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Lonesome Highway

by Rance Garrison

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1.
Saint Charles 02:21
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Instrumental.
2.
County Line 03:10
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I'm going down to the county line Going down to the county line Going down to the county line Stop right here, baby, give me a ride Do you hear that train sizzlin', blowin' steam? Do you see Paul Perry out there drinking Jim Beam? Them boys shoveling coal will say the same thing Gotta get out of here if you wanna be anything. I'm going down to the county line Going down to the county line Going down to the county line Stop right here, baby, give me a ride It's starting to get colder night by night I'm standing in the yellow glare of the street light I'll miss it like hell here when I'm gone Hope when I come back they say, "Why you'd stay away so long?" I'm going down to the county line Going down to the county line Going down to the county line Stop right here, baby, give me a ride
3.
To Find Love 07:02
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4.
Oh Honey 03:52
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5.
Light Up Ahead 04:23
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I saw you standing on the side of the road With your hung up eyelids and your heavy load You were saying, "I'm leaving this world" I was thinking that life's too unkind to little girls But the sky is a sea and the moon is a boat And we ain't sailing, baby, we're merely afloat You are just too young to understand So come here, darlin', and take my hand There's a light up ahead and I'm reaching for it In the end we all end up dead It's what you do between to make it feel like it was worth it Are you still laughing? Do you ever smile? I haven't seen you in quite awhile Are you still driving your ferry boat to hell Or were the fires put out? Is it it just as well To go on living like nothing's wrong To go on smiling all the day long? Sometimes there ain't no joy left at all But you won't ever believe what I just saw There's a light up ahead and I'm basking in it Won't you follow me to bed? This exhaustion's cutting deep, and I just can't ignore it.
6.
Lonesome Highway 05:40
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I'm driving down that lonesome highway Been driving most the night I'm driving down that lonesome highway Big wheels and bright headlights I got Bob Dylan on my radio I'm feelin' Quite all right I never been to California I drank the Texas Tea Well, I never been to California But, you know, I've slept in Tennessee Right now I'm in Dryden town Feelin' about as free as I can be My baby is a sweet thing She got the moves that make me cry My baby is a sweet thing She got this glimmer in her eye And you know she's quite the woman, though She won't be denied. I got the devil at my heels, got God steerin' my wheel Got angels in the backseat saying "How does it feel To be free of the chains that hold most people down?" I said, "I'll tell you when the Good Lord Drives this car right out of town." I see a dead man walkin' He's hitch hiking straight to hell I see a dead man walkin' He's hitch hiking straight to hell And I think I might just join him I been planning a little trip that way myself I'm moving like a hobo I'm just trying to have some fun I'm moving like a hobo Trying to reach the setting sun I'm selling Bibles out of my trunk, ask me later 'Cause I might have some guns My good friend Josh Woodard He got a noble way of walk But oh, Josh Woodard, He got a dirty mouth when he talk And he got two last names use either one 'Cause he ain't picky at all. I got the devil at my heels, got God steerin' my wheel Got angels in the backseat saying "How does it feel To be free of the chains that hold most people down?" I said, "I'll tell you when the Good Lord Drives this car right out of town."
7.
Transmissions 04:26
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Instrumental.
8.
Everything is Political 03:01
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9.
These Old Days 06:06
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10.
The Hitch Hiker 07:44
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11.
Heaterswitch Sunrise Blues 04:25
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Well, it's so late the sun is rising and the night is dying And the street lights are fading as yesterday's credits roll And I'm thinking about the old days About old friends gone their own ways I know that time flies, baby, but it feels just like a stroll And it seems like everybody's leaving this place But I'm still standing here with a dumb struck look upon my face Fond farewell to all old times, put them in a box lay it on the line I'm gonna hang around and watch the sunrise. There's no windows in my home I just hang out here all alone Sometimes my girl drops by or a friend comes to call And my truck's heaterswitch is broken, there's so much that goes unspoken There are things I'd love to tell you that I don't ever say at all And it seems like everybody's leaving this place But I'm still standing here with a dumb struck look upon my face Fond farewell to all old times, put them in a box lay it on the line I'm gonna hang around and watch the sunrise.
12.
Choking on the Ladder 03:31
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When I die, I hope I get wings of gold But when I die, I know I'll get wings of coal Don't even ask, we're not taking applications now That's all right, my resume's in the box Choking on the ladder Choking on the ladder Choking on the ladder And I'm all by myself.
13.
In the Rain 03:46
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14.
Domestic Trouble 00:53
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Well, my baby called the cops on me My baby called the cops on me I'm a real bad man, can't you see? Can't you see Why my baby called the cops on me?
15.
Hard Times 05:50
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16.
Interstate 81 09:24
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Instrumental.

