1. |
The Alley Song
03:21
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Woke up in the morning
Camera round my neck
And a bottle by my side
Sun rose bright
Over the ragged bushes
Shadows loomed above me
The hot wind kissed my face
I woke up in an alley
Walking down alone
Boxes piled up around me
Dumpsters by my side
Woke up in the morning
Camera round my neck
And a bottle by my side
Looked around to find you
Shaking off the pain
Sleeping all alone
On the cold hard pavement
A few layers of cardboard
Aren’t enough to protect you
From the exposure
Exposed and alone
Looking for you
Needing you
Going on
Seeing nothing
But the pretty proximity
Of where you’ve been
Thinking you must have been looking
at all the same things
Yeah, I woke up in the morning
With a camera around my neck
And a bottle by my side
I tried to shake it off
I knew if I kept walking
There was a chance
I might find you
I knew we would pass
Each other
I knew we could see the same things
Right there in front of us
It was almost like a test
How many things everywhere
Make life worthwhile
How many times did we pass
The same
Beautiful corners
The scraps of life
That had been blown in
Like Bits of wreckage
Like me and you
I looked
at the shadows
I imagined
One was you
I woke up in the alley
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2. |
Love Don't
03:55
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Boss says he’s goin’ to fire my ass
Bills keep piling up
Hard to see anyway out
Just have to keep going
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
car’s breaking down
no money for repairs
kids need new shoes
but ain’t gone none right now
When it all seems too much
I think about you
when it all feels too hard
I dream about you
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
When you dig yourself deep
can’t get yourself out
When your mistakes pile up
and can’t push them aside
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure does help
If it wasn’t for love
Don’t know what I would do
If not for our love
Don’t know how I’d get through
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
When we’re safe
In each others arms
All the bullshit
just fades away
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure does help
When you can’t get away
from all the big problems
When it all rests on you
and you feel like you’ll snap
That’s when I need you
my only true love
To look in your eyes
And find something beautiful
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure does help
Pushed against you
holding on tight
the warmth of our bodies
a wet kiss on the lips
Love don’t fix everything
but it sure as hell helps
No, love don’t fix everything
but it sure does help
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3. |
Kick In The Ass
03:53
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More of the same
Old bullshit
and troubles
To weigh me down
How many times
Can the past come back
And kick me in the ass
How many times
Before it’s just too much
Try to do the best I can
Every damned day
Just ain’t good enough
Can’t ever get away
Never see it comin’
All my mistakes
All my bad decisions
Lining up
To take a second swing
At me
But how many times
Can the past come back
And kick me in the teeth
Before it’s just too much
Ain’t no salvation
No Isle for the Blessed
No fields of gold
Blowing in the breeze
Wish I could get in my car
And drive away
From every fucked up thing
That’s still here to haunt me
How many times
Can the past come back
And kick me in the ass
How many times
Before it’s just too much
Need to keep my dreams
Safe inside
While holding onto you
Tell ‘em all to just go piss off
I’ll take the blame
I know it’s all my fault
But doing the best I can
Sometimes, I just don’t see it coming
Gone through way too much
But holding onto you
The only thing I have
Let’s tell ‘em all to just go piss off
How many times
Can the past come back
And kick me in the teeth
How many times
Before it’s just too much
How did trying
To do the right thing
Get me into such a
Bad place
How do I keep going
With no way out
Close my eyes
Hold you tight
How many times
Can the past come back
And kick me in the ass
How many times
Before it’s just too much
Baby, I’m closing my eyes
Tell me it will be alright
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4. |
Life So Cruel
03:32
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Lyrics:
I've Been traveling round
This whole world
Knowing you
were out there somewhere
Even if I never found you
it kept me going
There had to be something
