Get all 5 Jake Shane releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of High Desert Hymns, Kalina & Other Modern Myths, Water To Land, Evening Sounds, and Ancient Fire.
1. |
||||
|
I was burned and burned out
But I came back again
Against the black meridian
Your shadow told me then
That hell had been invented
But it couldn’t stop the sins
The orphans, the Ophelia’s
The persecuted skins
We ought to be ashamed
To think we know what’s right
Oh, baby, it’s all going to end tonight
Your shining dark gray eyes
Hold the image of the sun
But you know that all reflection
Is a lie the mind has spun
While peasants dream of stone and bread
And cross themselves with thunder
Devils ready sharp their hooks
And wait to pull them under
As we struggle in the darkness
To try to find the light
Oh, baby, it’s all going to end tonight
One still summer evening
A window open wide
A mother kneeling broken cried
With nothing left to hide
Held her son out up for God
In the slant of the setting sun
To the holy image haloed high
She prayed him for protection
That memory seared into his soul
And still shines burning bright
Oh, baby, we might just make it tonight
Oh, baby, we might just make it tonight
|
||||
2. |
Queen Of Eternity
03:23
|
|||
|
Swinging, Judas swinging from an aspen tree
Jesus payed him back for all his loyalty
There’s a brandy glass broken beneath his feet
And a bottle in his hand
This world was just too much for him to stand
This world was just too much for him to stand
Drowning, David drowning out his doubts
Singing, “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out”
His blues harp cast on the cold, cold ground
No ink left in his pen
All his songs won’t bring his child back again
All his songs can’t bring his child back again
Cursing, Joseph cursing his new wife’s name
He didn’t do it, and someone’s to blame
“It must’ve been the farmer, or maybe the priest”
He mumbles as he aims his twenty-two
At the dove eating bread by the statue
At the dove eating bread by the statue
Lying, Queen of Eternity lying on the sand
You touched my eyes with your water-glazed hand
Then whispered in my ear, as if I couldn’t hear
“I know the Truth, follow me to find it out”
But angel lady, the Truth isn’t what counts
But angel lady, the Truth isn’t what counts
|
||||
3. |
Ashes All Fall Down
04:50
|
|
||
|
I can see the future in your eyes it’s on fire
And the buildings are burning to the ground
You are so somber as if nothing is to live for
And the ashes are all falling down
The ashes all fall down
A thousand men marching as one beating heart
To the rhythm of a common progenitor
Where manmade borders were touched by the soldiers
It began but don’t anybody ask why for
The day it was darkened with bullets and bodies
And the joy in the world grew less
There you were, expecting your ruin
When rain led the iron sky to rust
Fragmented thoughts floated inside droplets
Of crystal silence falling one by one
Like an ocean for an imagination
Clotting just like blood before the sun
My child have you lost your innocent yearning
To find out what it is to exist?
Have you forgotten the whirlwind you’re caught in
Is as fleeting as the memories you miss?
I heard you say yesterday
“Nothing matters anyway
All is made to perish in time
And the world is spinning its demise”
Well if that’s true and I were you
I’d enjoy it all while it lasts
And not worry about the future or the past
Even the dreams of a prophet like you
Could not foresee the darkness of this night
I can only wonder where you are at this moment
Beyond the scope of this stargazer’s sight
A candle flame dances to the orchestra wind
Playing sharp through a cracked window
I guessed not you would go so soon
And leave me here conversing with the shadows
As the ashes are all falling down
The ashes all fall down
|
||||
4. |
Upon The Earthen Floor
03:01
|
|||
|
Welcome to the masquerade ball
Come inside before the rain begins to fall
Meet the Jack of Hearts, the Queen of Spades
Give your coat to the butler, your hat to the maid
Grab a truffle, chocolate, caviar
Listen to the blind man play guitar
And the Jews sound the fiddle and the cymbals all night
We might be bad but the world is all right
As moments flying across the room
Are buried in the earthen floor
Little Boy Blue leaps onto a table
Lets everybody know that he’s young and able
Swears the age of silver souls is over
As samovars steam-dance right off the stove
Rain is rapping and candles are lit
Gregory the butler is losing his wits
Girl in the corner on an easy chair
Softly sips champagne and stares
At her reflection in a crystal vase
Broken on the earthen floor
In flies the Falcon to find his bride
Looking like Jekyll, feeling like Hyde
He spies her in the corner of the room
Wearing a black butterfly costume
And Madame Bovary is pouring tea
Telling Othello what she wants to be
The chorus sings of diamonds and pearls
A fool dancing the mazurka twirls
One too many times and falls
Hard upon the earthen floor
Hollow men whimper as cards are dealt
Candles on the table melt
The Jack and Queen watch the game unfold
Everyone squints at the stacks of gold
Bets are placed and aces call
