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One Town Over

by G.F. Patrick

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1.
Mud 04:50
You and I grew up in the same part of town On the wrongside of the tracks where people keep their heads down Nose to the grindstone and feet on the ground We grew up dreaming of flying high above those storms Where the sun never sets; the clouds don’t obscure the horizon. It spreads; the frontier’s all around Baby write your dreams down. Make them seem permanent in black and white Baby write your dreams down and say goodnight I can’t imagine you looking finer than you did in wedding white When the wind blew all around you lifted your veil and the sight Of your smile beaming at me. It was like honey. We had ourselves some kids and we bought ourselves a home And the bills kept piling in; my whole life was on loan But the tempest we could temper, and weather on our own Baby write your dreams down. Make them seem permanent in black and white Baby write your dreams down and say goodnight But this town dragged us down, and it made us hurt And it filled our lives with work Till this roof weighed like an anchor, And this ring cut like a flint You’ve got diaries full of change And I’ve got pockets full of lint And our feet are mired in the mud Our feet are mired in the mud Now my clothes are hanging off me and I feel like skin and bone And this tired that I have is worse than any that I’ve known And going off to work, it’s just a way not to be home Still you write your dreams down. Harsh accusations in black and white Still you write your dreams down and say goodnight So I sit and drink and I stare you down While the world wears you down Till this roof weighed like an anchor, And this ring cut like a flint You’ve got diaries full of change And I’ve got pockets full of lint I’ve got bottles that are empty you’ve got dreams that ain't fulfilled Though we ache to stretch our feathers spread our wings we never will Cause our dreams are mired in the mud Yeah our dreams are mired in the mud.
2.
This old rig has seen so many nights of rain Halogen lights won’t pierce the pain Downshifting downward spiral downgrade down 81 West Virginia don’t mourn alone Oh, go the wheels The shortwave crackles and it squeals A somber dirge being played out on CB Radio For a love that’s gone before grown old. I don’t know where I will go when I will go I never planned to be alone Weeping over Autumn leaves as I turn this errant cargo East Wondering when this house stopped feeling home Oh, go the wheels The shortwave crackles and it squeals A somber dirge being played out on CB Radio For a love that’s gone before grown old. And in my mind I might find time for Caroline But she won’t answer, answer’s no Write if you like, there's no reply Write if you like, there's no reply So I kill the thought of all this cost with the cost of diesel Plan my route from truckstop drop to drop But all these figures endlessly won’t hide away from me the only number I can’t bring myself to call Oh, go the wheels The shortwave crackles and it squeals A somber dirge being played out on CB Radio For a love that’s gone before grown old.
3.
They came in the night with guns and they chased my future away They dogged my freedom down and slaughtered it in the center of town For all my neighbors to come and see it could happen to them if to me. And they gathered us all together, terrified and strangely alone Oh you can send me away Let my children stay There aint no home back home anyway We couldn't gather what we didn't have so we left with empty hands greasing palms in the filthiest ways to feed my children and sleep them safe Lifted my infant up over the wire and lost her into hungry arms I'll never sleep right again and my baby's gone Oh you can send me away Let my children stay There aint no home back home anyway I'll work for as much as you pay me but my accent says that aint that much. Why do you hate me for living among you when you were born to live amidst so much Have you ever been chased from your home leaving neighbors there to die alone in the hopes that you might find a place to hide your child Have you given of yourself everything so somebody can keep themselves? Have you been born into a childhood far too short? An adulthood that feels like hell? Have you listened to the murderers out in the street and thought, "it's better if tomorrow don't come"? Allah be praised you've never risked all that I've risked but don't you see why I can't go back home? It's violence that I'm fleeing Aint violence that I bring Why do you tremble at my sad religion It's done you no more harm than yours has done to me And it's true that I cover my face when I'm out Out of respect for him that stands above How can loving God be evil? Don't you know God is love? Oh you can send me away Let my children stay There aint no home back home anyway Oh you can send me away Let my children stay There aint no home back home anyway Oh you can send me away Let my children stay
4.
Everybody knows that growing up sucks Noone ever said you had to hate it so much You ran from yourself and you ran from me You ran from your home and from your family And the last time I saw you there was nothing to say You moved one town over, and a lifetime away A last look over your shoulder with them heroine eyes The alley is a church, you kneel, try and get by This whole town judged you like it done before The homecoming queen was now a druggie whore And even if you came to visit there’d be nothing to say You moved one town over, one decision away And I know I judged you, and I had no place to, When I didn’t help you. And I don’t blame you. Things you did, it made you. And I don’t hate you. Everybody knows that being wrong aint hard It’s saying it aloud that aint the easy part. I stand at this microphone confess I’ve wronged Call me sometime if you hear this song Cause there’s a lifetime between us now and nothing’s changed. I still remember you given name. You’ve got children in the next town, and I hear they play I’m just one town over, and forgiveness away One town over. One town over. One town over. One town over.
5.
Tennessee 03:11
Aint got no bourbon, aint got no rum Aint got time for another night’s fun But take my hand and dance with me See if we can make it to Tennessee Dreaming large is what I do Never had the drive to make a dream come true But take my hand and dance with me See if we can make it to Tennessee All I have is what I’ve got I’d be lying if I told you that it was a lot But take my hand and dance with me On a shoestring all the way to Tennessee Your daddy’s land is all you have And leaving him would leave you flat But take my hand and we will see If together we’re enought for Tennessee Plans went South about the Dixon line I turned the car around when you got the mind Saying one more dream wasn’t what you need And Philly was close enough to Tennessee
6.
Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. 30 at 15, pregnant at 16 high school dropout could have been the prom queen momma's got meth teeth, daddy's always thirsty gotta do something, working at the Mickey Dees Boss gets handy says he's gonna save me Payday's Friday, and I need a little money cause there Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. Aint no future being no one's fool Standing up straight, and following rules. Check seems light now, car done broke down Can't afford to fix it, gotta get a bus downtown keeping my probation up, pissing in a dixie cup officer leers at me, asks me, "honey, what's up?" Here we go again it seems, hands are in-between my knees Looks at me, reminds me nobody believes me, and there Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. Aint no future being no one's fool Standing up straight, and following rules. Heading to the pawn shop, thinking about that damn cop I want something light and sexy, big enough to make him stop Feels good on my hip, and better in my hands Out to the back and doing what I planned Six rounds later, and one done gone Two more stops to make then this day is done Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. Aint no future being no one's fool Standing up straight, and following rules. Goin back to the piss stop, finding that probation cop Show's about to start, honey, go on take that jacket off Trigger slides good, shooting like it should Cop drops, demons say, "welcome to the neighborhood." One more stop to make then my body can rest Beating feet into the street, aint got time to get arrested. Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. Aint no future being no one's fool Standing up straight, and following rules. Pull into the drive-thru asking for some cheap food Stacy brings it to the window, tell her that it's no good Make a big scene, calling out his name Demand to see the manager, nothing's gonna be the same The barrel come up and that shit-eating grin Blew three miles wide, honey. Aint no future working 9-5 minimum wage in a dead-end job. Aint no future being no one's fool Standing up straight, and following rules.
7.
Caught and captured, gussied up and pinned to the wall. They like to come and look at you; compare you all. You’re beauty’s iradescent, and this frame is far too plain They know if you got loose that you would bring forth the hurricane Fly little butterflies no glass in between you And the bright bold future and the things that you will do The world will try to pin you down. It will fall short. You’ve been known to have that butterfly effect on the world Mute but pretty. Forced to stay inside your cacoon Told you greatest asset grows inside your womb Reminded of your strength but only strength not to complain. It’s time to step out of this frame bring forth the hurricane Fly little butterflies no glass in between you And the bright bold future and the things that you will do The world will try to pin you down. It will fall short. You’ve been known to have that butterfly effect on the world When you stand up they’ll try to knock you down And make you feel like a worm Just like they did to your sisters down in town Since the day that they were born Soldier on, the monarch’s coming, hail to the queen You’ve been hungry for a change, This could be your day Look at all your predecessors there on the wall It’s the ones who never fought back who are indexed and catalogued A butterfly with broken wings Is never on display It’s worth risking your wings to flap them. Bring forth the hurricane Fly little butterflies no glass in between you And the bright bold future and the things that you will do The world will try to pin you down. It will fall short. You’ve been known to have that butterfly effect on the world
8.
