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Jugular (1990)

by Vigilantes of Love

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D.S.G.
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D.S.G. While this may not be my favorite overall Vigilantes of Love album quite a few songs off this album in particular really stood out as I went through a rather dark time in my life. Favorite track: Who Knows When the Sunrise Will Be.
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wbf1230 With the birth of MTV, it seemed a lot of the 80s were full of groups writing catchy hooks and beats to get both radio and television play. In my opinion, songwriting was DEAD. Then along came Jugular. As far as the songs go; there is not a "weak one now." I related to Songs on the radio more than any of them because I really did feel that the songs on the radio did suck. Mallonee and VOL were now the wheat of a music industry that was full of mainly chaff. Favorite track: Songs On the Radio.
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1.
Weak One Now 03:22
it's not your promises that i don't respect they're cold comfort when i'm wrecked reaching blindly out for you heard it said least a thousand times before just keep knocking at your door of opportunity (but) i'm the weak one now and i don't need your sacred cows and it's hard to drink the dreams mingled ashes and the might have beens kill the spirit sell the flesh we amuse ourselves to death holy words on baited breath lose their meaning in the 20th century gold has lost it's luster and the silver becomes dull once i used to run with joy now i can barely crawl like to help you brother i've washed my hands and dried the steely blade of science never hypnotized me once
2.
pardon my imposition and the slurred speech on my tongue but i couldn't help but notice you were looking for ruins to hide among see i've tried on all these faces to see if they might fit and i've tried to mumble phrases but i'm tripping over it the songs on the radio just (still) suck i'm afraid it is my turn to drive and i can barely stay awake hazardous conditions pavement is wet i've got an eighteen wheeler future breathing down my neck and the bridge is icing over and the brakes are shot to hell voice on the radio says here comes the sixties and they were arguing the merits of freud and darwin on mtv all the things they foist upon men's minds in the blessed name of free inquiry buy stock in psychiatric hospitals soon there'll be no vacancy guess if no one's at home out there then somebody else has got to fill that need i need someone tonight blind ambition i need someone tonight you've got my permission now what i need is non-existant you've got to create desire eastern europe is a most likely buyer they've been dying for it crying for it ever since the wall for syringes porn designer drugs orgasms and shopping malls won't you pardon my imposition and my lack of tact and flair i was looking for redemption i was hoping you might tell me where i can smell it on your breath i can smell it in your hair i can almost reach and grasp it but my vision's so impaired because there's dung on the airwaves as far as i can see as far as the ear can tell in the nineteen nineties
3.
if you say goodbye if you say so long is this commentary on all that i've done wrong see i've weathered disappointments at times i have been used if there's any meat left on the bone girl it's there for you to chew you can take every inch of rope climb your (little) mountain in the blue just leave me a little something i can hang on to i would love to take you in my arms but that might be too cruel been out there dodging feelings with a bullet meant for you i should let you walk out freely i have no claim on you i should exercise compassion don't really want to nicodemus had his questions thomas had his doubts we've not been left in the dark to work the whole thing out this clinical environment to believe is just a fake i would thrust my hands inside the wound if it will bring you all to faith i will boast in my brokeness revel in my defeat i will let you kick my ass if it's what you need from me you see pilgrims without weapons sometimes get nailed to a tree they use no anesthetic but the surgery's guaranteed
4.
gotta get out of here before the rain comes in even though you swear up and down you're my friend parting's always sweet sweet sorrow thank God i won't have to wake up with you tomorrow in the middle of this long drawn out session in the middle of your gathering depression pardon me if i interpose a question big as Christ smaller than your life i don't know why i feel such great dissatisfaction maybe i don't stand in the place where i work and take affirmative action maybe when i sleep around it's a come and go reaction i've been victimized hypnotized by the latest distraction see i have no motivation i have no any drive i've got no hunger fascination for the finer things in life my friends say they're so happy my friends say they're well fed they're well drugged laid and entertained so beautiful deadly boring can't you see the landmines so well placed underneath the skin set to go off in your face how can i hear your voice with the noise in my head clamour for attention the dying and the dead hey can i come in my chains can i come empty handed can i come empty hearted and say you demand it lie to myself and it's long overdue try to make myself believe the truth isn't true
5.
darling come and tell me what is wrong i know you think that they're big and strong God knows these rooms aren't safe when the night's so long but in the morning they may be gone your heart is beating faster and your fever is red hot ever since the fall i try to remember something we forgot and all the broken toys we left out on the lawn why in the morning they may be gone see these sheets of flimsy covers don't offer much protection they don't make penecilin that will cure your infection and our method of detection is so wrong in the morning they may be gone child you know i love you and i care but you will find the heart of man is worse than any nightmare you know how they will try to steal your dawn in the morning they may be gone close your eyes and try to get some sleep sufficient is the evil for the day we have to keep it's written somewhere this can't go on and on why in the morning it may be gone
6.
darling better mend your ways and mark these words real well darling better mend your ways beware the gates of hell let me put it all quite blunty let me be most direct be the rose you'd love to hold and the thorn that's in your flesh mister better mend your ways the time is growing near the analysts keep talking while their hearts fail for fear it's taking inventory of the things that you respect find the rose you'd love to hold and the thorn that's in your flesh childrens' cries are never heard by the needle or the knife i swear i heard their voices on the other side of life we expose this wisdom to the elements for a test show the rose you'd love to hold and the thorn that's in your flesh prisons and jailhouses of this worthless currency brick for brick dismantled by a truth that sets one free thrust your hands inside the wounds there for you to inspect find the rose you'd love to hold and the thorn that's in your flesh
7.
here come lonely days it's like taps being cut off on saturday night here come lonely days i've been wishing that i wasn't such a parasite i dialed your number twenty times and i know that it ain't wrong lately it occurs to me this time you're really gone i'm so lonely here come lonely nights i been sending out distress signals morse code and the light here come lonely nights this bed's become an ocean and there is no land in sight i dialed your number twenty times and i know that it ain't wrong suddenly it dawns on me this time you're really gone i'm so lonely you know all my secrets you know all my crimes my degree of treason and my sick state of mind but your love is like a canon ripping through the dark once i used to stagger now i've learned to walk and i'm so lonely Jesus Jesus it's my hour of pretense i pray it would be followed by heartfelt repentence my cranium's a battle zone there are land mines in my skull break into the compound and take no prisoners 'cause i dialed your number twenty times and i know that it ain't wrong lately it occurs to me that you were never gone when i'm lonely
8.
i've been watching the moonlight slow caress your face seen it flicker and draw back in the presence of your grace i've been watching the moonlight steal across your lips and you must have whispered his name 'cause i know i tightened my grip i've been watching the moonlight break across your brow and the secrets that you kept there spilled out on the ground
9.
i feel the flames of hell licking 'round my feet there's a man over there just dying to meet me i feel the flames of hell licking 'round my shins i'm face to face with all my might-have-beens child i feel the flames of hell licking 'round my waist everything i do is so distasteful i feel the flames of hell licking 'round my chest i been victimized by my need to impress you i feel the flames of hell licking 'round my head jesus coming back to judge the quick and the dead this stuff i bought i thought it was jewelry Jesus this stuff i bought i thought it was jewelry i thought this stuff was jewelry but i believe you died to take the chains off of me there's a gospel train coming on track ninety nine come on aboard don't be left behind
10.
america america my dad sure believed in you he said "a man's gotta do what he's gotta do" got his degree at your diploma barn he was the first kid off the farm gonna change the world with chemistry but i know he'll do what you ask him to for america buy a new house with a tailored front yard run up all the credit cards there's more where that came from it's a cinch i knew by the age of six i'd never make a scientist when i saw the price you paid in their trenches they cut the moorings of your sacred ship pushed her out and they let her drift then the wind changed unannounced brought a new friend home to watch tv to help you deal with the anxiety she measured out her love in ounces yeah i've seen you do what she asked you to for america i remember standing 'round the vacant corner of some playground hoping we would get you back dying to make contact america now i struggle to pretend and fill the gaping holes in and remember all you did looking back to take inventory put the best construction on the story i'm now writing for my kids 'cause i know you'd do what they ask you to for america america america God shed your grace in his lonely heart this evening and if he falls asleep gather him and hold him tight and help me with this grieving 'cause i know he'd do what you ask him to i salute you
11.