Glasses clatter out in the hall
The loser calls the winner a cheat
Kicks and punches and the winner is beat
A full house falls at the bruised man’s feet
Cold upon the earthen floor
Well everything eventually came to a head
Nobody knows exactly what was said
But the Falcon was slapped and spit and swore
Barreled his way to the broken down door
Over the fool on the floor he tripped
Knocked the fiddler’s bow from his grip
It landed on a candle and set to flame
All of the cards in the gambler’s game
The whole place burned from the chimney top
Right down to the earthen floor
|
||||
5. |
Take This Scarlet Thread
04:47
|
|||
|
Take this scarlet thread and bind it fast
To this table so I can escape at last
Out the window, down the tower
Through the metal garden gates
God knows why they’re open
But there is no time to wait
I must run, run away from the light
Out of this garden to fulfill my appetite
Across the burning cities of the plain
Over the mountains to finally regain
The sickness, the war, the death of my youth
The cold satisfaction of knotting the noose
Far from this place of unending elegance
Inside a cave of fire and deliverance
Where the drums beat and the woman in red
Takes me hand in hand to join the dance
As I grope through this grove of fruit long forbidden
I long to grip what the gardener has hidden
Under the rock’s rising red shadow
Over the river’s sinking sick yellow
Haze staining pillars forged with salt
And melting halos down into asphalt
Where the sailor lies with pearl eyes
By the bones of the prophet who dreamed his demise
And the hangman himself without disguise
Hangs out with the butcher among the flies
Moaning, “How many more do you need?
How many more do you want me to bleed?”
And the drums beat and the woman in red
Takes me hand in hand to join the dance
You let me get to the edge of the mount
I started to think I was finally out
As I entered the darkness of a distant land
And reached out to touch it with trembling hands
It was then that the brass began to blow
Echoed the mountain, eclipsed by your shadow
And your voice brought me down to my knees
Stitched my hands together to plea
As the drums beat and the woman in red
Forced my eyes wide to watch you dance
Selah!
|
||||
6. |
Where Could It Be?
04:33
|
|||
|
In the beginning there was God, then Eden, Adam, Eve
At least that’s what you used to tell me you believed
Those were the days when death never came
And no one did anything anyone else could blame
That was the first and last time everybody got along
And even then it didn’t take too long for everything to go wrong
The blood Cain tasted was bitter but it was free
Now we have no choice but to bear the agony
Oh where, oh where, could it be, that long lost harmony?
The sentimentalists are searching among the wreckage
of the past
As if anything they find they will really want to last
And the godless claim they’re clever but know that they are not
Because they’ve lost all direction without any ‘should’ or ‘ought’
You are still waiting for Him to return with the law
But I heard He already came back and didn’t much like
what He saw
What good is hell, my brother, for crimes already done?
Why wouldn’t a good God prevent every single one?
Oh where, oh where, could it be, that long lost harmony?
In the end nobody knows but now everything means so much
I guess that’s how it goes when you’ve got this human crutch
You say you feel a presence deep down forever unknown
Well some things are better when they’re left alone
And while nobody is listening, brother let me tell this to you
I have no idea if anything I’ve ever said is true
But when I’m beneath the cypress tree all dirt and bone
And you come singing softly like a river over stone
Oh there, oh there, it will be, that long lost harmony
|
||||
7. |
Ancient Fire
05:05
|
|||
|
I stand still in the cathedral square
The muddy ground, the brutal air
The lamppost lights the notebook page
A poem placed inside a cage
Between me and the widow’s house
The vagabond, the church’s mouse
And from an open door I hear
Someone whisper, “The end is near”
A nervous laugh, a slipping tear
The silence falling over fear
And for a moment it is almost clear
The crackling sound so very dear
That ancient fire, that one desire, within
Just beyond the lamppost light
Three nuns are walking through the night
Muttering memorized liturgy
Dried up psalms and eulogies
A sidewalk child folds a paper rose
A prisoner quietly changes clothes
On a nearby bench a blackbird looms
The wind carries a maiden’s perfume
Into the widow’s smoke-filled room
Illuminated by the moon
And through the crack of a forgotten tomb
Leaking like static at a faint volume
Comes that ancient fire, that one desire, within
I went to the river’s only bridge
Below a shivering black image
Upon each breath a silent dare
Water flowing past in prayer
As if this life repeats eternally
I will live accordingly
For deeper than the vagabond’s leather stare
The widow’s longing and despair
Brighter than the lamppost glare
Stronger than the child’s first nightmare
Quiet as the mouse underneath the stairs
The ceaseless hiss of decompressing air
It’s that ancient fire, that one desire, within
|
