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. |
231201: Blessed Mess
03:43
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Fly so high you won't come down
Burn your shadow to the ground
Spread you wings
Let the wind carry you home
Skin and bone
Start again
Like you did so long ago
So alone
And it's a blessed mess
Yeah it's a blessed mess
Go so far you can't come back
Paint your insides charcoal black
Make sure not one thing will change
And let your lover take the blame
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2. |
231202: Wait Forever
03:11
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Hands in my pockets
Cheeks turning red
Heart beating faster
With each word that I've said
Asked you a question
Ten seconds ago
Coming to realize
I don't wanna' know
Do me a kindness
And don't answer yet
Keep smiling at me
Until I forget
Talk about the weather
About the falling leaves
But baby wait forever
To answer me please
Well I'm making small talk
That's a nice dress
How's your Thanksgiving
Thankful I guess
Got any plans
For the rest of your life
On second thought
Don't tell me tonight
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3. |
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I have a dream every morn'
You're by my side by the dawn
Chasing illusions of you
Never mind that they never come true
Well you wrap your arms around me
And a phantom love surrounds me
If your shadow was a drug
Then I would overdose
All I touch is the cold winter air
When you seemed so close
So it's one more night
Looking for love from a ghost
Fanciful eyes of my heart
Show me your face in the dark
Oh and lies I can believe
Haunted by what I can almost see
When the sky fills with the sun
Me and your spirit we come undone
Days are long try to rest these eyes
And wait for your echo tonight
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4. |
231204: Minor Celebrity
02:48
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I want to be a minor celebrity
Wanna' get stopped on the street
But only once in a while
I want a name that's never in a hall of fame
But it might be one of the answers
On trivia night
Make me one of the extras
On your favorite show
A one hit wonder
On the radio
I'll be the guy that dates the girl
Who just had 15 minutes of fame
There's three Reddit threads about me
But no Wikipedia page
I could go on YouTube
With a cat that can sing
Get a full body tattoo
Of the Lord Of The Rings
I could host a podcast
All about sourdough
Early in the pandemic
It was Tom Hanks' favorite show
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5. |
231205: Die Today
03:41
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If I was to die today where would I go
Up into the clouds above or down below
Would I face the fire like the books all say
What would become of me if I was to die today
If I was to die today would I be ready
Walk away from worldy things every penny
Let that gentle river wash my worries away
Carry this old body if I was to die today
This morning when I woke up from a dream
All I knew was life's not what it seems
When it's time to leave here well I can't say
But I'd be ready if it was today
If I was to die today what would I wear
Something not too formal but still shows that I care
Brand new pair of boxers my best shirt just in case
I'd look like this forever if I was to die today
If I was to die today what could I bring
Just this old guitar fresh pack of strings
Picking with the angels Jimi Jerry Stevie Ray
Bet I'd learn a thing or two if I was to die today
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6. |
231206: A Man Named Tom
03:36
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A man named Tom was kind to me one day
Said some words I needed someone to say
If you haven't yet I hope there comes a day
You meet a man named Tom
Well I read the bible first word to the last
I see a pattern to the future and the past
Got some questions don't know who to ask
Might ask a man named Tom
Now I've never been to Bethlehem
And I cannot quote the Psalms
For all the searching ain't met Jesus yet
But I met a man named Tom
Vote for this one the other one's the worst
Take his picture but crucify him first
World today is a blessing and a curse
Thank God for a man named Tom
A man named Tom was kind to me one day
Said some words I needed someone to say
If you haven't yet I hope there comes a day
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7. |
231207: Brain For Sale
03:07
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Brain for sale like new condition
No hard miles no long division
Mostly used for hunting and fishing
Plus occasional hoping and wishing
Brain for sale all organic
Free range if a little bit manic
Mostly lays there in its brain hammock
Could use a tune up from a brain mechanic
Brain for sale and that's just the start
Act today we'll throw in a heart
Ziploc bag of extra parts
Consider trading for the right guitar
Brain for sale priced to sell fast
Preference given to those paying cash
MSRP cut that in half
IQ score depends who you ask
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8. |
