Get all 13 Dean Batten releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Optimist Breakfast, Dennis, The Quiet Sounds of Sewing, The Favor, Sky Pink, Let 'Em Bleed, Would You Like to Come In?, Aries, and 5 more.
1. |
Fear Your Death
03:14
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I don't want for nothing
And Nothing don't want me
Subconscious is a blender
Mixes new things constantly
Will make mind deliver
Pull out from the bone
Take me to the river
Where I can try to find my own
It's a feeling I remember
With a wistful twist of eye
Tell me, who among us don't fear death
And thinks they really feel alive?
Dreaming after something
Trying to make it real
Plant your feet in something, you can
You can really feel
Can't account for style,
But you can take it to the bank
Trade it in for something you can use
For name and rank
And you know you best remember
How to look them in the eye
Saying, "If you do not fear your death, then you just
Really ain't alive."
No matter how big the building,
It's just a matter of time
You know these things only happen
One brick at a time
A memory on a postcard
That you let behind
So that you could not remember
Injuries from former lives
Knowing that it's correct to fear death, but need not
Fear to be alive
So go be alive
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2. |
One Dollar Ring
03:11
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3. |
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Now grandma's gone to better things
And I think I am afraid of things
I haven't been believing
I can hear your wisdom now, ma
Like the quiet sounds of sewing
Let it stitch me back together like a song
While domiciles and suicides are passing through my mind
I got a couple letters to send my love
And a ladder to climb
Twenty-five years old, my God,
How has it run this long?
"I even wear my trousers rolled," says Eliot
Sojourners in a foreign land
That wording has it right
Four hundred years of toil will pass by night
And fade into daylight
While domiciles and suicides are passing through my mind
I got a couple letters to send my love
And a ladder to climb
While domiciles and suicides are passing through my mind
I got a couple letters to send my love
And a ladder to climb
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4. |
Roger McClain
04:58
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It's a hard way to go out, Ol'
Roger McClain
After Molly died, there wasn't much to do
Dusted her picture on the handmade shelf
That hung above
His Velcro shoes
Watched the sunbeams
Come down like water
Before the rainfalls
Each June afternoon
It made his eyes leak
Though there's no need to speak
He just smiled
And knew night would come soon
Humming "Aye di-die die die do…"
He'd walk the whole neighborhood
From noon until three
Every Sunday, said he liked the heat
Ol' Roger McClean had worms in his brain
That'd been there since 1968
They taught him to fly planes
And how not to complain
Then his family and friends did the same
Now the lawn's overgrown
And the kids never phone
But he walks with a smile on his face
Humming "Aye di-die die die do…"
"Molly, I feel so alone now,
But I think I may finally understand.
It's a wonderful sunset this evening
And I watched it with your wedding band.
Maybe I'll see you tomorrow
There's nothing I'm afraid to leave behind
Don't talk much; me, John and Linda,
But it seems them and the grandkids are fine.
I miss you a bit more each morning
And miss you bit less every night
Wherever you are, I will find you,
Until then, it seems everything
Is mostly alright
I've been humming that old song you sang me
Though I don't know the words or the name
But the company of melody's welcome
And it helps me to steady my aim
"Aye di-die die die do…"
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5. |
Praying
03:36
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Dropping out, swing south, my Lord
Swing low, don't go away from me
In my mouth, hang sounds, sweet, Lord
Sounds strong and deep, but not bellowing
Will you show me light
When I'm stuck in night
These bonds are tight and I'm struggling
It gets so puzzling
Trying to reconcile
It all
Big full moon, too soon, my Lord
Too fast a ride for not listening
Highway sounds, downtown, midnight
I'm fine; in fact, I'm glistening
Will you show me light
When I'm stuck in night
These bonds are tight and I'm struggling
It gets so puzzling
Trying to reconcile
It all
Will you show me how
Yes, and I mean now
To live without this struggling
It gets so puzzling
Trying to reconcile
It all
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6. |
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Oh, sweet Virginia,
Don't you shut it off, yet
I'm half as high as I've ever been
Just trying to catch my breath
Oh, pretty lady, please, now
Don't you go away
But if you must, then there ain't no rush
I'll be here waiting
Until sweet Virginia comes again
Outside the kitchen door,
It's crickets singing
Some music half as sweet as the gift you're bringing
I'm praying, "Lord, I hope she's here to stay,
For corn whiskey and home-made wine
Where the angel's bathing
To make sweet Virginia come again"
That full moon's bright
And we've got nowhere to go
We can make it right here at home
If you'd just come sit in my kitchen
I'll show you what you've been missing
You'll forget why you got gone
I'll make sweet Virginia come again
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7. |
Dennis
06:52
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The television's on
The phone is off the hook
Through the cigarettes and coke
Don't know where to look
You were in school when mama died
Lord knows how your mama tried
Even if she failed at certain times
She did her best to raise you right
Father, father, where are you going?
