Get all 6 Dietrich Strause releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind, Last Man Standing on the Sun, Illusion, Dietrich Strause & The Blue Ribbons, How Cruel That Hunger Binds, and Little Stones to Break the Giant's Heart.
1. |
Annie Dear
04:30
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The wide and the mighty Mississippi she's a sight
won't you tell my Annie Dear she's still on my mind
won't you tell my Annie Dear my darling she's a sight
Annie she's my shepherd, she once was a love of mine
I followed her all around and she kept me in line
I gave her all my wool in the field and in the fold
I told her in the pasture I'm afraid of growing old
I've wished every morning, I've wished every night
to climb the Alleghenies and coast down the other side
Out west the wolves stay hungry it keeps me on the run
the sky feels as big as it did when we were young
Its not the silver, not the gold, not the garden that I seek
just a land where the wind that blows fans a fire beneath my feet
The wide and the mighty Mississippi she's a sight
won't you tell my Annie Dear she's still on my mind
won't you tell my Annie Dear my darling she's a sight
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2. |
In the Well
02:32
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Far from the sands and the rising coast
in the Elkhorns and graveyards, dogs chase the ghosts
of the fires we burned in the thunder and showers
a flame for the ages, moments and hours
as the night falls dark my wishes few
all my waiting in the well for you
In the alms we take and the hands we hold
a breath for Clementine in the waters below
but to see you now I'd give all I own
to fill the emptiness of the icy drifts that grow
as the night falls cold my wishes few
all my waiting in the well for you
May the mountains wake and the creek run dry
may wolves take the valley, and beetles take the pines
fill the gardens with stones and the wagons with laurels
if everything I said today I wouldn't say tomorrow
ain't nothing I said today I wouldn't say tomorrow
in the morning still my wishes few
all my waiting in the well
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3. |
Unsinkable
03:29
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She spent the winter before wearing just a pinafore
come spring Violet set for sea
sailing for the sickly breaking hearts of the healthy
I wished she would take care of me
The captain fell asleep hit a mine in the deep
it shook the beds in the infirmary
we were taking on water, I told her how I loved her
she said, "capsized you're too short for me"
She's unsinkable unbreakable its unbearable
how unthinkable how unlovable I am to her
On the second ship that sailed, I should have brought a pail
but I met her with roses at the stern
The pride of the Atlantic wasn't made a romantic
she's a skeptic with a heart that burns
So I faked a fever to make Violet a believer
she had an iceberg up her sleeve
I asked her to cool me and overboard she threw me
and I swam after he lifeboat to plead
Wasn't long from leaving dock, the third ship hit a rock
I knew this would be my charm
so I took her to the bow and I made Violet a vow
I said, "my love would never do this much harm"
She said of all the first mates that she'd never had a date
with a spirit as buyout as me
So it figures we were sinking when we finally got to kissin'
I said, "Darling it's getting hard to breathe"
She's unsinkable unbreakable its unbearable
how unthinkable how unlovable I am to her
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4. |
Our Lady Ponderosa
04:50
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In the Blue Stone on the hill, where the madames lay
the jacks of gold and silver fold their hands and pray
but I bet my love's waiting at the mountain gate
I feel the earth shaking, I hear the tunnels chime
for Our Lady Ponderosa, Our Lady of the Mines
I'm sifting through the days, sifting through the dust
chasing golden ribbons up the Missouri to the Sun
chasing for my love's my last chance at being young
there's a lining in the heavens, everywhere she hides
for Our Lady Ponderosa, Our Lady of the Mines
From the tower on the hill, the horizon to the sea
the lioness of the valley guards the creatures and the beasts
I am just a creature out looking for my peace
I'd fight back the fires and the crowning of the pines
for Our Lady Ponderosa Our Lady of the Mines
When the whistle blows and the evening bells will ring
and all the hymns and lullabies the meadowlarks will sing
I spend my nights singing for what the morning brings
for the arms that wrap around us in the miles and miles we find
for Our Lady Ponderosa, Our Lady of the Mines
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5. |
Lemonade Springs
05:20
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I have heard the shouts of the running river's mouth
of the bluebird and the lemonade springs
I saw the wagon slain by a dragon
and the earth was bound by rail and burned for steam
the Yellowstone Child out looking for a wild love
running from the life she was lost in
in the flooding of the plains I saw her through the rain
I said I'd take her hand for the crossing
She sang of milk and honey of the wilderness above me
of crystals in the hills and in the fountains
In our boots we sank as we stood along the banks
and watched the jungle fires burn in the mountains
That night upon the edge I was holding to her dress
I remember how it poured, oh it poured
the colors of her eyes and her honeyed goodbyes
were flooded by the raging river's roar
I remember how I dreamt of holding the gem
of a wild and promised land
where together we could sleep where sweetgrass grows deep
Now all I dream is her slipping through my hands
because I watched my girl, be pulled into the earth
now I'm haunted by my breath when I sing
At night I hear her shouts in the running rivers mouth
