WISCONSIN SET LIST/LYRICS
from the Barrymore Theater Show for Forward Wisconsin
Wisconsin Set Lyrics
All songs Mike Felten - BMI
HAMMERS IN THE DARK
In a storage locker behind a padlocked door
There’s four generations of a hardware store
In cardboard boxes covered in tape
Every one of them says “made in the USA”
And on Thursday nights the old guys come around
They drink too much and they talk too loud
They take no guff but they got your back
They can look you in the eye without a background check
(cho)They’re selling hammers in the dark
Trying to keep alive the spark
Of who we were way back when
We’re selling hammers in the dark
Selling hammers in the dark
Selling hammers, selling hammers in the dark
Just outside of town Satan opened up a store
Everything there was cheaper than you could buy it for
Shiny and new, anything that you could want
And lots and lots and lots of room to park
But everything there was made by some third world slave
Pretty soon all of our jobs all went away
We get up in the morning at night we get our rest
Everything else is sold on the internet
(chorus)
In a storage locker behind a padlocked door
There’s four generations of a hardware store.
IN THE HOUSE (from the album Tossin' It Away)
In a James Dean jacket with a cigarette
Leaning up against youth and ignorance
She gave him her hand, he was too cool to take it
She gave him her heart and he had to break it
(cho)And there’s a ghost in the house
And he’s running away
There’s a ghost in the house
And he’s leaving today
There’s a ghost in the house
And he’s running away
He’s had enough of these lies
It’s Sunday morning driving her to church
She’s got bourbon on her breath and her panties in her purse
She got a kid in the army and another in school
She’s two months late wondering what she’s going to do (cho)
I pray dear Lord for Jesus sake
Give us this day a t-bone steak
With sliced tomatoes on the side
I pray dear Lord for the largest size (cho)
Mom and Dad knew just what to do
Shut up, work hard forget World War II
But lies became mantra chanted religiously
And truth because contemptuous liability (cho)
We were the people that put the man on the moon
Now our kids got guns in your living room
Pick a fight, start a war, twenty ways to explain
Why wrong’s not wrong just a shade of gray (cho)
In a James Dean jacket with a cigarette
SAVE HER OLD MAN (from the album Landfill)
(Cho)She sits in the kitchen just wringing her hands
Praying, dear Lord, to save her old man
Because he came home from work about two weeks ago
And tossed his lunch bucket way out in the snow
He worked twenty years down at the big mill
When they shut the door they said “thank you, Bill.
But we got to follow the trends of the industry
And go where the workers work almost for free.”(cho)
They rolled back their wages they crawled on their knees
They sold those Toyotas and Sony TV’s
The union rep said the boss sure had it tough
But the company said it wasn’t enough (cho)
Now she’s selling Avon and he’s drinking in bars
Their boats on the rocks and they don’t have an oar
And the kids are in school learning democracy
And how it’s the savior for you and me (cho)
WE AIN'T GOING AWAY (from the album Tossin' It Away)
(cho)We ain’t going away
We ain’t going away
No matter what you do
No matter what you say
We’re going to be right here
We ain’t going away
You can foreclose on my mortgage
Take away my plough
Bulldoze all I own
Make me live in town, but (cho)
You can hang us from your tree limb
Kill our kids in wars
Hold our dreams up
Laugh when we fall, but (cho)
When the good Lord beckons
You know I’ll heed the call
Because he was there with me
With my back against the wall, but (cho)
Although it won’t be me
Standing in this place
There will be another just like me
With a different face, but (cho)
Because we’re the people
We’re the people
We just keep coming
Because we’re the people (cho)
FLATLAND DIRT
(cho)I was born here in this flatland dirt
Blowing in from six corners for all that it’s worth
With a paperback novel stuck deep in my pocket
Writing all of these stories in this flatland dirt
She was a little red haired girl
That lived by the bakery
She smelled like apple turnovers
On Saturday night
She didn’t think much
Of me as a boyfriend
Looking back now
I guess she was right (cho)
She was a divorcee
I guess she was lonely
She tried to keep all her dreams
Before they ran away
She watched black and white movies
With old Gary Cooper
As happy as Lou Gehrig
Before he got his bad break (cho)
WORKINGMAN'S PARADISE
Blunders and Tuck and all the boys
Would like to thank the missus
For keeping us afloat so long
After the old man’s passing.
