1. |
||||
2. |
Old Joe
03:55
|
|||
|
Old Joe Clark, the preacher man
He preached all over the plain
But the only text that he believed
Was high, low Jack and the game
Round and a-round, Old Joe Clark
Round and a-round I say
He followed me an hundred miles
To hear my fiddle play
Old Joe had a yellow cat
She'd neither sing nor pray
She'd stick her head in the buttermilk jar
And wash her sins away
Round and a-round, Old Joe Clark
Round and a-round I say
He followed me an hundred miles
To hear my fiddle play
Old Joe had a yellow cat
She'd neither sing nor pray
She'd stick her head in the buttermilk jar
And wash her sins away
Round and a-round, Old Joe Clark
Round and a-round I say
He followed me an hundred miles
To hear my fiddle play
Round and a-round, Old Joe Clark
Round and a-round I say
He followed me an hundred miles
To hear my fiddle play
Fare thee well, Old Joe Clark
Fare thee well, I'm bound
Fare thee well, Old Joe Clark
It's time to leave this town
|
||||
3. |
Thompson
04:04
|
|||
|
I watched as the waters receded
But they won't soon be gone from my dreams
And the echoes of waves still are crashing
Through the dusty and wind-bitten leaves
Each dry river still points to the ocean
And every desert remembers the sea.
And I still hear that surf in the nighttime
When there's no one asleep beside me
Chorus:
I will carry my heart to the Thompson again
I will pour out my song where the North and South meet
But will I never be free? Will I never be free
From this heartache that's following me?
When I feel that my step's growing heaving
And the the city's a thorn in my side
I turn my thoughts upward and inward
To where the black bear and juniper hide
What will we tell to our children
And what will become of the sea?
And where will we keep all our memories
And the pieces of what used to be?
Chorus
The rain found me up on the hilltops
Where the moon hides her face in the pines
And the fossils of fish still wait, dreaming
of the distant return of the tide
And the rain chased me down from the mountains
Through the sagebrush and pine-beetle trees
And it followed me all 'long the Thompson
To where the Fraser pours into the sea.
And the ocean was gray! Yes, the ocean was gray!
Could it carry my song far away?
Could it carry it far, far away?
|
||||
4. |
Credo
04:50
|
|||
|
I don't believe in marching down the path that we've been set
For I don't believe in living in a way that we'll regret
And I don't believe in hanging on to things we thought we knew
And I don't believe my teachers, well except for one or two
And maybe some conclusions which I've drawn are not complete
But I believe that I can change my mind if ever I should please
Chorus:
And I believe my friend, I do believe in song
And moving on
Don't linger long
And I believe my friends who do as they see right
No need to fight when your burden's light
And I believe we came from energy, from polyps, and from stars
And I believe that chaos birthed us and still makes us who we are
I don't believe in platitude which puts us in a box
And I can't believe the speeches of those heroes who are not
And I don't believe religion that still murders as it wills
For what's so goddamn wise about philosophy that kills
And maybe I'm a pessimistic, senile, grumpy man
But I believe in being better and I do believe we can
Chorus
I don't believe the marketing of politics these days
Those power-hungry psychopaths deserve no thanks nor praise
And I don't believe in anyone who hates his fellow man
Or those who see it happen and still couldn't give a damn
And maybe there are people who just cannot get along
But I believe that they're still learning how they've gotten it all wrong
Chorus
|
||||
5. |
Oh Susie
02:33
|
|||
|
I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee
And I'm going to Louisiana my true love for to see
It rained all night the day I left, the weather, it was dry
And a sun so hot I froze to death. Susanna, don't you cry
Oh Susanna, don't you cry for me
But I come from Alabama with a banjo on my knee
I hopped aboard the telegraph and traveled down the river
The electric fluid magnified with all that we could giv'er
The bull jumped up, the horse ran off, I really thought I'd die
So I shut my eyes to hold my breath. Susanna don't you cry
I had a dream the other night, when everything was still
And I thought I saw Susanna there a commin down that hill
The buckwheat cake was in her mouth, a tear was in her eye
So I said, I'm commin from the South. Susanna, don't you cry
Soon I'll be in New Orleans and then I'll look around
If at last I find Susanna I will fall upon the ground
But if I should never find her then I think I'll surely die
When I'm dead and gone and buried then, Susanna don't you cry
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
Often have I dreamed of nightmare whispers which confide
That deep within each one of us are secrets we can't hide
We may be breathing.
