Written by rudyard kipling in 1906 .
A smuggler father speaking to his young daughter .

a smuggler’s song by rudyard kipling

rabbit holes 

These are the facts 
Not rabbit holes 
What distracted your head,
Your heart, your soul ?
Can you deny
Your ears and eyes ?
Can you refute
The truth we lived , my friend ?

And they sing
A different tune 
With empty orange words as proof 
Hoping memories will fade
As they split the world
Between us

And they teach
Another lie
And they preach
Your fears on high

And they say
The only way
Is down this rabbit hole 
Come follow me 

    I’ve got breaking news 
    History will not be kind 
    Am I watching the wrong 
    Channels for you ?

rabbit holes

August 15,2021.   
Stilesville Sunday Jam 
Recording as makebelieve 

Jared : lead guitar 
Brad : stone cold bass
Gary Indiana : percussion 
Shelbie: keyboards 
coldheart: vocals 

Just past stilesville 
There’s a little white house 
Down a gravel road 
Just past stilesville 
With a pond out back
And red wing blackbirds 

Just past stilesville 
There’s a little white house 
Where guitars walk in 
And music pours out
Just past stilesville 
Just past stilesville 

Just past stilesville 
Just past stilesville 
Just past stilesville 

There’s a little white house 
Down a gravel road 
Where guitars walk in
And music pours out
Down the gravel road 

Just past stilesville 
There’s a little white house 
With a pond out back
And red wing blackbirds

Red wing blackbirds 
And swallows tumble 
Through the air

And swallows tumble
Through the air
Barn swallows tumble 
Everywhere 

Just past stilesville 
Just past stilesville 
Just past stilesville 

There’s a little white house 
Down a gravel road

just past stilesville

Stilesville Sunday Jam
September 12 , 2021
At the little white house 

before the storm 
with Jared Lowry

By now you’ve been told
Don’t skinny dip in a crawdad hole
Whole world don’t give a fig
They dance to the tune 
Of the devil on his jig

By now you must’ve learned 
What a wrong turn on the treadmill earns
Facebook likes
Twitter excess
How do you measure 
Your success ?

Never seen an armored car
Lead the way to
West Ridge Park
Dawdle here but keep your future warm
Enjoy the calm before the storm 

By now you must concede
God decides what’s want , what’s need
And they don’t give a shit for you
You’re all alone
When the devil’s due

Come on and join the crowd 
Return to form
Make your daddy proud
Facebook likes
Twitter excess
How do you measure 
Your success ?

Never seen an armored car
Lead the way to
West Ridge Park
Dawdle here but keep your future warm
Enjoy the calm before the storm

before the storm

Stilesville Sunday Jam 
September 12, 2021
At the little white house 

Jared : guitar 
Shelbie : keyboard 
Coldheart : vocals, shake egg

Gather

Gather 
All your arms can hold
Gather near
All you hold dear
Gather all the world’s pine ones 

Daniel wore the scratchy suit
With his hair spit plastered down 
Stared up at the Buick’s roof 
Til the other side of town

Daniel climbed beneath the pews
God’s choir rang right on through 
Mouthed the words with clip-on tie
Til they called them all outside

After they threw dirt on the box
And left the small ones all alone outside 
Daniel peeked into the hole
Where he dropped the gold pine cone 

Gather
All your arms can hold
Gather near
All you hold dear
Gather all the world’s pine cones

And as the big ones laughed and cried 
And left the small ones all alone outside 
The kids played atop the grave
They’d filled with all the world’s pine cones

Gather 
All your arms can hold
Gather near
All you hold dear
Gather all the world’s pine cones

gather

Saturday Jam
9-18-21
At mike shea studio

With Mike Shea : lead guitar
Tyler Turnipseed : percussion 
coldheart : rhythm guitar, vocals 

Come into the light 
Let me take a good look at you
Those same eyes 
That same smile 
Have kept me going 
For quite a while 

In black and white 
Bedroom door cracks open 
Spilling light over
Two old lovers laughing side by side
Lovers laughing side by side 

We’ve been around the block or  two
And we’ve lived our whole lives through 
And we’ve got scars for proof 
And we wouldn’t want it any other way 

What I loved bout you then 
I love bout you still 
And I always will
What I loved bout you then 
I love bout you still

come into the light with mike shea and  tyler tunrnipseed

Stilesville Sunday Jam
August 22 , 2021
In a little white house 
Down a gravel road 
Just past stilesville