||||
8. |
Away With The Rain
05:06
|
|||
|
Oh, how fortunes change like lightning strikes
And consequences roll like thunder
In the flashing darkness wind licks my lips
Whispers in my ear to go under
And from on top of the hill I hear someone say
“If you go you must be your own savior”
And the voices of hammers pound in the night
And the stars and the flag wane and waiver
But I will not throw down my cup
Until the last drop has been drained
Only then I’ll climb the hill one more time
Lie down and wash away with the rain
The bricks beneath my knees are still cold and wet with fog
Like these thoughts that I can’t quite get a hold on
It’s been dark for a while and my hands are hard and worn
But I think I finally see the first steel shade of dawn
And as I make out the lines of my shadow I know
That I am still a stonemason’s son
And I will lay and play my path and part
Under blood and sweat and sun
And I will not throw down my cup
Until the last drop has been drained
Only then I’ll climb the hill one more time
Lie down and wash away with the rain
The sun is shining in the amber sky
Onto Spanish fishermen who row
Toward seagulls circling the horizon
Toward a promise that will be fulfilled tomorrow
From the shore comes the voice of my father
Nearly overtaken by the shadows
Singing “If I Forget Thee Jerusalem”
And the waves crashing just like a piano
And I will not throw down my cup
Until the last drop has been drained
Only then I’ll climb the hill one more time
Lie down and wash away with the rain
|
||||
9. |
Greater Things
04:12
|
|||
|
There was a woman running naked
In my dream last night
Through a field of wheat and wind
One hand holding a branch of fruit
And the other grasping a sword
She came to the edge of a cliff
And fell down on her knees
And in one final act of rebellion
She hurled them both into the sea
And she began to sing...
“We shall see, greater things
They will come to pass I know”
A tavern of drunks in Mokroe
Was having its nightly feast
Some were babbling on about Babylon
And some about chess and chance
In rode Death on a clay-red horse
And everybody hit the floor
And in six swift sweeps of flashing steel
He reaped what the sinners had sown
As they sang...
“We shall see, greater things
They will come to pass we know”
There’s a forest full of frozen oaks
High above the coastline
The leaves hang heavy like dreams
That were struck down in their prime
I went there just before morning
To make sure no one would see
And then I cast aside most my beliefs
To make room for eternity
But still I’m singing...
We shall see, greater things
They will come to pass I’m told
But if they don’t
And I’m not saying that they won’t
I’ll keep stumbling on
|
||||
10. |
One Hundred Twenty Years
05:17
|
|||
|
Farewell, you are guiltless though you were born
It took a desert howling waste to convince you of scorn
Climbing black walls and stepping through thorns
Waves crashing and raven claws gripping the morn
This is the mountain road up and down
This is the ocean to swim in and drown
This is the tension tuning beautiful sound
It took one hundred twenty years but I have found it
The stranger, the fatherless, the widow at my window
Seven drops of blood dripping silent and slow
Standing in mud Mississippi water flow
Eyes closed listen to its rhythm, its tempo
This is the broken body that mends
This is the beginning, middle and end
This is on what everything else depends
It took one hundred twenty years but I have found it
Good angel come kiss me undress my heart
Seven sages, seven kingdoms could not keep us apart
Walking through graveyards of ancient art
I have waited for wisdom to talk and impart
This is the wind that turns fire to sandstone
This is where flowers throw heads back and groan
This is the hill where the roan stallion roams
This is the lantern in mid-morning streets
This is the unknown life beneath my feet
This is the circle whole and complete
It took one hundred twenty years but I have found it
It took one hundred twenty years but I have found it
|
||||
Jake Shane Madrid, Spain
Jake Shane is an American singer-songwriter based in Madrid, Spain.
If you like Jake Shane, you may also like:
Tense, moody, guitar-forward songs from VanWyck that emphasize tension and fragility.
go to album
Forever Only Idaho
by Harrison Lemke
Big, strummy songs that recall the heart-on-sleeve earnestness and lo-fi glory of early Mountain Goats.
go to album
Postcards From the Country
by Trae Sheehan
West Virginia country-folk singer-songwriter Trae Sheehan aims to find a balance between the traditional and the modern on his new LP.
go to album
If you have a fondness for expertly wrought roots-rock with sharp lyrics and aching vocals, look no further—“Strangers” is for you.
go to album
Prologue: The Farmer's Daughter EP
by We Are Baker
Baker is a new project from childhood pals Mishal Moore & Richard Cortez with a lo-fi, bluesy n' soulful southern vibe.
go to album
The latest from the UK’s Chris Brain is a gorgeously wrought album of tender acoustic folk music.
go to album
We are only Sound
by Lucy Farrell
The long-time composer's debut folk album has exuberant and meditative moments.
go to album
