Get all 12 The Sam Chase releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Live From Hopmonk Sebastopol - New Years Eve 2023, You Call This An Album, Dragula, Almost Done, Lost & Found (Live at the Lost Sierra Hoedown 2019), The Last Rites of Dallas Pistol, Great White Noise, Will Never Die, and 4 more.
1. |
Strike A Chord
03:35
|
|||
|
Take a long look
back from where you started
It’s longer than you have ever gone
who would’ve thought
back in the beginning
that you’d be better off
never leaving home
But that’s how it goes
you’re never guaranteed
that the path that you have chosen wasn’t wrong
But it’s right to go the wrong way
it brought you up here today
and write about the wrong
here in this song
Strike a big chord
tell a mighty story
note taking
shorthand on the run
There’s no better way
to leave a mark upon the page
than to let the pen do what it’s always done
Let the ink bleed
Let the song sing
Give you garden what it needs
and let it grow
harmony is happiness
earthquakes and vibrations
words we’ve given to the unknown
You never can get high enough
to look back at how far you’ve come
from where you hang your heart
Home beats inside your chest
but you’re never gonna find it if you can’t admit
that you’re running from where you are
Take a long look
back from where you started
It’s longer than you have ever gone
Who would’ve thought
that back in the beginning
that the path you had to take
would lead you home
|
||||
2. |
Play Our Songs
04:57
|
|||
|
I never thought I was special
Never thought we’d get this far
Never tried to be professional
Writing lyrics has always been hard
I’m told I drink too much on stage
at least for a grown man my age
we don’t claim were best there’s ever been
but tonight we’re gonna play
Like the worlds gonna end
We're gonna play our songs
Until the cows come home
Until the wheels come off
As if tomorrow never gonna come
Ever since I could remember
I’ve always wanted this life
Now im a card carrying member
Paying my dues every single night
Stage to stage and town to town
Drink to drink and drink to ground
Someday I’ll get my self in line
And hope I make it just in time
We're gonna play our songs
Until the cows come home
Until the wheels come off
As if tomorrow never gonna come
Don't take it seriously
It's only life you see
It's only time gone by
And soon we'll leave them both behind
But don't think for just one minute
That you'll leave behind your spirit
You'll need it where you're going
The music comes from somewhere
And I can't quite put my finger on it
But I would think it comes from there
But where's the there I'm thinking of
Of consciousness, of self and love
To go there do we have to die
Or can we go there alive tonight
Is that what music is meant to do
To go beyond the physical
Beyond religion, beyond the spiritual
Beyond time, and what's imaginable
Beyond the definition of our universe
From the verse, to chorus, back to verse.
Go there and you'll find...
We're gonna play our songs
Until the cows come home
Until the wheels fall off
As if tomorrow never gonna come
Don't take it seriously
It's only life you see
It's only time gone by
And soon we'll leave them both behind
We’re gonna play our songs
Until forevers gone
Until the sky will fall
On a cold day in hell
|
||||
3. |
||||
|
Everything I do I learned the wrong way
Through twists and turns and bridges burned
I’m here today
and I can’t fault myself
For how long it would take
The stories I could tell you
were well worth the wait
Everything I do I learned the wrong way
maybe I should double down
And play the long game
The future starts tomorrow
So tomorrow can wait
There’s nothing better than a memory
That’s yet to be made
Everything I do I learned the wrong way
In the end it always seems to work out ok.
Failures not an option
It’s another chance to make
everything you wanted
and sometimes more mistakes
cause there’s no such thing as perfect
and no such thing as fate
we’re walking in the world
to put a smile on our face.
and there’s always tomorrow
If it didnt work out today.
Its the one thing that I do
I learned the right way.
|
||||
4. |
Chasing Windmills
05:52
|
|||
|
We’re doing our best
In the Cuckoo nest
Watching Loony Toons
It’s an inside job
trying to wag the dog
when you’re locked in a padded room
We may be two sandwiches short
of a picnic basket case
But if you take my hand
I’ll help you understand
why I act this way
I hear there’s kool aid
Down the rabbit hole.