Do not walk so fast
If you leave now, your little boy,
Your little boy will be lost
Little boy is lost
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Human folks are hard and mean
At-the-time or so-it-seemed
The only way to make it clean
Shoot for other pastures green
Blew a line and grabbed the grip
One way out now, let a rip
.38 Special didn't slip
But also didn't do the trick
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
Stuttered speech still erudite
Shivers home alone at night
Through the muzzle flash, he saw the light
Walking now is complicated
Not what he anticipated
But he found the strength, so so can I
So can I
Life is beautiful, life is meaningful, life is difficult
But that's the
Point
It's not the peak you seek to find
It's where you go along the climb
Along the climb
Dennis, I'm glad that you survived
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8. |
Ira
02:15
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John-boat out on the Chesapeake bay
Flat bottom filling from the rolling waves
Grab that bucket, baby, and bail away
We gotta go find Ira
My friend Ira was a hell of a man
He had my back in Afghanistan
He was the Butch Cassidy to my Sundance
Baby, we gotta go find Ira
We came back, just a couple of boys
That fastback Ford was his favorite toy
He was a heartbreaker, his mama’s pride and joy
Baby, we gotta go find Ira
Yesterday morning she was flat as a lake
Storm rolled in, waves began to break
He was driving for Eastville from a day at the Cape
Baby we gotta go find Ira
All we found was a bumper and lights
Sinking in the water in the middle of the night
I grabbed that bumper and I held on tight
Baby, I’m gonna go find Ira
First, things got dark and then things got bright
There were golden gates and angels in flight
Then a platoon of angels all moved to the side
And there was standing Ira
Then I fell back down, like a stick on a knife
A couple EMTs were there saving my life
I’d never been so glad to see flashing lights
I screamed, “Baby, I just saw Ira!”
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9. |
Magdelena Shudders
03:54
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It can be a cell, or it can be a throne room
It's all just as well, when Babylon's a bridegroom
And my Magdelena shudders, my lover may never recover
From the beauty and the horror
That burns like the Seraphim wonder
Or a man thrown into the sun
You think, "what the hell, throw in with the lowly"
That name rang a bell, time will take us slowly
And my Magdelena shudders, my lover may never recover
From the beauty and the horror
That burns like the Seraphim wonder
Or a man thrown into the sun
Watch the sun come up, child
You can see him shimmer
That faithful glimmer coming with the dawn
Nonesuch hoary wisdom
Can prevent this damage
Or seize full advantage
For whatever side you're on
And my Magdelena shudders, my lover may never recover
From the beauty and the horror
That burns like the Seraphim wonder
Or a man thrown into the sun
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10. |
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Mama always told me
Honey, use your judgment good
Try to make the smart decision
Don’t go acting like some hood
But I would never listen
No matter how my mama tried
And now I’m just a grease spot
Somewhere out I-95
I got that motorcycle for about 2000 cash
Black Honda 750, she could go just like a flash
From the minute I rode her up, my mama prayed I wouldn’t crash
But I didn’t see the box truck
'Til it was too late to pass
Aunt Florence sat down with me
While I was passing through
About twenty-nine months later
On a national solo cruise
From Vegas through to Wytheville
With a bag of Cali grass
She could smell it on me rolling up
And hollered, “Boy, you watch your ass!”
“‘Cause if you can’t be good, be careful”
And “it’s only illegal if you get caught”
“There ain’t no shame in being honest,
So don’t pretend you’re something that you’re not”
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11. |
Madison Avenue
04:29
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He stormed out the front door,
Went to catch a ride
He stormed out the front door,
Went to catch a ride
Well, Lorena threw the bottle,
He woke up on the other side
The rain was coming down now,
Gee, what a surprise
The rain was coming down now,
Gee, what a surprise
Well, it's bound to cast a shadow
With a cloud about this size
Saw him with his thumb out,
Offered him a lift
Saw him with his thumb out,
Offered him a lift
I asked, "Where are you headed?"
He said, "Mostly, I just drift."
"Pour yourself some coffee,
There's a thermos on the floor."
"Pour yourself some coffee, man,
There's a thermos on the floor."
He climbed in, and said "Thank you,"
Had some trouble with the door
He said he got out of prison
When he said he got back from the war
He said he got out of prison
Same time he said he got back from the war
Then he said, "Lorena's married,
But her ol' man knows she whores."
We rode on in silence
For a quarter of an hour
We rode on in silence
For a quarter of an hour
Then he said he'd like to change things
But he didn't have the power
Some folks you just can't help, too much,
Can you?
Doesn't mean it hurts to even try
Sometimes, man, the best thing you can offer
Is something warm to drink
And someplace to get dry
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12. |
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A break in the clouds above me
With light pouring in
A red-feather hawk
I'm kin to him
You open the door
"Ah, you again"
Say, "It's so good to see you!
Would you like to come in?"
A wind on the freeway shatters
And engines combust
A fragment of memory still burns through the dust
I saw their car
Through all that orange
They said, "It's so good to see you.
Would you like to come in?"
Awake in the morning, breathless
My throat all closed off
The birds are all chirping, when I
Start to cough
Your eyes squint
Tight
Then open wide
To the morning light
I'm by your side
You lift the sheet
And crack that grin
Say, "It's so good to see you!
Would you like to come in?"
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Dean Batten Daytona Beach, Florida
Often genre-bending, thought provoking and emotion stoking, Dean Batten's music is most concretely one thing:
captivating.
Moving forward from his previous work, Dean has re-embraced the folk, early rock and country sounds of his childhood with 3 new albums: "Optimist Breakfast", an acoustic album; "Pessimist Lunch", a full band version with the same songs; and "Realist Supper", a live album.
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