Get all 4 John Wilkins releases available on Bandcamp.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of king of the past, Sing Like A Fat Man, The Bygones of Pasty Town, and Odd Cowboy.
1. |
Rising Up
04:30
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Rising Up
I have laid me down on the bare, bare boards
of the ruined house of prayer
all the windows gone, no locks on the doors
strangers lying everywhere
I have laid me down with a heavy heart
uncertain of my name
I have laid me down but I knew for sure
I'd be rising up again
I have laid me down by the great north road
with a thousand miles behind
and the hissing brakes and the grinding gears
were my gentle lullaby
I have laid me down by the graveyard wall
when the living have turned me away
I have laid me down but I knew for sure
I'd be rising up again
rising up like a junk store Jesus
rolling my stone in the easter parade
rising up like a teenage phoenix
sleeping till noon in my bed of flame
rising up like the starving millions
looking for justice and shiney things
rising up like a true believer
living on promises and chicken wings
I have laid me down on the factory floor
with a week of sweat ahead
and I dreamed I left that endless line
I was somewhere else instead
I have laid me down my eyes to rest but open they have remained
I have laid me down but I knew for sure I'd be rising up again
rising up like a junk store Jesus
rolling my stone in the easter parade
rising up like a teenage phoenix
sleeping till noon in my bed of flame
rising up like the starving millions
looking for justice and shiney things
rising up like a true believer
living on promises and chicken wings
rising up like a junk store Jesus
and I'm laying me down again
rising up like a teenage phoenix
and I'm laying me down again
rising up like the starving millions
and I'm laying me down again
rising up like a true believer
living on promises and chicken wings
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2. |
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Bygones of Pasty Town
I was standing on the platform in my sunday shoes
the passengers were wearing their frowns
I heard the rails singing it was a mournful tune
for the bygones of pasty town
I knew that we'd been typecast in some Whitehall farce
our dreams were round our ankles on the ground
but the higher the monkey climbs the more he shows his arse
that's hindsight in pasty town
I was born in pasty town
pour me a drink and watch me drown
if there's a tear left in your body now's the time to let it fall
for the bygones of pasty town
I used to be a has been and a second rate
I was over the hill and down
a useful contender past his sell by date
and I'm past it in pasty town
I threw off my learning and I threw out my chest
and I threw me some punches around
I ran out in the blizzard in my new string vest
as is the fashion in pasty town
I was born in pasty town
pour me a drink and watch me drown
if there's a tear left in your body now's the time to let it fall
for the bygones of pasty town
some of us are hoping for peace on earth
just a little bit of kindness shared around
if there's a tear left in your body now's the time to let it fall
for the bygones of pasty town
I was born in pasty town
pour me a drink and watch me drown
if there's a tear left in your body now's the time to let it fall
for the bygones of pasty town
the bygones of pasty town
for the bygones of pasty town
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3. |
The River Is Wide
05:11
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The River is Wide
down by the river that's where I was hired
down by the river that's where I was fired
down by the river I'm broke and I'm tired
how will I reach the other side?
Well we burned all our bridges sold the boats downstream
called it a day turned off our machines
sometime I think it was all just a dream
and the tide rolled in and it washed it all clean
how am I gonna cross this river?
over to the farther shore
how will I reach the other side
time is short and the river is wide
I would wade across but the river's too deep
I would catch a train but the fares are too steep
I would walk on the water if I had Jesus' feet
we could argue the toss but words don't come cheap
how am I gonna cross this river?
Over to the farther shore
how will I reach the other side
time is short and the river is wide
if I had wings I would rise from the ground
and if I could sing I'd make a joyful sound
but the secret's out the word's all over town
when the music stops it's time to sit down
how am I gonna cross this river?
Over to the farther shore
how will I reach the other side
time is short and the river is wide
how am I gonna cross this river?
Over to the farther shore
how will I reach the other side
time is short and the river is wide
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4. |
Where's That Cowboy Now?
04:50
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Where's That Cowboy Now?
