Lyr Req: This Town (Dave Mallett)

Subject: want ID, lyrics: This Town
From:
Date: 12 Mar 98 - 09:43 PM

Great folky country tune, heard on WFUV, NYC, 1993?

partial lyrics:

This Town's got people dyin' ... ... rich and poor ...

This town's got a small town rumble. This town's got a big town roar.

... ... ... this town.

Who did it, when, what label, etc.

Subject: RE: want ID, lyrics: This Town
From: Frank Phillips
Date: 13 Mar 98 - 05:16 AM

Dave Mallett (author of the Garden song "inch by inch, row by row" and The Ballad of the Saint Anne's Reel) wrote this song. Heard him do it just last Friday at the Calgary folk club. I bought his song book which is published by Cherry Lane Music. This song is on page 58 with a copyright date of 1993 so you must have heard it hot off the press.

Frank Phillips

Subject: RE: want ID, lyrics: This Town
From: Dan Veselitza
Date: 15 Mar 98 - 09:38 PM

Many Thanks. I didn't think I'd find out, and here it is right away. A major score!

The song brought tears to my eyes when I heard it that one time. I remember where I was driving when I heard it. I expected to hear A LOT more of it. I need to hear it again to see if it's great or if it was just the crisis moment in my life that it hit me in.

I did some homework, but it didn't work for me. I called WFUV, but at the wrong time the next day. They try to help but they also have real work to do.

Before posting here I searched in WWW and DejaNews. I also searched WWW for "lyrics search", which led me to Mudcat.

There are many many songs named "This Town". I gather that "This Town" is also the exact title of this one. It sounded professionally recorded, so presumably he made a tape or CD, though maybe only hundreds sold.

General comments: I have a problem with the radio, especially when listening to other-than-top-40 stations. When I hear something rare and great, I run the risk of never hearing it again. As a kid in the primitive '60s and '70s, I dreamed of some device that would tape what I was hearing as I heard it, so that I could collect my favorites as I realized them (which usually hits me after the song ends).

Tape recorders and VCRs don't quite fulfill this - I still don't tape as I watch / listen in hopes of snagging the irreplaceable moment as it goes by.

CDs don't completely fulfill this. The 100-CD jukeboxes get us closer, but my dream from the '60s was a galactic jukebox with everything in it and hyperlinks that grow with user inputs.

Also, this message base seems to strip out e-mail addressses. Let's see. Mine is between these brackets: [[e-mail]]. dv

Subject: RE: want ID, lyrics: This Town
From:
Date: 16 Mar 98 - 12:47 AM

I found the rest on Dave Mallett & This Town: Good web page http://www.super-charged.com/dmallett/. Includes .WAV sample of Garden Song merchandise link. CDs $16 by mail from Mallett Music. complete itinerary

Other web page http://www.bicoastal.com/dmallett/ includes .wav sample of "This Town". merchandise link is broken.

Useful website http://folkmusic.miningco.com/ has an interview with David Mallett links to artist websites music calendar search

Song "This Town" on album "This Town" (correct words transcribed from website sound clip) This town's got rich folks dyin' right down beside the poor. Limousines and widows cryin' victims of the lonely wars. ...

Subject: Lyr Add: THIS TOWN (Dave Mallett)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Mar 98 - 01:31 AM

THIS TOWN
by Dave Mallett
©1993 Forerunner Music - ASCAP

This town's got rich folks dying
Right down beside the poor.
Limousines and widows cryin'
Victims of the lonely war.
Caviar and beans and bacon
lines up at the grocery store
This town's got a hard hat river
Sleepin' pilgrims on the shore.

This town's got folks on nothin'
Bundled up in broke down cars
College kids in BMW's
Parked in front of all night bars
This town's got a small time rumble
This town's got a big time roar
Barkin' dogs and lots of people
Swingin' fists and slammin' doors.

This town's got dreams aplenty
Some are wasted, some are new
This town taught me that it ain't
What you know, boy, it's what you do.
This town's got a ragin' fever
On a hot ole' July night
Me, I'm one more true believer
Tryin' hard to get it right.

This town's got a poor man's muscle
This town's got a rich man's clout
Half a million fools a flyin'
Comin' in and gettin' out
This town is rough and ready
For whatever might come down
Right now I'm holdin' steady
And hangin' on here in this town.