1. |
Junkyard Dog
02:31
|
|||
|
1. He's a junkyard dog from his head on down
the czar of bizarre, the talk of the town
His daddy was a juggler, but never mastered that skill
then a tombstone polisher way up on the hill
2. You got your sleeping pills and swimming pools
in a suburban daze, surrounded by fools
You try to remember what your s'posed to forget
If you ever did a thing, you might have something to regret
Ch:The river's rising, but the weather is fine
Only the lonely ever call the pothole hotline
3. The pundits claim that you’re quite a seer
but are you a prophet, or just a profiteer?
You try to make some sparks by quoting Karl Marx
but a beautiful corpse is still just a corpse
4. What did I tell you, man, whisper in your ear?
It's so obvious, the reckoning is near
You've got to give back some of what you got
Let's hope that things can change without a shot
Ch: "Nothing's for certain" I always hear you whine
When in doubt, you gotta call the pothole hotline
Don't forget to dial up the pothole hotline
|
||||
2. |
Godsleep
03:52
|
|||
|
1. I had a friend named Mouse with a loose relation to the truth
He said he loved his Nancy, but then he stole my girlfriend Ruth
He said "Oh yes, I do love Nancy, that’s the truth for sure"
"The problem is that I just love Ruth a wee bit more"
Ch: Everywhere you look, truth is hiding in plain sight
Some know how to find it, others run from it in fright
2. Princess Poppy loved her people, and they thought she was pure
But she snuck out of the back door, went looking for a cure
She felt so very lonely, and she wanted to get high
To slip away from bodyguards, go soaring through the sky
Ch: Everywhere you look, truth is fighting to be free
Trouble is, it's hard to tell lies from reality
3. God must be sleeping, Boddhisatva must be drunk
Everywhere I look the world is in a deep, dark funk
Prophet cut his eyes out, Buddha plugged his ears
All I see is darkness for the next ten thousand years
Ch: Some wise person said "The truth will set you free"
But seems like truth got locked up, and they threw away the key
|
||||
3. |
Furnace Man
03:21
|
|||
|
1. Got so mad at my wife,
got drunk and wrecked her car
Broke my skull into 17 pieces
That didn't get me too far
Spent a month in a deep, dark coma
not expected to live
Woke up and said "Where the hell am I?
Somebody tell me, what gives?"
2.Went to Maui for a year
to heal, and figure things out
Took the tools of my trade
Work is what I'm all about
Once I had my head together,
it was time to make a fresh start
So I packed my tools, caught a ship to shore
and the first gal I met stole my heart
Ch: Came to Oregon to make my fortune
Made a bunch of babies instead
Dan, the furnace man – that's who I am
Until the day I'm dead
3. My youngest son is just nine
but he's almost as big as me
Weights one hundred and forty-five pounds,
and watches too much TV
But he can out-wrestle kids twice his age
and he's smart enough to really go far
if he don't get drunk, mad at his dad,
and wreck the goddam car
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
Rains Rolled In
02:53
|
|||
|
1. The rains rolled in, washed the slate clean
Clouds cloaked the mountains, the moss grew so green
All of the reasons that add up to Why
emptied their hearts, and let out a sigh
Ch: The wind is coiled like a snake in a cave
It strikes when memory sleeps in its grave
2. Down in the valley men build roads everywhere
The hills full of deer gently sniffing the air
Way down the coast, the fog settles in
Nobody knows just where the sea has been
Ch: Wave, you’ve no body, just a shape ever new
You break on the rocks while rocks break under you
Tag: The rains rolled in, washed the slate clean
|
||||
5. |
River
03:32
|
|||
|
1. The road goes down to the river
river flows to the sea
wind rustles through the cottonwoods
as if it's trying, trying to break free
Ch: And it all comes back, and it all rolls along
It's a brand-new refrain to the same long song
2. After a day on the water
after a walk in the hills
Tears just might follow laughter
fever runs after a chill
Ch: And it all comes back, and it all rolls along
You might never find out
what you've lost or what you've won
3. An owl calls from a sycamore
The moon sets in the west
A lazy breeze teases the morning,
saying "No one really knows best"
Ch: And it all comes back, and it all rolls along
It’s a brand-new refrain to the same long song
It’s a brand-new refrain to the same long song
|
||||
6. |
The Sea Is an Egg
03:34
|
|||
|
1. Because when I'm awake I am not sleeping
I sit and watch the silver moonlight shine
Because I have seen the Mediterranean
resting like a blue egg freed from time
2. Because I have slept at Music's house,
eaten dinner there, fried rice & spruce bark
Because his eyes spool like tape-recorder reels,
I've cast my emptiness into his heart
Ch: It's all here -- sun, forest, and sea
and Music is free in every way
ready to grant your fervent plea
and lift you from here to far away
3. The sea is an egg when you are five
waiting to hatch all of your dreams
keeping your secret hopes alive
helping invent all of your schemes
Chorus
|
||||
7. |
Your Imaginary Past
03:45
|
|||
|
1. The busy streets that you once vanquished
are now haunted by lonely taxicabs
On the fat green buses you once rode like a dragon
the silent buzzards wave their weary flags
2. In the same house where you once recited Lorca
the chandelier still hums like a dragonfly
I can stroll the park exactly where you roamed
and composed your faded alibi
Ch: I still remember it well
Your imaginary past
Your imaginary past
3. I remember you well, you and your silver spoon
A memory like a hoot owl nailed to a wooden gate
Where did our love go, little golden eyes?
