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. |
SOLAR SYSTEM
04:34
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2. |
FROM DAY ONE
04:46
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FROM DAY ONE music/words: bill mallonee
It was an empty page and the margins were free
at least that’s how you...described it to me
and your boots wandered the earth; across the hills and traces
and you said that it all knew you...on a first name basis
Chorus:
And the sky held a sun...and it shown on your heart from day one
and the sky was your friend...
and the sky will take you back again
You knew about the language used by springtime
in Missouri
when rays warm your face...and the earth she is a-buzzin’
ya’ learned to speak in tongues as your team pulled the rig
and it made your hands strong...and it made your heart big
Ya’ found a pretty wife and you called her your best friend
and you leaned to lose your sadness in the contiurs of her skin
You raised you up a family...but they moved on to other things
and the sky they never loved it...quite the way you did
And the one that held the sun...
that shown on your heart from day one
and the sky was your friend...
and the sky will take you back again
It was an empty page and the margins were free
at least that’s how you...described it to me
and your boots wandered the earth; across the hills and traces
and you said that it all loved you...on a first name basis
And the sky held the sun...that shown on your heart from day one
and the sky was your friend...
and the sky will take you back again
and the sky will take you back again
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3. |
FIGHT SONG
05:01
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FIGHT SONG
words/music: Bill Mallonee
Well they all said....said it couldn’t be done
me? Well, I proved ‘em...I proved ‘em all wrong
against all the odds...in this stacked up world
the sharks in pinstripes...with their pin-up girls
Chorus:
Oh, Mister, I’m a wonder
meet Lightening. Now meet Thunder
and when it’s all done...it’s just flashbulbs & champagne
there ain’t nothing I couldn’t hurt
with some good gloves & footwork
'cept these ghosts...living in my brain
I did it with style... I did it with finesse
you just tighten the gloves, kid...& let ‘em do the rest
ya’ learn to get in quick...don’t let your guard drop
You harden your stomach...and you harden your heart
yeah, I stunned ‘em in New York...I wowed ‘em in Reno...
Met this girl in Havana... and I took her to Rio
to play for this crowd...surrounding this ring
all hungry for blood...so that’s what I bring.
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4. |
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Faith (Comes Soaked in Gasoline)
words/music: bill mallonee
Dunno what you heard before you got here
Dunno what you thought you'd see
one thing about faith you can be sure of
It all comes soaked in gasoline
It all comes soaked in gasoline
the foreman's car pulls into Hoover-ville
He's gotta 100 jobs for 1000 men
and 'cause our kids look like skeletons
it won't cost him much of any thing
and gun toting deputy wears a shiny badge
but that kinda justice don't mean a thing
one thing about faith, you can be sure of
It all comes...soaked in gasoline
bridge:
they'll douse the camp at midnight
so you'd better be up and packed
one day something more than fire is gonna fall
when that fella strikes the match
They say the Savior had nowhere to lay his head
and pretty soon neither shall we.
one thing about faith you can be sure:
well, it all comes soaked in gasoline
i dunno what you heard before to got here
dunno what you thought you'd see
one thing about faith, you can be sure of
It all comes...soaked in gasoline
It all comes...soaked in gasoline
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5. |
RURAL ROUTE
05:22
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RURAL ROUTE
words/music: bill mallonee
I’ve been bringin’ it now for 16 years or more
bringin’ right to your front door
bringin’ it through the rain, through the sleet and the snow
bringin’ it past the windmill, the cows and the corn
chorus:
I’ve been drivin’ these back roads
with all of these doubts
rural route
you always wear that pretty dress and a smile
and you like to comment on the weather
and me? Well, me? I smile right back...and I reach in my pack
and I hand you your letters
chorus
I heard you had a son who went off to Iraq
a medal and flag is all that you got back
heard you had a husband once somewhere in the past
you said, “that all got broke and nothing ever lasts.”
chorus
I’ve seen a lotta of sunrise; I seen a lotta sunsets
seen a lotta folks hanging on doing their level best
and me? I bring ‘em the good news...and the bad before too long
sometimes I just bring ‘em a shoulder to cry on
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6. |
BOTTOMING OUT
05:29
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Bottoming Out
lyrics/music: bill mallonee
Guitar player country band
too long watin' for the ship to 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...
