1. |
Choke
02:57
|
|||
|
The story is mine to tell,
Half forgotten -- just as well
It don't look much like you're buying
Lord knows, I ain't got much to sell
Pull the air inside
Fill with burning smoke
I might fall the length of that line
But I ain't going to choke
The downtown train, the bitter pills
The telephone rings, the coffee spills
Good intentions, wind-blown ills
Another stack of unopened bills
Pull the air inside
Fill with burning smoke
I might fall the length of that line
But I ain't going to choke
I try not to remember
What I've lost along the way
I try not to remember
Prices high as I've ever seen
White bread, cigarettes, gasoline
How are you supposed to choose between
A fifth of liquor, a checkout counter magazine
Pull the air inside
Fill with burning smoke
I might fall the length of that line
But I ain't going to choke
Pull the air inside
Fill with burning smoke
I might fall the length of that line
But I ain't, I ain't going to choke
|
||||
2. |
Great Bend
04:09
|
|||
|
About 500 acres
Fieldstone long since laid
Catalogues out of print
Small talk, mostly, hand made
We didn’t make in to town
As often as we planned
I guess found too much to do
On this endless sea of silt and sand
It's what you said you wanted
Though I wondered even then
Kansas City had worn you down
But it’s a long way back to Great Bend
Your sister pulled up the road
Said she was just passing through
You whispered in the back room
An hour or two
Darkness finally fell
The wind chimes played
If I didn't know before I found out then,
there was no way you could have stayed
It's what you said you wanted
Though I wondered even then
Kansas City had worn you down
But it’s a long way back to Great Bend
It's what you said you wanted
Though I wondered even then
Kansas City had worn you down
But it’s a long way back to Great Bend
|
||||
3. |
If We Didn't Quit
03:14
|
|||
|
We just met
I was off to serve
You kept your head
I nearly lost my nerve
I knew a little I thought
But I never dreamed
It wouldn't be anything like
It seemed
We were young
The kids were small
The furnace was dying
The roof about to fall
Behind the line already
Borrowed what we could
But the footings held
And the timber stood
If we didn't quit right then
I contend
If we didn't quit right then,
we ain't going to break no matter how we might bend
I found work
Running that lift
The money was easy enough but
My mind would drift
The days piled up
I turned to drink
That was the worst of it
I think
If we didn't quit right then
I contend
If we didn't quit right then,
we ain't going to break no matter how we might bend
|
||||
4. |
Winter's Blues
04:01
|
|||
|
Yesterday's news, reruns on TV
Warmed over instant coffee
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
Ain't much left that I really couldn't stand to lose
The keys to the shed, this old pair of shoes
A picture of my little girl, I guess these old winter's blues
They've got me now
They've got me now
They've got me now
All the way short almost out of time
Drag myself down that uphill climb
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
Ain't much left that I really couldn't stand to lose
The keys to the shed, this old pair of shoes
A picture of my little girl, these old winter's blues
They've got me now
They've got me now
They've got me now
Take that winding road straight through the curve
Do you make your luck or just get
what you deserve?
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
At least it don't leave you turning all night long
Ain't much left that I really couldn't stand to lose
The keys to the shed, this old pair of shoes
A picture of my little girl, these old winter's blues
They've got me now
They've got me now
They've got me now
|
||||
5. |
Tomorrow River
04:19
|
|||
|
The plow tears the ground
The deed wil be mine
As long as the rock and timber hold on
To the railway line
With the blessing of the banker
I guess you could say
We dusted in the winter wheat
And watched it blow away
Our fate was carried in the NW wind
Because we believed, we have sinned
You can lay me down, I've prayed me some
The fields will burn, the flood will come
The earth yields no more
To the shovel than the plow
She's suffered as much
As the Lord would allow
Hardened and thin
Trembling in the frost
Tomorrow River
I can see that I should not have crossed
Our fate was carried in the NW wind
Because we believed, we have sinned
You can lay me down, I've prayed me some
The fields will burn, the flood will come
We flattened the hillside
Lifted the ore out of the ground
Now those engines
They don't make a sound
Our fate was carried in the NW wind
Because we believed, we have sinned
You can lay me down, I've prayed me some
The fields will burn, the flood will come
Our fate was carried in the NW wind
Because we believed, we have sinned
You can lay me down, I've prayed me some
The fields will burn, the flood will come
|
||||
6. |
Planer
03:51
|
|||
|
I keep hold of the pine
As it moves on past the blade
The only honest living I
Suppose I ever made
It might have been how it ends
A burned out house on the wrong side of town
But I made amends
And everything slowed down
A life it seems of dead end schemes
I'd rather not recall
But like the grass the grows up in the broken concrete
I survived it all
You get used to the sound
It kind of fades away somehow
What goes around still comes around
But at least for now
A hearth contains the fire
Henry is at my side
It ain't my hearts desire
But it's work and it's cut and dried
A life it seems of dead end schemes
I'd rather not recall
But like the grass the grows up in the broken concrete
I survived it all
|
||||
7. |
Barrel Side
04:24
|
|||
|
Born beneath
A wide open sky
Cold wind bending
That sweetgrass and rye
Across the field
A far horizon
Silhouettes
Dust risin'
Truth be told
I descend
From better men than I
No hand to hold, the brand has been sold
And the well has long run dry
It don't matter now
If I confide
We cut those fences
So we could ride
Soil upturned
Ground over-run
Born of this land
Another ungrateful son
Truth be told
I descend
From better men than I
No hand to hold, the brand has been sold
And the well has long run dry
Set my aim
On the first one to arrive
That bullet tore through me
I swear it left me alive
But forture don't favor
The barrel side of the gun
Will the Lord forgive me
For what I done or left undone?
