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. |
Strawman
04:30
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I dreamed of you and I
And it reminded me you’re still alive
There was a glaze over your eyes
And a smile that used to satisfy
Long ago, when hearts were thawed
Before you pulled my last straw
A wayward soul only knows
Silence can be just as cruel
And the last one standing is the fool
Cause who then will he hang around
When everyone is in the ground
Dead oh dead?
We are two dogs fighting in a field
Two old dogs that never learned how to heal
One lights the fires that burn the best
And the other one doesn’t have many bridges left
A wayward soul only knows
Silence can be just as cruel
And the last one standing is the fool
Cause who then will he hang around
When everyone is in the ground
Dead oh dead?
They say smiles are for forgiving
Tides are made to turn
Here is to the two of us, never having learned
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2. |
Coyote Scream
04:00
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It was a shrill dark cry in the middle of the night
That woke me up, and I know it’s not all right
Like a thousand knives it cut to me
It sounded like some cold, calculated machine
“There’s no delaying, only waiting for me”
It was like the drugs you were denied
Looking out your window at the same sky
When I saw you smiling through the pain
I knew that things would never be the same
“There’s no delaying, only waiting for me”
The cold coyote screams
“You'd better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
“You better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
“You better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
“You better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
“You know you better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
“You better go and say goodbye,”
Someone’s calling out tonight
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3. |
Jennifer Green
05:19
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Jennifer Green saw a snow white bunny
Digging a hole into her brain
The children would laugh, but it wasn’t funny
And oh how that hole, it has remained
Jennifer grew up without emotions
Each time she’d strap on a smile
For all of the boys, they’re just like fish in the ocean
Of them she grew tired after awhile
She got her degree from a women’s college
After the crash in ‘29
That’s where she learned, to the best of our knowledge
The quiet art of cyanide
The silent art of saying goodbye
Jennifer Green
In her blue scrubs and gown
She’s making her rounds
Jennifer Green
With a smile on her lips
A syringe in her fingertips
Jennifer Green
She’s got blood in her eyes
She keeps it all so well disguised
(bring it all over the town)
She was a sweet angel of mercy
She was a black angel of death
A tiny mark on each of her victims
One little kiss on the back of the neck
Where a needle would stick
A hole in the neck
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4. |
The Big Production
07:02
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You were talking bad about the big production
Can’t relate to the constant cast reduction
You don’t want to be the only one who loves you more
Or you will lag behind to stay ahead of course
And in the morning when you wake up, drink your coffee
I read your novel cover to cover and every copy
Wander into the restaurant like a fool
Stare out at the waitress until she sees you drool
And If you taste another penny in your pocket
Don’t you waste another moment as the prophet
When you see them out there on a new horizon
Let the willows fall and let all the widows weep
‘Cause like an out paid actress you could play someone exciting
Or like a pillow you could put me right to sleep
And If you taste another penny in your pocket
Don’t you waste another moment as the prophet
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5. |
Home to Roast
04:03
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When I’m feeling good
And in control
Of the many ghosts
That’s about the time I go back home
About the time I go
About the time I go back home
Home to roast, home to roast
She said it’s no secret that I am
Tortured like a vulture in the clouds
With a taste for your human skin
And no way to come down
Home to roast, home to roast
She said it’s no secret what we had
And it’s a shame it’s all decaying now
When I think about who we used to be
I can only let you down
About the time I go
About the time I go
About the time I go
Home to roast
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6. |
The Pills
02:58
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Walking alone in the dark
I found somebody to love
Helping myself to a lie
That no one wanted to give me
And oh, I hope it goes down easy
Oh, I hope it brings you back to me
For it all wasn’t a ride that I
Would like to take that often
But it was another chance to try
For someone that I loved
And oh, I hope you go down easy
Oh, I hope it brings you back to me
'Cause tomorrow I might not be there
To hold you in my arms
Taking the pills I find laying around
Just to get out of my mind
And oh, I hope they go down easy
Oh, I hope it brings you back to me
The pills, the pills, the pills, the pills
The pills, the pills, the pills, the pills, the pills, the pills
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7. |
My Moonshine Shoes
03:21
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Supply and demand
Put the power in their hands
Tonight my light is not shining
You can read them the news
By the light of the moon
The Detroit River is smiling
Do you wanna know the truth?
I’m thirsty for you
Uncork the barrels
And fill up my glass
Tonight my life is worth living
So holster your guns boys
And forget the pact
For this my life ain’t worth giving
Do you wanna know the truth?
I’m thirsty for you
Do you want to know the truth
About my moonshine shoes?
She was a growing trade
Goodbye my bootleg
She was a growing trade
What gave her away?
She was a growing trade
Goodbye my bootleg
She was a growing trade
What gave her away?
Do you wanna know the truth?
I’m thirsty for you
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8. |
Forty Below
04:16
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Somewhere a young man pulls his car into a station
He’s got a secret tied up in his eyes somewhere
Where it all went wrong he just can’t say for certain
But it’s sure looking like a cold one way out there
A girl is trying hard to undo the ropes across her hands
While he’s in the station paying for the gasoline
He was running traffic lights, she was screaming bloody murder
Like “What do you want with..?” and “Where are you taking me?”
On the cold stone, sleep alone
It’s forty below and counting
Oh no, you’re gonna need warmer clothes
It’s one long ride up that mountain
She was a restless one who went from friend to lover
Like a giant jumbo jet, a rocket in the sky
Tonight is a different trip ‘cause she is going under
She’s praying hard for wings, yet still she cannot fly
From the cold stone, sleep alone
It’s forty below and counting
Oh no, you’re gonna need warmer clothes
It’s one hell of a ride down that mountain
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9. |
The Hermit
04:33
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When I came home, after the dawn
Only to find you stammering on
Well it broke my heart, it was something profound
To see you in tatters, sewn into the ground
If you leave it to me, don’t hurt all your pride
Lemme take you in, take you inside
Leave it to me, but did I leave you to die,
Put a gun to your head, or overfeed you with lies?
How did you find me after so long?
I was a hermit, I was as good as gone
And how did this happen after we left?
I could not remember what not to forget
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10. |
A Pickle Jar Remains
05:57
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Upon this single mattress
Floating somewhere out in space
With a most uncertain state
I had a grand illusion
Of myself once, as a king
I was struggling with the reins
Can you face the strain?
You’re in a most uncertain state
Can you make the change, oh
With what little that remains? oh, oh, ooooh
I was left out here to pasture
In this field of pollen grains
And I was left out here to graze
Tried to turn my knowledge of the history books
Into a living wage
For beyond the final page
Can you face the strain?
You’re in a most uncertain state
Can you make the change, oh
With what little that remains? oh, oh, ooooh
Now I won’t apologize
Don’t think that I am vain
My only wish remains
To put all of my pennies
In a pickle jar remains
My only wish remains
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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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