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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Also Going Nowhere, Fishing Song, Lake Street Hustle, Tomatoes From the Vine, Hard Sardine, who cooks for you, Minneapolis, below your knows, and 1 more.
1. |
a walk out of doors
02:47
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Take heed take heed said the stream that I passed
I know where I am going know that I shall last
Through trials of men I have rolled on
Take heed said the stream In a setting sun
Take cover take cover said the beating rain
I fall upon the victors and those they have slain
Through ten thousand forests and ten thousand songs
Take cover said the rain in a setting sun
Go forth go forth said the meadow where I stood
Ahead of them pastures of brotherhood
Past dampened city sidewalks and their tolling gun
Go forth said the meadow in a setting sun
Grab hold grab hold said the trees in a gust
I bend with the stars and every grain of dust
A servant am I and a master of none
Grab hold said the trees in a setting sun
Take my hand take my hand said my brother to me
The horizon is ours every step to the sea
But alone I am nothing alone i am one
Take my hand said my brother in a setting sun
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2. |
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I’ve been drinking muddy water most of my days
I ain’t getting any stronger in any particular ways
See I’ve been all around the whole wide world and I’d do it all again
If i could just end up sitting on the river in the promised land
I’ve been walking in the valley all by myself
Didn’t get on my knees to pray to ask for any help
But when death finally swept my feet I prayed the lord my soul to keep
And here i am a saved man waiting on the promised land
One two three four five six and seven
All these sins together ain’t getting me closer to heaven
But I heard that man up in the sky got everything you want including cherry pie
And he don’t turn away no man waiting on the promised land
So my advice to you my dearest friends
Don’t go committing yourself to any material man
See a gods a gods a gods a god and all they need is a wink and a nod
And they won’t turn away no man waiting on the promised land
Just tell em yous a lost man waiting on the promised land
When you die tell em yous a lost man waiting on the promised land
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaacho
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3. |
Refugee
03:51
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Now They used to call ya mama back where your from
Get the kids off to school get em back when they’re done
Try and raise em right feed em well
Teach em how to see between heaven and hell
Oh but things are different out at sea
Now all they will call you is refugee
Now they used call father a doctor on the field
Scalpel your sword helping hand only shield
You couldn’t tell the difference of color or creed
Judging everyone by what they need
Oh but things are different out at sea
Now all they will call you is refugee
Now they used to call you brother used to call you their son
Didn’t learn to read but knew how to hold a gun
You couldn’t go outside to see the village that it took
To raise this kind of hell only the devil could cook
But things are different out at sea
Now all they will call you is refugee
Now they call you a terror a threat to all man
Say your faith has no place on this foreign sand
And i wonder if jesus felt the same
Preaching at the temple your sins in his name
And if he returned on a stranded ship
Would we crown him with thorns spilt his back with a whip
Oh but things are different out at sea
Now all they will call you is refugee
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4. |
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Just the other afternoon I was sitting reading the morning news
When a crazy itch came over me from all those terrorists can’t you see
Coming from the air the ground even outta that newspaper watch out
So i went looking all around way up and down that busy town
Just to see if i could find me one of all them terrorists I always hear of
So many stories I figured the streets would be just full of em
First i checked behind my door in the oven underneath the floor
Knocked on the door of my neighbors house just to see what he was all about
Had a beard so i was suspicious right from the start yes i was
Found a few terrorist hunting friends on a website against Islam
Said we could find em all in one shot head on down to your local mosque
I went down the block found a few folks praying it was terrrrrifyingly peaceful
Well this hunting gigs a real five to nine so i quit my job to hunt full time
Got a detective coat detective hat should bag me one dressed like that
Found some clues a howard zinn book a basketball card signed by Kareem abdul-Jabbar and
map it had the united states of america on it watch out
So I went down to my local library just to investigate where all the terrorists may be
Some say Obama he fits the mold says he does a good Bin-laden pose
But I never heard anybody say Jared Loughner was one
And I never heard anybody say James Holmes was one
And I never heard anybody say Adam Lanza was one
And I never heard anybody say Dylann Roof was one
And I never heard anybody say Devin patrick Kelly was one
And I never heard anybody say Stephen Paddock was one
And I never heard anybody say Dick Cheney was one
They’re all a bit to crazy a bit too confused a bit too lonely and much to white
Well it turns out it’s pretty hard to catch a terrorist
So i figured I just go head an elect a facist
We’re gonna make america white again y’all just like it never was
