1. |
Above as Below
05:24
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Yellow eye, metal gears
A yellow moon of sulphur tears
Corrupted flames frame the night
Bleeding wounds to parasites
Life slips by on your eye so slow
Above as Below
The meadow’s green, the meadow’s wild
The meadow’s lush, no man in sight
Only waves breaking foam, this is where our prayers intone
Life slips by on your eye, this is home
Above as Below
The lookout’s sane, the lookout’s high
But lookout, man, there’s no end in sight
To all this pain and lunacy
I ain’t you and you ain’t me
But you can call on me anytime if I can call on you
And we can keep the darkside of the sun from ever coming through
You don’t have to think I’m a saint, get it straight before we start
I don’t want you to believe that I have only your own intrests at heart
So dress it up when you’re feeling down, look for me, I will be around
And when there’s walls between us, I will make a sound
Life slips by on your eye so slow
Above as Below
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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2. |
Spirit World
05:06
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I remember every word you said
Or I remember what I misinterpreted
But I rememeber, how could I forget
Now you’re gone, I think I’ll lose my mind
Dead and gone, I study evil all the time
I miss you, baby, but I can’t bare saying goodbye
So come on in and close the door
Don’t stand out in the cold no more
I been waiting oh so long
To have you back where you belong
Close to me, close enough to smell
Close to me, and further from this hell
I love you, baby.... Baby, can’t you tell
She spent a lot of money on me
When I had no money
And we sat around the table drinking tea
That old enormous table
Oh and I still miss that girl
And I still wish that we had tried
This love has never died
She liked to go to barrooms
Guaranteed, you’d find her in a barroom
And we had a little baby
Oh but she didn’t want no baby
Oh and I still miss that girl
And I still wish that we had tried
This love has never died
So come on in and close the door
Don’t stand out in the cold no more
I been waiting oh so long
To have you back where you belong
Close to me, close enough to smell
Close to me, and the spirit world
I love you, baby.... Baby, can’t you tell
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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3. |
Nobody Knows
04:31
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In the wilderness disappearing with each tree
Now the birds can’t nest in the cemented city
I understand we lost our way
When our minds replaced our soul
And the land destroyed for a petty wage was unsustainable
But propaganda’s no surprise, the devil sings Her song so soft and sweet
The Government it told us lies, bought and sold the ground under our feet
Now here in this town all the jobs have gone
The ones that once promised so much
They’ve all closed down and now the old foreman’s out to lunch
And nobody knows why the river won’t flow through this town
Old Man ain’t been kind
And nobody cares if the king has no heirs or lost his crown
And now we can’t rewind
And soon it will all be a memory
When I look around I smell trouble on the wind
An evil air prevails, servants to the devil’s every whim
For we shook his hand and he let us down
But tell me, what did we expect? A trustworthy man?
Now we’re sorrow bound with an unmarked cheque
Back in reality the common man picks up the slack
Bowing down to big business with a lawful blade stuck in his back
And they’ll never know all we gave away
When we all succumbed to greed, the seed has been sown
To a much darker day that we did not heed
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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4. |
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Long night’s journey to day
The price I must pay
For loving you, babe
Stumbling around in the dark
I’m falling apart
Still chained to your heart
For you have left me high and dry
When you walked out on me
But who said love is blind
Still I cry
Friendship closes its eyes
So I go with the flow
The bottle runs low
Where does the time go?