Truth be told
I descend
From better men than I
No hand to hold, the brand has been sold
And the well has long run dry
And the well has long run dry
And the well has long run dry
|
||||
8. |
Racine
03:00
|
|||
|
You don't have to tell me I already know
The cupboards bare, the closets are empty
Hanging on after you let go
Finally just don't make sense to me
Maybe I"ll just take it as a sign
If I can make that Illinois line
Sight unseen
At least as far as Racine
It might not feel like defeat
One of these times
It might not repeat
But it sure as hell rhymes
Maybe I'll just take it as a sign
If I can make that Illinois line
Sight unseen
At least as far as Racine
Thermos run dry
Less than half a tank
Coal seam sky
Road ahead blank
Maybe I'll just take it as a sign
If I can make that Illinois line
Sight unseen
At least as far as Racine
|
||||
9. |
Town Parade
03:51
|
|||
|
Failing breath, unsteady hand
Hung on about as long as he could stand
Everything he said, I figured it was true of
course these times ain' the times he knew
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
Would it be any less an honor than a town parade
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
If you've got a minute he'd want me to say,
I hope your're doing alright or good enough anyway
Appreciate the thought, he would too;
guess I'll do what I came here to do
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
Would it be any less an honor than a town parade
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
It ain't a story he told but it still got around,
you know how it is in this town
But now that you tell it all the way through,
sounds like one that might have been told on you
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
Would it be any less an honor than a town parade
This one's on me, you can leave the bottle
|
||||
The Short Pay Riders Wausau, Wisconsin
The Short Pay Riders are a rock band based in Central Wisconsin. Formed in 2020, they have released two LP’s written by John Pearson, produced by Harold Melo. In addition to Pearson and Melo, The Short Pay Riders feature Jordan Miles and Lucas Fischer. The sound of The Short Pay Riders uses roots and stylized elements to tell stories of contention, loss, and prevailing. ... more
If you like The Short Pay Riders, you may also like:
Thoughtful and poetic folk with a Cosmic Americana flavor from the Brooklyn singer-songwriter.
go to album
Forward, Children: A fundraiser for Durham Public Schools students
by Hiss Golden Messenger
Hiss Golden Messenger transforms from a solo songwriter to a full-band on a record benefiting Durham Public Schools.
go to album
Terms of Surrender
by Hiss Golden Messenger
Psychedelic folkster M.C. Taylor taps Jenny Lewis, Phil Cook, and others for his latest as Hiss Golden Messenger.
go to album
Heart Like a Levee
by Hiss Golden Messenger
Partially funded by a commission at Duke University, Messenger's latest is a robust collection of emotive tunes.
go to album
Locals // If You Swim Far Enough
by Rachel Alina & Birdie Busch
A musical and visual journey through Ocean City, New Jersey via gentle Americana and an illustrated poetry book.
go to album
No One Seems To Notice That It's Raining (Previously Unreleased Recordings 1970-75)
by Jay Bolotin
This compilation of songs from cult legend Jay Bolotin has the same stark beauty as prime Leonard Cohen and Jackson C. Frank.
go to album
Downey to Lubbock
by Dave Alvin
Soulful guitar interplay form the heart of this lovely Americana collaboration from Dave Alvin and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
go to album
