driving man
Never gave half a fuck
Or a good goddamn
​
About weight limits, speed limits,
Big city trends
At every truck stop he hit
He made a whole lotta friends
​
Carried ten grand a goods
In the back of his truck
But that was worth half the haul
That he carried up front
He’d say “the F.B.I.
And the I.C.C.
Know a lot of product’s moving
But they don’t know it’s me.”
CHORUS
Jack Green made a lotta stops
That weren’t on his route
They loved him out West
And supplied him down South
​
He put the “high” in “Ohio”
Helping those in need
He’s got the Jack hammer down
Rollin’ 40 tons of speed
Stood 5 foot 2
A buck 10 soaking wet
Big smile on his face
If you didn’t pose a threat
​
A switch blade in his boot
Not afraid to leave it in ya
Mighty Mouse on his rig
Beneath the driver side window.
CHORUS
​
He jack-knifed in Detroit
When his truck hit the skids
Aunt Rita in Defiance
With five hungry kids
The truck was totaled
But he walked away fine
Made off with his stash
Whistlin’ Red Sovine
​
Most drivers make a buck
When something falls off their truck
Uncle Jack made a fortune
Just By pressing his luck
He’d said the guys that get burnt
Don’t know when to say when
So he up and sold his truck
And got a job at GM
CHORUS
The King Of Tears
(Huey)
​
CHORUS
I rule these streets of heartache
I fly the flag of pain
Since you left me on that sunny day
My skies are filled with rain
I wear the crown of crying
Year after lonesome year
Now darlin’ you’re the Queen of Hearts
And I’m the King of Tears
​
On the day I bought a ring
We went out walking
That’s the day you said that
you could not go on
I could not believe the words
That I was hearing... from your lips
Any more than I believe
That you’re still gone
My friends said I should move on
And find another
Can’t even find the strength
To take your photos down
I’m stuck here on this empty throne
Lovesick and all alone
While you’re out there
Breaking every heart in town
CHORUS
I knew loving you would
Place my heart in danger
Don’t ever try to
Catch a falling knife
I learned the hard way that
Some scars will last forever... and a day
Now it seems like I’ve been
Weeping all my life
CHORUS
You were the pulse that beat my heart
Why did you tear our love apart?
When I recall, I’m like a waterfall
Each time the teardrops start
CHORUS
Jokerman
(Bob Dylan)
​Standing on the waters
Casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol
with the iron head are glowing
Distant ships sailing into the mist
You were born with
A snake in both of your fists
While a hurricane was blowing
Freedom
Just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off
What good will it do?
CHORUS
Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune
Bird fly high by the light of the moon
Oh oh Jokerman
So swiftly the sun
Sets in the sky
You rise up and
Say goodbye to no one
Fools rush in
Where angels fear to tread
Both of their futures
So full of dread
You don’t show one
​
Shedding off
One more layer of skin
Keeping one step ahead of
The persecutor within
CHORUS
You’re a man of the mountains
You can walk on the clouds
Manipulator of crowds
You’re a dream twister
going to Sodom and Gomorrah
But what do you care?
Ain’t nobody there
Would want to marry your sister
Friend to the martyr
A friend to the woman of shame
You look into the fiery furnace
See the rich man
without any name
CHORUS
The Gutter And The Stars
(Huey / Ambel)
I’m down in the subway
Jumping over turnstiles
Baby’s back on Main Street
She's finally outta exile
Going back out on the pavement
We’re starting to gain traction
Just saw Jesus in the alley
And I hear he's taking action
CHORUS
Gonna take you to the river
And wash away your pain
I’ll be giving you the night sweats
In the middle of the day
​
Don't show me all your medals baby
I wanna see your scars
I'll show you the gutter baby
If you'll show me the stars
​
Every scar has got a story
Every dark heart once was pure
There's more cash in treating sickness
Than there is finding cures
Like lighter fluid wine
from the corner discount store
Gonna turn you inside out
And leave you howlin’ out for more
​
CHORUS
