1. |
Billy Caldwell
03:27
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I walked into a den of wolves
Never thought I'd see the light of day
Feeling for me, bleeding for me
Silence 'fore the sins
One by one, I feel within
Alive with burning rage
You get right to the borderline
Watch it fade away
Billy Caldwell
In the dark, of the black, in the old coal night
I saw you once in the Indian lights
Shhh...they can hear you
Of course you'd break!
What'd I tell you once?
"The feeling just can't stay"
Drink it down, fill it up
A belly-full for the pain!
See I had it once, I let it slip
Won't happen again
Billy Caldwell
In the dark, of the black, in the old coal night
I saw you once, den of wolves, in the Indian lights
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2. |
Robinson Woods
03:55
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Old dead weather lost and gone, she says
"Whether you're right, you're gonna be wrong"
I'm not coming back, I ain't moving on, she says
"Man keep singing the same tired song"
Oh let me be, Lord let me be!
Oh won't you cut me down and set me free?
Or I'll set the woods on fire
We make our beds
How we love to lie, she says
"The last thing to go is pride"
Clean the blood, wipe your brow, she says
"Yeah there's nothing we can do about it now"
Oh, let me be, Lord let me be!
Oh won't you cut me down or set me free?
Or I'll set the woods on fire
Piece by piece
Life wears you down, she says
"Rust to dust, buried in the ground"
Them big ideas gone up in smoke, she says
"Ain't life sad, ain't life a fuckin' joke!"
On fire!
We set the woods on fire
Oh let me be, Lord, let me be!
Won't you cut me down and set me free?
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3. |
McGrath, Alaska
03:58
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I went alone to face the weather
The rain kept comin', all the people hide
Twelve hit the ground when the bells were ringing
Look around then wonder why?
Oh, this harsh land will take the light right from your eyes
But I never live, I never die
On a Sunday night they caught me stealing
Across the river at the old town post
And in the morning they roped me down
Carried me away and they hung me high
Oh! How that last moment just drifted on forever
It was a long time coming
A long time coming
I dreamt I lost you among the hemlock pines
And for three nights I searched far and wide
And I found your body in mangled sin
Along the banks of the Kuskokwim
And though this dream was just a dream
It felt much more than real
I never woke, I never feel
I never woke, I never feel
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4. |
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We were young and dumb and on the run
Like rustbelt highway vagabonds
Them drunken nights never set us free
Always less than you think and more than you need
Well I'm sometimes sunshine, sometimes shade
Sometimes a sea storm pulling you beneath my waves
But that ain't me, that ain't me, that ain't me no more
I walk that straight and narrow right to your door... Sometimes
Want the house, the kids, want the van in the driveway
All them toys on the floor in the middle of the hallway
Two bottles of red when the kids go sleep
It numbs my mind, but hell it hurts to think
Oh sometimes sunshine, sometimes shade
Sometimes a sea storm pulling you beneath my waves
But that ain't me, that ain't me, that ain't me no more
I walk that straight and narrow right to your door... Sometimes
Well folks they move and times must change
But still this life of ours is defined by pain
And like some raven flying with a broken wing
We fall back to Earth while hero gets hanged
Well I'm sometimes sunshine, sometimes shade
Sometimes a sea storm pulling you beneath my waves
But that ain't me, that ain't me, that ain't me no more
I walk that straight and narrow right to your door... Sometimes
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5. |
Second Wind
03:08
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I've been low for a long, long time
But they don't know I lost my mind
Booze and smokes gonna set me free
Not what I want, just what I need
I just can't catch my second wind
No, I just can't catch my second wind
These things I've done, the life I lead
The folks I know just watch me bleed
What I love most, oh gets ripped away
Now she's a ghost and I'm to blame
I just can't catch my second wind
No, I just can't catch my second wind
I've been low for a long, long time
But they don't know I've lost my mind
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6. |
Fever Dreams
04:26
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Chimney smoke in the dirty ether
I speak these words, my hands raised to God
A mournful cry and I must wander for you still
In these badlands I'm ordained to crawl
Fever dreams
Comfort me, comfort me!
In the light of the midnight sun
Fever dreams
Come for me, come for me
Oh my God, what have you done?
Among the dead trees I can feel you with me now
Emerald eyes the jewels of a devil's soul
I spend my life beholden to your troubled love
With a wicked grin I'm devoured whole
Fever dreams
Comfort me, comfort me!
In the light of the midnight sun
Fever dreams
Come for me, come for me
Oh my God, what have you done?
Fever dreams!
The wind it whispers
Breathes out my name
I must move through the pain
I live among, I live within my fallen gods
I live in fear that I'll never awake
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7. |
Northwoods Benediction
03:58
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I was waiting for something, I was waiting to hear you sing
Waiting for a reason, for a sign, so it seems
Waiting for the future and all good things to come
Fleeting little moments belonging to the young
Everything unspoken, all the day’s we’d yet to be
Anything remotely true to that which made us free
When the hope of youth is born to sad uncertainty
Mourning all the years we’d yet to clearly see
Love it comes and goes
Time it kills us slow
Kills us slow
Still I wait for something, still I wait to hear you sing
Waiting for an answer, still waiting to be free
Hoping for the future and all good things to come
Fleeting little moments belonging to the young
But love it comes and goes
Time it kills us slow
It kills us slow
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8. |
Old Big Timber
03:37
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Well there's a wild wind a blowin'
I've been hiding away for years
Spend your whole life a runnin'
Oh, just runnin' from the fear
There's a cold night comin'
I've been tryin' to find my feet
Spend your whole life a runnin'
Yeah just runnin' away from me
Quit your bawlin' now, got you under my thumb
There'll be peace enough when endings come
You can't live your life lookin' at the floor
Cause I need more
I need more
In the stillness of the mournin'
In a hope that never comes
In the sadness of forgetting
Just where it is you belong
My mind is a petty thief
Steals me blind, leaves me in grief
You're a stranger now, but I know you still
Only in dreams
Only in dreams
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Brian McGrath Chicago, Illinois
Brian McGrath is a Folk & Americana Singer-Songwriter from Chicago and currently based in Madison,
Wisconsin.
With intense, honest conviction tempered by Midwest sensibility and grit, the big man with a big voice tells tales of broken characters, desolate landscapes, and hopeful redemption all along the highways and byways of the American heartland.
McGrath's new album "The Lonely Hour" now out.
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