1. |
Whiteboy's Lament
03:13
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Side pocket thought, back burner love
I killed a man one time in Omaha
His back was turned he never saw
But damned if I knew he bled the same blood - as me
I forget how stories end
A river flows a river bends
Silent morning, ashamed again
I wish I was running', I wish I was running'
Back across the Washtenaw County line
Coffee mug filled with bluegrass and wine
My engine screaming a high, lonesome cry
Or is it me? I hope to God it ain't me …
I forget a woman's touch
Make me a'shiver, make me blush
Oh love, the shape of your cup
But now you fill it with the cheaper stuff
So give me wheel, give me road
Passenger seat is just for show
The signs to speed, the signs to slow
All lead to love through my radio
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2. |
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I hitched a ride over to Memphis town
Got as far as Nashville when she quit us, and broke down
"God Damn," I thought, "Ain't it just right?"
Aiming for Graceland but I'm still lost in this night - Mercy
There's still nothing worse than watching her go
The last of the wood fire before the cold
I wander and I wander and you best believe
I'll wander till some god remembers me
I tried my luck on the Ole Row
Stood on the corner playin' old songs I used to know, oh man …
Earned what i could for the bus fare
Nickels and dimes and the rest reminded me I don't belong here
I've spent too long living this way
Wonderin' if the devil is bound to stay
Baskin' in the moonlight howling' for the day
Runnin' with the wolves there'll be hell to pay
Waitin' on the Shepard, for the lamb I pray
Waitin' on the Shepard, on the lamb I prey
Only nine more stops to Beale Street
Ain't been this far south since my hasty retreat, oh man …
Figured I'd go where the Kings die
Order a bourbon or whiskey, I don't give a damn which is right
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3. |
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Emma, that sweet refrain
You sang about Jesus, you sang about shame
I hung your letters in my window frame
Watched them curl brown, harden and fade
Emma, that sweet refrain
The creak of a porch swing, the sound of the rain
Your wide green eyes, mine turning gray
Youthful beating, like it was yesterday
Pistol shot, and a bleeding heart, rusted lock and a wasted spark
Your side of Heaven, my side of Hell, thirsty bucket in an empty well
Your morning, my midnight, your sun to my moon
But I’ll stay awake for you
Emma, that sweet refrain
I heard you got married, changed your name
I built you a chapel on Chicago Lane
We stood there for ages, shadow in shade
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4. |
Stephanie's Song
03:59
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The gaited steps she takes
A slow march as a kingdom awaits
Avery kingly grace would kneel in place
But each red foot flies
Backyards buzz bright with noise
Street lamps flicker with wavered choice
Ten years ago them girls and boys
With chin rested sighs
But gone now is an empty throne
The haunted world that came before is sinking down with them stones
Old barns and weathered shores
The aged wine we drink tonight is sitting well with these bones
A drink and a Memphis smoke
A friend walks the line while her eyes broke
As hearts and knees they take to the floor
But he's seen home
Minstrel plays a question lies
Surprises always seem to align
"You Are the Best Thing" the radio sighs
And she's coming home
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5. |
Mason-Dixie Girl
03:47
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I may be the last man alive
Who failed to be on his own good side
Flooded by his rising tide
While basking in the pale moon shine
Running wild in bush and tree
Bird in hand and still hunting
The two that hide, oh how they sing
The one in hand, oh how it stings
I fought for you a one man civil war
Oh keep me now, my Mason-Dixie girl
I'm swift river set to make my turn round the bend
I don't have to lose my head to fly off of the deep end
That's how I fall for you
Show me pauper show me king
Man is man and man is nothing
But a lover waiting to believe
A man has to believe in something
Without God there's only Hell
Prophets write and readers dwell
So I built a house and I dug a well
That's one hell of a story to tell
I'm dying now but not counting down
I'm living on the wrong side of town
I'm a waiting lover, flesh by the pound
I'm waking wide and I'm villain proud
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6. |
Animal
02:40
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I'm singing out a song
I'm singing it for you
Don't give a damn
If I'm singing out of tune
Just dance with me and I'll let you lead
I'm pounding this ground till my feet decide to bleed
So dance like this ...
Part me from this devil
And whisper in my ear
Pass me the whiskey
Let's stumble out of here
Put your head out the window and hold onto the door
I'll close my eyes and put this pedal on the floor
Won't you dance like this ...
You tell me that it's simple
Just grab a hold and ride
But I learned young
Life starts with a lie
If what you say is true then I'm ready to shake
I've gone too many days without making a mistake
So dance like this ...
Corner me wild
And corner me true
The animal in me
Is done passing through
Fuck the cards breathing and damn this whole game
I'm sick of holding aces and trying the slow play
Chivalry is dead and love just a parade
Moving too slowly and nothing worth the wait
So dance with me and I'll let you lead
I'm pounding this ground till my feet decide to bleed
So dance with me ...
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7. |
All of Them
04:57
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Lies are for sale, you drink them down
I prefer whiskey, it's cheaper by the ounce
Point your finger from north to south
Curse the whole world, would you kiss your mother with that mouth?
