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Burning Midnight

by Michael O'Connor

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1.
Wasted Days 03:00
WASTED DAYS That happy hour sun creeps through the dusty blinds Off the boulevard into Darla's blackened eyes Raking tips off the hustlers and Colfax queens Making change for the cigarette machine Lucky was sucker for her spray painted smile, A Jersey pool hall junkie that couldn't keep a wife With the pinball ringing in her ears, Lucky slings his lines but Darla never hears I've been running too long to matter Tired of waiting for the light to change Rains washed away every seed I've scattered Running from my wasted days She sighs "All I need is everything this town ain't, Been skimming the till for six months straight" A laughing heart escapes without regrets As the getaway moon casts upon Darla's silhouette I've been running too long to matter Tired of waiting for the light to change Rains washed away every seed I've scattered Running from my wasted days I've been running too long to matter Tired of waiting for the light to change Rains washed away every seed I've scattered I've been running too long to matter Tired of waiting for the light to change Rains washed away every seed I've scattered Running from my wasted days Running from my wasted days © Michael O’Connor
2.
Chicago 03:31
CHICAGO I kissed a clever little smile goodbye before I hit the road A girl I used to love who just moved on Simple mathematics, solve it as you go Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago She stacks the dishes. kids are barely fed Sticks a fixed plate in the fridge Empty as the promise he'd never drink again He stumbles towards their marriage bed As she counts nights in a row Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Brick and pavement, mortar, steel and iron beams Maybe it's the lake that make this city feel just how it seems Saint Valentine's a compromise when you're feeling weak as foam Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Tears and prayers won't save a boy from Cambridge Avenue Blood in, blood out, without time for dreams The police knocking at the door reveal what she already knows Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Brick and pavement, mortar, steel and iron beams Maybe it's the lake that makes this city feel just how it seems Saint Valentine's a compromise when you're feeling weak as foam Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago She runs these crooked streets for pills, jumps at the rattle of the jar Robs her young love to strike the deal And it's him who found her frozen face down in the snow Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Brick and pavement, mortar, steel and iron beams Maybe it's the lake that make this city feel just how it seems Saint Valentine's a compromise when you're feeling weak as foam Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago Yeah, everyone gets their heart broke in Chicago © Michael O’Connor
3.
Gunnin' 03:28
GUNNIN' Twenty years in this factory Twelve hours a night on my feet Foreman says, "They're sending the jobs overseas." Gunnin' for me Dry as bone, poison in the well Chokin' on the dust from the lies they sell What passes for true in the land of the free? Gunnin' for me I don't want to be left out Of the dreams my daddy taught me about Prayers and stumbles bring you to your knees Gunnin' for me Punch that clock and don't drag your feet Wrestled the devil but he can't be beat From the end of my rope at the hangin' tree Gunnin' for me I don't want to be left out Of the dreams my daddy taught me about Prayers and stumbles bring you to your knees Gunnin' for me © Michael O’Connor
4.
Truth 02:44
TRUTH There's a rattlin' in my bones Shaken from an earth of crumbling tombstones God's children crushed by war A rich man's fight is won by the poor A rich man's fight is fought by the poor Outnumbered by mindless thugs Ashamed of those days when I bit my tongue Til all I could taste is blood Bite down hard and let it spill out Bite down hard until it spills out You can't hide the truth for long The silver moon nor the burnin' sun You can't hide the truth for long With my last breath I'll be singin' this song You can't hide the truth for long Up from the ashes of Dylan's ashtray They booed and they hissed at the way that he played But he still had something to say If Pete chops the chords, we're gonna get in is his face If Pete chops the wires, we're gonna put him in his place You can't hide the truth for long The silver moon nor the burnin' sun You can't hide the truth for long With my last breath I'll be singin' this song 'Cause you can't hide the truth for long © Michael O’Connor
5.
Words 03:01
WORDS Words come easy for you The right phrase in the right time is how you do Tossed in your wake a tongue tied fool Words come easy for you My bag stays packed by the door Ain't left this room a week or more A lick and a promise only leaves me sore So my bag stays packed by the door Lipstick lies hiding in the shadows Whispering nothing ever mattered, now it's true Words come easy for you I've learned to make it day by day Watching every tie that binds us fray Nothing to hang up when I'm on my way I've learned to make it day by day Torn promises fall to tatters Paint a picture off all we love splattered red and blue Words come easy for you Words come easy for you © Michael O’Connor
6.
