Get all 10 Jared Grabb releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Domain, Jimmy Paid the Price, Reflecting at the Table, Among Thieves, Fat Hill, Masters, We Do Not Live In Fear, Pulling Weight, and 2 more.
1. |
Life of Absolutes
02:56
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I made a promise, and I don’t make them often. They’re pretty simple if I do. So, as we go walking, I can hear you talking, but stare at my feet is all I can do. When I went to the sea, I tasted the salt. It tasted like you. It tasted like me. When I went to the trees, they smelled of a fire. I saw blackened twigs. I saw smoke billowing. When I went to my home, it just wasn’t the same since those great winds took its walls away. And, when I went to my girl, looked her in the face, she no longer saw me. She turned away. Oh, but this ain’t a life of absolutes. And, it hurts to know that I’ve failed you.
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2. |
Romantic Like Before
03:37
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It’s been so long without adult conversation. With our sweatpants on, our little ones don’t allow no contemplation, and the time drags on and on. So, kiss me quick before we gain an audience. There ain’t much space or sense of privacy in this place. And, time drags on and on. So, we stay up late. No need to get up in the mornings. No job, no take. Just don’t forget to certify unemployment. And, time drags on and on. But, know that I still love you. Know that I still care. Not a partner I’d take above you. I’ll always want you there. But, time drags on. Time drags on and on. And, the choir don’t sing on Sunday mornings and the bars don’t fill the night before. For the first time, I wish a winter over. It just ain’t romantic like before.
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3. |
Hard Things
02:38
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I will tell you just what I tell myself. Life gets me down, and I’m running out of steam. World’s like a fog to me when I’m standing in between what I see and what I wish to be. But, we can do hard things. It might hurt, might sting. Yeah, we can do hard things as long as we keep trying. And sure, you don’t trust me. You kick and you scream. You’re talking in circles, always bargaining. Then, you’re staring at floor crying over spilled milk when there are gallons more. Just pull yourself up and pour. Keep trying, you see. If we get back up, we can’t be losing. Keep trying to be the you you see when you’re feeling choosy. Keep trying. You’ll see each time you get up you’re self-improving. Keep trying, not for me, but for you to simply be.
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4. |
Since You
02:44
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I ain’t ready. I can’t hardly move. And, I don’t hurt. Don’t feel a thing since you. Candles’ flames dance. Flowers pulled from the earth and left to die. Don’t see no sunshine. Rain falls straight through my skin. And, I can’t cry for you. Candles’ flames dance. Flowers pulled from the earth and piled high. Candles’ flames dance. Wax burning my skin. Snap back in. Gates open wide. I know you’re gone, and here I still reside.
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5. |
Stroll
03:16
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Slip on your jacket. Let’s go for a stroll. Let’s watch that sun set ‘cause there’s nowhere to go. Yeah, there’s nowhere to be. There is nothing to see. So, let’s go for a stroll, yeah, just you and me. Well, we walk down the roads. Yeah, we walk through the park. Walk past the graves, when we hear fireworks. Or, maybe it’s a gun. Gotta hear the rhythm. Gotta follow the beat. Hear the echo in the streets. And, when the wind blows, it blows right through the leaves. It’s getting close, yes, we can hear those sirens scream. Well, what are we to do? We don’t call police. Make us fear for our neighbors, leave them dead in the streets. Well, we turn our heads. Yeah, turn the other cheek. Make it someone else’s problem, one we hope we never meet. They say the block has changed, but I’m hearing this as racism. So, I just bow my head then walk away. A whole lot of good I did. A whole lot of good I do. When I can’t fall asleep at night, a whisper says, “I needed you.”
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6. |
Lay Down Your Arms
02:42
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When the time comes, lay down your arms. Knife to the throat. Body laid to harm. Will your faith sustain you? Will your faith unfurl? Guns in the closet. Guns at city hall. Guns at the big box store don’t bother you at all? And now, the time has come to lay down your arms. Will your faith sustain you? Will your faith unfurl? Can you stop the cycle of violence in this violent world? Guns at the protest. Guns at the school. Guns out in public makes violence the rule. And now that time has come to lay down your arms, will your faith sustain you? Will your faith unfurl? Can you trust in the goodness of man to stand for you and your world?
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7. |
Morton, Mississippi
03:20
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We made our home here, made up a quarter of the town. Been working at that Koch Foods and pulling those chicken bones out. Morton is my hometown. Was gonna buy a house, gonna start a business and get it all figured out. But, oh no, they’re killing us slow. They’re killing our spirits first. Will they ever, ever let me go. Dear Lord, our kids are dying of thirst. A thirst for their mother’s face. A thirst for their friends. Holed up in homes disgraced when we were just out making our ends. But, hey, it’d only been three days when they charged through our workplace. Hey, it’d only been three days since in Texas he was hunting us down. So, with El Paso on the mind, these plain clothes cops rolled through. Undercover ICE ain’t nice, but we thought they were a terrorist group. They don’t speak our language. They don’t know our past. Treating us like criminals, horrified as they throw us in the back. Hey, it’d only been three days since that gunman out in Texas lashed out. And, hey, it’d only been three days, and we feared that this would take the same route.
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8. |
I Am Afraid
02:46
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I am afraid that I am at the age where I should probably make a difference, but I don’t even make a wage. I am afraid. I am afraid. As the sea levels rise, and the smoke fills our eyes from the forests on fire, the forests on fire. I am afraid. I am afraid. I am afraid that we are of an age where we no longer make a difference ‘cause the parts have been played, us pawns have been played. I am afraid. I am afraid as the hurricanes blow and the south’s getting snow, we all have been played. We all have been played. I am afraid. I am afraid. I am a...
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9. |
Drove
03:35
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He drove with the windows down and radio up. He drove with his eyelids low. He drove right through the whole day, whole night. Just had to get where he was going. And, it was cold. But, it felt like a home, you know. So, windows up? No, down. No, down. Gotta keep those eyelids off the ground. And, we all know they grow heavy. He drove with a shotgun seat covered in clothes. And, he drove with his bed roll in the back. He drove while pics of loved ones shined out from his phone. And, he drove. He drove alone. He drove right through the whole day, whole night, the whole day, whole night. He drove right through the stars and through the light. Just had to get where he was going. Was he off to somewhere good? Was he off to somewhere better? Or, did it even matter? Was it just about the motion? Was it just to keep his mind off the past? Mind off the present? Or, was it just to make a loading time?
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10. |
Bought and Sold
03:06
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Have we been bought and sold? Have we been controlled by the bait we’re taking? In a world filled with trolls, like a carousel, around they take us. And, it means so little now, ‘cause we mean so little now. Oh, the satire. Oh, the irony. You can keep your earnestness, ‘cause I just made a meme, and what is the price they’re paying? What is the price we’re paying? What is the price they’re paying? The nihilism. The hypocrisy. We’re taking the piss out of everything. The double-speak. The marketing. We’re painting a picture and it’s self-destructing. If we could be… Oh, if we could just be more honest, aware, and forgiving.
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Jared Grabb Peoria, Illinois
Jared Grabb's earnest brand of indie/Americana creates low-key anthems for all working class dreamers.
Jared Grabb recommends:
Covers album recorded by Jared to gather donations for First Try Sessions (provide guitars, amps, and lessons to kids 7-17).
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Scouts Honor was Jared's punk band from 2002-2009.
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Middle America Podcast
by Jared Grabb
Middle America is Jared's storytelling/history podcast.
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