1. |
Black Penny
04:09
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Black Penny - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
A dirty old band in a half-asleep van
We may be coming to your town
Three chords away from the devil’s hand
Dig that desperate sound
A network of well-worn welcomes
And local indelicacies
Waking up sore on a living room floor
There ain’t nothing like a friend in need
Pursued by the blues and skeleton crews
Through the lowlands of my soul
Stems and seeds of the ‘70s
Through the static on the radio
Continuous soft rock favorites
In busted industrial towns
The smell of pot in the parking lot
Somehow it only brings me down
Living fast in Dallas, Texas
Dying slow in Chicago
I get my hopes up high, then out go the lights
And where I lost my way, I’ll never know
Blue eyes crying in the liquor light glow
Down where the spirits dwell
Deep in the ground you can hear the sound
Of every amateur musician in....
Well, a glue factory
Full of thoroughbred dreams
That missed the starting gun
You wanted to believe it wasn’t over, baby
So you got another pony to run
I lay down in Louisiana, I wake up in misery
My self-control is at an all-time low
Black Penny just keeps rolling home to me
I’ve been down a blind alley
I’ve been down that rabbit hole
Through the briars and the brambles
I’ve rambled
Where a drunkard wouldn’t go
And where I lost my way, I’ll never know
Where I lost my way, I'll never know
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2. |
Blue, Period.
04:03
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Blue, Period. - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
When you talk in your sleep
And keep me awake
The least you can do is enunciate
Your train of thought just passed my stop
Somewhere down the line,
Honey, you must get off
Did you call my name, my mystery train?
When inspiration comes,
Leave a trail of crumbs
So I can find my way through your
Blue period, your blue period
Time and tide, let me off the ride
Way over my head I see a bad mood rise
Lost at sea, a threatening sky
Just tie me to the mast
Until the storm subsides
The way you wax and wane,
I swear I’ll go insane
I’m just a simple man, I’ll never understand
Some other nature’s refrain
Like your blue period
Your blue period
In a deep, blue dream, by my side you lay
About a hundred thousand miles away
I want to love you, darlin’
But I’m only getting in the way
I don’t want complacency
To take the place of me
Our fates are intertwined,
Don’t let it undermine
The ground beneath our feet
It’s just your blue period
You’re blue ...
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3. |
Baby, You Know Me
03:36
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Baby, You Know Me - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Just a rolling stone, stealing home
When the big, bad shadows fall
Hearing my head, I stumble to bed
Between my wife and the wall
Hush now, darlin’, it’s only me
I’ve been out on the town,
‘Round and around
All the places I used to go
Lost in the ruins of my own doing
Down where the old flames glow
But ooh wee, baby, you know me
I used to be the king bee
Of many a honey comb
A collector of nectar
Everywhere I roamed
But, Lord, those days are over,
And now I’m just a working drone
But somebody’s wife
Is lonesome tonight
I’ll make a beeline home
I’ll wave goodbye to every vice
My whole world cut down to size
And I’ll be good
Honey I’ll be so good
You won’t believe your eyes
But ooh wee,
Just say you’ll never leave me
Ooh wee, baby, you know me
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4. |
How's Your Toe?
01:46
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(Instrumental)
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5. |
Lost As You
04:06
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Lost As You - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
This highway don’t lie,
She’s all mine tonight
We’ve got trouble on the run
She takes me back
With arms open wide
No matter what I’ve done
She draws a sigh
The size of the sky
She don’t mess me up
With long goodbyes
She makes me feel
Like the last man alive
I’m scrapping for a dollar and a quarter
Out on Dead Dog Boulevard
Two left shoes and eleven bar blues
On that old gold tooth guitar
It’s old man sweat and cigarette
In tears in Tennessee
Singing, ‘goddamn, I love women
Especially when they don’t love me.’
Lord, I’m leaving in the morning
If I can only find my shoes
Please, don’t follow me, baby
‘Cause I’m just as lost as you
It’s black ass coffee at the crack of dawn
My mind is down to one lane
The waitress has forsaken me
Playing her half-ass games
Satanic mills in the sugar that spilled
The busboy wiped away
The spirit is gone, but the body lives on
And honey, you can keep the change
Lord, I’m leaving in the morning
Seems like that’s all I ever do
Please, don’t follow me, baby
‘Cause I’m just as lost as you
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6. |
The Ugly Ever After
03:00
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The Ugly Ever After - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Over the hills, where the hotheads prevail
That ain’t no place to be
She’s stepping out in a long, black veil
Singing songs of the free
X marks the sky where two gods collide
How ‘bout none of the above?