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5. |
Ocooch Mountain Blues
03:08
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In the hills of the Ocooch Mountain
black tar baby being born
Shaking cause her mama saved herself
Guilt and the guise and the scorn
A false hearted lover lead her a stray
Needle candle and a spoon
They made love in the trailer park
Light of the cold blood moon
Soon as he came he fled away
Left a habit she could not kill
And a baby yet unborn
Who’d be hooked when he met this world
Give her ice water when she’s thirsty
Methadone when she’s dry
If that hit don’t kill her now
Be using till the day she dies
A tree in falls in the forest
Lucky if it makes a sound
Just like her back on the bedroom floor
When the dealer gets outta town
In the hills of the Ocooch Mountains
Black tar baby being born
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6. |
Girl With Green Eyes
03:59
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As the day began breaking the night forsaken
my lover she leaves through the window she came
Dressed in red warm winter flannel
My lips still sit the sound of her name
She came to me dancing a night left to passion
A fiddle it played our movements in time
Her hair spun gently the winds of the twilight
The dark was descending we paid no mind
The breath she was breathing heaving with the season
So we left the city for the rivers at dawn
Our skin touched gently the sands of the shoreline
Her skin turned rough her green eyes were gone
With the river flowing she turned to the ocean
Her hands gripped the stars covered their light
The tears from her laughter grew trees to surround me
I choked on their branches heavy with sight
so she leaves in the morning no word of her warning
I’m left with the forest her heart in my hand
It’s black as the stallion that rides into midnight
I weep for the woman the ground where she stands
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7. |
Staten Island Ferry
02:06
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Lady justice took her blindfold off saw a black girl crying and a new york cop
Said i come from the land of authority Eric Garner had it coming ain’t it plain to see
Now I heard about the chokehold that put him to rest but he shouldn’t been out selling loosie cigarettes
And plus Pantaleo’s eight years on the street some family in the force he’d really take some heat
If we took away his badge and took away his gun be one more black man out on the run
And I know he’s been on the wrong side of the right like the time he stripped searched them two boys in
plain sight
We shouldn’t be a looking to deep into the past the first should stay first the last stay last
And rumor has it Eric he was fixing to sue for that cavity search under a sky blue
This city it don’t need that kinda press dead or in jail now we shouldn’t care less
Let’s write this in the papers put this in the books show this country just how justice looks
Arrest the only witness on a phony gun charge and give that cop a raise let him really live large
Lets this be a lesson to not the masters but the many
This is what you get when you ride that staten island ferry
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8. |
Eddie's Blues
03:27
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Eddie’s been drinking on a what you said
Last time he saw you in his bed
How there ain’t nothing for him in this world
Just a stack a money waiting to be burned
So he plays it stupid you play it kind
If you don’t look back you can’t see behind
He’s gonna get him something to ease his pain
It’s a different girl with a different name
It’s chances are they’re keeping the time
Cause they’re kicking him out paying him no mind
He’s gonna follow his legs to the end of this street
Don’t an aimless heart need aimless feet
It’s hello Sally’s hello Sue’s
Good bye sight he’s seeing in twos
Just count your tens your fives your pairs
Two kings in the crib with long black hair
And if they call you stranger he’ll call you his old friend
If you plan to stay here he’ll see you till the end
Cause this town ain’t for living it’s for every shade of blue
Give him your name one more time swear your someone he once knew
He says “I wish I was a lead on the old steamboat”
Doing my best keeping her a float
Reading the river having it read me
M-I-S-S-I-P-P
But here I am on dry land
Just a beat up boy I ain’t no man
So Delia Dehlia will come to me
I sure am lost but it ain’t at sea
And if they call you stranger he’ll call you his old friend
If you plan to stay here he’ll see you till the end
Cause this town ain’t for living it’s for every shade of blue
Give him your name one more time swear your someone he once knew
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9. |
Ballad of J. Jerome
04:38
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Don’t think I’ll make it to the shelter before they close up the doors
I’ll be stuck on the southside of town with Peaches and the whores
It’ll drop below Zero ‘fore the morning makes it’s way
But i got a new leather jacket yes I did at saint vincent de paul today
And I know what Joes is still open even on a monday night
You can tell him to turn the stove off ya i’m drinking my dinner tonight
See the store fronts shining with the christmas lights and the bells
Selling stain glass windows yes they are just pass the charmont hotel
See them taking off their jackets getting ready for the big game
Don’t even check their pockets no they don’t when I ask em for a little bit of change
And i know it don’t much matter when my lamp is your street light
Garbage can is empty so i’m drinking my dinner tonight
