We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

War Torn Man

by Rodney DeCroo

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. Paying supporters also get unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app.
    Purchasable with gift card

      name your price

     

1.
Bring It On 03:57
Out on the edge with a matador's heart, it's getting so lonely and it's getting so dark, bring it on You always were a child, lost, lonely and wild, you can try to run, you can try to hide, ah, bring it on. When I saw god's face in the sky, he had this look in his eyes, I heard him speak, and my knees went weak, bring it on. Well, I wrestled with that angel, I wrestled all night, and he dashed out my brains and he filled me with fright, bring it on. Well, you said I was a fool, you stuck your knives in my back, but you've never been where I've been and you'd never make it back, bring it on. I saw god's face in the sky, he had this look in his eyes, I heard him speak, and my knees went weak, bring it on I've been to the deep place and I've been to the dark, and I held my own my while terror froze my heart, bring it on. I talked to that angel, we talked all night, and he helped me up and he said I'd be alright, so bring it on. I saw god's face in the sky, he had this look in his eyes, I heard him speak, and my knees went weak, ah, bring it on. Out on the edge with a matador's heart, it's getting so lonely, it's getting so dark, bring it on. You always were a child lost, lonely and wild, you can try to run, you can try to hide, it's coming on. I saw god's face in the sky, he had this look in his eyes, I heard him speak, and my knees went weak, ah, bring it on.
2.
Mississippi 06:39
I went down to the river, was gonna dream a higher land. I went down to the river, a pair of sticks in my hand. I saw an old man smoking on a pipe, yeah, he was eating from a can of sardines, he said with a yellow grin, Mississippi was the lowest down place he'd ever been. I can't remember the name of that book I read, been such a long time since Woodie Guthrie, he died in his bed. Yeah, you know that old muddy river boy, it leads to nothing but sin, whores, gamblers, drunkards, just go ask old Huckleberry Finn. That old man got up, coughed twice, he spit, and he headed for the trees, said don't say nothing to nobody son because you know they're going to come looking for me. I can't remember the name of that book I read, been such a long time since Woodie Guthrie, he died in his bed. Midnight, Bourbon Street, the priest is leading the Mardi Gas procession, he got the ashes of Abraham Lincoln for the ghost theatre, time for the confession. Yeah, you know that president, he got himself a brand new chicken moon, it's hanging in a golden frame on the wall in his sister's bedroom, warships gather like storm clouds in the back of his one track mind, yeah, but Mr. President, that old muddy river's just waiting, just abiding it's time. I can't remember the name of that book I read, been such a long time since Woodie Guthrie died in his bed. Midnight, Bourbon Street, the priest is leading the Mardi Gas procession, he got the ashes of Abraham Lincoln for the ghost theatre, time for the confession. With a yellow grin he said Mississippi was the lowest down place he'd ever been, with a yellow grin he said Mississippi was the lowest down place he'd ever been, with a yellow grin he said Mississippi was the lowest down place he'd ever been.
3.
Rain Rain 03:36
Rain, rain falling down, please wash away this dirty town, my arms are empty and my head is such a mess. I lost a lover and I lost a friend, and I just don't think I can do it again. Rain, rain please wash it all away. The day runs hot and then goes cold, and everything changes and gets old, the streets in this town are stories of neglect. I've played make believe, but I can't change these things I've seen, ah rain, rain, please wash it all away. Time runs through my hands like flash flood waters through desert sands, here and gone and nothing left in its wake. And ah, those thunderclouds roll on, oh what the hell let's get it on. Oh, rain, rain please wash it all away. When you pass me in the street, please nod, smile and say something sweet. You have no idea what those little things mean to me. Because when that night comes down, we're all stuck in this dirty town. Oh rain, rain, please wash it all away.
4.
When I was a boy, I called every mister sir, and I called all them ladies maam. And my daddy loved to drink, curse and fight, and my momma stayed home with us every night. We lived in Beaufort, South Carolina, my daddy he was a Marine. And they sent him off to Vietnam, to go and fight the Viet Cong and my momma cried, and my daddy said honey be strong. General Custer was a great hero, at least you know, that was what I was told. Until I read a book called Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, oh man, what a bill of goods I'd been sold. When my daddy came back from overseas, he was as different as different could be. He hardly spoke a word, and man, his eyes did burn, just like that napalm dropped to set those people free. Now General Custer, he rides again, down the streets of poor old Baghdad. And how many people are going to die, while the president preaches freedom up on high? Freedom is the freedom to do what's right, and anything else they sell you, well they're wrong. And you might say I ain't got the right, well Mr. Bush I got the right to write this goddamn song. 'Cause when I was a boy I called every mister sir, and I called all them ladies maam. And my daddy loved to drink, curse and fight, and my momma stayed home with us every night.
