songs: ohia · unreleased

the amalgamated songs: ohia

& magnolia electric co. audio archive

unreleased songs

all of you in your darknesses alone

thankful for the blues

untitled (don't leave the job half done)

vision of death

vu anxiety

will there be something left to me

your eyes vs. the sun

trials & errors

don't this look like the dark

such pretty eyes for a snake

north star

the last 3 human words

the big beast

mi sei apparso come un fantasma

are we getting any closer

my blood

it won't be easy

she came to me as a ghost

rarities

black link to fire link the gray tower 7"

translation my morning jacket split

united or lost alone keep it steady 7"

whip-poor-will magnolia demos

covers

carmelita warren zevon

east st. louis blues blind willie mctell

funk #49 james gang

i saw the light hank williams

omie wise doc watson

runnin' with the devil van halen

solitude black sabbath

thirteen days jj cale

tower song townes van zandt

you win again hank williams

released songs on songsohia.com

homepage

patience

twilight may stand forever

here comes the night

destiny

is this how long

the years were meant to last

here come the hours again

before you would let them pass

it said why, destiny

have you been so patient with me

why, destiny

is this how long

sorrow was meant to last

here comes the owl again

and the only thing she ever asked

is why, punishment

have you been so good to me

why, punishment

give me no more

than my own shadow on the road

here comes the night

oh lord, here comes the night (x2)

will there be something left to me

besides the ashes of my heart

will i lay that anchor to my bone

will i float to the dark

will my blood stain the wind

will the hammer work hard enough

to get us back in

will i see the parade

of all the ghosts who stayed

singing softly beside me

hardly a breath between them

i will wait on the highway

and listen for them to call me

...

oh, grace

she said i'd been the stockyard's pony

she said i'd been the mountain engine's roar

from chicago to west virginia

i've been as lonesome as the world's first ghost

out here the prairie even doubts the horizon

all i have to do is prove that i'm not pure

all the right words come, and i ain't talking

this devil's mean but he's honest just as sure

oh, he's honest just as sure

oh grace, if you stop believing

it don't mean this just goes away

it's a long way between horizons

and it gets farther every day

oh grace, oh grace

(repeat chorus)

and i know a man whose heart is restless

he's never home and he's never gone

he had some good things but he lost them

like everything he ever set his heart upon

oh that he set his heart upon

oh boy, if you stop believing

it don't mean that i just walked away

it's a long way between horizons

and it gets farther every day

oh grace, oh grace

shiloh

two hundred miles from turnin' back

two hundred from never goin' home

a man could be so easy lost

when he's on the mountain road

oh shiloh

is it only the devil that falls? (2x)

it's pain and then it's pain that isn't pain

and then it's pain that never comes

the only bridge that i have to burn

is the one i'm standin' on

oh shiloh

do you hear the night bird call?

oh how that night bird calls

my ghost in flames on the desert road

arises to horizons

oh lord i wait for it all

and i wait for nothin' at all

oh shiloh

it's not only the temple that falls

not only the temple that falls

astrabel

when the corn last crossed the field

when the pumpkin nearly jumped the vine

when the shadow's steps come before the man's

it's time, oh lord, it's time

three and ten i dream

the night they come for us

and they hung us from the oak

on the high back road

time, oh lord, time

so, willow will you take my hand

my heart's all yours, lone pine

gypsy saddle up these rattling bones

and let's ride, oh mama, let's ride

fall brought the twilight bell

blackbird, she's not shy

scarecrow, she says

you got your papa's pretty eyes

and then she flies, oh lord, she flies

here come will o' the wisp

she says say your prayers twice

once for now and once for when

it's time, oh lord, it's time (x2)

marsh fire

what are you hunting here?