Midday drinking again
Hello my old friend
Till we meet again
Oh and though I pray in vain
You’ll return
When I think about you
Lonely teardrops fall
For I know
Who’s to blame
Long night’s journey to day
The price I must pay
For loving you, babe
And if I should forget
I love you to death
I’ll run out of breath
Oh but how can I go on
Without you here
Laying down beside me
And where did we go wrong
Oh, I fear
Please forgive me
Oh and how can I explain
All this pain
I can’t explain a thing
Baby please believe
What you mean to me
Everything
Long night’s journey to day
The price I must pay
For loving you, baby
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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5. |
Borderline
03:55
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Meet me down at the Borderline
I’m looking for an old friend of mine
Last I heard she was living there
Hanging out with her dyed blonde hair
Maybe she won’t remember me
It’s been so long, I guess I’ll see
But I’ll bide my time
And I’ll wait at the borderline
We had a love many moons ago
But she wanted more so I let her go
I told myself let that girl run free
But it broke my heart and nearly broke me
So now I’m going far away
God knows what I’m gonna say
All in good time
When we meet at the borderline
I dream of her and her long dark hair
I wake and can’t find her anywhere
But if she still cares I know she’ll meet me there
So meet me down at the Borderline
I’m looking for an old friend of mine
Last I heard she was living there
Hiding out with her dyed blonde hair
Maybe she won’t remember me
It’s been so long, I guess I’ll see
And if she ain’t kind, I’ll cross that borderline
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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6. |
Crystal Ball
10:08
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Last night as I lay down to sleep
An image of you rose up to the surface
And as I passed beyond the gate of dreams
The reverie it gleamed my hidden purpose
To leave behind this vale of tears
And the bad years when I had stopped believing
That sincere motivation fights
These lonely nights of fear and bitter feeling
Oh for I have smelt the truth in lies
Oh and I have seen the raven fly
I rippled like the riders cape
The canoes wake, the glass that breaks and shatters
And explodes into butterflies
Before your eyes and tears the vale to tatters
Like stars that cluster in the sky
Like many eyes that cry and cannot forget
The lonely fox, the clutch of eggs
The rope of onions hanging around your neck
Oh and I have fanned these flames of fire
Oh and I have seen the raven tonight
But standing here we burn daylight
The morning bright, black plumes of smoke rings fading
The archer on the mossy stone
Animals bones, three naked witches bathing
And standing on the bridge of sighs
I memorised the moment that I met you
But an eagle does not hawk at flies
All men must die yet still I can’t forget you
Oh and I can’t speak your name tonight
Oh and I have seen this raven in flight
So light a candle for the one
Who flies on inky wings like a black diamond
And open up another vein
It’s all the same, just drink up and keep smiling
For all your dreams so bittersweet
Nothing’s quite as unreal as the morning
To wake and find you’re still alive
But something in your memory is calling
For I have smelt the truth in lies
And I must bid this raven goodbye
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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7. |
Land of Shades
07:06
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Halo round my head
I must be dead unless I’m high
Smoke rings round my eyes I must be high unless I’m dead
Angel when you call and I’m not home I’m on the town
Trying to forget or break my neck without a sound
Ever since you been gone I live alone among debris
Lover you won’t get far in a burnt out car even with the key
But do you remember that other life
So long ago but the land of shades don’t lie
I reached out for something and I lost your hand
And I fell down into some dark distant land
But you don’t show no pain I do the same or at least I try
Hardest thing to do is play it cool and die inside
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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8. |
To Be Sure
06:28
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I’ve got so much to tell you
I don’t know where to start
This here life of mild manners ain’t like the reality of my heart
But all the things I wanna tell you are all the things you never ask
The backyard’s all grown over still I refuse to cut the grass
Oh and now it’s growing round my door
Guess I just wanted to be sure that you didn’t want me no more
There were tears on my pillow when I woke up from this dream
Memories of a life long ago and things I still can’t quite believe
Oh but now that I remember
Now must I forget?
For all the things we discard for all the things we ain’t found yet
Take a bow, we must leave them in the past
And go and find our new beginnings knowing full well they won’t last
Well, I wrote you a letter
I didn’t send it for a year
I guess I didn’t want to rush you with things you didn’t want to hear
Not that it’s important
In fact it’s all quite plain
Little Dimi’s getting bigger
And old Maz is still the same
Anyhow, your silence makes it clear
This old world ends with a whimper and we both just disappear
Cos I got so much to tell you
I don’t know where to start
This here life of mild manners ain’t like the reality of the heart
But for every seed that’s planted and for every leaf that falls
You know you sure got nothing when you once had it all
Oh and how, why did I hold on to it for?
Guess I just wanted to be sure that you didn’t want me no more
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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9. |
When You Were Mine
05:17
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Born to sing, born to roll the dice
Born to set sail on an ocean of sacrifice
For more sweet life
Sitting in my old bed ruminating but it ain’t a crime
Thinking ‘bout the future but I wish I was back in time
When you were mine
Oh baby I’m crying
And the feeling in my heart is strange Since you went away
It don’t feel the same
Got a limping gait, got a walking cane
Now I’m living in the city like a stranger that no one sees
Trying to keep my head above the trouble that comes in three’s
Poor, poor pitiful me
Do you remember?
