Get all 11 Adrian Niles releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Master Reborn, Long Gaze Down The Barrel, Distant Skies, Christmas Bell, Digital 45, Supermoon, Rough Rider, Roll & Move, and 3 more.
1. |
Middle of America
04:54
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I can't afford to lose anything in return
I've burn up everything looking for a right turn
except a bridge I built across what I refused and scorned
Far beneath the polished finish of sundown
I ain't gonna work on these locks and dams
Not while there's a highway running all across this land,
I'll wipe the sweat from my brow and push back my dirty strands
And drive straight toward a vast horizon
My busted blues they came went
With a light of a smoke and the Heaven-sent
But my youth no longer pay the rent
I'm too much in debt to repay what I was lent
But I made some dollar bills on the streets of Memphis
Where I learned it ain't the pain it's the money that dulls the senses
And it's the work that keeps a mans back strong
And a hardened heart that lets him move on
Chorus
I'm in the middle of America
Trying to avoid the in between
Yeah, I'm in the middle of America
Without the void of indemnity
My muses lately haven't paid me much mind
And my shaking hands are the curse of the pantomime
Day and night meld together like poets rhyme
Deep in the middle lies any allusion of time.
And my fuel line busted on my car,
I broke a few hearts in this hillbilly bar
From here to Nashville ain't very far
But I never really wanted to be a pop star.
And this town feeds off what has died
They're raising corpses without batting an eye
It drains the life out of you and I
But honey, there ain't no need to be nervous.
Because there's a road that runs through it all
Like a pipeline for busted souls
Down it you can find a good living to earn
And some mercy when you need it most.
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2. |
The Burn Down
04:00
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Today came in like a monster
Stole my heart from out of me
High noon scorned me like a lover
That willl never again love another
Fried fish stench in the kitchen
Dirty dishes on the counter
I've resigned I let it all go
Sought shelter in the shadows
Chorus
Don't go out lone rider there's a struggle worth the fight
And I ain't gonna burn it all down tonight
Well there's ice on the cut-away
And the roads a twisted fate
The sky's a rusted steel color
Or the dirty blood on a feather
Some dreams I don't remember
Any hope campaigns 'll kill
Leave a message on the table
And I'll tear it up later
Chorus
Don't go out lone rider there's a struggle worth the fight
And I ain't gonna burn it all down tonight
You can miss what you should have caught and then blame it on me
But I ain't gonna burn it all down tonight
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3. |
Wrong Way
05:00
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4. |
Things Gonna Break
04:11
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Fog on the river rolling lazy
Mean ole' world comin' down all over me
Got to move along I got love to make ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Bought me a pistol bought me a gun
If something is gonna come then let it come
Nothin' gets lost when there's nothin' at stake ...Sooner or later thing gonna break
In the evening when the sun sinks and the pressure drops
Call your doctor call your lawyer call your neighborhood cop
The streets rioteers they won't be running late ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Well your mama wouldn't know you when revolution comes down
Things 'll be different at least for a little while
A foe 'll be civil to ya you'll find friends to be fake ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Lock up in shelter get your belly full
Live by your faith forget all the rules
Ain't gonna matter what you can or can't take ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Whether your white, whether your black, whether your Muslim, or Jew
Don't matter what you've done or what you're planning to do
You may be sleeping you may be wide awake ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Roll out a rug to 'em you can be a kind soul
The more you wish to learn the more they'll let you know
There a tough competitor who's deeds ain't of faith ...Sooner or later things gonna break
Well the night has brought fore-warning like chill on the bone
In this age of restlessness where you're never really alone
I got to move along I got love to make ...Sooner or later things gonna break
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5. |
Lonesome Tom
04:46
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Lonesome Tom and his brother Jack, rambling along the railroad track
Jack says, “Tom I’ve got a sweet song, for a girl with a pretty name.
Let’s find a little town and rest,
Find a greasy spoon and get a good breakfast,
Maybe I find me a pretty waitress,
And do some serenading”
Tom says, “Brother you’re a quarter way cocked, you couldn’t sing a convict out of a jail that ain’t locked
Ain’t no trouble in this world unless a man goes looking, You best keep your britches on.
Besides I already found us a notion,
We’ll take the track till we can smell the ocean,
Far away from this locomotion,
In some harbor town”
Chorus
Oh Lordy my, Oh Lordy my
What a man’s got to do to survive
Oh honey girl don’t let me down
I’ll be looking for you all around
“Brother Tom ma didn’t make you no boss and daddy’d knock ya down at the first sign of cross
Better think awhile, before you try and make the rules, or trouble will find you.
A sweet little thing could be waiting for me,
Maybe the next town up, maybe you’ll see,
I sing her my song and she’ll marry me,
And I’ll leave you to wonder by yourself”.
Tom smiled and said, “Pup let your brain catch up, You’re a poor man with a heart even I couldn’t corrupt
How you gonna make a bride without no work? Besides, you couldn’t get along without me”.
“I know you’re lonely and I’ll have to agree,
It would be nice to hold something lovely,
But right now I got you and you got me,
And brother they don’t do that”...Chorus
Jack thought, “It ain’t right and it ain’t fair, to ramble till we smell the salt in the air”.
He said, “I’m gonna find work sure as the sun shines in the morning, and quit these wary ways”.
“Jack you can settle for your white trash women,
While you’re working for her mortgage, I’ll be swimming
With no binding ties in the sunlight glimmering,
Cause I’ll be a free man”.
Well the wind got strong as they moved along and Tom got to figuring maybe he was all wrong
He said, “ I been dog lonesome for so many years, I don’t want Jack to end up like me”.
