lyrics from a quarter ounce of prevention
natural way (cook)
righteous livin / a natural way
righteous livin a natural way
it'll pass, pass after all
warmakers rise & then they fall
we try not to fret the fates of nations
just keep on an irie vibration
hands & feet on the earth
it is the womb that gave you birth
don't let no one rob you of your birthright
nobody can lay claim to the sunlight
righteous livin / a natural way
righteous live in a natural way
are you waiting for someone else?
first off you gotta love yourself
it's a pathless land, no one can guide you
look at the divine likeness inside you
fix your mind & dig in
we'll never be right here again
we try not to fret the fates of nations
just keep on an irie vibration
righteous livin / a natural way
righteous livin a natural way
come out, come out, children of the most high
come out, come out, from under their roof
come out, come out, you were called by the almighty
come out, come out
you can't be workin for your enemies
come out, come out, you that feel it come out
they give you wants & work `em up into needs
come out, come out, you were called by the almighty
& you are bound for world-transforming things
come out, come out, you who feel it come out
trade your euro-dollars for a bag of seeds
come out, come out, sons & daughters of the most high
you who feel it come out
righteous livin / a natural way
righteous live in a natural way
go ahead babe (cook)
go ahead babe, any way you wanna do
go ahead, baby, & do what’s right for you
go ahead babe, & do whatever way you please
& I'll go ahead, baby, & do whatever way suits me
I think you're foxy, baby, told you so
why wouldn't I go ahead & let you know, baby?
I don't wanna own you babe, I'm not the owning kind
don't really need to call you mine
you just go ahead babe, I know you got a lot to do
do it confidently, baby, whatever comes to you
much love, babe, I've got so much love in my heart
wanna spill it out sweetly, gently baby, feels like a real good time to start
I think you're foxy, baby, told you so
why wouldn't I go ahead & let you know, baby?
I don't wanna own you, babe, I don't wanna be owned
but when you're tired of laying down alone
you just go ahead babe
lonely days (dakin)
oh no more lonely days
no no more lonely days
not since I met you
& I won't give my heart away
to just anyone who passes my way
unless it's you
oh no more lonely days
no no more lonely days
not since I met you
out on the road (cook)
when you're out on the road, good people you know
you know there ain't nothing that's certain
it's just a day-to-day flow, tryin to draw back the curtain
to the inner chambers of experience & the kernel of life
take up the path seriously as though you were taking a wife
so many situations'll pass, so much you don't understand
but if you can float atop it all you'll be the doo-dah man
cause when you're out on the road you got to have a code you can live by
the kind your elders grew by, like Crosby, Stills & Nash knew by
to do what you gotta do by, & make it through by, to get to something true by
yes & when we rollin up the herbs it's like a cure-all tonic
we spin the chronic chronicles of the conical chronic
throw out ideas too strange & too various to mention
we keep shooin the blues away with a quarter ounce of prevention
it's worth a pound of cure, they say, & they say so rightly
we life our spirits with a blunt smoke-filled rap session nightly
cause there ain't no help for a cowboy layin down some lonely nights out on the plains
can't have the cowgirls we're missin, we get by with some kissin
from our old sweet companion, mary jane...
I don't mind (dakin)
I don't mind if I have to wait all day
for my baby to come home
& I don't mind if she takes her precious time
to come knockin on my door
cause her sweet, sweet love, keeps me goin on
keeps me movin on down the road
& I've been down this goddamn road
with this god-forsaken load on my weary shoulders
I ain't goin back, I ain't turning round
cause her sweet love keeps me goin on
well I know that I haven't been perfect, babe
but then again, neither have you
& well you know that all that doesn't matter babe
it'll always come down to me & you
here she comes, here she comes now
here she comes to me, & her smile lights me up
like a summer's day
no I don't mind waitin for my long, tall lady
to come stridin through the door
cause she gives me a feeling like something I can't remember
like something I've never felt before
cause her sweet, sweet love, keeps me goin on
keeps me movin on down the road
& I've been down this goddamn road
with this god-forsaken load on my weary shoulders
I ain't goin back, I ain't turning round
cause her sweet love keeps me goin on
out there in the evening (cook)
out there in the evening
the sky looks so big it makes us all feel mighty small
your eyes can't hold it all
you just stare up there wondering
me & my cousin John
took his car up to the cliffs, & we turned off the lights
the moon was shining bright
the radio played Nat King Cole
out there in the evening
the peeping toads & crickets make a symphony
it gets inside of me
takes me someplace far away
what was it I was looking for? (cook)
maybe it was desperation; maybe we were just bored
we both came off so strong & free & self-assured
but all of your saying so couldn't make it true
now thought like a train goes on, tied to its track
I'm feelin blue & confused, I've got to think back
what was it I was looking for when I found you?
