Get all 9 W.C. Beck releases available on Bandcamp and save 35%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of First Flight, Waiting for the Dawn, Wandering Into The Open, This Year, Quivira, Sapling, Kansawyer, high hopes and sweet dreams, and 1 more.
1. |
Northern Lakes Girl
03:25
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Well, she walked into the room
Just like a queen without a crown
So easily and gracefully she lay her worries down
Eyes deeper than the Great Northern Lakes that she’s from
A smile made of pure golden setting summer suns
So I looked around in bottles
To try to get the nerve
To quit my thinking and just go talk to her
And when I did, well much to my surprise
I saw my whole world in those sweet eyes
Chorus:
Baby, just to know that you’re here
There ain’t a thing in the world to fear
So won’t you come close
And let me whisper in your ear
And I’ll tell you just how I love you dear
Well, you’re long but you’re grounded
You’re strong but sweet
You wrap around me like a weeping willow tree
I’ve spent many years crossing hill and glade
But I could spend my whole life in your sweet shade
Chorus
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2. |
Poor Man
03:34
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Great granddad broke up rocks in the light of day
He wore out shovels for the W.P.A.
And waited all night in a long soup line to eat
He said it weren’t no way to live
When the only thing you earn is in defeat
Chorus:
Poor man, poor man
What can you do?
Except work all your life
And hope someday the Lord saves you
Now granddad worked the steel mills from the age of fourteen
Turning coal and iron into towers that gleam
But he never slowed down ‘til his ticker gave out on him
And I know we built this land
On the backs of 10 million others just like him
Chorus
Now daddy worked these hills a quarter century
Raising pigs and cattle and corn and beans
‘til a man in a suit came and took it away
he said “son, find something you love
and don’t you ever let anything get in the way”
Chorus
Now, I’ve worked all my life just to make my keep
I picked up shifts when a man’s supposed to sleep
But I heard every last word my papa spoke
So I sing all across this land
And I’m happy as a clam even though I’m broke
Chorus
Chorus
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3. |
Halfway
03:35
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I heard from a friend that you are leaving
Going where the Green Mountains touch the sky
I hear you tell that all your love was wasted
Well then, darling, who the hell was I?
You told me in early September
And you left with a golden tear in your eye
Yours is the face that I’ll always remember
The morning star in my southern sky
Chorus:
And oh, darling, please
Come back to me
Help me forget these lonesome songs
‘cause I loved you
but I could only take you
halfway to where you do belong
I think of you with each slow sunrise
And every night as stars scatter across the sky
I hope that loving arms hold you tight dear
I pray that you’re doing all right
Chorus
So fare thee well, my darling wildflower
Go to where the sun shines on your face
I hope you find the horizons you’ve been seeking
I hope you know I love you ‘til my dying day
Chorus
Chorus
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4. |
Bye and Bye
03:58
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I hear the keys a-jinglin’ in the door
You’re coming home at a quarter to four
You looked so young and cruel
When you said it was just a friend and you
Darling, do I look like a fool?
