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Roses Guide To Time Travel

by Nancy K Dillon

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1.
All The Pretty America 05:45
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All The Pretty America All the Pretty America Lies in ashes at my feet All the Pretty America Has up and gone to sleep When will she wake? Who knows the score? How long does it take to learn that less Might just be more? All the Pretty America Has packed her bags and fled She's off to join the carnival In England or France someone said On wings of desire She flies through the night An artiste trapeze on the breeze she swings Balanced just right All the Pretty America dreams of you tonight Please send her your brightest angels To help her set things right As she shapes a new dawn The night falls away Send all your bright hopes for the child Of a tender new day All the Pretty America needs our prayers today For strength of heart and wonder And a lamp to light her way Then a healing shall come Her bandages fall Tender scars fade to the shade of a ghost In spite of it all All the Pretty America Lies in ashes at my feet All the Pretty America Has up and gone to sleep When will she wake? © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
2.
Last Town On The Line 03:40
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Last Town On The Line Daddy's granddaddy was a trainman Missouri-Pacific was his line Asa started working for the union To make a better life, make a better life Make a better life for the time 'Cause life was hard for a trainman Eighteen hours, a penny in your pocket Back-breaking, hard-driving work, work, work Moving that corn, moving that coal Gotta find a dollar, gonna patch this hole, uh-huh CHORUS: Now here I am living in the last town Last town on the line Nobody's going any further It's a quiet place here, Population 1 In the last town, the last town on the line How many hours in that train car? How many miles did he ride? How many nights in how many towns? Supper by himself, missing his family and Sweet Catherine by his side But there was something important he believed in Something essential was at stake What would Asa think if he could see it all now? Look at what a mess, could have done better Lord, what a mess we can make CHORUS BRIDGE: Did he happen onto Woody in a box car? Did they talk about life and have a smoke? Did Woody sing a couple songs before he traveled on? My daddy's granddaddy might've fed him for a smile and a joke © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
3.
Desert Song 03:34
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Desert Song Hey there, honey, put your white shirt on Grab your boots, let's go to town In your dusty truck, one headlight's gone It's a beautiful night, I wonder what will go down I see your profile in the night There's stars above...in the dashboard lights You turn your head a bit my way Your secret smile seems to say, 'let's go down...' CHORUS: Take my hand, I'll follow you Through desert wind and stars of blue We'll dance among the crimson stones Unleash our hearts until it's time to go down Downtown tonight, it feels all right Our favorite band's in the neon light Our favorite booth, our favorite song We'll say 'hello' and wonder what will go down CHORUS Swing your partner, swing me 'round Round & round, round & round I'm dizzy from your flaming gaze Your eyes are mine, I wonder what will go down © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
4.
Looks Like Rain 03:43
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Looks Like Rain Looks like rain off in the distance On the plains, up in the hills Cold North wind blows the porch swing Come on in or you'll get chilled Come on in, Looks like rain Once our days were sweet and sunny Our long evenings ended wild Once our dawns brought dreams and danger But that's all done now, ain't it, child? Summer's gone, now it looks like rain I never saw the sky so black Or clouds in fond embrace with frozen ground I want to take off running To the center of the storm Bearing down right now Looks like rain, I can hear the thunder Loud as open gates of hell Sounds like rolling dice down under When it comes, you just can't tell Come on in, looks like rain You'll never see the wind look back Or waste a single breath upon the past I want to take off running To the center of the storm Bearing down so fast © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
5.
The Ground She Walks On 04:43
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The Ground She Walks On Walk with me in the late afternoon And I'll tell you a story Written in the dust on this road Sweet orange fruit rots In a haze of hot perfume On the dust laying thick upon this road He worships the ground she walks on He follows in her footsteps through the dust But no mark does she make Her life it was taken In ancient flames of rust Thirty years ago on a night as hot as this Small town Oklahoma I think it was 1969 Sweet magnolia's scent drew her out Into the night to get some air To the riverbed east on Highway Nine The line across her face stained A blood-iron shade of angry red Like the dust turned to mud beneath a storm She wears her scar with grace Though it's the mark of a father left in scorn Still she honors what it meant to have been born He worships the ground she walks on He follows in her footsteps through the dust But no mark does she make Her life it was taken In ancient flames of blood He worships the ground she walks on He follows in her footsteps through the dust Still no mark does she make Her shape was mistaken In white hot flames of lust © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
6.
New Train 03:11
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New Train Can't keep you on the main line no more, darlin' You're much too strong a drug for me I can't sleep at night and I'm achin' for a fight Thought I may as well come clean You're like a drug, you fill my brain Everybody's talkin' 'bout that New Train Like a drug - drive me insane Everybody jump up on that New Train Train's pulling out in the cold clear night Sinner, won't you jump on board Train's disappearing, whistles out of hearing Takes us to a just reward It's like a drug - it kills my pain Everybody's talkin' 'bout that New Train Surrealistic colors paint the window pane Everybody jump up on that New Train Darkness fills with light and black is really white Checkerboard station tile floor This small town's a strain, I'm waitin' on that train Sinner, won't you jump on board? © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon It's a freedom train; sinners, won't you shout? Everybody's talkin' 'bout that New Train It's a freedom train, no shadow of a doubt Everybody jump on board that New Train
7.
No Goodbyes 05:08
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No Goodbyes Long ago I left my home In a yellow Rambler American Following the footsteps Of Woody and Jack Kerouac The highway lines became a circle North to South and East to West So my heart became a compass Points to those I love the best CHORUS: No goodbyes, no, you ain't seen the last of me No goodbyes, no, you won't see me cry No goodbyes, where I see circles you see lines No goodbyes Senorita had a vision Way down in Old Mexico Something told her, "Ride in quickly! Quiet like a silent ghost." She dressed in her best black mantilla Saddled up and rode to town She found him in Rosita's bed She pulled her gun and shot him down CHORUS His mama said, "Son, wait a year." His daddy said, "You're out of here!" Sister says, "The road is lovely, Long and lean and knows no fear." He grabbed his guitar, kissed his sister Out the screen door to his truck He said, "I'll write when I get work But in the meantime, wish me luck." CHORUS © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
8.
Good Old Friends 03:40
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Good Old Friends It's a time of missing friends All the laughter that we've known We got to know each other Stolen hearts & rolling stones It's a time of letting go And a time of holding on Those of us still here have got to Keep on keepin' on CHORUS: And it ain't easy, I can tell you As I feel the miles tonight What I wouldn't give to have you standing Right here in my sight And, yes, we'll lose another Don't know who or how or when But let's make ourselves a promise To be Good Old Friends again Back when we were young It seemed like so much time to kill Time to talk about it all And time to drink our fill But what is so important now To let it slip away? How much longer can we put it off Another day? CHORUS © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
9.
Portland 04:32
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Portland Portland... City of roses and rain City of rivers and trains roll in To your station Portland... City that lets me forget Eases my head when a bet's gone bad Sweet amnesia CHORUS: Go pack your bags now No time to delay now All the signs point to a way we might leave here And drift through the night south To a town by the river's mouth Lost souls could be found there Let's point the car south to Portland Portland... Many are drawn to your doors Music pours out and your bars don't close Sweet oblivion Portland... Banjos and fiddles abound Hipsters in thrift store clothes found their way To your neon CHORUS Portland... City of mists and of dreams Thinking of you makes me feel so clean Sweet forgiveness Double CHORUS © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon
10.
Glory Days 04:20
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Glory Days Glory days and hometown blues Pretending that he's got nothing left to lose Still a whisper rides the wind Says it's just a matter of time And not the end Once no one could beat his game No two nights were ever the same Fingers burning up that board Pedal hit the metal at night He soared CHORUS: Hold tight Tonight Not every cloud is grey Though sometimes it looks that way Turn out the light and dream of those Glory Days Glory Days and empty nights Pretending that it's gonna turn out all right Still a whisper down the wire Says that it won't be long Til he feeds that fire Broken hearts and small town talk Songs that used to run now can barely walk But a whisper rides wind Says it's just a matter of time And not the end MIDDLE 8: All of that time Where did it go ? Looking for signs Digging for gold CHORUS © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon / Ian Lang
11.
Sweet Honey 04:13
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Sweet Honey Watching for a sign To set me free or draw me near Watching for a sign tonight Like a hummingbird near a flower You hover then you fly Like a hummingbird near a flower Sweet honey The honeycomb holds the nectar The bees protect their own The honeycomb holds the nectar so bright The hummingbird has to drink A thousand times or die A hummingbird has to drink Sweet honey The petals fall from the flower Slowly one by one The petals fall from the flower pure white The candle's flame is burning lower Fading amber light Melted wax spills over like Sweet honey © 2010 Nancy K. Dillon

