• A Carolina Christmas Carol

  Not really a song with lyrics, but the short story Charlie wrote about Christmas in the South. You can listen to him read it here, but Real Audio is required.

• Boogie Woogie Fiddle County Blues
• The Devil Went Down to Georgia
• God Bless the Mother
• In America
  
• Jesus Died For You
• Jesus Is the Light of the World
• Long Haired Country Boy
• Simple Man
• South's Gonna Do It
• Still in Saigon
  
• Stroker's Theme
• This Ain't No Rag It's A Flag
• Trudy
• Uneasy Rider
• Uneasy Rider '88
• Wooley Swamp
  

Probably 80% of the people who have heard this song have no idea what the chorus is talking about. "Chicken in the breadpan? Granny does your dog bite? What the heck is that supposed to mean?" These are old bluegrass fiddle tunes that Charlie incorporated into this song. I know of at least two spinoffs to this song that went somewhere: Mark O'Connor's The Devil Came Back to Georgia," and a version by a rap group named KMC Kru called "The Devil Came Up to Michigan." The Devil was scratching records in that version.

The boy said, "My names Johnny, and it might be a sin,
"But I'll take your bet - your gonna regret
'cause i'm the best that's ever been!"

Johnny rosin up your bow an' play your fiddle hard
'Cause hell's broke loose in Georgia an' the devil deals the cards.
And if you win you'll get this shiney fiddle made of gold,
but if you lose the devil gets your soul!

The devil opened up his case, and he said "I'll start this show,"
And fire flew from his finger tips as he rosined up his bow.
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss,
Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded somthing like this:

[music]

When the devil finished Johnny said,
"Well, you're pretty good ol' son,
"But set right in that chair right there
and let me show you how it's done!"

(chorus)

Fire On The Mountain,
Run Boys Run!
Devil's in the House of the Rising Sun,
The Chicken in the Bread Pan Peckin' Out Dough,
Granny Does Your Dog Bite, No Child, No!

The devil bowed his head, 'cause he knew that he'd been beat,
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny's feet
Johnny said, "Devil just come on back if you ever want to try again,
"I done told you once you son of a gun
I'm the best there's ever been!

And he played

Fire On The Mountain, Run Boys Run!
Devil's in the House of the Rising Sun, The
Chicken in the Bread Pan Picken Out Dough,
Granny Will Your Dog Bite, No Child, No!

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This is a tune that Charlie's cleaned up when he plays it in concert these days because of personal convictions. You ask me, it doesn't take anything from the song either. Instead of "I get stoned in the morning, I get drunk in the afternoon." He says "I get up in the morning, I get down in the afternoon." And instead of taking another toke, he tells another joke. I'm glad he cleaned it up.

riff

e---------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------- G---3---3-----5-------------------------------------- D---------5-7---7-5-3-0-7-5-3-0----3-5-3-------3---3- A-5---5------------------------3-5-------3-5-5---5--- E----------------------------------------------------

verse 1

D

People say I'm no good and crazy as a loon
Cause I get stoned in the mornin, get drunk in the afternoon
Kinda like my ole blue tick hound
I like to lay around in the shade

D7

I ain't got no money but I've dang sure got it made
Chorus G

And I ain't askin' nobody for nothing
D

If I can't get it on my own

A7

If you don't like the way I'm livin'

G

D

You just leave this long haired country boy alone

verse 2 D

Poor girl wants to marry and the rich girl wants to flirt
R ich man goes to college and the poor man goes to work
Drunkard wants another drink of wine and the politician wants a vote

D7

I don't want much of nothing at all but I will take another toke

Chorus

verse 3

Preacher man talkin' on the TV,
Puttin' down the rock and roll
Wants me to give a donation cause he's worried about my soul
He said Jesus walked on the water and I know that it's true
But sometimes I think that old preacher man'd like to do a little walkin' too

Chorus

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This is from the Door. It's a powerful song, and one of my favorites. Charlie doesn't pull any punches in any of the songs he sings! The chords are here, too, but probably illegible. A nice doctor from Texas named Doogie took some time figuring it out, so I just stuck 'em here, and tried to keep them out of the way of the words.

A E You may be down, you may be out Fm E D
With nothing to be glad about A E
But you can stand right up and shout D E
'Cause Jesus died for you

A E

You may think that you can't cope

Fm E D

You may be drunk or hooked on dope

A E

Believe me brother, you've still got hope

D A

'Cause Jesus died for you
Maybe you ain't got a dime
You're standing in the welfare line
Or maybe you're in prison doin your time
But Jesus died for you
Satan may have you in retreat
But you won't go down in defeat
'Cause you can sittin in the mercy seat
'Cause Jesus died for you

FIRST CHORUS

E D A

He died for you - to complete salvation's plan

E D A

He died for you - He's got nail scars in His hands E A C#m
He bore the cross - to sanctify the lost B
All you've got to do is believe it, E
Get down on your knees and receive it!

You may think you're too far gone
You've sinned so bad you can't atone
But bow your head and come on home
'Cause Jesus died for you

SHORT SOLO

This ol' world keeps falling apart
But you don't have to let it break your heart
You can make a brand new start
'Cause Jesus died for you
Now Satan is a mighty foe
But just stand firm because you know
You've got a better place to go
'Cause Jesus died for you
When there's trouble in the wind
Or when you face the bitter end
You can start all over again
'Cause Jesus died for you

You can face death with a smile
Laugh at all your troubles and trials
Never have to walk another lonely mile
Jesus died for you!