maybe we thought we needed somebody else
to make us a little surer than we were of ourselves
no accounting for some of the futile things that we do
now I gotta hold myself up, can't throw my pearls in front of swine
pick up the trail of something lost somewhere back along the line
what was it I was looking for when I found you?
the real revolution (cook)
bring up the real revolution
as you know it won't be on TV
this kind of thing you gotta stick around
& get to know people to see
it won't be won by rhetoric
it won't be won with guns
it won't be won standing on the backs of anyone
if it's the real revolution it won't make us all the same
if it's the one real revolution it won't need a name
but peacefulness & compassion
family feeling & compassion
tolerance & compassion
in a time of war & hate
you go on about us & them
you got em both inside
one that you hold up a banner for
one that you try to hide
if it's a real revolution
won't be led by a man of war
you will become the thing you fight against
if you only see what you fight for
beat the swords into plowshares
beat the swords into plowshares
beat your swords into plowshares
& dig in, & work
bring up the real revolution
in your heart & mind
keep the thought of it close to you
in desperate times
it won't be won by rhetoric
it won't be won with guns
it won't be won standing
on the backs of anyone
you know the old revolution
it's the one within
it's the one we been fighting since
the world begin
it won't be led by a guru
who lives his life like a god
it won't be led by a rockstar
it won't be led by the mob
if it's the real revolution
it won't make us all the same
if it's the one real revolution
it won't need a name
but peacefulness & compassion
family feeling & compassion
tolerance & compassion
in a time of cold hearts & landmines & bombs & hate
keep pushing (cook)
keep pushing forward
keep pushin keep pushin
keep pushing forward
keep pushing
we got a new chance in the year of the sheep
I'd like to speak to the occasion here & dig back deep
cause it keeps widening & opening as each year comes along
we're just babies but we're becoming strong
well, I remember the time I first stuck out my thumb
lookin for something different than the place I come from
believing that losing your life to save it was true
pack on my back & I just wanted to hear something new
nightfall coming, feeling edgy, & who pulled over
an older longhair & his dog in a beat-up landrover
Richard was his name, the dog Charles was a golden retriever pup
he told me stories & I smoked him up
we got to Gravelly Bay, but all the ferryin' was done
he had to make it to this party cause he was carryin' the treats for everyone
so he hired a boat that I couldn't afford
I found my way to the beach, looked up & thanked the Lord
cause when you're open you meet the people that you needed to meet
& when you're ready up come the challenges you need to defeat
of course I knew I would bend, because I knew I was green
I didn't think of the end, I was only nineteen
& this reminds me of a time when we were back down south
the fruit of life dropping off the brances into our mouths
we felt our roots in the ground with our feet in the sand
I heard the kids speaking Spanish & became a new man
had a potluck fiesta with the folks on the beach
no buscando paraiso cause it was all within reach
we saw the new year comin in, laid back transfixed & shuddered
at the slow-approaching morning & the widening colors
white gulls twisted & swooped along the waves as they curled
I dreamed of a brighter, kinder future for this weary old world
`til like thought from my head, the sun rose out of the sea
drew up my soul like a thread, & I was only twenty-three
& check it, since that time, ain't had no chance to slow down
keep movin back & forth from the country to the big town
cause things'll make you stick if you believe that they are fixed ...ain't that so?
things'll make you stick if you believe that they are fixed
I've got to keep it open, I'm only twenty-six
& check it, what you been hearin is the family sound system
here before monotony claims another victim
we come from different places but we all agree
the feeling they get's the same one that grips me
we keep diggin, & flowin, & coping for survival
all the while pushin up a homegrown groove revival
we thought there were things that make all this worth doing & we still think so
despite all the shit people goin through & the mad lengths people go
we might end up waiting for ages on end `til they finally bury all the bombs
meantime we keep hoping & praying for the day & keep singing songs
like say there ain't no top to this ladder we're climbing
but climb on, the view's better from further up
there ain't no top to this ladder we're climbin on
but climb on, the view's better from further up
you gotta stay young, even among the old
pour yourself in new molds, keep learning, learning
& yearning, strivin for simplicity
true roots righteous livin naturally
sheep-like people
you got to be your own shepherd
sheep-like people!
you got to be your own,
got to be your own be your own shepherd
you've got to be your own.
keep pushing forward
keep pushin keep pushin
keep pushing forward
keep pushing