We Can't Make It Here

James McMurtry

0 fans

James McMurtry

James McMurtry (born March 18, 1962, Fort Worth, Texas) is an American Texas rock and Texas country singer, songwriter, guitarist, bandleader and occasional actor (Daisy Miller, Lonesome Dove). He performs with veteran bandmates and rhythm section The Heartless Bastards (Darren Hess and Ronnie Johnson - not to be confused with the Cincinnati, OH, band of nearly the same name, Heartless Bastards. more »


Year:
2005
7:05
181 
#2

 Become A Better Singer In Only 30 Days, With Easy Video Lessons!

There's a Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
The flag on his wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing and both hands free

No one?s paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget?s just stretched so thin
And now there's more coming back from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

And that big ol? building was the textile mill
That fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
'Cause we can't make it here anymore

You see those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna sit there ?til they rot
?Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks

Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here unless you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar?s still open but man it?s slow
The tip jar?s light and the register?s low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. C.E.O.
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one your stores
I bet you can't make it here anymore

And there's a high school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that

If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career and forget about school
Can she live on faith? Live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it?s way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
?Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate ?em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away

I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their shit don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in their damn little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will I work for food, will I die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks

So let ?em eat jellybeans let ?em eat cake
Let ?em eat shit, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

So that's how it is, that's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper, read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind if you're listening at all
Get out of that limo, look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone tell us all why

In Dayton Ohio or Portland Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool

Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley and trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer

Written by: JAMES MCMURTRY

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

Discuss the We Can't Make It Here Lyrics with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add these lyrics to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "We Can't Make It Here Lyrics." Lyrics.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/26082928/James+McMurtry/We+Can%27t+Make+It+Here>.

    Missing lyrics by James McMurtry?

    Know any other songs by James McMurtry? Don't keep it to yourself!

    Watch the song video

    We Can't Make It Here

    48,809
    558     13

    Browse Lyrics.com

    Quiz

    Are you a music master?

    »
    "Just own the night, like the fourth of July…"
    A Soft Cell - Tainted Love
    B Katy Perry - Firework
    C The Ramones - Sheena is a Punk Rocker
    D Ariana Grande - 7 Rings

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant explanation for any lyrics that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant explanation for any acronym or abbreviation that hits you anywhere on the web!

    James McMurtry tracks

    On Radio Right Now

    Loading...

    Powered by OnRad.io


    Think you know music? Test your MusicIQ here!