Gold Guns & Silver

On Signs On The Highway, Waffle House, Walmart & How The World Works

Well its gold, guns and silver

Oh we all know what killed her

All down the highway, the signs are the same

Save up your tears, they’ll be wasted round here

Who do you call on

When the world is to blame

If you walk in that door

You’ll be back for more

That’s the way that they get ya

That’s how they get paid

 So keep us in stitches

And glued to our pictures

And looking for solace

In stories of shame

It’s the hoardin’ of treasure

It’s the shooting of pleasure

The hole in your foot

That gets in your way

It’s the pies and the peaches

The mud and the leeches

The look in their eyes

When they first get the game

Well there’s men that can’t stand straight

Girls that stay up too late

And nothing can help you

Or so you are told

It’s the rods in the fire

It’s the wanton Messiah

Everyone wants one and no-one’s to blame

Its a place by the roadside

That everyone drives by

That used to be the place, the place they all came

Hang onto your glories

Your self serving stories

And stop by for something

When nothing remains

Its favors and phantoms

And nights lit by lanterns

If we don’t say a word

Maybe it’ll all go away

Go sit in your churches

Cling on to your perches

And don’t let nobody see

You feel kinda strange

Yeah its gold, guns and silver

Oh we all know what killed her

All down the highway, the signs are the same

Save up your tears, they’ll be wasted round here

Who do you call on

When the world is to blame

So come guitar pickers, display your bumper stickers

Give your coat to the strippers

And let’s lead the way

Put it back in your pocket

Just pretend that you dropped it

Just keep on walkin’ in spite of the rain

A couple of photographs I took in Georgia 2014

So I wrote this song around ten years ago, when we were living in Georgia for a spell. It had many many alternate verses but I eventually whittled it down to this 5 minute version. It feels more relevant right now than it ever has, so I thought that I would share it here. Here’s a little spiel that appeared in Wide Open Country:

I guess this song is my best attempt at a protest song, of sorts. Music has always provided the perfect platform for sharing thoughts and views and perhaps changing or expanding hearts and minds via osmosis. It makes it possible to listen and absorb.

I was also inspired to dig deep into the history of how music has given comfort, encouraged resilience, defiance and endurance in times of war and suffering, soon after the Russia-Ukraine war first began.

Hope everyone is doing alright out there.

Play something loud and look out for each other x