Tell me why do fools fall in line
All in the name of love?
They’ve been talkin’
‘Bout the end of the world
Since the beginning of time
But it’s only real in the ugly ever after
In your mind
We’ve been bulldozed and back-hoed
And dug up the dead
In the land of ‘I’ve got mine’
Memories fall to the reckless ball
So hard, the church bells chime
Nobody knows the trouble we’re in
Wise men say look away
An endless trail of things for sale
That once stood in the way
They’ve been talkin’
‘Bout the end of the world
Since the beginning of time
But it’s only real in the ugly ever after
In your mind
Get down, now.
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7. |
Valley of the Blues
04:55
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Valley Of The Blues - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Johnny IOU and the Terrible Two
Picking on a helpless guitar
Fallen leaves and antifreeze
As close as we got to the stars
Stay out all night, running red lights
In a fever of failure of nerve
The moon turned blue as an amplifier tube
And the wind kicks up the dirge
Electrical fences from Wentzville to Memphis
Arkansas, I hear you moan
The hellhounds of paranoia --
Throw ‘em a bone
It’s you again, in the yellow mirror
Of a burned out, breathless john
A miserable mop head slops away
To that old plantation song
Oh darlin’
Try not to come unglued
Walking through
The bottomless shadows
In the valley of the blues
Deep in the black heart of Texas
Where nobody knows my name
But the ghosts of oil well wishers
On that long gone glory train
We follow the lonesome taillights
Into the mystery
Oh, my lucky star
Seems like you’re avoiding me
Trying to get out of nowhere
A stranger, just like you
Walking through
The bottomless shadows
In the valley of the blues
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8. |
Blurry Marie
03:58
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Blurry Marie - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
I sing the blues for the single shoe
Down by the side of the road
Three thousand miles of darkness
From here to Saint So ‘n’ So
Missed exits, Miss Texas
Where in the world can you be?
I’ve outrun the crows and hexes
But I never got away from me
Blurry Marie, Blurry Marie
Oh, darlin’, you got a spell on me
Look me in the eye
And tell me it was only a dream
Lord, I could be just fool enough to believe
Flat broke in Hoboken
Standing around in the rain
An old, black penny and a subway token
And mud is my name
It was tougher than jerky
Down in Albuquerque
A bit more than I could chew
But I didn’t mind, as long as I could find
My way back home to you
Blurry Marie, Blurry Marie
Oh, darlin’, you got a spell on me
Look me in the eye
And tell me it was only a dream
Lord, I could be just fool enough to believe
Everybody’s got a life to lead
Down that dotted line
Or drag along reluctantly, behind
Tried to make the laughs last
God only knows how long
You could say I’m having trouble moving on
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9. |
Lonely Satellite
04:05
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Lonely Satellite - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Oh, Darkness Falls, North Dakota
In this steel driving rain
Was it my imagination
Or did I hear you call my name?
