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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of I Put The Day Away, Songs for a '98 Neon, Before I Go, and Young Vines.
1. |
Monday Best
05:30
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i put the day away
i keep my coffin tight
i walk a lonely road
in the winter when the lights aren't bright
this house is empty now
all my friends have come and gone
with such an angry mouth
it's hard to keep good company for long
i put on my sunday best
and head to town sometimes
to a bar that no one knows
where they only serve me fine red wine
i think about my lover sleeping now with empty eyes
pine box dreams and bloodless seams
and i cannot find a way to draw the line
but I try and i fight it but it never comes
i get my head strung tight in a winding wheel
and it goes around until i fall
i try and I fight it but it's not enough
i get my head strung tight in a winding wheel
and it goes around until I fall
i keep the sun in mind
i drink my coffee black
i fasten neon signs
to a city where they don't come back
the water’s rising high
and i'll be sinking at the break of dawn
clouds keep coming on a railroad track
and my body is dead but i keep on keeping on
i take off my monday best
and i've been sleeping near the county line
in a bed that rolls and flows
on a tear that never leaves my eye
i think about my lover
coming down heavy with her highway shoes
she's on her feet where we used to meet
and she's bored again with nothing left to lose
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2. |
Brigham Hill
03:40
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feathers hanging in the wind
and brigham hill may lose a twin
if they don't cut big johnny off
if it's some kind of pack and feed
i'll tell the birds "don't eat the seed
you know they're trying to make you soft"
autumn keeps the green grass running
a big old jar they keep the sun in
wined and dined before the coming snow
a pinch of salt, a cup of sin
we burn the pages that we always know
the days are coming way too fast to ever get ahold
sunk my car on brigham hill
cuz I was trying to get my fill
of toys and poison waiting at the bar
they threw me in the chicken coop
coyotes waitin’ on the stoop
For colors cast upon them from the stars
i faded out upon my plea
they tried to make a meal of me
But I twisted out and then they tried to make amends
I was riding high on barley grinds
and by the time I finally hit the ground
I found I was choking on the bends
belladonna, queen anne's lace
foxglove, lily, roses trace
the garden in the foyer where the angels come to roam
chopping wood and bending sticks we carve a little crucifix
so even in the darkest night we’ll never be alone
leather bending under sin
and brigham hill’s gone dark again
cuz johnny filled the world with stones
if I had ways to make him pay I'd signed the line before today
but everybody knows he'll die alone
winter keeps the darkness running
we lock the cage they keep the sun in
the fate of man upon the land is wide and still unknown
flowers bloom and I can't stay
so among the strange I'd like to say
that if we feast upon the weak will angels lead us home?
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3. |
Monterey Bay
03:57
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lay my body on the table
i'm down and out now now
i'm growing younger every day
that ain't no rotten storybook fable
i'm swimming with the clouds
and when I go I know I'll be gone in a better way
big old fluffy mountains
i'm sleeping in the manger
twisted in the flowers
and the winds that fall into monterey bay
thumbing like I'll never know
that you can't love a stranger
but I was born a coward
so I'm a sucker for the danger
all you have is what you see
we're orphans of a mutiny
that hung its shadows long ago
and cast its heavy hand in gold
we dust for prints on heaven's gate
we lost the key before we found the race
so we lay our hands in acetone
and our mongrel hearts on painted stones
and we dance around the candle light
and we bright the fire and we curse the night
they left us on this earth alone
so we're looking for a better home
but as for this whole family
were drowned in pain we cannot flee
so we linger on the final song
and sing it like there's nothing wrong at all
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4. |
Blue Hill
00:57
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worn out, tongue tied
knock kneed but upright
i stumble along through the cold lonely day
palm trees sunshine
won’t put up a good fight
in the storm of the mind that’s been begging to stay
hang nailed, cross eyed
Buck toothed but alright
i swim through the waters too warm for the bay
white sand, blue sky
won’t hold back a good cry
i reckon that comes with the debts we can’t pay
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5. |
Ripplebrook
02:23
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stoned on the bed
of the ripplebrook river
i was a warmer friend
so much younger then
i snuck the wires in
i'm born to be a giver
for the electric stream above
the sleeping queen you love
i could see you coming
but you couldn't hold me yet
i was sleeping in the ashes
of a broken silhouette
but I counted every pedal
that was falling from your dress
we were chiefing in the backseat
in our sunday best
sammy’s going to get us home
we're busy blurring time
he knows the higher-ups
to keep us on the line
twisted in each other
in a lonely kind of way
oh in the red bar days
before the fire blazed
does it need a vessel
do we lay it all to rest?
