Cardboard Box

by Glenn Kaiser

Cardboard Box cover art
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  • Digital Album

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1.
02:03
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2.
03:57
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3.
03:31
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4.
03:29
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5.
02:36
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6.
02:52
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7.
02:37
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8.
02:51
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9.
03:00
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10.
03:52
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11.
02:17
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12.
04:50
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credits

released 07 June 2011

tags

tags: acoustic blues electric blues pop-rock r&b worship Chicago

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all rights reserved

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about

After 30 years of playing music, Glenn Kaiser is known for his raw, bluesy vocal, fiery guitar chops as well as his harmonica work, Glenn is comfortable playing traditional and modern blues, original worship music and R&B.

discography

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Track Name: Unemployment Blues
You give no indication
No look into my eyes
I don't want no pity
Just don't wanna be disposed
I don't watt pity
Just a place to lay my head
Cold can be a killer
Sometimes heat is just as bad

I ain't got no work
But I still need to eat
When nobody's hirin'
No bread and no meat
When nobody's hirin'
I do what I can to get a meal
Low down dirty world
When survival means to steal

Somebody saw my face
They even asked my name
Told me about a place
Where I could find my way
And they seemed to care
I got nothing' left to lose
Just my achin' heart
My unemployment blues
Track Name: Loading Dock
In Chicago
There's an underground
Below the city
Right downtown
In the nights
Cold an' dark
Rolled up in blankets
Rags and scarves

Time forgot
People too
Alcohol
Drugs abuse
Mental illness
Personal sin
Society's greed says
They ain't gonna win

They lit a candle
By the loading Dock
Held hands an' prayed
Where the homeless flock

Tough, relentless
Tryin' to cope
Another died
An' they're starvin' for hope

Pilate drives by
Fast as he can
These nameless faceless,
Got unwashed hands
Survival warfare
In this urban squeeze
Ain't no sin in dyin'
Between two thieves

They lit a candle
By the loading Dock
Held hands an' prayed
Where the homeless flock

In Chicago
There's an underground
Below the city
Right downtown
In the nights
Cold an' dark
Rolled up in blankets
Rags and scarves
Track Name: Opportunity Dance
I don't know who to trust
But I know I can't make it on my own
Livin' in the street
Is beatin' me down
Cuttin' right to the bone
Been a long time since
I had a family
Or a place of my own
Tired a livin' like this
Gotta be another way
I know it down
I know down in my soul

The sun streams in touchin' my bed
It's a brand new day
Opportunity came
So I took the chance
To walk a different way
Food on my plate- pPillow on my bed
Learnin' new things
Maybe love is real- maybe I can feel
The brush of angel wings
Brush of angel wings

Ain't all I want
But most of my needs are bein' met
Shelter helpin' me
Gettin' on my feet- I'm not finished yet
God cares about me
I'm beginnin' to see
This is for the best
Someone's got my back
Faith becomin' fact
There is a table set
Track Name: The Protest
Jackie goes to bed at night
Beneath the railroad bridge
Sleeps in fifteen minute slots
Upon a steel ledge

The trains above are filled with folk
Who work the downtown towers
They buy esteem, pay for respect
With arrogance and dollars

Race you rats; you run and run
And never stop to see
What's done can never be undone
And you will never be
Anything else under the sun

By day they push and shove their way
Past Jackie's upheld palm
They throw some pennies on the street
A task for Uncle Tom

Then one night Jackie'd had enough
He raised a fist on high
A protest from the underground
A prayer up to the sky

Just then the Red Line hit the bridge
And Jackie screamed in pain
The citizens all gathered round
The blood left by that train

The gapers slowed the traffic down
The mayor came to clean and jerk
So no one in his town
No matter what, was late for work

And there the fist lies tween the tracks
A mute and awful sight
The citizens don't know or care
Where Jackie sleeps tonight

Race you rats; you run and run
And never stop to see
What's done can never be undone
And you will never be
Anything else under the sun
Track Name: Street Talk
Ain't always pretty
Ain't always warm
Ain't always dry
When it storms
It ain't always sweet
Ain't always fine
But it's familiar
An' it's all mine

Hot in the summer
Cold Christmas time
Wet in the spring
But fall can be kind
Sleep in the park
My bed is free
Layin' in the dark
It's what I see

In the street
I know my way around
I can be myself
Alone or
In a crowd

Sometimes I admit
It's not much fun
Sometimes lonely
Under the sun
Sittin' on benches
Sometimes I walk
Man if these alleys
An' streets could talk

People don't know
How I came to be
Lost my poor Mary
Sick as could be
I started to drink
My sorrow away
Lost everything
So here I will stay

In the street
I know my way around
I can be myself
Alone or
In a crowd

No ain't always pretty
Ain't always warm
It ain't always dry
Tough when it storms
Like a thief on a cross
Sometimes I bleed
But I know the street
An' the street knows me
Like a thief on a cross
Sometimes I bleed
But I know the street
An' the street knows me
Track Name: Cardboard Box
Once was a husband
Things went south
Had us a home
'Til we lost our house
Wall Street broker
Trashed our stocks
Economy folded
Livin' in a cardboard box
Livin' in a cardboard box

No matter the weather
Nothin' feels right
Scorchin' in daylight
Freezin' at night
Beatin' the pavement
Holes in my socks
I don't seem to fit
Nothin' but a cardboard...

