1. |
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Traveling light, far as she can tell
Though my head’s as heavy as the Liberty Bell
I’m playing it close in case this is far as I go
Traveling light, far as she knows
And I’m right at home anywhere once it gets dark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
She glows in the dark discarded parts
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
She strikes at the heart of me, my arteries spark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
I strip her memory down to her strawberry mark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when I’m in Asbury Park
All these echos of what I coulda, woulda, shoulda said
But I prefer not to speak ill of the dead
Another bender won’t bend no bars apart
O’ be still my incarcerated heart
Right at home anywhere once it gets dark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
She glows in the dark discarded parts
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
She strikes at the heart of me, my arteries spark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
I strip her memory down to her strawberry mark
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when in Asbury Park
Some love is home, some love is just passing through
When in Rome, when in Memphis
So when you’re out doing like the locals do
When in Rome, when in Memphis
You might run into one of me most any old where
When in Rome, when in Memphis
But when I go I ghost out into thin air
When in Rome, when in Memphis, when I’m in Asbury…
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated)
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated)
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated heart)
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated)
When I go I ghost (when in Rome, when in Memphis, when I’m in Asbury Park)
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated)
When I go I ghost (be still my incarcerated heart)
When I go I ghost (when in Rome, when in Memphis, when I’m in Asbury Park)
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I ghost
When I go I
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2. |
O Charlene
03:04
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I spent the day sweating last night’s little mistakes
I took a shower, but the shower didn’t take
The highway keep-a rollin’ like a reel to reel
I’m tryin’ to keep from taping over every sweet ordeal
And O’ Charlene, I’m still just about
Be nice to see you if you still get out
Cause the birds are still singing and the sun still burns
Swing low diminishing returns
And I’m finally done with all my trying to get it right
I drink a flat Coca Cola in the cold sunlight
And O’ Charlene, I’m still just about
Be nice to see you if you still get out
‘Cause we go way down in our cups
Back up in the air
You and me always pick up where
We left off not missing a beat
When the memories dim grab a window seat
And O’ Charlene, I’m still just about
Been wondering how you’re living
Thought I’d give you a shout
As the sun resets
I’m wondering what comes next
Every hundred songs, I set out alone
Something comes along
O’ Charlene, I’m still just about
Just about believing without a doubt
And O’ Charlene, I’m still just about
Be nice to see you
I been feeling kinda see through
Be really nice to see you if you still get out
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3. |
Angels In The Details
03:28
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I used to comb through the fine print
Triple-checking immortality
Trying to grease my demons through them gates
On a technicality
Now most days I just board this train
Waiting for it to derail
Some days I wish I never been born
Not to go into detail
But the angel’s in the details
Jesus can we call a truce
‘Cause the devil’s in the double helix
You can’t shake that dog a’loose
You can’t shake that dog a’loose
Once I was a soft boy
Assassinated by a blade of grass
But you gotta be tougher than I was
If you want to make that last
Now I’m all rawhide and fortified
I strike fast and first
Sometime someone sees inside
It makes it that much worse
They see the angels in the details
Jesus can we call a truce
For the devil’s in the double helix
You can’t shake that dog a’loose
You can’t shake that dog a’loose
So I guess bury me with this flat top guitar
I go to hell I won’t be there alone
Just let me burn with this old gold-strung rosewood
In a halo of herringbone
With these angels in the details
Jesus calling off our truce
‘Cause the devil’s in the double helix
I couldn’t shake that dog a’loose
O’ the angels in the details
They come down gnaw at the noose
But the devil’s in the double helix
You can’t shake that dog a’loose
Y’all can’t shake that dog a’loose
I couldn’t shake that dog a’loose
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4. |
That Look I Lost
03:20
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When she’s staring down the bad end of the barrel
Of yet another long and loaded night
Boys, you better really sell it when you tell her
“Everything will be alright”
Everything’s gonna be alright
When every scratch in those rose tinted glasses
Is looking like another crack in the sky
Gets hard to hold on so long to nothing