When everybody played along till the game got done, till the loot was won
But it ain’t over till the song is sung
So baby let me roll the dice
Let me pay the price for this sacrifice
And if you won’t play fair girl I won’t play nice
When the sun came up the streets were as cold as ice
And I filled my cup with a warm tear from my eye
As you passed by
Just thinking about when you were mine
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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10. |
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Drifting too far from shore
Well she jumped ship and she left me
I never seen her face no more
Drifting too far from shore
I’m bored when I’m sober
I’m bored when I’m high
I’m bored with all this boredom
Bored with reasons why
Everything lately bores me
I guess baby I’m a bore
Drifting too far from shore
I had myself a lover
I loved her thru and thru
But I looked that gift horse in the mouth
And I turned it all to glue
Started seeing shadows
Doubting everything I saw
Drifting too far from shore
I’ve lost that spark of passion
I always used to have
Don’t know where it’s gone to
or if it’s ever coming back
Can’t find no direction
Tell me what’s the reason for
Drifting too far from shore
Everyday it seems like I’m losing ground You know I’m losing touch
I tell myself to try to care
Maybe I try too much
Well she gave me all she had to give
Baby everything and more
But I was drifting too far from shore
Now a fog is rolling in
Thicker than the night
I’m bobbing on a blackness out of range and out of sight
Feel such alienation I’ve never felt before
Drifting too far from shore
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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11. |
Long Gone
03:29
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Now it’s time to say goodbye, why? but it’s time to say goodbye
And if we never meet again, my friend, remember the time that we met
If we never meet again
She’s gone, long gone
Get gone, long gone, it’s time for us to leave
I’m always walking down this road
I suppose it’s the road that we chose
So many years ago
But I’ll hold dear your memory, please, baby, please remember me in the whispering of the trees
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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12. |
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Take my hand
Be my girl, I’ll be your man
And through this world we shall go
A happy accident
And you will see
There ain’t no one who can dance like me
And tho I might dance slightly strange
I’ll love you more than they
For this world was made for lovers
You and me
And this world goes on without us
Thankfully
So raise your glass
And while they try to win
We’ll finish last
Enjoy this life at our own pace
While the headless chickens pass
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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13. |
Closing Time
05:42
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My drink is getting low
I believe it’s closing time
Too much trouble in my heart
Too much worry on my mind
Pack your bags and go
Pack your bags and hit the road
My baby looked at me and said
I just can’t live like this no more
Well, it’s a long way down
Baby it’s a long way back again
Thing that’s hurting me the most
Is losing my best friend
Hate to see you go
Guess I won’t be trouble to you no more
I got lucky for a minute
I got lucky, that’s all I know
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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14. |
I Remember You
04:20
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I don’t remember too much these days
Too much fire water under the bridge
Too many nights out on the tiles
Too many to distinguish
But as I farewell these memories that I’m losing
Can’t seem to place the very day
And I can’t recall what I was doing
When you first stole my heart away
Maybe there’s clues amid the debris
Maybe there’s footprints in the snow
Baby there’s so much sunken treasure
Buried so deep down below
So as I farewell these memories that I’m losing
Can’t seem to place the very day
No and I can’t recall what I was doing
When you first stole my heart away
But I remember you
Now baby who knows you might remember
When we sat holding hands upon the bridge
The city skyline and sun a fading ember
Each of us making a similar wish
I don’t remember too much these days
Once it was so hard to forget
Too many heads and names I can’t place
Baby don’t give up on me yet
So as I farewell these memories
that I’m losing
Can’t seem to place the very day
No and I can’t recall what I was doing
When you first stole my heart away
But I remember you
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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15. |
You Know Who You Are
05:35
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Sometimes I can’t believe that we’ve made it so far
Living so easy and drinking so hard
I lost everything except this old cheap guitar
And you know who you are
You came into my life when I was in an awful way
You swooped right in and you picked me up and you carried me away
You led me through the darkness like a solitary star
And you know who you are
Well my friend he’s still on the prowl chasing the women
To find a little something sweet and take it home with him
But nowadays I only think of one while I’m drinking at the bar
And you know who you are
We drown ourselves in alcohol and music and smoke
And we live on the outside cos people just don’t get the joke
But I only care if one person’s there at my last hurrah
And you know who you are
So the world keeps on turning, getting warmer every day
Obviously we’ve let her down and gone and lost our way
But all in all, you’ve only been so good to me so far
And you know who you are
Words and Music © Van Walker 2020
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Van Walker Melbourne, Australia
Born & raised on the windswept prairies of north-west coast Tasmania, Van first heard the music of Bob Dylan around adolescence & began picking guitar & writing songs. Some hundreds of songs later and a hell-bent pick, he moved to Melbourne to form bands such as The Swedish Magazines, Goatpiss Gasoline and The Livingstone Daisies, and sing his unique hillbilly stuff on the side. ... more
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