People, they stare
Aw -they just don't know
Or look right past me
How'd I get so low?
Needin' an address
Needin' a job
A lil' understanding
Don't need to rob

All they can see
Are birds of a flock
God have mercy
Get me outta this cardboard box
Track Name: Repurposed
Never cared about the environment
Until I got older
Never understood why
Some people kept their house colder
Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust
Everything dies
All turns to rust

We are learnin', to recycle
To help, the earth be green
We can do it, with the elements
So what about the people we meet?

Just wanted to be left alone
"Live and let live" they say
I'll try to give you your space
We can share the right of way
Then the boss said "Thanks" "Goodbye"
An' then I got sick
Wall Street became Hell Street
Seemed I missed every trick

The poor, get recycled
The rich still roll in green
Buyin', selling' without thought
Tell me who is served by greed?

Salvation knockin' on my door
Didn't know that I was lost
Studied history, causes that end with a cross
But I've been repurposed
I just cannot pretend
Bein' happy, satisfied
Ain't the beginning and end

We're learnin' to recycle
Helpin' the earth to green
Carin' more for the planet
So what about the people we meet?
What about the people we meet?
Track Name: Urban Hobo
The cops keep movin' me
Thugs keep movin' me
The weather keeps movin' me
Even the birds keep movin' me
I keep on movin'
Cuz I got no home

Eighteen or eighty-eight
No palace, wall or gate
Now an' then a factory grate
In each an' every state
I jus' keep movin'

By chance & sometimes choice
I got no address, no voice
Tryin' to beat the heat or the cold
I am an urban hobo

The cops keep movin' me
Thugs they keep movin' me
I keep on movin'
Cuz I got no home

By chance & sometimes choice
I got no address, no voice
Tryin' to beat the heat or the cold
I am an urban hobo

I keep on movin'
Cuz I got no home
Track Name: Poverty Blues
If all the toys from China
Were fully free of lead
If all the gold on Wall Street
Paid off the national debt
If every add on TV
Showed what you'd really get
The poor would still be with us
And we would still forget
We would still forget
We would still forget

If politicians told the truth
If mail got delivered on time
If you never lost your keys
If the children never whined
If every day was a sleep-in day
And we always felt full and fine
The poor would still be with us
An' we'd still clear 'em from our mind
Clear 'em from our mind
Clear 'em from
Clear 'em from our mind

There is somethin' about comfort
It blinds us, closes our ears
When we feel no pain
We do not share their tears

I'm feelin' insulated
My job is secure
I ain't worried 'bout one thing
No immigrants near here
My kids speak perfect English
You know I voted right
Got lots of ammunition
I sleep real good at night
Those who want a handout
Or a hand up- either way
It's a cruel, cruel world
Go get your own
Or jus' go away
Jus' go away
Jus' go away
Track Name: Hold Me
Jesus hold me in your heart

Only your love lifts me up
From sad sorrow's pulling down
I cannot save myself you know
I feel as though I might drown
In the tears I cannot cry
They run too deep for me to try

Sweet mother read your poetry
Do not now fade away from me
I know that death- it knows my name
Do not go, don't take your grace
Darkness pressed to candle flame
Touch this old manchild's face

No heros on this grey morning
No heros, no not me
The sky is dark and I feel so old
Tears too deep to find release
Fear threat'ning to remove your love
In this night I plead your peace
Track Name: Live Your Life for a Change
Live your life for a change
Live your life for a change
You ain't gonna take it with you no how
Live your life for a change
And you won't be ashamed
Live your life for a change right now

Make a difference in this world
Make a difference in this world
Make a difference in this world somehow
Don't just do it for yourself
Put your pride up on the shelf
Make a difference in this world somehow

See your brother and your sister
Your enemy and friend
Your mother and your father
As your family in the end
One day we will answer
For the love we did not send
Live your life for a change
Right now

Live your life for a change
Live your life for a change
Live your life for a change right now
Live your life for a change
And you won't be ashamed
Live your life for a change right now
Track Name: What You Did
I was hungry and you fed me
I was thirsty and you gave me drink
I was a stranger and you took me in
I needed clothing you covered me
I was sick and you gave me care
I was in prison and you came to me there
You ask, when was this?
How could this be?
What you did for the least you did for me

What you did for the least
What you did for the least
What you did for the least
You did for me
You ask, when was this?
How could this be?
What you did for the least
Child you did to me

He was hungry and you fed him
She was thirsty and you gave her a drink
She was a stranger and you took her in your house
He needed clothing and you covered him

What you did for the least
What you did for the least
What you did for the least
For the least of these
What you did for the least
Yes for the least
You did it
You did it to me