1. |
Broken Street
02:55
|
|||
Broken Street - Words & Music: Jonathon Ferris 1/20/2014
V1 I wanna rage at the dying of the light
‘cause nothing in my world seems right
The night is usually my friend
but now, like my baby, were on the skid
Chorus As the sun goes down and the darkness comes
On my hometown, I hear the streetlights hum
Only other sound is my shuffling feet
In a dead end town, on a broken street
V2 My baby and I were a pair of live wires
I always thought our love would catch the city on fire
Our burning love turned to hate
My world crashed down, quick, too late
Chorus
Bridge Smoke and ash fill the air
but I still feel her touch, still smell her hair
Wish I could retrace, where it went wrong
Was it love or just a sirens song
Chorus 2x
Outro Where did my love go?
|
||||
2. |
Save Me
01:54
|
|||
Save Me - Words and Music by: Jonathon Ferris 2/5/2014
V1 When I’m out on a limb that’s threatening to break
When I’m about to make a choice that’ll leave destruction in my wake
When I’m about to say something that should stay unsaid
and I’m running around like a chicken with no head
I need you, I need you, to save me
V2 When I’m going off on tangents, bouncing all around
carrying a blowtorch, going to burn this to the ground
When I’m running with scissors with my shoes tied together
Breaking up my mirrors while going under ladders
I need you, I need you, to save me
Bridge: Grab me by the arm, smack in the face
Point me to the safety of a hiding place
Remind me that you love me, kiss me on the lips
Do whatever it may take for me to get a grip, save me
V3 I’ll do the same for you when you’re running in hysterics
but today I have the pen and I’m writing down these lyrics
So when I’m walking ‘round with a blank stare
Show me something big and obvious to tell me that you care
I need you, I need you
I need you, I need you
I need you, I need you, to save me
Save me
|
||||
3. |
I'll Pay the Tolls
03:08
|
|||
I’ll Pay the Toll - Words and Music by Jonathon Ferris 2/11/2014
V1 Double check the bags, one last sweep of the room
Load up the car, throw on some tunes
The suns first glows, still hours away
A tired moon and stars are on display
Chorus Heading out down the road, destination far away
(1.) Cup of coffee in my hand, form our hotel stay
(2.) Drinking that cold pop from that truck-stop on I-8
(3.) Living on diner food, whatever’s on that blue plate
Tonight it’s another stop still far from out goal
but as long as you ride beside me, I will pay the tolls
V2 Now the sun in blazing ‘cross this desert land
Chasing down the next mirage, just finding more dry land
We might be a rollin’ , faster than a tumbleweed
But still feel wind whipped, some direction is what I need
Chorus
V3 There’s Rose-Yellow Moon, rising in the east
In the cobalt sky, not a cloud to be seen
yeah that horizon is still so far away
But we’ll be beyond it before we end our day
Chorus
|
||||
4. |
||||
Chasing My Heart All Around
Words by: Jonathon Ferris 2/26/2014
Music by: Jonathon Ferris 2/27/2014
v1 Where are you? Where have you gone my dear?
Who you might be loving is my only fear
From Fleming’s Point to the Berry Patch
Driving ‘round Flint in my Pontiac
Where are you and where have you gone my dear?
v2 I’m chasing my heart all around this town
I’m feeling blue without you around
Don’t know how long I can go this way
Staying up all night and through the day
I’m chasing my heart all around this down
Bridge: East Gate, Mott Park, and States Avenues
Chevy in the hole, there’s no sign of you
Downtown, Carriage Town, Sugar Hill, Selby
Wherever you are I just want you beside me
v3 I’m chasing my heart till the moon goes down
I’m getting the feeling that your not in town
I go by your house, I go by again
Your father gives me that shot gun grin
I’m chasing my heart till the moon goes down
I’m chasing my heart till the sun goes down
I’m chasing my heart all around this town
|
||||
5. |
Sour Mash
02:56
|
|||
Sour Mash - Words & Music by Jonathon Ferris 3/5/2014
v1 Back in the days of Prohibition
our throats parched like the sand
we ran ourselves a nice little still house
in the hollow on our land
v2 Selling gasoline out the front door
and white lightning out the back
fueling the tractors and farmers alike
with our high octane stash
Chorus Oh how the whiskey poured and
oh how the liquor ran
oh how the smell of that sour mash
flowed sweetly ‘cross the land
v3 Most folks couldn’t figure out
how our two pump stop survived
in the middle of absolute nowhere
without a house in sight
Chorus
v4 Then came the day when FDR said
“What this country needs is a drink.”
and our sweet still turned into a sour house
we closed that station the next week
Chorus
|
||||
6. |
On Lake Ponchartrain
02:45
|
|||
On Lake Pontchartrain - Words and Music: Jonathon Ferris 3/18/2014
V1 Down here the water flows slow
Under heavy air
There’s a gator in the swimming hole
you sit under sweaty hair
Sipping on an ice cold coke
wishing it would just rain
on life goes by slow
On Lake Pontchartrain
V2 Spanish moss hanging in the trees
swaying in the wind
dark clouds come from the gulf
there’s a bad storm blowing in
Though your house is up on stilts
the waves can roll over your pain
and take it to the bottom
On Lake Pontchartrain
V3 You hope that it’s nice and dry
wherever she may roam
but you sit out on your deck
let’n the storm soak you to the bone
most people will go inside
and think that you’re insane
watch Louisiana lightning
On Lake Pontchartrain
Tag watching Louisiana lighting
On Lake Pontchartrain
|
||||
7. |
Now It's as Ever as Ever
02:38
|
|||
Now It’s As Ever As Ever - Words & Music by Jonathon Ferris 4/10/2014
V1 You always talk of switching tracks
the other line goes farther
There’s always problems holding you back
it causes you to think why bother
Now something great is coming down that way
you’d sure hate to miss it
Make that change too soon or too late
and you’ll be the one to get hit
Well if there was a time for you to pull the lever
Now it’s as ever as ever
V2 Climbing up the corporate ladder
isn’t that was school was for
Tell me how many years and degrees
does it take to get through the door
Comparing yourself to the Joneses
always put a tear in your eye
and all those things you thought you needed
are slowly sucking you dry
If there was a line for you to grab and sever
Now it’s as ever as ever
V3 Plotting and scheming, selling your junk,
working your fingers to the bone
Ignoring those rings on the phone,
when it says “caller unknown”
Running all the numbers,
sometimes robbing Paul to pay Peter
Looking over your shoulder to make sure
that Judas doesn’t cry “cheater”
If there was a time for you to get clever
Now it’s as ever as ever
Tag If there was a time where it’s now or never
Now it’s as ever as ever
|
||||
8. |
Run Past Your Windows
03:08
|
|||
Run Past Your Windows - Words & Music: Jonathon Ferris 4/24/2014
V1 Don’t know what I’m gonna do
I live four doors down from you
Makes no sense to go around the block
Can’t hold myself together, I’m not a solid rock
Chorus: When I run past your windows run by your door
My hands shake you’ve rocked me to the core
I cry myself to sleep laying on the floor
Don’t want you to see me like this no more
V2 All the neighbors think I’m insane
Running down our street like it’s pouring rain
When the suns out not a cloud to be seen
I see you on the front porch, those legs long and lean
Chorus
V3 Think I might have to up and move
I’ve got to decide, the rents due soon
Even though it will make a landlord steamed
I won’t have to worry about seeing the new man of your dreams
Chorus 2x
Tag and I don’t want to be like this no more
no I don’t want to be like this no more
|
||||
9. |
Shep and Ray
03:16
|
|||
Shep and Ray
Words by: Jonathon Ferris 5/20/2014
Music by: Jonathon Ferris 5/21/2014
V1 I knew an old man back in the day
Had a lazy boy Shep and a dog named Ray
The old man got Ray when Shep was five
Shep called him “Ray Dog” for his whole life
called him “Ray Dog” for his whole life
Ray Dog
V2 Shep and Ray went fishing in the pond
Ray caught the fish, Shep dangled a rod
If Shep tossed a frisbee, Ray would catch
‘Course it’s only ten feet he had to fetch
only ten feet he had to fetch
Ray Dog
V3 As time goes on, you tend to slow down
Shep slid into neutral, Ray roamed around
Dog’s can’t play those video games
There’s always new trees to sit in their shade
always new trees to sit in their shade
Ray Dog
V4 Shep’s dad said “son go outdoors
Ray’s getting old his hips are sore”
Shep said “alright after [I] get top score”
But before the game ended Ray was stiff as a board
before the game ended Ray was stiff as a board
Ray Dog
V5 Shep dug Ray a hole near the property line
Most work he’d done since he was nine
Went back to the basement, layer right down
Shep was deeper in the ground than that dead hound
deeper in the ground than that dead hound
Ray Dog
Ray Dog
|
||||
10. |
In the Dark of the Night
02:30
|
|||
In the Dark of the Night - Words & Music by Jonathon Ferris 5/28/2014
V1 If I can steal it, and conceal it
So later on I can reveal it
I want to tell you, can’t wait to tell you
but I’ll wait ‘till it’s just us two (‘cause)
PC In the dark of the night (I’m in the dark of night)
When the moment is right (and the moment is right)
I’m gonna pull you near (I pull you near)
and whisper in your ear (and whisper in your ear)
Chorus I wanna to hold you
I wanna to kiss you
and love you true
V2 Tonight were dancing, we’re all prancing
I want to be with you alone romancing
Trying to stay cool, not to be a fool
Never was in the “in crowd” at high school (but)
PC Chorus
Bridge Most girls left me on the side lines
Some girls left me on the floor
One left me by the punch bowl
But that ain’t gonna to happen to me no more (‘cause)
PC
Chorus
V3 Step out for fresh air, the cold night air
No one will know that we’re not there
That look in your eyes, caught me by surprise
and that’s when I realize
(PC)
Chorus 3x
Tag Love You True
|
||||
11. |
On the Up and UP
02:20
|
|||
On the Up and Up - Words & Music: Jonathon Ferris 6/21/2014
V1 I can see your face
just a trace of the past
It was all that they wrote
when the votes were all cast
C1 But I’m sure you’ll report
There was nothing of that sort
It was all on the up and up
It was all on the up and up
V2 I can tell in the way
what you say is a lie
What you’re feeling inside
try to hide, want to cry
C2 But I’m sure you’ll just grin
Though it’s a shame and a sin
There was nothing on the up and up
There was nothing on the up and up
Bridge You’re covering the tracks of the ones you adore
Selling yourself till you can’t give no more
Stop the presses you don’t want to let this erupt
It doesn’t matter if it’s not on the up and up
V3 The stories on-line
don’t align with the signs
you’ll drown all the costs
what was lost in the brine
C3 It’s just a footnote
and all that you wrote
[it was all on the up and up
it was all done on the up and up] repeat 2x
|
||||
12. |
Change in the Air
03:27
|
|||
Change in the Air
Words: Jonathon Ferris 7/1/2014
Music: Jonathon Ferris 7/2/2014
V1 I woke up this morning, and the day was already hot
It seemed to say to me “Can you take what I got?”
PC1 Now the sun is down, and the heat is gone
It’s summertime so that won’t last long
but now that I’ve made it, I think I can make it again
Chorus: I can feel a change in the air
It’s about to break open
I can feel a change in the air
A wish for what I’ve been hoping
So here I stand with my arms open wide
My face to the wind and the stars in my eyes
I can feel a change in the air
I can feel a change
V2 The storm rolled on by and took down some limbs
but it’s always the weakest part that’s getting trimmed
PC2 I still see the lighting flash in the east
The thunder still rolls over me
but now that I’ve made it, I think I can make it again
Chorus
PC3 Change in the seasons, change of the guard
Change is a constant, it can be so hard
but now that we’ve made it, I think we’ll make it again
Chorus
Tag
|
||||
13. |
||||
I’ll Meet You Half Way Renee’ - Words & Music: Jonathon Ferris 7/7/2014
V1 Our paths have criss-crossed
Many the years long
and our meetings are always good but brief
and every time we catch up
and exchange our thoughts
It always seems to be a relief
V2 Now here I am up north
in the Great Lakes State
and you’re below the Mason Dixson line
but I know there’ll be a next time
let’s not let it fly by
and once again we’ll both feel fine
Chorus A thousand miles of traffic
stand in our way
but I’d still drive it all any old day
and if you’re willing too
that makes it easier to do
I’d be glad to meet you half way Renee’
I’d be glad to meet you half way Renee’
V3 Michigan’s not good to you
especially in winter
I know that up here you would freeze
but deep south summers
are much too hot for me
So how about Nashville in the spring?
Chorus 2x
Outro ad lib
|
Jonathon Ferris Detroit, Michigan
Americana-Folk put through a great lakes industrial complex filter: you would think Jonathon Ferris did his writing sitting in a coffee shop on the edge of Detroit, looking across the street at an old barn on the verge of collapse. Down to earth, but street smart, a small town boy who loves the big city, he can spot a Packard at 100 yards, and tell you what's growing in that farmers field. ... more
Streaming and Download help
If you like Jonathon Ferris, you may also like:
Bandcamp Daily your guide to the world of Bandcamp