Dressed Like A Clown

The one time I saw her was on a hot august night
It was right after a gig at The Flaming Mug
I was out front smoking a cigarette
Had on that "holy" Steve Earle T-shirt from the Jerusalem tour
I coulda swore she was checking me out.
She said, "a man that'll wear a shirt like that must be some kinda Badass."
I said. "well I don't know about the bad part."
She just smiled and cut me with her eyes.

Her chestnut hair fell on the shoulders of a 5' 2" frame
She was wearing one of those thin linen dresses
all the girls were wearing that summer.
It was white with a flower print, like wildflowers
there was a gold cross around her neck
Some drunk kid walking by said, "you look hot tonight."
She said, "well, yeah it's like a hundred degrees."
"and funny too."
but damn, those brown eyes.

I stood there for an awkward minute that felt more like an eternity
she looked down at her phone
I fumbled for another cigarette
As the lightning bugs danced around the vapor light casting silhouettes on the parking lot
she broke the silence again
"You know, I caught your set tonight. I like that Outlaw folk thing you're going for."
I said, Yeah, all of the cool images were taken.
She just rolled her big brown eyes

She told me her name was Anna, short for Annabelle
I guess you already know mine
she pointed up at the marque.
As if she sensed the question coming, she said, "I'm just waiting for my ride,
I guess he had to work late again."
"Boyfriend?", I asked. "It's complicated", she replied.
I said, "Complicated can be dangerous"
That's when I saw something change in those eyes

Was it regret or was it sadness, that was the question
It was probably none of my business
But it still nagged at my conscience
When I finally found the guts to ask, I heard the sound of a ticking car engine
the headlights blinded me to the face behind the wheel
As she opened the passenger door, I said, "take care, you hear?'
When she turned around, I found the answer I'd been looking for
When I saw the fear in her eyes

I still have that gig, I play it every Friday
Every Friday I scan the crowd
Looking for a face
that missing person flyer I found tacked up at the corner
Is taped in the lid of my guitar case
I put it there for a girl named Anna
so every time I look inside
I see those brown eyes

copyright 2020, Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

Anna (Brown Eyes) Demo

If lonely had a face, I’d be the spittin image
if broken was a man everyone would know my name
if I could win the race on empty, I’d be standing at the finish 
With your number pinned across my chest, and not a thing to kill the pain

So why did you go and start a fire, if you couldn’t stand the heat
left me standing on the wire with me no path of retreat
You broke down my defenses just to pull back on the reins
Is this just a game you’re playing or just your fear of sharing  the chains

If your memory was a dream, I would close my eyes forever 
and paint a pretty picture in my head then I would hang it on the wall
but I don’t sleep too much these days and the color’s started fading 
so why am I still hanging around here waiting for your call

So why did you go and start a fire, if you couldn’t stand the heat
left me standing on the wire with me no path of retreat
You broke down my defenses just to pull back on the reins
Is this just a game you’re playing or just your fear of sharing  the chains

copyright 2021 Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

The Chains - Demo

Yesterd'y evenin after supper
I took a notion to discover
them conspiracy shows I heard about on the youtube
Well before I too long I was deep inside
a long dark tunnel to the other side
of some parallel universe designed for the hoo-doo'd 
They call it a rabbit hole, no rabbits, but there musta been bats

Some toothless chick by the name of Donna
says the anti-Christ is Barrack Obama
saw it on info wars it's the goddamn truth
Made a whistling sound as she started to blather
on about how he could change the change the weather,
look it up, by God, it was all over fox news

Don't get me started on global warming
That's a liberal Chinese hoax according
to what I heard said on Rush Limbaugh's show 
Just check out that fellow, Q'anon
that pizza place and the goings-on
They was slinging more down there than pizza dough
You know what Soros spells backwards? That's right!
Got the rabbit hole blues

Pastor Vince from Malta said
the dinosaurs helped build the pyramids
wonder how they moved big rocks with those tiny hands
The Mafia murdered JFK 
With assistance from the CIA
Who buried the evidence beneath the Meadowlands

I never knew that the earth was hollow
with a hole in the top and one in the bottom
and there's a whole lotta real cool shit as your passing through
At the Garden of Eden, there's a flying saucer
run by a Viking by the name of Chaucer
And a couple of vanquished Germans from World War 2
The flat earthers are gonna be pissed but it's good news for Santa Clause, got the rabbit hole blues

O' Bill Gates is hanging with Madona 
Beyonce', Ga-Ga and Rhianna
plotting a course to carry out their plan
And Jay Z is known for slinging rhymes,
turns out he's a vampire traveling time
with a one-eyed Siamese cat named one-eyed sam

He drives a flying Mazarati,
the official car of the Illuminati
he parks it under a runway at DIA
Where once a year the New World Order
meets inside South of the Border
The Mexican joint just down from B98
Which is kinda like the place Harry Potter catches the train, it's invisible to muggles
got the rabbit hole blues

When I looked up it was 3 AM
thought I'd better go out the way I come in
before I reached the point of no return
Friends, it's dark down there, I can't conceive
of the crazy shit, some folks believe
I ain't put a dent in what I learned

like Hillary Clinton's really dead
that's a robot living inside her head
I guess that's where that kooky laugh comes from
Alex Jones is a standup guy
See, I gotcha there, cause that's a lie
But he is the indisputable King of Dumb
Elvis is still the King,  alive and well living Branson
got the rabbit hole blues

copyright 2020 Joe Middleton (Mr Saturday Music, BMI)

The Talking Rabbit Hole Blues (Explicit Content)

Live from South Siders Pub
Waxhaw, NC
Feb 9, 2014

Ian Feathers
Jordan Middleton
Aaron Thorne
Tommy Hill
Hal Q
Josh Burch

D Day

Pedro's

Song written for our buddy Dennis Hardison by Donnie Rivers. Dennis has now joined the band in heaven.

DRJ Projects 2010

Dennis's Song

Doug Thompson set the tone (and topic) last night when he opened up the #OSN with his song (Inspired by Megan Flechaus), 20 Minutes In.  Tune in to Recorded Live In the Carolinas Monday night at 9pm and see what happened afterwards....I can tell you that hilarity and massive talent ensued.

1.   "20 Minutes In" by Doug Thompson

Bad Chapter (Eileen)

"Music has no enemies." -- Hard Working Americans


I Don't Have A Gun/Work For Peace (The Military And The Monetary)

Singer-songwriter Joe Middleton released his first CD, Highway Tremolo, on November 3, 2019 to a packed house at The Evening Muse in Charlotte. Its nine songs were recorded and produced by Eric Lovell at Charlotte’s Blu Bubble Studio. 

 Although rock music was his mainstay for years, he has always identified as a folk singer—a teller of tales through song. Whether you call his music Americana, folk-rock, alt-country, or something else, for Middleton, these are stories that need to be told.

 Middleton continues to hone his ability to tell a better story through words and music. He draws from influences ranging from Bruce Springsteen to Steve Earle to create what he considers to be short-form musical plays. His songs are heavily inspired by the current social climate and a need to remember the bad as well as the good.

The Talking Rabbit Hole Blues (Explicit Content)

Joe Middleton Music