Get all 6 Colin Cutler releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Tarwater, If I Had My Way, I'd Tear That Idol Down, Hot Pepper Jam, Stranger in the Promised Land, Peacock Feathers, and Nelson County Wayside.
1. |
Barstool Confession
03:46
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If you should find me lying facedown in the gutter,
Don't you bother to save me--
I'll never love another,
But notify my father if you please.
But don’t save me.
But good luck trying to find him--
I ain't seen him since I was three--
If you see him, say I missed him,
But don't you let him cry for me.
He stepped out on the porch to smoke,
And I ain't never seen him again.
Mama cried, and then she lied,
Said he'd gone on vacation--
Lying's a sin.
Three miles down a country road,
There was a house, there was a girl;
Her heart was gold, her eyes were brown,
Her hair was long, black curls
Wrapped round my world.
But good luck trying to find her;
I ain't seen her for a year--
If you see her, say I miss her,
And I'm sorry for her tears.
Cause on the day that I turned twenty, boys,
I went down to the city,
And there I saw a house with red-lipped girls a-plenty,
And I forgot about my Jenny for an hour--
Those lips were sweet,
But, boy, that fruit was sour.
Yesterday I turned twenty-one,
And I said, "Mama, I am gone."
She asked me, "Where you going, son?"
I lied and said, "It won't be very long
On vacation—just like daddy.”
But good luck trying to find me;
You might see me down in hell.
If you see me, don't tell Jenny--
She'll have to bear that burden herself.
So if you find me lying facedown in the gutter,
Don't you bother to save me--
I'll never love another,
But pray to God the Father, if you please.
He might save me.
Only God knows
If He can raise these bones.
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2. |
Hey, Colorado
03:28
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Hey, Colorado, it’s been a long time
Since I last smelled the breeze in your ponderosa pines.
I’ve been doing alright, and I hope you’ve been fine;
Hey, Colorado, it’s been a long time,
Hey, Colorado, it’s been a long time.
I drove out to Denver from Omaha;
I had to keep driving, I had no one to call--
Drove into the mountains till the snow began to fall.
Hey, Colorado, I had no one to call,
Hey, Colorado, I had no one left to call.
I’ve climbed up your mountains, made love in your woods;
Watched storms on your plains, and your fires burn to soot.
I guess something about you just burns in my blood,
Hey, Colorado, you burn in my blood,
Hey, Colorado, you burn in my blood.
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3. |
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There's a crack in the living room window,
Might as well gone ahead and let it shatter,
You never fixed it till I wrote you a letter
And asked you.
CHORUS
They say home is where the heart is,
But my heart's the broken bottles on the street,
And you'll find me by the roadside
Picking up the pieces when we meet.
There’s a wind whispering down through the cornrows
Like a stranger slipping into your sheets;
Like the withered autumn grass beneath
Your bare feet.
CHORUS
Keep that fire burning warmer than your laugh,
But it won't keep the draft
From biting down to your bones.
Keep that candle burning brighter than your smile,
But it's been quite a while
Since I called that house a home.
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4. |
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I once had a girl down in Charleston town,
We walked hand in hand on the Battery,
Then away she ran with a California man,
And I'll never go back down Charleston way.
CHORUS
So here's to the bloom of the flowers,
And here's to the fall of the leaves,
And here's to the hearts of lovers and leavers,
God have mercy on you and me.
I once had a girl in the New York hills;
We planted a garden in May.
But I couldn't get past that old Mason-Dixon Line,
And she'll never come back down Virginia way.
CHORUS
In the spring, the forsythia's blooming,
And the redbud lights up the woods,
And the locust tree smells like a sad, sweet melody,
I'd breathe it forever if I could.
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5. |
Goose Creek Bridge Song
00:59
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6. |
Dust Bowl Ballad
05:12
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I was standing in the station when the circus came to town.
The bearded lady said to me, "Son, we’re looking for a clown.
We left our last one down in Amarillo, he was crying in his mask.
But can you make them laugh, boy?"
So we headed north for Tulsa blowing Oklahoma dirt,
And the tattooed dancers’ bodies, they were sweating through their shirts.
And the trapeze girl let her hair fly free, and then she bared her skin
Like teeth against the wind.
The lion tamer’s name was Al, and his wife had broke parole.
He was an alcoholic now, he drank whiskey from a bowl.
Our juggler was blind as the night; he’d stared at the sun too long--
He’d been trying to write a song.
I got drunk one day in Omaha, and pulled a bottle from my coat.
I pointed to the label, said, "See here, would you look at what I wrote!
I could sell my tears to the highest bidder, but I cannot sell my soul,
And you cannot make me whole."
I guess I made quite a scene, because a crowd gathered round,
Laughing, joking, jeering as they stoned the image of that crying clown.
And then I saw you standing there dressed in blue, and I turned my heart to stone,
But I knew that I was known.
You looked each one right in the eye; one by one they walked away.
And you slipped your fingers beneath my mask, and we watched the dying day.