i would sing it in your honor
but my letter said it best
it was sweet of you to let me
in your airport dream
i had to make a scene
you were the delta queen
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6. |
Poplar Tree
03:01
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i was out swimming with the mourning doves
down by the water born from the rising sea
of all the people that don't breathe the salt
but they moved to california and it's not my fault
i was out sleeping in the poplar tree
pounded by the storm that came in ‘94
the neighbor never liked that I was getting free
but i'm too old to be keeping that goddamn score
i was out burning all the autumn leaves
smoke on the rise, the cold cut me down to size
the winter never meant that much to me
so I'm going to carolina for a long slow squeeze
i was out putting on my satin gloves
bound for the egg that money couldn't save
where everybody's trying to get that awful buzz
so slip me something good
cuz i'd rather be sleeping in my grave
nights alone are hard to keep
the thoughts you own die in your sleep
when you spend your whole damn life trying to take a side
if it all goes the way i plan i'll be gone before they understand
to find the words to best explain
is like trying to find piss in the pouring rain
but those alive and those to come
are just standing by the road with a big bent thumb
cuz no one taught us how to wait
or that money can't save you from a dirt nap fate
all that your whole life's born from your parents greed
instead of save the earth they'd rather past the seed
and then they expect you to do the same
you either roll the dice or endure the flame
and I'm not much of a gambling man
i already dug my grave and I know who I am
but it's hard to ignore the human trait
that's why they're putting up nets on the golden gate
and I won't stop them if they want to try
but halfway down I hope they learn to fly
cuz the sharks are hungry and they won't be kind
if they find out you didn't want to pull the blinds
cuz there is no god in the frisco bay
if the Anglin brothers couldn't get away
and I'm not much of a rambling man
i already cut my teeth in a caravan
so I'm thankful for the evening breeze
when I'm sleeping in the poplar trees
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7. |
On Your Shelf
02:01
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hey pretty lady what's the price today
for a peace of mind and a place to stay?
i'll keep you warm and pay you with my love
night’s go by like another train
and your smiles wide so i cannot feign
and i know your mind will need to know
where my flowers bloom and where i'll go
and when i leave i'll do it slow
to show you that I'll never run
hey sweet baby did you burn it down?
it doesn't have to mean you didn't love your town
but to stay would mean you never loved yourself
trains go by like another night
so when your body’s heavy in your heart strings tight
and the fever demons that you hold
are burning books you never wrote
and taking dreams you plan to keep
so if it helps you get to sleep
i'll put my flowers on your shelf
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8. |
Pinchgut Town
03:31
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i was the golden son
now I'm just the lonely one
bet you can't get me out
from the bottom of the barrel now
i watched the summer die
like an old broken friend of mine
and now joni and the bottle
got me swimming in that peril now
i was the salt they laid down the snow
i was the god they cursed in the cold
i was the season that they couldn't wait to get out from
but I'm doing better on a pompeii street
and every day's a little sweeter than a jail yard treat
but I don't get my rocks off living in a pinchgut town
i burned my lover down
now i count the ashes by the pound
bet you can't dig me out
from the bottom of the rubble now
i prayed for morning light
cuz the dark took its toll last night
but I came out swinging
ain't no room for any suckers now
i was the delta that don't sing the blues
i was a river full of concrete shoes
i was the levee that could never hold the water out
but i'm doing better when I stay outside
i've got a ‘37 hindy with a really smooth ride
but it don't blow my socks off floating through a pinchgut town
world has got me roped up hoping that I wouldn't stay
devil’s on the bullhorn digging through my better days
so we drown him in the river so we finally hear the people say
“we lay our rhythm on a broken hymn, he wouldn't let us be”
then we liquor up the choir and climb on the pyre
and as we burn it down I let the whole world see
i am the mouth the hand couldn't feed
i am the man the world didn't need
so I'm singing praises if the people gonna to pull me out
with one way ticket off a hellbound train
and if you're coming with me it would be in vain
cuz you don't get to heaven if your spitting on the holy ground
i was the bread we all couldn't break
i was the prayer we all couldn't fake
i was the reason why the pearly gates are rusted out
but I'm doing better when I'm down on my luck
cuz the river is whiskey and I'm a diving duck
but I don't get my rocks off swimming in a pinchgut,
living in a pinchgut, or sinning in a pinchgut town
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9. |
Sugar Fire
01:47
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swallowed all the summer
sweet as any sugar fire
sleeping in between the cobblestones
the clouds don't keep the sun quite covered
they come and go like one time lovers
never long enough to call your own
cut from old-time ribbon
velvet robes will never live in
leaving town like the road to be our home
sworn to lips we’re never kissing
born from days were always missing
so we cut them out and we paint them in kodachrome
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10. |
Riverside Drive
03:37
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i was getting twisted in a bar downtown
when your brother came to tell me that you'd hit the ground
your eyes welled up in your lips got mean
and your tears could overflow lake bomoseen
i wore the burden of a muddled up truth
covered all the lines before you got away
every time I heard that you were looking for proof
i said "don't be digging into mine that doesn't pay"
hellfire drove you into the night
and you were gone
before the morning time could make it right
snow on the road and whiskey inside
they caught you going 80 down on riverside drive
