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AMBER WAVES Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love (2012)

by Bill Mallonee

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hdgs1000
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hdgs1000 Brilliant lyrics and great guitar work. the fella strikes the match Favorite track: FAITH COMES SOAKED IN GASOLINE.
matt redmond
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matt redmond Sounds like every crashing piece of a broken heart and the hope just over the horizon. Favorite track: ONCE YOUR HEART GETS BROKEN (It Just Keeps On Breaking).
Mark Helmick
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Mark Helmick Great follow up to "The Power & the Glory". Yeah, Yeah, Yeah...is such a good song - the interplay of acoustic guitar and keyboards, the steady, shuffling rhythm, and heartfelt lyrics and vocals. There are many more solid songs on Amber Waves. It's well worth purchasing and listening to...often. Favorite track: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH (I Got Faith Like a Butterfly's Wings).
Barry Dunlap
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Barry Dunlap "Walking Disaster" is a near perfect Americana pop song, much like Petty's "American Girl." Favorite track: WALKING DISASTER.
Simon Jones
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Simon Jones Full of great songs. This is Bill's 50th and probably best album. Not a note out of place; lots to dance to and think about
Kirk Bozeman
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Kirk Bozeman My fave Mallonee since Permafrost, well worth your $$$. Favorite track: YEAH, YEAH, YEAH (I Got Faith Like a Butterfly's Wings).
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1.
AMBER WAVES 04:56
AMBER WAVES (Golden) lyrics/music: bill mallonee There's a highway washed in brightness with skies of indigo the desert whispers what she knows Neruda on the dashboard & the engine's humming true the rear-view held a harvest moon chorus: faith is a throw of dice and the sleeping heart is stirred after ragged sentences you'll get the last word and it may just be the most golden that we've heard it may just be the most golden that we've heard afternoons of red wine with a nod to revelry the stars came out for you & me all that remains unanswered and all there's to forget the best, it hasn't happened yet there are songs for the beginning and songs made for the end and songs made for when you begin again grieving? she rolls in like waves and hardly ever stops until you learn her lines by heart
2.
TO THE NINES 04:28
TO THE NINES words/music: bill mallonee well, the rain & the wind...they are at it again quarreling lovers...better run for cover rivers will rise...and to no one's surprise you're gonna get baptized...one way or another CHORUS: honey, you dress up to the 9's and we'll have us a look around and the moonlight'll take us to the farthest edge of town you gotta trust somebody...so it might as well be me i surrendered my badge and guns...& the cards up my sleeve got a lil' too far ahead of myself...and way behind on dues I ran outta stars...to hitch my wagon to now you can taste the cup of bitterness and drain the cup of grief you can find that place where wonders never cease there's gold in every story...the power & the glory last words to be employed... Bill Mallonee: vocals, electric & hi-string guitars, harp Jake Bradley: bass, guitars Kevin Heuer: drums
3.
ONE KISS AT A TIME by: bill mallonee yeah, most of my life I was just turning the pages I could never find myself in the pictures of faces But people wake from their dreams and sometimes it is frightening sometimes it is with a whisper or bolt of lighting chorus: I gotta get to your heart i wanna feel it shine and i'm gonna get there (so, i'm learning to fly) one kiss at at time there's not much you can see when your eyes are shut not much you can cling to when your fists won't open up honey, your heart was a treasure buried under the sea and so just for good measure i asked you for the key Baby, you bring the paper and i'll bring the the pen let's write us a story up one with a happy ending yeah, most of my life i was just turning the pages now, i'm getting born again in the finest of places
4.
Faith (Comes Soaked in Gasoline) words/music: bill mallonee Dunno what you heard before you got here Dunno what you thought you'd see one thing about faith you can be sure of It all comes soaked in gasoline It all comes soaked in gasoline the foreman's car pulls into Hoover-ville He's gotta 100 jobs for 1000 men and 'cause our kids look like skeletons it won't cost him much of any thing and gun toting deputy wears a shiny badge but that kinda justice don't mean a thing one thing about faith, you can be sure of It all comes...soaked in gasoline bridge: they'll douse the camp at midnight so you'd better be up and packed one day something more than fire is gonna fall when that fella strikes the match They say the Savior had nowhere to lay his head and pretty soon neither shall we. one thing about faith you can be sure: well, it all comes soaked in gasoline i dunno what you heard before to got here dunno what you thought you'd see one thing about faith, you can be sure of It all comes...soaked in gasoline It all comes...soaked in gasoline