With Jared Lowry: lead guitar 
         Brad West : bass
         Gary Indiana: percussion 
         Coldheart: vocals 

We’re going through the petrified forest
We’re going through the painted desert
Hope to see the Hopi Nation
Got to see the great Grand Canyon 

And I know
And I know 
There’s a river running through 
At the bottom of the canyon 

And I know
Yeah, I know
There’s a river running through 
At the bottom of the canyon 

Da da da da da 
And it makes you
Happy 
Happy 
Happy 
Happy

grand canyon

October 24, 2021
just past stilesville 
Jared : percussion 
Shelbie : keyboards 
Coldheart : vocals

Photo : ceiling of a stairwell in bottleworks hotel , Indianapolis  2021



Quarter back of the neighborhood 
Went to Iraq
Cause he thought that he should 
Now he’s back
But he left a leg
Funny how things
Kinda turned out that way

Prom queen graduated 
Married the boy that she’d dated
Becoming what she’d hated
Shouldn’t of been so hard

Now she drinks klonopins 
And yells at her kids
Whatever did she do to ever
Deserve this

Aurora borealis 
Aurora borealis 
High up in the sky 
Aurora borealis 
Beats the Milky Way 
From here to Mars

Time smiled but she couldn’t stay
Fate winked but never tried to explain 
Karma sighed but wouldn’t say
So grab yer bag of hammers
And be on yer way

aurora borealis

Stilesville 
October 17,2021
Jared : lead vocal, drumsticks 
Coldheart: vocal
Shelbie: keys
Brad : guitar
Gary jr : drums

I saw the light and I am not afraid 
Hope heaven’s right 
And throws a parade
St Peter toss me a set of pearly keys
So I can sneak out late at night and 
Do as I please

I saw the light and I just can’t wait 
Can’t wait to ride 
Through that ticker tape 
Hope Jehovah throws open that gate
Budda leads the cheers
While angels congregate 

I saw the light 
We gathered at dusk
The light had drawn 
More than a few of us

Vishnu parks your car 
Gandhi leads the charge 
He’s the biggest moth
Out of all of us

I saw the light and I am not afraid

I saw the light

November 20,2021
         @
Juniors Farm

Guitar : Gary Indiana 
Drums : coldheart

Artwork: close up of a Justin Brown work
Check him out on Instagram

gary indiana

2-20-22
Bainbridge Lanes and Dinner Theater 
Bainbridge, IN
Jared: lead guitar 
Brad : bass
Gary : percussion 
Shelbie: keys
Coldheart: vocals
All appearing as 
makebelieve 

Photo : close up petroglyph, painted desert 


when we were cool the cool kids now 
were just starting school
So they could learn to be cool 
before they could say
when we were cool

the time for Tolkien has passed
everybody here's from some place else

Sidney Padget 
was Sidney Padget
not Charles Dickens 
who was Boz

Don’t shed one tear
if I show up gone
I'll wait up ahead
 as you carry on

and we"ll have a party 
the saint's ain't never seen
Laughing an’ talking
how things mighta been

the time for Tolkien has passed
everybody's on their way to some place else
We'll dance the night away

when we were cool

3-6-22
Bainbridge, IN
Jared: lead
Brad : bass
Gary : percussion 
Coldheart: vocals

I love singing these lines .  The words are fun to enunciate.  And the band plays so together.

furry boots by makebelieve 

Whom the gods love die young
When she said furry boots 
I knew Aberdeen 

Never ever go with the flow
He said as he took a swig

Whom the gods love die young 
When she said furry boots 
I knew Aberdeen 

Never ever go with the flow
He said as he took a swig
When she said furry boots 
I knew Aberdeen 

You’re much more clever
When you shut your mouth

furry boots

Recording as makebelieve 
4-24-22
Jared : lead guitar, vocals
Shelbie: keys, vocals
Gary : percussion 
Coldheart: vocals

Photo by coldheart 

We started song cold .  Just Jared on space guitar . I had some words about dancing annie, a moving light sculpture , downtown Indianapolis and one of those words ( California  ) flipped a switch .  I sang the air of RHCP (Californication) with different words while Gary, Jared and Shelbie twisted the awesome instrumentation.  