Outside myself
Could have been easy
To lay down
In a dark ditch
But I kept on going
Never thought
Life could be so cruel
To keep us apart
Such a long time
Could have faded into nothing
‘cept kept on going
Hoping, I’d find you
Somewhere
Never thought
Life could be so cruel
To keep me away from you
For so long
Could have been anywhere
And nowhere
Places I had been
Places I would never go
Life could never be so cruel
To keep us apart
Forever
Always lost
A rainy day
Brings it all back home
To standing
On a unnamed corner
Hands inside my pockets
Not knowing
Which way to turn
Or if it mattered
No, life could never
be so cruel
Not if I kept going
I knew I’d find you
Even when the sun was setting
And I tried to tell myself
It was just me
On the edge of the world
In my heart
I never believed
Life could be so cruel
No matter how it seemed
While I walked
A million miles
Trying to find you
And slept a million nights
Alone
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5. |
Blue ICEE Kisses
03:43
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One hundred goddamned degrees
In the middle of the night
People out
Trying to walk it all off
In a haunted little town
The aging divorcee
Lures the awkward
High school jock
Into her bedroom
With cigarettes and booze
Who am I to judge
Life isn’t over
Until it’s over
Everyone has to survive
The heat somehow
Sitting on a brownstone stoop
Worn smooth by time
Sharing blue Icee kisses, with my baby
As the noisy drunks all stumble by
No one can sleep
Young girls
Hanging
On the corner
Dare the passing boys
Not to stare
The same old streets
Everywhere you turn
Where each choice
Leads to another catch-22
Sitting with my baby
On that worn out
Brownstone stoop
Sharing blue Icee kisses
So much sweeter than gin
A group of passing drunks
Look over
One laughs
I’ll have one of
What he’s having
Yeah, we all want that
Have our arm around our baby
Sharing blue Icee kisses
On a hot summer night
Always sweeter than wine
I’ve been here before
Same old dirty streets
Same old bad smells
Only with the wrong person
No one can change their past
No one can fix it for you either
But everyone has to survive the heat
Somehow
You can fight it
Or love it
Or Jump right in
Now
Yeah
Trading blue Icee kisses
With my baby
On a hot summer night
Nothing can be sweeter
The ghost is in the mountain
Wants to pull us back inside
But when I take
My baby’s hand
We can walk our way out
Of anything
Yeah, trading blue Icee kisses
With my baby
On a hot summer night
Nothing is sweeter
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6. |
Lucky Strike
03:34
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Well, it’s Friday night
Out with my honey
Going to the Lucky Strike
Bowling alley
My baby’s got
Her own custom Brunswick
She looks cute
In her tight fitting jeans
I smile
As I look at her
Butt
As she sets up the ball
Yeah, everyone’s gotta’
Have a lucky strike
Once in life
She’s mine
It’s Friday night
I smile
The Brunswick
Rolls down the alley
Iridescent
Like a moon from another time
Her smile makes me cry inside
As the pins go down
Everyone
Gets that lucky strike
Once
My baby’s mine
Even if I’m no good
I don’t care about keeping score
It’s not about that
Put my arm around her waist
Nothing feels better
Yeah, everyone’s gotta’
Have a lucky strike
Once in their life
My baby’s mine
Yeah, everyone’s gotta
Have a lucky strike
Once in their life
My baby is mine
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7. |
The Only Truth
04:00
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Hush my darling
Our words have all gone wrong
We’re both hanging ourselves
On them Now
So, hush my darling
Let me hold you tight
Our words aren’t getting us
Out of this
Tonight, the only truth that matters
Is that we’re in each others arms
Yeah, that’s the only thing that matters
Words spin round
Don’t mean nothing
After all is said and done
The stories we spin
To try and keep ourselves sane
Don’t get us out of here
The dark edge of fairy tales
Don’t serve us anymore
We’ve always known
That they don’t come true
But, the only truth that matters
Is that we’re in each others arms
Yeah, that’s the only thing that matters
We all have our own scores
To settle
Battles we have lost
And wars we’ll never win
Let them all go, baby
They are what they are
But we have these moments
Together now
The only truth that matters
Is that we’re in each others arms
Yeah, that’s the only thing that matters
We can argue and debate
For hours and hours
It could never end
Until it’s over
