Get all 6 Roger Hoover releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Pastures, Lay My Rituals Down, Strangers, Eastern Standard Time, Jukebox Manifesto, and Jukebox Manifesto (Acoustic).
1. |
Inside His Devil Grin
03:45
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There's a man standing outside my door waving a bible like a gun. That way of life might work for him but I don't bow to anyone, I don't bow to anyone.
Lots of men have claimed to have been the chosen one.
Strangers standing here in line waiting for my blood to change to wine. My blood won't change to wine.
I told him I was taught at an early age that war is justified.
I was taught about the indian, I was taught about genocide like someone's got to die.
we're all standing on the losing side.
i've read it in the paper and not let loose a word, they're coming home in boxes, let my voice be heard.
there's a many man who likes to cause fear from within, who wears the word of war from inside his devil grin. what a fool i've been. and we're bound to lose again. i've read it in the paper and not let loose a word. they're coming home in boxes, let my voice be heard.
i have told my story and i've told it all in rhyme.
i'll listen to your story take what you will from mine
but now's the time. we're all standing in the firing line.
i can't feel the warmth of my lover's skin
until we tear down this building and build it right again. and if i saw your god i would stare him face to face
and tell him i couldn't find a diamond
in this hellhole of a place.
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2. |
Cobblestone Road
03:13
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here comes the night and i'm feeling like a pistol whipped criminal.
but i've got the one i love to hold me tight.
she wraps her arms around me like thunder clouds do around a midday sun.
she won't speak a word of harm to anyone.
we belong to the river song
from dusk til dawn we ride alone.
a heart is like a motel there will be people stopping by checking in and out
my love came through and she tore me down and took me to the riverside
no longer living in the city with the rust and rank sleeping under steel and steam
i've got more blood now than gasoline
with peace and quiet in the air
we belong to the river song
from dusk til dawn we ride alone
we ride alone
driving now down old cobblestone roads in the pouring rain
i won't speak about my distant days
those nights are gone
'cause we belong to the river song
from dusk til dawn we ride alone.
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3. |
Pick Up I'm Calling
03:49
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There's a half moon the horizon tell me where should I be.
Outside Terre Haute far from you Anna Lee.
I've seen nothing but a bad look from a dimestore cashier, earth cut for rail cars and men slaughtering steer.
The moon hangs like a puppet strung up by fine lace left to rot before daylight with the rest of this place.
(chorus)
So please, pick up I'm calling.
Anna Lee, I feel like I'm falling.
This half moon is looking on me with a sneer and I've forgotten every reason I ever came here.
I know this road well but I've never felt more lost.
I don't see much haze since I quit drinking the sauce.
I swear by the stars that shine down on me that I've never been more in love than I am with you Anna Lee.
Tell my daughter I'll be home in three days.
Tell my brother and cousins that I'll bring home beaujolais.
I'm walking a straight line trying hard not to sin but Terre Haute Indiana has got me drinking again.
(chorus)
This ain't a tall tale, its true life exposed through the eyes of a madman with a pinnochio nose.
Some roads will lead you one way and some will drive you to the ground.
Some roads will lead you right back into town.
(chorus)
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4. |
Roger Hoover's Dream
03:23
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Wake up in the morning to the sound of a guitar strum, tend to the farm some, with kids playing in the hay.
My daughter's all in pigtails and she never cries, she's got her mother's hair, she's got her father's eyes.
(chorus)
Sipping whiskey by a long handled tablespoon
I'm giving up singing these rock and roll tunes.
Down the road some my brother's blaring Neil Young, shooting off his six gun just to scare the crows away.
Flowers grow in batches by my father's ashes, with the thunder lightning crashes, that's the way my father was.
(chorus)
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5. |
Down By the Riverside
02:35
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down by the riverside
under october stars
that's where you kept me dry
in your shiny black car
wednesday i walked down
your basement stairs
and left behind
my true love there
sunday night i'm told
about expensive lies
and that the line we walked
became our alibi
should time stand still
hindsight obscure
i'll meet you where the mountainside
meets the water
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6. |
Stone on the Ground
04:28
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she makes me sleep at night like a stone on the ground;
like i've driven 700 miles to the only stoplight in town.
she's got graveyard hips that move on cheap red wine.
lips that have kissed all those boys will make you do cold, hard time.
she puts on that lipstick, keeps you wondering what's underneath that dress.
she leaves the room without waving and leaves you wondering where she went.
she doesn't obey the law, she's got no sense of time.
she's got lovers on the north, east, west and south sides.
she'll tie you up in shackles, make you feel like she's been there before.
she can talk all night about heaven, crucifixion and the holy wars.
she keeps a sign on her door says she got no self control.
she's an ocean child could swallow any brave man's soul.
i have heard it all read every page between the lines.
i've got no sparkling diamond ring, got no car to drive.
i've got nothing to give you except what is in my mind.
let's set fire to the city and watch it burn down through the night.
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7. |
Gewgaw Girl
02:57
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restless night juggling dynamite.
shine my boots, shave my face, shame my name.
it burns my eyes inside these barroom skies, Sam Cooke sing another just for me.
and take me on down the track.
take me down the track awhile.
before i fall from the weight of the world
take me to my gewgaw girl.
she got a restless smile like the New Orleans marker tiles,
dances like a whisper, like a killer, like a crow.
when she slides on by the boys are hypnotized until their heads fall down like dominoes.
and take me on down the track
take me down the track awhile
before i fall from the weight of the world
take me to my gewgaw girl
saraband down the alley, my love's in mexicali.
god's just a name there, he's never been there, never shall.
place like that you latch the locks down, don't let the people know there's a road out, if you do it'll just bring down morale.
stand watch by the depot in my best friend sid's tuxedo
worn all the way from instanbul to montreal
got to get back to the town there, my tattoo marks the name where, she's the only one who gave me freedom here at all
and take me on down the track
take me down the track awhile
hear my call, there won't be freedom here at all
take me to my gewgaw girl
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8. |
Drifter
04:12
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bonnie taylor lies through her teeth
even when she's up against a wall.
sometimes i hear her talking
even though she don't make sense at all.
she's got a friend
but only long enough for what its worth.
she claims she's got a new boyfriend
on the fact that she saw him first.
the old crowd is hanging in the hall
wondering who to blame.
i'd go in myself to get a drink and all
but i haven't got a dollar to my name.
they should have hung a sign on the entryway
that says, ''we charge five dollars at the door."
even though its a club i used to play
they don't let me walk in for free anymore.
i consider myself a stranger
and a drifter by trade.
my feet will keep on walking
when i'm buried in my grave.
tonight the moon creeps through the treetops
and the snow is just beginning to melt.
i'd write down what i'm feeling
if i knew what it was i felt.
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9. |
Anna Lee
03:24
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i knew enough not to call you because
my friends tonight they saw you downtown
messing around.
i walked towards a breeze while the raindrops
hit the leaves. footsteps left tracks on the ground.
and i miss you tonight anna lee
i miss you tonight anna lee.
i had a dream that i left you for the sea
and you didn't kiss me goodbye.
i'm standing here watching spiders spin
a web to catch their dinner in by the smokestack
spitting out charcoal gray.
and i miss you tonight anna lee
i miss you tonight anna lee.
i heard a wise man repeat that a woman
with hair the color of wheat will take your skin
and cut you to the bone.
and if she passes this way again, a man
will give her a second skin to burn
and she'll leave him for the crows.
and i miss you tonight anna lee
i miss you tonight anna lee.
i forged a river with a gift i tied up to give her
but she was missing from the door.
i rang the doorbell three times and opened it up
to my surprise that she was lying on the floor.
i'm screaming anna lee
why aren't you breathing anna lee
and i can't remember a thing
tonight i miss you anna lee.
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10. |
Roadside Cafe
04:35
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my dear, my dear, listen close: i'm as lonesome as a poor boy can be. take my hand and show me where a poor boy can rest peacefully. will you wash my hands clean from the filth, dirt and grease and on my face, place a drop of oil; give me shoes to wear on my feet 'cause they're a bleeding from walking on the soil.
my friend, my friend, has turned me in. for what i've done no tongue can tell. i walked into a place of worship where it looked more like a rummage sale. my dear my dear they're a chasing me from town to town and coast to coast. there's other men much worse than me but i'm the man they want seen dead the most.
my love, my love its my best interest that you take run and hide. leave no trace that you've been in my place. take leave and sight by night sky and i'll meet you in four days by the river where we played, where i first ran my fingers through your hair. we'll put roots down and change our names around. no sheriff will ever find us there.
i can't, i can't my one true love 'cause i fear that if i gamble death this man's dreams will become unseen and they'll all forget the things i've said. my love, my love i'm selfish yes but there's no use for my tears to fall so soon, there's a child i'm a carrying in my womb.
i'll see fit that my friend who turned me in takes the hit and they'll not know the difference at all. because the face you see they've never seen and he's the one whose head they'll see fall.
my dear, my dear i'll meet you where the place we once laid our heads, side by side and both held hands before i got myself in this mess. in four days at the roadside cafe have my bacon and eggs ready for me. these troublesome times will pass us by and i'll rest in the arms fate had brought to me.
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11. |
Inamorato
05:33
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could you give me back the money we've been saving up? i'm heading for the road again.
across the mississippi into washington.
don't want to marry down in new orleans.
i can't see it in your eyes you want to tear me up
but the sound you breathe is just dead air.
at times i feel like a ventriloquist with my hands between your ears.
and i don't want to talk about it.
no i don't want to talk about it.
we've been circling for years around it.
that town was painted up i had my pockets full with money just for throwing around
now i've changed my mind and bought up fifty stones; just enough to way me down.
an exchange of words and scorn left unsaid. you can't put back the bullet from a smoking gun.
inamorato on the road and i'm left for dead.
there's no forgiving what you done.
and i don't want to talk about it.
no i don't want to talk about it.
we've been circling for years around it.
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Roger Hoover Ohio
Over the past 15 years, songwriter/guitarist Roger Hoover has been preaching the gospel of traditional American music to a growing group of devoted fans by keeping one foot in what Greil Marcus describes as the “old, weird America” and another foot firmly planted in the now.. ... more
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