Get all 93 Bill Mallonee releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of "Glimmer" Vol. 1 (drops Friday, May 3rd!), WELCOME TO STRUGGLEVILLE (Remaster by Pete Lyman) 2024, Comes To Life (New single & free download), NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, & WEST, ABOVE, BELOW & WITHIN (single from Orphan Songs), HERE IT OPENS WITH A PRAYER, BUT IT CLOSES WITH A SONG (2022), A CLAMORING OF GHOSTS (2021), THE LOT OF EVERYMAN (a free download today), STUNNED (an anniversary song), and 85 more.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
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TO REACH OUT TO ME words/music: bill mallonee
Mary had a baby boy
so she sang a song of grace
stars and angels started showing up
all over the place
it came with angel’s voices
and with a star in the night
it came with kings and politicians
trying to crush out the light
Joseph was dreamer
sometimes he’d dream of God
sometimes his dreams told him to stay
sometimes they said: "get outta Dodge."
chorus:
now, I hear you’re in the business
of making all things new
that’s some crazy kinda enterprise
just 'tween me & you
now, I hear you loved the good earth
I hear you loved the sea
I know you crossed a few of them
to reach out to me
you opened up a clinic
when you came of age
healed the sick at no expense
ah, you were all the rage
you made the rounds at weddings
and you always brought the wine
you hung with the finest sinners
they thought you were divine
you took it to the highways
you took it to the streets
some called you a Savior
some called you a master thief
you came & sang a song of love
you came & preached of peace
you told the rich & powerful
their wars would one day cease
now, everybody lives in chains these days
all sad & mean & bored
living on a razor of despair
and by the edge of the sword
you saw where it was leading
you never held your breath
you delivered your own eulogy
ah, but You never really left
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GATHER THE LITTLE LAMBS IN words/music: bill mallonee
Gather the little lambs in
Gather their joys & sighs
Gather their mysteries & their unwritten histories
may all of their tears be dried
melt all the weapons of sadness
melt all the weapons of hate
close of the distance & our grim resistence
maybe it’s never too late
when it comes to us living by Spirit
well, you were never holding your breath
we’re so barely able to hear it
so you showed up in the flesh
bring in the lonely & confused
bring in the orphans & freaks
sister & brothers. All we have is each other
and hearts with a similar beat
bring in the drugged and bedraggled
the homeless and well-castled kings
bring the deficient and proud self-sufficient
let us all find that song we can sing
Gather the little lambs in
Gather their joys & sighs
Gather their mysteries & all of their histories
may all of their tears be dried
(gather the little lambs in
gather the mad wolves as well...)
Afterword:
We did not "get here" overnight. The "wake-up call" is past. Our children are not safe and have not been safe for years. I believe we live in a culture that embraces violence as an article of faith. Yes, there are "freak-shows," mentally disturbed and desperate people "out there." But even such sad souls are a symptom of the broken & depersonalized land we've created and live in. The price we are paying for cowing to gun enthusiasts and their lobbyists is appalling. Those who would pervert and mis-represent their so-called "2nd Amendment rights," are complicity guilty in these murders.
May God give us courage to envision something better & to show us all the better way.
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CHRISTMAS IN BABYLON (Bourbon On Breath)
words/music: Bill Mallonee
it's Christmas in Babylon and what have we here?
a planet groaning & driven to tears
we've been hedging our bets and draggin' our feet
but tonight your heart is a train and it's gathering steam
Chorus:
all these clamoring voices about life & death
we're all bell-ringers in parking lots w/ bourbon on breath
now there's the strains of a hymn & a star in the sky
and Love's showing up hard in a small Baby's cry
even the animals smiled with delight
at the child in the stable all ringed with light
Mary & Joseph, they held Him close
hope of the ages wrapped up in swaddling clothes
now suffering & wonder maybe all that you get
on this side of the veil...lest you forget
life is drifting & falling...and drifting again
maybe you're coming home...to someplace you've never been
and there's a band of angels, they've tuned up and plugged in
awaiting their cue. about to begin
God sends us a gift this time every year
Ah, it's Christmas in Babylon...and what have we here?
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4. |
SHEPHERD'S REMINISCE
05:26
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SHEPHERD'S REMINISCE words & music: Bill Mallonee
All my best friends are walking wounded
All my friends? They are off-cast
But they all have hearts deep as well
and they now cry at the drop of a hat
once all of them were shepherds
now they have courage for a staff
maybe those who've tasted much of grief
can chart the better path
CHORUS:
now they said they heard an angel choir
but i was staring at the embers
and it happen all so long ago
i really don't remember
my companions disappeared that night
following a star that burned
and me? well, i stayed at my post
and waited till they returned
they came back drunk on something
maybe joy is a libation
they were all in one perfect accord
'bout this Light for all the nations
Now, sometimes i feel a bit left out
but see there was work to do
maybe there's reward in heaven
for those who simply follow through
Now, my friends, they speak of priceless pearls
and they speak of first and last
All my best friends are walking wounded
All my friends they are off-cast
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5. |
BLUE SHADOW CANYON
01:14
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6. |
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TO REACH OUT TO ME words/music: bill mallonee
Mary had a baby boy
so she sang a song of grace
stars and angels started showing up
all over the place
it came with angel’s voices
and with a star in the night
it came with kings and politicians
trying to crush the light
Joseph was dreamer
sometimes he’d dream of God
sometimes his dreams told him to stay
sometimes get outta Dodge
chorus:
now, I hear you’re in the business
of making all things new
that’s some crazy kinda enterprise
to give yourself to
now I hear you loved the good earth
I hear you loved the sea
I know you crossed a few of them
to reach out to me
you opened up a clinic
when you came of age
healed the sick at no expense
you were all the rage
you made the rounds at weddings
and you always brought the wine
you hung with the finest sinners
they thought you were divine
you took it to the highways
you took it to the streets
some called you a Savior
some called you a thief
you came & preached of love
you came & preached of peace
told the rich & powerful
I’ve come to set you free
now, everybody lives in chains these days
all sad & mean & bored
living on a razor of despair
and by the edge of the sword
you saw where it was leading
you never held your breath
you delivered your own eulogy
ah, but you’ve never really left
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Bill Mallonee
Bill Mallonee is an Americana artist w/ 80 plus albums over a 30 year career. Voted by Paste Music Magazine #65 in their
"Top 100 Living Songwriters" poll. He was the
founding member of Vigilantes of Love. He has worked with Mark Heard, Buddy Miller, Emmylou Harris, & Peter Buck from REM.
His most recent work, "Lead On, Kindly Light" is a 23song double Cd released Feb 2020.
... more
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