1. |
Special Place in Hell
03:17
|
|||
|
A Special Place in Hell (Byrne)
A heart of darkness moving in, as the harbor lights grow dim again,
The sun is shining through the rainstorm as we wander hand in hand,
There’s a faint smell of the sea, makes us feel we’re anywhere we need to be,
But just an hour by highway the real world is waiting patiently
Chorus
And there’s a special place in hell for you and me,
There’s a special place in hell where we can be,
Hopelessly, in love,
Hopelessly, in love,
Fingers holding loosely on to one another, Newspaper bundles taking flight,
But this shambles of a man that you’re in love with loves you right.
And there is nothing like Manhattan’s early morning, when sin is safely underground,
We feel as tall as any building that surrounds us, and just as proud.
Repeat Chorus
A perfect parking space on 34th and Broadway, the last port in a storm,
Only an hour before a meter maid comes knocking at our door.
Chorus x 2
|
||||
2. |
All in All
04:12
|
|||
|
All in All (Byrne)
Papers are lying, right where we left them
And you left me right where I deserve to be
Looking like I just stepped out of a Greyhound bus,
Into a place, a place that’s made a liar of me
And everyone’s doing just a little more than nothing
But their hearts are beating the same as any other
And people just get used to the sight of their own shadows
And thinking that the cover of the book is all that matters but
Chorus
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
We shared a blanket and we couldn’t keep from laughing,
We shared a match and someday we’ll share a casket
And though I know for sure I’m getting blinder and blinder
I like to think the world is getting sweeter and kinder
And if the only time we meet are in the verses of this song
I made up my mind I have to go on
How else can I begin to find my own Babylon
A place I can abandon when the river swallows up the walls
Chorus
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better hmmm
And it might take more than a hammer and nails to put us together again,
It might take more than a hammer and nails.
(Instrumental)
It might take more than all the kings men to put us together again,
It might take more than all the kings men.
Maybe I’m looking for far too much forgiving,
Asking of others more than I am willing to give,
As long as it takes, that’s how long I like to think I’ll remain,
Maybe there’s a way I can explain things the right way
And a one track town loves a one trick pony
But we need love and love needs company
I know that you know that I know that you know
That just as quickly as you find a home
You could wind up back out on the road and
Chorus
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better
No it can’t be too late
All in all I think we’re getting better, getting better hmmm
|
||||
3. |
Hard Living Lovers
03:04
|
|||
|
Hard Livin’ Lovers (Byrne)
Tony was a cowboy, the South Jersey kind, I got him a hat once in North Carolina,
I’d leave him the bottle but he paid full price,
All those hard living lovers are dropping like flies
Kate wouldn’t dance unless no-one was looking,
If you gave her your heart she would push every button,
She said join me in the gutter or get out of my life,
All those hard living lovers are dropping like flies
Kim hated happy hour, wished it away,
Hated Holidays too except St. Stephen’s Day,
The first tree on the curb was her reason to celebrate,
Now we are even again she would meditate.
Her smile was like dynamite, eyes were like diesel,
Let me walk through the park, avoiding the carnival,
Avoiding the people whose lives seem so bright,
When all those hard living lovers are dropping like flies.
Sean had a spot that would never stop serving,
And a girl who would smile if the tips were still coming,
She ignored your condition and never called time,
All those hard living lovers are dropping like flies.
(Instrumental Verse)
Phil being the last one alive in the place,
And if you tried to leave he would act so betrayed,
He’d ask for a cigarette, never a light,
He’d wipe down your tables and fetch you your ice.
His smile was like dynamite, eyes were like diesel,
Let me walk through the park, avoiding the carnival,
Avoiding the people whose lives seem so bright,
When all those hard living lovers are dropping like flies.
So if you’re in to hard living man don’t go no further,
You’ve been warned by your doctor, scorned by your mother,
It’ll come quick so don’t act so surprised,
Cause all those hard living lovers are dropping like flies,
All those hard living lovers are dropping like flies.
|
||||
4. |
Just Like You
04:21
|
|||
|
Just Like You (Byrne)
Just like you, just like you,
When I find out the tricks you do,
You act like a bull in a china shop,
Like an apology from me is due,
Just like you, just like you,
Just like me, just like me,
Always trying to get tricks for free,
You offer two, I ask for three,
Makes it hard for you to see,
That you’re just like me, just like me.
