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The Book Of Zephaniah

by Zephaniah Stringfield

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  • Full Digital Discography

    Get all 5 Zephaniah Stringfield releases available on Bandcamp and save 20%.

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1.
Well, down here at the farm, people come and go There's a murder in the town, just ten miles down the road And the captain's calling mutiny, but it only goes to show That he ain't no kind of captain, and he's calling out his own He used to be like Noah, when the flood lines rise Two of every animal, standing by his side But when the flood winds shifted with the rolling of the tides, He crawled beneath a burning bridge, mumbling, drunk and out of time And Mathew, he won't toot his horn, but he blows it just the same The hours go by, I'm sleep deprived, I'm high on novocaine I'm working 'til the work is done, in autumn I'll set sail But on the Irish Rover it's to heaven or to jail So Davey Jones, don't wring my neck like you would a glove Across the sea a maiden waits who swears that she's in love And she is like my cages key and I am like her dove Through the gates we will fly free, sea below and only sky above I got me a river queen, squally as she drifts She drives me to drink sometimes, Steelhead at my lips Madness is as madness does, this river knows this best But happiness is just the same, it's just the same, I guess
2.
Gift Horses 04:50
Well I'm sitting here stoned once again And I'm picking at the ends of all these threads Unraveling the seams of every single tie that binds Sometimes it's just so easy wastin' time So I start sniffing at the glue on my cigarette And I'm trying to find out where the damn thing ends I think I'll take a trip out to where nothing goes as planned And wind my clockwork mind up once again Oh-ho, but time don't give a damn if we fall apart And livings just as easy as a dream And there's nothing in this whole wide world like falling over your feet So get up my friends, this ain't no time to sleep And I'm trying to drive around in my broke down car But I never can seem to take her very far 'Cause every time I make her sweat, she stinks like gasoline And I don't mind dying, but I'm trying to keep me clean So I start looking 'round for something that I can grow But someone's poisoned all the seeds I sow It seems the gift horses get fed, while all the farm hands just get bit I'm just waiting to see where that flood is gonna hit Oh-ho, 'cause time don't give a damn if we fall apart And livings just as easy as a dream And there's nothing in this whole wide world like falling against the wind So get up my friends, this ain't no time to sleep And I'm rocking back and forth in my rocking chair And I'm trying my best not to breathe recycled air 'Cause I get a little motion sick, when I can't be alone So for tonight, Honey, I ain't coming home Oh-ho, but time don't give a damn if we fall apart And loving's just as easy as a dream And there's nothing in this whole wide world like falling head over heels So get up my friends, this ain't no time to sleep Yeah, get up, this ain't no time to sleep
3.
So you sold your time And now your soul's mighty hard to find You're thinking that trouble's just a state of mind, well buddy, you're right But you're out of time Oh, and it ain't real When they say you gotta make a deal You don't gotta get down and kneel, it just ain't right To be so blind You're like a dog who comes every time they call But who is gonna catch you when you fall? It ain't you You keep on doing the things you do You keep on filling up your shoes With a man Who sold his time I hear the gambler moan 'Cause he's heard it all before Every deal and every throw, he bets it all But he takes his time So don't lose your sense Everybody gets the same old test Nobody gonna cheat ol' death, you'll get your rest Don't waste your time You're walking on a line that's infinitely thin Flashing like a feather in the wind It ain't you You're far too good to play the fool You better get yourself out soon Before you find You sold your time
4.
Ride the bus, it's a big old bus, It's a Greyhound bus Look at us, we're kicking dust We're bound to bust I'm going to North Carolina There's a janitor and an Englishman, a fugitive And a veteran, I'm just another man On the lamb, Going to North Carolina And when the going get's you down, lowdown Same old clowns in every town Go ahead and drown another round Then pick your pieces off the ground Go on, go on, go on Ride the mule, cut the fool, love again Start anew, me and you And the Devil too We're going to North Carolina The greenery, like innocence, I'm born again In a sense, that's my two cents And I'm all spent Going to North Carolina And when the going, it get's rough, so rough And you think you've had enough You better slough off all that rust Pull your head out of the dust Go on, go on, go on
5.
It seems we let the days take us away The sandman took one look at us and ran Some days leave us working hard and some days leave us plans But the days that we do nothing take as much as they can Sometime when the night is oh so young I wonder with the days what I have done But if there was a wasted day, I've marked it off my list It don't mean nothing, it's not important and it will not be missed And I don't think the saints are gonna come And I don't think my race will ever be run And I don't think all that much about the setting sun I saw it coming since it's dawning, just like the other ones So darling, won't you spend the night with me? We can dream, but we won't go to sleep And if in the early morning hours of the sun's reprise You're still calling like a cuckoo, I'll be satisfied
6.
I should have never seen her go, turn her back out upon my door And when the night surrounds me, she'll be hard upon the road And tending to an empty home, suddenly I'll know That even for the lies we told, swept up in the storm I should've never seen her go She could've been my Mary, merry mother of my child A girl with eyes like Edelweiss, pure as snow and wild Born upon the silent wind away in which she has flown A seed that I cannot define, neither reap nor sow And I should have never seen her go So, I sit and drink my coffee and turn to face my name Call out to the voice that answers back inside my brain And curse the Gods of Love and War for ever keeping score Not every Jack should have a sword, nor every Rose a thorn And I should've never seen her go I could've been her harbor, I could've been her shore But what am I to be between this hard place and a stone? And in the grey and shapeless dawn, I wonder what's in store For a man with no forgotten past who knows one thing for sure I should have never seen her go I should've never seen her go I should've never seen her go
7.
