Art Direction & Design by TOM ERDMANN & SKC DESIGN
Photographs of Nathan Wade by JODI BIEDRZYCKI
additional photography by TOM ERDMANN

 All music and lyrics composed by Nathan Wade.
© 2006 Nathan Wade Music. All Rights Reserved.

Nathan Wade: vocals, acoustic guitar, resonator slide guitar
Michael Nieto: harmony vocals (track 1)
Kjell Anderson: fiddle (tracks 1,4,7,9-11)
Dave Forrester: drums (tracks 4,7,9-11)
Ken Nottingham: acoustic bass (tracks 1,4,7,9-11)
Michael Spaley: mandolin (tracks 7,9) & fiddle (tracks 4,10,11)

DEAD LEAVES

I will be rising over, the streetlights & power lines
I went straight out the window,
To fly right above this town

I’m goin’ over/I’m goin’ over

I will be rising over, ’til the treetops run ankle deep
Their bare-bones are swinging & swaying,
All night they bend & moan

I’m goin’ over/I’m goin’ over

The trees have shed their tears & laid them on the ground
The night will open up as I rise without a sound…

I will be rising over, maybe I’ll trade up my soul
My life’s brought nothing but troubles,
Yet the starlight will carry me on

I’m goin’ over/I’m goin’ over

The trees have shed their tears & laid them on the ground
The night will open up as I rise without a sound
I’ll be swinging on the North Star & I’m never looking down

I’ll be miles above when the dead leaves sing you to sleep
I’ll be miles above when the dead leaves sing you to sleep

SEEN THE GLORY

Dead eyes that cry hallelujah
Raw hands that raise the rope
They’ll be crying on the curtains
Straining eyes so blinded by hope (and)

They have never seen the glory
They will never know the road
They have never seen the glory
And they still have a long ways,
They have a long ways to go

Still holding the icons of measure
Still staining glass that has broke
They’ll be waiting on the invitation
Straining ears like wisdom was spoke

They have never seen the glory
They will never know the road
They have never seen the glory
And they still have a long ways,
They have a long ways to go

They have a long ways to go, to go
They have a long ways to go, to go

Tired voices singing dried up verses
Flat on the pitch and soft on the sell
They’ll be sweating—I said—they’ll be sweating with cross-eyed pleasure
Straining tongues to drink from the well (and)

They have never seen the glory
They will never know the road
They have never seen the glory
And they still have a long ways,
They have a long ways to go

SUICIDAL REVIVAL

Honey, honey you sleep too late
Well they came to town, Sunday they came to town
They raised a big red tent
They sang words so heaven sent (so heaven sent)

They say: “Up for grabs, this whole world is up for grabs.”
And they say: “Wait for you, some things they won’t wait for you.”
Well, don’t miss the morning shade
Join the masses on their holy crusade (their holy crusade)

It’s a suicidal revival
It’s the missing page from the Bible
It’s all the things in the night
I long to be, I long to be…

Well took me in, you know they took me in
And change your mind, honey now change your mind
Then I’ll leave you to all of your sins,
Pass like a ghost in a cemetery wind (a cemetery wind)

It’s a suicidal revival
It’s the missing page from the Bible
It’s all the things in the night
I long to be, I long to be…

Heavenly home, now I have a heavenly home
And missing you, honey I’m missing you
Well, the world of man did fall
And all my time comes to nothing at all (to nothing at all)

It’s a suicidal revival
It’s the missing page from the Bible
It’s all the things in the night
That I won’t be
That I won’t be…

THE FINAL BLOW

You’re a little overcast / you’re a fading day in summer
Some things they never last / Your brighter days a number
Will you say it all? / Will you reach the fall?
Will you see the worst of everything?

When God’s shadow’s growing long,
And the truth you find is strangled ‘neath the winter vine
And a voice inside your head keeps tellin’ you there’s
Something that you oughtta know:
This moment here
This moment here,
It’s not the final blow

You spend your days in doubt / an unwelcome frost comes calling
Cold winds are crying out / and crimson leaves start falling
Can you say it all? / Can you hear the call?
Can you see the worst of everything?

When God’s shadow’s growing long,
And the truth you find is strangled ‘neath the winter vine
And a voice inside your head keeps tellin’ you there’s
Something that you oughtta know:
This moment here
This moment here,
It’s not the final blow

Heavy clouds they hang outside / as a dead-end sky is closing
You can’t stop the frozen tide / as it’s slowly rising
Did you say it all? / Did you miss the call?
Did you see the worst of everything?

When God’s shadow’s growing long,
And the truth you find is strangled ‘neath the winter vine
And a voice inside your head keeps tellin’ you there’s
Something that you oughtta know:
This moment here
This moment here,
It’s not the final blow

SKOAL BANDITS

Will they remember the tale / of Nineteen Ninety-one?
Out West where the plains run wide
In Tucson A-Z / where they started on their spree
Not more than boys when they died, oh
They heard that ol’ train whistle moan

Frank & Jesse were the brothers / who stole the pawnshop guns
Cousin Billy stole a Pinto from his dad
They robbed a Circle K / then they made their getaway
A better time was never had

And then they robbed themselves a DQ / & a coupl’a liquor stores
Hidin’ where the law could never find
But behind Guzamo’s bar / the fatal end of Sheriff Parr
It was the shot that crossed the line
Skoal Bandits

They’ll never be folk heroes / the world will never care
Their youth, it’s gonna burn out by the dawn
But these kids with restless souls / that nobody can control
Well that spirit lingers on

And now they’re hidin’ at the train yards / the end is comin’ soon
Sheddin’ tears for mothers left behind
Before they drew their 45’s / the cops had caught them by surprise
And the desert night went blind
Skoal Bandits