child, i hunt what will not stand

i bring home the northern lights

the ocean and the twistin' sand

i seen the arrow

climb, climb

i know it finds my heart

every time

you're taking it too hard

remember the night

when the fire didn't answer the flame

there's no miles in the city now

promises, no promises

just the gray and the emptiness

as it is, as it is

dawn, dawn come phantom-like

dawn come crashing

all who can will, will, will

see nothing, say nothing

you're taking it too hard

remember the night

when the fire didn't answer the flame

when the fire didn't answer to the flame

to the flame (x3)

rock'n'roll dress

a.k.a. freedom song

i have learned one thing

it's that we make our own freedom

it's that we learn how to say

what is that freedom

and how do you say it

how do you say it

say our love is a big white chevy

we are its two black racing stripes

we have not been outdone

by just the possible demands of love

we are still side by side by side

and i have learned that one thing

it's that i've made my own freedom

and i have learned how to say

what is my freedom

and how do you say it

how do you say it

(repeat)

i say it

put on your brightest pair of eyes

put on your rock'n'roll dress

put on your brightest pair of eyes

put on your rock'n'roll dress

that is freedom (x3)

that is our freedom

that is my freedom

that is your freedom

now, how do you say it

how do you say it

translation

a.k.a. be your own guide, constant change

the whole world rises up

the whole world but us

are we sturdy enough?

the same black river weaves its path

snakes its line between me and you

it makes its constant rule

constant change

it makes its constant rule

constant change

and i'll see two breaths at the boundary

one will be me and the other will see me and say:

there is nothing reliable like change (x2)

be your own guide (x4)

cause there's nothing reliable like change

there is nothing reliable like change (x2)

east st. louis blues

traditional, attributed to blind willie mctell

now i walked all the way from east st. louis

i never had but that one thin dime

and i laid my head in a new york woman's lap

and she laid her little cute head in mine

and she tried to make me believe

by the ramblings of her tongue

that the sun would never never shine

so i pawned my silver and i pawned my chain

and i pawned my silver and i felt ashamed

tried to see you in the fall

when you didn't have no man at all

fare thee honey, fare thee well

and i tried to see you in the spring

when the bluebird's always ready to sing

fare thee honey, fare thee well

and then i laid my head in a barroom door

and now i can't get drunk no more

if you can't shake like a cannonball

put yourself on out and do the georgia crawl

fare thee honey, fare thee well

and if you can't do the shivaree

get yourself on out of this house for me

fare thee honey, fare thee well

and i tried to see you in the spring

when the bluebird's always ready to sing

fare thee honey, fare thee well

and i walked all the way back to east st. louis

and i never had but that one thing done

i never had but that one thin dime

tower song

originally by townes van zandt

so close and yet so far away

and all the things i'd hoped to say

will have to go unsaid today

perhaps until tomorrow

your fears have built a wall between

our lives and all what loving means

will have to go unfelt it seems

and that leaves only sorrow

you built your tower strong and tall

can't you see, it's got to fall someday

you close your eyes and speak to me

of faith and love and destiny

as distant as eternity

from truth and understanding

the wind blows cold outside your door

it whispers words i've tried before

but you don't hear me anymore

your pride's just too demanding

you built your tower strong and tall

can't you see, it's got to fall someday

the end is coming soon it's plain

a warm bed just ain't worth the pain

and i will go and you'll remain

with the bitterness we've tasted

a mother's breast, a newborn child

a poet's tear and drunken smile

i can't help feelin' all the while

their meaning won't be wasted

you built your tower strong and tall

can't you see, it's got to fall someday

omie wise

traditional, attributed to doc watson

oh, listen to my story, i'll tell you no lies

how john lewis did murder poor little omie wise

he told her to meet him at adams's springs

he promised her money and other fine things

"go with me, little omie, and away we will go

we'll go and get married and no one will know"

she jumps up on his pony and away they did go

but off to the river where deep waters flow

"john lewis, john lewis, won't you tell me your mind?

do you intend to marry me or leave me behind?"

