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Cardboard and Christmas Lights

by The Rough & Tumble

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1.
Vultures 02:55
I'm waiting on the vultures, They're gonna take care of what is, was mine. I am waiting on the vultures, They are so good to me and always on time. I'm waiting on the vultures, I think I'll pair you up with red wine. I'm waiting on the vultures, They will find every piece of you but the spine. Ooooooh, Call a kettle to come closer. Ooooooh, A belly full and then it's over you-- And the vultures wait on me. If I had my money back, You could call the kettle black. There's a long neck creatures In my look back mirror for you.
2.
Not Polite 03:13
You were not so nice to me. I was 15 then, only half alive, And you were 53. You were not so nice to me. I am 29, now, a grown-ass girl And you are sixty-some... That's not polite. Don't let that door... Oh, no. You were not so nice to me. You were all clenched fists, you were all bared teeth, You were huffing on again. You were not so nice to me. We were kids and friends, but all friends end, And yours was bitter-- oh. That's not polite. I can't say that I'm regretting the great distance that I'm letting Come between you and me and the chance that I'll run into you On holidays. And it's not 'cause I hate you, or what all your family's done, I think you're kind of sweet in your own way, and anyway, My mother's needing some of her own friends, But won't you let me in on something-- Wait, because I'm wondering why you think that it's your right to go And act all high and mighty, and to tell me that I'm acting Not polite.
3.
It's Alright 02:48
We're gonna leave this behind, Two birds sitting on a telephone line-- The house was creaking under cloudless skies. It's Alright. On those rainy days, Falling swallows in your oil paints-- I guess our fights never die the same way. It's Alright. Don't take down your Christmas lights-- I see them shining (I see them shining!) You left behind what you would recognize And I saw you laughing through the hardest times. We're gonna leave this someday-- Barbed wire bent to form our getaway, Our flashlights bending toward the breaking day. It's Alright.
4.
Cicada 02:25
I kissed you like kudzu, 'Neath the scream of the cicadas. They were calling out for love, And maybe we were, too. Let's stay here in silence, Til the moment that I've left you. Let the leaving keep his dares, Until the setting of the moon. You are not my mother's thought of love, No, no, no-- but you, are all I want, And all I've got. You are not a handsome man, I cannot play in the movies. There's no star to lead us, now, there's no star to show us how-- Just a love that says we can.
5.
Bus 03:24
Don't you call me on my birthday-- You know I'd of stuck around if there was more to say. But I can hear your rumbling from six months away. Don't tell me I've got mail waiting-- Everyone in this town knows what address to find me and my demons. And even the postman and I, we've got an agreement. Get back on the bus. That funny city gonna call you away. Don't you step foot on my front porch, Don't you slow down when you're driving by my place. Don't show inside my coffeeshop, my grocery store, this hallowed ground your face. Get back on the bus. That funny city gonna call you away. Don't you think it's leaving time, Settle in with your Sunday Times. All those things you'll leave behind-- Don't think of what you'll leave behind-- Away, that funny city gonna blow you away.
6.
Well, we've been traveling round and round From the Great Northeast to Nashville down to Florida-- We don't travel now, for the winter and snow. Scrape a little money together at the redneck bar, Put all the wine on the credit card-- "Did we make enough?" We can fill the car with unleaded gasoline! If you've had enough, or had near enough Sick and tired of that old man looking down on us-- Come together, we think we've got a plan: Save a Teeny Tiny Traveling Folk Band. Save the songwriter, the snake charmer, iconoclast and local farmer, Save a little for your sons and your daughters Before it's all gone. God bless the ones who feel too much, Who talk too loud, who have had enough. Who break what stands between all of us-- the void, the lie, the truth. And it's hard to make a little money in this damn town. When you're only a folk singer, a songwriter, A bartender, a freelance uber driver, A waiter and a web designer. We're all beggars and dealers and backdoor barterers, Commonly referred to as Kickstarters, Have all your friends finally unfollowed you? If you've had enough, or had near enough, Sick and tired of that old man looking down on us, Come together, The Rough & Tumble's got a plan. Come together, We can fool our Uncle Same. Come together, There's no wish like this command. Save a Teeny, Tiny, Traveling Folk Band!
7.
We're the ones who turn the clocks, We keep all our windows locked at night When there's one light on. We wrote all the great love songs Upon a square of kitchen wall. We write to sing, And sing to soothe the soul. You know what it means to be forgotten. I know what it means to be alone. Next time you feel like leaving, Take me with you. That was the year we ached for months And wished we hadn't pulled a punch or two, With our left arm falling. Climbed splinters to that sliver moon, Bring a jar of Elmer's glue, tonight, And I'll fill it in for you. You know what it means to say you're sorry. Next time you feel like leaving, Take me with you.

credits

released February 7, 2017

All songs copyright 2017 Penny Jar Publishing (SESAC)
Recorded at Echo Mountain Studios and Rock Candy Caverns
with the help of: Matthew Price, Daniel Maurer, Holden Dixon, Moriah Barkocy, Luke Cory
Engineered by: Jim Georgsson, Clay Miller
Mixed by: Matt Langston
Mastered by: Troy Gleaner
Produced by: Matt Langston and The Rough & Tumble
Photo by: Jessica Langston
Artwork by: The Rough & Tumble and Ryan Camp

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The Rough & Tumble Haverhill, New Hampshire

The Rough & Tumble are a dumpster-folk/thriftstore Americana band consisting of Mallory Graham and Scott Tyler. Only This Far, their latest full length record is out May 12, 2023. "The bottom line is these are just quality songs, well written, well played, well sung and arranged, and a pleasure from start to end."- AmericanaUK ... more

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