Troubadour
by Neil Salter
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Digital Album
Immediate download of 13-track album in your choice of MP3 320, FLAC, or just about any other format you could possibly desire.Buy Now name your price
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2. The Great Outdoors
03:11
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3. Tied 4 Last
04:29
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4. Mr. Kind of Blue
02:44
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5. Heading for Halifax
03:22
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7. Chapter 1
03:17
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about
Recorded over the past year (but mostly in the last 2 months) in (perhaps over-optimistically named) The Bedroom Arcade.
credits
released 08 November 2011
Neil Salter: All vocals and instruments
Cheap whiskey: inspiration
Neil Salter: All vocals and instruments
Cheap whiskey: inspiration
tags
license
all rights reserved
feeds
feeds for about
Hi, I'm Neil.
Here's some songs I've written. I hope they're decent (or at least dressed to
... more
maintain modesty). They're mostly just stories. I write and record them because I want someone to hear them. I hope that someone will like them. I do it because I can.
less
shows
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Jul 28Goderich, ON
contact / help
For help with downloads, click here.
For all other inquiries, click here.
- Track Name: 1. The Fire Escape is Rusting
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The fire escape is rusting, it's not safe to be on
but I still hear you kids creeping home in the morning
I know who you are, but I never will say
'cuz once upon a time someone did that for me
and I like to think you'll come to do it, too.
I was never a contender, but I did okay
We played ball in the sun and got drunk in the rain
We rambled like you and we kissed just the same
but now your mother says,
"Honey, it's not safe in the street."
Roisin's was the place where the Irish would go
to play cards in the back where the cops wouldn't know
They let me win a hand when I was barely ten
Momma said, "Don't let me see you near those men again."
So I never let her see me goin' back.
I was never a contender, but I did okay
We played ball in the sun and got drunk in the rain
We rambled like you and we loved just the same
but now your mother says,
"Honey, it's not safe in the street."
I was never a contender, but I did okay
We played ball in the sun and got drunk in the rain
We laughed like you and we kissed just the same
but now your mother says,
"Honey, it's not safe in the street."
But if you knew her when I knew her back then
She was the tear-away of the east end.
And they never did find who put the soap in the fountain.
I was never a contender, but I did okay
We played ball in the sun and got drunk in the rain
We rambled like you and we kissed just the same
but now your mother says,
"Honey, it's not safe in the street."
I was never a contender, but I did okay
We played ball in the sun and got drunk in the rain
We laughed like you and we loved just the same
but now your mother says,
"Honey, it's not safe in the street." - Track Name: 2. The Great Outdoors
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Just like water it over-flowed, and drained,
and soaked, and now it's over
And I'm not the only one here who ain't sober
But I might be alone wishing it would pass.
It's a long way home from the campsite by the river
but I'm holding on tell my momma that I miss her
In the dead of dawn I can hear the ghosts a-beckon
with their truth so cold I'm not dressed right to be listening
So I lock my ears and throw away their key.
I've been eaten by the whales that follow
riptides and the seasons
I'm not scared of drowning 'cuz I learned some swimming
But how to paddle up and out the eastern dam that's the question.
It's a long way home from the campsite by the river
but I'm holding on tell my momma that I miss her
In the dead of dawn I can hear the ghosts a-beckon
with their truth so cold I'm not dressed right to be listening
So I lock my ears and throw away their key.
And if you see me on the road, well,
I'll just be wandering in my sleep
Towards a flashing light
that only blinks when I can see
I've got an early start
so it's off to bed for me
If I thought about the miles.
I'd never make it.
It's a long way home from the campsite by the river
but I'm holding on tell my momma that I miss her
In the dead of dawn I can hear the ghosts a-beckon
with their truth so cold I'm not dressed right to be listening
So I lock my ears and throw away their key. - Track Name: 3. Tied 4 Last
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It's no big deal, I'll find another way to the party
to spend a couple hours being nervous in the crowd
It's not my scene, I don't even really feel like drinking
but I know that you'll be there and we might talk.
I figured you'd bring your old Yamaha,
so I brought mine just in case
but you've no interest in those songs we wrote in your room.
And they were good ones, too.
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss playing guitars over the phone
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
remember when the guy from Antifreeze wrote back?
