1. |
Bright side of the road
04:03
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Hello my friends your looking good to me today
How have all the things you wanted slowly slipped away
Will you join me can we raise a glass anyway
For what we have to work for isn’t something so easy to brush away
I will be there when the time comes to stand tall
I will help you share the load
I will help you up if ever you should fall
I will see you on the bright side of the road
I will wait, it’s not our fate, it’s not too late to separate
All that has gone, and what was done from what’s to come our freedoms won
The struggle for existence screams, and on and on it goes
As we’re sucked into a web of poisoned promises and shows
We’re lectured daily on the truth but no one really knows
And we break our backs and bleed our brains on broken verse and empty prose
The ones we chose to lead just use the same excuse each time
We’re told it has to be this way and everything will be just fine
How can we believe these lies, each vile disguise, time after time
We find that we’re just busy fools, and worn out tools on the production line
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2. |
Witching hour
03:26
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It’s 3am and we lost some men
And in a moment we’ll do it all again
I smell the smoke, hear the rain
On the ricket rails of a southbound train
The blood flows down like satan’s flood
Our battered bones buried in the mud
Just charred remains where the young men stood
All the pride of England did us no good
Let it rain, let it pour
Stand again, give me some more
It’s witching hour again
We scream, we yell we spin the dial
We pay for bullets in a rich man’s smile
We’re played for fools mile on wasted mile
All that I loved I now revile
I think about the books I read
I hear the pains in the words you said
Why some might feel to heal or better off dead
From Normandy to Tigris bed
We broke some laws we scratch the rules
Taken once or twice for honest fools
But the empty box and broken tools
All that remain of our training schools
You want it back and I won’t complain
The last we stood buried once again
Was it blood I tasted or just the rain
Whatever, it felt just the same
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3. |
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On the horizon
the sun is almost down
You packed your belongings
You say you’re leaving town
I could open up your ears
If I knew where to start
Unpack the fears while you blunder
Driving crossroads across my heart
Try and change a quarter
For an honest dime
But who among us can stand honest
Mostly all of the time
Some things broke and some can fix it
Down the exchange and mart
Take your powder keg and mix it babe
Driving crossroads across my heart
Do you want to feel old? Head over here there’s a hand to hold.
The truck’s been sold. I don’t feel too bold. There’s a rainbow but no gold.
At least so I’ve been told
The show boat is rolling
The magic man packs his hat
The dealers don’t gamble and gamblers
Don’t know what to make of that
You came with a story
How he tore you apart
Now it’s your turn to sing for glory
Driving crossroads across my heart
There’s no turning forward
There’s no going back
It’s too late for mischief
Or another heart attack
You say you’re not broken
But I know you’re too smart
To not know what you’re doing
Driving crossroads across my heart
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4. |
Daybreak
04:04
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Daybreak, finds us alone
Whispering our half truths into the emptiness that’s grown
And heartbreak, our second home
Will you return, will you recall,
Beyond the shadows, behind the wall
It’s just a hollow sound that’s all
The wind has blown
Daybreak, you are my friend
From those shattered dreams there seems to be no end
Daybreak, please come again
The bitter cold has reached my ears
I’ve grown old with all my fears
Stretched out beyond those lonely years
That never mend
Where should we go / I do not know / beyond the snow
Where the clouds lift, and the rains shift and there’s sometimes rainbows
Oh holliness / this bloody mess / who could have guessed
That all the roads we haunted shipped us out to
Daybreak, there’ll be no more
No more mist hung daisies dancing down the lane
For hope’s sake, don’t close the door
Don’t leave me out here in the cold
Getting wretched getting old
Running from all that I have sold
To start again
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5. |
Bangalore boogie
02:35
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you can take it like a rocket on the bombay express
