We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

The Second Best Thing In Your Runner Up Year

by Ray Woodruff

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $4 USD  or more

     

1.
Wise Man For A Day 04:25
lyrics
buy track
Just a flaxen headed bride Silk rustled fields to a car on the roadside Dust swirled around the rear. And I figured it was time to get a beer So if I walked on down the road Can't say I noticed, can't say I felt alone Can't say I felt too much At a late night diner I got quite outta touch Knew you'd come back when you moved on Where Jesus and Anias taught you their songs Where Henry Miller bought you a cheap beret So thanks for comin' home to let me be the wise man for a day You flew to the Left Bank with a friend High on airmail, fold all my love to send I really didn't have that much to do Just washin pots here in a kitchen missing you So at least I guess I finally know How many miles a love can fly before it goes But I really want to count them all Before I take that god damn map off the wall Knew you'd come back here when you moved on Where Jesus and Anias taught you all their favorite songs Where Henry Miller bought you a cheap beret So thanks for comin' home to let me be a wise man for a day So the groom was dressed in black Square dark rim glasses and hair tied in the back And the preacher said his thing But from the tall grass I couldn't see the ring.
2.
Swung High 04:30
lyrics
buy track
If I walk from that silent mine Just a old fraud from the Mudville Nine Well the road is wide Black of lung and light of grace I really don't remember now how I found this place Well, the road is wide Found a dime and I stole a buck Till I staggered out of Mudville in a warn out truck That town is long behind Where I glanced at the mound till I caught his eye I swung for the moon and I swung high Hit the road plaid Roebuck The berries all bloomed like a white teacup And the road was wide I picked em all at a quarter a day For every bag I filled there's a bag I ate And the road was wide Summer come with a retching heat My old ball cap and some beans to eat With some time to bide Steam blew and an axle bent Radiator sings curbside laments With some time to bide The cold came and the leaves were brown Stuck in West Virginia in a mining town Put the road aside One room and an iron stove After twelve long hours in a darkened hole Put the road aside If I walk from that silent mine Just a old fraud from the Mudville Nine Well the road is wide
3.
Sigh 04:02
lyrics
buy track
If you speak true Washed down the burn of youth Rock, pool and rapids to the sea Brown wind unpinned wreathed on green banks in sin I'll sing your name and let you sigh to me She cries, you sigh To your own bonny eyes Red, Brown and yellow draw from green Patch shoes, mend roofs Gold hair like grain will move She's growing up too fast you sigh to me. Green grass fades fast Not even golden lasts Thresh, bind and burn the tired reeds Bring snow and wood bowls Soup steams and cedar coals Night wind moans and you can sigh to me Like you they speak true Wash down the burn of youth Rock pool and rapids to the sea Her blond wind, unpinned Wreathed on green banks in sin He'll sing her name and whisper sigh to me.
4.
Overcompensating Blues 03:09
lyrics
buy track
You got a big old gun strapped up to your hip while you're sitting at the coffee shop You keep standing up, walking in circles make plain that you're not a cop You got a big wood box with cute little tools you use on your big cigar Ya suck it down, roll it around, blow it out really far You could buy another gun but that won't make it bigger so tell me what are you gonna do? Cuz your wife sure knows and it really does show, you got them overcompensating blues. Got a lifted truck with rock crawl tires and it loves it when you feed it gas It's never felt mud or toil, smells of diesel when you drive it fast Well, no back seat for the shaking or the twistin, that would really be a bore You just like to feel the roar through the stick as your drive to the grocery store You could buy another gun but that won't make it bigger so tell me what are you gonna do? Cuz your wife sure knows and it really does show, you got them overcompensating blues.
5.
Harvest Leaves The Cornfields 04:06
lyrics
buy track
Loveseat on the front porch Tractor in the yard She don't get around much, Don't work the land that hard I'd kiss you in the porch light Kiss you like a fool On a lush, deserted island In a book by H. Stacpoole Momma don't know your name yet She sure does know your style Back in Carolina she could always make em smile There's cookin in the kitchen As we listen to the toads When harvest leaves the corn fields She comes dancing up our road Mamma's out with the scratch pail For the hens out in the barn Brand new Christmas sweater Tangled up in yarns I'd dress you in late roses Twine you in grape vines Your kisses in the leaf pile Still scented in my mind
6.
Go 04:33
lyrics
buy track
Down on the field It's fourteen to three and the lights look surreal Dozens of shadows stalk each back on the line Last year flew by Now you're looking to leave and give Indy a try A small streets girl dreamed of wide streets all of her life. If I run home Get in the car and just leave you alone A tear in my eye and my back to the stadium lights It's not the way It's not like you'd cry or you'd beg me to stay Thank you so much for a typical Saturday night. An old Ford Ranger Twisting down a winding road Chasing silence Don't make a sound, don't let me know I'll be here for the night And I'll go I'll go if you want me to go if you want me to go. So why be right A Formica top table and red stained bar light A cup of sweet coffee and you're blowing smoke in my tea I hoped you'd ask Over that burger you'd drop your damn mask “O won't you come with me, bust out of this town and be free?” An old Ford Ranger Twisting down a winding road Chasing silence Don't make a sound, don't let me know I'll be here for the night And I'll go I'll go if you want me to go if you want me to go. I'll be here The second best thing in your runner up year Won't you roll down that damn window and get me some air The river flows Let's follow the Wabash and see where it goes If only you'd ask me I'm sure I could manage, I swear... An old Ford Ranger Twisting down a winding road Chasing silence Don't make a sound, don't let me know I'll be here for the night And I'll go I'll go if you want me to go if you want me to go. So what's it worth? A babe at our feet and fire in our hearth I'll go if you want me to go if you want me to go.

credits

released December 31, 2014

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Ray Woodruff image

Ray Woodruff Richmond, Virginia

Songwriter. Guitarist. Instrumentalist. Visuals. Lost writer.

contact / help

Contact Ray Woodruff

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Ray Woodruff, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now