Dancing Annie Californication 


She coulda gotta big head
Like New York City
But she kept her bedspread 
West of Ohio

She coulda shouldered Chicago 
But she loved the Mass Ave scene
Even made it down to Key West
In between 

She coulda went out west 
North of California 
But she couldn’t get past
Missouri 

Now Nevada’s a mirage
And Denver just pipe dream
So she’ll just dance here
In between 

Cause she’s still 
Dancing Annie at 23

dancing annie californication

written by robert frost
And then Bono at the end

On mandolin 
September 7, 2022

Nothing gold can stay

Nature’s first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold
Her early leaf’s a flower 
But only so an hour

Then leaf subsides the leaf
So Eden sank to grief
So dawn goes down to day
Nothing gold can stay

    It’s alright, it’s alright 
    It’s alright 
    She moves in mysterious ways

nothing gold can stay

If this ain’t nice then what is ?  This was said by Kurt Vonneguts’ uncle at family gatherings according to Kurt in a YouTube video of one of his lectures about the shapes of stories . So it goes .

Joe Strummer made some of the best music I’ve ever heard .  Phenomenal songwriter musician who made each song his own.  He wrote a song titled “Ramshackle Day Parade” .  So it goes .

The vw bus bit is a high school memory.  Imagine The 70’s Show .  Old Bob is a ditty from long, long ago.


Photo:  close up of sign on B&O Trail 



If this ain’t nice 

Do you remember full back seat 
Freshman September full back seat

Volkswagen micro bus
Sits upon four cinder blocks
Move the rear view mirror 
So I see you see me

Do you remember full back seat 
Freshman September full back seat 

Old Bob can’t find a job
And never will
Old Bob married Jill 
Poor Jill 

If this ain’t nice 
Then what is 
Living day after day
In the great
Ramshackle day parade

if this ain’t nice

September 18, 2022
Recording as makebelieve 
Bainbridge Tourist Center and Bingo Hall

Jared : lead
Brad : bass
Gary : percussion 
Coldheart: vocals

Photo: close up of Pete Seeger display
             Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Skin in the game 

Sometimes 
You gotta put a little 
Skin in the game, baby
Sometimes it hurts to win
And If you can’t sing with the angels 
Then howl with the wolves 
For man is a wolf to man 

And when the sun don’t shine as bright 
And the stars start falling down at night
I’ll be looking for you in the moonlight 
Looking for you in the moonlight 

You gotta put a little 
Skin in the game, baby
Sometimes it hurts to win 
From rounding first to stealing home
Can’t conquer thirst by breaking bones 
And if you can’t sing with the angels 
Then howl with the wolves 
For man is a wolf to man

And when the sun don’t shine as bright
And the stars start falling down at night
I’ll be looking for you in the moonlight 
Looking for you in the moonlight

skin in the game

August 21, 2022
Bainbridge Deep Sea Fishery and Prevarication Club
Recording as makebelieve 
Jared: lead guitar 
Coldheart: rhythm guitar and vocals 

A cover of a "Myth of the Fingerprints"  written by Paul Simon ...  last song on his album “Graceland".  One of my favorite albums .  Loved the melding of Paul and all those amazing artists .  I remember many hours listening, mesmerized by exotic rhythms and music seldom heard in my younger central Indiana days.

myth of the fingerprints

Nov 13, 2022
Bainbridge Vista Social Club 
and Petrichor Meadery
Recording as makebelieve 
Jared : rhythm 
Brad: lead 
Gary: percussion , vocals
Coldheart: vocals

cold winter coming 2

Must be a cold winter coming
The birds are all hungry 
They’re hungry for apples 
From my crab apple tree

And they don’t mind my presence
They’re too busy feasting 
Their numbers increasing 
Upon my crab apple tree 

What life does for you 
Is better than to you
Departing birds chirp
From my bare crab apple tree 

Must be a cold winter coming x 4
 
And it boggles my brain
And it bothers my mind 
When someone yells “squirrel “
You leave this world behind

cold winter coming 2

with the congregation on acoustic bass
Recorded at fredrick street studios and bowling alley

Them’s the breaks 

Without a doubt I understand 
I figured out what life intends
Would hope seem sweeter 
Would fate feel fair
To rob Peter
With no Paul to care

Without a doubt I understand 
I figured out what life demands 
It ain’t money 
And class is lame
What it is
You get to name

Them’s the breaks
The horse you saddle
Like a snake without a rattle
Dropping down from the sky
Like an anvil
You’re up yer life
Without a paddle 

