We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Messenger

by Joe Pug

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

1.
Messenger 04:25
O she’s a messenger With body bold and bare You’ve always been a gentleman But tonight you can’t help but stare Your senses have been soaked It must be more than smoke Floating on the air O she’s a messenger If she knows, she doesn’t care O she’s a messenger And slowly from within Her message has been amplified And written on your skin Despite what you maintain She drives you like a train Here she comes again O she’s a messenger Where you going, where you been And all the amber lantern lights Preside upon her path tonight The stars have long decided where she’ll go There is no chance to grasp or guide The absent reigns the terrible tide The stars have long decided where she’ll go O she’s a / O she’s a Catch you in the morning she’s a long season O she’s a messenger tonight You drove your truck to Michigan But you couldn’t beat the rain You registered a motel But you didn’t use your name And the audience applauds On the TV down the hall You wonder what they’re saying O she’s a messenger Who sings a sad refrain. O she’s a / O she’s a Catch you in the morning she’s a long season O she’s a messenger tonight
2.
I was born into a circus But I ran off to join a home The said that I was worthless That my family died unknown So it gets and so it goes That’s what you get, I suppose For wanting something more Than a life of walking ropes All the christians left behind At the crossroads of your town They’re playing truth or dare Beneath the sanctuary now Some wish they had the truth Some wish they had to go But there ain’t no sense in leaving from The only game you know O I know how good you are How hard it is How good you are There’s a butler in your hallway He is troublesome and old He repeats the word ‘alive’ To describe your family gold You ask him please to go But there’s one thing you don’t know He carved April seventh sixty-five Into the side of your piano O I know how good you are How hard it is How good you are Everything that you were meant for Everything you were born to do Does not need you to do it Someone else was born to do it too Now like a half-grown man You barely learned to stand If you shut up with what you’ve chosen You’ll hear something choosing you O I know how good you are How hard it is How good you are
3.
Not So Sure 04:37
There was a time when I heard you Calling out my name But these days I’m not so sure When the room went dark and your voice was gone I heard you all the same But these days I’m not so sure I knew I could remember Your bedroom and your touch But these days I’m not so sure Definitely, was a word I used far too much These days I’m not so sure I bummed expensive cigarettes I wrote John Steinbeck’s books I undressed someone’s daughter Then complained about her looks Stealing was so easy then I wish that it still were Now as I pick my own pocket I know that these days I’m not so sure The church was my kitchen The world was my church But these days I’m not so sure To choirs I would listen Through briars I would search But these days I’m not so sure I sacrificed my sister I prayed my own soul to keep I told my dying father That a man should never weep Breathing was so easy then I wish that it still were Now as the breeze just makes me colder I know that these days I’m not so sure So if you see me tripping I’ve forgotten how to walk And I spend my days wishing after her My steps are without rhythm And her name is drawn in chalk Because these days I’m not so sure I drank my wine for breakfast Every morning I was born In the black, electric winter My back was always warm Sleeping was so easy then I wish that it still were Now in my sleepless bedroom I know that these days I’m not so sure
4.
here was a girl in my hometown They say she wore the sharpest crown Beautiful as diamond tile But they never took her picture ‘Cause she never learned to smile And it’s not surprising There’s nothing exciting Late at night you’ll hear the sound They say she wore the sharpest crown She felt a darkness deep inside She went and asked her momma why She got no answer just because Her momma was sleeping or pretending that she was And it’s not surprising There’s nothing exciting I hope that she’ll turn around They say she wore the sharpest crown O I loved her don’t ask how Must have had some reasons that I can’t remember now Some folks say I let her down But the same folks say she wore the sharpest Dangerous, it tore the darkness Held her like a ten ton harness As I ran off for the farthest town They say she wore the sharpest crown
5.
After all the windows on the ground floor had been broken After all the undemanding officers had spoken After all the trouble, after all of the commotion I walked right through The door was always open When I was seventeen I set out on the ocean Searching for Columbus or wherever he was going Then twenty thousand miles came down to just a moment I sailed right through The door was always open I climbed the western wall without anybody knowing I held the guardsman captive with a pistol I had stolen But he just poured a cup of coffee and said Son, now here’s a notion The next time you drop by The door was always open I waited for the sun But it was already dawn, it was already dawn Breaking fast all along And I waited for her song But she was already gone, she was already gone Breaking fast all along So it seems I’ve spent a lifetime arrested and beholden Standing on the threshold, absolutely frozen Waiting on some god above to tell me I was chosen Instead I spoke myself The door was always open
