Get all 15 Ryan McMahon releases available on Bandcamp and save 30%.
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Lost & Found - SINGLE, One More Fire - SINGLE, Pandemos, Trucker Speed - SINGLE, I Still Want You / Middle of History EP, Let My Love Open the Door ~ SINGLE, Cutting Room Floor: Demos, Rarities & Things I Tried, Just Your Dad ~ SINGLE, and 7 more.
1. |
I Tried to Run
02:59
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The Weight of the World is making it cave in on itself
Out of room to turn day to day while the wealthy count their wealth
Save your money when the gas tank calls
Count your pennies and the government calls
I Tried to Run but I ran into the way it was
A pipeline to Texas
Red-carpet Million-Dollar man of the free
But what happened next?
Direct threats and human casualty
All of a sudden we wake from a dream more or less alive more or less free
but it’s much less than it used to be
The weight of the world is making it cave in on itself
a false sense of fear
a little more Westernized
a little more hell
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2. |
Comeback
03:00
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I want to wake up at your place
go downstairs to get the paper
and see my world’s not a basket case
Lordy knows I’ve tried and I’ve tried
to keep it simple and not live a lie
but I don’t yet know who I am
Don’t you know I sing awful things
I keep coming back to another bad ending
I don’t want that
I don’t want this comeback to fall short
All alone with a coffee-burnt toungue
I want to go home back to when I was young
and I hadn’t seen what I saw
Let me say: “Let us pray
that another dirty wave will come to take us away to the future
so we don’t get caught”
The thoughts are almost gone
the night itself is done
and all that’s left is song
the voices singing as one
I need to wake up and you’re around
no traffic jams no city sounds below us
to bring us down
Lordy knows there’s a better way
don’t you know we’ll get there some day soon
I hope to God
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3. |
What Are We Waiting For?
03:11
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And in the end there’s only one
staying up late thinking things alone
pretty soon I’ll be gone and just the thoughts will dust this town
pretty soon all I’ve known will be gone
Sleep in past noon again
I never want to grow up towards an end
pretty soon I’ll be gone and just the words I’ll leave to haunt
pretty soon all I’ve known will begin again
What are we waiting for?
sometimes the mundane days are all that keeps me whole
sometimes I’m me but sometimes I just don’t know
what are we waiting for?
and in the end I’ll come around
I’ll never forget where I come from
One by one the days passing like cargo on trains
one by one creating history
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4. |
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When the dancing’s done
and the folks are gone
will you walk with me or will it just be one?
I’ve got an angel but I’m getting scared
nine lives with maybe one to spare
good timing or is it bad timing you’ve got?
When the singer has sung
and his course has run
will the day end before it’s even begun?
I’ve got a fishbowl-head in the clouds
I’ve got some voices and they’re getting loud
good timing or is it bad timing you’ve got?
these guitar strings need a change
just like my old ways
you’re filled with tomorrows
but how do we get past today?
when the day is done
and the folks are gone
will you walk me home or will it just be one?
I’ve got a story that you’ll want to hear
just a glimpse before I disappear
good timing or is it bad timing you’ve got?
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5. |
Place Your Bets
04:01
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Good morning I’m still going nowhere
but it seems like a bang-up place to be
I’ll remember I’ll gorget then I’ll do it again
come into the next phase with me
because some days are long
and I don’t know what’s coming next
but something tells me
that I might win so place your bets now
the car’s in the driveway let’s go
the rain in your hair will dry
I’m thin and I’m accident-prone
but that’s what you want from your guy
’cause I want to be there when you see it
and all of the things that are without limit
don’t stop this i like it
don’t stop this
good morning it’s late and you’re sleeping
shake out the dust from your eyes
I’m not at my best but you can keep me instead
of discarding me time after time
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6. |
Lights Out New Orleans
03:25
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Broken down
Broken axl
side of the road
a couple of night owls
they’re making plays
making plans now
but not today
they’re stuck in limbo
so get out of dodge get out of this place
get your team together and if you’ve got runners
well get them on base
and steal this one on back because it’s yours to begin with
and if New Orleans won’t win tonight then go to the bullpen
and build that lead again
build your town again
lost the way
lost the pictures
lost the rest
so start it over
so broken down
so you fix it
find middle ground
and watch it
lights out
time for bed
you little strangers
you little friends
lights out
go home
if you’ve got one
to go to
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7. |
Weeks, Months, Years
04:16
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It’s been a few weeks standing on my feet I think my soles are getting raw
I’ve pissed on the list of to-do’s I’ve kissed with promises that I’ve forgot
So take a trip out into the country to remember where we are from
’cause it’s the best thing a God could ever give me after I didn’t believe at all
It’s been a few months since it’s been done I see the change has made you a star
no longer kicking out from under the shadows of the days that we were apart
It’s been a few years since the audience cheered for something bigger than themselves
maybe it’s here maybe it’s something in the beer maybe it’s the way we just do it now
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8. |
Falling Out of Love
02:54
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I want to make a song that’ll make you cry
happy-face tears fall from your eyes
summer kisses us from a cherry-red sky
I’m falling
falling out of love
a perfect afternoon for lazing away
but small-talk-talking’s all you’ve got to say
the summer walks in and walks out again
I’m falling
Falling out of love
Falling out of love
is that what’s got you hurtin’
falling out of love
falling out of love
this heartache we cannot bear
falling out of love
falling out of love
is that what’s got you hurtin’
falling out of love
falling out of love
this heartache we’ve got is murder
sit us down and make us count to ten
until the fault and blame subsides again
the clouds follow us around the bend
I’m falling
falling out of love
perfectly upset with your arms in the air
pouty-lips-hand-hips you don’t care
you’re looking at me with a five-alarm stare
you’re falling
falling out of love
a re-run’s no way to get this done
a re-run’s no way to get this done
i know you’re bound to come undone
a re-run is no way
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9. |
Girl on Top
03:39
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Indeed your room is cluttered
and for sure you see that mine is too
the blood-sugar level’s down like-drastic
just another imperfection-goof
the girls’ on top with the lights off she’s not sleeping
the girls’ on top with the lights off the girl is giving
did you wear your night-clothes especially for me?