you can fumble in your pocket for the marie celeste
stuggle through each daydream with some terminal disease
fight to live for truth while they beat you to your knees
trigger to the glory and sing it through the pain
Figure that each story is just news-speak once again
you can beat it on the fast train from outi to bangalore
steaming past the shanties and leaning out the door
screaming at the little kids who's eyes are wet with doubt
bang your head another time as you try to work it out
figure it might be easier to do another round
buying spending fleeing as we fly from town to town
you can boogie to your left
boogie to the right
boogie up and down now
with all your might
come on - when your feet hit the floor
do the bangalore boogie till you just can't boogie no more
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6. |
We are the dead
04:34
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we are the hands that toil
we are the hands that bleed
we are the ears that listen
we are the wasted seed
we are the hopes that scatter
we are the shattered dreams
we are the fools that matter
we are the face that screams
we are the refugees, brought to our knees in dread
we're the ones no one sees, we are the dead
we are the news reporters
we believe and we lie
we are the sons and daughters
but we never can ask why
we are the blinded alleys
we are the dry wood stalls
We are the plains grown empty
we are the crumbled walls
we pay our monthly taxes
we pay our daily dues
One strains as one relaxes
One sleeps upon the pews
we search the truth but still
we're afraid to ask
We fear we’ve lost the will
Unequal to the task
You are the flesh that's breaking
Barred in Belmarsh walls
You are the spirit aching
That from that dark place calls
We are the silent many
Our outrage lost for words
Dumbed down watching telly
Your agony unheard
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7. |
Enough to share
05:04
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One more night when you leave me alone
I think there is enough love to share
I think you might not even care
And you are the holy ghost
You came and you went when I needed you most
You walked in without a sound
But now you’re gone I’m homeward bound with
There’s a tree, and there’s a life
Our souls lay down as man and wife
Where once we slept the vines have crept
The days now have gone you’ve left not a song but
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8. |
The word
04:07
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The word is revolution baby
They keep looking for a solution maybe
They’ll find it on the banks of another shore
On the tanks and cross the bypass humming
And the trucks and trailers and semis coming
The streets feel warm but the wheels won’t move no more
The word is on the tip of my tongue
But it’s lost in all the yarns I spun
Down the road I ramble with scarce a reason why
You could ask me once or tell me twice
But I seldom attend to second hand advice
It may not seem nice but I’m just that kinda guy
The word is globalisation honey
It sure seems crazy but it ain’t so funny
You can feed the kids on credit and plastic toys
All the things they find to do with your money
From the east to the west ain’t always so sunny
But the freight still rolls and the dolls just make more noise
The word is global warming ain’t kidding
You can ski to Alaska and stop without skidding
I been warming my hands on the ashes of mother earth
In the streets and down the sidewalks bumming
Bank clerks and dealers and folk singers strumming
Everyone’s gotta get their money’s worth
The word is insecurity brother
Anything you want gotta take from another
Trade’s heaven made but it’s theft by another name
I got cash in my hands and blood on the street
All the lonely teardrops gather round my feet
But the people I meet still don’t know who to blame
The word is exploitation you sinners
From village to nation we’re just beginners
We’re working through the sums we have to weigh
Rather reap that sow, rather peep than know
It’s one for the money and go, go, go
We got the cash stashed but no one’s prepared to pay
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9. |
Magic mystery man
03:33
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Lay your hand on the door
Place your feet on the floor
Every scream through the night is heard
And the neighbours complain
That they’re at it again
With blows of steel, stone and word
A door slams, a window shakes
Something falls, something breaks
The clock strikes a quarter to two
The wind blows through the night
You won’t argue, you don’t fight
Is it me, or is it you?