We know it was a struggle
But we gave the best we got
We chipped in and bought this watch
It ain’t much, it’s just the thought
The old lady took the watch
And the nameplate from the door
She said, “you know, we never had a chance
When the big boys want you gone.
Although they got the best of us
We leave here heads held high”
And they walked through that iron gate
She tossed a match behind
(cho) And when we get to heaven
We’ll just bide our time
And listen to the rich folks laugh
And carry on inside
We’ll gather up our souls and go
To where poor folks reside
And Jesus Christ will be buying rounds
At the workingman’s paradise
Look at that young punk in the corner
He used to be you and me
Thinking he has all the answers
Well, we’ll just wait and see
He going to kiss fresh lips and take it
Like a wide eyed innocent
Who just blew in from Palookaville
Thinking this is it
But one day he’ll look at the lunchbox
That used to hold the dreams
And find it scarred and battered
And the thermos bottle leaks
He’s going to want to know the answers
To where all the promises were spent
And he’ll wake up in nowhere
Knowing he never left (cho)
We live down in those houses
That don’t have yards in front
Down by the empty factories
With their backyards full of junk
We got a giant Santa Claus
Crucified right on the roof
And plastic on the windows
To keep the world from blowing through
And we can’t see over those train tracks
But we know what’s on the other side
All the wonders of the world
That they’d cut our throats to buy
And we know they’re coming for us
Like the armies of the night
But this time….
This time…
This time Indiana
This time Ohio
This time Florida
This time Minnesota
This time Michigan
This time Wisconsin
We’re going to stand and fight
And when we get to heaven
We’ll just walk on buy
And leave it to the rich folks
To carry on inside
We’ll gather up our souls and go
To where poor folks reside
And we’ll find true salvation there
At the workingman’s paradise
All songs Mike Felten - BMI
HAMMERS IN THE DARK
In a storage locker behind a padlocked door
There’s four generations of a hardware store
In cardboard boxes covered in tape
Every one of them says “made in the USA”
And on Thursday nights the old guys come around
They drink too much and they talk too loud
They take no guff but they got your back
They can look you in the eye without a background check
(cho)They’re selling hammers in the dark
Trying to keep alive the spark
Of who we were way back when
We’re selling hammers in the dark
Selling hammers in the dark
Selling hammers, selling hammers in the dark
Just outside of town Satan opened up a store
Everything there was cheaper than you could buy it for
Shiny and new, anything that you could want
And lots and lots and lots of room to park
But everything there was made by some third world slave
Pretty soon all of our jobs all went away
We get up in the morning at night we get our rest
Everything else is sold on the internet
(chorus)
In a storage locker behind a padlocked door
There’s four generations of a hardware store.
IN THE HOUSE (from the album Tossin' It Away)
In a James Dean jacket with a cigarette
Leaning up against youth and ignorance
She gave him her hand, he was too cool to take it
She gave him her heart and he had to break it
(cho)And there’s a ghost in the house
And he’s running away
There’s a ghost in the house
And he’s leaving today
There’s a ghost in the house
And he’s running away
He’s had enough of these lies
It’s Sunday morning driving her to church
She’s got bourbon on her breath and her panties in her purse
She got a kid in the army and another in school
She’s two months late wondering what she’s going to do (cho)
I pray dear Lord for Jesus sake
Give us this day a t-bone steak
With sliced tomatoes on the side
I pray dear Lord for the largest size (cho)
Mom and Dad knew just what to do
Shut up, work hard forget World War II
But lies became mantra chanted religiously
And truth because contemptuous liability (cho)
We were the people that put the man on the moon
Now our kids got guns in your living room
Pick a fight, start a war, twenty ways to explain
Why wrong’s not wrong just a shade of gray (cho)
In a James Dean jacket with a cigarette
SAVE HER OLD MAN (from the album Landfill)
(Cho)She sits in the kitchen just wringing her hands
Praying, dear Lord, to save her old man
Because he came home from work about two weeks ago
And tossed his lunch bucket way out in the snow
He worked twenty years down at the big mill
When they shut the door they said “thank you, Bill.