We may seem to be alive.
But oh my god!
There's a skeleton inside.
Every day they all go out and join the bony mob
Skeletons on every street and working every job
And when we're home at evening and we're aching to be fed
Best believe it was a skeleton that baked our daily bread
And I cannot see a future where I still have eyes to see
Cuz there's a skeleton inside me that is dying to be free
As you are
Once we were
As we are you shall become
Skeletons on bicycles and skeletons in cars!
When the sun has gone down it's our bones that fill the bars
So come on clap your skele-hands, stompy your skele-feet
Everybody's grooving to that danse macabre beat
Remember when the times are hard and life has got you down
Your skeleton's still grinning underneath that fleshy frown!
And when your bones are laid to earth and you've breathed your final breath
They'll rise and shed their sagging skin and dance the dance of death!
I've got a skeleton in me
You've got a skeleton in thee
Everybody skeleton skeleton skeleton
Everybody skeleton skeleton skeleton
Everybody skeleton skeleton skeleton
|
||||
7. |
Whiskey in the Jar
03:01
|
|||
|
As I was going over the Cork and Kerry mountains
I met with captain Ferrell and the money he was counting
I first produced my pistol and then I drew my rapier
Saying, stand and deliver or the devil he may take you
Mush-a rigga darum da
Whack for my daddyo
Whack for my daddyo
There's whiskey in the jar
I was counting out my money and I made a pretty penny
I put it in my pocket and I took it home to Jenny
She told me that she loved me and never would deceive me
But the devil take that woman for you know she fooled me easy
I went up to my chamber all for to take a slumber
I dreamt of gold and jewels and for sure it was no wonder
That Jenny took my bullets and she filled them up with water
Then went for Captain Farrell to be ready for the slaughter!
'Twas early in the morning as I rose up for travel
Up rode a dozen soldiers -- they were led by Captain Ferrell
I first produced my pistol for she'd stolen away my rapier
But I could not shoot that water so a prisoner I was taken!
Now some men take delight in drinking and in gambling
And others they delight in their carriages a-rambling
But me I find my comfort in singing and in smoking
And courting all the pretty girls so early in the morning
Mush-a rigga darum da
Whack for my daddyo
Whack for my daddyo
There's whiskey in the jar
|
||||
8. |
love
05:45
|
|||
|
Time's the wind that we can't hold
Before we know we'll grow so old
So if I die before I awake
I pray the earth my soul to take
It makes me sad whenever I'm told
The world around is sharp and cold
For though the sky is dark above
I place my trust in the power of love
Oh, sweet love
Love, oh, sweet love
The hourglass it tells this tale:
Our bodies age. Our bodies fail.