Without reaching for a reason why
And I’ll spend the rest of my life
Dying to find
That look I lost, that look I lost
Dying to find that look I lost in her eye
Some love ain’t enough
My money don’t stack
We threw everything at it
Our sad little matter of fact
It was the matter of fact way that she said it
Was a sight to unsee
An unforgettable “forget it”
Just like she flipped a light out on me
And I’ll spend the rest of my life
Dying to find
That look I lost, that look I lost
Dying to find that look I lost in her eye
It used to look for all the world like I had a next time around
Look alive, son
Ain’t no dry run
This thing’s going down
I’ll spend the rest of my life
Dying to find
That look I lost, that look I lost
That look I lost, that look I…
That look I lost, that look I lost
Dying to find that look I lost in her eye
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5. |
When I Leave Here
04:47
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You were always going
Both nowhere and too far
Living it up in some terminal bar
Your kimono akimbo, your tiara too tight
Goodnight sweet princess
It’s sayonara alright
When I leave here you will remember
That I’ve been here
You’re gonna know I’m gone
I ask you for a straight answer
You twist in your best question mark
You say you can’t push a river
I can sure as shit disembark
You go on get just as lit up
As the liquor allow
One shadow you can’t get rid of
Oh I’ll occur to you now
When I leave here you will remember
That I’ve been here
You gonna know I’m gone
I give you my love
You put it in a drawer
I said I give you my love
The fuck you think it’s for
You bet it’ll hurt
Not as long as it should
For better or worse
I am gone for good
When I leave here
O’ how the wind gonna moan
When it hits home
I’m gone
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6. |
Pocket Of God
04:08
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I’m gonna tell you a little story
When this little story’s through
Gonna be a little test
See if you know what’s good for you
She was an angel of the fourth ward
When I plucked her off the street
So tenderly I took her indoors
Bought her some tits and fixed her teeth
You shoulda seen her crunch a number
Work a sucker, shoot a breeze
Started her off on the club floor
Soon enough she had the keys
She was a punch I couldn’t counter
Sometime I’s tempted to applaud
Just being around her
Felt like I picked the pocket of god
Could not believe I found her
Was like I picked the pocket of god
Then some tweak sung down a heatwave
Backed my distribution up
Parcels of tar dust and white nurse
Stacked in the backroom of the club
My boys could not extract her thinking
She knew there’s cameras everywhere
Maybe she was fresh outta thinking
Maybe she thought I couldn’t care
Never give me reason to doubt her
But there was her face and her facade
Smiling over them packages of powder
Like she picked the pocket of god
She couldn’t have looked prouder
Thought she picked the pocket of god
I found out she had a partner
He’s still around here somewhere
But now he’s working for me
His was just business
I took her personally
That’s the dead end of that story
Could be the end of yours too
This was a woman I admired
You’re just shit-for-brains-for-hire
Before I scrape you off my shoe
Know that I only asked her once
Now that I’ve asked you nice
Go on ask yourself
Do I strike you as the kind
To ask twice
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7. |
Room 101
03:18
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Up at four on a dark and stormy novella night
For self-assessment in the fluorescent motel light
Bloody Mary’s in the mirror, but I’m calling her bluff
‘Cause I’m here and I’m hell enough
I’m here and I’m hell enough
That battered bible in the drawer done some time in the trench
It’s been someone’s only hope for rolling papers in a pinch
Go on, give it up Gideon
You can’t sell me that stuff
I’m here and I’m hell enough
I’m here and I’m hell enough
I guess there’s always T.V., but you ingest the meth
Might deserve to be entertained to death
And I’ve such remote control of my own breath
Up underneath these blues
Hauling my monumental health
Out the Mariana Trench, back up the Continental Shelf
I know this buoyant little angel, but it drowns out her help
When I’m down here and I’m hell itself
When I’m down here and I’m hell itself
So I free fall into a dream
That feels like flight, enough
Trying to find the damn horizon I ride the Death spiral until
Just in time for Death-defying I pull up
Awaiting the oohs and ahs
And I wake up to no applause
Just a bill to be paid and some shit to get done
So put one fucking foot in front of the other one
Just my old unwelcome guest, crashing for the night
Stepping out of that door into oncoming morning light
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8. |
One Happy New Year
03:06
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The ball’s about to drop, baby
We can still get a couple kicks in
Or we could call off our dogs for a minute
Kennel our adrenaline
‘Cause there’s another new year coming, baby
We both dressed up for this
Feel like I should say something
I got nothing
Took a stab at a kiss and get
