Get all 13 Tracy Grammer releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of I'll Be Here in the Morning (Single), If I Needed You (Single), American Noel (Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer), The Verdant Mile EP, Low Tide, Joy My Love (EP), Little Blue Egg, Book of Sparrows EP, and 5 more.
1. |
Ordinary Town
02:48
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common cool, he was a proud young fool in a kick-ass wal-mart tie
rippin down the main drag, trippin on the headlights rollin by
in the early dawn when the cars were gone, did he hear the master's call?
in the five-and-dime did he wake and find he was only dreamin after all, 'cause
this is an ordinary town and the prophet stands apart
this is an ordinary town and we brook no wayward heart
and every highway leads you prodigal back home
to the ordinary sidewalks you were born to roam
"rock of ages, love contagious, shine the serpent fire"
so sang the sage of sixteen summers in the upstairs choir
so sang the old dog down the street beside his wailing wall
"go home, go home" the mayor cried when jesus came to city hall, 'cause
this is an ordinary town, and the prophet stands alone
this is an ordinary town and we crucify our own
and every highway leads you prodigal again
to the ordinary houses you were brought up in
raised on hunches and junk food lunches and punch-drunk ballroom steps
you get to believin you're even-steven with the kids at fast-track prep
so you dump your bucks on a velvet tux and you run to join the dance
but your holy shows and the romans know you're just a child of circumstance, 'cause
this is an ordinary town and the prophet has no face
this is an ordinary town and the seasons run in place
and every highway leads you prodigal and true
to the ordinary angels watchin over you
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2. |
Tillman Co.
03:26
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mother red river, she wind like a copperhead
coils and boils over dennison dam
little white houses, eggs on the rocky bed
i am the sun of the serpent, i am
raised on the river, washed in the blood
blood run thicker than bottomland mud
and the wheel sinks deeper as the years spin 'round
thirty bad summers in tillman county
my uncle little tree dreams of another life
coddles his cattle and he rents his range
holds the fan to the face of his pretty wife
she knows nothin ain't ever gonna change, she was
raised on the river ...
daylight's dragon fence line keeps me workin in this trance
poundin down the bedrock with this rusty lance
we don't stand a chance
chikasha trickster call to the funnel cloud
demon come screamin over wichita falls
lines down, power out, ryan and points south
time and direction don't matter all when you're
raised on the river ...
maybe old moses come and turn this current back
cross me over ever holy and dry
climb me a crooked oak, scar-faced, bible-black
swing this shovel till it cracks the sky, I was
raised on the river ...
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3. |
Disappearing Man
03:49
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all rise, behold the famous disappearing man
who comes in crimson robes but leaves in yellow rags
hear now his ancient call to union
and the furious communion of the maiden and the stag
in the dark, in the dawn, with your wedding dress in tatters
you reveal the yearning desert in the country of your skin
how you ache for the fawn, and he says it doesn't matter
but it does and he's gone, and you know that he won't be back again
long now, he's borne his heavy armor resting
only in his sorrows and his noble-nosed regrets
some light, some momentary solace
and he'll ride off gay and lawless as the moment that you met
so the night comes and goes, and there's no one there to nurture
but yourself and you know that you've nothing left to lose
will you stand in the road waiting for another searcher
will you weep soft and low in the voice that your mother used to use
springtime, the swain came green and hero like
a friendly gypsy storm on tender lilies, hale and blaze
late fall, the boatman rowed you grimly
down a canyon dark and empty in a stale and dreary haze
at the end of the year when the cliffs rise up behind you
and the stream runs in circles from the chasm to the core
and the sun comes in tears 'cause the gardener did not find you
will you bloom bright and fierce, will you know you don't need him anymore
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4. |
Power and Glory
02:45
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he sang the power and glory down the hill at evenin
the rain, the river roarin, wild geese at their grievin
all the way to nashville town he strayed
the power and glory did not come to meet him
he worked the midnight diners, washed the weary dishes
street poets and vision miners, starry-eyed ambitious
blew like pilgrim leaves through the sad cafe
the bards and climbers tradin dreams and wishes
once the famous aphrodite nightingale came callin
her court, her keepers friday, foes and hopefuls crawlin
poor, proud, aging queen, did her eyes betray
the high and mighty know they're only fallin
he came home as before, he had no one to sell to
kids 'round him on the floor, he sings like silver bells do
when they ask of the world he will only say
the power and glory ain't all that they tell you
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5. |
236-6132
03:04
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6. |
41 Thunderer
05:03
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in fair silver city on the blind side of fate
i grew up to manhood on the narrow and straight
but prideful i stumbled, and foolish i fell
in the silken fine trammels of a cruel yankee belle
slender and wicked, flame in her eyes
pearl white and nickel 'round the curve of her thighs
smooth as dry whiskey, but cold to caress
she slid like a viper from her tooled leather dress
forty-one thunderer, colt repeater
she's a silver-tongued wonder and a mean mistreater
six-eyed delilah, brazen and bold
now it's stand and deliver, and fire in the hole
forty-one thunderer turn loose o' my soul
i feared not the lawman nor the thief in the night
nor angel nor devil when she went by my side
and her hunger burned blazes till it felt like my own
her wanderin heart drove me wild and alone
forty-one thunderer ...
