1. |
On the Brink
04:10
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She stopped in a meadow of wildflowers
And stooped down to take off both her shoes
She looked up where the wind blew on the divide
And wilted beneath the weight of the news
Said I want my world wild not mild
Said I don’t want to live just to grow old
I want to see the broken get mended
I want my world whole
He sat alone in his cluttered room
Roots grown deep into the soil of his youth
While all around him stretched the ruin of a home
He could have saved while he was searching
For the truth
Chorus
We are standing on the brink
A gust wind is all it would take
To change direction of the rain falling down
To change the direction of our fate
I want the whole world whole
© 2010 Jason Tyler Burton
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2. |
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We came across the ocean seeking freedom it's true
Then we came across the mountains a little dream to pursue
We were not seeking riches, just a place to call our own
A little slice of paradise, a little garden and a home
Now I work down deep in the belly of the hills
Where the coal dust burns and so i take pills
Then i sit on the couch and stare at the screen
And nobody can measure the distance between
What they say and what they mean
When they tell me that I am the American dream
So I joined up the army, going to fight for the oppressed
Well I can't tell you evils name, but i can tell you how he dressed
In a suit and a tie, waving the banner of a cross
But where Jesus name was missing
and nobody counted it lost
Oh hey, what do we stand to lose?
They took away my job in the factory that they said was never mine
Because some bum in the top one percent needed my dime
Then they took away my house and they blamed it all on me
And told me keep spending so that we could all stay free
So I went back across the mountains to the land of my parents birth
And I learned to build a house man i learned to till the earth
I learned that less is more
and how to do more with less
In my little slice of paradise I am poor but I am blessed
Oh hey what do we stand to lose
If this American dream is not the one we choose.
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3. |
Hillbilly Hayduke
03:27
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Give me a black feather for my cap
Give me a little polish for my shoes
Boy I am appalachian grown
Tonight I walk these hills alone
I'm going to find out
Just who you serve
What I call holy
You call reserves
Give me a river clear and cold
Give me hills not bought and sold
You're pretty liberal
With that word conserve
At least as far as I observe
Give me a moonless night like this
Take a shine to me give me a kiss
Then give me speed
Before I lose my nerve
Before hands with money
They through us a curve
Behind this wheel man
I start to swerve
May we not get what we deserve
May we not get what we deserve
A two ton truck full of fertilizer
Some blasting caps and a spool of wire
Because when i walk these hills alone
I hear appalachia groan
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4. |
Caleb Meyer's Ghost
03:37
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Well my daddy came from Bowling Green
Of five kids he was the third
And he got lost in the middle there
Don't guess he ever quite returned
He met my momma when she quit high school
She was sweet but not wise
I guess she never could see the fire
Beneath the coal dark of his eyes
Lord I swear that I Didn't want to be like this
Didn't want to be like him at all
They had two kids, just me and my sister
And I got the better of that deal
She took her own life when she was fifteen
And I ran off into the hills
Now I live up here in the pine trees
Just me and my whiskey still
Trying to drink away her memory
and that part of me that I can't kill
Lord I swear that I didn't want to be like him
Didn't want to be like him at all
I sit and stare up in those fruit trees
And wonder how far the apple falls
Down the road lived a young lady
Whose husband often left her alone
The day my mom died, i grabbed a bottle
and left my mind as i left home
Lord I stand here, now before you
Her story is not mine to tell
I am not asking you for salvation
I know that I belong in hell
But Lord I swear that I didn't want to be like him
Didn't want to be like this at all
Lord my name is Caleb Meyer
I know how far the apple falls
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5. |
Proud
03:41
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The devil put ice in a glass
Said "can i buy you a drink?"
Well I think he was just building me up
So i'd have further to sink
Said "boy where this cinder block right round your neck,
and then let's go swimming way out in the depths"
Well the devil put ice in a glass
Said can I buy you a drink
My daddy he told me
that pride it goes before a fall
Well if it weren't for falling
I'd probably get nowhere at all
Well I'm trying to fill up some pretty big shoes
I ain't got nothing and that's not much to lose
So why does it hurt
When I light that fuse?