All you think about now is diamonds and champagne
4. You said you’d be true lover, you'd be true friend
but the water you give me comes from a muddy pail
I hope we can try again to enjoy each other’s hearts
like a lamb enjoys her own furry tail
Ch: I still recall it so well
Your imaginary past [4x]
|
||||
8. |
Was a Time
04:01
|
|||
|
1. The dawn sneaks in like a thief this morning,
Paints the hills purple, red and gold
I wake too early, but it doesn't matter
The day is young, and I am growing old
2. I've hugged the earth, felt her pull me to her
Gazed at stars on a Big Sur night
Chewed on those big eternal mysteries
of being alive, of touch and sight
Ch: There was a time when music flowed like water,
when every circumstance turned into song
There was a time when all I did was wonder
Now I wonder where all that time has gone
3. Somewhere between here and Mendocino
I fell into a place I felt at home
Desert gave way to fields and forests
The hearth fire burned, and I ceased to roam
Chorus
Tag: Now I wonder where all that time has gone
|
||||
9. |
Music from True Vine
03:33
|
|||
|
1. When the clouds sweep in off the ocean
and the winter rains start to flood
There's a way to warm up the ambience
and put summer back in your blood
I don't believe in saints or angels,
I've got my doubts about eternal souls
But I do believe in magic, yeah,
and that magic is rock & roll
Ch: Hot as a steam bath, strong like sweat
Falling thru a torrent 'til your mind's all wet
Sally's got a radio, Jimmy's got a line
He says "Nobody can touch you
when the music sounds so fine"
Feelin' fine, got a line on music from true vine
2. There are storm clouds on the horizon
Plutocrats run the government
The way that things are lookin’ ain't exactly heaven-sent
But we’ve still got our friends and family,
and people willing to take a chance
Yes, even when times are pretty damn hard,
we can still call the tribe to dance
Chorus
Tag: Feelin' fine, got a line on music from true vine
|
||||
10. |
Burning
03:04
|
|||
|
1. I went down to the river
to watch the water roll by
But what I saw looked like trouble
Smoke and ash filled the sky
2. They say the oceans are rising
The tides sure are getting higher
Look up there on the mountain –
that whole damn ridge is on fire
Ch: The gorge is burning
Roll on, Columbia -- through the smoke
Our country seems to be turning
into some kind of fascist joke
3. Watched the moon rise up this evening,
glowing red in smoky light
Whales surfaced near the beach,
they know something isn't right
4. Another night of bone-dry weather
Too hot to sleep, it’s hard to breathe
I dream of mother-white-fog,
lying somewhere out to sea
Ch: The gorge is burning
Roll on, Columbia, through the fire
This land was my land, and your land
Now it’s bordered by razor wire
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
Roll on, Columbia, roll on
|
||||
11. |
Apocalypse Frolic
03:25
|
|||
|
1. Remember the future, forget about the past
Only got one candle, got to make it last
I had a good reason to stick to a plan
You had your own reasons to stick it to the man
Ch: Truth is wasted on beauty,
youth is wasted on the dead
Never believe what the boss man says
Got to get that through your head
2. Down, down, breakdown, foggy mountain breakdown
Mountain breaking down in the rain
Thunderstorms and banjos, got lost in Durango
Sometimes there’s nothin’ to gain
Ch: The warden said "Beg your pardon,
won't you come along with me, please?"