5.
LONG SINCE GONE words/music: bill mallonee smoke driftin' from a wood fire way back in the pines of Carolina... closing down store...one year more of coming up short CHORUS: hung heads and heavy sighs winter comin' on what lil' was left is long....since....gone the fields? they're all barren factory up & moved it overseas boarded up town ghosts walkin' the streets And they all say one thing back on "the Hil"l it ain't come back yet maybe it never will old ways...old paths all of 'em drowned...in a sea of progress history doubles back...to shake hands with you when you've got nothing to trade on...you've nothing left to lose
6.
PILLOW OF STARS (Fate & Sad Reversals) words & music: bill mallonee pass me paper & pen and a shot to boot let a dreamer preach a sermon and a fool speak half a heart full Chorus: baby, when you love you find out who you are wherever you lay your head, may there be a pillow of stars and though fate & sad reversals slow your journey home you'll get teher 'cause that deal was done a long, long time ago What cha said with your eyes was more than you wanted to speak my, my how we use our stammerin' tongues to steady stumblin' feet I dunno why i rock this way or why i roll with such and art i dunno why i speak these words to break my own heart
7.
It Was Always Autumn In My Heart (But I Could Not Tell You Why) words & music: Bill Mallonee       There's this simple space that lies between the thing you said and the thing you really mean And I was hoping maybe God would show his face but i don't know what he would look like or would i recognize her there's so much we'd have to talk about ah, but would i find the words? chorus: it was summer for a spell till the whole thing went to hell  and really, why should anybody be surprised? it's always autumn in my heart but i could not tell you why that book was heavy from the start it was more than a i could hold and me? well, my eyes caught your heart and a glimpse into your soul oh, to find the brush to render what our tongues can  barely speak oh, to find some room to talk in  where our eyes can truly meet a 6 string drag through an old tweed amp healing spirits and breaking camp and the high desert kiss, of my girl and God's face is peaking 'round the door in that high & lonesome tremolo and in Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" Bill Mallonee: electric & high string guitars, vocals Jake Bradley: Bass guitar Kevin Heuer: drums
8.
ONCE YOU HEART GETS BROKEN (IT JUST KEEPS ON BREAKING) words/music: bill mallonee  It came as a whisper...yeah, it came in the night  just as you were driving...past the neon lights  and it was last call...surely that’s enough said  all that once was given...turned from green to red  CHORUS:  One thing they don’t tell you...but, there is no mistakin’  once your heart gets broken, kid...it just keeps on breaking  Another one down...3rd one this week  reporters speculate...about toxicity  And it was said that he trafficked...with magic potions  Aren't we’re filling our holes? aren't we picking our poisons?  CHORUS:  One thing they don’t tell you...cause we're good at fakin'  once your heart gets broken, kid  it just keeps on breaking...it just keeps on breaking  All the simple truths...that take you by surprise  they come into sharp relief...in a certain slant of light  time to drop you bags...time to pick up your key  don’t worry tipping the bellboy...you won’t need your things  CHORUS:  One thing they don’t tell you...till after you’re shaken  once your heart gets broken...  it just keeps on breaking...  it just keeps on breaking Bill Mallonee: electric guitars, vocals, mellotron  Jake Bradley: bass guitar, electric guitar  Kevin Heuer: drums
9.
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH (FAITH LIKE A BUTTERFLY'S WINGS)  words/music: bill mallonee  I can tell you're not sure if you wanna go  and really that's most understandable  there's whole a lot involved in where you place your bet  and all these reports? They're a little suspect  taking a stab at matters of the heart  shooting in the proverbial dark  you gotta a prayer like the breath of a little baby  i wish i knew how you felt about me  chorus:  yeah, yeah, yeah...not much i can bring  yeah, yeah, yeah...i got faith like a butterfly's wing  yeah, yeah, yeah...there's a world beneath your skin  For God's sake try to be your own best friend  yeah, yeah, yeah...  the autumn branches have been stripped bare  your breath it freezes & hangs in the air  the wind it howls over bleak terrain  if you make it back kid, well, you're never the same  searching for a secret on this path  always a little elusive just outta grasp  but the stones on the way have been worn smooth  so maybe that'll be some comfort to you Bill Mallonee: acoustic & electric guitars, vocals Jake Bradley: bass guitar, bass pedals Kevin Heuer: drum, xylophone