Take what we want 
Not what we need
Steal a glacier for just a drink
Sell them rope when they sink
Screw the others
We’re taught to think

them's the breaks w/ the congregation

3-3-23
fredrick street studios 
with the congregation on vocals and acoustic bass
coldheart on vocals and guitar

dig

everything old is new again
every story ever told
will be retold again
every note in every scale
have all been sung before
everything old is new once more

show , don't tell
know the rules 
before you break them
yer sunset will be
someone else's dawn

look ma , no hands !
let yer actions
reflect intentions
the more you see it
the more it comes back around

sometimes you dig
to find the silver lining
so dig some stairs
to reach the eden
that's been hiding

you have to live
so dump full buckets
here behind you
sometimes you dig
to let the silver lining find you

dig with the congregation

Recorded on 4-29-23
On my iPhone 
Live at Cumbee Hall

Saw her again

Thought I saw her again last night
Dancing on the sand under twilight 
Her hips swaying like palm trees
Hair trailing through the breeze 
Sure it was her last night

Thought I saw her again last night 
Dancing down the beach through the starlight 
Gulls echo her past laughs
Waves crack like finger snaps 
Sure it was her last night

Only to enter empty rooms 
Where her cheap lilac perfume 
Is all that’s left behind

Thought I saw her again last night
Dancing on the sand beneath moonlight 
Winds whisper me her name
Years flood my eyes again
Sure it was her last night

Only to enter empty rooms 
Where her cheap lilac perfume 
Is all that’s left behind

saw her again

10-22-23
Sunday Jam
recorded at Gman Studios
recording as The Charlatans (?….maybe)
Gman: Bass and vocals
Reggie: Percussion
Coldheart: Rhythm and vocals

Horrible financial advice from an unreliable narrator 

C'mon Along

let's pack up the car
let's get outta here
Miami's kinda nice
this time of year

new raybans for you
to lose in the Keys
do us both so good
to change the scenery

c'mon along 
we're on our way
taking us a trip
down to Biscayne Bay

Leave yer troubles here
a thousand miles away
and we won't need any money
we'll let Visa pay

jump in the car 
and we'll live like kings
Mastercard will pay
for everything

and if Mastercard
won't do it
then Visa will
Discover please
get us over this hill

C'mon along
we're on our way
taking us a trip
down to Biscayne Bay

leave yer troubles here
a thousand miles away
and we won't need any money
we'll let Visa pay

C’mon Along 1

The cicadas is coming!
Eclipse too

3-2-24
recorded by the sunday jam 
at juniors' farm
A division of Gman Studios

reggie: percussion
Gman: vocals, bass
coldheart: vocals, rhythm

honey
blue cicadas sing loudly
in our backyard
Baby
Should we join them
Up high
In the treetops

Maybe 
They’ll let us join their song
Don’t worry 
We’ll make it up
As we go along

Shrug off yer shell 
Under Gods’ own sunshine
Come join 
The chorus before us

Don’t worry 
If you sing off key, baby
I’ll gladly 
sing it wrong along

It’s just a 
Needs words song

needs words song

painting: Sunday Afternoon by Georges Seurat (1886)
The lady in the foreground is walking a monkey?

Lyrics with James Booker

not my monkey

when days burn short
and nights grow long
when hope and dreams
refuse to sing yer song
(return)

good old days
are happening now
cause we're too close
to see what's right and wrong

not my monkey
not my circus
can't step in the 
same river twice

the past and future
on the tip of yer tongue
good old days
are happening now

sky blue
cotton candy summer day
like a Sunday Afternoon 
down the promenade

yeah, she walked past
like perfume in the wind
color, sound and shadow
masterpiece

did angels make the record skip?

not my monkey

cover 
Original by wake owl  2013
Check them out 
They make great music

wild country

You know yer in it
You got ‘cher dues paid
So don’t waste a minute 
Is this your first gravediggers ball ?

      C.     Couples glide
               Like ice upon a wooden table 
               In black and white 
              On the silver screen
              The band plays all night
              We dance like hazy candle light
              Flicker until you are not able

You know yer in it now
With every single breath
And every minute
Is one more dance step

                           C. 

