Get all 89 Bill Mallonee releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, & WEST, ABOVE, BELOW & WITHIN (free single from Orphan Songs 2018), Here It Opens With A Prayer, But It Closes With A Song, A CLAMORING OF GHOSTS (2021), STUNNED (an anniversary song), "Lead On, Kindly Light" & "This World & One More" 2020, ORPHAN SONGS (2018), NEED TO BLEED (expanded version) Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love, FOREST FULL OF WOLVES (2018), and 81 more.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
FACE OF THE CLOCK (free)
05:10
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FACE OF THE CLOCK (Word On The Street) w&m: bill mallonee
I heard the slamming of the door
Love? She is weeping over there in the corner
There's a chill in people's gaze that could make you stop
Shadows move 'cross the face of the clock
from the "king" right on down to his minions
Contention & Greed and Strife driven by opinions
I saw the serpent grinning; grinning at his flock
Shadows move 'cross the face of the clock
I heard the word on the street
I saw the Spirit moving o'er the face of the deep
echoing down alleyway & every human heart
Shadows move 'cross the face of the clock
Shadows move 'cross the face of the clock
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2. |
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IN THE NEW DARK AGE (THE BEST THING YOU CAN DO IS FALL IN LOVE) words & music: bill mallonee c. BMI 2017
Bring all the things....that you bought
Bring all those things...that you lost
Bring her that gold ring...bring her the dross
chorus:
In the new dark age when you're waiting for a light from above
in the new dark age....best thing you can do is fall in love
Bring all of your poems bring all of your passion
all those discarded notes and the melodies just not happen-ing
Bring everything you'd like to forget & those parts of you not even born yet
Bring all of those ghosts from your empty home
Kill all of your fears; crash all of your drones
beat your swords into plowshares...and she'll take you for her own
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3. |
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LOVE IS ALWAYS RISKY CURRENCY
w&m: bill mallonee
Baby, how'd we get this far?
Not a snowball's chance in hell
Love is always risky currency
and hearts are always the hardest sell
Promises lay ribbons on the cutting room floor
and as far as i can tell
bright & beautiful just fades to black
and hearts are always the hardest sell
Could be the air; could be the drink
and the prophets they see nothing, w/ even less to tell
the undertaker, well, he hardly has time to think
and hearts are always the hardest sell
Time to wake. Time to rise.
You can hear the foreman's bell
Try to sing a psalm, but you're gonna hum the blues
'cause hearts are always the hard sell
Baby, how'd we get this far?
Not a snowball's chance in hell
Love is always heavy currency
and hearts are always the hard sell
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4. |
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
05:09
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CHANGING OF THE GUARD words & music: bill mallonee c.BMI 2017
There's a mid-night cannonball outta Bakersfield
ther'll be some boxcars to slumber on
the fire in soul ought to be enough to stare down the cold
But, maybe not this changing of the guard
I guess it's been a few months now
since Goodness took it pretty hard
since greed & fear gained the upper hand
what with all this changing of the guard
You fought for freedom under the flag
had some good friends die in your arms
you came home and did yourself some thinking
about all this changing of the guard...
now the devil plays for your allegiance
hiding behind stars & stripes
he speaks his piece through the lips of the elite
appears as an angel of light
me? i grabbed a guitar & a notebook or two;
there's was too much talk about Law & God
and i became a phantom w/ some conjuring 'neath the moon
what with all this changing of the guard
There were voices on the streets last night
Commotion out in the front yard
there's fresh chalk lines on the pavement at dawn
comes with all this changing of the guard
changing of the guard
what with all of this changing of the guard
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5. |
VOODOO INK
06:09
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VOODOO INK words & music Bill Mallonee c.BMI 2017
It came in broad daylight....from hell's deepest reach
It came dressed up in flags....lying through it's teeth
It asked for your allegiance; i could not count the raised hands
Chorus:
And what I wanna know....
do you ever even the score?
with the blood that gets shed, counting the dead?
in the endless war?
