Get all 11 Bill Jackson releases available on Bandcamp and save 25%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of 1965, The Kelly Songs (Bill Jackson - 2023), The Wayside Ballads Vol 3 (2021), The Wayside Ballads Vol 2 (2016), The Wayside Ballads Vol 1 (2015), Try / Somebody's Darlin' - (Single from 'The Wayside Ballads Vol 1' - Bill Jackson), Jerilderie (2011), The Nashville Session (2010), and 3 more.
1. |
Precious Cargo
04:32
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Precious Cargo
I had a dream last night it was the strangest thing
Chapter by chapter it drew me in
New York city 1965
With beatniks and hipsters in a West Side dive
My tongue was tied as I shuffled along
Surrounded by faces that I'd known so long
Like that ‘On the Road’ guy and old Ramblin' Jack
They were talking in rhymes and slapping my back
Now I don’t know but I’ve been told
The poet’s fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It’s a precious cargo on a lonesome road
Well I woke up thinkin' that I'd been blessed
I poured me a strong one and lay down to rest
The snowflakes danced to the Christmas bells
As I started my journey into a deeper well
Now I don’t know but I’ve been told
The poet’s fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It’s a precious cargo on a lonesome road
All my friends were there they held my hand
As I moved my pen into the shifting sand
It wrote in love and it wrote in rage
And that precious cargo leapt off the page
Now I don’t know but I’ve been told
The poet’s fate is in the words they roll
To carry that weight is a mighty load
It’s a precious cargo on a lonesome road
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2. |
My Ramblin' is Through
02:38
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My Rambling Is Through
No card up my sleeve and nothing to show
You need to believe it’s the end of the road
I’ll be here in the morning I only want you
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
No ace in the hole nothing left to steal
No hand to fold no dirty deal
No lie on the lips just the sweet taste of you
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
No rockabilly road
Leading to who knows where
Who cares where it goes?
I’ll make sure that I’m not there
No all-night drives or lonely times away
No turn back signs or hazy wasted days
Broken and beaten a little bruised and blue
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
No rockabilly road
Leading to who knows where
Who cares where it goes?
I’ll make sure that I’m not there
Away from the bright lights gone from the crowd
Seeking out the shadows of the down and proud
Behind lies the ruins ahead of me is you
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
If I’m still your darling my rambling is through
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3. |
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Stone Cold Side of The Bed
I never read the news today you just up and said goodbye
That’s how it always goes when your hit between the eyes
I found a bar with a drunken jukebox I was drinking slow and deep
Anything on the top shelf to get me home and make me sleep
That night we drove the road together as the sundown turned to red
I woke up staring at four grey walls and the stone cold side of the bed
Then one morning the rising sun burned the victim from my soul
I knew I wasn’t taking fools with my pledge to live alone
The truth be known it’s how you feel when you remember what’s been said
But the broken’s healed and the freedoms real I’ve turned pages in my head
That night we drove the road together as the sundown turned to red
I woke up staring at four grey walls and the stone cold side of the bed
And it’s cold in here / Don’t wanna grow old in here
A random shot without a sound caught me by surprise
That’s how it always feels when you’re hit between the eyes
The moment took my breath away it was then and there I knew
When you turned around and smiled at me I was staring back at you…
That night we drove the road together as the sundown turned to red
I woke up grateful for the four grey walls and the stone cold side of the bed
That night we drove the road together your words run through my head
And I woke up grateful for the four grey walls and the stone cold side of the bed
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4. |
How I Feel
04:12
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How I Feel
When Cook came ashore in that funny hat
He raised the Union Jack and that was that
The flood washed away what the fire destroyed
A collision was coming that we couldn’t avoid
On a Brighton beach in amongst the trees
