1. |
Bottle in the Carriage
03:11
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Is it time to get married?
Have you got the love for me?
There’s a bottle in the carriage
It’s not too hard to see
There’ve been promises made
From the time I learned your name
Honey, I’m just praying it’s a different game
Are you selling off the horses
Are we headed to the hills?
All these bands remind me
Being left alone’s a thrill
I thought your girl was asking ‘round
But the money never came
Honey, I’m just praying it’s a different game
So I thought it time to tell you
All the troubles I could find
Shouting like you asked me
With someone on your mind
I was tired, broken too
Bad for treating you
Honey, I’m just hoping to see more of you
Won’t you ride with me to Jericho?
I’ve got some people there
Sweating out the winter
Like some exposed affair
They’re ticked again I’m sure
Is a country still at war?
Making up again how good it might be for ‘em
So I thought it time to tell you
All the troubles I could find
Shouting like you asked me
With someone on your mind
There’ve been promises made
From the time I learned your name
Honey I’m just praying it’s a different game
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2. |
Suspicious Kind
03:02
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Three confessions in the rain
While the cats cry out ahead of the evening train
Is it wild or deranged
To be loving a whole lot of nothing again?
Well these lights got me reeling
In the black moon I believe in
But I got no soul and I got no mind
To be the suspicious kind
And the sun won’t take me
I got no choice
To be the one the devil employs
Is a victim what you proclaim?
Can you wash that hurt
From the cracks of your name?
Isn’t childish to blame
The poison ivy lining these veins
Nor the adamant creator of Cain
Well this old ditch where I’ve been breathing’s
Got enough dirt on me
I should be begging and pleading
But I got no soul and I got no mind
To be the suspicious kind
And the sun won’t take me
I got no choice
To be the one the devil employs
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3. |
Hey Dude
02:43
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Don’t let ‘em buy you a shot
Don’t let ‘em shoot you a gun
They’re trying to turn everyone to the dark side
Don’t let ‘em tangle your thoughts
Thought you were dreaming you’re not
Not a man with a scheme better than time
Hey dude, who is my muse?
Tell me true, tell me blue
Gotta slow it down
Stop messing around
Baby, you ain’t stuck where you think you are
They’re barely in their seats
They’re square and incomplete
Are you washed int the blood of the stars?
Hey dude, who is my muse?
Tell me true, tell me blue
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4. |
Crusin' for a Bruisin'
03:20
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When you watch a friend drift away by the fire light,
‘Cause too many deaths have left you paranoid
And a couple old-time sakers just don’t to the trick
Hit this roach, man, get it over with
Are you playing by the rules again?
Sing the guilty notes of a million ghosts
Well it turns out this Maria comes from way back home
See her up the valley where this story goes
And she told me that she would’a without saying how
Did you know me better for honoring a vow?
Did you know me ever for honoring a vow?
And the walls of every room still know our party lines
Where we’d split the wealth for a lack of spine
And it’s cruel sometimes to face not grown up at all
Out cruisin’ for a bruisin’ till ya fall
Well you should’a seen it coming, but it struck again
Like a birthday gone belligerent
So you pass around the Maker’s to a stranger’s lips
They’re gonna shoot me down for loving this
They’re gonna shoot me down for loving this
Are you playing by the rules, my friend?
