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1.
YOU'RE STILL CRYIN' HARD (ON THE INSIDE) words & music: bill mallonee c. 2016 BMI There's only so much you can do to pretend it doesn't hurt gone from bad to worse and then invisible Ya' wear your frown upside down & tell your pretty little lie you're still crying hard on the inside you're still crying hard on the inside Now, it's written in the stars & sung each night in every honky tonk from Tucumcari clear to Tennessee. Take the whole thing a part for the 1000th time you're still crying hard on the inside you're still crying hard on the inside there is no anesthesia that'll get you free no debauchery that isn't really slavery you can hold what little does remain to the kindly light you're still crying hard on the inside you're still crying hard on the inside if fools blurt out what angels fear to whisper every time i'm with her it's as bright as the sun given to the tremolo and a lap steel's lonesome swell we make our beds in hell...a stone's throw to redemption Ya' wear your crown upside down & tell your pretty little lie you're still crying hard on the inside you're still crying hard on the inside
2.
KISSING BOOTH (electric version) words/music: bill mallonee c. 2014 BMI there's a kissing booth and so these folks they come from miles around when'er that kissing booth and carney they pull into town...pull into town they say it only costs a nickel; to close your eyes and feel something far beyond this world; now i call that a deal & you're hoping she might be the one to melt your heart of steel they say it all goes by so quick and it'll all go by so fast nothing you can do but leap and hold onto your hat...hold onto to your hat Love is always a gamble, but you want it to be real in a world of kisses & hard sell; a spinning of the wheel & you're hoping she might be the one to melt your heart of steel she smiled pretty as a picture and me? I swallowed my fear it wasn't for my looks for sure but she drew me oh-so-near...drew me oh-so-near sometimes the jailer & the prisoner they hold each other dear anyway, something opened up and the skies they became clear she whispered something softly to me but i can't repeat that here now, there's a few things to be thankful for if you know what i mean i've never been a pauper i'll never be a king...i'll never be a king but it only costs a nickel to close your eyes and feel something far beyond all words, now i call that a deal and ever once so often, she melts your heart of steel
3.
GHOST WALTZ 05:43
~ GHOST WALTZ ~ WORDS/MUSIC: BILL MALLONEE c. 2012 BMI WELL, THE LAMPS BURN LOW IN THE ROADHOUSE & THE DANCERS THEY DRIFT OFF TWO AT A TIME THERE'S A BLUE MOON ON THE SNOW & THE WIND IS MOANING LOW YOU’D SWEAR YOU THINK SHE’S CRYIN’ I MAY HAVE COME HERE, COME HERE BY ACCIDENT I MAY HAVE COME HERE, COME HERE BY DESIGN COULD I TROUBLE YOU GIRL FOR ONE MORE TWIRL ON THAT DANCE FLOOR? IF YOU’D BE SO KIND CHORUS: I WILL RAISE A GLASS TO YOU SWEETHEART AND TO EVERYTHING WE EVER WON OR LOST I WILL HOLD YOU CLOSE & STAMMER A TOAST AND STEP TO THIS GHOST WALTZ I HAVE SEEN MANY A GHOST ON THIS DANCE FLOOR THEY'RE ALWAYS LOCKED IN EACH OTHERS EYES & THEY WALTZ TO A TUNE...IN A STAR-LIT ROOM TO HOLD BACK THE NIGHT
4.
RENO IS A HELL OF A PLACE (To Have Your Luck Run Dry) words/music: bill mallonee c. 2014 BMI Well, Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry flick of the wrist, roll of the dice; it's all gone in the wink of an eye slipping through your fingers...leaving you to opine Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry Cracklin of the CB has always brought a smile breaking up the engine drone o'er many a mile And it's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" under wide open skies ah, but Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry Al those maps you studied back home? They were your strongest link; It's the stories that you learned back home. Their the ones that last but the stories that you're writing now? They're done with invisible ink and yes, there are some that you'd erase with a long & heavy sigh and Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry Bridge Now every man's a prayin' man on the open road When the engine sounds like an angel choir I listen with my soul now they say Life is the perfect thief committing perfect crimes she takes it from you slowly, the nickel & the dime I've got high beams on mile markers and your memory at my side Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry And with a log book full of questions, and answers in short supply Reno is a hell of a place to have your luck run dry
5.
STAR~LIGHT 03:27
STAR~LIGHT words & music: bill mallonee c. BMI 2016 You know i wonder how you got there 'Cause it's more than a mystery For all those pages that we turned there's still so little that we see i tried to watch your every gesture to see if they'd reveal a plot I tried to see if that smile you smiled was the real one or not it's a world just like a house of cards and our fault lines are hard to detect in a world full of simple, wide-eyed souls there is so much to protect Chorus: so, if starlight is your gift let it shine all through the night for the storm-tossed who have no land in sight so, if starlight is your special gift let it be special night for the drowning who have no land in sight
6.
DOESN'T TAKE TOO MANY FRIENDS, REALLY, ONLY ONE words & music: bill mallonee/BMI 2016 1. soundchecks & rendezvous; always charged deja vu. then again there are thin places that will call there are symbols veiling secrets; too much light and they vanish words soaked in heartache? we're always my downfall Chorus: No, it doesn't take too many friends most of mine are gone doesn't take too many friends really, only one...really only one 2. tweed amps breaking up too loud; "devil-may-care" college crowd the melody of here & now with a 6-string drag pawn shop guitar with the finish worn off; you ureally ought see to that cough It's hard to get found...and easy to get lost it doesn't take too many friends to get the job done doesn't take too many friends really, only one 3. Now, there's some thing youi can rejoice in and there's so much to grieve things you hold too tight, til the life just leves bring it all out in the open; bring it all into the light whatever it is you're showing...it'll be alright No, it doesn't take too many friends most of mine are gone doesn't take too many friends really, only one
7.
AND I'M GOING UNDER words & music: bill mallonee c. 20016 BMI I was watching from the wings too young to put together much of anything every encore is a going through the motions till you collapse into that deeper ocean ether bound and i'm going under lost & found is it any wonder? does your soul make a sound when it's torn asunder? ether bound and i'm going under broken words to broken songs made it hard to sing along and every town starts to look the same and your heart is caught in the freeze frame ether bound and i'm going under lost & found is it any wonder? does your soul make a sound when it's torn asunder? ether bound and i'm going under and i'm going under, etc...
8.
FOREVER & FOR ALL words & music: bill mallonee (BMI 2016) A crack in the new dawn crossing the Rubicon and it all comes with a cost row towards the lighthouse, you storm-tossed it's the same breath we all breathe it's the same blood we all bleed when will we start to know? let it all go let it all go let it all go Chorus: there is moonlight like a blade there are stones that must be rolled away Love has the last say forever & for all forever & for all forever & for all The window pane reflects a soul in silhouette in this room where we learn to wait too near the static and the ticker tape the flotsam and the jetsam the shame and the sham and a face you could never show let it all go let it all go let it all go there is moonlight like a blade there are stones that must be rolled away Love will have the last say forever & for all forever & for all forever & for all
9.
THEY'RE NOT IMPORTANT ANYWAY words/music: bill mallonee I won't bore you with the details they're not important anyway no judge or jury ever bet the farm when the truth got in the way Now, the prophets, they all died by the hands of profiteers but it all happen more or less out of sight compromise is a drug measured out, to everyone involved so most folks slept well enough at night
 Chorus: when it all gets shaken when it all gets torn when we see what's real and what's been faking on the Kingdom's first new morn Me? i took it to the road when the cities weren't safe after man's heart took this devilish turn there's far worse things than being alone so homelessness became the better home I dunno how every tear will be wiped away God's got a lot on His plate i won't bore you with the details they're not important anyway they're not important anyway
10.
Losin' Streak words & music bill mallonee Your coach is bound for New York; should take about 2weeks If that Indian summer holds...back her tears of grief hear there's new beginnings after everythings gone dead life's unfinished sentences...from a chapter never read losin' streak...losin' streak Now, Autumn speaks in whispers if she speaks at all But, I swear she spoke in tongues to me beside the waterfall spoke to me of true love; at least that what she preached Me, well, it always seemed to be one prayer outta reach losing streak...losin streak Now, Winter speaks in silence so I never heard the call a boarding house in Durango is where i chose to fall with a mind full of confusion; clouds gathering for the storm they tell you 'bout the rose; but don't mention the thorns losin' streak...losin streak Now, one must pay the piper in heartache or in gold but one thing you should n'er do is ante-up your soul Lady Luck departed. Her exit is n'er too discreet time to turn & shake hands with your losing streak...