While the restless cities roll and tumble
From the factory to the field
Another day just slips away
Beneath my wheels
And I don’t have to tell you, darlin’
How that feels
‘Cause I’m a lonely satellite
Out on this highway
A traveling light ‘til the break of day
A lonely satellite, the only soul in sight
I hope my world don’t turn away
From a frozen phone booth in Nevada
I can hardly hold the dimes
I dial your number, honey
A little humbler every time
But I get that lonesome busy signal,
A blank expression in the sky
Heaven knows just where you go
When you get on with your life
On that electric blue horizon
Where the white line goes to die
‘Cause I’m a lonely satellite
Out on this highway
A traveling light ‘til the break of day
A lonely satellite, the only soul in sight
I hope my world don’t turn away
Don’t turn away
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10. |
The Fool In The Song
04:31
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The Fool In The Song - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Singing to the darkness
Trying to get through
In this fallen apartment
The home of the blues
My friends are gonna tell me
You ought to find something new
But I’m in love with you, baby
And nobody else will do
Raindrops on my window
Never linger for long
Then they roll down together
When there’s no holding on
My friends are gonna tell me
You’ve been leading me on
Out on the town, now
Living it down, now
And I’m just the fool in the song
The fool in the song
So, put me on, baby
And spin me around
Let the diamond ride the vinyl
All the way down
I’ll be faithful to your shadow
Till the real thing comes along
So, put me on, baby
I’ll be the fool in the song
I’ll be the fool in the song
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11. |
Here Come The Blues
03:38
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Here Come The Blues - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
Oil and water had a little daughter
Lord, they taught her
Everything they knew
Trouble child, may God be with you
Oh, look out, world
Here come the blues
Fast rides to nowhere
Every Saturday night
In that crumbling cracker town
Pearls for swine, a bottle of wine
She’d let her long hair down
Nickel and dime-ing
Damn near dying
Any kind of ride will do
Through the flames, that city called her name
Look out world
Here come the blues
Somebody’s daughter is up on the stage
Shaking it down
God knows I’m getting old
When I see it that way
But I’m still around
Somebody’s daughter,
Young enough to be mine
But that don’t stop the chills
From running up and down my spine
By the ice machine at the Elms Motel
Trying to straighten up her hair
Sad, blue eyes on my demise
In the ragged neon glare
Well, I turned around
And I walked away
Because she asked me to
By the dying light I’ll pray for her tonight
Look out world, here come the blues
Here come the blues
Here come the blues
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12. |
The Problem
04:14
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The Problem - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
They tell me
That your number’s disconnected
Those sweet, recorded
Voices on the phone
Calling from approximately nowhere
I hate to think you’re sitting there, alone
But if you get bored, well,
You know where to find me
When the walls are closing in
At closing time
It’s such a shame
To come up empty-handed
Sweet dreams going down
In the bubbling brine
Some days are roses,
Some days are fertilizer
You spin and toil and pray for rain
Wallflower, take my hand now,
Let’s get loaded
I’ve got no expectations
To stand in the way
From the warm embrace
Of alcohol amnesia
To the tables where you
Take your crooked cue
The ashtray full of friends
That never leave you
They’re looking for the real thing,
Once removed
Another revolution -- of the ceiling
Stains and angels circling the bed
Sugar plums and broken capillaries
Eleven drunken drummers in my head
Oh, Lord, deliver me
From wishful thinking
And other cheap commodities
If I fall into the cup
That I’ve been drinking
Well, I’ll know the problem
Is probably me.
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13. |
The Woman Upstairs
03:34
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The Woman Upstairs - © 2013, Scott Hrabko
The sun was ablaze in a dog day haze
It was daylight wasting time
I said hail, hail, the landlord in jail
I never got to say goodbye
Down by the tracks
With the barking out back
Three hard luck stories high
The woman upstairs
Would let down her hair
And you knew it was Saturday night
She was chaste as a racetrack rabbit
I was holy as a hobo’s shoe
We were broke as the Ten Commandments
There was nothing much else to do
But cash in the bottles
And get another bottle
And drink till the well run dry
The woman upstairs
Would let down her hair
And the stars would fall from the sky
When the lights go down
And the lost are found
Somebody’s bound to lose
She’s yours for a song,
But never for long
Pretty soon you’ll be singing the blues
They tore down the house
I was telling you about
And put up a vacant lot
But I still dream
Of the same old street
The reckoning ball forgot
Dead dandelions
Blowing backwards in time
When time was on my side
A little love affair
With the woman upstairs
Oh, darlin’, just leave on the light
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Scott Hrabko Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City's Scott Hrabko is an independent singer/songwriter who has followed his own mercurial muse since the town's late-
80s indie rock scene.
“Hrabko’s rootsy songs are filled with trap doors, hidden nooks, and secret passageways. They’re like those dreams within comfortably familiar houses that suddenly have brand new rooms.”
Mike Warren - No Depression
... more
Scott Hrabko recommends:
Welcome Aboard! Vol. 1
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KC Songwriting legend
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His music spans the world from wild, experimental pieces to oddball Americana. I am glad I know him.
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East Virginia Banjo Tunes
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Funny, multi-talented, true individual.
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