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Drifter

by Dan Bern

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1.
Came home after the moon trip Didn’t have a lot to say Guess my mind was shot pretty good since seein the Milky Way And my gal was kinda wonderin which way it was gonna go And so was I by the way   And I was not ready to enlist another soul in my research That guy’s got no taste, the guy in the corner, he’s John Birch And I heard that you bin callin, and I ain’t pickin up the phone You came to me in a dream one time and said leave me alone   Oh life ain’t tragic mostly Life is magic somely   And I found myself writin long poetic lines with awesome rhymes And maybe you’re thinkin Dylan, but to me it’s just that shit Alexander Pope was runnin, and hey Don’t blame me for a crooked nose That my vocal passage blows a certain way I am God’s only son No mistakin this time around   And how much is it worth To finally get some sleep Without heroin or Valerian, or Tylenol PM And I figured I might just put my Mexican money where my mouth is Go two hands on the forehand and backhand Like Monica Seles, Pancho Segura, Marion Bartoli To name some   Oh life ain’t magic mostly Life is tragic somely   Maybe we’re one too many cats Maybe one of us should be a dog Maybe I just wanna wake up under a hollow log Maybe I’m Luke the Drifter And my nature is to drift Maybe I got one masterpiece in me, like Johnny Swift Yeah but if I never get there I’ll be all right with that Tomorrow sundown could be nothin left of me but my hat Hello Johnny Hello Johnny   Johnny let me be the first to welcome you in here Not sure if there’s a bar, but I bet it’s easy to smuggle in beer Someone’s makin shortbread Nothing ever smelled so good Johnny boy I think you’re gonna like this neighborhood I do not want to live my life from regret Either way, stay or go, go or stay Just do one or the other With one of your eyes I fell in love, the other eye’s my friend Guess that’s just how we’ll let this particular story end I played catch with some kid today on the other side of the fence Ain’t seen his face don’t know his name, the best part was the silence Oh life ain’t tragic mostly Life is magic somely Life is life Ali Frazier….
2.
Tonight I feel so far away, so far away from you What did you do tonight I'm drivin my truck up and down the coast From north of Seattle to the Mexico line Right now, I’m in San Bernardino All day long it was 95 degrees But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully   I've been stuck in this goin no place desk job For too many months, it’s time to move on If I quit and tried to just do my paintings I wonder if I could come up with the rent I still root for the Yankees back east Never did take to these local teams But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully   Ooh, I do my share, I knock about Ooh, is anything gonna work out   Sometimes I’m almost out of range I head south of the valley And pick up the game Pull off the road, step out of the van Lean against the hood still hot from the drive Trees fade out in the black of the night Some days it don’t hardly seem worth the fight But at least tonight I get to hear The golden voice of Vin Scully
3.
Six in the morning in my room at the Cecil Ninety four fifty a week stretches me out a little Six in the morning, it’s dope and Magnum, it’s Borrow me two bucks so I can get to work again I’m having a party tonight  Party by myself Lunch wagon left, I stayed at my desk I said I wasn’t hungry, nobody questioned me I bought three 40 ounce Magnums and the cigarettes I craved all day And I visit my dope man at Sixth and Broadway I’m having a party tonight  Party by myself Lock the door the word could get around I got beer and cigarettes I got a ninth floor view of Main Street And a working TV set   Six in the evening in my room at the Cecil Captain Kirk don’t care about my breath or ’bout my bloodshot eyes My beer is my friend and my rock is my friend And my friends are why I’m getting up tomorrow again   I'm having a party tonight  Party by myself
4.
Holy House 02:32
Went down to the Holy House, doesn’t really matter which one Cathedral, Temple, coulda been a Mosque, coulda been the local fish house And I got down on my knees and I said the name of God And I prayed   I prayed, Lord, I prayed, Lord I closed my eyes and I prayed I got down on my knees and I said the name of God And I prayed   Jesus Mary Margaret, Krishna Vishnu Shanti Allah Akbar Baruch Adonai Heal me heal me heal me Help to make me strong And help me heal the world in my way   Then the bells started ringin, they rang with all their might They rang for the sorrowful, rang for the weak of heart Them bells, them bells, them bells rang on and on Them bells, they rang for me   Jesus Mary Margaret, Krishna Vishnu Shanti Allah Akbar Baruch Adonai Heal me heal me heal me Help to make me strong And help me heal the world in my way
5.
Now that our economy is going to the dogs Maybe we’ll have flamenco music like they’ve always done in Spain Maybe we’ll have a champion like Rafael Nadal Full of passion and the need to prove himself time and again   And maybe Hollywood starts making movies that the world can love Sad and bittersweet and full of pain It’s raining in Madrid, tonight It’s snowing in my head and I’m waiting on my friends And a sign from the gods to come out and play now that our Economy is going to the dogs Now that our economy is going to the dogs Maybe we’ll sing and dance and make love like they’ve always done in Spain Maybe we’ll be like the folks in Argentina Who know how to laugh and take their showers in the rain   And maybe Hollywood starts making movies that the world can love Sad and bittersweet and full of pain It’s raining in Madrid, tonight It’s snowing in my head and I’m waiting on my friends And a sign from the gods to come out and play now that our Economy is going to the dogs Faint dead away What can I say Hip, hip hooray Tomorrow, today   Now that our economy is going to the dogs Maybe we’ll skip the science and the math and all become painters Maybe we’ll write poems like Federico Garcia Lorca Throw away our TVs and our cars and dress like Quakers And maybe Hollywood starts making movies that the world can love Sad and bittersweet and full of pain It’s raining in Madrid, tonight It’s snowing in my head and I’m waiting on my friends And a sign from the gods to come out and play now that our Economy is going to the dogs
