Chuck Cheesman: Music

• MP3 short clip, hi-fi play (broadband)
• MP3 short clip, lo-fi play (modem)

Thanks to my friend Ron Lewis (WNUR folk DJ), I got to perform this song and "Campfire" live on WCKG's Stan and Terry Show. I don't think I'm the sort of guest that usually makes it on big-time corporate radio, but Stan and Terry were pretty cool about my visit. After I played "Uphill" I figured they would cut to a commercial and be done with me. They did cut to a commercial, but much to my surprise they asked me to stay to discuss the song, my other music, my Chicago roots, and to play another tune. Growing up near Chicago I had been listening to classic rock on WCKG for years, so the appearance was a thrill for me! It was easily the largest live audience I've ever had.

Luis can’t read much and he’s almost twenty,
but he paints real good and speaks English alright.
He washes dishes at a place down on Kedzie.
He doesn’t have a green card so they keep him out of sight.

Luis has a family in Agua Prieta,
a wife and a baby that he hardly knows.
Luis paints pictures of the Chicago Skyline,
wraps them around dollars and mails them home.

Sixty minutes of time for a five dollar bill,
It’s hard to get going when it’s all uphill

Luis has dreams of a home for his family,
a room full of paintings and a yard for the child.
He carries her picture in his old leather wallet.
It sometimes brings tears, sometimes a smile.

It keeps you off balance
when you feel so alone,
and it’s hard to remember
the dream that made you leave home.

He has never seen cold like this Chicago Winter
so he fires up the stove and opens the door
He thinks of his wife as he warms up his fingers,
pulls on his coat and sleeps there on the floor

Sixty minutes of time for a five dollar bill,
It’s hard to get going when it’s all uphill.
It’s hard to get going when it’s all uphill.