Late harvest wine, oh late harvest wine The sweetest of fruits always hangs on the vine So love takes it's place at the back of the line Singing save me for later, I'm your late harvest wine The streams in the springtime, they tasted so fine In the aching hot summer, we barely got by And I've grown so thirsty now my cup has run dry And all I can dream of is late harvest wine But oh, how long must I wait? It's bringing me sorrow with every new day And oh, how long must I pine? For a taste of the grapes of our late harvest wine It sits on a shelf with the sun in the sky It's buried beneath us where darkened hearts lie It's ringing a bell and it's counting the time But it ain't the time yet, for our late harvest wine Late harvest wine, oh late harvest wine The sweetest of fruits always hangs on the vine So love takes it's place at the back of the line Singing save me for later, I'm your late harvest wine The streams in the springtime, they tasted so fine In the aching hot summer, we barely got by And I've grown so thirsty now my cup has run dry And all I can dream of is late harvest wine
8.
Pitfall Gals 02:59
Best keep your mind on your memory 'fore you start mixing up your lies You won't be sure which threads you gave me when you sewed up your disguise The ones I tied around your notion left you waste deep in my mind And left me floating 'round this fateful ocean wasted as I gnawed off all the bait upon your lyin' You tie your shoes when you love me so you don't trip and fall Well, I know this road is rocky and it get's us one and all But I can't account for nothing babe, all I can do is try to hear your call And I've been waiting 'round this telephone forever and I ain't heard nothing at all Oh, but I have been around, I've been around this whole town And I am coming back around just to tell you what I've found I found a sweet little angel, she gonna turn me right back around Oh, but I have been around, I've been around this whole town And I am coming back around just to tell you what I've found I found a sweet little angel, she gonna turn me right back around You must think the world is your oyster and you must be the pearl Oh, but you ain't no natural wonder, you're just a made up little girl With a silver dagger in your mouth on the day you entered in this world And men who fall against your lips around your painted fingertips will twirl Oh, but I have been around, I've been around this whole town And I am coming back around just to tell you what I've found I found a sweet little angel, she gonna turn me right back around Yes, but I have been around, I've been around this whole town And I am coming back around just to tell you what I've found I found a sweet little angel, she gonna turn me right back around I found a sweet little angel, she gonna turn me right back around
9.
Well, I've been heavy on the road Through the desert where I roamed Many faces did I see But now I'm a-comin' home Now I'm a-comin' home Now I'm a-comin' home Yes, now I'm a-comin' home The face of grace, I never saw So now I'm a-comin' home I've seen the sanity of man Crumble in my hand In the caverns of my mind So now I come home when I can Yes, I come home when I can I come home when I can Yes, I come home when I can The canyon shakes and I take escape And I come home when I can I get bored when I'm alone And I blame it on you, babe You stole away my heart And left me searching to be saved Now I'm searching to be saved I'm searching to be saved Yeah, I'm searching to be saved Bless your heart, you tore mine apart And now I'm searching to be saved So, if you've got the time I'd like to talk awhile About nothin' in particular I just need a friend sometimes Yeah, I need a friend sometimes I need a friend sometimes Yeah, I need a friend sometimes The ones I made are so far away And I need a friend sometimes So, I've been heavy on the road Through the desert where I roamed Many faces did I see But now I'm a-comin' home
10.
Well I went down to stare at the sea And I asked the howling wind to carry all the breath from me I fell like a fish face down in the sound And suddenly I found that I could breathe But the tide was as cold as a grave And I'm in bitter mourning for our better days I long for to hear your words soft and clear As the slow rise and falling of the waves So honey, won't you speak warm if you can And give me an anchor upon which I can stand And I'll rise from the deep to walk upon the land If you would only lend me your hand And darling if you refuse If you think that this is just some colorful ruse I'll strip to my skin and away I will swim And leave you with nothing of use But for a thin length of twine I'll twist around your wrist to remember me by And if you cast it out, throw your heart on the line And if you're lucky honey, I will take a bite
11.
Well, I can't say where or when I'll be going next my friends But, I never meant to stay here very long after all And that long and dusty road keeps begging me to go It's got a handle on my soul, where I'm bound I do not know But, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico home Yes, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico home And that same old mystery keeps calling out to me I'm just a drop in a big old sea, just a pin-prick on the globe I've been wandering since my birth, but it's a big old earth And home is where your heart is, I believe I've heard it told And so, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico Home Yes, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico home Out here in the sage and sand, standing where I am, I can See the space go stretching out for lightyears up above And this land of enchantment is necromancing All them dead ideas that were buried in my head And still, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico home Yes, I'm leaving my New Mexico home Where I go next, I know I'll dream of my New Mexico home Yes, I'll dream of my New Mexico home
12.
When I Die 02:53
Well, I've been down in the mine, spending all my time Looking hard for gold in the clean hard stone And I can see the light above and it shines on me sometimes Down on my hands and into my eyes And when I die, on the day that I die If I'm surrounded by gold, it'll mean about the same As the pounding sound of rain As I sit dry before the flame in the slowly fading comfort of my home And so I'm building a box in which I'll keep my lot All my watches and my jars, my compasses and claws And I can lock it if I want, but time will someday find me Down in the dirt and break down my shrine And when I die, on the day that I die If I'm surrounded by brass, it'll mean about the same As my lover's fading touch As I realize the rush is far better when I'm sleeping on my own But oh my, my mind is raw down to the bone Wondering what I'm always worried for And I know no eyes can see the long road Leading me to knock on Heaven's door So when I finally go, drop me far down in my hole And give me to me my pick so I can find what's hid Beneath the cobble stones on the other side of death I will get my glory prize when they lay me down to rest When I die, on the day that I die If I'm surrounded by my dreams, well, it won't mean a thing Let the coliseums ring And the blackbirds sing And the cold wind scream And the gold just gleam And I will not take it with me when I die