6.
Does green mean stop or go, is plastic good to eat Should I put a hat on my head or on my feet Tell me why a birthday comes only once a year I’m not from around here What do chickens dream about when they lay their eggs at night Why do tears and laughter sound so much alike Why are there so many different kinds of beer I’m not from around here   Who receives on Christmas Eve, what’s reason and what’s rhyme Show me, tell me, ring my bell, we haven’t got much time   How do windshield wipers know when it starts to rain How do the commuters know when it’s time to leave the train What is hate, what’s boredom, what’s jealousy, what’s fear I’m not from around here
7.
Carried Away 03:37
Well I never had a Ford before, but I got one now, yeah Never had a red two-door, got one now, yeah Four on the floor, three on the tree Maybe you can bust it but you can’t catch me unless You really want to Well I never had a girl before, but I got one now, yeah Somebody to hold my hand, ’n understand, yeah Pine nuts, shank nuts, any nuts’ll do Go to sleep darlin I don’t think you’ll sleep long I’m gonna want you   And sometimes it’s just another day And sometimes you don’t know what to say Carried away, carried away   Wake up, go to sleep, Little Bo Peep I think you lost your sheep, I think you found me Let’s find a little down time Well I never was a king before, but I am one now, yeah Never solid to the core, I am now, yeah Down to the river and take a drink Tell me a riddle, we’ll pass the brink Maybe someday, we’ll meet up again   And sometimes it’s just another day And sometimes you don’t know what to say Carried away, carried away
8.
Another chanteuse on local radio Another caboose on the hit parade-io Says bye bye, bye bye Another top ten list you ain’t on Another day your name ain’t LeBron Pack it in, why try Pick your chin up off the ground, you ain’t leavin Don’t get mad my friend, get even   Sometimes it’s a sparkling town Sometimes backslaps all around Sometimes it knocks you down, why is that Sometimes, same things charge you up Pull you down, drain your cup Sometimes it all just sucks you dry   I hear you saying things that you can’t be believing Don’t get mad my friend, get even The house across the street that I been meaning now to photograph For a year I really like the way the roof it slants and dives and shoots around Mostly I make it disappear   I’ll meet you down by the old canal Bring your guitar, I’ll bring a ball We’ll shoot free throws, make up songs the kids will sing This time next year we’ll be kings Do a lot of interviews, wear a lot of bling Go to rehab, kick that cocaine in your cereal thing There’s things you ain’t even begun achieving Don’t get mad my friend, get even
9.
Swing Set 02:36
The way you learned to kick a ball was a great, great day I still can smell perfume as you held me while I played The swing set, the swing set Oh, your hazel eyes your hazel eyes   Why do I recall the first time you drank from a cup Why do I recall the pine trees where you held me up The swing set, the swing set Oh, your hazel eyes your hazel eyes   Why can’t I remember first time you drove a car Somewhere I lost sight of you, can’t think where you are The swing set, the swing set Oh, your hazel eyes your hazel eyes
10.
Capetown 02:52
And I found a girl in Capetown, I was with her three days straight She showed up right on time, not too soon and not too late And all that I remember was we barely left the room And I’m sure somewhere the sun came up and went back down again And I open up my window, and the world is upside down Oh, Capetown   And all I had was time and I drank me a few beers And I Googled people that I hadn’t seen in twenty years And to my great surprise, when I typed in your name I learned You were working in a chemical plant in Johannesburg And I’m hanging out in Capetown, and it ain’t too far away Maybe I’ll see you sometime in a Johannesburg café   Lots of folks live on the streets here and there’s more all the time But the water, she’s beautiful, and there’s plenty of good cheap wine And if you crane your neck too far, there’s a hand around your throat And you’ll wind up staring with your pockets clean from the bottom of a boat When Gandhi came his eyes were blue, when he left his eyes were brown Oh, Capetown   And I would gladly run off to the corners of the earth But I find myself in Capetown by an accident of birth, yeah I would gladly run off to the corners of the sky But I find myself in Capetown, don’t matter why Oh, Capetown   Fallin I am fallin off the great table of space It’s all I can do to get up, splash water on my face Capetown is my refuge, Capetown is my dare If I can’t make it in Capetown, never make it anywhere All right then, enough of this ramblin, gonna take a look around Oh, Capetown
11.
Haarlem 02:27
Walking the streets of Haarlem Not that one, the other one The one with two A’s The Dutch one, Haarlem Walking the streets of Haarlem The one with two A’s, the Dutch one I might go to the sauna Hang out with naked men and women Take showers, swim in hot pools Sit in hot rooms with naked men and women Naked and non-sexual Naked and non-sexual I like it, I think it’s good for me I don’t do it enough so I’ll probably go To the sauna, in Haarlem, the Dutch one   Will I see you in the street tonight And when I see you, will I know you?   Walking the streets of Haarlem I think of Van Goghs like Vincent He shot himself in a field, sometime, someplace, and Walking the streets of Haarlem I think of Van Goghs like Theo He made a film, something critical Of the Koran, and they shot him I guess sometimes it’s tough, it’s tough to be Dutch But walking the streets of Haarlem The one with two A’s, the Dutch one It seems pretty good, right now   Will I see you in the street tonight And when I see you, will I know you?
12.
Three years before the surface of the earth was uninhabitable By human beings, I took a train To New York City, through the black hills of Ohio and the Pennsylvania hills of acid rain In those days folks were digging, always digging through the limestone, And the coal and granite and magnesium For the tunnels and the caves, subterranean rivulets For the moles that we eventually became Slavery was everywhere, it was simply necessary Otherwise the planet was a grave And sure I guess inevitably, it became a status thing Some people they just had to have a slave People were still bitter ’bout the forced sterilization Of all but ten percent of the population But in a funny way the pressure of the hunt was off and so I took my little Mexican vacation   Underneath my seat was a flotation device In case the train could not avoid the flood Sixteen trains that summer had already gotten stuck Where the Atlantic meets the Indiana mud One half of the people on the train were policemen As mandated by the senate of the world But still I somehow met and got to know and jumped the train With a runaway slavery girl Oh, sha la la Shake it, shake it Runaway slavery girl Oh, sha la la Shake your behind Runaway slavery girl   Everyone had long forgotten ’bout football And baseball and basketball and rice The airports were shut and the cars had gone to rust And the hemispheres had both sunk twice The sky was purple and we hit the ground running Our will was strong, our love was made to order And all we really wanted to do was make it To the Mexican-Canadian border We rambled through the hills, Pocahontas, Buffalo Bill Sometimes I found some work carbon dating And with nothing but our love and the shirts on our back And our biologically useless mating But she rarely had my dinner served And finally she got on my nerves And with nothing much left above ground in this world Sometimes you gotta look after yourself, yeah One cold night in Philadelphia I turned in my runaway slavery girl   Sometimes it’s hot Sometimes it’s cold Sometimes it’s anybody’s guess Sometimes you do what you have to This was one of those times I guess   And now that we’re all underground I sometimes wonder if she found Her way or not, or if she’s still a slave But still and all there’s worse you know Anyway it wasn’t personal Just something ’bout those West Virginia waves Three years or maybe more like two and a half Before the earth was uninhabitable, I jumped aboard a train To New York City, through the black hills of Wisconsin and the Pennsylvania hills of acid rain Folks were still adjusting to the preparatory chemicals Administered through widespread inhalation And so I settled back, nestled in and shut my eyes For my final little Mexican vacation   Oh, sha la la Shake it, shake it Runaway slavery girl Oh, sha la la Shake your behind Runaway slavery girl
13.
Home 03:44
Now the sun is out the day is clear and I’m on my way Way up in the sky the planes pass by and they’re on their way Come what may The waiting is over baby   There’s been times all I could do was cry now I’m on my way Couldn’t conjure up a lullaby, now I’m on my way Day by day There ain’t nothing more to say that   Home, I’m on my way back home Finally going home This was worth the wait Yeah I’m on my way back home To you All my confidence was almost gone it was almost gone Like a vagabond out on the lawn I was almost gone Time to move along Our time it looked like done Home, I’m on my way back home Finally going home This was worth the wait Yeah I’m on my way back home To you   They say we hurt the ones we love the most well I guess it’s true It’s the only way you find out who’s gonna stick it through Thick and thin, lose or win It’s how you get someplace and   Home, well that’s just where you are Ain’t some building, ain’t the car Wish upon a star and you’ll be home   Home, I’m on my way back home Finally going home This was worth the wait Yeah I’m on my way back home To you
14.
Back from my trip around the universe They need me to be quarantined but first Before all your questions, let me just expound Love makes all the other worlds go ’round Love makes all the other worlds go ’round   I started with our solar system, then turned right Navigating by candlelight And everywhere I went, the same old story found Love makes all the other worlds go ’round Love makes all the other worlds go ’round   This world spins ’round from love, heard it in the past But poetry and science completes the tale at last   So when you look up at a starry sky And loneliness engulfs you, darkness fills your eye No matter where you turn, to the heavens or just downtown Love makes all the other worlds go ’round Love makes all the other worlds go ’round
15.
Subtle change in the air Trees are different Something different, can’t describe Birds are whistling Something that they used to sing Way back, who knows when Or maybe you’re just looking at me Like you used to look at me again   Maybe I am a ghost And I’m the only one that hasn’t Been informed, long ago That I’m some long-dead protoplasm But something calls me back tonight To the land of living men Or maybe you’re just looking at me Like you used to look at me again   These living dreams I sing These living dreams I sing   Subtle change, like the clouds Soft clouds floating by Little breeze takes me along My soul can’t help but fly Out across the mountains where The sunrise never ends Or maybe you’re just looking at me Like you used to look at me Maybe you’re just looking at me Like you used to look at me again   These living dreams I sing These living dreams I sing

