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Jack Blackman

by Jack Blackman

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1.
Moving Train 03:27
Past opportunities, missed connections are what can hold you back All you need are some clear directions to set you on the right track Would you be there to lead away temptation if I was caught out in the rain? You know you can stand all day at the station but it won’t stop a moving train Duff information, false expectation it can obscure the view Just as you’re ready for the next destination, heading for places new The taste of disappointment and another missed chance will forever in your throat remain But only you can get yourself up and on the next train And all those people who are in the know and their advice held in high esteem They’ll never go where you and I go; they’ll never see what we’ve seen So here’s to the sceptics who are willing to reject it and leave you all on your own That’s alright I’m coming to get you I’m on the next train home Next train home
2.
I just fell down a deep dark hole Lost my way and I stumbled through the murky depths below But it’s not that the sun has gone It’s just a temporary lunar eclipse And we’ll have things right in order before you know Walking ‘till I’m hollow, without a soul around to tell And I feel like an illusion in the eyes of someone else But it’s best not pay too much attention You know you might just ruin your health But I don’t get on that much better with myself With myself, with myself Don’t pretend that I need your help And I don’t get on that much better with myself Time doesn’t stand for those who long for it to find them Don’t state your mind in silence But it’s not that the sun has gone It’s just a temporary lunar eclipse And we’ll have things right in order before you know
3.
I tried to write you a letter But got distracted by the night The moon was in the gutter Laughing up at streetlights So I’m sitting here procrastinating And if a song appears I’ll catch it With ashes on my guitar Temptation haunts the careful man He who thinks that he’s a saint She will make a user from those With the strongest self-restraint So save some for tomorrow Just remember where you stash it Ashes on my guitar All I have is a book of matches Smoke for dreams and nicotine patches And no means of knowing where you are But I’ll be here ‘til these strings rust And I’m cast dust to dust And ashes To ashes on my guitar If I should meet the devil I will laugh into his face ‘Cause I’ve seen darker evil Walk the streets of this old place There’s a little spark in all of us It’s just whether the fire catches Ashes on my guitar All I have is a book of matches Smoke for dreams and nicotine patches And no means of finding where you are But I’ll be here ‘til these strings rust And I’m cast dust to dust And ashes To ashes on my guitar
4.
Whisky Grave 03:22
Well the handwritten sign it said, “Service every Sunday” I walk over to the spot beneath two pecan trees Over here they’ve got their reasons to pray Even in this heat they’ll find a way to believe ‘Cause I know my redeemer lives, my soul he will save Just bury me at Three Forks and pour whisky on my grave Tempers are raging, inhibitions are down It's just a little wooden shack west out of town But you don’t drink from a bottle that’s touched jealous hands You don’t mess with a woman who’s messing with her man Howling like a dog, ravaged and crazed He passed out of this world through a whisky grave For some of us heaven’s a long way away But we’d all lost a saviour once that night turned to day ‘Cause when he’d snap and slide on steel And lay a heel upon this floor Even a broken man would let his spirit soar And after all that was said and done and everything he gave He lies waiting until judgement in a whisky grave
5.
Spring had come early that Valentine’s Day The last of the winter had all but melted away In the town of Lower Quinton he watched the first buds grow And with his pitchfork and slash hook off a-hedging he did go Some said that he knew the old ways of the land And had seen him with the animals eating out of his hand But he’d worked hard all his life, his own business he did mind And he was always home by four come rain or shine So when she came by his door and found him still gone Nightfall was drawing near now, she knew something was wrong She called for the farmer in whose fields he‘d been And they made their way up Meon Hill where he was last seen They say the devil himself made Meon Hill And at night the black dogs roam there still Beneath an old willow tree, his body they found Through the neck his own pitchfork it pinned him to the ground The police could find no motive, the detective at a loss But that cut across his chest was in the shape of a cross Because 70 years ago, just a few miles away In Long Compton she was found pinned and marked the same way But this time the motive was clear, the defendant said of it, “There is no other way for to get rid of a witch” So was old Charles Walton part of something more? And killed in suspicion of what he did or saw Though this was long ago are we really beyond that? When the need for justice overcomes that of fact
6.
One of these days, I ain’t gonna say The first thing that comes into my head that’ll be taken the wrong way ‘Cause half the time I’m talking, and the other half I’m being told To make amends for what I’ve said and patch up that hole Patch up that hole, patch up that hole Before you burn that bridge, and you’re left in the cold I didn’t mean to hurt you, I’m sorry you know I’m gonna get out my needle, and patch up that hole When you’ve placed all your bets, and it’s time the cards were played I’m always the first to lay my hand down on the grade But when the stakes are raised I’m always the last to fold And I’m left wondering where my money’s gone so I’d better patch up that hole Patch up that hole, patch up that hole Before your money’s all gone, and you’re left in the cold Don’t gamble with good fortune, only gamble with gold I’m gonna get out my needle, and patch up that hole I’ve been walking a long time, my dreams I’ve sold I’m gonna get out my needle, and patch up that hole The words are brand new, but the story’s old I’m gonna get out my needle and patch up that hole I’m gonna get out my needle and patch up that hole
7.
Well, the leaves are turning, the moon’s on its way Time turns to leaving, but I don’t feel like going away I’ll hang about, like an old shirt you can’t bring yourself to chuck out And it seems half my life’s been spent just kicking around There’s only so much river jumping you can do in this town That’s alright; I’m not the type Never was my kinda game Everyone’s looking for something they can find Once you’ve found it you realise it’s been here the whole time That’s sod’s law, seen it before So don’t tell it me no more And the hills are burning, outside’s cold as clay Time turns to evening but it aint been long since day And I’m sitting in a hotel with the TV on low And Honeyboy Edwards is the last one to go
8.
There’s a dead frog in the road How it got there I don’t know But at a guess I’d say it was crossing to the other side Aint it funny how things can twist? With all the warnings that you have missed Along the course of passing through this old life If this world should end today Could you look me in the eye and say That you made a change around here for all to see? ‘Cause at the moment it feels like this I’ll never make it on that list And this old life will be the death of me This old life It’ll pass you the rough edge of the knife Bind you up and leave you tied It will rob a poor man blind Steal the pennies from your eyes while you’re asleep But that’s alright, that’s alright Don’tcha tell me otherwise ‘Cause this old life will be the death of me You may block the way I choose Tie together both my shoes Still I’ll get to where I’m going eventually But in my dreams there is more Than it seems is here in store And this old life will be the death of me This old life It’ll pass you the rough edge of the knife Bind you up and leave you tied It will rob a poor man blind Steal the pennies from your eyes while you’re asleep But that’s alright, that’s alright Don’tcha tell me otherwise ‘Cause this old life will be It’s just a drop in the sea This old life will be the death of me
9.
I hear no whisper in the wireless, only static on the dial And I can’t account for all those lost miles There’s a cold front crossing the Midwest, I believe it’s Fargo bound My head’s heavy as the fog that’s lifting from the ground So don’t try and get hold of me; you know I’m out of range I won’t come up on your radar, I’ll make your signals go strange ‘Round here the roads all lead somewhere, but somewhere really far And the skies are the colour of a sunburst guitar Sometimes your cards will come up, sometimes they’ll disappear Sometimes they’ll lead you to the thing you long for the most All the while the wheel is turning and just as soon as we’re here We’re gone once more, and I’m searching for Buddy Holly’s ghost There’s an angel in the rear-view, there’s a catcher in the rye An apparition of innocence behind horn-rimmed eyes And the cold front crosses the Midwest, I believe it’s Fargo bound My head’s heavy as the plane that’s lifted from the ground Sometimes your cards will come up, but no matter what you’ve got I will always win the game but I’m not one to boast And I’m reading your future outside a corner shop And every night I’m haunted by Buddy Holly’s ghost And every night I’m haunted by Buddy Holly’s ghost And all my life I’m haunted by Buddy Holly’s ghost

credits

released June 2, 2013

All songs written by Jack Blackman
All instruments played by Jack Blackman
Recorded and mixed by Ally Jowett at Leeds College of Music

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Jack Blackman West Midlands, UK

‘Blues has a bright future’ – Maverick Magazine

Jack Blackman is fast developing into one the most accomplished and exciting performers on the acoustic roots scene today. His guitar playing has been described as ‘exquisite', and his songs have been generating a great deal of attention from the music industry.
'You won’t find fault with this full length masterpiece' - Rhythm & Booze Magazine
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