But though our hearts will pass away
The love we share will not decay
And at the end of troubled time
Return my soul to mother-mine
There at last we'll be so free
We'll swim in joy as in a sea
Love's the light that will remain
When everything is blown away
So rest your head and rest your hands
And dream no more of those falling sands
Yes all our loss should make us bold
Our blood is warm just until it's cold
And though the sky is dark above
I place my trust in the power of love
Oh, sweet love
Love, oh, sweet love
|
||||
9. |
The Otherside
04:11
|
|||
|
Father Jacob picks a mussel from the lake bed, puts it in the cart
He reaches down again but then recoils, eyes wide, lips apart
He falls upon his knees and with his hands begins to dig
He can see features of the man whom he exhumes, so old so grey
A man who's seen the other side
A man who's seen the other side
Father Jacob pulls the man into the cart and wheels it to the mission
A tiny starving village with no power or physician
He lays down the man and cleans him with some water from a basin
Suddenly his blind eyes flicker, weeping, terror on his face he groans
I've seen the other side
I have seen the other side
And it was beautiful
And how it satisfied
He can't remember his own name but swears he recognizes father
He believes he was a young man when he stepped into the water
Says I walked until the ice formed overhead, my legs grew stiff and blue
My beard went grey, my eyes white- it's the price you pay when you break through
The other side
Into the other side
You are made beautiful
You are changed
You are ossified
I thought that I was dead but then light penetrated through the ice
It groaned and cracked and I from underneath was sucked out into space
What I beheld I cannot tell, I felt it with my body, tasted with my mind
And like a woman, it embraced me then I knew
I held the other side
And I smelt the other side
And she was beautiful
And how she satisfied
Father Jacob gasps, recoils in dread surprise
This man this Lazarus transfigured
Continues changing before his eyes
And fixes Father with a gaze
So blind, the man begins to rise
He glows his skin dissolves
He's perforated by darkness from inside
He is transformed, he is the Otherside
He has become the Otherside
And how it terrifies
It is beautiful and how it satisfies
The other side
The other side
|
||||
10. |
Bicycle
04:01
|
|||
|
When I first moved here I was just seventeen
Had good ideas but was young and naive
I bought a bicycle but it treated me so mean
So I went searching for a kinder machine
I walked for ages down streets I'd never been
Until I found a shop I'd seen in a dream
Inside was a bearded man as big as a tree
His mouth was filled with gold. He smelled like the sea. And he said:
Boy I know you've come a long way indeed
But don't you trouble -- I've got just what you need
And in the corner was the bike of my dreams
It shone like lightening. It had twenty-three speeds!
Bicycle, oh Bicycle
Bicycle -- you're shining so keen!
Bicycle, yeah Bicycle!
Me and my bike we're a fiercer shade of green
Make me an offer, boy, but don't waste my time
You can search around but it's the last of its kind
It's old as the Buddha but it's riding so fine
It'll take you anywhere, it'll turn on a dime
When you're feeling heavy it'll cross any line
This bike's a racehorse. Oh my god can it fly!
Bicycle, oh Bicycle
Bicycle -- you're burning so clean!
Bicycle, yeah Bicycle!
Me and my bike we're a fiercer shade of green
I held out a rooster's tooth and a firefly's shine
A perfect seashell, an original rhyme
A burning matchstick and a mercury dime
Two matching snowflakes cured in dandelion wine
He shook my hand said, Son that's fair as can be.
And I said, Thank you, sir, for setting me free!
Bicycle, oh Bicycle
Bicycle -- tell me, Where you gonna go?
Bicycle, yeah Bicycle!
As for me and my bike -- we will serve the road
|
||||
11. |
Drunken Sailor
01:33
|
|||
NO MOTHERS Vancouver, British Columbia
No Mothers changed its name to Salt Thief in 2018.
There's more viola folk rock fury to be found on our website: www.saltthief.com
And on Bandcamp: saltthief.bandcamp.com
If you like NO MOTHERS, you may also like:
Feel The Ground You Walk Upon
by Lewis McLaughlin
Old-fashioned fiddles harmonize with rippling synths on the Scottish singer-songwriter's latest collection of original folk songs.
go to album
Will I Still Bloom?
by Half Dream
Heartland indie rock that’s like Angel Olsen at her fuzziest fronting a gnarlier Mazzy Star.
go to album
Write The Soil Lighter
by Mother Juniper
“Write The Soil Lighter” is full of beguilingly mysterious folk-adjacent music, shrouded in shadow and atmospherics.
go to album
Would the Light Hold Me
by Oceanique
Celtic-inspired instrumentation, delicate harmonies, and reflective lyrics abound on the sisterly indie-folk duo's debut album.
go to album
Introspective pop songs with transcendent melodies offer a joyful meditation on staying present in a world that often moves too fast.
go to album
The Same Mistakes
by Hot Left Pole
Soft-as-a-whisper folk music, with spiderwebs of guitar and vocal melodies as comforting as a lullaby.
go to album
Dry Bones Dance (2021 Remaster)
by Mark Heard
A 1990 folk-rock triumph gets an overdue reissue, with trenchant lyrics paired with rich Americana arrangements.
go to album