You know yer in it
With every turn you take
And every minute 
Is this yer first gravediggers ball ?

reverend hotwheel

gravediggers ball with mike hogan

Hooray it’s Christmas Day
Cole Coldheart: rhythm guitar and vocals
Mike Shea: Everything else except percussion, including vocals and sleigh bells
Blake Shea: percussion 

Recorded and mixed by Shea Studios 

Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
Wise men pray Hosanna 
Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
Santa finally 
Gets some sleep

Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
Shepherds cry Hosanna 
Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
Come gather 
Round the tree

And the one who cried
Lived and died
Walks here 
Within the tree lights
And the sounds
Of ripping wrapping 
Echo I love yous

And the one wept
Rose and left
Talks here
Within our banter
And the sounds
Of easy laughter 
Echo alleluias 

Hooray it’s Christmas Day
Angels sing Hosanna
Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
This one’s for yer Ma

Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
And this one’s 
From Amazona 
Hooray it’s Christmas Day 
Let’s open presents 
With the Lord

Hooray it's Christmas Day with the Sheas

Mike Shea and I recorded this in his living room on my iPhone voice memo app .
This was our first run through and I thought we could never catch a better vibe .  Also Mike Shea played like he could make a can opener sound like Heaven !

We will all stop at the top
Of our roller coaster 
We all wonder what the tipping will be like
Like raw fear off the ledge
Plunging into a whisper 
We all wonder what forever will be like
We all wonder what forever will be like 

So please don’t waste another tear 
Mourning each day’s passing 
Don’t let fear rule your life
Get back on that horse 
And ride it even faster 
And give thanks and praise
In your own ways
For the promise of another 
New borne day

We will all stop at the top
Of our roller coaster 
We all wonder what the tipping will be like
A memory long forgotten 
Lies in an old photograph 
We all wonder what forever will be like
We all wonder what forever will be like 

So please don’t waste another tear 
Mourning each day’s passing 
Don’t let fear rule your life
Get back on that horse 
And ride it even faster 
And give thanks and praise in your own ways 
For the promise of another new borne day

roller coaster demo with mike shea featuring an unwanted text

There was an internet story about someone’s friend suddenly cutting all ties and joining a strict Christian church .  I wondered why ?....


And the cut you made 
Was deep and clean 
You cut me off 
Like gangrene 

So I wrote these words 
To make some sense 
Of your narrow path 
To righteousness 

And you made like your disease 
That all your problems 
Lie with me

But I did not lift that glass you drank 
But what the fuck
You’re just a blank 

And I’m telling you the truth 
People don’t change 
Til they have to 
But brother, you fell from earth 
Looking for another 
You’ve known since birth 

He’s the god in your heart 
Your head, your mind 
And I’d rather enjoy life 
Than be told how to live mine 

How to live mine ...

And the cut you made 
Was deep and clean 
You cut me off 
Like gangrene 

So I wrote these words 
To make some sense 
Of your narrow path 
To righteousness 

He’s the god in your heart 
Your head, your mind 
And I’d rather enjoy life 
Than be told how to live mine 

How to live mine...

I did not lift that glass you drank 
But what the fuck
You’re just a blank

blank with sean ferguson

When my ship comes in        A. D. A. E

When my ship comes in
I’m going to buy you a diamond ring
So dear and clear
Like a sparkle from your eyes

When my ship comes in
I’m going to buy you a convertible 
With a white rag top
To let the wind deep inside

And when you drive downtown 
And you come to a stop
Wave to the boys 
As you put up the top 
When my ship comes in 
You’ll never want again 

Cause when my ship comes in 
I’m going to buy you everything 
When my ship comes in 
I’m going to buy you everything 

When my ship comes in 
I’m going to buy you a great big house
With a rooftop pool
Swimming in stars every night

When my ship comes in 
I’m going to buy you a convertible 
With a white ragtop
To let the sun deep inside 

And when we drive downtown 
And we come to a stop 
C’mon gimmie a kiss
Before we put up the top
When my ship comes in 
You’ll never want again

Cause when my ship comes in 
I’m going to buy you everything 
When my ship comes in
I’m going to buy you everything

when my ship comes in

Like all here , I’m just trying to leave an echo !   Just trying to say I was here .  How lucky are we to live in an age when that is possible ?

reverend coldheart records with : mike shea, guitar whiz and sound designer, usually at his studio ;  mike hogan, who is a gifted bass player, usually in my kitchen ; joe ferguson, who is the original congregation and who started all this out with a christmas uke  ~   It's his fault !

Also, I’ve been jamming with Jarod, Tek, Gary and Shelbie on Sundays in a little white house out past Stilesville. We record under the name “makebelieve”. Hope to post some jams every now and then .

Since October 2023, Sunday jams with Gman and Reggie.  We record under name of:   “the charlatans”.  Or lately, the Sunday Jam Gentlemen.

Thank you for listening 
cole coldheart

Popular tracks by reverend coldheart