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Timekeeper Blues

by Holy Shadow

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1.
Well it came to me in darkness yeah, it came to me and it said though you might find comfort in the outside love is only in your head. And I wanna shut off everything that's out there shut off and shut in because the only time I ever know what is mine is when I have to watch it end. And I wanna apologize to my mother you know she only wants what's for the best but like every little worm still crawling through the earth, we don't know what's a-comin' next. Not many preachers I know still come around here those who do are just preaching to the deaf because when I go down I'm going way way fucking down to scrape the bottom 'til there's nothing left. And all of the trees that surround this town will take in the things we put in the ground and they will turn them into oxygen. I slept my way down through New Hampshire woke up in Burlington having dreamt of burning sage and unforgivable mistakes and I'd forgotten every one. And blues for the timekeeper just keep on lookin' at the watch these late nights become early morning to come undone and I've been walking under ladders because nothing really matters and what's a-comin' is a-bound to come. And I've seen the people that I love lying on the sidewalk and now I'm wondering what I am going to tell my friends except that I have one hell of a story to tell if I can find where this one ends So there's a little bird outside my window every now and then she says, "The only reality is what you make up," so i will think it I will dream it, I will say it and I will scream it and I'll admit that I'm in love. With all of the trees that surround this town and how they take in the things we put in the ground and then they'll turn us into oxygen.
2.
And I saw your father drinking at a snowed in dive bar where the mirrors and the men they all look like God. And I saw your mother winking somewhere behind my back and I saw all those lines we could never cross. I am going, I am going, I am gone. And dreams are made of things that have to go away like helium balloons or hangover headaches. And I was walking home from Boston looking for my final home and I wrote you a letter but I lost it went searching for a pay phone. 'Cause when I die, I will die all alone.
3.
Laurel (free) 06:08
Has the equation of being replaced the sorrow singing in silence? Have the rules of the house only served to create more violence? And aren’t you tired of struggling to pay for things we all deserve? Have you insulated the darkness that neighbours your heart well enough to keep it from freezing? Have the things in this world designed to protect only served to keep you from breathing? And do you wonder who those bullies in blue protect and serve? And sometimes I believe that our country’s a sinking ship. We will make like the rats, we will sink or will we swim. And if we freeze in the waters we'll learn how to live with it. And I wrote it down in my spiral-bound, a few words to sum it all up. And what i wrote in down in my spiral-pound is that I think that I've had enough. Oh, where is the point where we've all had enough? My sweet Laurel is this life nothing but an albatross? And If that be the case is there some Rubicon we can cross? May we lay in the woods with our eyes closed if ever we feel lost. If there were a curtain that showed what our lives could be and if we read through our history books so thoroughly; Would we have any reasonable expectations of how to be free? I dreamt you were drowning beneath a sea of green dollar bills. Woke up to find you drowning beneath a sea of prescription pills. Every day you say you'll get better and I hope you will. I wept like a child when I heard you had let me down. But you still loved me completely even when I forgot how. Freedom is revolution and revolution starts now.
4.
Mole in the Ground (free) 02:58
I wish I was a mole in the ground (x2) (If I was a) mole in ground, I would root that mountain down Oh, I wish I was a mole in the ground. I wish I was a bird in the sky (x2) I would fly fly fly right into the by and by Oh, I wish I was a bird in the sky. And I wish that you'd give me a second look (x2) I would sing you a song not written in any book Oh, I wish that you'd give me a second look. Oh, I wish I was a long lonesome rail (x2) With a train comin' down I could hear that whistle wail Oh, I wish I was a long lonesome rail. I wish I had some more words to say I wish I had a few more words to say I would love you like the sun loves the day Oh, I wish I had a few more words to say. I wish I was a lizard in the spring (x2) (If I was) a lizard in the spring I could hear my darling sing Oh, I wish I was a lizard in the spring. I wish I was a mole in the ground (x2) (If I was a) mole in ground, I would root that mountain down Oh, I wish I was a mole in the ground.
5.
So many things to do when I woke up today that I went back to bed. And so many things I still want to change but I got high instead. And I was born in a hospital but I was baptized by the sea And I have seen the things that are destroying you And I'm gonna try not to let them destroy me. Chorus: Because I once was broken but now I am whole And the universe, well, it's forgiven me for all those things I stole And there's a garden growing when all of my blessings get old. The wild is my religion and this garden is my practice So many things I have yet to learn and so many things I have yet to give. But they'll still find my cell phone snapped into two pieces too late Sitting softly in the sand at the bottom of my beloved Long Lake. (chorus) And there's this girl I love, she knows what I've done but she lets me sleep in her bed. She gives me the peace I could never find in any of those books I read. And I could walk backwards from Jerusalem and still not know where I've been Or go back to the time before I lost my mind and realized I'm okay with it. (chorus)

about

CDs available here through the lovely All We've Got Records: allwevegot.bandcamp.com/album/timekeeper-blues

This album was recorded over one clear month in the summer of 2013 by a group of friends. The lyrics were mostly written by me, but everyone who performed on this album contributed to, edited, and inspired them. ”Mole in the Ground” has verses by Sean and myself and is based on a Bascom Lamar Lunsford song. Thanks to Rodeo for expressing his interest in my music; thanks to Titch for recording. Thanks to everyone who performed on this album and helped out, and to everyone who listens; thanks for your ears. Special thanks to black coffee and heartbreak; without them, these songs would not be possible. - Rory

credits

released October 25, 2013

Carver Arena - whistles, bass, percussion (track 1)
Corrine Brown - vocals (track 2)
Brian David - percussion (track 5)
Sean DeClue - banjo, vocals (track 4)
Nadia Khhokhhar - vocals (track 1 and 4)
Rory Strong - guitar, vocals

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Holy Shadow Maine

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2012-2017

new music can be traced at rorystrong.bandcamp.com and roryory.net

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