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. |
She's So Liquid
03:01
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made a visit to your garden
to come there and ask for pardon
my offense was very great
my defense was second rate
she's luminous ya dig?
yeah and she's so liquid
tears were words and then again
falling down like English rain
once a king and now a fool
lead me to baptismal pools
and you put every fear to flight
and you bathed me in the pale moonlight
there were angels in the trees
looking on looking on looking on looking on
cross my heart and hope to tell
your kiss is like a wishing well
two coins tossed and here we crash
i don't think i heard them splash
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2. |
Life On Other Planets
04:25
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i've got you and some scars for all my labors
you've got me everybody needs a Savior
i feel bad all these days that we spent running
you're all grown up and i hardly saw it coming
i believe it turns to gold
watch love begin to unfold
it's like a story you were once told
when you believed in God and New Romantics
and life out there on other planets
angel's wings and all these giants being slain
the smallest stone well it can get lodged in your brain
i see you and my heart fills with emotion
i push your swing but it's silent and in slow motion
i'm always falling in love
it's the least you can do
i'm always falling in love
with something other than you
pull me up God i don't know why i'm lame
i'm drowning in a sadness i can't hardly name
easily swayed by the power of suggestion
it's always hard getting past those first impressions
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3. |
Crescent Moon
04:47
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where do i begin
where do i venture in
to knock upon the door
of possibilities?
i'm oh so cavalier
open my mouth up to cover my fear
but you smiled and played along
with awkward first intentions
i think i lost my breath
whenever you said yes
when looking downward
i asked if i might kiss you
and even that you walked me through
all these new rooms to explore
yeah and all my rusty locks
fell to the floor
and if you wished for the brightest star
would you consider a crescent moon?
and if i'm late ah baby wait
i will bring it soon
stumbling when i come
tripping over my dumb tongue
for God's sake don't these
momma's boys ever grow up?
much too easily hurt
life is coming to grips with what you're worth
when God says one thing
but your heart says another
where do i begin?
where do i venture in?
to come inside this love
that's sacramental
i remember when
i first beheld your face
yeah on the streets of this old town
now i carry it every place
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4. |
Summer in Our Veins
03:59
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well it's the sound of innocence dragging
it's the sound of falling off the wagon
it's those million dreams you never gave a name
we got summer summer in our veins
was it your sadness that's well beyond belief?
like a picture thrown in sharp relief
but you only get to see the rainbow when it rains
yeah but we got summer summer in our veins
you throw your life away while on the run
you're passing out of the pocket like Fran Tarkenton
it's that desperate aspect of his game
yeah but he had summer summer in his veins
soon you'll be making your way in the world
perhaps you'll meet a boy or a girl
some days it's all beautiful and glad
yes and some days shimmering and sad
we drift in music all our lives perhaps
could be the soundtrack yeah but running backwards
but those warm rays are splashing on your windowpane
we got summer summer in our veins
yeah we got summer summer in our veins
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5. |
Smooth as a Stone
04:24
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it all seemed like water under the bridge
you use the current to your best advantage
yeah you laugh it off with a cough and composure
that's all the elements your exposure
yeah the years wear you down like a river she rolls
sink to the bottom or you swim on your own
but either way you're [she's] smooth as a stone
it's blood from your veins but it's all in code
i had a gun once i had to unload
900 / 99 / 99 / 99 / 99 years from home
unreality has no area code
well destiny she caught me napping
we're all just accidents waiting to happen
yeah if i could kiss burgundy mist off your cherry lips
if i could dance with you slow hands on your hips
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6. |
Wintergreen
04:20
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she pops a stick of wintergreen
outside the cash machine
it's lonely being lovely all the time
yeah when the rules all changed
the strange terrain of love's modern games
the ones that you play in your mind
yeah i was across the block
baby when the bomb went off
but i felt it just the same
i knew it was meant for me
but you're a little bad with your trajectory
still my heart's a bit shellshocked
how could you walk away
from this so easily?
dead of night and the city's bright
caught blinking at the traffic light
the tapes are so hard to erase
baby i've been going wrong
ever since you've been gone
are you chasing or being chased?
yeah i got a heart of stone
everybody's got a stain glass soul
i've been sleeping at Gethsemene
got mother Mary and a rosary
you had secrets and i had baggage
together we decided to unpack it
dreamed a dream now you're laughing at it
you're just a girl in a leather jacket
dead of night and the city's bright
caught blinking at the traffic light
it's a drink or an SM-58
baby, we've been going wrong
ever since you've been gone
are you chasing or being chased?
