Get all 7 Spike Flynn releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lunchtime at La Cantina, Mostly Smoke and Mirrors, It's alright, Postcards from the Heart, Just this side of here, Rough Landing, and Lachlan River Blues.
1. |
Neon Lit Cafe
06:32
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He stepped into, that neon lit café
Mountain mist cascading, stranger by the way
A wandering stranger from the strangeness of the day
Waitress smiling, showed him all her teeth
He ordered coffee, she glanced down at his feet
Hard roads travelled, to saving grace,
And sweet release.
Heaven’s dancing across the tree tops
Every move you make is a dice that rolls
You’ll find you’re gambling with your eyelids
You can lose your heart, and gain your soul
Waitress humming to a distant, radio serenade
Her child comes running, showing what he’s made
She’s always been leaving, still, somehow she’s stayed
He flicks a cigarette, into the blaze
There’s a trail of smoke, just drifting ‘cross the day
He slowly smiles,
And turns the other way
The fires speaking, back in tongues
There is no song left unsung
There is no masterpiece left unhung
A story is told, by every shadow cast
As the young boy stares into the fire and laughs,
He sees everything changing,
Says, “ain’t nothing going to last”
He sees Heaven dancing across the tree tops
He knows every move made is a dice that rolls
When you know your gambling with your eyelids
You might lose your heart, but gain your soul.
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2. |
A Hard Place to Hide
04:59
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Life’s an endless circling 'round the sun,
Like a merry-go-round that’s never done.
If you’re wanting to escape from the ride,
Well, a circle is a hard place to hide.
Oh a circle is a hard place, to hide.
And the moon just circles round this world
Like a great big old shiny wandering pearl,
In an ocean of circling diamond stars
To remind us all just how small we are.
Oh a circle is a hard place, to hide.
Repetition’s both our healing and our hurt
We fly while our feet plough through the dirt.
With wings on fire we fly so high
Oh a circle’s such a hard place to hide.
A circle is a hard place, to hide.
Will you be staying now or will you go?
The nights a lonely journey through the snow.
Distance is deceptive even here inside,
A circle’s such a hard place to hide.
A circle is a hard place, to hide.
Seems uncertainty is the purpose of it all,
The reason and the beauty of our Fall.
For be it late or early that we ride,
A circle is a hard place to hide.
A circle is a hard place, to hide.
Will you stay awhile here and lay with me?
We’ll watch the morning stars rise from the sea,
Rest our gaze in each other’s eyes,
A circle is such a hard place to hide.
A circle is a hard place to hide.
Oh the gift of the circle, such a hard place to hide.
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3. |
Keep Moving On
03:15
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You’ve got to keep moving or you’ll seize and rust
Soon enough you’ll face the day that you turn to dust
I’ve walked across the deserts, found both shame and pride
Travelled with both Jesus and the devil by my side
Oh, oh, keep moving on
Time dances naked, lighter than a ghost
While death waits on the hillside,
Dressed in a long black coat
Some men mine a mountain, some men mine their souls
Some men dig for diamonds, some men dig for coals
Some men think the answer’s nothing but a dream
Well nothing’s but a point of view, nothing’s what it seems
The cards are shuffled then they’re dealt, that’s the way it goes
Put your money on the table: only the Lady knows,
Every mother’s daughter, and every father’s son
Play your cards as best you can, keep moving on
Oh, oh, keep moving on
Time dances naked, lighter than a ghost
While death waits on the hillside,
Dressed in a long black coat
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4. |
My Lady of Sorrow
06:32
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May I rest my head on your shoulder
Will you teach me how to sleep
For I'm a creature of the night
I'm a creature of the deep
Bring your hand to my heart
Feel it pound through the night
Feel the blood still course through my veins
Whether I do wrong or right
My lady of sorrow
Sweet lady of the night
Take my hand, grant me comfort
Dry these tears, from my eyes
Does God himself need the sinner
Like an apple needs the seed
Is that why he came among us
To eat the fruit and to bleed
So I stand here in the shadows
Trying through this wasted night
To grieve my sins without grief,
To turn their darkness into light
My lady of sorrow
Sweet lady of the night
Take my hand, grant me comfort
Dry these tears, from my eyes
I am so weak and needful
But accept not even this
So often mistaking freedom
For the Judas kiss
Walking around like I own myself,
Like I own the universe
Instead of counting tender mercies
I condemn them with a curse
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5. |
Postcard from the Heart
03:10
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Just thought I’d say hello
And mention that I’m doing fine
And yes I love you, there’s no one above you
I miss you almost all the time
I loved you when, I loved you then
I’ve loved you from the start
So get yourself a drink, with some ice cubes to clink,
Darling, you just got a postcard from the heart
Well I’ve been all around this world
Thinking of you all of the time
I’ve seen some of the most remarkable sights
But they didn’t make a never mind
Because I loved you when , I loved you then,
I’ve loved you from the start
So kick off your shoes, chase away those blues darling
You just got a postcard from the heart
Drinking coffee in old Paris
I’ve seen those Mona Lisa smiles
I climbed the Eiffel Tower, took about two hours
Well I won’t be going back there for a while!
