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Future Hymns for the New Idolatry (2016)

by Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love/WPA

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1.
Hat In Hand 03:47
HAT IN HAND words & music by Bill Mallonee Pen the lament and shadow your eyes there's a vapor trail stretching across a kansas sky dirt lot kids making dirt lot plans shuffle forward your hat in hand could be the hangman could be the noose could be the engine could be the caboose it pays to know on which side you stand shuffle forward your hat in hand yeah gold in this house there's gold in my band there's gold in your blouse honey gold in my hand it's a rhythm and mystery you don't quite understand shuffle forward your hat in hand run fast after everything and that's just what you'll miss live your life opened armed or with a clenched fist dirt lot kids doing dirt lot deeds way too much living in the minor key burn all these sins in a Love so grand shuffle forward your hat in hand
2.
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
3.
Adagio 04:49
ADAIGO words & music: bill mallonee it all showed up fractured it all showed up broke it was never a story more like an unfinished note and the sighs? they were deafening more than pictures could show adagio all the laughter of childhood fell through the iron bars of the years and the bright path of youth grew dim & unclear on a trail marked with sorrows to a place nobody knows adagio CHORUS: i have dug through my heart like a plot full of weeds something strangled by thorns something crushing the seed and the rose? it lies fallen in the ice & the snow Adaigo me? i took to the highways could be i went for the view all the cities were crumbling and my choices were few was i looking for someone? was it you? I don't know... Adagio CHORUS: i have dug through my heart like a plot full of weeds something strangled by thorns something crushing the seed and the rose? it lies fallen in the ice & the snow Adaigo i have reached out my hand i have prayed every prayer i have reached out my hand to grasp the thin air it was never a story more like an unfinished note Adagio....
4.
THE GATHERING IN words & music: bill mallonee Well, the faint amber glow from the old campfires they are flickering out...they are flicking out And the last few embers vanish in the darkness' mouth...in darkness' mouth chorus: Hail to the saints and all of us beginners the lost sheep and the sinners all those "where-the-hell you been?" best friends the shaken & confused all those winners at "born-to-lose" at the golden gathering in and those old cowboy songs? well they rarely got it wrong but the world is always losing everything it wins she'll be comin' 'round the mountain shimmering like a fountain and on her lips? the sweetest of hymns chorus there's a blue moon in the desert and "all shall be most well..." said blessed Julian to her sisters at the well the disgarded & ignored the busted & the bored the fallen & untamed the one without a name last chorus Hail to the saints and all us beginners the lost sheep and the sinners at the golden gatherin' in....
5.
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
6.
Bottoming Out lyrics/music: bill mallonee Guitar player country band too long watin' for the ship top come in the ship to come in Record man said he liked our sound pulled some dust from a bag and he bought us another round he bought us another round Chorus: Religion's neither here nor there when you'r stuck in the middle of the thin air it's too much hunger and not enough cash it's always the cheap stuff that takes us down fast always the cheap stuff that takes us down fast and nothing is turning you about? yeah, you're bottoming out... 5 sets a night and you do what you must You do what you must look at those ruins you hide among yeah your lips keep moving you don't understand the tongue you don't understand the tongue Chorus Make 'em believe it was love at first sight Make 'em believe they had the time of their lives and grace? Could there ever be enough for the hollow places you can't fill up you fill up or touch
7.
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
8.
(There is a lil' nod in the 2nd verse to national treasure, the incomparable Glenn Campbell.) 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
9.
DEAR TO YOUR HEART words/music: bill mallonee Now i loved the land and i loved the sky And the dreamers who'd pass by my door i needed those dreams & I needed their dreamin' and i needed those story they told chorus: pull on your boots...roll up your sleeves you live out of a place that's on bended knee step out into the sunshine...and before you depart kiss all who are dear to your heart kiss all who are dear to your heart verses 2 & 3 a world of wonders...since i opened my eyes writ large in the passing of seasons and the thieves who speak violence and the preachers of fear well that all flew in the face of reason we're blind folks reading the braille of our heart we're all spies breaking codes everyday sooner or later it comes down to love received then given away verse 4 through all of the haze of our dime-store days we spend hard on what little remains But Love is a miner with his eye fixed on you and there's gold deep inside of your veins
10.
Nomenclature 02:53
Nomenclature words.music: bill mallonee this is one of those nights a halo rings the moon you venture out upon those hard streets of gloom the moon shines so bright pinned to her curtain of blue the only sound you hear is the shuffling of your shoes this is one of those nights there's nowhere to hide another neon happy hour fell a lifetime shy your heart's a lonely ocean and your heart is just a tomb and the only sound you hear is the shuffling of your shoes i've told a million truths whispered a million lies i learned to do it all looking dead into your eyes keep to the back roads yeah the underground's even better you map the strange terrain with a different nomenclature yeah this is one of those nights where God could show up soon the only sound you hear is the shuffling of your shoes
11.
Life I Never Lived music/lyrics by bill mallonee Look at al the goodwill i retracted Look at that deck of cards and how i stacked it Look at all that fear and how i masked it look at the life i never lived look at the life i never lived Look at all once mistook for wealth Look at all those gifts i put back on the shelf Look at all the slack i cut myself look at that life i never lived look at that life i never lived Playback all the harsh words i spoke Take note on how i squashed some hope look at all those tender hearts i broke look at the life i never lived look at the life i never lived Look at all the houses i tore down Look at all the smiles i turned to frowns Look at all the roads that just went round & round look at the life i never lived look at the life i never lived Look at all the good i failed to see Look at all i failed to do for Thee look at what i might one day have been look at the life i never lived look at the life i never lived look at the life, look at the life look at the life i never lived
12.
ALL OUT IN THE CLEAR words/music: bill mallonee CHORUS: nothing left to lose...nothing left to fear nothing left to prove...all out in the clear all out in the clear all the tapes will be erased the ones inside your skull the ones that made ya' feel disgraced the ones that made you feel so small all the trinkets that you bought every scene & every clique all you cobbled together to define yourself with every mask you ever wore every image you portrayed every lie that you put forth it'll all just fall away fall away like an old suit wash off like cheap cologne like an old coat you discarded threadbare to the bone and everyone you ever hated everyone that you reviled everyone that you berated you may yet, be reconciled every wall that you erected every line drawn in the sand all those convictions you protected wrapped up in prayers and flags there's a story you've been telling yourself but it's so revisionist there's a story you've been selling yourself but you ain't really buying it one day you'll meet somebody well beyond the sea and you'll shake hands with your true self and you'll like what you see

