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1. |
Desicatted
03:31
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I don’t drink but I’ll take that beer
If it means you’ll let me sit on your porch a while here.
I gave up on God and I ain’t got a wife.
My dog’s up in Phoenix—I ain’t doing alright.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry
so long under cloudless skies.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry.
But don’t run from me—
Don’t run from me, alright?
I got some demons I’ve been rousting out.
When it all breaks down could I just crash on your couch?
All I need is a meal and a moment’s reprieve.
Soon the money comes in, then I will just leave.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry
so long under cloudless skies.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry.
But don’t run from me—
Don’t run from me, alright?
I keep begging for rain, begging for rain.
And I’ve been cursing my, cursing my name.
I keep begging for rain, begging for rain
and cursing my own name.
There are days where all I did was survive,
Shocked and amazed to come out the other side.
I’m searching for miracles in the dust where I lie.
After all of this heartache how can anything thrive?
My soul in tatters and cracked from the inside—
If you stay by my side I might be alright.
If you stay by my side I might be alright.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry
so long under cloudless skies.
I’ve been running dry.
I’ve been running dry.
But don’t run from me, alright?
Don’t run from me.
Don’t run from me, alright?
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2. |
Bandit of No Delight
05:32
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Another song from my weakened heart.
I’ll write it out, no one will hear it.
Surely nothing more than a lesser work of art.
We’ll all just ignore it.
Jesus I know this dispiriting road.
So often I traveled it alone
Stumbling on every stone.
Mud on my hands, dirt in my eyes,
I hear the same advice.
But how many times can I try?
I’m giving in and that’s alright.
I’ll take myself home and turn off the lights.
Tell no one “I’m sorry” as I give up the fight.
It ain’t worth it.
I’ll sing these sad songs into the night—
An erstwhile bandit of no delight.
I stole no hearts, though I tried.
I’m out of excuses for falling behind.
Is there nothing I can have to hold?
I am searching in the dark.
My beauty is fading & I’m nowhere close to old,
But bit by bit I’ve fallen apart.
Jesus I know this dispiriting road.
So often I traveled it alone
Stumbling on every stone.
Mud on my hands, dirt in my eyes,
I hear the same advice.
But how many times can I try?
I’m giving in and that’s alright.
I’ll take myself home and turn off the lights.
Tell no one “I’m sorry” as I give up the fight.
It ain’t worth it.
I’ll sing these sad songs into the night—
An erstwhile bandit of no delight.
I stole no hearts, though I tried.
It ain’t worth it.
I just want it to end, to retire
and throw laughter & comfort & love on the pyre.
But I lack the strength that is required—
It ain’t worth it.
Don’t say “it takes time” or “feign a smile,”
Just let me grieve and lay here a while—
Jaded and broken from years of denial.
Oh, I’ll fall behind.
I fall behind.
I fall behind,
An erstwhile bandit of no delight.
I stole no hearts, though I tried.
I ain’t worth it.
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3. |
Shout It Out
03:13
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Can you see what’s coming?
I don’t think I do a good job hiding.
Feel the tension rising
With each chord declaring
A truth a long time forming–
On my lips it’s been waiting.
No more suspense, no more hedging.
I’ll break the silence with a melody inviting you to
Share your dreams with me.
I won’t sing your name until you believe
Your heart is ready – oh, say you’ll be with me
Then I’ll shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it out, shout it.
Shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it out, Natalie.
Oh, Natalie.
We’ll take it slowly.
You already know me.
I’ll be as patient as can be.
Do my best to make you happy.
Oh, give me a chance to show
Something beautiful can grow if you
Share your dreams with me.
I won’t sing your name until you believe
your heart is ready – oh, say you’ll be with me
then I’ll shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it out, shout it.
Shout it out, shout it out,
Shout it out, Natalie.
Oh, Natalie.
Shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it.
Shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it out, shout it out.
Shout it.
Shout it out, shout it out.
Say you’ll be with me.
Say you’ll be with me.
Oh...
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4. |
June (Will You?)