I guess I must think I'm dynamite
I am so proud
of my brand new confidence
I am so proud
and that ain't no coincidence
Well the devil put ice in a glass
Said can I pour you a drink
I think she was just building me up
So i'd have further to sink
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6. |
To the Rise
03:48
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Can’t you see that I got free
Free of the hook you set in me
But don’t you know that now I’m lost
Lost in the wreckage that I caused
Going free
So bring all your horses and your men
Put me together once again
And I will own these scars I wear
As a badge of hope more than despair
Maybe it’s time for me to climb
Back up on to this wall of mine
Through my head back
My arms up
And rise
Maybe it was the sitting that was the crime
I saw this fisher cast a line
Not to the calm but to the rise
I saw the wonder in his eye
Chorus
So play me well
But be gentle on my mouth
Lead me up high
Where all directions feel like south
© 2010 Jason Tyler Burton
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7. |
Drift Fences
03:23
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drift fences
drift on by tonight
because i'm sailing
by South Pass in moonlight
oh i am nowhere bound
to some desert town i fly
dust devils
now i'm walking blind
to lose comfort
lets me know my path is right
oh i am nowhere bound
where no lights from town block the sky
so pour me a cup of coffee dark
to make light my heart
because oh now we are driving home
to nowhere
so drift fences
do your work well and right
because i'm crawling
back across South Pass tonight
oh I am nowhere bound
to some desert town
i fly
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8. |
Helen
03:16
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Oh Helen won't you come and dance with me
I'll close my eyes to see what you see
That there is a lie we call security
I'd dare to risk if I could be that free
And live it up, gonna live it up, gonna live it up...
Until it all comes down
Let's walk this knife edge way above the ground
Where the northern lights they play among the clouds
And the day is not taken by the night
Would you see beauty there without sight
And live it up, gonna live it up, gonna live it up...
Until it all comes down
Because we are walking blind and backwards
Across this ledge without fear
And we are just living our lives out of our hearts
Way up here
Oh we are just window washers
Here to wash away the stains
To find in all of our toil
That all our darkness is the same
And we all see through a glass dim
You helped me let a little light get in
So Helen won't you come and dance with me
Oh Helen won't you come and dance with me
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9. |
Walking on Water
05:44
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Well it's not obvious to see
But i'm the man i want to be
I've settled into my skin
I believe in angels again
But lately i've been prone to worry
That I might sink before i swim
And if this stubbornness is ballast
That's going to surely do me in
I think I'm ready to try
Walking on water
I'm going to deny gravity
Going to put my faith in something real
Going to throw out my TV
Up here under these bright lights
I know you'd rather hear the radio
And I'd rather drink but I don't dare start
Drowning this sorrow
So i'm gonna pay off all my debts
Going to sell most of what I own
Then going to move out into the wilderness
It's the only place I feel at home
And still I wonder...
Would I be here for you
Would you wait there forever and ever
I'm pressing ever onward no end in sight
So i'm going to fall down on my knees
And renew my warranty
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10. |
Revival
03:14
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I was a railroad man
My wheels turned straight and slow
I took no joy in the journey
I was burdened down and low, solo.
She was a desert wind
No name she knew but free
Running the aisle in a tent revival
The ground barely felt her feet
How did we meet?
And all of my best plans
Each mile of track I'd lay
Ripped up by breath of desert wind
Left to ruin with none to blame
And time it heals all wounds
At least that's what they say
But I'm all out of time
So I say come what may
Come what may
Maybe all our decisions
Could use some revision today
Walking that balance between
Free will and destiny
I pray
Lord come what may
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11. |
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With the summer slowly fading
And the snowbirds all flying south
I’ll be wrapped up in November
Waiting for honey from your mouth
Would this fire burn
If there was no one here to tend it
Would my heart break
If you were here to mend it
Oh where are you now
Because I’m still here
Take me back until I remember
The rains of May, the blooms of June
Because we’re creeping toward December
Waiting for light to outlast the gloom
Would we still pray
If we knew no one was listening
Would we still love
If we had no choice at all
Oh where are you now
Because I’m still here
So bending, I am bending
A melody might save me tonight
And mending, I am mending
Maybe you can come and save me tonight
Maybe you can be my melody tonight
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12. |
Appalachian Groan
01:30
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Jason Tyler Burton Wyoming
Jason Tyler Burton is a recluse from Kentucky who now makes his home in the least populated county in the least populated state. There in Wyoming, at the foot of the Wind River Mountains, he writes songs that wrestle with the struggles of rural peoples. His stories often tell a novel's worth of story in the format of a song, for which he draws comparisons to Jason Isbell and John Prine. ... more
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