1. |
Susan at the Crossroad
04:36
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I don’t care about your hustle / I’m only here for a short time / To be fair, I did whistle / But I haven’t got a dime
I am going, going to reap what I have sowed / I am waiting for Susan at the crossroads
Don’t you tell me ‘bout your maker / I know Him well and we are good / Go to hell, you pretty faker / You know what I can make with guitar wood?
I am going, going to explode / I’m believing in Susan at the crossroads
Her hair, dark as the river / Morning doves find her there / And her skin is smooth as winter / I may drown or I may freeze
I am going, going to do what I am told / I am telling Susan from the crossroads
She spoke until the sun set / Then she turned east and I got lost / Smoke on the hills so I went west / I could marvel or I could burn
I am going, going to behold / Susan at the crossroads
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2. |
Juice and Sage
04:03
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My soap smells of juice and sage / and you should go on to see her / my soap smells of juice and sage / I’ll find my way home on my own
Your boots smell of polish and sweat / and you should go on to see her / maybe we walked for too long a time / nobody’s fault but my own
No one should assume at path or a gait / or forfeit their freedom for loves kicks / you led the way, yes, but I followed you / nobody’s fault but my own
I’ll lodge myself in a very dark cave / with walls made of sharp obsidian / my skin it will roughen and I will grow old / and no one will come to see me
(lyrics by Simone Schmidt)
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3. |
Don't Mind Me
04:12
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She said it was not her real name / instead she’d be called / the same as her, she who walked with fire / and burned down the last record store / don’t mind me
There were two ways out of town / two ways to look at it / two live wires tattooed with venom / one was a ghost and one was full of children / don’t mind me
Her black skies, her fallen towers / that was her name, Joan of Arc in all the flowers / what a shame when she jumped off the stage / and was found ranting at the bus stop / don’t mind me
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4. |
Valerie
02:28
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Sounds like a knocking on the door / the ringing chimes / clockwise, Valerie / her hands the hands of time / slowly twist the key / spinning wheels, Valerie
The fading hours hid fast friends / her glass face missing them / from the mantle, Valerie / she sets to start the chores / fingerprints prove / you’ve been here before, Valerie
Her mourning tears will find / a belle in dust / she draws the blinds / the winding dusk / the peace of mind / haunting Valerie / up from the bed and back again / Valerie will tell you when
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5. |
Pull Over Johnny
04:19
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I’ve been pushing rope and chasing fast women / I’ve been shooting dope and making my living / hitting that tail end of the week / keeping it real every time I speak / copping that feel on a deadend street / lining up them rails just to stay on my feet / I’ll give you a deal, boys, that can’t be beat
Slinging my six when the tongue wags / sitting on the fix with the ziplock bags / moving that powder, Miss Molly Forenow / king of the hour’s gonna show you how / more superman power than the law allows / don’t take it like a coward / gotta stand up proud / bath-salts on the sour make you shout out loud
Keep the motor running in case the police come / you’re purring and a’humming and I’m almost done / make more money if you know my name / they’ll play you for a honey if you’re in the game / it stops being funny when the trick’s the same / it’s pull over, Johnny out geeking in the rain / they’ll give you what you need or they’ll give you away
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6. |
Marietta
04:57
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Mary, Mrs. James, how much has really changed? / the river men still taste the same / salt in their sweat / and sweet in the rain
There’s nothing going on / on the banks of the river / somewhere between / alone and together / oh, Marietta, will you ever come find me? / there’s nothing wrong with a sinner saying please
I’ve been out with the night fishermen / and the women all wearing Harley-Davidson / whose arms and legs are made of Virginia Slims
There’s something going on / on the banks of the river / oh, Marietta, will you ever / come find me down by the river bank? / there’s nothing wrong with a sinner giving thanks
The railroad boys are setting off fireworks / and those redhead girls got all the percs / can’t recall their names / but we laughed till it hurt
There’s nothing going on / but there’s something going on / oh, Marietta
(written with Morris Paul Lippens)
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7. |
Jennifer Pine Tree
07:05
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Jennifer Pine Tree / needles will burn at the thought of heat / flames return if not for Jennifer / her soft bed for my dark river
Distant translator / reminiscent stranger / be my savior / in an instant situation / distance translation
Deeper depths / empty aquifers / some kind, older power generator / Jennifer, it’s a wonder / you held your breath under / (so long) water
Distant translator / reminiscent stranger / be my savior / in an instant situation / distance translation
Whenever I leave / the wheels turn me out of reach / the names we’ve learned / ill-gotten, not forever / are lost instead / so tells me, Jennifer
Distant translator / reminiscent stranger / be my savior / in an instant situation / distance translation
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8. |
Slinger
04:19
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I was her first / should’ve never been / guess it was a mistake / the way I let her in
But I didn’t tell her lies / to make her want me more / she wants me anyway / from years before
When I was just a kid / a slinger on the street / they knew what Jimmy did / the guy you wanna meet
Slinger, drug slinger / Slinger, oh my slinger
A town bound to fail / another hard-luck tale / she’s too young for shame / she’ll never be the same
I knew she had a man / wasn’t my concern / she was a river girl / he was too good for her
Jesus on the prowl / he bought her everything / he wants a young girl now / and he makes me sick
I did it anyway / I knew I was her only chance / to know something more than circumstance
Then it all went down / a man died that night / it was self-defense / but that don’t make it right
I don’t have no regrets / you get what you deserve / but I can’t forget / I left her on the curb /
After what she saw / begging me to take her / far from Wichita / the place I knew would break her
Slinger, gun slinger / Slinger, drug slinger / Slinger, oh my slinger
So I did what I did / I ain’t made for prison / they’d lock me up for it / they’d lock me up for living / who wears a bad luck charm? / a slinger on the streets / I didn’t mean no harm / the guy you wanna meet
(by Morris Paul Lippens)
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Stripmall Ballads Maryland
Stripmall Ballads (Phillips Saylor Wisor) is outsider folk music from the odd state of Maryland,
USA.
Since 2002, Wisor has been an active figure in the folk underground as half of the widely celebrated old-time group The Shiftless Rounders or as the touring banjoist with IBMA award-winning King Wilkie.
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