1. |
Ain't That the Way
03:23
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“Ain’t that the way to burn a good spatula,” she said
"Just by stirring the pot, Just by starting your day"
Ain’t that the way to mess up without really trying,
Not mean what you say
Ain’t that the way to really cook my egg.
I showed up,
Not at my best,
And I’m starting all over again.
Rock, paper, scissors
That’s my guess,
If it’s gonna be alright
My finest work: this isn’t it;
And I’m starting all over,
All over again.
1-2-3 pick a door, any door, it don’t matter which one you try for
They’re all locked or jammed anyway.
No magic word, no ringing bell, just the same old stoop and step--
Oh, hell. I guess I'll take my traveling salesman ass back to Santa Fe.
To each her own, won't pick no nits or bones about it,
But I lost and found it
Just to lose it again and again and again and again
“Ain’t that the way to burn a good spatula,” she said
"Just by stirring the pot."
Hot damn I’m stirring the pot again.
Ain’t that the way.
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2. |
A Little Less
02:56
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Give me a half cup,
Something to the hit the spot and not give me the shakes.
Plant grass on the blacktop,
There’s not a spoon of sugar that can melt that ache.
It’s a hard luck find
In a too full place.
I need a little less, More and more, Day by day
I need a little less More and more Day by day by day
Give me a last call,
I need one more dance and make it slow.
Cause I’m gonna hold on,
Yeah, I’ll hold on longer than I can go
You know I think I’ve had enough.
I don’t have the taste to be satisfied.
Plant grass on the blacktop--
Better slow going than never tried.
Give me a count off 1-2-3-4
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3. |
God of War
03:47
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My dad is a Believer, he serves no god but one.
Pays tithes to the Sunday plates and to the preacher’s son--
Who supplies the congregation with their automatic guns.
Serves but one, but it’s the God of War.
I was born the anniversary of the prophet who was slain,
Wore it as a badge of honor til I learned to speak his name.
Then I nodded to the dark clouds who bring the April rain.
I’m the daughter of the God of War.
Don’t shake, don’t breathe,
Don’t move your little finger.
Don’t let them find you out until the smoke no longer lingers.
I found the pin outside,
the grenade is still within you--
It’s gonna blow.
I’m the ashes in the street. I’m the trails made by the tires.
I’m the crater in the market place after the rocket fire.
They say to not give chase, be still as rabbits in the brier.
Tell me again whose kid I’m fighting for.
My dad is a believer, he serves no god but one.
Tucked in the Alleghenies, trigger finger on the gun.
But he’ll stay on the ready: what you worship, you become.
"And I swear, by God-- they’re gonna come."
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4. |
Homesick
03:01
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Sucker punch me to the head In Upper Central Michigan
Around where the Au Sable River bends.
Every place I ever go reminds me of a place I used to know.
If I pick up any stone and throw it three times hard--
Won’t I be home?
Homesick- Oh but how can that be?
Not a shiver on the wind,
Don’t feel a sniffle or a sneeze.
I bet I need to put my mind at ease
So I won’t get homesick
Way out on the prairie land before the hills begin again
The rocks are held in time before they’re sand.
The mountain tops with copper mines with traces of asbestos lines in stone.
All that we tried to refine has undermined our lungs before we’d known.
Won’t get, Won’t Get, homesick
Won’t get, Won’t Get, homesick, homesick, home—
I hardly hit Pacific when I turn to the Atlantic,
Don’t say goodbye I’ll say hello again.
Tossing 'tween the oceans is no different than me turning in my bed.
Say it and I’ll turn your sorries into coming home instead.
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5. |
The Weather
03:49
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Looks cold up where you are,
Wherever you are in whatever state.
I can hear it, you sound sore.
I don’t want you to elaborate.
Let’s talk about the weather
Let’s get back to the weather
Let’s keep it to the weather
Whether I stay, whether I stay
Everybody talks about
How you can’t go home again
But I wouldn’t anyhow
And if I did, what would I say?
I don’t know why you’re talking to God,
When I’m the one your hurt.
When I’m so close you-- no need to go further.
I’m standing right in front of you now,
Waiting for the wind to turn.
You’re turning in that’s my answer about whether I stay.
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6. |
Key of G
03:09
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I have no trouble when I sleep at night
Except the nights you’re lying by my side
I can’t shut my eyes
Most nights I’m in bed by 10,
The alarm’s for 7 gonna do it all again
I don’t mind
Drinking coffee in the evening,
Playing in the key of G
Gonna keep it nice and simple,
Gonna keep it good and clean
Go on walks while I am able,
Give you kisses on the cheek
Drink my coffee in the evening
Make it strong if it’s not sweet
(Guitar Fight)
I can play fast and I can play slow,
We can take it any speed you wanna go--
It’s a song that we both know.
Of all the ones I love the best,
It’s a simple tune that’ll take away my breath--
Here we go--
Drinking coffee in the evening,
Playing in the key of G
Gonna keep it nice and simple,
Gonna keep it good and clean
Go on walks while I am able,
Give you kisses on the cheek
Drink my coffee in the evening
Make it strong if it’s not sweet
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7. |
Carry You
03:39
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I was meant to carry you;
Only this far, my arms are two.
I was meant to walk with you;
Only this far, my legs are two.
I was meant to stay with you;
Only this far, my heart's in two.
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8. |
Your Corner
03:38
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The trouble with forgiveness, is when it gets loose,
It talks like a poet but feels like the truth.
Pull at any flowered word, there’s dirt at the root--
And bad news is bad news.
I can’t be your shoulder,
You already have two.
Won’t be there to lean on,
I’m gonna fall through.
