Get all 13 The Crux releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Keep the Crux in Christmas (2019), Onstage, Witness, Witness, Witness, The Holiday Play (Ratcatcher Bonus), Crux Interpretum (Tapes 1-3), Keep the Crux in Christmas (2015), Crux Interpretum (Tape Three), Crux Interpretum (Tape Two), and 5 more.
1. |
Badge On
04:55
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Loaded gun strapped to my chest
My heart beats 'neath a bulletproof vest
I'm shining my shoes, I'm going out tonight
Sit down at Frankie's, napkin on my knee
The food's as greasy as it ever used to be
I'm sitting at our old booth, thinking of you
Caught in the cadence of your memory
I'm just the same man I ever used to be
Trying to do what's right in the chaos of the night
When I got my badge on, the night lasts so long
It's so hard to do what they want me to
When what's right is so wrong
Is the way that it's got to be?
Keeping our love beneath a lock and key
I work for the law all night while you work beneath the red light
Is this some kind of inside joke?
Where the good guys are bad and the bad guys are broke
Someone's running for reelection, someone's pushing crack in the classified section
We rendezvous at 1:45, a jaded cop and a prostitute
You face, powdered pink
I'm falling, I'm falling, I'm falling
And as the streets steam, we're wrapped in bed sheets
The squeak of the bed, the sound of your breath
As I come into a blue dream
I'm wide... awake and things are very strange...
The city is a mountain range
And all at once... I try to run
There's sirens on a school bus...
From my home town...
I'm spinning round and round
And the boss... feeds me shots of Everclear...
I'm putting on my riot gear...
And we march... I use my torch
On houses made of cardboard... smoke rises up
There are demons driving dump trucks
The city's just a chain gang...
One big judicial gangbang
And then I see your face
Gazing out into an empty street
I tell my waitress I'm too hungry to eat
I'm sitting at our old booth, thinking of you
Pay for my coffee when I've had my fill
A dime, a nickel, a dollar bill
And I'm gone, walking on, into the dawn
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2. |
Mad Lolly
04:57
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Gentlemen, you are far too kind
May I inquire a jar of wine
For as you pour, so shall you find
What’s kicking around this old cat’s mind
Hey lolly lolly lolly, ho lolly lo
Mad Lolly Lolly - Said hey, what’s that?
She’s everywhere that glasses clink
She’s right outside, she's in your drink
She’s got every single Idaho potato wrapped up in her trunk
She’s a fast driver, a swan diver
A bee-hiver, yes that’s the stuff
Don’t get me wrong, I’m no empty suit
I don’t do well at playing cute
But if you should wish to change my mood, dear sirs just top her off
That’s right - hey lolly lolly lolly, ho lolly lo
Mad Lolly Lolly - Come closer now
I bet you heard she brings good luck
Dice and rubber ducks?
But, cowboy, nothing comes for free
You still don’t know her specialty
Grandpa’s at the country store
Selling live ammo and the ways of the Lord
They’re lining up, they all want more
Get your live ammo and the ways of the Lord
Gentlemen, I do believe
It’s time I up and took my leave
If you’ve got no change to spend on me
I’ll have to call my friend
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3. |
Man of Earth
03:01
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Left inside the garden, right beneath the rose
Lies a painted little dummy with a crooked little nose
His hands lay crossed beside him, pointed to the East
Rain creeps in his silly head, like drops of dummy dreams
And it’s only mud and wood. You should have known that I would do no good.
I’d let you go, overflow, now you sleep alone
It’s just a shame, just a shame
In all the time I’ve wasted, one thing still runs true
January’s cold wind needs February’s youth
I went outside to see her, picked my fingers on a thorn
Saw the clay creep from the place where my skin was torn
And I hardly have the strength to sigh and say, “Won’t that pirate ship come take me away?”
For heaven’s sake, just yesterday, I came out here to play
But not today. Not today.
I’ve been to school on Sunday, I’ve seen how that story goes
Adam gave the creatures names and Eve grew from a bone
They bit into a secret, they must have shook that thing
Adam had to leave the place, but a bit of him remains
And I guess I should be moving on. Ain’t it funny how the world looks in a song?
Ain’t it funny how we work the plow, and what comes from it now?
A man of Earth. MAN OF EARTH.