Single the guilty notes of a single ghost
And she told me that she would’a done it anyhow
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5. |
Disco Boy
03:10
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I’m no Rust Belt Man
Just talk to my friends
Yes sir, it’s three bags full to my home from here
And I got no plan,
‘Cause I been drinking, man—
Stalled out in the amber waves While the Tin Man cheers
Just might be that Disco Boy
On your street parade
Just might be that friendly noise
Of the fools you hate
Go and rest your words
Bring the keys to the city nerds
They’re twisting the puppet strings, man
This ain’t sorcery
And we’ll paint the bricks
Something bright and slick
You gotta freak ‘em out
To freak ‘em in
To forgery
Just might be that Disco Boy
On your street parade
Just might be that friendly noise
Of the fools you hate
Side-steppers creepin’ deep into the night
Of the elite lasers pointing out the world’s blindness
& a demagogue polished in a wheat nest
Foolin’ no one but the fools he fools best
Rulin’ by the stop sign red as a seasick sailor
Hiding all that glitters in the ozone layer
Just might be that Disco Boy
On your street parade
Just might be that friendly noise
Of the fools you hate
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6. |
Roll Another Dime
04:01
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Lying in the way you do
When you’re hiding from the sun sinking
Stealing all your time drinking
Your pockets through
It’s five o’clock, you’re half sleeping
Concentrating on breathing
You can’t keep a job
Or a lady in the town
Heaven ain’t somewhere you’re going
You know, hell ain’t hard to find
Don’t you cut the line
Roll another dime
See the creatures of the night
On the barren side of town
They’re scrambling and fighting
For the last good thing around
It’s the kind of burned out strip
No law man controls
If you don’t have money here,
It’s better not to show
Heaven ain’t somewhere you’re going
You know, hell ain’t hard to find
Don’t you cut the line
Roll another dime
You know which way the fight’s going
One more Monday night, snowed in
The blood is dripping down
But you’re just black and blue
Numbers on the screen flashing
They’re asking if your check’s cashed in
But no one’s seen her ‘round
Since Saturday at noon
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7. |
Bring the Blues
03:25
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Baby, won’t you move with me
Down to Tennessee or Kentucky?
A lotta wild towns in the deep red south
But if we bring the blues, it’s bound to settle down
Maybe on a winter’s day
Where the folks each find they’re looking forward anyway
Scared of nothing, but their own heart sounds
But if we bring the blues it’s bound to settle down
Scared of nothing but the freaks
Flagging down a neighbor in the streets
Baby won’t you tell em true?
I’d be lying if I claimed I knew
Whole lives wasted
Who ya interrogating now?
But if we bring the blues it’s bound to settle down
Scared of nothing but the freaks
Flagging down a neighbor in the streets
Scared of nothing but ‘emselves
Bringing the blues
And hearing their heartbeat
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8. |
Queen of the Neon
03:57
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Never wanted to go down to her hometown
You can’t blame a girl
Her father is a superstar
On his own now
Gone the day they named her
Cat on a boardwalk
Queen of the Neon
“Tell it a second time,” she begs
“That’s all we’ve got,” her mother says
A torn up mind working long legs
In the worst way
Cat on a boardwalk
Queen of the Neon
The sawgrass sings to her sweet nerves
And her slow curves
So she drives her old man’s route
On a wild hair
Like a thought he put there
Never wanted to go down to her hometown
You can’t blame a girl
Queen of the Neon
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9. |
Countin' on You
03:18
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It was hard to put money down
No roots in a southern town
You never knew I was someone worth talking to
And I might look pleased, but I’m awfully blue
And it broke my will
But I’m still countin’ on you
Bad mood on a Friday night
And all my friends are outta sight
It’s hard to show a lover all the ways you can’t be true
When you've paid the price for the good parts too
And it broke me still
Just countin’ on you
I spiraled into your control
I needed something awful though
Maybe there’s a better half to this that isn’t you
They told me bad guys win
Till the sun breaks through
What a night can kill
But I’m still countin’ on you
You never knew I was someone worth talking to
It’s hard to show a lover all the ways you can’t be true
You never knew I was someone worth talking to
It’s hard to show a lover all the ways you can’t be true
But I’m still countin’ on you
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10. |
You're My Salvation
03:45
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Somebody help me
Help me, I’m drowning
Deep in my sorrows
Don’t let me go
Into the nighttime
Where the blue moonbeams
Play on the meadow
All covered with snow
You’re my salvation
Hear me, I’m praying
For your kind blessing
I would lay down
Any Bible
If you were to bless me
Even my hymnbook
I would lay down
I’m in seclusion
Trapped by illusion
Pain and confusion
All around
Tell me your mind, love
Show me a sign, love
Help me to find love
Don't let me down
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Michael James Wheeler
Vermonter in Nashville. "Hands down, one of the finest WKY songwriters going at the moment" (News4U).
Roll Another Dime available now.
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