Get all 93 Bill Mallonee releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of WELCOME TO STRUGGLEVILLE (Remaster by Pete Lyman) 2024, Comes To Life (New single & free download), GLIMMER Spring 2024 (demos are back up for 2 days), NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, & WEST, ABOVE, BELOW & WITHIN (single from Orphan Songs), HERE IT OPENS WITH A PRAYER, BUT IT CLOSES WITH A SONG (2022), A CLAMORING OF GHOSTS (2021), THE LOT OF EVERYMAN (a free download today), STUNNED (an anniversary song), and 85 more.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
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ON TO BETHLEHEM
So, i'm at this wheel it's three am
waiting for the caffeine to come around
and life rears it's ugly head again
they say your radio's cool and retail's way down
and i'd like to say i'm faithful
to the task at hand
speaking gospel to a handful
and others with their list of demands
it's cold this year and i'm late on my dues
it's cold in here ah but that's nothing new
my heart's electric with your love again
so it's on to Bethlehem
you might surmise that i ran there
but i really only crept
lead me to the place where love runs wild
and then it dogs your every step
you know how fickle my heart is
prone to wonder my Lord
yeah we talk but it's at arms length
always got one eye on the door
God wraps Himself up in human skin
for those who want to touch
and God let them drive the nails in
for those of us who know way too much
You come bearing all our burdens
and take Your lovers for a ride
but we stay holed up in our cages
fashioned by our own design
so tell me what is your secret
what's on your blister soul
what is that one little secret
you know the one that has taken its toll
'cause daddy's banging on your gate again
yeah he won't leave you alone
got a whole lot of dry warm rooms
and the finest of homes
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2. |
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EVERY FATHER KNOWS (WHERE HIS SONS & DAUGHTERS ARE)
words & music by Bill Mallonee. c.2005 BMI
well the angels sang the sweetest song echoing refrains
the shepherds were up to something maybe drunk again
no there probably wasn't any snow on the ground at the time
though the greeting cards show that sort of thing with a warm and fuzzy rhyme
and the stable is neat and tidy the hygiene is five stars
and the planet it spins lonely as i step out of this bar
now some are lost in shopping malls and some on battlefields
and some are lost in suburbs and some on capitol hills
some are lost on terminal wards or in a nursing home
and some are equally as lost in between their headphones
but whatever your coordinates on your map of shame
rather close or far away we're all lost just the same
the birth of births was like a death
under that hallowed star
still every father know and cares
where his sons and daughters are
so you may wake up a bit confused with the ache that's in your heart
doesn't matter if you got there by choice or got there by default
and every birth shall come with tears and with youth there is a cost
Jesus what's it like to grow up in the shadow of a cross
where You take on more than You could know more than i'd want to say
i put you there a long time ago when i do it every day
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3. |
Knocking At Your Door
04:22
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KNOCKIN' AT YOUR DOOR Written by Bill Mallonee for CyBrenJoJosh (BMI) ©2005
all doubts and depression
born of guilt and separation
push your boat far from the shore
but like a lighthouse beacon
His heart is always seeking
and then He comes a-knocking at your door
Amid the problems and the pain
of ambition and sordid gain
this grinding of the face of the poor
He will lift up the lowly
the humble and not slowly
and then He comes a-knocking at your door
When He comes knocking at your door
we'll understand what this all meant
when He comes knocking at your door
you won't be disappointed
Amid the conflict and confusion
of winning and then losing
whether against terror or for oil
He was heaven sent
even for our president
and then He comes a-knocking at your door
Amid the fears and frustrations
tumults and tribulations
of all of the whys and wherefores
it'll all flee as the night
vanishes with morning light
and then He comes a-knocking at your door
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4. |
Dayspring (Instrumental)
03:44
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5. |
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6. |
Nativity
02:15
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7. |
Holy Mother Mary
06:28
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early flight probably skip sleep
getting back to you not as easy as it seems
and all these dreams that just got in the way
like the congress the president lies
like static on the ??? phone line
i rub my eyes and try to stay awake
well your eyes seem to know
mazzy star on the stereo
the razor's edge we walk of faith and doubt
yes and your kiss all full of surrender
me white flag helpless and tender
and then then the bottoms drop out
why does everybody in this old (damn) town
plead and assent when the crime goes down
it's never hard to tell (trace) whose blood's been spilt