Gordon loaded his gun and set himself free
Under the hood was a big eight he just loved that car
Black and white leather trim like Waylon’s guitar
They don’t know how I feel they don’t know where I’ve been
They don’t know if I’m real they don’t know who I’ve seen
When they come early morning bending street signs
Making me feel ugly and messing with my mind
The hard sun beat down on an occupied land
He had died by that railroad being built by Japan
And when the crying was dry and the sorrow began
Nothing was left but a scar on the land
And in the Antarctic blizzard the hungry dogs cried
In the wind and the white where everything died
Well he needed to be loved so he took a chance
And asked her out to the Saturday night dance
They don’t know how I feel they don’t know where I’ve been
They don’t know if I’m real they don’t know who I’ve seen
When they come early morning bending street signs
Making me feel ugly and messing with my mind
Six miles out of town on the rail line bend
He ran with a lantern that spelt the gang’s end
Just outside of Albury on the borderline
Into New South Wales where he’d spent some time
And when the compass swung east into the rising sun
The troop ship ploughed into World War One
Fourteen miles to the east at the Greta homestead
She sat there mourning the hanging of Ned
They don’t know how I feel they don’t know where I’ve been
They don’t know if I’m real they don’t know who I’ve seen
When they come early morning bending street signs
Making me feel ugly and messing with my mind
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5. |
A Diamond Always Shines
04:24
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A Diamond Always Shines
Rough and ready you cut through it somehow
At times a mite unsteady but look at you now
A few scars that hide in my worry lines
Just enjoy the ride ‘cause a diamond always shines
Fly your freedom wind roll your sea of calm
Don’t make your lover cry or come to no harm
Mend your broken dreams let tomorrow be kind
Just be yourself, and let that diamond always shines
A diamond always shines like a star in the sky
Like a full blown moon and that glint in your eye
Like a flash of lightening and sunlight through your eyes
Like sparkling water a diamond always shines
Rough around the edges, you get what you see
Some broken pledges cut from the same cloth as me
But your life’s there to live so have yourself a time
Love and forgive and let that diamond shine
A diamond always shines like a star in the sky
Like a full blown moon and that glint in your eye
Like a flash of lightening and sunlight through your eyes
Like sparkling water a diamond always shines
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6. |
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Boots of American Snakeskin
Arkansas moonlight cheap motel
Empty carpark dead swamp smell
Late September bug’s and heat
They’re cooking frog's legs at Gene’s across the street
Half wake half woke big dream
Came to attention when I heard a scream
A shot rang out it came from the woods
Is that blood running down snakeskin boots?
Lights started flashing over Brinkley Town
Was the Munro sheriff I heard sirens and sounds
Moonlight murder moonshine crime
Comes from ‘Leggin' whisky ‘cross the County line
No Investigation no follow ups
Hide the body and all evidence
Big belly sheriff ropes, rides ‘n shoots
He drinks moonshine and wears snakeskin boots
Arkansas sunrise cheap motel
Empty carpark dead swamp smell
Late September bug’s and heat
They’re cooking Waffles at Gene’s across the street
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7. |
Hong Kong
03:56
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Hong Kong
The first time I heard The Stones was in a Hong Kong bar drinkin’ gin
They were playing Satisfaction I was three sheets to the wind
The rest was alI just neon lights fadin’ into day
I woke up back on board and the warship sailed away
There’s nothin’ like a heavin’ deck to help you catch your breath
Pretty soon your all consumed with your life and death
And as the blows get heavy in this life we fight
I think about Satisfaction in a Hong Kong bar that night
There’s nothin’ like a heavin’ deck to live your troubles through
‘Cause pretty soon your all consumed with a sailor’s right to spew
And as the blow gets fiercer and the wind whips ups a spray
You ride the buckin’ bronco sea through another day
It was nearly fifty years ago how come it’s hit me now
Every time I hear The Stones I go back there somehow
Back into my early teens when this world was mine
When I knew most everythin’ ‘bout women, songs and wine