231208: One Less Light
03:38
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An hour passes since I heard the news
Birds on telephone wires haven't moved
They weren't ready for losing you
Empty glasses in the sink
They got no idea what to think
You left a hole I can't fill with a drink
One less light in the city tonight
The wind's a little bit colder
Miss your hand on my shoulder
These tears are getting old
One more broken piece inside
One less light
Slow and heavy hands on the clock
Close my eyes and maybe time will stop
Just keep breathing almost forgot
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9. |
231209: Draw The Line
03:36
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Thou shalt not lie but to spare my feelings
Bear not inequity except for those glass ceilings
Take not the name in vain unless no one heard it
Nor speak with hatred except when they deserve it
Do as I say not as I do
Right or wrong it's nothing new
You serve your master
I'll keep serving mine
Story all depends
On where we draw the line
Send the lawyers the guns and money
Just jumped the shark from fun to ugly
Cast not your stones but kill the enemy
You disagree you're no friend to me
Thou shalt not steal except for Native land
Nor kill your brother except the colored man
Cheating's wrong unless they did it too
Draw that line before the line draws you
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10. |
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He didn't mean to hurt her snuck out without a sound
Made it back by morning he's paying for it now
Like a ship out on the water a man can run aground
Trying to keep a secret he's paying for it now
He told a little white lie didn't break his vows
She knows something's changing he's paying for it now
She sheds a single tear as the sun is creeping down
Heart is slowly breaking he's paying it for now
Paying for the distance paying for the time
Paying up for puttin' her lovin' on the line
Paying 'cause he loves her simple and profound
He hasn't said a word he's paying for it now
Tonight she's gonna' follow him if she can figure how
She's sick of all the silence he's paying for it now
She'll tail him to a pawn shop out on the edge of town
A wristwatch and a guitar he's paying for it now
Couples fall on hard times some live hand to mouth
He wants to give her better and he's paying for it now
Her smile's as big as Texas think she plans to stick around
She loves the life he gave her he's paying for it now
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11. |
231211: Gone By Midnight
04:22
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We lose someone every evening
And welcome someone else by dawn
If you're the one who's leaving
What would I do before you're gone
I'd write you a letter I'd sing you a song
And we'd swap funny stories we'd go on and on
Turns out anyone could leave us any day
Starting now I'll say the things I need to say
I could be gone by midnight so could you
Write me a letter sing me a tune
If we are waves crashing on the shore
Before returning to the ocean
Then it all means that much more
Speaking what we've spoken
Don't know why I fight my brother
Weighing down his heavy heart
Better we treat one another
Like brilliant shooting stars
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12. |
231212: If It Kills Me
03:37
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It's too easy to plan on leaving
Anytime I'm feeling rough
I been hoping my faith is growing
When the going gets tough
Escape is an illusion
And I pray my actions prove it
Well I'm gonna' live if it kills me
Gonna' grab onto what thrills me
I'm gonna' chase down what fulfills me
Anything pure and true
I'm gonna' break the chains that bind me
Make peace with what's behind me
Whatever it takes to remind me
If it's the last thing I do
Gonna' break down and rebuild me
I'm gonna' live if it kills me
When it's stormy without warning
Day breaks and light comes pouring in
Count my blessings or doubt the message
Give it up or try again
Staring at the void
I forget that it's a choice
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13. |
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Stranger than a stranger distant as the moon
Eyes that look right through me like I'm not in the room
Fainter than whisper stars hidden by the sun
Stranger than a stranger that's all that I've become
Tender as a newborn closer than your skin
Once upon a lifetime we shared everything
Gone like Sunday morning in a cloud of smoke
A dream that I was chasing the moment I awoke
Like a vessel on the sea out there past the breakers
Only tattered sails to steer away from danger
No passengers no treasure its one and only sailor
A man without a home stranger than a stranger
Shining like two diamonds in the pawn shop after dark
Given by two lovers for two different hearts
Fading like a picture the better part of me
Stranger than a stranger long lost memory
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14. |
231214: Redneck Girl
03:12
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I fell in love with a redneck girl