holy mother mary when the wine gives out
and the land is parched stricken with drought
i've never seen it look quite like this before
yes and ask your Son He's pretty strong
He's got a real good heart and loves everyone
an open heart is always an open door
it stepped up on the windy platform
the trains were late and the stars were being born
that is to say they were just coming out
rolling out like a new car from the factory
like a closet gay getting free
of shackles of one kind or another
i know this thing is as long as shit
and by now you're ready to hit skip
i didn't do it for you no i did it for me
and all these film techniques that you employed
in the heart a camera full of melted solenoid
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8. |
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some seed it fell on a rocky place
among the thorns and thistles and those radio waves
and the birds they feasted the brambles they did fall
at that virgin seed if it sprouted up at all
please oh please would you take care of me
between the devil and the deep blue sea
got a stack of records more like a sunday school
and a summer of love that is only for fools
yeah and fools we are fools we'll surely be
till sweet hallelujahs reign down over me
oh holy sower your spirit and heart
bound up the concrete around my steely little heart
thirty three and a third that will be the cure for you
you can drop the needle right down in the groove
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9. |
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10. |
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well some things are plain to clear eyes
some gifts go completely unrecognized
we're shackled to hate bounded by fear
straining to see my face in the mirror
yeah i once knew a man who left town on the run
he went looking for joy but joy didn't come
so let Your name with praise be adorned
sing angel choirs for Jesus is born
yeah i'm picking through pieces of yesterday's boasting
hold them up to the light and examine them closely
a love is a field that the weeds have grown up in
my earth is all scorched with my wreckage and ruin
yeah the cup is tarnished but the wine is true
only the finest two hundred proof
so let Your name with praise be adorned
sing angel choirs for Jesus is born
holy Mary meek and mild
full of the Spirit full with Child
stumble around through the message each year
so open these eyes open these ears
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11. |
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God rest ye merry gentlemen
we're empty but full of dreams
seen it on the gallery walls
read it in books and magazines
second Person of the Trinity
Saviour dearest friend
two worlds crash and flesh and blood
there in bethlehem
your love's whisper tapping on the wall
and then breaking down my door
come and claim the ???
come and claim what's rightfully yours
it's amazing you should seek me
i've been hiding out for so long
it's amazing you should greet me
and call my heart your home
at this time of visitation
i see how deeply that i'm spent
melt the snow around this cold heart
with the fire of your intent
it's a tired world this Christmas
it's getting wearier by the minute
we've hit the quota overextended on the limits
of sadness, badness and madness
come to think of it
come and wake the sleeping
come and give them rest
the numb dumb damned depressed possessed naked and undressed
hark the herald angels sing
we've heard good tiding from on high
all escape routes have been sealed off
every alibi strangles and dies
Deity hits the newsstand
Jesus the Father sends
two worlds crash in flesh and blood
there in bethlehem
at this time of visitation
i see how deeply i have spent
melt the snow around my heart
with the fire of your intent
joy to the world the Lord is come
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12. |
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so i'm at this wheel it's three am
waiting for the caffeine to come around
and life rears it's ugly head again
they say your radio's cool and retail's way down
and i'd like to say i'm faithful
to the task at hand
speaking gospel to a handful
and others with their list of demands
it's cold this year and i'm late on my dues
it's cold in here ah but that's nothing new
my heart's electric with your love again
so it's on to bethlehem
you might surmise that i ran there
but i really only crept
lead me to the place where love runs wild
and then it dogs your every step
you know how fickle my heart is
prone to wonder my Lord
yeah we talk but it's at arms length
always got one eye on the door
God wraps Himself up in human skin
for those who want to touch
and God let them drive the nails in
for those of us who know way too much
You come bearing all our burdens
and take Your lovers for a ride
but we stay holed up in our cages
fashioned by our own design
so tell me what is your secret
what's on your blister soul
what is that one little secret
you know the one that has taken its toll
'cause daddy's banging on your gate again
yeah he won't leave you alone
got a whole lot of dry warm rooms
and the finest of homes
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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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