we rode out from canaan in search of our fortune
or somethin worth dyin for, beauty or evermore
over the blackwater flats with her jackrabbits running
under a sky burnin brimstone and reckoning
sweet for the hope of rain
and the sand in your teeth grindin tiny white diamonds
to moments of loss that you cannot explain
so come demon lover when the long night is through
and sing me your lullaby, simple and true
for legends will tarnish and the trigger will rust
and the road over glory come to ashes and dust
forty-one thunderer ...
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7. |
Gentle Arms of Eden
03:03
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on a sleepy endless ocean when the world lay in a dream
there was rhythm in the splash and roll but not a voice to sing
so the moon shone on the breakers and the morning warmed the waves
till a single cell did jump and hum for joy as though to say
this is my home, this is my only home
this is the only sacred ground that i have ever known
and should i stray in the dark night alone
rock me goddess in the gentle arms of eden
then the day shone bright and rounder till the one turned into two
and the two into ten thousand things, and old things into new
and on some virgin beach head one lonesome critter crawled
and he looked about and shouted out in his most astonished drawl
this is my home ...
then all the sky was buzzin and the ground was carpet green
and the wary children of the wood went dancin in between
and the people sang rejoicing when the field was glad with grain
this song of celebration from their cities on the plain
this is my home ...
now there's smoke across the harbor, and there's factories on the shore
and the world is ill with greed and will and enterprise of war
but i will lay my burden in the cradle of your grace
and the shining beaches of your love and the sea of your embrace
this is my home ...
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8. |
I Go Like the Raven
03:35
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woodpecker woman, chipaway whittle
carve my name in a hick'ry fiddle
dance all night, dream just a little
i go like the raven
down in the meadow, deep in the holler
bullfrog sing to the bug-eyed crawler
slide to the rake, hop to the caller
reel with the willow waivin
shine the merlin moonbeam eye
set my dancin feet to fly
o'er the dark and dervish sky
i go like the raven
long time ago i had me a feller
three-cocked hat and a coat o' yeller
locked me down in a sawdust cellar
fed me beans and bacon
through the doorway he did enter
played him coy, played him tender
played him slumber through the winter
gone when the birds awakened
shine the merlin moonbeam eye ...
when they hear my bowstrings tightnin
angels gay, devils frightnin
c'mon fire and midnight lightnin
to the garden gancy
hail the wayward werewolf howlin
haints and shades and goblins growlin
fiends and demon deves a-prowlin
when i break and fancy
shine the merlin moonbeam eye ...