Do the math in the battlefields; count the coffins they load
bloodshed begets bloodshed...thus saith the Lord
Revenge is always just a scratch below everybody's skin.
now every bullet was spent....knives back in their sheaths
widows grieving, dressed in black wandering the streets
it's all voodoo ink...stained by a mother's tears
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6. |
I KNOW, I KNOW
05:32
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I KNOW, I KNOW w&m: bill mallonee BMI 2017
You'll need a few disguises
and a number number of faces
steal you a good horse
and it's off to the races
i know...i know
I showed up in these parts
where the rattlesnake crawls
just inside the circle
and just outside the law
I know, I know
chorus:
you can lie with some paper
you can lie with a pen
words are like honey
ah, but them again...it's all good
if you know how to spin
Now, when it came to a safe
they opened easily
and if they had any secrets
they never kept them from me
I know, I know
You lie out under the stars
or hide out in the woods
Sure it gets lonely
but the pay is good
I know, I know
Now, I know a good joke
let me share it with thee
"what's a 100 politicians
at the bottom of the sea?"
....I know
You may know the hangman
on a first name basis
but if you steal a good horse
it's off to the races
I know, I know
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7. |
LEWIS & CLARK
05:13
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LEWIS & CLARK words/music: bill mallonee
Felt like Lewis & Clark...crossing through a gateway
into a poem...there were no words to as of yet
you rub your eyes in wonder...and your heart is torn asunder
like a woman...who you never will forget
Felt like the Great Wallenda in the wind but never blinking
that lonely sinking feeling when you're wonderin' if lady luck is gonna show
the light? she throws in sharp relief...the real nature of your belief
and all the things you could never really keep
It's all caught in the freeze frame for awhile
and you're hoping she will turn to you & smile
What did you feel Chief Joseph? bending bravely but not broken
the fear you never spoke of that your people were not safe
from the rifles & the cannons & words as useless as rust
of men bearing flags and sermons with spirits you could never trust.
It's all caught in the freeze frame for awhile
and you're hoping she will turn to you & smile
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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8. |
TRIMMED & BURNING
05:11
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TRIMMED & BURNING words & music: bill mallonee BMI 2018
Some days it seems like hell on earth and that's only the half-of it
it's like bringing a knife to a gun fight, no matter how you cut it
pull on your boots and roll up your sleeves
this is gonna take for cussed-ness
Chorus;
Who cares if anyone's looking?
who cares if everyone misses that beautiful sight
You're trimmed & burning...you're burning bright
There's a whole lotta bad news.......making the rounds
on the streets and it seems like........Love is losing ground
This is one of those cases where
You gotta get down on your knees
Who cares if anyone's looking?
Who cares if everyone misses that beautiful sight
You're trimmed & burning...you're burning bright.
I hate to end on a sober note but ther are spirits who won't survive
in a world of mean-ness & cruelty they won'y make it out alive.
So, hand the world an olive branch and hand yourself one too.
Who cares if anyone's looking?
Who cares if everyone misses that beautiful sight
You're trimmed & burning...you're burning bright. (x2)
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BEFORE THE DARKNESS SETTLES IN w&m: bill mallonee
You can tell by the way...the light behaves
Winter? She'll come early this year
Start chopping that wood before the snows descend
Before the darkness settles in
It's all a slippery handsake deal at best
when you try to stake a claim upon this land
If the Rio keeps her promise there could be a gathering in
before the darkness settles in
there'll be trials & tribulations you gotta reckon with
but most of those are usually within
You try not to think of what got lost & all that might have been
before the darkness settles in...
Now, the milk of human kindness is curdled to the bone
And the Autumn light is paler than I've ever known
pull on your heavy coat before the storms descend
before the darkness settles in
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10. |
FOREST FULL OF WOLVES
06:55
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FOREST FULL OF WOLVES words & music: bill mallonee
Well, the roads are frozen mud & the world has come a part
it all hangs in the balance of a single spark
I don't know if she'll crank...they say it's 10 below
and that's a lot to ask...from an old beat up Ford
Was it all just a fool errand...This dream about the land?
a small farm and a few kids & a wife to hold hands
first the drought & then the dust, till there's really nothing left
the the banker-man w/ a gold watch & a gold cross on his vest
And I'm sorry
but everything keeps turning
I'm sorry
I couldn't keep the home fires burning
Fled the heartland for California in this beat-up truck
we had Jesus on the dashboard; but it may not be enough
Roads are frozen mud & God, this is a different kind of cold
and that's a whole lot to ask my friend from an old beat up Ford
And I'm sorry
but everything keeps turning
I'm sorry
I couldn't keep the home fires burning
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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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