From a small town but she's my world
She loves Dolly and she loves Merle
I fell in love with a redneck girl
Feels better in plaid than she does in pearls
She'll pick jeans instead of a skirt
But she sure does rock them beauty shop curls
I fell in love with a redneck girl
Redneck girl you stole my heart
In your Timerblands and Carhartt
Redneck girl you're the one for me
Get me outta' this city won't you please
One of ten kids by Marge and Earl
It's God then her mama then I take third
Punches my arm when she wants to flirt
I fell in love with a redneck girl
Taught me a whole mess of brand new words
Quit conjugating them fancy verbs
Sweetest little accent you ever done heard
I fell in love with a redneck girl
I was tryin' to work up the nerve
To ask her out but she asked me first
She's so pretty it almost hurts
I fell in love with a redneck girl
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15. |
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The giver and the taker clocking out of work
Headed to the cafe at end of the earth
Talking shop swapping thoughts sipping something cold
Asking about the market price of the human soul
Giver mostly listens demeanor cool and flat
Orders up another round saying put it on my tab
Taker laughs knocks it back says hell yeah bottoms up
One thing about a taker they can never get enough
Taker's seeing double more than drank his fill
Stumbles to the washroom while the giver foots the bill
Reaches for the keys gently speaks I'm fine to drive
Taker takes the giver's gift makes it home alive
Giver gets the work on time taker at the crack of noon
Boss knows last night the taker's howling at the moon
Can a taker change and learn to give well maybe
Takers they may get the most but givers sleep like babies
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16. |
231216: Weightless
04:34
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Plenty times my back gets tired
Carrying all these memories
Raise this voice up with a prayer
Lift these heavy things from me
Won’t you make me weightless
Light as a feather
Won’t you gimme' faith
And a love that lasts forever
Gimme' just a taste of heaven
And I’ll be patient
Waiting for that day
Waiting for that day when
You make me weightless
Noone told me it would be easy
To walk the earth as flesh and bone
All they promised was it's worth it
When your maker calls you home
Clear and present pure and true
When you see me look right through
No more body not one ounce
It's all spirit where I'm bound
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17. |
231217: Mood Ring
04:05
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Got me a mood ring
What was I thinking
It don't know the first thing
About my heart
Turns gray when you come home
Gold when you leave me all alone
And when you say you love me
It gets dark
Got me a mood ring but it seems confused
Need it tell me how not to lose you
Can't this thing rewind the cold hands of time
To when I was yours and when you were mine
Don't know who made it
It came highly rated
But it's looking faded
As faded as me
Forget that we're crying
Ignore all the fighting
We have to keep trying
Because we're meant to be
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18. |
231218: Inner Child
03:07
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My inner child is an alcoholic
He's a politician a stand up comic
Little baby gambler charismatic and chaotic
There's always something up his sleeve or in his pocket
My inner child's got his finger up his nose
Still better there than down his pants I suppose
Not quite a criminal but he's getting kinda' close
Soon as they outlaw all those tantrums that he throws
Take a deep breath breathe in breathe out
Center myself ain't it profound
Dig down deep and find that inner child
If yours is a creep introduce him to mine
My inner child is a public nuisance
Bound to wind up in a mental institution
He makes it tough to believe in evolution
And through it all he still thinks he's superhuman
My inner child racked up 50k in debt
Playing the numbers placing really stupid bets
Magic marker on his hands spells no regrets
He's giving dirty looks behind a candy cigarette
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19. |
231219: Springtime
03:13
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In the springtime in the new day
When the sun shines above
I will be there like a blue jay
In the springtime of our love
There is snowfall on the prairie
In the cold winter months
But we'll unveil what was buried
In the springtime when it comes
There is darkness all around us
And the days are so short
Light will pour down will like a fountain
In the springtime bright and warm
There is stillness like a grave stone
On a dead winter night
We'll be dancing like a rainbow
In the springtime full of life
There is wonder in the waiting
There is hope for better days
In a dream it's what we're chasing
In the springtime when we wake
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20. |
231220: Sleeping Dogs
03:55
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Am I supposed to let sleeping dogs lie