now all you blackbirds plain or pretty
hear my words for rede or witty:
keep the greenwood, shun the city
and her dandies craven
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9. |
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down to a dollar in a terrible fix, i was hopin my bookie would call
coolin my heels at the motel six, waitin for the axe to fall
phone rings, man, i'm white as a ghost
but it's my baby on the line from the jersey coast, she says
"c'mon home, honey," gonna make it after all, and it's
first stop, salt lake city
big springs, laramie lookin mighty pretty
ogallala, north platte, sun settin in it
newton to chicago in a new york minute
then it's hobart, elkhart, maumee, cuyanoga
youngstown, hazletown, dover i'm a flyin over
fairfax, bloomfield, bless a my soul:
highway 80, she's a might good road
i saw me a yarn on the tv set about the surfers out in malibalou
so i bought me some baggies and i hopped me a jet just to see if them stories was true
well the water was cold and the beer was hot
called my baby from the parkin lot, i said
"baby, do you miss me?" "honey, you know that i do"
and it's first stop, salt lake city ...
now if i was a actor or a high-rollin hippie i would head out for the califo-line
cruise my caddie up and down the strip, hollywood and by-god vine
but i'm an oklahoma boy and i'm east coast bound
got a redneck woman in a blueblood town
and i'm goin back to see my baby just one more time
and it's first stop, salt lake city ...
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10. |
Love, The Magician
04:18
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she come down from oklahoma with her brown-eyed pride and joy
she come down from oklahoma with her brown-eyed pride and joy
the fair-haired desdemona and her ramblin guitar boy
well they kept to thorn-brake thickets 'cause her daddy was a log-chain man
yeah they kept to thorn-brake thickets 'cause her daddy was a log-chain man
on a night as long and wicked as the scar on his tattooed hand
fly away, fly away little wildwood flower
lift your cares to the wind coyote and whine
your rolling tears, your restless visions
rattle up to love, the magician
well, he tracked 'em by the muddy waters, and he trailed 'em by the lonely lake
yeah he tracked 'em by the muddy waters, and he trailed 'em by the lonely lake
but he only saw two black otters swimmin over by the farther bank
fly away, fly away ...
they stole through the head-high blossoms when he set his hound dogs run
yeah they stole through the head-high blossoms when he set his hound dogs run
and they dogs treed two white possoms at the risin of an angry sun
fly away, fly away ...
when the old man come to find 'em there wasn't nothin for to meet the eye
when the old man come to find 'em there wasn't nothin for to meet the eye
just a pair of lovebirds risin in the blue and boundless sky
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11. |
Merlin's Lament
03:35
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in a castle keep, in a vault of stone
in a house at the end of the lane
and old man weeps in his door alone
and he sings out this mournful refrain:
she will not come back, she will not come back
though the mountains fall down to the sea
and the sky burns to cinders and the river runs black
she will not come back to me
no lightnin rede from his books of lore
and the staff in the corner, no fire
and the crystal ball, always bright before
is grey as the dust of desire
she will not come back, she will not come back
though he call on the powers that be
they will cipher this message in his cold zodiac
she will not come back to me
and joy my love was a dancin spring
and life was the touch of her lips
and a brook ran mad to my cave downstream
from the miracle hills of her hips
she will not come back, she will not come back
though the stars hang their tears in the trees
and tireless Orion lies spent in his tracks
she will not come back
she will not come back
she will not come back to me
she will not come back to me
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12. |
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hey-yah
my love has gone all upon the crimson trail
his drum at dawn beating brimstone through the veil
clear light through smoke and ash
and balmy seas, where breakers crash and roll
gentle soldier of my soul
hey-yah
he lays me down in his garden growin bed
he weaves a crown, twigs and feathers for my head
he sings the fields awake
and folds me in the love that makes me whole
gentle soldier of my soul
hey-yah
when i have passed through the forest of my trails
and stand at last where the shadows run for miles
we'll ride on ponies fine
with painted shields through fields of shining gold
gentle soldier of my soul
hey-yah
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Tracy Grammer Greenfield, Massachusetts
Writer. Actor. Storyteller. Singer. Multi-instrumentalist. Former head cheerleader, now a fearless navigator of the
heart.
“One of the finest pure musicians anywhere in folkdom.” - Boston Globe
“A brilliant artist.” - Joan Baez
“Her gifts as a musician are like that of a painter who is a master of chiaroscuro, offering light and shadow at every turn.“ - Mary Chapin Carpenter
... more
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