I just don't believe his slippery talk
He aims to get me down on my knees
Bridge: Seven promises to keep,
seven reasons not to sleep
I'll just be working in the garden
whenever I'm not singing to the trees
3. I'd rather be dancing to the beat of bliss
than working in this dirty factory
I'd rather be gazing at your momentary beauty
than chasing after eternity
Ch: Dancing in a frazzled circus,
in a winter of eternal mud
Balanced on the edge of tomorrow,
with nothing left but crumbs
4. "Crazy, crazy" said the big bad wolf
who lives at one end of the woods
"Maybe, maybe" said the dancing donkeys
"You know we'd sleep if we could"
Ch: Drunk on language every splintered nanosecond
in a world that whirls without end
It's hard to seek a pure vision
when you ain't got a nickel to spend
Repeat Bridge
|
||||
12. |
Hating Song
02:41
|
|||
|
1. Everybody's hating someone -- It's the new sensation
You hate my tribe, and I hate your nation
Seems like hating's taken over our town
I just hate all the people spreading hate around
2. Some folks hate Russia, others hate Iran
You hate Cuba, and I hate Kazhakstan
Whole lotta people hate the USA
Hating is the cool thing to do these days
Ch: Oh love is a beautiful thing
It can make your tired heart take wing
So why does everyone really love to hate?
3. People 'round the world hate the bloviating cheeto
Yanks overseas gotta travel incognito
There's enough hate around to start a third world war
Better start lookin' for an exit door
4. There's hate speech on Facebook, rants on Twitter
Everywhere you go, people seem so bitter
Half the people listening really hate this song
Can someone tell me: Why can't we all get along?
Chorus (Tag last line)
|
||||
13. |
One Long Freight Train
04:18
|
|||
|
1. I remember that summer like one long freight train
clicking slowly thru the empty yards
Back in my home town of latter-day saints,
trapped in a family broken into shards
2. Worked all summer in the salt-flat heat
a gandy dancer, far from Viet Nam
Pulling rotten ties, spiking in the new
lining tracks with a steel bar in my palms
Bridge: This is the place my father was born, but not me
I'll find my home on the edge of the western sea
3. Driving up the canyon in cool afternoons,
my Lady beside me, in her summer dress
We fought each other with our greatest weapon,
a false front of pride one can never confess
4. Looking up at the high Wasatch mountains,
knowing in a dozen weeks they'd be covered in snow
By then, I'd be back in the city of angels
leaving family, and lover, and nearly all I know
Bridge
5. I remember that summer like one long freight train
rolling down the line in the desert night
Stuck in my home town of latter-day saints,
hoping that something, somewhere will turn out right
hoping that something, somewhere will turn out right
|
||||
14. |
Ferryman
03:57
|
|||
|
1. Song in my ear, wind at my back
Heading for somewhere I just can't keep track
High hills glow in the lazy sunshine
Certainty flows down a crooked line
Ch: The old Ferryman has seen it all
The tides flow out, the empires fall
Someday soon, he might hear our call
2. Naked women with long hair in braids
Walking on driftwood logs in the morning haze
Green trees, white logs, pale red sun
No reason at all to be on the run
Ch: The old ferryman hums a sad song
Don’t bother with words, the tune carries him on
Herald of magic, envoy of loss
3. Sleeping on feathers in a wooden loft
Dream into horizons, endlessly soft
Orion danced up, right before dawn
I’ve got nothing to lose, nothing to pawn
Ch: Just ask Ferryman, he might tell you why
warm raindrops fall from an empty sky
But he rarely answers any question at all
Ch: The old Ferryman has seen it all
The tides flow in, the empires fall
Someday soon, he’ll answer our call
|
||||
15. |
Someone
04:05
|
|||
|
1. You lived awhile in the city
but something always turned out wrong
A man there said he loved you
but never learned to sing your song
Jack of Diamonds laughs so easy,
Queen of Spades smiles at the door
The legions of the upwardly mobile
drill like soldiers on the killing floor
Ch: Someone had a healing vision
Someone else had a broken heart
You tried to put it all together
But somebody just tore it all apart
2. I met someone in Durango
who looked a lot like you
She worked down at the truck-stop
where nothing's old and nothing's new
The mother who never even held you,
the sister you might have had
A stoplight that seems to take forever,
the deal that always turns out bad
Chorus
3. Pregnant in an old flannel nightgown,
no longer going out to bars
Daylight fades, temperature dropping
Tonight there'll be falling stars
Ghost ones gliding through the fog,
people sitting on a narrow beach
at the edge of the world, watching waves,
seeking answers just out of reach
Chorus
|
||||
16. |
Isis and Jesse
03:42
|
|||
|
1. Isis had a robe of flames
she put on every night
but in the day she slept in dreams
to hide her charms from sight
She never faltered, she never lied
always enraptured, she never died
2. Jesse rolled his broken frame
down garbage-littered streets
His legs were lost in a foreign war
but his mercy was complete
He was a dreamer, he was a thief
He stole your troubles and pawned your grief
Bridge: How long, how many years?
