Get all 29 James Tristan Redding releases available on Bandcamp and save 75%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Leap Songs, Part 5, Leap Songs, Part 4, Song A Week, Vol. 8, Leap Songs, Part 2, Leap Songs, Part 1, The Nashville 24, Vol. 3, Look Out World, Song A Week, Volume 7, and 21 more.
1. |
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He will shatter the bottle to lighten the load
And go talk to the engine in binary code
Held his breath closed his eyes 'til the glass overflowed
Take the stairs to the roof when the bathtub explodes
It's midnight in Milwaukee and the rodeo clowns
Just ran right out the door with a full case of Crown
There's a stain on the wall and an officer down
And the river is racing to get out of town
Crooked teeth make her smile unforgettable still
Crooked men won the game up on capitol hill
Crooked birds fly in circles, they all know the drill
Crooked women don't float, but a wood casket will
If the ones who destroy just as often create
Is she kidding herself when she locks up the gate
To the big concrete house that belongs to the state
Where he'll fall or he'll fly but he'll learn how to hate
It's tomorrow in Thailand but yesterday here
Inappropriate maybe but he asked the cashier
If she knows how to make all his thoughts disappear
And then hang out to dry from her dad's chandelier
Half the whores in Las Vegas are under arrest
And the rest are fish-tailing under duress
The police and the sailors like to bet with the best
But the wrong side of Reno is the heart of the west
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2. |
82nd Street Sideways
05:01
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Hotwired a '64 Caddy high as a kite
A piece of steel in my left hand, I'm thinking I just might
Cross 82nd Street sideways, call up my long lost friend
Dig for a dime in the ashtray, close my eyes and descend
We're going out to the graveyard
We're gonna' learn about pain
We're headed 32 miles south of Highway 59
We're gonna' dig in your veins
I used to bathe in the river when I was three-foot-nine
The sound of bones made me shiver, drove me barefoot and blind
I've seen you under the floodlights try to dance away your debt
But all the drugs you can buy and the sex you can sell hasn't helped you yet
We're going out to the graveyard
We're gonna' learn about pain
We're headed 32 miles south of Highway 59
We're gonna' dig in your veins
Now baby, I'm not a hustler, and I'm not a thief
At my worst, I'm a gambler…I bet that's a relief
No need to reach for your wallet, I'm not after your gold
I see the future and you drew a seven, I'm here for your soul
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3. |
No Rest
06:06
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I've never seen so bright a sunrise
Or felt the rain so innocent
Some kicking wind did try to haunt me
This dawn remains magnificent
Last night I saw the ghost of Elvis
Beg for the rest he's long deserved
If you tease a heart that's hungry
Your weary spirit is preserved
No rest for the wicked
Just twilight halfway through Nebraska
The bitter road upon my tongue
It feels at least a month since Denver
And sage is lighting up my lungs
900 miles into the sunrise
Twin Falls a distant memory
Deep in the hills of South Dakota
I sing the same old melody
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4. |
Me Was Try
02:29
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We was young we was dumb we was blind
We no speak we no think we no mind
We the type we the same we okay
We is wrong we is think we is fine
She be sex she be free she be spread
She are mine she are yours she are dead
She the lost she the found she today
She done wrong she done sell she done bed
He am laugh he am cry he am lose
He were guess he were pick he were choose
He the fault he the blame he betray
He do wrong he do her he do use
Me was kill me was try me was save
Me no help me no stay me no brave
Me the bad me the guilt me away
Me is wrong me is owe me is pay
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5. |
On A Night Like This
04:02
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Run away my love
To a velvet dream, it's waiting just behind your eyes
In a moonlit stream
Winding in between days past and never been
On a night like this
I'm empty handed, completely stranded
Alone and hopeless, without a chance
I'm lost and lonely until you show me
I'll be the only one with whom you'll dance
Set a sail for spain
To a sunset sky, no telling when the winds will change
Plot a course back home
Run away from me to set your spirit free
On a night like this
I'm empty handed, completely stranded
Alone and hopeless, without a chance
I'm lost and lonely until you show me
I'll be the only one with whom you'll dance
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6. |
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You can kill the paperboy and get away with it
Because he doesn't know how to fight
But I made my mark right on my confession
And left it along with the money
There was iron in the water but I drank anyway
Everything you put in front of me
I didn't notice your shoes but I should have told you
How classy you looked in your button up
My, those are some pretty eyes you have
Three days later it was Tuesday on the east side
On Wednesday you spoke my name
Thursday stood a boy naked at the altar
Witnessing a crime
By Friday I could see your soft reflection
Translucent as your words
Never leave your soul sitting by an empty glass
On a napkin in black ink
My those are some pretty eyes you have
You can kill the paperboy
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7. |
Sunday Night
04:02
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Sunday night the stars are shining bright
Evening moon I'm in your silver light
Hand in hand, moon over open land
Scattered sand, the stars like garland stand
Overcoat, december eyes
My lovely child, we own the skies
Sunday night the stars are shining bright
Evening moon I'm in your silver light
Lacy mist and my train awaits
Raindrops lie like silver plates
Perfect eve lay down upon my sleeve
Skin conceive and light around us weave
Sunday night the stars are shining bright
Evening moon I'm in your silver light
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8. |
9th of March
02:55
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On the 9th of March you came out to see the light
Was this big old world such an awesome sight
Without a doubt, you're the heavens' own delight
Let our family's love be soft and strong and right
Promise me you'll make all the right mistakes
Challenge us to grow, and I swear we'll do the same
When you grow up and hear the father say you may
The bells will ring on that glorious Saturday
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9. |
Rain Shine
05:57
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Looking at the world through an empty glass
It's easy to lose hope and feel like faith has passed
Looking at the world like it's all up to me
It's easy to lose hope and fall down on my knees
I like the rain 'cuz when it pours I know for sure
You're in control
I like the sun 'cuz when it shines I know I'm fine
You told me so
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10. |
Switchboard
08:32
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Every morning she wakes with the sunrise
The grace of an angel deep in her dark eyes
Hours ago she taught him to smile today
Now he's unconscious hundreds of miles away
Every shade of blood and inspiration
I'm tired of the switchboard, imperfect connections
It's all interference and mostly rejection
The desperate phone calls without any warning
From broken receivers at four in the morning
Running on empty slowly the days die
Singing the same sun under the same sky
I'm looking westward to curse all the states between
Damn the Dakotas, I envy the skies they've seen
Every shade of blood and inspiration
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James Tristan Redding Nashville, Tennessee
British-American songwriter, singer, audiobook narrator, studio player, Godin Guitars official
artist.
Founded global collective www.SongAWeek.org, performance art experience The Under Over: tinyurl.com/uoxuo (song circle underneath a highway) and writing retreat www.TheNashville24.com (annual challenge: write 24 songs in 24 hours).
Cuts by Sarah Harralson, Eli Alger, Emma Gale, David Easterling
... more
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