Jack says, “I ain’t saying that you’re all wrong brother,
But sometimes you’ve got to give a chance to another,
Someone ‘ll claim you and you’ll recover,
Somewhere along the way”...Chorus
Splitting up is what they did that night, With no more fuss and no more fight
Jack cried a tear and he said, ‘I’ll be alright’, as he nestled down ‘neath a pine.
Tom kept on with his westward ways
Telling himself he find better days
Preparing and conditioning for his union with the clay,
Hoping first to find some happiness
Well, there ain’t no life without a sweet song, and it’s hard to find something if you can’t move along
Ain’t nobody right and ain’t nobody wrong,
For brothers like Jack and lonesome Tom...Chorus
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6. |
Pretty Side of Pain
04:21
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Honey suckle and a summer wind,
Thinking about a long lost friend.
Well my mind is searching for a straight-a-way,
A clearing in this world, for a better day.
High upon the hill in the middle of the county somewhere,
Making the best of things.
Listening to the thunder, watching lightning strike,
On the pretty side of pain.
Well the fog rises thick through the rain,
Falls like love upon the vain.
Honey I be stuck if it wasn’t for you,
I’d be sick and lonesome too.
Living my life in the middle of the county somewhere,
Making the best of things.
Smell of warm pie as the winds get high,
On the pretty side of pain.
All my heroes have died, I think I’ll sleep outside,
Tonight down by the stream.
Well I’ve chased my dreams over strip-mined lands,
But I’ve always coming running back it seems.
Well I’m a rusty rail in the middle of the county somewhere,
Making the best of it.
Writing my life and living God’s will,
On the pretty side of pain.
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7. |
De La Croix
04:24
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I’m my papa’s grandson, I’m my father’s boy,
I’m my mother’s child and my Lord’s Joy.
He wants me back, me to follow.
Pray for me strength de la croix
Well, I was struck down stranded, on deserted trails.
Dirty damned and locked in jails,
Bars they clang and the winds they blow.
Pray for me wisdom, I to know.
Well, I made my bed once, and it stayed made.
I fashioned comfort, but I never laid.
It haunts me daily, the things I’ve done.
Pray that I shall forget, even only one...Chorus
Well my mind it wanders, and my heart holds back
My body sleeps and the fear attacks
And when I’m ridden with the world's turmoil
Pray forgiveness and the Lord’s joy...Chorus
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8. |
Same Road
04:11
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I’m walking the same road, the same road I walked before
I’m walking the same road, the same road I walked before
It’s a hard big stone trail, leaving my body sore
I caught the same ride, the same ride I caught before
I caught the same ride, the same ride I caught before
The man said this is as far as I go, but I was already out the door
I slept under the same tree, the same tree I slept under before
I slept under the same tree, the same tree I slept under before
Well I woke up cold and aching, wondering what I slept there for.
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9. |
Pulled Pork Blues
04:03
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I got the scars to prove my love
I’ve got to roll out tonight
I’ve got a little bit of lonesome and a whole lot of pain,
But the Lord gave me a road and that’s alright
A lot of things in this world with which I can’t compete,
Don’t make ‘em right or better off
You can stay in tonight but for the rest of my life
I say to Hell with every bridge I’ve crossed
Chorus
Men building boxes in the mid day sun
Women working steam in the kitchen
Hold down the fort baby, don’t let the beans get cold
Your man will pull the pork off the bone
To burn and to plunder, moods got to be just right
Yeah I hear the thunder it kept me up all night
No doubt in my mind where all my money went
And sure as judgement, it ain’t been well spent
I pulled a hounds tooth out of my pant's pocket
It was a good dog, I had to keep something, don’t knock it
I can’t sacrifice for those who can’t make ‘em no more
I can’t keep tabs on ‘em, tallies or score...Chorus
It’s alright darling, I’m calling from long distances
Checking on ya baby, see what’s you’re puttin’ down
Well I could travel on your way but I’ve got some strong resistance
It ain’t so much a longing as it is somewhere I’m bound
Send me out some sugar, granulated if you please
Got blues on the radio, sounds like Johnny Lee
Some sad day baby I may be crawling back around
I hope you’re there to pick me up off the cold hard ground...Chorus
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10. |
Highs and Lows
06:26
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This rattler is tearing through the pristine finish of country on the fringes of night
The dust is dry, and I got no water worth drinking but there are storm clouds in sight
The wild west is now wild in different ways than the old movies and songs said
And I don’t think there’s ever been a sundown in the heart of the desert this red
I’ve traveled through heat that would melt your last sane thought and leave your heart and your head hollow
And the cold steel wind that would leave you longing for a freeze a little closer to zero
these elements among us would peel the moss from anything that don’t roll
I don’t bother telling myself, things ain’t the same everywhere you go
Chorus
Highs and low, well they come and go, But I’ve got a place of my own
Out here ‘neath infinity, that the Lord created for me
Where I carry my burden away from despair and give it to what I believe
Yesterday the wind blew phrases and melodies that would make a man weep
I heard someone whispering sweet in my ear as my eyes fell heavy for sleep
And I got to recalling a mother’s love for even the most hoodlum of boys
But a cinder kicker won’t let you hear much of the honesty behind the noise...Chorus
Out here on my own, thoughts get cloudy and I start worrying bad
But you can’t stow-a-way when you get stove'd up and you can’t miss something you ain’t never had
And a velvet slumber’s like a pot of gold, only better for what ails
And if you’re gonna build something you can’t peck, you gotta hit heavy on the nail
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Adrian Niles Ohio
Adrian Niles is a roots-rock artist from eastern Ohio. He grew up in the bluegrass music tradition of his father, uncle, and grandfather’s band The Porter Brothers. After discovering artists like Dylan and Hendrix, in his teen years, Niles dedicated his life to the folk, blues, and rock expressions as a songwriter and performer. ... more
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