"little omie, little omie, i will tell you my mind.

my mind is to drown you and leave you behind"

"have mercy on my baby and have mercy on my life

i'll go home as a beggar and never be your wife"

he kissed her and hugged her and turned her around

then pushed her in deep waters where he knew that she would drown

he jumps up on his pony and away he did ride

as the screams of little omie went down by his side

'twas on a thursday morning, the rain was pouring down

when the people searched for omie but she could not be found

two boys went a-fishin' one fine summer day

and they saw little omie's body go floating away

they threw their nets around her and drew her to the bank

her clothes all wet and muddy, they laid her on a plank

and then sent for john lewis to come to that place

so that he might see her body and the look upon her face

and he made no confession and they took him to jail

no friends or relations would go on his bail

solitude

originally by black sabbath

my name it means nothing

my fortune is less

my future is shrouded in dark wilderness

sunshine is far away, clouds linger on

everything i posessed - now they are gone

oh where can i go to and what can i do?

nothing can please me only thoughts are of you

you just laughed when i begged you to stay

i’ve not stopped crying since you went away

the world is a lonely place - you’re on your own

guess i will go home - sit down and moan

crying and thinking is all that i do

memories i have remind me of you

funk #49

orignally by james gang

sleep all day, out all night

i know where you're going

i don't that's a-acting right

you don't think it's showing

a-jumpin' up, fallin' down

don't misunderstand me

you don't think that i know your plan

what you try'n to hand me?

out all night, sleep all day

i know what you're doing

if you're gonna a-act that way

think there's trouble brewing

vu anxiety

a.k.a. i am that man

at the end of the day

it's still the sun

with blood like fire

it's still the sun

still bright eyes

still tired against you

now you are silent (x3)

we are vaguely equal

sly and intense

now you are silent (x3)

i have never seen a man

in such bad shape as when

you are through with him

say it is to find who won't change you

say it is to find who will live for you

i am that man (x6)

your eyes vs. the sun

i never faked it

i'll never fake it

so i'll manage it again

manage it again

and i'll never forget

how them eyes could win a fight

with the sun

from the heart

it happens least among the losers

there'll be other kinds of need

they're finding things that they leave

and i find these things to leave

don't you wish you could lose nothing

what's gone from you

leaves destiny its room

what's gone from you

leaves destiny its room

will you remember this

to step away

is the instinct of some

from the heart

to the lover

from the lover

who ain't leaving

(repeat)

united or lost alone

one moment on its own

sentenced to the border

i will meet everyone (x3)

either united or we're lost alone

tear out the flame

from the heart of the sun

i will meet everyone

i will need everyone

the astronomers

tear out the flame

from the heart of the sun

we will need everyone

either united or we're lost alone (x3)

b-side of keep it steady

railroad song

a.k.a. it breaks the young men

burning off that stare from the water

she stands cobra black on the horizon

darkness thrown in her path

grey and true blue flash

from the motel sign

she ties up her hat on the platform

and she's crying

the archery of them eyes

it's like fire through my black night

it breaks the young men (x8)

vision of death

we get colder

at the margins

it's an odd sounding word

in the deep shade

in the deeper shade

the figure of my own death

with his cold red shard

of survival

with no hint

of explanation

he leans against

the stretching cypress

he leans against

the stretching cypress

the figure of my own death

it's calling, it's always calling (x4)

but it gets distracted

don't this look like the dark

a.k.a. the dark (that one look at the end)

six and a half hours into the west virginia night

half a mile from home and i was makin' pretty good time

thought that i'd gone far enough i couldn't lose the trail

and i stepped through the door i still found the way to fail

i can't start to count the things i said i'd never be

but i became them all the night you quit countin' on me

and all the harder things that you said to my heart

everyone of them things was true but

that one look at the end

was what ran it through

the big gray owl above me starts again to wail

says that moon has got so low tonight that it's polishin' the rail

now that mountain engine's runnin' about thirty years too late

once you hear it comin' boy it will not let you wait

i used to think that tomorrow was just out there waitin' for me

now i wonder where tomorrow

i wonder where tomorrow

i wonder where tomorrow's going to be

tonight when i am rolling over the earth's most lonesome ground

i will think of all the ways next time i will try not to let you down

i thought that i'd live long enough

that the light would come shining through

don't this look like the dark (x5)