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss Mariah and I miss Murphy
I miss the haunted duct vent in your old house near my cottage
I miss being Tied 4 Last.
I'm not mad it's not always someone's fault
but it broke my heart when you
asked to borrow my bass for your band
You took it up to Hamilton, to adoring fans
and gave it back with a broken string.
I bought that goddamn thing because you insisted on playing guitar.
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss playing guitars over the phone
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
remember when the guy from Antifreeze wrote back?
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss Mariah and I miss Murphy
I miss the haunted duct vent in your old house near my cottage
I miss being Tied 4 Last.
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
remember when we found The Starting Line?
They've gone kinda sappy now, but
I've still got Left Coast Envy on Greg's Last Day
just Please Don't Leave Me.
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss playing guitars over the phone
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
remember when the guy from Antifreeze wrote back?
Hey, Casey, I miss your company
I miss Mariah and I miss Murphy
I miss the haunted duct vent in your old house near my cottage
I miss being Tied 4 Last. - Track Name: 4. Mr. Kind of Blue
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She was cute, I'll give her that one in a heartbeat
little Rita Bettencourt flown in from halfway 'round the world
I saw the danger, but like Cavanagh this creature made of clay
liked the way I talked, but couldn't stand my accent.
I'll speak slowly into your microphone
Mr. Kind of Blue, hey, can you hear me?
What's the score? Who takes the lead?
I can't remember all the steps.
Hit the lights and cue the band
then say, "Goodnight" and "Let's do this again."
I went over, but there's nothing there to make or borrow
So I just wandered 'til I felt myself alone and out of touch
I traced the sidewalks back, different as the twins to Mother
I filled a glass and told them all of my adventures.
I'll speak slowly into your microphone
Mr. Kind of Blue, hey, can you hear me?
What's the score? Who takes the lead?
I can't remember all the steps.
Hit the lights and cue the band
then say, "Goodnight" and "Let's do this again."
Flash across my arm
Flash across the sky, a lonely sparrow
Flashing looks and blades and pans
across an empty diner.
All closed up for the night and yet, a couple stools still spinning.
Spinning records meant for laying back and saying nothing.
I'll speak slowly into your microphone
Mr. Kind of Blue, hey, can you hear me?
What's the score? Who takes the lead?
I can't remember all the steps.
Hit the lights and cue the band
then say, "Goodnight" and "Let's do this again." - Track Name: 5. Heading for Halifax
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Come inside, boy, sit by the fire and warm yourself
I know that it's cold and the barn has a draft
that could cut a man in half.
Take a drink from the bottle that's mine
although I can't say too much for the taste
but my daddy, he drank it 'til the day that he died
and I guess that I'll go the same way.
And while I hold this whip in my hand
I hope that you hold your head high.
And curse me all day for the life that I gave
but denied keeping you here, alive.
You never knew my pappa, but he got you from yours
and he'd never admit to his friends or his kin
but I think that's what made him drink more.
Now you'd best go on out to the barn
to the cold and your bed on the ground
and when I finally go, I'm gonna leave this to you
and I hope that you burn it all down.
And while I hold this whip in my hand
I hope that you hold your head high.
And curse me all day for the life that I gave
but denied keeping you here, alive. - Track Name: 6. Carson, Carson, Carson
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Dear Mr. Singer singing his songs to the deaf
in his muted voice he'll talk you back from the edge.
Mr. Brannon keeps a diner on the lower east side
selling beer for a nickel, the paper passes the time.
And Mick takes it all in
through the sounds of Beethoven.
Carson was published when she was just 23
after writing a story I don't think was about me
I can't say I always get it
but I know that it's good
Sometimes I want to do great things
but I'm not sure that I could.
Old Dr. Copeland treats the sick in his flock
but when he speaks of disease no one around wants to talk.
But Singer understands
the only white man who can.
Carson was published when she was just 23
after writing a story I don't think was about me
I can't say I always get it
but I know that it's good
Sometimes I want to do great things
but I'm not sure that I could.
And the Greek, he's in a home now
he don't recognize his old friend, no.
But I will come and see you when I get a chance
we'll go out for a meal and you can eat 'til you can't
and when it's time to go I'll understand
why you don't say goodbye to your oldest friend.
I'll just stand in awe like Tennessee did
Of a young, Southern girl by the name of
Carson was published when she was just 23
after writing a story I don't think was about me
I can't say I always get it
but I know that it's good
Sometimes I want to do great things
but I'm not sure that I could. - Track Name: 7. Chapter 1
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Faces of wood found in photos so faded
from continents far shot by men we once hated
I'll give you a light if you'll tell me the time
but don't mention which hour we're in.
Go softly when you speak of her
even lightly of times when we drank like fools
until the morning.
She's gone.
I know this for certain.
She rode off down 6th on a horse made of velvet
I think.
Midnights awake letting in what's forgotten
when summer dress scenes burst into the apartment
I'll tell you a story if you pour the whiskey
But won't mention the characters' names.
Go softly when you speak of her
even lightly of times when we drank like fools
until the morning.
She's gone.
I know this for certain.
She rode off down 6th on a horse made of velvet
I think.
I'm not an expert
Not much of a writer
But I've looked at cages with outsider's vision
and thought I saw Jesus' police composite image
but maybe I was wrong.
Maybe I just heard it in a song.
To go softly when I speak of her
even lightly of times when we drank like fools
until the morning.
She's gone.
I know this for certain.
She rode off down 6th on a horse made of velvet.
Go softly when you speak of her
even lightly of times when we drank like fools
until the morning.
She's gone.
I know this for certain.
She rode off down 6th on a horse made of velvet
She rode out of prison on a horse made of velvet
She rode into space on a horse made of velvet
I think. - Track Name: 8. Football Season is Over
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Please don't stop me if you've heard this one before
I beat the tar out of myself last night and I'm still pretty sore
I've got bruises and some cuts I kept and cuts left on the floor
and all the blood stains on the matress are just my responses to the roar.
It's not a problem with my heart
it's not a lack of inspiration
it's a lack of any fucking thing at all.
Baby, I'm still breathing
but these veins ain't pumping much
and I'm afraid the season's over and I lost.
I thought my cash might be just as good as any
'til the wishing well took all my coin and hit the road without me
Now the penny candy sours, and peddles charms with stolen luck
and I watch her stepping out with boys who don't deserve her love.
It's not a problem with my heart
it's not a lack of inspiration
it's a lack of any fucking thing at all.
Baby, I'm still breathing
but these veins ain't pumping much
and I'm afraid the season's over and I lost.
What would they say, the two bands that I played in?
I was too down to business
trying to haul my freight back onto the tracks.
I've heard tell the good die young
and I'm feeling old
it's growing dark, and I'm getting cold.
It's not a problem with my heart
it's not a lack of inspiration
it's a lack of any fucking thing at all.
Baby, I'm still breathing
but these veins ain't pumping much
and I'm afraid the season's over and I lost. - Track Name: 9. Surface Rust & Ego Dust
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She said,
"Hey boy, you need to get your hopes up
I know you say you're done with that stuff
and you're wrong, but I get it.
It's a big, bad wolf of a world
but you've been building with brick all along
and I wish you'd admit it."
From the very first note of the very first chord
by the dying campfire in my parents backyard
it was no song about girls, or cars, or parties, or lust
it was a tune about dying, about the nature of trust.
And I knew it, but I was young and afraid to say.
She said,
"Hey boy, you need to get your hopes up
I know you say you're done with that stuff
and you're wrong, but I get it.
It's a big, bad wolf of a world
but you've been building with brick all along
and I wish you'd admit it."
I know the ripped magazine photos that you hung in your locker
will be hung somewhere in every house that you live in forever
'til they're torn up and creased, faded beyond recognition
to be the fuel that you need to feed that '55s engine
when I'm not there to say...
"Hey boy, you need to get your hopes up
I know you say you're done with that stuff
and you're wrong, but I get it.
It's a big, bad wolf of a world
but you've been building with brick all along
and I wish you'd admit it."
When it's time to say,
"This wallpaper goes, or I do."
I hope you think back to the day
when you finally believed what I told you.
When I told you...
I told you so.
She said,
"Hey boy, you need to get your hopes up
I know you say you're done with that stuff
and you're wrong, but I get it.
It's a big, bad wolf of a world
but you've been building with brick all along
and I wish you'd admit it."