about

In March 2010 Rose Rock Records announced the release of Dillon's second solo CD. "Roses Guide To Time Travel" showcases Nancy's okie-roots authenticity and soulfully intelligent take on Americana music with 11 original songs in her subtle and concise lyrical style. "The fancy term for Dillon's kind of writing is mythopoeia," says one reviewer. Songs about trains, depot stations and a slightly crumbling industrial landscape share the spotlight with songs of gently aging rockstars and fading beauty. Add a murder ballad ghost story, a paean to Portland OR, lovers dancing among crimson stones in the desert and some old-fashioned tornado-chasing and you begin get a sense of the way Roses Guide To Time Travel connects past, present and future.

credits

released March 22, 2010

Musical contributors on both sides of the Pond include Danny Barnes (Bad Livers), Grammy award-winner Stacy Phillips on Dobro, Gavin Sutherland (Sutherland Brothers & Quiver), Steve Smith (Hard Road), Chris Parks (Any Trouble) and UK-based Ian Lang. Roses Guide To Time Travel was recorded by Grammy-winning engineer Garey Shelton (The Believers/Danny O'Keefe) in Seattle along with tracks "flown in" from Scotland, England, New Mexico & Austin TX.

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Nancy K Dillon Seattle, Washington

On her albums, Nancy K. Dillon maps the road West; the dusty highways that conjure up images like Kerouac's road trips, traveling dustbowl carnivals, and free-spirited 70s hipsters. Inspired by Oklahoma & Texas troubadours Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, and Kevin Welch, Dillon's songs are short stories about characters that populate true American life. ... more

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