1. |
Eight Legged Waltz
03:40
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The summer days are ending
And the sky overhead's turning red
So I sit down beside that old campfire
Cause it's been a long hard day, and I'm tired
I like living in the place where spiders make their webs
As roommates go they don't bother me much
Sometimes I catch them swaying in time while I sing
They taught me the eight legged waltz
The night brings clouds of chimney soot grey
I can't do nothing, so I sit and I pray
For the sun how I miss her, and I long to be with her
The endless rain's the only reason I pray
The endless rain's the only reason I pray
The only reason I pray at all
I've been trying to read the signs in the number of crows that pass by
Throwing feathers in the wind, but they're always blowing west
I've been trying to find the time to learn the art of reading minds
But I found to speak your mind works best
I hear the wind as it whispers through the trees
It's the same every year with the falling of the leaves
But the sound is so faint I can't trust my ears
My bones are so weary I can't trust my years
Coming apart at the seams, can't wake from my dreams
But the recluse whispers sweetly in my ear
Let him sit on my cheek, drink my tears he likes the salt
While I play him the eight legged waltz
I'm going insane it's the only reason I pray
The endless rain's the only reason I pray
This winterus cage is the only reason I pray
The only reason I pray at all
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2. |
Hangman's Blues
04:44
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I'll be your quiet little prisoner in this game that you play
Disgrace my family while you take me off in chains
I'll even let you think that you're digging me my grave
But I'm just waiting for that train that's gonna take me far away
I'm going to ride through the hills and to the valleys below
I'm going to ride across the salt lakes and sleep beneath the snow
I'm going to find me a better life than you've given me here
While we're at it I'll order pork and beans for my last meal
You've been judge and jury and executioner with my crimes
But I can see from where I'm standing yours are much worse than mine
You don't know your children, your wife or your whores
So tell me who's going to get it worse with the coming of the lord
There ain't no place in heaven for rich folk like you sir
You may not run plantations but you still drive slaves into the dirt
Give them a stack of hay to lay their heads and a place to hide their shoes
But you cut out their own tongue so they cannot sing the blues
You cannot lift a spade and you cannot turn the wheel
So you ride down with your horsewhip while the tortured plow the field
But I can see you get a little scared when you're standing on the ground
So when we kick you from your steed you know you will not run us down
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3. |
Anubis
02:54
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My dog she likes this graveyard, to me it feels like home
Sleeping with the ghosts and the ghouls that lost their souls
Every single night when my candle burns down
I slip my arm around a cold body and sink into the ground
A lady, she stumbles in, looking for some shade
She's tired of the sweat of these cruel summer days
Thank my lucky stars, she sits beneath a tree
And while I sleep I hear her sweet voice singing songs to me
Sometimes I watch that same tree where the ravens make their nests
Their darker than most birds but prettier than the rest
In the winter that tree looks dead but I know it's still alive
I can tell when a cold wind sends a shiver up its spine
The one eyed god's blowing the dots off my dice
I said it's cold as a tomb here but I'm not ready to die
I've got a couple things I've gotta do, some trains I need to ride
I want to live a little longer with fortune by my side
My dog she only sleeps when there's nothing else to do
But I can't fall asleep until I see the morning dew
So we take turns taking watch and listening for that bell
To let us know that one of the dead is coming back from hell
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4. |
Daughters
03:46
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I tell you we traveled from town to town
Weave between the pines
Gather the people like the cattle they were
Herd them into lines
Take all the pretty women
Take off their clothes
If any of them ever had a name
I didn't care to know
Take each woman in just one at a time
I'd tell her just what I'd do if she don't comply
They may remember me for the rest of their lives
But to me and my friends it was just another night
There was one with hair just as black as night
I only remember her because she didn't cry
Go ahead and just disgrace me if you wish
Where I come from they'd kill you for this
Left my scoundrel friends to travel across the lands
Moving under the guise of a farmer's hand
They'd take me in the evening and they'd feed me up right
Then I'd slip off in the morning with their daughter's pride
Found a patch of woods where I thought I could sleep the night
But I woke up to the darkness and a bit of a surprise
Carried through the field, out on a rail
I recognized the darkness of their daughter's hair
The moon shone off her knife as she raised it above her head
Told me it was god's good will that put me on her land
Said it once again after one hard kick
I told you where I come from they'd kill you for this
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5. |
Strait of Georgia
03:43
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Well it looks like I've got myself stuck
Just like those docks I saw out on the georgia strait
Though they seem to move just a little more than me
The high tide comes in about twice a day
I feel just like that stuffed crow you put up on your shelf
My glass eyes are watchful but my feet aren't fit to step
My legs are sore from stillness and my back has gone stiff
You caught me in mid flight with my wings outstretched
I want you to anchor me just like those docks on the bay
At least then when I couldn't move I'd have someone to blame
Though I suppose those waves can move just a little bit of sand
And in a hundred years or so, I'll wash up on your land
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6. |
St. Louis Cemetery No.3
04:52
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When that Mississippi flies
I hear a steamboat sigh
Just go on past the city lights
You hear them scream all night
Lay me down in a grave of wild flowers
It'll be the last thing I see before I die
I loved you most for what it's worth
Now I'm going to rest in this cold brown earth
And ride to hell in the pocket of your shirt
When that storm rolls on the tide
I lift my skirt up high
Everything you're hiding when you lie
They do outright
When that Mississippi cries
The waves they go up high
If I live my life good and right
That's where I'll go when I die
There was one last thing I wanted to say
But my mind went blank when I heard it calling my name
I'll stick around all the same
Just to watch our bodies as they decay
And the ants crawl across my fingers as I play
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Ariel Steele Shasta, California
All songs written by Ariel Steele and accompanied by Olyn on banjo.
Ariel Steele recommends:
Startled By His Own Tail
by Little Otik
The ideas are intriguing, the musicianship is excellent, the sound is mellow and exciting.
go to album
Roam to Ramble
by The Sun Flights
Beautiful vocal harmonies.
go to albumIf you like Ariel Steele, you may also like:
Boozy, brooding gypsy folks writing in French Quebecois joual, and stewing bluegrass, cajun, and country sounds.
go to album
Old Habits
by Kat Wallace and David Sasso
This New Haven duo write bright and emotionally resonant folk music where sweeping strings elevate gorgeous melodies.
go to album
Wealth of Sorrow
by Cahalen Morrison
Bright and skipping songs that foreground the sound of the banjo and fingerstyle guitar in music that feels timeless.
go to album
A partnership between Yep Roc and The Southern Folklife Collection, the LP features a never-before-heard live performance by Doc Watson.
go to album