We burned the cardboard down in the gutter, you said "Clown, come home with me.
Clown, come home with me."
The next morning, I woke up to a bed of empty sheets.
And the hardwood floors were cold and smooth upon my feet;
I left a note up on your counter, but I never knew your name.
But I knew I’d missed the train.
God knows I miss that train.
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7. |
Gate City Blues
03:54
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I had a home, and I left it behind.
I had a home, and I left it behind.
These concrete city streets
Are just so damn unkind.
I had a home, and I left it behind.
I had a woman, she said she loved me.
I had a woman, she said she loved me.
She kissed me in the evening
But I just couldn't believe
I had a woman, she said she loved me.
I woke up this morning to a bullet in my door.
I woke up this morning to a bullet in my door.
I swear I never heard
That many sirens before.
I woke up this morning to a bullet in my door.
Every night I hear that whistle's moan.
Every night I hear that whistle's moan.
It's the last little piece
That I got left of home.
Every night I hear that whistle's moan.
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8. |
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I ain't gonna die in a cage.
I ain't gonna die in a cage.
You might shatter my body,
You might pour out my rage,
But I ain't gonna die in a cage.
This train won't run down the tracks.
This train won't run down the tracks.
If that bull catches me,
Well, he might break my back.
This train won't run down the tracks.
These streets gonna wear out my shoes.
These streets gonna wear out my shoes.
I about wore out my boots
Trying to find me some roots,
These streets gonna wear out my shoes.
I hear home is just over the hill
I hear home is just over the hill
I ain't seen it yet,
Don't know if I will.
I hear home is just over the hill
We all came here naked and poor,
We all came here naked and poor,
Won’t you help that stranger
Who’s sitting by your door,
We all came here naked and poor.
I ain't gonna die in a cage.
I ain't gonna die in a cage.
You might shatter my body,
You might pour out my rage,
But I ain't gonna die in a cage.
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9. |
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Rock your chair while the baby cries.
Rock your chair while the baby cries.
Rock him with a song that’ll close his weary eyes.
Rock your chair while the baby cries.
Hold my hand while the baby cries.
Hold my hand while the baby cries.
We’ve come this far together, we’ll keep walking side by side.
Hold my hand while the baby cries.
Let us pray while the baby cries.
Let us pray while the baby cries.
We can pray that when he stumbles, he’ll learn to walk again.
Let us pray while the baby cries.
We can dream while the baby cries.
We can dream while the baby cries.
We can dream that he’ll remember both the sorrows and the joys.
We can dream while the baby cries.
Rock your chair while the baby cries.
Rock your chair while the baby cries.
Rock him with a song that’ll close his weary eyes.
Rock your chair while the baby cries.
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10. |
Won't Be Running Always
03:39
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I’ve been running for a long, long time
Chasing the music, women, and the wine,
I’ve been running, but I won’t be running always.
So I went running across the deep, blue sea.
I heard my mama’s voice calling after me.
I’ve been running, but I won’t be running always.
There’s the sun, see him going down,
The stars and I tonight, we’re gonna burn up this whole town.
I’ve been running, but I won’t be running always.
When the rooster crows, starts to light the dawn,
I might be here, or I might be gone,
I’ve been running, but I won’t be running always.
I’ve been running for a long, long time
Chasing the music, women, and the wine,
I’ve been running, but I won’t be running always.
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11. |
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The train came in the night;
It was foggy and still;
I found light in a pub
Up on old Bishopshill.
Now I've walked all your walls
In the sun and the snow,
Known your dark alleyways
Where the desperate ones go.
CHORUS
Now the gates are all gone
From this city of stone,
But your river has flooded
My blood and my bones.
And I knew a woman
Eyes brighter than stars,
She woke me up from a dream
When we kissed by the bar.
I played my guitar
Down in St. Sampson's Square,
And I heard the confession
Of an old man there.
CHORUS
You can wend where you will,
Come and go as you please
By the daffodil's bloom
Or the fall of the leaves.
The gargoyles keep watch
From the Minster's spires;
Bells baptise the city,
Though its faith has expired.
CHORUS
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12. |
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They say that love takes you through hell,
They say that love takes you through hell,
But when you’re through,
You’ve found yourself and more.
CHORUS
Stars are jealous of your eyes--
Stars are jealous of your eyes, my dear.
They say that love takes you away,
They say that love takes you away,
If this is love,
I want to stay right here.
CHORUS
I read a poem of paradise,
I read a poem of paradise,
But the stars, they are jealous of your eyes.
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Colin Cutler Greensboro, North Carolina
Armed with a guitar, banjo, a brace of harmonicas, Colin tells stories of love and loss with characters wide open as a Midwest sky and wild as the mountains, with poetry thick as a Carolina swamp.
Colin Cutler recommends:
With a Patsy Cline-powered voice and jazzy rock band, with lyrics dark and deep as swampwater, these guys are the real deal. Also, we recorded my Peacock Feathers EP together.
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featured on Bandcamp Radio Jun 10, 2014
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