1. |
Rocky Ground
03:17
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Sometimes I feel like the rocky ground
A pebble strewn valley and no rain coming down
Some fall on peat and some fall on loam
When I fall I just fall alone
You plant your seeds and you hope it grow
Pick the weeds and you tend your row
Clouds gather to the lowering round
Come the rains to soak the ground
And it feels like Rocky Ground
Not a soul, no one around
Yeah, it feels like Rocky Ground
Not a soul to make a sound
Prodigal Son ain’t got nothing on me
He came home, I just turned to flee
Far away to a foreign land
Try to escape my father’s hand
Sometimes six-pence is more than it’s worth
Come the vultures to plague the earth
Some fell on thorns or were choked in rust
Others to the wayside to be trampled to dust
And it feels like Rocky Ground
Not a soul, no one around
Yeah, it feels like Rocky Ground
Not a soul to make a sound
He who has ears let him heed this song
As for me, now it won’t be long
I can hear angels from up above
Calling me in on the wings of a dove
Saint Jacob, he told me true
Ladder goes up but it comes down too
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2. |
Until the End of Time
03:13
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What else was there to do here in this tired old mill town,
With all the work dried up, the factory shut down?
So we huddle up in alley ways -- and pass the bottle round
I tied one on so hard that night so I might not be found,
But the sirens woke me when the cops were circling round.
We thought the house was vacant -- so we burned it to the ground.
And I know that there’s a reason for the company I keep;
One that might explain just why my trouble runs so deep.
The judge said if I’m real, real good I’ll make it out just fine,
But I know I’m meant to rot here for my crimes
Until the end of time.
I swear I loved you ever since the day that first we met
Your eyes, your walk, your smile, haven’t seen no rival yet.
Now I lie alone in bed and wonder -- when will I forget?
I do not care to sleep or eat, and I’m falling into debt
Whiskey shrouds my desperation; gambling quells regret,
But the more I think of you and him -- the angrier I get.
And I know that there’s a reason why I’m penniless here still;
Would, could, should move on, but I guess I never will
‘Cause there’s still this voice a-teasin’ at the corner of my mind
From when you made a promise to be mine
Until the end of time.
I see it clearly every time I close my eyes
I see another restless night that runs into sunrise
Another knock-down, dragout fight -- where no one gets the prize.
Now you live alone with just a closet full of ties
And your ghost lingers here like the whisper of a lie
I look into the mirror -- where it’s me that I despise.
And I know that there’s a reason after all is said and done,
But damned if I can see it through the battles lost and won.
This war is out of season, out of taste and out of line
Yet here we stand so boldly misaligned
Until the end of time.
Until the end of time.
Until the end of time.
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3. |
Half Empty
04:06
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I see your cup
It runneth over
You see your cup
And say it's dry
You spend your days
Trying to be angry
Now you're alone
And you ask why
If you would only
Stop to consider
The world won't end
If you aren't right
Accept your role
And just surrender
We'll all come back
To you in kind
You're not the one
Who's meant for me
You're not the one
To be my friend
Cause it don't matter
Half full or empty
It's all just poison
In the end
If I explained
You wouldn't listen
If i told you
Who’s to blame
It isn't him
Or them or me
That brought you
to this place
I want to say
It doesn't matter
This hasn't changed
What's in my heart
But what we had
I think it's gone now
Where to find it
Where to start
You're not the one
Who's meant for me
You're not the one
To be my friend
Cause it don't matter
Half full or empty
It's all just poison
In the end
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4. |
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The Devil lies with a whiskey tongue
He knows what you like
He might try to get you some
But when you take it, the price is way too high
The Devil’s gonna own on the day you die
I was a young man, I knew my way around
Fresh off the broadway
The biggest man in town
The devil came to me and offered me just one sip
It was an eternity of pain running through my virgin lips
He promised me women, good fortune, and fame
He said my young life would never be the same
He said my church days were a thing of the past
He promised a lifetime of good things to last
I never knew I’d pay him, never knew it’s true
Don’t know what I’m gonna do when that bill comes due
The first bottle was lucky, Made me feel twenty feet tall
The second bottle boosted that, It was better than them all
The third through the last were pretty much like the rest
It’s been ten years now, I’d say I passed the test
I’m living on the skid row, What’s good is all behind
The devil promised me the moon
But just gave me moonshine
I know what’s waiting and I know what’s left to come
Pass me that bottle, I’m drunk but I ain’t dumb
When the devil comes to you and offers you a sip
Says I know what you like and let us take a little trip
Tell him to get thee gone, Satan, I’ve heard what he sung
Because the Devil lies with a whiskey tongue
credits
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5. |
Pillar of Salt
04:05
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You set off from home at twilight
Kiss the missus goodnight
Tell the baby maybe this will be the last fight
But you know - oh - oh -oh -oh
It won’t.
The club is in the city
The traffic it ain’t pretty
And the A.M. preacher’s preaching the same sermon you heard last week
About them who love the lord and them who
don’t.
They say when you look back at all the pain you’re just a
pillar of salt.
So keep on driving down the highway to forget
It’s not your fault.
The place is barely half full
With drunks drinking that same swill
They’ve been serving here since you were back in high school
And first put on your gloves and stepped into the ring
You’re going up in twenty
The house is getting plenty
Of action against a guy who might be close to seventy
He’s swaying up there now
Like he’s about to sing
They say when you look back at all the pain you’re just a
pillar of salt.
So keep your hands up and keep moving to forget
It’s not your fault.