They heard that ol’ train whistle moan
And one by one they died all alone

The Western in their minds started/ like an old John Ford
But it ended like a Sam Peckinpah
After the bullet ballet / they put their bodies on display
One last laugh from the law
Skoal Bandits

They heard that ol’ train whistle moan
And one by one they died all alone

SEASON FOR THE CROWS

There was a season / Where the sun never shined
And there was an evening / Just my brother and I
I pulled off on a back road / Where I took to shovelin’
I dug a hole my size…and then I threw my brother in

The Brothers Crow they called us / Twins not alike, but the same
Two photographs of pain & anger / In the same old rotten frame
We were always hell on each other / & tonight went a little too far
When I pulled a little Cain & Abel / On his skull with a mason jar

Down by August Road / There’s A Season for the Crows
And no one’ll ever know / Why the earth there never
The earth there never grows

I threw my brother in the back of Dad’s Chevy / & dragged a comb through my hair
I drove him out to August Road / I shoveled him over just’ a lyin’ there
I was never one to ponder / Cuz I’m not real civilized
But that could be me in that hole / starin’ back into my brother’s eyesDown by August Road / There’s A Season for the Crows
And no one’ll ever know / Why the earth there never
The earth there never grows

After I buried my brother / I cried until the break of day
When an unholy whip crack of thunder / Sent a sign screamin’ my way
A great big switchblade of blackbirds / cut a gash across the sky
The beating of a murder’s black wings / was my brother wavin’ goodbye

Down by August Road / There’s A Season for the Crows
And no one’ll ever know / Why the earth there never grows
And if I tell a soul / Will I be diggin’ myself
another shallow grave of my own?

THE REAPER’S SON

Well, I live alone / in this penthouse of bones
The cellar where my family lies
At home with the voice / that leaves me no choice
While everyone outside me just dies

And a trail through the birch / oh, it leads to the church
Where I learned the good word out of fear
Well, the Bible it shows us / you’ll know when He’s chose us
But these cannot be God’s words I hear

And it’s a hard, a hard revelation
You know it’s a hard, a hard revelation
And I’m starting to see / oh, there’s no room for me in the end, no
I’m starting to see / there’s no room for me in the end

Well I killed the old preacher / my neighbors and teachers
This town is a river of blood
Every night when I’m sleeping / I hear them all weeping
And pray that I drown in the flood

Well, I can’t explain / a life full of pain
But I’ll know the end as it nears
I’ll take hold of my cross / as I swallow the loss
And I’ll wait ‘til my savior appears

And it’s a hard, a hard revelation
You know it’s a hard, a hard revelation
And I’m starting to see / oh, there’s no room for me in the end, no
I’m starting to see / there’s no room for me in the end

The Angel of Death / came for my last breath
And there I stood numb to the sight
She spread her black wings / so dryly they sing
Like wind through the dead leaves at night

And it’s a hard, a hard revelation
You know it’s a hard, a hard revelation
And I’m starting to see / oh, there’s no room for me in the end, no
I’m starting to see / there’s no room for me in the end
In the end…

SWEAT THROUGH

They go down to the longing tree
Below the roots where they’re burning free
Do it once and it leaves a stain
A fire’s coming like a scarlet rain
They go down to the longing tree

Tongue-lit blooms starving for a touch
They’re bending down on their passion crutch
Free-associatin’, they’ll be down there still
Another clean up at the memory mill
Tongue-lit blooms starving for a touch

You feel it rising every everywhere
Turn on the lights and they don’t even care
Their numbers growing every everyday
They got their armies going out on display, and

When they come for you,
You’re gonna feel the heat from underground
You better rise above,
‘Cuz you never sweat through the ones you love
The one’s you love

A heavy silence breathing hot n’ dark
They’re counting souls learning how to spark
They put the voice inside of your head
They promise futures in a hide-away bed
Heavy silence breathing hot n’ dark

You feel it rising every everywhere
Turn on the lights and they don’t even care
Their numbers growing every everyday
They got their armies going out on display

When they come for you,
You’re gonna feel the heat from underground
You better rise above,
‘Cuz you never sweat through the ones you love
The one’s you love

You never sweat through the ones you love
You never sweat through the ones you love

LONG BLACK LILIES

Rows of angels, calling out to me
Cries so lonely, as solemn breezes blow
Where the long black lilies grow
They grow…

Long lead shadows, that play across the trees
Crows fly slowly, across the undertow
Where the long black lilies grow
They grow, they grow, they grow

Leaves lay dying, the sky it will not weep
Fields all burning, and I still refuse to go
Where the long black lilies grow
They grow, they grow, they grow

DRY UP LIKE A DREAM

I’m gonna be okay again,
When I take my medicine
Gonna land right in your arms again
You, my lonely friend

So many times I’d blow away,
Another day, another month’s pay
Got a little money burnin’ through,
How much of it belongs to you?

Cool breeze gonna blow
Across my way and set me free
Cool creek’s gonna flow
And all these lies, they gonna dry up,
Dry up like a dream

I got no real travel plan,
Just a messed up modern man
So many nights spent on the mend,
Wishin’ you’d make the burden end

Vague tears still stain your eyes,
But this hunger never dies
Don’t let the law say when we’re through
Don’t let the law say
When we’re through…
Because, nothin’s gonna keep me away from you
Nothin’s gonna keep me away from you

Cool breeze gonna blow
Across my way and set me free
Cool creek’s gonna flow
And all these lies, said all these lies
Gonna dry up…
Gonna dry up like a dream
Gonna dry up like a dream

GOIN’ OVER

Instrumental