Off the deep end
Chasing windmills
we might be crazy
About our theories
but you’re all too lazy
To see the writing on the wall
Sound the alarm
at the funny farm
we are breaking out of this joint
We got tinfoil hats
and baseball bats
And we’ve hit our breaking point
to them this life is a big old joke
But to us this joke falls flat
but there’s a place
we can go
the funny farm
aint nothing to laugh at
I hear there’s kool aid
Down the rabbit hole.
Off the deep end
Chasing windmills
we might be crazy
About our theories
but you’re all too lazy
To see the writing on the wall
Deep state
Illuminati
Flat earth
Paul McCartney
Bigfoot
Epstein
Kubrick shot the moon landing
Who was on the grassy knoll
What’s going on in Roswell
Media is mind control
The skies are full of chemtrails
The kids are into Qanon
their parents look for Jimmy Hoffa
ancient Aliens
built all the pyramids
Microchips
5G
You can’t melt steel beams
I know it all sounds crazy
But you just gotta believe me
We are two screws
on the loose
like we got nothing to lose
You might be a spy
but so could I
And I’d rather be a spyin' with you
I’ve been searching my whole life
For the last clue to crack this case
But sometimes when you look too far ahead
You can’t see what’s in front of your face
I've got my kool aid
Down the rabbit hole.
Off the deep end
Chasing windmills
we might be crazy
About our theories
but you’re all too lazy
To see the writing on the wall
|
||||
5. |
All I've Ever Done
03:57
|
|||
|
I am my fathers son
I am my daughters dad
I’m a mommas boy
I’m my lady’s man
I’m the setting sky
I’m the rising moon
I’ve been here too long
I’ll be gone too soon.
But of all these things I’ve ever been
and all I’ve ever done
We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball
blotting out the sun
I’m a newborn boy
with my whole life ahead of me
Knocking on heavens door
Looking forward to eternity
I’m the rotting wood
A fresh coat of paint
I am what I am
I ain’t what I ain’t.
But of all these things I’ve ever been
and all I’ve ever done
We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball
blotting out the sun
I could’ve told ya
I should’ve warned ya
Life can be so cruel
But it could be worse
You could be cursed
as exception to the rule
I’m a debutant
I’m a celebrity
I get what I want
and I want everything
I want to hold your pain
I want to feel your misery
I want to heal your wounds
I want to be your lil team
But of all these things I’ve ever been
and all I’ve ever done
We ain’t nothing but a wrecking ball
blotting out the sun
|
||||
6. |
||||
|
You give an inch
They take a mile
Give me a break
Ill give you something to smile about
There’s so much, but its never enough
Good good love
Can’t make heads or tails
Of what I’m trying to say
Ill stop yapping
Try to explain it another way
It’s simple, and fits like a glove
Good good love
Count yourself lucky
That you got me
Cause I’m lucky that i got you
and what we’re getting
Is no one else’s business
But were hard working lovers
With a job to do
the night shift gets busy
were the only two employees
Cause they just dont get it
Like we get it
I wont beat around the bush
I wont feed you no lines
We’re just two grown people
Living in our prime
I don’t know much
but I’m pretty sure of
That good good love
|
||||
7. |
The Thing About A Memory
03:48
|
|||
|
There something dark within me
that compelled me to believe
I should be leaving.
And I stumbled through the kitchen
after a failed mission to find my car keys
It’s probably for the best
because I wasn’t in any state to be driving
But the feeling that I needed
of movement and of freedom
Something powerful to take my mind away from the reminder
I’m slowly dying
But I would count myself lucky
to not have to see my friends and family
go before me.