in the bluebird and the lemonade springs
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6. |
The Sleeping Wilderness
00:51
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7. |
Bootlegger
03:50
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A bootlegger's heart, it doesn't break apart
it just dries up if someone pulls the plug
Juniper and grain, the hypnosis of the drain
that's why your eyes look so green in the bathtub
I was drunk and had my doubts but the way you moved your mouth
when you sang me a song for my aching
If loneliness was a drought and patience was a cloud
I'd say the heavens broke, unless you were faking
In our roaring years, even broke behind the ears
and in between the dimes in your eyes
but two quarters for my bread, flipping tails and a heads
even poor men strike it rich when the moonshines
I was drunk but I was sure when you left to see the world
to put all its spinning in your pocket
I thought I'd be fine waiting just be a little shaken
cause a bottle only breaks if you drop it
Its getting a little hazy, I've been sitting here for days
I try to speak easy but I'm struggling
I wouldn't say I've been sinking, I wouldn't say I've been swimming
but drinking like a fish should count for something
now I'm drunk but I believe that in life and love and dreams
temperance is a joke, its all or nothing
so cheers to your return, and if it sounds a little slurred
its just I've been waiting so damn long for your home coming
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8. |
Tell Me Mary
02:34
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Tell me Mary I've got to know
what makes your garden grow
early to bed early to rise
tell me I ain't got all night
The suns going down over fields of wheat
you caught my eye as you were crossing the street
after school in town for a piano lesson
you said you had to run home to do some tendin'
It's Friday night get your hands out the ground
through the cemetery we could paint the town
if it gets too late we'll go back to the farm
we could paint those fences and we'll paint the barn
Tell me Mary I've got to know
what makes your garden grow
early to bed early to rise
tell me I ain't got all night
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9. |
Jean Louise
04:49
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Wake up scout there's something smoking in the trees
the nightingales are fleeing and the mad dog's in the street
Papas got the answers and your brother thinks he knows
the neighborhood's on the fire the camellias are frosted cold
Jean Louise I'll tell you that your bare feet are still too loud
for sneaking through the garden you've got bells on your ankles and the belfry's in the ground
lilacs and violets and a shotgun blast
the mockingbirds in whispers like the sky before the flash
The neighborhood is lit up bright
and all the town is shooting wild
run along Jean Louse while you're still a child
Teacher's got an apple and trouble put a rose in your hair
last night you heard people fighting on the court house stairs
the jury got their man and the judge had little to say
there's a finch in your hand scout you better let it fly away
Lightening in the morning and thunder in the afternoon
rain in the evening and you'll be a woman soon
there's a sparrow in your pocket it fell from the cedar tree
everyone's got something keeping them from being free
The neighborhood is lit up bright
and all the town is shooting wild
run along Jean Louse while you're still a child
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10. |
Sling & Stone
03:49
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I was counting all my pebbles, dreaming of the timber
on the south side of the mountain where I've heard the girls are limber
they wear nothing but bluebonnets and laugh under the oaks
if I wore the robe and crown I'd trade them both for jokes
I was dreaming of a highway, dreaming of a throne
on an engine with headlights, the wind and radio
I've sat here in this valley forty days and forty nights
and all my friends they tell me someone's looking for a fight
they say, "Davy oh Davy, come in from the fields
and trade your sling and stone for a brand new pair of wheels"
I was basking in the glory of the breeze between my toes
it was there I saw you bathing taking off your clothes
you said I'd do my blooming later, that the giant got a jump
but as I watched you in the brook I think I started catching up
We praised the lord for our fingers, as we strummed along my harp
and we sang about that double yellow line in our hearts
when an army took the hillside, chrome glimmered in the sun
the giant stepped out of his truck and stuck out like a sore thumb
you sang, "Davy oh Davy, come in from the fields
and trade your sling and stone for a brand new pair of wheels"
With my comrades gathered round me, I swung and took my aim
and with the grace of the Almighty, the kingdom took my name
with a blow between the eyes, the giant fell to his rest
with my sword in my hand I put my foot up on his chest
As he laid there on the ground, I looked him in the eyes
I saw the wild beasts of the earth, and the birds up in the sky
He begged me for his life, I said I'd take his Chevrolet
so I dropped my sword, picked you up, into the sunset we drove away
singing, "Davy oh Davy, come in from the fields
and trade your sling and stone for a brand new pair of wheels"
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11. |
Song For Alice
02:41
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Oh my darling, I'm on my way
across the badlands, where I might stay
should our hearts turn to bitter roots
I'll think of you darling, just think of me too
Oh my darling, of the valley low
a thousand miles since last you wrote
should you forget me as fallen cottonwoods
then think of the pastures and skies feathered blue
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