Get all 4 The Stephen Stanley Band releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Live Static Roots Oberhausen, Germany, Jimmy & the Moon, Too Many Sisters • Non Barking Dog (2020 Extended Version), and That Thin, Wild Mercury.
1. |
Intro
01:03
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2. |
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On this street there is a scene that we’ve been caught up in between
And all the pictures of you that I wish I’d never seen
Come flowing back into my brain every time you walk away
And there’s this poison line that runs between us every time
I don’t know if I want to hold you or charge you with a crime
You had your hair pulled back again and I can’t get you off my mind
You have changed and I have been moving slow
but I love you just the same, just the same
And every drink and every line, that voice that serves to undermine
Today, if someone were to ask, she used to be a friend of mine
But I’m still stuck on the tomorrows that we had;
without a doubt they’ve fallen behind
And now I curse the printed page, I curse the digital age
And every picture of you that wanders past me unengaged
There was a time not long ago that I never was afraid; now I fear every day
If this seems strange I’d eat these words and never mention it again
But that really wouldn’t change a thing...
And you may be gone, that’s the thing
I don’t even know where you’ve been,
or where you’re going to, or if we’ll ever talk again
Behind your name there is a song that I’ll be singing all along
And if my voice should start to crack, it doesn’t mean that I’m not strong
It’s just the heartbeat in my temples went too long and all the blood rushed to my head
I don’t expect it anymore, but if you did walk through that door
I don’t know if my eyes would focus or if I’d turn them to the floor
You always said it would get better, and I hope it has for you
And every day I tell myself it’s okay, but it really hasn’t changed a thing...
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3. |
By Her Side
08:36
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Has this been the longest goodbye of your life?
Has this been the only way you survive?
As it burns each night down in a silent rage
And steals your words til you can’t engage
But you know there is a morning you just can’t see
Has this been the hottest year of your life?
Did you wake up and nothing had changed overnight?
Did the wind that blows away your doubts and pain
Open up the sky for seven more long days of rain?
And sweep you away even further, so you just couldn’t see?
Has she been the only one on your mind?
Is she moving forward while you stay behind?
In a haze of alcohol and misgivings
Is this what she meant when she said start living?
And you know you can’t be anywhere but by her side
Would you cross the city, just to hear her breathe?
Is the night that much darker when she decides to leave?
Do unfinished sentences and prevaricating eyes
Fill you with questions, until you apologize
cuz you know you can’t be anywhere but by her side
And you know you can’t be anywhere but by her side
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4. |
Hey Darlene
02:27
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Hey Darlene, I’d like a word with you
You’ve been thinking out loud and none of that is true
When you talk through your hat, well no one wants to hear that
Hey Darlene
Oh the return of the prodigal son
Happens every day when your work is done
Let’s not get caught up in deception
But you’ve earned his affection
Hey Darlene
Hey Darlene
(Bridge)
Oh light a fuse and let it burn
There’s a lesson to be learned
Hurling missives dripping wet in gasoline
I guess the deepest blood connection
Can somehow lead to an infection
Of the body, mind and fully vented spleen
Hey Darlene
Hey Darlene
Hey Darlene, I’m flattered just the same
You talk a lot about me
But take it all in vein
When you whisper in the night
Does your left hand know the right
Hey Darlene
Hey Darlene
Her Darlene
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5. |
40 Endings
06:19
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I stayed up all night, determined to forget about you
Thought every bottle I did drain would do the job and get me through
But in the cold light of day your name took the place of my heart
Now I don’t know where my resolve does end
or where my indecision does start
Bless all those people walking in the street holding hands
And bless the thin-skinned desires that fold when I strike up the band
You made me swear an oath to the church of my head in the sand
But now I’m down on my knees again
picking shards of you out of my hands
The forty endings to this story were all the same
You play the same cards every time
Drain the blood after the big flood
and drag my lifeless name through the mud
Dark, dark windows, won’t you save me from myself tonight
I’m just in here washing my hands,
but these stains ain’t coming out tonight
And IMHO, your hat was on a little too tight
Should you come again to darken my door,
I hope I’m running toward the light
The forty endings to this story were all the same
You play the same cards every time
Drain the blood after the big flood
and drag my lifeless name through the mud
Hey fallen star, in a two-buck-a-beer local bar
No that’s not who you once were, but now it is who you are
I stayed up all night, determined to forget about you
Thought every bottle I did drain would do the job and get me through
But in the cold light of day your name took the place of my heart
Now I don’t know where my resolve does end
No I don’t know where my resolve does end
No I don’t know where my resolve does end
or where my stupid indecision does start
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6. |
Under the Mynah Bird
04:00
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He wasn’t busy being born, but he didn’t want to stay at home
Things were moving faster than the days were flying by
And it seemed like a disaster, when the bank put you to pasture
But you came up with a new plan in the blinking of an eye
Took a job as a stock boy in a sporting goods store
Because shutting it down wasn’t something you were made for
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
More than a memory fades under the Mynah Bird
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
And didn’t know the trail you blazed
A naked singer sings a funeral song and the go-go dancers dance along
A glass box gimmick hanging out over Yorkville’s avenues
Neil Young and Rick James played there then they stole the name
Long before the Super Freak and the Buffalo Springfield
A scene was blowing up as you were breaking down
I wonder if you ever stopped to listen to that sound
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
More than a memory fades under the Mynah Bird
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
And didn’t know the trail you blazed
I hope you weren’t like Syl Apps and his truncheon army gas masks
Filling wagons with the voices of a city being born
And I’d like to think you heard something,
even just the floor boards thumpin’
After-hours in the basement filling shelves down in the store
A scene was blowing up as you were breaking down
I gotta think you must have stopped to listen to that sound
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
More than a memory fades under the Mynah Bird
You spent your last days under the Mynah Bird
And didn’t know the trail you blazed
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7. |
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8. |
Next to Me
03:08
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Let’s stay together, let’s fall apart
I blame the weather, your jealous heart
Choose to remember, I choose to forget
Life and life only, I paid my debts
Next to me, where you stand, take my blood, take my hand
Rescue me from myself, to the past may it burn in hell
Another fire, a false alarm
Behind the curtains, and safe from harm
They’ll drag the river, nothing to show
The saints, the sinners, you’ll never know
Next to me, where you stand. take my blood, take my hand
Quarter me with a smile and denial, we both walked that mile
Can’t you see, can’t you see, can’t you see, can’t you see
A heavy heart still beating cancel all my plans goodbye my friends
And if by chance we meet again
May we both hold the ground where we stand
Where we stand, where we stand, where you stand. where I stand
Next to me, next to me, take my blood, take my hand
Rescue me from myself, to the past, let it burn in hell
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9. |
The Troubadour's Song
05:58
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When I first heard Alun play the “Dust of Beijing,”
we were at the Troubadour and you’d just walked in
You wondered out loud how did my skin get so thin
But there’s so much hidden in that song,
and when a moment passes is it gone?
But I thought this year we were going to win
Now it seems so many things are coming to an end
Don’t cry for me and don’t cry for my friends
Let the last person who walks through that door
whisper goodbye to the Troubadour
The last time I stood next to her was up on these boards
But I never really figured out what she was looking for
Not a word was spoken and we both walked through that door
And in a cloud of smoke we parted ways,
now we don’t speak too much these days
And I thought this year we were going to win
Now it seems so many things are coming to an end
Don’t cry for me and don’t cry for my friends
Let the last person who walks through that door
whisper goodbye to the Troubadour
It took you by surprise, hold Kristi if she cries, I can see it in her eyes but the sun is going to rise, and we’ll drink to better days,
so keep your glasses raised,
keep your glasses raised...
Michael O’Grady please pour another round
And play the tin whistle because we need to hear that sound
And let this be one night that our feet don’t touch the ground
We’ll linger and hang on every word,
later we’ll kick the daylight to the curb
But I thought this year we were going to win
Now it seems so many things are coming to an end
Don’t cry for me and don’t cry for my friends
Let the last person who walks through that door
whisper goodbye to the Troubadour
And I thought this year we were going to win
One chapter close to let another one begin
So let’s agree for now that this is not the end
We’ll let the last person who walks through that door
whisper goodbye to the Troubadour
Let the last person who walks through that door
whisper goodbye to the Troubadour
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10. |
Jimmy & the Moon
06:54
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We are gathered here today to say goodbye
I didn’t think this day would ever come so soon, goodnight moon
And that fly up on the wall is just a fly
Nothing happens here that anyone would ever want to talk about;
tall tales, half-truths and lies
Jimmy built this pool hall then silently he documents the rise and fall
Of every boy who grew up way too soon
beneath the shadow of that moon
But now the cranes are hanging high...
Brick by brick they build it up, then all at once it’s blocking out the sky
And you can call me what you will,
but I’m not a glass-half-empty sorta guy
She whispers “you’ve been paralyzed,”
but that’s not true, I just can’t move
Fill my glass up one more time and say goodbye to Jimmy and the moon
This past winter took a toll and there were nights
I couldn’t make it down here from the second floor,
my fire escape encased in ice
And the day was coming soon, and so I cried
and prayed and cursed and put my fist right Through the kitchen wall; wonder if anybody made it there tonight?
But Jimmy kept the lights on still,
if I could get there I would be there on that corner stool
But conversation would be scarce; am I the only one who cares?
They’re putting cranes up in the sky
They dig a hole four stories deep and the cement trucks idle down Gerrard
Call me a sentimental fool,
but for sixty years I’ve called this corner my back yard
And should I fight to keep things as they are, cuz my time is coming soon
So fill my glass up one more time
and say goodbye to Jimmy and the moon
Jimmy and the moon, Jimmy and the moon...
Take one last look up to the sky
My glass half-empty, watch it die...
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The Stephen Stanley Band Toronto, Ontario
Stephen came up through the Canadian music scene with The Lowest of the Low. After years of touring, a gold record for
'Shakespeare My Butt' and some hard knocks, he thought of walking away from music. He never did quit though then his friends and fellow musicians urged him to form The new Band.
New record coming Fall 2017
All page photos by David McDonald
... more
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