Private demo of my Jim Crow-era murder ballad

LYRICS

BLOOD HARMONY (Henley)

[INTRO]

[VERSE 1]
  Cleve had skin like a	 clingstone peach	  He & his bother sang each to each
 9 months separate	 from the womb	  Even as babies they cried in tune
 D. & her brother lived	  over the hill	   Way too dark for the Jack & Jills.   But
 they had a sound & they  learned to work it: straight from the cradle to the chitlin circuit
			The

[PRE-CHORUS]
 wars overseas were be - twixt & between The
 war back home was the	  usual thing		But
 late at night by the 	  AM shine
 you could hear sounds from across that line

[CHORUS]
		Blood	  harmony		Blood	  harmony
		No	  1 knows you	like	  family

[VERSE 2]
  It was the eve of July the 4th 			outside a Fireman’s Fair up north
  Cleve & his brother were gettin’ known	for their high lonesome overtones
  D. & her own brother’d done all right	Got held over after Colored Night
  Their duets seemed to split the skies		It was a sound he recognized	And

[PRE-CHORUS 2]
  when they met at the aftershow
  Cleve said I heard you on the radio
  D. said it don’t have half the feel
  Cleve said I know but the money’s real

[CHORUS]

[VERSE 3]
  Cleve had a beard like a spun dessert 	D. liked the smell of his chambray shirt. But
  it was his tenor that made her kindle		He added the 3rd & her options dwindled
  They did their best to stay somewhat hid	D.’s brother wanted to kill the kid
  Cleve’s brother lived on his own dark cloud of booze and pills and needles now
 
[PRE-CHORUS 3]
  Months & years of not quite hits
  Smashing bottles & mandolins
  Cleve told his brother we’re through this time
  D. told her lover you’re outta your mind

[CHORUS]
						His

[VERSE 4]
  brother decided to pull that trigger	Went on the radio fueled by liquor
  Used exactly the word you’d figure	fanned to flame what’d been a flicker
  How I wish love conquered all	And	that Cleve wouldn’t let himself fall
  back inside that pale reprieve		that his love could not receive		And

[PRE-CHORUS 4]
  maybe it would’ve gone just that way
  But we still don’t know to this day —
  in their car when it hit that bus was his
  gun for her, or the rest of us

[CHORUS]

OUTRO

Blood Harmony (Demo)

© Jim Henley and Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Lyrics:

Humans

humans are like science fiction
humans never quite come true
find them in the human section
of the interstellar zoo
it's like they are in a mirror
but it's not the shaving kind
see them shrink as you move nearer
widen as you fall behind

flesh and bone
flesh and bone
flesh and bone
we've got flesh and bone

once this girl on television
smashed apart a wooden chair
then she staked a dozen vampires
that girl had such perfect hair
don't hate me because i'm pretty
pretty isn't worth the spite
if you're gonna hate me hate me
cause I'm better at your life

flesh and bone
flesh and bone
flesh and bone
we've got flesh and bone

we will tell the human stories
we will sing the human songs
we will replicate their glories
we will get them almost wrong
we lived in the empty spaces
purely as magnetic tones
now we've taken human faces
now we've taken human

flesh and bone
flesh and bone
flesh and bone
we've got flesh and bone

Jim Henley - lead vocals 
Amy Carstensen - backing vocals, keyboards 
Billy Jones - Guitars, bass, beats, bvox 

Recorded by Billy Jones at Bones Jones Music, Rockville, MD 
Mixed by Corey Bowers (Humans, Headstone for Two) and David Spreng (Scatter My Ashes On the Internet) 
Mastered by Chris Graham

Humans

© Jim Henley and Amy Carstensen

Lyrics:

Headstone for Two

let's go by a headstone baby
big enough for two
i'll be on that headstone
so will you

we will never go there baby
not while we're alive
we will only go there
when it's time

i'll be dead before you baby
we both know i will
i hope life takes its own sweet time
having you killed

if you don't end up there with me
i will never know
baby i want you to go
where you gotta go

but if today you wanna run
your hands across a rough
stone with both our names upon it
baby that's enough

as long as i'm alive i'll know
that we have got a plot
eventually we'll all
be forgot

the promise that we made today
will always have been made
when words and even stones
are washed away

so let's go by a headstone baby
big enough for two
i'll be on that headstone
so will you

Jim Henley - Male lead vocals 

Recorded by Billy Jones at Bones Jones Music, Rockville, MD 
Mixed by Corey Bowers (Humans, Headstone for Two)
Mastered by Chris Graham

Headstone for Two

© Jim Henley and Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Lyrics:

Scatter My Ashes on the Internet

*as a girl
i mostly lived in books
mom and dad
lived in books too
and our house
it was a quiet house
three of us
in the living room

this was love
even so
this was love
that much i know*

when i die
scatter my ashes on the internet
when i die
i won't be anything at all
as a friend
you know that words will be my legacy
as a friend
do the impossible for me

+as a man
i was a soldier in a stupid war
and i wrote
about everything i saw
and we learned
we learned from each other
when we met
in the comments of my blog

was this love
i don't know
was this love
maybe so+

when i die
scatter my ashes on the internet
when i die
i won't be anything at all
as a friend
you know that words will be my legacy
as a friend
do the impossible for me

+the morning of my last patrol
my tent was heavy with the frost+
*i smiled at the camera hole
and showed you three new books i bought*
+the video got choppy so
we went back to typing+
*you said that it was time to go
just as i was writing:*

when i die
scatter my ashes on the internet
when i die
i won't be anything at all
when i die
you know that words will be my legacy
when i die
do the impossible for me
when i die
do the impossible for me
when i die
do the impossible for me

Jim Henley - Male lead vocals 
Amy Carstensen - Female lead and backing vocals, keyboards 
Billy Jones - Guitars, bass, beats, bvox 

Recorded by Billy Jones at Bones Jones Music, Rockville, MD 
Mixed by David Spreng (Scatter My Ashes On the Internet) 
Mastered by Chris Graham

Scatter My Ashes on the Internet

Scatter My Ashes On The Internet

© Jim Henley

Lyrics:

All Doors Open in Baltimore

there's a dolphin trainer by the harbor
in the fading light
there's a yuppie up from Federal Hill
who greets her every night
there's a brownstone that's been gentrified
where they clutch and they sigh
at least that's how i picture it
in my mind's eye

in my younger days i had a love
in every station stop
until i met her on the way
to take up her new job
i took the dolphin trainer's ticket
and she took my heart
cause each unhappy ending has
to have a happy start

all doors open in Baltimore
you can get out if you're sure
but the train don't stop no more
you must tuck and roll
charm city's what they call it hon
you're better off in Wilmington
or Aberdeen or anywhere at all

she taught my heart to jump through hoops
and dance upon its tail
and always to return to take
the treasures from her pail
i'd meet her by the harbor and we'd
head back to our loft
and we could take all evening just
to get her wetsuit off

but i still rode the rails cause that's
the job i had to do
and out of seven days i was home
just a night or two
was loneliness the thing that drover her
to that yuppie's bed
or did she just prefer the way
he did her tricks instead

all doors open in Baltimore
you can get out if you're sure
but the train don't stop no more
you must tuck and roll
charm city's what they call it hon
you're better off in Wilmington
or Aberdeen or anywhere at all

now put the smartphone down
i'm only kidding
of course we'll stop the train when you depart
but don't you sometimes
wish the world were smaller
no bigger than a single broken heart

all doors open in Baltimore
you can get out if you're sure
but the train don't stop no more
you must tuck and roll
charm city's what they call it hon
you're better off in Wilmington
or Aberdeen or anywhere at all

Recorded October-December 2016 in Silver Spring, Philadelphia, Brooklyn.

Personnel:
Jim Henley - lead vocals, EZ piano, GarageBand smart instruments

Produced by - same guy
Strictly amateur mix by - same guy
Mastered by - as freaking if. It's a demo!

All Doors Open in Baltimore (demo)

© Jim Henley

Lyrics:

A Man of Few Words

I wanted to be
a man of few words
but it didn't work out
it didn't work out

I wanted to be
a come-what-may guy
but it's too late now
it's too late now
---------
a man of few words
he doesn't say much
but it means a lot
oh it means a lot

I wanted to be
a man of few words
but it didn't work out
it didn't work out
--------
a come-what-may guy
takes life as it come
each day's a gift
each day's a gift

I wanted to be
a come-what-may guy
but it's too late now
it's too late now
--------
I'll tell you a secret if you swear to forget it
I don't want to be it I just want the credit
I just want the credit for being the kind
who doesn't care if the credit is mine


Recorded December 2016 - January 2017 in Silver Spring and Philadelphia

Personnel:
Jim Henley - lead vocals, GarageBand smart instruments

Produced, after a fashion, by - same guy
Strictly amateur mix by - same guy
Mastered by - as freaking if. It's a demo!

A Man of Few Words

A Man Of Few Words (demo)

© Jim Henley 2018

Lyrics:

Milkshakes and Gravy

We're on the ward and we're doing okay
We're on the ward day after day
pushing our poles down the hall for a walk
You never hear us squawk

My mouth's like a sunburn
My mouth's a skinned knee
I haven't opened it lately to see
Food is like gravel my tongue skids across
Not eating's no big loss

------
Livin' on milkshakes and gravy
Livin' on poison in bags
Livin' on rays from a raygun
But it's livin', now how is that bad?
Oh it's livin', now how is that bad?
------

Once between cycles I went to the store
I hardly notice the shelves any more
I bought some ice cream and set it to melt
It's just the hand I'm dealt

Oh five days on, nine days off, do it again
They know your face now when you check in
Drain an IV bag of drugs every day
The nurses put gloves on to throw it away

------
Livin' on milkshakes and gravy
Livin' on poison in bags
Livin' on rays from a raygun
But it's livin', now that can't be bad
Oh it's livin', now that can't be bad
------

Last night I cried over drinks with a friend
She held my hand from the start to the end
I said I felt like a  total cliché
She said, That's okay

------
Livin' on milkshakes and gravy
Livin' on poison in bags
Livin' on rays from a raygun
But it's livin', now that isn't bad
Oh it's livin', now that isn't bad
Yeah it's livin', now that isn't bad
------

Recorded January - February 2018 in Silver Spring and Philadelphia

Personnel:
Jim Henley - lead vocals, GarageBand smart instruments, production, mixing, mastering.

Milkshakes and Gravy (Demo)

Milkshakes And Gravy (Demo)

RUNAWAY TRUCKS
©℗ 2018 Jim Henley

when you’re a kid and you see the ramp for runaway trucks
winding up the hill past trees out of view
you figure there’s gotta be skeletons there and burned out husks
you figure it’s somehow something to do with you

when you’re  a kid and the tanker truck reads FLAMMABLE
you figure it’s gonna explode as your mom drives by
you figure your doom is certain and it’s gonna be terrible
the flames will shoot a hundred feed high

runaway trucks runaway cars
secret ciphers shooting stars
the world is full of dire signs
it feels like it’s your fault sometimes

when you’re a kid and you read a book on ciphers and codes
you start to see ciphers and codes everywhere you look
a relative dies and in your secret heart you know
where the blame deserves to be put

when you get older you see the world is just the world
and things that happen happen as they will
you almost forget how your world appeared before
then you see a ramp on a hill

runaway trucks runaway cars
secret ciphers shooting stars
the world is full of dire signs
it feels like it’s your fault sometimes

runaway trucks runaway cars
secret ciphers shooting stars
the world is full of dire signs
it feels like it’s your fault sometimes

-------------
Recorded in Philadelphia, PA and Silver Spring, MD.
Jim Henley - piano, vocals, GarageBand touch instruments, production.

Runaway Trucks (demo)

SERPENTS CANNOT CLOSE THEIR EYES
©℗ 2018 Jim Henley

Satan thought, I 	want to be a serpent
So he went and had a talk with God
He could not explain just what his wish meant
Even to himself it sounded odd

“I want to scrape my belly on the bark and on the leaves
I want to feel the sun upon my scales
I want to have a forked tongue on which I can taste the breeze
But most of all, I want to have a tail”

CHORUS:
“Be careful what you wish for” is the watchword of our time
Or any other time you care to contemplate
Has it occurred to you that even wishing is a crime
And if it did, tell me would you hesitate

God said, you’re in luck cause We’re expanding
There will always be something to do
Your new duties won’t be too demanding
Basically your work will come to you

The Garden’s ground was rough and it was roughness that he loved
The honeysuckle on the breeze was sharp
The sunlight came down splintered from the canopy above
He swallowed his first rodent a few minutes after dark

CHORUS

The couple came and God came shortly after,
To Satan curled around his favorite tree
There was something fetching in her laughter
The man, however, he could take or leave

God said it’s a formality at worst old friend
Satan wondered why he was surprised
And though he wanted very much to cry before the end
Like Angels, serpents cannot close their eyes

CHORUS

There is a garden somewhere where the gate is always barred
And in the middle there’s a tree nobody has to guard
And despite the rumors you’ve heard, Satan dwells within
And sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds his skin

CHORUS

-------------
Recorded in Philadelphia, PA and Silver Spring, MD.
Jim Henley - piano, vocals, GarageBand touch instruments, production.

