To the rich man's bright lodges I ride in this wind
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On my good horse I call you my shiny Black Bess
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To the playhouse of fortune
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to take the bright silver
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And gold you have taken from somebody else
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As we go riding in the damp foggy midnight
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You snort, my good pony, and you give me your best
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For you know, and I know, good horse,
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'mongst the rich ones
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How oftimes we go there an unwelcome guest
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I've never took food from the widows and orphans
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And never a hard working man I oppressed
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So take your pace easy,
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for home soon like lightning
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We soon will be riding, my shiny Black Bess
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No fat rich man's pony can e'er overtake you
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And there's not a rider from the east to the west
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Could hold you a light
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in this dark mist and midnight
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When the potbellied thieves
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chase their unwelcome guest
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I don't know, good horse,
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as we trot in this dark here
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if robbing the rich is for worse or for best
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They take it by stealing and lying and gambling
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And I take it my way, my shiny Black Bess
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I treat horses good and I'm friendly to strangers
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I ride and your running makes my guns talk the best
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And the rangers and deputies
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are hired by the rich man
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To catch me and hang me, my shining Black Bess
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Yes, they'll catch me napping one day
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and they'll kill me
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And then I'll be gone but that won't be my end
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For my guns and my saddle will always be filled
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By unwelcome travellers and other brave men
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And they'll take the money and spread it out equal
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Just like the Bible and the prophets suggest
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But the men that go riding to help these poor workers
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The rich will cut down like an unwelcome guest
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WORDS: Woody Guthrie 1940 - MUSIC: Billy Bragg
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The Unwelcome Guest
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Billy Bragg |