If they tore down this factory
I wouldn't give a damn
for some of these guys it's the meaning of life
but I'm just a hired hand
and I blew in at the weekend
no intention of hanging round
pick up my pay on a Friday night
and i'm hitting the trail outta town
where the hell's that cowboy now?
Well I had me a dream once
didn't think it was going nowhere
turned around and that dream was gone
had to act like I didn't care
and I woke up halfway down the aisle
came to with a shock
staggering round in the petfood section
looking for a brand name scotch
where the hell's that cowboy now?
Where the hell
Where the hell
where the hell's that cowboy now?
And I fell in with the outlaws
on my birthday at twenty one
threw me in jail for rustling
I was trying to get my presents undone
told the judge I was a cowboy
asked the constable what he'd seen
he said 'you ain't no picture of true grit, boy
you look more like a Hey Wayne to me'
where the hell's that cowboy now?
Where the hell
Where the hell
where the hell's that cowboy now?
And I been up and down the line
and I never seemed to fit
a man with a van needs a helping hand
or he'll end up damaged in transit
so I picked up these old six strings
and I taught myself how to strum
threw me some words together
so I wouldn't sound quite so dumb
where the hell's that cowboy now?
Where the hell
Where the hell
where the hell's that cowboy now?
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5. |
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Last of the Wild Boys
well it all went wrong on that mountainside
when the scales fell from his eyes
he was offered everything in sight
and a whole lot more beside
grateful he most surely was, but he knew if it came to a choice
he would cut himself loose with the happy juice
he's the last of the wild, wild boys
so he took himself off to some backstreet bars
and he topped himself up with stale beer
then he pointed him north on the old A1
with a yellow cortina to steer
he said 'darling, you can see through me, you know if it came to a choice
I would cut myself loose with the happy juice,
I'm the last of the wild, wild boys'
so he sat himself down with his old guitar
and the sound of his own noise
times had changed, but the last time he checked he still had all of his toys
he'd never been one for that flat pack hell
and he know if it came to a choice
he would cut himself loose with the happy juice
he's the last of the wild, wild boys
his heart was full and his needs were few
you could count on one hand his joys
he passed this way without a trace
there was nothing he wanted to spoil
in a single room with an onsuite grill and a soundtrack of neighbourly noise
he cut himself loose withh the happy juice
he's the last of the wild, wild boys
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6. |
Big Shot
05:30
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Big Shot
have you heard the rumour they've been spreading round?
They're saying he's a big shot in this no horse town
casting his shadow with his spending power
he's some kind of legend, in his dinner hour
heads are turning down on friendly street
them that's in the know, they're falling at his feet
if you're wanting my opinion, though I guess you probably don't
do I think we;ll learn our lesson? Well I guess we probably won't
close my eyes, does the sun grow dim?
lay down my head, does the day not end?
Well I get to wondering, when thick turns to thin
where's the big shot, where's the big shot
when the sky falls in?
