Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros — Long Shadow
Album: StreetcoreAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 160
Length: 3:31
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Well I'll tell you one thing that I know
You don't face your demons down
You gotta grapple 'em, Jack
And pin 'em to the ground
The devil may care
Maybe God he won't
Ya better you make sure
You check on the do's and the don'ts
Crawl up the mountain
To reach where the eagles fly
Sure you can glimpse from the mountain top
Where the soul of the muse might rise
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast
A long shadow on the ground
Then one day I could tell my tracks
By the holes in the soles of my shoes
And that's the day I said
I'm gonna make the news
And falling back in the garden
Of days so long ago
Somewhere in the memory
The sun shines on you, boy
Playing in the Arroyos
Where the American rivers flow
From the Appalachians
Down to the Delta roads
A man can think so long
His brain could well explode
There's trains runnin' through the junctions
And King Cotton's down the road
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast
A long shadow on the ground
Listen to the country
The night jar and the bell
Listen to the the night stream-liner
Sounding like the wolves of hell
Head for the water
The waters of the cleansing spell
It was always our destination
On the express of the ne'er-do-wells
And we rock through Madison City
Man, we didn't even know she was there
And when we hit the baffles in Memphis
Beale Street didn't have no prayer
And I hear punks talk of anarchy
I hear hobos on the railroads
I hear mutterings on the chain gangs
It's those men who build the roads
And if you put it all together
You didn't even once relent
You cast a long shadow
And that is your testament
Somewhere in my soul
There's always rock an' roll
Yeah
You don't face your demons down
You gotta grapple 'em, Jack
And pin 'em to the ground
The devil may care
Maybe God he won't
Ya better you make sure
You check on the do's and the don'ts
Crawl up the mountain
To reach where the eagles fly
Sure you can glimpse from the mountain top
Where the soul of the muse might rise
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast
A long shadow on the ground
Then one day I could tell my tracks
By the holes in the soles of my shoes
And that's the day I said
I'm gonna make the news
And falling back in the garden
Of days so long ago
Somewhere in the memory
The sun shines on you, boy
Playing in the Arroyos
Where the American rivers flow
From the Appalachians
Down to the Delta roads
A man can think so long
His brain could well explode
There's trains runnin' through the junctions
And King Cotton's down the road
And if you put it all together
You won't have to look around
You know you cast
A long shadow on the ground
Listen to the country
The night jar and the bell
Listen to the the night stream-liner
Sounding like the wolves of hell
Head for the water
The waters of the cleansing spell
It was always our destination
On the express of the ne'er-do-wells
And we rock through Madison City
Man, we didn't even know she was there
And when we hit the baffles in Memphis
Beale Street didn't have no prayer
And I hear punks talk of anarchy
I hear hobos on the railroads
I hear mutterings on the chain gangs
It's those men who build the roads
And if you put it all together
You didn't even once relent
You cast a long shadow
And that is your testament
Somewhere in my soul
There's always rock an' roll
Yeah
Comments (29)add comment
Some folks' off the mark is others spot on the money. I think most the comments on this song are spot on the money. It's awful. The Johnny Cash followup only makes that clearer.
But that's me.
And I agree with a previous poster: This would be quite at home in A Mighty Wind.
MT
pseudafred wrote:
Three of my rating points are out of respect to Johnny Cash.
Total pnts. = 3
obviously not talking about the same johnny cash here, i believe that he warrants a federal minimum of 6 points. you must mean peanuts.
Def.- Total peanuts or pnts. (Pt): total number of peanuts in one dehiscent shell. usually two peanuts per shell, but in some instances there may be three, as in this case.
Painful to listen to. Repetitiousstrum strum strum strum strurm country music with lyrics that do nothing for me at all.
MikeWC wrote:
Wow. I've never seen so many comments so totally off the mark in one place before.
This song is one of my favourites.
Makes you wonder what people hear, doesn't it?
I hear a Coen brothers movie.....a western.
Wow. I've never seen so many comments so totally off the mark in one place before.
This song is one of my favourites.
tuneless; embarassing; causes me to push pause on Winamp.
