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Friendly Fire (produced by John Keane & Bill Mallonee) 2005

by Bill Mallonee

/
1.
I was drinking with obscurity small talk of the town and yes she is the silent type but she'll buy you the next round say the word say the word so I'll no longer be no longer bound your friendship was my guard no longer bound these chains have fallen off revenge is not a tongue I speak 'cause the tenses are easily confused I've seen the devil once or twice and he did not look like you I laid down next to you asleep in the dark enter in the Spirit of the Lord and I saw how I broke your heart there are songs of self-pity there are songs of the forsaken if this struck your ears that way my friend you're sadly mistaken
2.
the rain is fallin' on your street the rain is fallin' at your feet it wasn't long ago we walked a different shore now it's more than you can take no you can't forsake and you can not fake the heartache it should have lasted forever why don't things last forever? in the ocean air that tangled up your hair is there sand in every kiss? we crashed inside the waves no you cannot fake the heartache I know it's hard to love me I'm not good for your health I know it's hard to love me baby it's hard to love yourself now it's just ticking clocks and some sad songs on the jukebox we sail for memories on a lonely sea where the waters are never safe it's more than you can take cause you cannot fake the heartache the heartache
3.
can't get it back can't get it back all you lack stares you in the face can't get it back I lost all the star maps and there was too much static in this place send up a prayer rarefied air regret is a friend you make when you are young any side of anywhere one way ticket to nowhere it all seemed so over before it had begun oh could I start with a brand new heart? the one I wrecked was never gonna last is that too much to ask? God bless Job for waiting it out when everything he had was stripped when faith's all gone and all my good intentions were good and wrong but a thundercloud voice might do the trick and all those summer sunsets and autumn colors and smells and those proud Easter trumpets and those Christmas bells if I could gather every nuance the loose threads and the bits I'd paint them on your lips girl and drown in the kiss oh could we start with some brand new hearts? since the ones we wrecked were never gonna last is that too much to ask?
4.
coming in for a few days my friend yeah more than likely I'll be alone yeah I asked if she'd like to go you know how she loves Chicago but she just said no whatever she wants whatever she might need I've got no more fight in me I must confess my own helplessness things got pretty weird inside right after the war I got kinda quiet for a long long long spell they say war is hell but it ain't nothing nothing like this she just slams the door when I try to hold her like I held on three nights at sea I've got no more fight in me mad dog bombardier hell I was mad dog all the time I could drop that payload on a Roosevelt dime but where we are there is no more north star and it's all dark and uncharted in our skies kid the flak was so thick you could get out and walk on it and that's what I did right back to that little bride-to-be but I've got no more fight in me she says I've changed (funny thing) don't people change all the time? it's been twenty years or more Stan since I had a good cry
5.
so wrong how did I miss it for so long? the candle in the window of your eyes said please come home was it in the stars? that made it hard to see right through the choices that you thought you made were making you over and over over and over over and over whatever you do head on my shoulder four leaf clover it's never really over 'tween me and you and the only one who's let you down is the one left staring in the mirror they say God's love will wash away a desert with a single tear so right radio signal fills the night soundtrack for a skeletal scrapbook and the demons that you shook
6.
swing yourself through that cabin door and up on this brass bed this is the moment we were waiting for waiting for she said winter's blues are long over due for getting outta town two lovers near some Walden's pond drown oh we drown her love was like a daisy chain each one woven with a kiss why with any luck at all I may live to tell about this I can tell by that twinkle in your eye you ain't saying all you feel I can tell by that twinkle in your eye you're looking for a heart to steal I don't know about you but I'm long overdue for putting these worries in the grave it was all push and pull but with another shovel full I should just about be saved saw you out on the avenue you were looking mighty blue I guess steady diet of Camus had left you so depressed Jesus has a Sacred Heart that burns so bright for His world and I've gotta a kiss that you should not miss I've been saving it for you girl
7.
you spend most of your days looking for a place something you can reach out and touch and taste you wind up in this skin alone in the world trying to find your place on the string of pearls we're sitting on the back of the bus head in the clouds and a heart full of trust sittin' on the back of the bus there's a world of light inside the two of us when love is a pirate truth walks the plank orphan cries drown under thundering tanks the best revolutions are the ones inside of you but the ghost of illusion always wants her due public transportation overnight sensations further deliberations are needed step off of the greyhound time to put your bags down and be greeted here's one for the boy here's one for the girl forever starts now and it's the best of all worlds your breath is so warm and your touch is bliss your lips are so moist that we drown in the kiss