I been out there walking, out in the world somewhere
seeking words of consolation no-one wants to share
I been holding my breath till its time to have my say
well carpe diem, boys, today's the day
there's a secret I been dying not to keep
words of warning I been hearing in my sleep
same old story, read 'em and weep
where's that big shot? Where's that big shot
when the sky falls in
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7. |
She Ain't the Boss of Me
04:32
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She Ain't the Boss of Me
I used to drink I used to stay out late
with my low rent friends
we'd be playing three chords and the truth till the nightime ends
I used to think I'd be happy as a pig
all the rest of my days
till that woman showed me the error of my ways
my friends are saying 'he sure has changed, that much is plain to see
his shoes are shined, his collar's clean
he ain't the wild boy he used to be'
you can call me domesticated, but that's just how it seems
you know I love that woman, but she ain't the boss of me
she calls me darlin, when there's bills to be paid
I call her 'she who must be obeyed'
it's a mutual arrangement in many ways
you know I begged that woman on a bended knee
she said 'roll over, rover, and fetch your lead'
I love that woman but she ain't the boss of me
and if I was a little bitty biting snake
she would be my Cleopatra
if I was a boot that was made for walking
she would be my Nancy Sinatra
and if I was an apple hanging on a tree
she would be my Eve
you know I love that woman but she ain't the boss of me
said I love that woman, but she ain't the boss of me
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8. |
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Message from the Lost and Found
like a rat, in his maze
an old man going through a teenage phase
I been writing my name in the sand
I been reading the crazy paving
I'm not drowning, only waving
trying to send a signal you might understand
put my best foot forward
just before dawn
and I called on a thousand doors
put the other foot forward
it's blisters and corns
and I called on a thousand more
I been bring a message just for you
it's going out to all your friends and neighbours too
I been spreading it around
posting it through every door in town
it's a message from the lost and found
I'll beware the hounds
in the heat of my midday rounds
I'll be turning my face to the sleet
I'll ignore the clowns and the dissapproving frowns
behind the nets down at the dark end of lonely street
I been bring a message just for you
it's going out to all your friends and neighbours too
I been spreading it around
posting it through every door in town
it's a message from the lost and found
I'll be tagging your wall
making a curtesy call
I'll be leaving a note in the hall
I'll be friending your page
rattling the bars of your cage
while I still have the wherewithall
I been bring a message just for you
it's going out to all your friends and neighbours too
I been spreading it around
posting it through every door in town
it's a message from the lost and found
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9. |
Smoking Mirror Blues
04:23
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Smoking Mirror Blues
I met a man the other day
I watched him as he watched me shave
I knew I'd seen that face before
the cruel lips, the handsome jaw
it might have been in the house of sin
where the rooms were cold and dirty
or a shotgun shack by a railway track
in the early nineteen thirties
from the mists of the past came an ice blast
that sliced me from ear to ear
it's a drunk in a field with six strings of steel
and a bellyful of churning fear
John Hazzard they said, he was already dead
when he got to the thirteenth bar
so they chopped his liver and they devilled his lungs
and they put his soul in a jar
I don't remember where I been
or where I was going to
but I do remember all the words of the smoking mirror blues
beware, beware, when you're stealing someone's shoes
beware, beware, of the smoking mirror blues
he said we need to double talk as the future's looking bleak
I know that you can walk the walk
but I never heard you speak
with trembling hands I read the note
and alll the news was bad
it was signed 'your in obscurity' from the friend that you never had
beware, beware, when you're stealing someone's shoes
beware, beware, of the smoking mirror blues
I don't remember where I been
or where I was going to
but I do remember all the words of the smoking mirror blues
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10. |
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Old Enough to Know Better
in my younger days I led a merry dance
playing in the traffic
that was my idea of romance
que sera, sera, I had no plans
a willing victim of circumstance
on the road to righteousness I took a turn for the worse
educated to be polite
taught myself how to curse
couldn't take delight in that chapter and verse
it was all too much to bear
now I'm old enough to know better
old enough to know better
I'm old enough to know better
but I'm too old, too old to care
let me sing this song then I'll be gone on the midnight stage
may be wrong but we ain't even on the same page
just don't ask me to act my age
that would just be unfair
now I'm old enough to know better
old enough to know better
I'm old enough to know better
but I'm too old, too old to care
everybody needs a plan
to get them through their daily bread and jam
but if you're talking 'bout
schemes and scams
you're confusing me with
someone who gives a damn
so take me to the terminus and drop me by the sign
if I miss that bus there'll be another right behind
may not be going where I want
and it might not be on time
but I already paid the fare
cos I'm old enough to know better
old enough to know better
I'm old enough to know better
but I'm too old, too old to care
everybody needs a plan
to get them through their daily bread and jam
but if you're talking 'bout
schemes and scams
you're confusing me with
someone who gives a damn
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John Wilkins England, UK
The recordings on this site are all of my own material.
Many thanks to Jimmy Smith, John Timney, Stephen Cunningham
for their help with the various recordings, and Georges Shovlin and Lamb, and Don and Jimm for their tireless work on open mic sessions where most of this material has been first aired. Also to the too many to mention friends and supporters over the years.
... more
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