Get all 93 Bill Mallonee releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of WELCOME TO STRUGGLEVILLE (Remaster by Pete Lyman) 2024, Comes To Life (New single released March 14th, 2024), GLIMMER Spring 2024 (demos are back up for 2 days), NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, & WEST, ABOVE, BELOW & WITHIN (single from Orphan Songs), HERE IT OPENS WITH A PRAYER, BUT IT CLOSES WITH A SONG (2022), A CLAMORING OF GHOSTS (2021), THE LOT OF EVERYMAN (a free download today), STUNNED (an anniversary song), and 85 more.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
Could Be A Lot Worse
03:25
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a kiss for the miles to drive
a prayer for when it rains
one shot of perspective
a couple more to kill the pain
when all the best metaphors
are hitting too close to home
when all the best metaphors
are bleeding from your bones
i'm gonna die a failure
but to happiness awake
you can go to sleep in hell
and wake up at heaven's gate
think of all that we miss today
that lay right before our eyes
think of all that fades away
in the hard-pressed compromise
and this is dangerous terrain
we're attempting to traverse
it's a crying shame
but it could be a lot worse
so you proceed with caution
though you're mumbling in the dark
and that one shot of perspective
has finally hit your heart
faith she's a whistling train
running hard in the dark
and hope is like a thing untamed
gonna lay to waste your heart
love's a little bit of God
there for all to know
love's the everlasting arms
that never do let go
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2. |
But Not For Long
02:45
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given what you want given what you need
given what you get given what you have to bleed
bleed some more and i will not mind
and i will not curse and mean it most of the time
given all i am Lord kill these grand pretensions
falling way too short with all my best intentions
moving much too fast with last chance on the line
so you learn to lie it gets easier every time
innocence there goes an old friend
who tries to show herself now and again
since you can't take her along
sure you'll miss her not for long
set the world on fire
hope you make a killing
set the world on fire
or die in burning buildings
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3. |
Blister Soul
04:02
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yeah you got this place you go
it's just a trip before the fall
way past the fevered pitch
just a spit from the wrecking ball
said you woke up this morning
said you woke up under a curse
i've heard the blues are bad
but this is something worse
and the ambulance driver
well he tips his hat and stares
and he asks you in a grave voice
can i take you anywhere
yeah the thing we cannot speak of
too painful to behold
oh this blister soul
there's a smaller place you go
where there's hardly any sound
where the deals have all gone sour
and the house of cards comes down
and the damage is costly
it's beyond all dollars and sense
you can't measure it with graphs and charts
or any instruments
yeah the thing we cannot speak of
the secret we all know
oh this blister soul
yeah from the trumpet blast
i hear the banging drum
yeah from once upon a time
to the kingdom come
and the thing that's yours for free
is the thing i need the most
oh stifles every boast
stifles every boast
yeah the thing that's hard to speak of
but the secret we all know
oh this blister soul
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4. |
Nothing Like a Train
05:06
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nothing like the rain to bring you down
nothing like a train to take you far away
leaving here without a sound
yeah should have been gone yesterday
it was the diamonds i remember
yeah right there behind your eyes
i'm captured once again and seen through
honey your camera never lies
nothing like the leaves 'round your front door
and the stages and the pages you've been in love before
and the things you feel inside these bones
and those that won't leave you
those that won't leave you
those that won't leave you alone
you can map the lay of the land
yeah you can describe the sad terrain
let us survey all the borders
yeah but it all still looks the same
when you find there's nothing special
yeah about that big hole in your heart
'cause everybody's got one
with precious little time to talk about it
here's another song for brenda
yeah another tune for josh and joe
another postcard from the highway
my God where do these days go
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5. |
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clouds break for a moment when you're coming off desolation
and frisco's your appointment you're the way you were before
trying to gaze east but with no one to depend on
and the blisters on your feet yeah from coming down the mountain
your friends won't let you down but friends they're not the refuge
you're tearing up the town with a hip flask of red wine
scrawling visions buzzed in that five and dime notepad
saving them just because angels seemed so sad
a ticket from the coat-check girl
her words and flesh they're laughing
taking down her number
on that lipstick-stained napkin
sainthood for anyone yeah who knows you lose it to save it
a prayer for everyone who's ever been out on the pavement
a sound inside of me as i'm falling through the cracks
hard luck and heart attack of hard luck yeah and heart attack
arms around me if i'm going through the ceiling
service stations of the cross yeah the doctors they need healing
things clear for a moment when you're coming off desolation
between nothing and the atonement it all bleeds behind your cadence
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6. |
Goes Without Saying
03:05
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failure she's a new found friend you let her sleep on the floor
when you rise to check out well she follows to the door
if you listen real close there's the audible sigh
if you look real hard you don't question why
cloth of life is torn
cloth of life is fading so much more
yeah it goes without saying
yeah it goes without saying
goes without saying
and all of these distractions and the worship of the buck
somewhere i think we gave out at a club called "the outta-luck"
and it was deeper than the blackness that all the blacktop holds
we're starving for an omen and the spaces they're wide open
cloth of life is something yeah where you begin
cloth of life is something you can wrap yourself in
keep a candle in the window keep a fire on your hearth
keep a prayer on your lips and keep some hope in your heart
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7. |