HOME TO LOUISE Hard traveling, coming up thirteen The back end of nothing makes it tough and lean Oh, where's the gravy train? Two chord song, ain't saving up for a four Two chord song, all that I can afford Where'd the money go? Poor, poor boy can't find no relief From the drunks on the dance floor Kicking the mic in my teeth But it's gonna be alright When we get back home to Louise Soundman is sketchy, he ain't sharing a dime Laughing, it ain't funny Spilling his wine Hiding from the spotlight Sweating through this suit and I'm feeling a wreck Pockets are empty I can't call collect Poor, poor boy tore my heart off my sleeve Now both my ears are ringing And I'm shaking down to my knees But it's gonna be alright When we get back home to Louise White knuckle ride twenty nights in a row Coast to coast on the radio Oh, Where'd the miles go? Rednecks slinging gravel at the watering hole Bright lights shining from the Highway Patrol Lord, What's the trouble for? Poor, poor boy can't find no reprieve From the Judge at the county Putting on the squeeze But it's gonna be alright When we get back home to Louise Getting all we please When we get back home to Louise © Michael O’Connor
7.
CRESCENT CITY ANGELS I'd feel like the king of New Orleans if I could keep the rain off my head I used to be the man down here now I'm looking for a bed Good times come to an end and wash on down the street Taking everything that we threw away and all we try to keep Well, the ghosts out on Market Street might've laid this railroad down If I hadn't miss the bus, I'd already be in town Singin' one for Madeline or Matilda, you never can tell I made my way across the Pontchartrain to fetch my Mademoiselle Sunsets in Rosedale like none I'd ever seen I pushed my luck in Mobile, a hole in the pocket of my jeans It's been a long time since I've held my head up high Town to town I'm a stranger hardly getting by Lost my horn down the road a ways to those so-called friends of mine If I could shake it off and make good time I'll be dancing with Caroline A spark in the night I keep alive, ain't ever gonna let it die J'ete mes filles la lumière de ma vie, they take me back every time Ever since I ate your fried chicken, baby, in the parking lot of that old motel Crescent City Angels got me under their spell I did my fair share of runnin' 'round Oh, but it never rang my bell Crescent City Angels got me under their spell © Michael O’Connor
8.
SLIPS THROUGH YOUR FINGERS She sang Devil with a Blue Dress On Every night she sang and shook the tambourine Through every song Truckers pass through this part of town then out again Here I am my feet buried in the sand I'm standing still Love slips through your fingers, a slamming door Love slips through hands, you still want more A neon silhouette forms a halo 'round her head Her heart is past the speed of sound And the drummers playing loud Those little lungs sure sing the blues Telling you the news, the words just roll right off her tongue With every cheating song Love slips through your fingers, a slamming door Love slips through hands, you still want more A well worn leather bag holds everything she has Cigarettes and photographs, her daddy's silver flask And she runs outside the door Past the bikes all in a row I beg her not to leave with every bend on my guitar string Truckers pass through this part of town, then out again Here I am, my feet are buried in the sand I'm standing still Love slips through your fingers, a slamming door Love slides through hands, you still want more Love slips right through your fingers Love slides right through your hands Love slips right through your fingers © Michael O’Connor
9.
MAN ON THE STREET It was a sixty-six, cracked and rugged it was mine Two single coils, wailing banshees through the night Bent, broke and stranded Torn up pawn ticket, thumbed down a ride Tumbling in the back seat, the man on the street She had a homemade tattoo, one of roses, one of thorns And a crooked tooth, blinding pearls as she laughed Washed away in the tides The hanging 'round and getting high Shaken' out with the sheets The man on the street Well I thought it was cool to be hard and so cruel Swore I'd land on my feet The man on the street A redheaded boy asleep the stair Dreaming 'bout an old man who won't ever be there Wasted days I've run And all the things I ain't done To be called a deadbeat The man on the street Well, I gambled and lost on the dice that I tossed Time ain't ever been beat by the man on the street © Michael O’Connor
10.
Hurricane 04:24
HURRICANE Momma slung drinks at the Party Doll For a cold water flat above the bar Old man raising a family on the other side of town Made his way across the tracks once the sun went down Me and my brother, not enough to eat Beer-filled baby bottles rolling in the backseat Left us parked in the alley in the Texas heat That woman must have been insane Living in the Hurricane Tossed about like so much trash Until grandma saved us from the CPS Cuz’ there were parties down in Houston, down in New Orleans Momma always traveled light once she hit the street Come around in the middle of the night Waking every neighbor, trying to start a fight Screaming ‘bout her babies in the front porch light With the shit running through her veins Living in the Hurricane Learned to make a fist when I was five-years old Squeezed the anger into a red hot coal Forgiveness aint a gift for someone else The only one to burn is gonna be yourself Lighting in my heels since I hit the road Got the call she was gone and buried in a hole When I find myself hummin' in the neon glow Her old ghost stumbles through my brain Living in the Hurricane © Michael O’Connor

credits

released November 1, 2019

The Musicians
Rick Richards - Drums
Jack Saunders - Bass, Backing Vocals
Michael O’Connor - Guitars, Lap Steel, Mandolin, Harmonica, BeBot, Keyboards, Vocals

Produced and Engineered by Jack Saunders at White Cat Studio in Houston, Texas (jacksaunders.com whitecatproductions.com)

Mastered by Jerry Tubb at Terra Nova Digital Audio, Inc., Austin, Texas

Illustration by Michael Waters
CD Artwork Layout by Charlotte Niemann-Wattigny
℗ © 2019 Bare Knuckle Recordings
www.mocmusic.com

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Michael O'Connor Washington

Michael O'Connor is a guitarist, singer, & songwriter living in Washington State. A lifetime of hard-won experience has allowed Michael a rare insight into the world of the rough, the faithless, the romantic, and the unlucky, all of whom find refuge in his songs. ... more

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