about

MULE.
Dive into these songs, friends. I don't think you'll be disappointed. "MULE" is one of the most poignant and self-disclosing collection of songs I've written. Pretty much the years of "processing" life, the road and what I try to do as an artist. The upshot of long & deep conversations with wife, musical partner & co-conspirator, Muriah Rose.

A few of these songs had to wait. And they waited very politely.
They were Fully realized, well-recorded and eager to get in the game,
It's all here: heartland rockers, high & lonesome numbers, vulnerable stories with a touch of surrealism, "homilies."
A lovely Autumnal album. (What IS it about the change of seasons here that so inspires?)

But these songs had to wait...until now. Let me explain...

I'm a believer in the short & sweet ride; it's a ride that should be and full of nurturing conversation, instrumentally and lyrically.
I think, when it comes to the listener, an artist should endeavor to keep albums to a "digestible" portion is absolutely THE way to go.

Almost ALL of the truly great records of the 60's and 70's were 35-40minutes. The LP may have had it's limitations, but it also "imposed" a certain boundary on it's time length. It made for, I believe, sets of great songs. No filler, no "repeating oneself."

A pox upon the Cd format.
Just because the thing will hold 65minutes of music does not mean an artist should try & fill it up. Personally? I think long records water down concepts & contribute to mediocrity, but that's another essay. (And this is coming from an artist who use to almost always fill his early releases to the brim.)

Write your songs.
Say your piece.
Try to make it an interesting ride.
Get in. Get out.

No. The albums I've made o'er the last 10 years (some 40, I think) are theme focused; I want them to be conceptually integrated.;
Meticulously edited and sequenced so the ride will be short & sweet & (above all) nurturing & memorable.

A few of these songs are garnered from different sessions, but thematically & musically, they all roll to a basic point.
Together, they feel quite like a concept record to me.
Songs that are Good brothers & sisters, each looking out for the other, each enjoying one anothers company.

So, this "MULE" ride?
It's a healthy 48 or so minutes of new songs...
And yes, they're pretty introspective (but not bleak)
And yes, mules are known for be a bit slow...
But, they're always Sure...
....and they are always Tried & True....

Bill Mallonee
November/2016

credits

released November 18, 2016

Bill Mallonee: vocals, harmonies, electric & acoustic guitars, resonator guitar, hi-string guitar, bass, drums, lap steep, organ, harmonica
Muriah Rose: organ, piano, 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.
... more

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