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7. |
Grave
02:23
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the highways they're all empty
full of secrets you can't say
the high beams will freeze-frame them
but in the darkness they make a getaway
numb fingers will light the fuse
under a bridge you'll burn
it's that strange cross that you take up
forget all that you learned
part of you is sorry
for how you waste your days
but given all those options
could it have been any other way
the safety net shot full of holes
and the trapeze act's gone wrong
so you just learn to make it up
as you go along
there's a hundred million reasons
to love you as i should
some of them are bad ones
but some are pretty good
it's that little part you cast out
but it would not go away
it's that little thing you buried
but it won't stay in the grave
stay in the grave
well your voice is ragged weary
your tubes as hot as coals
no i may not get the words just right
but at least the story's told
you're all about the giving out
and there's little in return
when nothing fills your treasure chest
it's more than you deserve
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8. |
All or Nothing
03:06
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i don't know why the moment struck me that way
was it doubt in your voice i was upset i'm sure
your sunglasses they were a barricade
but your tanks came in and then i was floored
sucker punch drunk on the ropes of reason
my senses were scourged by betrayal and treason
i thought we were winning but your eyes told the score
is this a peace treaty baby or an act of war?
all or nothing it's all or nothing
got to take a risk and throw caution to the wind
never let go my hand through the thick and thin
all or nothing it's all or nothing
two people driving for the brightest of stars
here's your man baby loving you hard
read between the lines of my onboard mechanisms
useless now due to certain cataclysms
that were real no doubt but beyond my control
we hedge all our bets and we eye the back door
there's always the risk and there's always the chance
but courage beats every little lousy circumstance
i hear when you love you will never grow old
so come on girl what are you waiting for?
now we're running on empty most days and nights
running on empty most of our lives
ain't about winning it's more about the trying
sometimes you bring up the water when the well is dry
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9. |
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You Give It All Your Heart
words & music by bill mallonee c. 1999
Admin BMI
yeah you give it all your heart
'cause that's the way you play the game
ever since the smell of fresh cut outfield grass
you've always been this way
from the oil upon your leather glove
to the sharp crack of the bat
to the faces on the trading cards
and the stats upon the back
you give it all your heart
'cause they come to see you swing
you learn to nurse your own hurts
and hope the coach doesn't suspect a thing
sure it is a long shot
but the sky seemed oh so clear
we may not make it out the bush leagues honey
but that's not why we're here
now ever since the first game
it's been deep inside of you
was it a music only you could hear
when the count was three and two?
but ever since you picked up the wood
you can't seem to put it down
you cannot get enough of it
so you roam from town to town
and some call it your passion
and some call it your gift
you know the way you read the wind-up
and the nuance of each pitch
the whole thing felt like something else
when we walked onto that field
it was like a language you must learn to read
or a base that you must steal
we may not win the pennant
we may not drink champagne
it's not whether you win or lose
but it's how you play the game
the heroes are not as many
and the scoreboards are not as bright
but somewhere some kid gets it all
when he swings that wood tonight
i once knew a woman
she asked her son to shine her shoes
she put a quarter in each one of them
'cause she thought that was his due
but he returned the money
and when she asked him why that was
he said mom i'm old enough to know by now
you just do some things for love
well you give it all your heart
'cause that's the way you play the game
ever since the smell of fresh-cut outfield grass
we've always been this way
sure it is a long shot
but the sky seemed oh so clear
we may not make it out of the bush leagues honey
but that's not why we're here
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10. |
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i don't want to lose this one before it is too late
things just have a way of slipping through my fingers
when the strongest of convictions sort of gets bent out of shape
when the gnawing claw of doubt still lingers
you don't lose don't lose
no pieces will you ever lose
after all you've done for me
it's the least i could do for you
as lonely as the final leaf swept from a barren tree
and the drugs they don't go deep enough to set you free
and the fan blades reflect halo-effects when i look up and see you
when the words won't frame the room you're in pictures will have to do
to live inside these ruins where you move without a sound
oh to live inside this skin again die outside your town
oh to break forth into sonnets oh Lord keep me coming back
oh the stories that you tell your head to keep your heart intact
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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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