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.

Townies

by Exit 380

/
  • Streaming + Download

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

    EXCLUSIVE: BONUS TRACK and LINER NOTES when you purchase the entire album!
    Purchasable with gift card

      $9.99 USD  or more

     

1.
Riding from the Land of Blood. Blinded by the greed and lust. Gonna reach Paloma, when morning comes. American River here I come. Would you run, would you? Could you run, could you? Would you run for the gold? Pony’s head is riding low. No more clay from his hooves to throw. Gonna send my fortune back to Rhome. California I called you home. Would you run, would you? Could you run, could you? Would you run for the gold? I might lose it all in this one chance, trading my life for this dance. The whiskey in my pouch is almost empty. Please, Oh Lord, bail me out, make my pony strong and stout. The Trail Boss says, “Just one day to go”!
2.
Daddy he’s a coming for us all…Rumbling like a freight train down the hall. His face is as filthy as his heart….Daddy he’s a coming for us all. You run. You run. You run. Is Ma’ gonna save us? No, not at all…she’s off with Uncle bristling in the barn. Her back is as filthy as her heart…Daddy he’s a coming for us all. You run. You run. You run. Now I’ve turned the corner, I can’t get home. Though a fire’s rumbling, I can’t get warm. I guess Daddy turned me into his Son when he came a rumbling down the hall. You run. You run. You run.
3.
Hanging on for too long letting go made me fly, free to love, free to roam…again. Years of a one-handed grip on a dream broke free, the day of lust is gone. I woke from a dream and escaped this soul burning train. A driver or a rider? Either way it’s a coatless day in the rain. Wrapped around the wheel threw me for a loop, too many times my broken pride bled my side. Breaking my hand free of this rusted chain, save my soul, heal my wounds; help me find my love of life. I woke from a dream and escaped this soul burning train. A driver or a rider? Either way it’s a coatless day in the rain.
4.
In the Park 03:59
I was the one who took you one, brash and bold. That was the way it used to go, when we was young. Oh, it just seemed right beneath the moon chill in the park at night. You were the one who spoke in tongues, wild with moans. That was the way it used to go, when we was young. Oh, I cannot lie it was you all the time. The love I take in now… What I told you in your ear it still draws near although that night is gone it’s like a mirror, drawing lines to the past in fleeting grasps. Take your Mother home till I get back. Colors change, “Yes”, but not the smells, they ripple like the waves in that wishing well. They dry till it’s flushed and won’t pay out, with nickels in the bottom looking up. Oh, it just seemed right beneath that moon chill, the love I take in, in the park at night.
5.
Little Trip 03:48
Going on a little trip must stretch her legs to learn. Going on a little trip that could end up too long. Oh where, oh where, oh where shall she go? That night she slept in the heat with the bugs in the dirt. That night she slept full of heat and her love, he moved on. So she won’t head North to Bonham or Savoy, then where, oh where shall she go? Oh where, oh where, oh where shall she go? She don’t like the town with the Pennywhistle Store. Oh where, oh where, oh where shall she go? She don’t like Savoy where her father makes his home. So she won’t head North to Bonham or Savoy, then where, oh where shall she go? Thursdays in Fairfield the lake front shakes till dawn and the wild hairs are plucked out till they’re gone. Somewhere, somewhere in the middle, stuck somewhere, somewhere in the middle. The middle of nowhere is somewhere that’s safe, till nowhere is somewhere or something that’s plain. Her land became heavy, her heart waxed to wane. She dreamed of the trip and the trip brought her forward. Grabbing to pack every piece of her room till her bag was topped out and walls were bare too. Taking the tumbled right from morn to nighttime, won’t stick (in) the middle, nothing’s in the middle. Somewhere, somewhere in the middle, stuck somewhere, somewhere in the middle.
6.
Every road has a turn. Every love will not burn. Cast a spell, wish a star, this old road leads too far. In the distance see the light, fire burning through the night. Follow the sun or head up North, this old road leads too far. Where do we go from here? I don’t see the light. Where do we go from here? How do we know when we’re there? It seems like everyone’s there. A windy sail could bring you home. I know this love is far from gone. A person’s ship leaves a wake, anchor’s up I can’t wait. Breaking hearts shore to shore, to find the one that’s for sure. The lonely sea has no end, drowning now I can’t swim. Where do we go from here? I don’t see the light. Where do we go from here? How do we know when we’re there? It seems like everyone’s there. All these loves have come and gone away. I can’t see the You, I’d come to love….so run. Where do we go from here? I don’t see the light. Where do we go from here? How do we know when we’re there? It seems like everyone’s there.
7.
There we were just looking at the mess I made; kicked doors and cracked in picture frames. Now you know, I’m not a violent man, but when I say so, you best let me in. Girl you better listen up. It’s best not to yell again. You know I tend to get rough when you pick at me with that grin. I’ve never been the kind of man who could put up with that lip…unless it’s gone to trembling; next time you best let me in. There we were just looking at the mess I made; holed walls, a thrown down guitar case. Calm it now, I’m not to blame for this, it’d been fine if you’d just let me in. I burn like any other light; you’re the switch, the switch that gets me hot. Close the door, but it better stay unlocked, ‘cause you know now, I ain’t gonna knock. Girl you better listen up. It’s best not to yell again. You know I tend to get rough when you pick at me with that grin. I’ve never been the kind of man who could put up with that lip…unless it’s gone to trembling; next time you best let me in. Well, now who knows what to say? You’ve gone and made me act this way. I slid and strayed a bit off course, sure I might have used too much force. Oh Honey this falls on you. You know damn well what you do.
8.
Get a move on boy, them feet they move like stone. Don’t you drop that jug. Johnny Law’s among us. Moonshiner run don’t you leave that gun. Running through the swamps and fields. Running through the trees and hills. Get a move on boy, it’s time to leave them toys. Maw won’t feed you son if you don’t get to Mount Glenn. Moonshiner run don’t you leave that gun. You’ll need it trust me Son for this moonshiner’s run. Running through the swamps and fields. Running through the trees and hills. Faster. Faster. Faster till you come unhinged. Moonshiner run don’t you leave that gun. You’ll need it trust me Son for this moonshiner’s run.
9.
Thieves and slaves they circle ‘round the millstone all day. Countless broken rocks shackled to iron locks with names engraved. Names of the souls they robbed, the names that got taken away. They grind as they push and push till its ground to get their own land. That’s the road they built. There’s the tracks they laid. All the dirt tarred and paved; all the rails spiked in grade. Thieves and slaves they wrench their backs all day. In skin browning heat the clamps on their feet rub away the blisters to scars, they age through the bars, heads of grey. They dig as they sing, a song that digs deep to get their own graves. That’s the road they built. There’s the tracks they laid. All the dirt tarred and paved; all the rails spiked in grade. Some have cracked and split. Some have worn with holes. Some lead to the past, but some lead home. Now the work is done. The tools are resting in the woodshed with no more songs on their lips, worn to the bone. They mumble talk. They stumble on. “All day we toil away in the white rock dust we thrive. We tear away through soil and clay just to keep most of our lives.” Keep your eyes on the Road. That’s the road they built. There’s the tracks they laid. All the dirt tarred and paved; all the rails spiked in grade. Some have cracked and split. Some have worn with holes. Some lead to the past, but some lead home.
10.
Diego's Son 04:01
“Woe is me”, said Carla Jean as she sees the dust on Harland’s road swirl fast ‘neath the pickup’s load swerving left through the dirt-corn field, hopping hard, bouncing row-to-row. The day’s light was nearly burned. The husband waits out on his porch. “Woe is me”, as he steps out to view the scene. He sees his lover here watching faintly through the window clear…charging fast from the porch-step stones to the creases of the old man’s throat. The low light couldn’t screen the sight of a lover’s hands swinging wild. The arms that culled the wife’s bold moans were killers now with hardened bones. “There is Diego’s Son…a sullen killer who doesn’t run.” “How it seems is not the way it reads to me. My woman’s eyes were black two days out of three. Her five young kids were bored, always crying begging for relief.” “There is Diego’s Son…a sullen killer who doesn’t run. Who has no shame for the deeds he’s done. Who loves the wife of the murdered one. Who took a life with his bare brunt bones. The way he smiles. The way it’s almost calm. Woe is me. Woe is me, the youngest killer in Braine County.” “There is Diego’s Son”, said Carla Jean, as she stepped clear of the street.
11.
The old train depot was vacant of people. Their cars must have drove them away. But Sue is still standing with feet firmly planted, until my return she will stay. My house was full of enemies. My days were left to chance, for Sue could never please me, when she turned I slipped her glance. The rumors had started when young Missy Gardner came out to the house one Spring day. I lent her some sugar, she wasn’t my neighbor. I should just have sent her away. My house was full of enemies. My days were left to chance. One look at Missy Gardner; I was tried and hung in advance. The fight had just cooled down when Sue and I drove into town and wouldn’t you know it; young Missy she showed up on the corner of Maple and Brown. My house was full of enemies. My days were left to chance, for Sue would rather kill me, than have Missy get in my… House was full of enemies. All my days were left to chance, for Sue would rather kill me, than have Missy get in my… The old train depot was vacant of people. Their cars must have drove them away. I’m on that 3:30 to Langston and Lord, let this train take me away.
12.