5.
Stars stretched out across the night, they might not be there, sometimes you can't even trust the light. Your waist of restless sand, it dissolves in the air. I've been standing in the wilderness for forty days now, and it might be forty years. Standing in the doorway with my back to these tears, walking down the hallway love, how can you ask me if I care? Ghost summers, you know they haunt our minds. Long ago whispers, everything we left behind. Your dark hair, it's a kind of a restless wind. And I've been trying to finish, but you know, I can't even begin. Standing in the doorway with my back to these to tears, walking down the hallway love, how can you ask me if I care? Everybody's shouting now, about how they're going to get free. Me, I don't understand anyone, and I can't tell you what that word means. Do you remember that night, you held in your hands that fragile dark? Do you remember how you looked into my eyes, and then you blew out the spark? Standing in the doorway with my back to these to tears, walking down the hallway love, how can you ask me if I care?
6.
Leechburg 05:14
Down here, Leechburg town, that's where they put my daddy underground, he ain't ever going to feel the sun, down here where the Mononghela River runs. White-tailed deer in the deep pine woods, around these parts it's understood, boy, you hear that rifle crack, you better turn around and watch your back. Yeah, you don't know nothing about this. Yeah, you can't ask a man to forget. Not even Jesus Christ himself would forgive. Dark river, deep and cruel, I'll tell you what, I ain't no fool. I know where it is I come from. I know what needs to be done. Yeah, you don't know nothing about this. Yeah, you can't ask a man to forget. Not even Jesus Christ himself would forgive. Cold, black winter's night, time has come to set things right. Me and my brother's go walking out, you better turn the lights out in that company house. Yeah, you don't know nothing about this. Yeah, you can't ask a man to forget. Not even Jesus Christ himself would forgive. Down here, Leechburg town, that's where they put my daddy underground. He ain't ever going to feel the sun, down here where the Mononghela River runs.
7.
Red lights flicker across your face, signal cue for your crouched figure to step into place. And all this hurt and all this hate, sometimes darling you know my blood, it just can't wait. It gets real easy, and then you know, it's going to get real hard. It gets real easy momma, and then you know, it's going to get real hard, when you take it that far. As the sidewalk fades to black, remember when I found you, standing down by the railroad tracks? Remember how you took my arm, I said it was a lack? Remember how hard you looked at me, then you turned your head, and you laughed. It gets real easy, and then you know, it's going to get real hard. It gets real easy momma, and then you know, it's going to get real hard, when you take it that far. When the sheltering sky came down, we didn't move, we didn't make a sound, you just lay upon the ground, I think you even smiled, when the night came down. As the sun starts to fade, I know you're thinking about all the debts you left unpaid. I know you're wondering what I would say. Honey, that's what you get, when you always get your own way. It gets real easy, and then you know, it's going to get real hard. It gets real easy momma, and then you know, it's going to get real hard, when you take it that far. When the sheltering sky came down, we didn't move, we didn't make a sound, you just lay upon the ground, I think you even smiled, when the night came down.
8.
Whiskey 06:01
Whiskey, whiskey, in my viens, every time I drink it I go insane. Went and got my old hunting knife. I talked to the man that talked to my wife. Oh that old storm broke out in my head. Oh a man lay at my feet, that man lay dead. Oh momma, look what happened to me, I killed a man momma, they gonna hang me. Whiskey, you steal my soul. Oh whiskey, you be the devil's tool. My daddy drank that whiskey all the time. That whiskey it rot my daddy's mind. He'd sit in the corner and he'd talk to himself. My daddy died in some jail. Oh momma, look what happened to me, I killed a man momma, they gonna hang me. Whiskey, you steal my soul. Oh whiskey, you be the devil's tool. I'm never going to see my sweet Becky's eyes, I'm never going to rock between her thighs. Rest of my days in this cold hard cell, and then my soul straight to hell. Oh momma, look what happened to me, I killed a man momma, they gonna hang me. Whiskey, you steal my soul. Oh whiskey, you be the devil's tool.
9.
Black Smoke 05:50
Black smoke, curling through her hands, she heard the news, she heard the plan. A man stands, outside a bank, he's hesitating, not sure if he should thank. Walk on, the air is clear. Just walk on, black smoke. A line of white trucks, slide through the town, a satellite, has just come down. A man stands, outside a bank, he's hesitating, not sure if he should thank. Walk on, the air is clear. Just walk on, black smoke. An arrowhead, dug from the earth. A young girl dreams, this is going to hurt. A man stands, outside a bank, he's hesitating, not sure if he should thank. Walk on, the air is clear. Just walk on, black smoke.
10.
Hanging like a banner from a frozen charade, the overcoat shroud haunts the dust cafe, and a wild eyed black herald went riding away, with a Peruvian singer at his side. And high above Machu Picchu, the wild condor flies, high above the gathering paper lies, and out on the plains, your ghost horses run, if only you would recall. And your black ribbons flutter in the air, but nobody sees them there, the highway that runs through your hands and your hair when you call. Out on the streets of San Antone, you told me you wanted to be alone, so I walked and I talked for miles by myself, but you know I could not understand. This song of muscle and this song of bone, and the faces that come and the faces that go, and I knew in the end I stand here alone, when the day finally came. And your black ribbons flutter in the air, but nobody sees them there, the highway that runs through your hands and your hair when you call. Pigeons on the roof, doves in the sky, I can still see the shadows in your blue eyes. And I wonder now, would you still be surprised, if I had just said what I meant. And this light yes it breaks, but this light it never ends, and that Peruvian singer found a mountain for a friend, and he climbed up its side like a forgotten face, and there in the rain he cried. And your black ribbons flutter in the air, but nobody sees them there, the highway that runs through your hands and your hair when you fall. And your black ribbons flutter in the air, but nobody sees them there, the highway that runs through your hands and your hair when you call. Hanging like a banner from frozen charade, an overcoat shrouds haunts the dust cafe, and a wild eyed black herald went riding away, with a Peruvian singer at his side.
11.
Play that electric accordion boy, play it like a broken lung, sing until your throat gets hoarse, get the job done. I walked out on a ledge, I stared straight into the sun, I saw all my circus animals on the run. Oh my wide open heart, Oh wide open heart, Oh my wide open heart, it's all I got. There's a choir of water angels, right behind my eyes. I can feel the rhythm in my blood, it's no surprise. After the rain, the street's a veil of tears, I can feel the sound, it's everywhere. Oh my wide open heart, Oh wide open heart, Oh my wide open heart, it's all I got. I heard the news, they caught the last wild horse yesterday, mane flowing wild and free down the runway. He was foaming at the mouth, but when I looked into his eyes, I saw a world of stars burning by. Oh my wide open heart, Oh wide open heart, Oh my wide open heart, it's all I got. Oh my wide open heart, Oh wide open heart, Oh my wide open heart, it's all I got.
12.
Blue Rooms 05:03
There's a room in the sky, where the bluebirds all fly, and all the tears in the world have been dried, and I know it's true because once I looked inside, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. One side is right and one side is wrong, and if you get past that you'll get this song, I sure as hell hope it don't take us too long, Blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. At the center of time where meet all the lines, like spokes in a wheel rolling along just fine, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. I've been up and man, I've been down, and I've been this whole wide world around. It's all the same if you listen for the sound, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. At the center of time where meet all the lines, like spokes in a wheel rolling along just fine, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. When comes the day for me to die, I hope no one I know sits around and cries, 'cause I've just gone back to my place in that sky, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms. At the center of time where meet all the lines, like spokes in a wheel rolling along just fine, blue rooms, blue rooms, blue rooms.
13.
War Torn Man 05:26
My daddy be a war torn man, he just do the best he can. That damn war marked him for life, and he can't keep a lover, and he can't keep a wife. My daddy don't like to be touched, and he don't like to talk too much. He stands distant most of the time, he's got trouble on his mind. He got dreams that make hard men weep. He got dreams that make it hard to sleep. He does things that you say you cannot understand. Maybe you can't understand, because you ain't no war torn man. My daddy roams from town to town, he don't like to settle down, he's got demons chase him 'round, he's got secrets buried in the ground. Once I heard my daddy cry. I was six and I didn't know why. All alone in the living room dark, with a bottle, a shotgun, a bombed out heart. He got dreams that make hard men weep. He got dreams that make it very hard to sleep. He does things that you say you cannot understand. Maybe you can't understand, because you ain't no war torn man. Once I heard my daddy speak, he said I learned this knowledge boy, I learned it deep, life is fragile, life is cheap, I found bodies piled in a heap. That burned flesh and gasoline smell, filled my nostrils as the wind swelled, and I knew then devil didn't make hell, man did it himself and he did it really fucking well. He got dreams that make hard men weep. He got dreams that make it hard to sleep. He does things you say you cannot understand. Maybe you can't understand, because you ain't no war torn man.

credits

released February 15, 2006

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Rodney DeCroo Vancouver, British Columbia

contact / help

Contact Rodney DeCroo

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Rodney DeCroo recommends:

If you like Rodney DeCroo, you may also like: