Someones coming home with some workboots on
and a lunch box in their hand
Someone is hearing that rock n’ roll music
like its coming from a little tin can
Someones pickin food in a back yard garden
with the wash out on a line
where the honey suckle blooms and the buzzing bees loom
in the town that used to live here
Yeah the town that used to live here
there was a way of livin that we could be living if we
had the time share in the town that used to live here
Someone sits down and plays the piano
with the door wide open to the night
Someone sits rockin in those rockin chairs
singin along in the pale moon light
Someone is standing at the bottom of the stairs
listening with all of their might
to the song that keeps coming
from the place we been running
the town that used to live here…
Yeah the town that used to live here
There was a way of livin that we could be living if we
had a moment to share
In the town that used to live here
no one is cryin thats just water thats tryin to turn itself back into rain
and no one is lonesome thats an old dog moaning and straining at a length of his chain
and no one is broken thats just empty bottles lying on their side in the rain
no one is feeling that empty old feeling in the town that used to lived here
“Once Upon A Time The End” is a story
that some folks believe is coming true
It says our factories and schools our firehalls and pools
Are just a flash of light passin on through
It says we all will become comfortable and numb
forget what we were put here to do
It says we’ll plant a flag in our yard and turn back
On the dream we’re livin up to
In the town that used to live here…
WITHOUT A LIE
There’s a hole in the ocean where the water falls through
into a machine that makes the sky turn blue.
And it runs on coffee and cigarette highs.
What would I do without a lie?
Everything is perfect in a package brand new.
And its mother is a store located near you.
And its never been touched by children’s hands.
What would I buy without a lie.
My country tis so sweet. Sugar coated kisses of liberty–
its of you that I sing.
Where would I live without a lie?
Where would I live without a lie?
Oh where would I live without a lie?
There’s a hole in the ocean where the water falls through
and it runs on the promises given by you
who would I love without a lie?
oh who would I love without a lie?
Musician/Writer Biography
Ben Shannon was born in Nashville Tennessee and grew up in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. His father gave him his first acoustic guitar and shortly thereafter, his mother gave him an electric. His music is acoustic alt-country Pittsburgh soul blue collar folk-rock. Ben says of his music, “I want to write plain spoken songs that talk sense and have something to say.” The songs above are from his CD, Ben Shannon EP.
