1. |
Fading Light
04:02
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The old man looks through the plate
Of the faded dirty glass
He thinks about his fate
And contemplates his past
He thought there would be time, but the future waits for none
And in the fading light he deliberates the night
He deliberates the night
He thinks of all the years
Of the many days gone by
He thinks of all her tears
Of her soft and simple cry
He thought there would be time, but the future waits for none
He thought the fading light would reveal the midnight sun
Now he stumbles on ahead, toward the end of his path
He stares back at his wake and deliberates the night
And deliberates the night
An echo rings in his head
The old familiar sound
It reminds him of the day
When she still wanted him around
He thought there would be time, but the future waits for none
He thought the fading light would reveal the midnight sun
Now he stumbles on ahead, toward the end of his path
He stares back at his wake and deliberates the night
Now he stumbles on ahead, toward the end of his path
He stares back at his wake and deliberates the night
And deliberates the night
And deliberates the night
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2. |
Our Love
04:12
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Our love is in the mountains, our love is in the trees
Our love is in the rivers that flow to the sea
A cool breeze drifts in from the oceanside
Water crashes at our feet as in comes the tide
The sun beat down upon us as we walk through the sand
And you gently grip my hand
Our love is in the valley, in the sharp contrast
Where the sweet scent of the dahlias drifts through the grass
The hail came scorching out of the sky
It fell hard upon us leaving no place to hide
Soaked through we pushed on down the mountainside
With the August hail covering the eastern divide
Our love is in the sky, in the stars lit up at night
A million miles away from us sparkling so bright
The snow fell upon the great tetons
We rode up high as the air got thin
The beauty of the jagged mountains overtook us
And we rode down with peace within
Our love is in the winter, in autumn’s soft withdrawal
When the lakes slowly freeze and the snow begins to fall
Our love is in the mountains, streams carve through the trees
Then form into a river, and flow to the sea
Our love is in the cats that grace us with their being
A child comes into our lives and makes a family
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3. |
Peaks and Valleys
03:31
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It seems I’ve been living high and low
It seems I never feel too steady or in flow
The road I’m on is filled with trenches and rocks
The hills roll on forever and are rigorous to walk
Sometimes I get buried underground
I dig out one handful of dirt at a time
Then I soar up high through the clouds unbound
But it’s short lived and I fall far from where I climbed
The peaks are high and the valleys low
I rise atop the world and then I fall far below
I’m scraping and I’m clawing out the undertow
Then I’m on solid ground not sure where to go
Yeah the peaks are high and the valleys low
In my dream I wonder through the wilderness
It’s a moment I am able to control and possess
Then I realize there’s no way out of here
I want to find the exit but I’m crippled by fear
One day I feel like I’m hanging on by threads
The next day there’s no limits inside my head
I do my best to find some balance through time
But I can’t seem to escape these swings in my mind
The peaks are high and the val-leys low
I rise atop the world and then I fall far below
I’m scraping and I’m clawing out the undertow
Then I’m on solid ground not sure where to go
Yeah the peaks are high and the valleys low
Yeah the peaks are high and the valleys low
Yeah the peaks are high and the valleys low
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4. |
Answering the Call
04:31
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Jerry and Clancy raised in the midwest plains
Destined for the farms at an early age
Workin’ in the fields where the wheat swept in waves
Lost in reverie at the end of the day
Huddled ‘round the radio when war was declared
Signed the navy’s line, their mamas said a prayer
With fiery eyes and oceans seen only in dreams
Off to war at only eighteen
Sweat ran off their brow in the South Pacific sun
Sweetheart letters written when the days were done
Planes roared, waves crashed and the sea stretched on forever
Fall of ‘42 turned for the solomons
Sirens blasted loud, chaos ensued
The carrier wasp struck by three torpedos
Smoke engulfed, flames spread and the ammunition blew
Their eyes briefly met but fell out of view
The rope burned his hands, he fell through the tide
Jerry surfaced the sky rained debris and fire
He watched it disappear with a hundred ninety three
Clancy would never rise from the sea
Flags waived slow he stepped off the train
Clancy’s mama’s hope quickly turned to pain
The only thing he could offer for her grief
Was Clancy’s smile would live on in his memories
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5. |
Chasing
03:40
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I drink and it all fades away
Anxiety peels off of me
Struggles I was so intent on fixing
Turn to dust as I erase the day
So I keep on chasing that first high feeling
Even though I know I can’t sustain it
I chase it to the bottom of every bottle
chase it to the depths of the cold, dark ditch
The moments pass, I fly toward the sun
I flood the void with endorphins
I drown the memory of consequences
And hold on till it all comes undone
So I keep on chasing that first high feeling
Even though I know I can’t sustain it
I chase it to the bottom of every bottle
Chase it till I lose hold of my grip
Soon I’m worse than when I began
It all comes back in tidal waves
The lessons I thought I had learned
Is no match for the hunger to which I was born
So I keep on repeating the vicious cycle
Even though I know I can’t sustain it
I chase it to the bottom of every bottle
Chase face first to an endless pit
And feel the embrace of nothingness
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6. |
Today
04:08
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Drifting down the path of uncertainty
I can’t tell where it’s leads
The trail breaks and the fog flows in from the trees
So I try to keep my feet moving
I can’t keep on waiting for that perfect day
When all the fears will just roll away
Where everything will come together perfectly
I think that day has to be today
One part of me is fixed on time
All the opportunities missed
The other part tells me to move on
Tells me the past must be dismissed
Well I can’t keep on waiting for that perfect day
When all the fears will just roll away
Where everything will come together perfectly
I think that day it has to be today
What will my life become?
Will I fall into my past?
Will I rise above it all?
Sometimes life moves too fast
Today I push back all the fears
And the regrets of the past
Tomorrow's uncertainty
And feel warm sunshine at last
Well I can’t keep on waiting for that perfect day
When all the fears just roll away
Where everything will come together perfectly
I think that day has to be, today
It has to be, yeah it has to be today
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7. |
Next High
03:47
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Not many kids make it out from where I’m from
They grow up without many expectations
At some point the weight starts to get to them
So they seek out ways to numb it all once and again
They’d start popping any pill they could get ‘hold of
Then turn to the needle when push came to shove
Their eyes told the story of the pain they sought to numb
The next high was the only thought, on their minds
The promise of escape led them back each time
I had a way out so I left them all behind
As the days, months and the years drifted by
I saw more shoot it up and never asked why
Reaching to the dope to give them a few moments of peace
All they ever had on life was a short lease
One bright and sunny day I found myself inside
I took a look around me and everyone was high
Their eyes showed the path upon which they chose to run
The next high was the only warmth they could find
Their vice got harder to sustain with the hand of time
Friends and family disappeared and the clock refused to wind
How many lost to the heavy hand?
Which we could never understand
Beaten down by the relentless toll
They departed in body or soul
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Joel Jerome Boston, Massachusetts
Joel Jerome is a native of Raymond, Maine, a rural area outside of Portland. Joel released his first album Fall to Pieces in
2018 and his sophomore album Chasing (produced by multi-award winning producer Dave Brophy) followed in October of 2020.
Joel is the recipient of the 2018 Best Acoustic Song Award from Clouzine International Music Awards and 2020 Best Americana Composition in 2020.
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