Tag: Sixteen Ways

Since I finished the Replacements as far as taking one song off each of their albums… I’m going to put aside Mondays for some 1980s alternative college radio music  for the next few weeks.

I really like the riff underneath this song being framed by the sixties sounding organ.

I’ve read where someone said about this band…it’s alt.country meets the Replacements. In some songs that is true. Some of their songs sound epic and they were reaching for something big…and many times pulled it off.

Green On Red have been described as Desert Rock, Paisley Underground, Alternative Country-Rock, ‘Garage-Country, and ‘Country-Punk. They made their mark in the 80s touring college towns on the circuit with REM, Replacements, and other alternative bands.

Earlier records have the wide-screen psychedelic sound of first-wave desert rock, while later releases tended more towards traditional country rock. They did not pigeon hole themselves into one style.

This song was on the album “Gas Food Lodging” which becomes their biggest seller and will eventually be credited as a forerunner to alt-country/americana. They would be produced by some great producers such as Jim Dickenson, Glyn Johns, and Al Kooper but could not connect with the masses.

They were active between 1979 to 1992 and they reunited in 2005 to 2006. They shared a bill with a lot of different musicians.

Sixteen Ways

16 kids 16 ways
They shot my babies by mistake
I’m all alone on a midnight ride
My 16 kids all have died

Chorus
They ain’t coming back
It’s too late
They shot my babies but
They killed my faith

I haven’t slept in 14 days
Now it’s time to barricade
Myself in these four walls
My 16 kids all are gone

Chorus

I worked so hard for 40 years
I told myself I had nothing to fear
Then one by one they got shot down
The youngest one held a gun to his ear

Chorus

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