Let is all go, baby
Fall into my arms
I’m right here
To catch you
The only truth that matters
Is that we’re in each others arms
Yeah, that’s the only thing that matters
Stay with me tonight
And fall into my arms
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8. |
Far and Wide
03:28
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Far and Wide
Too many nights
spent building dreams
and places to hide
Reading maps
of all the places
I had never been
the clocks tick
to the sound of my
footsteps
There is no far and wide
until I look into your eyes
only falling back
inside myself
Clouds pass
in the icy wind
while years slip away
A smile changes
everything
for me
There is no far and wide
until I look into your eyes
falling back
inside myself
Drawing maps
of all the places
I have been
Retracing routes
to all the places
that never mattered
There is no far and wide
until I look into your eyes
falling back
inside myself
Everywhere we go
are things
to see
Life can be so much more
than just a forced march
through all the same old shit
When I look into your eyes
I find myself
Drawing maps
Of all the places
I want to go
But there is no far and wide
until I look into your eyes
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9. |
Quarter Horse Motel
03:33
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My baby’s buying a candle
At the Dollar General Store
Things are going to be alright
Yeah, my baby’s buying us a candle
Tires split right through
Plies all hanging out
The frontend’s trashed to hell
Mechanic says it ain’t safe
To drive anywhere
That’s ok
My baby’s buying a candle
At the Dollar General Store
Things are going to be alright
Yeah, my baby’s buying us a candle
With our last dollar
We gotta room
at the Quarter Horse
Motel and RV Park
Couldn’t be closer
Waitin’ for our check to come in
My baby’s buying a candle
At the Dollar General Store
Things are going to be alright
Yeah, my baby’s buying us a candle
Girl behind the counter
Talks a million miles a minute
You know she’s got a story
Even if there aren’t enough words
For her to tell it
Are we any different
My baby and me
Staying at the Quarter Horse Motel
Broken car out front
Birds chirping in the trees
As I wait
While my baby buys a candle
At the Dollar General Store
Things are going to be alright
Yeah, my baby’s buying us a candle
I take a few white blossoms
from the trees outside
Put them in a glass
On the nightstand
Waiting for my baby
We’ve come such a long way
Yeah, baby
Everything is going to be alright
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10. |
Bald Tires
03:50
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Well, the engine’s purring
With a new set of plugs
Been riding on bald tires for far too long
Think we’re gunna’ to make it
Anyway
Rolling down the highway
Hand on my baby’s thigh
Smiling
As we drive right out of town
The lights on the power plant
Shine beneath dark clouds
Power lines stretch out
In all directions
To wherever we’re going
Driving into the unknown
My baby
By my side
Bald tires spinning
Round and round
Few bucks in my pocket
Everything we own
In the back of the car
Hand on my baby’s thigh
As we drive out of town
Lookin’ down the highway
Engine humming
As we cross the
The blistering desert
Been trapped in this place
For much too long
Hot wind blowing
As we drive out of town
Hand on my baby’s thigh
Bald tires spinning
Round and round
Smile on my baby’s face
As we head out West
To find our place
By the edge of the Ocean
Looking for that
Cold spay in our face
To wash
The past away
The open ocean
Stretching out
Into forever
As we stand on the shore
Sun rising on our backs
As we drive out of town
Hand on my baby’s thigh
Bald tires spinning
Round and round
Squeeze my baby’s thigh
Driving
Away from
Both our past
Mistakes
Don’t have to say a word
As we drive out of town
Hand on my baby’s thigh
Bald tires spinning
Round and round
I think we’re gunna’ make it
Yeah, my hand on my baby’s thigh
As we drive right out of town
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Mark Hahn Tucson, Arizona
Tucson artist and writer, Mark Hahn, grew up in Detroit MI, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and has traveled, lived and worked in many major cities across Europe and the United States. He has now settled in Tucson and spends his time focusing on varied creative projects while exploring the Sonoran Desert and the broken down mining towns that are scattered around the Southern AZ landscape. ... more
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