you were getting twisted in a ballroom gown
when the lights went out in the brawl went down
heels and hand you waited for a ride
and I was there to take you home to riverside
we passed the bottle till the yelling was through
even when we knew you couldn't shake your pain
every time you heard that I was looking for you
you said "baby you should treat me like a runaway train"
and in your long gone silhouette
i wrap my lips on a cigarette
as the colors fade, the edges fray
but the street lights don't come on
at the end of another day
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11. |
Long Black Car
01:43
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i fell apart on a downtown dream
where I was born as a thistle and gone like a missile
through a house of fickle beams
full of one time ballers and black jack callers
chewing on an unborn dramamine
that drive through the shadows lost inside the dark
all dolled up with time to kill
summer’s gonna cry the river dry
and the winter’s gonna get it on the fill
i’m pulling on days in stranger ways
and it’s hard keeping up that kind of thrill
when I’m sleeping in the back seat of a long black car
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12. |
Cambridge
03:26
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another night i hang my head and pray the city isn't dead
we're only here for stories we don't need
and I'm not one to call us out, to say that's what we're all about
but I'd lose sleep to say that I didn't see
bottles buried in the yard from kids that think they're getting hard
by burning books and racing in the streets
the city dolls up in a masquerade
and you won't see til your cards are played
but i will never let them take a part of me
i'm still young but all my dreams sing to me in a foreign tongue
it's much too late to keep it straight
my better days have all been feigned
the sun goes down and then i'm on the run
another day i stayed in bed, there's bullets shaking in my head
my soul's another mouth that i can't feed
downtown stalemate promenade
where the rich are born and the lovers fade
and it's not how it always was but now its how it’s gonna be
bottles hang like weather vanes
the kids are catching westbound trains
and hang sweet nothings on the wall of days that came undone
who to call when you can't be saved
when the sky goes out and the lights are paved
and everything you ever sing will never be unsung
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13. |
Out of the Cold
04:33
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what kind of summer killed my holy side?
what kind of price did i pay?
what kind of dice did i roll?
you gotta take me for a sinner now
i've got a body full of thrillers
so i'm trying to burn the pillars down
you never asked me if i wanted a ride
while you were making your plans to pull the ripcord
i caught you sleeping in the countryside
as if a little sliver caught your finger on my headboard
i got a feeling we'll be sleeping while we're getting old
you got me reeling that we’re running out of things to say
but if you're dreaming you can meet me at the centerfold
so when i'm finally good at getting out of my own way
you'll take me out of the cold
what kind of lover lets a city die?
we laid the martyr in wait
and they paved over the stones
i was a sinner in your mother's eyes
but her sermon was a river
and i rode it to the bar alone
i never asked you if you ever cried
while i was dragging around some kind of limbo
no money to our name but on the rise
we were cutting through the rug
and painting over dirty windows
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14. |
The Holy Door
04:04
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and it comes back to me
that sleepy little town I couldn't wait to leave
the house my father built a foreign deity
and heartbreak ridge probably buried under trees.
when the sun is low
i trace the dirt rows back to where the mountains grow
and i settled in a tender spot where heaven lets the angels flow
so when a song is all i've got i'm not the one that has to sing
i was on the mend
the light came down and i could feel my body bend
but i melted in a dream that was only going to fade to black
so then i tip the bottle back like it was going to set me free
and then i'm swaying east
cuz the barley grinds have never left me gracefully
and i don't want to die so i drink to sleep
cuz who can bear the weight of death if god's not waiting in the wings
and so the story’s torn
and it folds back on itself until it's cruciform
and i'm under lake champlain before it's gotten warm
drowning at the holy door to see if i can make it in this time
but if it's all for naught
then we're praying to a temple that we haven't got
and sleeping while the city rots
we all have paper in the wall
i prayed the dome would never fall
and if the stone would live again
It wouldn't cure my slow eternal sin
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15. |
Cut Me Down Low
03:48
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on the final time around
we danced upon the sacred ground
i cursed the god of time
and found the hand she wasn't showing
for when I floated on your sea
i drowned in unknown alchemy
and with it all the freight that you were towing
cuz in the folds of you and me
it's hard to feel the parts of real love slowing
i was out for blood that nigh
the bourbon couldn't make it right
the fall of well-intended men is subtle and unspoken
i drank until I burst a seam
and with it this ungoverned dream
you burn the holy breaker out
it cannot be unbroken
cuz in the folds of you and me
it's hard to feel the parts of real love slowing
so cut me down low with a razor blade
let it out slow like a lost parade
flood it back in when your mind is made
so only you know if the price was paid
darkness is a friend of mine
she takes me dancing every night
i never get the answer right
to ever send her packing
so I gamble on the truth to get
my body on a better set
of cards to make a winning bet
with chips that I'm not stacking
so throw your stones I will not hide
among the waves or in the tide
upon the lowest horse all ride wherever it is going
and in the night times when I'll pray
your thoughts of me will fade away
and love for lonely men my kind
you'll never be growing
cuz in the throes of you and me
it's hard to see the pain of real love showing
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