about

These songs were written and recorded between mid-2003 and late 2004. Looking back now, ten years later, I realize what an innocent time it was. I was only a teenager!

I wanted very badly to record a full length album. Unfortunately, being a bit of a poor kid, all I had to work with was a PC that was still running Windows '98, a computer microphone, and a copy of Sony Soundforge, I had managed to get a hold of from my high school's AV department. Production wise, you could say that these songs are lacking. As the recording process went on, I did manage to get better, and get some slightly better equipment. (Including a used electric guitar amp and a real condenser microphone, which is proudly used on "The Hitch Hiker" and "Choking on the Ladder.")

As for songwriting quality I still feel that some of these songs are, well, pretty damn good. When I play a live acoustic set to this day, it still doesn't feel right without the title track of this album, and "Light Up Ahead" and "Heaterswitch Sunrise Blues" are still songs that I'm pretty fond of. Another track on this album I still enjoy is "Choking on the Ladder." My good friend Keaton had written and recorded this song a few weeks earlier as a simple acoustic piece. Something about it really struck me, and the two of us ended up recording a version together in which I ended up singing his lyrics to a reworked chord progression and a heavier arrangement. I played the guitars and harmonica and did all the vocal parts. He played the set of pots and pans we used a drum set, played the bass, and supplied the lyrics. It was a fun night, though no doubt we kept up a few neighbors in the apartment building.

Speaking of that apartment building. About half of these songs were recorded in my bedroom at my mom's old trailer. When I graduated, my great Aunt Sue offered to let me live in an apartment that was in a building that she owned. That little apartment was in the basement, smelled faintly of mildew, had no air conditioning, and not a single window. If you didn't have a clock, you wouldn't a known what time it was. But to Aunt Sue's credit, she never kicked me outta there even when she probably should have looking back on it ten years later.

This was a great time in my life. My first taste of adulthood and the beginning of the end of my childhood. Good times, with my good friends and my girlfriend at the time always dropping by for reasons musical and otherwise. Joe Fultz used to break in at 3 AM even though my job as an "assistant" in the butcher's department at Food City required me to up by 5 AM to get to work by 6 every morning. Stole all my toothpaste and soap one night. I had to go to work stinkin'.

I know this is the section where I'm supposed to talk about my music and all. But I can't really tell you about that without telling you about the time that it came from. Think on those things, and let the music do its own damn talkin'.

credits

released October 1, 2004

Produced by Rance Garrison.

All songs written by Rance Garrison except "Choking on the Ladder," lyrics by Keaton Lawson, music by Rance Garrison and Keaton Lawson.

Cover photo by Gretchen Cope

Recorded in Apartment 10 of the Cedar Towers Villa in Pennington Gap, Virginia, and in the back bedroom of my mom's old trailer in Jonesville, Virginia.

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Rance Garrison Norton, Virginia

Rance Garrison is a singer-songwriter and music producer from the Appalachian region of Virginia. He has released several albums of original music including 2017’s Deplorables and 2015’s The Fireside Season which Whurk! Magazine called, “Virginia’s most secret weapon: a moonshine-swilling, snake-handling, junk-shooting, redemption-seeking opus.” ... more

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