Get all 30 Fred Gillen Jr releases available on Bandcamp and save 50%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Kaaterskill (Winter Instrumentals), Turn Off The Lights, Birds, See The Light, Into the Darkness, All In, If I Woke Up This Morning and Died, If I Woke Up This Morning and Died (Unplugged), and 22 more.
1. |
I Believe
03:30
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I Believe
I don’t believe in intentions
we’ve all heard the cliche
the road to hell leads nowhere
and I don’t care how it’s paved
I believe in you and me
every great prayer begins with we
we show up and we roll up our sleeves
and that’s how the world changes
I don’t believe in Karma
there’s too much evil that goes unseen
castes and classes, dogma and dharma
or anything which comes between you and me
I believe in you and me
every great prayer begins with we
we show up and we roll up our sleeves
and that’s how the world changes
I don’t believe in authority
because anyone can be bought
and all the trouble in the world
comes from trying not to get caught
I don’t believe in grace
if I know I’m forgiven all I’ll do is sin
I believe in looking down at my feet
and feeling the dirt they’re standing in
I believe in you and me
every great prayer begins with we
we show up and we roll up our sleeves
and that’s how the world changes
I believe…… in you and me
I believe….. in you and me
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2. |
Katherine With A K
03:28
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Katherine With a K
blonder than the sun
in my memory you stood six foot one
turns out you were really kind of small
but your voice rang like an orchestra
Katherine with a K you said
the night I asked your name
I love you still and I’ll never be the same
your vocabulary was legendary
complicated, dirty, and literate
you channelled Peggy Lee and Patti Smith
fighting in an alley
Katherine with a K you said
the night I asked your name
I love you still and I’ll never be the same
it was 2 a.m. the night you learned
I’d never tried escargot
so you found an all night French cafe
and we ate snails!
Katherine with a K you said
the night I asked your name
I love you still and I’ll never be the same
of all of my regrets you’re the most beautiful
we were both smitten but when we met we weren’t free
a world without you in it, so hard to contemplate
I couldn’t believe it when I heard
I saw a picture of you at eight years old
and you looked just the same
I always saw the child in the woman you became
so filled with wonder
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3. |
Eyes of the Buddha
03:43
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The Eyes of the Buddha
Namaste
say the children out playing
hand-built swing set rocking in the breeze
namaste
say the women out praying
as you pass by a temple on a side street
shining eyes, black as coal
bright as the sun
the eyes of the Buddha in everyone
namaste
in the wagging tails of dogs
all around the dusty streets of Kathmandu
namaste
on the lips of many pilgrims
climbing countless stairs up to Swayambu
shining eyes, black as coal
bright as the sun
the eyes of the Buddha in everyone
Namaste
says the man delivering eggs
stacked so high his bicycle is bending
namaste
says the cop directing traffic
she looks tough even as she smiles
shining eyes, black as coal
bright as the sun
the eyes of the Buddha in everyone
Namaste
underneath the bodhi tree
tying strings attached to fragile wishes
namaste
sings the woman in the morning
kneeling in the dust to wash her dishes
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4. |
A New Guitar
02:59
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A New Guitar
E B7
we’re going to need a new guitar
A E
one whose strings ring clear
A B7
no buzzing frets, no sour chords
E B7
just simple, true, and dear
C#m A
our songs will all be peaceful
E B7
our harmony beautiful
E A
like the sun coming out
E B7
after a storm
we’re going to need a set of drums
one that plays beats of the heart
no need to be loud
just play it strong and proud
our songs will all be peaceful
our harmony beautiful
like the rain falling down
after a drought
we’re going to need a new piano player
one who’s found the secret chord
who fills the room like sweet perfume
so strong it brings strangers to the door
our songs will all be peaceful
our harmony beautiful
like a first snow falling down
on Christmas morning
we’re going to need a new guitar
one whose strings ring clear
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5. |
Anything Except Love
05:10
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If I Woke Up This Morning and Died
Have I spilled out my life like water on the ground?
Not looking back long enough to see it evaporated
Did it mean anything or did it all add up to nothing?
Have I wasted time with everything I thought counted?
Given away everything until there’s nothing left
Was what looked large simply just perspective?
What happened to my life?
If I woke up this morning and died
would I remember anything except love?
Walking around with my hands in my pockets
Afraid to really touch anything
I want to put my hands on everything
so I stare straight ahead and keep walking
What happened to my life?
If I woke up this morning and died
would I remember anything except love?
Our days are numbered and paid for
but we don’t get to see the receipt
we don’t know when they’ll come to take us away
so we do the best we can with too little information
What happened to my life?
If I woke up this morning and died
would I remember anything except love?
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6. |
Road To Tatopani Part 1
02:21
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7. |
Modern Times
04:15
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Modern Times
In a room in Washington
a couple of guys in suits shake hands
and you lose your job
and eventually your home
and your standing
in the community
and when you’re on the street begging for change
people spit at you with disdain
it all started in a room in Washington
a couple of guys you’ve never even seen
how can your fate be decided like that?
how is that considered ok?
on a day like any other day
a deal was made, a contract signed
the pipeline came through
the taxpayers paid
they said it was safe
but it was badly designed
when the accident happened next to your house
it was barely news, they called it the cost of doing business
on a day like any other day
a deal was made and now people have died
how could their fate be decided like that?
how is that considered ok?
oh oh oh modern times
oh oh oh modern times
where are the heroes of yesterday
to fight the robber barons of this new gilded age?
where’s our Teddy Roosevelt, fighting in Washington?
where’s our Joe Hill, fighting on the streets?
when I get fired for speaking my mind
or put in jail for doing what’s right
I’m being my own hero today
because the robber barons are not going away
oh oh oh modern times
oh oh oh modern times
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8. |
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I Hope We Never See You Again
It was just another deal
nothing wrong if you don’t get caught
almost anyone can be bought
and you were reasonably sure you’d built a wall
around you and your family
steel hand cuffs where your Rolex was
hair finally matches suit
as they lead you away, all I can say is
I hope we never see you again
I hope we never see you again
they picked you up on your golf course
secret service had to stand down
for the agents of the law
the real law, the people’s law
you thought you were above it
but you were wrong
steel hand cuffs where your Rolex was
hair finally matches suit
as they lead you away, all I can say is
I hope we never see you again
I hope we never see you again
is there a special jail for Presidents?
maybe some dark bunker in a mountain
do they keep their protection?
guaranteed by constitution
the talk show hosts cry
as their ratings die
your Russian friends can’t help you
or your son in law
you were finally burned by your arrogance
steel hand cuffs where your Rolex was
hair finally matches suit
as they lead you away, all I can say is
I hope we never see you again
I hope we never see you again
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9. |
Road To Tatopani Part 2
01:24
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10. |
Always Rock and Roll
04:12
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Always Rock N Roll
I used to have fifteen guitars
now I’m holding onto my last one
it was my first, the closest I ever got to love
was when she sang
the moment before you pull the trigger
STOP
look deep into whatever passes for your soul
no matter how bad this world may treat you
there’s always rock N roll
eighty dollars a pill on the street
for what I used to get free
going down in the park
doing what I have to do to survive
the moment before you pull the trigger
STOP
look deep into whatever passes for your soul
no matter how bad this world may treat you
there’s always rock N roll
every last fix is worse
than every last fix before
just when you think you hit bottom
you find out every bottom has a trap door
the moment before you pull the trigger
STOP
look deep into whatever passes for your soul
no matter how bad this world may treat you
there’s always rock N roll
I’m not gonna say I’m keeping
to the sunny side of the street
but as far as any pale, old, has-been can
I’m keeping it so my ear drums bleed!
the moment before you pull the trigger
STOP
look deep into whatever passes for your soul
no matter how bad this world may treat you
there’s always rock N roll
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11. |
Back Into Something
03:34
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Back Into Something
I’d feel so relieved if you were dead
a sentiment no one wants in his head
but it’s true and though I’d grieve you
so many worries would disappear
what will I do when you are gone?
I’ll have to move on with no excuses
for my failure
just my own ineptitude
life can boil down to next to nothing
and when it does, how do you pick it up
and make it back into something?
I saw you nearly every day
sometimes you noticed
other times you were far away
once in a while when you didn’t
pick up the phone
I had a moment
when I thought you were gone
life can boil down to next to nothing
and when it does, how do you pick it up
and make it back into something?
when everything you thought you’d left behind
is all that you ever have on your mind
you can’t escape what really matters
there’s no way around
I’d feel so relieved if you were dead
a sentiment no one wants in his head
but it’s true
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12. |
Dirt
02:58
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Dirt
we traded our God for a textbook
then we traded our books for cold, blue screen
now we’re scanning the network searching
looking for spirit in everything
I’m going back to the land
the old, brown earth
I don’t need no preacher
don’t want no new birth
just give me a pair of worn out boots
and plant my feet in the dirt
In the dirt
we left our families for money
alone and unprepared in the cities we worked
with no connections, we thought we were free
but loneliness is just what it’s cracked up to be
I’m going back to the land
the old, brown earth
I don’t need no preacher
don’t want no new birth
just give me a pair of worn out boots
and plant my feet in the dirt
In the dirt
I want to feel the dirt of my home town
put my toes in the sand of the river of my youth
there is no secret to happiness
but in the warm, dark earth I find the truth
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13. |
Water Is Life
04:46
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Fred Gillen Jr Athens, New York
NYFA grant recipient Fred Gillen Jr has released 12 solo albums, and 6 ep’s, has toured all over the U.S. and Europe solo, and Nepal/ India with Greenheart. His songs have been on ABC's "All My Children," NPR's "Car Talk," CMJ, and his version of Woody Guthrie's "I Ain't Got No Home" was featured on Pete Seeger's "Pete Remembers Woody." He is also a founding member of THE TRIKE rock trio. ... more
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