the dark don't hide it

something held me down and made me make a promise

that i wouldn't tell when the truth forgets about us

but saying it now comes easily

after finding out how you've been using me

at least the dark don't hide it (x4)

you said you only wanted friends for long enough

to get rid of them

you found the kind you knew would only kill you

so you surrounded yourself with them

at least the dark don't hide it (x4)

the world was empty on the day when they made it

but heaven needed someplace to throw all the shit

human hearts and pain should never be separate

the wouldn't tear themselves apart both trying to fit

at least the dark don't hide it (x4)

now death is goning to hold us up in the mirror

and say we're so much alike we must be brothers

see i've had a job to do but people like you

have been doing it for me to one another

at least i don't hide it (x4)

north star

a.k.a. a lie

you used to say i had what it takes

i think i did if you meant too little too late

i can tell by the looks that i'm gettin'

i made some big mistakes

and i thought you said i was great

shoot straight and give it my best try

i made my heart as hard as nails

that may be the way you live your life

but it's almost got me killed

darling i'm not giving in

that happened miles ago

i heard the north star saying

kid you're so lost even i can't bring you home

did you think that we were going to last

honey you know you don't have to answer that

half of that was my kind of joke

i don't remember which half

i didn't know how blue i'd get

i didn't know how i'd get blamed for it

i didn't choose to go down this road

no one chooses to be sick

i'm saying everything is fine

by the look in my eye

but you know darling

half of what a man says is a lie

it's your last chance to forget me now

that it's done for good

you always said i'd make it out

somehow darling i knew i never would

such pretty eyes for a snake

a.k.a. meet me at the end of the line

i'm still looking for them eyes

to meet me at the end of the line

is it going to be the ones

the whole depth of the winter black

is it going to be the ones

the whole depth of the ocean blue

now if i came upstairs with you

i bet i'll be just in time

to be part of something

i'll regret my whole life

it wouldn't be the first time

that i made a mistake in my life

in fact i learned how

to make a living

out of making mistakes

besides you got such pretty eyes

for a snake

i'm still looking for them eyes

thankful for the blues

the signal's on the edge

it might already be over

so much ice on the wires

tangling the lines

you got the darkness for hours

you got the mojo hair

and i believe every word you said

i believe, but i don't understand

it will be sad, but will be a blessing on you

learn to say what you think is the truth

now tell our friends we've been trying

learn them, learn them, sing them

thankful for the blues

compare leave the city

leave the city

a.k.a. thankful for the blues

it broke my heart to leave the city

i mean it broke what wasn't

broken in there already

but all my great reasons

for leavin' now i can't think of any

it's true was a hard time

that i come through

and i'm still thankful for the blues

half my life spent on a highway

half my life i didn't choose

i have seen the north star

shining in the freightyard

and i knew it was a hard time

but it came through

it made him thankful for the blues

it broke my heart to know you waiting

i had so many things to do

it's true as far as a lot of stuff

you could have had a little better luck

but with you i'm not givin' up

tonight i'm not givin' up

compare thankful for the blues

the last three human words

a.k.a. you can never tell

i know how you feel

like your soul could use the rest

but you're not my girl anymore

you're a ghost in the west

and tonight you're gonna make it

down the black road alone

don't cry now

cause you're so much better off

you're none of what you were

but you're everything you lost

and whatever you got back after that

is worth whatever it cost

you can climb to the top of the wall

you can look down on it all

you can never tell what you saw

remember when you got here

how the bending willows hung

how your eyes stung from the mercury

and you found on your tongue

all the words to all the songs you were sure

only the night could have sung

and all the way down gospel street

a dead bird was hauling an ivory box

back from redemption

you just buried the last chance you got

and all the way down locust street

a black ox was hauling a white willow box

back from oblivion

he just dug up the last chance you got

he said the last three human words

were the same as the first three words

don't you ever wonder what they were?