Chorus
And you hope that he’s coming back,
Walking tall with a rubber sack,
Calling everybody Doll or Mack,
Telling you over a Ballygowen,
All the colors that he used to paint the town.
Just like her, just like her,
Trying to keep you under her,
Putting you down when you’re not around,
Men you want, she’ll deter,
Just like her, just like her
(repeat chorus)
Just like him, just like him,
Trying to act like Gentleman Jim,
Holds the one you love with rubber gloves,
‘80’s rock and white trash drugs,
Saying good-bye and good-luck on a whim,
Just like him, your just like him.
(chorus x 2)
|
||||
5. |
||||
|
Time Ain’t Changed a Thing in the Town (Byrne)
At every wars beginning,
As the pieces fall in place,
And every piece of timber loses its timbre along the way,
And your furniture is firewood,
As a tenant takes your place,
But I still find your beauty,
Though you’ve been ridden hard and put away soaking wet.
Chorus
Time ain’t changed a thing in this town,
The upside’s still up,
The downside’s still way down.
Time ain’t changed a thing in this town,
It never will,
Keep saying it never will.
And all your sinking feelings,
And your impending dread,
And the lines that every cigarette drew so heavy upon your breath
Chorus
You’re not feeding anybody,
And there’s families to feed,
But you’re getting my attention and my attention is all you really need.
Chorus x 2
|
||||
6. |
Ghost of a Chance
03:34
|
|||
|
Ghost of a Chance (Byrne)
We came close, but we didn’t come close enough,
We came close, but we didn’t come close enough,
We had highs but we ended up alone.
We asked for nothing, got nothing in return,
We asked for nothing, got nothing in return,
So we’ll face the music, find another song to learn.
Chorus
And all that we had was a Ghost of a Chance,
All that we had was a Ghost of a Chance,
And our love was not so bad, it just ended kinda sad.
We ran out of money, much sooner than we planned,
Ran out of money so much sooner than we planned,
And if money could buy anything I’d play another hand.
We asked for nothing, got nothing in return,
We asked for nothing, got nothing in return,
And if I could ask for anything I’d have wishes to burn.
Chorus
And all that we had was a Ghost of a Chance
All that we had was a Ghost of a Chance,
And our love was not so bad, it just ended kinda sad.
|
||||
7. |
Hold That Against Me
03:08
|
|||
|
Hold That against Me (Byrne)
My half brother and my half sister said I can’t fight it no more,
They were hiding in the back room deciding what to put on.
Chorus
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
I was measuring up my house; I put in a brand new door,
I thought I was being so helpful, yeah helpful like a whore,
For they came with nothing and left with less,
They brought their own mirror ball,
Said the way I’m living I’m so ashamed ,
I can’t even write my own name.
Chorus
He said oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me,
He said oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me,
Am I not myself anymore.
Well I went out with another man who said I was just like him,
He was looking for nothing else but tolerance and sin,
Whya can’t he be more like you, you even own a home,
Why can’t you be more like him, you grew up in the same room,
Chorus
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Singing oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Am I not myself any more
Why you wanna hold that against me
He said oh oh Why you wanna hold that against me
Am I not myself any more
|
||||
8. |
||||
|
Your Love is All There Is (Byrne)
Can we lay here for a moment, take a breath and take it in,
Let the wind beat out the rhythm of a song I need to sing,
It was you that I was dreaming of, I didn’t know ‘cause I was sleeping,
And oh, your love is all there is.
I don’t know if there’s tomorrow, looks less likely every day,
And though it goes against my nature I know I have to think this way,
But it’s only my opinion, worth a penny less than nothing,
And oh, your love is all there is.
If you could be my better half, you’d see the best of me,
The part of me that swings with you,
If you could be my better half, I’d take you far away but not too far,
Just far enough so we could see where we’ve been.
Instrumental Verse
We’re on the wrong side of the sea, If I knew anything I’d be with you and you with me,
You choose, you lose and then you win, you won me with a smile that said we’re gonna last a while if we could only begin.
I know there’s many others with their minds on bigger things,
And all two people get sometimes is the shit kicked out of them,
I can’t turn another corner, I don’t need a better friend,
Oh oh, your love is all there is.
Oh oh, your love is all there is.
