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Impressions

by James Lee Baker

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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      $7 USD  or more

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    This 10-song album comes with ten unique interpretive pieces of artwork along with short stories on how the songs influenced the writings and style of James Lee Baker. Recorded in Texas and Colorado by Chris Bell (The Eagles, Christopher Cross) and Christopher J. Bloom (The Fray), this project is a collection of intimate and powerful folk tunes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Impressions via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      $20 USD or more 

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    This 10-song album comes with ten unique interpretive pieces of artwork along with short stories on how the songs influenced the writings and style of James Lee Baker. Recorded in Texas and Colorado by Chris Bell (The Eagles, Christopher Cross) and Christopher J. Bloom (The Fray), this project is a collection of intimate and powerful folk tunes.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Impressions via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days

      $30 USD or more 

     

1.
My mother gave a mighty shout Opened her legs and let me out Hungry as a prairie dog Young man in America Young man in America Hungry, hungry, running every which way Young man in Americay I come out like a cannonball Come of age of alcohol Raven in a field of rye With a black and roving eye Black and roving eye Ravenous, ravenous What you got, it's not enough Young man in America Oh, shelter, mother shelter, Mother shelter us Oooh My father was a lord of land My daddy was a repo man Put me out onto the street Didn't give a damn for me Did not give a damn Daddy, daddy, gonna wish you never had me I'm a young man I'm growing right before your eyes I might grow to such a size Blow in like a hurricane Everyone will know my name Everyone'll know my name Blowing in, blowing up Shadow on the mountaintop Young man in America
2.
Living Room 03:41
My good friends speak Like they did last year Last night’s just a blur Through a head full of beer My good friends speak Like they did last year And last year's just a blur Through a head of full beer Where's your wisdom Put that broken bottle down Let the wind in your sails Take you out of this town so sad I think I'm dying And if life's just a living room Then I'm in the hall and I'm glad If life's just a living room I'm in the hall and I'm glad Oh I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad Now the dawn it has broke Still the night don't clear Memories falling in the mornin' rain I'm up too close, to see it clear And last year's just a blur Through a head of full beer Where's your wisdom Put that broken bottle down Let the wind in your sails Take you out of this town so sad I think I'm dying And if life's just a living room Then I'm in the hall and I'm glad If life's just a living room I'm in the hall and I'm glad If life's just a living room I'm in the hall and I'm glad Oh I'm glad, I'm glad, I'm glad (Na-na-na)
3.
When he looked Into a starry sky upon Jupiter, With it's cold moons Making their weary rounds. Did he know that the Pope Would claim that he ran with Lucifer And a prison cell Would be where he’d lay his head down? Was he wearing a thorny crown? When he plotted the motion of planets, Was Mercury in retrograde? But he found the truth when a lie was what was demanded. When the judges asked him pointedly He was a' trembling that day. Did Galileo pray? (x4) And he said, "Tell Ptolemy, tell Copernicus, That the Sun is at the core of us The Church, the Pope Can’t deny the Milky Way And every flower that follows the sun, Has known all along what God had done They whisper truth as the seasons each give way. Don't shoot the messenger, The postman delivers Truth today. And Truth will march in Birmingham It will block the tanks in Tiananmen. Put the judges on the witness stand Let’s see what they all say. Did Galileo pray? (x4) In the heavens you'll see it As God has conceived it. Oh, believe it. Oh, what does it take to believe? Don't shoot the messenger, When the postman brings you truth today. Because truth will march in Birmingham It will block the tanks in Tiananmen Put the judges on the witness stand, Let's see what they all say. Did Galileo pray? (x4) Don't shoot the messenger, don't shoot the messenger
4.
Nashville 03:59
On a childhood highway through a night alone I was barely breathing, I was crawling home Well it's not quite London or the south of France Or an Asian island or a second chance Going back to Nashville, thinking about the whole thing Guess you gotta run sometimes Maybe I'm a fast train rolling down the mountain Watching all my life go by You're a distant memory, you're an exit sign I was talking crazy on the driver's side And I know I hurt you but I won't confess Was that blood or a wine stain on your wedding dress Going back to Nashville, thinking about the whole thing Guess you gotta run sometimes Maybe I'm a fast train rolling down the mountain Watching all my life go by Going back to Nashville, laughing at a bad break What's the use in wondering why Maybe I'm a storm front rolling through the valley Tearing up a good July And it's safe and warm where nothing ever happens Would it be so hard to realign a star or two Change a southern night for you Well it's not quite evening, and it's not New York There's a scar in the blue sky by the old airport And I'm talking crazy on the driver's side I will always love you like a long goodbye
5.
She was kind of quiet and shy Oh when that first look caught my eye I said “hello”, she took my hand Before long there were wedding plans Now fifteen years have come and gone I can’t believe i’m so alone For all those years, she was my wife ‘Till two things came to wreck my life Rolling rock and rock ‘n’ roll Got ahold of baby’s soul Things aren’t how like they were then ‘Cause she ain’t coming back again It ain’t like it used to be Our love burned out at 33 Tried it once and lost control Rolling Rock and Rock ‘n’ Roll She’d stay home alone each night While I pursued the party life I’d come home late and there she’d be TV on and off to sleep Until one night I filled my mug I was slapping backs and getting hugs My crazy friends And then surprise! I’m staring into baby’s eyes (Chorus + Instrumental) I’ve learned my lesson, i’ll go straight I’ll be home every night by eight I’ll walk the path that’s straight and true And I’ll do what i’m supposed to do