Too long, too many tears
have fallen in the dark
3. The river flows its one true course
yet sometimes floods its banks
It's hard to augur harmony
when soldiers stand in ranks
Isis is weary of all this strife
She's no one's mother, she's nobody's wife
4. When midnight falls and streets are still, Jesse smokes a joint
He wonders if he's the one Isis will anoint
He has no mother, he has no wife
He lost his brother to the sharp end of a knife
Bridge: Journey on, homeward bound
What you seek may yet be found,
shining in the dark
|
||||
17. |
Sun Rise
04:12
|
|||
|
1. I've seen the sun rise on the Sangre de Cristo
deer dancers coming down from the hills
chanting to gods I can never believe in
but even so, it gave me the chills
2. They say the biggest mystery is how
a seed grows into a living child
But even greater magic is to know
the child become a woman or a man
Ch: Sunrise warms my eyelids
Morning breaks cool and clear
A broken song, but still ringing
across this landscape we hold so dear
3. Streams and tides wash over me
Can hardly tell if they're outside or in
Someone calls in the distance
Reminding me I'm home again
Chorus
Tag: This landscape we hold so dear
|
||||
18. |
Bluebird Café
03:51
|
|||
|
1. Late in the evening, shops are all shuttered
Supper’s done, and the dishes put away
A dog is howling, or maybe it’s a coyote
Meet me at the Bluebird Café
2. Sometimes the clouds hunker down like a blanket
Feels like the sun got mad and went away
But the music is sweet, and lovers so entwined
down at the Bluebird Café
3. Down on Anapamu, street of dreams—listen!
Guitars and fiddles backing up a roundelay
Nowhere else you need to be tonight, my lover
Just down at the Bluebird Café
4. Remember how the moon rose up behind the mountains?
We were so young, we could never fade away
The songs filled our hearts, it was magic and golden,
those nights at the Bluebird Café
Down at the Bluebird Café
|
||||
Eric Alden Smith Portland, Oregon
Eric Alden Smith is an anthropologist, ecologist, and multi-instrumentalist. His songs are informed by places he has lived (California, Mallorca, Utah, Canadian arctic, Massachusetts, Pacific Northwest) and imagined. He has done session work for many songwriter friends over the years and produced two of Steve Kinzie's albums. His first album, “25 Years in the Pickle Factory”, was released in 2006. ... more
If you like Eric Alden Smith, you may also like:
The Edge of the Land
by Katie Spencer
Spencer's indie folk sophomore album was recorded live in the studio over the course of two days.
go to album
A Place Like Home
by Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke
The new EP from Scottish songwriter Alec Bowman_Clarke goes deep, setting vulnerable lyrics to gentle melodies & stripped-back arrangements.
go to album
I Used To Be Sad & Then I Forgot
by Mr. Alec Bowman_Clarke
Alec Bowman perfectly captures the dark soil under the pastoral world of British folk with this collection of melancholy originals.
go to album
For She Who Hangs The Moon
by David Luximon
Expansive music that has the gentle hush of ambient and the insistent pulse of post-rock; enveloping and absorbing.
go to album
Michelle Stodart’s folk music captures hope in melancholy, addressing the transformational aspects of the most challenging times.
go to album
Stunningly beautiful songs wrought with pedal steel and nylon-string guitar that cast mesmerizing melodic shapes.
go to album
The Flowers That Bloom in Spring
by Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert
Kieran Kane & Rayna Gellert offer up a stunning minimalist country record, conjuring huge emotions with little more than vocals & guitar.
go to album