But we got to follow the trends of the industry
And go where the workers work almost for free.”(cho)
They rolled back their wages they crawled on their knees
They sold those Toyotas and Sony TV’s
The union rep said the boss sure had it tough
But the company said it wasn’t enough (cho)
Now she’s selling Avon and he’s drinking in bars
Their boats on the rocks and they don’t have an oar
And the kids are in school learning democracy
And how it’s the savior for you and me (cho)
WE AIN'T GOING AWAY (from the album Tossin' It Away)
(cho)We ain’t going away
We ain’t going away
No matter what you do
No matter what you say
We’re going to be right here
We ain’t going away
You can foreclose on my mortgage
Take away my plough
Bulldoze all I own
Make me live in town, but (cho)
You can hang us from your tree limb
Kill our kids in wars
Hold our dreams up
Laugh when we fall, but (cho)
When the good Lord beckons
You know I’ll heed the call
Because he was there with me
With my back against the wall, but (cho)
Although it won’t be me
Standing in this place
There will be another just like me
With a different face, but (cho)
Because we’re the people
We’re the people
We just keep coming
Because we’re the people (cho)
FLATLAND DIRT
(cho)I was born here in this flatland dirt
Blowing in from six corners for all that it’s worth
With a paperback novel stuck deep in my pocket
Writing all of these stories in this flatland dirt
She was a little red haired girl
That lived by the bakery
She smelled like apple turnovers
On Saturday night
She didn’t think much
Of me as a boyfriend
Looking back now
I guess she was right (cho)
She was a divorcee
I guess she was lonely
She tried to keep all her dreams
Before they ran away
She watched black and white movies
With old Gary Cooper
As happy as Lou Gehrig
Before he got his bad break (cho)
WORKINGMAN'S PARADISE
Blunders and Tuck and all the boys
Would like to thank the missus
For keeping us afloat so long
After the old man’s passing.
We know it was a struggle
But we gave the best we got
We chipped in and bought this watch
It ain’t much, it’s just the thought
The old lady took the watch
And the nameplate from the door
She said, “you know, we never had a chance
When the big boys want you gone.
Although they got the best of us
We leave here heads held high”
And they walked through that iron gate
She tossed a match behind
(cho) And when we get to heaven
We’ll just bide our time
And listen to the rich folks laugh
And carry on inside
We’ll gather up our souls and go
To where poor folks reside
And Jesus Christ will be buying rounds
At the workingman’s paradise
Look at that young punk in the corner
He used to be you and me
Thinking he has all the answers
Well, we’ll just wait and see
He going to kiss fresh lips and take it
Like a wide eyed innocent
Who just blew in from Palookaville
Thinking this is it
But one day he’ll look at the lunchbox
That used to hold the dreams
And find it scarred and battered
And the thermos bottle leaks
He’s going to want to know the answers
To where all the promises were spent
And he’ll wake up in nowhere
Knowing he never left (cho)
We live down in those houses
That don’t have yards in front
Down by the empty factories
With their backyards full of junk
We got a giant Santa Claus
Crucified right on the roof
And plastic on the windows
To keep the world from blowing through
And we can’t see over those train tracks
But we know what’s on the other side
All the wonders of the world
That they’d cut our throats to buy
And we know they’re coming for us
Like the armies of the night
But this time….
This time…
This time Indiana
This time Ohio
This time Florida
This time Minnesota
This time Michigan
This time Wisconsin
We’re going to stand and fight
And when we get to heaven
We’ll just walk on buy
And leave it to the rich folks
To carry on inside
We’ll gather up our souls and go
To where poor folks reside
And we’ll find true salvation there
At the workingman’s paradise