04:18
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I feel it coming, do you?
When it seems so right here by your side.
I feel it coming, do you?
If you tell me that you feel it, too,
Then I won’t walk away.
No, girl, know that I will stay.
Girl, will you?
After many nights of solitude
I’ve found someone to the end the days so blue.
Could it be true?
I’m thawing out, I’ve come unglued.
I’m so attracted to
Your smile and your pulchritude.
Different paths we tried.
They left us lost and alone most nights.
We shared the same cold feeling inside.
Both wandering the Earth so blind.
Putting faith in collecting miles—
Something was wrong or amiss in our lives.
Finding a way somehow,
So many obstacles to get around,
but we’re here now.
If you put your trust in me
I’d do everything I can, you’ll see,
to let your heart feel free.
Your heart can rest with me
and still be free.
I feel it coming, do you?
When it seems so right here by your side.
I feel it coming, do you?
If you tell me that you feel it, too,
Then I won’t walk away.
No, girl, know that I will stay.
Girl, will you?
Oh, will you?
I know it worries you
To start again with someone new.
I’m afraid, too.
But I don’t want to be looking back.
If we walk away from the stories past, then
Nothing will set us off track.
When there’s nothing that’s left to hide,
I don’t think this could be a lie:
You make me come alive.
We can go on adventures, too,
Every year in the month of June.
Don’t care where as long as it’s with you.
With you I’d go wherever you want to.
I feel it coming, do you?
When it seems so right here by your side.
I feel it coming, do you?
Feel it, feel it coming, I feel it.
I feel it coming, do you?
When it seems so right here by your side.
I feel it coming, do you?
I feel it coming, I feel it coming.
I feel it coming, do you?
When it seems so right here by your side.
I feel it coming, do you?
If you tell me that you feel it, too,
Then I won’t walk away.
No, girl, I will stay.
Girl, will you?
(Feel it coming, I feel it coming, I)
Oh, will you?
(Feel it coming, I feel it coming, I)
Will you?
(Feel it coming, I feel it coming, I)
Will you?
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5. |
Curtains
05:44
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Don’t know how to talk to you now.
I wish I’d never learned his name—
Details drive a man insane.
It’ll all have to stop somehow.
Put these thoughts back on the shelf
Or lead them to an early grave;
It’s all the same.
I don’t know how I fooled myself again.
I’m nothing special, nothing but a friend.
There’s something else I would rather be
But this ain’t the love story I hoped it’d be.
You’re writing it with someone else playing lead—
It’s not me.
No, it’s not me.
Curtain call, the actors prepare.
I’m sitting in the cheap seats.
You don’t notice I’m there
Or don’t care.
Maybe if I rush the stage
I could die in the corner, early on in Act 1,
Unseen by anyone.
Then nothing would come undone;
unfazed—the plot would keep marching on.
Stage hands would sweep me off the floor,
Setting Scene Four.
‘Cause jesters get a hook.
He will get to hold you tight.
The Lovers exit stage right,
I stay alone at night.
I don’t know how I fooled myself again.
I’m nothing special, nothing but a friend.
There’s something else I would rather be
But this ain’t the love story I hoped it’d be.
You’re writing it with someone else playing lead—
It’s not me.
No, it’s not me.
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6. |
Fernweh
04:27
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Stuck in this town
With nothing and no one around.
Little prospect for love now.
I’ve got to burn these lonesome feelings down.
Oh, burn them down.
I know what they say is true:
“Gloom ain’t an attractive point of view”
“No one wants little boy blue”
But I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do, so I
Blame the tramping, the nomad, the road.
It’s easier to blame the road than admit I’m flawed.
Easier to blame the journeys through foreign countries
Than fix all these glaring mistakes
I picked up along the way.
Oh, but really now, they’re my mistakes.
Hitchhiked my way to Voss
With a tent and a stranger, one last pair of socks,
Second-hand curtains for blankets we found in an abandoned box—
among indecipherable signs and sidewalks, I
I never felt lost.
Now I’m constantly itching to go
To where and to whom I don’t know.
Fernweh is status quo.