Those girls in ‘Paree’, they meant nothing to me
They could smile till their faces fell apart
While I’d stay up all night, just trying to write you
A postcard from the heart
Well I’ve been all around this world
Thinking of you all of the time
I’ve seen some of the most remarkable sights
But they didn’t make a never mind
Because I loved you when , I loved you then,
I’ve loved you from the start
So kick off your shoes, chase away those blues darling
You just got a postcard from the heart
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6. |
The Gypsy Dancer
05:22
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Summers heat was wrapped around the Riverside Hotel
The ringer's tossed and turned in dreams all night
The rising’ sun gently called one to the doorstep
Where he stood in the soft new morning light
He glanced down by the old town hall
Saw her dancing on the wide western street
Heard a gypsy fiddle from a window way up high
Keeping time with her dancing feet
She smiled as he took her warm embrace
They danced to that rising’ gypsy beat
Thru shadows falling across the dusty golden morning
They were heart to heart and cheek to cheek
Seems life’s a folding curling, swirling lonesome wind
Blowing from the back roads of time
Through all those dawns of slow and grievous believing
With the gypsy dancer passing by
Well some men find their madness in memories
Best left under stones
Or lose their way from riding
Too far out alone
Each man might have a moment
When he’s dancing all alone
But if you kiss the gypsy dancer son
You’ll find your way back home
I’ve met travellers who’ve shared her warm embrace
One’s who know her dancing never ends
Riders of the boundary, seekers of the soul that dwells
In this folding, curling, swirling lonesome wind
If you take a chance son, you’ll maybe see her dancing
Somewhere on the edge of night and day
But you need to understand as she takes you by the hand
The meaning of the words that she will say
(she says) “Hold me stranger as we dance across the morning
Touch me with your prayer of endless sighs
Let me heal you with the lightness of this love that keeps me dancing
Kiss me in my beautiful disguise
Sing with me my music, that some only know as silence
Sing me both the low notes and the high
Hold me in the mystery of this swirling lonesome wind
Kiss me as I’m dancing on by”
Summers’ heat was wrapped around the Riverside Hotel
The ringers tossed and turned in dreams all night
The rising’ sun gently called one to the doorstep
Where I stood in the soft new morning light
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7. |
The Weatherman
07:13
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Dust on the horizon, lone rider coming across the sand
Slowly he got bigger, till he got no bigger, than a man can
He said “they call me the weatherman, why I’ll never understand”
Seemed a little different, was nothing really that he said
He camped down by the willows, was nothing in particular that he said
Was just those misty dreams, leaking all out of his head
You never see a head turn, the wind blows all sorts thru this town
But even here on the outskirts, folks started talking all around
When they saw those dreams floating and the crystals spinning ‘round and ‘round his eyes
He said “One mans’ courage is another mans’ confusion
This journey’s not written, it’s just a dream on the wind
So if you find there’s no way and nothing to turn to”
He said “remember you’re star dust dreaming, and get going again”
Sometimes town would find him, a stranger with a troubled mind
Talking like a lord cursed, or a lost man running out of time
Some people tried to crown him, some tried to shoot him from behind
One day at the Red Rose café’, he told me how he’d been down by the willows on his knees
“Was only doing my job” he said, “setting dreams like that one free;
They might not use it right, but that’s nothing to do with me”
He said “One mans’ courage is another mans’ confusion,
This journey’s not written, it’s just a dream on the wind
So if you find there’s no way and nothing to turn to”
He said “remember you’re star dust dreaming and get going again”
I woke up one morning, he wasn’t down by the willows no more
He’d up and broken camp, wasn’t down by the willows no more
Was just dust on the horizon, when I looked out my back door
Was just dust on the horizon, when I looked out my back door
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8. |
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A six-year-old ballerina’s dancing at the school hall tonight
Santa’s drinking whisky under the coloured lights Grandma’s staring at the stars out in the yard
Angel’s at the table cutting out her Christmas cards
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
The TV’s flickering in the corner, by the tinselled tree