I wish you wouldn't leave me now
Hope the door hits you on your way out
Your tyger eyes, I've watched them wake
Who holds you now? It ain't no mistake
He's a better man, better than me
But I've kissed those lips, the softness stings
Can't buy luck, can't make your breaks
I'm travel worn and my compass shakes
O! Horizon! You sure look nice!
On the lakeshore waiting for the rise
Past the mountains, you take your bow
Dark truth hits, and it's cold as hell
Remember dancing, the devil cuts in
You sold yourself, pass the bourbon
And I watch as he steals the rest
My heart useles inside my chest
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8. |
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Wax sealed in blood red and brought to my doorstep
Her hand draped on my chest, descended, I read it
“$3000 in payment, report to your regiment, or you’ll be hunted on your own homestead"
Fight against your brother, abandon your mother shame my father or hide with my lover?
Off-track, valley road, the crow calls through the orchard
Black night, soldier’s coat, on my side her ‘say-so’
Look out through the tree line, sun on a slow rise, smoke screen passer-by, murder for a horse ride
Lost in a mangrove, map on the river, country breathing rumbles, Dixie-Line for Northern Shadows
Carriage to a stop, cat calls, my heart drops
They close in on her spot, drunken, a gun shot
Out from my hiding, a damned scene unfolding, my love down on her knees, hell fire raging
Blinded by my deeds, deafened by the screaming, numbed by the aching, hardened by the reaping
So now I only know the darkness and the smoke and the love of a half empty glass
I’ll wait in line and lose track of time and pray for the night hours to pass
I had nothing but love to give but I never let you take me up on it …
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9. |
Sunny Side
03:22
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10. |
The Lamb, The Tyger
03:38
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Haunted by beauty
Four queens
Held them to my chest now I let them breathe
Drown my thoughts in warm whiskey
Four pulls
Damn my soul, I can't pay the fee
The hair I grow is nothing more than the face I hide
The air I breathe is a poison fog to ease my mind
These limbs I run are sullen slipped at the worst damn time
A spark and a smoke ignite
Three shots
Right on point now it's time for flight
Hounds at the heels and firefights
Three days
On the lam but oh the nights
A solitude of blackened stripes
Green eyes
Hide to spring now I bide my time
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11. |
Age of Barns
04:40
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12. |
Carl's Landing
02:59
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Tree shadows drape across the northern road
With enough miles in to make it all anew
And past the shipyards and black-hearted stones
I stood on a riverside and I saw you
Now, my heart is worn down to thread-bare
And my words are just about the same
But some simple smiling eyes surrounded by the stars
And I'll mock the Pleiades by singing your name
Carly-Jo, my sweet Carly Jo
Don't you know that you've got a hold on me
In a world that can drive me mad
I'd rather dance with you than finish this bottle of warm whiskey
Dancing feet to wagon wheel melodies
As the day scares alone among the silhouetted tress
So we strike up another tune to sing
But no one's listening to anything but your bells tolling
I'll come back, come back sometime
When the world has torn itself from me
Cause I know, a woman's back
Is the greatest landscape that a man can see
So rip me up into a thousand pieces
And scatter me to all the corners of this place
There'll be some part left to find love
That isn't haunted by the look of your face
Cause I could listen to you try and sing
And I know there's no lovelier thing than
Carly-Jo
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13. |
Artisan, Settler, Sailor
02:54
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O! To be an artisan!
A hand-made part of the world
That knows the burn and aching as a remnant of your work
Instead of wearing out of ghosts, chasing long departed smoke
That's buried my scares somewhere deep and far below
What's more elusive than love?
And can you snatch it up?
Knowing full well in time there will be blood?
Cause I'm all searching and emptiness
A hand-me-down version of happenstance
But I ain't coming home no more
Facing the failures the youth in me has ignored
I ain't coming home nor more
It's a cold-hearted mirror that stings when I stare
Eyes moving to the floor
O! To be a settler!
A land grab of what you can find
Take the good and bad as fast as your horse can ride
Or do you broaden the stride?
Seek a green, lush creekside?
Though the stake your waving might be holding up a surrender white
O! To be a sailor!
Work it out on the sea
Breathe that salt and sun, see the best and worst of what a god can be
But from port to port, each strange and tempting shore
Has the madness rise, anchor dropped, rusted to sail no more
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14. |
Bury Me in Denver
03:59
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Now I'm sharp and cold as a butcher's knife
Perhaps I'm ready now to take on a wife
I'll let you stab me still and stab me right
Another moment with you and I'll die and die
But I'll be buried well smiling at the sky
My handkerchief rags and my boots are worn
It's a helluva ride from mountain air to lake shore
I'll remember you best under the city's elm trees
As I jumped a train eastbound to Milwaukee
When I left you I no longer knew me
Goddamn these Denver doldrums
The stifling stillness has run me gone
But I lost the map that helped me make my mark
But your face lit me up right from the start
Yeah you were my moon when I couldn't trust the dark
But one day I will come back for you
You're no woman who'd ever run me through
And abandon my heart
Or take me down, won't you take me down?
One day I'll make you scream my name
The miles I put in will coil in shame
It'll be all I need
So take me down, won't you take me down?
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winter/sessions
winter/sessions are the moments of intense companionship fleeting.
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