SECOND CHORUS

He died for you - to break the devil's hold
He died for you - to redeem your mortal soul
Don't be afraid - 'Cause you debt has done been paid
You just come and do your best -- The Holy Spirit's gonna do the rest!

SOLO

REPEAT FIRST CHORUS

Makes no difference how wrong you've been
How heavy is your load of sin
The door's still open come on in
'Cause Jesus died for you
Now you may think you're too far gone
You've sinned so bad you can't atone
But bow your head and come on home
'Cause Jesus died for you D

A Jesus died for you D
A Jesus died for you

END SOLO

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This is the first version of this song that came out in 1973. It's a little different Charlie than on his recent albums. This is the original story of a kid from Bluefield, West Virgina, who's headed out to Los Angeles and mixes it up with some folks in Mississippi. The first time I saw Charlie was in 1989, and he played Uneasy Rider '88, the sequel to this song. He said that the reason he wrote UR '88 was because people thought this song was glorifying drug use, so he made up for it. I have to admit, I just found these on the net and cut and pasted them here. It's less work. I tried to get the lyrics pretty accurate, but I think someone who learned English as a second language must have tried to translate Uneasy Rider here and it was funny enough that I left it the way I found it. They tried to write down what they heard instead of the words, so jes' reed hit an' tryn figger hout them wirds. Gluck.

I was takin' a trip out to LA
toolin' along in my Chevrolet
tokin' on a number and diggin' on the radio
Just as I crossed that Mississippi line I heard that highway startin' to whine
and I knew that left rear tire was about to go
well the spare was flat and I got uptight 'cause there wasn't a fillin' station in sight
so I jes' limped down the shoulder on the rim
I went as far as I could and when I stopped the car
it was right in front of this little bar
a kind of a redneck lookin' joint called the Dew Drop Inn

well I stuffed my hair up under my hat
and told the bartender that I had a flat
and would he be kind enough to give me change for a one
there was one thing I was sure proud to see
there wasn't a soul in the place 'cept for him an' me
and he jest looked disgusted an' pointed toward the telephone

I called up the station down the road a ways
and he said he wasn't very busy t'day
and he could have somebody there in jest 'bout ten minutes or so
he said now you jes' stay right where yer at
and I didn't bother tellin' the durn fool I sure as he!! didn't have anyplace else to go

I jes ordered up a beer and sat down at the bar
when some guy walked in an' said who owns this car
with the peace sign the mag wheels and four on the floor
well he looked at me and I &*% near died
and I decided that I'd jus wait outside
so I layed a dollar on the bar and headed for the door

jes' when I thought I'd get outta there with my skin
these five big dude come strollin' in
with this one old drunk chick
and some fella with green teeth

an' I was almost to the door when the biggest one
said you tip your hat to this lady son
an' when I did all that hair fell out from underneath

now the last thing I wanted was to get into a fight
in Jackson Mississippi on a Saturday night
'specially when there was three of them and only one of me
well they all started laughin' and I felt kinda sick
and I knew I'd better think of somethin' pretty quick
so I jes' reached out an' kicked ol' green-teeth right in the knee

he let out a yell that'd curl your hair
but before he could move I grabbed me a chair
and said watch him folks 'cause he's a thouroughly dangerous man
well you may not know it but this man's a spy
he's an undercover agent for the FBI
and he's been sent down here to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan

he was still bent over holdin' on to his knee
but everyone else was lookin' and listenin' to me
and I layed it on thicker and heavier as I went
I said would you beleive this man has gone as far
as tearin' Wallace stickers off the bumpers of cars
and he voted for George McGoveren for president

well he's a friend of them long-haired hippie type pinko f@&$
I betcha he's even got a Commie flag
Tacked up on the wall inside of his garage

he's a snake in the grass I tell ya guys
he may look dumb but that's jus a disguise
he's a mastermind in the ways of espionage

they all started lookin' real suspicious at him
and he jumped up an' said jes' wait a minute jim
you know he's lyin' I've been livin' here all of my life
I'm a faithfull follower of Brother John Burch
and I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church
and I ain't even got a garage -- you can call home and ask my wife

then he started sayin' somethin' 'bout the way I was dressed
but I didn't wait around to hear the rest
I was too busy movin' and hopin' I didn't run outta luck

and when I hit the ground I was makin' tracks
and they were jes' takin' my car down off the jacks
so I threw the man a twenty an' jumped in an' fired that mother up
Mario Andretti woulda sure been proud
of the way I was movin' when I passed that crowd
comin' out the door and headin' toward me in a trot

an' I guess I shoulda gone ahead an' run
but somehow I couldn't resist the fun
of chasin' them jes' once around the parkin' lot

well they're headin' for their car but I hit the gas
and spun around and headed them off at the pass
well I was slingin' gravel and puttin' a ton of dust in the air

well I had them all out there steppin' an' a fetchin'
like their heads were on fire and their a$$3$ was catchin'
but I figured I oughta go ahead an split before the cops got there
when I hit the road I was really wheelin'
had gravel flyin' and rubber squeelin'
an' I didn't slow down 'til I was almost to Arkansas

I think I'm gonna re-route my trip
I wonder if anybody'd think I'd flipped
if I went to LA
via Omaha

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