Ghosts of Radio

by Patrick Bloom

Ghosts of Radio cover art
/
1.
05:13
lyrics
download
2.
04:17
lyrics
download
3.
05:26
lyrics
download
4.
04:47
lyrics
download
5.
03:32
lyrics
download
6.
03:52
lyrics
download
7.
04:37
lyrics
download
8.
05:36
lyrics
download
9.
04:23
lyrics
download

credits

released 23 August 2009
Liner notes

Patrick Bloom- vocals: all songs, acoustic guitar: all songs, percussion: 2, 7

Ghosts of Radio:
Randall Davis- electric guitar: 2 (lead), 8, 9
James Robinson- drums: all songs
Eric Straumanis- electric guitar: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (lead)
Billy Valencia- bass: all songs
Megan Valencia- organ: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9

Special Guests:
Katharine Ruestow- harmonies: all songs
Nathan Basinger- electric piano: 1, organ: 2, 8
Lynne Hart- saxophone: 5, clarinet: 4
Greg Young- trombone: 4, 5, trumpet: 4, 5
David Zollo- piano: 4, 8, 9

Produced by Patrick Bloom
Recorded by Justin Kennedy at Minstrel Studios (Iowa City IA)
and by Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studios (Iowa City, IA)
Additional recording by Simon Willard at Minstrel Studios
Mixed by Luke Tweedy at Flat Black Studio
Mastered by Carl Saff at Saff Mastering

All songs © 2009 Small Man Music (ASCAP)
Mud Dauber Records MD0005

Outer disc photography by Matt Kollasch
Inner disc photography by Patrick Bloom
Graphic design and layout by Dustin Duwa
Lyrics available online at www.PatrickBloom.com

My appreciation to everyone involved in the making of this album.

This album is dedicated to Ghosts of Radio: Billy, Eric, James, Megan, and Randall. Thanks so much for the friendship and the music.

This project was support in part by a grant from the Iowa Arts Council, a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs, and in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

tags

tags: americana folk roots-rock folk Iowa City

license

all rights reserved

feeds

feeds for this album, this artist

contact / help

For help with downloads, click here.

For all other inquiries, click here.

Redeem download codes here.

Track Name: Minnesota
I crossed my arms against my chest I closed my palms and stamped my feet
to guard against the evening's chill and keep my best wits about me
I stole into the tarry night a coat of wool down to my knees
they say I am a crazy man but they don't know the things I see

every one is just the same they hide their eyes and turn away
I do not envy them their fear I let them believe what they may
they whisper madness in my ear they tell me things that are not true
but all the falsehood in the world could not keep me away from you

when I reach Minnesota I will fall to sleep
I will wake with the sunshine washing over me
and by Saturday I will surely find a way
to be by your side
all these tears I've cried

my father was an honest soul he lived a life of poverty
but he heard things they could not hear and he saw things they could not see
they turned like jackals at his back because they did not understand
and I was with him when he died a kind and brokenhearted man

when I reach Minnesota I will fall to sleep
I will wake with the sunshine washing over me
and by Saturday I will surely find a way
to be by your side
all these tears I've cried

the hospital where I was kept was made of mortar and of stone
for seven years I held my tongue they left me well enough alone
but fortune is a tricky hand slick and silver as a spoon
and so fourteen days ago I slipped away beneath the moon

when I reach Minnesota I will fall to sleep
I will wake with the sunshine washing over me
and by Saturday I will surely find a way
to be by your side
all these tears I've cried
Track Name: Union Suit
when your momma smiles I see she got real big ears
talk from a mile away and she is sure to hear
go and see the family maybe stay a while
your mom's got real big ears she got a great big smile

maybe we can play in your big back yard
we can play go fish we can do tricks with cards
take off your union suit put on your birthday suit
you got love for me I got love for you

Friday evening and they played our song
imagine my surprise when they told me you were gone
someday I'll run away and they will come undone
give my regards regards to each and every one

she is weeping through her falling hair
please forgive me but I cannot be there
once we were cherished and our hearts unfettered
now we live for postcards and old love letters