In the middle of a cold black night
Do they bite worse than they bark
The sleeping dogs in my heart
What if the sleeping dog is a man and
What if he just don't give a damn
If a lie feels like a scar
The sleeping dogs in my heart
Lie to keep me sleeping
Lie I'll believe it
Lie and say you done me like you should
I can't understand it
Why my fellow man is
Trying like hell to make bad sound good
Damn sleeping dogs
Are we the last two dogs on earth
Are you waiting 'til I say it first
That you're a dog from the dog pound
That I really oughtta' put you down
Before you
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21. |
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A working man
With his working hands
Knows what can and can’t
Be done
He’ll tell you straight
Won’t hesitate
Some mistakes
You only make once
You can’t unpickle a pickle
Can’t unring a bell
You can’t untoss a nickel
To the bottom of a wishing well
Sometimes the truth hurts
Other times it tickles
And you can’t unpickle a pickle
Some folks say
Every day
There’s a way
If we’re smart
Is moving slow
And letting go
Deep down we know
In our hearts
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22. |
231222: Move Over Moses
04:21
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I'll always remember the night I was saved
Ten minutes to midnight one winter day
I trusted the gospel forgive my mistake
To think love would save me come judgment day
Move over Moses Jesus take heed
It must be Christmas 'cuz here's Uncle Steve
Our personal savior with his old time religion
We'd be lost without him it's a family tradition
He'll strip all the heathens of our heathen ways
Get us all praying the way Uncle Steve prays
Breath reeks of whiskey his shit smells like roses
Take a load off Jesus move over Moses
Steve in your mercy Steve glory be
Ignore that he's passed out under the tree
He's the real gift here forget all the rest
Ditch those disciples Uncle Steven knows best
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23. |
231223: My Half
04:58
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I need to take a piece of paper
I need to fold it in two halves
Write what I know on the front page
And what God knows on the back
The front is where I’ll keep a record
Of my responsibilities
And the back is anything the many things
My creator does for me
There are days I do what I’m supposed to
I let God do what he does
But there are others I’m running kinda’ low
On patience peace and trust
When I really turn it over
My troubles never last
I just need to keep my focus
To what’s written on my half
One day I woke up in this body
In this earthly atmosphere
Never got an invitation
To any other place than here
Well I have my limitations
I’m only human that’s the truth
But God won’t just do everything
Some things only I can do
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24. |
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There was a jam in Bethlehem
In days of old or so I’m told
Our tale begun by three in one
Mary Joseph and The Funk
A world in need to be set free
Out from the cage of our old ways
Salvation come through a little spunk
Mary Joseph and The Funk
Joseph was the real deal a downright groovy dude
Mary she was righteous a bad mamajama too
Out there in the stable a manger for a bunk
Ain’t no hanky panky son
Straight down from heaven came The Funk
Ask the teachers street corner preachers
Ask Little Richard you’ll get the picture
Ask anyone from Bootsy to Daft Punk
About Mary Joseph and The Funk
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25. |
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There's no peace in the middle east
Every sign of more troubled times
Half the world is hungry because of guns and money
But it's Christmas tonight
They built a wall to divide us all
Wrote more lies so we all take sides
Rich make millions screw the orphan children
But it's Christmas tonight
Dear God come and help me please
Let go of all these things I've seen
To forgive my brother my sister and myself
Find the courage to believe
God I need you to remind me
Anywhere I am you'll always find me
That your son is why we ring these bells
Why it's Christmas tonight
I made a mess of what once was blessed
Sometimes I wonder why I even tried
Lord she left me and everything feels heavy
But it's Christmas tonight
So I'm on empty ain't got a penny
And all that pride sank with the tide
No more distractions if it's ever gonna' happen
It's Christmas tonight
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26. |
231226: Say We Did
03:41
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We could hope for the best
We could try to forgive
Let's not and say we did
We could act like it's fine
We could jump back in bed
Let's not and say we did
We could start a new fight
We could make it real big
Let's not and say we did
We could air it all out
We could stuff it back in
Let's not and say we did
Say we look back through the years
To how it started
Say we try it all again
Then say that we're both still
So lost and broken hearted