about

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Zephaniah Stringfield is a restless person.

We both grew up in Berkeley, where I could be content to stay forever. Zephaniah keeps moving from place to place. A few times he's talked like he was going to settle down, but the winds change and he's somewhere else.

Whenever he comes through town, he plays me his new songs. He's got that ability like Woody Guthrie had, to write a tune for every place he's traveled. It seems like he pulled them out of the sky or peeled them from off the walls. He can turn around a well-known phrase and make it his own. He can tell an old story like it just happened for the first time.

I hope you enjoy this collection as much as I do.

-Eli Wirtschafter, Radio Producer, Fiddle Player, And Friend

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credits

released August 4, 2016

Zephaniah Stringfield - Vocals, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Piano, Toy Piano
Peter Oviatt - Banjo
Katie West - Upright Bass
Rachel Allai - Violin, Viola, Harmony Vocals
Mike West - Mandolin, Guitar, Percussion, Harmony Vocals
Ryan "RJ" Johnson - Drums
Bradford Hoopes - Hammond Organ
Douglas County - Thunder

Produced by Mike West

Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at The 9th Ward Pickin' Parlor, Lawrence, KS, by Mike West

All songs written by Zephaniah Stringfield.

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Zephaniah Stringfield Taos, New Mexico

If you ever get the urge to get in your car and take off without a plan, Zephaniah’s voice is your ideal traveling companion. If your date didn’t show at the bar, and you need the music to become your human connection for the night, he’s got you covered. His songs are the type you can never quite believe you are hearing for the first time, and he made them for you. ... more

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