Friday evening and they played our song
imagine my surprise when they told me you were gone
someday I'll run away and they will come undone
give my regards regards to each and every one

I was walking and it was something
I heard singing like Gabriel's trumpet
voice like a loon voice like a cannon ball
please pay them my respects say that I miss them all

Friday evening and they played our song
imagine my surprise when they told me you were gone
someday I'll run away and they will come undone
give my regards regards to each and every one
Track Name: Prophetstown
a river runs hard with rain a broken vein beneath the sky
a cannon stands dead and proud beside the bell of Prophetstown

the Indian Wars of '32 brought Lincoln through swimming in blood
he took a torch and left the night baptized in light and ash and mud

everybody burn another one
our heroes turn once again once again
we'll watch the starry sky fall down on Prophetstown

the Civil War betrayed her men housed them like wrens inside her breast
they shuffled off their beds turned down leaving their hearts in Prophetstown

everybody burn another one
our heroes turn once again once again
we'll watch the starry sky fall down on Prophetstown

now all the boys with bloodshot eyes and muscle cars hypothesize
how it might feel to kiss a girl and leave their world drunk and alive

everybody burn another one
our heroes turn once again once again
we'll watch the starry sky fall down on Prophetstown
Track Name: Rosalie
oh Rosalie you are standing in my light
you are as tragic as the morning and as fragile as the night
do not say I do not love you do not tell me this is right Rosalie

I see you in such anger and I see you in such pain
and I see that in your passion you are pushing me away
you can talk at me forever there is nothing left to say Rosalie

oh Rosalie
you are dancing in my garden you are talking about everything you need
do you really think you know me well you do not know a thing
Rosalie Rosalie Rosalie

sometimes when you're sleeping and you fade away to rest
I would surely think you dead but for the beating in your chest
these moments are my solitude but moments still at best Rosalie

this then is my problem and the craziness it brings
am I stubborn am I stupid am I blind or am I mean
I have built all my defenses on a thousand different things Rosalie

oh Rosalie
you are dancing in my garden you are talking about everything you need
do you really think you know me well you do not know a thing
Rosalie Rosalie Rosalie

sometimes I still miss you and sometimes I still cry
and I'm sorry that I hurt you and I wish we'd said goodbye
do not say I did not love you do not say I did not try Rosalie

oh Rosalie
you are dancing in my garden you are talking about everything you need
do you really think you know me well you do not know a thing
Rosalie Rosalie Rosalie
Track Name: Red Dodge Dart
it fell apart it fell apart I left my gal with a broken heart
picked her up in a red Dodge Dart I swear to god it was not my fault
hook a left and you just might see her
I left her standing by a parking meter
her dress is loose on account of the fasteners
you best slow down before you scare all the passengers

listen here listen here either watch the road or let me steer
she said that I was insincere she slapped my hand and she spilled my beer
quit it with your analyzing
I just got tired of her criticizing
please watch the hell you're driving

oh sometimes I don't know why sometimes I just need to cry

unforeseen unforeseen I said some things I did not mean
nicest girl I ever seen there's the sign for Muscatine
another turn around the wheel
now I know how her sister feels
I left her all alone alone

oh sometimes I don't know why sometimes I just need to cry

it fell apart it fell apart I left my car with a broken heart
I tried the keys but it would not start I swear to god it was not my fault
hook a left and you just might see her
I left her standing by a parking meter
I left her all alone alone

oh sometimes I don't know why sometimes I just need to cry
Track Name: Sycamore Tree
mockingbird mockingbird sing one two three
my body hangs from the sycamore tree
swings to the West and swings to the East
sycamore tree sycamore tree

sycamore tree sycamore tree
10,000 magpies gather and sing
she lifts up her branches and gives me a wink
sycamore tree sycamore tree

heaven is the prettiest thing in this life
every day's shiny and new and the catfish are fried
it's all right it's all right

sycamore tree sycamore tree
fair are these words which she whispers to me
bound in the body wistful and free
sycamore tree sycamore tree

heaven is the prettiest thing in this life
every day's shiny and new and the catfish are fried
it's all right it's all right

mockingbird mockingbird sing one two three
my body hangs from the sycamore tree
swings to the West and swings to the East
sycamore tree sycamore tree
Track Name: Idle Signs Of Summer
the Jesuits were praying on the platform at the station
while the locomotive began to moan
the Lutherans were laughing as they passed around a bottle
and the Quakers all got stoned

the train left heaving with a rattle like bad cough
big steel wheels turning in the wind
a Cadillac was waiting with its windows rolled towards heaven
and the Baptists piled in

sweet summertime and the air smelled like brine
ladies in pea coats with afternoon eyes
hair done in ribbons and falling like vines
the idle signs of summer

at the corner by the postal lived the widow Crawford
in her small white house and her dressing gown
she would always sit in judgement as she nodded from her front porch
with a brandy and a frown

but that Sunday was a warm one it came on like a bulldog
harder than a rooster on a Jersey hen
so she walked down to the river with everybody watching
and set her body in

sweet summertime and the air smelled like brine
ladies in pea coats with afternoon eyes
hair done in ribbons and falling like vines
the idle signs of summer

Pastor Stephens was a good man he adored his congregation
led his flock with faith and love
but he got a bit permissive with Mrs. Genoveve Delancy
atop her ten plate stove

and her husband came home early and he found them by the back door
nude as babies all flushed with grace
so her husband grabbed his pistol and the Pastor took off running
with a smile on his face

sweet summertime and the air smelled like brine
ladies in pea coats with afternoon eyes
hair done in ribbons and falling like vines
the idle signs
Track Name: Oh My Soul
monkey in a tree monkey in a tree
I hate the monkey and the monkey hates me
monkey getting up monkey getting down monkey
goes swinging from the branches of the branchy tree
oh my soul oh my soul
monkey in a tree

rooster in the corn rooster in the corn
I swear that bird ought not been born
rooster getting up rooster getting down
come 5:00 am and he's blowing his horn
oh my soul oh my soul
rooster in the corn rooster in the corn

at six o'clock that CRANDIC line comes rolling loudly in
at eight o'clock that CRANDIC line comes rolling through again
well I would not mind that CRANDIC line but it hurts my ears at half past nine
and sure enough at twenty five past ten
that CRANDIC line comes rolling through again

piggy in the bush piggy in the bush
squealing like Sinatra and shaking his tush
piggy getting up piggy getting down
it's too dang early but the piggy won't hush
oh my soul oh my soul
piggy in the bush

weasel in the house weasel in the house
hiding in the liquor and he's getting soused
weasel sneaking in weasel sneaking out
drinking the molasses and dancing about
oh my soul oh my soul
weasel in the house weasel in the house

at six o'clock that CRANDIC line comes rolling loudly in
at eight o'clock that CRANDIC line comes rolling through again
well I would not mind that CRANDIC line but it hurts my ears at half past nine
and sure enough at twenty five past ten
that CRANDIC line comes rolling through again
Track Name: Baltimore
she will close his worried eyes and hold his hollow frame
she will lay him down in that muddy place and whisper not his name
he will float away as the willows part and the lilies move aside
she will be at peace again beyond the by and by

each knuckle in his bony hand each crack upon his lips
each arthritic waking hour each calloused fingertip
each drunken slur each hateful word each foolish shift of pride
she will be at peace again beyond the by and by

she will lift she will soar
she will fly to Baltimore
all the way to Baltimore

weeds below and weeds beside and sweet release above
no condemnation will she hear no hard or spiteful tongue
she will yield not one salt tear she shall not grieve nor cry
she will be at peace again beyond the by and by

she will lift she will soar
she will fly to Baltimore
all the way to Baltimore