You’re sitting in your corner
A solitary mourner
The fight’s over you couldn’t look any forlorn-er
With one eye closed and a cut across
your cheek.
But you got what you’ve been missing
Can’t be filled with drugs or kissing
A hole so deep it’s like well where kids go missing
That place you know by heart but will not
speak.
They say when you look back at all the pain you’re just a
pillar of salt.
So keep on whistling past the well till you forget
It’s not your fault.
They say when you look back at all the pain you’re just a
pillar of salt.
So you keep fighting everybody to forget
It’s not your fault
Yes you keep fighting everybody to forget
It’s not your fault.
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6. |
Tuesday Blues
04:05
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I'm feeling melancholy and a lonely kind of yearning
It's only Tuesday and my obligations are burning
This middle age don't suit me, just ain't my cup of tea
My clothes don't fit me right. Who's in that mirror? She ain't me.
Now here you come
You want loving from me
These arms are cold and the well is dry
I can see on your face
You want something for free
You say, "Babe its ok," but I know it's a lie
Pay day's on the way but the money's already spent
The gas man is calling and I don't have no rent
This rainy day don't hurt me, just another grind
My friends don't try to right me. Why even bother, I don't mind
Now here you come
You want loving from me
These arms are cold and the well is dry
I can see on your face
You want something for free
You say, "Babe its ok," but I know it's a lie
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7. |
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I met you on a Saturday night
The harvest moon was shining down with a fiery light
I saw in your face the shadow of a place
Where I knew that I’d be all right.
So I followed you into the bar
But I could plainly see from even far away
You were not alone, a man was talking on a phone
With his other arm wrapped around your waist.
You should have been mine
You should have been mine
So I vowed to find
A way to make you mine
I waited for my chance to swoop right in
For I could see down in your heart that you were just not into him
So when he turned his back, I moved before you could react
And asked if you would like to dance with me right then.
You seemed a little scared to take my hand
But I lead you to the dance floor knowing you would understand
That when the band kicked in, and that chorus came around again
We’d be the only people in the land.
You would have been mine
You would have been mine
Until the end of time
You would have been mine
Before too long the moment had to end
The music stopped and I turned around to face your angry boyfriend
In his fist there was a knife, “Get your hands off of my wife,” he cried
And I turned back round and ran into the night.
A while later I looked back through the door
To see you dancing with your man: it made my poor old heart feel sore.
But please forgive me lord, I slashed the tires on his Ford
And I felt a little better than I had before.
Yeah, I felt a whole lot better than I had before.
You should have been mine
You should have been mine
Until the end of time
You should have been mine
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8. |
Bad News
03:34
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I am just a poor boy
From Lonesome, Tennessee
Working on the steamer
When the sheriff come to me
Pulled out his pistol
For all to see
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
I have got a liquor still
Tucked up in the glen
Sheriff took his horses
And fifteen men
Tore down the siphon
And he burned up the pen
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Sheriff said ten days
Judge he gave me twenty
Bound to spend it down in the Galley
That was 15 days ago
Now I’ve just got five
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Oh, bad news, bad news
trouble’s all I find
Sometimes it seems it’s all’s against me
When I need it to be good
Seems all I can find is
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Daddy was a rounder
Momma knew him well
She knew about the whiskey
She found out the still
It made her angry
bad enough to kill
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
The mill it closed up
Jobs they all left town
Only money to be made
is the whiskey boiling down
All I have’s in the glen
that the sheriff’s done burned down
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Momma says it serves me right
There’s no way around (it)
Bound to end up just like my daddy
That was 15 years ago
Now I’m all alone
[But that’s just too much
for me to a bide]
Oh, bad news, bad news
trouble’s all I find
Sometimes it seems it’s alls against me
When I need it to be good
Seems all I can find is
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
Bad news for me
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9. |
Nowhere to Go But Down
03:44
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I took a solo ride on a see saw
I got nowhere to go but down
I’m sitting here just killing time
Hoping that you’ll come around
You come around
Don’t you feel it like I do
You’re making up the rules
As you go along
I can’t play your crazy game
It’s me you always blame
When you get it wrong
Oh I won’t be the keeper of this sorrow anymore
Gonna put it in the box and shut that mighty door
No I won't be the owner of this anger and despair
Gonna throw it in the wind and leave it everywhere
I took a solo ride on a see saw
I got nowhere to go but down
I’m sitting here just killing time
Hoping that you’ll come around
You come around
I won’t trade your venom for your poison anymore
Gonna draw it from my blood and spit it on the floor
Won’t beg you to forgive me l ain’t done nothin’ wrong
Gonna cast you out onto the street where you belong
I took a solo ride on a see saw
I got nowhere to go but down
I’m sitting here just killing time
Hoping that you’ll come around
You come around
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10. |
Lead Lined Box
03:45
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Put my heartache in a lead lined box
Lower it into the cold, cold ground
Say words of comfort as it goes down
And never more think of me
I remember what it felt to be loved by you
I remember what it meant to have something true
I had a love so fine and fair
With emerald eyes and cold black hair
She loved me truly, said she cared
But now she's gone and I'm still here
I remember what it felt to be loved by you
I remember what it meant to have something true
We were young and we were poor
I worked the land till I was sore
I wanted her, she wanted more
Now she's gone, walked out the door
Put my heartache in a lead lined box
Lower it into the cold, cold ground
Say words of comfort as it goes down
And never more think of me
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Mill Town Rounders Boston, Massachusetts
The Mill Town Rounders play acoustic rock, bluegrass, and Americana throughout Massachusetts. Drivin' (2023) is the band's second album of originals and features songs about journeys big and small.
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