8.
it's been a while I'll grant you that old habits die a violent death and just what else would you expect? when some have nothing to protect oh to crucify the self with all these dim illusions confusion to be reckoned with a point to counter counterfeit let's go up on the roof tonight and let the starlight burn so bright beneath your skin I'm in I'm instant messaging one day we'll gladly put away all that leads to second guessing stumble hard under the curse and pray for this old universe pray for this old universe yes your secret's safe with me as safe as safe could ever be innocence is the only art it's broken keys for broken hearts let's go out for a drive tonight radio? the backdrop to the soundtrack deep within I'm instant messaging
9.
more or less on my knees love songs in the minor key you were the only girl for me too much to see too much to recall lived my days in sound waves and the rush of alcohol you were the only girl for me all these places I'd only intended to visit somewhere I got lost became a permanent resident you were the only girl for me if mercy is a drink I could use me some growing old to be forever young I remember when my eyes first met yours I sold the farm to buy the store you were the only girl for me bones get cold and brains forget teardrops explode by a fireplace called regret you were the only girl for me if mercy is a drink well pour me some growing old to be forever young come as thou are come as thou ain't it's gonna take more than a new coat of paint you were the only girl for me roll back the tape to our first kiss you never signed up for any of this you were the only girl for me if a car crash does us fatal harm would you carry me to Jesus in your arms? you were the only girl for me if mercy is an ocean let it roll on growing old to be forever young more or less on my knees love songs in the minor key you were the only girl you were the only girl you were the only girl for me
10.
how could I help but notice the wonder of the thing? a drop of blue from heaven's skies fell onto your wing now the light has left me all alone but the light still shines bright through your stain glass soul how could I doubt? how could I not have seen? you read me like a tragedy but you wrote a happy ending this camera you marvel me? shutter shy you? carnival string the moments of your world all together like a string of pearls I miss your eyes they were my home now I'm standin' in the rain with this loose pocket change by this pay phone and the Light never fades and the Light never grows cold and it's the Light that you gave from your stain glass soul
11.
apple of your eye apple of your eye but you can see right through let faith be like a wedding ring that binds my heart to You pearl of great price pearl of great price the billboards? they're all lies the world will search and substitute for what never satisfies there is no shadow of turning with Thee when the waves of my sin were rolling over me grow ye never weary grow ye never weary of doing all the good you wanna do keep your hands unto the plow and He will see you through closer than a brother closer than a brother so when that golden trumpet finally sounds you will bring the flower forth from the seed buried in the ground bring me to the shore bring me to the shore where there's no more despair or night all the tears get washed away from those apples of Your eyes and all the tears get washed away from those apples of Your eyes and all the tears get washed away from those apples of Your eyes
12.
punk rock died the day the first kid said punk ain't dead sure it is kid and winter's cutting bait and California dreamin' won't abate put your baseball cap right dude your momma didn't raise no fool skip a few doses of the prozac find some public pool and lie out there in the sunshine for hours on your back grow your hair long free weights will get you strong and as you turn the page you will notice her coming of age 'cause you're both new and clean she's the brown girl with the smell of chlorine cut the hang nose of your internet try and squelch control your mom and dad's last night knock-down-drag-out argument sure it makes you mad and it's sad but kid you've not been had hell we grow up too fast in this millennium and that girl could use a friend turn off your it's so boring out here in the suburbs kid your dead-ends are no deader than anyone whose gone before you 'cause summer's your time of dreaming don't you ever give up dreaming hey she might wear your ring and show you secret things

about

Honestly?
This album (and it's sister album Dear Life) are severely under-rated, in my opinion. (Dear Life was written & recorded at the same time.)
The original plans were to make it a double CD & possibly a 3 album LP.
The depth of writing, the themes explored and the spirit of the rendering of these songs shines. The production on these by Athens legend John Keane is frosting on the cake, as well.
It is my hope that folks we "re-visit" these; or, if they've never considered the value of these two albums, explore them for the first time. ~ bill

credits

released January 1, 2005

Bill Mallonee: guitars, vocals, harp
Jake Bradley: bass, guitars, stand-up bass
Jon Radford: drums
Patrick "Tigger" Ferguson: drums
John Keane: pedal steel, back ground vocals

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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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