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Trio

by Jonathan Byrd

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1.
Do you ever wanna stone me? Do you ever think you're all grown up? If you ever get lonely, I'm close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. Deep cover on a dark night can't take away all my love. Behind the cloud, I'm a satellite, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. Can you hear me? Can you feel me lovin you, lovin' you? Can I turn it off? Can I ever stop lovin you, lovin' you? There's a ghost on the telephone. Will it ever be good enough? There's a voice on the radio, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch. I got my heart tied up in twine, a bandana with all my stuff. A red hawk in the western sky, close enough to touch. Close enough to touch.
2.
.38 Baby 02:56
one in the chamber and a full magazine she got a barrel like you ain't never seen She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart you just a rabbit on a hickory stump she says jump, boy, you better jump She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart she got no safety when she's gettin her kicks shot a hole in the window of the motel 6 quick on the draw and her pattern is tight she's got her finger on the trigger tonight She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart she was a child and her daddy was hip made her a rattle with a bakelite grip She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart one to the heart, one to the head I'll love that woman 'til the day that I'm dead She' my 38 Baby, she's my 38 baby She' my 38 baby, shot a big ol' hole in my heart
3.
Slip Away 03:51
Free and clean, you're daddy's girl, dancin' down in Mexico, all night long and nobody knows. You're just a poet and you had to go slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. It's been a while since you paid a bill. Forgiveness is a shallow well. What you're given is all you've got- the way you look and the way you smell slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Can't go home again for shame. You try to make it in a border town, running tar to hotel rooms. The sailor boys call you down. You slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Even when the deal goes south, you never figure yourself for a slave. Confederacy is the easy way out, but you take your freedom to your grave and slip away. Slip away. They try to love but you slip away. Your uncle came and picked you up. You was toe-tagged and skin and bone. Took you back to Shasta Lake, but nobody ever took you home. You slipped away. Slipped away. They tried to love but you slipped away.
4.
Starlight 06:18
He held a toothpick ‘tween his teeth, a mischievous carpenter. She boarded the train and gave him a kiss, a tentative wanderer. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. He stroked her hair and showed her the dough, no more than bargainer. She followed him back to the sleeping car, oh, Saint Christopher. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. That’ll get you all the way to Thunder Bay. Wait outside the Finlandia. I know a man who'll give you a room. You don’t have to work for him. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight. Train kept a-chuggin on through St. Paul, her face in the window, drinking black coffee and cutting her hair on the white linoleum. Star light, star bright, you’re the only star I’ve got tonight. Starlight.
5.
Poor Johnny 03:06
Poor Johnny at the bottom of the lake. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. Poor Johnny at the bottom of the lake, boy went fishing and drownded. I had a girl I loved the best. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. Lord knows, Johnny could've loved the rest, but the boy went fishing and drownded. I had a bottle of ninety proof. Bottom of the lake, Poor Johnny. I'd take one drink, he'd take two, and the boy went fishing and drownded. Johnny was using my good cane pole. Bottom of the lake, Poor Johnny. Got so drunk that he couldn't keep ahold, and the boy went fishing and drownded. Then what happened, I never could tell. Bottom of the lake, poor Johnny. He never could handle his liquor well and the boy went fishing and drownded.
6.
Fifth Wheel 02:44
The payphone is busted; I’m flat out disgusted. I feel like the fifth wheel tonight. I’m out on the weekend and you and me, we ain’t speakin’. I feel like the fifth wheel tonight. I don’t know where I’m goin’. I just keep on rollin’. I love you. I miss you. I wish I was with you. I feel like the fifth wheel tonight.
7.
it's eight o'clock and the neighbors are knockin' to give us a ride to church if we lay quiet, maybe they'll buy it I think this plan could work I hear 'em leavin, get under the sheets and celebrate good news the best way to spend Sunday's loving you baking the biscuits and making the fixin's in your birthday suit frying up bacon you might wear an apron it's the safest thing to do if you want coffee, get your hands off me Honey, one lump or two, the best way to spend Sunday's loving you Hear the church bells ringing the sun shines down from up above I hear the choir singing Hallelujah, God is love It's five to eleven, and I'm in heaven with you at home alone let's get to the neighbor's and pick some tomatoes before they get back home we'll make it out of town with a blanket on the ground by the time the preachin's through the best way to spend Sunday's loving you
8.