Back the day up to the place where it began
Tuck the tide in to where the waters ran
Fall on bended knees and mumble if you can
I’m your magic mystery man
I’ve been here at your door, what comes next I’m not sure
Where the bruises come and bruises go
The first light a shower of rain
The clouds my pals again
I wave my wand but you will never know
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10. |
She brings the sun
02:37
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She brings the sun
She brings the rain
She takes her coffee
On the morning train
She’s running late but
She don’t complain
She says she loves me
Again and again
We wake at light
And we sleep at night
We’re singing for the stars
By the pale moonlight
Well a man could fall and
I think I might
Give it one and all
To make it all alright
She purrs like a cat
She hums like a bee
And she wriggles like a catkin
On a catkin tree
She sings with the joys
Of being free
And she’s singing for you
And she’s singing for me
My pockets are empty
But my hands are full
No weights no measures
Can count the pull
Of her smile in the morning
On the way to school
And look at me the dizzy April fool
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11. |
Thread to heaven
05:35
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Well you take my hand
We’re standing here
Still staring out to sea
You say you want to find some meaning
In this insanity
But there’s noise above
And noise below
And rumble everywhere
And the more I try and stumble
The less I seem to care
I say there’s no sense, and there’s no truth
All those tell-tale signs confound
The cindered scraps of newsprint
Scattered on the ground
You say don’t be such a pessimist
And you smile like you don’t know
We’re stronger than all that you say
And we’ve still a way to go
Outside your window
Outside your door
Many moons have left their trace on dreamers as they dream
Still we strive for more
I’m tired for sure
I can scarcely keep
My eyelids from my toes
And with every angry rock I fling
My weariness still grows
I see darkness round every bend
You smile and shake your head
You say goodness conquers evil
Are the words the prophet said
I burned my clothes along the way
I’ve travelled many lanes
Some treat me like a stranger, some say that I’m to blame
I’ve heard their bitter sagas,
And don’t it make you sad
We’ve lost the thread to heaven
And the world’s gone mad
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12. |
Welcome to Zombieland
02:51
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Blue moon
He’s dead and gone
Too soon
Sang his last song
Bullet casing on muddied floor
Needle traces by the broken door
Out of aces on his last score
And the police don’t see a reason for
Blue moon
It’s outa place
Old tune
From another space
I took every wrong turn I came to
Walked and crawled on blistered shoes
Lucky breaks they were all to few
Still I’m right back here you
Blue moon
Won’t you take me home
Blue moon
Throw this dog a bone,
Hands held up and head held high
Grabbed at stars and reached for the sky
Now it’s face down in the rubble I lie
I won’t ask and you won’t tell me why
Blue moon
Take a look around
Cartoons (old runes)
In a burial ground
It’s with trembling legs right here I stand
Is it fate or was it planned
But we built this place together we’re damned
And the sign reads Welcome to Zombieland
Blue moon
This’ll be the end
High noon
For you and me my friend
My spirit flees as my body fails
On my knees, against the rails
From far away wild man wails
But you’ve heard enough of my hard-luck tales
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13. |
Two by two
04:56
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There’s a train at the station and it’s bound for glory
And we’re boarding together two by two
Two by two / We’re boarding together two by two
Step by step and hand in hand we’re gonna reach the promised land
And we’re boarding together two by two
There’s a breeze cross the cities, some sneeze and some get dizzy
And we’re wheezing together two by two
Two by two / We’re wheezing together two by two
We may cough and we may splutter
We may choke on the words we utter
And we’re sneezing togther
There’s a growing commotion and it sounds like freedom
Across the plains, across the oceans and it sounds like freedom
Share those creams and foot lotions for we’ll surely need them
And we’re marching together two by two
Two by two / We’re marching together two by two
You can tap, skip, hop or glide
Till we reach the other side
We’re marching together ..two by two
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Jol Rose Swindon, UK
Jol Rose is a Swindon-based singer-songwriter.
With roots in London, he has performed
his raw mix of Americana acoustic folk on moving trains, stationary flat-bed trucks and remote Pacific islands.
His debut album My Nebraska, mixed stateside influences with desolation and doubt from closer to home.
2020 saw the release of Jol’s home-recorded and produced follow-up album, Welcome to Zombieland.
... more
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