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4. |
Old Joe January
03:11
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OLD JOE JANUARY put a tack inside my boot
He pawned Melinda’s dollhouse for his hundred dollar suit
I’ve been hollering all morning since that icy sun come up
I’d take a swig of whiskey but that bastard stole my cup
Last month for Christmas my pa got a new shotgun
I’ve got a notion to go fetch it, gawd knows that poor fool had better run
People call me Freddie and I’m every mother’s son
But when Old Joe spits tobacco at my sister just for fun
I start a’feeling nasty, got that venom in my veins
I disappear, I’m drinking beer, I’m sitting in the rain
And I see my field a’flooding, rising high with mud
And I see that train a’coming, rolling with it’s boxcars painted shut
Straight through town runs that old freight line
Just like my brains and my veins and my spine
And I fall face down in the mud to pray
The sun will rise, but not today
OLD JOE JANUARY tied a rocket to my mule
He dirtied up my garden hose from siphoning my fuel
He broke the strings on my guitar - the fool can’t even play
He stole my hog and shaved my dog and ate my birthday cake
So fellas, play your banjos, ladies make your washboards whine
I’ll be fifteen hounds a howling, hollering from in them lonesome pines
OLD JOE JANUARY got arrested in the spring
But I know he didn’t do it, he was busy stealing my TV
Now he’s headed up the Hudson, on that lonesome trail
And I’m headed to the station to pay that fucker’s bail
And I see my field a’flooding, rising high with mud
And I see that train a’coming, I reach down for my ticket stub
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5. |
The Beat
02:32
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Everybody’s talking about THE BEAT
They hope that it comes to them sweetly
Discreetly you fall asleep
You dream, your eyes fluttering
Praying with each breath that you breathe
You’re so soft
Still don’t know the cost
You’re so soft
You don’t know when you get lost
What have you won?
You’re done when you are done
What have you won?
You must walk until you run
I wish you well
The rest can go to hell
Try to wake you up
You just clench your eyes and yell
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6. |
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GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE
‘Cause he ain’t never coming back
I’m going to lay them straight
With nothing but the clothes on my back
And nobody but the bold and the brave
Can find the guts to climb the red
I’ll be up above the San Francisco Bay
Or I’m going to the desert instead
GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE
Like it’s my dying day
It must be something I ate
That makes me want to act this way
And you know what’s at stake
Don’t it make you want to climb the shelf?
Take pity, take pity, take pity, babe
Take pity upon yourself
GONNA SWING ON THAT GOOOOLDEN GATE
The fog’ll come rolling in
This ain’t no coffee break
I’m never coming home again
Open up your (goooolden gates / ICE was here)
California (baby here I come / for a good time call)
F - f - f - f- f-f - f - fuckit, I’m gone
Just as soon as summer turns into fall
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7. |
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8. |
He Don't Understand Love
03:36
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Setting out flowers on the top of the roof
The powerlines drip with tennis shoes
Dixieland on the radio
I walk downstairs and watch the food get cold
Hear the taxi and the slammadadoor
“12.50, not a penny more!”
Stairways rumble as his heavy foot falls
I feel it resonating through the cardboard thin walls
Kill the music and I pull down the blinds
Shut out the city’s always waiting outside
Take a deep breath, I can feel his burn
The hinges squeak as the doorknob turns and
He don’t understand love
I don’t hold him, I step out of his way
He brought home his check today
Worked so hard since the days of his youth
I heat him up a bowl of barley soup
Looks in the bowl and squints his eyes
Searching for the meat that’s missing inside
A silent dinner and a shake of his head
Wipes his mouth and walks himself to bed
Polish the picture of Doris & Lou
Moved to the city back in ‘42
Brought their china and their baby along
But left something back on the family farm and now
He don't understand love
I remember when the doctor took me aside
“If he wasn’t so stubborn he’d have surely died
“Two more nights in the hospital, make sure he cuts down on that cholesterol”
So many things in this apartment to clean
TV turns on at 7:15
"Stay tuned for weather and sports"
By 8:00 I can hear him start to snore
Pick up the check from the hardware store
Rent and bills, not a penny more
Dixieland on the radio, I dance soft to the city's glow and
He don't understand love
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9. |
Everybody Knows My Name
04:28
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Hey dear momma, it’s your darlin boy
Everythin is doin just fine
I got a job down on the dock
I was born for the city life
Mama I’m gettin paid
Everybody knows my name
I’m courtin sweet Miss Lorraine
We go dancin every Saturday night
I'm sorry it's been so long since you heard from me
But momma I got this opportunity
I need a half a grand by Tuesday please
But don't you worry bout me
Momma it's your darlin boy
Hey dear Buster, you're my right hand man
Y always have and always been
Remember when we got outta da pen?
It's a good thing I'm good at talking
Well since then things have changed
The city's got an ugly face
I sleep in an empty train and the cops got an eye on me
Well yesterday I gambled away my father's watch
Still haven't been paid for them nights at the dock
I went to Lorraine's but she changed the lock
I can't go home this way
Buster, you're my right hand man
Hey Lorraine do you remember me?
