1. |
Blue Ridge Parkway
03:08
|
|||
|
BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY
winding mountain roads lead back to asheville
the fog could blanket us like smoke
start to heal and give us hope
in the morning we could sleep in, take the dogs out in the woods
fill the trunk with guns and whiskey, build a fire and then we could
just get drunk under that carolina sky
figure out what made that summer so goddamn perfect
damn i miss it sometimes
we could start a shitty band, go on tour and see our friends
who've moved to places oh so far away
maybe somewhere down in texas west of monahans
we might break down off route 10 in the midsummer heat
and maybe then you'll understand just what i meant
when i swore that i could think of no one else
but you
when we got home we could sit out on the porch
and listen to the records we brought back with us
we might hear em in a different way
with the crickets and the interstate
in the background hummin' something like
no way that I'd rather waste my time than with you
|
||||
2. |
Hey, The Rain, Fuck Off!
03:10
|
|||
|
HEY THE RAIN, FUCK OFF
hungover and a' starin' in the mirror
lookin and a'feelin pretty old
all these creases in my face could tell you stories
but i wouldn't wanna bother you with em
cause ive fucked up more times than i could count
and i've wasted all i had to feel alive
and i ain't got no excuses for you now
i guess all i can really do is try
so won't you ride down to the charles with me at nine?
i know the weather ain't that pretty but yer eyes
could keep me from starin' at the ceiling on this cold and rainy night
fer every cigarette that i swore was the last
there was always 19 more left in the pack
and i just hope that i can hold it all together long enough
for you to even start to understand
and yeah we all fall down sometimes, i've learned how to pick myself up
but if you know just what that's like then maybe this ain't all wrong
so just ride with me tonight
out past the trainbridge.
so won't you ride down to the charles with me at nine
so i can see the city shinin' in yer eyes
|
||||
3. |
Dish Shift
02:31
|
|||
|
DISH SHIFT
washing dishes makes a half a cigarette
in the alley next to the dumpster with the cooks seem like
vacation sometimes
we talk when its slow about plans and ideas
our families and what we'd be doing
with our time
if we werent stuck here for the night
it's just a way to make it through
stepping outside onto frozen city streets
the train stopped running hours ago but fuck it i just wanna sleep
and every step through knee deep snow
brings me a little closer now
and I stumble up the stairs
just sit down and drink a beer
think about what I could have done differently
every chance that passed me by
while I was feeling so alive
is one more ghost that won't stop tuggin' at my sleeve
so tired but i’m still awake somehow
thinking of old friends and lovers now
yeah the city sleeps and nobody's around
at 11 o clock, the van from the prison comes down
to pick marvin up after his shift
simple check fraud, work release
never said much he just rolled up his sleeves and stayed busy.
with that same defeated stare.
|
||||
4. |
Eulogy For Dead Punkers
03:14
|
|||
|
EULOGY FOR DEAD PUNKERS
in taking stock of what we've lost
we find a part of what we are
for all the friends we never got to say goodbye to
we try to live lives never wasted or dull
bruising fists through plaster
feelin' helpless and alone
but the last time that i saw you, i just wish i could have known,
that it would really be the last time.
for all the dreams we shared in life
that didn't die when you left us behind
we'll throw them over our shoulders
and carry the weight with pride
so all we can do is move on
greet each new day with a promise to not forget
all the reasons you gave us to get out of bed
on the coldest mornings
and no i don't believe in god
to me it seems our consciousness will burst into the air
and dissipate like radio signals,
way out across the universe
for folks on other planets to receive.
|
||||
5. |
Saw Hope
03:34
|
|||
|
SAW HOPE
Oh miss kensey well I swear that no romance from within stories could come close to what I saw in you that night, sittin’ there down on those church steps, and we had no fear of god, but I know that in another life we could have walked together hand in hand again one day. down those steps as man & wife, and perhaps it coulda rained just as it did that august night, when I kissed you for the first time. We were soakin’ down on westwood, and just knowing I would leave the very next day was like going off to war. I did leave behind the peace of that little mountain town, but those miles down the road did not wear away the memory of you between my arms. Oh and kensey can you still recall months later in the fall when I returned? We knew not what lay in store as we drove back home from the airport. You were quiet but composed, still that perfect southern girl I fell so hard for by the flicker of the lighting bugs, and people live their whole lives never knowing moments quite so pure as when you set your head down on my shoulder, in the shadow of the mountains on the front porch. kim was playin’ fast and loud down in the basement, shawn and colin smokin’ cigarettes and laughin’ at the dogs, and I guess what I’m gettin’ at here is, even though it fell apart, I’ll never forget why I saw so much hope, well I heard the rain comin’ down through the gutters as I lit another smoke. Yeah we can leave the past behind, no there ain’t no sense draggin’ up those old bad feelings, we were young and we were stupid but I hope, you remember and can smile someday, miles down the road. Drop me a postcard in that neat handwriting yeah.
|
||||
6. |
CSX and Norfolk-Southern
03:56
|
|||
|
CSX AND NORFOLK SOUTHERN
well i've been hungry
but aint known real hunger
and i'm pretty damn broke
but i ain't really poor
cause i still got the sunrise
over the tobin
and a family thats sleepin in
on this early spring morn'.
the house is shakin, as the freight trains rumble by
but it's quiet on the street, the rest of allston is asleep
and I'm awake, cause when I close my eyes I still just see you there.
walkin' home with me up haywood in the dark.
and I swear this is the last one I'll be singin' for you dear
my heart is back up north now pushin' hard against the wind
and in these moments when the air is crisp and cold,
yes everything just seems awake as all my memories dissolve into my dream
been puttin' faith in, what I love about my life
let it guide me back to home and not forget what
I did learn along the way. even when the lesson
took a heavy toll, and left me wonderin why I even bothered.
and we're just freight trains passin'in the yard.
a warm cup of coffee and a smoke on the porch
little birds on the branches
of the tree in the yard
and i live in a town easily written off
but we made a history
in these basements and parks.
|
||||
7. |
But It's Okay
03:17
|
|||
|
BUT IT's OKAY.
had to get the hell out of the capital.
theres nothing left there for me now
but monuments to silence and frustration
and places that we used to go
life's been speeding by
out the windows of busses and vans
starin' off into the distance
and the pointlessness of these estimates isn't enough to shut me up
nothin' else to do out here in the desert anyways.
and i knew that these letters and phone calls would not be enough
but i hope that i never forget what i saw
when i came back what i thought was lost had been there all along
down on 14th with some of the best folks i know
this is the life that will flash before our eyes
and all it adds up to is an attic full of dusty photographs
that were forgotten long ago. out of tune guitars and letters
from friends we tried so hard not to ever let go of but
time leaves us tired and cracked
weathered but smiling when we can.
|
||||
8. |
Peripheral
02:18
|
|||
|
PERIPHERAL
no matter where I am I’m there, under bridges down the river.
skippin’ rocks and drinkin’ with better friends than I deserve,
and on the best days, there ain’t a difference at all
between the things you still feel in your heart
and everything you thought you lost as the years wore you down.
there’s a reason we do it this way,
push the edge of our sanity just to
feel the sting of freedom in our eyes.
bar’s closed and I’m stumblin’ home, wondering where this all went wrong and I, pass the park where those high school kids tried to rob me and maddie but the joke was on them, cause I didn’t even have a cigarette to my name, I got days that always end the same ol’ way, when they end at all.
there’s a reason we do it this way,
push the edge of our sanity just to
feel the sting of freedom in our eyes.
and a hardwood floor, and some records I’ve never heard have meant more to me than years of mindless work.
|
||||
9. |
Shitty Grace
02:54
|
|||
|
SHITTY GRACE
Spent spring and the summer and fall on the road, came back to winter at home. Knew true love and friendship and sorrows so cold that I thought that my heart surely froze. And though I am a young man, still after all this time, it comes to me still as a surprise. Since earlier days I’ve felt broken inside, like one not cut out for this life. But somehow I’m still here alive with my friends, and though I know this life truly is mine, sometimes I only stick around cause of them, and sometimes I think that’s alright. Cause I think of the times when I wasn’t alone. two in the morning, they picked up the phone, and just listened to all of my troubles and truly did save me. And I hope though I’m often consumed with this curse, off alone somewhere singin’ my sorrows and feelin’ real sorry for myself, they know that they are truly loved.
Maybe jesus did die on that cross, but he was no savior to me. Cause in my darkest times I do turn to my brothers and sisters for all that I need.
|
||||
10. |
Got This
02:27
|
|||
|
we spent so long waiting for the bombs and now we don't know what to do. it seems like the end we anticipated might not come so soon. now we're stuck with these patches and bad tattoos, spray painted walls, not a lot to lose. and no we ain't got much but we got this. a couple warm beers on the porch with all my friends. wakin' up early now I'm hittin' the street I can't waste no more of my time. I can't think about you quite so much but I still wish you were mine. walkin' by the spots where we used to hang, it don't sting so much cos the crew remains. and no we ain't got much, but we got this. two fingers up to the frat boys and the pigs.
|
||||
If you like Long Ride Home, you may also like:
Tight, funny, and politically pointed country-inflected punk jams from Los Angeles.
go to album
Australian shambolic pop that uses the generic trope of deadpan ennui to evoke bleak dystopia rather than the usual sunny slacker world.
go to album
Specializing in bright, sunny "bedroom rock español," this Brooklyn singer-songwriter puts a unique spin on lo-fi music.
go to album
Ridiculously catchy sunshine pop replete with cheerful horns and strings from a former member of cult Boston punks Free Pizza.
go to album
NNT#059 Gumming - Human Values CS
by Not Normal Tapes
Relentless, nervy, snarling, thorny noise-punk, the debut full-length from this wonderfully gnarly Richmond, VA outfit.
go to album
You Look A Lot Like Me (2016)
by Mal Blum
The quirky, smart Brooklyn singer-songwriter is offering all their albums for Pay What You Want for today only.
go to album
Last Year's Savage
by Shilpa Ray
Grab the pre-order to receive a limited-edition, satirical zine authored by Ray, who bares all in her Northern Spy debut.
go to album
