Mad Dashes – Trio Version

Some folks I’ll be playing out with soon.

Cassi Raye on the Banks of North Branch Potomac

self portrait

I ran into artist/musician Cassi Raye wandering the banks of North Branch Potomac River and asked if she would play me a song. So she did.

Old Song Found

Just found this old song I recorded. Co-written with Alex McCallum of Gills and Wings. Bass by Jeff Nelson.

So I Say…

A new song I just finished tonight. Thanks to Marisa Rosenberg for her work on cello!

Lyrics

I’m steeled against the night that I am facin’
The TVs on, but nothing’s on the station
The static’s white and warm
We never cared enough to set the table
I’ll drown these memories if I am able
I am the quiet storm

[Chorus]
I could never make you stay
I still feel you runnin’ away
The distance of your body doesn’t matter
I don’t need you anyway

So I say…

I’m rollin’ cigarettes like I am careless
I’m drinkin’ like some rich and spoiled heiress
With everything to lose

[Chorus]

I could never make you stay
I wouldn’t have it any other way
The distance of your body doesn’t matter
I don’t need you anyway

So I say…

Mad Dashes

A new song by Kontra and Rameysaurus. This was the first time we’d ever sung this together.

Listen:

Lyrics

We were the fire, they were the ashes
Burnin desire, you were workin those lashes
The bars in the city were the place to go
Wasting our money but we didn’t know
The world was too slow
We were making mad dashes

Pedal to steel, ignoring the traffic
Spinning the wheel, we were born again in those mountain passes
Never a minute for what the people say
Never a limit, we’re dying anyway
Every day
We were making mad dashes

I think we took it overboard, oh my lord
We shook the ceiling to the floor, rest assured
(x2)
We just didn’t know what there was in store

Looking Away

Lyrics
If we shall be known by the things that we choose
What shall we know now that I’ve chosen you?
Am I strong or defenseless, humble or proud?
Should I answer myself or just answer out loud?
And how did you come to be lost in this crowd?

I opened the door with a scream
You come runnin’ down
By then there was nothing to see
Just what was expected of me?
I’m just a man
One hand in the city, the other stretched out toward the ground

I’m playing your heartstrings like 4, 5, 6, 7
Like dorm room guitarists play Stairway to Heaven:
So loudly and proudly, with feeling, but never quite right
I’m fucking us up by delaying the mention
I see it unfolding like a friend’s intervention
There’s yelling and screaming and crying, but never in spite

Tell me I’m wrong
Tell me I’m right to keep all of these ghosts in the corner at bay
Tell me I’m wrong
Tell me I’m right to keep all of these ghosts in the corner at bay

There is no room for the weak underneath all these banners we’ve raised
I spent the week going over and over the things I could say
Even the seasons come wrapped in the guise of a cold cabaret
There is no reason for all of your pleas to be seen ending up with me looking away

Looking away

Near

Lyrics
Peace with you now
She will not forget your face
She will not forget your ways
Trees split the ground
They have shown us how to pray
They have shown us how to give ourselves away

Are we learning here?
Are we honest with ourselves?
Are we more in love with living every day?
Are we changing here?
You can swim out to the ocean
And she will know no matter where she is you’re near

Peace with you now
You have taken what you wanted
You have taken what you wanted
Please turn around
I will tell you why I’m coming home
If you tell me why I’ve run so far away

Don’t You Know

Lyrics
I’m always leaving somewhere
I’m always heading home
I know you think that I don’t care
Wish I could tell you you were wrong

Good to see you
Looks like you’re still going strong
Aren’t you out of shoes to shine?
Everybody’s got a place they don’t belong
This world just happens to be mine

The end is nothing to fear
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know?
It’s already here
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know?

I gave up learning the games you play
I always seem to lose
You’ve gone as white as the chardonnay
How badly do you bruise

Good to see you
I miss the smile on your face
I miss the days when you used to shine
Everybody’s got a way to sing their song
This just happens to be mine

The end is nothing to fear
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know?
It’s already here
Don’t you know?
Don’t you know?

Last Chance

Lyrics
I’ve been by your side for a while
I’ve seen the world through your eyes
And I hope you don’t mind when I say that it’s not so beautiful
I know you feel the weight of each day, and I know you say
When is my time? When will I find a better way?
But my time has come, my life is callin’
I’ve loved every moment with you, but there ain’t no use in stallin’
The meter is runnin’ baby, I’ve got to go
But before I get goin’ baby, just want to let you know

I’m the last chance for your great escape
I’ll be the fire of every warm embrace
Come with me girl, leave this place behind
We’ll make a new life with your hand in mine
I’m your last chance

I know you don’t need me baby, I’m no one’s savior
And if you swear it sounds that way
And if you’re angry baby, I don’t blame ya
I’ve just seen you waiting so long for your ship to come in
But you get what you take from this life
And I think it’s time to begin
The meter is runnin’ baby, I’ve got to go
But before I get goin’ baby, just want to let you know

We Are the Calm

Lyrics
I did not know that I was sleeping
I did not know that I was dreaming
I did not know it was my mind

I came to warm myself by the crater of your soul
The road was dark and yet your promise kept me bold
Stood before it and I wept there were no coals
The molten rock had turned to stone
It was cold

The earth it swallowed all my grief where it was blown
It poured into those crevices
That rippled down to unknown depths
And I felt a stirring in my chest compose
A melody opposing all your woes
A song that drifted from us and arose
Listen…

We are the calm and not the storm
We are the refuge
We are loved in truth
Let us try not to forget this

We are the calm and not the storm
We are the refuge
This is a fading youth
Let’s be careful how we spend it

I just need you
I just need you

The valleys filled with all the music we had made
The storm it cleared and there was nothing left in shade
Every stone beside my feet began to shake
And underneath a glowing lake began to wake

Eruption deafening, a violence untamed
The air within my lungs compress
The vapors penetrate my flesh
And the blood that gave me life was threshed like grain
The beating of my heart was done in vain
And it was then that we became the same