Oh, I am yearning to blow this town, and
Blame the tramping, the nomad, the road.
It’s easier to blame the road that admit I’m flawed.
Easier to blame the journey through foreign countries
Than fix all these glaring mistakes, I
Blame the tramping, the nomad, the road.
It’s easier to blame the road that admit I’m flawed.
Easier to blame the journeys through foreign countries
Than fix these mistakes
I picked up along the way.
Oh, they’re my mistakes.
Oh, but really now…
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7. |
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Shimmy (Dance With Your Girl)
I’m tapping the beat,
no I can’t help these feet
Searching the crowd for someone to join with me
Then I see her off in the corner,
bopping her head to the drummer
And I start to fall hard
yeah, hook line and sinker
Then I notice your arm lightly draped around her
Seems like she’s chained to the table
I feel I oughtta say
“That ain’t right Jack,
No, you’re keeping her back,
Boy, I can see she just wanna
And I will dance with your girl if you ain’t gonna
When she shimmies your way your face says you don’t wanna
The band’s more than alright
And the groove is tight, so
I will take her hand, pull her in, make her smile, make her spin while you sit idly by
Cause oh what a damn shame when she moves so fine
No I ain’t got no shame, I will dance with your girl tonight
Verse 2
boy you best get your ass up out that seat
You don’t want to be left behind as she picks up the beat
Cause if hips don’t lie, she’s bored with your wallflower sighs
When she’s trying to give you those bedroom eyes
Now she sways her body, it’s just as sweet as candy, and I barely notice the room around me
As she takes front and center, all eyes are on her, so boy tell me you know better...
Chorus
[Drum + guitar solo]
She backs up the caboose, lets her hair loose, and puts on her dancing shoes
Your weak excuse, it don’t amuse, it just gives her the blues
No you ain’t gotta groove like Kevin Bacon in Footloose
Just know she won’t wait around if don’t cut loose
She’ll turn her back on you, boy get a clue,
if not you’ll know the meaning of you snooze you lose
Now she’s looking for a partner, and there’s plenty of us out here,
and I know that she will choose someone new
So I will throw in my hat, what you think about that?
I danced with your girl cause you weren’t gonna
She shimmied my way and I said “I never wanna
leave you high and dry, when you want to go steppin’ all night, so
Cut some rug, burn the floor, I’ll keep up, ask for more and stay by your side
Cause lady I seen you move so fine
And you know these desires your boyfriend won’t satisfy
what a damn shame he couldn’t muster some fight
Cause something tells me
you’re taking me home tonight.”
And ain’t that the truth, boy
I left with your girl that night.
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8. |
Up, Down, and Sideways
03:11
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Oh, ever since I left school I’ve been a rolling stone
Busking my way in far and foreign lands
For so many years I’ve been going it alone
With nae but my voice and my guitar
And yes, I’ve tracked down every corner of this great big sky
living on shillings thrown in my hat
But I’m growing weary of the life, no lie
Somedays I get so lonely on these streets
with music my only company
I sing—oh, I sing
Time, time keeps slipping away
I spend it searching for someone to whom I can say
I’ve traveled up, down, and sideways all these long days
And now that I’ve found you it’s here I’ll stay, I’ll stay
I’ve tried to win the heart of a bonnie lass
Nae a one gives me a second glance
I may have flattered some but that never lasts
And so I leave and travel on
It feels sometimes I’m fated for an empty bed
With no one there to wrap my arms around
I lay me down under the stars instead
Somedays I’m happy to be so free
Somedays I ache for company
It’s then I sing
Time, time keeps slipping away
I spend it searching for someone to whom I can say
I’ve traveled up, down, and sideways all these long days
And now that I’ve found you it’s here I’ll stay, I’ll stay
And then one day I turned a corner on Mound & Princes Street
Caught sight of a lass with golden flowing hair
I felt heaven move when our eyes did meet
With her I could live out all my days
So at the next cèilidh I asked her for a dance
She blushed, gave me her hand and then away we went
By the end of the night I knew at last
She was the one for whom I wrote this song
The one I’ll sing to forever long
But now the words in the chorus come out wrong
Oh, some don’t belong
They don’t sound right when she sings along
Now we sing
Time, time had been slipping away
and then I found myself someone, now forever I say
I traveled up, down and sideways so many days
ever since I found you it’s here I’ve stayed, I’ve stayed.