My name is James McGovern. I’m an old hard-working man I’ll tell to you my story, hope that you can understand That I was born into this life; this life I did not choose Followed my father down into those caves, thought there that I might prove That I was made of harder stuff than skin and flesh and bone But the first time that I breathed the dark I knew that I was home. When I was a young man carried tools into that hole Spent summers cool and winters warm on my labour digging coal The dust piled up around me until my skin would not come clean But in the evening when the workbell rang, oh see how my eyes gleam There’s a solomn brotherhood among those who dig so deep into the mountains that you find the secrets nature tried to keep Once I loved a woman and she said that she loved me She bore two children to me and two children bore my need They followed me into those pits to work and there they stay I lost my eldest son to whisky, my youngest to the cave So when the black lung comes and the world goes dim If I see my child will I recognize him Will he know his father though his frame is bent and old His face grown gray and cold from a life spent underground You ask me, "James McGovern, why do you stay this place? Don’t you miss a sunlit valley? Don’t you miss a friendly face?" But there’s a thing that gets beneath your skin when you’re down here. Makes the sunlight unfamiliar and familiar the sound of steel Backbreaking labour all my life is all I’ve known From my grandfather on down, we’re a family digging coal so tell me When the black lung comes and the world goes dim If I see my child will I recognize him Will he know his father though his frame is bent and old His face grown gray and cold from a life spent underground Your car may run on oil, but your house stays warm on coal
9.
There's blood on her mouth, blood on the bottle and she aint answering your call when she's pressed she says she's clumsy we both know that weren't no fall that man's no good nobody ever told her that she's lovely that she's worth so much more than that I tried to tell her once that I was different she just said I've got my man that man's no good we went out the other night by the illumination of 60 watt candlelight we drank till it was fine that's when I lost my mind that old argument did rear I awoke alone here my knuckles bruised and raw I cannot help losing her There's blood on her mouth blood on the bottle when I saw her on hte streets this afternoon I tried to ask her, do you have some place to stay she just turned away she just turned away I can't keep her safe no I can't keep her safe when the booze takes me away this man's no good.
10.
Lifted the hood on that old orange truck Saw the engine was no good Slammed it shut through the steam and the oil Stared off into that darkening wood 38 miles from anywhere 38 years left to live Staring down the median screaming, “something’s gotta give.” Tell me how’d I end up in this deep southern town I’m a child of New England, don’t remember coming down That’s the way that it goes, when you let these six strings Give directions So I let her ride shotgun, pretty in her tweed I bring her up to my motel rooms I take from her what I need Year she’s always raring to go And she always moans on key Sees through the darkness in my soul And she sets that darkness free I tune her up best as I can by ear, don’t want to bring no pedals inside And last time I plugged an amp in I couldn’t spend the night Tell me how’d I end up in this deep southern town I’m a child of New England, don’t remember coming down That’s the way that it goes, when you let these six strings Give directions And I don’t know if you’ve noticed But the gas station pumps don’t pump hope And the bill collectors call you Hang accusations around your neck like coarse ropes. Meanwhile you can't afford to buy new strings Hell, you can't afford your beer And the manager says you aint drawn enough to get payed here I had a girl back home, with eyes like ice and hair like gold She’s moved on she’s got a wife and a kid she’s grown up so I’m told So I bring the pedals in, I stomp a driver, and I let that baby scream Because I left my snow angel, 15 years in my dreams. Tell me how’d I end up in this deep southern town I’m a child of New England, don’t remember coming down That’s the way that it goes, when you let these six strings Give directions
11.
Like Father 04:42
Oh my child. Don’t you think that’s what I’d ask of you. I know you are afraid and I feel it too. I won’t tell you to chin up, won’t tell you to buckle down. Daddy knows the battle with the beasts. The war it’s been raging, oh since long before you were born. Lord knows I tried to kill them all with drink Then I’d wake up every day Seeing everything’s the same And still have to rouse myself and do battle with the beasts The beasts come on you quiet as the grave while you’re speaking. They whisper all those doubts into the places where you fear. And they steal your joys away, and make it harder every day To stand up to, and do battle with, the beasts I showed your mother all the demons that I kept inside. She could by rights have run but she stayed. And she gave me to you and she gave you to me, And said, “get out there, and do battle with the beasts.” So many times like you I have thought I’d let it pass away Not fighting it seems easier that to stand again Though your spirit aches to fade, and you feel hollow every day I’m begging you do battle with the beasts I doubt you recall there was a time when you were almost three The demons they had brought me to my knees I could feel my watch was through, and there was nothing left to do But lie down and wait there for the beasts And you found me and you smiled and you called me by our secret name You held my hand in yours and you banished them Though I was a man grown, and to you demons unknown, You taught me how to battle with the beasts So I know you’ve got the strength to walk yourself out of this rocky place I know you hear them waiting for you just outside that door But put your hand in mine, and I’ll fight by your side And together we’ll do battle with these beasts.