10.
BREAK IN THE CLOUDS words & music: bill mallonee For God's sake man, just look there as the city sleeps she's all tangled up in her dirty dream sheets and the storms? Well, they're all spent now Here is your dusty pearl. she's such a lonely girl here is another world...and a break in the clouds I couldn't find my name on your guest list once again but the door-man of life just opens up and lets me in to your room where your tweed is sweet and loud she is a shiny girl kind of a solid state girl here's is your other world...and a break in the clouds now what i found about the truth is she usually don't get heard and what i think about Love is she always gets the last word on the streets of this God-forsaken town that is a shiny pearl she's such a pretty girl ah, yeah in this God-forsaken town she's such a lonely girl kinda of a dusty pearl here is your other world....and break in the clouds
11.
WHAT YOU TAKE (AND WHAT YOU LEAVE BEHIND) words & music: Bill Mallonee Between the clear as day and the wonderfully oblique  'tween the dross in your veins and the treasure you still seek  the span of years that reaches here to the skies  what you take and what you leave behind  between what you've seen and what your lips can tell  between the stuff if the holy and the hard sell  it occurs to you it was all gentle on your mind  what you take and what you leave behind  between the counterfeit & the mother of all pearls  just beneath the skin of this tired old weary world   honey, that kiss of yours that opened up my eyes  what you take and what you leave behind                              Bill Mallonee: electric 6 & electric high string guitars, vocals, harmonica Jake Bradley: bass guitar Kevin Heuer: drums
12.
WALKING DISASTER words & music: bill mallonee c.BMI 2012 there's a sad song for every heart broken there's a name for every fool in the book there's a sermon for every occasion there's a love song for every soul shook chorus: On the fault line of walking disasters well, that's the place fallen angels still fly and the river of love...well, it still rolls on long time after the well...has run dry if you stand and you make your confession in a suit of old clothes that you stole offering your vain protestations doused heavily in cheap cologne when the poor you'd hoped would keep silent show up on your front door stage and the tent cities bath in the halogen glow of the pale light of the new dark age On the fault line of walking disasters there's the place fallen angels still cry and the river of love...well, it still rolls on long time after the well...has run dry from AMBER WAVES, released November 24, 2012 Bill Mallonee: guitars, vocals Jake Bradley: bass Kevin Heuer: drums
13.
INTO GOD KNOWS WHAT words & music: bill mallonee take the edge off of the dark days blunt doubts cruel knife blade steal the sting out of the grave at that last shovelful of earth I swear I've never heard a louder curse than before they put those digging those away Chorus: Let me go down easy...when the box gets shut Let me go down easy...into God knows what well, you know i read the book and i heard the angels sing heard a few sermons on the road from "A" to "B." you vanished into thin air swept out of this room all the good ones leave the party way too soon now, i won't need the drink and i won't miss the pills But, if i could take your locket picture with me? Now, there's a cure for what ills so i'm heading for the neon with this girl who caught my eye and her smile means more at midnight though i could not tell you why
14.
YEAH, YEAH, YEAH (FAITH LIKE A BUTTERFLY'S WINGS) words/music: bill mallonee I can tell you're not sure if you wanna go and really that's most understandable there's a whole lot involved in where you place your bet and all these reports seem a lil' suspect taking a stab at matters of the heart shooting in the proverbial dark you gotta a prayer like the breath of a little baby i wish i knew how you felt about me chorus: yeah, yeah, yeah...not much i can bring yeah, yeah, yeah...i got faith like a butterfly's wing yeah, yeah, yeah...there's a world beneath your skin For God's sake try to be your own best friend yeah, yeah, yeah... the autumn branches have been stripped bare your breath it freezes & hangs in the air the wind it howls over bleak terrain if you make it back kid, well, you're never the same searching for a secret on this path always a little elusive just outta grasp but the stones on the way have been worn smooth so maybe that'll be some comfort to you