Oh, I’ll stay, I’ll stay
Here I’ll stay, I’ll stay
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9. |
Lullaby
02:26
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Goodnight.
I hope you awaken to better times.
We're all worried and hearts write
Dreams into nightmares so fast.
If it seems there is no hope
I can offer these chords
And a melody.
Simple as they may be,
Let them fill you with peace;
End the day on a good note.
Forget the fears you carry.
Lay that weary head on me,
And sing along 'til they go.
Goodnight.
Sing along, sing
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
Sing along ‘til they go.
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10. |
Whiskey Sour
04:26
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I keep a packet of smokes in the back of my desk drawer.
Once you asked “what the hell are these for?”
Tonight is what they are there for.
When nostalgia drives my guiltless heart to Gates Pass
To that veranda to search the graffiti it has amassed
for where we wrote our initials and swore a love steel cast.
Yeah, we swore our love was as strong as steel cast.
You’re as stubborn as saguaros and guarded like your father
And it’s a wonder we believed we could last
Through that dry heat and summer with ghosts and your mother
filling much more than water in your glass
There was much more than water in your glass.
Oh, our love turned dour
as you sipped whiskey sours
I told you I’d try—I would stay
You raised up that gun,
But I still didn’t run.
You’re the one that drifted away.
Yeah, you’re the one that drifted away.
Memories of me and the life we shared coming back.
You know I give it my all, there was nothing for you to lack.
But a diet of booze and fear threw you off track.
So I get it, that morning when you left so fast.
I kept hanging on but come morning you left so fast.
Now don’t you dare spread a lie that I didn’t fight ‘til the end
when you’re alone in a bar with excuses as your only friends.
I can’t comfort you now but oh, Lord, I tried back then.
Don’t you dare even cry I promise I will not give in.
Drink up your rye and tell yourself comfort’s within.
Drink up your rye and tell yourself comfort’s within.
With a quickness you will fill the bed I slept in
Put a man by your side, declaring I win
But I’d rather sleep easy after saying amen
Then stay awake like you counting up your sins
Cause if you didn’t know, you’re covered head to toe with them.
Oh, our love turned dour
as you sipped whiskey sours
I told you I’d try—I would stay
You raised up that gun,
But I still didn’t run.
You’re the one that drifted
Our love turned dour
You sipped whiskey sours
I told you I’d try—I would stay.
You raised up that gun,
But I still didn’t run.
You’re the one that drifted away
Yeah, you’re the one that drifted away.
I found love, and you drifted away.
I found love after you walked away.
I found a love that keeps me warm
so don’t you dare come back home
Cause you walked away.
Drink up your rye and tell yourself comfort’s within.
My conscious is clear, don’t even begin.
One day as you count your mistakes with chagrin
I know you will know walking away was one of them
Walking away from me was the greatest of them.
No it wasn’t my fault, it was your mistake in the end.
You walked away, so I ain’t one of them.
Yeah, it was you. I ain’t one of them.
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11. |
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I’ve been spending my time
Trying to change your mind about me.
But I’ve been thinking differently.
I won’t cry no more tears
Living with you here in my life.
Don’t you see you mean nothing
Nothing to me.
Cause you did what you did
And you’ll do what you’ll do.
And that’s the reason I can’t ever be with you.
When you tell me you love me you must be wrong
Cause you won’t last the length of this song
Before I’ll be singing “move along”.
You and me only equals misery.
You will treat me miserably.
Yeah, you operate deceitfully.
I’ll subtract your hooks from me.
No, I won’t let you treat me miserably.
Miserably.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa.
Miserably.
You say “I’ll never find
Someone who will be kinder to me.”
But I’ve been thinking differently.
I bet you think I still care.
But I’m glad you’re out of my hair
and my world.
