Jeff Black Lyrics, Album Credits Tin Lily

Artist: JEFF BLACK
Album: TIN LILY
Release Date: 2005
Label: Lotos Nile Music
UPC: 751653100325

Jeff Black acoustic guitar, electric guitar,
harmonica, piano, keyboards
Kate Campbell backing vocals
Matthew Ryan backing vocals
Kenny Vaughn electric guitar
David Jacques double bass, upright bass
Dave Roe bass guitar)
Sam Bush mandolin, fiddle)
Craig Wright drums, percussion)
Recorded and Mixed By Billy Sherrill
except "Nineteen" and Free At Last"
recorded by Gary Paczosa
Audio Mixers Billy Sherrill, Paul Mahern
Recorded at House Of David, Moondog Studios
Sound Emporium Nashville, TN
SoundShop Studios Nashville, TN
Photography Michael Wilson

Jeff Black plays Epiphone Masterbilt Banjos, Paige capos, Morley Pedals, Impact Picks, Palomino Blackwing and Blackwing 602 pencils

Music Row

I could go on and on about my love for this artist. Every CD released in Nashville should have one of his songs on it. And every home should own his records. Jeffs latest, Tin Lily, is an embarrasment of riches. It leads off with his soul-drenched reading of this trapped-guy lyric. Later on you get to joyous rockers like Free at Last," All Days Shine" and Libertine, or keyboard meditations like Hollow of Your Hand and How Long. You see, hes not only a tremendous vocalist and writer, but also a holy-roller piano player and a blazing guitarist. Did I mention harmonica? Guests include such luminaries as Sam Bush, Kate Campbell, Will Kimbrough, Kenny Vaughn and Matthew Ryan.
Buy this record.

-Robert K. Oermann

Popular Music And Society

Did you ever first play an album that you knew nothing about and had no expectations of at all--and have it rare back and punch the air right out of your lungs? Take your breath away like that? This has happened to me only a few times over the years--my first taste of Billy Holiday, The Isley Brothers Shout," The Bands first album, Tom Waits C|OSing Time, Becks Mutations, Kate Campbells Songs From The Levee. It just happened to me again with Jeff B|acks Tin Lily. I seldom encounter a perfect album coming out of that no expectations" left field area (and, in pop music today it is pretty tough not to have expectations from the ubiquitous promo buzz about the next big thing that blankets most of us who are paying attention, before the music actually arrives). But Tin Lily is, for me, one of those few cases, with its songs of uneasy but evocative testament to the dark depths of the heart, and how the heart can as easily shatter the fragile relationships of love as it can forge them.

-George Lewis

Vintage Guitar

I have no doubt that Jeff Black is a musical genius. The only question I have after listening to his second release on Dualtone records is whether the American public is smart enough to embrace his brilliance. I dont mean to imply that Blacks music is too sophisticated for the average music- lover, merely that artistic brilliance without fashion or image gimmicks rarely garners the commercial success it deserves. I simply love this album. In my humble opinion, any semi-sane adult human over 30 with an IQ over 50 will also adore it. Simply stated, Tin Lily is a masterpiece.

-Steven Stone

Easy On Me

hey I know what you want from me
I’ve given all that I can give
you believe what you believe
but I think I need my soul to live
you say you don’t want to tie me down
so what’s with all these ropes and chains
I know the deal I’ve been downtown
I know to come in out of the rain

take it easy on me
take it easy on me now

I’ve always had a wondering eye
I guess it was just passed on down to me
and the price I pay is pretty high
to see this world the way I see
so I’m flying out the window now
riding on the setting sun
I’m getting back behind the plow
and I’ll work until my work is done

Hollow Of Your Hand

If it weren’t for the
rumbling of the wheels
or the sound of scenery flying by
I would not know I was moving through
or let alone the reasons why
across the farmlands of southern Illinois
I cut a little closer to the ground
working my way across the line
back into this life that
you and I have found
oh I am wealthy by
the measure of where I’ll be in time
love has thrown a light
across the shadows of this land
living in the hollow of your hand
now all at once what was once
just dust and constant shuffling
are little stars that we can touch
you have drawn me into everything
oh I am wealthy by
all this gold and the silver line
love has thrown a light
across the shadows of this land
living in the hollow of your hand

Nineteen

the sky might be gray today
but that won’t last for long
I want to tear down this shrine
to everything that i’ve done wrong
blackberry winter
oh I wish you could have seen
my father’s gold tooth shining
you would be nineteen
I worry about what I look like
and what I sound like when I talk
I cast a crooked shadow
down this winding road I walk
a blanket of stars fell out
oh I wish you could have seen
the world is turning over
you would be nineteen
I dream about the woman
and her wild raven mane
the little lights of autumn
what it’s come to
and how I’ve changed
everything we could have been
and everything I’ll be
the world is turning over
you would be nineteen
they say if one remembers
well that’s all I have to give
thirty five decembers and
I’ve but half my life to live
a blanket of stars fell out
oh I wish you could have seen
the world is turning over
you would be nineteen