about

A few years ago I collected a few of the recent songs I'd written that I think qualify as "worship songs." Enter "Future Hymn For The New Idolatry;" Confessional in content, plaintive and sometimes unadorned in their folk & folk-rock trimmings, they are part of my deep convictions of our deepest need & The Good Lord's redeeming Love in Jesus Christ.
The album is a FREE or Pay-What-Cha-Feel enterprise.
Here's an essay in the form of liner notes (remember those?) if you need 'em. To Grace, ~b
LIKE A PATIENT, LOVING FATHER..." by bill mallonee c.2012
I'll be brief. (It is possible)
These are "hymns." At least the way i hear them.
These "hymns" have been something like inventories, pep-talks & wrestle-lings on the way. They have been written in moments of elation & despair.

No, they'll likely never get sung in a church; but maybe you'll make a few of them your own beneath the skin of your own temple.

There's a lot of "worship songs" out there these days.
A lot of it sounds like the strumm-y-acoustic-hippie-drug rock of the 70's replete with insipid lyrics of a repetitive mantra-lke quality OR it sounds like 3 chords & a ripped off U-2 out-take. but, I digress.

(I know; I can hear some of you hitting your "mouse" to go somewhere else. S'all good. Whatever works for you. To each his own.)

Me? I've always been wary of "propaganda" masquerading as Art; Maybe there's no ultimate way to discern 'tween the two save to say that I think real Art takes risks, is transparent, it "rings true."
Art is not a dry run exercise. It's a matter of Life or Death to the singer...at least to this singer-songwriter.

Me?
I was raised on many an old Presbyterian or Lutheran hymn book. I figure that if "they" got it right thematically the first time with their penchant for tuneful melodies & time-tested lyrics pounded off an old upright, then I wasn't going to better that.

I've had something else to attend to o'ver my some 80+ album career.
And so, here's what I want to say:
I learned early on that I had only one thing to bring to God. And that was my blindness, my shallowness, my emptiness & my sin. That's still the case. It can also be a kind of strength.
To recognize & sense & plumb the depths of one's fallen-ness is a door to an answer.

Sometimes a guitar and a song have been the only way I could "pray" to God. And as I said, these songs are some of my confessions, inventories, pep-talks and wrest-lings while on the Way.
Because the Good News of a Crucified & Resurrected Savior and the whole-ness Jesus promises ONLY make sense when you know what the "bad news" is first.
That bad news? It's not pretty.
And it's part of who we are.

"He maketh all things new."
Yes, He does. He does get the last word...and I'm more convinced than ever that it's a good one.
But, I wrote these because, like a patient listener & loving Father, He waits to hear our words of response first...
~ bill mallonee
Feb. 2013

billmalloneemusic.bandcamp.com/album/future-hymns-for-the-new-idolatry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIRST DRAFT
"LIKE A PATIENT, LOVING FATHER..." by bill mallonee c.2012
I'll be brief. (It is possible)
These are "hymns." At least the way i hear them.
These "hymns" have been something like inventories, pep-talks & wrestle-lings on the way. They have been written in moments of elation & despair.

No, they'll never get sung in a church...but maybe you'll make a few of them your own beneath the skin of your own temple.

There's a lot of "worship songs" out there these days.
To my ears, a lot of it sounds like the strumm-y-acoustic-hippie-drug rock of the 70's replete with insipid lyrics of a repetitive mantra-lke quality OR it sounds like 3 chords & a ripped off U-2 out-take.

(I know, I know...i can hear you hitting your "mouse" to go somewhere else. "Exit," if need be; S'all good. Whatever works. To each his own.)

Me? i've always been wary of "propaganda." I suspect God feels the same way.
I was raised on many an old Presbyterian or Lutheran hymn book. I figure that if "they" got it right the first time with their penchant for tuneful melodies & time-tested lyrics pounded off an old upright, then I wasn't going to better that.

I had something else to attend to. And so, here's what i want to say:
i learned early on that i had only one thing to bring to God. And that was my blindness, my shallowness, my emptiness & my sin.
That's still the case.

Sometimes a guitar and a song have been the only way i could "pray" to God. And as I said, these songs are some of my inventories, pep-talks and wrest-lings on the way.
Because the Good news of a Crucified & Resurrected Savior and the whole-ness He promises ONLY make sense when you know what the "bad news" is first. It's not pretty. And it's part of who you are.

"He maketh all things new."
Yes. He does get the last word...and I'm more convinced than ever that it's a good one.
But. I wrote these because, like a patient listener & loving Father, He waits to hear our words first...
~ bill mallonee
Fall 2013

credits

released January 22, 2016

Bill Mallonee: Guitars, vocals, harmonica, keyboards, bass
Kevin Heuer: drums where noted
Jake Bradley: bass, guitar where noted

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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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