1. |
The Island
03:44
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Intro
Verse 1
The Island lay before us
on a calm and sulfurous sea
mineral white and cobalt blue
its salt sunburned my skin
Verse 2
The strength I could muster to hold your hand
as the gulf stream pulled us in
to the mackerel fish and the oil rig lights
that called the gulf their home
Chorus A
An ode to ignoring my plans
Francis dying in the heat
North Padre girls on the beach
Instrumental (same as Intro)
Verse 3
The rain it came in whispers
then shouts across the beach
then mumbled in the wind and ended in the light
Bridge A
Of a faint and a poem and a red, bloodied sun
Chorus A
Instrumental (same as verse)
Bridge B
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2. |
Your Girl in Black Top
02:39
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Verse 1
I know the glow of a Christmas spent atop red rock
Wake to the same breath, the hot breath of your girl in black top
Verse 2
With you I heard of a dead dog and giggled a slow friend
Stretched out a soldier arm, you were curled under blue screen
You knew it best
So hard and wrong
Verse 3
I want this, I want this, I want this, I burn in my skin
We drove the six hour slog back to valleys in mountains
I know the cool of your void
Verse 4
Slow this wheel so as to feel
the wind pass through her hair
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3. |
Amarillo #2
04:49
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Verse 1
Amarillo mid-afternoon
the sky’s filled with the memory of a girl
twirling in a J.C. Penney’s dress at the tri-state rodeo
You and I, Jim, sipping pounders of Coors Light
taking turns in the best of that girl’s light
as the sound of cicadas rises above us
Bridge A
Friends, they went off to college
Amarillo
And we found work out on the Llano
Estacado
Verse 2
Autumn felt like a distant moon
winter blanched out red as the afternoon work
pulling yards of barbed wire across a potter’s field
But the pay was decent well enough to afford
an Omnibus and five months in Guadalajara
chasing the phantoms of our youth
Bridge B
Through an arroyo blacked out with rain
a wet flask of mescal in your pocket
pockets of bone-blue moon in the rain
I don’t want to go through life on my own
Instrumental
Verse 3
Nowadays I drift from coast to coast
Great Plain to staked plain chasing the oil plays
as a rigger for a company out of Dallas
Two weeks on then two weeks off
two weeks spent chasing a friend, Amarillo
you coiled and carried him away
Coda
Amarillo, you coiled and carried him away
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4. |
Fredericksburg
06:28
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Verse 1
Choke the bedroom this star is dying out
Settle the lightning and the thunderous sound
Aim for a motel out on the 71
The rain comes in torrents the rain comes in torrents
the rain comes in torrents
Chorus A
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
Verse 2
I could sense it when you pulled up the driveway
I’d never touch you again never touch you again
When you read to me in the afternoon
I’d never touch you again never touch you again
Chorus B
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
Fredericksburg on Saturdays
Verse 3
Now I wet these walls with a fresh layer of paint
Booming bass on the microphone
This is how I learn to leave
I’m not gonna run this time not gonna run this time
But I just wanna leave this place, I wanna leave this place
Not gonna run this time, not gonna run this time
I just wanna leave this place, I wanna leave this place
Chorus B
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
In Fredericksburg on Saturdays
Fredericksburg on Saturdays
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5. |
Build a Sun
03:42
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Verse 1
I stood at the precipice crowing
So proud my sun outspoken
I stood above the cliffs of Dover
I stood
Stumbled broke an arm
Verse 2
I awoke covered in white wash
The same I had used in bad times
If I start now I can fix this, if I start now
Before the morning bell
Builds another sun
Chorus A
Whoa – a- a – oh
Build a Sun
Bridge
Elemental, metamorphic, hieroglyphic, pyroclastic sun!
Sentimental, broken-hearted, iron-welded, scatterbrained black sun!
Chorus B
Whoa – a- a- oh
Build a Sun
Instrumental
Verse 3
Made a camp down there in the ravine
Using hatchets then a good saw
I worked until I, I worked
Until the canted light
began to fire out
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6. |
West Texas River
02:51
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Verse 1
There’s a West Texas River
and a fire on its banks
there’s a boy without a country
disappeared into the smoke
Will hell I run across a field
with a hammer in my hand
Verse 2
There’s a West Texas River
and a country on its banks
there’s a ghost chased a fire
disappeared into the smoke
The hell I got what I asked for
a sickled shield and a black lung
a tired colt and arrested
and scarred
Verse 3
There’s a West Texas River
and a starling on its banks
there’s a joy to a riotous song
for a town that lost control
for a time in my life when I lost it all
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7. |
Poor Sights
02:45
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Verse 1
For such a good man you have a black eyed wonder
cool in the blue dusk then carry me on
we were poor sights some April in Texas
our colt died along a river
so I settled down
Verse 2
Unfulfilled I bought me an outline
of a ranch house here in the valley
and she, she is a good wife
and I, I am a good man
Bridge
And I walked the edge of a knife
with you in a hotel room
*pause*
Verse 3
I’m a soft man but I’m reckless
We had our last light fight, April in Texas
Shotgun, shotgun morning
Shotgun, shotgun
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8. |
Nebraska
05:35
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Verse 1
Don’t worry Charlie, the lamp light steals the stars
Don’t worry darling, the starlight, it’s still there
Verse 2
The old girl from Nebraska, her crows feet, I love her hands
Truck stop after midnight we’ll shiver down a spine
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9. |
Drying Out
04:15
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Verse 1
Jerm, I think I’m drying out
She’s in my morning dreams but I’m drying out
Then the desert opens its ugly mouth
and swallows me like a river
Verse 2
There on the naked plains I was a ghost of love
Rolling in the hay with a ghost of love
but I threw away the rearview mirror
before it swallowed me like a river
Bridge
And I know in the coming months
I’ll be feeling good
Feeling fine...
Verse 3
Jerm, I think I’m drying out
She’s in my morning dreams but I’m drying out
No desert will open its ugly mouth
and swallow me like a river
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10. |
Wartime Blues Missoula, montana
An orchestral folk outfit based in the mountains of Montana.
PRESS
brian@bantermm.com
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