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 & free download), 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. |
Cloth of Life
03:30
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now my fist is clenched my guard up and set
against all those things that haven't happened yet
can i play on your playground on your side of the ditch
can i go home again if that suit doesn't fit
cloth of life is torn
cloth of life is fading so much more
goes without saying
yeah the leaves were in riot our time of the year
pulling from coffee cups pushing back the tears
you're all writing your chapters a new one each day
i wish i could write my name on the bottom of the page
cloth of life is something 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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2. |
In The Box
03:42
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yeah what you got in the box
ah just as i thought
a few old bones and some skeletons
that you don't wanna own anymore
what you got in the box
come here let's have a look see
a few spare parts and a whiplashed heart
a certain casualty
what you got in the box
is it a little or a lot
what you got in the box
for me
hey what you got in the box
yeah you mind if i take a peek
some scars and stars that have long burned out
of your old lying teeth
what you got in the box
yeah you mind if i check under the hood
a pair of rose-colored spectacles
for when things don't look so good
my own is pretty dusty
my own is such a bore
yeah but in the light of truth and love
it's too hard to ignore
yeah what you got in the box
you know the one you keep under your bed
under solid lock and key
right there inside your head
what you got in the box
yeah just as i thought
a few old bones and some skeletons
that you don't wanna own anymore
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3. |
She Walks on Roses
03:40
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got a skeleton closet we've got a dreaded disease
i been looking high and low for my skeleton key
and they say that pride well it's is the chief of sins
well i know all of his deputies i'm well acquainted with them
yes she walks on water
yes yes she walks on sky
yes yes she walks on roses
yes yes she walks on by
she got a brand new ache she got a brand new crutch
got a brand new scar spend a lifetime to cover it up
and the make-up don't work and the spinning don't help
and if she were to talk about it she'd implicate herself
you can bury it all deep under the ground
you can take it out once in a while when there's no one around
you can grab for it all with your list of demands
or you can come as a small child yeah with your empty hands
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4. |
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trusted you until it hurt
don't wanna go there for a while
barely recognized the word
i've been forgetting how to smile
it's funny how supposed friends
trip in here so fancy free
ah but when the story ends
we just rewrite our histories
and it's no good telling stories
when my ears are sealed up tight
does no good to see the sunrise
when you're blinded by the light
gave you all the best we had
of our labors and our trust
played a benefit of doubt
yeah but we couldn't raise enough
bought a one-way ticket to nowhere
on a ship called lost at sea
well it was there i found my courage
she was sleeping next to me
Lord show to me Your face
Lord show to me Your skin
Lord show to me the places
where they put the nails in
gonna crawl in there with all my fears
introduce them to my pretense
yeah introduce them to my sorrows
they'll become the best of friends
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5. |
Go and ask her
04:26
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a hard line taken every path you crossed
baby what was never found is never lost
long ago you stopped thinking about what it costs
to live in this skin
yes and all those men who ran out on you
who climbed your mountain to steal their view
well they took all the treasure but they left you
with a mind full of nothing
go and ask her
you're innocent when you dream
floated on down to new orleans
with the drifters and the gamblers and the river boat queens
we're all taking our chances on what we've never seen
with our own two own eyes
oh the first time i think i hear you say the word trust
was one half prayer the other half curse
i was hoping you'd think of me none for the worse
for loving you
you can build a big wall around your heart
you can win all the battles before they start
you could claw your way straight to top
of the wreckage and bleed
i wanna hold you in my arms at night
what's it take to make life turn our right
if love is the clue
let's follow it right to eternity
was watching you sleep it was late last night
with a smile on your lips were you dancing in the light
of a place where i
i could not quite reach
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6. |
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the leaves are changing for quite some time
as we headed south thirty five
some unfinished business left to do
stepping stone up we're further away from you
there's been talk on the telephone
about these bleeding parts of mine
they say your radio is pretty good this year
but your retail's not worth a dime
where my seed might find purchase
where my seed might find purchase
tonight these hollow bodies
been thrown into the path
stun gun electricity
the bleeding fingers strumming hacks
my tubes they are a rattling
the wind among dead leaves
and my amps well they're howling
for nobody else but me
yeah slipping under beneath the haze
john barleycorn too often
generally i am the one most inclined
to drive the nails into their respective coffins
distortion factor's kicking in
a thousand miles from home
and tonight my speakers are breaking up too much
with a beauty all of their own
could your bloodstream ever withstand
the poison born of bitterness and vices
you must learn to live thankful to the Lord
or be left to your own devices
yeah we're out here on these paths again
speaking our peace throwing caution to the wind
there's a warm dry room you can sleep in
caught out in the open
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7. |
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let us draw in here for a moment
yeah put away all of your sadness
let us leave it here for a while
'cause in here it is madness
and you know it's never really
very far away
and that's all the more reason
to dance while it's still day
and you find these dreams awakening
and they shine to run their course
so much for this thing called life
tracing it back to it's source
yeah you loved me to the finest hour
and then through thick and thin
on such wreckage and ruin
your spirit did descend
yeah one eye for the saviour
the other for a thief
it was the bread of cheers
it was a meal of grief
between something once remembered
what was just too easy to forget
once you said that you had for me a gift
but i was not holding my breath
it was flowing from the five wounds
from the well of truth
bracing like the wind
it was two hundred proof
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8. |
On To Bethlehem
05:10
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so i'm at this wheel it's three am
waiting for the caffeine to come around
and life rears it's ugly head again
they say your radio's cool and retail's way down
and i'd like to say i'm faithful
to the task at hand
speaking gospel to a handful
and others with their list of demands
it's cold this year and i'm late on my dues
it's cold in here ah but that's nothing new
my heart's electric with your love again
so it's on to bethlehem
you might surmise that i ran there
but i really only crept
lead me to the place where love runs wild
and then it dogs your every step
you know how fickle my heart is
prone to wonder my Lord
yeah we talk but it's at arms length
always got one eye on the door
God wraps Himself up in human skin
for those who want to touch
and God let them drive the nails in
for those of us who know way too much
You come bearing all our burdens
and take Your lovers for a ride
but we stay holed up in our cages
fashioned by our own design
so tell me what is your secret
what's on your blister soul
what is that one little secret
you know the one that has taken its toll
'cause daddy's banging on your gate again
yeah he won't leave you alone
got a whole lot of dry warm rooms
and the finest of homes
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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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