did you plot your seduction by painting your eyes
liquor’s to wet the lips of your words
bulldozing my will and caressing my thighs
After you’re done with me sneak out of the basement
and as I fall asleep I’ll think of what your face meant
indeed you’ll see I’m out of poems
indeed you’ll see that I’m not in love
it’s creepy and crowded under the sheets
you whisper to me: “you deserve this”
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10. |
Road Signs
02:43
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224 to Saskatoon
I might love you more than he loved you
it’s a fine day to be marooned
in a Canadian desert running out of youth
I know you’ll soon be well
but those days between might feel like hell
I know you’ve planned it out in your head
I just wish that you chose me instead
175 to Seattle
so much rain today the van needs a paddle
it’s a fine day to head into battle
with tired hearts and bodies and minds in the saddle
But now it’s coming around again
doubts crawl through my head
butterflies in the stomach ten-times-too-big for me to deal with
fortunately free
an open road from city-to-country
i just hope i make it home to you
35 to Montreal
I wonder if I ever knew at all
it’s a fine day to write a song
I’ll finish after the opening bands’ done.
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11. |
Beyond the Fence
02:50
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I’ll be the solution you be the mess
I’ll get amnesia when we meet again
oh you bet I’m on the fence
I’ll be simmered down when the news comes in
but you’ll get your back up and bolt again
oh you bet I’m on the fence
but it won’t be long
’cause that don’t mean it don’t hurt any less
when you see your twenties come up then vanish
oh don’t let me go yet
I am the morning let me begin
you can have your evening and all it’s sin
oh you bet I’m on the fence
oh I’ll see the new man and you’ll see my ‘beaut’
and I’ll see his heart sticking under my shoe
oh just another line for you
I’ll see the sun from Railway St.
I’ll wonder where you are and I’ll wonder who you’ll meet
but I’ll never go further than wonder ever again
oh you bet I’m beyond the fence
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12. |
No Burden
02:58
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No burden baby, no
no trouble I don’t mind
don’t sell me any future if I’m still stuck behind
some days i love you some days i don’t
we might make april or may but someone’s gotta change or else we won’t
working on my steps taking painstaking tests
don’t crush my inner kid when you know those days were best
some days i love you some days i don’t
we might make april or may but someone’s gotta change or else we won’t
what’s it gonna take for you to really love me?
what’s it gonna take for you to really care?
no burden baby no
no trouble i don’t mind
don’t sell me any future if you’re leaving me behind
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13. |
Double Life
02:44
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Double life but I’m 0-2
and all I’ve gots is a talkin’ stew
I am me so how do you do today?
I woke up late with the stomach flu
wrote the down down and it’s all untrue
there’s nothing left I can put you through this way
but the summer’s still on it’s way
with the promise of a better day
but it all falls apart with a cheating false start
and the better days have gone by again
Double-wide but I’m thin like you
a few more rye’s and we’ll get there soon
nobody hurts if nobody moves away
a little less but we’ll make due
keeping the faith that’ll put us through
there’s no avenue that I wouldn’t pursue or play
you know my better days have gone by again
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Ryan McMahon Ladysmith, British Columbia
20+ years as a Canadian songwriter / member of Lion Bear Fox / Father, husband &
seeker.
Veteran Canadian broadcaster Terry David Mulligan may have said it best: the complete package. Singer Songwriter. Performer. Troublemaker. Passionate human being. For me… priceless!!”
... more
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