I remember the bag & the dust
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
Make 'em believe it was love at first sight
Make 'em believe they had the time of their lives (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?
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7. |
GHOST WALTZ
04:40
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~ GHOST WALTZ ~
WORDS/MUSIC: BILL MALLONEE
WELL, THE LAMPS BURN LOW IN THE ROADHOUSE
THE DANCERS DRIFT OFF TWO AT A TIME
BLUE MOON ON THE SNOW & THE WIND? SHE’S 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 THE 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
ALL LOCKED IN EACH OTHERS EYES
& THEY WALTZ TO A TUNE...IN A STAR-LIT ROOM
TO HOLD BACK THE NIGHT
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8. |
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BARSTOOLS & BAGGAGE (DEBTOR'S SOUL)
words/music: bill mallonee
Now there's the sound of your wounds you keep tryin' ta' keep hid
there's the sound your dreams make....hittin' the skids
mile marker countdowns and the rooms where we grieve
where we all meet for a moment...and try to believe
the well of good luck has long given out
It's as dry as an East Texas drought
string it together, kid, all your bailing wire dreams
and those wasted, rusted-out-might-have-beens
CHORUS:
Barstools and baggage
happy hour language
hey, look in the mirror
Everyone i know
has gotta debtor soul.....in here
the picture's fallin' out of focus again
and that faded backdrop we keep standing in
and the morning resolutions you thought would see you through
they're all poured out & on the rocks by high noon
Fillin' up the spaces with empty lies
I'm tryin' not to over romanticize
you and me, babe: we can get through this
little prayer whispered through a whiskey kiss
When guard rail emotions, they won't ever bear the load
these guitars sleep in cases after the show
'Tween Heaven and hell and sittin' on the fence
I've been haunted by 'em both ever since
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9. |
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RESPLENDENT words/music: bill mallonee
yeah, i remember the dark clouds
raining dust for days on end
blew all the earth out to California
and just left us here with the wind
in desperate times you know everybody's part
but it's your own lines you're like to forget
'til what you were meets what you've now become
grins and says "hey, haven't we met"
lost my firstborn that winter
and my wife on the first day of spring
and so i poured my sweat into the earth
yeah to see what that harvest would bring
and i remember howling fury
just like a plague of locusts
egypt's punishment for sins of pride
is that now what has come over us
how much of this was meant to be
how much the work of the devil
how far can one man's eyes really see
in these days of toil and trouble
honey we're all resplendent
yeah honey we are all thrift store
i'm like a wino with a twenty dollar bill
yeah forever and eternally yours
i can make you promises
if you don't expect too much
yes and i will run the distance
if you'll please please excuse my crutch
how much of this is failing flesh
how much the course of retribution
my my how loudly we plead our innocence
long after we've made our contribution
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10. |
RIO GRANDE
04:52
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RIO GRANDE words/music: bill mallonee
well, this old moonlight has been my friend
as long as i can remember when
was either poverty or a drug lord's gun
Mother Mary, watch o'er your son
keep a book of my mother's favorite poems
she wrote 'em out longhand as i was going
and i'm not sure but i'm willing to bet
she said a Rosary for my every step
Now, i'm not one to boast.
tequila make me...like a ghost
so i might swim, so i might stand
on the other side of the Rio Grande
now, there's a border frozen in my mind
i've visited there a million times
dreams are devils or your best friends
100 roads north, but only one way in
i once a had a dream of Liberty
she stood in a harbor & beckoned me
and the river's deep and wide they say
only man's fear & greed get in the way
from DOLOROSA, release date November 2013
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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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Dry Bones Dance (2021 Remaster)
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An outstanding remaster. The extras are great. I hope this is the start of his whole discography being remastered with extras.
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Fantastic album/CD with great instrumentation and vocals. Also an inspiration listening to the lyrics. Excellent recording quality as well. I give this my 5 Coconuts!
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