Live 20 Oct 1995 version
[Spoken intro (Joe Grushecky):] ??? wrote together. It's about the struggle for the land in Kentucky. It's called "Dark And Bloody Ground".
This land was ours far as the eye could see
We took it from the Cherokee with a scalping knife and a white man's disease
When the smallpox ravaged their town
We came in and burnt them down
And took this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
Hey!
I took a prisoner, I needed a wife
I broke her will, she gave me a son, I spared her life
It was a fate much worse than death
Yeah we were kissed by the devil's breath
Set down on this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
We'll lay our bodies down
Put 'em six feet in the ground
And when the long cold winter ends
The sun comes shining in
And the crops will grow again
In this dark and bloody ground
They gave me three hundred dollars, put a pen in my hand
I was drunk on corn liquor, signed the rights away to my land
The coal company tore my homestead down
They ripped the black gold from the ground
Left a hole in this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
If Jesus was born in Kentucky he'd pay for his nails
Worse yet he'd have to work off his debt down here in this hell
Where they pay you off in company scrip
And your life it don't mean shit
Just a piece of this dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
This dark and bloody ground
I will lay my body down
Put me six feet in the ground
And when the long cold winter ends
The sun comes shining in
And the crops will grow again
The above lyrics are for the live 20 Oct 1995 performance of DARK AND BLOODY GROUND at Nick's Fat City in Pittsburgh, PA, during Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers' October Assault Tour. Bruce Springsteen plays guitar and sings backup vocals on this song.
In October 1995, Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers kicked off the release of their American Babylon album with a six-stop tour dubbed the "October Assault." Introduced as "honorary Houserocker of the week" on the first night, Bruce Springsteen joined the band for the majority of the set on all six dates, playing guitar and sharing vocals with Grushecky. At each show, Springsteen came out for American Babylon's WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE WAR and remained on stage for the remainder of the set. The fourth date of the mini-tour (20 Oct 1995 in Pittsburgh, PA) was broadcast on radio. Eight songs from the fourth date and two songs from the fifth date (21 Oct 1995 in Pittsburgh, PA) were officially released.
Info about the October Assault Tour is taken from Backstreets magazine issue #50/51.
List of available versions of DARK AND BLOODY GROUND on this website:
DARK AND BLOODY GROUND [Joe Grushecky & The Houserockers' album version]