Chorus:
Oh, but I won’t cry
‘cause my heart’s gonna learn this time
I’ll just say fare thee well and I’ll see you
In the bye and bye
In the bye and bye
I’ve heard all your excuses before
But this time I’m gonna walk right out the door
You can take your cheatin’ heart
And sell it off for parts
I ain’t going back to that old start
Chorus
Chorus
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5. |
Lullabies
03:51
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He went off with a beat up truck
A hundred dollars and his daddy’s luck
He met a girl with eyes of blue
That night she showed him her tattoo but
She said “I can’t sit here waiting for the sun to shine
Say you love me, or say goodbye”
So he took her hand in the pale moonlight
Chorus:
And he was singing lullabies
Gazing into new eyes
He went off a world war to fight
He came home a stranger to his wife
A missing leg and a weary soul
He thought a little touch would make him whole but
He lost his job just about the time her water broke but
Ten toes and a tiny smile
Somehow helped them both start over
Chorus:
‘cause they were singing lullabies
gazing into new eyes
Granddad lived to see ninety-three
He got there by never taking nothing for free
Always had more bad luck than good
But he never said an angry word
And when the doctor gave him
Three months, said it was cancer of the bone
He died with a smile on his face
The day his tenth grandchild was born
Chorus:
And we were singing lullabies
Gazing into new eyes
We’ll keep singing lullabies
Gazing into new eyes
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6. |
Turkey Red
02:27
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7. |
Wal-Mart Blues
03:28
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I wake up in the morning
Looking for my shoes
Turn on the radio and it always plays the blues
I got no hope and no pride
I drive a Geo Metro, my clothes on layaway
Giving my max for a minimum wage
You ain’t got to look far
To see they’re taking me for a ride
Chorus:
I’ve got those Wal-Mart Blues
I ain’t got no money to buy Wal-Mart shoes
No 401 (k), I got no health benefits pay
Babe, I’m working two jobs with no overtime
Lord, I’m getting nickled and I’m getting dimed
To death, I can’t catch my breath
With these Wal-Mart Blues
Well, always is our motto, lower prices every day
Gives you more shit, gives me way less pay
Brother, I’m telling you
‘cause I’m always working
and my back is always hurting
and I can tell you son
that the only thing for certain
is that I’m always getting screwed
Chorus
Yeah, I’m working two jobs with no overtime
Lord, I’m getting nickled and I’m getting dimed
To death, I can’t catch my breath
With these Wal-Mart Blues
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8. |
Atchison Train
04:45
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When I was young
Less than five
I had the same dream
Each and every night
A shadowed face
Lay my world to waste
When I was young
Less than five
A man in black
Changed my life
A silver six gun
He rode at night
He killed my kin
And made me watch ‘em die
A man in black
Changed my life
I grew up quick
Against my will
All the world’s charms
Could not fill
That aching hole
Deep in my heart
I grew up quick
Against my will
My heart was fire
And my nerve was ice
The money was good
And the women were nice
I killed any man
Who made me tell him twice
My heart was fire
and my nerve was ice
Then on an Atchison Train
I spied that gun
I put three holes in him
before the coward could run
I shot him three more times in the Kansas sun
on an Atchison Train
I spied that gun
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9. |
Hungover
03:32
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Every night all my friends
call me out to the barroom
And I can never seem to say no
They say I’m the life
of the party each night
But I feel like death in the morn
Chorus:
Hungover, hungover I can’t seem to stay sober
Lord, I’ve been like this before
Hungover, hungover that last shot put me over
The top and now I’m on the floor
Now I’m leading two lives
by day and by night
I try to be good while the sun still shines
But the sun goes down
and the whiskey’s passed ‘round
and pretty soon my goody two-shoes
don’t fit right
Chorus
Now I’m feeling so bad
like my head’s in a vice
I’m feeling like I could die
And it’s got me a-thinkin’
how a whole night of drinkin’
in the morning could leave you so dry
Chorus
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10. |
Gospel
03:11
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The sun has gone behind the hill
the valley fills with black
black and cold my heart has been
it’s carried me far away
far away a light that’s warm and safe
is guiding me back home
Thousands of years we’ve walked this earth
searching for to find
finding deep within ourselves
a love that’s pure and true
pure and true I pray my heart will be
upon that final day
The sun has gone behind the hill
the valley fills with black
black and cold my heart has been
it’s carried me far away
far away a light that’s warm and safe
is guiding me back home
pure and true I pray my heart will be
upon that final day
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W.C. Beck New York
W.C. Beck is an itinerant singer/songwriter from KS who now calls New York home after long stints in Portland, OR and Paris, France. Beck’s songs span from indie folk to classic country and tell of the American heartland and a forgotten epoch. With catchy melodies and sophisticated compositions, most songs find their depth in the personal, moving narrative. ... more
W.C. Beck recommends:
This Town Is Only Going To Break Your Heart
by Jason Myles Goss
Jason is a great songwriter who writes story songs that stop you in your tracks. I've had this album in heavy rotation since its release. Give his tunes a listen and catch him live when you can!
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