I loved you till my veins run dry
You left me with a single kiss and a loaded 45
I got a great notion, I got a great notion
I'm gonna jump into that ocean
With the morphine runnin around my head
I loved you more than I love myself
Now I'm hard up and the hounds of hell
Know my blood and they are on my trail
I'm not doing well
Love you till my veins run dry
To whom may be concerned
When my body washes up on the brine
Don't you send my body home
I was born for the city life
Everybody knows my name
Y'see me nearly every day
Drinkin up your pocket change
Yeah, everybody knows my name
But no one's gonna miss me when I'm gone
'cept for my folks back on that family farm
So don't you send my body home
I can't go home this way
Don't you send my body home
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10. |
The Working Week
03:14
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I do believe, I do believe
If love comes to you once it can never leave
And if you don't got time for it
Better wake up and learn to adore it
And I don't care what day of the working week it is
You'd better get down in your soul
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11. |
The Loyalist (2015)
03:35
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A long time ago I heard it said
Stuttered, spoken by a friend
The Loyalist got out of bed
Looked around and scratched her head
And I've missed you ever since you left home
You can't put wine back in a grape
You can't go back this thing's on tape
She can't remember why she came
It's all dog eat dog and ape eat ape
And I've missed you ever since you left home
The Loyalist can drink her fill
In the house upon the hill
Back beyond that haunted mill
That's where the Loyalist can drink her fill
And I've missed you ever since you left home
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12. |
Someone I Know
04:59
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Autumn, come and gone
I can feel it in my lungs
In the wind and in the sun
The leaves turn brown, fallen to the ground
Washed clean away
Down the sewers, down the drains
I met her there, looking as fair
As any girl I'd seen
She turned into a dream
The garden stirred, she held a ladybird
And drifted out of sight
It happened every single night
Just someone I know...
We sang and we danced, she taught me about plants
Bell peppers in the sun
Roasting one by one
She's fine, tall, she hung on my wall
Showed me precious things
Even now it stings
Just someone I know...
I've measured my worth in boxes of earth
I've laid down in the sea
She's always beside me
I laugh, I weep, I talk in my sleep
I harbor no regrets
I draw a silhouette
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13. |
Blue Eyed Boy
02:35
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Well I am coming home at three and my mind's gone
My baby's sleeping sound with the light on
If I smell like I look and look like I feel
That might just about break my deal
I've always known if I gotta go
I got friends who can help me on up in Reno
Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno, Nevada
Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno, Nevada
Up in Reno, Nevada, Reno Nevada
Up in Reno Nevada, Reno Nevada
Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy
Well I've been looking like a lech at a sprinter van
And a fine-looking, half empty beer can
I can't look strangers in the face
I'm sitting down, putting on some Sam Chase
The long way home on a backroad
I'm never going to drive through Sebastopol
A bowl of ramen ain't beef stew
What's the cheapest item on the menu?
Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy
Your blue eyed boy....
Well I've been sticking my mug on every light post
Scraping off the mold so I can eat toast
Flopping all around just like a fish fin
Hanging at the diner trying to fit in
Giving it all up for a handshake
Trying to remember everyone's name
Leaning myself against a phone pole
Nobody told me 'bout the dress code
Crying in my free plate of french fries
Trying to remember your eyes
The water is hard as a damn rock
And every jump ends with a backflop
Look at what they're doing to your blue eyed boy
Your blue eyed boy....
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14. |
Revival
02:25
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Rise my soul and sing me home
Beyond the crystal fountain
Make this pile of rocks to roam
I'm carved out of a mountain
Hey, ho, what do ya know?
A man and a monkey on a telephone pole
Hey, ho, where do you go
They take the soul and then leave the bones
Jordan's water is chilly and cold
Brother, when you step inside
You never will grow old
Hey, ho, what do ya know?
A man and a monkey on a telephone pole
Hey, ho, where do you go
They take the soul and then leave the bones
Where is the song after it's sung?
No tongue can tell
What did David say when he lost his son?
No tongue can tell
Where do we end and where do we start?
No tongue can tell
Why would Gd want a broken heart?
No tongue can tell
Hey, ho, what do ya know?
A man and a monkey on a telephone pole
Hey, ho, where do you go
They take the soul and then leave the bones
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15. |
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It seems we're at the end of another love affair
And I can't stand apologies, pretending that you care
And the town that I live in gets kind of loud
What starts as a whisper ends with a shout
Can't you feel? We're losing altitude, there's something on the wing
And if it's just a game to you, then it don't mean a thing
When the town that you live in takes you further from home
You're better off out on the road then feeling all alone
It's been good, it's been real, it's been a matter of fact
And I don't know about you, but I'm slipping out the back
Because the town that I live in has got a good place to hide
I'll see you where we started, back on the other side
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