about

Two and a half years, two drummers, and countless production false starts; Exit 380 is finally prepared to release its 5th full length record Townies. Recorded primarily at the band’s Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas studios this long awaited DIY project is a deliberate departure from their alt-rock roots, plunging deep into a backwoods tangle.

The eleven tracks cut into Townies continue down the vein of early-American storytelling, first glinted at on the bands highly acclaimed 2008 concept album The Life and Death of Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Stone. However, the new record takes a more accessible approach than its predecessor by highlighting the good-humored swagger of the act’s long-running live show.

Fragments of Townies have been scattered through past conceptual videos and physical releases; most notably “Run for the Gold” and “Daddy Was a Freight Train” on 2010’s Cities Townies EP, and “Moonshiner Run” released for a cancer benefit program in the same year. On the full offering Exit 380 has hooked into even stronger earworm sensibilities with their first single, the country noir driven “Soul Burning Train”, and acoustic standout “Where Do We Go From Here”.

In scope and direction, Townies is the most singularly focused music recording that Exit 380 has created to date. Encircled around the project is an entire bandage of photography and hand-drawn artwork, amassed to give it an unencumbered artistic growth that sets this venture apart from the group’s past accomplishments.

credits

released December 9, 2011

Distributed by Hand Drawn Records © 2011 | Published by Fite Lite Productions (ASCAP) ® 2011

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Exit 380 Dallas

In the spring of 1999, spawned by an insidious need for attention; Exit 380 began its crawl in the wet streets of Denton, Texas from acoustic two-piece bar schlock to the more sprint ready five-headed alternative act. Best known in North Texas for its 11 years of rock and roll pandering, the band has begun to wear a new tread into its heel by hitchhiking down a more swamp laden, alt-country road. ... more

contact / help

Contact Exit 380

Streaming and
Download help

Report this album or account

If you like Exit 380, you may also like: