Our First Dog - Written by Todd Burge & Tim O'Brien for The Presidential Dog

Aches and Pains 10-24-2014
By Todd Burge ©2015 Bunj Jam BMI

Aches aches aches and pains
The more time ticks the more aches and pains
If I had the time to think, I’d go insane
Over all my aches and pains

Pain pain, life’s a pain
and how you cope is based on
How it’s framed
Like a fuzzy puppy with oversized eyes
Imitation life behind art’s disguise 

Life’s a bitch, then you bitch
And while I bitch, it’s a son of a bitch
Not sure what I’ve got to gain
As I bitch about all my….
Aches aches aches and pains


If I could do it over again
Again I’d do it over again
But I might add just a bit more sin
As it might stop my mind from wanderin’

When I was a younger
Man oh man
I could make a stand
and deliver with little strain
But now I’ve got these

Aches aches aches and pains
The more time ticks the more aches and pains
If I had the time to think, I’d go insane
Over all my aches and pains

www.toddburge.bandcamp.com 

Aches And Pains

www.toddburge.bandcamp.com 
The Cheerleader  
by Todd Burge ©2015 Bunj Jam BMI 4-10-14
Don’t let this get you down
We’re all bound to break
If we can’t bend a little bend
Bend a little bit
A bit, a bit a bit a bit

It’s all been said before
And it’s a tiny bit cliché
So I won’t say it anymore
Say it anymore
Don’t let life Kill You
Don’t let the fight beat you up up up up up
Don’t get down
Take it on the chin, defend your face again

Break
Chorus
I’ve got a cheer to lead
And it may be just for me
As I’ve been holding back
Stacking up, but holding back
Back n back n back n back
Don’t let life Kill You
Don’t let the fight beat you up up up up up
Don’t get down
Take it on the chin, defend your face again
Defend your face again
Oh, don’t lose face again
So defend your face again



The Cheerleader

www.toddburge.bandcamp.com 
Change (For Clean Water) 
Featuring Tim O’Brien and Kathy Mattea
By Todd Burge Jan 17 2014

I wonder what the natives thought 
As Washington rode their river so pristine
Then forced to follow his direction
Be it Hell or be it Heaven
Made to swim up
His Stream

The story is as old 
As the mountains, tall and green
That used to make the skyline 
Of a state that once was clean

Change, change
If not it all will stay the 
Same same same
Change change
We’ve got to break and make some change

Granddad had a can
From the plant along the river
On his roof (It was 1972)
Issued by some man
To measure how much toxin
That plant was letting lose

Now the numbers are all in
They’ve been crunched and wadded up
They just toss them in the river
And now our children drink them up

Change, change
If not it all will stay the 
Same same same
Change change
We’ve got to break and make some change

Short term gain is taking away
Everything our great state has got to gain
And when there’s nothing left to lose
Our kids will just pack up
And simply move away

It’s true what they say
 Mountaineers are always free
In their hearts and minds
With freedom to leave
Change, change
If not it all will stay the 
Same same same
Change change
We’ve got to break and make some change

“In this light, the Elk River leak could be the future of many American cities -- a future in which systems failures cause local catastrophic events, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill to clean up after polluters.” Angie Rosse - Executive Director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition in Charleston WV.

Learn how to change
www dot wvrivers dot org
http://www.wvrivers.org/


Change (For Clean Water)Feat Kathy Mattea

Todd Burge interviews Chris Hillman of the Byrds/Flying Burrito Brothers etc.
2012

Todd Burge Interviews Chris Hillman Of The Byrds

What I’m Positive About (3-14-2016) 

Every day or so I notice change is
Setting in and I am giving in
To all the things we won’t admit
But
This is good
And it is
As good as it gets
This is good
And it is
As good as it gets
I’m positive about too few things
These days are slipping into a haze
But I’m certain that I’m sure
About this given 
This is good
And it is
As good as it gets
This is good
And it is
As good as it gets



What I'm Positive About

From Todd Burge - Live on Mountain Stage 
New 17 track album from Mountain Stage with Larry Groce heard on NPR and via podcast 



The Good Dog - Live On Mountain Stage

From the 2008 Album
My Lost and Found
Produced by Tim O'Brien

Baby Ray

This is my kids version of Big Rock Candy Mountain.
Harry McClintock recorded it in 1928 and claimed to have written it in 1895. Some folks aren't so sure.

Big Rock Candy Mountain FOR KIDS by Todd Burge

Live on Mountain Stage (2006-2015) by Todd Burge
www.toddburge.com.bandcamp.com

Time To Waste Time  - Live On Mountain Stage

Inauguration Day 2017 (We’re Not Leaving Town) 
by Todd Burge Jan 19, 1017

Pray if you pray
Or maybe meditate
On the state of a nation starting over
Over the hill
Or the hump, if you will
Or maybe we’re just climbing
Up up up

Our class is half full
And our hearts are broken
Yet hope is pumping out
So, we’re not leaving town
We’re not leaving town

So what can we do?
Are you feeling helpless too?
But just help those who
Might need more than you and I do?

Lift up a child
Pick up the down and out
Shoot a sunny ray in the way
Of some nasty cloud

Our class is half full
And our hearts are broken
Yet hope is pumping out
So, we’re not leaving town
We’re not leaving town

So, pray if you pray
Or maybe meditate
On the state of a nation starting over

By Todd Burge
©2017 Bunj Jam BMI

Inauguration Day 2017 (We're Not Leaving Town)

The new album, Your Reflection Will Kill You is an all acoustic album that lyrically looks back on some facts and fiction that have brought me to where I am today. It is live, except for two vocal overdubs. To me, this is a concept recording. A “37-minute-long song” and I’d love for it to be listened to in that way. For years, I’ve admired the superb musicality of Ryan Kennedy and John Inghram, who are both well-known electric players from WV, but on occasion I would hear them playing acoustic, and it got me to dreaming about what we three might sound like together. Don Dixon(REM, Joan Baez) came to my home studio with his mobile gear and captured it perfectly. He makes it all comfortable and real. Every musical action I have made or taken in over the last three decades was poured into this latest recording and now, I hand it over to you. Thank you again for supporting what I love to do.
Sincerely,
Todd 9/20/18

Todd Burge: 
Two New Albums - Recorded 32 Years Apart 
If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginian Todd Burge has written about it. Born to ponder and observe life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs. 
Now, Todd Burge is releasing two original albums – one from 2018 and one for 1986 – as double CD package. Todd Burge (1986 The First Album) is his never-released debut record, and the second, Your Reflection Will Kill You, is his latest work recorded by Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM). They are a pair of now-and-then sonic bookends, both opposite and yet intertwined as a collection of stories that brought Burge to where he is today. 
Describing it as a victim of record industry red tape, Burge says that “the 1986 album was probably the second or third time I was ever in a studio. It’s a rock and roll record with bits of punk. I’m not surprised at how it sounds when I listen to it now, because I know I was filled with angst back then. Maybe that’s what I needed it to be when I was recording that music. Now I listen to it as if someone else created it, and it really helped me decide which songs would go on the new record.” 
A few years and a few experiences later, Your Reflection Will Kill You, shows that, like good whiskey, Burge is refined with time. On the making of the new record, Burge tells us, “I wanted to be as comfortable as possible, so I asked Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM) to come to my home. Don is a master at capturing a live recording session and making everyone feel comfortable. He has a great set of ears and great taste. You can trust his opinion, and that is important as, after a while, when I record, I don’t trust my own. 
“The only rule I brought to the table was that we would not use anything but our acoustic instruments. Steel string guitar for me, nylon for Ryan (Kennedy), upright acoustic for John (Inghram). See, I have this emotional attachment to that sound that dates back to when I was five or six years old, back when I was still taking naps, I think. I would ask my mother to play Roger Miller’s greatest hits. You know Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”? Miller played a nylon string guitar. It’s a sound you don’t hear often in country music, but Roger Miller was not typical. I’ve been a huge fan of Willie Nelson’s since I was in grade school as well. Another nylon string guitar player. That guitar sound is just embedded in me. It moves me more than most sounds do.” 
“With wit and pathos in equal measure, Todd Burge takes on subjects in his songs that never occur to most folks. Subjects too quirky, too controversial, too obtuse for most writers to get a handle on. His compelling vocal style and unique perspective keep me interested long after the last note rings out.”-Engineer- Don Dixon

REFLECTION MASTER MP3

Born Again

The new album, Your Reflection Will Kill You is an all acoustic album that lyrically looks back on some facts and fiction that have brought me to where I am today. It is live, except for two vocal overdubs. To me, this is a concept recording. A “37-minute-long song” and I’d love for it to be listened to in that way. For years, I’ve admired the superb musicality of Ryan Kennedy and John Inghram, who are both well-known electric players from WV, but on occasion I would hear them playing acoustic, and it got me to dreaming about what we three might sound like together. Don Dixon(REM, Joan Baez) came to my home studio with his mobile gear and captured it perfectly. He makes it all comfortable and real. Every musical action I have made or taken in over the last three decades was poured into this latest recording and now, I hand it over to you. Thank you again for supporting what I love to do.
Sincerely,
Todd 9/20/18
Todd Burge: 
Two New Albums - Recorded 32 Years Apart 
If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginian Todd Burge has written about it. Born to ponder and observe life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs. 
Now, Todd Burge is releasing two original albums – one from 2018 and one for 1986 – as double CD package. Todd Burge (1986 The First Album) is his never-released debut record, and the second, Your Reflection Will Kill You, is his latest work recorded by Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM). They are a pair of now-and-then sonic bookends, both opposite and yet intertwined as a collection of stories that brought Burge to where he is today. 
Describing it as a victim of record industry red tape, Burge says that “the 1986 album was probably the second or third time I was ever in a studio. It’s a rock and roll record with bits of punk. I’m not surprised at how it sounds when I listen to it now, because I know I was filled with angst back then. Maybe that’s what I needed it to be when I was recording that music. Now I listen to it as if someone else created it, and it really helped me decide which songs would go on the new record.” 
A few years and a few experiences later, Your Reflection Will Kill You, shows that, like good whiskey, Burge is refined with time. On the making of the new record, Burge tells us, “I wanted to be as comfortable as possible, so I asked Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM) to come to my home. Don is a master at capturing a live recording session and making everyone feel comfortable. He has a great set of ears and great taste. You can trust his opinion, and that is important as, after a while, when I record, I don’t trust my own. 
“The only rule I brought to the table was that we would not use anything but our acoustic instruments. Steel string guitar for me, nylon for Ryan (Kennedy), upright acoustic for John (Inghram). See, I have this emotional attachment to that sound that dates back to when I was five or six years old, back when I was still taking naps, I think. I would ask my mother to play Roger Miller’s greatest hits. You know Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”? Miller played a nylon string guitar. It’s a sound you don’t hear often in country music, but Roger Miller was not typical. I’ve been a huge fan of Willie Nelson’s since I was in grade school as well. Another nylon string guitar player. That guitar sound is just embedded in me. It moves me more than most sounds do.” 
“With wit and pathos in equal measure, Todd Burge takes on subjects in his songs that never occur to most folks. Subjects too quirky, too controversial, too obtuse for most writers to get a handle on. His compelling vocal style and unique perspective keep me interested long after the last note rings out.”-Engineer- Don Dixon

Don't Water My Whiskey Down

Todd Burge: 
Two New Albums - Recorded 32 Years Apart 
If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginian Todd Burge has written about it. Born to ponder and observe life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs. 
Now, Todd Burge is releasing two original albums – one from 2018 and one for 1986 – as double CD package. Todd Burge (1986 The First Album) is his never-released debut record, and the second, Your Reflection Will Kill You, is his latest work recorded by Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM). They are a pair of now-and-then sonic bookends, both opposite and yet intertwined as a collection of stories that brought Burge to where he is today. 
Describing it as a victim of record industry red tape, Burge says that “the 1986 album was probably the second or third time I was ever in a studio. It’s a rock and roll record with bits of punk. I’m not surprised at how it sounds when I listen to it now, because I know I was filled with angst back then. Maybe that’s what I needed it to be when I was recording that music. Now I listen to it as if someone else created it, and it really helped me decide which songs would go on the new record.” 
A few years and a few experiences later, Your Reflection Will Kill You, shows that, like good whiskey, Burge is refined with time. On the making of the new record, Burge tells us, “I wanted to be as comfortable as possible, so I asked Don Dixon (James McMurtry, REM) to come to my home. Don is a master at capturing a live recording session and making everyone feel comfortable. He has a great set of ears and great taste. You can trust his opinion, and that is important as, after a while, when I record, I don’t trust my own. 
“The only rule I brought to the table was that we would not use anything but our acoustic instruments. Steel string guitar for me, nylon for Ryan (Kennedy), upright acoustic for John (Inghram). See, I have this emotional attachment to that sound that dates back to when I was five or six years old, back when I was still taking naps, I think. I would ask my mother to play Roger Miller’s greatest hits. You know Roger Miller’s “King of the Road”? Miller played a nylon string guitar. It’s a sound you don’t hear often in country music, but Roger Miller was not typical. I’ve been a huge fan of Willie Nelson’s since I was in grade school as well. Another nylon string guitar player. That guitar sound is just embedded in me. It moves me more than most sounds do.” 
“With wit and pathos in equal measure, Todd Burge takes on subjects in his songs that never occur to most folks. Subjects too quirky, too controversial, too obtuse for most writers to get a handle on. His compelling vocal style and unique perspective keep me interested long after the last note rings out.”-Engineer- Don Dixon

1986 The First Album 

Cavewoman

Im Goin' Down

If it’s been discovered by man, West Virginia’s Todd Burge has written about it. A born ponderer and observer of life, each of his songs tells a story. Whether drawn from personal experience or a tale of poetically woven fiction, you’ll live every second of it through his songs.

Todd Burge

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