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Top five in Folk DJs 2006 most played CDs of the year !!!!! Johnsmith's fifth CD Break Me Open, recorded in Nashville, TN, includes a cast of acoustic music’s finest players including Darrell Scott, Tim O'Brien, Stuart Duncan, Byron House, Andrea Zonn, and even a special appearance by Native American Grammy winner Bill Miller. The songs on Break Me Open find John stretching his songwriting wings. Expressing the harder edges of life and love, these songs span a broad spectrum of genres from folk to blues, from gospel to Celtic. This collection ranges from the spiritual, poetic Back to the Mystery to the catchy, earthy Silver Creek to the touching tribute Cold Cold Ground and the soulful, bluesy title track, Break Me Open. Free MP3s! Cold, Cold Ground & Messy Thing (Windows users: right-click to download, left-click to listen) |
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Break Me Open
Break Me Open
2
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Pothole Season
3
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Honest Truth
4
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Cold Cold Ground
5
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Messy Thing
7
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Silver Creek
9
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Break Me Open
10
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Box Elder
11
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21 Miles
12
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So Here’s to You
Back To The Mystery
© 2004
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
7-3-05
Well, tonight I’m dancin’ round this fire, kickin’ up some dust
Raisin’ one big holy racket, to the heavens above
And I’m dancin’ with my shadow like a scarecrow with the wind
Some ancient rhythm calls me back to the mystery again, yeah
I have traveled down these back roads from the east out to the west
I have gathered seeds of truth, along the way found blessedness
Like the North Star calls the geese back home, something calls to me
Like a sparrow on a fencepost, I feel a need to sing
Chorus: Oh, calling, yeah, calling me
Like the man in the moon calls the deep blue sea
Calling, calling me
Calling me back to the mystery
From the beggar’s eyes down on Mission Street to the silver Milky Way
I am drawn in by the wonder like a moth into the flame
Like the Medicine Man and the Eskimo, my ear is to the wind
Oh, silently reminding me of the mystery within
Chorus
Hey, it’s in the air I breathe, it’s in the tears I cry
It’s not the answers but in the longing of the questions why, why, why
I stood in awe the day my children took their first new breath
And I was there beside my father at the hour of his death
Now I will treasure every moment I am given on this earth
And I will vow to the four directions I will not give up my search
Chorus
Pothole Season
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
3/4/2005
Oh, the snow and ice have had their day
Had their way with these streets
Filled each crack, broke the back
Of this asphalt and concrete
Opened it wide, like this heart of mine
Chorus: Oh, it’s pothole season where I come from
It’s another grey morning with not much sun
I’ve been walking this broken road for months
Yes, it’s pothole season where I come from
Oh, lately these days have left me flat and empty
Like that old Chevy in the field
Busted up, covered in rust
With a broken windshield
Shattered glass, going nowhere fast
Oh it’s pothole season where I come from
Bridge:
Passed my neighbor a couple blocks back
Down by the river ‘long the railroad tracks
Swears she heard a robin sing today
Maybe change is on the way
Well now, every season comes to pass
Good or bad they all leave
We patch the holes, give up the cold
To an April breeze
I turn my collar to the wind
And just keep walking until then
Chorus
Honest Truth
© 2006
Johnsmith & Julie Baker, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
11-03-05
Here we are, the two of us
Stumblin’ up and down this rocky road of love
Where it leads, I’m not sure
Do we have between us what it takes to endure
Are we ready to move forward, is our word a solid fortress
Chorus: I don’t need more reasons
And I don’t need more time
All I want’s the honest truth
From your heart to mine
Trains are built, shining steel
Sittin’ on the tracks upon them big new wheels
And just like rain, there comes a time
To pull out of the station and roll down the line
Over hills, down valleys wide, yes I’m ready for this ride
Chorus: repeat
Bridge: From your heart, straight to mine
Truer than an arrow flies
The honest truth, and nothing but
Even all that locked up in the closet stuff
The honest truth, so help us God
With it on our side we stand against all odds
Sharing all our deepest feelings, even all our darkest secrets
Chorus: repeat
Cold Cold Ground
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
8-10-05
Today we laid poor Davy down in the cold, cold ground
Today we shed our tears upon the cold, cold ground
We knelt there and we shook our grief as we called his name out loud
Today we laid poor Davy down in the cold, cold ground
