1. |
Half Hearted
03:09
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You are a diamond deep down in a dark mine
I know you’re there and you're precious but I don’t see you shine
Maybe it’s me who is stopping your light shining through
Cos you sparkle for others but I get the dark side of you
I would put myself into harm’s way keeping you safe
Give you my bleeding heart if your’s stopped beating one day
I’d give you my last breath to stop you drowning in the deep
I’d take a bullet but I don’t think you’d do it for me
It’s time to just say it, time to face facts
I’m in love with somebody who don’t love me back
It’s sad but it’s true your love is all I ever wanted
I gave you my all but you only gave me half-hearted
So if this is goodbye I don’t know why you’d be crying
If you begged me stay, said you loved me, you’d be white lying
You say that maybe one day you could learn to love me
That’s kind of you but I’d rather love came naturally
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2. |
Cold In California
03:09
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Me and Jessie Ray been best friends forever
Grew up in the same little town in Indiana
So when Jessie said that we should go digging for our fortune
I bought a pan and shovel and westwards we went rolling
I’ve been told that it gets cold in California
So we staked out our claims right next to each other
And Jessie spent his days working on the river
And I spent all my money on women and cheap whiskey
I wasted all my time hungover and hungry
Now I know that it gets cold in California
Then one day it came, a whooping and a screaming
And I saw Jessie Ray laughing loud and leaping
In the morning sun bright gold was gleaming yellow
And green-eyed envy woke up in my belly slow
My jealousy runs cold in California
He always had more than his fair share of lucky
Lucky with love cos he was tall and pretty
Lucky with fate cos his mum and daddy loved him
And I was just Jessie's less than lucky friend
But his luck was growing cold in California
Well I shot Jessie dead with his daddy’s 45
I left his body there face down by the riverside
And I put all, his hard-earned gold straight into my pockets
Packed my bags and headed home a richer man with prospects
And I left his body cold in California
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3. |
Anywhere But Here
04:02
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Stumbling out of a downtown bar at midnight
My head is spinning and my legs don’t work right
Some girl I never met before has got my hand
I’m holding on real tight cos I can hardly stand
Next thing I know I’m lying on her bed
She’s working hard to get me set for the best night of my life she said
And to my surprise my body’s shifting into gear
Cos my mind was wishing I was anywhere but here
I wanna be home with you, just talking, laughing, loving like we used to
All alone with you, in a restaurant, in the car or a beach or the bedroom
But you’re gone and this is my way of dealing with the changes,
Sleeping with strangers, regretting it later and wishing I was home with you
Now I’m awake and looking around her bedroom
The smell of damp on the sheets and last week’s perfume
Dirty laundry lying on a dusty floor,
Top of the pile I see my own clothes
That was nowhere near the best night of my life
And I’m pretty sure she’s had much better times
Her morning mouth whispers sweet things in my ear
But my mind is wishing I was anywhere but here
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4. |
Ghosts
03:28
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There’s a ghost in our home
When it comes in the room turns cold
I ain’t scared cos it leaves me well alone
There’s a ghost in our home
There’s a ghost at our place
It’s got your name, got your face
It lies beside me in our bed
It’s the ghost of you but you ain’t dead
CH: You ain’t dead yet, cos I can hear you breathe
We can’t talk about it cos we don’t even speak
We ain’t dead yet, but we might as well be
Cos I’m just as dead to you as you are to me
What is left when love breaks down
When all is gone but we can’t move on
We’re still together but only by a thread
We’re not living and we’re not dead
So take this house and cover it with dirt
Lay a stone on top saying don’t disturb
Here lies two people who once were close
Long before they died they were ghosts
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5. |
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Goddam the rain, fallin on us all
Falls on the pure and the wicked, the poor and the richest
The biggest and the small
When you stand there shivering soaked through to the skin
And colder than the grave - there ain’t no shame
Just blame it on the goddam rain
The river is rising, getting higher everyday
It the clouds keep coming and the rain keeps falling
The bridge is getting washed away
And if I can’t get into town to let my sorrows drown
Then there’s gonna be hell to pay - that’s just my way
I’ll blame it on the goddam rain
Too many flooded roads or the crops don’t grow
Muddy water in my veins
If the sun don’t show and you’re feeling low
And you got the blues again
And if she’s gone and left me and life feels empty
And my heart is full of pain - that’s ok
Just blame it on the goddam rain
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6. |
My Love's Not A Gun
03:57
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You don't need to build defenses
All your walls and barricades
I know you ain't taking chances
Put all your sticks and stones away
Tear down all your barb wire fences
Take off your bulletproof vest
Put the dirt back in your trenches
If you want my surrender I'll accept
CH: It seems to me like everytime somebody gets too close
Alarm bells ring inside and wake your bad ghosts
And you go into heart survival mode and get ready to run
But I don't want to hurt you none and my love ain't a gun.