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extreme north of the compass
december skies looked gray and joyless
the world awaits in barren splendor
for someone to stir the embers
we are sinking into numbness
welcoming it like an old friend
and my confidence is crumbling
like a house of cards again
is that the darkness you inhabit
well it's a blanket 'round your shoulders
all this vexing of the spirit
always wake up feeling colder so colder
like a friendship never nurtured
like a lover long forsaken
like a liar who can no longer tell
when he's telling the truth or faking
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8. |
Good Luck Charm
03:43
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yeah just where did it start this breaking of your heart
yeah and where did it go south you're looking down in the mouth
of a ride that had just begun when the lap bar came up
yeah and sweetness it was bone dry at the bottom of the cup
yeah death she wears this strange perfume when you're traveling the white lines
yeah she stumbles in here under a different name almost every night
we're all cracked and crumbling just like that old sidewalk
and i suppose this must be the place where the walls went up
you make your smile a different way to cry
when the truth that they've been selling you is just another fine lie
yeah the candles on the inside they are flickering out
with the things they don't tell you about
can you hear the bells can you hear the alarm
can you give away your life like a good luck charm
this is where it started breaking your heart
yeah this is where it started this falling apart
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9. |
Starry Eyed
05:10
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she said with all seriousness
"i'll take no more of this
this violence runs too deep
deeper than these brutal streets"
i see it in that back alley heart
i see it in those concrete eyes
sure i believe in brand new starts
but we're so good at telling lies
if i could put my finger on it
maybe i could show it to the door
name or frame or describe it
what are we hanging 'round here for
and the light keeps pouring down
some prayers are made without a sound
what does it feel like to be found
when you're lost in here
and those old places you once knew
and the new ones you're running to
if you arrive there a bit confused
you'll be starry eyed
i believe the whistle just blew
it's coming into focus coming into view
we're princes and paupers we look the same
we sally forth in that sad parade
my position is all too clear
i'm bringing up the strategic rear
see the gutter it was once my home
but that was when i was all alone
there are places you call holy
there are places you'll call hell
once they start to look the same
who could break the spell
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10. |
Welcome To Struggleville
05:10
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all is quiet on the western front
there appears to be a lull
john and jane doe are sleeping well tonight
with the little thoughts inside their skulls
salome she's undressed to the nines
and although a few pounds fatter
she got pavlov's bells on her ankles and wrists
she coming at you with a platter
so i stole down to the waterfront
to escape the desert heat
oh what on earth you gotta do around here
to try and get yourself a drink
heard john the baptist preaching
"make way for the King
but if you want to recognize Him
you gotta tell me all your sins"
they are building a new gallows
for when You show up on the street
polishing the electric chair
they're gonna give You a front row seat
heard a sneer outside the garden
salutation so well heeled
"welcome all you suckers to struggleville"
i've been trying to negotiate peace
with my own existence
she got a stockpile full of weaponry
she breaking every cease-fire agreement
oh the whole thing is full of decay
as sure as i'm made of dust
and into rust i know
the beast is falling
they are building a new gallows
for when You show up on the street
polishing the electric chair
they're gonna give You a front row seat
heard a sneer outside the garden
salutation so well heeled
"final stop no points beyond struggleville
welcome all you suckers to struggleville"
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11. |
Resplendent/Solar System
13:29
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yeah i remember the dark clouds
raining dust for days on end
blew all the earth out to california
and just left us here with the wind
in desperate times you know everybody's part
but it's your own lines you're like to forget
'til what you were meets what you've now become
grins and says "hey, haven't we met"
lost my firstborn that winter
and my wife on the first day of spring
and so i poured my sweat into the earth
yeah to see what that harvest would bring
and i remember howling fury
just like a plague of locusts
egypt's punishment for sins of pride
is that now what has come over us
how much of this was meant to be
how much the work of the devil
how far can one man's eyes really see
in these days of toil and trouble
honey we're all resplendent
yeah honey we are all thrift store
i'm like a wino with a twenty dollar bill
yeah forever and eternally yours
i can make you promises
if you don't expect too much
yes and i will run the distance
if you'll please please excuse my crutch
how much of this is failing flesh
how much the course of retribution
my my how loudly we plead our innocence
long after we've made our contribution
Solar System
come in here and have a taste
yeah what's one more hopeless case
when your short wave dies and there's no one to listen
and the stars going cold in your solar system
well her lips were red and her hair was brown
yeah feeling like the luckiest kids in town
she said "i'll follow you boy to the ends of the earth"
said "i'm not going that far for what it's worth"
and i really love to see you like this
the moonlight dripping off your fingertips
off your fingertips
well put all your love where it hurts the most
expect a little visit from the Holy Ghost
but when your short wave dies and there's no one to listen
the stars going cold in your solar system
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12. |
Resplendent
05:03
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Bill Mallonee
Bill Mallonee is an Americana artist w/ 80 plus albums over a 30 year career. Voted by Paste Music Magazine #65 in their
"Top 100 Living Songwriters" poll. He was the
founding member of Vigilantes of Love. He has worked with Mark Heard, Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, & Peter Buck from REM.
His most recent work, "Lead On, Kindly Light" is a 23song double Cd released Feb 2020.
... more
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