Living to see them die, ain’t a happy ending.. no not to me
She will constantly remember to remind me
that her memory is faulty
She says for her the problems chronic
But I find it more ironic
she's always who remembers to remind me
That's what's great about a memory
the great human ability to construct it
If we don’t care for certain details
we can twist them into tales
Much more forgiving, or more destructive
In mine, I have sailed oceans
And I have conquered demons
I’ve lived moments that if I put them into words would only disrespect them
To me these moments they are angels
angels floating through my cortex
guiding me with memories of the past so that my future
has some context
Or maybe it’s all just egotistic bullshit
I construct from a desire to be perfect
and I am just as guilty
of the irony, that my good memory
was built from my inability
to remember anything clearly
|
||||
8. |
John Prine
03:53
|
|||
|
This morning I woke before the sunrise
I couldn’t sleep after finding out
Last night you had died
Tossing and turning from one side to the other
Poured myself a cup
Not a moment too soon
Got to see as the sunlight crept into the room
But this new dawn was a little darker than I remember
Hello Operator
I know it’s been a long time
Could you patch me through to god
And keep him on the line
I’ve got a friend
wanna make sure he made it alright
Down here, he goes by the name
John Prine
I can hear you breathing
All the way from the other side
I can hear all the songs you’ve been singing
From all of the us who won’t ever let them die
Whispering angel from Montgomery
Turns out living wasn’t such a hard way to go
How could we ever have known
When you were dying alone
When Montgomery’s angel had flown
This morning I woke
Before the sunrise
I couldn’t sleep after finding out
Last night you had died
Cut down in your prime
Put out to pasture
Josh wrote me
“Sam, what are we supposed to do now?”
All I thought to write back
Was “just make him proud”
Write songs in his name
And send him off
To the Happily ever after
Hello Operator
I know it’s been a long time
Could you patch me through to god
And keep him on the line
I’ve got a friend
wanna make sure he made it alright
Down here, he goes by the name
John Prine
Hello Operator
I know it’s been a long time
Could you patch me through to god
and have him send me a sign
I’ve got a friend
wanna make sure he made it alright
Down here, he goes by the name
John Prine
|
||||
9. |
Hard Living
04:19
|
|||
|
If hard living was easy
everyone would do it
only easy for the hardest
old timers who’ve been through it
But they put in the time
Barreling through life
Now they’re doing just fine
living too hard to die
Son, you see
You could learn a lot from me
By not doing a single thing I say
But if you want to walk the line
You gotta put in the time
Rome didn’t fall in a day
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s only hard in the beginning
give it time
and it keeps on giving
and you keep living
that hard living
What I really need is a
Liquor store Jesus to
turn my money into wine
and say a little prayer
that he’d get wild hair
and shows me a sign
This is the way
to your destiny
Not bad for a Tuesday night
It’s all down hill
to some damn good stories
That I might later deny.
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s not a job
Its a religion
It’s only hard when you’re not believing
praying God please relieve me
from the hard living
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s only hard in the beginning
give it time
and it keeps on giving
and you keep living
that hard living
On the river of life
I’m frozen in the ice
But I got nowhere to be
But when spring is sprung
and my bell is rung
I’ll be feeling the heat
I should win a prize
for still being alive
Living on the edge of a knife
But what do I know
I’ve got nothing to show
And never worked a hard day in my life
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s not dying
But it’s also not a living
It’s not uplifting
But it’s a tradition
Im a man on a mission
Spreading hard living
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s only hard in the beginning
give it time
and it keeps on giving
and you keep living
that hard living
That’s the thing about hard living
It’s hard on the liver
the liver of life
and the liver of the liver
|
||||
10. |
Cherished Memory
04:23
|
|||
|
When I think of all
the people I cross
I’m too shy to say
I don’t remember how we met
And I don’t have the faintest
memory of our acquaintance
But that don’t mean
you don’t mean nothin’ to me yet
It’s hard to remember places
and in those places there were faces
and odds are I was wasted
but that is no excuse
