Get all 5 Jesse W. Johnson releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Bad State Parks, American Dumpster, Primal Scream, Cannon Rows, and Home to Roast.
1. |
American Dumpster
03:03
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You came in at the strangest time
We’re nowhere near the end
And for all you know you’ll never speak
Another word again
In the fire that is your friend
In the fire that is your friend
No wonder all the lightning’s gone
She’s calling you to be
Apart from all that’s dying there
With her you would be free
From yourself
From yourself
From yourself
In the fire that is your friend
In the fire that is your friend
In the fire, in the fire that is your friend
No handle to hold on to
No gear that can be turned
No world can be imagined
I wouldn’t want to burn
No way that it is over
No need to start again
No will to lose, or hold onto
All will be born again
In the fire that is your friend
In the fire that is your friend
In the fire, in the fire
In the fire that is your friend
And you’ll come again
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2. |
Stand to Smile
02:28
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Maybe we’re all alone
Maybe there’s nothing wrong
And when you shine a light
The darkness will be gone
And I will be there
Maybe you’ll think of me
As someone make believe
Is only in your dreams
Fade into fantasy
And I will be there
In everything you do
Though I don’t know if I
Can bring myself to care
And you will think of me
As someone make believe
And I will be there
When there’s no one around
Pull the curtains down
Over the pigs that you bleed
And the boys you drown
If you drown
Maybe we’re all afraid
We’re going out of style
‘Cause you can live the dream
And still not stand to smile
And I will be there
In everything you touch
Though I don’t know if I
Can bring myself to care
And you will think of me
As someone make believe
And I will be there
If only in your dreams
Fade into fantasy
And I will be there
I will be there
I will be there
I will be there
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3. |
Hangover Heaven
03:20
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When I get to hangover heaven
I’m gonna throw up my guts
I’m gonna catch up to ghosts
And I’m gonna run
Oh, I’m gonna run
You’ve seen me at my worst
Now take me at my word
If you wanna destroy the world
Then I want to be first
I think it’s funny, don’t you?
At first we wanna make it last
And now we just want it to be through
We just want it to be through
Today you smiled like you meant it
Almost made me wanna quit
Then you fell onto the pavement
The second that you got back off of it
I think it’s funny, don’t you?
At first you wanna make it last
And now you only want it to be through
I only wanted to be through
You’ve seen me at my worst
Now take me at my word
If you wanna destroy the world
Then I want to be first
I held your hand on the hospital bed
And whispered these lies to you
But when you step out onto a cloud
You know you’re gonna fall right through
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4. |
Hate It Here
03:55
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Holding so hard on the one hand
Trying to put some purpose on
All that was planned
While studying how to be a good man
Were you and I ever on the same path?
And I ask myself that
Why I hate it here
I’ve been telling myself
It’ll only be another year
It’ll only be another year
Letting go like it never was held in
Coming across as someone breathless
Studying hard how to look up again
Out at the flatlands
To see an invisible mountain
And I hate it here
I hate it here
I just wanna get out
I just wanna be out of it now
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5. |
Kid in the Castle
05:00
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No matter how far I travel
I'm always right here
I’m the kid with the worst style
Staring into the mirror
And I’m the light of the party
When it’s all turned in
I’m a shot in the heart now
When it’s all growing dim
I’m a skull in the garden
Scaring away all the birds
And I’m the kid in the books that
Nobody's ever heard of
I’m the ghost with the most fear
Staring into the eyes
Of a trembling child who’s
Scared half of their life
There's a kid in the castle
And a frog on the throne
There's a kid in the castle
I’m a pen with no ink
A car with no gas
And I’m a writer with no will
I’m a dancer with no cash
I’m a guitar with no strings
Hear the overwhelming cheers
I’m a cup that’s torn open
I’m a keg with no beer
No matter how far I go now
I am always right here
I’m the kid with the worst style
Staring into the mirror
And yeah the one with the dumb smile
Stretching ear to ear
There's a kid in the castle
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6. |
Beautiful Darkness
02:52
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Beautiful darkness that I have known
Come down from your gallows
Take your thrown
Take this love I have to offer
Love that I’ve had locked inside my heart
Take my love down from the altar
And make it dark
Hand I’ve held onto, now depart
Take stock all your sorrow
Stay where you are
Take this love I have to offer
Love that I’ve had locked inside my heart
Take my love down from the altar
And make it dark
Take this love I have to offer
Love that I’ve had locked inside my heart
Take my love down from the altar
And make it dark
Make it dark
Make it dark
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7. |
Night Begins to Fade
02:58
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Hope will grow
And somehow I know
Hope will remain in me
Somewhere we’ll live
And there will exist
An end to eternity
I could use your help
If you offer yourself
I promise the same from me
I could use your help
Not to lose myself
To the end of eternity
Let us not forget about
Our friends that now have fallen
So we don’t forget about
Once we all have gone
Hope will grow
For someone I know
And it won’t be you or me
Somewhere they’ll live
And there will exist
An end to eternity
I could use your help
If you offer yourself
I promise the same from me
I could use your help
Not to lose myself
To the end of eternity
Let us not go about the plan
Let us reach out and bring ‘em in
Let us watch as the night begins to fade
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8. |
No Mountain
02:48
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Beyond this world
What will you see
Someone you trust
Someone like me
Torn into shreds
It’s hard to believe
The things that you do
To feel like a freak
And you can’t escape
No matter how you try
The faster you live
The farther you’ll fly
And in your place
No mountain will rise
Only a stone
Under the sky
No mountain will rise
No mountain will rise
Only a stone under the sky
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9. |
The Miles in Your Eyes
04:09
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Don’t let them cast me an outlaw
When I’ve long paid for my crimes
And don’t let them turn me into something
That you will be ashamed of in time
Don’t let them make me a martyr
For the small bit of good that I’ve done
It’s a drop in an ocean of scarlet
And it might have been there all along
And I don’t know why
And I don’t know why
No I don’t, No I don’t
It’s a funny thing when you think it
How all of this time you’ve been taught
And as a student of former religion
I was one in the land of the lost
Forever seems like a lifetime
For what seems more like a day
And the miles show in your eyes
When you talk about it in this way
And I don’t know why
And I don’t know why
No I don’t, No I don’t
And I don’t know why
(The miles in your eyes
Are passing you by)
No I don’t, No I don’t
And I don’t know why
(The miles in your eyes
Are passing you by)
No I don’t, No I don’t
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10. |
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You take what you learn
And you burn till it's gone
You light what is dark
And you keep moving on
‘Till it stops or you start
To not feeling strong
You can fight but don't try
To pretend that it's not
Coming on like cancer
Coming on like cancer
When you live on your own
You will know what you’re not
And the small bit of faith
That you had long forgot
When you try to deny
For so long, who you are
And you can’t see the black
Through the light of the stars
Coming on like cancer
Coming on like cancer
When I finally decided not to lie
And I woke up where you are
I could see that fire burning
Lonely in your eyes
That had been lit from the start
From the start
From the start
Coming on like cancer
Coming on like cancer
Coming on like cancer
Coming on like cancer
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Jesse W. Johnson Chicago, Illinois
"Hooky-yet-dark rock and roll, with the tiniest little twinge of country twang"
- Nasty
Fancy
"Little slices of life at its darkest moments of despair amidst upbeat tempos and vibrant sounds of Americana/Folk Rock"
- Southside on the Town
... more
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