The sharp end of your heart as I twist in a tear
Got your name on my tongue at the tip of the spear
Oh we have fun, oh we have fun
Can’t we have just one happy new year
But I remember how you moved against me
In that parking lot dark
You used to move so present-tensely
To the screams coming off the amusement park
Then you took your golden heart and you locked it
Now you like to keep love at your throat
I keep my love in my pocket like it’s only a joke
But it’s only a joke like the both of our
Sharpened hearts
And our steel tipped tears
Your name on my tongue at the tip of the spear
Oh we have fun, oh we have fun
Can’t we have just one happy new year
There’s still time for a couple shots of kindness yet
Ain't nowhere near last call
Guess I’ll try and lay it all on the line for once
For Auld Lang Syne and all
If I thought that I could leave all of you behind
I wouldn’t mind dying
I wouldn’t mind
But I got this feeling I’d take some of you with me
So come over here kiss me
Come on, come over here
Let’s have a happy new year
Oh we have fun, oh we have fun
Can’t we have just one
Oh just one
Can’t we have just one happy new year
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9. |
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Your eyes were grey as the mountains in the distance
Yours were red as hazard lights
Both of us knew what we were getting into that night
You said this could be goodbye I guess
Just let sleepy dogs lie unless
We just keep on driving west
‘Til we can see a whole train at once
‘Til the breakers come unchristening
‘Til we’re walking on the waterfront
Until we’re walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
My head was hazy as the mountains in the distance
Or the last of Layla fading slow
In erratic cascades on the staticky radio
You said no-one’s taking my requests
Don’t they recognize that I’m a mess
But if we keep on driving west
‘Til we can see a whole train at once
‘Til the breakers come unchristening
‘Til we’re walking on the waterfront
‘Til we’re walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
We’ll arrive I guess
If we keep
If we keep on
If we keep on driving west
‘Til we can ditch all these chains for once
That great wave we been envisioning
Comes breaking on the waterfront
And we ain’t pushing west to lose
Can’t no one tell us what we oughta want
Honey, I want the rest of you
With me on the waterfront
Just walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Just walking on the waterfront
Walking on the waterfront
Just walking on the waterfront
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10. |
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I spent the daylight paying for last night
I’m feeling alright
And I’m wondering what you’re doing tonight
You spent your nine lives
Swallowing hot knives
What good is hindsight if we ain’t ever gonna look back
It’s been said before, it’s been done before
We been dead before, it was wonderful
And I been down, I know where you’re coming from
But I’m going out, c’mon if you wanna come
Just c’mon if you wanna come
You post a picture, notice the mixture
The camera captures
That “before and after” look in your eye
Can see you torture it into order
Outside the border
Lies the kinda wreck I recognize
You get to feeling this low, the ceiling gets low
The ice tray’s always empty
The ashtrays overflow
And I been down, I know where you’re coming from
But I’m going out, c’mon if you wanna come
Just c’mon if you wanna come
You been hiding out inside
Feeling downside-out
You don’t wanna take no ride
Around the roundabout
And I been down, I know where you’re coming from
But I’m going out, c’mon if you wanna come
And I been down, I know where you’re coming from
But I’m going out, c’mon if you wanna come
And I been down, I know where you’re coming from
But I’m going out, c’mon if you wanna come
Just come on if you wanna come
I spent the daylight paying for last night
I’m feeling alright
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11. |
Of Two Minds
03:26
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Frowning down at my trashed fishnets
Feeling like that loose elastic
Last night was the one it was fun while it lasted
I ain’t ever gonna saddle that dragon again
My body made up my mind
Leave a couple dollars on the dresser and the bed unmade
I’m gonna quit while I’m behind
But O’ my love, I find
I am of two minds
Spare me how you got it all figured
You can explain yourself soft
You’re gonna still feel somewhere out there
Champagne’s poppin’ off
So throw another leg over that dragon
I’ll let your body take up my mind
Set the pistol on the dresser and the bed on fire
I double down when I’m behind
And O’ my love you find
I am of two minds
And I don’t know which to trust
Feels like I’m bluffing with a flush
O’ my love I…
O’ my love I…
O’ my love I find
I am of two minds
Laughing down at my trashed fishnets
Feeling like that loose elastic
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Cory Branan Nashville, Tennessee
Throughout his decade-and-a-half-long career, Cory Branan has been too punk for country, too country for punk, too Memphis for Nashville, and probably a little too Cory Branan for anyone’s damn good.
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