But if you need someone
to sit down next to,
I’m in your corner, I’m in your corner,
I’ll be your corner in a round room
The trouble with forgiveness is it’s got nothing to prove.
It stands like a boulder can’t push it to move--
And once it rolls away- where it stood
It’s you. It’s just you.
Round and round no other way but through
I can’t be that for you, But I can be there
I'm for you.
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9. |
Isn't What I Thought
02:43
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I’m joining up on the party line,
Not waiting on retirement.
Lord knows that took enough of my time
sitting on the company script.
But it bought me a house that I couldn’t live in
And some food that I never eat--
It’s all wasted away in the bottom bin,
And it isn’t what I thought it’d be,
Oh no, it isn’t what I thought it’d be.
Gotta head of lettuce in the hospice drawer,
I’ll buy another and let it wilt.
I need plenty but I want more,
I’m still hungry when I have my fill.
I can have it sent to my front door,
Or call for delivery--
But I don’t see what I’m looking for
And it isn’t what I thought it’d be,
Oh no, it isn’t what I thought it’d be.
I’ve spent every lick of my time,
I’ve been wasting my time.
I’ve been wasting my time on time.
I can have a smorgasbord,
Get a little bit of everything
Pass the peas and praise the Lord,
Can’t get enough of anything.
But I won’t answer my front door
without checking through my screen.
I’m scared of the person on my front porch
And I isn’t who I thought I’d be,
Oh no, I isn’t who I thought I’d be.
I think til I’m thought and I fight til I’m fought,
I fought out the clock then the clock got bought
and something’s still a-missing where time is a-pissing
and it isn’t what I thought it’d be.
I’ve spent every lick of my time,
I’ve been wasting my time.
I’ve been wasting my time on time.
I am til I ain’t and I can til I cain’t
And I don’t so I didn’t and I won’t so I wouldn’t
And it doesn’t so I dizn’t and
I wasn’t so I wizn’t and
It isn’t what I thought it’d be.
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10. |
Trouble
02:55
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Trouble’s already getting used to me,
I held it off until the count of 1-2-3
But trouble’s on the one and I am two, three deep--
And I haven’t even done a thing yet.
I know trouble, I know trouble,
I know trouble,
Not as good as trouble knows me
Trouble’s already getting close to me,
I’m tripping over trouble far as I can see.
Now trouble’s down below and I am up a tree--
And I haven’t even started something yet!
Trouble’s already chasing after me,
Like pharaoh and his army through the split red sea.
For all I know the trouble is the rising deep,
When I haven’t even found my way yet.
Trouble’s showing up where I expect it least
Just minding my own business like I ought to be.
But trouble’s coming up and I can’t help but think--
Is trouble blaming trouble on me?
I know trouble, I know trouble
I know…
I know trouble, I know trouble
I know trouble
About as good as trouble knows me
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11. |
Get Your Shoes On
03:02
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Look at you all elbows and knees,
Ribs pushed out in a full sized bed.
Not nobody gonna cuddle you up,
Get under your skin, get into your head
'Cause you been
Beat up, beat down, beaten to the punch
Beat up, beat down, taken out to lunch
Shoes in hand, hair matted one side,
Turn around said “Honey, I had a nice time.”
I left Haight a couple years too late
Getting off of a trip I was long overdue,
You said, “I was on a bad trip, too;
I burned it all down, now I’m coming for you.”
'Cause you been
Beat up, beat down, beaten to the punch
Beat up, beat down, taken out to lunch
Shoes in hand, hair matted one side
Turned around said “Honey, I had a nice time.”
Get your shoes on
You can’t help yourself from a small town heart
Get your shoes on
We can’t cool down while the blacktop's hot
Get your shoes on
We’ve been running around trying to get caught
Get your shoes on, get your shoes on--
It’s the good in me that can’t be shined.
We’ve been beat up, beat down, beaten to the punch
We’ve been vinegar but never wine.
We’ve been beat up, beat down, taken out to lunch
They called us rubble and fire and that’s just fine.
We’ve been beat up, beat down, beaten to the punch
Get your shoes on, get your shoes on
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12. |
Shallow Fall
03:16
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It scares me when you’re scared of me.
You tense up, you freeze in your body.
Like a rattlesnake waking from a winter’s sleep,
We need the first thunderstorm of the prairie.
Don’t you ever tire of the moon?
Hiding behind the clouds or rising too soon.
It’s a shallow fall between doing alright and not good at all--
I’ll be doing alright soon.
I lost my voice when you found yours.
I don’t know how to be wrong and keep us on this course.
It’s all lightning in a feedback loop of flash and force
I don’t want to be right, I want a downpour.
Don’t you ever tire of being sad?
Isn’t there a day you can call it, say it’s not so bad.
I might be too soon, but would you sit and watch this boring old moon?
It’ll be alright,
You’re gonna be alright, too.
The hailstones on the roadside
Look all emerald in the brightness from our headlights.
Like the shaky hand of God across the night sky
I see you clearly in the flash of light.
Don’t you ever tire of the moon?
Hiding behind the clouds or rising too soon.
It’s a shallow fall between doing alright and not good at all--
It’ll be alright,
We’re gonna be alright, too.
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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
The Rough & Tumble recommends:
Flagship Romance has been making beautiful, meaningful music for so many years, and there new stuff, especially is so special. Give it a listen.
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We love us some music by The Honey Badgers! Such a fun, sweet duo.
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Ordinary Elephant is the real deal. So much poetry in their music, you owe it to yourself to listen.
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I love the album, but the best listen is songs 3 through 11 👍🏻 These 9 songs just flow together so beautifully 👊🏻
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