Get all 11 Michael O'Connor releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Burning Midnight, Hurricane, Crescent City Angels, Gunnin', Truth, Loose Ends, Bloodshot Vagabond, Devil Stole The Moon, and 3 more.
1. |
Raining On The Dark Side
03:43
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She ran me dry drinkin’ doubles
Then she walked out on me
Couldn’t afford to catch a cab back home
I walked on down the shoreline
Where my pals all used to be
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side of the street
She said you’re nothin’ but a broke musician
You’ll probably wind up in the can
Fly-by-night was all I could ever be
But I used to gin ‘em up
I could play like Magic Sam, it’s
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side of the street
Drenched to the bone
And my luck’s turned muddy
Who will remember me
If my tears fall down like a tramp in the gutter
And wash into the sea
Beneath the lights of the Balinese
Everybody’s drinking wine
This old box is all I’ve ever known
I’ll play one more song on my Stella
Before I use her to row back home, it’s
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side of the street
She said you’re nothin’ but a broke musician
You’ll probably wind up in the can
Fly-by-night was all I could ever be
But I used to gin ‘em up, boy
I could play like Magic Sam, it’s
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side
Raining on the dark side of the street
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2. |
Devil Stole The Moon
04:54
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Drown the flame with a fifth of gin
Thoughts burned of her as it crossed his lips
How she’d slung it around and pawned his ring
The sad old way that she would sing
But now this broke down band won’t play in tune
The devil stole the moon
Devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Blow your horn like death is in the room
The devil stole the moon
A torn jacket on a barbed-wire fence
Scratched her tattooed name from beneath his skin
How his jilted tears did turn to mud
With the courage for the blade but not for the blood
Her lily neck between his fingertips
He gave her Valentine’s heart and Sullivan’s fist
Devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Dress on the floorboard torn and strewn
The devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Devil stole the moon
Devil stole the moon
The devil stole the moon
Blow your horn like death is in the room
The devil stole the moon
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3. |
Time
02:39
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A rusted pail spills water down the stairs
There’s water in the whiskey too
And I’m singing in the choir even though I’m drunk
Time’s turned it’s back on me
She cuts and she steals, she begs and she bleeds
She always drags you down
And even the devil is too good for her
Time’s turned it’s back on me
Time’s given up on me
All that’s dust, all the glitter
All the secrets caged in bone
All the prayers and all the poison
Won’t hold me when I’m gone
Let me find my way back where the rhododendron blooms
Where the fox is chased by the hound
Let the blues and the greens lay heavy on my tongue
Time’s turned it’s back on me
Time’s given up on me
Time’s turned it’s back on me
Time’s given up on me
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4. |
Rough Side
03:01
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Gonna get my news from a bottle
Spill it on a concrete floor
Should be old enough to know better
I beat a path to the jailhouse door
When I spied Lucky Pete
Slipping out with Ruby Jane
Left me leaning hard into the night
Bloodied my knuckles where I carved her name
I used to be an able bodied man
Whistlin’ to Charley Pride
While my pay slid through my hands
Cuttin’ time on the old rough side
Makin’ time on the old rough side
Never played that straight and narrow
I never laid that party down
Burned it up like a flaming arrow
Buyin’ every other round
Now the voices and the laughter
In my ears I can hear them ring
With my head laid out on the courthouse lawn
Not a penny to my name
I used to be an able bodied man
Whistlin’ to Charley Pride
While my pay slid through my hands
Cuttin’ time on the old rough side
Makin’ time on the old rough side
Repeat
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5. |
Above
03:13
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The cathedral chimes, it’s three a.m.
I whisper a prayer you won’t find where I’ve been
So low down and shiftless, I cheated your love
Now I’m out on the street and you’re ten flights above
With a cardboard sign, with a roll on my back
With my legs on the loading dock when there’s ships to unpack
Then to the Sea Ranch Motel, for a few nights I’ll stay
Till my belly’s full of beans, till I burn through my pay
Oh I never try, when push comes to shove
Now I’m out here and you’re ten flights above
Oh I’m down and you’re ten flights above
I ride all night to keep out of the rain
Till I spy my reflection in the bus window pane
With a babe on your hip, it was a family we made
But for the booze and the horses, I foolishly trade
Oh I never try, when push comes to shove
Now I’m out here and you’re ten flights above
Oh I’m down and you’re ten flights above
Oh I’m stranded and you’re ten flights above
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6. |
New Years Eve
03:54
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Thumb tacks on the hammer down
Playing in a moonshine band
As long as the old flame’s burning blue
You gonna do the best you can
Fireworks in an angel’s eye
Caused him to believe
In a room above the Party Doll
He was born on New Years Eve
Born on New Years Eve
In a black Barracuda down Telephone Road
He gave it all he had
He took it on down to New Orleans
When he got to feeling bad
All the girls on Rampart Street
They all knew his game
Pushin’ and pullin’ till he comes back around
To him it’s all the same
He treats them all the same
Thumb tacks on the hammer down
Playing in a moonshine band
As long as the old flame’s burning blue
You gonna do the best you can
Turning water into wine in Tupelo
With nothing up his sleeve
Gypsy hands on the old black keys
Born on New Years Eve
Born on New Years Eve
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7. |
Lora
05:34
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Uncle John rode in the rodeo, he was pretty good they say
Uncle John had polio, he limped around till his dyin’ day
Uncle John was a cowpoke, but gave it in to sell Chevrolets
Uncle John was a hero, every ragged child in town knew his name
Lora come to the rodeo, I ride this afternoon
Lora come to the rodeo, I’ll be on that white stud they call Blue
Uncle John never cared too much for the Lord
Couldn't take stake in a dead man
But he was always givin’ what he had to the poor
And as for himself? Well..
By 1960, Uncle John had given away more than he could afford
Nobody noticed when he was tapped dry
Dry like the dust in some old West Texas store
You try to spit, you get dirt in your eye
Lora come to the rodeo, I ride this afternoon
Lora come to the rodeo, I’ll be on that white stud they call Blue
Now the room smells like death and the lights grow dim
Screams heard down the hall
Uncle John rots in an old wheelchair
As the bugs crawl across the wall
And the days go by without a kind word one
Waitin’ on a long distance call
With the faces and the places of long ago
Rollin’ around inside his skull
Lora come to the rodeo, I ride this afternoon
Lora come to the rodeo, I’ll be on that white stud they call Blue
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8. |
Poor Eddie
02:57
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The preacher played a mean guitar
A twisted cross of rusted string
With a bed and a bible and two kneelin’ bones
A red switchblade and a Silvertone
A skeleton girl in a Memphis motel
Where the shoes hang off the power line
Eddie paid for her cigarettes and he paid for the room
While the sun chased around the moon
It’s a long hard fall from the prison floor
They give you forty-four dollars and a change of clothes
With his tin foil ring, with his puppet mouth
He swore that they’d marry when she got out
Now poor Eddie, poor Eddie, he pours her a drink
The Ford’s burned in the parking lot, she smells like gasoline
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9. |
Burn
03:35
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Beneath the stage door light
Smokin’ Camel’s and drinking Rocks
Hittin’ every bullseye four shows a night
Burnin’ the blues up and down this road
Wearin’ Billy Preston’s coat
With your name on the back of your belt for the world to see
You old rock ‘n’ roller, you sang George Jones
Jelly-Jelly...dust and bones
Blowing Golden Melody’s, never asking what key
No, you just burned the whole place down
You burned the whole place down
Go on burn the whole place down
With an okie drawl and a bass guitar
She sang like an angel in them run down bars
She always asked about you when she called
Up all night like we used to do
Till that old night took the best from you
Left a candle in my window shining blue
Lord, it’s gonna burn the whole place down
Burnin’ the whole place down
Go on burn the the whole place down
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10. |
Homesick Boy
03:30
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Homesick boy, chased the devil through the street
Fingers on the steel and firecrackers at your feet
Stuck to your guns, cradle to grave
A mouthful of knuckles and everything you had is all you ever gave
Homesick boy, you got an Angel’s alibi
A reefer to her lips and mascara runnin’ down her eyes
Ghost white skin, hair of coal
Legs made out of wind and a heart forged in rock ‘n’ roll
Homesick boy, lay your head on down
You’ve been drinkin’ and smokin’ and playin’ way too loud
Homesick boy, too late to turn around
You never lost a thing on this old road anyhow
Homesick boy, snatched the devil by the tail
He was runnin’ out of track and caught him sleepin’ on the rail
Paid your dues by never turnin’ loose
Stranded on the back roads singin’ the highway blues
Homesick boy, lay your head on down
You’ve been drinkin’ and smokin’ and cussin’ at the crowd
Homesick boy, too late to turn around
You never lost a thing on this old road anyhow
You never lost a thing on this old road anyhow
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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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