Serpents Cannot Close Their Eyes (demo)

SMART PHONE
©℗ 2018, 2018 Jim Henley

I have got these pictures to
show you on my phone
Every single one is you
and you’re not alone
That’s not what you told me when
you left on that trip
I suppose it’s just another slip

CHORUS:
Baby baby baby
I can’t take any more
I try to delete it
It somehow gets Restored
Baby baby baby
there’s no way to atone
Oh why can’t you be smarter than my phone

I was tweeting with a friend
You were tweeting too
Accidentally you DMed
me and then I knew
that you were the Mayor of
someone else’s heart
The way the interfaces change
it’s hard to tell things apart

CHORUS

There’s cameras in the alleyways
There's metadata farms
There’s warrants out for everything
What could be the harm
And in one last indignity
we make our lives a show
There’s knowledge at your fingertips
that you don’t want to know

CHORUS

Oh why can't you be smarter than my phone
Oh why can't you be smarter than my phone
Oh why can't you be smarter than my phone
Oh why can't you be smarter than my phone

Recorded in Saint Louis, MO, Philadelphia, PA and Silver Spring, MD.
Jim Henley - piano, vocals, MIDI instruments, production.

Smart Phone (demo)

SERPENTS CANNOT CLOSE THEIR EYES
©℗ 2018 Jim Henley

Satan thought, I 	want to be a serpent
So he went and had a talk with God
He could not explain just what his wish meant
Even to himself it sounded odd

“I want to scrape my belly on the bark and on the leaves
I want to feel the sun upon my scales
I want to have a forked tongue on which I can taste the breeze
But most of all, I want to have a tail”

CHORUS:
“Be careful what you wish for” is the watchword of our time
Or any other time you care to contemplate
Has it occurred to you that even wishing is a crime
And if it did, tell me would you hesitate

God said, you’re in luck cause We’re expanding
There will always be something to do
Your new duties won’t be too demanding
Basically your work will come to you

The Garden’s ground was rough and it was roughness that he loved
The honeysuckle on the breeze was sharp
The sunlight came down splintered from the canopy above
He swallowed his first rodent a few minutes after dark

CHORUS

The couple came and God came shortly after,
To Satan curled around his favorite tree
There was something fetching in her laughter
The man, however, he could take or leave

God said it’s a formality at worst old friend
Satan wondered why he was surprised
And though he wanted very much to cry before the end
Like Angels, serpents cannot close their eyes

CHORUS

There is a garden somewhere where the gate is always barred
And in the middle there’s a tree nobody has to guard
And despite the rumors you’ve heard, Satan dwells within
And sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds and sheds his skin

CHORUS

-------------
Recorded in Philadelphia, PA and Silver Spring, MD.
Jim Henley - piano, vocals, production.

American Bots

Serpents Cannot Close Their Eyes (solo piano version)

THERE'S TWO LINDAS IN OKLAHOMA
©℗ 2018 Jim Henley

There's two Lindas in Oklahoma
and I think it's a shame
there's two Lindas in Oklahoma
cause they're both the same
One Linda thinks that she loves me
The other Linda is wise
There's two Lindas in Oklahoma
She's got the prettiest eyes

CHORUS
Remember cartoons from before we were older
an angel and a devil on each of your shoulders
Well Linda's got 'em now and I know it's a sin
if I were to root for the devil to win

One Linda in Oklahoma
knows just what's she's seekin'
The other Linda in Oklahoma
calls me on the weekend
One Linda swipes right on her phone
when she meant to swipe left
The other Linda thinks of moving back home
but she hasn't moved yet

CHORUS
BREAK

Like Linda in Oklahoma
there's two of me too
One of me loves only Linda
The other loves the shit that I put her through
We could make it a double wedding
a happy couple for sure
me and Linda before the altar
and our demons make four

CHORUS

There's two Lindas in Oklahoma
There's two Lindas in Oklahoma
There's two Lindas in Oklahoma
and I think it's a shame

-------------
Recorded in Philadelphia, PA, Silver Spring, MD and Moorestown, NJ.
Jim Henley - vocals, production.

There's Two Lindas in Oklahoma (Xmas Bonus Version)

There's Two Lindas In Oklahoma (Xmas Bonus Version)

I started writing songs. Now I want you to hear them.

Jim Henley

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