6.
The first time I saw you I saw crimson I saw dark blue Saw the ocean we would drive to To say our goodbyes I saw winter, I saw new moons Saw a heavy-hearted bridegroom Saw the color of your bedroom In the whites of your eyes Don’t ask me how I knew It was the first time I saw you The first time I saw you I saw somebody that I knew I recognized you From our first glance See I’ve seen my share of counterfeits Used to have them hang around a bit But once you seen yourself a genuine There ain’t no going back Don’t ask me how I knew It was the first time I saw you The last time I saw you By the ocean like we both knew Now I guess that I’m supposed to Tell you that I’m doing fine But it was the last time that I held a hand Was the last time that I gave a damn I don’t think I’ll ever understand Why I never found the time I saw crimson I saw dark blue The last time that I saw you The last time that I saw those two Was the first time I saw you
7.
Take a walk on Sunday, it ain’t that hard Take a walk on Sunday, it ain’t that hard If my thoughts are hard to gather If I don’t know where to start It ain’t my mind that matters For I have an unsophisticated heart Tried to trust a stranger, it got hard You know I tried to trust a stranger, it got hard Now I see things like a soldier And I’m jealous of the dark But if my eyes have only gotten older I still have an unsophisticated heart O my eyes will be hardened, My lips will be guarded My mind so bewildered and buried in the garden You may still know me by just one part… I tried to keep your secret, it got hard I tried to keep your secret, it got hard And there’s one thing that’s for certain When they come with their dogs and their guards I can’t hide behind the thinnest of curtains For I have an unsophisticated heart
8.
I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else O I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else Help you lift your luggage from the platform to the train Ask you for directions that I don’t need explained You would never think to ask my name Let’s not put it lightly, I put us both through hell So I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands O I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands To be behind the counter of a bookstore that you’re in And charge you seven dollars for a crossword and a pen You would leave and not look back again Even hardened criminals they get a second chance I wish that I could work for you with someone else’s hands I wish that I could come to you Could run to you Could sing to you A stranger in you neighborhood Who doesn’t mean a thing to you Singing now a long forgotten song On and on and on I don’t have the stomach to face you as myself So I wish that I could come to you disguised as someone else
9.
I was fallen dead in battle Must have been Tuesday I don’t know the date I did everything everyone asked for But I’ll say where I’ll be laid The many dead of my comrades All look the same in this place Won’t you bury me far from my uniform So god might remember my face Do not bother with congress With the rich or with the rest I fought their battles in this world But I’ll not fight for them in the next Do not find me justice Just find me a grave And then bury me far from my uniform So god might remember my face O my mother, my mother you’ll cry for me Take me out of your dreams that I’m in You must promise never to think of What is not and what could have been I’ll not return to your table So don’t save me a place Just… Bury me far from my uniform From the iron cross medal I would have worn From the statues that sisters and widows mourn From the newspaper clippings and microform From Geneva, the Hague, and Nuremberg From the sex of this world that I’ll no longer taste Won’t you bury me far from my uniform So god might remember my face I know god will remember my face Merciful god please remember my face
10.
Speak plainly, Diana There’s nothing to understand Yes there’s mysteries in the basement But there’s comic books upstairs And there’s a wrecking ball in the front yard But there’s blueprints on the couch Speak plainly to me, Diana We’ll build ourselves a house I don’t mind riding around I don’t mind riding around There’s no safety Diana And there’s nobody to blame Even daylight will surprise you Even dreams will end the same So when there’s too much to remember And you remember me Speak plainly to me, Diana We’ll swim into the sea I don’t mind riding around I don’t mind riding around Come lately, Diana And quit what’s got you down Steal from the tallest cabinet And make your favorite sound When there’s too much to get rid of And you get rid of me Speak plainly to me, Diana There’s nothing you must be

credits

released February 9, 2010

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Joe Pug Maryland

A singer-songwriter known for his lyrical acumen and plaintive harmonica style. Paste Magazine wrote of his music: “Unless your surname is Dylan, Waits, Ritter or Prine, you could face-palm yourself to death trying to pen songs half as inspired”.

He has appeared at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and The Newport Folk Festival.

Additionally, he is the creator and host of The Working Songwriter podcast.
... more

shows

contact / help

Contact Joe Pug

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Joe Pug, you may also like: