"Heroic Blues"

Released on Cockaigne , July 2002.

all songs written by David Graney. Copyright Control

anchors aweigh
in the beginning
it was so hard to breathe
so hard to see
so hard to find some space
like the air was earth
packed tight
so many people
all around and above and below
anchors aweigh
then there was a time of great confusion in the world
I drifted, free from the earths drag
there were no borders
there was no night or day
there was no end in sight
there was only the vast and weightless pull
of the time around and ahead
anchors aweigh
anchors aweigh
anchors aweigh
there was that song of yours
somethin' about your eyes watchin' someone
well now it's so hard to hear
now those eyes are closed
the streets of london
the streets of perth
dog eared pages in a library book
collected on the fly
shovin' off from the shoreline
anchors aweigh
all the people there were strangers to me again
anchors aweigh anchors aweigh
anchors aweigh

son of maggie mae
she threw my old man out the front door one cold , windswept night
she threw his clothes down from the first floor window
he said he was too young to stay
he was gonna move off to LA or somewhere
she said,
"you'll always be haunted by these windswept ,cobblestone streets
you'll never get over me
no matter how far you go
what kind of brandy you drink"

I don't remember all my fathers faces
I lost track of all the city rooms we rented
there was a pool cue in the corner in a grand old case
a tartan scarf and a macintosh by the front door for a while
she left my pram outside the front door to soak up the sun for a while
two hoboes took me for a while
left me in a supermarket aisle

she brought me into her world
in her wild way
she was never a girl
people whispered a famous name

an old folk song goes all over the place
every foot step was illuminated
they say she had her wild times
long before and long after I arrived
the way I knew her she was so quiet
we were like balls of mercury
forever breaking
forever the same
he ran away
she ran away
I ran away

money comes from somewhere every now and again
an old folk song goes all over the place
a poor boy sits in a palace hung with portraits
of Jack the Ripper
and the Prince of Wales

Leavin’ the Mount
there’s a show on up the road
someone's puttin on a keg
your shoes are made of retread tyres
you drive an immaculate Morris Minor
the guy you like has got greasy hair and a bad leg
he dropped his bike on a party night
you only see each other with a mob around
he drinks until he gets carried home
green ginger wine and buddah sticks
chillums,shotguns,panel vans
your high waisted jeans are too tight
whats that song you like?
"La Grange........"
some people you know packed up and flew north
that'd be somethin
to just get in the van and go
you know
maybe as soon as his leg comes good
the skin graft and the bone
as soon as the physio says its cool
and the insurance cheque comes through

clingin' to the coast
clingin' to the coast
holdin' to the inner city
who knows what horrors lie in the west
the beach
the sand
the coast
the bay
the coffee
the tables on the footpath
the bars
the faces
the little shops
the markets
the lovely village
the vibe you read about
walkin' everywhere
your reflection in the window
the excellent windows
funny chairs
old cars
out west they have factories
out west there is no water
out west it is dry
mornin' sun in your eye
afternoon sun in your eye
clingin' to the east
holdin' to the inner city
who knows what horrors lie in the west
don't go no further
don't go inside
there is no water
you might never come back
they got hired guns
they got hangin judges
they got lawless streets
and roaming savage tribes

I will always hate you
Sometimes
I'm sittin about with my pals
shootin' the breeze
layin' back’n’laughin'
drinkin' wine
then ,out of nowhere
you spring into my mind
like a ghost touchin' my shoulder
like a chill comin' over the room
I will always hate you
you got the power
I don’t know how
I don’t know when
you made the move
you got the mozz on me
I will always hate you
I know it's stupid
I shouldn't be so weak
I must be vigilant
I must be strong
I must remember
there is somethin' I have to do
there is a certain time
and place
that I really have to make
I will always hate you

don't mess with the blood
we've got such a lot of unfinished business
so many things have happened
so much time has passed
you start to say somethin'
you think "not now, it's not the time!"
the time is never gonna be right.
it's the blood
don't mess with the blood
we see each other so rarely
you come up with some bullshit
you fling it so freely
I should've thrown it back long ago
I guess you think I like it
I took it from you once, I must
it's the blood
don't mess with the blood
it'll take a lot to turn this baby around
I don't have the time
do I have the energy?
what for?
what place are we gonna get back to now?
what shape?
at this late hour!
don't mess with the blood
it's the blood
don't mess with the blood

Heroic Blues
I'm standin in a bar
singin my songs
theres six people hangin around
they've got nowhere else to go
I'm a hero, thats what I do
no one buys my records
no one knows my old songs
I've played here before
there were so many people
I'm a hero , thats what I do
looked at from another direction,
this could seem pretty sad
tragic even
I gotta pull somethin out of this moment
that woman at the back of the room
shes travelled so far
I'm a hero , thats what I do
I'm livin out the other side of a dream
I'm comin down
I'm flattening out
I'm slowly makin my way back to the big room
I'm a hero , thats what I do
I've seen this place before
I've been around three times
there must be somethin I could do
am I in colour?
or is it black and white from now on?
am I losing?
am I winning?
how long have I been playing?
when did it become a game?
I'm a hero , thats what I do
you know they can't breathe this atmosphere
people off the street can't live at this speed
I'm ridin over the scene
I'm all over the room
I'm a hero , thats what I do
I got blues
heroic blues
I don't just lose
I make heroic blues
its a star vehicle
and I'm the writer
and I'm the director
and I'm the player
I'm editing in camera
I got blues
I got blues
heroic blues
my life has a life of its own
my dreams have dreams of their own
my blues have blues of their own
I got blues
heroic blues

I don't know anything
I didn't know much but what I knew I really knew
upside , over, back to front
my mind was like a torch light in a pitch black room
but that light was hard, so hard
I could even see through it
I could see through my world to the other side
if I'd've met you then
you wouldn't be around now
I'd've slayed you where you stood
I knew everything
now, I don't have the juice
I don't have the concentration
I don't have the power
I don't know anythin'!
it's like I'm standin' in a floodlit stadium
I'm at the centre square
I know the names of the streets outside
and where they go
I know the last time I went to the end of those streets
I know I'll never get to the end again in a long while
I know
I don't know anythin'!
I don't know anythin'!
I don't know anythin'!
I don't know anythin'!
I don't know anythin'!

eye o' the vibe
the vibe was not with me
the movin' finger havin' been chewed
moved across the page
I just know it ain't like it was
every step was illuminated
everybody knew what was gonna happen next
I just know I am alone
there weren't a thing that I could do
walking along a dirt road
there weren't no end in sight
the stones cut into my bare feet
I shiver and stand still
no one knows where I am
the wind blows
the vibe was not with me
I was deep in alien waters
I over extended myself
the crowd was with me
woke up deep in debt to some rough bastards
they don't care about the game I'm playin'
they just want their wedge
I just can’t get ahead
the vibe was not with me
now I feel the soft grassy earth bounce under my feet
I hear the whispers of sweet encouragement in my ear
the world I knew is gone
yeah I know my way back,baby
it is time for me to keep my gums flappin
I know how to live in a new way
the vibe was not with me
the swells had glassed out
the sets were ages in between
I'd been a fool
I'd been so soft
I should've stayed a little behind the play
sat with my back to the door
and watched the sky
the vibe is with me
yeah the vibe is with me

a short bio of Clare and David

Lyrics to "kiss tomorrow goodbye"(2000)

Lyrics to Liquor

Lyrics to the first album, "the Dave Graney Show''(1999)