the big beast

a.k.a. mess we're in

every single night i think it's almost over

almost over, almost over

every single night i think it's almost over

uhh, the mess we're in

every single night i hear the great beast howling

great beast howling, great beast howling

every single night i hear the great beast howling

uhh, the mess we're in

would you like to see the whole place in ruins

instead of all the things that they keep doing in our names

would you like to see the whole place a wreck

and built back as something we all might respect

uhh, the mess we're in

now every single night i think how we used to be decent

how it hasn't been recent

every single night i think how we used to be decent

uhh, the mess we're in

every single night i see the northern lights i think

they're just burning the dead in the streets of heaven

every single night i see the northern lights i think

uhh, the mess they must be in

would you like to see a start all over again

only we'd be dead the whole time

not just at the end

that's the only time we'd ever be equal

every single night i hear the great beast calling (call us)

great beast calling, great beast calling

every single night i hear the great beast calling

the beast says hurry up

whip-poor-will

got my window open in the southern cross hotel

it's been the longest night i can tell

by the way i'm not surprised

to see the desert cover over paradise

now count every rhododendron in this cool mountain light

i've made more mistakes than that just tonight

now all you folks in heaven not too busy ringing the bell

some of us down here ain't doing very well

some of us with the windows open in the southern cross hotel

still waiting (x4)

for you to sing that song again

the one you were singing at the very fall of man

it wasn't hallelujah but it might as well have been

sing it brother one more time (x2)

sing it sister one more time (x2)

once for everybody who got left behind

whip-poor-will, oh whip-poor-will (x4)

looks like i never made it back from the southern cross hotel

she came to me as a ghost

a.k.a. the light of the moon

you're still standing

in the light you left me in

you should've known it then

it'd be harder going home

harder going home

and she came to me as a ghost

came to me as a ghost

you said our password would have to be

light of the moon

the weight of the light of the moon

light of the moon

the weight of the light of the moon

my blood

a.k.a. nobody tries that hard anymore

on the road

we didn't see a soul for hours

and on the road

you didn't say a word for hours

to fit the mood

it sends a chill through me

when you look at the stars and say

you're not behaving like your blood

is the same as my blood

and you let the world stop trying

you let the world give up

and my blood runs against that kind of blood

the name of this place

you speak it like question

you speak it like a sentence all in itself

it tells us how the world has merged in places

with the dark

it sends a chill through me

when you look at the stars and say

you're not behaving like your blood

is the same as my blood

and you let the world stop trying

you let the world give up

and my blood runs against that kind of blood

nobody tries that hard anymore (x4)

hard to love a man

a.k.a. i sent my love

it was hard to love a man like you

goodbye was half the words you knew

while you was waiting for me not to call

i sent my love, i sent my love

in a life built out of only goodbyes

is there even room for you to try

while you was waiting for me not to call

i sent my love, i sent my love

it was hard to love a man like you

goodbye was just what you do

in a life built out of only goodbye

is there even room for you

while you was waiting for me not to call

i sent my love, i sent my love

all of you in your darknesses alone

a.k.a. hang on

for all of you sobering up

and all of you cleaning up

all of you in your darknesses alone

all of you getting it straight

and all of you getting it straight

for all of you who hear the keening howls

out of hell they're catching up

all of you working hard at what you know

and all of you who don't know how to do what you know

all of you ten thousand miles from home

and all of you who are too afraid to go

and all of you too afraid to come home

all of you who bleed the diesel blood

know when to stand up if it's got soul

knowing to get out when it's time to go

and all of you who will never know

all of you in your darknesses alone

hang on (x6)

black link to fire link

we get one look at the length

of death’s wings

in flames circling relics

chained eastward

chained westward

black link to fire link

north link to southern link

and a promise

clenching the arrow

in its iron beak

leans into the wind

division street wind

sweats like it’s swamp heat

pale glow looms

moons on all horizons

ancestors all

labored between these

rising suns

that torch their own galaxies

black wings feathers

falling around me

skeletal beast

starting to breathe

he’s breathing

black link to fire link

north link to southern link

b-side to the gray tower

are we getting any closer

all those days

we don't have days like that left to us

grey flames

a circle around the blue sky

there were so many things

we couldn't manage

there are some many things

we still can't manage

i remember us, uncertain

staring straight across the silence

of the deserted world

to see if we were getting any closer

are we getting any closer?