My father and my mother stood on the cold, cold ground
My sisters and my brothers stood on the cold, cold ground
We threw our lilies in the grave as we all circled round
Today we laid our brother down in the cold, cold ground
Chorus: Cold, cold ground
Cold, cold ground
Today we laid our brother down
In the cold, cold ground
Oh, taken in the prime of life to the cold, cold ground
Struck down by senseless violence to the cold, cold ground
Tell me lord when will we learn to lay these weapons down
Just dig a hole and throw ‘em down into the cold, cold ground
Chorus : repeat
Let’s dig a hole and throw ‘em down
Into the cold, cold ground
Look down upon us, Davy, on this cold, cold ground
Say a pray for all us left down here on this cold, cold ground
Pray we find the way to peace and that we hear that bugle sound
Look down upon us, Davey, on this cold, cold ground
Chorus: repeat
Look down upon us, Davy, on this cold, cold ground
Cold, cold ground
Cold, cold ground
Today we laid our brother down in the cold, cold ground
Today we laid poor Davy down in the cold, cold ground
In the cold ground, in the cold, cold ground
Messy Thing
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
7-3-05
Oh, love can be a messy thing
Make you want to kick and scream
Oh, love will put you to the test
Oh, you can’t swim and not get wet
So dive on in, take the plunge
If it storms, ride out the flood
Love is more than diamond rings
Love can be a messy thing
Oh, love can be a messy thing
Like the muddy season in the spring
Hey, put on your boots, roll up your sleeves
Hey, you gotta work your garden like Adam and Eve
Oh, love will make you work and sweat
Love will never let you rest
Love is not some lazy bum
Pays its due when the day is done
Chorus:
Oh, love stands on its own two feet
Stumbles up and down your street
Scrapes and bruises on its knees
Oh, love can be a messy thing
So if you feel that it’s all too much
Have a little trust that the best is yet to come
Just don’t let your heart get so set
That love will never be a mess
Oh, love’s not some paint by number scheme
It’s more like fingerpaints, I think
Yeah, it slips and slides right off the page
Like wet mascara down her face
Oh love is not all valentines
Leaves us black and blue sometimes
But love’s not mean, it’s just the truth
It only wants what’s best for you
Chorus: repeat
Barefoot in the Dew
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
7-3-05
Oh, violets are violet and bluebirds are blue
Black is the night sky and white is the moon
Soft is the sound of a wood thrush at dawn
But hard like granite is the heart with no song
Oh, a heart with no song’s like a bird with no wings
Stuck on the ground, no reason to sing
So when darkness is fading and the birds sing anew
I’ll come to your window and softly call you
Chorus: Come walk with me darlin’ barefoot in the dew
Over these hills and into the blue
Let’s welcome together the sunrise for two
Come walk with me darlin’ barefoot in the dew
Oh, sweet is the blossom that rides on the wind
Up to the lovers alone on the ridge
It carries a message from the valley below
This moment is sacred, more precious that gold
Chorus: repeat
So bring with you darlin’ that quilt that you sewed
The one with the rose in the new fallen snow
We’ll wrap it around us as the morning unfolds
Safe in the love that it holds
So when I come calling, I pray that you rise
Up from your bed, wipe the sleep from your eyes
For there’s no guarantees except for the grave
Nobody knows what tomorrow may bring
Chorus: repeat
Silver Creek
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
()
7-02-05
Just outside of town a bit
We’d walk the railroad rail as kids
Fishin’ poles and pocket knives
Old bed rolls and dad’s flashlight
Couple a miles west of town, to the railroad bridge where we’d walk on down
Toss our packs and drop our pants, see who could make the biggest splash
Cannonballs, summer calls
Chorus: Silver Creek, Silver Creek
Friend of the birch and the willow trees
Winding through this farm country
Silver as a moonbeam thread
Weaving through these cattail beds
Where my memories run deep
Down on Silver Creek
A couple years later with my girlfriend
We walked on out to that railroad bridge
Thought I’d show her that sandy beach
But she showed me the way of the birds and bees
Well, the moon and the stars and the lightnin’ bugs, lit up the night in the name of love
And the whippoorwill sang to the night, whippoorwill, whippoorwill, yeah the world is right
Right as rain, hear that train
Chorus : repeat
Yeah, the bullfrog croaks
Kingfisher cries
This creek’s alive, come on in, come get baptized
Well, I grew up and I moved away
Now my kids are grown and my beard is gray
But when I go back, I like to go see
How the world is doing out at Silver Creek
Comin’ ‘round the bend, it’s my long lost friend
Chours: repeat
Love's Not Through With Me Yet
© 2006
Darrell Scott
(ASCAP)
Vocal: Johnsmith, Guitar: Darrell Scott, Violin: Stuart Duncan, Upright Bass: Byron House, Harmony Vocal: Andrea Zonn
Oh, I have seen the young girls cry
Thinking love has passed them by
They’re struggling with a heavy load
But if love’s not here, it’s down the road
And I have seen the young men run
Just like their father’s father’s son