Larry is a veteran, I seen him at the store A six pack of malt liquor- it’s the Prozac of the poor A can o’ chili and a can o’ beans and a pack of cigarettes Four cheap cigars- he writes a check He climbs into his van, it’s a blue Econoline They’re both on their last legs, if looks are any sign There’s a flag on the bumper and, just to the right A bald eagle with a nail file says, “it’s time to fight.” You think you’ve got nothing to give Look around how people live Loneliness is poverty Say, “hey,” say, “hey,” to me. I had an old piano, it just didn’t belong A couple missin’ keys that seem to be in every song Even when I had it tuned, it didn’t sound that good I was tempted to scrap the guts and burn the wood I put it in the paper, a piano for free If you can haul it, you can have it, and people came to see Some folks played “Chopsticks” or “Body and Soul” Always, they’d hammer in the empty holes You think you’ve got nothing to give Look around how people live Loneliness is poverty Say, “hey,” say, “hey,” to me. “I heard you got a piano,” he said with suspicion He was shakin’ from the cold and probably malnutrition I said, “Hey, Larry, won’t you come on in Can I make you some coffee?” but he wasn’t listenin’ He went to that piano like he’d seen an old friend He drew his name in the dust, he told me where it was made and when He said, “I haven’t seen one like this since I was a boy.” His face was twisted into joy. You think you’ve got nothing to give Look around how people live Loneliness is poverty Say, “hey,” say, “hey,” to me. Well, we talked a few minutes, then the coffee was hot I said, “Hey, Larry, won’t you show me what you’ve got.” He showed me what he had alright, with conviction and soul He banged the barrelhouse blues, baby, he rolled like Jellyroll He played songs of love and country, “from sea to shining sea” And not once, not once, did I hear a broken key A broken old piano and a broken old man Rolled away smokin’ in a broken old van You think you’ve got nothing to give Look around how people live Loneliness is poverty Say, “hey,” say, “hey,” to me.
9.
The Waitress 04:01
She’s pretty, she’s amazing, I think I’m in love with her I love the way she smiles at me- over breakfast She’s pretty, she’s amazing, I love the way she calls me, “sir…” She really listens to me, she’s my waitress She’s my waitress, if I want a cup of coffee She’s my waitress, if I need a piece of pie She’s my waitress- She’ll come back until I’ve had enough She’s my waitress, from her orthopedic shoes She’s my waitress, to the chewin’ gum she chews, She’s my waitress, the waitress I love She’s pretty, she’s amazing, though she’s had a brush with the law It’s been a while since her last arrest She’s pretty, she’s amazing, and everybody’s got some little flaw She’s rehabilitated now; she’s my waitress She’s my waitress, she’s poppin’ percosets She’s my waitress, and smokin’ cigarettes She’s my waitress, Lord knows, that mornin’ crowd is tough She’s my waitress, there where everybody goes She’s my waitress, when the honky-tonks are closed She’s my waitress, the waitress I love She’s my waitress, her brother’s name is Billy She’s my waitress, he’d probably beat me silly If he knew, if he knew what I was thinkin’ of I’m thinkin’ of my waitress, and maybe someday if she’s my waitress, I’ll have the nerve to say Oh, waitress, - you’re the waitress I love
10.
It was Houston Texas, 1958. I was looking for work from state to state. The Man said, "Son, you're way too young, but there's jobs to be done, working offshore." I caught a 64-footer to a Grand Isle rig. I told em I was eighteen, just to get the gig. Two-fifty an hour, a steak and a shower, energy was power, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up. They put me in the crow's nest, lining up a run. I was lining up another when that one was done. When the sunset bled, the Gulf turned red, two men to a bed, working offshore. It was ten days on, five days off. My back was getting strong, my head was getting soft. I lost a finger in a chain, had to retrain, a little pain for my gain, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up. So, I packed it up in 1959. I went back to school to get what's mine. I heard then, eighteen of my friends never came in from working offshore. No telling how many men have fallen. Now it's two-fifty, what, three bucks a gallon? You're standing in that line, just keep it in mind, there's men still dying, working offshore. It's a long way out, just to trust your luck. It's a long way down, just to bring it back up.
11.
I was driving out in Kansas when I heard that song you love. Big sunflowers, for all their graces, turn their faces to the sun. Son, you can't outrun the radio. My friends tell me, "Move to Austin, maybe Nashville, Tennessee." If I can get back to North Carolina, I'll let the music come to me. See, you can't outrun the radio. Even Dale Earnhardt. He was hell on the speedway. He was a champion seven times. He thought he'd make it one more five hundred, and went four hundred and ninety-nine. When it's time, you can't outrun the radio. Now I'm laying in this hotel. It's all uphill, to fall asleep. I check the FM on the alarm clock, and pray the Lord this lap to keep. People, you can't outrun the radio.

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Jonathan Byrd, Johnny Waken, and Kyshona Armstrong. No more, no less. Minimal production, maximum fun.

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released November 29, 2017

Jonathan and Johnny recorded by Jonathan Byrd at The Bonus Room in Chapel Hill NC. Kyshona Armstrong recorded by Craig Haller an d Simon Gugala in Nashville TN
Mixed and mastered by Jerry Brown at The Rubber Room in Chapel Hill NC
Graphic design by John Dixon

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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.
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