Diesel trucks scream by me and the bus don’t run anymore
I’ll make it off of fourth street and down to the grocery store
Where the faces are harder and they ask me what I do for work
Know if they’d only listen they don’t like living on this hurt
Like i said it don’t much matter cause we all got some kinda fight
And me i’m just a moving on drinking up my dinner tonight
Never starred in your movies never got that record deal
Never played the hero no i didn’t out on some football field
Never one for fortune i was never one for any kinda fame
So i’ll wonder if you’ll think about me when death finally calls my name
Don’t think you’ll be grieving in them papers black and white
So i guess i’ll just keep moving on drink up my dinner tonight
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10. |
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Tell me where was you train was leaving town
Standing on the corner head was hanging down
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Down on the railway what did you find
Man torn apart blood on the line
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Burlington took my brother a friend of mine
Came here on a whim see them mountains shine
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Santa fe took my brother a freind of mine
Never hurt no one always had the time
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Mister coal man says get that coal on time
Can’t stop for no one on this colorado line
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Tell me what was his name how many years was he
Only some hobo no one cared to see
Head hanging low as that coal whistle blow
Tell me where was you train was leaving town
I was standing on the corner head was hanging down
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11. |
Mt. Shavano's Angel
03:14
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Eighteen wheels and big jake break woke me up today
Now My heart did a pound my head did a shake just thinking of the way
I’ve been out stumbling out on that ol frieght line
Cutting through them mountains just wishing they were mine
Georgia makes the Mate then she’s loading up the van
She’s going to kiss that texas rose soon as they hit dry land
And they way they’re leaving its a kicking off the end
Its got me stealing looking like a fool again
Cause I’m searching for a blessing
Somewhere within the wind
But the Angel of Shavano has disappeared again
Susie says your dreaming boy it’s time to let it ride
My ol’ gal and her sex toy don’t need me tonight
So won’t you meet me on the quiet part of town
And I’ll be painting on this face of a clown
Cause I’m searching for a blessing
Somewhere within the wind
But the Angel of Shavano has disappeared again
So we watch the world burn pouring our drinks over ice
Now ain’t it you’re turn to try and cross the same river twice
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12. |
Get me Something to Feed
02:57
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If you see my only mama tell her I’m going home
If you see my only mama tell her I’m going home
I gotta get me something get me something get me something to feed
Get me something get me something to feed
If you see my only sister tell her I’m going home
If you see my only sister tell her I’m going home
I gotta get me something et me something get me something to feed
Get me something get me something to feed
If you see my only brother tell him I’m going home
If you see my only brother tell him I’m going home
I gotta get me smething get me something get me something to feed
Get me something get me something to feed
I hope your sound is sleep
I hope your sweet is dream
And I wish you were in my bed tomorrow
And I wish you were in my bed tomorrow
But that’s okay we want to make it someday
But that’s okay we want to make it someday
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13. |
in the valley
04:06
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Manifesting destiny one morning awoke on Cali’s shore
To a big flashlight and somebody pounding on my passenger door
It chanced to be a police officer wondering where I’m from
And If i fail to show my drivers license he’ll have to draw his gun
He said go back to the valley that borned you
Go back to the valley you walk alone to
Cambria county don’t need one more broken man
So I thought I’d test my luck a little northern coast to rest
Amongst the pears and plums aplenty Oregon should know best
But alas I was sorely mistaken they were kicking everyone out
The election came and now they’re yelling go back to the south
They say go back to the valley that borned you
Go back to the valley you walk alone to
Parkdale county don’t need one more broken man
So my friends my family my foes a plenty this story that I tell
A simple song of the many and how we’ve come to dwell
See the tired the poor the huddled masses no place to call their own
So they wander wishing moss would gather on a rolling stone
I’m going back to the valley that borned me
I’m going back god damn the salt salt sea
I hope vernon county could use one more broken man
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Luke Callen Minneapolis, Minnesota
Luke Callen is originally from the river town of La Crosse, WI-the heart of the Driftless Region-and currently lives in Minneapolis, MN by way of Colorado. A teller of tall tales and a singer of short tunes-Luke lugs around a couple of guitars-a few harmonicas and even a banjo if he has to. A simple writer and liver who cares more about his cast irons than he does about his interweb streams. ... more
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