They take the love and leave the shame
Oh, but one day love will call their name and say
Can you love without needing
Lift it up as a silent prayer
Can you open your heart without bleeding
Take that open heart everywhere
Can you hold a place within your breast
For someone you’ve never met
Well then, love’s not through with you yet
Well, I have climbed to lover’s lane
I felt the joy, I felt the pain
Asking for another’s soul
Thinking they could make me whole
Now I heard a voice from deep inside
Saying you’re not blamed for love you tried
Oh, you may think that love takes two
But love’s a gift from you to you
Can you love without needing
Lift it up as a silent prayer
Can you open your heart without bleeding
Take that open heart everywhere
And I have tried without ceasing
To give love without regret
I know love’s not through with me yet
Can you hold a place within your breast
For someone you’ve never met
Then love’s not through with you
I said love’s not through with me
I know love’s not through with us yet
Break Me Open
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
3-19-04
Well, I said Lightnin’ Hopkins tapped his foot
On this here street until he felt good
Well, he tapped it hard, yeah, and he tapped it long
Tapped it ‘til his heart broke open and he found his song
Well, now here I sit all alone
In this red dirt town so far from home
Yeah, I’m just tappin’ my foot like Lightnin’ did
Hoping my heart breaks open and sings again
Chorus : Break me open, bust this dam
Let these waters flood the bottomland
Free my song to fall like rain upon the ocean
Lord, hear my prayer, break me open
Well, I said something’s buzzin’ inside of me
I’m all stirred up like a swarm of bees
Yeah, crack me good, yeah, open me wide
Let it all pour out, the bitter and the sweet, like honey from the hive
Chorus
Come on, break me open
Come on, break me open
Like an ole piñata
Like a watermelon
Like a thunderhead
Like Lightnin’ Hopkins
Yeah, I said tap, tap, tap
I said tap, tap, tap
I said tap, tap, tap
Box Elder
© 2004
LJ Booth, Firefly Jar Music
(ASCAP)
The federal express man was down on the driveway
Out of his step van cursing your name
It wasn’t the first time you changed his side mirror
Into a mirrorless frame
Chorus: And though I know you are guilty of nothin’
Except for a strong will to live in the light
You throw your seeds on the wind like a thistle
Good night, Box Elder, good night
I sat down in town at the bar full of elbows
And a man from the county told me time and again
When you try to cut one, like the heads of the Hydra
They grow back in a power of ten
Chorus
And that man told me that from your tree
They formed the cross on Calvary
And when the people cried, “Crucify”
And Pilate washed his hands
A cloud of blue smoke will rise in the morning
The engine will sputter and the chain will spin
But here at my window, tonight it is quiet
Except for the leaves in the wind
Chorus
21 Miles
© 2006
Johnsmith, Blue Pine Music
(ASCAP)
12-05-04
Twenty-one miles to our front door
Over this bridge and along the river and a little due north
Lies our little town, and our little street
And our little two-story with a light in the window burning for me
Yeah, twenty-one miles, down these broken white lines
It’s her good love that keeps me drivin’ through the middle of the night
Oh, but soon I will be at the end of this road
Twenty-one miles from my home
Well, I’ve been driving all day, since Oklahoma
Through Kansas City, Des Moines, and the corner of Minnesota
Yeah, it’s been two long weeks, drivin’ down south
Night after night, singing my songs, town after town
Yeah, twenty-one miles, to my sweet love
She’s all curled up in a ball on the couch, warm and snug
Oh, but soon I will be at the end of this road
Yeah, twenty-one miles from my home
Well, I can’t explain this restlessness
It’s just always been in these bones I guess
But I’m thankin’ these lucky stars over my head
For leading me back home again
Well, it’s three in the morning, quiet as a mouse
Nobody out here but me and the moon and he’s laughing out loud
I said what’s the joke, I said what’s so funny?
Have you never seen a homesick boy like me running home to his honey?
Yeah, I roll down the window and I take a deep breath
And I hum a little tune like a bird on a wing, flying home to his nest
Oh yeah, soon I will be at the end of this road
Yeah, twenty-one miles from my home
I’m just twenty-one miles from my front door, to my sweet love
I’m just twenty-one miles, just twenty-one miles
So Here’s to You
© 2006
Alan Bell, Tamlyn Music ltd MCPS
()
When first we met, complete awkward strangers
We did not know if we could be friends
How soon we’ve come for to know each other
And now I know we will meet again.
Chorus: So here’s to you and our time together
I’ll share with you a parting glass
And I’ll bid adieu with some smiles and laughter
Our time apart will be short and pass
We’ve talked of dreams and of new tomorrows
Of yesterday and its dark despair
We’ve had our share of love and sorrow
And now we part as friends who care
Chorus
A long, long road it lies before me
And fate will take me where it will
But through the valleys and over mountains
I’ll not forget, but remember you still
Chorus
Chorus