I am just no good
No matter how good I think I should be
and If it were a game
I’d always lose
It’s a great big country
of missed opportunities
I’m falling like autumn leaves
Please take me in
Press me in a book
to remember how I look
I’d die happy knowing
I would always be
Your cherished memory
It was not a good break up
But bad break ups come from good love
when that good love ends
it’s hard to stay good friends
When I opened the door
the smile that she wore
Was the smile she always wore when she was sad
I never thought a smile
Could make me feel so terrible
It all felt so disjointed and surreal
I always think I hide well
The way I feel inside
she had a nose for sniffing out just what I feel
It’s a great big country
of missed opportunities
Like a broken butterfly wing
Please take me in
Put me under glass
To commenorate the past
I’d die happy knowing
I would always be
Your cherished memory
the day I die
I hope I goes peacefully
I hope I go with dignity
surrounded by my friends
having no regrets
and owing many debts
to those I hope to someday repay
I hope my songs
will continue to live on
That there are children who are born
long after I am gone
Who will sit up on the rooftops
Drinking beer and singing sad songs
like Rock Bottom Has Never Felt So Good
It’s a great big country
of missed opportunities
Once my life becomes a legacy
Please take me in
Keep me in your thoughts
Without you I am lost
It’s all we should ever wish to be
Is your cherished memory
|
||||
11. |
Every Time
03:51
|
|||
|
Every time i wake up
I don’t know what to do
With my self
Every time I’m up
I wanna lay down
And be somebody else
Cause in my dreams
I can relate
To all of the things
I cant do when I’m awake
Every time I’m about
I wanna get in
And figure it out
Every time I’m in
I wanna get out
Of this skin of a prison
I cant make up my mind
Cause my mind is made up
Of all of my dreams
They wanna drown in the tub
Every time that Im late
There’s no time to waste
When you never have time
Every time that Im on time
I tend to waste time
Waiting realizing
Ive got all the time in the world
But if I’m still alive
Ive been running the clock
But it isn’t my time
Everytime that i let loose
I wanna hang tight
And enjoy the show
Every time that I stay put
I wanna branch out
And see where we may go
Every time i sit
I wanna stand up
And see the place I’m in
Everytime I’m high
I wanna get higher
And higher
And higher
And higher
And go to a place
Where it all makes sense
And the weight of the world
Is under my footsteps
Taking a walk
On a breathe of fresh air
Close your eyes
And we can all meet there
|
||||
12. |
In The Morning
03:24
|
|||
|
The graveyards getting fuller
the living are getting stranger
But I don’t think that anyone
is willing to make a change here
keep your chin up
always knowing
that the western winds are blowing
in the morning
Oh the sky is grey and heavy
just the way you like it
We both could run away and hide
like children under blankets
Keep your chin up
always knowing
we will soon see the way home
in the morning
I close my eyes most every night
but never fall asleep
Ive had many dreams before
but never quite like these
I hope for all our sake
that we will all awake
in the morning
in the morning
in the morning
in the morning
|
||||
If you like You Call This An Album, you may also like:
Paper Airplane (Led Zeppelin Tribute)
by John Craigie
supported by 5 fans who also own “You Call This An Album”
go to album
Ear Snacks
by The Brothers Comatose
supported by 5 fans who also own “You Call This An Album”
Fantastic album. my favourite tune is Atlantic city.Its always great to discover new genres of music.
go to album
Leave the Fire Behind (90s Tribute)
by John Craigie
supported by 4 fans who also own “You Call This An Album”
go to album
The composer's latest album is a love story between her and her piano.
go to album
Delightful Francophone pop music with a classical stateliness and a sense of romance in its dark, smoky vocals.
go to album
O Yinne!
by Alogte Oho and his Sounds of Joy
featured on Bandcamp Radio May 9, 2023
go to album
Bloody Noses EP
by Richard Thompson
supported by 4 fans who also own “You Call This An Album”
John Drumbo French from Captain Beefheart and The Magic Band worked with Thompson on two albums along with Fred Frith and Henry Kaiser. Those two French, Frith, Kaiser and Thompson albums led me to this. Also, Richard Thompson taught Hugh Cornwell (of The Stranglers) how to play the bass guitar in a band when they were both at the same school (Emil and The Detectives?). With a career spanning 50 years and playing with two of my heroes (French and Cornwell) Thompson has produced a fascinating EP.
go to album