Libertine

free as a libertine
sweet as cream
sight unseen
fights with hellcats claws
breaks all the laws
takes her curtain calls
riding on a western star
she’s a movie star
she’s a movie star
she’s the reason we won’t burn out
she’s the reason that
we walk the line
wild as a rambling rake
mean as a snake
loves her honeycake
believes in the oversoul
knows her rock and roll
let’s her colors show

Hard Way Out

mephistopheles is dead
but the last thing
the little bastard said
was that any fool
can have my crown
if they can claim the lost
before they’re found
your broken heart
will mend in time
but some crusades
just cross the line
it’s a hard way out
it’s a hard way out I know
you don’t have to
be the only one
trying to save the world
you don’t have to
hold on to the stone
to save the girl
there’s a bluebird
at your window
and that’s a myth
about the rain
the hard way out
is hopeless
and that ain’t ever
going to change
faces flashing in the sky
all around the room
and the reasons why
is this revenge or
just release
you don’t have
to hurt yourself
to keep the peace
these could be
the best years
you could fly and
you can shine
you do not have to prove
to anyone that you are strong
or that you were right

Free At Last

jackin’ around that old jazz town
was like draggin’ a dried up lake
I turned every stone I could turn
and I took about all I could take
dead soldiers lined up on the bar
laying down in the morning sun
thank god I’ve been leaving that place
since the day I was born
you should have listened
you don’t know what
you’re missing now
sometimes
small circles a head full of smoke
I drove the loop in my ‘65
thrift store shoes
the grand emporium blues
man I’m lucky to be alive
I put my foot right through the floor
and headed south in the pouring rain
do you remember that girl
I don’t remember her name
she should have kissed me though
I know she’s missing me now
sometimes
streamline powerglide
a box of peaches
on the passenger side
free at last
I said great god almighty
all skate it’s a blind date
a book of matches
and a big boilerplate
free at last
I say great god almighty
I’m following a star
over the rainbow now

Closer

without a doubt
there’s some
information missing
and that leaves an
empty place inside
then finding out
all those days
you spent reliving
to find an answer
just let you down
move a little closer now
just a little closer now
to me
there is a place
where we never wonder
far away from this
disrepair
where the folly
is forgotten
will you meet me there
where that old
rumbling sound
is nowhere to be found
will you meet me there
it’s a big blue sky
and a life
more than existing
and the little voice
there in your mind
I don’t know why
I’m just tired of resisting
it doesn’t matter
if we fall behind

>All Days Shine

down in the corner
of a sleepless night
I was looking for a pen
I came across
this photograph
I was wondering
where we'd been
I know it's all about
the here and now
so I got lost in you
all days shine
underneath the rust
over the fall of time
all days shine
there's just
too many bills to pay
so many debts unknown
we received the
invitation late
so we decided
to dream on
I've been in this
room before
waiting for the
sound

Heaven Now

we lay the blanket down
and the summer
was gone
In every living thing
he’s holding on
these days will change
and we will change
as well
then the morning fell
hold on
with all you’ve got now
we’re about to break
the speed of sound
heaven now
the rush is on
and this is all we own
besides you never know
this could be heaven now
we leave the ground to reach
for something true
take all these hand me downs
and make them new
rave on beyond the waiting
and let it go
she’s so beautiful
we clear the dream by miles
how does it feel

These Days

these days
they lay heavy don’t they
praise be there’s someone
watching over me
oh I want to thank you
for your kindness
a common thread here
through this maze
but I am out of conversations
and clever things to say
look for me there in the
honeysuckle sweet
I believe that I get closer
in my dream
I am fighting for some reasons
that I may never understand
save for these pictures
in my pocket
and coming home again

How Long

joseph was a humble child
selfless in his soul
spent his young days running
down by the river
where the holy water flows
catfish jumping
up to his knees in
cool colors turning
and praying for his
time to come
how long
will the mystery remain
we will never be the same
now what will we become
time came through the garden
with a lily in her hand
the world was changing
it was the first day
he could mark down there
where the boy becomes a man
lord his heart was pounding
up to their knees in
cool colors turning
and into this world a child was born

A Better Way

I think this party's over
looks like everybody's leaving
there's a black car waiting but
I'm walking home this evening
all my friends are wondering
I'm just so god damned happy
sometimes my light shines so bright
you have to turn away
see I told you
I'd find a better way this time
see I told you
don't ever
underestimate the blind
see I told you
I bet you thought
I'd thrown it all away
It’s alright
fuck a bunch of
broken hearted
bullshit man
I'm just getting started
slipped out the side door stealing
don't mean to get too heavy
I paid the toll I'm on a roll
and I'm on the bridge above the levee
way down deep inside we go
everybody wants to know but
it's you right now
I'm only about a mile away
waiting for the light to change