M8: And yes it's true
Love can hurt, wound and kill you
And I understand
Love can be a weapon in the wrong hands
It can send you straight to hell or Kingdom Come
But this is one of those times you gotta trust someone
Cos my love ain't a gun
I know it’s all just self-protection
When you say you need your space
Nobody wants to feel rejection
But you don’t have to lock and bolt your gates
No-one is setting out to hurt you
Sometimes that’s just the way it goes
Cos when somebody wants to love you
If you don’t let them try you’ll never know
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7. |
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Drowning in the shallows Stumbling through the shadows
Searching for ways to keep control
Behind the skin that we knew the Selkie lived within you
Pulled by stronger currents than your soul
Through all your storms and sunshine heartbreaks and highlights
The spirit always restless on your shore
And when big seas were rolling the Selkie heard the calling
Your wave has come at last to take you home
Now you go where we can’t go
Down to depths only you know
And it’s not for us to know why
You tired of this world and slipped away with the tide
So pull the ocean over It’s warm beneath its covers
Let yourself go under one last time
The empty shell that they found And put into the cold ground
You cast off the body that slowed you down
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8. |
Another Round Of Love
03:01
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Time after time..night after night
Barely survive fight after fight
We head back to our corners, take time to lick our wounds
Then it’s heads down, hands up, coming out swinging for another round of love
It’s hard to believe, that’s how we love
We gotta bleed before we kiss and make up
Nothing could feel sweeter than that first forgiving touch
So we keep on going, toe to toeing, another round of love
CH: Pick ourselves up, rise from the dirt
Take the gloves off make the next one hurt
Another low blow landed it comes to push and shove
Then it’s lights up, seconds out, hanging off the ropes, another round of love
We hold on tight, then split at the seams
There’s no referee, to get in-between
We both go the distance till both of us feel numb
Despite everything, we get back in the ring, another round of love
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9. |
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Ain't gonna lie or make excuses
I know full well what the truth is
And sooner or later you'll find out anyway
So I'm just gonna shut my mouth and pray
CH: I ain’t proud of what I did last night
My low down hit a whole new height
And right now all I can feel is this shame
So I can’t face calling you today
I know you gonna take this bad
I know it's gonna make you mad
And if this was the other way round
You know I'd be thinking ‘bout kicking you out
So I don't see no point explaining
I fucked up and that says it all
And I'll try not do this again
cos the gutter gets deeper and dirtier with every fall
And a shower could never wash last night away
So I can't face calling you today
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10. |
Too Many Love Songs
04:25
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it on the TV, I hear it on the street
So much hate and fear, so much misery
It’s getting to the point where, I don’t watch the news
Same old story, same old blues
So I been listening to the radio,
Tuning in to all of them country shows
But I keep on hearing one thing and I’m getting tired of
Too many love songs and not enough love
CH: It’s boy meets girl on a sun-kissed beach
Sugar babes all honey sweet
Making love to a beautiful woman down by the creek
There’s good, good loving and love gone wrong
And everybody beautiful is getting it on
And if a heart is breaking the pain’s still bittersweet
Nashville must be better than heaven above
Cos everybody’s singing ‘bout love
The poor get sick, that’s tough luck
Nobody got money to buy that brand new truck
The mine and the sawmill, the plant closed down
At least crank is made in the USA, it’s the only game in town
Who’s making a noise for the working man?
A grudge and a guitar goes hand in hand
Yet all I ever hear today in all this fire and blood
Is too many love songs and not enough love
This old world’s spinning out of control
Gods all fighting for humanity’s soul
Mr King had a dream but we ain’t got there yet
People running from home trying to find peace
Somebody’s child washes up on a beach
But here comes another love song to help us forget
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11. |
Flowers And Wine
03:09
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Flowers for weddings, roses sweet-smelling
All the bright colours and shades
Flowers for lovers and remembering others
Flowers for funerals and graves
Wine for the warrior, the poets and satyrs
Wine to forget and console
One for the thinker, two for the drinker
But nothing for body and soul
CH: Flowers and wine, flowers and wine
Here’s to all of those dead friends of mine
I might get lonely but I’ll be just fine
If I have flowers and wine
You were waiting for me to get my head straight
I was taking my time
Now you’re not holding your breath for me to grow up
I’m in no hurry to shine
All my tomorrows are scarecrows and shadows
This is the one thing I know
Your name is sorrow, behind me you follow
Wherever I go you stay close
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12. |
Caledonia
04:32
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I remember that day, I packed my things and walked away
I knew I couldn’t stay, one day longer
So I crossed your line, took one last look behind
Watched you slowly fade from sight as you got smaller
Leaving you felt right, for my own peace of mind
I knew I had to find my own direction
CH: Now you’re calling me home, Caledonia
Back to country roads I know
Big city life, ain’t good for ya
I’ve been gone too long and there’s a north wind blowing up a storm
Caledonia calls me home
Some things never change, how you feel about some place
For me it’s the wild open space between Sutherland’s shores
With a sea breeze in my hair, where I breathe sweet mountain air
Where your spirit and the land there can get no closer
To love you must know, how it feels to let it go
If it’s gone and leaves a hole then close the distance
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Malcolm MacWatt London, UK
“MacWatt will doubtless be considered among the best of the new breed of folksingers and songwriters, who speak of the past
as a way to perhaps understand it and move forward” Stephen Rapid, Lonesome Highway
“He shines as a singer and he shines as an interpreter of the eternal folk songbook,” Tom Brosseau, The Great American Folk Show, North Dakota
... more
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