Oh oh, your love is all there is.
|
||||
9. |
Easy to Get Stuck Here
06:02
|
|||
|
Easy to Get Stuck Here (Byrne)
Our roots keep us strong,
But sometimes they keep us where we don’t belong,
And sometimes we break out in laughter and song at the thought of it all,
And it’s easy to get stuck here.
When folks listen all ears,
To your stories of danger, desperation and tears,
Of a nation that’s always been bursting apart at the seams,
Spilling its kids everywhere.
And heavens above,
There’s a shiver in the sky where the wild geese still fly,
There’s truth and there’s lies and there’s pain and surprises and all,
And it’s easy to get stuck here.
So we talk like they talk,
And the art of losing’s not as hard as we thought,
And a day marred with loneliness is easily fixed and forgot,
It’s so easy to get stuck here.
So you silence the voices,
Their accents more foreign with each passing year,
Occasionally visiting shadows will marvel at all that you’ve done,
For you did it alone.
I sit mixing my thoughts,
And throwing cold water on pie-eyed ideas,
I don’t think my giant of a Grandfather ever left Dublin or was ever abroad,
Maybe he was just stuck there.
The more lofty our goals,
And I’m just like a boxer who pulls every punch that he throws,
Fearless at first then afraid of every hammer that falls,
It’s so easy to get stuck here.
When the hunger won’t go,
And the irony is it was hunger that drove so many to roam,
Through wild farms of ocean we travelled to Liverpool, London, New York,
Only to get stuck here,
Yeah it’s easy to get stuck here,
It’s hard come home.
To survive without love,
Our mannerisms change but our attitudes remain,
The years become a soft blend of acquaintances and friends we can trust,
Who make it easy to get stuck here,
And hard to come home.
With the promise of snow,
Another year comes to an effortless close,
I don’t want these thoughts to stop troubling me I don’t want indifference no,
It’s just easy to get stuck here,
It’s hard to come home,
Yeah It’s just easy to get stuck here,
It’s hard to come home.
|
||||
10. |
As the Crow Flies
04:21
|
|||
|
As the Crow Flies (Byrne)
These acres are empty, there not what they could be,
If it can’t work for everyone it can’t work at all,
If we were born equal the face of this nation,
The face of this nation from nothing would come.
A land that is pure singalong,
So Molly sweet Molly, come on take a walk,
Follow me soft,
For as the crow flies so do I.
The Shakers are swinging that old English ballad,
That came out of Manchester with Mother Anne Lee,
The one way to heaven means all life must end,
So shake till your words come out gasping for breath.
A death that is pure singalong,
Ashes to ashes we all fall asunder, so follow me soft,
As the crow flies so do I.
A life that is pure singalong,
Oh Molly sweet Molly we’ll rise with the hawk, we’ll even all odds,
As the crow flies so do I.
If you come round the mountain, we’ll sail for Newfoundland,
We’ll sail for Newfoundland, this very day,
If you come through the valley and wait by the crossroads,
Then by the crossroads I know you must stay.
A heart that is pure singalong,
The new world is waiting the old world is fading, forgotten and lost,
As the crow flies so do I.
As the crow flies so do I.
|
||||
The John Byrne Band Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
On his new record, A Shiver in the Sky (2019),Dublin native John Byrne and his band vibrantly execute ten new originals.
Strings, horns and guitars escort Byrne’s vocals through a set of songs about living and pushing forward through negative times.
Critics have called his writing “powerful, deeply moving work that will stay with you long after you have heard it” (Sing Out)
... more
The John Byrne Band recommends:
Another Place, Another Time
by Lili Anel
Soul and funk and jazz and folk wrapped in songs that move you to tears one minute and move you to dance the next...my favorite Philly female (even if she is a New Yorker :)
go to albumIf you like The John Byrne Band, you may also like:
Would the Light Hold Me
by Oceanique
Celtic-inspired instrumentation, delicate harmonies, and reflective lyrics abound on the sisterly indie-folk duo's debut album.
go to album
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
Little Green
by Cara Beth Satalino
Cara Beth Satalino's delicately melodic yet resilient indie folk songs sparkle with lyrical wit and hard-won wisdom.
go to album
Thumbs Up Angel
by Mink's Miracle Medicine
The first single from Mink's Miracle Medicine forthcoming LP is a shimmery work of melancholy modern country.
go to album