6.
Morningside 03:33
Am I a fool at this late date To heed a voice that says, You can be great I heard it young, now I hear it again It says, you can be better than you've ever been Don't want to waste what I have to give In all of the time that I've left to live Don't want to waste what I have to give In any of the time that I've got left I can do more than I thought I could Work brings more luck than knocking on wood There's random bad and random good Work brings more good luck Good luck You ask the world And the world says, no It's the world's refrain Mine says, go You ask the world And the world says, no It's an old world refrain Mine says, go Don't want to waste what I have to give In all of the time that I've left to live Don't want to waste what I have to give In any of the time that I've got left I can do more than I thought I could Work brings more luck than knocking on wood There's random bad and random good Work brings more good luck Better be off I've got dreams to dream Though it seems uphill and a little extreme If I can find hope in this fading light Then I'll find you on the morning side If I can find hope in this fading light Then I'll find you on the morning side
7.
Well I wondered the trail a mile or three a day or maybe a week ‘Till I came to that crossroads place I could no longer speak Raise my face up to the sky Where the prairie sun burns white On the lonely Llano estacado At the place of the Mackenzie fight He was the most promising, most promising officer He was the most promising, most promising officer Ah the ghost ponies wail in their bloody swale Where their bones bleach white in the sun An idle light flashes across the sky Where the thunder stallions run And up north in the Big Horn snow Where the Tongue’s clear waters flow There’s a cut-throat pony in the blizzard night Where the old one’s feet were froze There was the most promising, most promising officer most promising, most promising officer Well, I guess its true when they say Custer died for our sins I figured he got what he deserved For the rest of us, well the judge it’s not in Mackenzie could not bear the burden And he could not still the cries He could only dream of a cold army 45 Right between the eyes He was the most promising, most promising officer most promising, most promising officer Raise my face up to the sky Where the prairie sun burns white On the lonely llano estacado At the place of the Mackenzie fight
8.
Some People 02:49
Some people tell you just what they’re feeling Some just let you know Some people compel you with eyes so revealing Your gaze cannot let go A smile of flirtation, that coy invitation You wonder what the night has planned Then without asking phone number on a napkin is placed in the palm of your hand Welcome to a slice of life with all the sweet delight of some people some people read you like you’re a mystery some like a valentine some people meet you at a point in your history with a heart that’s right on time Divine influence or coincidence All the stars have aligned right here Now she’s closer than the drink on your coaster address whispered in your ear Welcome to a slice of life with all the sweet delight of some people If love’s a roll of the dice maybe chance is underrated so goodbye to the tragic point of view that your world is complicated Welcome to a slice of life with all the sweet delight of some people Welcome to a slice of life with all the sweet delight of some people
9.
Every night i lay my head down Every night i think about you In the morning, raise my head up Watch the sunrise and think about you Now the smoke hangs over the meadow and the sun shines warm upon my face In the deepening of the stillness I close my eyes and think about you The air's a-buzzin' like it's full of hornets And a-crashin' like thunder in my ears And john gilbert from jefferson county Standing next to me disappears We sit together in the smoke and fire light He plays his mouth harp so soft and slow In the deepening of the stillness I close my eyes and think about you Sometimes words get left unspoken Sometimes words just vanish in the air We are here for but a moment Before we whisper our last prayer Did I show you how much i love you Did I tell you the words written in my heart In the deepening of the stillness I close my eyes and think about you In the deepening of the stillness I close my eyes and think about you
10.
Nobody feels any pain Tonight as I stand inside the rain Everybody knows that baby's got new clothes But lately I see her ribbons and her bows Have fallen from her curls She takes just like a woman Yes, she does, she makes love just like a woman Yes, she does, and she aches just like a woman But she breaks just like a little girl Queen Mary, she's my friend Yes, I believe I'll go see her again Nobody has to guess that baby can't be blessed 'Til she finally sees that she's like all the rest With her fog, her amphetamine, and her pearls She takes just like a woman Yes, she makes love just like a woman Yes, she does, and she aches just like a woman But she breaks just like a little girl It was raining from the first And I was dying there of thirst So I came in here And your long-time curse hurts But what's worse is this pain in here I can't stay in here Ain't it clear that I just can't fit Yes, I believe that it's time for us to quit But when we meet again, introduced as friends Please don't let on that you knew me when I was hungry and it was your world Ah, you fake just like a woman Yes, you do, you make love just like a woman Yes, you do, then you ache just like a woman But you break just like a little girl

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released May 6, 2022

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James Lee Baker Denver, Colorado

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