about

Amber Waves was album #50 for me, released back in 2012. The songs keep coming. The words and experiences deepen and the next thing I know there's a record dying to be recorded. The trick is to not over-think it. Over thinking anything is the recipe for musical grandiosity. Steer clear.
Still, we're all living in similar skin. Our themes and stories through generations, whether rich or poor, are not dissimilar. Those are the veins I try to tap as a writer when me game is on.

#50. That's a lot of writing, recording and touring. i have worked hard at it. I have plied my trade, so to speak. The "vocation" has opened up worlds, both with & without. I've lived on the road the better part of 22 years. That proximity to the lives of folks all over the US and abroad is why I love the American people, aspects of the "American Experience," and Americana music.

When it comes to this country's musical heritage, I have realized for years now as a writer that one stands on the shoulder's of giants. It is a grand view.

Some of the early albums were released on major/minor labels. But most of them (post-label & label resources) have been simple, independent labors of love, released under-the-radar to a cult of fans who never seem to give up on me. It is humbling. I call that "Grace."
With a shot of oblivion. Shaken, not stirred.

There's strong thematics of grief & hope on this one. Death & loss have been a something to attend to for many years in my life. The passing of parents, the loss of friends. "All the good ones leave the party way too soon," I sing on "Into God Knows What."
This record is about the last word Love gets in the face of deaths (little & large) and grieving.
Other themes:
This record is sometimes about the "failed experiment" of democracy. It is about a joy manifesting in our spirits from time to time, often for no explicable reason. A joy born of something closely resembling a child's naivete. And that "thing" that is born is vital, enduring. It'll flies in the face of reality's harshness & cruelty.

It is about idols that lay claim to our hearts. We were made for better things. It is about a widening chasm between the surfeited, well-to-do who often turn a deaf ear to those who are downtrodden & "kept out of the game." It is about the confusion in our hearts and the weariness in out spirits.

It is about courageously living with incongruities of faith & life where once "definitives" and certitudes once held the day. It is about leaning on each others shoulders, bearing each other's burdens as a way to incarnate a shaky faith.

And finally: It is about "betting the farm" on a Love that is beyond imagining, even beyond our wildest hopes. These days Hope & Imagination drift upon a tempest-sea where the battle to become truly human is played out. And on many (most?) days our courage to hope and imagine are often felt to be drowning.

I close:
Maybe all good art starts and ends in the wounded-ness of our own spirits. I've written for 20 years, album after album, just to "heal" myself. Nothing more than that.
If "Amber Waves" has a "message" it is that our pasts (national and personal) are full of grieving, full of mistakes. We have not "seen" nor valued each other rightly. Our national conscience is stricken with a certain wounded-ness. And although our personal & national "pasts" have been shameful, it is quite often that those very same lives are marked by acts remarkably tender and heroic. Our "histories" are full of examples of faith & courage & compassion. We "work it out," as they say.
Love (again) has the last "say." It's all here on Amber.

We live in an era, full of "static."
Love, if not lost all together, is often hard to find, hard to keep, hard to sense and experience.
Amber Waves is part of my journey to sense and affirm that that Love is alive and well. It's an anthem of garage-y, noisy, lush, reflective, jangle-y, transparent, grieving songs
...all straining at affirming the struggle.
Thanks for letting me tell you what it looks like.

But mostly? It's just passionate, heartland rock & roll.

Remember: Don't "over-think it, kids."

peace,
Bill Mallonee
November 2012

credits

released November 24, 2012

Bill Mallonee: vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, high string guitars, harmonicas, mellotron, synth
Jake Bradley: bass guitar, electric guitars
Bert Shoaff; bass on "Break in the Clouds"
Kevin Heuer: drums
Nathan Wall: electric piano

song & string arrangements: mallonee/rose

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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.
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