It’s tired and lazy and dropping all its leaves
No way it’s going to last till New Year’s Day
But no one seems to mind, things just go that way
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
The hotels are full of navigators and hard-backed men
Girls drinking tequila but the sunrise is already setting for them
The bitumen is sticky and the river’s almost dry
There’s no money left in this town but they all hang on and try
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
The neighbours have got the plastic Santa on their roof again this year
Dad’s sitting on the veranda eating cake and drinking beer
The kids are playing cricket out on the sunburnt lawn
Dad’s holding back the tears; it’s just two summers since she’s gone
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
Maybe this town’s out of time and on the edge of defeat
With its fat little buildings and its crucifix streets
But at the end of the day a man’s lucky to call somewhere home
And even Santa Claus himself must sometimes feel all alone
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
You know we could have made it but forgiveness often hides
Behind a wall of confusion cemented firm by pride
But the wheels keep on turning there’s some peace here I’ve found
An’ I just heard yesterday that the railways might be coming back to town
It’s another long hot Christmas under southern skies
A six-year-old ballerina’s dancing,
At the school hall,
Tonight.
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9. |
Stone to Sand
03:29
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There’s a blue wind blowing, from over the plains
Blowing memories, ‘cross my window panes
Open hearts, like open windows
Bring sun or rain, depending on which way the wind blows
Life’s a fix, you can’t still the sun
Can’t hold the stars, what’s done is done
Can’t stop the heart, as it calls out her name
Can’t turn the wind around, and bring it back again
Well it’s stone to sand
Then it’s sand to dust
Takes a long time to learn everyone
Just does what they must
And you’re the best at what you are
And I’m the best at what I am
Seems all God’s children do the best they can,
Yes all God’s children do the best they can
As night comes falling, and shadows yawn
I dream I’ll wake up holding you, in the chilly hours of dawn
But seems loves like lightning, it’s here then it’s gone
It’s just the restless image, that’s left to linger on
Oh, I know darling, which way the wind blows
Since you’ve been gone, it’s ice and snow
I don’t need a weatherman, to tell me I’m cold
As your goodbyes still blow right through my soul
Time’s been wandering, like that restless breeze
The winds of change blowing like a dream
But oh, oh, darling don’t you get me wrong
I only want to hold your memory in the rhythm of this song
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10. |
My Home Town
03:54
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I lived in the city, a world full of snakes
Saw Adam and Eve make their mistakes
Learnt that freedom’s not the right to choose your harm
And it's sure not the Eden of a shot in your arm
Well I left that city, turned time around
Made it back somehow to my home town
Where the best things are free, the air and the stars
And your best friends knowing just who you really are
I’ve got a ’64 Holden and a Gilet guitar
I do a lot of travelling but I don’t go too far
I stick with my friends on this merry-go-round
I revel in the peace of my home town
Sadness comes as it sometimes will
And heartache's always a bitter pill
I work at the Mill and I work on the farm
I work on truth and doing no harm
When the night’s too dark I keep the candle lit
Till the dawn comes back and the pieces fit
When what’s good is bad and what’s bad is good,
I just try and do the next thing that I know I should
I’ve got a ’64 Holden and a Gilet guitar
I do a lot of travelling but I don’t go too far
I stick with my friends on this merry-go-round
I revel in the peace of my home town
Well, time’s just a ripple and life’s on loan
So remember there’s nothing that you really own
But hold tight your dreams and hold your ground
And may you find your way back to your home town
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11. |
Circle - reprise
02:22
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No lyric
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Spike Flynn Sydney, Australia
From a review of Spike's previous CD -
"Just this Side of Here is an album that restores your faith in ‘one man, one
guitar’ sets, and shows that the best of them – and this is one of those – still have much to say and much worth hearing."
Jeremy Searle, Americana UK.
Spike grew up in a small country town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia and his songs often reflect this theme .
... more
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