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    Scott Cook

    • shows
    • tunes
    • press
      • bio
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    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

    • stay kind •

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