I say we don't
Let's not and say we did
We could take a long drive
Bring the pets bring the kids
Couple times I think we did
We could dig up some names
You're a boar I'm a pig
Just one of our greatest hits
We could call it like we see it
We don't know when to quit
I'd like to say we did
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27. |
231227: TV Shows
02:29
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My friends are all TV shows
And I am too
I can't wait for each next episode
When it comes on the tube
Put on my actual reality headset
Step into the multiverse
Listen to it all good bad indifferent
The best and the worst
Here comes Rob with his grandkids for the week
There goes George catchin' fish down at the creek
John and Tim gettin' beers down at the bar
While Doctor Paula heals a stranger's broken heart
Some friends are more like mysteries
Riddles on the screen
And some are more like history
Maybe you know what I mean
Got a couple real live horror films
I just can't look away
Course we're all in one big comedy
At the end of the day
Seems like Tony might win that competition
I know we all miss Jeremiah down at the mission
He might not see himself as rich and famous
But with a name like Cadillac you know he'll entertain us
My friends are all TV shows
And I am too
I can't wait for each next episode
When it comes on the tube
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28. |
231228: Fisheye Lens
05:28
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I see life through a fisheye lens
Edges warp straight lines bend
Way things look through my fisheye lens
They don't add up no they don't make sense
Maybe you have a fisheye too
Look at life like a big cartoon
Can I ever trust myself
To walk a straight line I can't tell
Better ask what all my friends
See in their fisheye lens
My vision's messy and it changes the facts
I'm walking forward but I'm looking back
No way of knowing all the things that I can't see
I need the help of someone else now and then
Break the illusion of my fisheye lens
From their perspective got to see it to believe
You see me and I see you
Fisheye lens we're looking through
You tell me what you see
Fisheye lens a waking dream
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29. |
231229: What Love Does
03:41
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Spiritual beings
Having a human experience
On the night when I met you
Living and breathing
With our limbs and minds all bent
I swear this much is true
When the days are short and the nights are long
When you lose all sense of where you belong
When the best you've got don't feel good enough
I'll be by your side keep you safe and sound
I'll be close behind walk without a doubt
I'll be up above like a goddamn dove
Because that's what love does
If pain is a question
Pleasure is just a guess
About as graceful as a gun
If there's a heaven
We'll finally get some rest
But until that time shall come
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30. |
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He's been known to play some cards
To take a risk and let it ride
But she's not worried about his heart
Always makes it home at night
Here and there a couple hundred
Cross his fingers and roll the dice
Won a few and lost some others
Still he wakes up by her side
In this house love's what really matters
And in this house every prayer gets answered
Sometimes he's gone so long
And she don't know where he's been
But he always makes it home
The house always wins
Well she had dreams of making movies
Seein' her face on a silver screen
He don't try to cage her beauty
Nothin' wrong with havin' dreams
One time she left him for the summer
Needed time to sort things out
She bet it all and they discovered
That the odds are on this house
Sometimes she's gone so long
And he don't know where she's been
But she always makes it home
The house always wins
Yeah they always make it home
He loves her and she loves him
The house always wins
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31. |
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Another year is closing like curtains on a stage
Actors leave the building the props get wheeled away
Anything unfinished have to wait another day
After all we been through the changes in the weather
All the months we waited some seemed to take forever
As the moment passes why's it feel like now or never
Some will celebrate when midnight rolls around
Others may self medicate like strangers in the crowd
Build it up as though it's something sacred and profound
Easy does it like so many days before
Remember it's just one more twenty four
A morning ain't a morning without getting on my knees
And a prayer ain't a prayer without a thank you and a please
Anybody help me see the forest through the trees
A little at a time I watch the world as it transforms
Anything from yesterday can't hurt me anymore
And January first well that's just one more twenty four
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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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