anchor & liberty

a city map

is neatly marked

the tribune obit

of a navy vet

folded inside it

a couple of aspirins

that's about it

if he had any money

the kids already got it

left forearm

anchor & liberty

right forearm

north south and east

done like a compass

out on the sea

red white and blue heart

where the west ought to be

u.s.s. something

too faded to read

most lines are repeated

it won't be easy

you stood tall

eyes in the clearing

you stared down the moon

fat in the vault of the sky

you said like all men

it's undependable

it's unfixed grace

you don't respect

because it's everything

you'd expect

mama told me

when i was younger

sit beside me, my only son

and listen closely

to what i say

and if you do this

it will help you some day

take your time

don't live too fast

troubles will come (x3)

and they will pass

find a woman and you find love

don't forget, son

someone up above

it's no different to me

the grave in my bed

where the long arguments

of my body will end

and it won't be easy (x3)

be a simple kind of man (x3)

somewhere else must we

be alone in the struggle in need

i see in your face

a certain likeness

to someone yesterday

who told me about us

that it won't be easy (x4)

nashville moon

how many ghosts will i

meet on the road

that depends

how hard you're running

that depends

which ones you know

and which ones know

that you'll be coming

how far away

is that nashville moon

that depends

where did she leave you

how far away

is that nashville moon

baby that depends

how many miles

till my mistakes catch up

that depends

which ones you're counting

that depends

what you're forgetting again

(chorus)

does it matter whose

side i'm on

or does that depend

on the fight

does it matter that

every star fell from the sky

or does that depend

baby, on the night

(chorus)

trouble in mind

traditional, attributed to leroy carr

trouble in mind, i'm blue

but i won't be blue always

cos the sun is gonna shine

on my back door someday

i'm gonna lay my head

on some lonesome railroad line

gonna let the two nineteen train

satisfy my troubled mind

trouble in mind, i'm blue

but i won't be blue always

you know the sun is gonna shine

on my back door someday

trouble in mind, it's true

i have almost lost my mind

you know i ain't had so much trouble

in my life before

trouble in mind, i'm blue

but i won't be blue always

on my way home

look our nights in the face

meet up in the same place

admit when it's been defeat

admit when it's defeat

i meet you where we survive

on my way home

leave the lights on tonight

on my way home

meet you where we survive

untitled

a.k.a. don't leave the job half done

i'm gonna ask the first sister i see

i'm gonna ask the first mister i see

if it's so much a mystery

anymore

i'm gonna ask for nothing more

than to leave nothing undone

i'm gonna ask for nothing more

than to just get the job done

you don't have to leave (x3)

just don't leave the job half done

don't leave the job half done

it's all i'm asking for

from everyone

just get the job done

you win again

originally by hank williams, sr.

the news is out all over town

that you been seen a'runnin' 'round

i know that i should leave but no

i just can't go

you win again

this heart of mine could never see

what everybody knew but me

just trusting you was my grave sin

what can i do

you win again

i'm sorry for your victim now

for soon his head like mine will bow

he'll give his heart but all in vain

and someday say

you win again

you have no heart you have no shame

you take true love and give true blame

i guess that i should not complain

i love you still

you win again

seasons of my heart

originally by george jones

the news is out all over town

seasons come and seasons go

we get a little sunshine, rain and snow

just the way that it was planned to be

but there's no season in my heart

while you play the leading part

there the flowers will bloom eternally

your leaving, it will bring autumn sorrow

and my tears like weathered leaves will fall

but spring it may bring us glad tomorrow

and darling, we could be happy after all

as it is in nature's plan

no season gets the upper hand

how i tried to bear this fact in mind

the trees are bare, the cold winds blow

but by experience we should know

winter comes but the spring is close behind

i saw the light

originally by hank williams sr.

i wandered so aimless life filled with sin

i wouldn't let my dear savior in

then jesus came like a stranger in the night