credits

released June 12, 2012

the players:
Dan Bern: guitar, bass, organ, vocals
Adam Busch: autoharp, harmonica, glock, sax, drums, vocals
Jordan Katz: banjo, trumpet, trombone, vocals
Eric Kufs: dobro, guitar, vocals
Jillinda Palmer: accordion, organ, vocals
Mark McConville: pedal steel, electric guitar
Paul Kuhn: cellocaster
Mitch Marine: drums
Ethan Phillips: bass
Jon Griffin: bass, organ, vocals
Mike Viola: piano and vocals
Emmylou Harris: vocals
David Ray: drums
John Lacques: drums
Giovanna Clayton: cello

Common Rotation is Adam Busch, Jordan Katz and Eric Kufs

Emmylou Harris appears courtesy of Nonesuch Records

produced by Jon Griffin, Adam Busch, Jordan Katz and Dan Bern
recorded and mixed by Jon Griffin
mastered by Mark Chelecki
photos by Jordon Nuttall
art direction by Liz Ciganovich
graphic design by Mark Tapio Kines

all songs © Dan Bern Kababa Music (ascap)
except “Party By Myself” (Bern/Fred Washington)
“Home” (Bern/Mike Viola/Marshall Crenshaw)
and “These Living Dreams” (Bern/Jordan Katz/Jon Griffin)

danbern.com
facebook.com/danbern
twitter.com/DanBernHQ

commonrotation.com

Very Special Thanks:

Miki Tapio Walsh
Chuck Plotkin
Wendy Brandchaft
Danielle Lesniewski
Lulu Pepper Juliana Bern
David Berman
Judy Tint
Monica Hopman
Jonathan Demme
Ben Acker
Ben Blacker
Amber Benson
Melanie Marquez
Anthony Altomare
And everyone who pre-ordered this record!

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Dan Bern Silver City, New Mexico

Undefinable by genre, crossing over and through folk, rock, singer-songwriter, and kids music, Dan Bern is a rare, and true renaissance artist, a captivating live performer with a multi-generational following. He has written thousands of songs, released dozens of albums, and played shows –from coffee shops to Carnegie Hall.
Dan’s songs have appeared in numerous films and TV shows.
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