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#10 Nevada (1979)
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I wrote this diatribe on gambling with a mild Native American flavor on a Greyhound bus when I was 19 years old
folk funny political sixties novelty gentle prolific idiosyncratic lehrer jefferson airplane ochs paxton steve goodman
Artist picture
Tom Paxton meets Jefferson Airplane. Extremely prolific singer songwriter with a wide range of styles from bizarre novelty tunes and surrealistic poetic songs t
With more than 300 songs and counting and for more than 30 years, I have written in a variety of acoustic styles from novelty tunes to love songs to historical ballads to poetic surrealistic songs to retro-acoustic pop. From bizarre to traditional from funny to poignant, whatever style the song is in, the melodies are usually memorable and the lyrics unpredictable. This site will eventually contain rough often first take demos of my entire song catalogue. Many of the earliest songs when I first started writing will of course be shaky. So expect the songs to get better as time goes on. Feel free to come back and browse often as I will constantly be adding songs, one by one in chronological order, starting in 1974. If you are looking for some unusual songs to cover from a little known but unique artist, you have come to the right place. Just e-mail me. If you find a song here that intrigues you, but you don't like a line or two, or you think it needs a bridge, drop me an e-mail and maybe you can earn writer's credit if it gets that song to be recorded or performed.... otherwise just enjoy. You can become a Rob Lincoln fan at no cost to you. I promise that if you keep coming back there will be some real surprises along the way. While mostly acoustic, some original material will veer into folk rock and even 60's pop, but the garage rock and loudest material will also be found in full band arrangement at soundclick.com/abrasiveflowers Eventually some of these 300+ tunes may be rerecorded and make it on to CD, including a novelty CD that would be suitable for Dr. Demento or an historical ballad CD or a political song CD--but until then, this is the only site you can hear most of these songs. (A few of my songs CAN be found on songramp.com/RobLincoln and myspace.com/lessickandlincoln)
Song Info
Charts
Peak #176
Peak in subgenre #30
Author
Rob Lincoln
Rights
1979
Uploaded
December 10, 2006
Track Files
MP3
MP3 2.3 MB 128 kbps 2:28
Story behind the song
The Greyhound bus pulled into Reno and for the first time in my life I saw slot machines. This was before AC became a gambling mecca. My 19 year old sensibilities were appalled. I was struck by the contrast between the glitter and the almost dead landscape. I jotted the lyrics down and hummed a melody while on the bus. This song was the first song I played live quite a bit and I came to despise it (as did others) for its bombastic melodrama. However, it was my first real attempt at poetry in my lyrics. This version is as painless as it gets with a fast pace and lively bass. I changed the last line in the song which was particularly ridiculous. Note the sound of casino sound effects I attempt with acoustic guitar and percussion on the last chord. (For those who crave to hear the even more melodramatic version, a link will be provided soon.) Mp3 listeners gave it an average rating of 3.2 out of 5.0..... Some listener comments were: "always liked this song," "like the bass playing" "kinda preachy" "could be a 3.9 with some lyric changes" "I absolutely love this song. The lyrics are a 5" "its callowness comes roaring out like a bad spighetti western" (this final quote is from from a 1981 published review by Peter Bushyeager in the Welcomat Newspaper when I performed this song at Bruce Yasgur's Club Folk in 1981 in the midst of an extended 25 minute space rock jam by the band Hearthstone. I would say in my defense though that it was not the most effective presentation of the song...and it sure ain't the way I write lyrics now)
Lyrics
Death becomes you oh Nevada The land it does not grow So with artificial greenery You put on a show Your people are good people The sun it shines so very warm But Nevada oh Nevada You do so many harm Brown cold yet burning mountains Like ghosts upon the land Stillness of nature Lone carcass on the sand Nevada oh Nevada You've brought so many joys But Nevada oh Nevada People are your toys Gambling is a man's game And the men become the boys Hear the sound of children Swearing to machines full of alloys Nevada oh Nevada Shining silver shines so bright Blinding so many people From seeing natural light Pleasure is just pleasure It's the pain that is a sin For the thousands of gamblers Who will never ever win
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