There’s nothin’ like a heavin’ deck to live your troubles through
‘Cause pretty soon your all consumed with a sailor’s right to spew
And as the blow gets fiercer and the wind whips ups a spray
You ride the buckin’ bronco sea through another day
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8. |
Hell or High Water
04:13
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Hell or High Water
I’ll be here come hell or high water
I’ll be standin shoulder to shoulder
I won’t budge an inch I won’t flinch
I’ll be here with you brother
I’ll be here when your head starts spinnin
I’ll be here when your bets stop winnin
I’ll be here when your luck runs out
You can bet the whole bar I shout
I’ll be here when you get too wild
And actin like a motherless child
I’ll always be around
And never say goodbye
I’ll be here when you start thinkin
why it is you keep on drinkin
when it seems there’s no way out
I’ll be here without a shadow of a doubt
I’ll be gone come tomorrow mornin
There’s a high tide and a storm warnin
I sail on the high tide
But I’ll never say goodbye
We shared so much together
Even when the chips were down
Never mind the time or the weather
We were always there to stand our ground
If it all gets too much be sure to stay in touch
I depend on you brother
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9. |
Lonesome Rider
04:17
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Lonesome Rider
There's a Lonesome Rider way out on the plains
Cruising the Highway and riding the Range
One of these days he’ll knock at your door
Hand you the tally and even the score
And that skeleton in your closet I bet you thought you'd lost it
But it's riding shotgun somewhere in there
And like a lark in the mirror it'll surely be your killer
Don’t you feel that cold hard stare
And that Lonesome Rider is keeping the score
Of all the hard things been done before
One of these days when you can't take anymore
He'll come knocking at your door
And that cruel hard lie you thought would die
It’s the last thing that you think of when you close your eyes
And it'll rise with the sun like the bullet from a gun
Blow a big hole in your day
And that Lonesome Rider is keeping the score
Of all the hard things been done before
One of these days when you can't take anymore
He'll come knocking - knocking at your door
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10. |
Who Wins Wars
05:17
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Who Wins Wars
Do not accept me back I am the broken one
Splintered by a ray of light (and) exploded by the sun
Frozen fist about to grip the trigger for the cause
Cocked and ready with a belly full I’m thinkin’ who wins wars?
Do not accept me back I am the beaten one
Shattered by your sword of love (and) broken by your guns
Just a priceless diamond a splintered prism of flaws
Let me ask you sweet Jesus who wins wars?
Do sacred hearts always bleed with a crimson cross-edged black
Will I ever seek the need of a roadmap heading back
Do crazy boys turn into men when they stand and ask for more
Do doves fly in the sky for peace and who wins wars?
Do flowers sight my eyes do seagulls swing along
When it comes my time to die will the timing be all wrong
Do crazy boys turn into men when they hear the cannons roar
Or will they forever wonder who wins wars?
Standing by the dockside handkerchief at the wave
The same one that wiped the tears away at her father’s grave
The same eyes search the bright light that rained upon the shore and when…
And when the speck of the ship went through the hole in her heart she wondered who wins wars?
Rumblin’ monsoon thunder dark shadows bruised and lean
Do statues stand in Melbourne parks where the sacrificed have been
Have crazy boys turned into men when they stand in awe
Of pretty girls in battle dress thinkin’ who wins wars?
Do not accept me back I am the broken one
Splintered by a ray of light (and) exploded by the sun
Frozen fist about to grip the trigger for the cause
Cocked and ready with a belly full I’m thinkin’ who wins wars?
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11. |
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Bill Jackson Melbourne, Australia
'His songs are gritty and real and come at you like a hammer, ringin' in the mornin'. Take it or leave it, he's telling it
straight up' (Shane Howard)
' Take a chance and listen to some Roots Music that cuts across Borders...' (Keith Glass)
‘We heard Bill Jackson for the first time at the Unpaved Sessions earlier in the year and he’s up there with Paul Kelly’ (The Melbourne Folk Club)
... more
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