Rockabobbie wrote:
Joe wrote this for Johnny Cash to do on one of the American recordings. Hauntingly perfect for Cash's gravelly and grave baritone. I'm glad that Joe cut it and released it--I don't believe that if Johnny did ever record it that it is available on anything yet.
I saw Henry Rollins during one of his spoken word tours last year. He talked about being at a party with Joe Strummer and Johnny Cash.
Apparently that was right around the time Johnny was selecting the songs for his Unchanined album.
Joe came up to Johnny introduced himself and asked if he remembered this tune that was unfortunatley not selected for that album. Johnny asked him to sing part of it when Joe did Johnny remembered it and they finished the song together.
Rollins went on about how much this stunned him seeing two of his heros sing this song together.
Herny was right when he lamented about there not being a mic in the room at the time.
Sounds like something from the soundtrack for "A Mighty Wind".
Hmmm... At first, I thought it was one of those joke songs, y'know?
Subsequent hearings don't remove it from that category. 
Uh-oh... I hear Cash approaching. Time for the LRC...
Uh-oh... I hear Cash approaching. Time for the LRC...
hcaudill wrote:
I've had the opposite experience. I liked this OK at first, but after hearing it twice a day for the last couple of months I'm starting to lose my taste for it.
You know what I've lost my taste for? The spicy chicken sandwich at Burger King. I used to love it, but now, ehhhhh
red5_bc wrote:
One of those songs that you don't really like at first but it slowly grows on you. I really like it now.
I've had the opposite experience. I liked this OK at first, but after hearing it twice a day for the last couple of months I'm starting to lose my taste for it.
ediTed wrote:
Heard it about a dozen times now. If we heard this guy in a club we'd walk out for a smoke...and we don't smoke.
Never too late to start. Don't get your hand stamped on the way out.
Heard it about a dozen times now. If we heard this guy in a club we'd walk out for a smoke...and we don't smoke.
This whole CD is stunning. You can grow older but still rock and roll very well.
RIP, Joe.
Somewhere in my soul, there's always rock 'n' roll! God bless, Joe.
pseudafred wrote:
Three of my rating points are out of respect to Johnny Cash.
Total pnts. = 3
That's not much respect for JC there. How about an 8?
Three of my rating points are out of respect to Johnny Cash.
Total pnts. = 3
Joe Strummer wrote:
I'll tell you one thing that I know
you don't face your demons down, you got to grab them jack
and pin them to the ground
So true. Words to live by.
Dammit Joe, I miss you.
One of those songs that you don't really like at first but it slowly grows on you. I really like it now.
Oakjefferson wrote:
the singer sounds like the bastard child of Cash and the lead from Pogues
Thats what 20 years will do to you
God bless you, Joe. 
Oakjefferson wrote:
the singer sounds like the bastard child of Cash and the lead from Pogues
Well, Strummer did sing for the Pogues for a bit . . .
Love the Clash. Would like to hear RP play more Clash -- "the only band that matters"
the singer sounds like the bastard child of Cash and the lead from Pogues
islander wrote:
(from the guy in the office in the nice shirt & dress shoes, working on the computer... what happened?)
It's just life, baby! The soul is forever, the chains and mohawk were only fashion.
Awsome, fantastic, wonderful!
This has become my favorite music of the last few months. I just cant get enough. It never seems tired or overdone. It's truly tragic that we have lost this great voice. I miss the clash...:( punk rock forever! (from the guy in the office in the nice shirt & dress shoes, working on the computer... what happened?)
veegez wrote:
I know. Isn't it totally awesome? :)
Yeah...I'm sure I'll grow tired of it some day...or maybe not.
PeterGriffin wrote:
Umm, Bill dude, Joe Strummer was just played an hour and a half ago
I know. Isn't it totally awesome? :)
Umm, Bill dude, Joe Strummer was just played an hour and a half ago
Joe wrote this for Johnny Cash to do on one of the American recordings. Hauntingly perfect for Cash's gravelly and grave baritone. I'm glad that Joe cut it and released it--I don't believe that if Johnny did ever record it that it is available on anything yet.