Tragic Bluegrass Produced and performed by Joel Lane

» highest in charts:   # 363   (47,263 songs currently listed in Country)
» highest in sub-genre:   # 47   (2,470 songs currently listed in Country > Bluegrass)

Tryin’ To Get Them Clean
©2007 Tim Wheeler & Steve Oxford

V1
Willie washes dishes for the diner
Used to drive a school bus for the children of the town
Folks say he’s a hero but he doesn’t look like one
As he hunches over piles of dirty pots and pans
Tryin’ to get the clean
Tryin’ to get them clean
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.

V2
Happened in the middle of December
Bus was coming down a hill when the brakes went to the floor
Willie knew that wooded winding road, at the bottom was a clearing
50 kids would’ve surely died if he hadn’t made it there
Tryin’ to get them clean
Tryin’ to get them clean
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.

BRIDGE
Willie had a daughter; If you knew the man, you’d know.
The love he held for her, it was endearing
She was with her mama, playing in the snow,
Kneeling in the center of that clearing.

V3
Willie washes dishes for the diner.
And fifty men and women, still alive alive and well
No one speaks about the day ‘cause there’s nothing really left to say
And the old man spends his waking hours
With his hands in soapy water
Tryin’ to get them clean. Tryin’ to get them clean
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.

Tryin’ to get them clean
Tryin’ to get them clean
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.

Tryin’ to get them clean
Tryin’ to get them clean
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.
Spends his days tryin’ to get them clean.