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When I Go I Ghost

by Cory Branan

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Following the release of five albums and much critical acclaim, Memphis-based Cory Branan spent the pandemic-forced time off working on a new record with producer and Grammy-Award-winning engineer, Jeremy Ferguson. With a guest list that includes Jason Isbell, Garrison Starr, Brian Fallon, and more. When I Go I Ghost puts Branan's clever songwriting and diverse musical background on display.

    This item has an estimated arrival date of October 14, 2022 (exclusions apply).

    Includes unlimited streaming of When I Go I Ghost via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Update on vinyl:

    We’re anticipating delays for all bundles that include the vinyl – ideally only an additional week or so after the release date. We’ll continue to send periodic updates whenever we can. We truly apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you so much for your understanding and support!

    ----------------------------------------

    Following the release of five albums and much critical acclaim, Memphis-based Cory Branan spent the pandemic-forced time off working on a new record with producer and Grammy-Award-winning engineer, Jeremy Ferguson. With a guest list that includes Jason Isbell, Garrison Starr, Brian Fallon, and more. When I Go I Ghost puts Branan's clever songwriting and diverse musical background on display.

    The Order Includes:
    * LP copy of When I Go I Ghost available in Lime Green

    Includes unlimited streaming of When I Go I Ghost via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
    ships out within 3 days

      $25 USD or more 

     

1.
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
2.
O Charlene 03:04
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
3.
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
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
Room 101 03:18
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
8.
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
9.
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
10.
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
11.
Of Two Minds 03:26
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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released October 14, 2022

Written by: Cory Branan
Produced by: Jeremy Ferguson

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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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