Get all 15 Jonah Smith releases available on Bandcamp and save 40%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of A Captive Audience For Captain Obvious, The New Forevers, Listen Close, Stay Close, Easy Prey, Skyscraper Blues, In The Kitchen, Little Known Cure, and 7 more.
1. |
Veterans Day, No Parade
03:58
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Veterans Day, No Parade
This valley’s been reborn and died so many times that I can't cry
For all the trailer parks and the liquor stores around
The people here have lost their spark
And the streetlights don’t come on at dark
And when the light is gone you hardly hear a sound
It’s Veterans Day but there’s no parade
There’s sunshine but there ain’t no shade
Waiting around I’ve got time to kill
There’s a sucker here but I can’t see
Who it is, so I guess it’s me
I’ve always been an underdog and I always will
Ed's on disability but you know he seems just fine to me
Good enough to bet on the dogs down at the track
He used to work for union pay
Operating lifts that hauled away
What this town made before the fade to black
The people here are simple still without the jobs at the mill
It's quitting time before the days begun
There’s jobs around but they don’t pay
Enough to keep your eye from straying
We lost a lot but I'm not sure what we won
The fence maker’s a busy man and the shelter does what it can
It’s hard to lend a hand when it’s clenched up like a fist
The TV ads beat us down
And we’d vote if we could get off the ground
I’ll ask you tomorrow you can tell me what I missed
It’s Veterans Day but there’s no parade
There’s sunshine but there ain’t no shade
Waiting around I’ve got time to kill
There’s a sucker here but I can’t see
Who it is, so I guess it’s me
I’ve always been an underdog and I always will
A career in mind well, get in line
Or you can have two at a time
Try to piece together a little life
I don't recognize the American dream
It’s nightmare when it runs out of steam
Uncle Sam is out cold and under the knife
It’s Veterans Day but there’s no parade
There’s sunshine but there ain’t no shade
Waiting around I’ve got time to kill
There’s a sucker here but I can’t see
Who it is, so I guess it’s me
I’ve always been an underdog and I always will
I’ve always been an underdog and I always will
I’ve always been an underdog and I always will
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2. |
Ocala
05:28
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Ocala
Sunday and the stars are hiding out tonight
I was staring at the yellow of the dotted lines
A song came on that took me to another time
And then I thought of something else that had slipped my mind
When something came out in the light so I tried to swerve
But I was going too fast when I hit the curve
I was hungry and distracted when the moment came
A second lost in my thoughts now two lives are changed
Life will never be the same
Everything slowed but my heart raced
I was pulled back down to earth from where I was in space
I ran from my car to where she was in the road
And I laid my jacket on her cause I thought she looked cold
The sirens grew distant as they sped away
I couldn’t stop shaking; my nerves were frayed
They took me to Ocala got my statement down
Why was she walking in the road out there so far from town?
Life will never be the same
The cops put me through the paces before night was through
I asked to call a friend, hope he’ll know what to do
That week I went to visit but she wasn’t awake
I almost turned around, thought I’d made a mistake
There’s a man standing there by the side of the bed
Brother from Des Moines asking if I was a friend
I looked at him I didn’t know what to say
He said this was a lousy way to spend a Thanksgiving Day
Life will never be the same
I started crying when he thought to take another look
His eyes were teary as he read me like an open book
Just when I thought he would get angry his voice got low
And he was telling me a tale from twenty years ago
A girl was thrown from a car right where he stood
He was first on the scene and he did what he could
But he could never shake the feeling that he let her down
When he found out that she died on her way into town
Life will never be the same
Her spare tire blew out on the Interstate
Something out of your control can really change your fate
He said it’s easy if you want to let the guilt consume
He said I’ll give you some time and he left the room
Life will never be the same
Never be the same, never be the same
Never be the same
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3. |
Wimberley
03:21
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Wimberley (J.R.Blum)
Honey, when we get home
Put the paychecks on the bed
We’ll cash them in the morning
Buy some eggs and a loaf of bread
Spend some time with a bottle of wine
And we’ll make the most of it
One day we won’t pay the rent
We’ll pay the mortgage instead
Take a little off the top each week
Lock a little away
For a place that we’ll call home someday
A cabin built for two
Leave room for three
On an acre’s lot
Down in Wimberley
We’ll build it with our hands
And we’ll use recycled wood
Try living off the grid
You know, I really think we could
We’ll put a garden in the backyard
And we’ll grow our own food
Two rocking chairs by the fire pit
Could really set the mood
Take a little off the top each week
Lock a little away
For a place that we’ll call home someday
A cabin built for two
Leave room for three
On an acre’s lot
Down in Wimberley
We’ll take a little off the top each week
Lock a little away
For a place that we’ll call home someday
A cabin built for two
Leave room for three
On an acre’s lot
Down in Wimberley
Bawdy Boy Music, ASCAP (reprinted with permission)
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4. |
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Like You Don’t Know By Now
Will we make it through to the other side?
We can frame it like a laugh so we don't cry
We’ve been down on our luck so low we’re high
Like you don’t know by now
Wake up in the morning and start anew
It only takes a beat before it bothered you
And it follows you around till your day is through
Like you don’t know by now
Like you don’t know by now
I can’t understand what you’re trying to do
You've been grieving like a widow baby, why so blue?
If you leave me just a little I will try for you
Like you don’t know by now
Scared to close my eyes till I pass out cold
So I rest my chin here and I search for gold
We could be waiting on a sign until we grow old
Like you don’t know by now
Like you don’t know by now
Tied to tons but can’t keep me around
Through the floor now baby underground
And I feel the weight pressing down
Like you don’t know by now
Building with sticks of dynamite
We thought it was a brick so we packed it tight
If it goes up in a flash will we be all right?
Like you don’t know by now
Like you don’t know by now
Like you don’t know by now
Like you don’t know by now
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5. |
Toast & Clementines
04:30
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Toast and Clementines
The unexamined life
Can’t really be worth living
And if ignorance is bliss
Then you don’t know what you’re missing
If you’re missing all the questions
That never lead to answers
Then at least you’re sure of something
Even if it’s really nothing at all
If you’re left with nothing
But the beating heart inside you
And you’re feeling less than certain
You have no faith to guide you
That leads to indecision
About your truest nature’s calling
It sticks you to the ground
Though you feel as if you’re falling down
Sitting with a quiet thought
You caught me spacing out
Carry my heart on your sleeve
I believe without doubt
And we’re busy with the details
That make up daily living
And the sleepless hours in bed
Seem a little less forgiving
There’s no cause for alarm
About a moment’s indecision
You know that every mind unmakes itself
With human imprecision
Sitting with a quiet thought
You caught me spacing out
Carry my heart on your sleeve
I believe without doubt
And we come to conclusion
That everyone is fragile
As we hide the chinks in armor
And doubt our so-called freewill
Life rolls on indifferent
To the questions that we ask ourselves
In the quiet of the morning time
As we eat our toast and clementines
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6. |
Compare Your Blues
04:02
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Compare Your Blues
Compare your blues against the sky’s
There’s boredom in your lonely eyes
Even when you’re in disguise
You’re obvious to all
Cold rain, cracked cement
Broken words are all you get
When your soul is going up for rent
It’s hard to make the call
But I love you so dear, so dear
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
It’s hard to look when you can’t see
Hard to leave when you can’t breath
The joker hiding up your sleeve
Is gonna laugh in your face
The words you said didn’t come out right
You blinked at the first hint of light
But if you lose your heart, you lose the fight
To finish out the race
But I love you so dear, so dear
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
Lately, I have had enough
Tire of losing for your love
Say goodnight to your blues
There’s comfort in your flying shoes
Search the back of your eyes for clues
Then tell me what you see
Is it rope a dope or another scheme?
Are the colors vivid in your dreams?
If you play with fire, you end up mean
So what’s it gonna be?
But I love you so dear, so dear
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
Just don’t tell me what you’ve done this time
This time, this time
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7. |
Sunnyville
04:10
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Sunnyville
There’s a time for every purpose
There’s a home for every soul
And you’ll learn to live without us
And you’ll forge on alone
In the hills the palms are waving
They have no memory of man,
The body of the ocean
Or embers on the sand
Farewell to old Lake Skaenny
Goodbye to old mistakes
So long to New York City
I’m pulling up my stakes
I’m heading out to Sunnyville
But I hope to see you soon
When the jacks are in their boxes
And the cherry blossoms bloom
And I want to be somebody new
And I want to be somebody new
I never bent to be somebody
I never called the favor in
I never thought to ask for more
But I wonder where you’ve been
Heading off to Sunnyville
West on my own steam
Where liars jockey for the lead
And beggars dare to dream
And I want to be somebody new
And I want to be somebody who
Could love you like the wind from the sea
Caressing your shoulder like the breeze
Don’t fret about tomorrow
But don’t sleep while others scheme
We are clever when we are younger
But now we’re old enough to dream
I’m heading out to Sunnyville
But I hope to see you soon
Wondering the streets
To ponder angles of the moon
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8. |
Any Way You Go
04:52
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Any Way You Go
Any way you go
You pass around the distant stars
Feel the texture of the moon
On your palms
Listen for the bells to ring
As the day nears the dusk
I’ll make them ring
Just for us
Distant
And out of sight
Lost to the dead of night
Falling out of reach
Can you lay the ghost to rest
While your heart makes the mess
That love creates when love is young?
Baby lay upon her back
Naming stars with words unknown
Feel the texture of the moon
Before we grow too old
Distant
And out of sight
Lost to the dead of night
Falling out of reach
Any way you go
I’ll be watching from below
Naming stars for you that glow
Brightly as the moon
Brightly as the moon
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