I will never want to be your girl
Not your girl
Cause you did what you did
And you’ll do what you’ll do
And that’s the reason I can’t ever be with you
When you tell me you love me you must be wrong
Cause you won’t last the length of this song
Before I’ll be singing “move along”
You and me only equals misery
You will treat me miserably
Yeah, you operate deceitfully.
I’ll subtract your hooks from me.
No, I won’t let you treat me miserably.
Miserably.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa.
Miserably.
I don’t want to live in misery.
You and me are never meant to be.
I hope you hear this clearly:
You won’t get the best of me.
You and me only equals misery.
You will treat me miserably.
Yeah, you operate deceitfully.
I’ll subtract your hooks from me.
No, I won’t let you treat me miserably.
You and me only equals misery.
You will treat me miserably.
Yeah, you operate deceitfully.
I’ll subtract your hooks from me.
No, I won’t let you treat me miserably.
Miserably.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa, whoa.
Whoa.
Miserably.
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12. |
West
05:21
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West
Lord knows I’ve been roaming
I’m always walking out the door
Hell knows what I’ve been searching for
It ain’t money, or whiskey
that shit just doesn’t treat me right, and I’ve seen it wreck too many lives.
All these drunks say “boy, if you’re leaving you must be running from something”
Old friend, no it ain’t like that,
I swear I travel towards the right path,
Or I’m on my way to find it,
oh, I’ll send a postcard when these feet quit moving,
until then I can promise nothing.
I’ve no address where I am heading—
unsure if I will be
Coming back—a restless heart driving west.
Don’t know if I’m hell or heaven blessed.
Desert heat on the back of my neck,
sweating working for something I can’t define yet.
I keep driving west
I ain’t like my friends from high school.
I didn’t find the one so easily, didn’t marry young.
I ain’t had a sweetheart since 19
I didn’t build a life ditching dreams to feed kids and a wife.
And I ain’t no jukebox hero:
no Tommy, or Eddie, those names you’ve heard in classic songs.
Don’t want to be famous, just some funds to tramp on
I’m but a poor, broken man—all I got are these words
They ain’t brilliant but they're mine. They stay with me when I cross state lines.
Unlike people who give up on me in time, cause they know I ain’t
Coming back—a restless heart driving west.
Don’t know if I’m hell or heaven blessed.
Running high on credit card debt, and some face I can’t forget
I keep driving west
Coming back—a restless heart driving west.
Don’t know if I’m hell or heaven blessed.
Growing older still looking for answers I doubt I’ll ever get
Still I keep coming back—oh, driving west.
Don’t know if I’m hell or heaven blessed.
Alone on the road with these chords that I wrote, ain’t nothing I regret.
I’ll keep driving
Driving
Driving
West...
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13. |
Starlight
05:12
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Starlight
Starlight, did you make it home alright?
From the house in New Mexico
your smile glows so bright.
When I was a child in Chicago
I dreamed of the first time I’d see her face, but
little did I know
just how much my heart could feel.
How much I would swoon and be
utterly indescribably happy I met you
I wished upon countless constellations,
fervently hoping for consolation.
Starlight, you answered
“I’m here, I know, let’s go.”
You made falling in love so easy,
Like autumn leaves,
I believe I’m ready.
Starlight, I’m ready.
Starlight, I’m here, let’s go.
She says “Sometimes nights are starless in New York
And somewhere inside I felt hollow—
I longed for adventure so.
Then you came and set everything alight.
My once simple life changed.
Now I know my luminous soul is alive.”
Will you join if I asked you to follow?
Take to the road, let’s just drive with the sunrise and live together anew
I wished upon countless constellations
Now we’re sharing destinations.
Starlight, you answered
“I’m here, I know, let’s go.”
You made falling in love so easy.
Like autumn leaves,
I believe I’m ready.
Starlight, I’m ready.
Starlight, I’m here, let’s go.
I'm here let's go
(Starlight I'm ready)
I'm here let's go.
(Starlight I'm ready)
Starlight, I'm here let's go.
Starlight I'm ready.
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