i've been eating the fare of the wicked men under the guise of sophistication it's poisoned my senses and my sight needs correction it's bad for my bowels and my general complexion it's been my staple for so many years it's hard to taste the wine when you're drunk on the tears hey we got new ways to treat the soul that succumbs electroshock and valium in the twentieth century you don't need salvation we got chemists dedicated to your recreation nicole works the streets for twelve hours a day she don't charge much but what she'll trade away in a few short years her business will fade that's what happens with the tools of the trade jim and tammy and reverend swaggart they don't look like Jesus and they're a whole lot fatter don't miss the truth for a stupid side show don't confuse the cup for the contents it holds God i need a drink and i need one fast make it a strong one one that will last have you got anything that has been selling brisk for a soul diagnosed at a terminal risk Jesus lover of my soul let me to thy bosom fly i'm so weak and i'm so cold the lambs in the west so speedily die alibis roll off my tongue i'm looking for ruins to hide among i got a soul piled high to excess with the wonderfully useless and the frivolous the praise due your name evades my lips there's no helping hand on my fingertips i used to be someone now i'm not worth a i've got a truckload of things trying to forget since back in the garden on the first page something about the cradle and the grave the promises broken more promises made all in the image i've so defaced played out on the pages of history dripping in blood that flows from a tree where the Father and Son part company come back together for you and me i don't know why you did it what was your motivation crucifixion's not a cool sensation You had something to say and You started to speak the cross was a place for Your coronation speech
12.
Losin' It 04:43
climb the tower with me tonight speak long with the wind let your laughter drown my sorrow let an age of hope begin loyalty is not a word heard 'round these parts these days love gets drowned in a pool of tears i'm drunk on anyway hold me tight God i'm losing it hold me tight i'm confusing it job lost all his daughters job lost all his sons lost all his crops and his animals each and every one still i know whom i believe in and persuaded He is able to keep track of all the cards laid out on my table oh please don't get upset you know these means of grace have never failed me yet see the harvest getting ripe there's a wine press almost full michael swing your sickle wide and take off both your shoes sold me a wealth of pleasure it was a dime store full of pain the stuff i thought was jewelry it turns out to be chains hold me tight i'm abusing it hold me tight i'm losing it
13.
we were sitting at the bar finishing our last drink talking like mature adults and hormones did their thing run my hand under your dress and gently squeeze your thigh you're wearing my wedding ring i don't need an alibi now i know that cathode ray lies and steals it pays no attention to the way that you feel and i will pray without ceasing i will play while unleashing sanities and the vanities and the empty keep reaching hope to be brutal as i examine every motive i will strain my soul to hear the words of love spoken honey i've got visions of your flesh and more rolling around my brain hear angel voice choruses around each and every bend when i come to you with my bleeding little heart in my hand tough time getting it off my sleeve but i knew you'd understand now i know that asphalt highway lies and steals it pays no attention to the way that you feel i am stricken with malaise i am smitten with the vapors it defies all known description every current nomenclature given to excesses gross exaggerations manifold weaknesses and diverse temptation now i know that James Earl Ray lies and steals it pays no attention to the way that you feel
14.
i'm a chemistry of flesh and water of blood and guts a savage disorder i made the wrong move oh what a bother ever since then i've been looking for my father when this darkness rolls in i can't read my id who knows when the sunrise will be martin luther said to one of his brothers except for one instance no one can die for another the devil makes me fearful about my survival one's gone before to assure your arrival sometimes the darkness rolls in and just takes hold of me who knows when the sunrise will be see i feel like barabas with his sentence reversed i've got my handgun of conceit but at least it's registered and i checked out my best western motel i saw a man on the hill in place of my hell when the darkness rolls in it chokes the life out of me who knows when the sunrise will be you can count on your charm revel in your wealth improve your appearance hope in your health houses of cards tumble and reputations fail marriages crumble and interest rates sail and there's there are no more heroes and there are no rules of thumb criminals are pardoned 'cause there's no place to put 'em and babies are torn 'cause nobody wants them and whales canonized by some government program blind men sad men dreamers with wishes paralytics lunatics and the back street fringes all find a place in Your home at Your table You make them well 'cause You're willing and able still in the darkness there's a candle you will see who knows when the sunrise will be

about

JUGULAR/1991
from the "YOU NAME YOUR PRICE PRICE" COLLECTION."
Produced, in part, by Mark Heard. Recorded in a mere 3 days in Arnoldsville, Ga, (Athens.) This was the record that started & confirmed Vigilantes of Love. Our early set.

"Here are the embryonic beginning, folks. Hard hitting acoustic guitar with Dylan-eque sensibilities. Haunting, impressionistic accordion. Mallonee mixes Woody Guthrie politics with tender heart-stripping folks ballads. Passion and conviction firmly in place. Songs of faith, failure, joy, yearning and hope. Lots of hope."

CyBrenJoJosh (BMI); 1993 Fingerprint.
Produced by Bill Mallonee
All songs written by Bill Mallonee.

credits

released April 15, 1990

Bill Mallonee: guitar, vocals, drums

Marcus Aurelius Hall: accordion

Jonny "Dog-Mess" Evans: harmonica

Oglethorpe County Tree Frog Chorus: backing vocals

"Slap Happy": (last of a dying breed) drums, percussion

Billy Holmes: mandolin, bass, backing 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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