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.
1. |
AMERICA, AMERICA
05:41
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America, America. words/music: bill mallonee
america america
my dad sure believed in you
he said "a man's gotta do what he's gotta do"
got his degree at your diploma barn
he was the first kid off the farm
gonna change the world with chemistry
but i know he'll do
what you ask him to
for america
buy a new house with a tailored front yard
run up all the credit cards
there's more where that came from it's a cinch
i knew by the age of six
i'd never make a scientist
when i saw the price you paid in their trenches
they cut the moorings of your sacred ship
pushed her out and they let her drift
then the wind changed unannounced
brought a new friend home to watch tv
to help you deal with the anxiety
she measured out her love in ounces
yeah i've seen you do
what she asked you to
for america
i remember standing 'round
the vacant corner of some playground
hoping we would get you back
dying to make contact
america
now i struggle to pretend
and fill the gaping holes in
and remember all you did
looking back to take inventory
put the best construction on the story
i'm now writing for my kids
'cause i know you'd do
what they ask you to
for america
america america
God shed your grace in his
lonely heart this evening
and if he falls asleep
gather him and hold him tight
and help me with this grieving
'cause i know he'd do
what you ask him to
i salute you
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2. |
JUDAS SKIN
05:16
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Judas Skin
Words/Music: Bill Mallonee
what is it you need to hear?
it's on your lips and in your ears
if too much static or unclear
still still He holds you dearly
hound of heaven on your trail
keen sense of direction and smell
knows your need before you do
and when you bleed He does too
on my own again
on my slow dark train
how is it i am found
in my judas skin spinning down
what is it you need to know
you don't already understand
when You offer me a drink
i just keep You at arms length
what is it that i fear
why is it i don't trust
hiding out becomes career
what am i covering up
what is it you need to find
love Your Spirit working overtime
when i come out of my spin
and i see You're still my friend
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3. |
ANDERSONVILLE
05:01
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ANDERSONVILLE words/music: bill mallonee
pray for me my darling
that peace might come to pass
the devil finally laid to rest
the carnage done at last
we may have left at seventeen
before boys are men
but the ladies they will all turn out
when we come home again
we were locked in hell in andersonville
in shebangs hot and stinking
the stream we use as our latrine
gives water for our drinking
and a hundred of us daily die
to fill those fresh-dug graves
ah but the ladies they will all turn out
when we come home again
rumors spawn and rumors die
on the rocks of the georgia sun
and hope is just a luxury
you learn not to count on
oh hannah may you never see
the sights that i have seen
nor the ladies who will all turn out
if we come home again
so i watch the strong and fearless
reduced and disgraced
each day the heart of twisted man
stares me in the face
so i pray for death to take me
just like it did my friends
the ladies they will all turn out
when the coffins are brought in
at night i say my prayers
and then i hold you to my breast
and i'm reading through the testament
you gave me for last Christmas
i swear i heard the children laugh
or was it angels on the plains
or the ladies had they all turned out
'cause we came home again
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4. |
RUN THROUGH MY VEINS
05:25
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Run Through My Veins words/music: Bill Mallonee
Put down for a little while
yeah this time i'm really in
you're on no first name basis
with the stranger in your skin
betrayal she's a girl
yeah i slept with once or twice
treason her next of kin
she was more than nice
and all your best intentions sleep under
a sky with no stars
and you run through my veins to my heart
and you run through my veins
when i'm sure of nothing
and certain of everything else
the longer that we do this
we feel less and less ourselves
hey why is it when you climb up here
you can't find a place to hide
hey why is it when you climb up here
it feels like suicide
put down for a little while
time to bandage up these wounds
time to find some spare parts
time to ration fuel
plant your victory garden
place a flower there for me
come into your kingdom Lord
said the thief from the tree
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5. |
PARTING SHOT
05:55
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Parting Shot
Words/Music: Bill Mallonee
words of wisdom quotable quotes
reader's digest sayings for those losing hope
why do i feel so mocked by the hands of the clock
well anchor me down to the solid rock
i want to leave you with something but i almost forgot
was it a closing statement or a parting shot
well you lie on the flowers here in the wind
i've twisted it all with original sin
there's a knowledge i traded a long time ago
well i bartered it off for these rags i call clothes
i learned how to fake it and remake it on cue
but i swear i never stopped needing you
there's a question forming out here in the dark
in the heavy air all around my heart
now laden with consequence chain link fence
and shot through with all manner of lies
i've been trapped in and caught
and the world like a tempest in your ears doth roar
and the flesh wants to dress up and play your whore
and the devil wants to cast all manner of doubt
on the real lover with the key dying to let you out
from the bars that you fashioned with your stolen clout
well i may be confused but i'll play my hunch
did it feel like a kiss or a counter-punch
evening is closing and the kid drones on and on and on
well get out your car keys i hope this is his last song
wait it's bigger than life it is gracious and grand
something a child readily understands
hey you know i sure could use a new suit of clothes
see i'm gone all threadbare and my shoes are worn
now the flowers are growing right out of these bones
and i hear the trumpet sounding like Louis Armstrong
when the great divorce happens hide me in your song
though i don't deserve it and i don't belong
i want to leave you with something will you take it to heart
are you a closing statement or a parting shot
Did You Know?
Bill says of this song, which was originally called "Parting Shots," that he uses a "Richard Thompson tuning." The first two lines originally went like this: "words of wisdom quotable quotes, pithy little sayings for those losing hope." In explaining the lyrics, Bill says: "I guess I always thought of a 'closing statement' as being heroic, courageous and eternal... and a 'parting shot' as being something small, petty, cold and ultimately ineffective."
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6. |
JUDAS SKIN (alt mix)
05:16
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7. |
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8. |
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9. |
PARTING SHOT (alt mix)
05:55
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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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