12.
I live in a town where no one feels Everybody is your buddy but nothing’s real The hurt wells up, but we don’t cry We carry it within us till the day we die We drown it out with liquor and with alcohol Smoke till the fires have cleansed us all Scourge our tongues but we don’t know why Carry it within us till the day we die How dare you claim to know me When I don’t know myself My reflection is the devil and the mirror’s hell. My misdeeds are storm clouds on the breeze Bitter as the bile on a stormy sea Can’t stop the deluge but you know we’ll try Dam it up within us till the day we die The thing I’ve done will take me far from you Though I’ve tried to live a life square and true The deed now done can’t meet your eyes. Carry it within us till the day we die How dare you claim to know me When I don’t know myself My reflection is the devil and the mirror is my hell My reflection is the devil and the mirror’s hell. Scorned by the face that I know so well. Got no coin to cross the brack and wide Carry me to judgement on the other side Harry me along let me tarry no more I don’t even understand what you’re still listening for When a truth once told proves to be lies We’ll carry it within us till the day we die How dare you claim to know me When I don’t know myself My reflection is the devil and the mirror is my hell
13.
Beauty Fades 03:25
So now in your 31st year, Have you learned how to name all these things you fear? So now in your 31st year, Do you know That the sun still rises and the sun still sets The flowers still bloom when the snow melts And the dogs still bark at everyone as they pass But the times have changed Beauty fades. Love grows. Time flies faster as the music slows Beauty fades. Love grows. Yeah the times have changed Do your children even know who you are? Let 'em in on your dreams help them find their stars. Do your children even know who you are? Do you? And the wheel grinds down and the lights go off The radio plays back your glory days And the television news says it's all down hill But the times have changed Beauty fades. Love grows. Time flies faster as the music slows Beauty fades. Love grows. Yeah the times have changed And the river don't cry as loud as she used to do And the stabs from your friends don't cut like they used to And you fear that you've mellowed but you don't know how When the fire in your guts keeps the winter out The newspaper story says it's all about what reading don't fix we should just throw out. The family photos line the stairway wall As you climb to your bed you secretly hope you'll fall Beauty fades. Love grows. Time flies faster as the music slows Beauty fades. Love grows. Yeah the times have changed Oh, beauty fades. Oh, watch it grow. Watch the time fly faster as the music slows Beauty fades. Love grows. Yeah the times have changed
14.
I feel that water rising up when I stomp the ground I feel that crack of lightning over that hill You know it’s high tide, and it’s high time And this flash flood is ready to spill The stream is full of flotsam. The controls have been eased The forcasters are forcasting coming in from the East Is a deluvian force, dressed in red and stained orange Rising up like a thunderhead I feel that water rising up when I stomp the ground I feel that crack of lightning over that hill You know it’s high tide, and it’s high time And this flash flood is ready to spill Just put your hand upon the Bible because we care where you lie You won’t get swept away if you hold this flat real tight Shutter all the windows, shudder to think The river is rising, the river is rising. I feel that water rising up when I stomp the ground I feel that crack of lightning over that hill You know it’s high tide, and it’s high time And this flash flood is ready to spill There’s a crackle in the atmosphere you feel it when you breathe All the morons say it’s sunny from their home on TV But just look out your window at that darkening sky Aint gonna be no steady ground left, boys, swim or you’ll die Swim or you’ll die, swim or you’ll die Just look out of your window at that darkening sky Swim or you’ll die, swim or you’ll die Aint gonna be no steady ground left boys swim or you’ll die

credits

released May 30, 2020

G.F. Patrick: Acoustic Guitars & Vocals
Billy Conway: Drums & Percussion
Frank Swart: Bass
Mark Blasquez: Electric Guitars & Keyboards

Produced by Brian Brinkerhoff & Frank Swart
Recorded at Skunkworks, Capitola, CA
Mixed by Mark Blasquez
Mastered by Alex McCullough at True East Mastering, Nashville, TN
Engineered by Frank Swart, Brian Brinkerhoff & Mark Blasquez
Additional recording at Silver-Sweet Sound, Simi Valley, CA.
All songs written by G.F. Patrick and published by Orange TWANG/Chittenden Music. (BMI)
℗©Need To Know Music. All Rights Reserved.

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G.F. Patrick Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia-based guitarist and songwriter G.F. Patrick uses a Georgia-born post-country voice to examine the lives of everyday people and the way their unique pressure points have brought them to the given moment. While staying true to the folk and country idioms, he deftly repurposes song styles to attack outdated archetypes, putting music to the narratives of the overlooked and forgotten. ... more

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