Get all 27 Jonathan Byrd releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Infrared, Jimmy Says, Fog On the Mountain, I Should Have Died, I've Been Everywhere - Covid 19 version, Pickup Takeout, Live at The Blue Note Grill, Live at NERFA, and 19 more.
Excludes supporter-only releases.
1. |
Diana Jones
04:38
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Diana Jones
Diana was a Cherokee, pretty as you'd ever see, with blue eyes and long, black hair and a wild streak from here to there. Reservation life was slow, so she packed her bags to go, moved to Georgia and took the name Diana Jones.
Diana ran the Dewdrop Inn, wily as a mountain cat, kept a room behind the bar for any man who needed that. People talk about her still, how she'd take a twenty-dollar bill and write across Jackson's face, "Diana Jones."
She brought all the gold in Georgia back shinin', twenty bucks at a time
Harlan wore the badge in town; he was always hangin' 'round. Ever since Diana died, you hardly see him on this side. His wife used to come for him and drag him out of the Dewdrop Inn. It wasn't fit for a family man to know Diana Jones.
Diana made the front page news the night she went out on the loose, heartbroken with a gun in her hand and in love with a married man. Neighbors called the station scared; Harlan had to go down there. Something went wrong somewhere for Diana Jones.
She brought all the gold in Georgia back shinin', twenty bucks at a time
No one knows what happened then between Diana and five armed men. Shots were fired and words were said- two men and Diana dead. Things went on, the way they do; the papers filled with other news. The wild died in Harlan, too, with Diana Jones.
I've only seen him one time since; he come into the Dewdrop Inn, bought all the old boys a round and went to lay his money down, gave a twenty-dollar bill a kiss and said, "I hate to part with this." Right across Jackson's face, it said, "Diana Jones."
She brought all the gold in Georgia back shinin', twenty bucks at a time.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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2. |
Chicken Wire
04:39
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Chicken Wire
My old hen, she's a good old hen
Lord, I hate to fence her in
She's been runnin around with all the chicks
Ain't nothin a little chicken wire won't fix
Chicken wire lets the sun shine through
ain't much to look at, but it'll have to do
my old hen, she got a rovin' eye
guess I need a little chicken wire
Rooster, rooster, don't you cross that line
That hen you're lookin at is mine
I'm the only rooster in this yard
Stay on your side of that chicken wire
Chicken wire lets the sun shine through
ain't much to look at, but it'll have to do
my old hen, she got a rovin' eye
guess I need a little chicken wire
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC and Tom Gould/Ash Street Music ASCAP
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3. |
Coyote
03:17
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Coyote
He hugged the brush and ran the ridge, dropped down and headed for the bridge, quiet as the rising moon. I saw coyote.
The devil broke the rolling veil. A shadow rode along the rail, black as a buzzard's wing. I saw coyote.
If you look down there you’ll find a trace, a barbed-wire scar across the face, fading like a midnight mile. I saw coyote.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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4. |
White Oak Wood
03:55
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White Oak Wood
White oak wood goes in green,
smoke a whole hog and leave it clean.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Cut it short and split it soon,
burn all night into afternoon.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Time to take my mattock down.
I got a hog three hundred pounds.
Cut up a drum and hinge a hood,
feed everybody in the neighborhood.
All I need is some white oak wood.
White oak wood is a good veneer;
pegs and plywood disappear.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Takes a stain and ages well.
I did it myself and I can't tell.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Time to take my mattock down.
I got a hog three hundred pounds.
Cut up a drum and hinge a hood,
feed everybody in the neighborhood.
All I need is some white oak wood.
White oak wood, it's a shady tree,
slow to grow and a sight to see.
All I need is some white oak wood.
I got one on the old homestead
worth more alive than it is dead.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Time to take my mattock down.
I got a hog three hundred pounds.
Cut up a drum and hinge a hood,
feed everybody in the neighborhood.
All I need is some white oak wood.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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5. |
Wild Ponies
05:14
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Wild Ponies
She had legs like daggers and eyes like oceans
and her heart locked up in a hard combination.
I took her to the island, to see the wild ponies.
See, I had a friend who had a concrete boat, -
it don't take as much as you might think to float-
and he lived out on the island with the wild ponies.
We made a fire in the live oak trees,
and listened to the pirate breeze blowing.
And wondered how a man could be
so far from home, and still know where he's going.
She drifted down from a shipwrecked town
and landed here on the Pamlico sound.
She'd heard out on the islands, there were wild ponies.
I gave all I could give to her:
a chance to see what she had heard
and a night out on the island with the wild ponies.
But she didn't stay here, like she didn't stay there,
always looking for somewhere a little greener.
Every time I see the ponies run-
scared and hungry, wild and young- I see her.
I heard somebody say she died
drinking one night on the ocean side,
swimming to freedom, like a wild pony.
I wish her well. I wish her peace.
It's got to be lonely to be so free,
always running, like a wild pony,
living your life like a wild pony.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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6. |
A Big Truck Brought It
03:40
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A Big Truck Brought It
Keep your Kenworth running strong for regional, bulk, or hauling logs.
Air suspension gives a nice, soft ride. The fairing's got a toolbox inside.
Piano hinge doors stay quiet and square and that huck-bolted cab ain't goin' nowhere.
It's six hundred horses charging straight and true and it's aerodynamic to save you fuel.
If you got it, a big truck truck brought it.
If you want it, there's a big truck on it.
Picture a semi in your mind, the flat nose grill, the red oval sign.
The classic looking semi, it was defined by the Peterbilt 389.
The new model's got a sloped-grilled hood. That lets you see the road real good.
If you like that, that's just fine. Me, I drive a 389.
If you got it, a big truck truck brought it.
If you want it, there's a big truck on it.
Air-brakin' haulers go by many names. They're all a little different, but one thing's the same.
Whether Sterling, Mack, or Western Star, a big rig brought it to where you are.
If it's Freightliner, Eagle, Volvo, or Ford, with Playboy mudflaps or Baby On Board,
haulin' solid gold or a load of manure, a big truck brought it. You can be sure.
If you got it, a big truck truck brought it.
If you want it, there's a big truck on it.
Rob Vaarmeyer and Corin Raymond SOCAN
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7. |
Lakota Sioux
04:18
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Lakota Sioux
Summer is changing. Fall is in the air.
The geese are in migration. You can hear them up there.
The prairie's golden brown. The leaves are falling down.
The fawns have lost their spots
and the temperature's dropping down.
It was a big day I suppose when the Indians chased the buffalo.
Across the prairie in herds they'd go, 'til the blood began to flow
and they went down.
We ain't got no time, no to waste no time.
We got a lot of lives we got to keep in line.
Pretty soon the snow's gonna fly. You don't feed them, your people gonna die.
It was a big day I suppose when the Indians chased the buffalo.
Across the prairie in herds they'd go, 'til the blood began to flow
and they went down.
They like to paint their face. They like to paint their paints.
They like to decorate everything up and celebrate.
They like to congregate in a beautiful place,
dress themselves in feathers and leathers and dream their fates.
It was a big day I suppose when the Indians chased the buffalo.
Across the prairie in herds they'd go, 'til the blood began to flow
and they went down.
Then the cavalry came to take their land away.
They lied and died and lost every battle but they got their way.
Then they took their souls when they took the buffalo.
They took their families blankets riddled with the pox, and so
it was a big day I suppose when Custer went in for the close
and found himself with his pants down as the Indians rode around
and cut him down.
We ain't got no time, no to waste no time.
We got a lot of lives we got to keep in line.
Pretty soon the snow's gonna fly. You don't feed them, your people gonna die.
It was a big day I suppose when the Indians chased the buffalo.
Across the prairie in herds they'd go, 'til the blood began to flow
and they went down.
by Matt Fockler
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8. |
Pickup Cowboy
02:44
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Pickup Cowboy
He's a pickup cowboy crying up I-35.
He went and got his heart broke down in South Padre Island.
Now he's driving to Sioux Falls with two bald tires.
He's a pickup cowboy.
He's a lowly roller. He don't need much money,
living on buffalo jerky and tupelo honey,
and fishing for breakfast in the muddy Missouri.
He's a pickup cowboy.
Good dogs get better 'til they die.
'Til they die.
He's an Indian summer back in South Dakota.
Sleeping in his tipi, living like a Lakota
with his long blonde hair and his long blue yodel,
He's a pickup cowboy.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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9. |
Jacks
06:18
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Jacks
When the redbuds are bloomin’, they bow down to you
with the rein and the bridle all wet with the dew.
Oh, the bells shake and jingle on the pony you ride
with your maids all in yellow and the jacks by your side.
I have laid in the shadows, just to watch you go by
with the wind in the willows and the sun in the sky.
When you cross the broad river, in the foam and the tide
with your maids all in yellow and the jacks by your side.
High, high, mounted lady, would you ever be mine
with your hair dark and curly and your saddle so fine?
With your feet shod in leather, would you walk as my bride
with your maids all in yellow and the jacks by your side?
Come away to the meadow, I’ll sing you a song
and I’ll pick you a daisy for the summer so long.
Let’s run to the fallow, in the fallow we’ll hide
from your maids all in yellow and the jacks by your side.
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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10. |
Colleen
03:25
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Colleen
Hey, Colleen, you been gone so long, all your clothes are new
Come down the road with your red shoes on- what’s a man supposed to do?
I been out on a four lane and searchin’ all over for you
Hey, Colleen, you been gone so long, all your clothes are new
Hey, Colleen, you smile like a queen; what are you holdin’ in?
You can laugh for the whole world now; we all know where you been
You been out on a bender and your fender is dented again
Hey, Colleen, you smile like a queen; what are you holdin’ in?
Colleen, come clean; let me take you home
Please don’t make a scene- I got the sheriff on the phone, Colleen…
Hey Colleen, you’re gonna kill us all, the way you run around
I know the sound of a pay phone call from the wrong side of town
People talk; people talkin’, but I just can’t put you down
Hey Colleen, you’re gonna kill us all, the way you run around
Colleen, come clean; let me take you home
Please don’t make a scene- I got the sheriff on the phone, Colleen…
Jonathan Byrd Music SESAC
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11. |
Do You Dream?
05:13
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Do You Dream?
Do you dream? Do your dreams come true?
What do you see? What do you do to make it happen?
Do you dream? Do your dreams come true?
What do you see? What do you do to make it happen?
I caught another one. I'll chase one down for you.
We're on another ride, a carnival for a few friends.
See things like they should be, stand up on our could be, and dream dreams.
Do you remember what it was like being a child,
not thinking about the hard things, just wide open wild,
playing night games in the neighborhood, playing like grownups should,
dreaming like there's no way you could these days?
I caught another one. I'll chase one down for you.
We're on another ride, a carnival for a few friends.
See things like they should be, stand up on our could be, and dream dreams.
Face the music and cope with the crowd.
Stand out somewhere and look at the clouds.
Fact of the matter, fair and square,
straightforward and honest, you got to dream like you care.
No fair to the middlin', my fair, weathered friend.
Don't fall between two stools. You're the friend of a friend,
falling head over heels, like I did for you,
right over backwards and into the truth.
I caught another one. I'll chase one down for you.
We're on another ride, a carnival for a few friends.
See things like they should be, stand up on our could be, and dream dreams.
Do you dream? Do your dreams come true?
What do you see? What do you do to make it happen?
Do you dream? Do your dreams come true?
What do you see? What do you do to make it happen?
by Matt Fockler
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Jonathan Byrd Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Preacher's kid, Gulf War veteran, award-winning songwriter, Youtuber, teacher, and creativity coach from North
Carolina.
“One of the top 50 songwriters of the last 50 years. ” — Chicago Tribune
“...a folk singer with the heart of a rock 'n' roll band.” — K. Oliver, Free Times.
... more
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